Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Xuan Yu intervened when Hyuga Changliu tried to punish Neji, then stopped another Main Family member from activating Neji’s Caged Bird curse. Neji fought back and left Changliu bleeding after demonstrating his own Gentle Fist technique.

• Xuan Yu confronted Hyuga Changliu and crushed the fingers on both of his hands when Changliu refused to release Neji.
• Xuan Yu told Neji to fight Changliu fairly, and Neji charged the Hyuga elder and knocked him down with one strike.
• A Main Family member activated Neji’s Caged Bird curse, but Xuan Yu pinned him to a tree with a kunai before the curse could take hold.
• Changliu attacked Neji with Gentle Fist Art·64 Palms, but Neji blocked his strikes and mocked him.
• Neji unleashed his Gentle Fist Art Manifestations and struck Changliu until he spat blood and flew backward.

Neji defeated Hyuga Changliu and prepared to brand him with the Caged Bird Curse Mark, arguing that the Main Family used it to control the Branch House. Xuanyu stopped him before he could complete the branding, saying Changliu still had uses.

• Neji's attack and Changliu's fall shattered most of Changliu's bones, leaving him unable to move.
• Changliu mocked Neji for being bound by the Caged Bird, but Neji threatened to kill him and asked whether Changliu would have shown him mercy.
• Neji began applying the Caged Bird to Changliu, while another Main House member defended the curse mark as protection for the clan.
• Neji accused the Main Family of using the mark to control and humiliate the Branch House, then started channeling chakra into Changliu's forehead.
• Xuanyu told Neji to leave Changliu alive and postpone branding him because Changliu still had uses.

Xuanyu stopped Neji from killing the Hyūga Main House members, then ordered Neji to capture them as test subjects for removing the Caged Bird curse. Meanwhile, Mizuki saw an opportunity to approach Naruto after the Anbu guard left him.

• Neji slowed his attack when Xuanyu intervened and agreed to spare the Hyūga clansmen at Xuanyu’s request.
• Xuanyu revealed that he wanted the Hyūga members as test subjects for experiments to remove Neji’s Caged Bird curse.
• Xuanyu ordered Neji to bind the clansmen and keep the two Main House members alive, without placing the Caged Bird on them.
• Neji subdued the clansmen, and Xuanyu used Space-Time Ninjutsu to take two of them to the Lakeside Laboratory.
• Mizuki noticed Naruto’s Anbu guard had left and decided to approach Naruto.

Naruto met the Nine-Tails in his Spiritual World and learned that it was sealed inside him, but refused to release it because he feared people would become even more afraid. After the Nine-Tails failed to distract him with a story, Mizuki approached Naruto, seeing an opportunity in his resentment toward Konoha.

• Naruto wondered why the villagers still avoided him despite his efforts to please them.
• The Nine-Tails introduced itself as a Tailed Beast and told Naruto that people feared it because they coveted power they could not control.
• The Nine-Tails urged Naruto to tear off its seal, but Naruto refused because he thought its escape would frighten the villagers more.
• The Nine-Tails tried to tell Naruto a story about the Great Demon Fox, but Naruto grew sleepy and left the Mental Space.
• Naruto considered asking the Third Hokage why the Nine-Tails was sealed inside him as Mizuki approached, sensing Naruto's resentment toward Konoha.

Mizuki gained Naruto’s trust by pretending to sympathize with his loneliness and questions about the villagers’ hatred. He revealed that the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was Naruto’s father, then began explaining the tailed beasts and jinchuriki.

• Mizuki sat beside Naruto and gently asked why he was alone and unhappy.
• Naruto asked Mizuki why the villagers avoided him and called him the demon fox.
• Mizuki claimed Naruto’s parents were heroes, then told him that Minato Namikaze, carved on Hokage Rock, was his father.
• Naruto struggled to believe Mizuki and asked why people still treated him as the demon fox.
• Mizuki began to explain that Naruto’s rejection was connected to tailed beasts and jinchuriki.

Mizuki told Naruto that he was the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki and claimed Sarutobi Hiruzen had helped isolate him while concealing his parentage. Naruto began questioning the Hokage’s motives and whether he had been denied the pension and inheritance due to him as the Fourth Hokage’s child.

