Chapter Summaries

Natsuri, Second Pillar, and Naruto passed the test after Natsuri secretly drugged the three jōnin, while Ren considered their future growth and the coming Joint Chūnin Exams. In the Land of Rivers, Kazuma demonstrated a devastating lightning technique to his followers and challenged their doubts about his plans.

• Natsuri gave the three jōnin pills, and they fell unconscious when they tried to resume the test; Ebisu announced that Natsuri, Second Pillar, and Naruto had passed.
• Ren watched the test and decided against trying to combine Naruto and Sasuke’s chakra because the risks were unknown.
• Ren considered the upcoming Joint Chūnin Exams, which had attracted the attention of people beyond the participating ninja villages.
• In the Land of Rivers, Kazuma and his followers watched lightning erase a mountain.
• Kazuma asked whether the demonstration had convinced them, while Fū, Fudō, and Fuen stood beside him.

Kazuma planned to use the revived Lightning Release Four-Man Team to destroy Konoha during the Joint Chūnin Exams, while Orochimaru (Yun Chi) examined a letter from his original body and reconsidered what had happened. The chapter ended with Orochimaru (Yun Chi) forming an idea about the coming exams.

• Kazuma reincarnated Kitane, Nauma, Seito, and Tōu and witnessed their Lightning Dream Thunder Man erase an entire mountain.
• Kazuma’s teammates initially opposed his plan to attack the Joint Chūnin Exams, but Fudō changed his mind after seeing the technique’s power.
• Kazuma rejected Fudō’s suggestion to eliminate the daimyos, Kage, and other leaders, explaining that the technique took too long to activate and required all four users.
• Orochimaru (Yun Chi) read a letter from his original body telling Haku to disband the team, join Otogakure, and travel to Konoha with Karin and a few others.
• Orochimaru (Yun Chi) realized his original body had not been killed by Yushu and formed an idea about the upcoming Chūnin Exams.

Ninja Academy graduates received their team assignments, and Natsuri, Naruto, and Sasuke Uchiha were placed together. Their team was left waiting in the classroom for an instructor after the other teams had departed.

• The newly graduated students gathered at the Ninja Academy for their team assignments while Natsuri, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto remained apart from the other groups.
• A teacher delivered a long graduation speech before beginning to read the roster.
• The teacher assigned Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee to one team and Natsuri, Naruto, and Sasuke Uchiha to another.
• Naruto celebrated being assigned with Natsuri, then complained about Sasuke Uchiha, who called him an idiot.
• After the teacher told the teams to wait for their instructors, the other instructors arrived and took their students away, leaving Natsuri's group of three alone.

Kabuto began training Natsuri, Naruto, and Sasuke Uchiha on behalf of their instructor, Ren, who had chosen to make them his students. After a month of basic training and low-level missions, the Chunin Exams were about to begin.

• Kabuto took Natsuri, Naruto, and Sasuke Uchiha to the training grounds and explained that he would teach them while Ren served as their instructor.
• Naruto and Natsuri asked who their instructor was and why he had not come himself, and Kabuto said Ren was too busy to meet them.
• Ren had chosen to personally take the three as students, trusting no one else to teach Natsuri and believing he could better develop Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha.
• Kabuto taught the three basic skills, left a Shadow Clone Technique to supervise them, and assigned them training exercises.
• Over the next month, the three trained and completed low-level jobs, and the eve of the Chunin Exams arrived.

Ren welcomed the leaders of the villages taking part in Konoha’s Joint Chūnin Exams and announced that the written round would eliminate eighty percent of candidates. As the leaders studied documents distributed by Mitsuba and Shikaku, Ren watched Konan, who had entered the village under the alias Bai Rong.

• Genin from across the ninja world arrived at Konoha and collected exam permits after staff checked their identities.
• Ren addressed the village team leaders in the Hokage Building and explained that the exams would have three rounds.
• Ren announced that the written examination would eliminate eighty percent of candidates, alarming leaders from smaller villages.
• Mitsuba and Shikaku distributed documents to the leaders, and Ren focused his attention on Amegakure’s unfamiliar representative.
• Konan, posing as Amegakure jōnin Bai Rong, read the documents and found their contents difficult to understand.

