Chapter Summaries

The students tested their chakra with sensing paper, and Naruto’s first attempt scorched his sheet before Iruka-sensei helped him produce a small reaction. Che’s paper curled from heat without blackening, and the results were filed as a clan member might later ask about them.

• Rina, Saori, Morita Yu, and Kiyo tested their chakra, producing slight wrinkles, dampness, a fine crack, and a softened corner.
• Naruto’s chakra surged and burned the paper’s edges black, so Iruka-sensei told him to use less and try again.
• Sasuke’s paper wrinkled and developed a fine crack, while he warned Naruto that he had pushed too quickly.
• Naruto’s second attempt softened and wrinkled one corner, and Iruka-sensei had the recorder document the reaction.
• Che sent a steady stream of chakra into his paper, curling its edges with heat but leaving them unblackened.
• The recorder sealed the students’ results in envelopes, and Teacher Mizuno quietly told Che that someone from the clan might ask about his test.

After Che’s chakra paper showed a fire-nature response, Uchiha clansmen summoned him to a basic clan class the next evening. He returned home with Naruto and Kiyo, while Nao offered to walk him to the intersection and Che recognized that both the Academy and the clan were beginning to draw him into their affairs.

• Two Uchiha clansmen questioned Che and Sasuke about the chakra paper test, and Che said the paper’s edge had curled.
• The older clansman told Sasuke to return home and ordered Che to attend a basic clan class the next evening.
• Naruto challenged the clansmen’s treatment of Che, but Che defused the tension and left with Naruto and Kiyo.
• Nao heard about the summons and said she would walk Che to the intersection the next evening.
• Che wrote “Clan class tomorrow evening” in his workbook and realized he could no longer stay hidden from the Academy and the clan.

Che practiced positioning and blocking with a cracked Substitute Log at the Ninja Academy, where Naruto and Sasuke helped keep it from breaking further. He arrived at Uchiha clan class with the crack’s imprint in his workbook and faced a training ground filled with flawless logs.

• Iruka taught the children to move their Substitute Logs on command, and Sasuke’s quick, steady movements drew whispers about the Uchiha.
• Che and Naruto practiced blocking with a baton; Naruto learned to use less force, then accidentally widened the crack in Che’s log.
• Iruka told Che to turn the crack inward and keep practicing, while Naruto offered to replace the log and Sasuke turned it crack-side down in the crate.
• Nao walked Che to the Uchiha District, where Sasuke spoke up for him when the young clansman saw the crack’s imprint in his workbook.
• Che entered the clan training ground and saw rows of spotless Substitute Logs, realizing the damage would be harder to hide there.

Che practiced blocking with a Substitute Log during Uchiha clan lessons while Fugaku scrutinized his movements and allowed him to observe Sasuke’s hand-seal training. Afterward, Che recorded Sasuke’s strain and realized the clan had begun placing heavier expectations on him.

• Fugaku had Che test his left wrist against a new Substitute Log and noticed his hesitation and controlled movements.
• Che learned that the Ninja Academy would teach throwing practice and introduce the basics of the Transformation Technique, while Fugaku ordered Sasuke to practice more hand seals.
• Fugaku told Che to watch Sasuke’s training, and Che hid how much he understood about the hand seals and the Great Fireball technique.
• Nao gave Che a cool cloth for his aching wrist as they left, while Sasuke continued blocking increasingly forceful strikes and slowed on the seventh.
• Nao treated Che’s wrist at home, and Che wrote down that Sasuke’s right hand had slowed on the seventh strike.

Iruka taught the class to study portraits and imitate their targets as preparation for the Transformation Technique, while Mizuki’s comments about Naruto and the Uchiha made Che wary. The class was left with a preliminary test scheduled in three days, and Mizuki recorded Naruto’s strong imaginative response.

• Iruka introduced portraits of a generic person, a fat cat, and a Military Police Force ninja, and had the students write down their distinguishing features.
• Naruto questioned why the Military Police Force portrait was used instead of the Hokage, and Che redirected him to the cat before the discussion could escalate.
• Sasuke imitated the police ninja’s posture, prompting Mizuki to link his performance to being an Uchiha; Iruka corrected Mizuki, and Naruto struggled before improving his imitation.
• Mizuki quietly praised Naruto’s potential, but Che interrupted when he noticed Naruto reacting to him and later warned Naruto that Mizuki’s praise was different from Iruka’s.
• Iruka announced a preliminary Transformation Technique test in three days, and Che saw Mizuki record Naruto’s strong imaginative response on an observation form.

