Chapter Summaries

Kabuto stalled Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji until Kankuro and Temari arrived, while Naruto’s pursuit of Sasuke continued after Rock Lee stepped in to fight Kimimaro. The reinforcements faced Kabuto as Lee opened the first three Gates against Kimimaro.

• Kabuto fought Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji, injuring all three while deliberately holding back and buying time.
• Kankuro and Temari arrived and attacked Kabuto, but he evaded their ambush and regrouped near the battered Konoha team.
• Naruto fought Kimimaro while Sasuke headed toward Orochimaru’s lair, and Naruto used tactics and ninja tools to keep Kimimaro occupied.
• Rock Lee arrived, kicked Kimimaro away from Naruto, and told Naruto to pursue Sasuke while he took over the fight.
• Rock Lee opened the Gates of Opening, Healing, and Life as he faced Kimimaro, while Temari, Kankuro, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji confronted Kabuto.

After the Sasuke retrieval mission failed, Tobitake Tonbo confirmed Sasuke showed no signs of Orochimaru’s soul erosion and spent six months developing Nerve Displacement. The chapter left Tonbo able to travel between connected points in his neural network, while he planned to master displacement across severed connections.

• Kabuto escaped Shikamaru’s team using an earth clone, while Rock Lee overwhelmed Kimimaro until Kimimaro unleashed a field of bone spikes and sand lifted Lee to safety.
• Kakashi rescued Naruto, and the failed team returned to Konoha with Rock Lee and Choji injured; Tonbo sensed that Sasuke had likely avoided Orochimaru’s reincarnation timing.
• Six months later, Konohamaru boasted that he could defeat Tenyu and Maki and planned to challenge Tonbo, while Moegi and Udon warned him about Tonbo’s abilities.
• Tonbo completed Nerve Displacement, allowing him to transform down to the cellular level and move through his neural network between connected locations.
• Tonbo recognized that his improved technique had made the nerves created by Contact Evolution more concealed and delicate, and he understood why his crude nerves had once been repelled by Boruto’s Ōtsutsuki Kāma.

Tsunade discovered that Sakura and Ino had mastered the Mystical Palm Technique with exceptional ease, thanks to Tobitake Tonbo’s chakra-control training, and began teaching them advanced medical ninjutsu. At a class reunion, Tonbo teased his unmarried classmates while they spotted Asuma and Kurenai heading on a date, then hid from Kurenai’s keen senses.

• Tsunade watched Sakura and Ino heal fish with the Mystical Palm Technique and realized their chakra control was remarkably advanced.
• Sakura explained that Tobitake Tonbo had taught them chakra control, and Tsunade decided to train the girls in true medical techniques.
• At a barbecue gathering, Hayama Shirakumo revealed that he had a two-year-old child, and Tonbo teased his unmarried classmates about finding spouses.
• Kakashi and the others noticed Asuma and Kurenai heading toward the cinema and guessed that they were dating.
• Kurenai sensed someone watching her and Asuma, but Asuma found no enemies; after the couple left, Tonbo and the others emerged from an alley.

A year later, Tobitake Tonbo demonstrated his new Senjutsu movement technique while caring for his infant son, Tobitake Keigo, and reflected on his growing power and the looming uncertainty around Urashiki Ōtsutsuki. As Konoha recovered, Tonbo prepared to leave the village’s front lines, train Ino to succeed him, and search for Amado and Kara.

• Tobitake Tonbo showed Tobitake Keigo his speed, then explained that his Neural Transfer had developed into Disconnected-Line Transfer through Natural Energy.
• Tobitake Tonbo brought Tobitake Keigo home to Ayame and played with him while reflecting on his chakra, physical evolution, and concern that Urashiki Ōtsutsuki might appear during the Fourth War.
• Tobitake Tonbo noted that Konoha was recovering under Tsunade and that the new generation, including Ino, had begun leading teams on missions.
• Tobitake Tonbo trained Ino to take over as head of the Analysis Division and planned to withdraw from Konoha’s front lines before establishing a Technology Development Bureau after the Fourth War.
• Tobitake Tonbo considered recruiting Orochimaru and Kabuto for future research work, while wondering where Amado and Kara were hiding.

