Recaps

Ye established fair, incentive-based mine operations, then returned to Konoha to inspect mass-produced Chakra Armor and deploy a new Special Defense Force. The armor empowered low-Chakra shinobi, and the unit reached the border between Wind and Earth as Iwagakure scouts observed them.

• Ye posted rules requiring three six-hour shifts, daily cash wages, and extra pay for ore mined beyond quota, prompting the miners to return to work.
• The mine's output rose, and Zhou Fu earned enough to buy medicine for his ailing wife.
• Ye received Orochimaru's report that the Geothermal Generator pipeline and Chakra Armor had entered mass production, then traveled to Konoha with Obito and Kakashi.
• Minato ordered Fugaku to select common-born Chunin and Genin for the Special Defense Force, and Ye demonstrated the armor's power by having an eight-year Chunin destroy a reinforced target with one punch.
• The Special Defense Force left Konoha overnight and reached the border between Wind and Earth, where Iwagakure scouts spotted the blue-armored unit.

Takuma led a team to investigate the Mining District and attack its Konoha guards, but the guards’ armor absorbed their attacks and revealed a force of more than a hundred armored figures. Faced with their coordinated display of power, Takuma stopped short of completing his strongest technique.

• Takuma led nine shinobi through the snow to scout the Mining District and take out its four Konoha guards.
• Soji’s poisoned Kunai broke against Ishida Shigeru’s armor, and Ishida Shigeru struck Soji through the air with a single punch.
• Takuma ordered his team to attack, but Ishida Shigeru’s armor absorbed their Wind and Lightning techniques.
• More than a hundred armored figures marched out of the barracks, their armor glowing with blue light.
• Takuma began preparing a powerful technique, but the armored figures raised their arms together, and he froze before completing his hand seal.

Ishida Shigeru and the Special Defense Force used armor that cast Wood Release and fired Chakra Cannons to annihilate the Rock-Sand Allied Forces in the Mining District. A recording of the defeat reached Ōnoki, who feared what Minato Namikaze had built in secret.

• Takuma and the Sunagakure squad leader led more than twenty elites in a combined wind-and-fire attack against Ishida Shigeru's armored formation.
• Ishida Shigeru activated the armor's Wood Release, raising a wall that withstood the attack before vines ensnared the enemy formation.
• The Special Defense Force opened its armor-mounted Chakra Cannons and killed nearly all the allied elites in a ten-minute bombardment, while Takuma escaped badly wounded.
• Ye received a flood of points from the battle, and the Special Defense Force sealed the enemy corpses into scrolls for Konoha.
• Ōnoki watched a recording of the defeat and wondered what kind of monsters Minato Namikaze had been building.

Ōnoki realized Konoha’s Chakra Armor could turn untrained soldiers into powerful fighters and sent evidence to the other great villages to rally them against Konoha. Black Zetsu welcomed the growing fear, while Uchiha Ye let the messages fly and prepared to profit from the coming conflict.

• Ōnoki studied footage of Konoha’s Chakra Armor, concluded it enabled mass-produced fighters to use powerful techniques, and ordered urgent reports sent to the other great villages.
• Ōnoki’s ANBU made three copies of the dispatch and sent them by Ninja Hawk along separate routes.
• Black Zetsu watched the hawks depart and hoped the armor would intensify fear and drive the villages into war.
• Uchiha Ye watched intelligence footage in Konoha and gained a large number of points from Iwagakure’s panic.
• Uchiha Ye ordered White Zetsu to leave the hawks and their letters untouched so that rumors of the armor would increase the value of Konoha’s mineral deposits and armor.

The Four Great Ninja Villages reacted to Konoha’s new armor and Wood Release, refusing to openly join Iwagakure while secretly sending spies to the Land of Birds. Ye tracked their infiltration routes and chose to focus on heating Konoha’s eastern district rather than using his newly unlocked High-Tier Prize Pool.

