Chapter Summaries

Neji collapsed after repelling the Third Raikage and ordering his forces to return to Konoha aboard the captured Sky Fortress. After waking three days later, he resumed command and landed the fortress in the Forest of Death as Konoha's leaders watched.

• Neji exhausted his chakra and mental strength, issued final orders to Chasing Fang and his Crystal Clone, and lost consciousness.
• Heart Butterfly told Neji that Chasing Fang had defeated the remaining Cloud Village enemies, secured the prisoners, and followed the preset route toward Konoha.
• Neji woke after three days, merged with his Crystal Clone, and found the fortress less than a hundred li from Konoha.
• Neji ordered the fortress to descend and land at designated coordinates in the Forest of Death.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha's leaders watched as the Sky Fortress emerged from the clouds and landed in the clearing.

After handing the Sky Fortress over to Konoha, Neji returned home to recover and reflected on the need to strengthen his body after facing the Third Raikage. He traveled to his hidden base beneath the Forest of Death, where he prepared to upgrade his Spirit-Gathering Array.

• Neji formally handed the Sky Fortress over to the Third Hokage and explained its communications and combat capabilities.
• Neji reported how the fortress had wounded Cloud Village's elite forces and forced back the Third Raikage, impressing Konoha's leaders.
• Neji declined the celebrations and left the fortress's initial management to Hoshino and the Nest unit before returning to Stillness Garden to rest.
• After considering the Third Raikage's physical strength, Neji resolved to develop his Crystal Astral Body-Tempering Art once he recovered.
• Neji used a hidden Spatial Passage Formation to reach his subterranean base, inspected its Spirit-Gathering Array, and brought out materials to upgrade it.

Neji built and activated an Immortal-Gathering Grand Array beneath the Forest of Death, triggering a breakthrough that strengthened his cultivation and body. After testing his new abilities, he returned to Stillness Garden and told Fujiwara he would visit the Ninja Talisman Hall.

• Neji replaced the original Spirit-Gathering Array with a larger Immortal-Gathering Grand Array and used it to absorb natural energy into his Yin Seal.
• The array resonated with Neji's Primordial Bagua Diagram, widening his meridians, increasing his True Qi, and advancing the diagram's second realm to seventy percent.
• Neji tested his improved cutting power, defense, speed, strength, and perception, discovering he could maintain three stronger Crystal Clones for twelve hours.
• Neji erased traces of his cultivation, left the underground base, and returned to Stillness Garden as morning began.
• Neji greeted Fujiwara and said he would go to the Ninja Talisman Hall after breakfast.

Neji showed Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru the Sky Fortress and outlined plans to develop flying ninja tools and upgrade the fortress. After Akita Tetsusai identified weaknesses in its defenses and concealment, Neji used Sage Art: Crystal Release: Celestial Crystal Armor to reinforce and transform the fortress.

• Neji brought Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru aboard the Sky Fortress and explained how it flew and how the Sky Ninja’s gliders could be upgraded into Air Combat Ninja Tools.
• Neji introduced Akita Tetsusai and tasked him with leading the Fortress Technical Team in repairing and modifying the Sky Fortress.
• During their inspection, Tetsusai pointed out that the fortress’s armor and concealment were inadequate against powerful enemies and observation.
• Neji studied the detailed reconstruction blueprints, gathered his Senjutsu Chakra, and warned everyone to retreat to a safe area.
• Neji spread Mystic Crystal throughout the Sky Fortress, reinforcing its surfaces, weak points, support structures, and internal systems with Celestial Crystal Armor.

Neji finished equipping the Sky Fortress with Mystic Crystal Armor and an optical camouflage array, then demonstrated its capabilities to Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Tetsusai. After reaching the eastern border of the Land of Fire in half a day, he ordered the fortress onward toward the heartland of the Land of Lightning, alarming Tsunade.

• Neji covered the Sky Fortress in Mystic Crystal Armor and used Myriad Refraction to make it invisible and conceal its chakra fluctuations.
• Neji explained the camouflage's limits and gave Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru high-authority Spirit Boards that displayed the fortress and its surroundings to them.
• Neji led the group to the crystal-walled bridge, where the others admired its panoramic view.
• Neji ordered the Sky Fortress to fly toward the eastern border of the Land of Fire, and it arrived there in a little over half a day.
• Neji ordered the fortress onward to the heartland of the Land of Lightning, and Tsunade warned him that the trip was dangerous.

