Recaps

Jingyi’s self-destructing puppets threw Sunagakure’s rear camp into chaos, and Chiyo could not contain their attacks. Orochimaru launched Konoha’s assault while Sunagakure’s forces were distracted.

• Chiyo learned that enemies had fallen into the camp from the sky and found green-eyed puppets fighting and exploding among Sunagakure’s ninja.
• Chiyo ordered Sunagakure’s puppet masters to use their own puppets to hold back Jingyi’s attackers.
• Jingyi redirected his remaining puppets to charge at people, buildings, and enemy puppets before self-destructing, worsening the camp’s chaos.
• Orochimaru launched Konoha’s attack after Jingyi told him his task was complete.
• Konoha’s ninja charged toward Sunagakure’s front lines, shouting that the rear camp had been attacked.

Jingyi’s puppet attack crippled Sunagakure Camp as Konoha launched a full-scale offensive, forcing Chiyo to order a retreat into the Land of Wind. Konoha drove Sunagakure back without pursuing a costly battle, leaving Jingyi and Orochimaru to handle the wounded and plan the camp’s relocation.

• Jingyi left Orochimaru in command as Konoha began its assault on Sunagakure’s frontline positions.
• After learning of Konoha’s offensive and the destruction at her camp, Chiyo ordered Sunagakure’s forces to retreat and preserve their strength.
• Orochimaru instructed Konoha’s forces to pursue Sunagakure only far enough to drive them out of the Land of Rivers, avoiding a fight to the death.
• Sunagakure withdrew toward the Land of Wind, destroying supplies they could not carry, while Konoha pursued.
• The surge of wounded overwhelmed the Medical Department, keeping Jingyi busy as Orochimaru prepared to move the camp closer to the Land of Wind.

After Sunagakure’s defeat, the Third Kazekage halted his pursuit and returned to question Chiyo, while Mitokado Homura ordered the battered Konoha party to retreat. Orochimaru chose Sunagakure’s abandoned camp for Konoha’s new base, and Jingyi argued over how it had been damaged.

• The Third Kazekage received Chiyo’s report of Sunagakure’s defeat, stopped chasing Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, and flew back to meet Chiyo.
• Mitokado Homura rebuked Utatane Koharu for the mission and his injuries, then ordered everyone to return to the Land of Fire.
• Orochimaru selected Sunagakure’s former camp as the site for Konoha’s new camp.
• Jingyi blamed Sunagakure’s retreat on the damage caused by his puppets, while Orochimaru pointed out that the puppets had destroyed most of the camp.

After Konoha's surprise airdrop of self-destructing puppets forced Sunagakure to retreat, Orochimaru and Jingyi prepared for a prolonged war of attrition. The Third Kazekage took command of the camp, while Chiyo returned to Sunagakure to organize personnel and supplies.

• Jingyi told Orochimaru that his raid had helped force Chiyo to retreat, and Orochimaru agreed that the war would likely become a prolonged contest of resources.
• Orochimaru offered Jingyi puppet parts and materials recovered from the Sunagakure warehouse, but Jingyi declined them.
• The Third Kazekage arrived at Sunagakure's temporary camp and demanded that Chiyo explain the defeat.
• Chiyo explained that Jingyi had dropped scrolls of puppets into the camp, where they quickly emerged and detonated, causing heavy casualties before the defenders could respond.
• The Third Kazekage decided to oversee the camp and told Chiyo to return to Sunagakure to coordinate the village's personnel and supplies.

After Konoha’s victory pushed Sunagakure’s forces back into the Land of Wind, Tsunade confronted the Third Hokage over Jingyi’s recognition and discussed whether his puppets could end the war. The Third Hokage proposed attacking Sunagakure itself, and the chapter ended as Tsunade received new intelligence from the border camp.

