Chapter Summaries

Hua Yu defeated Tsunade after revealing the power of her Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred Sealings, and Tsunade accepted her right to keep the Pendant. After Xuanyu explained Hua Yu and Hashira’s painful childhood, Tsunade asked to meet Hashira, but Xuanyu said he was traveling and hinted that Tsunade might know his name.

• Hua Yu broke Tsunade’s full-force punch by activating her Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred Sealings, and Tsunade recognized an aura like Hashirama Senju’s.
• Tsunade admitted defeat and said Hua Yu was qualified to possess the Pendant, while Hua Yu declared that she felt loyalty to the Uchiha Clan rather than the Senju Clan.
• Xuanyu explained that the Sarutobi Police Force had beaten Hashira and that Hua Yu had sought help at the Uchiha Merchant Guild.
• Tsunade grew angry as she learned what had happened to Hua Yu and Hashira, and Shizune realized Tsunade’s hemophobia had been cured.
• Tsunade asked to meet Hashira, and Xuanyu said Hashira was traveling but suggested Tsunade might have heard his name.

Xuanyu brought Tsunade to witness Zhong Kui’s newly strengthened Gravity Domain and explained that Sarutobi Hiruzen had expelled him from the Ninja School. Zhong Kui locked onto a target three kilometers away and activated his ability, leaving Tsunade and the others watching a meteor-like object fall from the sky.

• Xuanyu told Tsunade that Wood Bull was a Senju Clan member, and Tsunade condemned Sarutobi Hiruzen for nearly causing the deaths of Hua Yu and Wood Bull.
• Xuanyu clarified that he and his companions had come to test Zhong Kui’s new ability, not to attack Konoha.
• Zhong Kui activated his tenfold Gravity Domain, nearly forcing Tsunade and Shizune to the ground and revealing how Hua Yu and Xuanyu trained.
• Xuanyu explained that Zhong Kui had been bullied for his supposedly weak ability and expelled from the Ninja School by Sarutobi Hiruzen before Xuanyu saved him.
• Zhong Kui locked onto a target three kilometers away and pressed his hand downward, prompting Tsunade and the others to see something fall like a meteor.

Zhong Kui summoned a massive meteorite with his Gravity Domain, and Xuanyu ordered Hua Yu to stop it before it could strike. Hua Yu caught it with a Wood Release giant hand, leaving the group to consider how many meteorites Zhong Kui and Hua Yu could handle.

• Tsunade and Shizune realized the approaching meteor was large enough to threaten them and potentially damage half of Konoha.
• Xuanyu ordered Hua Yu to stop the meteorite, which was falling three kilometers away and could still harm them on impact.
• Hua Yu used Wood Release to grow vines into a giant hand that slowed and held the meteorite one hundred meters above the ground.
• Zhong Kui admitted he could summon about five meteorites at his current limit, while Hua Yu said she could likely stop four.
• Xuanyu praised Zhong Kui's ability, and Tsunade accepted that Hua Yu's strength far exceeded her own.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and Konoha’s villagers witnessed Wood Bull use Wood Release to catch a falling meteorite near the village. Jiraiya hurried toward Konoha, curious to meet Wood Bull, while Uchiha clansmen blocked Anbu from approaching the scene.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen and Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu saw a meteorite falling toward the area near Konoha.
• Wood Bull formed a massive hand of vines and caught the meteorite before it struck the ground.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and the elders discussed Wood Bull’s power and relied on Impure World Reincarnation as a weapon against strong enemies.
• Danzo learned that Wood Bull had returned and resolved to capture him to study Wood Release.
• Konoha’s villagers and clan heads reacted to the spectacle, while Jiraiya rushed toward the village to investigate.
• Anbu ninjas tried to approach Tsunade and Xuanyu, but Uchiha clansmen stopped them.

Uchiha Xuan Yu's enormous Wood Release Hand drew attention near Konoha, prompting Kakashi and his team to investigate while Tsunade and Deidara witnessed the spectacle. Xuan Yu left with Hua Yu and Zhong Kui before the newcomers arrived, and Kakashi reached the scene with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

• Uchiha clansmen refused to let an Anbu ninja pass, despite his warning about the Young Clan Leader's safety.
• Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke spotted the giant Wood Release Hand and discussed its connection to the First Hokage.
• The Nine-Tails told Naruto that Hashirama had once caught it in a Wood Release Hand, adding that it was only half of its Complete Body.
• Tsunade watched the Wood Release Hand as Deidara arrived on a Clay Bird and admired it as art.
• Xuan Yu told Deidara to leave, then departed with Hua Yu and Zhong Kui as Tsunade left with Shizune.
• Kakashi arrived beneath the Wood Release Hand with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi witnessed a massive Wood Release Hand catch a falling Meteorite, while the Nine-Tails boasted to Naruto about its past strength against Hashirama Senju. Jiraiya arrived and suspected that the Meteorite itself had been summoned with ninjutsu, a claim the Nine-Tails confirmed privately as the others doubted it.

• Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi reacted with awe as a huge Wood Release Hand caught the Meteorite.
• The Nine-Tails boasted to Naruto that Hashirama Senju was a small fry and claimed it could have defeated him if its Chakra had not run out.
• Jiraiya arrived, and Kakashi introduced him to Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura as one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin.
• Jiraiya recognized Naruto and said he had returned partly to teach him.
• Jiraiya guessed that the Meteorite was a ninjutsu, but Naruto and Sakura dismissed the idea as a random fall.
• The Nine-Tails told Naruto that the Meteorite was not random and had been created by ninjutsu.

Jiraiya encountered Naruto and offered to guide the Nine-Tails power within him, but Naruto refused before learning Jiraiya was the author of Make-Out Paradise. Back in Konoha, Sarutobi Hiruzen heard that Tsunade had met with Uchiha Xuan Yu when a meteorite and a giant Wood Release Hand appeared, and grew suspicious of them.

• Naruto, Kakashi, and Nine-Tails reacted with shock to Jiraiya's account of the meteorite, while Kakashi considered asking Xuan Yu about the powerful ninjutsu.
• Jiraiya said he would return to Konoha and offered to guide the Nine-Tails power within Naruto, but Naruto rejected his help.
• Jiraiya left for Konoha, and Naruto and Kakashi regretted missing the chance to speak with the author of Make-Out Paradise before the group departed.
• Anbu reported to Sarutobi Hiruzen that Tsunade had met with Uchiha Xuan Yu and that a meteorite and a giant Wood Release Hand had appeared nearby.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen grew increasingly suspicious and cold as the Anbu recounted what had happened.

Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that Tsunade had returned and was involving herself with the Akatsuki Organization and the Uchiha Clan, while Jiraiya had also come back to Konoha. Xuanyu sent Uchiha forces to arrest Jiraiya for peeping at women in a bathhouse, and Jiraiya tried to evade them.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen accused Tsunade of opposing him by siding with the Uchiha Clan and warned that he would not spare her if she interfered with his plans.
• An Anbu ninja told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Jiraiya had returned to Konoha and gone to a bathhouse, and Hiruzen said he hoped Jiraiya would not oppose him.
• Uchiha Izumi reported to Xuanyu that Jiraiya was hiding near the women's bathhouse and watching the women bathe.
• Xuanyu led Uchiha clansmen, Uchiha Xia, and Zhong Kui to the bathhouse and confronted Jiraiya as he peeped at the women.
• Xuanyu ordered his men to arrest Jiraiya, and Jiraiya pretended not to recognize the name Perverted Sage before pointing at a big bird.

Uchiha Xia and his allies captured Jiraiya after Zhong Kui used his Gravity Domain to pin him down. Jiraiya learned that Zhong Kui had been rejected and mistreated by Konoha, leaving him to question the village’s claim on the young ninja’s ability.

• Jiraiya used a smoke bomb to flee, but Uchiha Xia and his allies pursued him.
• Xuanyu ordered Zhong Kui to stop Jiraiya, and Zhong Kui’s Gravity Domain made Jiraiya crash to the ground.
• Uchiha Xia defeated and captured Jiraiya while the tenfold gravity slowed him.
• Jiraiya asked Zhong Kui to remove the Gravity Domain and learned that Zhong Kui had been expelled from the Ninja School by the Third Hokage.
• Zhong Kui told Jiraiya that Konoha’s great clans had nearly crippled him, and he rejected the idea of serving the village.

Uchiha Xuan Yu publicly exposed and punished Jiraiya for peeping at women bathing, while Zhong Kui described his hatred of Konoha's leadership to Jiraiya. As the Chunin Exams approached, young people gathered beneath an enormous Wood Release palm.

• Jiraiya questioned Zhong Kui's hatred of Konoha's leaders, and Zhong Kui said a Sarutobi clan member had once attacked him.
• Uchiha Xuan Yu had Jiraiya's offense recorded, made him sign the statement, and sentenced him to fifteen days in detention as a crowd mocked him.
• Naruto encountered Jiraiya being escorted away, scolded him for peeping, and bargained to read his newest manga.
• An Anbu ninja told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Jiraiya had been arrested, and Hiruzen reacted with amusement.
• As the Chunin Exams drew near, a group of young people stared up in shock at an enormous Wood Release palm.

