Chapter Summaries

Yuhi Kurenai met her new students, Uchiha Xuanyu, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame, over a barbecue meal and learned about their abilities. She then brought them to Konoha’s back mountain to test their combat skills.

• Yuhi Kurenai rejected Sarutobi Asuma’s invitation, and Asuma left with Shikamaru and the others, angered by her refusal.
• Xuanyu took Yuhi Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino to his barbecue restaurant and treated them to a meal.
• Yuhi Kurenai and the three students introduced themselves and described their specialties.
• Xuanyu tested Shino’s insects, and Shino realized they could not pierce Xuanyu’s skin.
• After the meal, Yuhi Kurenai took the team to a clearing in Konoha’s back mountain to assess their combat abilities.

Yuhi Kurenai tested Hinata and Shino Aburame for the flag, exposing their combat weaknesses while they showed their abilities. After Shino won with his bugs, Xuanyu urged him to strengthen them, leaving Shino wondering how to improve bugs he believed had reached their limit.

• Hinata attacked Yuhi Kurenai with the Gentle Fist, but after a long exchange Kurenai pinned her and advised her to keep training.
• Shino Aburame charged at Yuhi Kurenai and was knocked down, while his bugs carried the flag to his hand from underground.
• Yuhi Kurenai praised Shino’s strategy but warned that his weak taijutsu made him vulnerable, and Hinata promised to protect him.
• Xuanyu suggested that Shino strengthen his bugs and help them hold more Chakra, and Shino asked how since he thought they were already at their limit.

Xuan Yu demonstrated his strength in a sparring test against Yuhi Kurenai, defeating her after matching her taijutsu and resisting her genjutsu. Yuhi Kurenai recognized that he had reached at least jonin-level strength.

• Xuan Yu advised Shino Aburame to strengthen his bugs through gene modification, and Shino eagerly considered experimenting with insect traits.
• Yuhi Kurenai began Xuan Yu's test, and their initial taijutsu clash left her arm numb and forced her to retreat.
• Xuan Yu and Yuhi Kurenai exchanged rapid attacks, but she realized he was holding back and had almost no openings.
• Yuhi Kurenai cast Genjutsu: Restraint, but Xuan Yu escaped her control and appeared atop a wooden stake behind her.
• Xuan Yu declared victory, and Yuhi Kurenai concluded that his strength had reached at least jonin level while Hinata cheered for him.

Xuanyu defeated Yuhi Kurenai in their test, and she passed him and his teammates for missions within Konoha. After Xuanyu, Hinata, and Shino left, Yuhi Kurenai spoke with Kakashi about how well he seemed to know Xuanyu.

• Hinata celebrated Xuanyu's victory, while Shino reconsidered the strength and potential of their team.
• Yuhi Kurenai admitted that Xuanyu had surpassed her expectations and told the three teammates to begin simple missions the next day.
• Xuanyu, Hinata, and Shino left together, and Might Guy asked Xuanyu about Neji; Hinata explained that Neji had gone away to train.
• Rock Lee vowed to surpass Neji, and Yuhi Kurenai watched the teammates depart before Kakashi approached her.
• Yuhi Kurenai told Kakashi that Xuanyu was very strong and asked why Kakashi seemed to know him so well.

Kakashi and Might Guy discussed Xuanyu’s hidden strength with Yuhi Kurenai, who grew more curious about her student. Shino Aburame asked Xuanyu how to evolve his insects, and Xuanyu agreed to help after Shino pledged his loyalty, leaving Shino’s insects in Xuanyu’s hands.

• Kakashi told Yuhi Kurenai that Xuanyu had abundant Chakra and might still possess his Sharingan, despite her inability to sense his Chakra during their fight.
• Might Guy joined Kakashi and Yuhi Kurenai and said Xuanyu’s body-tempering talent was unmatched and that neither of them could beat him.
• Xuanyu said goodbye to Hinata and continued toward the Uchiha Clan while Shino Aburame followed him to ask about evolving his insects.
• Shino promised to stand by Xuanyu without holding anything back, and Xuanyu agreed to help evolve Shino’s insects through research at Uchiha Hospital.
• Shino handed Xuanyu a bottle filled with his insects and began identifying them as Parasite.

Xuanyu gave Shino Aburame’s Kikaichū to Hua Yu to investigate whether they could be fused with Jashin’s Undying Cells, potentially helping the Aburame Clan evolve and ally with him. Meanwhile, Sarutobi Asuma complained to Sarutobi Hiruzen that Kakashi had received Naruto and Sasuke as students while he was assigned Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji.