• The Third Hokage praised Orochimaru’s victory, while Tsunade insisted Jingyi’s contribution be recognized and warned against suppressing his merits again.
• Tsunade said Konoha could shift some frontline ninjas back to handle missions and commissions as the fighting became localized.
• The Third Hokage asked whether Jingyi could use his puppets to strike Sunagakure, promising the village would compensate him with double the puppet materials used.
• Tsunade declined to promise Jingyi’s cooperation and said she would ask him without pressuring him.
• An Intelligence Department ninja delivered a new report from the border camp, and Tsunade took the scroll to read it.

After learning that Orochimaru had ignored orders and sent no reinforcements, Tsunade and the Third Hokage questioned Jingyi, who denied any involvement. The Third Hokage accepted that Orochimaru had acted alone and prepared to visit the injured elders, while Tsunade was asked to manage the Hokage Office in his absence.

• Tsunade read an intelligence scroll reporting that Orochimaru had sent no reinforcements, and the Third Hokage reacted furiously after reading it.
• Tsunade contacted Jingyi, who said he had learned of Orochimaru's decision afterward and explained that Orochimaru wanted to preserve his forces for a decisive victory.
• Jingyi told Tsunade that the camp needed medical supplies because the wounded had increased, and Tsunade said the elders were badly injured at the border camp.
• Tsunade assured the Third Hokage that Jingyi was not involved and warned him against letting personal grudges create more conflict, especially as Jingyi and Sakumo's rewards were arriving.
• The Third Hokage decided to visit Koharu and Homura at the border camp and asked Tsunade to remain at the Hokage Office to handle official affairs.

The Third Hokage left Konoha for the Border Camp, leaving Tsunade to manage the village. There, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu explained how their mission in the Land of Wind went wrong and demanded to know why reinforcements never arrived.

• The Third Hokage persuaded Tsunade to take the Hokage Seal and handle Konoha's affairs while he traveled to the Border Camp.
• Tsunade kept the village running but worked late into the night and pleaded for the Third Hokage to return soon.
• The Third Hokage reached the Border Camp and met the injured Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
• Mitokado Homura revealed that he and Utatane Koharu had tried to set Jingyi Hyuga up by assigning him dangerous targets during their mission.
• Mitokado Homura said the Third Kazekage pursued them after discovering their sabotage, and Utatane Koharu's decision to prolong the conflict in the Land of Bears led to further losses.
• Mitokado Homura accused Hiruzen of failing to send the promised reinforcements and demanded an explanation.

The Third Hokage told Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu that Orochimaru had refused to send reinforcements while pursuing a major victory in the Land of Rivers. Because Orochimaru had driven Sunagakure back into the Land of Wind and become a village hero, the Third Hokage could not punish him, leaving Koharu furious over her losses and injuries.

• The Third Hokage revealed that Orochimaru had defied orders and withheld reinforcements to pursue an all-out offensive.
• The Third Hokage explained that Jingyi Hyuga had completed his mission, then joined Orochimaru at the Land of Rivers camp and helped drive Sunagakure back into the Land of Wind.
• The Third Hokage assured Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu that Jingyi had not influenced Orochimaru's decision.
• Utatane Koharu demanded that Orochimaru be punished, but the Third Hokage said his service made punishment impossible for now.
• The Third Hokage promised Koharu a later explanation and offered medical ninjas and medicine, but she remained enraged about her lost left arm.

Mitokado Homura blamed Orochimaru for abandoning him and Utatane Koharu, while the Third Hokage considered using puppets to attack Sunagakure and end the war. At Konoha’s new camp, Pakura angrily confronted Jingyi Hyuga after her preferential treatment made her fellow prisoners suspect she had betrayed Sunagakure.

• Utatane Koharu stormed away, and the Third Hokage arranged treatment for Mitokado Homura’s injured face.
• Mitokado Homura accused Orochimaru of refusing to rescue them so he could earn merit alongside Jingyi Hyuga.
• The Third Hokage told Mitokado Homura that he and Tsunade had discussed copying the puppet attack to strike Sunagakure’s village and pressure it to end the war.
• The Third Hokage admitted he had not yet asked Jingyi Hyuga to agree to the plan.
• Pakura confronted Jingyi Hyuga in her cell and complained that Konoha’s preferential treatment had made her fellow Sunagakure prisoners suspect she had defected.

