Chapter Summaries

Qifeng protected Kakashi, Obito, and Rin from a massive water attack, then faced the Third Mizukage, who was controlled by Uchiha Madara. Madara summoned the Three-Tails, and Qifeng called on Sasori and Kakuzu to join the fight.

• Qifeng shielded Kakashi, Obito, and Rin from the water stream with an Iron Sand sphere and ordered them to deliver a warning to Orochimaru.
• Kakashi led Obito and Rin toward the Konoha camp, explaining that Qifeng could handle the enemy and they should not hold him back.
• Qifeng recognized the Third Mizukage as Uchiha Madara and deduced that Madara had come for Obito.
• Madara summoned the Three-Tails, Isobu, and revealed that its eyes were controlled by the Sharingan.
• Qifeng summoned Sasori and Kakuzu, and Kakuzu agreed to fight after Sasori promised him payment and another job for free.

Qifeng, Kakuzu, and the Sasori Puppet faced Uchiha Madara, who attacked through the Third Mizukage and the Three-Tails. The Sasori Puppet unleashed his full Hundred Puppet Performance and blocked Madara’s enormous Water Release, but the group expected the real battle to follow.

• Qifeng explained that he had recruited Kakuzu and the Sasori Puppet as temporary allies for the fight against Uchiha Madara.
• The Third Mizukage used the Three-Tails’ power to launch a Great Waterfall Technique at the three allies.
• The Sasori Puppet summoned a hundred puppets, including many made from powerful shinobi corpses.
• The Sasori Puppet ordered twenty puppets to use Earth Release and raise a massive wall that stopped Madara’s water attack.

Qifeng and his allies fought Uchiha Madara, the Third Mizukage, and the Three-Tails, stopping a Tailed Beast Bomb with layered defenses before Qifeng cleaved it in half. Qifeng separated the Third Mizukage from the Three-Tails and began restraining the beast with lightning-charged Iron Sand.

• The Three-Tails fired a Tailed Beast Bomb, and Qifeng summoned Triple Rashomon as Puppet Sasori and Kakuzu added layers of defense.
• Qifeng combined Magnet Release and Raikiri into a giant Iron Sand sword and cut the weakened Tailed Beast Bomb in half.
• Qifeng, Puppet Sasori, and Kakuzu charged the enemy, with Qifeng separating the Third Mizukage from the Three-Tails.
• Qifeng carried the Three-Tails away and restrained its legs with lightning-charged Iron Sand while preparing to fight it.

Qifeng’s battle against the Third Mizukage and the Three-Tails escalated when Uchiha Madara intervened with Susanoo and disrupted Qifeng’s planned attack. Qifeng summoned his real body to the battlefield, leaving him to decide how to face Madara.

• Qifeng gathered Thunder Clouds to prepare Judgment of Takemikazuchi against the Three-Tails.
• Uchiha Madara revealed himself as a Reanimation Jutsu clone and formed Susanoo.
• Madara leaped into the air and cut through the Thunder Clouds, interrupting Qifeng’s attack.
• Qifeng crushed a scroll and summoned his real body, who exchanged memories with the Puppet Clone to learn the situation.
• Qifeng’s real body assessed his improved abilities and combat experience as Uchiha Madara turned his attention toward him.

Qifeng faced Uchiha Madara’s Susanoo and used his Shikotsumyaku to slow and resist its attacks. The chapter ended as Qifeng hurled a chakra-infused bone spear at Susanoo, testing whether its concentrated force could pierce the defense.

• Uchiha Madara recognized Qifeng’s Sharingan and Shikotsumyaku, then charged him with Susanoo.
• Qifeng assigned Kakuzu to hold back the Third Mizukage, Sasori to handle the Three-Tails, and the others to continue preparing their earlier move.
• Qifeng used Dance of the Emerging Fern and formed a bone wall that stopped Susanoo’s advance, surprising Uchiha Madara.
• Uchiha Madara unleashed Kagutsuchi and shattered Qifeng’s bone spikes.
• Qifeng formed a spear from his spine, combined it with Earth and Water Release techniques, and threw it at Susanoo as the Vaisravana Spear.

Qifeng destroyed Uchiha Madara's Susanoo-wielding clone with the Judgment of Takemikazuchi, while Namikaze Minato attacked the advancing iwa-nin. Madara’s clone vanished, but the Third Mizukage and the Three-Tails remained under control.