Darui and the other Land of Lightning shinobi investigated a huge Wood Release Hand holding a meteorite near Konoha. After hearing that it had caught the meteorite as it fell from space, Samui suspected that Wood Bull had developed a way to use Wood Release, and Darui and Omoi climbed the vines to inspect it.

• Darui, Omoi, Samui, and Karui saw the enormous Wood Release Hand holding a stone and wondered whether Konoha had placed it there to intimidate visitors.
• Samui contacted the Land of Lightning's ANBU and asked when the Wood Release Hand had appeared and what the stone meant.
• The ANBU explained that a meteorite had fallen from space and that the Wood Release Hand had caught it, shrinking from several hundred meters as it lowered the meteorite.
• Samui ruled out the First Hokage and suspected that Wood Bull had found a way to use Wood Release, which could upset the balance of the Shinobi World.
• Darui climbed the vines to examine the meteorite, and Omoi followed him.

Darui and the other Kumogakure ninja saw Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari arrive beneath the Wood Release Hand holding a Meteorite. Gaara detected them and attacked, and the two sides began fighting atop the hand.

• Darui, Omoi, Samui, and Karui examined the Meteorite caught by the Wood Release Hand and saw Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari approaching.
• Samui identified Gaara as the One-Tail Jinchuriki and warned that he was the greatest threat among the Sunagakure ninja.
• Gaara sensed people atop the Wood Release Hand and used sand to rise toward them after they did not answer.
• Darui drew his sword and dispersed Gaara's sand attack, then charged at him.
• Gaara blocked Darui's attacks and surrounded Darui and the other Kumogakure ninja with sand.

Gaara fought Darui and the other Land of Lightning ninja after mistaking them for threats, but Kankuro and Temari stopped the clash and reminded him that causing trouble could put Uchiha Xuan Yu in a difficult position. Gaara calmed down and left with them for Konoha, while Darui’s group recognized his strength and prepared to face him in the Chunin Exams.

• Gaara insulted Darui and his companions, and they attacked him with lightning techniques as his sand and Shukaku-like arm countered them.
• Kankuro and Temari arrived and urged Gaara to stop fighting, while Darui accused Gaara of attacking them without warning.
• Kankuro apologized after realizing Gaara had mistaken the group for spies, but Gaara objected until Temari explained that a disturbance could trouble Uchiha Xuan Yu.
• Gaara lost his desire to fight, apologized with Kankuro and Temari, and left for Konoha using sand and vines to descend from the tree.
• Samui warned Darui to be careful if he faced Gaara in the Chunin Exams, while Karui dismissed Gaara as relying on his Jinchuriki power.

Darui, Samui, Omoi, and Karui discussed Gaara’s strength and the risks of using Shukaku’s power before setting off for Konoha. Samui learned that Uchiha Xuan Yu was the opponent who had left Darui shaken, and Darui recalled the despair he felt after witnessing Xuan Yu’s overwhelming power.

• Darui warned that Gaara had not used Shukaku’s power, while Samui explained that ordinary Jinchuriki risked losing control when they used a Tailed Beast’s chakra.
• Omoi regained his resolve to fight Gaara, and Darui led the group toward Konoha.
• Samui asked whether Uchiha Xuan Yu was the person Darui had intercepted, and Darui confirmed that he probably was.
• Darui remembered Xuan Yu appearing before him and Killer B after they had fled and easily subduing Killer B in his complete Eight-Tails transformation.
• Darui recalled that Xuan Yu’s power had made him feel utterly powerless and convinced him that he could never surpass him.

Darui told Samui that Uchiha Xuan Yu had easily suppressed Gyūki, leaving him too frightened to resist, though Samui struggled to believe it. In Konoha, Gaara insisted on visiting the Uchiha Clan to see Xuanyu before settling in, and Konoha intelligence secretly monitored the group as they headed for the Uchiha Merchant Guild.

• Darui told Samui that Uchiha Xuan Yu had easily suppressed Gyūki, and Samui doubted his account.
• Darui ended the conversation when Omoi and Karui joined them, and the group set off for Konoha.
• Gaara asked where the Uchiha Clan was and insisted on seeing Xuanyu as soon as he arrived.
• Kankuro warned Gaara that visiting the Uchiha Clan could draw Konoha's attention, but Gaara refused to wait.
• Kankuro led Gaara and Temari toward the Uchiha Merchant Guild, while Konoha intelligence ordered Anbu to follow them secretly.

