Chapter Summaries

Jiraiya took Chenshu Senju on the road toward Tanzaku Town, where Chenshu demanded free meals and lodging while seeking Sage Jutsu training. Jiraiya shared chakra-control notes and warned him about strange ancient chakra on Mount Myoboku, but Chenshu remained focused on getting stronger and eating well.

• Chenshu Senju accepted Jiraiya's offer to teach him Sage Jutsu only after securing meals and lodging, triggering a mission to obtain resources and Sage Jutsu information.
• Jiraiya and Chenshu Senju were caught peeping at a hot spring, and Jiraiya fled before colliding with Shizune and Tonton.
• By a campfire, Chenshu Senju claimed his Wood Release came from a bloodline awakening and a secret chamber at the old Senju Clan site, then asked to learn Sage Jutsu.
• Jiraiya explained that Sage Jutsu required training at Mount Myoboku and handed Chenshu Senju chakra-control notes, advancing the mission.
• Jiraiya paid for their food and lodging as they traveled toward Tanzaku Town, then told Chenshu Senju that the Great Toad Sage had detected strange ancient chakra on Mount Myoboku.
• Chenshu Senju dismissed the warning and insisted on stopping for wagyu, while Jiraiya regretted bringing him along.

Chenshu Senju and Jiraiya encountered Sound Ninja remnants, and Chenshu defeated them and gained immunity to Curse Seals. While studying Orochimaru’s scroll, he discovered a plan targeting Tsunade and himself, leaving him furious at Orochimaru.

• Chenshu Senju and Jiraiya rushed toward an explosion and found Hidden Leaf ANBU surrounded by four Sound Ninja.
• Chenshu bound the Sound Ninja with Wood Release, knocked out their leader, and took a scroll and their money.
• The system rewarded Chenshu with a draw and Curse-Seal Immunity after analyzing Orochimaru’s experimental data.
• At the inn, Chenshu read Orochimaru’s plan to exploit Senju descendants and saw Tsunade and himself listed as targets.
• Chenshu destroyed the scroll and resolved that Orochimaru had gone too far.

Sasuke became convinced that staying in Konoha would keep him from gaining the power he needed, and he left with Orochimaru’s Sound Ninja. The next morning, Kakashi told Naruto and Sakura that Sasuke had defected.

• Sasuke brooded over Chenshu Senju’s strength and grew frustrated with Team 7, then left their training ground.
• Tayuya and three other Sound Ninja approached Sasuke at the Uchiha estate and offered him power from Orochimaru.
• Sasuke kicked Sakon into a wall and, after considering his Curse Mark, agreed to go with the Sound Ninja.
• Sasuke and the four Sound Ninja vanished into the night, leaving Konoha.
• Kakashi told Naruto and Sakura that Sasuke had defected, leaving them stunned.

After Sasuke's defection, Chenshu Senju refused Danzo's attempt to recruit him into Root and forced Konoha's leaders to pay him for protection. In Amegakure, Nagato learned of Chenshu's Wood Release and ordered Akatsuki to monitor him.

• Danzo blamed Kakashi for Sasuke's defection and declared that Chenshu Senju would be assigned to Root for protection.
• Chenshu Senju entered the conference room with Jiraiya and revealed Orochimaru's plans to capture him and exploit the Senju bloodline.
• Chenshu Senju rejected Root and demanded five million ryō, threatening to defect to Otogakure if Konoha refused to pay.
• Kakashi warned the officials that pushing Chenshu Senju too far could cost Konoha another powerful ninja, and they gave him the money.
• Chenshu Senju received a chakra refinement reward that doubled his constitution recovery speed, then left with Jiraiya.
• Black and White Zetsu informed Konan and Nagato about Chenshu Senju's Wood Release, and Nagato ordered them to watch him and make him feel pain if he interfered with their peace plan.

Chenshu Senju used his Wood Release surveillance network to watch Sasuke grow increasingly resentful and eventually defect to join the Sound Four. After the system tasked him with intercepting them and extracting their Cursed Seal powers, Chenshu teleported to pursue Sasuke, leaving the defection arc poised for a confrontation.

• Chenshu Senju monitored Team 7 and saw Sasuke's frustration with his teammates and his desire to leave the village deepen.
• Sasuke agreed to follow Tayuya and the other Sound Ninja, then vanished with them into the night.
• Chenshu collected five million ryo in funding from Danzo and refused Jiraiya's invitation to visit a geisha house.
• The system assigned Chenshu a mission to intercept the Sound Four, extract their Cursed Seal powers, and disrupt Orochimaru's plans.
• Chenshu teleported away as Sasuke fled the village alone, heading toward a planned interception.

