Chapter Summaries

As Konoha fought off the Sand and Sound invasion, Toru Kujyo stopped Gaara from fully transforming into Shukaku and helped secure him. The village’s battle continued, with Hiruzen Sarutobi still facing the reanimated First and Second Hokage.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi battled the reanimated Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju inside the Four Violet Flames Formation while Orochimaru taunted him.
• Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake held back the Sand Ninja and Sound Ninja at the Chunin Ninja Exams arena as civilians evacuated.
• Kurenai Yuhi and the genin subdued Temari and Kankuro, but Gaara began transforming into Shukaku.
• Toru Kujyo struck Gaara and stopped Shukaku’s awakening, then warned Gaara that he would kill him if he lost control again.
• Kurenai Yuhi ordered Hinata Hyuga to seal Gaara’s chakra points, and Toru Kujyo confirmed that Hyuga Hiashi and Hanabi were safe.

Toru Kujyo helped escort the captured Sand Ninja, then destroyed a three-headed giant snake and its Sound Ninja rider after they crushed his house. He left to clear the rubble with Hinata while Uchiha Itachi watched from the shadows.

• Kurenai Yuhi ordered Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji to escort Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro to Konoha's Interrogation Department.
• Sound Ninja ambushed the group, and Might Guy and Kakashi arrived to help turn the battle in their favor.
• A three-headed giant snake crashed into the spot where Toru Kujyo's house stood, provoking him to vaporize it and its rider with his Ultimate Technique: Judgment.
• Toru Kujyo rejected Sasuke's request to learn the technique and set off to clean up his ruined house, with Hinata following him.
• Kurenai Yuhi sent the others onward, while Uchiha Itachi observed Toru Kujyo and judged him to have more potential than Sasuke had at that age.

Toru Kujyo recovered his research scroll and a photograph of Hanabi from the ruins while Hinata defeated Sound Ninja, as Konoha launched a counterattack and the Sand invasion collapsed. Hiruzen Sarutobi sealed away Orochimaru’s arms before dying, and Orochimaru escaped.

• Sasuke Uchiha asked Toru Kujyo to teach him a technique, but Toru refused and called him too weak.
• Toru Kujyo flew to the ruins of the Hyuga Residence with Hinata to retrieve his belongings, and Hinata defeated the Sound Ninja who ambushed them.
• Toru Kujyo recovered his research scroll and a photograph of himself with Hanabi from beneath the rubble.
• Konoha’s hidden forces surged into battle, while Baki discovered that Orochimaru had impersonated the Fourth Kazekage and ordered the Sand Ninja to retreat.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Reaper Death Seal to take Orochimaru’s arm souls, then died as Orochimaru fled with the Sound Four.

After the Konoha Crush Plan failed, Konoha mourned Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō while facing a power vacuum and the threat of Akatsuki. Toru Kujyo quietly positioned himself to inherit Root’s power as Jiraiya refused the Hokage role and recommended Tsunade.

• Jiraiya reported that a Rinnegan-wielding Akatsuki intruder destroyed Konoha’s underground base, killed Shimura Danzō and Root, abducted Tenzo, and stole important scrolls.
• Jiraiya suspected his former student Yahiko had attacked and declared his intention to investigate Akatsuki, then refused the offer to become Fifth Hokage and recommended Tsunade.
• Konoha held a memorial for Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, whose death was officially honored as a sacrifice defending the village.
• Toru Kujyo laid chrysanthemums before the portraits while privately planning to continue Danzo’s work and make Root great again.

After Sarutobi and Danzo’s deaths opened the way for peace talks between Konoha and Sunagakure, Toru Kujyo secured a huge plot in Konoha to build his own concealed base. By the chapter’s end, craftsmen and architects had begun planning his new lair.

• Hinata and Hanabi offered Toru Kujyo a place to stay, but he declined because he wanted to build a very large house.
• Toru Kujyo found the ruined Hot Spring Splendor inn and decided to buy its land for its size, location, and natural hot spring.
• With Hinata’s help, Toru Kujyo met Ino Yamanaka and Yusuke Yamanaka and bought the inn’s land for 66,666,666 ryo.
• Toru Kujyo bought the neighboring ruined plots for roughly 280 million ryo, paying with cash stored in Sealing Scrolls.
• The next day, Konoha craftsmen and architects began surveying Toru Kujyo’s land and drafting plans for his new lair.
• News of the Konoha Crush Plan and the deaths of the two Kage spread across the Five Great Nations.