Konoha's Anbu discovered that elite teams from Kumogakure and the Land of Earth had arrived, apparently to enter the Chunin Exams, despite the villages' strained relations with Konoha. Kurotsuchi accepted Konoha's surveillance and led her team to its assigned lodging, while Gaara's group reached the Uchiha Merchant Guild.

• An intelligence ninja identified Darui, Samui, and two other Kumogakure elites arriving in Konoha for the Chunin Exams, and the Anbu began monitoring them.
• The Anbu spotted a team from the Land of Earth and learned that its leader, Kurotsuchi, was Ōnoki's granddaughter.
• Konoha's Anbu decided to keep watching both foreign teams and report to the Hokage once their purpose was confirmed.
• Kurotsuchi noticed the Anbu following her team, stopped a teammate from confronting him, and continued toward their assigned lodging.
• Gaara's group arrived at the Uchiha Merchant Guild.

Gaara visited the Uchiha Merchant Guild with Temari and Kankuro to find Uchiha Xuan Yu, unsure whether Xuan Yu still remembered their childhood friendship. Xuan Yu came out to greet Gaara as his friend, and they reunited.

• Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were impressed by the Uchiha Merchant Guild and the strength of its clansmen.
• Uchiha Izumi confronted the visitors, and Gaara told her he had come to see Uchiha Xuan Yu, whom he considered a friend.
• Gaara asked Uchiha Izumi to tell Xuan Yu that Gaara from Sunagakure was waiting, prepared to leave if Xuan Yu did not remember him.
• Uchiha Xuan Yu appeared and told Gaara that he was his friend, welcoming him with, “My friend, we meet again!”

Gaara reunited with Xuan Yu at the Uchiha Merchant Guild and learned that Xuan Yu had tried to send him gifts through his uncle, the Kazekage. After an Anbu report revealed Gaara’s group had visited the guild, Sarutobi Hiruzen suspected Sunagakure was siding with the Uchiha and decided to seize Gaara and Shukaku after the Chunin Exams.

• Xuan Yu greeted Gaara at the Uchiha Clan grounds, and the two happily reunited after years apart.
• Xuan Yu told Gaara he had sent gifts through Gaara’s uncle, prompting Gaara’s chakra to stir before he suppressed it.
• Xuan Yu welcomed Gaara into the merchant guild while Temari and Kankuro followed, and a watching Anbu ninja hurried to report their visit.
• An Anbu ninja told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Gaara, the Kazekage’s son, had come to take part in the Chunin Exams and visited the Uchiha Merchant Guild.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen concluded that the Land of Wind was siding with the Uchiha and resolved to keep Gaara and take Shukaku after the exams.

Sarutobi Hiruzen learned that the Land of Lightning, Land of Earth, and Hidden Sound Village had sent teams to the Chunin Exams, but he dismissed his suspicions and focused on Impure World Reincarnation. He chose his son Sarutobi Ashenma as his first target and went to find Danzō.

• An Anbu ninja reported that elite descendants of the Land of Lightning, including two of Killer B's disciples, had arrived for the Chunin Exams, and Sarutobi Hiruzen assumed they were showing goodwill.
• Another Anbu ninja reported that Ōnoki had sent his granddaughter Kurotsuchi and others from the Land of Earth to the exams, and Hiruzen suspected they wanted to challenge Konoha's teams.
• Hiruzen learned that the Hidden Sound Village had also sent participants, then dismissed the reports and ordered the Anbu to leave.
• Hiruzen decided to use Impure World Reincarnation on a strong member of the Sarutobi Clan to build his control over the technique and Konoha.
• Hiruzen selected his deceased first son, Sarutobi Ashenma, and then went to find Danzō.

Sarutobi Hiruzen disguised himself to visit Root's hidden laboratory, where he was challenged and inspected by resurrected guards before Shimura Danzō let him in. Danzō explained the security measures and invited Hiruzen inside to discuss the first people to be resurrected.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen disguised himself in ordinary clothes and a straw hat, then secretly made his way to Root's laboratory beneath an unused wastewater facility.
• Resurrected Root guards blocked Hiruzen and inspected him to confirm he was not using the Transformation Technique.
• Shimura Danzō emerged from the laboratory and joked that Hiruzen had not warned him he was coming.
• Danzō explained that the Akatsuki Organization and the Uchiha Clan threatened the laboratory, so Root had to verify visitors carefully.
• Danzō said his Impure World Reincarnation subjects carried marks that identified him, then led Hiruzen inside to discuss the first people to be resurrected.