Chapter Summaries

Neji successfully made his first Explosive Tag after a year and two months of study, impressing Tetsusai and Old Akita. Old Akita revealed his past as a survivor of a Ninja Talisman family and recognized Neji’s resolve to become a ninja so he could control his own fate.

• Neji cultivated True Qi in his room and reflected on the long road toward Foundation Establishment.
• Neji completed an Explosive Tag whose seal was stable, though its blast range reached only seventy percent of a standard tag.
• Tetsusai saw Neji’s work and brought Old Akita to inspect it.
• Old Akita examined the tag, then brought Neji into his collection room and revealed that he had once belonged to a Ninja Talisman family destroyed during the Warring States period.
• Old Akita asked about Neji’s future, and Neji said he wanted to become a ninja because otherwise he could not control his own fate.

Neji secured a recommendation to enroll at the Konoha Ninja Academy after Old Akita agreed to supply Explosive Tags at cost, and he prepared to leave the Akita Workshop. The chapter ended with Neji at the academy gates, carrying the Akita family's gifts and setting out to become a ninja.

• Old Akita gave Neji a family Ninja Talisman scroll and arranged for Tetsusai to seek Jonin Fujiwara's help with his enrollment.
• Neji thanked Tetsusai for caring for him, and Tetsusai urged him not to become an annoying grown-up ninja.
• A month later, Old Akita told Neji that Fujiwara had agreed to recommend him in exchange for twenty Explosive Tags a week for one year.
• Old Akita gave Neji a training outfit, ninja tools, and a scroll describing the Basic Three-Body Jutsu before Neji left for the academy.
• Neji reached the Konoha Ninja Academy with Old Akita, who gave him a packed lunch and reminded him to observe more than he spoke.

Neji joined Konoha’s elite Class 2-A after deliberately limiting his performance on the entrance assessment, then began building connections with the young Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. He befriended Jiraiya through his drawing skills and grew curious about Orochimaru’s unusual knowledge, leaving open the question of whether Orochimaru had also been reincarnated.

• Neji passed Teacher Nakajima’s assessment by performing the required techniques and taijutsu just well enough to qualify for Class 2-A.
• Neji met the young Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Hiruko after joining the class and observed the students’ social divisions.
• Jiraiya told Neji he wanted to become Hokage, and Neji said he wanted to control his own fate.
• Neji improved Jiraiya’s crude drawing, earning Jiraiya’s friendship and spending the following days with him.
• Orochimaru recognized the Akita Workshop emblem on Neji’s sleeve and commented on its Explosive Tag formula, prompting Neji to wonder if Orochimaru was a fellow transmigrator.

Neji confronted Yamamoto Ken and his two lackeys at school, defeating them while drawing Orochimaru’s attention to his skill. After keeping a low profile in taijutsu class, Neji went for dango with Jiraiya, while Orochimaru’s suspicions remained unresolved.

• Yamamoto Ken accused Neji of getting into school through connections and threatened him, so Neji provoked him by questioning his father’s integrity.
• Yamamoto Ken attacked Neji, who quickly defeated him and both lackeys without appearing to move much.
• Orochimaru noticed Neji’s precise fighting technique and questioned him about striking acupoints, but Neji dismissed it as luck.
• Jiraiya asked Neji to teach him taijutsu, and Neji agreed on the condition that he finish his math homework first.
• Neji deliberately fought to a draw in afternoon taijutsu class, then went to eat dango with Jiraiya after school.

Neji concealed his true abilities at school while experimenting with a new Illusion Talisman and investigating who might be a transmigrator. After sparring with Uchiha Ryota, he continued gathering clues and chose to observe the suspicious people around him rather than act rashly.

• Neji demonstrated deliberately mediocre hand seal speed, then gave Jiraiya a self-made Illusion Talisman that caused a nosebleed and promised him another if he paid attention in class.
• Neji narrowly lost a staged sparring match to Uchiha Ryota, using a weak Clone Technique and a simple Earth Release trap while keeping his abilities hidden.
• Neji noticed Orochimaru watching him thoughtfully after the match and continued using a Shadow Clone at school while his real body trained in the Forest of Death.
• Neji checked the black Compass, considered whether Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, or others could be transmigrators, and began mapping suspicious people and clues.
• Neji decided to keep observing rather than risk confronting the wrong person, while the Compass faintly glowed in the darkness.