• Shino Aburame reluctantly handed Xuanyu a bottle of Kikaichū, and Xuanyu promised to help evolve the insects so Shino would support his side.
• Xuanyu used the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel from home to the underground laboratory beneath Uchiha Hospital.
• Hua Yu told Xuanyu that her Undying Cells research had produced a semi-finished result and that a perfect Undying Body required compatibility between the soul and the cells.
• Xuanyu gave Hua Yu a Kikaichū and asked her to test whether insects could be fused with Jashin’s Undying Cells; Hua Yu agreed to experiment.
• Sarutobi Asuma told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji could become only a top-tier jonin team, then objected that Kakashi had been given Naruto and Sasuke as students.

Sarutobi Hiruzen and Sarutobi Asuma discussed Naruto, Sasuke, and Asuma’s interest in Yuhi Kurenai, while Xuanyu and his allies exchanged information in the Mental Space. The next morning, Xuanyu joined Yuhi Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino Aburame at the Mission Hall to accept a mission.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen reassured Sarutobi Asuma that Naruto was loyal to Konoha and advised waiting before trying to win over Sasuke.
• Sarutobi Asuma admitted Yuhi Kurenai was keeping her distance, but said he had his own plans after Sarutobi Hiruzen urged him to give up.
• Xuanyu brought Hua Yu to meet Orochimaru, who exchanged ideas with her about Insect Race evolution and Jashin's undying cells.
• Shisui reported that he and Hashira had been followed by a black-and-white figure, and Orochimaru identified him as Zetsu, who was with Tobi.
• Xuanyu warned Shisui to be careful during future operations, then left the Mental Space while Hua Yu and Orochimaru continued discussing their experiments.
• Xuanyu arrived late to meet Yuhi Kurenai, Hinata, and Shino Aburame, and the group headed to the Mission Hall to accept a mission.

Yuhi Kurenai brought Xuanyu, Hinata, and Shino to the Mission Hall, where Sarutobi Asuma used his clan connections to secure an easy, well-paid mission for his own students. When Kurenai refused his help, the staff gave her team a low-paying mission posted a week earlier, and Hinata challenged them over the unfair assignment.

• Sarutobi Asuma arrived at the Mission Hall with Shikamaru, Ino, and another student, and Yuhi Kurenai entered with her team without engaging with him.
• Two Sarutobi Clan staff members greeted Asuma and assigned his students a C-Rank mission guarding a courtyard for 3,000 taels.
• Kurenai refused Asuma's offer to arrange an easy mission, saying her students needed experience and should not rely on privileges.
• The staff assigned Kurenai's team a mission to find missing pigs outside Konoha for 500 Ryo, despite the pigs having been missing for seven days.
• Hinata pointed out that the mission's posting date made it unreasonable to expect them to find the escaped pigs.

Xuanyu confronted the Mission Hall staff for assigning his team a pig-searching mission after its deadline, then secured their agreement to compensate the farmer if the mission failed. He left with Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Yuhi Kurenai to carry it out, while Sarutobi Asuma arranged for his clan to cover the staff’s losses.

• The Mission Hall staff tried to force Xuanyu’s team to accept a pig-searching mission that had been unassigned for seven days, and threatened to bar them from future missions if they refused.
• Xuanyu blamed the staff for missing the deadline and argued that their negligence had harmed the farmer, then accepted the mission after they agreed to compensate the farmer if the team failed.
• Sarutobi Asuma reprimanded the staff but told them the clan would cover their losses, and they thanked him.
• Hinata praised Xuanyu outside the hall, while Yuhi Kurenai warned him not to encourage Hinata to disregard Konoha’s rules.
• Xuanyu explained to Yuhi Kurenai that accepting the mission would ensure the farmer received compensation even if the pigs could not be found.

Xuanyu took his team to meet the farmer whose missing pigs had been overlooked by Konoha’s mission hall and promised to compensate him if they could not find them. The old man praised the Uchiha Clan’s help but revealed that Konoha had refused to aid him after his son and daughter-in-law disappeared on a mission, leaving the story on the higher-ups’ accusation that they might have defected.

• Xuanyu explained that he would accept the losses to punish the biased mission administrators and help the employer, then led his team to the farming area.
• Xuanyu told the old farmer he would look for the missing pigs and compensate him if they could not be found.
• The old man recognized Xuanyu and thanked the Uchiha Clan for buying his pigs after his son and daughter-in-law died, allowing him and his young grandson to survive.
• The old man revealed that Konoha had denied his missing son and daughter-in-law’s mission subsidy without their bodies, and Yuhi Kurenai urged him to report the matter to the higher-ups.
• The old man said the higher-ups had dismissed his complaint by claiming his son and daughter-in-law might have defected to the enemy.

