Chapter Summaries

The White Snake Sage rescued Ichikishimahime and demonstrated powerful Sage Arts, but Qian attacked rather than waiting for her to leave the Ninja World. After breaking through her barrier and dodging exchanges of blows, she rushed toward Qian when a serpent’s hiss briefly froze him.

• The White Snake Sage pulled the injured Ichikishimahime out of Qian’s blade strike and regrew her severed tail with a Sage Art.
• Qian assessed the White Snake Sage’s strength and attacked her with Susanoo’s longsword.
• The White Snake Sage blocked the blade with a barrier, but Qian cracked it and shattered it with a stronger strike.
• Qian fired ten Tomoe at the White Snake Sage, who dodged them and avoided his next sword attack.
• The White Snake Sage rushed toward Qian after a serpent’s hiss briefly froze his movement.

Qian battled the White Snake Sage, testing Susanoo’s defense and striking back with powerful fire and magatama attacks. He destroyed her apparent body, but saw through her escape and knew her true body was still nearby.

• The White Snake Sage fired a white beam that cracked Susanoo but failed to penetrate it, and Qian counterattacked with a sweeping strike.
• Qian used Fire Release: Thousand Swallow Dance, but the White Snake Sage protected herself with a sage art barrier that withstood the flames.
• Qian launched Yasakani no Magatama, breaking the White Snake Sage’s barrier after repeated hits and striking her with the final magatama.
• Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime cried out when the White Snake Sage’s body appeared to be destroyed, while Manda remained occupied with Garaga.
• Qian realized the White Snake Sage had escaped with a sage art similar to Snake Shedding and was watching him from nearby.

Qian and the White Snake Sage tested each other over his possible ties to the Ōtsutsuki Clan and the planet’s energy. After Qian entered Sage Mode, the White Snake Sage withdrew to Ryūchi Cave, leaving Qian free to pursue his broader goals.

• The White Snake Sage questioned Qian about his Sharingan, Byakugan, and chakra, suspecting he belonged to the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
• Qian concealed his full strength and answered ambiguously, prompting the White Snake Sage to grow more suspicious.
• The White Snake Sage asked whether Qian had come to harvest the planet, and Qian denied interest in the barren world.
• Qian said he had only confronted her because she had confined the planet’s energy, then entered Sage Mode and strengthened his Susanoo.
• The White Snake Sage abandoned the confrontation and returned to Ryūchi Cave with Ichikishimahime and the others, while Qian let them go.

After the White Snake Sage departed, Qian suspected the Sage of Six Paths had been watching him and considered the risks posed by Orochimaru. He then traveled to the Land of Birds to find a new place to absorb Natural Energy, where he began building a hidden chamber beneath Feathered Lake.

• Qian maintained Sage Mode and Susanoo until the Sage of Six Paths withdrew his gaze, then considered the attention he and the Uchiha clan might attract from Orochimaru.
• Qian dispelled his techniques and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel from Rice Field Country to the western border of the Land of Fire.
• Qian flew to the Land of Birds to avoid drawing attention to the Natural Energy node in Rice Field Country.
• Using Tagorihime's memories, Qian found the node at the center of Feathered Lake and confirmed that its Natural Energy was unusually concentrated.
• Qian used Earth Style to open an underground space beneath the lakebed node so he could absorb Natural Energy in secret.

Qian established a Natural Energy gathering point connected to Shikkotsu Forest, then studied Tagorihime’s memories and drained her recovered Sage Art Chakra. He left with new knowledge of the Sage Arts and an estimate that Tagorihime could supply him with 4.5 million points of Sage Art Chakra each day.

• Qian created 175 shadow clones to absorb Natural Energy at the underground node and left a wood clone there to monitor it.
• Qian teleported to a deserted island and used his Rinnegan to read Tagorihime’s memories for three hours.
• Qian learned more about the Ninja World’s history and the Three Great Sage Locations, and found the methods for Tagorihime’s Invisibility, Levitation, and Object Transformation sage arts.
• Qian drained the Sage Art Chakra Tagorihime had recovered and estimated that she could provide roughly 4.5 million points daily.
• Qian planned to use a shadow clone to gather Natural Energy for Tagorihime so she could recover chakra with Soldier Pills.

