Recaps

Hayate Hoshi entered the Ninja Academy, developed his swordsmanship and friendships, and faced growing tensions with Uchiha Iwa. After Orochimaru earned a place in Class A, Hoshi and his friends encountered two spies, and an Uchiha arrived as Hoshi and Sakumo fought An Rui.

• Hoshi began at the Ninja Academy, where he met Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Sakumo and revealed his invisible Assault technique during a sword match with Sakumo.
• Hoshi trained in swordsmanship and chakra control, befriended his classmates, and earned Mito’s trust and Tobirama’s Swordsmanship Insights.
• Hoshi defeated Uchiha Iwa in the Combat Assessment, while Iwa vowed to drive him out of Class A and sought help from his uncle.
• Orochimaru defeated Saito Chang with a wire-and-kunai trap, earned a place in Class A, and joined Hoshi, Jiraiya, and Sakumo.
• Hoshi and his friends discovered An Rui and Qiu exchanging intelligence, so Hoshi sent a Shadow Clone for help and helped the others confront the spies.
• Hoshi and Sakumo killed Qiu and went to assist Jiraiya and Orochimaru, who were struggling against An Rui.
• Hoshi severed An Rui’s arm as Sakumo attacked, and an Uchiha arrived and knocked An Rui unconscious.

Hoshi and his friends graduated early, formed teams, and began their lives as Genin while Konoha negotiated a ceasefire with Kumogakure. Hoshi’s team completed its first mission, and Danzo began seeking influence over promising young ninja.

• Uchiha Hokushin confirmed that Hoshi and Sakumo had defeated Iwagakure spies, and Uchiha Yama paid them compensation after Hoshi exposed Uchiha Iwa’s attack.
• Hoshi developed Line of Moonlight, shared its supposed principles with Sakumo, and agreed with Sakumo, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru to seek early graduation.
• Mito advised Hiruzen Sarutobi to support the children and end the war first, and Hiruzen approved the five classmates’ early graduation and funded their training.
• Hoshi, Sakumo, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade passed their Graduation Exam, and Rie gave Hoshi the Hayate Clan heirloom Mikazuki Munechika.
• Konoha accepted Kumogakure’s ceasefire, while Hoshi and Sakumo joined Torifu Akimichi’s team with recovering survivor Yūhi Shinkō.
• Hoshi, Sakumo, and Shinkō defeated the bandits at Spark Village after Shinkō trapped their leader in a Genjutsu and Hoshi killed him with Line of Moonlight.
• Danzo tried to influence Hiruzen and recruit Hoshi’s group, but Hoshi declined his scrolls and stayed with Torifu’s team.
• Over the next three months, Torifu’s squad completed more than a dozen D-rank missions, and Hoshi encouraged Might Duy to believe hard work could make him powerful.

Hoshi and his companions survived a year of intense training in the Forest of Death and entered the joint Chunin Exam. After the first test, Kirū targeted Hoshi, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Shinku, and two Kumogakure Genin for his cult’s Cursed Techniques.

• Hoshi’s team investigated reports of a monster in the Land of Rice Fields, defeated a White Wolf, and found and adopted its Chakra-talented cub, Robb.
• After returning to Konoha, Hoshi and the other Genin received a year-long S-rank mission to train for the joint Chunin Exam and defeat Cloud Village’s participants.
• Hoshi and his companions began special training in the Forest of Death, where they hunted for Scrolls, defeated a wild boar and a Brown Bear, and practiced chakra control by climbing an oil-coated pit.
• Hoshi drew Swallow Reversal, while Sakumo developed Lightning Release Chakra Cell Activation and improved Severing Void before Homura ended their year of training and gave them exam registration forms.
• Kirū built the Jiajin Cult among war refugees, gained power through an ancient Scroll of Cursed Technique, and ordered his followers to gather information on Chunin Exam contestants.
• Konoha’s delegation arrived at Hidden Hot Spring Village, where Hoshi’s group passed the Written Exam after Hoshi used an invisible Shadow Clone to copy answers.
• Torikaze disqualified cheating candidates, and Kirū selected Hoshi, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Shinku, and two Kumogakure Genin as targets before preparing his Cursed Technique.

Hoshi survived the Chunin Exam, learned that the Jiajin Cult’s curse and the Two-Tails’ chakra had trapped his own chakra, and left Konoha to strengthen himself through Eight Gates and swordsmanship training. After studying under Kazama Morishige in the Land of Iron, he won his way into the main Kendo Tournament.

• Hoshi reunited with Tsunade in Trap Forest, then defeated a Cloud Genin whose exposure to Two-Tails power left Hoshi badly wounded and without safe access to his chakra.
• Kirū trapped Hoshi, but Hoshi killed him before the Cloud Genin returned as a Blood Corpse and exploded, leaving Hoshi unconscious with the curse fused to the Two-Tails’ chakra.
• Tsunade, Sakumo, and the others rescued Hoshi, and Orochimaru led Konoha’s fighters to defeat the Cloud ninja and secure victory in the Chunin Exam.
• Mito explained that Hoshi’s chakra was caught in a deadlock between Fear Beyond Death Limit and the Two-Tails, and Hoshi proposed using the Eight Gates Formation to break through it.
• Hoshi became a Chunin, trained with heavy weights, and left Konoha with Robb for the Land of Iron to pursue swordsmanship and open the Sixth Gate.
• At the Kazama Dojo, Hoshi defeated Masahiro and became Kazama Morishige’s student, training in swordsmanship while his physical conditioning brought him close to opening the Sixth Gate.
• Hoshi gained Attribute Conversion but could not yet use chakra, then traveled with Robb to the capital and entered the Kendo Tournament under the name Himura Kenshin.
• Hoshi defeated a series of challengers, including Matsushita Gorin, and earned an invitation to the main tournament.