Recaps

Zhou Cheng entered Konoha with Haku, used his copied talents to impress the village, and became the focus of competing efforts to recruit him. As his match with Neji approached, Zhou Cheng trained with Might Guy and Hinata, but he remained wary of Neji’s secret techniques.

• Zhou Cheng arrived in Konoha with Haku, copied Hiruzen Sarutobi’s chakra-control talent, and defeated children who attacked them at their lodgings.
• Zhou Cheng impressed the evaluators with his strength, speed, and shuriken skills, passed the assessment with Haku, and entered the Ninja Academy.
• Zhou Cheng demonstrated his skill in class, challenged Neji to a match in one month, and began training with Haku while Hiruzen and Danzo sought to recruit him.
• After an ANBU investigation and memory probe, Zhou Cheng recovered in the hospital, taught his friends ninjutsu, and completed refining Hiruzen’s talent.
• Zhou Cheng strengthened his attributes with the resulting talent liquid and tracked down Might Guy, copied his taijutsu knowledge, and asked to train with him.
• Zhou Cheng sparred with Hinata to prepare for Neji, while Guy asked Hiruzen to take Zhou Cheng as his student and Kakashi predicted Neji would win.
• Ino kissed Zhou Cheng to encourage him, Hinata wished him luck, and Zhou Cheng decided he could beat Neji if Neji avoided his secret techniques and chakra-point strikes.

Zhou Cheng defeated Neji, graduated early, and entered both Kakashi’s tutelage and Hiruzen’s ANBU. After killing Mizuki and learning forbidden techniques from the Scroll of Seals, he navigated Hiruzen’s pressure, trained with Kakashi, and built ties with his classmates as he prepared to challenge Sasuke.

• Zhou Cheng defeated Neji by draining his chakra and finishing him with the Great Waterfall Technique, then offered him friendship and accepted Sasuke’s challenge.
• Zhou Cheng applied for early graduation, chose Kakashi as his future teacher, and drew the attention of Konoha’s leaders and clans, including the Kurama Clan, which arranged a marriage alliance with Kurama Yakumo.
• Haku told Zhou Cheng that he could create ice and snow, and the Hokage approved Zhou Cheng’s graduation without an exam before recruiting him into the ANBU under Uzuki Yugao.
• Kakashi accepted Zhou Cheng as his student after Zhou Cheng passed the bell test, then Zhou Cheng intervened when Mizuki attacked Naruto over the Scroll of Seals.
• Zhou Cheng memorized forbidden techniques from the scroll and killed Mizuki to save Iruka and Naruto, then worried that Hiruzen had seen him reading it.
• Hiruzen confronted Zhou Cheng and threatened him with execution, so Zhou Cheng agreed to become his student and attend morning lessons while continuing ANBU duty and Kakashi’s training.
• Zhou Cheng demonstrated exceptional skill learning ninjutsu from Kakashi, hosted a meal for his friends, and agreed to duel Sasuke three days later.
• At his first lesson with Hiruzen, Zhou Cheng asked how to strengthen ninjutsu without spending more chakra and decided not to trust Hiruzen’s warning against risky training while young.

Zhou Cheng built Team 8, acquired powerful talents, and protected his friends through the Forest of Death and the Chunin Exams. As he healed and helped others, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo concluded that his strength made him difficult to control and considered coercing or killing him.

• Zhou Cheng joined Team 8 under Kurenai Yuhi with Haku and Kurama Yakumo, then gained Yakumo’s genjutsu talent and kekkei genkai.
• Zhou Cheng mastered the Rasengan, injured himself attempting a Rasenshuriken, and entered the Chunin Exams determined to find Karin Uzumaki.
• In the Forest of Death, Zhou Cheng rescued Karin, replicated her sealing and healing abilities, gathered scrolls, and confronted Orochimaru after saving Team 7.
• Zhou Cheng protected Haku, Kurama Yakumo, and Karin from the Sound Four, then led his team safely to the central tower with their full roster intact.
• During the preliminaries, Zhou Cheng helped Hinata challenge Neji, blocked Neji’s Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, and healed both cousins with Yang Release.
• Zhou Cheng healed Rock Lee after his match with Gaara and helped Neji and Hinata reconcile before planning further training and missions.
• An ANBU report revealed Zhou Cheng’s growing power and influence, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo to discuss forcing him into Root or killing him if he resisted.

Zhou Cheng fought Shukaku during Orochimaru’s invasion, helped Gaara change, and challenged Danzo’s power in Konoha. As Tsunade prepared to become Hokage, Zhou Cheng rescued Kurama Yakumo from Root while Sasuke left to join Orochimaru and enemies plotted against Zhou Cheng.

• Hiruzen and Danzo confronted Zhou Cheng about his strength, but Zhou Cheng resisted their attempts to control him and demonstrated his Rasenshuriken before facing Gaara in the final Chunin Exam.
• Zhou Cheng fought Gaara until Shukaku emerged, then led the tailed beast away from Konoha and joined Jiraiya in defeating it and restoring Gaara’s control.
• Zhou Cheng helped Gaara reconcile with Temari and Kankuro, while Hiruzen sacrificed his life to stop Orochimaru and Danzo tried to claim control of Konoha.
• Zhou Cheng learned the Summoning Technique from Jiraiya, backed Hyuga Hiashi’s Hokage bid, and publicly challenged Danzo over Root’s failures and the village’s promotion rules.
• Zhou Cheng led Hinata, Haku, Kurama Yakumo, and Karin on a mission to the Land of Waves, then rescued Kurama Yakumo from Root and fought Danzo until Jiraiya and Tsunade intervened.
• Tsunade fought Zhou Cheng before becoming Hokage, while Kurama Yakumo revealed that her clan had handed her to Danzo and Sasuke left for Orochimaru after the inauguration.
• Danzo hired a masked Akatsuki member to kill Zhou Cheng, and Tsunade agreed to give Zhou Cheng the Second Hokage’s Thunder God Sword after he promised not to betray Konoha.