Recaps

Hyuga Xiao rescued Shisui's clone from Danzo's experimental base in the Uchiha Ruins and escaped with Samui using his spatial abilities. After the clone recognized the aura of his eyes, Xiao chose to save him and let him decide what to do when he woke.

• Xiao discovered that Danzo had used twelve Uchiha corpses to cultivate Shisui's clone as a vessel for a Mangekyō Sharingan, then disabled the corpses' chakra threads and stored the cultivation tank in his temporary space.
• Xiao escaped the base with the injured Samui, but Shimura Danzō confronted them and demanded the clone back.
• Xiao exposed his knowledge of Danzo's Sharingan and First Hokage cells, then teleported himself and Samui away in a five-kilometer leap.
• Danzo issued an S-Rank Wanted Order for Xiao and ordered Root to preserve Shisui's ocular power samples.
• In a forest northwest of the ruins, the clone briefly awakened and recognized the aura of his eyes in Xiao before losing consciousness again.
• Xiao released the clone from the tank and used Tenseigan chakra to repair his damaged pathways, deciding to let him choose his own future when he woke.

Hyuga Xiao brought the wounded Samui and a Shisui Uchiha clone to a hidden safehouse, where he treated Samui and helped the clone regain his senses. The clone revealed that Xiao’s Caged Bird Seal connected to the moon and could be used to harvest Byakugan power, leaving Xiao preparing to investigate the seal before Danzo found them.

• Xiao treated Samui’s chakra-pathway damage and warned her not to use Lightning Release for three days.
• Xiao freed the clone from the cultivation tank, and the confused boy struggled to distinguish himself from Shisui Uchiha and the identity of Number Seven.
• Kurenai Yuhi arrived after setting genjutsu traps to delay pursuers and began tending to Samui’s injuries.
• The clone sensed the Caged Bird Seal on Xiao’s forehead and described it as a control curse mark with a deeper passage to the moon that monitored and harvested Byakugan power.
• Xiao ordered the clone to analyze the seal, assigned Samui to recall details of Root’s base and Danzo’s contacts, and prepared to break the Caged Bird Seal before Danzo found them.

Clone Shisui revealed that the Caged Bird Seal drew power from a hidden source beneath the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine, where a living specimen guarded the Byakugan Advancement Scroll. Hyuga Xiao stabilized Clone Shisui as Uchiha Qiye and set out alone to infiltrate the shrine before the approaching full moon.

• Clone Shisui recalled that Danzo had studied the Caged Bird Seal and discovered it siphoned ocular power through a closed chakra loop.
• Clone Shisui revealed a secret third underground level beneath the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine, where a living specimen was tied to the Seal’s source and an offering ritual took place every ten years.
• Clone Shisui disclosed that the Byakugan Advancement Scroll was beside the Seal’s source, and that Danzo had wanted to adapt the technique to control or mass-produce Sharingan power.
• Clone Shisui chose to keep his Sharingan, and Hyuga Xiao stabilized his chakra and gave him the new identity Uchiha Qiye.
• Hyuga Xiao decided to infiltrate the Hyuga Clan Grounds alone, while Kurenai Yuhi took Samui and Qiye to another safehouse.
• As the full moon approached, a hidden being beneath the Ancestral Shrine slowly opened its eyes.

Xiao split from Hong and Samui so they could seek medical help while he infiltrated the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine to find a way to control his Tenseigan and break the Caged Bird Seal. The chapter ended with Xiao and Clone Shisui racing toward the shrine as Hong and Samui headed for Tanzaku Street.

• Xiao explained that Samui needed treatment and Hong was weakened, so he ordered them to travel to Tsunade while he went alone to the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine.
• Xiao told Hong that the Caged Bird Seal was draining his ocular power and that his emotions were fading as the Tenseigan grew stronger; Clone Shisui revealed that chains from the seal reached his brain, eyes, and heart and extended toward the moon.
• Hong agreed to take Samui to Tsunade and made Xiao promise to return alive; Xiao gave her supplies and a spatial-formula kunai, then chose Clone Shisui to accompany him.
• Before leaving, Hong embraced Xiao, warned she would kill him if he became an emotionless monster, and said she would die if he died.
• Hong and Samui left for Tanzaku Street, while Xiao erased the safehouse traces and set out with Clone Shisui for the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine.

