Chapter Summaries

The Third Hokage asked Konoha’s clans to provide forces for a possible multi-village war, and the major clans announced their contributions. Uchiha Chisato committed an unusually elite-heavy force while the Third Hokage and Danzo secretly planned to destroy the Uchiha fighters, unaware of the clan’s hidden strength and training methods.

• The Third Hokage told the clan representatives that Konoha might face several ninja villages and asked them to send forces to support the war effort.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi pledged five hundred Sarutobi ninja, Danzo pledged four hundred Shimura ninja, and Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura each pledged fifty clan ninja.
• Uchiha Chisato committed three hundred Uchiha, including eighty jonin, and the other representatives reacted with surprise at the force’s strength.
• The Third Hokage and Danzo mistakenly believed Chisato was protecting the younger Uchiha from battle and decided to ensure the Uchiha elites died in the war.
• The Uchiha’s real strength remained hidden, while their meditation, cultivation, and training in the Pirate World had made battlefield Sharingan awakenings unnecessary.

Konoha’s clans pledged forces for the coming war, and the Third appointed Danzo to command the Land of Rain front. Afterward, he named Uchiha Zen as deputy commander, a choice Uchiha Chisato accepted as she left with Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Luming.

• Uzumaki Mito pledged thirty Senju fighters, while privately protecting and training the clan’s younger generation.
• Uzumaki Luming pledged two hundred Uzumaki fighters, and the other clans declared their contributions, bringing Konoha’s available forces to about fourteen thousand.
• The Third announced that Konoha would concentrate its main force on the Land of Rain border and appointed Danzo supreme commander of a four-thousand-shinobi force.
• The Third asked Uchiha Chisato to accept Uchiha Zen as deputy commander, and she agreed.
• Uchiha Chisato left the Hokage Building with Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Luming.

The Uchiha and Uzumaki leaders learned how Uchiha Zen had been manipulated by Danzo and agreed to use his position as a planted agent to strike back during the war. They left with dozens of contingency plans prepared for the coming battle.

• Uzumaki Mito questioned whether Uchiha Zen could be trusted to lead forces into battle, and Uchiha Harumi explained that Zen had secretly joined their side.
• Uchiha Harumi revealed that Danzo had used Kagami Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan to alter Zen's memories and that Zen learned the truth after contracting with Xunjing.
• Uzumaki Mito, Uzumaki Luming, and Minato reacted to the revelations about Kagami Uchiha's death and Danzo's actions.
• Uchiha Chisato proposed using Zen's cover to lure Danzo and destroy the enemy clans' elite forces, while recovering what those clans had taken from the Uchiha.
• Uchiha Chisato secretly summoned Uchiha Zen, and the group spent the day preparing contingency plans for the battlefield with Tsunade and Xunjing.

Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Chisato’s group finalized plans to join the war, target Danzo and his allies, and arrange early graduation for Xunjing and his friends. Xunjing aimed to use Nawaki to gain Orochimaru’s trust, while Tsunade agreed to lead the four-person team before taking up a frontline post.

• Uchiha Chisato explained that the group would join the war, eliminate enemy clan elites and Danzo, and frame the Rain, Rock, and Sand Shinobi.
• Uzumaki Mito assigned Uzumaki Dao Yi to lead the Uzumaki Clan’s effort and instructed Tsunade to coordinate with Uchiha Zen.
• Xunjing proposed that Tsunade lead his team and that Nawaki stay with Orochimaru, with two contracted clan youths as Nawaki’s teammates.
• Xunjing admitted that he wanted to use Nawaki to build Orochimaru’s trust and recruit him before his suspicions and research into immortality worsened.
• Tsunade agreed to lead Xunjing, Mikoto, Kushina, and Minato as a four-person team, then planned to discuss the arrangements with the Third Generation and Orochimaru.

Xunjing reassured his young trainees in Shimotsuki Village that he could survive the coming war in the Ninja World, then discussed the conflict and new weapons with Koshiro. After lunch, he went with Koshiro, Mikoto, and Minato to meet Kosaburo and collect four newly forged Great Grade Blades.

• Kuina and Tashigi worried that Xunjing would be endangered by the coming war, and he reassured them that the Teleportation Function could save them while urging them to keep training.
• Nami, Nojiko, Kaya, Ace, and Sabo wished Xunjing safety and promised to help him when they were older.
• Koshiro offered to help with the war, but Xunjing explained the Ninja World situation and said he did not need Koshiro and Lisa to intervene yet.
• Koshiro told Xunjing that Kosaburo had finished four custom Great Grade Blades and expected a batch of Skillful Grade Blades to be ready in a month.
• After lunch, Xunjing, Mikoto, and Minato joined Koshiro to visit Kosaburo and pick up the blades.