Qian hid Tagorihime in an underground base on a deserted island and returned to cultivating on Moon Island as the consequences of the Great Ninja War began to spread. Meanwhile, Orochimaru resolved to investigate Tobirama Senju’s research before making a move against the Uchiha clan.

• Qian carved an underground base beneath a deserted island, left Tagorihime there under Genjutsu to produce Sage Art Chakra, and stationed a Wood Clone to watch her.
• Qian returned to Moon Island, created Shadow Clones to continue developing the Kekkei Mōra, and resumed training in the volcano.
• Orochimaru reviewed the battle with Qian and the White Snake Sage, recognized that he could not defeat either of them, and considered how to grow stronger.
• Orochimaru decided to return to Konoha and study Tobirama Senju’s research on the Sharingan before targeting members of the Uchiha clan.
• Qian remained unconcerned by Orochimaru’s plans, reasoning that the Rinnegan countered the Sharingan, but still intended to warn the Uchiha clan.

The White Snake Sage questioned Manda about Uchiha Qian and learned that Orochimaru had arranged a deal with him. Unable to reverse summon Orochimaru, she ordered Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime to investigate Qian discreetly while she began gathering information herself.

• The White Snake Sage heard Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime recount the operation and summoned Manda to explain his knowledge of Qian and his deal with Orochimaru.
• Manda revealed what he knew, and the White Snake Sage concluded that Qian was using the Uchiha identity and recalled Orochimaru’s earlier dealings with Ryūchi Cave.
• The White Snake Sage failed to reverse summon Orochimaru and discovered that he had altered their contract to prevent it without his consent.
• The White Snake Sage ordered Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime to investigate Qian discreetly and told Manda to invite Orochimaru to Ryūchi Cave.
• The White Snake Sage said Tagorihime was still alive and began gathering information about Qian through Ryūchi Cave’s connection nodes to the Ninja World.

After a clash involving Qian stirred the Ninja World, he returned to Konoha and encountered Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi on Gourmet Street. Qian took Shisui aside to ask whether anyone had been targeting him, but Shisui said he had noticed nothing unusual.

• Qian resumed training while reports of the battlefield spread, prompting Obito, the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and smaller forces to investigate.
• Qian returned to Konoha for his scheduled rest, then went to Gourmet Street for food.
• Qian ran into Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, greeted them, and asked Shisui to speak with him privately.
• Qian took Shisui to a secluded place and asked whether he had noticed anyone targeting him.
• Shisui recalled his recent activities and told Qian that he had noticed nothing unusual.

Qian warned Uchiha Shisui that Orochimaru might target his Mangekyō Sharingan, then went to the bathhouse and rested. Shisui investigated the Uchiha clan overnight, found no suspicious deaths, and began considering how to prevent an attack.

• Qian told Uchiha Shisui that Orochimaru might target his eyes, and warned that Itachi or another clan member could also be at risk.
• Shisui inferred that Orochimaru wanted the Mangekyō Sharingan and worried that Itachi might become a target if Orochimaru could not obtain Shisui’s eyes.
• Qian left Shisui, visited the Leaf Hot Spring, and returned home to rest after creating a Wood Clone and transferring Chakra into it.
• Shisui secretly checked the Uchiha who had awakened the Sharingan and searched the clan’s mission records for suspicious deaths.
• Shisui found no suspicious deaths and spent the night thinking about how to prevent the danger.

Qian continued his intensive training on Moon Island while monitoring developments in the village and among the major factions. After three months of training, his Dust Release was close to advancing, and he expected it to happen that night.

• Qian left Konoha for Moon Island, created Shadow Clones to absorb Natural Energy, and sent a Wood Clone to the Land of Birds with a scroll.
• Qian trained his Kekkei Mōra with 261 Shadow Clones and continued enhancing his body in Sage Mode inside the volcano.
• Over the following half month, Qian visited Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure to exchange intelligence with his Wood Clones and learned that attention to the Rice Field Country battle had waned.
• Qian learned that Uchiha Shisui had tightened clan departure rules, secretly inspected members with his Mangekyō Sharingan, and arranged covert protection for promising juniors.
• Qian's Dust Release reached the threshold of advancement after three months of training, and he expected it to advance that night.

