Recaps

After witnessing Kazan’s overwhelming Haki, Sasuke sought a goal that would make him stronger and awakened his Sharingan after Kazan exposed him to that power. He challenged Kazan, but was effortlessly defeated and left with a firsthand sense of the gap between them.

• Sasuke and Naruto saw the village-wide storm caused by Kazan’s aura and realized how far his strength surpassed their expectations.
• Sasuke chose Hikari as a goal, but her enormous Fire Style technique drove him back to Kazan for help becoming stronger.
• Kazan urged Sasuke to find a reason to grow stronger, then released his Haki and knocked him unconscious.
• Sasuke woke the next day with his Sharingan awakened and decided his goal was to defeat Kazan.
• Sasuke challenged Kazan in the Forest of Death, but Kazan’s fist terrified him before a single finger sent him flying.

Kazan used Hikari’s Tsukuyomi to create an illusionary opponent and test his Haki, while Sasuke’s growing power drove a wedge between him and Naruto. After stopping their duel, Kazan urged Naruto to help Sasuke and promised to teach him a technique to beat him.

• Kazan asked Hikari to cast Tsukuyomi so he could immerse himself in an illusion and fight an opponent using only his fists and Haki.
• Sasuke’s cold treatment of Sakura provoked Naruto, and the two arranged a duel after school.
• As Naruto and Sasuke prepared to clash with Rasengan and Chidori, Kazan’s Conqueror’s Haki spear struck between them and ended the fight undecided.
• Naruto told Kazan that Sasuke felt like a brother, and Kazan explained the Uchiha’s Sharingan power before encouraging Naruto to help him.
• Kazan sent Naruto home and promised to teach him a technique to beat Sasuke, while Naruto decided they should fight more often.

Kazan began Naruto’s Senjutsu Training and Naruto mastered Sage Mode before defeating Sasuke in a fight. As Sasuke’s Dōjutsu Power grew after the loss, Kazan sent Itachi to take him on low-rank missions and show him more of the world.

• Kazan introduced Naruto to Senjutsu Training, warned him about the dangers of Natural Energy, and left Kurama to supervise him.
• Kazan revealed a Truth-Seeking Orb and entered Hikari’s illusion world to battle her opponent while his Conqueror’s Haki darkened the sky above the Forest of Death.
• Naruto mastered Sage Mode after half a month and used it to defeat Sasuke in a Ninja Academy fight.
• Sasuke rejected Naruto’s invitation to Ichiraku Ramen and left, while his Dōjutsu Power quietly increased.
• Kazan called Itachi and asked him to take Sasuke on low-rank missions so Sasuke could experience life beyond being a Ninja.

Itachi took Sasuke on a farm mission arranged by Kazan, teaching him that strength meant protecting the peace and the people who mattered. Sasuke returned to Konoha with new resolve, while Yuzuki Kurama brought Yakumo to the Forest of Death to seek Kazan’s help.

• Itachi took Sasuke to work on a farm without using Chakra or Ninjutsu, and Sasuke struggled to endure the tedious labor.
• Itachi showed Sasuke children playing in the streets and explained how Kazan and earlier generations had fought to protect the Land of Fire’s peace.
• Itachi told Sasuke that Kazan had protected Konoha’s children during the Third Shinobi World War, inspiring Sasuke to admire Kazan and reconsider what strength meant.
• After completing the mission, Sasuke returned to Konoha with produce, and Kazan told him that he had grown a little.
• Sasuke became stricter at the Ninja Academy, asking classmates whether they were repaying Kazan properly for the peace he had fought to protect.
• Yuzuki Kurama brought Yakumo to the Forest of Death and reassured her that Kazan would find a way to help.

Kurama Yakumo began training with Neji and the others under Kazan, who sought to awaken the full potential of her Five Senses Manipulation. After Yakumo’s resentment toward Kazan culminated in a lightning attack, Kazan decided to have Neji discover that she was responsible.

• The Kurama Clan brought Yakumo to Kazan, who ordered her to train with Neji and the others despite her frailty.
• Yakumo struggled through the group’s weighted run, and Neji helped her keep going; Kazan then punished Neji for slowing down.
• Kazan admitted to Hikari that he wanted to study Yakumo’s Kekkei Genkai and planned to provoke Ido into emerging.
• As Neji repeatedly helped Yakumo and suffered for it, Yakumo grew attached to him and developed hatred for Kazan.
• Yakumo struck Kazan with lightning created through Five Senses Manipulation, but Kazan remained unharmed and told Hikari to let Neji discover Yakumo had attacked him.

