Chapter Summaries

Naruto carried a badly wounded Iruka through the woods while Mizuki pursued them, as the watching Anbu mistook Iruka’s desperate cries for a deliberate plan to strengthen his bond with Naruto. The chapter left Iruka unconscious with Mizuki threatening him, while the Anbu finally wondered whether Iruka had passed out.

• Iruka tried to direct Naruto toward the hidden Anbu and call for help, but Mizuki struck him again before he could finish.
• Naruto kept carrying Iruka in circles, and the Anbu continued waiting for Iruka to signal them, praising his supposed dedication.
• Mizuki hit Iruka with a gigantic shuriken, and Naruto stopped to find Iruka’s back covered in weapons.
• Naruto set Iruka down, refused to reveal his strength, and let the Anbu believe he was willing to fight Mizuki for his teacher.
• Mizuki caught up, overpowered Naruto, and pressed a shuriken to Iruka’s throat; the Anbu then noticed Iruka might have passed out.

Anbu intervened just as Mizuki was about to kill Iruka, then blamed Mizuki for stealing the Sealing Scroll and attacking his fellow villagers. Mizuki drank Orochimaru’s potion and transformed into a powerful, spiked brute, leaving the Anbu to urge Naruto to flee with Iruka and seek reinforcements.

• An Anbu ninja knocked Mizuki’s shuriken aside and led the Anbu in surrounding him as he prepared to strike Iruka.
• The Anbu accused Mizuki of stealing the Sealing Scroll and attacking Iruka, while Naruto rushed to Iruka’s side and blamed Mizuki for his injuries.
• Mizuki rejected the Anbu’s demand to surrender and revealed a dark red potion given to him by Orochimaru.
• Mizuki drank the potion, endured a painful transformation, and emerged larger, stronger, and covered in sharp bone spikes.
• The Anbu drew their kunai and told Naruto to take the injured Iruka to Konoha for reinforcements while they held Mizuki off.

Naruto fled toward Konoha with the injured Iruka after Mizuki took a life-draining potion that greatly increased his strength. Mizuki defeated the Anbu and pursued Naruto for the Sealing Scroll as Sarutobi watched Naruto’s escape through the Telescope Technique.

• An Anbu ninja urged Naruto to leave, and Naruto carried Iruka toward Konoha while avoiding the transformed Mizuki.
• Xuanyu identified Mizuki’s potion as a mixture of several powerful genes that pushed his life force to its limits.
• Mizuki overwhelmed four Konoha Jonin and chased Naruto to seize the Sealing Scroll.
• The Nine-Tails offered Naruto its Chakra, but Naruto refused to risk opening the seal and ran faster.
• Sarutobi spotted Naruto and Iruka in the Crystal Ball, then saw Mizuki catch up and strike Iruka’s back.

Naruto and Iruka were caught by the transformed Mizuki, who claimed to have defeated the Anbu and demanded the Sealing Scroll. As Mizuki prepared to attack Naruto, Naruto refused to run, determined that someone should report his performance to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

• Naruto landed on Iruka and accidentally woke him, while Mizuki caught up and demanded the Sealing Scroll.
• Iruka signaled the hidden Anbu for help, but no one responded, and Mizuki claimed he had defeated them.
• Naruto confirmed that masked Anbu had tried to stop Mizuki, leaving Iruka stunned that a Chunin could overpower Jonin.
• Mizuki lifted Iruka by the forehead and argued that his borrowed power had made him strong enough to protect what he wanted.
• Mizuki targeted Naruto, and the Nine-Tails offered to lend him Chakra, but Naruto refused to flee.

Naruto stalled Mizuki while trying to save Iruka, but Mizuki seized the Sealing Scroll and wounded him. Naruto then used the Nine-Tails' Chakra to perform the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, astonishing Sarutobi Hiruzen and Sarutobi Asuma as Mizuki charged into the clones.

• Naruto offered Mizuki the Sealing Scroll in exchange for Iruka's freedom, then proposed that Iruka take a Soldier Pill and escape while Naruto stayed behind.
• Mizuki pretended to consider Naruto's terms, then attacked and wounded him before taking the Sealing Scroll.
• Naruto discovered he could not destroy the scroll and asked the Nine-Tails to lend him Chakra.
• Naruto performed the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, creating a crowd of clones that Mizuki charged into.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and Sarutobi Asuma watched from the Hokage Office and were shocked that Naruto had learned the technique.

Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that Naruto was using Multiple Shadow Clone to fight Mizuki and rushed to intervene. Naruto outlasted the potion’s effects, leaving Mizuki withered and helpless just as Sarutobi arrived.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen explained to Asuma that Naruto could use Multiple Shadow Clone because he drew on the Nine-Tails' Chakra, then ordered the Sarutobi Police Force to mobilize and hurried to save him.
• Naruto’s clones surrounded Mizuki and wore him down while Naruto kept replenishing them with the Nine-Tails' Chakra.
• After the clones vanished, Naruto questioned Mizuki, then attacked while hidden clones grabbed Mizuki’s ankles from underground.
• Mizuki’s potion wore off, and his body rapidly withered until he could barely stand.
• Mizuki said he needed to find Orochimaru, and Sarutobi Hiruzen asked whether Orochimaru had made him this way.

Sarutobi Hiruzen questioned Mizuki about Orochimaru, then spoke privately with Naruto about the Nine-Tails and his hidden identity. Naruto pretended to accept Hiruzen’s explanation, but left distrustful, while Hiruzen learned the injured Anbu had survived.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen questioned Mizuki, who said Orochimaru had planted a Cursed Seal on him and ordered him to steal the Sealing Scroll.
• Sarutobi Asuma arrived with the Sarutobi Police Force and took Mizuki away for interrogation, while Hiruzen sent him to search for the injured masked ninja.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen took Naruto to the Hokage Office and explained that Naruto’s father had sealed the Tailed Beast inside him so Naruto could protect the village.
• Naruto apologized and acted as though he understood Hiruzen, but left the office believing Hiruzen had deceived him.
• Sarutobi Asuma reported that Mizuki had seriously injured the Anbu, who had all been taken to the hospital.

Sarutobi Hiruzen questioned the injured Iruka and Anbu about the Sealing Scroll incident, and their accounts convinced him that Naruto remained loyal to Konoha. After the injured ninja pleaded for Naruto to be spared, Hiruzen learned from Sarutobi Asuma that Mizuki had manipulated Naruto and asked whether Mizuki had revealed anything about Orochimaru.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen had the doctors wake the injured Iruka and Anbu at Konoha Hospital so he could question them.
• Iruka told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Naruto had regretted taking the Sealing Scroll, resisted Mizuki's coaxing, and risked himself to save Iruka.
• An Anbu ninja confirmed that Naruto had carried Iruka while fleeing and had not abandoned him.
• Iruka and the Anbu pleaded with Sarutobi Hiruzen to forgive Naruto, and Hiruzen reassured them that Naruto had already been sent home.
• Sarutobi Asuma told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Mizuki had manipulated Naruto, and Hiruzen asked whether Mizuki had revealed information about Orochimaru.

Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Ibiki to interrogate Mizuki again for information about Orochimaru, while Orochimaru refined artificial human bodies as potential vessels for Living Corpse Reincarnation. The chapter ended with Xuanyu preparing to replace Kimimaro's Byakugan.

• Sarutobi Asuma told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Mizuki claimed he did not know where Orochimaru was hiding, but Hiruzen ordered Ibiki to question him again.
• Konoha returned to calm over the following days, and the Ninja School delayed its class assignments.
• Orochimaru recorded the results of artificial human experiment subject No. 5 and explained to Yakushi Kabuto that he planned to use an artificial human body for reincarnation.
• Orochimaru told Kabuto that Mizuki was no longer useful and said his hidden ninja in Konoha had never contacted him, so there was no need to rescue him.
• Xuanyu told Hua Yu it was time to replace Kimimaro's Byakugan.

Xuan Yu and Owuya Bai prepared Kimimaro and Neji for a Byakugan transplant, while Deidara pressed Owuya Bai to develop Curse Marks that could absorb other Chakra attributes. As the transplant began, Hyuga Changliu recognized Neji and pleaded with him to intervene.

• Deidara confronted Owuya Bai about the delayed research into attribute-absorbing Curse Marks, and Xuan Yu persuaded him to wait.
• Owuya Bai confirmed that Kimimaro and Neji were healthy and ready for their procedures.
• Owuya Bai explained that Kimimaro's bloodline was compatible with the Byakugan, so the eyes should be transplanted directly rather than cultivated first.
• Kimimaro and Neji agreed to proceed, and Xuan Yu signaled for the operation to begin.
• Jugo brought in Hyuga Changliu, who threatened Xuan Yu and pleaded with Neji to stop the transplant.