Xunjing, Uchiha Chisato, Mikoto, and Minato received Great Grade Blades forged by Kosaburo and learned how Armament Haki had improved their chakra conductivity. After they tested the swords and chose names, the scene shifted to outside the Hokage's office in the Ninja World.

• Xunjing and the others visited Kosaburo's forge and collected their newly forged swords, while Uchiha Chisato teleported there to claim hers.
• Uchiha Chisato tested her sword and asked Kosaburo how it conducted chakra so well; he explained that he had used Armament Haki to shape the metals during forging.
• Uchiha Chisato demonstrated her sword's power with flying slashes, fire-nature chakra, and Haki coatings, while Xunjing and Koshiro commented on her swordsmanship.
• Uchiha Chisato named her sword Crescent, Xunjing named his Profound Light Blade, and Mikoto named hers Storm Cutter.
• Minato proposed the name Dazzling Glazed Ultimate Azure Wind Slash, but Kosaburo engraved Glazed Light Blade on its hilt instead.
• The scene moved to outside the Hokage's office in the Ninja World, where an explosion sounded.

Tsunade persuaded the Third Hokage to approve early graduation for Uchiha Xunjing, Kushina, Uchiha Mikoto, Minato Namikaze, Nawaki, and other students, so they could gain experience before the war widened. She and Orochimaru were granted two months to lead their teams before reporting to the front.

• Tsunade kicked in the Third Hokage's door and told him she would delay going to the front to lead her students after their early graduation.
• Tsunade argued that a wider war was likely and that students should gain combat experience before the village faced greater demands.
• The Third Hokage approved early graduation and gave Tsunade and Orochimaru two months to lead their teams before they went to the front.
• Tsunade went to Orochimaru's place, where she found Jiraiya, and told them she would lead Uchiha Xunjing, Uchiha Mikoto, Kushina, and Minato Namikaze.

Tsunade told Orochimaru he would lead a squad on missions before the war, with Nawaki and two clan prodigies, and he agreed to test the new students. After Orochimaru and Jiraiya traded taunts about their abilities, Xunjing, Mikoto, Minato, Kushina, and Nawaki applied for early graduation, which the Third Generation approved for an exam the next day.

• Tsunade told Orochimaru he had two months to prepare for the war and would take Nawaki and one prodigy each from the Uzumaki and Uchiha Clans; Orochimaru agreed to test the two new students.
• Orochimaru considered how the alliance among the Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha Clans could help him obtain research materials and stronger Nutrient Pills.
• Jiraiya learned that Orochimaru and Tsunade had reached Kage Level and challenged them, boasting that his Sage Mode could help him win a fight.
• Orochimaru mocked Jiraiya's incomplete Senjutsu, and Jiraiya taunted Orochimaru and Tsunade for failing to learn it.
• Xunjing, Mikoto, Minato, Kushina, and Nawaki applied for early graduation, and the Third Generation approved their requests and scheduled the exam for the following day.

Xunjing and his friends received notice of an early Graduation Exam, while Minato decided against becoming Jiraiya’s student after hearing warnings from Kushina and Tsunade. Minato told Jiraiya his decision, leaving Jiraiya angry and confused.

• Kushina, Mikoto, Minato, and Xunjing discussed the early Graduation Exam and the need to stay cautious during wartime missions.
• Minato told the group that Jiraiya had offered to take him as a student, and Kushina warned him about Jiraiya’s behavior.
• Minato decided to refuse Jiraiya, citing Xunjing and Lord Jiri’s guidance as well as Kushina and Tsunade’s objections.
• Minato found Jiraiya and explained his refusal, prompting Jiraiya to angrily threaten to confront Kushina and Tsunade.
• Minato warned Jiraiya that confronting them would likely get him beaten and thanked him for considering him.

Minato rejected Jiraiya's offer to become his disciple, and Jiraiya accepted his decision before leaving. In the Hokage's office, Danzo demanded academy students for Root, but the Third Hokage refused and warned that the clans would revolt if their children were taken.

