Chapter Summaries

Ren promoted his new phosphate fertilizer across the Land of Fire and found that his reputation from defeating Hidden Cloud Village made nobles eager to support him. With the factory’s orders booked years in advance, he decided to expand his investment in Konoha before preparing to return after more than three months away.

• Ren started a phosphate fertilizer factory with Kabuto’s help, then left Konoha to build connections with the Land of Fire’s nobles.
• Ren promoted fertilizer to nobles who welcomed him because he had helped Konoha recover their losses from the Hidden Cloud Village invasion.
• The nobles ordered years’ worth of fertilizer despite the factory’s small capacity, valuing Ren’s reputation more than the untested product.
• Ren realized his fame made business far easier than expected and decided to invest on a larger scale in Konoha’s factories and workforce.
• After traveling for a little over three months amid enthusiastic receptions, Ren prepared to return to Konoha.

After years of building support through the Konoha Military Police Force, Yushu led nearly every clan, ninja, and civilian in Konoha to confront Hiruzen Sarutobi at the Hokage Building. He publicly accused Hiruzen of betraying the Will of Fire, beginning his bid to remove him as Hokage.

• Konoha prospered under Yushu’s reforms while missions grew scarce for other villages and ninjas.
• Yushu decided that Hiruzen Sarutobi’s ten years as acting Hokage had to end and prepared to make his move.
• Yushu gathered the Uchiha Clan, then joined Hiashi and the Hyuga Clan and won the support of Konoha’s other clans.
• As Yushu’s procession crossed Konoha, civilian ninjas and ordinary villagers joined it until it reached the Hokage Building at noon.
• Yushu confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi and declared that he had betrayed the Will of Fire.

Ren rallied Konoha against Hiruzen Sarutobi’s long tenure as acting Hokage, turning the villagers’ voices into a unified demand as he confronted him. Hiruzen remained calm and called for Jiraiya, leaving the confrontation poised to continue.

• Ren’s public challenge stirred Konoha, while villagers and ninjas carried on with their routines and quietly chose sides.
• Ren accused Hiruzen Sarutobi of clinging to the Hokage position and betraying the Will of Fire, then asked what Konoha needed.
• Ren’s paid chant leaders helped the villagers unite in a loud chorus, while blood streamed from his right eye and the clouds cleared.
• Ren urged Hiruzen not to stray further from the Will of Fire, and Hiruzen calmly called Jiraiya forward.

Uchiha Yushu pressed ahead with the election for the Fifth Hokage, confident that Jiraiya would not challenge him. After Jiraiya publicly supported Yushu and declined the position, Konoha's clans backed the election, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi to agree as well.

• Yushu reassured Hiashi and the other ninjas that his plan was under control.
• Jiraiya emerged with Hiruzen Sarutobi, greeted Yushu warmly, and said he would not seek the Hokage position.
• Jiraiya praised the changes Yushu had made to Konoha and went to see Minato's child.
• Yushu stopped Jiraiya and asked him to remain as a Konoha jonin while the election began.
• Yushu declared the Fifth Hokage election, and Konoha's clans, including the Sarutobi Clan, backed the motion.

Uchiha Yushu won the Fifth Hokage election after nearly every clan and civilian jonin publicly supported him, then completed the handover with Hiruzen Sarutobi. In the Hokage's office, he claimed a grand roulette reward and discovered his system's achievements section had reached its highest milestone before receiving an ugly villain template.

• Yushu summoned Konoha's clan heads and civilian jonin to the Hokage Building to begin the Fifth Hokage election.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi nominated Jiraiya, but Yushu and nearly every clan and jonin publicly supported Yushu; the Sarutobi Clan abstained.
• Yushu declared himself the Fifth Hokage, scheduled his inauguration for three days later, and began the handover with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• After completing the handover, Yushu took his place in the Hokage's office and received a grand roulette draw for his election victory.
• Yushu learned that he had reached the highest achievement and saw that most roulette templates were damaged.
• Yushu spun the roulette and received a non-duplicate template that he found ugly and unsuitable for his style.