Neji confronted Hyuga Changliu over the Main Family’s abuse before Xuanyu’s group removed Changliu’s Byakugan and successfully transplanted it into Kimimaro. Neji then began the dangerous Shikotsumyaku fusion procedure, asking Xuanyu to protect his mother if he failed, and the chapter ended as Hua Yu injected the potion.

• Neji denounced the Hyuga Main Family’s cruelty and threatened to make its members suffer the Caged Bird curse.
• Xuanyu ordered Hua Yu and Owuya Bai to perform the eye transplant, while Hyuga Changliu pleaded and threatened them as Jugo carried him into the laboratory.
• Hua Yu reported that Kimimaro had successfully received Changliu’s Byakugan and was highly compatible with it.
• Xuanyu prepared Neji for the dangerous Shikotsumyaku fusion, and Neji asked him to look after his mother if the procedure failed.
• Neji affirmed his resolve, and Hua Yu injected the potion as he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

Neji endured the painful integration of the Shikotsumyaku Cellular Potion and learned to control the Bone Spikes growing from his body, though his bones would continue to ache as the process finished. After Xuanyu confirmed his success, Chen Xi and two other children arrived in response to his summons.

• Xuanyu and Hua Yu monitored Neji as the potion began changing his bones, and Xuanyu refused Owuya Bai's request to anesthetize him because Neji needed to control the Bone Spikes while conscious.
• Bone Spikes pierced Neji's skin as Hua Yu treated his wounds, while Xuanyu insisted Neji had to manage the growth himself.
• After a day and night, Neji stopped the Bone Spikes from growing and opened his eyes, having survived the first stage of the integration.
• Hua Yu told Neji that full integration would take at least a month and a half, and Neji said he could endure the pain because it was weaker than the Caged Bird.
• Xuanyu told the waiting group that Neji's integration had gone well, and Neji and Kimimaro exchanged congratulations and agreed to spar after Kimimaro's eyes finished integrating.
• Chen Xi arrived with Megure Yuki and another child, and they bowed to Xuanyu.

Xuanyu sent Megure Yuki and Toyama to begin taking missions after injecting them with cells to strengthen them, while he planned to prepare Chen Xi for a Shikotsumyaku fusion. At Uchiha Hospital, the Hyuga Clan grew concerned when Hyuga Changliu failed to return, and the Eighth Elder began to suspect outsiders might have attacked him.

• Xuanyu told Megure Yuki and Toyama to return to Yugakure Village and begin taking missions with their companions.
• Xuanyu gave Megure Yuki and Toyama Uzumaki Cells and Giant Strength Cells, and both endured the injections without abnormal reactions.
• Xuanyu told Chen Xi to wait before taking missions because he planned to supervise her Shikotsumyaku Cells injection in a few days.
• At Uchiha Hospital, the Hyuga Clan's Eighth Elder found that Hyuga Sosuke remained unconscious and blamed Neji for his condition.
• The Hyuga Clan members realized Hyuga Changliu had not returned, and one elder raised the possibility that someone outside the clan had attacked him.

The Hyuga elders feared that Hyuga Changliu had been killed while pursuing Neji Hyuga, but they kept their unauthorized actions from Hiashi Hyuga. After Hyuga Sosuke woke in the hospital and demanded vengeance against Neji and his mother, the story shifted to Orochimaru, who received a letter from Konoha.

• The Hyuga elders debated whether someone had attacked Changliu and decided not to tell Hiashi Hyuga because they had sent the pursuers after Neji without permission.
• Hyuga Sosuke woke in the hospital, learned that his arms and legs were broken, and remembered that Neji Hyuga had injured him.
• Sosuke demanded that Neji and his mother suffer, and the Eighth Elder promised to help him take revenge.
• Orochimaru studied his Artificial Human until Guren arrived with a letter from Konoha.

Orochimaru received a communication ring from Xuanyu and joined him, Uchiha Shisui, and Senju Hashirama in a mental space. Shisui and Hashirama reported clashes with Akatsuki, including the Six Paths of Pain and unfamiliar members with crystalline bodies.

• Orochimaru received a ring engraved with “Snake” from Xuanyu and activated it with his mental power.
• Orochimaru entered the mental space, recognized Uchiha Shisui, Senju Hashirama, and Xuanyu, and accepted Xuanyu’s invitation to join Akatsuki’s Zodiac.
• Shisui and Hashirama told Xuanyu that the Six Paths of Pain had outmatched them in one encounter, forcing them to retreat.
• Orochimaru explained that the Six Paths of Pain’s shared senses and Rinnegan abilities countered Shisui’s genjutsu.
• Hashirama reported that Tobi and two unidentified Akatsuki members with hard, crystalline bodies had escaped their second encounter.

