Recaps

As the Senju and Uchiha Clans formed an alliance that heralded the rise of the One Country, One Village system, Oda Yayoi considered how the coming changes would affect the Land of Night he had built. Kakuzu then reported that the search party had found the Seven-Tails in the Black Steel Forest.

• The Senju and Uchiha Clans announced an alliance, alarming the other nations and ninja clans.
• Oda Yayoi studied the map of the Ninja World and reflected on his rise from orphan and mercenary leader to general of the Land of Night.
• Yayoi considered the approaching establishment of Konoha and the spread of the One Country, One Village system.
• Kakuzu told Yayoi that his search party had found the Seven-Tails in the Black Steel Forest.

Yayoi and Kakuzu tracked down the wounded Seven-Tails in Black Steel Forest so Yayoi could capture it and use its chakra to automate his puppet, Irori. After Irori attacked the beast with Ice Release, the Seven-Tails turned its fury on Yayoi and began forming a Tailed Beast Ball.

• Yayoi recalled how Madara Uchiha had brutally defeated the Seven-Tails months earlier and agreed to return to Black Steel Forest with Kakuzu alone.
• Yayoi and Kakuzu found the weakened Seven-Tails resting in the forest, and Yayoi summoned his puppet Irori.
• Yayoi explained that he planned to use the Seven-Tails' chakra to automate Irori and strengthen her as an independent fighter.
• Yayoi sent Irori to attack the Seven-Tails with Ice Release, battering it with pillars and a barrage of ice spears.
• Yayoi confronted the enraged Seven-Tails, but his thrown shuriken and kunai bounced harmlessly off its shell.
• The Seven-Tails gathered black and red chakra into a sphere in its mouth, preparing to unleash a devastating attack.

Yayoi and Kakuzu subdued the weakened Seven-Tails with Irori’s Ice Release, then captured an Uchiha girl who had tried to claim the beast. After Yayoi told her the Senju and Uchiha clans had formed an alliance, she left to verify the news, and Yayoi prepared to deal with the Seven-Tails.

• Yayoi and Irori froze the Seven-Tails, while Kakuzu’s Earth Release helped keep it grounded and weaken it until it could no longer fight.
• A young Uchiha girl attacked Yayoi, but Kakuzu blocked her blade and Irori restrained her with ice.
• The girl claimed the Seven-Tails belonged to the Uchiha Clan, and Yayoi released her after deciding not to provoke the clan.
• Yayoi told the girl that the Senju and Uchiha clans had formed an alliance, shocking her and prompting her to return to verify the news.
• The girl identified herself as Uchiha Izayoi and left, while Yayoi turned back to the subdued Seven-Tails and prepared to begin.

Yayoi used the Seven-Tails’ chakra to bring Irori to life as an autonomous Chakra-Automated Puppet, then set out to return to Nightview City with her and Kakuzu. Meanwhile, Hashirama and Tobirama discussed the future Konoha, but Tobirama remained unsure how Hashirama planned to unite the ninja clans without force.

• Yayoi ordered Kakuzu to guard the area while Irori drained the Seven-Tails’ chakra and Yayoi purified it.
• Yayoi used Secret Art: Life Creation to complete Irori’s body and awaken her as a living, autonomous being.
• Irori introduced herself as Yayoi’s lover, wife, guard, and maid, and Yayoi decided to take the weakened Seven-Tails back for future puppet projects.
• Yayoi, Irori, and Kakuzu left with the Seven-Tails as Yayoi hurried to prepare for the coming era and Konoha’s establishment.
• Hashirama showed Tobirama the chosen site for Konoha and said he wanted to unite other clans around their ideals.
• Tobirama questioned Hashirama’s vague plans and lack of force, while Hashirama insisted that peace should be achieved without violence.

Yayoi reviewed the Land of Night’s military and education needs while pursuing alliances with ninja clans in the Land of Fire. The Hyuga Clan agreed to a marriage alliance, and Yayoi offered the Aburame Clan access to Black Steel Forest to persuade them to join; he then sent Kakuzu to arrange the marriage.