Ren oversaw the Joint Chūnin Exam meeting as the villages agreed to pay for extra advancement slots and bargained over which teams would give theirs up. Konan learned that the exam was also a matter of prestige and profit, then returned to her real purpose: understanding Konoha.

• Ren presented the advancement quotas and the price for additional team slots, and the villages agreed to the arrangement.
• Dodai, Baki, Kitsuchi, and Zabuza announced how many slots their villages would relinquish, prompting the smaller villages to haggle over the remaining places.
• Ren had each village submit a list of the personnel it wanted to advance, then ended the meeting.
• Konan asked an Amegakure jōnin whether earlier Joint Chūnin Exams had also involved paid slots, and he said they had cost five million ryō before the Second Shinobi World War.
• Konan dismissed the jōnin and left the residence to continue investigating Konoha.

Genin visiting Konoha for the Chunin Exam marveled at the village’s prosperity and strict order, then saw Konoha’s Military Police Force subdue a troublemaking ninja with unusual tools and support from young ninjas. The visitors grew envious of Konoha’s access to advanced ninja tools and ninjutsu as the chapter explained how most villages restricted those skills to clans and elites.

• Genin from across the ninja world toured Konoha and were astonished by its clean streets, busy shops, and content villagers.
• Some visitors dismissed Konoha as weak after seeing a ninja fined for traveling across rooftops.
• Konoha Military Police Force members subdued a small-village ninja who ignored their attempt to mediate a dispute.
• Two young ninjas appeared and defeated the troublemaker’s companion with ninjutsu, prompting the onlookers to envy Konoha’s abilities and tools.
• The chapter described how most genin relied on close combat and basic techniques because ninjutsu was monopolized by clans and village leaders.
• The chapter explained that villages sometimes distributed ninjutsu before war to ease internal pressures and prepare their forces.

Konan and visiting ninja saw Konoha’s public services, factories, and performances, leaving many villages impressed by its strength and prosperity. Meanwhile, Orochimaru examined himself after recognizing a familiar Otogakure ninja, though he had not yet understood why the encounter mattered.

• Konan approved of Konoha’s concern for civilians and studied its practices as a model for the peace Nagato hoped to establish.
• Konan visited the Ninjutsu Pavilion and Konoha’s factories, where visitors were kept at a distance and closely supervised by Konoha jonin.
• Ren invited village representatives to a song-and-dance performance and the Voice of Konoha, which presented Konoha as powerful and prosperous.
• Visiting ninja rejected their earlier belief that Konoha was in disarray and agreed that it remained powerful despite Uchiha Yushu being Hokage.
• After nightfall, genin studied or played while village leaders wrote reports, and Orochimaru examined himself after encountering a familiar Otogakure ninja.

Orochimaru discovered gaps in his memories and suspected that the unfamiliar Otogakure ninja was a clone he had created. He tracked down Yun Chi, his discarded self, and the two exchanged memories before Yun Chi asked whether Orochimaru could recover from having his free will altered.

• Orochimaru recognized that his memories had gaps from the days after his fight with Pain and from a more recent period, and suspected an Otogakure ninja was his clone.
• Orochimaru used a summoned snake to find an address near Konoha's cemetery, where he met Yun Chi.
• Orochimaru and Yun Chi exchanged information by swallowing each other's bodies.
• Orochimaru guessed that the memories Yun Chi held concerned the Uchiha Clan and a great figure.
• Yun Chi regarded Orochimaru as effectively dead because his free will had been altered, then asked whether he could recover.

Yun Chi met with Orochimaru, who warned him not to harm Konoha or reveal his existence to Ren. Ren and Shisui then captured Yun Chi, and Ren offered to continue their cooperation in exchange for teaching Orochimaru’s Konoha clone the summoning formula of the former Uchiha Clan head.

• Orochimaru told Yun Chi that his current self was his true self and warned him against harming Konoha or exposing his identity to Ren.
• Ren and Shisui arrived after Konoha’s satellites detected the meeting, and Yun Chi agreed to speak with Ren at the Hokage Building.
• Ren learned that Orochimaru had found Madara Uchiha’s genetic material in an underground base in the Land of Grass.
• Ren offered to continue the cooperation and return Haku and the others to Otogakure if Yun Chi taught Orochimaru’s Konoha clone the former Uchiha Clan head’s summoning formula.