Neji secretly began building a concealed underground base in the Forest of Death, gathering stone and excavating a cavern while hiding his work from Konoha. After a month of construction, he had laid much of the stone floor and installed lighting and basic ventilation, but the ventilation system still needed improvement.

• Neji used his shadow clone’s school memories and a transmigrator detector to confirm he could begin his secret operation.
• Neji rerouted a river and stored enough stones in the Primordial Bagua Diagram to build the base.
• Neji chose a site beneath an ancient fir in the Forest of Death and excavated a hidden underground cavern.
• Neji spent the next month secretly hauling materials and paving the cavern with stone while upgrading its lighting and soundproofing.
• Neji inspected the base’s ventilation system and concluded that its basic air circulation still fell short of his needs.

Neji completed a concealed underground base beneath the Forest of Death, developing a natural-energy array and layered barriers to support his experiments and cultivation. With the base finished, he recorded his observations about this timeline and began meditating there, while the Black Compass offered no clue about the transmigrator.

• Neji tested his earth-storage method, entering and sealing the underground base without leaving a trace.
• Neji's first attempt to build an array that drew on natural energy exploded, injuring his arm.
• After two weeks of experiments, Neji created the Spirit-Gathering Array and installed soundproofing, Chakra shielding, and physical protection.
• Neji added a ceiling genjutsu that simulated the sky and built three trapped emergency tunnels with concealed exits.
• Neji checked the motionless Black Compass, wrote Parallel Space-Time Log No. 10001, and began his daily cultivation in the completed base.

Neji prepared for the Ninja Academy graduation assessment while continuing to develop talismans and train in secret. At the assessment, Jiraiya used Neji’s talismans to win a taijutsu match, and Orochimaru questioned Neji about the protection he had prepared for him.

• Neji reviewed his growing Dharma Form, sent his Shadow Clone to the graduation assessment with Substitute Talismans for Jiraiya, and continued work on a Spatial Swap Talisman.
• Neji practiced circulating True Qi and used his nine Sage Art Yin Seals to store natural energy for a limited period of Sage Mode.
• Jiraiya performed poorly in the assessment’s opening events, while Orochimaru asked Neji’s Shadow Clone how much insurance he had prepared for Jiraiya.
• Neji’s Shadow Clone warned Orochimaru about his secret research, and Orochimaru became guarded when Neji mentioned his nightly activities.
• Jiraiya used Neji’s Flash Talismans to blind Inuzuka Kobayashi’s dog and win their taijutsu match.
• Jiraiya thanked Neji and offered to buy him dango, while Tsunade credited Neji’s help with Jiraiya’s progress; Orochimaru was called for his assessment next.

Neji’s shadow clone passed the graduation examination while carefully concealing his abilities, then reunited with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. After receiving the clone’s memories, Neji began weighing whether to join ANBU or the Medical Corps to investigate the hidden transmigrator.

• Neji’s shadow clone performed well in the examination but deliberately lost narrowly to Uchiha Ryota in taijutsu.
• Neji’s shadow clone walked with Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru after graduation and discussed training, war, and new products from Ninja Talisman Hall.
• Jiraiya revealed that he had found a publisher for his manga, and Neji’s shadow clone left to visit the Workshop.
• Neji’s shadow clone dispelled itself, sending its memories to Neji’s original body in a secret base in the Forest of Death.
• Neji considered joining ANBU or the Medical Corps to investigate the transmigrator as the threat of the Ōtsutsuki Clan drew nearer.

Neji reviewed the Ninja Talisman Hall’s success and discussed new products and expansion with Akita and Tetsusai. He grew suspicious that unseen forces were investigating the business and might be waiting to seize it.

• Neji reviewed the shop’s profits and noticed unfamiliar ninja watching the entrance.
• Neji examined Akita’s Wind-Water Twinborn Tag experiment and proposed layered talisman paper using summoning scroll paper as insulation.
• Neji proposed opening a Ninja Talisman Hall branch in the Land of Fire’s capital because Konoha’s market was nearing saturation.
• Neji told Akita and Tetsusai that unfamiliar visitors and unexplained orders made him suspect someone was investigating the shop.
• Akita agreed the shop’s rapid, unopposed growth was suspicious, and Neji warned that a force might be waiting to swallow the Ninja Talisman Hall.