Orochimaru and Sasuke discovered that a secret technique had planted living nerves inside Sasuke, allowing its user to track him and potentially control his body, interfere with his chakra, and steal information. Orochimaru suspected the technique belonged to a Konoha shinobi, who might reach the base the next day.

• Orochimaru defeated Sasuke in a training bout and criticized his predictable fighting and underdeveloped Sharingan.
• Orochimaru told Sasuke that he had found something in his body that could bring Konoha’s people to the base.
• Orochimaru and Sasuke went to Kabuto, who examined a branch-like pattern extracted from Sasuke’s body.
• Kabuto identified the pattern as refined human nerves that could move through living beings and objects while absorbing energy.
• Kabuto reported that the nerves could disrupt a host’s control, make them unable to evade genjutsu, and potentially steal information, but likely only locate someone for now.

Sasuke learned that Tobitake Tonbo had secretly implanted a technique in him to gather information, and he became suspicious of Tonbo’s motives while focusing on growing stronger. Meanwhile, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Ise Udon tested their new abilities against Ebisu, who took them out for a celebratory meal after their first day as Genin.

• Kabuto explained that Tobitake Tonbo had implanted nerve samples in Sasuke to gather information and track him, making Sasuke suspect Tonbo wanted the Uchiha’s power.
• Orochimaru recognized the technique as a possible attempt to prevent his reincarnation, ordered Kabuto to seal the samples, and expressed interest in meeting Tonbo again.
• Sasuke dismissed the threat to Konoha and insisted that he wanted to grow stronger and kill Itachi, though he also worried about Tonbo’s intentions toward Naruto and Sakura.
• Konohamaru, Moegi, and Ise Udon used their techniques to overwhelm Ebisu during training, and Udon trapped him with his newly developed Snot Glue Coagulation.
• Ebisu claimed he had only been testing them and offered to treat the three newly graduated Genin to a meal.

Tobitake Tonbo’s former students became Genin and showed impressive combat abilities, while Sakura treated a badly injured patient and Ino handled analysis work in Konoha. Elsewhere, Tonbo demonstrated a new Senjutsu Chakra Mode that greatly reduced ninjutsu’s chakra cost, naming it Limitless Mode.

• At Ichiraku Ramen, Tenyu and Maki asked Hayama Shirakumo how they compared to their father, and Hayama recalled how their father had grown from an above-average student into a powerful leader.
• Hayama praised Tenyu, Maki, and Zhanbu Du’s combat skills, then assigned them a weed-pulling mission because he wanted to stay in the village with his young child.
• At Konoha Hospital, Sakura used Medical Ninjutsu to remove infection and save a patient who had been badly injured by an Explosive Tag, though she could not restore his missing leg.
• At the Konoha Analysis Team, Ino tried to recover information from a corpse but found little because a Kunai had destroyed its pituitary gland, then complained that Tonbo had left his duties to her.
• In an unnamed land, Tobitake Tonbo used Senjutsu: Earth Release: Earth Shore Return to raise a massive landscape-spanning structure while consuming less than one percent of his chakra.
• Tobitake Tonbo named his chakra-saving Senjutsu Chakra Mode Limitless Mode, explaining that it reduced ninjutsu chakra consumption to one-fiftieth.

Tobitake Tonbo reflected on his chakra reaching a bottleneck and his need to stay cautious around powerful Ōtsutsuki Shinjutsu. After destroying a gigantic structure with Forced Execution, he returned to the Analysis Division, where Ino confronted him for being late and smashed a wall.