Sasuke escaped Hidden Leaf Village with the Sound Four, and Shikamaru led a pursuit squad that Chenshu Senju joined for his own reasons. Chenshu raced ahead and located the Sound Four in a canyon, where they prepared an ambush, unaware that he was already closing in.

• Sasuke traveled with the Sound Four after leaving Hidden Leaf Village to pursue power.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura ordered Shikamaru to lead a squad to retrieve Sasuke, while Naruto insisted on joining.
• Chenshu Senju volunteered to join the pursuit squad, secretly seeking the Sound Four as rewards, and immediately took charge of the mission.
• Chenshu used his surveillance network to locate the Sound Four and raced ahead, with Shikamaru and the others following.
• The Sound Four stopped in a canyon while Sasuke remained unconscious inside a sealed barrel, and Kidomaru set a toxic web trap for the pursuers.
• A Wood Release vine emerged beneath Tayuya as Chenshu approached, leaving the Sound Four unaware of the danger.

Chenshu Senju ambushed the Sound Ninja and defeated them with overwhelming Wood Release, then extracted their curse mark power. He left Sasuke Uchiha sealed in a barrel and Tayuya bound in a tree as Shikamaru’s team approached, while Kimimaro watched and realized Orochimaru’s plan was in trouble.

• Chenshu Senju surprised Tayuya, Jirobo, Sakon, and Kidomaru in the canyon, binding Tayuya with Wood Release vines.
• Chenshu Senju instantly defeated Jirobo, then pierced Kidomaru and Sakon with wooden spikes.
• Chenshu Senju extracted the curse mark source from the three Sound Ninja, strengthening his Sage Body.
• Chenshu Senju kicked Sasuke Uchiha’s sealed barrel and refused to release Tayuya, saying the approaching Hidden Leaf pursuers could enjoy the view.
• Shikamaru led Naruto and the others through the woods toward the canyon, unaware the enemies were already defeated.
• Kimimaro watched from the cliff and realized Chenshu Senju had badly disrupted Orochimaru’s plan.

Kimimaro activated Orochimaru’s barrier, trapping the pursuing Hidden Leaf genin with the Sound Ninja Four. Chenshu Senju destroyed the barrier and overwhelmed the Sound Ninja Four, who then burned their life force to unleash their curse marks for one final attack.

• Kimimaro crushed a rune-carved skull, sending scarlet chakra into the canyon and awakening the Sound Ninja Four.
• Jirobo, Sakon, Kidomaru, and Tayuya formed the Four Black Mist Formation Barrier, trapping the pursuing genin inside with monster clones.
• Shikamaru’s team struggled against the clones until Chenshu Senju arrived and used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to destroy them and shatter the barrier.
• The barrier’s backlash badly injured the Sound Ninja Four, and Chenshu approached them as Shikamaru’s team stared in shock.
• Jirobo, Sakon, Kidomaru, and Tayuya crushed Orochimaru’s bone talismans and overdrawn their life force to unleash their curse marks for a desperate attack.

Chenshu Senju defeated and healed the Sound Four, then recruited them as his subordinates instead of taking them back to the Hidden Leaf Village. As he prepared to leave with them, Kimimaro arrived to confront him on Orochimaru’s behalf.

• Chenshu Senju swiftly defeated Jirobo and Sakon, then rescued Tayuya from the curse mark’s deadly backlash and healed the other Sound Four with Medical Wood Release.
• Chenshu Senju persuaded the Sound Four to join him by offering to resolve their curse mark flaws, and Tayuya accepted in exchange for meals.
• The system rewarded Chenshu Senju for subduing the Sound Four remnants with a Chakra-Conducting Black Robe Blueprint and two intermediate consecutive draw opportunities.
• Naruto asked whether Chenshu Senju would take the Sound Four to the Hidden Leaf Village, but Chenshu ordered the pursuit team to leave with Sasuke’s sealed barrel.
• After the Hidden Leaf team withdrew, Kimimaro arrived and declared that anyone interfering with Orochimaru’s plans must die.

Chenshu Senju fought Kimimaro in the canyon and overwhelmed him with Wood Release, leaving Kimimaro badly wounded. Hidden in the forest, Orochimaru watched the battle and decided that Chenshu would be his next vessel.