After Konoha and Sunagakure blamed Orochimaru and the Akatsuki for the deaths of their leaders, Obito and the Akatsuki discovered that an unknown observer had watched their movements and exposed them. Sasori returned to the base demanding to meet the man who had impersonated him and controlled many puppets.

• Konoha and Sunagakure announced that Orochimaru had killed Rasa and Hiruzen Sarutobi, while Akatsuki members had destroyed Root and killed Shimura Danzō.
• Konoha released descriptions and bounties for Sasori of the Red Sands and Deva Path Pain, drawing the shinobi world's attention to Amegakure.
• Obito confronted Pain about the exposed Rinnegan and headquarters, but Pain and Konan insisted they had not left Amegakure to attack Root.
• Konan explained that a chakra-triggered paper butterfly showed the unknown man had watched the Akatsuki leave Konoha without being detected.
• Black Zetsu suggested the observer might possess an ancient visual jutsu developed from the Byakugan by a clan on the moon, and vowed to hunt him down.
• Sasori burst into the base and demanded to know where the man who impersonated him and controlled more than a hundred puppets was.

Black Zetsu suggested moving Akatsuki’s base after Konoha exposed its secrets, but Pain refused, declaring himself invincible. In Konoha, Sasuke asked Toru Kujyo to teach him his secret techniques, and the two reconciled after teasing each other before heading to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

• Sasori pressed Pain and Black Zetsu for information about the life-giving Puppet Technique, but Pain said he did not know the artist’s whereabouts.
• Black Zetsu warned that Konoha’s intelligence had exposed Akatsuki and Amegakure, and asked whether they should relocate their base.
• Pain rejected the idea of moving, declaring that anyone who came to Amegakure would face a god and that he was invincible.
• Sasuke offered Toru Kujyo a room in exchange for learning his Ultimate Techniques, but Toru refused until Sasuke showed sincerity.
• Sasuke called Toru “big brother,” then snapped when Toru mocked his appeal; after they wrestled, Toru agreed to teach him.
• Toru and Sasuke checked out of the inn and walked toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Toru Kujyo took Sasuke shopping to prepare for Hinata’s visit, but the outing turned tense when Kakashi spotted Akatsuki members in Konoha. After Toru revealed that one of them was Sasuke’s brother, Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke raced after him and attacked, only for Itachi to evade him effortlessly.

• Toru Kujyo and Sasuke Uchiha bought ingredients and cookware while bickering about Sasuke becoming Toru’s personal chef.
• Kakashi Hatake spotted two Akatsuki members at a Dango Shop, and he, Asuma Sarutobi, and Kurenai Yuhi moved to pursue them.
• Toru Kujyo told Sasuke that one of the Akatsuki members was his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, prompting Sasuke to chase after him in a rage.
• Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi confronted Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki outside Konoha as Sasuke arrived and attacked Itachi with Chidori.
• Uchiha Itachi dodged Sasuke’s attack, grabbed his Chidori-wielding arm, and twisted it.

Toru Kujyo interrupted Itachi as he was about to use Tsukuyomi on Sasuke and revealed a powerful energy attack. The chapter ended with Itachi recognizing Toru’s technique as Dust Release, a kekkei tōta.

• Itachi broke Sasuke’s arm, defeated Kurenai’s genjutsu, and prepared to trap Sasuke in Tsukuyomi.
• A crimson beam shot from the woods, forcing Itachi to dodge and Kisame and Asuma to evade its path.
• Kisame’s Water Dragon Bullet Technique extinguished the beam in a burst of steam.
• Toru Kujyo emerged, approached Sasuke, and began forming a sphere of destructive energy.
• Toru’s sphere transformed, and Itachi identified it as Dust Release, a kekkei tōta.

Toru Kujyo used a throwable sphere of Dust Release to erase the battlefield and escape with the unconscious Sasuke. Itachi and Kisame survived by fleeing into the river, while Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi returned to find a vast crater filling with water.

• Toru Kujyo threw a crystal sphere of Dust Release toward Itachi and Kisame, then lifted Sasuke and fled in the opposite direction.
• Itachi and Kisame attempted to escape the expanding wall of white light, but it erased Itachi’s Amaterasu and began dissolving his Susanoo.
• Kisame opened his Great Shark Bullet, and Itachi shoved them both into its mouth so they could escape underwater.
• The light erased the battlefield and carved out a crater more than five hundred meters across, which the severed river began to fill.
• Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi returned and froze at the sight of the enormous crater.