Xiao and Number Seven infiltrated the Hyuga Clan Grounds through an abandoned underground passage, where they discovered that Ko Hyuga was still alive and uncovered his account of the Main House’s Watcher Seeds and a secret harvesting ritual. They continued toward the Ancestral Shrine, where Xiao sensed an ancient, suffering presence beneath it.

• Xiao used the Tenseigan to hide himself and Number Seven from the Graveyard’s hidden Byakugan sentries and opened a way into an ancient drainage passage.
• Xiao discovered that Ko Hyuga’s body still showed faint signs of life beneath his grave.
• Xiao found Ko’s hidden scroll and learned that the Main House implanted Watcher Seeds in Branch House elites to collect their memories, ocular power, and remnants of their souls.
• Xiao read that Hyuga Hiashi and three elders had harvested power from a chained figure beneath the Ancestral Shrine, and he viewed a memory fragment showing the ritual.
• Xiao and Number Seven continued through the passage toward the Ancestral Shrine as Xiao sensed a powerful, ancient chakra presence ahead.

Hyuga Xiao and Number Seven uncovered the Main House’s system for draining Branch House members’ Byakugan and sustaining a mysterious corpse beneath the Ancestral Shrine. After Ko Hyuga died warning them about the corpse, Xiao confronted the Main House and disrupted the Caged Bird Seals, leaving the Hyuga Clan Grounds in alarm.

• Hyuga Xiao found Ko Hyuga’s letter and blood sample, which revealed that the Caged Bird Seal drained dead Branch House members’ Byakugan to nourish a living corpse.
• Xiao and Number Seven entered the underground Graveyard and found twenty-three Branch House members preserved as Living Corpses, with their Byakugan mounted on stone pillars.
• Ko told Xiao that the corpse was an ancient, nonhuman being whose power inspired the Caged Bird Seal, then died when the Watcher Seed consumed him and his eye triggered an alarm.
• Main House elites and Branch House guards confronted Xiao, who disrupted the Caged Bird Seals with his Tenseigan and caused the guards’ Byakugan to malfunction.
• Xiao destroyed the Byakugan embedded in the pillars, sending beams through the barrier and alerting the Hyuga Clan Grounds as cracks appeared in the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead.

Xiao and Clone Shisui exploited the Hyuga Clan’s response to Corpse’s awakening to infiltrate the Ancestral Shrine and search for the Byakugan’s advancement method. They escaped after discovering the method was a trap and learning that the path to the origin required a Main House member and a Branch House member; Moon Ōtsutsuki vessels were waiting outside.

• Xiao learned from Ko Hyuga that Corpse would awaken soon and that the Main House planned to sacrifice living Branch House members to suppress it.
• Xiao and Clone Shisui used the Tenseigan to jump into the Ancestral Shrine and bypass its seals.
• Xiao opened the sealed scroll repository and found that the apparent Byakugan advancement scroll would turn its practitioner into a vessel for the Moon Ōtsutsuki.
• Xiao saw an ANBU-insignia blade and a secret record behind a hidden wall, then learned from the central tome that the third-level entrance required simultaneous Main House and Branch House blood sacrifices.
• Xiao spotted three Main House vessels bearing Watcher Seed patterns and escaped with Clone Shisui before they entered the library.

Xiao and Number Seven entered the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine’s hidden chamber, where Xiao uncovered the Main House’s use of Branch House members to strengthen the Byakugan. After destroying the chamber’s system and taking its secret record, Xiao left with plans to retrieve Hinata and confront Hiashi.

• Xiao used Ko Hyuga’s blood to open the sealed door to the shrine’s third underground level.
• Xiao and Number Seven found Corpse, a giant Byakugan, and the bodies of Branch House shinobi whose ocular power was being harvested.
• Xiao used the Tenseigan’s High-Level Suppression to cross the living floor and neutralize Corpse’s attacks.
• Xiao overwrote the Caged Bird Seal system, retrieved a jade slip containing the Byakugan advancement record and harvest schedule, and caused the chamber to collapse.
• Xiao and Number Seven escaped to the Graveyard, where Xiao said he would retrieve Hinata and show Hiashi the truth about the Main House legacy.

Hyuga Xiao discovered that the Main House had turned Branch House ninjas, including his friend Ryota, into a Byakugan experiment. After destroying the aggregate and stealing the research records, he triggered the laboratory alarm while trying to reach the Advanced Byakugan Manual, and eight reserve test subjects emerged.