• Yayoi discussed the strain of running the Land of Night’s divisions and stressed that education was essential to developing its forces.
• Kurobei reported that the Hyuga Clan had agreed to a marriage alliance, while the Aburame Clan remained divided over leaving the Land of Fire.
• Yayoi offered the Aburame Clan a base in Black Steel Forest and permission to breed insects there if they joined the Land of Night.
• Yayoi asked Kakuzu to negotiate the marriage arrangements with the Hyuga Clan and learn what betrothal gifts they required.

Hyuga Kicho accepted the clan-arranged marriage to Yayoi, while her father gave her the Spirit Blade Kumokiri and urged her to use the marriage to advance Hyuga interests. As Yayoi’s wedding escort arrived in the Land of Fire, Hyuga Hideto discovered that the Aburame Clan had joined the Land of Night.

• Hyuga Hideto told Hyuga Kicho that the clan had finalized her marriage to Yayoi, and she agreed without objection.
• Hideto gave Kicho the Spirit Blade Kumokiri and advised her to win Yayoi’s favor before using the blade to seize control if he lost his value.
• Yayoi and the Hyuga Clan finalized their alliance, exchanging resources, medical knowledge, attendants, and betrothal gifts.
• Kakuzu arrived at Hyuga territory with the wedding escort, including elite ninja, samurai, and Aburame Yuroketsu.
• Hideto learned from Yuroketsu that the Aburame Clan had left the Land of Fire after accepting Yayoi’s offer and fearing the changing political situation.

Hideto and Yuroketsu fought off an assassination attempt on Hyuga Kicho during her escort to the Land of Night, then continued to Nightview City. Yuroketsu arrived at the General's Residence to meet Yayoi and introduced himself as the Aburame Clan head.

• Hideto killed more than a dozen assassins who attacked the procession near the Land of Fire's border.
• An attacker bypassed the Byakugan and the Aburame insects, but Kicho dodged his strike and Yuroketsu's centipede tore off his arm before hidden insects poisoned him into unconsciousness.
• Kakuzu had the captured attacker treated and bound, then the escort continued to Nightview City without another attack.
• Kicho admired Nightview City's orderly streets and thriving people as Kakuzu described how Yayoi had pacified the country.
• Kakuzu escorted Yuroketsu to the General's Residence, where Yuroketsu sensed Yayoi and the girl beside him were dangerous before introducing himself to the general.

Yayoi arranged for Yuroketsu and the Aburame Clan to settle in Blacksteel Forest and join the Land of Night’s Intelligence Division. As Yayoi and his future bride, Hyuga Kicho, lay awake before their wedding, Kicho resolved to wait for a chance to kill him on her clan’s behalf.

• Yayoi offered the Aburame Clan a core territory in Blacksteel Forest, with the state planning to develop the surrounding forest later, and Yuroketsu accepted.
• Yayoi asked Yuroketsu to direct the Intelligence Division and gave him a file of ninjas to review; he agreed to integrate his clan into the Military Bureau.
• After Yuroketsu left, Yayoi reflected on his character, then returned to the Inner Court and lay awake wondering what his future wife would be like.
• Hyuga Kicho recalled how her father Hideto had treated her siblings as weapons or cannon fodder, and how several had died protecting her or serving as bait.
• Kicho recognized that her father had sent her to marry Yayoi as part of a plan to kill him and gain advantages for the Hyuga Clan, and she tightened her grip on her blade.

Kicho married Yayoi in a grand ceremony in the Land of Night and entered the bridal chamber with him. She met his questions about her guarded smile and the sword on her lap with playful words, while Yayoi asked her to show him her genuine self.