Qian advanced his Dust Release on an isolated ice island, where the uncontrolled Chakra nearly erased the surrounding ice. The evolution greatly increased his physical strength and aptitude, and he tested his improved Dust Release before considering how much time the changes might save in future training.

• Qian created a thick ice island over the empty sea and released his shadow clones to recall their memories, Chakra, and Natural Energy.
• Qian’s Dust Release evolved as his genes changed and Dust Release Chakra dispersed from his body, erasing large pits in the ice.
• Qian finished the advancement after nightfall and found that it had increased his physical strength enough to save about a month of Body Enhancement.
• Qian tested Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Jutsu, erasing a trench through the sea.
• Qian reflected that advancing Dust Release had greatly improved his Chakra conversion speed and control.

After advancing Dust Release, Qian tested how much it improved his Body Enhancement and found his dwindling reserve chakra would delay his Body Transformation. A week later, Orochimaru still had not appeared, while Qian learned that someone from Ryūchi Cave had secretly investigated him in Konoha.

• Qian trained for more than three hours and found that Dust Release's advancement had increased his Body Enhancement efficiency by about thirty percent, with at least twice the impact of Lava Release's earlier advancement.
• Qian judged that his stored chakra would last at most another week and postponed estimating when his Body Transformation would be complete until the reserve was gone.
• Over the following week, Orochimaru did not appear, while unusual Uchiha movements prompted Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Fugaku to explain the situation to Namikaze Minato.
• Namikaze Minato strengthened Konoha's guard and ordered the Anbu to investigate suspicious ninja, but they found no trace of Orochimaru.
• Qian concluded that Orochimaru might be researching how to create a Mangekyō Sharingan for himself and chose not to focus further on the threat.
• Qian learned from his Shadow Clone that someone with Ryūchi Cave senjutsu had visited Konoha to investigate him, and he decided that his concealed identity would likely give him more time to train.

Qian reduced his Body Enhancement Chakra investment after his reserves ran dry, then reached the critical point of his body’s transformation after twenty days of training. Rested and energized, he began the breakthrough using Human Authority to guide his evolution.

• Qian decided to keep developing Kekkei Mōra and reduce his daily Chakra investment in Body Enhancement instead.
• After twenty days, Qian’s training beneath Moon Island reached a point where his body made no further progress, signaling the critical point of transformation.
• Qian returned to Moon Island, dismissed his shadow clones, absorbed their memories, and rested before attempting the breakthrough.
• Qian activated his Six-Tomoe Rinnegan and Human Authority, preparing to send Yang Release Chakra into every cell and let his body evolve.

After completing a physical breakthrough and transformation, Qian found that his body had grown stronger and his potential and natural chakra recovery had increased. He began reconsidering his training plan, since his greater capacity for chakra infusion meant the recovery gain might not cover the chakra needed for maximum-efficiency training.

• Qian completed his breakthrough, and a warm current nourished his cells as his body transformed.
• Qian checked his Proficiency Panel and saw his Physical Constitution rise from 43 to 44, bringing it closer to his Spirit of 45.
• Qian tested his potential and estimated that his Theoretical Chakra Limit had increased by 240 million points.
• Qian noted that his Chakra Refining Technique was nearing level 9, which would let him excavate potential faster.
• Qian measured his natural chakra recovery at 525.4 million points per day, 130 million more than before, and considered adjusting his training plan.

Qian reviewed the gains from his recent Body Transformation and weighed how to balance his cultivation against the threats now aware of him. He began testing his body's current limits by creating shadow clones for Kekkei Mōra development and Natural Energy absorption.

• Qian noted that his Chakra Limit had risen to 40,513,200 and his Byakugan's Evolution Progress had reached 14,300, but he chose not to advance it so he could preserve his spirit-and-flesh balance and focus on Body Enhancement.
• Qian reflected that Mount Myōboku and Shikkotsu Forest had noticed him, alongside powerful figures such as Zetsu, Obito Uchiha, Nagato, and the Sage of Six Paths.
• Qian left the three Sage Arts he had learned from Tagorihime—Invisibility, Levitation, and Object Transformation—unpracticed for now because he lacked time, energy, and Sage Art Chakra.
• Qian began a new training session to test his body's tolerance, creating 270 shadow clones to develop Kekkei Mōra.
• Qian replenished his chakra from his Glabella Pocket Dimension and created 200 more shadow clones to absorb Natural Energy.