• Naruto asked Mizuki what Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki were, and Mizuki revealed that Naruto carried the Nine-Tails.
• The Nine-Tails disputed Mizuki’s account of its attack on Konoha, saying it had been controlled and had never wanted to harm the village.
• Naruto asked whether being a Jinchuriki explained why people avoided him, and Mizuki said Sarutobi Hiruzen had warned others not to approach him.
• Mizuki said Sarutobi had hidden Naruto’s identity as the Fourth Hokage’s child and suggested Naruto ask Uchiha Xuan Yu, who had ignored the warning to stay away.
• Mizuki told Naruto that he should have received a substantial pension, monthly subsidies, and the Fourth Hokage’s inheritance, prompting Naruto to question why he had struggled to live.

Mizuki told Naruto that the Hokage had kept close to him because he was a Jinchuriki and a weapon for Konoha, leaving Naruto shaken and wary of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Mizuki then urged Naruto to become strong enough to control the Nine-Tails and hinted that he knew a way to help him reach Hashirama Senju’s level.

• Naruto recalled his lonely childhood and began to doubt Sarutobi Hiruzen’s care for him.
• Mizuki told Naruto that Jinchuriki were Konoha’s war machines and that the Hokage needed to keep them under control.
• The Nine-Tails urged Naruto to accept its power and undo the seal, but Mizuki’s call helped Naruto regain his senses.
• Naruto concealed his resentment toward Sarutobi Hiruzen and asked Mizuki how he could control the Nine-Tails.
• Mizuki said Naruto could become strong enough to defeat a Tailed Beast and claimed he knew a way to help him reach Hashirama Senju’s strength.

Mizuki manipulated Naruto into believing that the Third Hokage and the Anbu had conspired against him, then pointed him toward the Sealing Scroll in central Konoha. Naruto headed home with resentment growing and red Chakra emerging from his body, while Mizuki waited for him to steal the scroll.

• Naruto asked Mizuki how he could become stronger, and Mizuki told him the Sealing Scroll held powerful ninjutsu suited to someone special like him.
• Mizuki hinted that the scroll was kept at the center of Konoha, then pretended he had to leave when two Anbu appeared.
• The Anbu warned Mizuki not to involve himself in Naruto's affairs, and Mizuki left while concealing his satisfaction.
• Naruto took the warning as proof that the Third Hokage had been controlling his life and wondered if he was a Jinchuriki.
• Naruto headed home thinking about the Sealing Scroll as red Chakra seeped from him, while Mizuki watched and planned to take the scroll through him.

Xuanyu brought captured Hyuga Main Family members to Owuya Bai’s underground laboratory for research into the Caged Bird Curse Mark. After learning they had hunted Neji and that the curse had damaged his spirit and soul, Owuya Bai agreed to use the captives for experiments, while Neji’s Main Family captives protested.

• Xuanyu brought several wounded Hyuga clansmen, including Main Family members, to Owuya Bai’s laboratory, then brought Neji there as well.
• Owuya Bai worried that Neji had helped capture them and might be targeted by the Main Family, but Xuanyu explained that they had been hunting Neji after he crippled Hyuga Changliu’s son.
• Owuya Bai examined Neji and found that repeated activations of the Caged Bird Curse Mark had damaged his spirit and soul, so he advised Neji to rest and practice the Spirit Transformation Technique.
• Xuanyu argued that the Hyuga captives had tried to kill Neji and could not be released, and Owuya Bai agreed to use them for Caged Bird experiments.
• Hyuga Changliu condemned Owuya Bai for participating in the experiments, but Owuya Bai kicked him and denounced the Main Family’s treatment of the Branch House.

Xuanyu considered transplanting Hyuga Changliu’s Byakugan into Kimimaro, whose body had grown vastly stronger alongside Jugo’s. Kimimaro weighed the risks as Owuya Bai and Xuanyu assured him that his original eyes could be preserved and Hua Yu could help with the transplant.

• Hyuga Changliu threatened that the Hyuga Main Family would retaliate if he disappeared, but Owuya Bai’s words convinced him that Owuya Bai would not help him.
• Kimimaro and Jugo arrived at the Experiment Base, displaying the strength and physical changes they had gained through years of enhancements.
• Xuanyu welcomed Kimimaro and asked whether he wanted Hyuga Changliu’s Byakugan transplanted into him.
• Kimimaro hesitated over the risk of losing his sight, while Hyuga Changliu and another Main House member protested that Xuanyu wanted to take their eyes.
• Owuya Bai offered to preserve Kimimaro’s original eyes, and Xuanyu said Hua Yu could help with the transplant and reduce the risk of rejection.