Neji gained the Akita family’s support for opening a branch in the capital, then brought them to Stillness Garden and discussed his growing foreboding. He suspected the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan were buying Ninja Talismans to counter, copy, or seize them.

• Neji proposed opening a branch in the capital, and Tetsusai and Old Akita agreed to support his plans.
• Neji felt a stronger sense that someone had been watching him, though he saw no one beyond the wall.
• Neji led Tetsusai and Old Akita through Stillness Garden and showed them its carefully designed scenery and hidden defensive formations.
• Neji told them that the Ninja Talisman Hall’s success had threatened the great clans’ interests.
• Neji noted that the Uchiha Clan and Hyuga Clan bought Ninja Talismans that rarely appeared on the battlefield, and warned they might be studying, copying, or trying to seize them.

Neji sensed an intruder in his garden and prepared for an attack, while memories from his Shadow Clone made him question his own desires. He killed three masked attackers and found a fake Uchiha token, leaving him unsure who in Konoha had ordered the assassination.

• Neji detected a skilled presence in the bamboo grove and sent Akita and his son away before studying his Shadow Clone’s memories.
• Neji questioned his own buried desires after experiencing the clone’s memories of luxury and pleasure.
• Neji set alert talismans around his garden and waited for the intruders to arrive.
• Three masked ninjas entered the garden, but Neji’s traps and techniques overwhelmed them.
• The attackers died from poison before Neji could learn who sent them, and he found and burned a crude imitation of an Uchiha token.

Neji responded to an attack on the Ninja Talisman Hall by securing an official position in Konoha and planning to expand the business through alliances with major clans and the Daimyo. With Old Akita and Tetsusai backing him, he prepared to step into Konoha’s power struggles.

• Neji told Old Akita and Tetsusai that three disguised Chunin had attacked him and showed them the Hall’s profits and acquisition offers.
• Neji proposed monopolizing the high-end Ninja Talisman market and winning over the Uchiha and Hyuga clans with talismans tailored to their ocular techniques.
• Neji revealed that he had graduated early, become a Chunin, and been appointed a special technical advisor after visiting the Hokage Tower with the intruders’ bodies.
• Neji explained that he planned to build ties with the Daimyo, use Shadow Clones to meet orders, and let apprentices produce low-end talismans under contract.
• Old Akita and Tetsusai agreed to support Neji’s plans, and Neji promised not to disappoint them.

Neji visited Uchiha Clan Head Huangyan to demonstrate a talisman that enhanced Sharingan eye power and negotiate cooperation. Huangyan accepted the talismans and agreed to stop investigating the Ninja Talisman Hall, while leaving public support and acknowledgment contingent on Neji’s future performance.

• Neji entered the Uchiha Clan District and met Huangyan after presenting himself as a representative of the Ninja Talisman Hall.
• Neji showed Huangyan an Eye-Power Enhancement Talisman, and Huangyan tested it and felt his Sharingan grow stronger before his vision briefly blurred.
• Neji proposed that the Uchiha Clan stop investigating the Ninja Talisman Hall, support its expansion in the capital, and acknowledge its products’ assistance to Uchiha ninja.
• Neji showed Huangyan the agreement with the Hokage Office, which made combat-type talismans ineffective against registered Konoha ninja, and explained that the samples were keyed to Huangyan’s chakra.
• Huangyan accepted the talismans and agreed to stop investigating the Ninja Talisman Hall, but made the other terms dependent on Neji’s performance.

Neji secured the Hyuga Clan’s promise to remain neutral toward the Ninja Talisman Hall by demonstrating a Byakugan-enhancing talisman. The Hall’s custom talismans and battlefield medical talismans then became popular across Konoha, and Neji was summoned to the Hokage’s office.

• Neji left the Uchiha District and met Jiraiya, who had followed him to ensure he was safe.
• Neji visited the Hyuga Clan and demonstrated a talisman that expanded the Byakugan’s observation range by twenty percent.
• Neji offered technical cooperation and patent fees, and the Hyuga Clan head promised not to interfere with the Ninja Talisman Hall as long as it did not affect clan affairs.
• The Ninja Talisman Hall introduced custom talismans for major clans and inexpensive Medical Talismans for ordinary shinobi.
• An ANBU shinobi told Neji that the Hokage wished to see him.