Kazan pushed Kurama Yakumo until her hatred and Ido overtook her, and Neji discovered her using Five Senses Manipulation to attack Kazan. After Neji struck Yakumo and Ido, Yakumo controlled Neji’s senses and turned him against Kazan, who knocked him unconscious.

• Kazan observed Yakumo and Ido, then intensified Neji’s training to provoke Yakumo’s hatred and strengthen Ido.
• Yakumo used paintings and her Kekkei Genkai to make lightning strike Kazan, while Hikari sent Neji to find her.
• Neji found Yakumo drawing lightning, rejected her explanation, and struck her with Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms.
• Yakumo vomited Ido from her body, and Neji attacked it with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, though he was striking an illusion.
• Yakumo controlled Neji’s five senses and sent him charging at Kazan and Hikari, but Kazan punched Neji unconscious.

Kazan destroyed Yakumo’s genjutsu and forgave her for attacking him. He offered to make her his disciple and gave her a technique to address her physical weakness, while Yakumo resolved to train hard for him.

• Yakumo blamed Kazan for Neji’s attack, and her genjutsu pulled Kazan and Hikari into a world where their chakra was sealed.
• Kazan unleashed Conqueror’s Haki, shattered Yakumo’s genjutsu, and crushed Ido before comforting Yakumo.
• Hikari warned Yakumo not to attack Kazan again, and the group reunited after Kazan went to find his Second Disciple.
• Yuzuki Kurama apologized and offered to accept punishment, but Kazan forgave Yakumo and asked her to become his disciple.
• Kazan gave Yakumo a scroll containing Orochimaru’s Cell Activation Technique, and Yakumo vowed to train hard for him.

Kazan set out to find Kakuzu so he could obtain Kakuzu’s Earth Release technique for Neji, then confronted the immortal rogue ninja in the Land of Lightning. Kazan destroyed three of Kakuzu’s hearts, leaving Kakuzu terrified and struggling to survive.

• Kazan told Neji to reconcile with Yakumo and pursue his effort to free the Hyuga Clan’s Branch Family from the Caged Bird Seal.
• Two days later, Kazan left the Forest of Death and tracked Kakuzu to the Land of Lightning.
• Kazan attacked Kakuzu, whose Earth Release: Earth Spear hardened his body, and crushed one of Kakuzu’s hearts with a stomp.
• Kakuzu unleashed four elemental attacks, but Kazan broke through them and used Shinso to destroy another heart.
• Kazan pursued Kakuzu and punched through his chest, smashing a third heart; Kakuzu absorbed an Earth Grudge Fear creature to replace it and was left with only two hearts.

Kazan killed Kakuzu, took his secret technique and fortune, and returned to Konoha to see his students. The chapter ended with Yakumo using Five Senses Manipulation to stop Sasuke and Naruto from challenging him again.

• Kazan killed Kakuzu with five strikes, then found Kakuzu's secret technique and withdrew his 500 million ryo from an underground bank.
• Kazan gave Neji the Earth Spear technique, and Yakumo showed him that she had mastered the Cell Activation Technique.
• Kazan reassured Minato that he had only left Konoha to kill a rogue Ninja.
• Sasuke and Naruto challenged Kazan, but he knocked them back with a controlled punch without injuring them.
• Sasuke and Naruto tried to attack Kazan again with their strongest abilities, but Yakumo stopped them using Five Senses Manipulation.

Hikari and Yakumo used a double illusion to help Kazan train and secretly pushed him toward marriage. Kazan proposed to Hikari and Kurenai, married them both, and Hikari later gave birth to his child.

• Hikari persuaded Yakumo to combine Five Senses Manipulation with Tsukuyomi so Kazan could experience more realistic battles.
• Kazan trained in the double illusion, and his Conqueror's Haki erupted when he became absorbed in combat.
• As Kazan turned twenty, others urged him to marry, and he decided to give Hikari and Kurenai an answer.
• Hikari and Yakumo maintained the illusion while Kazan proposed to both women at a Fireworks Festival.
• Kazan married Hikari and Kurenai, and Hikari later gave birth to his child on a full-moon night.