• Qifeng’s bone spear broke Uchiha Madara’s katana and damaged his Susanoo, while the charged Iron Sand Spear drew attention from Kakuzu, Namikaze Minato, and the iwa-nin.
• The iwa-nin commander ordered his fifty Jonin to keep advancing and kill the Spear of Judgment, while Namikaze Minato abandoned his investigation and prepared to protect his students.
• Namikaze Minato attacked the iwa-nin with more than a hundred Flying Thunder God Kunai and began cutting them down rapidly.
• Qifeng restrained Susanoo with bone spears and used Earth Release to accelerate the Puppet Clone’s Judgment of Takemikazuchi strike.
• Uchiha Madara’s clone signaled that he would return before the blast annihilated Susanoo and the Iron Sand Spear; Qifeng caught the falling Puppet Clone.
• The strike left a vast crater and a charred corpse, while the controlled Third Mizukage and the Three-Tails remained.

Qifeng and his allies defeated Uchiha Madara’s clone, then killed the Third Mizukage and Three-Tails. Qifeng realized Madara had still captured Obito, but believed he might yet change the future by becoming stronger.

• The Third Mizukage regained his senses as Kakuzu realized that Uchiha Madara had been defeated by Qifeng’s attack.
• Qifeng transferred Chakra to his Puppet Clone, returned to his original body, and ordered Kakuzu and Sasori of the Red Sands to finish off the Third Mizukage and Three-Tails.
• Kakuzu killed the Third Mizukage and took his body, while the Three-Tails disappeared from the Shinobi World.
• Qifeng concluded that Black Zetsu and White Zetsu had captured Obito during the battle, despite his efforts to stop Uchiha Madara.
• Qifeng admitted he had relied too much on assumptions and resolved that gaining more strength could still let him turn things around.

Danzo secretly met Ōnoki and urged him to sign an alliance treaty with Konoha, claiming it would end the war peacefully. Ōnoki recognized Danzo’s scheme to remove Hiruzen as Hokage, and Danzo hinted that Iwagakure’s real enemy was not Konoha.

• Danzo met Ōnoki in a remote canyon and brought up Iwagakure’s losses at Kusaginagi Bridge.
• Danzo asked whether Ōnoki would join forces against Konoha or face Konoha’s full strength, but Ōnoki rejected both options.
• Danzo proposed that Konoha and Iwagakure sign an alliance treaty and withdraw their troops.
• Ōnoki realized the treaty would make Hiruzen answer for Konoha’s battlefield losses and accused Danzo of trying to remove him as Hokage.
• Ōnoki refused the treaty, and Danzo suggested that Konoha was not Iwagakure’s true enemy.

Iwagakure ended its war with Konoha and attacked Kumogakure, while factions in Konoha promoted Danzo, Orochimaru, and Namikaze Minato as possible Hokage successors. Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Qifeng whether he resented losing his chance at the position, and Qifeng said he had no interest in becoming Hokage and trusted Minato.

• Iwagakure signed a peace agreement with Konoha, then sent ten thousand iwa-nin to attack Kumogakure, prompting the Third Raikage to hold them off until he died from exhaustion.
• The iwa-nin withdrew after their losses, while the Fourth Raikage and Ōnoki traded condemnations without resuming the fighting.
• Konoha villagers circulated praise for Danzo and Orochimaru, but the pro-Orochimaru voices abruptly disappeared and support for Namikaze Minato rose instead.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi appointed Minato commander of Konoha's forces on the Land of Rain battlefield, replacing Tsunade.
• Qifeng played shogi with Hiruzen Sarutobi, who asked whether Qifeng resented losing his chance to become Hokage after killing the Third Mizukage.
• Qifeng said he did not want to become Hokage and trusted Minato, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi to repeat that Qifeng had a good relationship with him.

Qifeng discussed Orochimaru’s Human Experimentation and Danzo’s political schemes with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Hiruzen revealed that Minato would become Hokage and Qifeng would succeed Danzo as head of Root, giving Qifeng a chance to deal with Danzo.

• Qifeng refused Hiruzen Sarutobi’s hints about taking on responsibilities and questioned whether Hiruzen would abandon Orochimaru over Danzo’s report.
• Qifeng explained how Danzo had tried to remove Orochimaru as a rival and how Minato’s battlefield command could position him to become Hokage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi said Orochimaru’s Human Experimentation made him unsuitable for Hokage and risked undermining the office’s authority.
• Qifeng warned Hiruzen Sarutobi that indulging Danzo would leave Minato vulnerable to pressure as the next Hokage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi announced that Minato would become Hokage and Qifeng would succeed to Root.

After killing the Third Mizukage, Qifeng kept his encounter with Uchiha Madara secret and discussed how to handle Danzo with his Puppet Clone. He then examined the bodies of the Third Mizukage and Kakuzu’s sacrifice, obtaining a Blood Mist manual and an unfamiliar Sharingan genjutsu.

