Chapter Summaries

After learning that Konoha had mobilized for a surprise attack, Rasa, Ōnoki, and A ordered their forces to advance rather than retreat. Hiruzen Sarutobi led Konoha’s rain-soaked army toward the front, but its slow pace left it vulnerable as an unknown figure approached through the trees.

• Rasa destroyed the surrender letter and ordered the puppet units and army to attack before the planned date.
• Ōnoki rejected defensive preparations and ordered Kitsuchi and two thousand Explosive Corps troops to advance without taking prisoners or negotiating.
• A welcomed Konoha’s mobilization and ordered Kumogakure to race ahead of Hidden Rock Village and Sunagakure into the Land of Fire, while Killer B joined his enthusiasm.
• Hiruzen led Konoha’s several-thousand-strong army through torrential rain and learned it would take three days to reach the first canyon defensive line.
• A figure raced over the slick tree trunks beside the column, and Hiruzen’s ANBU called out to identify them.

Yamanaka Inoichi warned Hiruzen that all four neighboring nations had launched a coordinated assault on Konoha’s borders. Hiruzen ordered the army split, with weaker shinobi escorting supplies while the elites abandoned their gear and raced to reinforce the fronts.

• Yamanaka Inoichi arrived with a report that the defensive lines bordering the Land of Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water had all come under attack at once.
• Hiruzen realized the four nations had coordinated a full-scale offensive intended to destroy Konoha.
• Nara Yanshui warned that the army could not reach the fronts in time while transporting its supplies.
• Hiruzen ordered genin and chunin below special jonin rank to escort the supplies and heavy equipment.
• Hiruzen ordered jonin, ANBU, and experienced chunin to travel light, while Inoichi relayed orders for the four defensive lines to hold until reinforcements arrived.
• Konoha’s elite shinobi abandoned their equipment and prepared to rush toward the fronts.

As the four nations launched a full-scale offensive, Hiruzen ordered Konoha’s forces split so its elites could race to the front while the rest carried supplies. Hyuga Seisen enforced the order, leaving fewer than four hundred capable shinobi to advance with him.

• Hiruzen ordered the elites to travel light and force-march while weaker shinobi stayed behind with the supplies.
• Seisen halted the fifteen-hundred-person column after receiving notice that all four nations had begun attacking.
• Seisen used his Byakugan to identify those unable to sustain the march and ordered them to the rear.
• When shinobi protested, Seisen told them their duty was to deliver supplies and warned they would burden the elites if they joined the advance.
• Most of the force turned back, leaving fewer than four hundred stable, capable shinobi with Seisen.

Hyuga Seisen drove his exhausted vanguard toward the Kikyo Mountain front while Outpost No. 3 came under a devastating Sunagakure puppet assault. Tanaka Tetsuo learned that Hyuga Seisen was leading the promised reinforcements, but the outpost’s gate fell before they arrived.

• Hyuga Seisen discarded his trench coat, ordered his four hundred soldiers to travel without rest or resupply, and surged ahead using Lightning Release chakra.
• Tanaka Tetsuo and the Konoha defenders fought off a wave of Sunagakure puppet attacks amid a sandstorm.
• Tanaka Tetsuo demanded to know when reinforcements would arrive, and the communications officer reported that Hyuga Seisen’s vanguard was rushing to the outpost.
• Tanaka Tetsuo cursed the Hyuga Clan and doubted the reinforcements would help before his men were killed.
• A massive ant puppet smashed through the outpost’s main gate, and hundreds of puppets poured inside.

Hyuga Seisen arrived at a besieged Konoha outpost and annihilated Sunagakure’s puppet army with enormous Fire Release techniques. He left Tanaka Tetsuo stunned and asked whether he was in charge.

• Tanaka Tetsuo and the Konoha ninja fought off Sunagakure puppets with Fire Release, but the enemy’s numbers overwhelmed them.
• Suzuki Yuma warned Tanaka that they needed a wide-area Fire Release, and Tanaka admitted he could not provide one.
• Hyuga Seisen descended into the outpost and destroyed the puppets at the gate with a gigantic Fireball Jutsu.
• Hyuga Seisen advanced on hundreds of elite puppets and vaporized them with Majestic Destroyer Flame, burning several hidden puppet masters through their chakra threads.
• Hyuga Seisen turned to the stunned Tanaka Tetsuo and asked if he was in charge of the outpost.

Hyuga Seisen healed the survivors at Outpost No. 3, then ordered a deceptive retreat after spotting Sunagakure's gathering forces. He told Tanaka Tetsuo that the other outposts would retreat too.