After experiencing a lifetime in Hikari’s genjutsu, Kazan admitted that its imagined future reflected what he truly wanted and committed to making it real with Hikari and Kurenai. A month later, the three held a grand wedding in Konoha’s Forest of Death, then spent the night together.

• Kazan woke from Hikari’s genjutsu and told her he had recognized it after the battle but stayed to experience the life he desired.
• Kazan took Hikari’s hand and promised to create their future together, then told Kurenai he no longer wanted to delay what he needed to say.
• Kurenai embraced Kazan, accepted his explanation of what had happened with Hikari, and forgave her for making the first move.
• A month later, Kazan, Hikari, and Kurenai exchanged rings at a grand wedding attended by Konoha’s clans, shinobi, friends, and students.
• After the celebrations ended, Kazan and his brides retired together while Hakimi fell asleep outside.

Kazan, Kurenai, and Hikari spent six months traveling through the Five Great Nations on missions that other Ninja abandoned as soon as they recognized the Ghost of Konoha. Back in Konoha, Yakumo began displaying her Kurama Clan abilities at the Ninja Academy, where her Genjutsu demonstrated the terrifying potential of her Kekkei Genkai.

• Hikari suggested that she, Kazan, and Kurenai take missions so she could feel fully part of Konoha, and Kazan agreed to make the journey their honeymoon.
• Kazan, Kurenai, and Hikari accepted several difficult missions and traveled through the Five Great Nations, while enemy Ninja repeatedly fled upon seeing Kazan.
• Yakumo enrolled at the Ninja Academy and, after listening to the Kurama Clan's urging, began showing her talents during a combat exercise.
• Yakumo used Five Senses Manipulation to make her opponent attack himself, then healed his injuries through Genjutsu Manifestation.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi explained to Minato that Five Senses Manipulation could lead to the Kurama Clan's Secret Technique, which affected reality through Genjutsu.

Neji graduated from the Ninja Academy and challenged the Hyuga Clan’s Caged Bird Seal system, demanding the technique so he could destroy it. The Main Family erupted in anger as Neji accused its members of protecting their own power rather than the clan’s legacy.

• Kazan agreed to support Neji’s decision to challenge Hyuga Hiashi and abolish the Caged Bird Seal when Neji became a ninja.
• In Konoha Year 62, Neji graduated first in his class, declined his classmates’ invitations to celebrate, and returned alone to the Hyuga compound.
• Hyuga Hiashi and the clan members welcomed Neji and offered him a graduation gift.
• Neji asked for the technique used to place the Caged Bird Seal, then declared that he intended to destroy it forever.
• The Hyuga Elders protested that the seal protected the Byakugan and preserved the clan’s standing.
• Neji accused the Main Family of fearing the loss of its control over the Branch Family, and the Hyuga compound erupted in anger.

Neji confronted the Hyuga Main Family to end the Branch Family’s oppression, but the elders activated the Caged Bird Seal and he fought back. As Neji faced three elders with his new technique, Kazan, Hikari, Kurenai, and village leaders watched and waited for the clash to resolve.

• Neji rejected the elders’ demand that he leave, while the gathered Branch Family ninja refused to retreat.
• The head elder and other Main Family elders activated the Caged Bird Seal, inflicting agony on the Branch Family members.
• Neji charged the elders to stop them and struck one with Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
• Three elders attacked Neji, who countered with his newly developed Eight Trigrams: One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms.
• ANBU squads, Minato, and Hiruzen Sarutobi monitored the clan compound, while Kazan, Hikari, and Kurenai watched from a distance.

Neji and Hizashi fought the Hyuga Main Family as Neji used powerful techniques taught or inspired by Kazan to defeat two elders. Asuka stepped in to face Neji, while Kazan explained that the Eight Gates Released Formation did not suit his student.

• Neji and Hizashi joined forces against the Hyuga Main Family while Branch Family members watched, hoping for change.
• Neji used an Earth Release technique to harden his fists, then injured one elder with the Big Dipper Seven Star Fist.
• Neji hurled another elder through a roof with the Added-Weight Rock Technique and the Undersea Drop, destroying the house.
• Asuka challenged Neji, reminding him that he was not Kazan, but Neji refused to back down.
• Hikari asked why Kazan had not taught Neji the Eight Gates Released Formation, and Kazan explained that its uncontrolled Chakra would not suit Neji.