Xuanyu stopped Yuhi Kurenai from confronting Konoha's leaders over an old man's stolen shinobi pension, warning that they could brand the man's dead son a traitor. He arranged for Uchiha Farm to buy the old man's pigs at full-grown prices, then followed Shino Aburame to a group of pigs by a stream and suggested they should not simply drive them home.

• Yuhi Kurenai wanted to seek justice for the old man, but Xuanyu warned that the Konoha Higher-Ups would blame his son and make the old man's life harder.
• Xuanyu explained that Konoha had smeared the Uchiha Clan in the same way, and the old man said he only wanted to raise his grandson safely.
• Xuanyu promised the old man protection and arranged for Uchiha Farm to buy all his pigs at full-grown prices so he could receive more compensation.
• Shino Aburame used his insects to find seven or eight pigs resting by a stream, and Xuanyu questioned whether they should drive them back.

Xuanyu turned the wild-boar mission into an elaborate compensation scam, inflating an old man's losses and inventing missing cattle so the Mission Hall would pay more. He left with the evidence and coached story ready, while the bewildered old man repeated his instructions.

• Xuanyu roasted the wild boars with Hinata, Shino Aburame, and Yuhi Kurenai, then ate an entire pig by himself.
• After three days, Xuanyu had Shino Aburame collect a few pig bones as evidence before they returned to the old man's home.
• Xuanyu added a zero to the old man's recorded pig losses and instructed him to claim that 180 pigs had been lost.
• Xuanyu pointed to a distant damaged pigpen and told the old man to claim it had held his pigs and that 18 cattle had also gone missing.
• Xuanyu told the old man they had failed to find the animals and promised full compensation, then left to report the mission.

Xuanyu turned in the missing-pig mission and presented the Sarutobi Clan clerks with a claim for enormous losses, blaming their delay for the farmer’s second loss. The clerks refused to accept his figures and said they would investigate the damages themselves.

• Xiao Hu and his grandfather thanked Xuanyu, and Yuhi Kurenai worried that the old man might be questioned or targeted.
• Xuanyu assured Yuhi Kurenai that nearby Farmers and the Farm Guard Department would protect the old man and his grandson.
• Xuanyu’s group entered the Mission Hall, where he submitted pig bones and collars as proof that the pigs were gone.
• Xuanyu told the Sarutobi Clan clerks that the farmer had lost 180 pigs and 18 cattle, despite paying only a 500-ryo commission.
• The clerks challenged Xuanyu’s loss figures and said they would investigate and calculate the damages themselves.

Xuanyu led two Sarutobi Clan members to verify an old man's claim that he had lost 180 pigs and 18 cows, worth 720,000 Ryo. After the old man confirmed the losses and explained that Uchiha clansmen helped him raise the animals, the Sarutobi men questioned a neighboring farmer, who confirmed the large pigsties belonged to the old man.

• The Sarutobi Clan members demanded to verify the claimed losses, and Xuanyu led them to the breeding farm.
• Xuanyu showed them the old man's cattle shed and the large pigsty behind his house.
• The old man confirmed that he had lost 180 pigs and 18 cows and said Uchiha clansmen helped him raise them.
• Xuanyu told the Sarutobi men to compensate the old man, and they left to question a neighboring farmer.
• The neighboring farmer confirmed that both pigsties belonged to the old man but could not say how many pigs he raised.

Xuanyu tricked two Sarutobi clansmen into owing an old farmer 360,000 ryo, then invited Hinata and Shino Aburame to train with him. Sarutobi Hiruzen learned of the scheme and decided the Sarutobi Clan had to pay to protect its standing and retain control of the Mission Hall.

• The burly man and nearby farmers repeated Xuanyu’s story about the old farmer and the Uchiha Clan, leaving the two investigators convinced they would owe compensation.
• Xuanyu insisted the old farmer accept the payment, invited Hinata to train with him, and agreed Shino Aburame could join as well.
• Xuanyu told Shino Aburame that he had found possible directions for evolving the Kikaichū, then the two parted ways.
• The two Sarutobi clansmen told Sarutobi Hiruzen and Asuma how Xuanyu had fooled them into owing 360,000 ryo.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected Asuma’s suggestion to refuse payment, warning that the Sarutobi Clan could lose prestige and control of the Mission Hall.