• The Fourth Raikage ordered Kumogakure’s patrols to observe Konoha’s camp without attacking, while Rasa refused to join the fighting but offered Sunagakure’s desert supply line to anyone willing to lead.
• Yagura declined to lend Kirigakure’s people to Iwagakure and offered ships and Winter Harbor in exchange for a complete specimen of Konoha’s armor.
• Ōnoki, the Fourth Raikage, Rasa, and Yagura argued over Iwagakure’s request on the Four Kage Communications Network, then ended the meeting without agreement.
• The Land of Lightning, Land of Wind, and Land of Water each sent elite spies disguised as merchant caravans toward the Land of Birds.
• Tobi marked three confirmed Infiltration Routes for Ye, whose system balance passed ten million and unlocked the High-Tier Prize Pool.
• Ye put the prize pool aside and set out to work on heating the east side of Konoha.

Minato approved Ye’s geothermal project for eastern Konoha despite the village’s mounting expenses, and Ye and Orochimaru activated its underground pipeline. On New Year’s Day, the system sent heat through the village, melting the snow and startling residents who had expected another bitterly cold morning.

• Minato approved the first phase of Ye’s eastern geothermal project and rejected Orochimaru’s request for more incubation chambers.
• Ye opened the underground sluice gate, sending geothermal heat into the eastern village’s household pipes.
• On New Year’s Day, Obito complained about the cold while Kakashi urged him to spar, and Ye arrived at the Uchiha compound.
• The geothermal system rumbled to life, and Fugaku told Uchiha clan members to reassure villagers that it was the Hokage’s project, not an earthquake.
• Ye led Obito outside, where warm ground and melting snow filled the streets with steam and left residents amazed.

Ye’s geothermal sealing array melted Konoha’s snow and drew the villagers’ gratitude, while Minato worried over the project’s huge cost. As Kushina and Mikoto shopped for New Year goods, they ran into the disgraced Utatane Koharu.

• Ye’s geothermal array melted the snow across Konoha, and villagers cheered for Minato as he fretted over the threefold budget overrun.
• Konoha’s newly opened streets filled with shoppers, and Kushina battled through the supermarket to buy spring clothes for Naruto and a shoulder guard for Madara Uchiha.
• Kushina encountered Mikoto shopping with Uchiha Police Force escorts, and the two women set off to shop for fabric together.
• Kushina recognized Utatane Koharu trying to slip through the crowd with a meager bag of groceries, and she loudly called attention to Koharu’s half green onion.

Kushina and Mikoto stocked up on New Year goods while taunting Koharu and spotting Hiruzen spying on Asuma. As sunset approached, they rushed home in fear that the men watching their children had failed to care for them.

• Kushina mocked Koharu about Minato’s workload and buying him expensive deer antler, driving Koharu to flee into an alley.
• Kushina and Mikoto spotted Hiruzen secretly watching Asuma and Kurenai together.
• Mikoto bought seafood in bulk, and the shop owner gave her a giant octopus as a gift while the Uchiha officers watched.
• Kushina and Mikoto bought sweets, fabric, and pickled plums, with Mikoto recording Kushina’s purchases as a debt.
• Realizing it was already evening, Mikoto hurried to Sasuke and Fugaku while Kushina raced to retrieve Naruto from Madara.

Obito agonized over his feelings for Rin and sought advice from Kakashi and Ye on how to confess. Ye confidently claimed he could devise a plan, leaving Obito’s romantic hopes in his hands.

• Obito lay awake remembering Rin’s smile and touch, then decided to become more confident and tell her how he felt.
• Obito worried about how to confess and what gift to give, then went to Kakashi’s room at two in the morning.
• Obito dragged Kakashi to Ye’s courtyard and admitted he wanted to tell Rin how he felt but did not know what to say or buy.
• Kakashi pointed out that neither he nor Ye had any romantic experience, and he mocked Ye’s empty love life.
• Ye insisted he could give Obito romance advice, boasting about his skill at learning techniques and winning arena fights.

Ye promised to arrange an unforgettable confession for Obito, then revealed increasingly outrageous plans involving the Tailed Beasts, a mechanical fox, and a staged kidnapping. Obito and Kakashi tried to stop him, but Ye ended the chapter with three more plans ready.