• Hyuga Xiao and Clone Shisui found a Byakugan aggregate containing Ryota and the consciousnesses of other Branch House ninjas.
• Ryota told Hyuga Xiao that Ryuichi Hyuga had lured twenty Branch House elites into a trap, where the Main House extracted their eyes and used their bodies in experiments.
• Hyuga Xiao recovered Ryota's memories, destroyed the aggregate, and sealed Ryota's intact Byakugan as a memento and evidence.
• Hyuga Xiao took the laboratory's research records and found the Advanced Byakugan Manual and a metal box behind a heavily sealed door.
• Hyuga Xiao tried to break the door's seals, triggering an alarm and the release of eight reserve test subjects from hidden rooms.

Hyuga Xiao destroyed the Soul Stitching talisman that bound Ryota and the other Branch House members, then discovered Hiashi had lured him into a trap. Xiao escaped the complete Corpse after injuring its eye, while Hiashi promised that it would hunt him again.

• Xiao used the Tenseigan to analyze the aggregate and destroyed its control talisman, freeing Ryota and the other imprisoned consciousnesses.
• Xiao recorded the Advanced Byakugan Manual before Hiashi sealed the entrance and revealed that the underground level had been prepared as a trap.
• Hiashi sent curse-marked chains after Xiao and Shisui, but Xiao’s azure energy shattered them and crushed Hiashi’s projection.
• A complete Corpse emerged and tried to strip Xiao’s Tenseigan Prototype, so Xiao activated Tenseigan Chakra Mode and opened a rift through space.
• Xiao deflected Corpse’s beam, wounded its giant eye, and escaped through the rift with Shisui.
• Hiashi watched the escape and said Corpse would grow more eager to make Xiao its nourishment.

Xiao broke the Main House’s Byakugan Sealing Array and defeated Hiashi and the four elders, while revealing that he had prepared separate sources of power to counter their trap. He spared Hiashi and left, but Hiashi descended into a hidden staircase after hearing a call from below.

• Hiashi and four elders trapped Xiao and Clone Shisui in a Byakugan Sealing Array designed to suppress Tenseigan Chakra, revealing that they had lured Xiao there with a planned trail of clues.
• The elders restrained Clone Shisui, but Xiao used Mōryō’s negative energy and Tenseigan Chakra drawn through a spatial rift to contaminate and destroy the array.
• Xiao defeated the elders with a giant Tenseigan phantom and shattered Hiashi’s Watcher Seed mark, declaring that he would live to see the Main House’s rule collapse.
• Xiao and Clone Shisui left after discovering a hidden staircase beneath the altar, while Xiao chose not to investigate the ominous presence below.
• Hiashi recovered and descended the staircase, drawn by a call connected to the Hyuga Clan’s origin, the Caged Bird Seal, and the countdown to the moon’s descent.

Hyuga Xiao broke free from Hiashi’s sealing array and exposed the Hyuga Main House’s role in the Moon Ōtsutsuki’s harvesting system. After freeing the Branch House souls and extracting Hiashi’s Watcher Seed, Xiao left Hiashi three days to choose whether to join him, then learned an Observer squad would arrive in 47 days and set his sights on the Moon Passage Key in Rōran.

• Xiao revealed that the Hyuga Clan’s Caged Bird Seal and Watcher Seeds served the Moon Ōtsutsuki’s harvesting system, and used the Pact Stone Mark to expose the elders’ Soul Links.
• Xiao shattered the sealing array, freed the souls trapped in the altar’s giant Byakugan, and blocked Hiashi’s Gentle Fist attacks.
• Xiao extracted Hiashi’s Watcher Seed and gave him three days to decide whether to help destroy the Moon Ōtsutsuki’s breeding system.
• Xiao showed Hiashi the Advanced Byakugan Manual’s harvesting records and warned that the moon might send an Observer early.
• Xiao met Clone Shisui and learned that an Observer squad would arrive in 47 days, so he planned to obtain the Moon Passage Key from the Dragon Vein Core beneath Rōran’s ruins.

Hyuga Xiao activated all three Covenant Stone Fragments, broke free of the Hyuga sealing array, and learned the Hyuga Clan was being used as a breeding farm by the Ōtsutsuki Branch Family. After opening a passage to the moon, he went there to kill the Branch Family, leaving Hyuga Hiashi and Raven’s vessel behind under the threat of his return.