• Tobitake Tonbo concluded that Hashirama Cells or Ōtsutsuki Cells might be needed to increase his chakra beyond its current limit, despite maintaining Perfect Sage Mode permanently.
• Tobitake Tonbo reminded himself that Shinjutsu and the Ōtsutsuki could still threaten him, so he decided to prioritize intelligence and protect his family.
• Tobitake Tonbo used Senjutsu: Forced Execution to fold away a structure fifty li across, leaving a pit that began filling with river water.
• Ino confronted Tobitake Tonbo at the Analysis Division, rejected his excuse for being late, and smashed a wall with Chakra Enhanced Strength.
• Tobitake Tonbo used Forced Execution to restore the damaged walls, leaving the Analysis Division shinobi amazed.

Tobitake Tonbo sent out over two hundred Shadow Clones to search for Kara and encountered Nadeshiko Shizuka on her way to Konoha to find a husband. After questioning her about unusual forces and places, he continued his search, leaving Kara's location unknown.

• Tobitake Tonbo dispatched more than two hundred Shadow Clones in different disguises and directions, while outside observers soon forgot the disturbance.
• Nadeshiko Shizuka told her guard she planned to capture Kakashi or Might Guy and bring one back to Nadeshiko Village to marry.
• Tobitake Tonbo met Nadeshiko Shizuka, warned her about Kakashi and Might Guy, and claimed they were among Konoha's last surviving thirty-year-old virgins.
• Tobitake Tonbo used his chakra pressure to make Nadeshiko Shizuka and her guard share information about unusual organizations, institutions, and ruins.
• Tobitake Tonbo learned about several places and forces from Nadeshiko Shizuka, then resumed searching for Kara because he knew too little about future threats.

Tobitake Tonbo investigated Hoshigakure for signs of Kara and found the village in turmoil after Natsuhi allegedly assassinated the Third Hoshikage and fled with the Star. He appeared before the acting Hoshikage and his companions, using Sage Art on them.

• Nadeshiko Shizuka and her companion registered in Konoha and headed out to find Kakashi and Might Guy.
• Might Guy and Kakashi both sneezed, while Kakashi reported to Tsunade about his mission in the Land of Frost and asked about Naruto's training.
• Tobitake Tonbo searched the Land of Bears for Kara and found no traces outside Hoshigakure.
• Tobitake Tonbo entered Hoshigakure unseen and learned that Natsuhi had allegedly assassinated the Third Hoshikage, taken the Star, and fled.
• Tobitake Tonbo appeared before Akahoshi and the others, then began using Sage Art: Hypnotic Eye and Sage Art: Historical Revision.

Tobitake Tonbo used History Correction to make Hoshigakure believe Natsuhi should lead the village, then sent her to gather intelligence on a possible organization in the Land of Bears. He left clones across the Shinobi World to search for Kara, while An suspected Hoshigakure was under a widespread jutsu or affected by the Star.

• Natsuhi watched Akahoshi gather Hoshigakure's people and saw Tobitake Tonbo use History Correction to change their memories.
• Natsuhi returned the sealed Star, and Tobitake Tonbo ordered Akahoshi to yield the Hoshikage position to her and assigned her to investigate a possible organization in the Land of Bears.
• An returned to Hoshigakure, found his mother serving as Hoshikage, and suspected the villagers were under a large-scale ninjutsu or affected by the Star.
• Tobitake Tonbo revealed that he had implanted fabricated memories in Hoshigakure's ninjas and planned to keep a clone stationed in the Land of Bears.
• Tobitake Tonbo sent Shadow Clones across the Shinobi World to investigate scientific research forces and search for Kara.

Naruto returned to Konoha with Jiraiya as Akatsuki prepared to capture the Tailed Beasts. Pain assigned the missions and claimed the Nine-Tails for himself, while Zetsu warned that Tobitake Tonbo could be a dangerous wildcard.

• Tobitake Keigo impressed Tobitake Tonbo with his advanced mathematical ability and told his father he would ask for help if needed.
• Naruto and Jiraiya headed back to Konoha after training, and Jiraiya wondered whether Naruto was the prophesied savior.
• Sasuke pierced Orochimaru with Chidori, while Kabuto reported that he had found counters to Tobitake Tonbo's nerves.
• Pain assigned Akatsuki's Tailed Beast capture missions, and Zetsu warned the group that Tobitake Tonbo might know Konoha's forbidden techniques.
• Pain took responsibility for capturing the Nine-Tails.

