Recaps

A agreed to test whether the Hidden Cloud Village’s Heavenly Transfer Technique could transport a living person, and Robui successfully sent him to a distant outer camp. After medical ninja confirmed A had only superficial injuries, Yotsuki Kōmon prepared to discuss how to use the breakthrough against the Land of Night.

• Yotsuki Kōmon ordered Robui to use the Heavenly Transfer Technique on A despite the risk that the transfer could tear him apart.
• A activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode and allowed Robui to transport him without resisting the technique.
• A arrived at a Hidden Cloud Village outer camp, where medical ninja examined him and confirmed the transfer had caused only superficial injuries.
• A told Yotsuki Kōmon that he could still use his full strength but suffered stiffness and nausea after landing.
• Yotsuki Kōmon left A to rest and returned with the Jonin to discuss their next plan against the Land of Night.

Yayoi oversaw the Land of Night’s defenses as the Hidden Cloud Village’s next-generation 'A' suddenly appeared in their rear, destroyed two squads, and fled at extraordinary speed. Suspecting that 'A' had used a technique capable of transporting supplies as well as people, Yayoi realized it could explain the missing supply route to the Hidden Cloud Village’s army in the Land of Frost.

• Yotsuki Kōmon rejected a risky raid on the Land of Night’s homeland after Robui warned that transporting 'A' too far with the Heavenly Transfer Technique could endanger him, and ordered a counterattack against the Hidden Cloud Village’s main force in the Land of Lightning.
• Yayoi inspected the Obelisk Tower’s modified Sensory Water Sphere, which helped sensory ninja and puppet masters monitor the battlefield and control the Land of Night’s Puppet Samurai.
• A sensory ninja reported that 'A' had wiped out two Land of Night squads in under a minute after crossing the front line and moving more than a hundred kilometers at astonishing speed.
• Yayoi ordered puppet units to intercept 'A', but 'A' fled south before Yayoi could send Irori and Tsuchigumo after him.
• Yayoi suspected that 'A' was testing a technique that could transport supplies, explaining why the Land of Night had never found the Hidden Cloud Village’s supply route to the Land of Frost.

A returned safely from the Land of Night’s occupied territory and reported on its defenses, remote puppet-control devices, and combat medicines. As Hidden Cloud Village struggled to plan a counteroffensive, Kōmon announced that Kapui would arrive from the Land of Frost to help counter Komurasaki.

• A returned to Hidden Cloud Village’s defensive zone without encountering an ambush, and the village’s high-ranking Jonin convened a war meeting.
• A reported that the area where he had landed was weakly defended, that square stone spires might control puppets, and that the Land of Night used three types of combat medicine.
• The Jonin learned that the medicines could boost strength, produce Tailed-Beast Chakra, and heal injuries, but concluded they could not help break the current deadlock quickly.
• Kōmon announced that Raikage had agreed to send Kapui from the Land of Frost to assist the counteroffensive, with Kinkaku and Ginkaku no longer expected to interfere.
• The Hidden Cloud Jonin welcomed Kapui’s arrival, hoping his Storm Release and sensory abilities would help them stop Komurasaki.

Yayoi reorganized the Land of Night’s defenses while allowing A to keep probing and destroying decoy targets so Hidden Cloud Village would believe it had found weaknesses. By December, his attacks had shifted toward supply ships, and Yayoi’s commanders anticipated that Hidden Cloud Village’s long-awaited offensive was near.

• Yayoi replaced small patrol squads with companies and assigned puppet forces to wilderness patrols after A’s first airborne attack killed nearly ten people.
• A returned to the Land of Night and destroyed exposed Obelisk Towers, but Yayoi let him escape and ordered the nearest company to repair the decoy signal towers.
• Yayoi and his staff kept hidden backup receivers intact while pretending they could not stop A, hoping to draw out the larger force behind Hidden Cloud Village’s probing.
• Over the next two or three months, A attacked western ports and destroyed several cargo ships, while Hidden Cloud Village concluded that the Land of Night was shifting troops toward the ports.
• Yayoi and Irori convened a strategy meeting in Maple City, where the commanders discussed whether Hidden Cloud Village was preparing an offensive or would continue harassing them through A.