• Chenshu wrapped Tayuya in vines while Kimimaro watched and prepared to fight.
• Kimimaro fired Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets, but Chenshu blocked them with a Wood Locking Wall.
• Kimimaro attacked with Dance of the Larch, but Chenshu's wooden arm withstood his bone blades.
• Kimimaro activated his Curse Mark's second state and trapped Chenshu's arm with Dance of the Clematis Flower.
• Chenshu summoned a Wood Dragon that crushed Kimimaro and his bone spear, leaving the outcome decided.
• Orochimaru watched from the forest and resolved to obtain Chenshu's body as his vessel.

Chenshu Senju defeated Kimimaro and the Sound Four, healed Kimimaro, and recruited him and his companions. As Chenshu led his new group away, Jiraiya arrived and became fascinated with Tayuya's vine restraints.

• Chenshu Senju defeated Kimimaro with the Wood Dragon Technique and restrained Tayuya while the other Sound Four watched.
• Chenshu healed Kimimaro's terminal illness and persuaded him to pledge his life in exchange for care and employment.
• Chenshu assigned Sakon, Jirobo, Kidomaru, and Tayuya to serve as errand workers and tea servers, but refused to untie Tayuya's vines.
• Orochimaru watched from the mountains, resolved to capture Chenshu and take his Wood Release body as a vessel.
• Chenshu led his five new subordinates away to find a white-haired old man, and Jiraiya appeared and tried to take notes on Tayuya's restraints.

Chenshu Senju faked chakra exhaustion to lure Orochimaru into revealing his bloodline-modification plan and then ambushed him. Orochimaru escaped, leaving a cursed seal seed behind in the canyon soil.

• Jiraiya sketched Tayuya while Sakon praised his drawing and tried to become his son.
• Chenshu Senju pretended to collapse from the Wood Dragon Technique, prompting Orochimaru to emerge and claim him as a vessel.
• Chenshu Senju warned that the Senju Sage Body would reject Orochimaru's technique, and Orochimaru revealed his Hashirama Cell Fusion Agent and bodily-fluid counterbalancing plan.
• Chenshu Senju received an S-rank bloodline-modification secret through reverse interrogation, then revealed that his weakness had been an act.
• Chenshu Senju struck Orochimaru with a wooden arm, and Orochimaru escaped underground after vowing to return.
• A cursed seal seed Orochimaru had left behind silently took root in the soil.

The exhausted retrieval squad returned to the Hidden Leaf Village with Sasuke and Chenshu Senju’s new followers, while Chenshu prepared a cover story to conceal his strength and keep the fighters under his command. As they approached the gates, White Zetsu secretly observed Chenshu and recognized the significance of his Wood Release.

• The returning squad recalled Chenshu Senju defeating Kimimaro and slapping Orochimaru away, then joked about Tayuya as they walked.
• Chenshu Senju told Sakon and the others to claim they had surrendered because of Jiraiya’s presence and to explain his Wood Dragon as the result of a one-time secret medicine.
• Chenshu Senju gave Tayuya a new coat and instructed everyone to act pitiful as they entered the Hidden Leaf Village.
• The squad reached the village gates with Sasuke still unconscious inside the barrel.
• White Zetsu watched Chenshu Senju from a drifting spore and remarked on the return of Wood Release.

Chenshu Senju kept Tayuya and the Sound Four as his private staff while writing at home. At an Akatsuki meeting, Pain judged Chenshu a greater threat than the Nine-Tails and ordered him watched, while Konan prepared to deal with him herself if necessary.

• Chenshu Senju had Tayuya serve him tea and massage his shoulders while the other members of his private squad watched.
• Pain asked Zetsu about Hidden Leaf Village, and Zetsu reported that Chenshu Senju had defeated Orochimaru with powerful Wood Release.
• Zetsu projected footage of the battle, but the display shifted to Tayuya bound in vines and prompted crude remarks from Akatsuki's members.
• Pain ordered Zetsu to make Chenshu the highest-priority observation target and consider infiltrating Hidden Leaf Village to assess his abilities.
• After the meeting, Konan decided she would personally eliminate Chenshu if he threatened Nagato's dream.

Chenshu Senju used a labor-dispatch agreement signed by Jiraiya and his own overwhelming strength to drive Danzo’s Root squad from his courtyard. Danzo retreated in humiliation, then ordered Root to watch Chenshu’s squad and kill everyone around him except Chenshu.