Neji infiltrated the Hidden Lightning Village and plundered the Raikage Tower, including its secret Lightning Release scrolls. As he prepared to leave, he spotted Danzo being escorted toward the Raikage’s office.

• Neji used Crystal Release: Vanishing Form to leave the bridge alone while Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru stayed behind to monitor the mission.
• Neji concealed himself and glided into the Raikage Tower, bypassing its sensory barrier and security systems.
• Neji took scrolls, military intelligence, supplies, and secret techniques from the tower’s archives and storage rooms.
• Neji used a Sage Art Realm-Piercing Talisman to enter the hidden vault and stole the Raikage’s core Lightning Release and body-tempering scrolls.
• Neji noticed two Hidden Lightning Village ANBU escorting a hooded figure toward the Raikage’s office and recognized him as Danzo.

Neji secretly overheard the Raikage and Danzo agree to start a war against Konoha, but Killer B detected him and exposed his presence. Surrounded by the Raikage, Danzo, and Killer B, Neji reshaped the tower corridor into a Mystic Crystal maze and vanished inside it.

• Neji used a Mystic Crystal rod to listen in on the Raikage and Danzo as they discussed Konoha's growing power and agreed to provoke border conflicts to begin a war.
• Danzo revealed that he had secretly cultivated one or two Kage Level weapons for use against Konoha.
• Killer B sensed Neji despite his Crystal Release: Vanishing Form, and the Raikage attacked, forcing Neji to become visible.
• The Raikage, Danzo, and Killer B launched a combined assault on Neji.
• Neji used Crystal Release: Crystal Domain Reshaping to transform the corridor and nearby rooms into a crystal maze, trapping Killer B's tentacles and obstructing the attackers.
• Neji merged into a crystal pillar and disappeared into the maze as the Raikage fought through its walls.

Neji escaped Cloud-Thunder Gorge after triggering the Eight-Tails’ rampage, then returned to Konoha with evidence that Danzo and the Raikage had conspired to start a war. The chapter leaves Konoha’s leaders listening to the recording as Danzo reveals he has secretly cultivated powerful weapons.

• Neji used a Mind Disruption Body talisman to drive B into an Eight-Tails rampage, collapsing the Raikage Tower as the Raikage rescued Danzo.
• Neji escaped the chaos on a modified Sky Ninja aircraft and ordered the Sky Fortress to return to Konoha at maximum speed.
• Neji briefed Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru on the conspiracy and the Eight-Tails’ rampage, prompting them to prepare Konoha for war.
• At a Konoha leadership meeting, Neji played a recording of Danzo and the Raikage discussing their plan to provoke war against Konoha.
• The recording revealed that Danzo had secretly cultivated one or two weapons he called “Kage Level.”

After the recording exposed Danzo’s betrayal, Konoha’s leaders debated whether to go to war with the Land of Lightning. Neji presented a detailed war map and strategy, leaving the council stunned as it faced the likelihood of a full-scale conflict.

• Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and the clan heads condemned Danzo and argued over whether Konoha should fight the Land of Lightning.
• The Nara Clan head urged Konoha to secure allies and manage the threats posed by Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure.
• Neji summoned a Crystal Release war map and explained Cloud Village’s planned offensives and the other nations’ movements.
• Neji proposed defeating the Third Raikage’s main force, drawing the Eight-Tails jinchuriki to the main battlefield, and using diplomacy to contain the other villages.
• The council fell silent, impressed by Neji’s strategic assessment and the intelligence behind it.

Neji convinced Konoha’s leaders to adopt his wartime strategy, appointing the Chasing Fang Squad as envoys to Sand Village and outlining a battlefield command and logistics system. As clan leaders rallied behind him, the council moved toward making Neji the frontline commander.

• Neji persuaded the Third Hokage to send Jonin Chasing Fang and his squad as envoys to Sand Village, while experienced Jonin teams were assigned to contact Iwagakure and Hidden Mist.
• Clan leaders argued over who should lead the front, but Neji demonstrated his battlefield simulations and explained why his abilities made him the strongest candidate.
• Neji presented a logistics plan using forward supply stations, the Sky Fortress, Ninja Talismans, and standardized rations.
• Neji offered the Ninja Talisman Hall’s supplies to Konoha as war loans, and the Third Hokage agreed to use his credit as collateral.
• The Uchiha Clan head and Hyuga Clan head supported Neji as commander, followed by the Akimichi Clan and Inuzuka Clan after the Nara Clan head’s prompting.