After Toru Kujyo demonstrated power that left Konoha’s jōnin shaken, he took Sasuke in as his servant in exchange for training to kill Itachi. The next day, Hinata and Hanabi visited, and Hanabi demanded that Toru teach her ninjutsu too.

• Kurenai explained that Toru had combined three chakra nature transformations through sheer talent, while Asuma and the arriving Kakashi, Might Guy, and jōnin stared at the lake-sized crater.
• Toru brought the unconscious Sasuke to the Uchiha Clan Main Residence, where Sasuke vowed to give his life to Toru after killing Itachi.
• Toru rejected Sasuke’s attempt to submit and instead ordered him to work as his servant, promising special training.
• Hinata and Hanabi visited the Uchiha Mansion the next morning, and Toru took them to the Naka River while Sasuke stayed behind.
• Hanabi spotted the smooth cave behind the waterfall, learned Toru had blasted it open while practicing, and asked him to teach her ninjutsu.

Toru Kujyo promised Hanabi that she could surpass Hinata with his training, then began a river-surface taijutsu test for Sasuke. Hinata overwhelmed Sasuke with the Gentle Fist and ended the fight by knocking him into the river.

• Toru Kujyo told Hanabi she could surpass Hinata at age ten if she followed his instructions, and Hanabi asked whether that included physical development.
• Toru Kujyo assigned Hinata to pressure Sasuke on the water and forbade Sasuke from using the Sharingan or ninjutsu.
• Hinata used precise Gentle Fist strikes to disrupt Sasuke’s balance and chakra while teaching him about control and flexibility.
• As Sasuke’s chakra ran low, Hinata unleashed Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists and sent him crashing into the river.

After Sasuke lost to Toru Kujyo, Toru told him his anger and impatience were holding him back and replaced the planned physical training with a demanding reading list and water-walking exercises. Sasuke accepted the regimen after Toru promised to teach him a specially prepared S-rank technique, and Toru then gave Hinata a scroll of her own.

• Sasuke struggled out of the river after losing to Toru Kujyo and demanded to know what came next in his training.
• Toru Kujyo told Sasuke that his anger, hatred, and refusal to accept defeat were clouding his judgment and weakening him.
• Toru Kujyo gave Sasuke a reading list and ordered him to master its books within two weeks while practicing water walking.
• Toru Kujyo explained that theoretical knowledge was necessary to build real power and promised Sasuke a specially prepared S-rank technique.
• Sasuke accepted the training plan, and Toru Kujyo handed Hinata a smaller scroll while she ate grilled fish.

Toru Kujyo photographed Hinata and Hanabi before telling Sasuke he would help demolish Toru’s old house. The next morning, Toru precisely cut the house apart with Storm Release, leaving Sasuke and the other genin to face the rubble.

• Toru Kujyo took a picture of Hinata and Hanabi by the Naka River while they were eating.
• Toru Kujyo told Sasuke to help demolish his old house and recruit Choji Akimichi to clear the rubble; Sasuke reluctantly agreed.
• Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame gathered with Sasuke at Toru Kujyo’s old house.
• Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka damaged the house without bringing it down, making a mess of the site.
• Toru Kujyo used Storm Release: Light Ion Disintegration to sever the house’s supports and collapse it into a pile of rubble.
• Toru Kujyo announced that clearing the rubble was next, and the group fell silent at the sight of the debris.

Toru Kujyo used hundreds of shadow clones to speed up a cleanup and construction project, drawing the young ninja into a chaotic but productive day of work. As he returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound with Sasuke, he sensed White Zetsu’s hidden clone, which feared him and hurried to report to Obito.

• Toru Kujyo created more than two hundred shadow clones, and their work turned the cleanup into a training brawl with Naruto, Kiba, Rock Lee, and others.
• Hinata, Ino, Sakura, and Tenten brought refreshments, after which the young ninja joined in the cleanup and finished it in two days.
• Toru Kujyo treated everyone to a meal at Yakiniku Q, then hired Earth Release ninja to prepare a foundation and left the building work to a construction company.
• Toru Kujyo walked toward the Uchiha Clan Compound with Sasuke and sensed White Zetsu’s clone hiding in a tree.
• White Zetsu’s clone realized Toru Kujyo had detected it and resolved to report what it had learned to Obito and its original body.

Toru Kujyo revealed that hidden observers had used the Mayfly Technique to pursue him, while his shadow clone captured Tenzo and made him spar with Ranmaru inside a barrier. After days of repeated battles that rapidly strengthened Ranmaru, the clone told Karin that her task was over.