• Obito grabbed Ye's leg and begged him to help confess to Rin, and Ye promised to create an unprecedented spectacle.
• Kakashi urged Obito to learn what Rin liked and warned Ye not to cause a disaster.
• Ye proposed making Obito the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki so he could cast Infinite Tsukuyomi and carve “Obito Loves Rin” into the moon.
• Ye unveiled a mechanical Nine-Tails for Obito to ride to Rin's home, but Obito collapsed and Kakashi objected.
• Ye proposed faking Obito's kidnapping with White Zetsu so Rin would rescue him, and Obito and Kakashi rejected the plan.
• Ye produced three more scrolls for Plans D, E, and F as Obito despaired.

Ye and Kakashi failed to give Obito practical romantic advice, so the three broke into Asuma's room to ask for help. Obito left at dawn resolved to confess honestly to Rin.

• Ye reassured Obito that Rin would accept him if he spoke honestly, then warned him not to sneak through her window, show off his Mangekyo, or give her a kunai.
• Obito asked Ye and Kakashi how to confess, but they admitted through their awkwardness that neither had dating experience, and Kakashi tried to use Jiraiya's Make-Out Paradise as a guide.
• Ye remembered seeing Asuma Sarutobi holding hands with Kurenai Yuhi and led the three to Asuma's home to seek advice.
• Ye explained their visit after catching Asuma reaching for his Ninja Sword, and Asuma advised Obito to give Rin a small useful gift and confess sincerely.
• Obito returned to the rooftop at dawn and vowed that he would not back out of confessing to Rin.

Obito, exhausted after carving a gift and preparing to confess to Rin, mistakenly confessed to Might Guy instead. Guy tearfully turned him down, leaving Obito mortified outside the Might Residence.

• Obito wandered through Konoha with a crude wooden carving, rehearsing his confession to Rin.
• Might Guy spotted Obito approaching his home and mistook his behavior for a challenge to a youthful battle.
• Obito confessed his love to the person behind the door, believing he was speaking to Rin.
• Might Guy opened the door, grabbed Obito, and rejected him because they were both men.
• Obito realized he had confessed at the Might Residence and dropped his carving into the muddy water.

Obito fought Guy to release his pent-up anxiety, then went to Rin and confessed that he wanted to protect her for the rest of his life. Rin blushed and looked into his eyes, but the chapter ended before she answered.

• Obito kicked Guy through his doorway after Guy misread his words, and the two Jonin brawled in the muddy street.
• After the fight, Obito left Guy behind and walked through the village to Rin's home.
• Rin pulled the battered Obito inside and treated his wounds with her medical kit.
• Obito told Rin he wanted to protect her for the rest of his life.
• Rin blushed, paused with the cotton swab in hand, and finally met Obito's gaze without replying.

Obito confessed to Rin, who asked Kakashi and Ye to help her understand her feelings for him. After realizing she wanted to comfort Obito but would reject Kakashi in the same situation, Rin reached her answer and left to meet Obito at Konoha Park the next morning.

• Rin sent Obito away after he confessed, then told him to meet her at Konoha Park at nine the next morning for her answer.
• Obito returned home and carefully repaired a wooden carving while Rin wondered whether her feelings for him went beyond concern for a teammate.
• Rin asked Kakashi and Ye to help her sort out her feelings, and Ye asked what she would do if Kakashi had made the same confession.
• Rin realized she would reject Kakashi but wanted to hug Obito, thanked Ye and Kakashi, and left with her decision settled.
• Obito finished repairing the carving and resolved not to mess up his meeting with Rin.

Obito waited nervously at Konoha Park to confess his feelings to Rin, while Ye and Kakashi secretly watched and cleared the area for him. Rin accepted Obito’s feelings and cherished the repaired wooden carving he gave her.

• Obito arrived early at Konoha Park, polished a bench, and rehearsed what he would say to Rin.
• Ye and Kakashi hid in a tree as Ye secretly recorded Obito and used pebbles to clear the area around the bench.
• Rin arrived at nine, and Obito struggled to speak before finally offering her his roughly repaired wooden carving.
• Rin examined the carving without disdain, said its crack reminded her of her own medical kit, and accepted Obito’s feelings.

Obito and Rin officially became a couple, while Ye and Kakashi were embarrassed after secretly recording their courtship. At the chapter’s end, an envoy from the Land of Fire arrived in Konoha to inspect its geothermal project and was stunned by the village’s springlike winter.