Neji fought Asuka Hyuga and shattered his Rotation before confronting Hyuga Hiashi over the Caged Bird Seal. He entered Sage Mode and launched an all-out attack on Hiashi, with their clash still underway.

• Neji used his Steel Fist Style to overpower Asuka Hyuga and break through his Rotation with Heaven-Opening.
• Neji accused Asuka of upholding the Hyuga Clan’s mistreatment of the branch family and struck him in the chest.
• Hyuga Hiashi intervened and defended the Caged Bird Seal, but Neji called the clan’s reliance on it a sign of fear and weakness.
• Neji released his seal, entered Sage Mode, and declared he would protect the Hyuga Clan as the Ghost God's second disciple.
• Neji attacked Hiashi with Sage Art: Steel Fist: Infinite Fist Bone, and Hiashi met his blows with successive strikes of the Sixty-Four Palms.

Neji defeated Hiashi and nearly lost to the Hyuga Elder before Kazan intervened, but the Caged Bird Seal was not abolished. Neji accepted a test that could put the seal in his hands and left to train so Hyuga children could live freely.

• Neji defeated Hiashi in Sage Mode, then faced the last Hyuga Elder while nearly out of chakra.
• Kazan struck the Elder with Conqueror’s Haki attacks, saving Neji and driving off the remaining opposition.
• The next day, Minato told Kazan that Neji had agreed to keep the Caged Bird Seal temporarily while the Hyuga Clan tested whether he could deter other villages from hunting Byakugan users.
• Neji watched the Branch Family children play, decided his fight had been worth it, and left for the Forest of Death to grow stronger.

Neji chose to leave Konoha and train under Might Guy, while Naruto and Sasuke graduated onto rival teams. In Sunagakure, Rasa agreed to a plot to unleash the Tailed Beasts during the next Chunin Exams, and Black Zetsu and White Zetsu promised to handle Kazan.

• Neji decided to leave the village to grow strong enough to protect the Hyuga Clan, and Kazan trusted Might Guy to guide him.
• Hikari refused Kazan's suggestion that she teach children, while Kurenai agreed to train Yakumo.
• Naruto and Sasuke graduated in Year 63 and were assigned to Obito and Kakashi on separate teams, then began competing over missions.
• Rasa met Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, who proposed using the next Chunin Exams to bring Tailed Beasts into Konoha and make them rampage.
• Rasa asked how they would deal with Kazan, and Black Zetsu and White Zetsu said they would handle him.

Konoha prepared to host the Chunin Ninja Exams while Kazan suspected the Sand Shinobi and Mist Ninja were hiding a plot. Jing Uchiha’s forces began secretly targeting Konoha, and the chapter ended with the exams underway and the village on heightened alert.

• Minato and Hiruzen Sarutobi chose another venue for the exams because the Forest of Death had become Kazan’s dangerous territory.
• Kazan told Kakashi to have Minato and the others watch the Sand Shinobi and Mist Ninja, suspecting a threat connected to the exams.
• Jing Uchiha sent Mist Ninja teams toward Konoha, including a controlled Six-Tails Jinchuriki, and ordered troops to secure the Land of Waves.
• White Zetsu troops assassinated Konoha forces stationed near the Land of Waves, while Black Zetsu and White Zetsu discussed withholding most of their army from Jing Uchiha.
• The Chunin Ninja Exams began, and Kazan, Minato, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and other leaders ordered tighter patrols and border surveillance.

Kazan watched the Chunin Ninja Exams conclude, while Jing Uchiha approached Konoha and confronted him at the cemetery. Their meeting coincided with Shukaku, the Six-Tails, and the Three-Tails rampaging at the exam venue.

• Kazan observed the candidates pass the written test and survive Konoha's Impel Down, then watched the Forest of Death children dominate the final selection.
• Yakumo used the Kurama Clan's Five Senses Manipulation to defeat her opponent, and Anko declared her the winner.
• Jing Uchiha and White Zetsu waited outside Konoha for seven days before Jing headed toward the village to draw Kazan's attention.
• Kazan sensed Jing's Chakra, left the Forest of Death, and met him at the Konoha Cemetery as Jing visited a gravestone.
• Jing and Kazan faced off, and Shukaku, the Six-Tails, and the Three-Tails appeared at the exam venue and began rampaging.