After becoming Hokage, Yushu received a powerful but incomplete Surtur template and decided to ignore it when he could not find the mission or inventory needed to unlock its Eternal Flame. As Konoha celebrated his rule, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Utatane Koharu settled into the Consultants' Residence, where Asuma and Itachi Uchiha were also present.

• Gamamaru briefly awakened at Mount Myōboku, while Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki sensed nothing wrong and closed his eyes again.
• Yushu loaded the Surtur template, gaining the ability to change his size and immortality, but could not locate the system mission or inventory needed to unlock the Eternal Flame.
• Yushu returned home and found Mina, Takuma, and Natsuri waiting for him, which lifted his spirits about becoming Hokage.
• Konoha celebrated Yushu's appointment with nightly fireworks, while he spent the next few days occupied by tailors and sculptors.
• Yushu stripped Utatane Koharu of her other positions and housed her and Hiruzen Sarutobi in the Consultants' Residence, where Asuma and Itachi Uchiha were staying.

Uchiha Yushu held his succession ceremony and became Konoha’s Fifth Hokage. Later, Jiraiya told Yushu about his long-running mission to capture Orochimaru and the important intelligence he had uncovered.

• Yushu donned the Hokage robes and hat himself, declared a new chapter for Konoha, and received cheers from the gathered crowd.
• Jiraiya watched the ceremony and recalled Minato and his past efforts to identify the Child of Prophecy, then decided to leave Konoha that afternoon.
• Yushu and Jiraiya met in the Hokage Building’s conference room after the festivities ended.
• Jiraiya told Yushu that Sarutobi had assigned him to capture Orochimaru and that he had uncovered important intelligence while tracking him.
• Yushu asked Jiraiya whether he had found Orochimaru’s hiding place.

Ren learned from Jiraiya that Orochimaru was connected to the secret Akatsuki organization, then warned Orochimaru and considered how to deal with the group. He offered Hiashi a Konoha elder position, but hinted that the real opportunity involved the Sarutobi Clan having too many ninja.

• Jiraiya told Ren that Orochimaru was suspected of being an ordinary member of Akatsuki, whose leader and other members were powerful rogue ninja.
• Ren authorized Jiraiya to continue pursuing Orochimaru and asked him to leave a messenger-toad scroll at the Hokage Building.
• Ren wrote to Orochimaru to warn him about Jiraiya and Akatsuki, and instructed him to save Jiraiya if he risked entering Amegakure.
• Ren considered Akatsuki, Kisame's defection, and Itachi's secret visit to Hiruzen Sarutobi before deciding to summon Hiashi.
• Ren offered Hiashi a Konoha elder position; after Hiashi declined, Ren hinted at a chance to act against the Sarutobi Clan, saying it had too many ninja.

Ren pressured Hiashi into reducing the Sarutobi Clan’s presence in Konoha and preparing the Hyuga Clan to guard the Advisory Council. After Hiashi was appointed an elder, Ren reflected on the village’s clans and decided to confront the Uchiha faction opposing him at their next gathering.

• Ren told Hiashi that only a thousand Sarutobi Clan ninja should remain in Konoha and assigned the rest to border duty.
• Ren ordered Hiashi to prepare the Hyuga Clan to take responsibility for the Advisory Council’s security within a month, and Hiashi agreed to act for Konoha.
• Mitsuba led Hiashi through the documents that officially appointed him as Konoha’s new elder.
• Ren considered how Konoha should strengthen loyalty to the village without weakening clan ties, and recalled the support he had given civilian ninja through the Ninjutsu Pavilion.
• Ren decided to lay matters out with the Uchiha group opposing him at their next gathering, though he hoped to avoid killing his clansmen.

Hiashi organized a campaign that used Hyuga members of the Military Police Force and investigations to drive Sarutobi Clan members out of Konoha’s departments. The Sarutobi were dismissed and sent to guard the borders, while Ren achieved a rotation of Konoha’s border ninja.

