Recaps

Yayoi strengthened the Land of Night through military reforms, trade, research, and Doichi’s advancement while growing wary of Hashirama’s declining health and covert unrest among the nations. After Hashirama’s death, investigations exposed widening conflicts and powerful unidentified ninja, leaving the region on the brink of war.

• Yayoi tested his strength against the Seven-Tails, but lost when its long-range attacks exhausted his chakra.
• Yayoi pursued research into completing his Chakra Conversion and developing a Cursed Seal Jutsu, while continuing to raise Sakura Hime and oversee the Land of Night.
• Yayoi attended Ishikawa’s funeral and Mu’s succession, then negotiated a trade with Shamon for Dragon Vein Chakra and Magnet Release Ninjutsu in exchange for large puppets.
• Yayoi reorganized the Military Bureau into twelve departments, and Izayoi tested Special Assault Department fighters in sparring matches.
• Yayoi and Nene implanted a Cursed Seal seed in Miyamoto Raizo and placed him in hibernation for the experiment.
• After Hashirama fainted at the Chunin exams, Yayoi prepared for war, cooperated cautiously with Tobirama, and ordered covert investigations as tensions spread among the nations.
• Doichi passed his graduation exam by defeating four Jonin and two Upper Samurai, while civil war broke out in the Land of Hot Water.
• After Hashirama’s death, Hiruzen’s team investigated the Land of Frost, encountered powerful ninja posing as Frost Village fighters, and withdrew when the mission became too dangerous.

Yayoi’s forces crushed a Hidden Cloud base, pushed into the Land of Lightning, and fought a widening war as Konoha and its allies faced pressure on other fronts. The Land of Night held its gains while Hidden Cloud weighed a counterattack, and Yayoi prepared to bring Chōmei to the front.

• Raizo awoke from more than five years of sleep, tested his restored strength, and learned that his body constantly consumed chakra and could only remain active outside the underground for a few days.
• As fighting devastated the border between Yugakure and the Land of Frost, Yayoi learned that Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist had allied and were moving forces toward the Land of Frost and the Land of Night’s northern mining base.
• Yayoi, Kicho, Irori, and Yaya attacked Kōmon’s Hidden Cloud command base with Tsuchigumo, captured its supplies, and forced the survivors to retreat before continuing into the Land of Lightning.
• Yayoi pursued the retreating Hidden Cloud forces for three days, then withdrew when more than two thousand reinforcements arrived, while Komurasaki later summoned the Two-Tails into the Hidden Cloud camp and escaped after A wounded her.
• The Land of Night captured territory and resources in the Land of Lightning, while Tobirama fought on the other fronts and Konoha faced additional attacks from the Hidden Sand and Iwagakure.
• Izayoi and her team fought Kapui and Hidden Cloud Anbu, and Konoha reinforcements helped force Kapui’s group to withdraw.
• Doichi’s patrol encountered A on an island, where their attacks shattered the island before A retreated with chakra-disrupting injuries and Doichi’s arm was left numb.
• Hidden Cloud leaders struggled to counter the Land of Night’s guerrilla tactics as Yayoi assessed their intentions, kept forces in reserve against possible allied betrayal, and decided to bring Chōmei to the front.

The Land of Night defeated Hidden Cloud Village’s counteroffensive, negotiated a ceasefire, and secured its position in the Land of Fields. Yayoi then began building an artificial dragon vein network while the wider wars continued and Izayoi and Oboro pursued the final purge.

• A survived Robui’s Heavenly Transfer Technique, but the Land of Night lured him into a trap and sealed him inside a barrier with hundreds of Puppet Samurai.
• Kapui died fighting Komurasaki, and Yayoi’s forces routed Hidden Cloud Village’s counteroffensive, leaving fewer than a thousand shinobi able to escape.
• Yayoi and Kōmon signed a ceasefire agreement, and Kōmon asked Yayoi to sell Hidden Cloud Village the method for becoming a Perfect Jinchūriki.
• Yayoi completed the prisoner exchange and returned to Nightview City, while A resolved to grow stronger and reclaim his lost dignity.
• Yayoi used his influence and Izayoi’s Assault Force to purge noble families in the Land of Fields, then treated the critically injured Mu in Iwagakure.
• Yayoi selected Great Snow Mountain for the artificial dragon vein project and deployed thousands of puppets to clear the site and begin construction.
• Yayoi stabilized the final artificial dragon vein beneath Great Snow Mountain, completing the project’s first phase.
• Izayoi and Oboro defeated bounty hunters who ambushed them, then set out to complete the final purge in the Land of Fields.

As the great villages made uneasy peace, the Land of Night expanded its influence and captured Kinkaku while Yayoi pursued new power. The arc ended with Murasame awakened and Rikuo preparing to enter Konoha’s Joint Chunin Ninja Exams.

• Tobirama’s peace talks with Kumogakure collapsed when Kinkaku and Ginkaku attacked, leaving the Second Hokage and Second Raikage presumed dead, while Komurasaki captured the brothers and took a Six Paths Ninja Tool.
• A became the Third Raikage and signed a ceasefire with Hiruzen, while Yayoi kept Kinkaku’s imprisonment secret and sent Irori and Kakuzu to the leaders’ funerals.
• Hiruzen struggled to secure support from Konoha’s clans as Zhuiliu pursued Uchiha control of the Police Department, while Rikuo signed the Tsuchigumo contract and summoned Kurono.
• Yayoi and Nene found that Ginkaku’s soul had been sealed away, and Hisana confirmed that freeing it would require careful study of the unknown sealing technique.
• Hanzo routed Kusagakure’s invaders, but Iwagakure and the Land of Night pressured Amegakure into a ceasefire that imposed heavy reparations, which Yayoi’s side shared in.
• Over the next two and a half years, the Land of Night absorbed the Land of Harada and grew to more than forty-two million people as Konoha prepared its Joint Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Hiruzen began training Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade for the exams, while Izayoi approved Rikuo’s participation and ordered him to replace Xia Yu Lingling with Chunhua Qianxiao.
• Yayoi awakened Murasame with Tailed-Beast Chakra and a lightning strike, and Murasame challenged Yaya, Irori, and Komurasaki to fight her together.