• Minato turned down Jiraiya's offer, explaining that he had already learned Flying Thunder God from Xunjing and was studying Sealing Arts.
• Jiraiya accepted Minato's decision, urged him to keep training, and left; Minato bowed and departed afterward.
• Danzo confronted the Third Hokage over early graduation exams and demanded Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Senju children for Root.
• The Third Hokage rebuked Danzo, warning that taking the clans' children could make the clans oust him as Hokage.
• Danzo asked whether he could recruit even a few children, but the Third Hokage refused and said the clans had already complained about Danzo.

The Third Hokage ordered Danzo to stop targeting graduates and ninja clans, while Danzo left furious at being blamed. The Third Hokage then explained to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura that he believed war was their only chance to defeat the allied Uchiha, Uzumaki, and Senju clans.

• The Third Hokage told Danzo to leave the graduates and ninja clans alone and to recruit Root members from orphanages instead.
• Danzo warned the Third Hokage that he would regret his decision, then stormed out of the Hokage Building.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu cautioned the Third Hokage that he had pushed Danzo too far, but he defended his remarks.
• The Third Hokage revealed that he planned to use war to weaken the three allied clans and regain control of Konoha.
• Utatane Koharu questioned the plan, and the Third Hokage said the clans' growing power had left them with no other path.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura decided to limit their clans’ involvement in Hiruzen and Danzo’s risky conflict. At Xunjing’s graduation assessment, he was assigned a jonin opponent and stunned the spectators with his speed as the match began.

• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura discussed Hiruzen and Danzo’s plan and agreed their clans should avoid risking their lives in the fighting.
• Mitokado Homura said he had told their clan members to prioritize survival, and Utatane Koharu agreed they could distance themselves if Hiruzen and Danzo lost.
• Third Generation addressed the crowd gathered for Uchiha Xunjing and his classmates’ early graduation assessment.
• The examiner assigned Xunjing a combat spar against Jonin Yamamura Kazuki, prompting shocked reactions from the spectators.
• Xunjing entered the arena at extraordinary speed, impressing the crowd and unnerving his genin opponent.

Uchiha Xunjing and Uchiha Mikoto each defeated an Elite Genin with a single taijutsu strike during the early Graduation Exam. Their victories stunned the crowd, while Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and the Third Generation discussed Xunjing and Minato Namikaze.

• Xunjing knocked his opponent unconscious with one punch and was declared the winner.
• The spectators marveled at Xunjing's speed and strength, then speculated about his age, height, and Nutrient Pills.
• Tsunade told Orochimaru that Xunjing was talented, while privately thinking his true strength surpassed hers.
• Jiraiya complained that Minato Namikaze could have been his student, and Tsunade mocked his reputation as a lecher.
• The Third Generation regretted that Xunjing had gotten to Minato first and recognized the boy's potential.
• Mikoto vanished with Body Flicker, punched her opponent out of the ring, and prompted the crowd to discuss the Uchiha clan's growing strength.

Xunjing, Mikoto, Minato, Kushina, Nawaki, Aota, and Reiko passed their assessments and became Konoha Genin, while the Third Hokage and Danzo plotted to gain control of promising students. After Minato registered, Jiraiya urged him once more to become his student.

• The crowd praised the Uchiha’s growing reputation, while the Third Hokage resolved to approach Mikoto and Danzo silently marked down those who supported the clan.
• Minato defeated his opponent after a brief exchange, prompting the Third Hokage and Danzo to scheme about bringing him under their influence.
• Kushina passed with one punch, and Nawaki, Uchiha Aota, and Uzumaki Reiko defeated their examiners.
• The Third Hokage declared Xunjing and the others Genin and announced plans to let promising Academy students graduate early.
• Xunjing and the others received their Forehead Protectors and registered as Konoha Genin, after which Jiraiya asked Minato to reconsider becoming his student and offered to teach him Senjutsu.

Tsunade stopped Jiraiya from recruiting Minato and formed a team with Minato, Xunjing, and the others. Afterward, the Third asked Orochimaru to influence Nawaki, Uchiha Aota, and Uzumaki Reiko, while Orochimaru demanded forbidden techniques and research materials in return.

• The Third persuaded Jiraiya to try to take Minato as his apprentice and draw him away from the Uchiha side.
• Tsunade rebuked Jiraiya for trying to recruit Minato, then punched him flying and assured Minato that he would survive.
• Tsunade officially formed Team Tsunade with Minato, Xunjing, and the others, then took them to the Akimichi Clan barbecue restaurant.
• The Third told Orochimaru to guide Nawaki, Uchiha Aota, and Uzumaki Reiko into loyalty to the village and obedience to him.
• Orochimaru demanded Impure World Reincarnation, the Soul Transformation Technique, and the Second's unaltered research materials on both techniques.