• Kicho prepared for her wedding with Hyuga Aoi and Hyuga Rinko, feeling chilled by the Land of Night’s climate and uneasy about her marriage to Yayoi.
• Yayoi arrived at the shrine, took Kicho’s hand, and completed the wedding rituals that lasted from day until evening.
• Yayoi sent Aoi and Rinko away from the bridal chamber and found Kicho kneeling on the futon with a sheathed katana across her lap.
• Yayoi asked why Kicho had brought a sword, and she said it was important protection for a girl on their wedding night.
• Yayoi asked Kicho to show her genuine feelings, and she teased him by urging him to work hard until dawn.

After her wedding night with Yayoi, Kicho explored the General's Residence and discovered that Irori was a living puppet created by her husband. As the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan moved toward an alliance, Yayoi planned to expand the Land of Night's influence and Irori sent him to rest instead of working late.

• Kicho woke after her wedding night, ate the meal prepared for her, and toured the General's Residence with Hyuga Aoi and Hyuga Rinko.
• Kicho entered Yayoi's office and teased him about Irori, who introduced herself as a Puppet Lifeform created by Yayoi.
• Kicho used her Byakugan to inspect Irori and confirmed that Irori was an artificial lifeform powered by a special Chakra Crystal.
• Hyuga Hideto met with Yayoi about the tense situation in the Land of Fire before returning to his clan.
• Yayoi asked Irori to have Kurobei contact small ninja clans entering the Land of Night, hoping to absorb them.
• Irori stopped Yayoi from working late and sent him to spend time with Kicho.

Yayoi and Kicho followed the founding of Konoha and the diplomatic upheaval it caused, while the Conference of Nations led the great nations to consider forming their own village alliances. In Konoha, Tobirama pressed Hashirama to accept the Hokage position as the village prepared to choose its leader.

• Yayoi received news that the Senju and Uchiha had established Konoha, united many Fire Country ninja clans, and signed a One Country, One Village contract with the daimyo.
• Kicho read the report and predicted that the other nations would gather for a conference; Yayoi warmed her hands as she fell asleep against him.
• The Conference of Nations met in the Land of Fire for a month, after which the other four great nations began secret talks with their strongest ninja groups about closer cooperation.
• Konoha continued expanding as Tobirama argued that Hashirama should become Hokage rather than yield the position to Madara.
• Tobirama told Hashirama to stay quiet during the coming meeting and said he would speak for him.

Yayoi accepted an invitation to Hashirama Senju’s Hokage inauguration and checked that Irori had stabilized her Tailed Beast-level Chakra. He inspected the Ghost Puppet Legion’s core underground, then brought Kakuzu to a sealed chamber to show him a living heart of black tentacles.

• Yayoi agreed to attend Hashirama Senju’s inauguration ceremony, and Irori offered to handle security.
• Yayoi confirmed that Irori’s Chakra had stabilized and discussed the risks of acquiring another Tailed Beast and the value of Uzumaki sealing techniques.
• Yayoi left Irori in charge and went underground to inspect the Ghost Puppet Legion and its steel-brain control puppet, Zero.
• Kakuzu arrived at Yayoi’s request, and Yayoi led him through a sealed door into a chamber filled with strange preserved creatures and objects.
• Yayoi showed Kakuzu a living mass of black tentacles coiled together like a heart.

Yayoi gave Kakuzu the enhanced Earth Grudge Fear, and Kakuzu emerged with greatly increased strength and self-healing abilities. In the Land of Night, Kicho continued enjoying her new life as Yayoi’s wife, while her attendants worried about her extravagance and lack of training; the chapter ended with Yayoi and Kicho growing closer.

• Yayoi explained Earth Grudge Fear to Kakuzu and offered him the forbidden technique, which Kakuzu eagerly agreed to try.
• After six hours in the sealed chamber, Kakuzu emerged fused with Earth Grudge Fear and demonstrated its self-healing and improved use of stolen Ninjutsu.
• Kicho’s attendants, Hyuga Aoi and Hyuga Rinko, reprimanded her for her lavish spending and for neglecting ninja training, but Kicho remained unconcerned.
• Yayoi reassured Kicho that her spending was acceptable and recognized that her gifts to officials’ families helped ease relations with the Land of Night’s civil officials.
• Kicho told Yayoi that she felt at home with him, and the two went to bed together.