Sarutobi Hiruzen decided to pay Uchiha Hanjō 360,000 taels for the neglected mission while planning to eliminate Uchiha Xuanyu with a disguised S-Rank Mission. After Sarutobi Clan members investigated the farmer’s pigsty at night and found no evidence, Xuanyu went out to train with Hua Yu and Zhong Kui, where Hinata greeted him.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Sarutobi Asuma to pay Uchiha Hanjō and send Sarutobi Clan members to verify the farmer’s missing-pig claim.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen planned to disguise an S-Rank Mission as an ordinary mission and assign it to Xuanyu’s team, accepting that Yuhi Kurenai might die too.
• Sarutobi Clan members searched the farmer’s pigsty at night, found no evidence, and left to report that they had to accept defeat.
• Uchiha Clan members watched the Sarutobi Clan’s investigators leave but held back from attacking on the Young Clan Leader’s orders.
• Xuanyu took Hua Yu out to train under Eightfold Gravity, and Zhong Kui joined them.
• Hinata called out excitedly to Xuan Yu-kun as Xuanyu passed the Hyuga Clan.

Hinata and Shino Aburame joined Xuanyu's training in Zhong Kui's Eightfold Gravity Domain, struggling to adapt while Xuanyu explained the physical training's benefits. Kakashi warned Yuhi Kurenai about Zhong Kui's strength, and she agreed to try the domain herself.

• Xuanyu welcomed Hinata into the Gravity Domain, where Zhong Kui's Eightfold Gravity made her stumble, but she gritted her teeth and followed the group.
• Hyuga Hiashi watched Hinata struggle from a rooftop and silently encouraged her to persevere.
• Shino Aburame entered the domain, collapsed under its weight, and could only train intermittently outside it while Hinata urged him to keep up.
• At the training grounds, Xuanyu told Shino that his physique was weak; Shino resolved to continue training.
• Kakashi told Yuhi Kurenai that Zhong Kui's Gravity Domain could overwhelm even jonin, and she agreed to try it.

Yuhi Kurenai tested Zhong Kui’s Gravity Domain and learned how it worked, while Kakashi revealed the political tensions between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha’s leadership. The next morning, Xuanyu arrived at the Mission Hall with Hinata and Shino to take another mission, and was offered a search for a lost cat.

• Zhong Kui imposed the Gravity Domain on Kakashi and Yuhi Kurenai, and Kurenai struggled against its force before discovering its range was one hundred meters.
• Yuhi Kurenai spent the day studying the Gravity Domain while Xuanyu and the others trained.
• Kakashi told Yuhi Kurenai that Konoha’s forces were polarized and revealed that Root ninjas had joined Uchiha Itachi’s attack on the Uchiha Clan, with orders partly from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Xuanyu arrived at the Mission Hall the next morning with Hinata and Shino and asked for a new mission.
• A mission clerk handed Xuanyu a request to find someone’s lost cat.

Xuan Yu and his teammates completed a string of trivial missions before collecting compensation for the old man whose livestock had been lost. After advising the old man about Xiao Hu’s future and leaving most of the money with him, the story shifted to Sarutobi Hiruzen downgrading a suspicious escort mission to C-Rank.

• Shino Aburame tracked down a missing cat while Xuan Yu, Hinata, and Yuhi Kurenai waited through several days of minor missions.
• Xuan Yu met the two Sarutobi Clan men and went with them to pay the old man 360,000 ryo each for the lost livestock.
• Xuan Yu encouraged the old man to let Xiao Hu train for a place in the Uchiha Guard and insisted he keep his share of the compensation.
• The old man accepted 360,000 ryo and returned the other 360,000 ryo to Xuan Yu.
• An Anbu ninja told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Hideyoshi Me might be a Land of Lightning spy carrying Konoha secrets and recommended an S-Rank classification.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen stamped the escort mission as C-Rank to avoid alerting the suspected spy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi arranged a dangerous C-rank mission for Uchiha Xuan Yu’s team, intending to put Hanjō’s son in danger. On the way to the Mission Hall, Xuan Yu collided with Konohamaru, and their argument escalated into a challenge to fight.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Sarutobi Asuma to place Hideyoshi Me’s dangerous mission in the Mission Hall for Uchiha Xuan Yu’s team.
• Asuma delivered the missions and instructed the Mission Hall workers to give Xuan Yu the top one, while the workers eagerly anticipated trouble for him.
• Asuma invited Yuhi Kurenai to eat with him, but she refused because she was waiting for her students.
• Xuan Yu, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame headed to the Mission Hall and encountered Konohamaru running from his attendant.
• Konohamaru crashed into Xuan Yu, refused to apologize, and challenged him to a duel.
• Konohamaru’s attendant demanded that Xuan Yu apologize, but Xuan Yu refused.