• Hyuga Xiao exposed the Watcher Seed in Hyuga Hiashi and the Main House’s role in controlling the Branch House as he faced the eye-stripping technique.
• Hyuga Xiao activated all three Covenant Stone Fragments, shattered the Caged Bird Seal and sealing array, and incapacitated the four elders.
• Hyuga Hiashi revealed that the Advanced Byakugan Manual was with Raven’s vessel, who arrived and confessed the Hyuga Clan had been a breeding farm for harvesting Tenseigan candidates.
• Raven’s vessel trapped Hyuga Xiao and tried to take his eyes, but Xiao used the Covenant Stone Marks to locate the moon and open a passage to it.
• Hyuga Xiao crossed into the starry sky to attack the Ōtsutsuki Branch Family, promising to return and settle his remaining crimes with Hyuga Hiashi.

Xiao learned that Neji carried the Byakugan Advancement Scroll inside a Watcher Seed that would kill him if extracted, so he used Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami on Hiashi to persuade Neji to give it up willingly. Neji died releasing the scroll, and Xiao left with it, knowing the Observer Envoy’s descent was approaching.

• Hiashi revealed that Neji’s Watcher Seed contained the scroll and would make him a vessel for the Ōtsutsuki, while forcibly removing it would kill him.
• Xiao had Shisui use Kotoamatsukami on Hiashi, changing his convictions so he would sincerely seek to free the Branch House and persuade Neji to offer up the scroll.
• Hiashi summoned Neji to the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine and showed him records of the Main House’s crimes, including Ryota’s transformation into a Byakugan Aggregate.
• Neji agreed to willingly release the scroll from his Watcher Seed, and the extraction killed him.
• Xiao took the Byakugan Advancement Scroll, told Hiashi to bury Neji beside Hizashi, and left beneath the moon as the Observer Envoy’s arrival drew nearer.

Xiao erased Hiashi’s memories of the Observers and freed the Branch House souls trapped in the Byakugan Aggregate, then uncovered the truth about the planned harvest of the Shinobi World. After learning that the Pruner Raven would arrive within six months to eliminate him, Xiao prepared to take control of the Hyuga Clan and confront the threat.

• Xiao used Kotoamatsukami and the Tenseigan to make Hyuga Hiashi his collaborator and remove his memories of the Pact Stone, the Tenseigan, and the Observers.
• Xiao purified the Byakugan Aggregate, releasing the imprisoned soul fragments before the mass of flesh collapsed.
• Clone Shisui translated Hyuga records revealing that the Observers had manipulated the Hyuga Clan and planned to harvest those who reached the Starry Sky Realm.
• Xiao learned that the system was bait guiding him toward harvest, and he vowed to follow its path until he could destroy the Observers’ Breeding Farm.
• Xiao ordered Clone Shisui to memorize the records and return to Root as his spy, then discovered a protocol naming Hyuga Xiao as an abnormal variable and Raven as the Pruner due within six months.
• Xiao prepared to meet Raven and declared that he would first bring the Hyuga Clan completely under his control.

Hyuga Xiao learned that the system marked him for harvest by the Observer Civilization, and he decided to turn the impending threat against them. He struck a deal with the dying Shisui to learn the Sharingan’s abilities and planned to prepare a trap before the next signal transmission in eleven days.

• Hyuga Xiao and Shisui identified the system as an Observer mark and learned that the Shinobi World was an experimental site where bloodline subjects were bred for harvest.
• Hyuga Xiao agreed to learn Sharingan techniques from Shisui in exchange for killing Danzo and preserving fragments of Shisui’s consciousness after his death; Shisui asked him to prevent another clan tragedy.
• Over three days, Shisui taught Hyuga Xiao Sharingan perception, copying, and genjutsu, while Xiao’s combined ocular training worsened his Divine Erosion.
• Hyuga Xiao discovered that the system would transmit another coordinate signal in eleven days and resolved to set a trap for the incoming harvesters.

Hyuga Xiao reunited with Kurenai Yuhi and Samui in Tanzaku Street, where Tsunade warned that Samui’s unstable chakra could kill her and questioned Xiao’s increasingly inhuman path. After Tsunade revealed that strange, pupil-less observers were watching the city, Xiao led Kurenai Yuhi and Samui away, while an Observer recorded Xiao’s condition and continued surveillance.