Kapui returned from the Land of Frost to support Hidden Cloud Village’s counteroffensive against the Land of Night and learned that Komurasaki’s abilities had crippled their operations. Confident that his sensory skills and combat abilities could restrain her, he prepared for the coming battle.

• Kapui arrived at the Hidden Cloud Village camp and asked Kōmon and the other Jonin why their forces had achieved so little against the Land of Night.
• Kōmon briefed Kapui on Komurasaki, whose hypnosis, Taijutsu, and invisibility had caused heavy casualties and made Hidden Cloud’s investigations dangerous.
• Kapui learned that the Second Raikage had also sent him to win over Kōmon’s faction and separate it from Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
• Kapui agreed that his role in the counteroffensive was to restrain Komurasaki and concluded that his sensory abilities would let him handle her.

Komurasaki, Yaya, and Kicho faced separate Hidden Cloud Village attacks as the village launched a major counteroffensive against the Land of Night. The battle left Kicho under pressure from Kōmon and Yugito until Tsuchigumo erupted from underground to attack them.

• Komurasaki evaded Kapui’s Storm Release: Laser Circus, but Kapui sensed her real position and attacked again.
• Tazbi confronted Yaya in a partial Tailed Beast transformation while more than three thousand Hidden Cloud Village ninjas assaulted the Land of Night’s front line.
• Kōmon and Yugito attacked Kicho together as part of the Hidden Cloud plan to break through before A, fighting deep in enemy territory, ran out of strength.
• Kicho repelled Kōmon and Yugito’s first assault with Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven but struggled to withstand their continuing attacks.
• A sensory ninja warned Kōmon and Yugito to move, and Tsuchigumo burst out of the ground and charged at them.

Yayoi and Tsuchigumo arrived to reinforce the Land of Night’s forces, turning the battle against Hidden Cloud Village as Irori fought off their Storm Release squad. Meanwhile, A was trapped in a barrier and faced with thousands of Puppet Samurai, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Yayoi and Tsuchigumo reached the snowfield after Komurasaki’s message, and Tsuchigumo’s attack cut down Hidden Cloud Village ninja.
• Irori used Ice Release to suppress the Hidden Cloud Village force until ten Storm Release Jonin attacked her with Laser Circus.
• A realized the Land of Night had lured him into a trap after Puppet Samurai ambushed him and four Jonin sealed him inside a Four Violet Flames Battle Formation.
• Flying Kite and the Land of Night ninja sent five hundred Puppet Samurai into the barrier to fight A.
• The Land of Night ninja revealed thirty-five more summoning scrolls, and A understood that they could unleash thousands of puppets against him.

A was trapped in a barrier and overwhelmed by waves of explosive, poison-spewing Puppet Samurai. Meanwhile, Komurasaki summoned a gigantic Red Spider Lily against Kapui, revealing a power absent from Hidden Cloud Village’s intelligence as she prepared to fight at full strength.

• A struggled against hundreds of Puppet Samurai that swarmed and self-destructed around him inside the barrier.
• The Puppet Samurai released purple poison gas, and Flying Kite ordered another five hundred puppets into the sealed battlefield.
• Komurasaki appeared before Kapui unharmed, while Kapui resolved to delay her even at the cost of his life.
• Komurasaki bit her finger and used Summoning Jutsu instead of the sleep-inducing Genjutsu Kapui expected.
• A gigantic Red Spider Lily appeared in the snowy forest, with Komurasaki standing among its petals.

Komurasaki trapped Kapui in her Manju Flower Illusion Realm and battled him as he fought to delay her for the Raikage’s sake. She ultimately killed him and dispelled the Genjutsu, leaving his body amid the snow and Red Spider Lily petals.