Jingyi told Pakura that her comrades believed she had betrayed Sunagakure and urged her to defect to Konoha, then revealed that Konoha might repeat its devastating puppet attack against Sunagakure. Pakura realized her village was likely headed for defeat and that she had been branded a traitor, leaving her trapped between a village she could not return to and Konoha.

• Jingyi told Pakura that the comrades he had released would accuse her of betraying Sunagakure, making defection to Konoha her only way out.
• Orochimaru arrived and asked Jingyi about a secret letter reporting that Tsunade and the Third Hokage had reached the Border Camp seriously injured.
• Jingyi confirmed that Tsunade and the Third Hokage suspected he had helped disobey orders to rescue them, and said the Third Hokage wanted to repeat the attack against Sunagakure.
• Jingyi told Pakura that Chiyo had fled after puppets attacked and devastated Sunagakure's former camp.
• Pakura realized Sunagakure was likely to surrender if Konoha continued its pressure, and that her comrades and villagers already regarded her as a traitor.

Pakura pledged loyalty to Jingyi in exchange for food, care, and a place in Konoha, then chose not to attempt escape when her seal was removed. Jingyi revealed that her companions had never been released and demonstrated his power over her, leaving Pakura under his control as she went to rest.

• Pakura asked what treatment she would receive if she defected, and Jingyi told her she had to pledge loyalty to him rather than Konoha.
• Jingyi ordered a duty ninja to let Pakura wash, eat, and have her seal removed before taking her to the Medical Department.
• Pakura considered escaping after the seal was removed but decided the camp was too well defended and feared becoming a traitor to both villages.
• Jingyi revealed that Pakura's companions had never been released, and that her chance to escape had passed.
• Jingyi used attraction and repulsion to suspend Pakura in the air, warned her to remain obedient, and sent her to rest.
• Orochimaru arrived with fresh ingredients after Pakura fell asleep.

Orochimaru revealed that he had asked the daimyo for money, while Jingyi wondered what reward awaited him and warned Orochimaru against being drawn into the Daimyo's Court's rivalry with Konoha. Pakura learned that she would become Jingyi's secretary, and the daimyo's delegation arrived in Konoha with rewards for several shinobi.

• Orochimaru told Jingyi that the daimyo's envoy would visit the frontline camp and that he had requested money to fund his experiments.
• Jingyi asked about his own reward, then warned Orochimaru that the daimyo and Konoha had conflicting interests; Orochimaru said he only wanted the daimyo's money.
• Jingyi told Pakura to recover and train before serving as his secretary, and two days later she received secretary outfits.
• The daimyo's delegation arrived in Konoha, where the Third Hokage welcomed them and learned Orochimaru had been awarded thirty million ryo.
• The Third Hokage grew envious of Orochimaru's reward and frustrated that the delegation would take Jingyi's and Hatake Sakumo's rewards to the frontline camp.

Hatake Sakumo and Jingyi received Hokage-themed garments from the Daimyo, provoking the Third Hokage, who feared the gifts signaled support for a successor. The Third Hokage and Mitokado Homura worried that Hatake Sakumo’s decision to wear his garment had made the prospect of a Hokage Candidate public.

• Hatake Sakumo accepted the Daimyo’s Hokage Half-Sleeve and put it on, while Jingyi received a complete Hokage Battle Robe.
• The Third Hokage asked Tsunade what the Daimyo’s gifts meant, and Tsunade said Jingyi cared more about women than clothes.
• Tsunade left the Hokage Office after concluding that Jingyi and Hatake Sakumo would have to deal with the consequences of wearing their gifts.
• Mitokado Homura told the Third Hokage that the Daimyo’s gifts might be a warning or an effort to win people over.
• Mitokado Homura warned the Third Hokage that Hatake Sakumo’s reputation and the Hokage Half-Sleeve could fuel speculation about selecting a Hokage Candidate.

