Recaps

Zhou Cheng agreed to drive Hui and her escort for two thousand ryo, then discovered that she was Koyuki Kazahana, a princess fleeing her uncle in the Land of Snow. After bringing her back to camp, he tried to leave, but Yoshino caught him and accused him of being a thief.

• Hui thanked Zhou Cheng for saving her, and he bargained with her to drive the sled for two thousand ryo.
• The group traveled with captured mechanical sleds and camped for the night, where Hoshi demanded Zhou Cheng help set up camp and Hui later brought him a sleeping bag.
• Zhou Cheng followed Hui when she secretly left camp and heard her cry that her uncle would kill her if she returned to the Land of Snow.
• Hui revealed that her uncle had sent the Snow Shinobi after her and urged Zhou Cheng to leave, but he escorted her back to camp.
• Zhou Cheng tried to depart on the sled, but Yoshino spotted him and called him a thief.

Zhou Cheng tried to leave with the sled, but Nadare Rōga ambushed the camp and overwhelmed Yoshino’s group. When Snow Shinobi attacked Zhou Cheng, he defeated them effortlessly, leaving everyone stunned as Koyuki urged the survivors to run.

• Zhou Cheng dismissed Yoshino’s objections, took control of the sled, and prepared to leave the camp.
• Nadare Rōga trapped the camp behind an ice wall and led more than a dozen Snow Shinobi in an attack.
• Yoshino’s shinobi were badly wounded, while Koyuki Kazahana’s manager stopped her from handing over her father’s keepsake.
• Nadare Rōga ordered the Snow Shinobi to kill everyone and sent several of them to attack Zhou Cheng.
• Zhou Cheng left his attackers with twisted limbs, and Koyuki urged everyone to escape as Nadare Rōga berated his subordinates.

Zhou Cheng revealed his overwhelming strength while rescuing Koyuki Kazahana and her group from the Snow Shinobi. After exposing two more Chakra Cloak-wearing enemies, he challenged Nadare Rōga and left him wary by stopping an ice-senbon attack with seal-less ninjutsu.

• Zhou Cheng dodged a shuriken barrage, killed one Snow Shinobi, and crushed another attacker’s arm with his Rock Fist.
• Zhou Cheng activated Earth Release Chakra Mode, revealing his elite jonin-level power, and cut down the Snow Shinobi attacking him.
• Zhou Cheng ordered the civilians and Yoshino’s group to leave while Koyuki Kazahana and her manager stayed, then revealed he had sensed two hidden enemies in Chakra Cloaks.
• Yoshino warned Zhou Cheng that Nadare Rōga and his two companions were equivalent to three elite jonin, but Zhou Cheng deactivated his Chakra Mode and challenged Nadare Rōga.
• Nadare Rōga attacked with ice senbon, and Zhou Cheng stopped them with a powerful, seal-less Great Breakthrough, making Nadare Rōga wary.

Zhou Cheng defeated Nadare Rōga and declared his intention to travel with Koyuki Kazahana to the capital, drawn by the Land of Snow’s Chakra Cloaks. As they approached the capital, he offered to help her reclaim her position as daimyo, leaving Koyuki shaken by the possibility of avenging her father and freeing her people.

• Zhou Cheng activated his Wind Release Chakra Mode and opened the Eight Gates of Life’s third gate, overpowering Nadare Rōga and shattering his Chakra Cloak.
• Zhou Cheng demanded that Nadare Rōga take him to Dotō Kazahana, but Nadare retreated over the ice wall with Fubuki Kakuyoku and Mizore Fuyukuma.
• Zhou Cheng chose to head for the capital with Koyuki Kazahana, while Yoshino accepted the final payment and led the film crew back.
• Zhou Cheng and Koyuki traveled without further trouble and reached sight of the capital after half a day.
• Zhou Cheng reassured Koyuki that he could face her uncle and might help her reclaim the daimyo position, then asked whether her father would have wanted the people to suffer under Dotō Kazahana.