Che discovered that Mizuki was recording observations about Naruto and him in a Gray Booklet, then was paired with Naruto for a preparatory Transformation Technique exercise. The chapter ended with Mizuki writing that Che hid his reactions behind jokes, a more accurate and dangerous assessment than his earlier suspicion that Che was holding back.

• Che overheard Mizuki discussing Naruto and Sasuke and recording that Che might be holding back in the Gray Booklet.
• Mizuki paired Che with Naruto for the afternoon exercise, while Iruka showed Che he had some awareness of Mizuki's conduct.
• Che helped Naruto study his stance and walk, and Iruka taught Naruto to consider how his movements revealed his intentions.
• Mizuki praised Che's imitation of Naruto and told him that he was observant, then wrote that Che hid his reactions behind jokes.

A preliminary ranking sheet placed Naruto in the needs stabilization tier, and teachers Iruka and Mizuki disagreed over how to help him. Iruka’s footwork practice gave Naruto a small success, while Mizuki remained poised to draw him back toward his group.

• Kiyo and Morita Yu hurried to see the ranking sheet, which placed Sasuke and Che in the upper tier and Naruto near the bottom in needs stabilization.
• Mizuki offered to help Naruto with transformation observation, but Iruka assigned Naruto to practice footwork with him instead.
• Iruka led the upper-tier group and Naruto through a footwork-and-throwing drill, and he told Che that his deliberate mistake looked fake.
• Naruto rushed his first throw, but Iruka pointed out that he had completed the retreat step correctly; Naruto then landed a marker in the outer ring.
• Naruto argued with Sasuke after practice, while Mizuki told Naruto he regretted not teaching him that afternoon and Iruka called Naruto away to carry the markers.

Naruto discovered that a bundle of wooden stakes was missing, and Che helped him find it behind the target rack, where it had slipped from a torn bag. The incident exposed Mizuki’s attempt to cast suspicion on Naruto while Iruka and Sasuke documented the cause; three days later, trouble was brewing before the Transformation Technique preliminary quiz.

• Naruto found that one of the thirty bundles of wooden stakes was missing, and he became upset when Sasuke’s questions made him feel suspected.
• Che inspected the damaged bag and helped search the north field, where he found the stakes buried behind the target rack.
• Iruka recorded that the stakes had slipped from the torn bag and credited Naruto with discovering and recovering them.
• Sasuke changed the inventory count back to thirty and noted the torn bag, while Mizuki watched the children from the corridor.
• Three days later, a smell of gunpowder filled the equipment room before the Transformation Technique preliminary quiz began.

On the eve of the quiz, Che found an unsigned note under his window warning him to look beyond a portrait and consider who wanted him to resemble someone. During the quiz, Mizuki’s prompts unsettled Naruto until Iruka challenged the idea that ordinary people were beneath notice, and the discovered notes left Iruka facing suspicions about Mizuki.

• Che found a crookedly written note beneath his window and decided to give it to Iruka-sensei the next morning rather than investigate at night.
• At the preliminary quiz, Che handed the note to Iruka while Mizuki arranged the portraits, and Che realized Naruto appeared alarmed by it.
• Mizuki prompted Naruto to describe the portrait as someone no one noticed, but Che’s observation helped Naruto focus on the portrait’s crooked collar.
• During the imitation round, Iruka told Naruto that ordinary did not mean unnoticed and warned against judging a target as beneath them.
• After the class, Iruka kept Naruto and Che behind, and Naruto showed him a crumpled note telling him to imitate people no one looked at.

Iruka investigated an anonymous note aimed at Naruto and kept Mizuki away from Naruto’s retest. Naruto practiced observing portraits and left with Che, remembering that some people wanted him to hand himself over rather than learn to see for himself.

• Iruka locked away the anonymous note and told Naruto he would retest his observation skills with Che present.
• Sasuke told Che that Mizuki watched Naruto as if waiting for him to make a mistake, and watched Che too.
• During the retest, Naruto identified details in three portraits, including the standard portrait’s unhappy expression and the courier’s cufflink.
• Mizuki offered to help organize the test results, but Iruka refused and told Naruto to review the portraits for him the next morning.
• Mizuki warned Naruto not to waste his imagination, but Naruto left with Che without answering him.

Che witnessed Mizuki take the Gray Booklet containing student records, while Iruka tried to limit the damage and rejected Mizuki’s proposal to move Naruto into the Imagination Enhancement Group. The booklet was returned, but Iruka’s reaction and Mizuki’s access left Che suspecting that Mizuki had already seen sensitive information.