• Hyuga Xiao found Kurenai Yuhi, Samui, and Tsunade at a Tanzaku Street inn and learned that Samui’s fused chakra natures were breaking through their seal.
• Hyuga Xiao rejected Tsunade’s claim that Samui could not be cured and said he would repeatedly suppress her chakra rampages rather than let her die.
• Hyuga Xiao discussed his willingness to become nonhuman to protect what he valued, and Samui chose to follow him rather than return to being a tool in Hidden Cloud.
• Tsunade warned Hyuga Xiao that unfamiliar, empty-feeling chakra signatures had appeared in Tanzaku Street and described a watcher with pupil-less white eyes.
• Hyuga Xiao recognized the watcher as an Observer Vessel and left Tanzaku Street with Kurenai Yuhi and Samui.
• An Observer on a casino rooftop recorded Hyuga Xiao’s Tenseigan purity and Divine Erosion Index, then continued its surveillance.

Tsunade warned Hyuga Xiao that Samui’s treatment could kill her and revealed that Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu might help counter his Divine Erosion. Xiao secured Tsunade’s promise to take him there, then learned an Ōtsutsuki corpse bore signs of being killed by another Ōtsutsuki, strengthening his resolve to become a harvester rather than prey.

• Tsunade warned Xiao that his method for making Samui’s conflicting chakra powers adapt had only a thirty percent chance of success, while Xiao insisted Samui would survive.
• Tsunade revealed that Xiao’s Tenseigan evolution was stripping away his humanity and that emotional bonds served as anchors against Divine Erosion.
• Xiao deduced that Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu had helped the First Hokage with a similar problem, and Tsunade explained that the Slug Sage had absorbed energy from an Ōtsutsuki corpse.
• Tsunade agreed to take Xiao to Shikkotsu Forest after he paid her casino debt, in exchange for his promise not to attack Leaf Village’s civilians or children; Xiao reserved the right to retaliate if Danzo or the elders attacked him or his people first.
• Tsunade told Xiao that the corpse had a clean chest wound and an eye-like mark, which Xiao identified as evidence of another Ōtsutsuki’s attack and took as confirmation that he must become a harvester.

Tsunade explained why Xiao’s Otsutsuki bloodline made Senjutsu training at Shikkotsu Forest dangerous, but Xiao forced the Slug Sage to examine him. He learned that an unknown force was altering the Observer’s mark, and returned to Leaf Village to investigate it before seeking entry again.

• Tsunade told Xiao that his higher-order energy system would reject natural energy and that Shikkotsu Forest would bar him because of his Otsutsuki Bloodline.
• Tsunade opened the entrance to Shikkotsu Forest, but the Slug Sage appeared and prohibited Xiao from entering.
• Xiao stepped toward the gate, triggering a violent clash of energies, and asked whether he could prove he could control the rejection.
• The Slug Sage discovered an ancient mark on Xiao and an unknown third force altering it, then offered him a chance to enter the forest’s outer region after he mastered that force.
• Xiao agreed to investigate the power within him and returned to Leaf Village, saying he would use it until he could devour it.

Hyuga Xiao confronted the Slug Sage about entering Wet Bone Forest and learned that his Ōtsutsuki bloodline made Sage Art cultivation deadly, though an anomaly within him might offer a chance. He accepted the near-fatal Bloodline Corridor trial and followed the Slug Sage into Wet Bone Forest, leaving Tsunade with his research scroll.

• Hyuga Xiao forcibly assimilated some of Wet Bone Forest's natural energy until the Slug Sage appeared and warned him to withdraw.
• The Slug Sage explained that Xiao's bloodline would conflict with natural energy and revealed the dangerous Bloodline Corridor trial as a possible path to mastering Sage Art.
• Tsunade warned Xiao that only one of seven previous challengers had survived the trial and that his chance of success was less than ten percent.
• Hyuga Xiao accepted the trial, resolved to face any cost, and gave Tsunade a scroll of research to pass to Kurenai and Samui if he died.
• The Slug Sage entered the light gate, and Hyuga Xiao followed it into Wet Bone Forest as Tsunade watched the gate close.

Xiao entered the Bloodline Corridor and fought a manifestation of his bloodline that urged him to abandon his humanity. He survived its strongest attack by accelerating his Divine Erosion, but lost a cherished memory, and the chapter ended as sixteen manifestations surrounded him for the next fight.

• Xiao was pulled into the Bloodline Corridor, where Divine Erosion intensified and a faceless manifestation of his bloodline appeared.
• The manifestation copied Xiao's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and overpowered him with its purer bloodline energy.
• The manifestation urged Xiao to abandon humanity, arguing that emotions and bonds hindered his evolution, but Xiao refused.
• When the manifestation fired an attack Xiao could not evade, Xiao accelerated his erosion and absorbed the beam, losing the memory of his mother's miso soup.
• The manifestation created sixteen copies and warned Xiao it would no longer hold back, and Xiao prepared to fight all seventeen beings.