Neji secured Konoha's leaders' support for Ninja Talisman Hall and gained a place in the village's power structure, while Hiruzen ordered his surveillance reduced and prepared a Special Jonin nomination. Neji suspected Danzo might be the hidden transmigrator and chose to watch for his next move while continuing his research.

• Neji negotiated a partnership with Hiruzen, Koharu, and Homura, offering lower talisman prices in exchange for academy courses and priority purchasing rights for Ninja Talisman Hall.
• Hiruzen accepted the proposal in principle, and Neji spent two hours discussing cooperation and border patrol equipment with the leaders.
• After Neji left, Hiruzen ordered ANBU surveillance lowered to B-rank and instructed Koharu and Homura to prepare a Special Jonin nomination file.
• Neji found no reaction from the Compass and wondered whether Danzo was the hidden transmigrator, noting that Danzo had not recruited clan children into Root on a large scale.
• Neji marked Danzo on his relationship chart, decided against approaching him rashly, and returned to Ninja Talisman research.

Neji accepted new Hokage restrictions on his Ninja Talisman Hall and joined the ANBU, where he met his captain and teammates. After demonstrating an improved Shadow Release Talisman, he faced a test of his own combat ability.

• Neji prepared Spatial Swap Talismans before meeting a Hokage envoy at the Ninja Talisman Hall.
• The ANBU envoy presented new restrictions on Neji’s transactions, sales, and research, then asked him to join the ANBU.
• Neji agreed and followed the envoy into the underground ANBU base, where he passed through its sensory barriers.
• Captain Sarutobi Hoshino introduced Neji to teammates Chasing Fang, Heart Butterfly, Iron Maru, and Aoba.
• Iron Maru questioned Neji’s ability as a merchant, so Neji demonstrated an improved Shadow Release Talisman that created a convincing clone.
• Captain Hoshino praised the talisman but challenged Neji to prove his personal strength.

Neji passed the ANBU test and received the codename Falcon, then fought an ANBU member who insulted him. Captain Hoshino recorded Neji’s combat rating as B+ and ordered medical staff to prepare an orthopedic doctor.

• Neji and Chasing Fang fought in a combat drill, and Neji passed the test using his taijutsu, ninjutsu, and Ninja Talismans.
• Captain Hoshino made Neji an ANBU member, gave him the codename Falcon, and told Chasing Fang to show him the base.
• An owl-masked ANBU mocked Neji, and Neji warned him to apologize before attacking him in the lounge.
• Neji shattered the owl-masked ninja’s blade, sealed half his chakra points, and defeated him with Wandering Dragon: Heavenfall.
• Captain Hoshino recorded Falcon’s combat rating as B+ and ordered the medical unit to prepare an orthopedic doctor.

Neji settled into ANBU life, prepared special Ninja Talismans for his team, and received notice of an A-rank reconnaissance mission connected to the Land of Lightning. He ended the night preparing equipment for the mission, which was due to depart the next morning.

• Chasing Fang showed Neji the ANBU facilities and dormitory, and Neji hid a Spatial Swap Talisman beneath his pillow.
• Neji dreamed of parallel versions of himself before later writing a detailed surveillance report on Naoto Uchiha.
• Heart Butterfly notified Neji to gather at the third exit at five the next morning for a three-day A-rank reconnaissance mission possibly connected to the Land of Lightning.
• Neji returned to Stillness Garden and prepared Ninja Talismans, including experimental Chakra Interference Talismans and Lightning-Proof Talismans, for the mission.

Neji and Sarutobi Hoshino’s team ambushed eight Land of Lightning ninjas in a canyon after Neji detected them and prepared the battlefield. The ambush wounded several enemies, but one Jonin activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode as Sarutobi Hoshino joined the fight.

• Neji detected eight approaching Land of Lightning ninjas, including two Jonin, and planted Chain Mine Talismans in the canyon.
• Neji warned Sarutobi Hoshino that the enemy might include a user of Lightning Release Chakra Mode, and Sarutobi moved Aoba to a safer sniping position.
• Neji gave Chasing Fang a Divine Foot Talisman, and the team took their assigned positions as the enemy entered the canyon.
• Neji triggered the mines, killing one Chunin and crippling another, while the lead Jonin activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
• Neji’s explosive shuriken severed a Chunin’s arm, and Sarutobi Hoshino summoned three monkeys before engaging the two enemy Jonin.