Chapter Summaries

Zhou Cheng exposed Genji’s role in the assassination attempt and forced him to confess that Kirigakure’s leaders had murdered Zhou Cheng’s family. Enraged, Zhou Cheng prepared to fight the village, with Haku, Hinata, and Karin standing beside him.

• Zhou Cheng struck the Mizukage Building with Susanoo, exposed its empty office, and discovered Genji hiding in a nearby building.
• Zhou Cheng used genjutsu to make Genji confess that he had ordered the assassination because Zhou Cheng would not serve him.
• Zhou Cheng confronted Genji over the deaths of the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and learned that Kirigakure’s leaders had arranged the deaths of Zhou Cheng’s parents and unborn younger sibling.
• Zhou Cheng demanded to know who else had been involved, but Genji claimed that everyone else responsible was dead.
• Genji’s trusted aide pulled him away from Susanoo’s attack, and Zhou Cheng activated Wind Release Chakra Mode as Haku, Hinata, and Karin joined him.

Zhou Cheng avenged his family by torturing Genji to death, then forced Kirigakure to accept Mei Terumi as Mizukage. He returned to Konoha with Haku, Hinata, Karin, and Isobu, where he began to relax at home.

• Zhou Cheng killed Genji's rescuers and learned that Genji had caused his family's deaths, including the death of his pregnant mother.
• Zhou Cheng repeatedly severed Genji's limbs and healed him until Genji died from the torture, while Haku, Hinata, Karin, and Mei Terumi let him vent.
• Zhou Cheng declared Mei Terumi the Fifth Mizukage after no one dared object, then thanked Haku, Hinata, and Karin before taking them away through his Phasing vortex.
• Zhou Cheng and his companions returned to his house in Konoha, where Isobu rested in the sun and refused to see the Nine-Tails.

After recovering from his vengeance, Zhou Cheng considered his next move as the Akatsuki launched its tailed beast hunt and Mei Terumi began establishing her authority as Mizukage. He decided to visit Orochimaru’s secret base the next day and checked that Kaguya’s seal remained secure before ending the night.

• Mei Terumi took office as Mizukage, opened Kirigakure to the outside world, and planned to deal with Genji’s remaining followers to establish her authority.
• Obito introduced Ao as Itachi’s replacement, assigned him logistics, and announced that the Akatsuki would begin capturing tailed beasts the next day, with Konan joining the hunt.
• Asuma Sarutobi left Konoha on a week-long mission with Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji as two Akatsuki members followed them.
• Zhou Cheng spent time with Isobu and the youngsters, then decided to visit Orochimaru’s base the next day.
• Zhou Cheng entered the Alternate Dimension, found Kaguya asleep with her seal intact, and returned to his room.

Zhou Cheng traveled to the Land of Snow to find Orochimaru’s secret base and obtain Sharingan, while considering his plans to develop stronger abilities. Along the way, two shinobi from a nearby group questioned him, but he dismissed their suspicions and continued on his journey.

• Zhou Cheng returned to his room, considered his plans to gather Sharingan and tailed-beast body parts, and failed to synthesize Wood Release with forty-eight drops of talent original liquid.
• The next morning, Zhou Cheng left a note and traveled from Konoha toward Orochimaru’s secret base in the Land of Snow.
• After reaching the Land of Snow, Zhou Cheng bought warm clothes at a marketplace and kept his distance from a group traveling in the same direction.
• Two unmarked shinobi confronted Zhou Cheng during a lunch stop and asked why he was following their group.
• Zhou Cheng claimed he was merely traveling the same route, and the two shinobi returned to their group while he continued onward.

Zhou Cheng reached a group of civilians under attack and tried to take one of the attackers’ powered sleds, only to be caught up in a feud involving Miss Hui. He escaped with her and the two shinobi who had questioned him after their teacher arrived, a Kumogakure jonin.

• Zhou Cheng spotted shinobi attacking the civilian group and went to take one of their mechanical sleds.
• The two shinobi recognized Zhou Cheng, while Miss Hui offered to show him how to start the sled and urged him to flee.
• A squad leader demanded that Miss Hui hand over an item, and Zhou Cheng started the sled and pulled her aboard.
• Zhou Cheng knocked one attacker away with the sled and dodged the squad leader’s Great Fireball Technique.
• The two shinobi joined Zhou Cheng on the sled, and their teacher arrived, kicked the squad leader away, and asked Miss Hui if she was unharmed.

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.