Xuanyu arranged for Kimimaro to attempt a Byakugan fusion and agreed to help Neji fuse with Shikotsumyaku Cells. Meanwhile, the Hyuga elders waited for the missing attackers, and Naruto slipped out of his home at night.

• Kimimaro agreed to try fusing with the Byakugan, and Jugo and Neji asked to test their physical strength against Xuanyu.
• Owuya Bai estimated that preparing the eye transplant would take at least ten days, while Neji asked to fuse with Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku Cells.
• After warning Neji that the procedure carried only a twenty-percent chance of success, Xuanyu agreed to assist him in a few days.
• Deidara learned that Hyuga Changliu and the others had tried to kill Neji, then kicked them before Owuya Bai reminded him they were test subjects.
• The Eighth Elder and Fourth Elder discussed the missing Hyuga Changliu and reaffirmed their desire to kill Neji.
• Naruto quietly left his residence after checking that no one was watching.

Naruto sneaked into Konoha’s wooden pavilion to steal the Sealing Scroll while Anbu watched and debated whether to stop him. Nine-Tails helped him track the guards, and the chapter ended with Sarutobi Hiruzen asking Asuma why Kakashi still had not handed Naruto over.

• Naruto left home at night and headed for Konoha’s storage pavilion, intending to steal the Sealing Scroll and leave the village to learn its jutsu.
• Two Anbu followed Naruto and called for help after he entered the pavilion, but they held back under orders not to interfere unless necessary.
• Nine-Tails told Naruto that six people had been watching him and that one had gone to the Hokage Building for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Naruto thanked Nine-Tails for helping him, refused to borrow his power, and began searching the pavilion for the Sealing Scroll.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen asked Asuma why Kakashi still had not handed Naruto over to him.

Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that Naruto had infiltrated the Wooden Pavilion and suspected Mizuki had manipulated him into stealing its ninjutsu. He ordered the Anbu to search for Mizuki and planned to use Iruka to make Naruto feel betrayed and then comforted, while Naruto found the Sealing Scroll.

• Sarutobi Asuma told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Kakashi had refused to let him teach Naruto, and the two discussed their growing hostility toward Kakashi.
• An Anbu ninja reported that Naruto had entered the Wooden Pavilion, and Sarutobi Hiruzen suspected Mizuki had directed him there.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the Anbu to search for Mizuki and told them to let Naruto take a scroll, then have Iruka intervene at the critical moment.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen watched Naruto search the Wooden Pavilion through a Crystal Ball and saw him stop before the Sealing Scroll.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Sarutobi Asuma planned to use Naruto Uzumaki’s future as a Jinchuriki to advance Asuma’s prospects, while Naruto took the Sealing Scroll and fled toward the village outskirts. Naruto left with several watchers and Mizuki pursuing him.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen persuaded Sarutobi Asuma that Naruto could not escape, then argued that Asuma should eventually win Naruto’s support to strengthen his claim to the Hokage position.
• Sarutobi Asuma said Kakashi should teach Naruto for now, and Sarutobi Hiruzen agreed while planning to make the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi heirs Asuma’s students.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen urged Sarutobi Asuma to help manage the Sarutobi Police Force, and the two returned their attention to Naruto through the Crystal Ball.
• The Nine-Tails told Naruto that several ninja, including Mizuki, were watching him and that more people were approaching.
• Naruto decided to escape with the Sealing Scroll, ran toward the village outskirts, and was followed by his watchers and Mizuki.

Naruto used Shadow Clones to evade the Konoha pursuers and bought time to study the Sealing Scroll. As someone approached, he was still outside the village with the scroll open.

• Naruto and two Shadow Clones escaped over Konoha's wall and scattered in different directions.
• Konoha's pursuers split up to track Naruto, while Mizuki pursued one of the clones to seize the Sealing Scroll.
• An Anbu ninja told Iruka that Naruto had stolen the scroll and asked him to calm Naruto down and bring him back.
• Iruka chose a direction and pursued Naruto, hoping to find him before Mizuki did.
• Naruto used more Shadow Clones in the forest, then stopped after the Nine-Tails reported that no one was nearby.
• Naruto opened the Sealing Scroll and read its ninjutsu until faint footsteps approached.

Naruto pretended to be an innocent, frightened boy as Mizuki tried to manipulate him into handing over the Sealing Scroll. Mizuki prepared to take it by force, while the Nine-Tails warned Naruto that people watching him had arrived.