Naruto and Jiraiya watched Nadeshiko Shizuka challenge Kakashi and Might Guy in Konoha, hoping to choose a husband. Shizuka abandoned the match and returned to reform her village, while Guy and Kakashi were left trading jokes about being single.

• Naruto and Jiraiya reached Konoha and learned that Nadeshiko Shizuka had challenged Kakashi and Might Guy to marry into her family.
• Tsunade cheered for Shizuka as Kakashi defeated her, but Shizuka left after considering Guy and speaking with Tsunade.
• Tobitake Tonbo brought his son Keigo to watch, and Keigo argued that studying from books was a more efficient way to learn.
• Naruto and Jiraiya arrived during the match, and Jiraiya guessed that Guy had been rejected after Shizuka left.
• Shizuka told Tsunade she planned to abolish Nadeshiko Village's customs and reform the village.
• Guy lamented that Shizuka had left before their fight, and Kakashi teased him about being single.

Sakura and Naruto tested their improved abilities against Kakashi while Tobitake Tonbo discussed his son Keigo’s ambitions and considered future threats. Tonbo decided Keigo might one day study under Orochimaru and continued planning how to counter Shibai Ōtsutsuki’s Killing Intent Reflection.

• Sakura reflected Kakashi’s Great Fireball Technique with a chakra net, and Naruto clones restrained Kakashi before one used Thousand Years of Death.
• Tsunade had Kakashi test Naruto and Sakura’s strength after Naruto returned with Jiraiya.
• Tobitake Keigo told Tobitake Tonbo that he wanted to study chakra and ninjutsu, and Tonbo promised to find him a teacher.
• Tobitake Tonbo considered Orochimaru a suitable teacher and recalled that Orochimaru had sealed the neural seals he placed on Sasuke.
• Tobitake Tonbo planned ways to counter Shibai Ōtsutsuki’s Killing Intent Reflection, including suppressing emotions and controlling his body like a machine.

Sakura and Naruto returned to Konoha after training, revealing how much their peers had advanced and leaving Naruto worried about Sasuke. Tobitake Tonbo learned that Akatsuki was gathering intelligence on the Tailed Beasts and focused on preparing a counter to the Killing Intent Reflection Divine Art.

• Sakura fought Kakashi alongside Naruto and demonstrated her hand-signless ninjutsu, which Tobitake Tonbo had taught her to improve her chakra control.
• Tsunade told Jiraiya that Naruto's progress lagged behind Sakura's and said she had made Tobitake Tonbo's ninjutsu public for the Ninja Academy.
• Naruto learned that Sakura was a Special Jōnin, Ino was also a Special Jōnin, Shikamaru and Choji were Chunin, and Neji was a Jōnin; he and Sakura worried about Sasuke.
• Konohamaru cleaned Naruto's house and waited eagerly for Naruto's return, hoping to impress him with his ninjutsu.
• Tobitake Tonbo learned from his clones that Akatsuki had begun gathering information on the Tailed Beasts and decided to seek a way to counter the Killing Intent Reflection Divine Art.

Naruto taught Konohamaru the Rasengan, but Konohamaru mastered it almost immediately and created an enormous version, leaving Naruto embarrassed and impressed. Meanwhile, Tobitake Tonbo and Tobitake Keigo watched Shikamaru and Temari through an improved telescope while testing Keigo’s invention.

• Naruto demonstrated the Rasengan for Konohamaru and explained how to practice it.
• Konohamaru quickly learned the Rasengan and enlarged it into an Ultra-Big Rasengan that blasted them both away and carved a huge crater.
• Naruto left in embarrassment after realizing Konohamaru had already learned a technique Naruto had spent years developing.
• Konohamaru praised Naruto’s technique and its power, despite its heavy chakra cost.
• Tobitake Tonbo and Tobitake Keigo tested Keigo’s improved telescope while watching Shikamaru and Temari together.