• Komurasaki’s crimson mist engulfed Kapui and trapped him in the Manju Flower Illusion Realm, where the petals drained his chakra and life.
• Kapui resolved to give his life for the village and attacked Komurasaki with Storm Release: Thunderclap Flash.
• Komurasaki blocked Kapui’s attack, then avoided his desperate assault while the Genjutsu made him fight illusions.
• Komurasaki struck Kapui down with her Chakra Blade, and he died believing he had won.
• Komurasaki dispelled the Genjutsu barrier, and the Red Spider Lily vanished in white smoke.

Yayoi, Irori, and Tsuchigumo joined Land of Night's battle against Hidden Cloud Village, forcing the Cloud forces to retreat. The pursuit continued across the Land of Lightning, where the Hidden Cloud ninjas struggled to escape the overwhelming assault.

• After Yayoi and the reinforcements arrived, Kōmon, Tazbi, Yugito, and other Hidden Cloud leaders signaled a withdrawal when they recognized their counteroffensive had failed.
• Hidden Cloud ninjas used Lightning Release and Storm Release techniques to cover their retreat, but Tsuchigumo broke through their formation.
• Yayoi's Netherworld Orbs swallowed the Tailed-Beast Bombs fired by the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails Jinchūriki, then returned to her carrying the sealed Chakra.
• Tsuchigumo charged through the retreating forces while Irori blocked escape routes with Ice Release, and Kicho and Yaya attacked from the flanks.
• Yaya entered her Heavenly Flash Comet state and suppressed Tazbi and Yugito, while Kicho used Byakugan Chakra Mode to harass the Hidden Cloud forces.

The Hidden Cloud survivors were confronted by Chōmei in Full Tailed-Beast Form, while Yayoi prepared to use the battle’s results to force negotiations. He then learned that Konoha advisor Sasuke Sarutobi had been killed by Kinkaku and Ginkaku wielding the Six Paths Ninja Tools.

• Fewer than a thousand Hidden Cloud ninjas escaped the battle, and Chōmei descended before them in Full Tailed-Beast Form.
• Tazbi, Yugito, and the Hidden Cloud ninjas combined their attacks with their Tailed-Beast Bombs to stop Chōmei’s bomb, but the resulting blast exhausted and injured many of them.
• Chōmei flew west after her attack, and Kōmon suspected she had been weakened and hurried back after realizing why she might have come from the east.
• Yayoi explained that his goal was to weaken Hidden Cloud and secure the Land of Fields through negotiation, not destroy Hidden Cloud Village.
• A Special Assault Department squad leader reported to Yayoi that Konoha advisor Sasuke Sarutobi had died when Kinkaku and Ginkaku used the Six Paths Ninja Tools.

After the Land of Night defeated the Hidden Cloud Village’s forces, Yayoi treated the wounded and assessed the heavy losses on both sides. He decided to increase pressure for peace talks and began dictating a letter to Second A.

• Kōmon found the Hidden Cloud Village camp destroyed by the Seven-Tails’ attack and ordered his forces to treat the wounded and gather scattered troops.
• Hidden Cloud Village’s Jonin realized that A and Kapui were missing and debated whether Ghost might have captured Kapui or revealed hidden abilities.
• Yayoi treated the Land of Night’s seriously wounded, reattaching severed limbs and fitting one injured ninja with a mechanical hand.
• Yayoi estimated that the Hidden Cloud Village had lost at least a thousand ninjas and decided to press for peace talks while his side’s strategic goals were achieved.
• Yayoi told Irori to help him write a letter to Second A.

After the Land of Night’s victories weakened Hidden Cloud Village, Yayoi negotiated a ceasefire with its representatives in the Land of Lightning. Just as the agreement was signed, Kōmon asked whether the Land of Night would sell Hidden Cloud Village its method for creating a Perfect Jinchūriki.