• Qifeng explained that Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted his Puppet Clone to restrain Danzo and keep him from obstructing Namikaze Minato.
• Qifeng and his Puppet Clone agreed to remove Danzo once he was no longer useful after their plans involving Iwagakure, while avoiding unnecessary commotion.
• Qifeng reflected that Uchiha Madara had taken Obito and resolved to prepare for what might happen to Rin Nohara and the Three-Tails.
• Qifeng used his system on the Third Mizukage’s corpse and Kakuzu’s charred body, receiving a book about cultivating Blood Mist ninjas and the Grid-Separating Restraint Illusion Technique.

Qifeng began modifying the Third Mizukage’s corpse into a Human Puppet, testing whether the Sharingan, Shikotsumyaku, and Two-Tails Chakra could combine to form “All Creation.” He left the puppet under construction, hoping the sealed Chakra would catalyze the powers’ coexistence.

• Qifeng learned the Grid-Separating Restraint Illusion Technique and stored the Third Mizukage’s corpse for use as a Human Puppet.
• Qifeng traveled to his secret base in the Land of Rain and began applying his experimental designs to the puppet.
• Qifeng replaced the puppet’s skeleton with Shikotsumyaku bones while Puppet Sasori fitted it with two Three Tomoe Sharingan.
• Qifeng sealed a portion of Matatabi’s Chakra inside the puppet to act as a catalyst for the Sharingan and Shikotsumyaku.
• Qifeng suppressed the struggling Two-Tails Chakra and left the puppet to be completed, noting that it had not exploded immediately.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Qifeng kept Danzo from taking power, while Qifeng became Root's powerless vice leader. After work, Uchiha Fugaku invited Qifeng to his home, where they encountered young Itachi Uchiha.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi suppressed support for Danzo's bid to become Hokage and backed Namikaze Minato as his successor.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi named Qifeng Root's vice leader, but Danzo stayed hidden and Qifeng had no subordinates.
• Qifeng met Uchiha Fugaku after work, and Fugaku invited him to dinner at his home.
• Fugaku brought Qifeng into the Uchiha Clan compound, where Itachi Uchiha greeted his father at the doorway.

Qifeng visited Uchiha Fugaku and spoke frankly about the Uchiha Clan’s precarious standing in Konoha. Fugaku then begged him to take Itachi as a student, offering the clan’s steadfast support in return.

• Qifeng met young Itachi, praised his talent, and told him that Shisui was doing well and had earned the name Body Flicker Shisui.
• Fugaku brought Qifeng to the reception room and asked how he viewed the Uchiha Clan.
• Qifeng said the Uchiha were isolated and in danger, though their service during the Third Great Ninja War had preserved Konoha’s trust for now.
• Fugaku prostrated himself and asked Qifeng to accept Itachi as his student, arguing that Itachi could become the Uchiha Clan’s future.
• Fugaku promised that the Uchiha would become Qifeng’s steadfast ally, whether he sought to defeat Danzo and take Root or compete for the Hokage position.

Qifeng accepted Itachi as his disciple and secured Uchiha support for his position in Root by asking Fugaku for Sharingan knowledge and five Three Tomoe Sharingan Jonin. He then took Itachi to the Hyuga Clan grounds for dinner and revealed to Hiashi and Hizashi that he had come to ask them for a favor.

• Qifeng agreed to take Itachi as his disciple, and Fugaku promised to provide detailed information about the Sharingan and its techniques.
• Qifeng asked Fugaku to transfer five obedient Jonin with Three Tomoe Sharingan into Root, and Fugaku agreed; Shisui would join Root as well, while Itachi would join when he became a ninja.
• Qifeng introduced Itachi to Fugaku as his new teacher and took him away from the Uchiha home.
• Qifeng led Itachi to the Hyuga Clan grounds, where Hiashi welcomed them and invited them to dinner; Hizashi joined them afterward.
• During dinner, Qifeng told Hiashi and Hizashi that Itachi was his new disciple and said he had come to ask them for a favor.

Qifeng drew the Hyuga and Uchiha clans closer while protecting Itachi from excessive training, and Fugaku accepted that the Uchiha would support Qifeng. Meanwhile, Madara set his plan to push Obito into despair back in motion, and Qifeng sensed that Madara would soon die.