• Hiashi assigned tasks, and Hyuga ninja began provoking Sarutobi Clan members around Konoha.
• Hyuga Yangdou used his Military Police Force authority to arrest a Hyuga instigator and a Sarutobi ninja, then released the Hyuga while detaining the Sarutobi.
• Rumors about the Sarutobi Clan spread, and complaints against Sarutobi superiors flooded Konoha’s departments.
• Ren suspended Sarutobi officials pending investigation and appointed Hiashi to lead the investigations.
• Hiashi treated minor workplace violations as threats to Konoha, and the Sarutobi officials were dismissed and sent to the border.

After receiving Orochimaru’s findings about tailed-beast chakra, Ren secretly left Konoha to meet him. At Orochimaru’s base, Ren met Haku, tried to recruit him, and then reunited with Orochimaru, who wondered privately how long being Hokage would leave Ren unchanged.

• Three days after Hiashi began his operation against the Sarutobi Clan, Ren left Konoha for the Land of Rice Paddies to investigate Orochimaru’s research.
• Orochimaru’s experiments with bloodline chakra had failed to reproduce mutations, so he turned to studying tailed beasts and sent Ren his findings.
• Ren reached Orochimaru’s hidden base, where Haku greeted him and revealed that he worked as Orochimaru’s laboratory assistant.
• Ren invited Haku to join him in Konoha, but Haku stayed silent rather than accept or risk offending Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru arrived, sent Haku away, and spoke with Ren, privately wondering whether the Hokage position would eventually change him.

Orochimaru explained to Ren how studying fragments of the Eight-Tails led him to build a device that converted natural energy into chakra. Ren questioned how the discovery supported Orochimaru’s claim that ninja had never possessed chakra, leaving the explanation unfinished.

• Orochimaru led Ren into a sealed underground laboratory and showed him a fragment of the Eight-Tails.
• Orochimaru said he had studied the fragments after his chakra research stalled, and that they stopped generating chakra after the Eight-Tails died.
• Orochimaru explained that the fragments could generate chakra again when infused with natural energy, provided they remained above a critical size.
• Orochimaru revealed that he had built a device modeled on the fragments’ structure that converted natural energy into chakra less efficiently.
• Ren asked Orochimaru how the research connected to his claim that ninja had never possessed chakra.

Orochimaru demonstrated his Chakra-Making Device to Ren, using Jūgo’s natural energy to generate chakra. He then connected the chakra to a second device that could activate ninjutsu and began a demonstration of Earth Release.

• Orochimaru showed Ren the prototype Chakra-Making Device and explained that it converted natural energy into chakra.
• Orochimaru summoned Jūgo, who fed natural energy into the machine until a mass of chakra formed.
• Orochimaru dismissed Jūgo, and Ren offered to take him as a subordinate.
• Orochimaru explained that a second device could use chakra to activate configured ninjutsu, then demonstrated Earth Release: Earth-Style Stone Gathering.

Ren examined Orochimaru’s chakra experiment and realized it could create real matter and permanently strengthen living beings. Orochimaru warned that the chakra supply was too limited, and Ren ended the chapter asking what made the chakra inside ninja different.

• Orochimaru used the chakra manufacturing machine to create an apple-sized stone, and Ren recognized it as matter formed directly from chakra.
• Ren became excited about the possibility of transforming the ninja world through chakra-based creation, but Orochimaru warned him not to get carried away.
• Orochimaru explained that the manufactured chakra could permanently strengthen skin, muscles, bones, organs, and spiritual power.
• Ren questioned whether the chakra within ninja was genuine, and he asked Orochimaru what made it different.

Ren tested the chakra produced by Orochimaru’s device, discovered a link between its remnants and his younger sister’s chakra, and asked Orochimaru to make more. Orochimaru requested Sharingan for research, but Ren threatened him with Hellfire, leaving Orochimaru terrified and regretful.

• Orochimaru explained that he could not distinguish the two kinds of chakra despite extensive testing, so Ren tried absorbing some himself.
• Ren sensed the chakra strengthening his body and absorbed nearly all of it, leaving a trace to examine with his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Ren discovered the remaining chakra matched his younger sister’s chakra and asked Orochimaru to produce more.
• Orochimaru asked Ren to give him several pairs of Sharingan for research.
• Ren confronted Orochimaru with Hellfire, and Orochimaru realized it could kill him completely and regretted provoking Ren.