Jingyi and Tsunade learned that Hatake Sakumo had worn the Hokage Half-Sleeve and celebrated after receiving it, while also developing ambitions to become a Hokage Candidate. The Third Hokage decided to talk with them about reconciliation, and Jingyi told Tsunade he wanted compensation and had no interest in becoming Hokage.

• Tsunade told Jingyi that Hatake Sakumo had worn his Hokage Half-Sleeve, held a celebration, and appeared interested in becoming a Hokage Candidate.
• Jingyi agreed to wear his Hokage Battle Robe but warned that Hatake Sakumo would likely face trouble from the Third Hokage.
• Tsunade told Jingyi that the Third Hokage wanted to speak with them, and Jingyi said she could negotiate while making clear he did not want the Hokage position.
• Jingyi asked Pakura how the Third Kazekage would react to a war hero being encouraged to become a Kazekage Candidate, and Pakura explained that the Third Kazekage had already begun training successors.

Chiyo persuaded the Third Kazekage to share Sunagakure’s intelligence on Jingyi’s puppets for free to make other villages fear Konoha and seek their support. As Chiyo sent envoys to Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure, Jingyi was occupied with the arrival of a delegation from the Daimyo’s Court.

• The Third Kazekage and other observers considered Sunagakure’s defeat and identified Jingyi’s puppets as the cause.
• Chiyo argued that freely sharing intelligence about the puppets would make the other great villages feel threatened by Konoha and encourage them to support Sunagakure.
• The Third Kazekage approved Chiyo’s proposal and entrusted her with securing benefits and potential cooperation from other villages.
• Chiyo dispatched envoys with letters and puppet intelligence to Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure.
• Jingyi asked his assistant whether any wounded soldiers needed surgery after learning that an envoy delegation from the Daimyo’s Court had arrived.

Jingyi avoided the Daimyo's Court envoys by treating wounded ninja, while Orochimaru received them and delivered the daimyo's reward. Afterward, Orochimaru gave Jingyi two surviving experimental snakes, and Jingyi found Pakura watching them with interest.

• Jingyi refused to meet the Daimyo's Court envoys and went to the emergency room to treat the wounded.
• Orochimaru met the envoys, explained Jingyi's absence, and accepted the daimyo's gifts on his behalf.
• Orochimaru brought Jingyi a white Hokage Battle Robe, and Jingyi reluctantly put it on after failing to trade it for something else.
• Orochimaru gave Jingyi a small golden snake and a small black snake, explaining that the other test subjects had died during surgery.
• Jingyi put the two snakes in a box and asked Pakura, who had been watching them, if she was interested.

Jingyi began raising two fast-growing, voracious snake Summoning Beasts from Orochimaru’s experiments and summoned Minato Namikaze to the front-line camp to form a contract with one. Minato left to join Jingyi, while Tsunade kept Nawaki in the village for intensive Taijutsu training.

• Orochimaru warned Jingyi that the experimental snakes had to be raised in the Shinobi World because other snakes in Ryūchi Cave would eat them.
• Jingyi arranged for puppets to bring prey, and Pakura reported that the snakes ate every three hours and grew rapidly; Jingyi formed a Summoning Contract with the golden-scaled snake.
• After three days, Jingyi asked Tsunade to send Minato Namikaze to the front-line camp so he could form a contract with a snake and begin raising it.
• Tsunade told Nawaki that he could contract with Mount Myoboku’s toads when Jiraiya returned, and advised Minato to ask Jingyi for help if he could not afford to feed his snake.
• Minato Namikaze left for the front-line camp with the puppets, and Tsunade told Nawaki he could not go because his Taijutsu needed improvement and she would train him.