Zhou Cheng and Koyuki Kazahana reached the Land of Snow capital, where Zhou Cheng demanded that Dotō Kazahana come out. After Zhou Cheng overwhelmed the Snow Shinobi with his Kage-level power, he advanced toward the capital while Dotō remained in hiding.

• Koyuki Kazahana agreed to return with Zhou Cheng and reclaim the Land of Snow, and Zhou Cheng told her his name.
• As Zhou Cheng and his companions neared the capital, Nadare Rōga, Fubuki Kakuyoku, Mizore Fuyukuma, and Chunin confronted them.
• Zhou Cheng activated his Wind Release Chakra Mode, Seventh Gate, and Wind God Mode, then blasted two Chunin to death with a single punch.
• Yoshino, Hoshi, and Emi arrived and stayed beside Koyuki Kazahana as Zhou Cheng demanded that Dotō Kazahana appear.
• When Dotō remained hidden and Nadare Rōga's companions refused to attack, Zhou Cheng warned the Snow Shinobi and began walking toward the capital.

Zhou Cheng forced Dotō Kazahana to emerge by attacking the Snow Shinobi and demolishing the capital’s gate, then entered the Tenshukaku with Koyuki Kazahana and her companions. He left Dotō waiting for his attention as he shared food with the others, while Dotō showed interest in Zhou Cheng’s Space-Time Ninjutsu.

• Zhou Cheng taunted Dotō Kazahana, blasted through the Snow Shinobi, and destroyed the capital’s gate when Dotō did not appear.
• Dotō Kazahana emerged and invited Zhou Cheng inside, believing Zhou could not maintain Wind God Mode for long.
• Zhou Cheng entered the capital with Koyuki Kazahana, Yoshino, and the students, and Koyuki explained that the Tenshukaku had once been her home.
• At the Tenshukaku reception room, Zhou Cheng ignored Dotō’s attempt to control the meeting, used Intangibility to produce food, and invited the others to sit and eat.
• Dotō approached Zhou Cheng after noticing his Space-Time Ninjutsu, spoke to Koyuki, and offered Zhou dessert after he finished eating.

Zhou Cheng confronted Dotō Kazahana over the Chakra Cloak method and demanded that he return the Daimyo position to Koyuki Kazahana. Dotō summoned his shinobi to resist, and Zhou Cheng unleashed Susanoo to protect Koyuki and her allies as the battle began.

• Zhou Cheng demanded half the Chakra Cloak output, revealed that he knew Orochimaru, and identified himself as the Konoha Wind God.
• Dotō Kazahana agreed to hand over the Chakra Cloak method but refused Zhou Cheng's demand to restore Koyuki Kazahana as Daimyo.
• Dotō signaled his shinobi by smashing his teacup, and Nadare Rōga and the other jonin entered with their forces.
• Zhou Cheng activated Sharingan and Susanoo, shielding Koyuki Kazahana and her companions while killing several snow shinobi.

Zhou Cheng used Susanoo to overwhelm Dotō Kazahana's forces and demand the Chakra Cloak and control of the Land of Snow. Dotō refused and charged with his loyal Jonin, while his Ice Release power erupted after they were killed.

• Dotō Kazahana ordered the Snow Shinobi to bombard Zhou Cheng's Susanoo, but it remained unharmed and crushed several of them.
• Zhou Cheng taunted Dotō as the Snow Shinobi lost morale and stopped attacking.
• Dotō told his followers to leave, but Nadare Rōga and two Jonin stayed with him to face Zhou Cheng.
• Dotō refused Zhou Cheng's terms, and most of the lower-ranking Snow Shinobi stood aside rather than fight.
• Dotō charged alongside Nadare Rōga, Fubuki Kakuyoku, and Mizore Fuyukuma; Mizore, Fubuki, and Nadare were killed by Susanoo's punches.
• Dotō's body erupted with terrifying chakra as Ice Release swirled around him.