• Yayoi rejected most outside advice and agreed to peace talks with the Second Raikage, while keeping up limited guerrilla pressure.
• Yayoi and Kōmon met at a snowbound ruined temple to discuss compensation and end the war.
• Kōmon accepted the Land of Night’s terms, including money and supplies, the Heavenly Transfer Technique, political action against the Land of Fields’ daimyo and nobles, and a prisoner exchange.
• Yayoi and Kōmon signed the ceasefire agreement.
• Kōmon asked Yayoi to sell Hidden Cloud Village the method for becoming a Perfect Jinchūriki, leaving Yayoi stunned.

After the Land of Night and Hidden Cloud Village signed a ceasefire, Tobirama accepted that Konoha would have to continue fighting without the Land of Night’s direct support. He warned Danzo and Hiruzen to cooperate with the Land of Night cautiously, while his words hinted that he expected Hiruzen to succeed him as Hokage.

• News of the ceasefire reached Tobirama, who regretted that Konoha had lost the chance to benefit from the conflict between the Land of Night and Hidden Cloud Village.
• Danzo offered to travel to the Land of Night and persuade it to resume fighting, but Tobirama said the negotiations were already over and rejected the proposal.
• Danzo complained that allies could not be relied on, while Hiruzen asked whether Konoha would have to continue the war alone.
• Tobirama told Danzo and Hiruzen that the Land of Night would likely stop intervening directly and advised them to cooperate with it while remaining vigilant.
• Hiruzen recognized Tobirama’s words as an entrustment and resolved to earn more military merit before seeking the Hokage position.

Yayoi completed the prisoner exchanges with Hidden Cloud Village and withdrew the Land of Night’s forces, while preparing to absorb the Land of Fields. As the fleet departed, Kōmon recognized the Land of Night’s strength and A resolved to grow stronger and reclaim his lost dignity.

• The Land of Night withdrew from the Land of Hot Water, while its forces were accused of raiding the Land of Fields’ daimyo and nobles during their retreat.
• Yayoi completed the final prisoner exchange with Hidden Cloud Village, returning A and hundreds of shinobi, and sent Kapui’s corpse back with his brain destroyed.
• Yayoi secured the Heavenly Transfer Technique and a verbal agreement concerning the Land of Fields, then led his forces out of the Land of Lightning aboard thirty cargo ships.
• Kōmon and the other Hidden Cloud Jonin observed that the Land of Night had maintained order and repaired facilities in the occupied territories.
• A watched Yayoi’s fleet depart and resolved to become stronger and reclaim his lost dignity.

Yayoi returned to the Land of Night after the war and reviewed its heavy losses, concluding that it would need years to recover. As he resumed governing, he considered requests from other villages and chose not to correct their mistaken belief that the Land of Night possessed Perfect Jinchūriki Technology.

• Yayoi returned to Nightview City with the main forces and cargo ships, leaving Doichi at the island base to gain experience under Uchiha Hokuto.
• After a week of rest, Yayoi and Irori reviewed the casualty report: the Land of Lightning force had lost around three hundred, while nearly half the forces in the Land of Hot Water had died.
• Yayoi told Irori that restoring the Land of Night to its prewar strength would take at least three years, with a true increase in military capability taking much longer.
• Yayoi ignored Amegakure's request for aid and reviewed military cooperation and condolences from other nations.
• Mu asked to buy the Land of Night's supposed Perfect Jinchūriki Technology, and Yayoi decided to let the misunderstanding persist.

Yayoi moved to annex the Land of Fields while Konoha remained occupied with the war, and Tobirama chose not to intervene. As Tobirama prepared for the next clash with Hidden Cloud Village, he learned that Hozuki Gengetsu had been killed and Tsuchikage Mu was missing.