Orochimaru negotiated with the Third Generation for the Soul Transformation Technique and thirty million ryo, pretending to agree to help target Nawaki and the three clans. After leaving the Hokage Building, he told Tsunade and the others about the Third Generation’s plans, leaving Tsunade furious and Nawaki disillusioned.

• Orochimaru refused to obtain the Impure World Reincarnation and demanded the Soul Transformation Technique plus enough money to buy five thousand Nutrient Pills.
• The Third Generation agreed, copied the Soul Transformation Technique scroll, and gave Orochimaru thirty million ryo.
• Orochimaru left the Hokage Building with Nawaki and the other two, then found Tsunade’s group at the Akimichi Yakiniku Restaurant.
• Orochimaru used a soundproof barrier to tell Tsunade and the others that the Third Generation planned to use the war to eliminate elite Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki shinobi.
• Tsunade threatened to kill the Third Generation, while Nawaki condemned him and declared that he did not deserve to be Hokage.

Tsunade warned Nawaki not to trust the Third Generation or Danzo, while Orochimaru offered Xunjing information and sought to secure a supply of Advanced Nutrient Pills. After buying five hundred pills, Orochimaru planned to build ties with Xunjing’s allies and eventually learn their training methods.

• Tsunade warned Nawaki that the Third Generation and Danzo would act in their own interests, and Nawaki promised not to betray his family.
• Orochimaru revealed his suspicions about the Third Generation and Danzo, then asked Xunjing to sell him Nutrient Pills.
• Xunjing examined Orochimaru’s refined pill, agreed to sell him Advanced Nutrient Pills for his personal use, and gave him five hundred in exchange for thirty million.
• Orochimaru tested one of Xunjing’s pills and found it more potent and easier to absorb than his own version.
• Orochimaru resolved to protect Nawaki, Uchiha Aota, and Uzumaki Reiko and use his mentorship to build closer ties with their families.

Xunjing welcomed Orochimaru’s interest while keeping his own plans hidden, then Tsunade led Xunjing, Mikoto, Kushina, and Minato out of Konoha on extermination missions. Danzo chose to have them watched rather than attack, planning to strike after Tsunade’s two-month escort ended.

• Xunjing invited Orochimaru to visit and discuss his research, while Tsunade privately thought Orochimaru was falling into Xunjing’s trap.
• Tsunade took Xunjing and the others to Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office, where he gave them five missions along the same route and urged them to protect their lives.
• Tsunade struck Nawaki for prying about her missions, then led her team out of Konoha toward their first assignment.
• Danzo rejected Owl’s suggestion to attack the team immediately and ordered his followers to gather intelligence until Tsunade left them.

Danzo sent Owl and Jiu to prepare a plan involving Hanzo to eliminate the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki clans. Meanwhile, Xunjing's team completed a bandit-clearing mission and freed abducted women, while Root spies watched them from afar.

• Danzo ordered Owl to leave and sent Jiu to the Land of Rain to track Hanzo's movements for a future plan against the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki clans.
• Two days later, Xunjing's team reached a bandit stockade, and he warned Kushina that Root ninjas were secretly observing them, so they should conceal their true abilities.
• Xunjing assigned himself and Minato, Mikoto, and Kushina separate entrances, then signaled for them to attack together.
• Xunjing's team overwhelmed and killed every bandit in the stockade, including its chunin and genin, and discovered dozens of abducted women.
• Xunjing gave the women money and food to return home, stored the spoils, and burned the bandits' bodies to ash with a Great Fireball Technique.

Xunjing and his team stayed overnight at the bandit stronghold to protect the rescued women from Root, then continued their mission after training in the Pirate World. After completing their remaining subjugation mission, they headed back to Konoha.

• Xunjing explained that he had restrained his fire technique to avoid alarming Root and Danzo, then decided the team would stay overnight to protect the rescued women.
• Tsunade and Xunjing warned Minato, Kushina, and Mikoto that Root or Anbu might kill the women to silence them, so the team agreed to keep watch until they could return home.
• Xunjing prepared food, and the team left Shadow Clones guarding the stronghold while their real bodies went to the Pirate World to train.
• Kuina and Perona questioned why the team had time to train, and Kushina teased Perona by grabbing her spirit body with spiritual power and Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• The team trained, spent the night on Frostmoon Island, and returned the next morning after confirming Root had stayed five kilometers from the stronghold.
• The five teammates spent more than half a month completing their final subjugation mission and then turned back toward Konoha.