• Tayuya served Chenshu Senju while Kimimaro knocked Sakon into the mud for leering at her.
• Danzo arrived with Root ninja and accused Chenshu of harboring Orochimaru’s defectors, ordering their arrest.
• Chenshu showed Danzo a labor-dispatch agreement bearing Jiraiya’s signature and seal, but Danzo dismissed it and prepared to seize the group anyway.
• Chenshu unleashed thick vines that restrained the Root ninja and warned Danzo that the squad was protected by village funds and Jiraiya’s interests.
• Danzo withdrew in disgrace after Chenshu mocked him, then ordered Root to surveil Chenshu’s squad and kill everyone around Chenshu when an opportunity arose.

Sasuke woke in the hospital and learned that Chenshu Senju had defeated the Sound Ninja, Kimimaro, and Orochimaru. Humiliated by Chenshu’s power and taunts, Sasuke resolved to seek Orochimaru’s strength again, and a more extreme defection plan began to form.

• Sasuke woke in the hospital and asked what had happened to the Sound Ninja.
• Shikamaru and Naruto told Sasuke that Chenshu Senju had defeated the Sound Ninja and Kimimaro, then driven Orochimaru away.
• Chenshu Senju visited Sasuke with Tayuya, mocked Sasuke’s desire to join Orochimaru, and dismissed him as too weak to fight.
• After Chenshu Senju left, Sasuke brooded over his humiliation and resolved to pursue Orochimaru’s power.
• Sasuke’s eyes turned crimson with three tomoe as he began planning a second, more extreme defection.

Chenshu Senju secretly trained the Sound Four and Kimimaro, combining Wood Release with bone techniques to create a deadly new barrier. After the group left, the cursed seal seed Orochimaru had hidden underground began to grow, leaving a new threat behind.

• Root ninjas watched a decoy in the Forest of Death for three hours before it turned into a leaf-covered log.
• Chenshu Senju trained the Sound Four and Kimimaro in a hidden valley while typing his novel, using vines to force Tayuya into hand seals.
• The Sound Four raised the Four Violet Flames Formation, and Kimimaro filled it with bone spears using Bracken Dance.
• Chenshu Senju fused Wood Release with the bone spikes and created Sage Art: Violet Flame Bonewood Realm.
• Chenshu Senju left the valley with the group, while Orochimaru's cursed seal seed began taking root in the earth.

Chenshu Senju discovered Orochimaru’s hidden Cursed Seal Seed and deliberately fed it Sage Chakra mixed with a powerful laxative, intending to use the seed as bait. Orochimaru mistook the chakra for a chance to seize Chenshu’s body and prepared to take control.

• Chenshu Senju sensed something devouring Sage Chakra at the special training ground and found Orochimaru’s sprouted Cursed Seal Seed underground.
• After the system confirmed he could remove or overload-feed the seed, Chenshu Senju chose to feed it chakra mixed with a Berserk Laxative ingredient.
• Back at Chenshu Senju’s residence, Tayuya chased Sakon after he tampered with her bodysuit zipper, while Chenshu returned to his computer and ordered her to pour tea.
• In his underground base, Orochimaru felt the cursed-seal connection strengthen and believed Chenshu Senju’s Sage Chakra would let him take over Chenshu’s body.

Chenshu Senju left Konoha with Jiraiya to find Tsunade, while Jiraiya warned him that Amegakure had gone silent and seemed dangerously sealed off. Chenshu dismissed the warning and continued focusing on their journey and his writing.

• Chenshu Senju told Kimimaro and the others to guard his home and resist any Root agents while he traveled with Jiraiya.
• At Konoha's gate, Chenshu met Jiraiya, who agreed to lead him toward Tanzaku Town to find Tsunade.
• During lunch, Chenshu and Jiraiya joked about making Tsunade pay for their meal and cheating at gambling with Wood Release.
• Jiraiya warned Chenshu that his intelligence network in Amegakure had vanished and that nobody entering the village seemed to survive.
• Chenshu brushed off Jiraiya's warning by suggesting the messenger toads had fallen into a ditch, irritating Jiraiya.

Chenshu Senju and Jiraiya caught an Amegakure scout on the Land of Fire border and discovered that Akatsuki had marked Chenshu as its highest-priority target. Chenshu treated the coming ambush as an opportunity to gain rewards and pressed onward.

• Chenshu sensed an Amegakure scout hiding in the canopy and used Wood Release to yank him down and restrain him.
• Chenshu stopped the scout from taking poison and searched him while asking an absurd question about using Wood Release to deliver takeout.
• Chenshu found and opened a secret scroll containing an Akatsuki hunt notice, then showed it to Jiraiya.
• Jiraiya learned that Nagato had assigned Chenshu the highest threat classification and sent a special squad to intercept and kill him.
• Chenshu dismissed Jiraiya's concern and continued onward, eager to defeat the attackers and use them for system rewards.