Kicho resumed intense Gentle Fist training and explained that her freedom in the Land of Night had changed her state of mind and strengthened her technique. She revealed her unusually pure Byakugan and its connection to ancient Hyuga records, then agreed to accompany Yayoi to the Land of Fire for Konoha's First inauguration.

• Aoi and Rinko found Kicho practicing a penetrating Variant Gentle Fist that had improved since they last saw her train.
• Kicho told Aoi and Rinko that her changed state of mind had helped her training, reflecting on how the Land of Night had freed her from the Hyuga Clan's control.
• Kicho used her Byakugan to inspect the Inner Court's barrier, and Yayoi explained that its facilities required protection.
• Kicho told Yayoi that her Byakugan could see eighteen kilometers in one direction because of its high purity, and mentioned Hyuga records about the Sage of Six Paths and a ten-tailed monster.
• Yayoi told Kicho that he would leave for the Land of Fire in four days for Konoha's First inauguration, and she insisted on going with him.

Yayoi led the Land of Night's delegation to Konoha for the First's inauguration ceremony, arriving after five days of travel in an armored carriage driven by Puppet Samurai. After settling into their assigned residence, he rested ahead of the diplomatic meetings to come.

• Yayoi and Kicho departed Nightview City with sixteen Puppet Samurai and an escort of ninjas and samurai.
• The delegation traveled south in a heavily defended carriage, stopping in towns along the way while the Puppet Samurai cleared obstacles.
• After five days, the delegation arrived in Konoha and was welcomed by Senju Haima, whose Eight Gates technique Kicho described to Yayoi.
• Senju Haima led the delegation to its courtyard residence, where Yayoi ordered the guards to take shifts and avoid causing trouble.
• Yayoi invited Irori to explore the courtyard, then returned to the master bedroom to rest before the upcoming meetings.

Hashirama and Tobirama discussed Konoha’s diplomatic visitors and the difficulty of bringing the divided Hyuga Clan into the village. During his three days in Konoha, Yayoi received delegations, met Hashirama and Madara, and then welcomed an unexpected visitor: Tobirama.

• Tobirama briefed Hashirama on thirteen visiting delegations and warned that the Hyuga Clan might split over whether to join Konoha.
• Hashirama planned to visit the Hyuga Clan after his inauguration, while Tobirama arranged to assess the visiting Hyuga representatives’ position.
• Yayoi received Hyuga Sekijin and later agreed to protect the Land of Song Daimyo’s family if their country fell, but declined to suppress the rebellion.
• Yayoi hosted delegations from fifteen countries, met Hashirama Senju, and saw Madara Uchiha at the meeting venue.
• After three days in Konoha, Yayoi received Tobirama Senju, who arrived at night to visit him.

Yayoi negotiated a sale of Chakra Metal to Tobirama while foreign delegations gathered in Konoha and tensions flared between Mu and Hozuki Gengetsu. Hashirama Senju’s inauguration as First established Konoha and ushered in the One Country, One Village era, leaving the visiting nations aware that they would have to adapt.

• Tobirama offered to buy finished Chakra Metal from Yayoi, and they agreed on a sale of two hundred tons.
• Yayoi watched Mu and Hozuki Gengetsu fight before their dispute ended through Senju and Uchiha mediation.
• Hashirama Senju delivered his Hokage declaration before Konoha’s clan heads and foreign representatives.
• Hashirama completed his inauguration as First, and Konoha formally entered its first year.
• The representatives of other nations recognized that they needed to unite their shinobi clans and establish villages of their own.

