Chapter Summaries

Naruto, Neji, and Sakura reached the abyss where Hoshigakure was located and found their route blocked by toxic, corrosive mist. A Hoshigakure boy carrying a bow appeared and approached the group.

• Naruto asked whether Hoshigakure lay below the abyss, and Neji confirmed that the map placed it there.
• Sakura warned that the yellow mist was highly toxic and corrosive, making it dangerous to cross and difficult to treat with an antidote.
• A boy wearing a Hoshigakure forehead protector appeared with a bow, and Neji asked him who he was.

Sakura, Naruto, and Neji met Ang while seeking Hoshigakure to complete the mission assigned by Lord Hokage. Ang doubted their abilities but agreed to give them a chance and lead them to the village.

• Sakura introduced herself and identified Naruto and Neji as fellow ninja from Konoha who had come for Hoshigakure’s bounty mission.
• Ang questioned why Konoha had sent three young ninja and warned them to leave if they lacked the ability.
• Neji challenged Ang to introduce himself and defended Lord Hokage’s decision to assign them the mission.
• Ang introduced himself as a Hoshigakure ninja, said he opposed their assignment, and offered to lead them to the village.
• Sakura, Naruto, and Neji regrouped, displeased by Ang’s attitude but prepared to continue.

Ang led Naruto and the others through Death Valley to Hoshigakure, while Hinata followed their route and waited for the mist to clear. At Hoshigakure’s outskirts, guards questioned Naruto’s group, and one went inside after hearing their reason for coming.

• Ang decided to lead Naruto and the others into the canyon after the mist cleared.
• Naruto and his companions followed wooden stakes down to the bottom of Death Valley and continued after Ang.
• Hinata noticed Naruto’s route, considered Natsuhi a potential variable, and led her group toward the canyon.
• Hinata and the others waited when the mist rolled back into Death Valley.
• Naruto’s group reached Hoshigakure’s outskirts and explained their visit to two guards.
• One guard told Naruto to wait and went into Hoshigakure.

Ang stopped Hoshigakure youths from risking their lives by overusing the meteorite fragment, urging them to grow stronger safely and help him rebuild the village. Meanwhile, Akaboshi showed his ambition in the Star Shadow’s office with his trusted subordinates Shizang and Yeying beside him.

• Ang entered a room and found several youths cultivating around a glowing meteorite fragment.
• Ang scolded the youths for risking their health, warning that excessive cultivation had already left some companions unable to cultivate.
• Beidou said the youths feared becoming stepping stones for other villages after Akaboshi had called Hoshigakure weak.
• Ang urged them to be patient and said he needed their help to make Hoshigakure strong; the youths promised to be more careful.
• Ang left to check on the fallen companions, and Beidou followed him.
• Akaboshi sat in the Star Shadow’s office displaying his ambition, with Shizang and Yeying present as his trusted subordinates.

Akaboshi and the other Hoshigakure leaders discussed their plan to claim the dangerous object and their concern about a mysterious person interfering. After Naruto and his team arrived, Akaboshi sent for them, while they learned how obscure and isolated Hoshigakure was.

• Yeying and Shizang agreed that Hoshigakure's people were easy to deceive into offering themselves up.
• Akaboshi said the dangerous object would soon be his to use and that he had placed a bounty through Konoha to bring help.
• Shizang warned Akaboshi that a mysterious person had repeatedly tried to interfere with their plans.
• A guard told Akaboshi that Naruto and the others had arrived, and Akaboshi instructed him to invite them into the village.
• Shizang accompanied Akaboshi to meet the visitors, while Naruto and the others chatted with a gate guard and learned about Hoshigakure's obscurity.

Akaboshi welcomed Naruto and the others into Hoshigakure and explained the village’s history, while Neji questioned its use of the title Star Shadow. As they continued their tour, Hoshigakure’s ninja grew resentful of Akaboshi’s deference, and Naruto and the others began to sense that something was wrong.

• Shizang returned with the original guard and led Naruto, Hinata, and Neji into Hoshigakure, explaining the village as they walked.
• Akaboshi and Yeying arrived, and Shizang handed the group over to Akaboshi.
• Akaboshi introduced himself as Hoshigakure’s Acting Star Shadow and began explaining the village’s history after Neji questioned his title.
• Hoshigakure’s ninja privately resented Akaboshi’s courtesy toward the visitors and suspected it reflected their village’s weakness.
• Naruto and the others noticed that something seemed wrong as their conversation with Akaboshi continued.

Yeying explained to the children why Konoha had sent Naruto and his companions to Hoshigakure, as the villagers' hostility toward the visitors remained unexplained. Black Eagle began recounting the repeated attempts by a mysterious black-robed person to steal Hoshigakure's treasured artifact.