Sasuke injured Gaara during their Chunin Ninja Exams match, triggering Shukaku's release and a coordinated assault on Konoha by the Sand and Mist. As the village descended into battle, Hikari exposed a White Zetsu disguised as Kurenai, while the Nine-Tails emerged from Kazan to fight three Tailed Beasts.

• Sasuke overwhelmed Gaara with his techniques and pierced his sand defense with Chidori, drawing blood and causing Shukaku to break free.
• Rasa and the Fourth Mizukage attacked the central viewing stand, but Minato had already moved the daimyos to safety.
• The Fourth Mizukage transformed into the Three-Tails, Utakata fully transformed into the Six-Tails, and the Tailed Beasts threatened Konoha.
• A White Zetsu disguised as Kurenai stabbed Hikari, who exposed and crushed the impostor before asking Rin Nohara to find the real Kurenai.
• Sand and Mist forces invaded Konoha, while the Nine-Tails emerged from Kazan and knocked Shukaku, Isobu, and Saiken back with his tails.

Konoha fought invading Sand Shinobi and Mist Ninja forces as the Nine-Tails, Minato, Tsunade, and Mei battled their opponents. Shisui and Konoha's Shichibukai joined the defense, but the arrival of reanimated legendary ninja revealed a new threat.

• The Nine-Tails fought Shukaku, the Three-Tails, and the Six-Tails while Minato clashed with Rasa and Tsunade fought Mei Terumi.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya led Konoha's forces against the Sand Shinobi and Mist Ninja outside the village, but Konoha began losing ground.
• Shisui revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo, cutting down enemy troops with a barrage of arrows.
• Reanimated ninja, including the Third Raikage and Chiyo, emerged from coffins among the invading forces, and Hiruzen recognized the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
• Kakashi and the other Shichibukai attacked the invading armies, while Kakashi and Obito realized they needed to seal the reanimated ninja or find the person controlling them.

As Konoha was overwhelmed by the reincarnated army and White Zetsu infiltrators, Kazan sent Nine-Tails-powered clones across the battlefield to help the village identify and defeat the impostors. He then confronted the last remaining threat beneath Konoha Cemetery as dark-red lightning filled the sky.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Shisui to find the caster controlling Impure World Reincarnation, and Itachi joined him.
• Kisame Hoshigaki trapped Might Guy in a vast water prison while battles erupted across Konoha.
• White Zetsu infiltrators attacked Konoha’s forces, and Hikari, Neji, and Yakumo struggled to distinguish them from their comrades.
• Kazan and the Nine-Tails agreed to protect Konoha, and Kazan created chakra-filled shadow clones that spread across the battlefields.
• Kazan’s clone exposed a White Zetsu impersonating Kurenai, healed Hikari, and helped Konoha’s ninja identify impostors using the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
• Kazan unleashed dark-red lightning beneath Konoha Cemetery and faced the last enemy.

Jing Uchiha fought Kazan in the cemetery, convinced that an illusory world was the only way to end hatred. After awakening to his past and revealing several powers gained through the Chimera Technique, he learned that Kazan had become far stronger than he expected.

• Jing Uchiha rejected Kazan’s taunts and fought him, revisiting his childhood rivalry and the memory of his sister’s death.
• Jing Uchiha dismissed the vision of his former self and met Kazan’s punch with Steel Release, revealing a kekkei genkai beyond his Sharingan.
• Kazan overwhelmed Jing Uchiha’s Steel Release and Susanoo armor, crushing his arm despite Jing’s merged Steel Release and Shikotsumyaku.
• Jing Uchiha used Shinra Tensei to push Kazan back, then took White Zetsu’s arm to replace his destroyed limb.
• White Zetsu warned Jing Uchiha that Konoha had exposed his Impersonation Technique and was killing his clones, while Jing remained focused on Kazan.

Jing Uchiha attacked Konoha with summoned beasts and fought Kazan, who overwhelmed his abilities. When Jing invoked Impure World Reincarnation, Madara Uchiha emerged from the coffin, ready to join the battle.

• Jing Uchiha summoned a dozen beasts to attack Konoha, while the Nine-Tails and Hakimi’s Forest of Death beasts fought them.
• Kazan pressed Jing with overwhelming speed and strength, breaking through Shinra Tensei and sending him crashing through buildings.
• Jing and Kazan found themselves at Konoha Cemetery, where Jing used Impure World Reincarnation to summon an ally.
• Madara Uchiha stepped out of the coffin and remarked that Nagato had finally grown up.