Tsunade sent Kakashi and Team Kakashi to support Sunagakure after the Akatsuki captured the Kazekage, while Tobitake Tonbo stayed behind to guard Konoha. Tonbo and Tobitake Keigo discussed Keigo’s research and a hypothetical enemy who retaliated against anyone with killing intent, leaving Keigo tasked with thinking of a solution.

• Tsunade ordered Kakashi to lead Team Kakashi to Sunagakure and rescue the captured Kazekage.
• Tsunade assigned Tobitake Tonbo to watch over Konoha’s safety.
• Tobitake Tonbo showed Tobitake Keigo his linked research tools and explained that he had gathered armor and scientific materials during his travels.
• Tobitake Tonbo asked Tobitake Keigo how to counter an enemy who passively attacked anyone who developed killing intent toward him.
• Tobitake Keigo proposed using television to make the whole world develop killing intent at once, hoping the enemy’s ability would drain his chakra.
• Tobitake Tonbo told Tobitake Keigo to keep researching the problem and make more tools, while Keigo threatened to tell their mother that Tonbo had insulted his siblings.

Sakura saved Kankuro from Sasori’s poison while Tobitake Tonbo investigated Sasori’s activities in Sunagakure. Back in Konoha, Tobitake Tonbo and Tobitake Keigo found a possible way to counter Death Controlling Possessed Blood by developing a Yin Release Nature Transformation that manipulated luck and misfortune.

• Sakura removed the poison from Kankuro and stabilized his injuries, impressing Chiyo and Naruto.
• Tobitake Tonbo’s clone concluded that Sasori had hunted Kekkei Genkai users to create human puppets and suspected the Land of Cinders had supplied puppet-making materials.
• Kakashi, Naruto, and the others hurried through Sunagakure as Tobitake Tonbo’s clone watched them pass.
• Tobitake Tonbo and Tobitake Keigo studied Death Controlling Possessed Blood and reasoned that it used Yin Release to link two people’s misfortune through a medium.
• Tobitake Tonbo decided to develop a Yin Release Nature Transformation that manifested luck and misfortune, and he promised Tobitake Keigo a treat for helping.

Kakashi's team fought Itachi while Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee battled Kisame as Akatsuki extracted Gaara's tailed-beast chakra. Tobitake Tonbo detected Zetsu, while Tsunade and Jiraiya discussed Akatsuki's threat and why Tonbo was staying in Konoha to guard it.

• Itachi appeared to block Kakashi's team, and Sakura broke free of his Genjutsu before attacking him.
• Tobitake Tonbo watched the battle with a Shadow Clone, sensed Zetsu underground using Sage Mode, and reasoned that Zetsu was monitoring Itachi.
• Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee attacked Kisame, whose Water Wall was pierced by Rock Lee's Leaf Dragon God.
• Zetsu reported that Itachi and Kisame were struggling, while Pain said Gaara's extraction was nearly complete and Deidara suggested capturing Naruto too.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya discussed Akatsuki's threat and concluded that Tobitake Tonbo had stayed behind to protect Konoha.

Sakura used Tobitake Tonbo’s Instant Release technique to defeat Sasori’s Third Kazekage puppet, then healed Granny Chiyo and prepared to help Naruto and the others. Sasori survived and impaled Sakura and Granny Chiyo with an Earth Spear.

• Tobitake Tonbo gave Tobitake Keigo his research books on advanced ninjutsu, while Keigo accepted them despite being unable to refine chakra yet.
• Sakura broke through the cavern and fought Sasori with Granny Chiyo, using a chakra barrier to withstand his Iron Sand attacks.
• Sakura activated Instant Release, struck Sasori’s head apart, and destroyed the Third Kazekage puppet.
• Sakura released the technique, treated Granny Chiyo, and said they should go support Naruto and the others.
• Sasori reappeared through another puppet and pierced Sakura and Granny Chiyo with an Earth Spear.