• Che saw Mizuki take the Gray Booklet from the Academic Affairs Room, and Iruka warned Che not to investigate or tell Naruto.
• Che told Sasuke that the booklet included Naruto’s, Sasuke’s, and his own records, and they agreed to let Iruka handle it for now.
• Mizuki proposed moving Naruto into the Imagination Enhancement Group, but Iruka rejected the recommendation and directed Naruto back to the fundamentals.
• Iruka asked Naruto why his cat portrait was his best, and Naruto chose to study the standard portrait again.
• Mizuki returned the Gray Booklet, and Che later noted that Mizuki might have accessed important information inside it.

Iruka used a mirror to help the students identify the habits that could give them away during transformation, while Naruto began to recognize his impulse to rush in and prove himself. Mizuki watched from the edges of the day, and Che left wary that the next quiz would bring more than a classroom exercise.

• Iruka replaced the portraits with a mirror and had the students name the traits that would reveal them, including Sasuke’s stance, Naruto’s tendency to rush in, and Che’s habit of smiling first.
• During chakra practice, Naruto crumpled his paper slip but steadied it after Iruka told him to stop trying to prove something; he later wrote, “Don’t rush to prove yourself.”
• Che and Sasuke noticed someone pass the classroom door, and Che later found Mizuki waiting in the corridor, where he deflected Mizuki’s questions about the mirror exercise.
• Che saw that Sasuke had written a reminder not to stiffen his stance, and Sasuke guessed that Che had written “smile.”
• Che waited for Naruto after class, returned Naruto’s note, and grew more suspicious when Mizuki passed the windows without entering.

Iruka’s class held a transformation quiz, where Naruto passed the preliminary assessment after restarting his attempt and focusing on a portrait’s collar. Che exposed Mizuki’s interference by requesting a retest, while Iruka publicly ordered Mizuki not to disrupt the assessment.

• Sasuke produced a stable partial transformation, while Kiyo’s attempt at the cat made the class laugh.
• Naruto restarted his attempt after Iruka prompted him, used Sasuke’s reminder to shape the portrait’s collar, and passed the preliminaries despite unstable technique.
• Che drew a police ninja portrait and deliberately left its scar misplaced before Mizuki interrupted him with a correction.
• Che requested a retest, saying Mizuki’s prompt had interrupted the assessment, and Iruka granted it while telling Mizuki not to interfere.
• Che drew the messenger Chunin on his second attempt and passed with moderate stability; Iruka later posted the results, and Naruto celebrated his preliminary pass.

Naruto learned to distinguish observation from evaluation after Mizuki gave him practice advice designed to appeal to his desire for recognition. Iruka recorded the advice and changed the next day's schedule, while Che recognized that Naruto was beginning to notice Mizuki's attempts to influence him.

• Mizuki gave Naruto a written practice suggestion, but Naruto paused and decided to show it to Iruka first.
• Iruka used Mizuki's advice to teach the class how to distinguish observations from evaluations, and Naruto identified one suggestion as an evaluation.
• Naruto admitted that the promise of being seen by everyone was the advice most likely to lead him astray, then noted that it was easiest to be led by.
• Iruka placed Mizuki's advice in the Academic Affairs Room's records, and Mizuki's smile briefly faded when he saw it.
• Iruka barred Mizuki from taking students for extra practice and scheduled observation, judgment, and three Transformation Technique tests for the next morning.

Mizuki tried to draw Naruto into revealing what he most wanted others to see during an unauthorized private exercise, but Iruka and Sasuke exposed the suspicious classroom reservation. Naruto left knowing he had not given Mizuki the answer he wanted, while Che noticed evidence that Mizuki had tampered with more than the Gray Booklet.

• During the combined test, Naruto carefully separated his observations about a Chunin from his guesses and evaluations, and Mizuki recorded that Naruto had an active imagination.
• Mizuki brought Naruto, Kiyo, Rina, and Che to an unregistered classroom and asked them to describe how they wanted others to see them.
• Mizuki pressed Naruto about wanting to be strong, dependable, or no longer ignored, but Naruto hesitated and remembered the advice not to rush to prove himself.
• Iruka arrived with Sasuke, who presented a reservation form bearing a suspicious signature, and Teacher Mizuno denied reserving the classroom.
• Sasuke identified differences in the signature's pen pressure, and Iruka confronted Mizuki as the students left.
• Naruto told Che he had not handed over the answer in his heart, while Che noticed red stamp ink beneath Mizuki's cuff.

Che, Sasuke, and Naruto found a hidden sheet in the Gray Booklet that showed Mizuki had been tracking their weaknesses and planning how to influence them. Iruka secured the evidence and restricted access to student records, while Naruto prepared to face Mizuki at the next morning’s tests.