• Hyuga Seisen identified himself as the reinforcements' commander and ordered Tanaka Tetsuo to evacuate the wounded and clear the outpost.
• Hyuga Seisen used a Spirit Bow to heal the wounded Konoha ninjas with a rain of medical chakra.
• Hyuga Seisen used his Byakugan to observe Sunagakure's main force gathering in the rear.
• Hyuga Seisen ordered Tanaka Tetsuo to disguise the outpost's defenses, plant traps, and then retreat to the Kikyo Mountain main position.
• Hyuga Seisen told the stunned Tanaka Tetsuo that the other outposts would retreat as well.

Hyuga Seisen’s Shadow Clone took command of the Land of Wind front, and Tanaka Tetsuo chose to obey its withdrawal order rather than risk certain death. On the Land of Earth front, Hyuga Go and the Sternritter joined the battle and unleashed a barrage of spirit arrows against Hidden Rock Village’s explosive ninjas.

• Hyuga Seisen revealed that he was a Shadow Clone and ordered Tanaka Tetsuo to set traps and withdraw with his force.
• Tanaka Tetsuo convinced Suzuki Yuma that obeying the order was safer than staying, then ordered the troops to retreat toward Kikyo Mountain.
• On the Land of Earth front, Konoha’s defensive commander prepared a final charge as Hidden Rock Village’s Explosive Corps battered the line.
• Hyuga Go and more than a dozen Sternritter appeared atop the defensive line and formed spirit bows.
• Hyuga Go and the Sternritter fired Sacred Arrow: Scattershot, piercing Hidden Rock Village’s explosive ninjas and prompting their commander to raise earthen walls.

Hyuga Go and the Sternritter Corps used their Byakugan and spirit bows to rout the Hidden Rock Village vanguard, stopping its assault on Konoha’s position. Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with reinforcements and realized Hyuga Seisen had equipped ordinary Hyuga branch family members with fearsome new power.

• The Hidden Rock Village commander raised earth walls, but Hyuga Go’s unit used the Byakugan to see through them and fire precise arrows at the concealed ninja.
• The Hidden Rock Village elites hardened their bodies to deflect the arrows, so Hyuga Go switched to Demon-Breaking Arrows that pierced their defenses.
• Konoha’s veteran soldiers watched the Sternritter Corps turn the battle and rallied as the Hidden Rock Village vanguard’s assault faltered.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with several thousand Konoha elites and found the Hidden Rock Village Explosive Corps pinned down by the archers.
• Hiruzen recognized Seisen’s power in the Sternritter Corps and realized that Seisen could grant it to Hyuga branch family members in batches.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s forces routed the Hidden Rock Village army, while at Kikyo Mountain Sarutobi Ryoji ordered Tanaka Tetsuo and his survivors executed for abandoning their post. Hyuga Seisen crashed into the camp to save them, leaving Sarutobi Ryoji accusing him of rebellion.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi led Konoha’s reinforcements in a charge that forced the Hidden Rock Village army to retreat.
• Sarutobi Ryoji accused Tanaka Tetsuo and his troops of desertion and ordered them executed.
• Tanaka Tetsuo insisted that Hyuga Seisen had ordered the withdrawal, but Hyuga Yuu and Hyuga Takeo mocked the claim and urged punishment.
• Hyuga Seisen descended in a bolt of lightning, blasted apart the execution platform, and rescued Tanaka Tetsuo and Suzuki Yuma.
• Sarutobi Ryoji accused Hyuga Seisen of attacking headquarters and changing the army’s deployment without authorization.

Hyuga Seisen confronted Sarutobi Ryoji and the Hyuga elders after taking control of the Land of Wind front. Hiruzen Sarutobi’s sealed order confirmed Seisen’s authority, but Hyuga Yuu still ordered Hyuga Takeo to attack him using the Caged Bird seal.

• Sarutobi Ryoji, Hyuga Yuu, and Hyuga Takeo berated Seisen for changing deployments and protecting deserters.
• Seisen struck Ryoji across the face with a scroll and told him to pick it up and read it.
• Ryoji read Hiruzen Sarutobi’s order placing the front’s military command under Seisen and authorizing him to execute those who obstructed him.
• Hyuga Yuu called the order a forgery and commanded Takeo to seize Seisen.
• Takeo formed hand seals and charged at Seisen, intending to use the Caged Bird seal to cripple him.

Hyuga Seisen killed Hyuga Takeo and Hyuga Yuu after they attacked him and challenged his authority as battlefield commander. When Yuu tried to activate the Caged Bird curse, it had no effect on Seisen, and the chapter ended with Seisen closing Yuu’s eyes.