Jingyi assigned Minato Namikaze a growing black snake Summoning Beast and made Pakura his sparring partner, while defending his belief that Minato would surpass Rasa. Meanwhile, Chiyo arrived at a meeting of the four villages in the Land of Grass, where Ōnoki and the Third Raikage mocked Sunagakure.

• Minato Namikaze arrived at the frontline camp, signed a contract with the black snake, and learned that Pakura would train with him.
• Pakura doubted Minato Namikaze could match Rasa, but Jingyi insisted Minato would prove his worth after mastering the Flying Thunder God.
• Minato Namikaze hunted daily to feed the rapidly growing snakes, while Jingyi kept them in the forest near the camp under guard.
• Chiyo entered the valley in the Land of Grass, where the Third Mizukage watched as Ōnoki and the Third Raikage glared at each other.
• Ōnoki and the Third Raikage mocked Sunagakure for arriving late and being beaten by Konoha, angering Chiyo.

Chiyo shared intelligence with Ōnoki, the Third Raikage, and the Third Mizukage about Jingyi Hyuga’s autonomous explosive puppets, which had devastated Sunagakure. The meeting ended with Ōnoki condemning Konoha for making puppets from shinobi corpses before pointing out that Sunagakure did the same.

• Chiyo invited the other village representatives to a meeting, and the Third Mizukage stopped Ōnoki and the Third Raikage from mocking Sunagakure.
• Chiyo gave the three visitors intelligence scrolls describing Konoha’s powerful puppets, which could fight independently and self-destruct.
• Ōnoki questioned why Sunagakure had failed to prepare despite earlier intelligence, and Chiyo explained that revealing it could have damaged the morale of Sunagakure’s puppet shinobi.
• Chiyo confirmed that hundreds of puppets had attacked a camp of over a thousand shinobi, causing countless casualties, and warned that an airdrop into a village could be disastrous.
• Chiyo revealed that Konoha’s puppets were made from shinobi corpses, prompting Ōnoki to condemn Konoha before accusing Sunagakure of using enemy corpses for its own puppets.

Chiyo persuaded Ōnoki, the Third Raikage, and the Third Mizukage to convene a Five Kage Summit over Konoha’s puppets and a devastating attack in the Land of Wind. The summit was set for ten days later in the Land of Iron, and the Third Hokage was left asking Kumogakure’s envoy why it had called the meeting.

• Chiyo urged the three village leaders to pressure Konoha over its puppets and showed them a map of places destroyed by a single mysterious strike.
• Chiyo claimed the attack might have been caused by a puppet and invited the other villages to investigate the destruction in the Land of Wind.
• Ōnoki and the Third Mizukage backed holding the summit in the Land of Iron, and the Third Raikage agreed after being outvoted.
• Chiyo returned to the Land of Wind, while the Third Raikage took responsibility for notifying Konoha.
• The Third Hokage received Kumogakure’s invitation, met its envoy, and asked whether Kumogakure had proposed the summit.

The Third Hokage learned that Sunagakure had arranged a Five Kage Summit after the other four villages had already discussed it, leaving Konoha facing a likely united effort to pressure it. He decided to attend the summit in the Land of Iron and began arranging Konoha’s leadership and his guards, while the war continued.

• The Kumogakure envoy told the Third Hokage that Sunagakure had initiated the summit and that the other village leaders had already met.
• The Third Hokage called Tsunade, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu to discuss the invitation and Konoha’s risk of being targeted by the four other villages.
• Tsunade argued that Konoha could not withstand the combined pressure if it refused to attend, and the Third Hokage agreed that he had to go.
• The Third Hokage appointed Tsunade to oversee the village while he was away, with Mitokado Homura assisting her and Utatane Koharu remaining in her current role.
• Tsunade proposed Senior Sakumo, Jingyi, Orochimaru, and Shimura Danzō as the Third Hokage’s guards, but the Third Hokage rejected Orochimaru because the front lines still needed him.