• The visitors sensed hostility from Hoshigakure's residents as Akaboshi continued guiding them toward his official residence.
• Yeying arrived with children training in the Mysterious Peacock Method, who asked why Akaboshi was treating the visitors politely.
• Yeying told the children that Hoshigakure had requested aid from Konoha and that the Hokage had sent the three young ninja.
• A child questioned why Hoshigakure needed outside help when Akaboshi, Yeying, and Shizang were strong.
• Black Eagle reminded the children that a mysterious black-robed person had repeatedly tried to steal Hoshigakure's treasured artifact.

Yeying explained that the three black-robed intruders threatened Hoshigakure’s treasure and legacy, and warned the children not to provoke the outsiders. After he urged them to grow stronger, Neji Hyuga suspected Naruto’s group had been set up.

• Yeying told the children that the intruders could steal Hoshigakure’s treasure if they found an opening.
• Yeying admitted that Akaboshi-sama had forbidden him from discussing the matter, but asked the children to keep his explanation secret.
• Yeying warned the children not to provoke the outsiders, who had come to help Hoshigakure.
• Yeying told the children that they were Hoshigakure’s hope and urged them to become stronger.
• Neji Hyuga sensed that Naruto’s group had been set up, though he could not understand why.

Naruto, Sakura, and Neji arrived in Hoshigakure and met Acting Star Shadow Akaboshi, whose excessive friendliness made Sakura wary. Sakura pressed him for the details of their mission, and Akaboshi began explaining what had happened.

• Naruto noticed a stifling discomfort soon after entering Hoshigakure.
• Sakura sensed that something was wrong and asked Akaboshi to explain the mission and share relevant intelligence.
• Akaboshi apologized for chatting and admitted that outsiders had rarely visited Hoshigakure.
• Akaboshi told Naruto and the others what had happened in the village.

Akaboshi explained why Hoshigakure was isolated and why he planned to use Naruto and the others to provoke the village into training harder. He sent them to their assigned residence while continuing to protect the meteorite and conceal his suspicions about the mysterious person.

• Akaboshi planned to provoke Naruto and the other two so the Star Ninja would train harder, while allowing them to confront the mysterious person if they could.
• Akaboshi suspected he knew the mysterious person's identity but kept his guesses to himself and focused on protecting the meteorite.
• Akaboshi decided he would deal with anyone who obstructed his goal and would not concern himself with Hoshigakure after he achieved it.
• Akaboshi explained that Hoshigakure's isolation and arrogance had not made its ninja stronger, and that other villages had simply seen no reason to seize its remote territory.
• Akaboshi summoned a guard to escort Naruto and the others to their residence instead of demanding that they complete the mission immediately.

Naruto, Neji, and Sakura rested in the accommodations Hoshigakure provided while waiting for the mysterious person to appear. Neji and Sakura warned that the mission might be dangerous and discussed abandoning it, while Naruto remained unusually quiet.

• A Hoshigakure guard led Naruto and the others to a small room, then left without staying.
• Neji, Sakura, and Naruto sat around a table to discuss the situation.
• Neji said the incident seemed likely to worsen and suggested they finish the mission quickly or abandon it if necessary.
• Sakura suspected Acting Star Shadow Akaboshi was hiding information connected to the changes and agreed they might need to retreat.
• Sakura noticed Naruto was acting strangely, and Neji also sensed something was wrong with him.

Naruto was shaken by the scene around him, but Sakura and Neji encouraged him by reminding him of his promise to help bring Sasuke back. Neji proposed finding out more about their mission, and Naruto suggested asking Ang for information.

• Sakura and Neji noticed Naruto was unusually unhappy, and Naruto said the place stirred an unpleasant feeling and seemed familiar.
• Sakura offered to give up the mission, while Neji reminded Naruto that he still had them.
• Sakura reminded Naruto of his promise to help bring Sasuke back, and Naruto said he would not break it.
• Neji said they needed to learn more about the operation to avoid stumbling blindly into what came next.
• Naruto suggested they might be able to get information from Ang.

Naruto persuaded Neji and Sakura to let him approach Ang for information, believing Ang could be trusted. Meanwhile, a masked woman near Death Valley was ambushed by a seemingly enormous barrage of weapons.

• Naruto told Sakura that he felt Ang was trustworthy, and Neji and Sakura agreed to let him meet Ang.
• Neji warned Naruto not to reveal what they needed as soon as he began talking to Ang.
• A masked woman watched Death Valley from a cliff, waiting for the mist to recede.
• The masked woman dodged Shuriken and Kunai thrown from an unseen attacker and searched the surrounding grass.
• A relentless barrage of Kunai and Shuriken descended on the masked woman, leading her to suspect that more than a hundred ninjas had surrounded her.