• Toru Kujyo told Sasuke that Mayfly Technique users had been watching them but had already left.
• Tenzo trapped Toru Kujyo's shadow clone with Wood Release, but the clone destroyed the wooden cage with Storm Release and incapacitated him.
• Toru Kujyo's shadow clone brought Tenzo into a purple barrier and ordered Ranmaru to defeat him without killing him.
• Ranmaru used his Red Eye, Gentle Fist, and ninjutsu to defeat Tenzo, who was healed and forced to continue sparring.
• Ranmaru grew stronger through repeated battles while Tenzo's escape attempts failed and Toru Kujyo's shadow clone criticized his fighting.
• Toru Kujyo's shadow clone found Karin sorting medicinal herbs and told her that her task was over.

Toru Kujyo arranged for Karin to join Konoha, then used a shadow clone to extract Tenzo’s Wood Release properties and erase his memories. Toru fused with Wood Release and set his sights on Root to find more training material.

• Toru Kujyo’s shadow clone told Karin she would join Konoha as a specialist, and she eagerly packed to leave.
• The clone struck Tenzo with the Cell Interference Beam, stopped his rampage, extracted information about his Wood Release, and sealed away his memories of the encounter.
• The clone hid Tenzo in a stone coffin beneath a deserted mountain cave before vanishing.
• Toru Kujyo fused with the Wood Release talent and concluded it would help him counter the Mayfly Technique and draw Sasuke’s growth.
• Toru Kujyo demonstrated his new ability to grow a vine and flower, then turned his attention toward Root’s underground base.

Toru Kujyo secretly stole and copied Danzo’s Wood Release scroll, learned several techniques from it, and then visited Sasuke at the Uchiha compound. He began explaining the nature of ninjutsu while hinting at the power behind the S-Rank technique he had promised to teach Sasuke.

• Toru Kujyo used a miniature chakra spider to bypass Danzo’s defenses, replace the Wood Release scroll with a counterfeit, and escape unnoticed.
• Toru Kujyo found that the scroll lacked Hashirama Senju’s most powerful techniques but memorized its contents, including the Wood Clone Technique, Thorn Kill Technique, and Silent Killing Binding Technique.
• Toru Kujyo tested the Wood Clone Technique and discarded the scroll after learning from it.
• Toru Kujyo visited Sasuke as he trained, and Sasuke asked what type of S-Rank technique Toru Kujyo could teach him.
• Toru Kujyo explained chakra nature and shape transformation, describing how combining chakra natures could create a kekkei genkai such as Storm Release.

Toru Kujyo told Sasuke that his S-Rank ultimate technique altered causality and challenged him to last thirty moves before learning its basics. While Sasuke resolved to surpass him, Toru began fishing and secretly planted a Wood Clone that formed a hidden sensory network to hunt for an unusual chakra signal.

• Toru Kujyo explained that his ultimate technique changed the world's rules through causality and said he might teach Sasuke its basics after Sasuke lasted thirty moves against him.
• Sasuke's shock turned into an obsessive determination to surpass Toru, and he followed him to the Naka River.
• Toru baited a broad stretch of river and concealed a tiny Wood Clone in one lump before settling down to fish.
• The Wood Clone drifted downstream to the cliff where Itachi and Sasuke had parted on the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre, then hid inside an ancient tree.
• Toru's Wood Release chakra spread through the tree's roots and groundwater, creating a concealed sensory network to search for an unusual chakra signal from another realm.

Toru Kujyo used Wood Release to capture and consume a White Zetsu Clone hiding near the Naka River, exposing the Mayfly Technique and learning about Obito and Black Zetsu. The White Zetsu fled Konoha in alarm, while Toru returned home with Sasuke, concealing what he had discovered.

• Toru Kujyo's Wood Clone sensed a White Zetsu Clone disguised near the Naka River and trapped it with Wood Release.
• The roots drained and consumed the White Zetsu Clone, preventing it from transmitting information before its final signal reached its kin.
• White Zetsu Clones across Konoha panicked, abandoned their missions, and fled underground, triggering the village's sensory alarms.
• White Zetsu and Black Zetsu learned that a White Zetsu had been hunted and captured in Konoha, and Black Zetsu suspected Toru Kujyo had mastered Wood Release.
• Toru Kujyo woke beside Sasuke, caught a fish with chakra, and took Sasuke home while privately acknowledging that he had absorbed the captured clone's knowledge.