Qian tested how much pressure his body could endure in the volcano beneath Moon Island and continued his high-intensity training. After his Physical Constitution improved, he revised his training schedule to account for his increased chakra consumption and the approaching unrest in the Ninja World.

• Qian created two hundred shadow clones, sealed them in a scroll, and sent a Wood Clone with the scroll toward the Land of Birds.
• Qian replenished his chakra, checked that the Fifth Cavity could still serve as his cultivation site, and trained there in Sage Mode.
• Qian completed four rounds of cultivation and estimated that his body's daily chakra-infusion limit had risen from 510 million to 630 million points.
• Qian decided to keep training at high intensity and consolidate the time he saved into more frequent rest periods so he could stay alert to developments.

Qian calculated that his daily chakra supply could not sustain maximum-efficiency cultivation without resting every five days, then followed the new schedule while estimating the time needed for his next Body Transformation. By mid-September, he expected to reach the transformation threshold in about six months and develop Kekkei Mōra around April.

• Qian calculated his daily chakra income and cultivation costs, then decided to rest once every five days and reserve extra chakra for emergencies.
• Qian cultivated on Moon Island for three more days, returned to Konoha for one day, then went back to the island to resume training.
• Over the next half month, Qian rested twice and estimated that his current pace would require roughly six months to reach the Body Transformation threshold.
• Qian resumed training and reasoned that after developing Kekkei Mōra, he could draw more chakra from the Pure Land and return to faster cultivation.

After a month of intense training, Qian remembered that he had agreed to become a Jonin instructor and reviewed the files of his three assigned Genin, deciding not to invest in them. The next day, he met Kakashi at the Ninja School, and they headed to the teaching building together to pick up their students.

• Qian dispelled his shadow clone, recovered its memories, and realized that he was expected to take on students the next day.
• Qian read the files of his two male Genin and one Uchiha girl, judged their potential insufficient to justify his effort, and put the files away.
• Qian relaxed with food and a hot spring bath after five days of training.
• The next day, Qian encountered Kakashi at the Ninja School and learned that Kakashi was also there to pick up students.
• Qian and Kakashi walked together toward the teaching building without making unnecessary conversation.

Qian arrived late to meet the three students assigned to him and brought them to a training ground for a Survival Exercise. He set a timed route test that required all three to reach one checkpoint together, then forced them to compete for the two available places as his students.

• Qian and Kakashi entered the classroom, where the waiting students had been complaining about their absence.
• Qian selected Uchiha Qinghua, Nariya Daishi, and another boy, then led them on a run to a training ground outside Konoha.
• Qian told the three that they had to pass his Survival Exercise to become his students, or he would send them back to repeat their studies.
• Qian gave each student a map and required all three to reach the first checkpoint before the time limit, or all would be eliminated.
• Qian ordered them to eliminate exactly one person before the second checkpoint, saying only the first two to pass it could become his students if both reached the finish on time.

Uchiha Qian set a harsh graduation trial for Uchiha Qinghua, Nariya Daishi, and another student, telling them only one could become his disciple. While they attempted the course, Qian relaxed until late afternoon, then sensed their positions and waited for his Shadow Clones to report back.

• Uchiha Qian explained that the first student eliminated could still become his disciple if they reached the finish before the other two, while the others would fail.
• Qian gave the three students Soldier Pills, set a noon start and a six o’clock deadline, and left them to prepare.
• Uchiha Qinghua, Nariya Daishi, and the other student agreed to travel together toward the route’s first marked point, then set off when Qian gave the signal.
• Qian sent three Shadow Clones to follow and observe the students, then spent the afternoon resting and eating in the village.
• At the endpoint, Qian sensed the three students’ locations and conditions across a ten-kilometer radius, then waited for his Shadow Clones to return.