Ren forced Orochimaru to hand Jūgo over to Konoha and obtained copies of Orochimaru’s chakra research materials. After marking Orochimaru’s base for future travel, Ren left with Jūgo and Shisui.

• Orochimaru recognized that Ren’s Hellfire threatened his life, apologized, and agreed to send Jūgo to Konoha.
• Ren promised Orochimaru access to Sharingan, Byakugan, and possibly Rinnegan research if he continued studying chakra.
• Orochimaru summoned Jūgo and assigned him to follow Ren, who introduced himself as Uchiha Yushu.
• Ren confirmed the chakra in Orochimaru’s equipment matched Natsuri’s, collected the research materials, and departed with Jūgo.
• Ren inscribed a teleportation marker on a boulder, and Shisui arrived after Ren fed chakra into it.
• Shisui questioned whether Ren had learned Flying Thunder God, then teleported Ren and Jūgo away.

Orochimaru studied readings that revealed Ren’s body contained immense, mysterious power and became consumed with wanting it. Back in Konoha, Ren settled Jūgo at the orphanage, then visited the Ninja Academy and asked principal Hongyu to arrange a private room and summon Natsuri.

• Orochimaru examined laboratory data showing that Ren absorbed and generated heat, and he marveled at the power within Ren’s body.
• Orochimaru realized Ren’s condition did not fit his understanding of science or chakra and intensely desired Ren’s body.
• Ren reassured Jūgo that Kabuto could restrain him if he lost control, then left him at the orphanage.
• Ren reflected on Kabuto’s abilities and Deidara’s progress toward developing increasingly powerful clay bombs.
• Ren went to the Ninja Academy to see Natsuri and assess Konoha’s promising students, then spoke with principal Uchiha Hongyu.
• Ren asked Hongyu to arrange a private room and have Natsuri come see him.

Ren confronted Natsuri, convinced that something abnormal had taken over his sister, while Natsuri tried to understand why he had turned against her. The chapter left Natsuri facing Ren’s deadly fireball without resisting, believing that her death might restore him.

• Ren met Natsuri in a sealed room and accused her of not being his sister because of the abnormal chakra within her.
• Natsuri’s grief triggered her Sharingan to evolve to three tomoe, but her thoughts remained clear and her chakra surged without burdening her body.
• Natsuri thanked Ren for protecting their family and Konoha, then urged him to tell her what had happened while he was away.
• Ren cast a Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu at Natsuri, but her colorless chakra erased it.
• Ren declared that Natsuri was an impostor and launched a fireball at her head as she stood still, accepting death and affirming her love for him.

Ren stopped his fireball before it could hurt Natsuri, then pretended to collapse so he could conceal that he had noticed something strange about her. Still wary of whoever might be behind the tampering, he left to seek Shisui's help and announced that he would stay at his place.

• Ren suspected Kaguya Ōtsutsuki or Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki had tampered with Natsuri, but he could not determine who was responsible.
• Ren fell to the ground in front of Natsuri, then reassured her and told her not to tell their parents he had returned.
• After Natsuri left, Ren resolved to stop coasting through life and watched the Ninja Academy students with his Sharingan.
• Ren sneaked out after dark and climbed into Shisui's courtyard, where Shisui stopped his attack after recognizing him.
• Ren told Shisui that he would stay at his place for the next two days.

Ren recruited Shisui to help expose people hiding information and then visited Sasori at the experimental building to commission a machine. The chapter ended with Sasori showing a subtle change in his eyes after Ren left.

• Ren explained his plan to flush out people concealing information, and Shisui agreed to join the operation.
• Natsuri worried about Ren and resolved to help her family, though she later lost focus while staring at the ceiling.
• Ren used the Transformation Jutsu to enter the experimental building and met Sasori in his sealed laboratory.
• Ren showed Sasori a blueprint and asked him to build the machine, and Sasori estimated it would take half a month with full support.
• After Ren left, Sasori's eyes showed a subtle change.