• Rin hung Obito’s wooden carving from her medical case and asked him to stop blocking blades and fighting Guy.
• Ye’s Recording Camera exposed that he and Kakashi had been spying on Obito and Rin, but Obito boldly held Rin’s hand and announced they were officially together.
• Ye and Kakashi left in defeat as Obito and Rin walked hand in hand to the Medical Department, where Obito muddled the herbs while helping Rin.
• An envoy from the Daimyō's Office of the Land of Fire arrived in Konoha intending to inspect its geothermal project and pressure the village over military spending.
• The envoy saw snowless streets, budding trees, and villagers eating popsicles in winter, then asked whether it was Genjutsu.

The envoy entered Konoha expecting to document shortages and public anger, but discovered its geothermal heating and winter agriculture had made it prosperous and less dependent on the daimyō. He fled for the Daimyō Mansion to report that Konoha no longer relied on military funding.

• The envoy disguised himself as a traveling merchant and entered Konoha, where he found warm streets, plentiful food, and low grain prices.
• A villager explained that Orochimaru's Geothermal Generator heated the village for free and supplied hot water.
• The envoy and the civil official visited the Northern Suburbs and saw extensive winter crops growing in heated fields.
• The civil official calculated that Konoha could harvest three or four crops a year, potentially producing several times the Daimyō Mansion's grain output.
• The envoy abandoned his military budget-cut document and hurried back to tell the daimyō that Konoha no longer needed its funding.

The daimyō tried to force Konoha to submit by cutting its military funding, but his envoy returned with evidence that Konoha could thrive without the Daimyō Mansion’s support. The daimyō was left furious and fearful as his officials failed to offer a solution.

• The daimyō dismissed the steward’s concerns and said the funding cut would make Minato Namikaze beg for money.
• The envoy returned to the Daimyō Mansion in a ruined state and reported that he had not delivered the funding order because Konoha no longer relied on the mansion’s funds.
• The envoy described Konoha’s Geothermal Pipelines, low food prices, and winter glasshouses that could produce several harvests a year.
• The envoy warned that Konoha’s surplus grain could influence prices across the Land of Fire and free it from the daimyō’s control.
• The daimyō demanded that his officials stop Konoha’s development, then smashed a wine pot and porcelain vase when they offered no answer.

The Land of Fire's daimyō learned that Konoha had become financially independent and received an anonymous warning that it had formed a Chakra Armor Army. He saw the threat as an opportunity and ordered secret decrees sent to the Four Kage, calling for an alliance to attack Konoha.

• The daimyō berated an envoy who reported Konoha's mines, farms, and winter comforts, and realized Konoha no longer needed his funding.
• The daimyō found an unsigned black letter claiming Konoha had formed a Chakra Armor Army and the Four Kage feared it.
• The daimyō decided to use the warning to turn the Four Great Ninja Villages against Konoha, proposing that Sunagakure replace it if it fell.
• The daimyō wrote four secret decrees calling on the Tsuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage, and Kazekage to unite against Konoha.
• The daimyō ordered four fast runners to carry the sealed decrees by separate routes that night, before Konoha learned of them.

Black Zetsu learned that the Land of Fire’s daimyō was scheming to profit from the conflict and send Sunagakure to guard the border, while the four Kage gathered in the Land of Iron to negotiate a response to Konoha’s Chakra Armor. The summit remained deadlocked over each village’s role and rewards when the Kage received word that secret envoys from the Land of Fire’s daimyō had arrived.

• The daimyō ordered his officials to offer Rasa old grain and a promise of a gate-guarding position while using secret edicts to push the villages toward war.
• Black Zetsu overheard the daimyō’s plans and decided that the edicts would help drive Konoha and the four villages into conflict.
• Mifune hosted A, Ōnoki, Yagura, and Rasa at the summit and barred violence inside the Shogun’s Mansion.
• A, Ōnoki, Yagura, and Rasa argued over how to fight Konoha’s armored troops and divide the mining district’s profits.
• Four envoys arrived and reported to their respective Kage, prompting Ōnoki to reveal that secret envoys from the Land of Fire’s daimyō had reached the Land of Iron.

The leaders of the Hidden Cloud, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure read secret letters from the Daimyō of the Land of Fire proposing that they join forces to attack Konoha in exchange for resources and compensation. Rasa tried to mock the others for losing their composure, then was caught off guard by his own letter and ended by questioning the daimyō's sanity.