• Mizuki approached Naruto, who acted as if he had only just noticed him and showed him the Sealing Scroll.
• Mizuki claimed Naruto had broken Konoha's rules and offered to help him avoid punishment, while Naruto feigned fear and uncertainty.
• Mizuki urged Naruto to leave Konoha with him, but Naruto pretended he did not want to abandon his home.
• Mizuki asked Naruto to give him the scroll so he could flee Konoha and teach Naruto its ninjutsu later.
• Naruto noticed Mizuki's hostility, and the Nine-Tails warned him that people watching him had arrived.

Naruto pretended to worry about Mizuki while secretly keeping the Sealing Scroll and stalling for time until Konoha's watchers arrived. Iruka and the Anbu saw Naruto's apparent kindness, while Uchiha Xuan Yu watched from nearby as Mizuki grew furious.

• Naruto told the Nine Tails that the real show was about to begin, having already memorized ninjutsu from the Sealing Scroll and planned to wait for his watchers.
• Iruka and several Anbu arrived and watched from hiding as Mizuki tried to persuade Naruto to hand over the scroll.
• Naruto pretended he did not want Mizuki to take the blame and said he would return to Konoha, confess, and explain Mizuki's role to the Hokage.
• Iruka and the Anbu were moved by Naruto's apparent concern for Konoha and resolved to report what they had witnessed.
• Uchiha Xuan Yu observed Naruto's act from a tree, while Mizuki lost patience and demanded the Sealing Scroll.

Mizuki tried to seize the Sealing Scroll from Naruto, but Iruka intervened and confronted him. Mizuki then turned Naruto against Iruka by revealing that the Nine-Tails had killed Iruka’s parents, leaving Naruto to ask Iruka if it was true.

• Mizuki lunged for the Sealing Scroll, but Naruto evaded him and said he planned to apologize to Hokage-sama.
• An Anbu ninja sent Iruka to stop Mizuki, and Iruka’s shuriken forced Mizuki to retreat from the scroll.
• Iruka reassured Naruto and accused Mizuki of deceiving him and trying to steal the Sealing Scroll by force.
• Naruto pretended to be confused as Mizuki claimed Iruka wanted him punished and had no reason to care for him.
• Mizuki revealed that the Nine-Tails had killed Iruka’s parents, and Naruto asked Iruka whether the monster inside him had done it.

Naruto Uzumaki pretended to be heartbroken by Mizuki’s revelations while secretly waiting for the right moment as Mizuki tried to seize the Sealing Scroll. Iruka took Mizuki’s shuriken for Naruto, while hidden Anbu watched and Sarutobi Hiruzen grew anxious at losing track of the scene.

• Naruto listened as Mizuki urged him to leave Konoha with the Sealing Scroll, while Iruka tried to stop Mizuki and defend Naruto.
• Mizuki demanded the Sealing Scroll, and Naruto pretended to reject his offer and return it to Grandpa Hokage.
• When Mizuki attacked Naruto with three shuriken, Iruka stepped in front of him and was struck in the back.
• Iruka told Naruto he was innocent and said he regretted resenting him; Naruto embraced Iruka and asked Mizuki why he had tried to kill him.
• Mizuki admitted he had told Naruto the truth to obtain the Sealing Scroll, while hidden Anbu chose to keep watching because they believed Naruto was safe.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen saw no one in the Crystal Ball and worried that the mission had gone out of control.

Sarutobi Hiruzen worried that Naruto had vanished from the Crystal Ball and insisted the Jinchuriki remain under his control. Outside Konoha, Naruto used Iruka as a shield while fleeing Mizuki, leaving Iruka gravely wounded and pleading for help as Xuanyu watched.

• Sarutobi Asuma questioned Sarutobi Hiruzen's concern, but Sarutobi Hiruzen insisted Naruto was a valuable trump card and suspected others were involved in Mizuki's scheme.
• Mizuki demanded the Sealing Scroll from Naruto and threatened to release the Tailed Beast inside him if he refused.
• Naruto ducked behind Iruka, causing Mizuki's kunai to strike Iruka's shoulder, then carried him toward Konoha while using him to block Mizuki's shuriken.
• The hidden Anbu ninja admired Iruka's sacrifice, mistaking Naruto's actions for a way to deepen the Jinchuriki's bond with his teacher.
• Xuanyu realized Naruto was deliberately using Iruka as a shield, while Iruka, near collapse from blood loss, pleaded with the hidden Anbu to save him.