Jingyi agreed to lead the Anbu on the Hokage’s protection mission to the Five Kage Summit, while refusing to serve as a Hokage Guard candidate. He set out for Konoha with Pakura and Minato Namikaze, still wondering why Sunagakure had managed to gather the other villages for the summit.

• Tsunade told Jingyi that he was being considered for the Hokage Guard, and he agreed to lead the Anbu on the mission instead of taking the title himself.
• Jingyi decided to bring Minato Namikaze and Pakura to the Five Kage Summit, joking that he would take Minato to watch the Five Kage dance at a club.
• Jingyi discussed Sunagakure’s reasons for calling the summit with Orochimaru, but neither of them could explain how Sunagakure had persuaded the other villages to attend.
• Jingyi left for Konoha with Pakura and Minato Namikaze after arranging the Medical Department’s affairs.
• During a rest on the road, Jingyi learned that Pakura had never visited Konoha because her squad captain had not accepted missions there.

Jingyi returned to Konoha with Pakura and left her in Minato Namikaze’s care while he went to the Anbu. At the Anbu base, he teased Shikaku Nara by offering to lend him the Hokage Battle Robe, and Shikaku begged him not to frighten his son.

• Pakura worried that Minato Namikaze was overexerting himself, but Jingyi explained that he spent a million ryo a year on his disciple’s training and health.
• Jingyi returned to Konoha and told Minato Namikaze to show Pakura around the village before going home, while he headed to the Anbu.
• Minato Namikaze explained that Jingyi’s motionless puppets secretly monitored the village and were nearly impossible to detect.
• At the Anbu base, Shikaku Nara praised Jingyi’s Hokage Battle Robe, and Jingyi offered to lend it to him or his son.
• Shikaku Nara panicked and begged Jingyi not to involve his timid son, recalling the trouble the robe could bring from Konoha’s higher-ups.

Jingyi discussed the sudden Five Kage Summit with Tsunade and Shikaku Nara, then found a way to feed his rapidly growing Summoning Beasts. The group expected the meeting in the Land of Iron to be mostly uneventful, and Jingyi confirmed he would bring Pakura, whose defection had been motivated partly by her Kekkei Genkai.

• Jingyi asked Tsunade why Sunagakure had called the Five Kage Summit, but she said they would have to wait until they reached the Land of Iron to learn the reason.
• Jingyi asked Tsunade to find a place for his Summoning Beasts, and Shikaku Nara suggested releasing them into the sea so they could hunt for food.
• Jingyi agreed to treat Shikaku Nara to two meals at the Akimichi family's barbecue restaurant in return for the suggestion.
• Tsunade and Shikaku Nara told Jingyi the summit would probably be a safe, formal mission, and Jingyi agreed that the meeting's purpose mattered most.
• Tsunade asked whether Jingyi would bring Pakura to the summit, and he said he would because her meeting with Sunagakure was bound to happen sooner or later.
• Shikaku Nara learned that Jingyi had persuaded Pakura to defect partly because he wanted her Scorch Release, not only because he thought she was pretty.

Jingyi returned to Konoha and discussed Kekkei Genkai with Tsunade and Shikashin Nara. Meanwhile, the Third Hokage faced pressure over Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura’s move to neutrality, growing war discontent, and Sunagakure’s proposed Five Kage Summit.

• Jingyi, Tsunade, and Shikashin Nara discussed Scorch Release, Kekkei Genkai inheritance, and the Nara men’s wives.
• The Third Hokage received word that Jingyi had returned and gone to the Anbu base and a barbecue restaurant.
• The Third Hokage decided Shimura Danzō could not be released from prison despite the improving relations within the Hokage Faction.
• Mitokado Homura privately contacted Tsunade and chose to remain neutral after repeated conflicts with her camp.
• The Third Hokage faced growing dissatisfaction over the prolonged war and Sunagakure’s proposal for a Five Kage Summit.