After defeating Dotō Kazahana, Zhou Cheng installed Koyuki Kazahana as the Land of Snow’s new Daimyo and secured her rule. He then traveled alone to Orochimaru’s abandoned base, where he found preserved Sharingan and evolved his own eyes to two tomoe.

• Zhou Cheng defeated Dotō Kazahana, and the Snow Shinobi surrendered to him.
• Zhou Cheng declared Koyuki Kazahana the rightful Daimyo, and the Snow Shinobi pledged allegiance to her.
• Zhou Cheng copied Dotō Kazahana’s Chakra Cloak research, advised Koyuki Kazahana on rewarding Shinobi, and promised Yoshino and the other two help if they needed it.
• Zhou Cheng left for Orochimaru’s secret base in a snowy mountain and killed the guards who discovered him.
• Zhou Cheng found several dozen preserved Sharingan in the base’s restricted area and absorbed their ocular power.
• Zhou Cheng’s single-tomoe Sharingan evolved into two-tomoe Sharingan.

Zhou Cheng tested the power of his two-tomoe Sharingan, then discovered Orochimaru and a surviving test subject in the base. Orochimaru revealed the subject’s Mangekyō Sharingan and summoned a black Susanoo, leaving Zhou Cheng facing an unknown ocular technique.

• Zhou Cheng found that his second-stage Susanoo was more than three times as powerful and his ninjutsu had grown roughly twice as strong.
• Zhou Cheng absorbed the remaining Sharingan, collected useful supplies and Hashirama’s cells, and found a living man in a cultivation tank.
• Orochimaru confronted Zhou Cheng and admitted that he had been hiding in the base since Itachi left him badly injured.
• Orochimaru released his final surviving test subject, who attacked Zhou Cheng with Wood Release and awakened a Mangekyō Sharingan.
• The test subject manifested a black Susanoo as Orochimaru announced that Zhou Cheng would witness its ocular technique.

Zhou Cheng battled Orochimaru’s Mangekyō Sharingan test subject, whose Susanoo wielded Ice Release and time manipulation. The fight reached a stalemate as Zhou Cheng waited for the test subject’s ocular power to run out.

• The test subject’s black Susanoo broke through the base ceiling, and Zhou Cheng summoned an azure Susanoo to fight it as Orochimaru escaped the collapsing mountain.
• The mountain collapsed and triggered an avalanche, but both Susanoo emerged from the buried base and resumed their fight.
• The test subject attacked Zhou Cheng with black ice spears, forcing him to dismiss and then reactivate his Susanoo.
• The test subject used his other Mangekyō Dōjutsu to slow time around Zhou Cheng and blasted the azure Susanoo over a hundred meters away.
• Zhou Cheng avoided using azure dragon mode and maintained his Susanoo, waiting as the test subject’s attacks began to slow.

Zhou Cheng killed the test subject, took his Mangekyō Sharingan, and negotiated with Orochimaru for more Sharingan in exchange for information about his powers. Meanwhile, Han warned Roshi that Zhou Cheng might come to Iwagakure to challenge the village’s Jinchūriki, but Roshi showed little interest in fighting.

• Zhou Cheng defeated and killed the test subject, then stored his Sharingan in his Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Zhou Cheng offered to spare Orochimaru in exchange for twenty pairs of Sharingan and arranged to meet in half a month.
• Han visited Roshi in his secluded valley and told him that Zhou Cheng had destroyed the Land of Snow’s Tenshukaku, killed its Daimyo, and installed a new one.
• Han said Ōnoki suspected Zhou Cheng would come to Iwagakure and challenge its Jinchūriki, but Roshi dismissed the threat as unrelated to him.

Zhou Cheng returned to Konoha, learned that Asuma and his team were missing, and rushed to their coordinates. Asuma and his students took refuge in a watchtower while fleeing Kakuzu and Hidan, but the threat remained outside.