• Yayoi used the Land of Night’s influence and Izayoi’s Assault Force to purge several noble families in the Land of Fields and pressure the remaining nobles to submit.
• Tobirama concluded that the Land of Fields was nearing annexation and decided not to challenge Yayoi while Konoha faced Hidden Cloud Village.
• Tobirama studied the Six Paths Ninja Tools wielded by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, including the Banana Fan, Golden Rope, Seven Stars Sword, and Red Gourd.
• An Anbu ninja reported that Mizukage Hozuki Gengetsu had been killed and Tsuchikage Mu’s status was unknown.

Yayoi traveled to Hidden Rock Village’s northern fortress to treat the gravely wounded Second Tsuchikage, Mu. After one night of treatment, she pulled him out of immediate danger, though he would need ten days to half a month to wake.

• Hidden Rock Village’s medical team failed to heal Mu, whose injuries and depleted life force left him near death.
• Ōnoki ordered an Anbu squad to summon Yayoi from Nightview City, while the medical team kept Mu alive until she arrived.
• Yayoi examined Mu and suspected that some Ninjutsu had taken part of his body away.
• Yayoi spent half a day repairing Mu’s internal organs, then treated him again after eating to bring him out of danger.
• The Hidden Rock medical team marveled that Yayoi had achieved in one night what their best efforts could not, and expected Mu to wake within ten days to half a month.

Yayoi treated Mu and learned that the Tsuchikage had little time left to fight, then returned to the Land of Night and expanded its influence in the Land of Fields. With his medical reputation bringing profitable clients, Yayoi began planning an artificial dragon vein project as a grand future residence and sanctuary.

• Yayoi told Ōnoki that Mu might survive two years with rest but could last only a month if he kept fighting, and he secretly collected tissue samples while treating him.
• Yayoi left Iwagakure after two days with medical fees including rare techniques, chakra ores, and ancient books; later, he received word that Mu had awakened and replied to him.
• Yayoi sent a thousand Land of Night ninjas and samurai into the Land of Fields under an official banner and assigned Izayoi to oversee construction and security.
• Yayoi accepted requests to treat wounded ninjas and wealthy clients after his reputation as the world's greatest medical ninja grew.
• Yayoi decided to begin the artificial dragon vein project and searched the Land of Night for a construction site.

Yayoi chose a snow mountain in the Land of Night as the site for a massive artificial ley line and secondary palace, and sent a team to survey it. Later, Hisana began to tell him about a letter from her clan concerning eligible unmarried women.

• Yayoi continued treating shinobi wounded in the war and earned substantial funds from villages and wealthy clients.
• Yayoi pointed out a southeastern snow mountain as the site for an artificial dragon vein and secondary palace, and Irori agreed to arrange surveys.
• Irori dispatched scholars, technicians, and earth-release shinobi to inspect the mountain before October.
• After a shrine ritual, Yayoi asked Hisana and Nene what they wanted, and Nene said she had only been dragged in to make up the numbers.
• Hisana told Yayoi that a letter from her clan mentioned eligible unmarried maidens.

Yayoi approved the Uzumaki Clan’s marriage proposal for Doichi and endured Hisana’s unconventional Medical Ninjutsu lesson with Nene. He then began building an Artificial Dragon Vein and secluded palace at Great Snow Mountain, though the puppet army sent there alarmed rival villages into expecting another war.

• Yayoi told Hisana to discuss the Uzumaki Clan’s marriage proposal for Doichi with Kicho, and Hisana used Adamantine Sealing Chains to hold Nene still while giving her the sacred medicine.
• Surveying troops returned with reports on Great Snow Mountain, and Yayoi planned the project in stages, beginning with clearing the site and connecting an Artificial Dragon Vein to the Natural Earth Vein.
• By mid-October, Yayoi completed the design and sent five thousand puppets to Great Snow Mountain, followed by two thousand more carrying construction materials.
• Naraku directed the puppets to clear a mountain road and establish a transport system while they began work on the Artificial Dragon Vein.
• Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village feared the puppet deployment signaled the Land of Night was entering their war, but the puppets were only working on Yayoi’s construction project.