• Hyuga Takeo charged at Hyuga Seisen, who formed a Spirit Bow and shot Takeo through the head, pinning him to a wooden post.
• Hyuga Yuu accused Seisen of killing a clansman and dared him to attack, so Seisen declared that anyone who attacked the commander or undermined morale would die.
• Hyuga Yuu activated the Caged Bird curse, but Seisen remained unharmed and revealed the curse no longer affected him.
• Hyuga Seisen shot Hyuga Yuu through the heart and nailed him to the post beside Takeo.
• Hyuga Seisen reminded the dying Yuu that the main house was no exception, then closed his eyes after he died.

Hyuga Seisen seized command of the Land of Wind battlefield after killing Hyuga Yuu and cowing Sarutobi Ryoji, then ordered the Konoha forces to abandon their border defenses and retreat toward Kikyo Mountain. The troops questioned the order as Seisen pointed out how badly outnumbered they were by Sunagakure.

• Hyuga Seisen sealed Hyuga Yuu's corpse, declared himself supreme commander, and asked the camp who approved or opposed.
• Tanaka Tetsuo and Suzuki Yuma pledged their loyalty to Seisen, and the battered soldiers and officers followed their lead until Seisen controlled the front.
• Hyuga Yamato and the white-clad Reishi users arrived, followed by four hundred exhausted elites who were astonished by the group's movement technique.
• Seisen ordered the entire army to retreat to positions within twenty kilometers of Kikyo Mountain and threatened to execute anyone who delayed or disobeyed.
• An elderly jonin adviser challenged the retreat, and Seisen argued that the Konoha force had only fifteen hundred troops against more than ten thousand Sunagakure puppet masters and elite soldiers.

Hyuga Seisen rejected Sarutobi Ryoji’s plan to defend the sprawling border with scattered outposts and learned that Sunagakure had a force of fifteen thousand approaching. He suppressed the camp’s panic and began assigning a new strategy, leaving Tanaka Tetsuo awaiting his orders.

• Hyuga Seisen warned that Sunagakure could overwhelm Konoha’s scattered outposts and argued that the border should not be defended everywhere.
• Sarutobi Ryoji objected to surrendering territory he had spent years developing, and Hyuga Seisen challenged him to defend it himself.
• Hyuga Seisen took a message from a ninja hawk and learned that more than ten thousand Sunagakure troops were backed by another five thousand led by Rasa.
• An old strategist urged the officers to retreat, but Hyuga Seisen’s spiritual pressure silenced him and forced the camp to regain control.
• Hyuga Seisen marked two locations on the border map and summoned Tanaka Tetsuo, who knelt before him.

Hyuga Seisen divided Konoha’s outnumbered forces to defend Kikyo Mountain and ordered Sarutobi Ryoji to lead six hundred men against Rasa’s fifteen-thousand-strong army. When Ryoji protested, Seisen promised to send a Shadow Clone to help, then appeared beside him so suddenly that Ryoji could barely escape.

• Hyuga Seisen sent Tanaka Tetsuo and Yamashita Takashi with one thousand troops apiece to defend the mountain’s flanks.
• Hyuga Seisen kept four hundred troops, including members of the Sternritter, as a mobile force under Hyuga Yamato.
• Hyuga Seisen ordered Sarutobi Ryoji to lead the remaining six hundred men to Gourd Valley Slope and hold back Rasa’s army for one day.
• Sarutobi Ryoji protested that the order sent six hundred men against fifteen thousand on open ground, and accused Seisen of trying to kill him.
• Hyuga Seisen said a Shadow Clone would assist Ryoji, then appeared behind him without being sensed.
• Sarutobi Ryoji used the Body Flicker Technique to flee, but Hyuga Seisen’s voice sounded beside his ear again, calling him slow.

Hyuga Seisen’s Shadow Clone defeated Sarutobi Ryoji in three moves, leaving the veteran jonin pinned in the mud with a kunai at his throat. Tanaka Tetsuo and the surrounding Konoha ninja watched in stunned silence.

• Sarutobi Ryoji tried to stab the Shadow Clone from behind, but it caught his kunai with two fingers.
• The Shadow Clone disarmed Sarutobi Ryoji’s attacks and mocked the Sarutobi Clan’s close-combat techniques.
• As Sarutobi Ryoji began forming hand seals, the Shadow Clone vanished and struck him from below with a kick to the abdomen.
• The Shadow Clone pinned Sarutobi Ryoji with a kunai at his throat and declared that it had taken only three moves.
• Tanaka Tetsuo and the nearby Konoha ninja stared in shock at Sarutobi Ryoji’s defeat.

Hyuga Seisen forced Sarutobi Ryoji to accept command of six hundred men tasked with intercepting an army of fifteen thousand. Ryoji obeyed after Seisen threatened to kill him and hold his clan accountable, and Seisen ordered him to report for his men in one hour.