Neji led Konoha’s first force of more than fifteen hundred shinobi toward the Land of Hot Water to face Cloud Village, rallying them with a display of Crystal Release and a fiery speech. After Chasing Fang reported that Ōnoki would attack the Land of Lightning’s northern border if Konoha held against the Raikage’s first assault, Neji and the talisman-enhanced army marched out at extraordinary speed.

• The Third Hokage appointed Neji Supreme Commander of the eastern front and assigned Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, Orochimaru, the Ino–Shika–Cho Squad, and the Chasing Fang Squad to his special operations unit.
• Three days later, Neji addressed more than fifteen hundred shinobi assembled at Konoha’s main gate and used Crystal Release to raise a forest of giant black swords.
• Neji urged the army to defend Konoha, and the shinobi answered with cheers and pledged to follow his command.
• Chasing Fang reported that Ōnoki had agreed to attack the Land of Lightning’s northern border if Konoha withstood the Raikage’s first assault.
• Neji ordered the army to march, and more than fifteen hundred shinobi activated Divine Foot Talismans and raced toward the battlefield.

Neji led a 1,500-strong Konoha force toward the Land of Lightning, coordinating its march through the Spirit Board and winning the soldiers’ admiration. After the Chasing Fang Squad secured passage through two minor countries, Neji directed the army toward Thundercloud Canyon and the Land of Lightning’s border outposts.

• Neji used the Spirit Board to coordinate the force’s route, scouts, temporary rest points, and threat responses.
• Konoha shinobi praised Neji’s command and the army’s efficient supply system during a brief rest.
• Chasing Fang Squad pressured the daimyo of one minor country into signing a passage agreement, and the other country yielded as well.
• Neji’s force crossed both minor countries without resistance and entered the Land of Lightning.
• Neji ordered the vanguard to eliminate border outposts and led the main force toward the Thundercloud Canyon fortress.

Neji led Konoha’s army in a coordinated four-nature ninjutsu assault on the Cloud Shinobi’s Thundercloud Fortress, devastating its walls and defenses. The Cloud commander activated the Thundercloud Formation, and a massive lightning bolt struck toward Konoha’s Wind Release Squad.

• Neji identified the canyon’s energy field and ordered Chasing Fang to lead the vanguard in the first assault wave.
• Neji commanded Konoha’s Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth Release squads to bombard the fortress together.
• Konoha’s combined attacks melted the fortress walls, destroyed the platforms, and killed or scattered many Cloud Shinobi.
• The Cloud commander ordered the Thundercloud Formation and the Thunder Prison activated.
• A huge lightning bolt fell from the storm clouds toward Konoha’s Wind Release Squad.

Neji protected Konoha’s vanguard from the Thundercloud Formation and ordered the Sky Fortress to destroy its ley line node. With the formation broken, he called for a full assault on the Cloud Shinobi fortress.

• Neji used the Spirit Board to steady Konoha’s forces and ordered them to defend while he handled the Thundercloud Formation.
• Neji created a crystal forest that attracted the lightning strikes and channeled them underground, sheltering the Konoha shinobi.
• Neji sent the Sky Fortress coordinates for the western ley line node and ordered its main cannon to fire.
• Tetsusai fired the Sky Fortress cannon, destroying the node and breaking the Thundercloud Formation.
• Neji ordered all Konoha forces to launch a full assault.

Konoha's army breached the Cloud fortress and fought through its defenders, but the Three Pillars of Lightning Fang halted the assault at the command tower. Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and killed the three Jonin, leaving the battlefield silent.

• Chasing Fang led Konoha's forces through the breach after Neji's Three-Dragon Strangulation destroyed the fortress gate tower.
• Konoha's shinobi swept through the fortress, overpowering Cloud defenders with their speed and strength.
• The Three Pillars of Lightning Fang blocked Chasing Fang's squad on the steps to the central command tower and forced the attackers back.
• Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya unleashed their Senjutsu auras and attacked the three Lightning Release experts.
• Tsunade killed the tattoo-faced Jonin with one punch, while Orochimaru restrained the other two and Jiraiya burned them to death with sage flames.

Hyuga Neji and the three newly empowered sages captured Thundercloud Fortress, winning the awe and loyalty of Konoha’s forces. As the fortress was repaired and its wounded treated, Konoha’s leaders debated invading the Land of Lightning, while Neji ordered rotations and patrols for the coming counterattack.

• Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru displayed Senjutsu, and Konoha’s troops realized Hyuga Neji had enabled them to master it.
• Neji ordered the assault on Thundercloud Fortress, and Konoha’s forces captured it as the Cloud Village army retreated.
• Tsunade used Senjutsu Chakra to heal wounded Konoha ninja while the clans’ forces repaired the fortress under the Akimichi Clan head’s command.
• The Nara Clan head argued that Thundercloud Fortress could serve as a springboard for conquering the Land of Lightning, but another clan head warned that the Raikage and Tailed Beasts had yet to join the fight.
• Neji entered the leaders’ meeting, issued orders for troop rotations and patrols, and dismissed the meeting as the clan heads watched him with renewed interest.

The Raikage ordered Cloud Village to mobilize its forces and retake Thundercloud Fortress after seeing Konoha’s Mystic Crystal defenses. Neji strengthened the fortress and prepared its defenders to hold out for three days while he requested reinforcements from Konoha.

• The Raikage saw that Neji had transformed Thundercloud Fortress and its surrounding cliffs, then ordered Cloud Village to gather its forces for an assault within three days.
• Neji sensed Cloud Village’s mass mobilization and received a report estimating that its first wave of reinforcements would exceed ten thousand shinobi.
• Neji asked the Hokage to send at least six thousand reinforcements to help hold Thundercloud Fortress.
• Neji reinforced the fortress’s Mystic Crystal defenses and thunder formations with Senjutsu Chakra.
• Neji ordered the fortress’s units to maximize their sensory coverage, prepare weapons and traps, and distribute wartime supplies.
• Neji told Konoha’s defenders to hold the fortress for three days until reinforcements arrived.

Neji’s six thousand reinforcements arrived at Thundercloud Fortress just as the Raikage led more than ten thousand Cloud Shinobi in a full assault. The Sky Fortress’s main cannon tore open the charging ranks, but the Cloud Shinobi pressed on, leaving Neji to defend the fortress as the aerial craft withdrew to resupply.

• Neji opened the concealed rear gate and welcomed six thousand Konoha reinforcements into the fortress.
• The Raikage rallied more than ten thousand Cloud Shinobi and ordered them to charge Thundercloud Fortress.
• Neji’s defenders attacked the advancing Cloud Shinobi with earth walls, wind and fire techniques, ballistae, and catapults, but the assault continued through heavy casualties.
• Tetsusai fired the Sky Fortress’s main cannon into the charging formation, killing hundreds and blasting a wide gap in its ranks.
• The Cloud Shinobi quickly filled the gap and resumed their advance as the Sky Fortress ran low on energy and its main cannon cooled down.
• Neji ordered Tetsusai to return and resupply, saying he would handle the defense.

Neji used his Mystic Crystal Longbow to slaughter Cloud Shinobi elites and bolster Konoha’s defense of the Mystic Crystal Fortress. As the battle intensified, the Raikage ordered B and Yugito Nii to attack from a distance, and a terrifying roar erupted over the battlefield.

• Neji formed a Dark Crystal Longbow and killed Cloud Shinobi attackers with Myriad Illusion Arrow Rain.
• Neji’s attacks raised Konoha’s morale while the Raikage held back from approaching the fortress’s layered defenses.
• The Raikage ordered B to fire a Tailed Beast Ball and Yugito Nii to provide long-range Fire Release cover.
• Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and other Konoha fighters drove Cloud Shinobi back from the walls as casualties mounted on both sides.
• A violent beast’s roar and a piercing feline howl suddenly rang across the battlefield.

Neji redirected the Eight-Tails Gyuki’s Tailed Beast Ball into the Cloud Shinobi’s charging forces, devastating their army and forcing the Raikage to retreat. Konoha celebrated its victory as Neji, nearly out of strength, watched the shadows deeper in the Land of Lightning.

• The Eight-Tails Gyuki and Two-Tails prepared to attack Thundercloud Fortress while Neji ordered Konoha’s defenders to their positions.
• Neji used Sage Art: Crystal Release: Crystal Pillar Array Lightning Guidance to warp space and redirect the Eight-Tails Gyuki’s Tailed Beast Ball into the Cloud Shinobi army.
• The redirected blast killed thousands of Cloud Village warriors and forced the Eight-Tails Gyuki and Two-Tails to stagger backward.
• Neji shot and killed a Cloud Village Jonin captain as the Raikage watched the devastation and ordered the remaining Cloud Shinobi to retreat.
• Konoha’s defenders cheered their victory while the exhausted Neji looked toward the shadows deeper in the Land of Lightning.