Yayoi oversaw the Great Snow Mountain project and tracked the shifting wars between the ninja villages as the year drew to a close. At the General's Residence, he sparred with Tadayuki, Hideyuki, and his nine-year-old son Rikuo, whose Two-Tomoe Sharingan and fighting skill impressed him.

• Yayoi advanced the Great Snow Mountain project with help from the Hyuga Clan and elemental ninjas while intelligence agents watched from nearby.
• Yayoi observed Hidden Sand Village turn from its costly fight with Konoha to plundering smaller countries, while Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Rock Village moved toward peace talks after their Kage were killed or incapacitated.
• Yayoi planned to bring Izayoi and Oboro back from the Land of Fields for a New Year family reunion.
• Tadayuki and Hideyuki attacked Yayoi with Gentle Fist while Rikuo used Fire Release, steam, and his Two-Tomoe Sharingan to launch a coordinated assault.
• Yayoi recognized that nine-year-old Rikuo's Sharingan control and spiritual aptitude made him a formidable fighter, though his physical strength was weaker than Doichi's.

Rikuo trained with Yayoi and reunited with his brothers, while they discussed Doichi’s growing reputation and the end of the war with the Land of Night. At a Hidden Cloud meeting, Second A pushed for peace talks with Konoha, and Ginkaku began plotting a scheme to turn the negotiations to his faction’s advantage.

• Yayoi ended the sparring session, and Tadayuki praised Rikuo’s growth and Two-Tomoe Sharingan.
• Rikuo, Tadayuki, and Hideyuki discussed Doichi’s exploits and the ceasefire that had ended the Land of Night’s war with Hidden Cloud Village.
• Second A argued that Hidden Cloud should pursue peace with Konoha because the war had caused heavy losses and Konoha could soon concentrate more forces against them.
• Kinkaku and Ginkaku challenged Second A’s call for a ceasefire, but the meeting ended with several Jonin supporting the Raikage’s position.
• After the others left, Ginkaku told Kinkaku they could use the push for peace talks to their advantage and began explaining his plan.

In February of Year 28 of the Land of Night, Yayoi completed the first phase of the Artificial Dragon Vein project by stabilizing the energy beneath the Great Snow Mountain’s altars. The project moved on to building a fortress shell around the Dragon Veins, which the puppet forces were already constructing.

• The puppet workforce finished the first phase of the project and began building a sturdy outer shell to protect the Artificial Dragon Veins.
• Yayoi visited the Great Snow Mountain summit and used his chakra to stabilize the seventh Artificial Dragon Vein beneath its altar.
• Yayoi rested for an hour, then traveled through the snowfields and stabilized the eighth Artificial Dragon Vein.
• Yayoi and Irori found Hisana asleep inside a small barrier at the mountain’s highest point and left her undisturbed.
• Yayoi injected chakra into the final Artificial Dragon Vein, completing the first phase and leaving the puppet forces to finish the outer shell.

Izayoi and Oboro lured a group of bounty hunters into attacking them, then slaughtered the attackers and prepared to complete the Land of Fields’ final purge. The chapter left them heading out to finish the cleanup before the country was absorbed into the Land of Night.

• Izayoi rejected Oboro’s suggestion to seek shelter from the rain and waited for the hidden attackers to reveal themselves.
• The bounty hunters ambushed Izayoi and Oboro with the Hidden Mist Technique, ninjutsu, and explosive weapons, but Izayoi protected them with a dark blue chakra skeleton.
• Izayoi used her Sharingan and speed to kill the attackers, while Oboro bound and cut down others with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Oboro asked whether Izayoi’s chakra skeleton was Susanoo, and Izayoi explained that it was a crude imitation made possible by the Living Chakra Technique.
• Izayoi and Oboro set out to complete the final purge before the Land of Fields joined the Land of Night.