Yun Chi handed Ren the knowledge and bodies, then left Konoha with Haku, Karin, and his other subordinates. As the Joint Chūnin Exams began, Kazuma’s group watched Konoha from the forest, and Ren received a report about four lightning streaks converging on the village.

• Yun Chi completed the handover to Ren, then left Konoha overnight with Haku, Karin, and the others.
• Kazuma and three companions watched Konoha from the treetops and hurried onward under Kazuma’s orders.
• The Joint Chūnin Exams began at the Ninja Academy, where more than seven hundred genin faced a six-hour written test packed with political questions.
• Konoha’s sensory division detected four lightning streaks converging on the village and sent a report to Ren.
• Ren recognized the incident as connected to the Twelve Guardian Ninja and recalled Asuma’s minor enemy from the original story.

Ren used his Mangekyō Sharingan to repeatedly disperse a growing lightning sphere threatening Konoha, while a corpse horde besieged the village. With Ren’s ocular power running low, he ordered Fugaku to eliminate the attackers, and Fugaku’s arrival drew Might Guy into action.

• Ren ordered Mitsuba to tell Konoha and the other villages that the lightning sphere was a village experiment, then used Shinato to disperse it as it repeatedly reformed and grew stronger.
• Mitsuba showed Ren the corpse horde surrounding Konoha, while Shikaku commanded the defenders and Might Guy fought through the undead.
• Unable to resolve the crisis with his Mangekyō, Ren ordered Fugaku to eliminate the caster and told the sealing squad to prepare for an impact.
• Fugaku used Amaterasu to burn a path through the corpse horde, prompting Might Guy to stop fighting the fodder and surge into action at high speed.

Seito's Lightning Dream Thunder Man threatened Konoha, but the village's sealing squads raised the Four Red Yang Formation and blocked the attack. Might Guy stopped the technique, and Konoha's ninja captured Kazuma and the other attackers, leaving the village safe.

• Fū tried to mislead Might Guy about Seito and the technique, but Seito unleashed lightning over Konoha.
• Konoha's sealing squads powered a network of devices that raised the Four Red Yang Formation around the village.
• Might Guy struck Seito and Fū, then halted his transformation when he saw Konoha was protected and used Daytime Tiger to pursue Kazuma.
• Shikaku restrained Kazuma, and Konoha's ninja captured the attackers in the other directions.
• Shikaku fired a signal flare, the barrier came down, and the exhausted sealing squad collapsed.

During the Chunin Exams, the Four Red Yang Formation protected Konoha while Yushu reviewed its defenses and questioned the reliability of the chakra system. After the attackers were captured, Orochimaru and Yushu examined them but found nothing unusual.

• Akimichi Choza snacked in the exam room while Kabuto tried to recall a number he had heard on Voice of Konoha.
• The Four Red Yang Formation rose, and Yushu returned to his desk, realizing the Sealing Squad’s technique could strengthen Konoha’s defenses.
• Konoha’s ninja captured four attackers, including Fū, after seeing through their tricks and catching them alive.
• Yushu reflected on the limits of chakra-based power and urged himself to keep advancing Orochimaru’s research into special chakra.
• Orochimaru examined the four captives and reported no abnormalities, and Yushu confirmed they appeared to be ordinary ninja before leaving the rest to his staff.

After the attack on Konoha, Ren issued an official explanation that the incident had been an exercise, while visiting ninja villages suspected one another and tried to report their rivals. Ren rejected most requests for meetings and reinforced Konoha’s account, leaving the foreign leaders to prepare their own reports.

• Konoha’s Hokage Building announced that the events had been a reliable demonstration of newly developed ninjutsu and defenses, and participants signed confidentiality agreements.
• The visiting village leaders gathered and silently accused one another of having launched the attack, while Dodai requested a meeting with the Fifth Hokage to report crucial intelligence.
• Ren received many meeting requests, met with several visitors, and rejected the rest after watching them accuse and frame one another.
• Ren announced again that the incident had been a Konoha exercise and told the visiting teams not to suspect anything else.
• The visiting ninja villages dropped their accusations and turned to writing reports, while Ren relied on Konoha’s ninjas believing the official explanation.