• Han told Roshi that the Tsuchikage wanted them to work together to undermine Zhou Cheng, but Roshi refused to take orders from him.
• Zhou Cheng returned to Konoha, was welcomed by Karin and the other girls, and learned from Itachi that Asuma's team had been missing for several days.
• Zhou Cheng sensed Ino's coordinates and vanished to investigate, leaving Itachi to watch over things in Konoha.
• Asuma and his three students fled Kakuzu and Hidan, with Asuma badly wounded and Shikamaru questioning how their pursuers kept surviving.
• Asuma's team reached a Konoha watchtower and warned the guards to close the gate; Ino asked whether they could contact the village.

Kakuzu and Hidan attacked the Watchtower, overwhelming the Konoha shinobi as Asuma and his students tried to survive. Shikamaru and Choji created an opening, and Asuma led the group toward Konoha with Ino healing Shikamaru.

• Kakuzu and Hidan broke into the Watchtower and killed two Genin at the entrance.
• Asuma ordered the shinobi to defend the entrance, but Kakuzu's elemental attacks killed or wounded more than half of those inside.
• Shikamaru bound Kakuzu and his Mask Clones with Shadow Possession Jutsu, giving Asuma's group a chance to escape.
• Choji knocked Hidan's Scythe away from Asuma, then transformed with chakra Butterfly Wings and sent Hidan flying with a punch.
• Shikamaru collapsed after losing control of Kakuzu, and Choji sent Kakuzu and his Mask Clones flying to open a path.
• Asuma carried Shikamaru toward Konoha as Ino used Mystical Palm Technique to heal him, while Asuma called for Choji to follow.

Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru refused to abandon their injured teacher Asuma as Kakuzu and Hidan caught up with them. Outnumbered and near defeat, Asuma devised a plan to exploit Kakuzu’s multiple hearts while they waited for reinforcements.

• Choji canceled his butterfly form, carried Asuma, and helped the team continue fleeing while Kakuzu and Hidan resumed their pursuit.
• When Asuma tried to stay behind, Choji carried him onward, and Ino supported Shikamaru as the pursuers closed in.
• Ino used the Mind Body Switch Technique on Hidan, but Kakuzu blasted him away and broke her control.
• Asuma’s team resisted Kakuzu’s masked figures and Hidan, refusing to escape without their teacher despite their inability to carry someone with Chakra Mode.
• Asuma realized Kakuzu likely had multiple hearts and quietly shared a plan with his students to create an opening for a decisive attack.
• Kakuzu urged Hidan to finish the fight quickly, and Hidan charged Asuma as Kakuzu’s masked figures unleashed elemental ninjutsu.

Zhou Cheng arrived just as Hidan was about to kill Ino and rescued her and Asuma. He exposed the weaknesses in Hidan’s ritual, leaving Hidan stunned by how Zhou Cheng had figured them out.

• Hidan used Ino’s blood to begin his ritual and inflicted a matching wound on her by stabbing himself.
• Zhou Cheng appeared, healed Ino and Asuma, and used genjutsu to stop Hidan.
• Zhou Cheng pulled Hidan out of the ritual circle and washed away its markings before releasing him from the genjutsu.
• Hidan stabbed himself again, but Ino suffered no injury, confirming that Zhou Cheng’s interruption had broken the ritual.
• Zhou Cheng explained that Hidan needed his enemy’s blood, time to swallow it, and a drawn circle to perform the ritual, leaving Hidan to ask how Zhou Cheng knew its secrets.

Zhou Cheng cut Hidan apart and stored his head in his Alternate Dimension before confronting Obito. He exploited Obito’s Phasing with Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, forcing him to use Izanagi and retreat, then returned to Konoha with Asuma and the others.

• Zhou Cheng cut Hidan into pieces and put his head in his Alternate Dimension to keep him from continuing the ritual.
• Obito appeared through a vortex, and Zhou Cheng tested his Phasing by attacking with Rasengan that passed through him.
• Zhou Cheng placed an explosive-tagged kunai inside Obito’s phased body and detonated Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags for ten minutes.
• Obito survived the explosions by using Izanagi, but Zhou Cheng recognized the technique and forced him to retreat.
• Kakuzu vanished, and Zhou Cheng used his own Phasing to take Asuma and the others back to Konoha.