Xuanyu and Orochimaru agreed to overthrow Konoha during the Chunin Exams and expose Sarutobi Hiruzen, while Orochimaru privately wondered how powerful Xuanyu really was. The chapter ended with Kabuto reporting that he had found the relics of the Past Hokage.

• Orochimaru became excited by the possibility that Guren could combine her Crystal Release with a special Kekkei Genkai to grow stronger.
• Xuanyu explained that Tobi was not Madara but an Uchiha with an unusual space ability that made him difficult to capture.
• Xuanyu asked when Orochimaru would act against Konoha, and Orochimaru chose the Chunin Exams as the time to disgrace Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Xuanyu promised that the Akatsuki Organization would cooperate, while Shisui said he would return to confront Danzo.
• After the meeting ended, Orochimaru wondered whether Xuanyu might surpass Madara and hoped his instincts were right about choosing his side.
• Kabuto entered Orochimaru's base and reported that he had found the relics of the Past Hokage.

Kabuto prepared to test Impure World Reincarnation, but Orochimaru warned that powerful resurrected shinobi could resist his control. Outside Konoha, Shisui and Hashira confronted Zetsu, who escaped underground, and later the Ninja School announced that classes would be assigned the next day.

• Kabuto proposed using Impure World Reincarnation to revive the Past Hokage and destroy Konoha, but Orochimaru warned that strong souls could break free of the jutsu’s restraints.
• Shisui sensed someone following him and found Zetsu spying on him and Hashira for the Akatsuki Organization.
• Shisui attacked Zetsu, but Zetsu turned into mud and escaped underground while Hashira’s Wood Release failed to stop him.
• Shisui decided that when Xuanyu called them to the Mental Space, one of them would stay outside to guard their surroundings.
• The Ninja School notified the young master that class assignments would be made the next day and that he could choose his own teacher.

Xuanyu returned to the Ninja School for the team assignments, while arranging for Zhong Kui to travel with a merchant caravan and quietly demonstrating his overwhelming spiritual power to Kurama. The chapter left Xuanyu among the newly graduated Genin as they prepared to be assigned to teams.

• Xuanyu told Zhong Kui he would participate in team assignments and sent him to escort a merchant caravan so he could gain experience.
• Xuanyu arrived at the Ninja School, where Naruto Uzumaki greeted him and Hinata watched him shyly.
• Kurama sensed Xuanyu's immense power, and Xuanyu entered Naruto's Spiritual World to greet Kurama before disappearing.
• Naruto noticed Kurama's reaction but said he had sensed only a change in Kurama.
• Nara Shikamaru wondered why Xuanyu had returned to school just as the students were about to receive their teams.

Iruka announced the new Genin teams, assigning Uchiha Xuan Yu to Team 8 with Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame. Hinata was thrilled to be teamed with Xuanyu, while Naruto Uzumaki reacted to his Team 7 assignment with mixed excitement and disappointment.

• Xuanyu sat with Hinata and Shikamaru, and Shikamaru predicted that the school would separate the Uchiha and Hyuga heirs when assigning teams.
• Iruka arrived injured but insisted he was fine, then explained that the new Genin would work in teams of three under Jonin teachers.
• Iruka announced Team 7 as Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Second Pillar, leaving Naruto excited at first and then disappointed.
• Iruka assigned Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Uchiha Xuan Yu to Team 8, and Hinata was delighted to be with Xuanyu.

Iruka finished assigning the students to teams, and the graduates waited for their jonin teachers to arrive. Yuhi Kurenai collected Eighth Squad, leaving Naruto and his teammates behind to await their teacher.

• Shikamaru was surprised that Xuanyu and Hinata had been assigned together, while Xuanyu teased him about his mistaken prediction.
• Iruka announced the remaining teams, including Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji as Tenth Squad, and explained that teammates would grow together.
• Asuma collected Tenth Squad, and other jonin gradually came to take their students from the classroom.
• Naruto asked Xuanyu and Sakura about their teacher, and Xuanyu told Naruto to wait patiently because his teacher would be interesting.
• Yuhi Kurenai arrived for Eighth Squad, called Hinata, Xuanyu, and Shino, and led them out of the classroom.