After the written test, the candidates gathered for the second round of the Chunin Exams in Konoha’s Forest of Death. They received their scrolls and entered the forest, beginning a three-day test to reach the central tower and collect two scrolls.

• The village leaders received the written-test results, then took their genin around Konoha before leading those who had failed away.
• Kitsuchi sent intelligence to his old man through an emergency communication channel while other village leaders wrote reports.
• Forty-nine teams of genin arrived at the Forest of Death for the second round.
• Konoha’s proctors described the forest as dangerous and explained that candidates had three days to reach the central tower and gather two scrolls.
• The candidates drew entry points, received their scrolls, signed agreements accepting responsibility for their safety, and entered the forest.

Ren watched Natsuri’s team cautiously enter the Forest of Death while leaders from the other villages monitored the exam. As rival teams fought across the testing grounds, their leaders argued angrily in the surveillance room.

• Ren used hidden cameras to watch Natsuri, Naruto, and Sasuke advance through the Forest of Death.
• Naruto, Natsuri, and Sasuke admitted they were unsure they could pass after seeing Kabuto and Utakata’s strength.
• The three rookies cautiously proceeded, newly aware of how powerful the wider ninja world was.
• Genin from different villages began fighting when they met inside the forest.
• The village leaders accused one another of cheating and hypocrisy, including over a jinchuriki and a genin valued at twenty million ryo.

Kitsuchi and Ōnoki realized that Deidara, Ōnoki’s former disciple, had become a Konoha ninja, raising fears that Iwagakure’s secret techniques could be exposed. Ōnoki decided to visit Konoha before the third exam and considered using a group of troublemakers to take the initiative.

• Kitsuchi confirmed that the blond Konoha ninja on the screen was Deidara, who had disappeared from Iwagakure years earlier.
• Kitsuchi worried that Deidara might reveal Iwagakure’s core inheritances and saw no easy diplomatic or military way to respond.
• Ōnoki considered the village’s valuable inheritances and recognized that Deidara’s defection was a serious problem.
• Ōnoki decided to contact Konoha before the third exam and thought of a group of fearless troublemakers.

Ōnoki contacted the Akatsuki and left Iwagakure to address Deidara’s situation, while Kitsuchi focused on his daughter during the Chunin Exams. In Konoha’s monitoring room, Konan decided she wanted the village’s concealed surveillance system to ease Nagato’s burden, and her Akatsuki ring began to vibrate.

• Ōnoki recalled Iwagakure’s long-running business with the Akatsuki and decided the organization was his best option for dealing with Deidara’s situation.
• Ōnoki contacted an Akatsuki core member, made arrangements for Iwagakure, and flew away alone.
• Kitsuchi learned that Ōnoki had taken charge of the problem and turned his attention to his daughter during the Chunin Exams.
• Konan studied Konoha’s concealed camera system and considered how it could reduce Nagato’s need to maintain the Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
• Konan’s Akatsuki ring began to vibrate.

Ōnoki hired Kakuzu to abduct Deidara, and Nagato accepted the mission after Kakuzu reported it to him. Nagato planned to use the operation to capture the One-Tail jinchuriki and possibly the Nine-Tails jinchuriki in Konoha, while Konan prepared to act despite her concerns.

• Ōnoki offered Kakuzu money to abduct a genin from Konoha, and they settled on a price of thirty million ryo after haggling.
• Sasori suggested the target might be Deidara, and Kakuzu contacted Ren to ask whether Konoha would sell him.
• Ren refused to sell Deidara, so Kakuzu reported the mission to Pain and said he did not want to provoke Konoha.
• Nagato accepted the job and planned to use it as cover to capture the One-Tail jinchuriki and, if possible, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki.
• Nagato told Konan his plan and explained the Pain body and backup measures prepared to protect her in Konoha.
• Konan stopped trying to dissuade Nagato and looked out over Konoha from her residence.