The woman used the Mysterious Peacock Method to fend off a barrage of Kunai and Shuriken, then confirmed the danger was real when a Kunai cut her hand. She suspected that ninja from other countries had arrived, possibly to target Hoshigakure.

• The woman invoked the Mysterious Peacock Method and formed a peacock and then a tiger from Chakra to block the incoming weapons.
• After deflecting most of the Kunai and Shuriken, she let one cut the back of her hand to test whether she was trapped in an illusion.
• The woman saw blood drip from her wound and concluded that the attack was real.
• The woman suspected that a large number of ninja from other countries had come, possibly to deal with Hoshigakure.

Natsuhi saw firelight below and realized Hoshigakure was under attack while her child remained there. Determined to reach the village despite the opponent blocking her, she prepared a technique and erupted in multicolored light.

• Natsuhi noticed that the mist had cleared and saw firelight far below.
• Natsuhi suspected Hoshigakure was being attacked and worried about her child there.
• Natsuhi resolved to reach the village and save her child, even if she could not stop its destruction.
• Natsuhi seized a moment when her opponent did not attack and completed a hand seal.
• Natsuhi released a dazzling burst of multicolored light from her body.

Natsuhi flew into the burning Hoshigakure and searched frantically for the people calling for help, but the cries led her to empty places. As she began to lose hope, she spotted a figure and rushed toward it, breaking through an obstacle in her path.

• Natsuhi gained colorful Chakra wings and flew toward the raging flames.
• Natsuhi entered the blaze and searched for the source of the cries, finding empty places wherever she went.
• Natsuhi circled Hoshigakure repeatedly without noticing the strange details or finding anyone.
• Natsuhi spotted a figure in the flames and charged toward it.
• Natsuhi smashed through something blocking her way.

Natsuhi was trapped in an illusion where Ang rejected her and vanished in flames, leaving her convinced that her family and village were lost. As she regained consciousness, she recognized the scene as an exceptionally convincing illusion cast by a skilled opponent.

• Natsuhi found Ang surrounded by flames and called out to him.
• Ang told Natsuhi that he hated her, then stepped into the flames and vanished.
• Natsuhi tried to reach Ang but collapsed in grief and lost consciousness.
• As Natsuhi fainted, the flames and sounds around her disappeared.
• Natsuhi realized she had been caught in an illusion and recalled the clues that showed the village’s destruction had not been real.

Kurama Mutsu subdued Natsuhi with her Sense Manipulation, and Hinata decided the group would tie her up rather than harm her. The group had been trying to enter Death Valley after the poisonous mist cleared, but Natsuhi’s sudden arrival had delayed them.

• Natsuhi lost consciousness after Kurama Mutsu used her Genjutsu to overcome her.
• Winter Rain praised Kurama Mutsu, who explained how her Sense Manipulation worked against opponents with flaws in their mental state.
• Hinata decided they should tie Natsuhi up because she held no deep-seated grudge against them.
• Hinata and the others recalled that they had been waiting for the poisonous mist in Death Valley to clear after Naruto and Ang entered it.
• The group attacked Natsuhi when she appeared, hoping to remove a variable before entering Death Valley.

Hinata and the others prepared to move against Hoshigakure, while Akaboshi discussed the Konoha children with Shizang and Yeying. Akaboshi ordered Shizang to keep them from leaving, and Yeying said Hoshigakure’s children were obedient except for Ang.

• Winter Rain and Kurama Mutsu tied the unconscious Natsuhi to a tree.
• Hinata and the others headed toward the relay point built from wooden stakes.
• Akaboshi asked Shizang whether the Konoha children could affect their plans.
• Shizang said the children had noticed something was wrong but would likely retreat, and Akaboshi ordered him to watch them and prevent them from leaving.
• Yeying said Hoshigakure’s children were obedient except for Ang, whose parents were important people in the village.

Akaboshi, Yeying, and Shizang discussed delaying their plans until they could deal with Natsuhi, then heard a tremendous boom outside Hoshigakure. A flustered ninja began reporting what was happening, leaving Akaboshi wary of a possible connection to their situation.

• Akaboshi said they should be wary of Ang and called Natsuhi especially troublesome.
• Akaboshi, Yeying, and Shizang heard a tremendous boom outside Hoshigakure and went to investigate.
• A flustered ninja approached Akaboshi and warned that something had happened less than several hundred meters outside the village.
• Akaboshi frowned at the report and suspected something was wrong, though he did not know what.