After the Hokage’s inauguration, Yayoi returned to the Land of Night, reassuring Kicho that he had prepared for the new era. In Konoha, Uchiha Izayoi prepared to leave with other radicals who refused to live alongside the Senju, and Elder Korei insisted that Uchiha Meirou accompany her.

• Yayoi left Konoha for the Land of Night and considered how its existing foundations and his foresight could help it develop during the coming decade.
• Kicho worried that the Land of Night would need money and offered to sell her clothes and accessories, but Yayoi reassured her that the country’s finances were secure.
• In Konoha, Izayoi told Elder Korei that she intended to leave because she could not coexist with the Senju and had no faith in their alliance with the Uchiha.
• Korei explained that many Uchiha were exhausted by war and accepted peaceful coexistence, while Izayoi and other members of the Radical Faction planned to leave Konoha.
• Korei told Izayoi to take Uchiha Meirou with her, warning that the times had changed, and Izayoi reluctantly agreed.

As the great nations founded ninja villages and the Land of Night continued to grow, Yayoi completed and tested a powerful Chakra-based combat technique. He named it Chakra Armament Mode and aimed to make it famous throughout the Ninja World.

• The great nations established their ninja villages, while a small country near the Land of Lightning descended into chaos and was annexed by the Land of Lightning's daimyo.
• Yayoi expanded the Land of Night's forces and established the Security Corps to patrol Nightview City as he reorganized government departments.
• Yayoi tested his Chakra Armor in the training grounds, using it to move at supersonic speed and shatter massive boulders with Taijutsu.
• Kicho tested the armor with a Chakra-infused ninja sword, then cut through it with Spirit Blade: Kumokiri and her Byakugan, though Yayoi's wound healed quickly.
• Yayoi explained that his armor imitated a Jinchūriki's Tailed Beast Cloak and could later be enhanced with chakra nature transformation.
• Yayoi named the technique Chakra Armament Mode and declared that he would make it famous throughout the Ninja World.

Irori crushed invading ninja forces in the northern sea and froze an island and its surroundings with her secret technique, securing the Land of Night’s northern border. Yayoi praised her power but reflected that Madara Uchiha’s strength still far exceeded hers.

• Irori defeated the black-clad ninja and his forces with her Ice Release, then ordered her squad to continue sweeping the area together and avoid advancing alone.
• Shion Aburame located the invaders’ island base, but Irori declined a direct assault and rose above the island to test a technique.
• Irori unleashed Ice Release: Frost Sky Demonic Realm, freezing the island, its fortress, and the surrounding sea; afterward, she ordered the squad to return.
• Yayoi received news that Irori had suppressed the northern invaders and frozen the island, boosting the Land of Night’s reputation.
• Kicho asked whether Yayoi or Irori was stronger, and Yayoi said he could last only thirty exchanges against her unless he perfected Chakra Armament Mode.

Yayoi gave Kicho a valuable chakra-refinement technique, while Kicho arranged for Aoi and Rinko to attend him in bed as his concubines. Later, Yayoi reviewed reports on the emerging ninja ranks and the growing villages and clans across the Ninja World.

• Yayoi gave Kicho the Living Chakra Technique and explained how it strengthened a ninja’s abilities and recovery.
• Kicho told Yayoi she had bought a special outfit, and he put off explaining the technique’s limitations until the next day.
• Aoi and Rinko brought Kicho lunch, and Kicho revealed that Yayoi had left her too sore to get up unaided.
• Kicho told Aoi and Rinko they would attend Yayoi in bed as his concubines and urged them to call her Sister Kicho.
• Yayoi read reports about Konoha’s new ninja ranking system and reviewed the Land of Night’s Jonin-level forces.
• Yayoi noted the other great nations were preparing their villages and that the Uzumaki Clan was building Uzushio, and he considered future marriage alliances.

Yayoi took Aoi and Rinko as concubines, then registered them alongside Kicho as ninjas of the Land of Night. He explained that their Byakugan and Gentle Fist made them capable Chunins in a force where most ninjas were only Genin, and encouraged them to help build the country; the chapter ended with Kicho teasing them and the three women laughing together.