After returning to Konoha, Zhou Cheng dealt with Hidan, reflected on his plans to grow stronger, and went home to rest. In Amegakure, Obito and Nagato made Zhou Cheng the Akatsuki’s top-priority target and decided to hunt him alongside capturing the tailed beasts.

• Asuma, Choji, and Shikamaru left Zhou Cheng, while Ino kissed him before Hinata and Karin chased after him and he escaped into the Alternate Dimension.
• Zhou Cheng buried Hidan’s head beneath the ground in the Alternate Dimension, then returned home and considered his new abilities, the Akatsuki’s threat, and his plans to obtain Wood Release.
• Obito reported to Pain that Zhou Cheng had defeated him and taken Hidan’s head, leaving the Akatsuki with another lost fighter.
• Obito urged Nagato to make Zhou Cheng the Akatsuki’s primary target because he protected several Jinchuriki and threatened the Tailed Beast Capture Plan.
• Nagato decided to launch the Tailed Beast Capture Plan and the Zhou Cheng Hunting Plan at the same time, with Obito and the Six Paths joining the ambush.

Zhou Cheng offered Tsunade the Chakra Cloak blueprints in exchange for ensuring Shinobi knew he had provided them, and she agreed. He accepted high-ranking missions to qualify for promotion to Jonin, while Tsunade and Jiraiya considered whether he might someday come into conflict with Konoha.

• Zhou Cheng showed Tsunade the Chakra Cloak blueprints, and she was astonished by their potential to strengthen Konoha’s Shinobi.
• Zhou Cheng demanded recognition as the cloaks’ donor, and Tsunade agreed after considering his influence and connections in the village.
• Tsunade offered Zhou Cheng five S-Rank and fifteen A-Rank missions as a path to Jonin promotion, and he selected missions while keeping the bounties.
• Jiraiya joined Tsunade and said Zhou Cheng would not rebel unless Konoha wronged him, though conflict could arise if their interests clashed.
• Jiraiya wondered whether Zhou Cheng or Naruto was the Child of Prophecy and worried that the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy might be mistaken.

After Talent Refinement finished, Zhou Cheng used sixty drops of talent original liquid to obtain perfect Wood Release and tested its strongest techniques in the Alternate Dimension. Back in Konoha, he replicated Konohamaru Sarutobi’s top-tier fire release affinity and demonstrated an enormous Great Fireball Technique, startling the Xiaoqiang.

• Zhou Cheng spent more than twenty days taking missions while Talent Refinement ran its course.
• Zhou Cheng fused Earth Release and Water Release with sixty drops of talent original liquid and gained perfect Wood Release.
• Zhou Cheng tested powerful Wood Release techniques, including True Several Thousand Hands and Hotei, and devastated the Alternate Dimension.
• Zhou Cheng recovered in Konoha and chose Konohamaru Sarutobi as his next Replication target.
• Zhou Cheng replicated Konohamaru Sarutobi’s top-tier fire release affinity and demonstrated an enormous Great Fireball Technique before the startled Xiaoqiang.

Zhou Cheng tested his newly mastered Fire Release and planned to continue strengthening his abilities, then spent the day with Mitaraishi Anko and the girls before preparing a group dinner. As evening fell, the young shinobi gathered in his courtyard and the girls joined him in the kitchen.

• Zhou Cheng tested Fire Release in the Alternate Dimension and found that his Sharingan-enhanced techniques were more than twice as powerful, while his hand-seal-less ninjutsu let him fire off techniques in quick succession.
• Zhou Cheng planned to take a mission lasting about ten days before using Replication again to refine Konohamaru's talent and continue pursuing the Sage Eyes.
• Mitaraishi Anko returned from a mission, asked Zhou Cheng to cook for her, and he gave the young shinobi the day off and invited them to dinner.
• Zhou Cheng went shopping for ingredients with Anko and the girls, drawing envious looks from men around Konoha.
• The young shinobi returned at dusk and arranged tables and chairs in the courtyard while the girls went into the kitchen with Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Cheng received sixty Sharingan from Orochimaru and rejected Orochimaru’s request for his blood, though Orochimaru left the Sharingan with him as a gift. In the Alternate Dimension, Zhou Cheng absorbed them and evolved his Sharingan to three tomoe, gaining new abilities and strengthening his existing ones.