• A read the Daimyō of the Land of Fire's offer to the Hidden Cloud and angrily denounced him for trying to hire foreign forces to attack Konoha.
• Ōnoki read Iwagakure's offer of mining revenue and compensation for joining the attack, then called the daimyō a fool.
• Yagura read Kirigakure's offer of extra payment for an armor sample, sprayed tea over the map, and questioned whether Minato knew of the betrayal.
• Rasa mocked A, Ōnoki, and Yagura for losing their composure before opening Sunagakure's letter and spilling hot tea onto his hand.
• A, Yagura, and Ōnoki teased Rasa for his reaction, and Rasa clenched his jaw before asking whether the Daimyō of the Land of Fire had gone mad.

The four Kage debated whether the Daimyō of the Land of Fire was genuinely offering an alliance and agreed to send ANBU to investigate before committing troops. Rasa uncovered a hidden message from the daimyō insulting Sunagakure as a loyal dog, and he erupted in rage.

• A mocked Rasa over his burned hand while Yagura warned the Kage to focus on the daimyō's alliance offer.
• A called the offer a trap, but Ōnoki argued that the Land of Fire's daimyō might be trying to undermine Konoha.
• Ōnoki proposed that each village send ANBU disguised as merchants to verify the letter and investigate the daimyō's intentions, and Yagura agreed that no one should act until then.
• Rasa found a hidden slip inside the letter and read the daimyō's promise to make Sunagakure guard the gate as a loyal dog in exchange for a reward.
• Rasa smashed the table in fury and cursed the Daimyō of the Land of Fire while the other Kage watched in confusion.

Rasa's fury over a secret letter sparked a fight among the four Kage, who learned the Land of Fire's daimyō meant to treat Sunagakure as a loyal dog. They agreed to support an attack on Konoha if the letter proved genuine, with Rasa demanding the daimyō for himself.

• Rasa tried to destroy the note, but A, Yagura, and Ōnoki worked together to seize it.
• A, Ōnoki, and Yagura read the letter aloud and mocked its promise that Sunagakure would serve as the Land of Fire's loyal dog.
• Rasa threatened the three Kage, then agreed Sunagakure would support the attack on Konoha if ANBU confirmed the letter was genuine.
• Rasa demanded the right to kill the Land of Fire's daimyō, while A, Ōnoki, and Yagura named the spoils their villages wanted.
• Four groups of ANBU departed for the Daimyō Mansion to verify the secret letter.

Minato assigned Ye's team an A-rank mission to reinforce the Dragon Vein Seal in Rōran, and Ye persuaded him and Kushina to join the expedition. With Madara left to watch Naruto and guard Konoha, the six set out for the Land of Wind as four ANBU squads approached the Land of Fire.

• Minato assigned the Rōran mission to Ye, Obito, Rin, and Kakashi, with Ye responsible for judging the situation along the way.
• Ye persuaded Minato to take Kushina on the mission by arranging for Fugaku to handle government affairs and Madara to guard Konoha.
• Minato and Kushina left Naruto in Madara's care, and Madara caught Naruto when he nearly fell from the veranda.
• Ye, Obito, Rin, Kakashi, Minato, and Kushina registered for the A-rank commission and departed for Rōran.
• Four ANBU squads continued sneaking toward the Land of Fire while Madara sat inside Konoha's gates.

Minato’s team entered Rōran to investigate a mysterious emergency, where Kushina sensed Nine-Tails Chakra unlike anything she had encountered before. After discovering the city’s vast machinery and eerily empty streets, Minato split the team into two groups to search for Rōran’s leaders.

• Minato’s team reached Rōran and found no one waiting to receive them, so they put on ANBU masks before entering the city.
• Kushina said Kurama had sensed its own Chakra in the center of Rōran, and Ye suspected that Naruto had arrived there through the Ley Line.
• The team crossed the city wall and found enormous networks of metal pipes and machinery operating through the empty streets.
• Kushina sensed mature Nine-Tails Chakra in the air, while Minato grew more wary of the deserted city.
• Minato split the team into two groups and ordered them to move along the pipes, avoid the main roads, and contact Rōran’s leaders.