• Hiashi ordered Hizashi to send five Branch Family Jonin to report to Qifeng, while the Hyuga brothers discussed the clan’s involvement in Konoha’s power struggle.
• Qifeng treated Itachi to dango, told him to stop following Fugaku’s training orders, and asked him not to report Qifeng’s affairs to his father.
• Itachi told Fugaku he could not discuss his teacher’s affairs, and Fugaku declared that the Uchiha Clan would become Qifeng’s spear against their shared enemies.
• In the Land of Grass, Madara had Black Zetsu take control of Rin Nohara and sent White Zetsu disguised as Mist ninja to abduct her and Kakashi as part of his plan for Obito.
• Qifeng sensed something on his way home and thought that Madara would be dead soon.

Qifeng built an independent Root while Danzo remained hidden, and he traveled to the Land of Grass after learning Uchiha Madara had died. There, Qifeng confronted Obito and Zetsu over Madara’s corpse, leaving them to decide how to respond.

• Qifeng recruited ninjas from Konoha’s clans into his new Root, while Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned it missions previously handled by Danzo’s forces.
• Namikaze Minato sent Kakashi to serve under Qifeng, who paired him with Shisui; the two became feared by mist ninja as Kakashi recovered some standing as the Copy Ninja.
• Qifeng left a meeting with Hiruzen Sarutobi and went to the Konoha Morgue, where he told his Puppet Clone that Uchiha Madara was dead and departed for the Land of Grass using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Obito severed Uchiha Madara’s life-support tubes, took Madara’s Sharingan, and claimed his identity as Uchiha Madara while Zetsu urged him to gain strength before going out into the world.
• Qifeng arrived in Madara’s underground hideout, retrieved the forehead protector he had once given Obito, and asked Obito and Zetsu to let him take Madara’s corpse.

Qifeng took Uchiha Madara’s corpse after Obito deliberately allowed himself to be trapped by genjutsu, then returned to his base to examine Madara’s body and consider whether the theft could prevent his resurrection. The chapter ended with Qifeng preparing to loot the corpse, uncertain whether Black Zetsu had another plan to bring Madara back.

• Obito decided he wanted to surpass Madara and complete the Moon Eye Plan himself, then pretended to resist when Qifeng challenged him.
• Qifeng used Sharingan genjutsu to bind Obito while his Third Mizukage puppet struck Black Zetsu and White Zetsu and seized Madara’s corpse.
• Obito used Kamui to break free after Qifeng had taken the corpse, and Qifeng escaped with it using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Black Zetsu urged Obito to abandon the unsafe base, and Obito took them away through Kamui.
• Qifeng returned to his Land of Rain base, examined the Hashirama cells on Madara’s chest, and wondered whether Madara and Kaguya could still be resurrected.
• Qifeng prepared to loot Madara’s corpse.

Qifeng fitted the Rinnegan into the Third Mizukage Human Puppet and began exploring how its powers could enhance his puppets. After Namikaze Minato returned victorious from the Land of Rain, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped down and passed the Hokage hat to him, leaving Konoha celebrating its new Fourth Hokage.

• Qifeng drew the Rinnegan (Left Eye), decided not to implant it in himself, and installed it in the Third Mizukage Human Puppet.
• The puppet used Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in, while its Shadow Clone reported that the Rinnegan offered more dangerous techniques and seemed to urge it to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Qifeng and the puppet considered distributing the Six Paths Power among other puppets, and Qifeng planned to investigate the idea further.
• Namikaze Minato returned to Konoha after Konoha defeated Sunagakure at Kikyo Mountain, prompting Elder Chiyo and Ebizo to resign and Sunagakure to prepare for a ceasefire agreement.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi announced that he would step down and named Namikaze Minato as his successor, with the formal ceremony set for one month later.
• Qifeng draped the God-Concealing Robe embroidered with "Fourth Hokage" over Minato, and Hiruzen Sarutobi handed him the Hokage hat as the crowd cheered.

As Namikaze Minato took office as the Fourth Hokage, Qifeng watched for Danzo’s Root agents and later faced Orochimaru, who uncovered his secret research into the Uchiha. Orochimaru invited Qifeng to collaborate on studying Yin and Yang Chakra, and Qifeng accepted.

• Qifeng secretly attached Iron Sand to a Root ninja during Namikaze Minato’s inauguration, then joined the applause as Minato became the Fourth Hokage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi chaired a meeting on armistice terms, where Namikaze Minato argued that securing mission volume mattered more than material compensation.
• Orochimaru visited Qifeng at the Morgue and tested him before revealing that Qifeng’s research scent had exposed him.
• Qifeng admitted he was researching the Uchiha and proposed that the Sharingan’s Yin Chakra had a Yang counterpart in Senju Hashirama’s Wood Release.
• Orochimaru revealed that he had Hashirama’s cells and invited Qifeng to assist with their research, and Qifeng agreed.