• The girls helped Zhou Cheng prepare a meal, and Asuma, Kurenai Yuhi, and Konohamaru thanked him for saving Asuma’s life before leaving.
• Zhou Cheng met Orochimaru at Hokage Rock and received a sealing scroll containing sixty Sharingan.
• Orochimaru offered to improve Zhou Cheng’s Chakra Cloak blueprints in exchange for his blood, but Zhou Cheng refused and threatened to end their deal.
• Orochimaru left the Sharingan with Zhou Cheng as a gift and transformed into a small snake before disappearing.
• Zhou Cheng entered the Alternate Dimension, absorbed all the Sharingan, and evolved his eyes to three tomoe.

Zhou Cheng tested the power of his Three-Stage Susanoo and strengthened Sharingan, then learned that Iwagakure would host the Whole Shinobi World Chunin Exams. When Konoha’s advisors demanded he lead the team without bargaining, he threatened them and declared that they could not stop him from betraying the village.

• Zhou Cheng used his Three-Stage Susanoo to unleash devastating sword strikes and a compressed Rasengan, and found that his Sharingan amplified his ninjutsu fivefold.
• Zhou Cheng decided he was strong enough to face Nagato and Ōnoki, and planned to take the Four-Tails and Five-Tails from Iwagakure.
• Zhou Cheng completed Konohamaru’s Talent Refinement, replicated Sasuke Uchiha, and gained top-tier lightning nature affinity and Lightning Release.
• Tsunade summoned Zhou Cheng and told him that Iwagakure would host the Whole Shinobi World Chunin Exams in half a month, with Zhou Cheng leading Konoha’s team.
• When the advisors ordered Zhou Cheng to obey the village without bargaining, he threatened them, smashed the desk, and declared that they could not stop him from betraying Konoha.

Zhou Cheng agreed to lead Konoha’s delegation to the joint Chunin Exams in Iwagakure after securing authority over the group and an S-Rank mission fee. Tsunade hoped the assignment would test his leadership, while the young shinobi at Zhou Cheng’s home eagerly asked to go along.

• Zhou Cheng threatened Konoha’s Advisors after they tried to pressure Tsunade, then agreed to travel to Iwagakure once she offered an S-Rank mission and he won control of the delegation.
• Tsunade told Jiraiya she wanted Zhou Cheng’s leadership tested so she could hand him the Hokage Position, and she complained about the burdens of the job.
• Zhou Cheng returned home and told the youngsters that the Five Great Shinobi Villages would jointly hold the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• The youngsters clamored to accompany Zhou Cheng, hoping to use the trip as an excuse to slack off.

Zhou Cheng organized his companions for a trip to Iwagakure, urging Naruto to befriend the Nine-Tails while planning to advance toward Six Paths level. The next morning, he gathered his group at the Konoha Gate and waited for the others to arrive.

• Zhou Cheng told the young ninja from the clans to keep their relatives in line during the Chunin Ninja Exams and warned he would punish anyone who disobeyed.
• Zhou Cheng reassured Kurama Yakumo and urged her to visit her clan, while telling Karin, Kimimaro, Naruto, and Haku that they were his family.
• Zhou Cheng asked Naruto about his efforts to befriend the Nine-Tails, encouraged him to keep trying, and sent him home to pack.
• Zhou Cheng considered how to gain the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, obtain Sage Eyes, and grow strong enough to reach Six Paths level.
• Zhou Cheng prepared breakfast for his companions, then led them to the Konoha Gate, where the arriving ninja fell quiet when they saw him.