• Naruto insisted on staying as Iruka revealed a concealed sheet describing how he, Sasuke, and Che could be influenced.
• Che noticed the red marks and handwriting linked to Mizuki, while faint indentations on the sheet included the fragments “response” and “alone.”
• Iruka connected the empty-classroom form’s stamp to a temporary activity registration stamp and said Mizuki might have borrowed the key or known which form would escape immediate review.
• Iruka sealed the evidence, required two teachers to attend extra practice, and requested that Mizuki’s access to student records be suspended.
• Iruka told Naruto that Mizuki would watch him during the next morning’s tests, and Naruto vowed not to hand himself over to anyone watching.

Iruka enforced the Demonstration Group’s published entry rules while Mizuki watched for a chance to alter the results. Naruto passed the first stage of short transformation and resisted Mizuki’s push to rush ahead, as the Academic Affairs Director arrived with Iruka’s document pouch.

• Iruka posted rules barring last-minute recommendations, and Mizuki stopped openly pressing Naruto’s case while keeping an old list on his clipboard.
• Mizuno named Sasuke Uchiha, Morita Yu, and Rina for the first round; each passed the observation and judgment stages.
• Naruto observed a security ninja portrait, separated facts from opinions, and passed the first stage of short transformation.
• Mizuki urged Naruto to attempt the whole test, but Naruto chose to stop at the first stage, and Iruka recorded his result.
• Iruka blocked Mizuki from handling the original test forms and said Mizuno would keep them until results were announced.
• The Academic Affairs Director appeared in the doorway with the document pouch Iruka had submitted, and Mizuki’s smile faltered.

Naruto passed the initial phase of the consecutive tests and openly rejected Mizuki’s attempt to direct his practice. The Academic Affairs Director restricted Mizuki’s access to student records, but Che and Sasuke suspected Mizuki would try another approach.

• Che deliberately performed an incomplete transformation, explaining that chakra stability came before completeness, while Sasuke improved his posture during a retest.
• Teacher Mizuno placed Sasuke, Rina, and Morita Yu in the stable group and put Che, Kiyo, and Naruto in the initial-phase pass group.
• Naruto told Mizuki he would practice but would not go to the empty classroom or use Mizuki’s extra sheet.
• The Academic Affairs Director summoned Mizuki to explain the classroom booking, temporary activity stamp, and sheet in the student records, and placed the original records under Iruka and Mizuno’s joint signatures.
• Iruka told Naruto to stabilize the initial phase three times before moving on, and Naruto shared his result without shouting.
• Che and Sasuke agreed that Mizuki would find another way to act, while Naruto wrote, “Don’t rush to prove yourself” and “Stop short first.”

Iruka and the Academic Affairs Director confronted Mizuki over unauthorized records, a vacant classroom booking, and a temporary activity stamp. Naruto stated that he no longer wanted to go to the vacant classroom alone, and Mizuki was restricted from handling records and arranging groups by himself, though he left looking for another way to reach the students.

• The Academic Affairs Director questioned Mizuki about the altered records, vacant classroom booking, and unauthorized stamp, while Iruka and Che challenged his explanations.
• Naruto told the Academic Affairs Director that he did not want to go to the vacant classroom alone anymore.
• The Academic Affairs Director required two signatures for original student records, suspended Mizuki from handling records alone and arranging temporary groups, and required two teachers to be present for vacant classroom use.
• Mizuki accepted the restrictions calmly and asked to review the original records, then left after studying the Office of Academic Affairs doorplate.
• Iruka affirmed that Naruto had spoken correctly, and Naruto told Kiyo that he had refused to go to the vacant classroom.

Iruka and Mizuno used a dual-signature ledger to record the students’ observations, while Che helped them distinguish what they had seen from what others wanted them to notice. Naruto became more deliberate about judging for himself and firmly told Mizuki he would review the summary sheet himself, leaving the classroom’s conflict unresolved for tomorrow.

• Iruka and Mizuno introduced observation-only records and peer reviews, and Naruto described specific details in a portrait while separating observations from impressions.
• Mizuki gave Kiyo a suggestion to expand his notes, but Che prompted Kiyo to write what he had noticed for himself.
• Sasuke asked Iruka what happened when someone changed the paper but not the person, and Iruka said keeping the paper mattered.
• Iruka refused to let Mizuki take the day’s records, and Naruto asked to take a copy of the summary sheet home.
• The students wrote their key observations, including Naruto’s “See first, then act,” and Naruto told Mizuki he would examine the sheet’s contents himself.