Xiao resisted Divine Erosion in the Bloodline Corridor by anchoring himself to his bonds and choosing to wield divine power with a human heart. He returned to Tsunade, Hong, and Samui, learned the Slug Sage had left a warning, and turned toward Ryūchi Cave as his next destination.

• Bloodline Manifestation tried to sever Xiao's emotions and merge with him, but voices and memories of Hong, Samui, Hinata, Ryota, Kurenai Yuhi, Tsunade, and others rekindled his humanity.
• Xiao broke free of the bloodline chains, rejected pure divinity, and caused the Bloodline Corridor to transform as Bloodline Manifestation disintegrated.
• A rune revealed that Xiao had completed deep confirmation of the Humanity Anchor and directed him to proceed to Ryūchi Cave before the light transported him away.
• Xiao emerged from the gate at Shikkotsu Forest, where Hong supported him and Tsunade confirmed that the Slug Sage had left a message warning his chosen path would be much harder.
• Xiao accepted the challenge and looked toward Leaf Village and Ryūchi Cave as dawn broke.

After surviving the Bloodline Corridor, Hyuga Xiao received a Sage Art Seed that could slow Divine Erosion and learned that the Humanity Stele lay beyond the sealed Starry Sky Altar in the Land of Iron. With only three months to resist the erosion, he planned to approach Mifune at the upcoming swordsmanship tournament and began creating sword forms for the journey.

• The Slug Sage told Hyuga Xiao that the Sage Art Seed could slow Divine Erosion, warned him to protect his Humanity Anchors, and revealed that Mifune's Starfall Decree was the key to the Starry Sky Altar.
• Xiao fused the Sage Art Seed into his body, and Tsunade gave him a map and intelligence about the Land of Iron before warning him to rest ahead of Samui's fusion surgery.
• Xiao, Hong, and Samui planned to approach Mifune at the Land of Iron's swordsmanship tournament the following month.
• Xiao used the Tenseigan Prototype to refine his swordsmanship and completed his first original form, Moon Scar.
• Hong agreed to accompany Xiao to the Land of Iron, and Samui agreed to go with them.

Hyuga Xiao learned that the Sage Art Seed would delay his Divine Erosion for only three months and identified the Starry Sky Altar in the Land of Iron as his best hope of finding a cure. After receiving Mifune’s invitation to a Five Kage Secret Conference, Xiao decided to travel there and obtain the Starfall Decree while investigating Mifune’s knowledge of the Pact Stone.

• Hyuga Xiao told Kurenai Yuhi, Samui, and Clone Shisui that he could not practice Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu and had three months to find a cure for his Divine Erosion.
• Xiao revealed that the Humanity Stele at the Starry Sky Altar might help stabilize his humanity, but he needed the Starfall Decree held by Mifune to access it.
• Shimada Shin delivered Mifune’s invitation to a Five Kage Secret Conference and a travel permit allowing Xiao to bring three attendants into the Land of Iron.
• Xiao accepted the invitation and decided to use the conference as cover to infiltrate the Starry Sky Altar and obtain the Starfall Decree.
• Mifune confirmed that the Pact Stone’s presence had appeared and ordered preparations for Xiao’s arrival and the conference with the other four Kage.

Hyuga Xiao’s caravan approached the Land of Iron while he monitored the fallout from his defection and delayed Leaf Village’s investigation with false clues. After ambushing the caravan, Orochimaru traded intelligence about the Five Kage Summit for the Sage Art Seed cultivation method and asked Xiao to kill Mifune; the intelligence also revealed unknown Ōtsutsuki-like life signs beneath the Starry Sky Altar.

• Xiao watched reports showing Hiashi denounce him, Danzō place a bounty on him, and Hiruzen send teams to investigate a false Lunar Rift lead in the Land of Demons.
• Xiao detected ten shinobi ambushing the caravan, and Samui and Kurenai defeated the attackers when they launched their assault.
• Orochimaru arrived with three Sound Ninja and offered detailed Five Kage Summit intelligence in exchange for the Sage Art Seed cultivation method and Mifune’s death.
• Xiao accepted the intelligence but said he would consider killing Mifune, while Samui and the drivers disposed of the wounded attackers and corpses.
• Xiao read that the Starry Sky Altar was guarded by Mifune and twelve Star Swordsmen, and that unknown Ōtsutsuki-like life signs existed on its third underground level.