• Hyuga Seisen revealed that the powerful fighter who defeated Sarutobi Ryoji was only a Shadow Clone.
• Sarutobi Ryoji argued that six hundred men could not stop an army of fifteen thousand without being sacrificed.
• Hyuga Seisen ordered Sarutobi Ryoji to lead his six hundred men to intercept the enemy army.
• Hyuga Seisen threatened to kill Sarutobi Ryoji and punish his relatives if he disobeyed.
• Sarutobi Ryoji yielded, and Hyuga Seisen told him to report outside the camp in one hour.

Pakura urged Chiyo and Ebizo to send her to the Land of Fire front because she feared Hyuga Seisen’s suspected ability to devour Kekkei Genkai, but they used the Kazekage’s order to keep her at headquarters. Chiyo and Ebizo revealed that Rasa had also kept them behind while taking an enormous force to win a decisive victory and secure his position as Kazekage.

• Pakura demanded that Chiyo and Ebizo assemble her forces and send them to the Land of Fire front, warning them about Hyuga Seisen and his 125 million ryo bounty.
• Chiyo dismissed the reports about Seisen’s ability to devour Kekkei Genkai, while Pakura warned that Rasa had taken too many elite forces and risked the village’s entire foundation.
• Ebizo presented the Kazekage’s order requiring Pakura to remain at headquarters, and she reluctantly obeyed before leaving with the bounty notice.
• After Pakura left, Chiyo and Ebizo said Rasa had also kept them at headquarters to prevent the popular hero and experienced advisers from threatening his position.
• Chiyo and Ebizo concluded that Rasa had taken fifteen thousand regular troops, the Poison Sand Corps, and three thousand puppet masters to win a crushing victory and strengthen his rule.

Rasa celebrated Sunagakure’s rapid seizure of Konoha’s border positions, believing the gains would secure territory and strengthen his rule. Baki revealed that the vanguard had suffered catastrophic losses against empty camps, leaving Rasa enraged and demanding an explanation.

• Baki reported that Sunagakure’s vanguard had captured more than a dozen positions on the Kikyo Mountain front.
• Rasa celebrated the advance and imagined claiming Land of Fire territory and silencing his critics in Sunagakure.
• Baki revealed that the vanguard had suffered over sixty percent casualties and nearly all its elite puppet masters and mechanized puppets had been lost.
• Rasa tried to justify the losses as the price of taking Konoha’s fortified positions.
• Baki told Rasa that Konoha had abandoned the positions before the second attack, and Rasa erupted in anger.

After learning that Konoha’s traps and Hyuga Seisen’s immense Fire Release had devastated the Sand vanguard, Rasa convinced himself that Seisen’s chakra-draining Kekkei Genkai had severe limits. He ordered his army to capture Sarutobi Ryoji and other Konoha leaders alive, believing Konoha’s commanders were divided and their defensive line was ripe for attack.

• Baki told Rasa that explosive-tag traps had destroyed several outposts and that Hyuga Seisen’s Fire Release had incinerated Sand puppets and troops.
• Rasa decided Seisen could not freely use his chakra-draining Kekkei Genkai and urged Baki to treat that conclusion cautiously.
• Baki reported that Sarutobi Ryoji had stayed at the rear headquarters instead of joining the front lines.
• Rasa ordered the Sand forces to capture Konoha soldiers alive, especially Sarutobi Ryoji, so he could use them as bargaining chips after the war.
• Rasa dismissed Baki’s concern that Seisen might have taken command, reasoning that Sarutobi Ryoji would not surrender authority to a young Hyuga branch-family member.
• Baki left to carry out the orders while Rasa prepared to attack Konoha’s defensive line.

Hyuga Seisen assigned Sarutobi Ryoji six hundred death-row prisoners to lead in a blocking battle at Gourd Valley, then promised the prisoners freedom if they obeyed. When they tried to attack him, Seisen’s Shadow Clone summoned a Spirit Bow and fired an arrow past their leader.

• Tanaka Tetsuo and Yamashita Takashi led two thousand troops out of Konoha Main Camp with forty percent of the supplies.
• Hyuga Seisen arrived with six hundred shackled death-row prisoners and told Sarutobi Ryoji to lead them to Gourd Valley.
• Sarutobi Ryoji protested that the prisoners would kill him, but Seisen ordered him to obey.
• The bald prisoner demanded immediate freedom and urged the others to attack Seisen.
• Seisen promised the prisoners freedom if they completed the blocking battle, then his Shadow Clone fired a spirit-particle arrow past the bald man's scalp.