• Yayoi spent the night with Aoi and Rinko after Kicho encouraged them to become his concubines.
• Aoi and Rinko woke the next morning, bashfully discussed their experience, and found Kicho training in the courtyard.
• Yayoi gave Kicho, Aoi, and Rinko ninja forehead protectors and registration documents, assigning them ranks and identification numbers.
• Yayoi explained that the Land of Night’s S-prefixed identification numbers were reserved for his family, while Kicho teased him for favoring them.
• Aoi worried that she and Rinko were unqualified Chunins, but Yayoi and Kicho explained that their Byakugan and Gentle Fist made them stronger than most of the Land of Night’s ninjas.
• Yayoi encouraged Aoi and Rinko to be confident, and Kicho’s teasing prompted the three women to laugh together.

Kakuzu fought Kurobei in the General's Residence and demonstrated the power of a stolen Water Release technique. Yayoi arrived to recruit them for trouble at the Land of Grass's border, but Kurobei stayed behind with his newborn son, Mifune.

• Kakuzu and Kurobei sparred, and Kakuzu used his Earth Release and newly acquired Water Release: Tengu Cannon to gain the advantage.
• Kurobei ended the fight and recognized that Kakuzu's powerful Water Release technique had come from someone else.
• Kakuzu explained that Lord Yayoi had given him a forbidden technique that let him use stolen Ninjutsu, while Kurobei voiced concern about its risks.
• Yayoi arrived with Kicho and invited Kakuzu and Kurobei to help him handle trouble at the Land of Grass's border.
• Kurobei declined because his newborn son needed him, then told Yayoi that he had named the boy Mifune.

Yayoi, Kicho, and Kakuzu traveled to the Land of Night’s southwestern border to confront the Kusanagi Clan, whose rogue ninja had devastated a border force and sought to establish a base. After Aburame Yuto and Kicho located the clan’s camp, Yayoi began the operation against its forty-seven ninja.

• Yayoi explained that intelligence traced the border attack to the Kusanagi Clan of the Land of Grass, and Kicho recounted a legend about a spiritual Kusanagi Sword sealed within the Uchiha bloodline.
• Yayoi said the Kusanagi Clan’s attack had badly wounded two of his trusted Jonin’s forces, and Kakuzu asked whether they would leave no survivors.
• Yayoi, Kicho, and Kakuzu met Aburame Yuto in a forest, where he reported that the Kusanagi Clan had stayed and seemed intent on making the area its headquarters.
• Yayoi ordered Kicho to scout with her Byakugan, and she found the clan’s gathering point ten kilometers away, with forty-seven ninja, including two Jonin-level fighters.
• Yayoi ordered the operation to begin, and the four set off toward the Kusanagi Clan’s camp.

Kusanagi Seiryu began establishing the Kusanagi Clan’s new settlement, but Yayoi’s forces launched a surprise attack and destroyed the clan. Yayoi’s group burned the stronghold, eliminated its survivors, and took the Kusanagi Sword.

• Kusanagi Seiryu oversaw construction of the clan’s new camp and planned to scout the surrounding terrain as he considered expanding his power in the Land of Night.
• Yayoi’s forces attacked the camp with Explosive Tags and Ninjutsu, catching the Kusanagi Clan by surprise despite its perimeter traps.
• Kicho fought Kusanagi Seiryu, but he used the Kusanagi Sword to absorb her Chakra and counter her techniques.
• Yayoi secretly controlled Kusanagi Seiryu with Chakra Threads, allowing Kicho to seal his Chakra and kill him with a Gentle Fist strike.
• Yayoi used Seiryu’s corpse as a puppet while Kicho and the others finished off the Kusanagi Clan; Kakuzu confirmed that no survivors remained.
• Yayoi’s forces burned the stronghold, gathered the clan’s valuables, and kept the Kusanagi Sword.