Chapter Summaries

Hikaru considered how to gain control of Konoha’s Logistics and Medical Departments while the Third Hokage faced blame for the Senju Clan’s losses. On a mission in the Land of Rice, Nawaki Senju mourned his fallen relatives and questioned why the village had replaced Hikaru as commander.

• Hikaru told the Third Hokage that he had to bear responsibility for the Senju Clan’s losses and left him to collect himself.
• Hikaru hoped Orochimaru’s evidence against Danzo would help him take down Danzo and eventually gain control of the Logistics Department.
• Orochimaru counseled Nawaki Senju, whose grandmother and many clan members had died, while they traveled on a mission in the Land of Rice.
• Nawaki Senju asked Orochimaru why the village had replaced Hikaru as commander and said he believed the losses would have been smaller if his brother-in-law had stayed in charge.

Nawaki Senju questioned Orochimaru about Konoha’s refusal to let the Uchiha Clan join the war, but Orochimaru would not reveal the reasons. Meanwhile, the Third Raikage pursued the Nine-Tails through the Land of Lightning as it wandered toward the coast in search of the Seven-Tails.

• Nawaki Senju asked Orochimaru why the village had barred the Uchiha Clan from the war, and Orochimaru told him to ask Tsunade.
• Nawaki Senju’s teammates interrupted before he could press Orochimaru further, and the group set off for Konoha.
• The Third Raikage met with the Nine-Tails’ watchers, learned it had made no trouble, and ordered them to keep its presence secret.
• The Third Raikage led his men after the Nine-Tails, which continued toward the coastline while following the faint scent of the Seven-Tails.
• The Nine-Tails reflected that serving Hikaru had left it free to roam, despite the ordeal Hikaru had put it through.

The Nine-Tails wandered through the Land of Lightning after regaining his freedom, then encountered the Third Raikage and a team of Elite Jonin sent to capture him. The Nine-Tails attacked in fury, and the Third Raikage struck him with a powerful punch.

• The Nine-Tails, feeling aimless after his long confinement, headed toward the Seven-Tails in the Land of Lightning.
• The Nine-Tails sensed the Third Raikage and his Elite Jonin approaching and realized they intended to capture him.
• The Third Raikage ordered his team to restrain the Nine-Tails while he took responsibility for fighting him.
• The Nine-Tails erupted in anger and swept his nine tails at the approaching group.
• The Third Raikage dodged the tails with his Lightning Armor and punched the Nine-Tails in the shoulder.

Hikaru compared his growing speed with the Third Raikage’s Lightning Armor as the Third Raikage fought the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails’ attacks failed to injure him, leaving it shocked by his strength and durability.

• Hikaru reflected that he was steadily narrowing the speed gap with the Third Raikage, though he could not learn Lightning Armor.
• The Nine-Tails tried to bite the Third Raikage, but he dodged and struck it to stop its tail attack from threatening his subordinates.
• The Nine-Tails predicted the Third Raikage’s approach and swung at him, but he met its claw with his elbow and drove it backward.
• The Nine-Tails hardened its fur into needle-like spikes and launched them at the Third Raikage and the Kumogakure Elite Jonin.
• The Kumogakure Elite Jonin blocked the spikes with Earth Flow Wall, while the Third Raikage stood unharmed after shielding only his eyes.

Hikaru sensed the Nine-Tails fighting and deduced that the Third Raikage had gone to capture it. At a Konoha meeting about restructuring the Medical Department, the Third Hokage asked Hikaru whether he had a countermeasure.

• The Third Raikage taunted the Nine-Tails and fought it head-on while his subordinates worked to restrain it.
• Hikaru sensed the Nine-Tails' intense emotions and considered who might be fighting it.
• Hikaru concluded that the Third Raikage had gone to capture the Nine-Tails while the younger A likely commanded Kumogakure's forces.
• Hikaru smiled at his deduction during a high-level meeting, drawing the attention of the Third Hokage and the other Konoha officials.
• The Third Hokage asked Hikaru whether he had thought of a countermeasure for Konoha's Medical Department crisis.

Hikaru explained that someone had targeted the Nine-Tails and pushed Konoha’s leaders to address Medical Department reforms and the shortage of medical ninja. The Shimura Great Elder confirmed that Konoha had enough money to fund changes, leaving the village’s financial objections weakened.

• Hikaru revealed that he suspected the Third Raikage had tried to capture the Nine-Tails, and said the Nine-Tails could fight him because it was Hikaru’s summoned beast.
• Hikaru challenged Konoha’s leaders to solve the Medical Department’s staffing crisis and recalled that they had rejected Tsunade’s proposed reforms.
• Hikaru argued that changing recruitment standards and guiding children could produce more medical ninja, while Utatane Koharu questioned whether Konoha could afford the reforms during wartime.
• Hikaru asked the Shimura Great Elder, whose clan managed Logistics, to explain the village’s finances.
• The Shimura Great Elder reported that Konoha’s finances remained ample despite the long war and its losses.

Uchiha Hikaru pushed the village leaders to approve reforms for the Medical Department before leaving to deal with the Nine-Tails. Meanwhile, the Third Hokage and the Third Raikage fought the exhausted Nine-Tails, which prepared a smaller, faster Tailed Beast Bomb.

• Hikaru confronted Utatane Koharu over the village's excuses for delaying Medical Department reforms and left the meeting to handle the Nine-Tails.
• The Third Hokage defended Hikaru and put the Medical Department proposal to a vote, and the leaders approved it unanimously.
• The Third Hokage and his subordinates battled the Nine-Tails, while the Third Raikage risked his life to save the fallen forces.
• The Third Raikage dodged the Nine-Tails' attacks as both fighters grew exhausted, and the Nine-Tails formed a smaller Tailed Beast Bomb to strike him.

The Third Raikage and his Kumogakure subordinates fought the Nine-Tails until it was suddenly recalled with a Summoning Jutsu. The Third Raikage deduced that Uchiha Hikaru had taken it and ordered his forces back to the village before returning to the Land of Earth.

• The Third Raikage prepared his Hell Stab as the Nine-Tails launched a Tailed Beast Bomb.
• The Nine-Tails suddenly faltered, and its Tailed Beast Bomb veered aside.
• The Nine-Tails shrank and vanished in a flash of white light, leaving the Third Raikage and his subordinates stunned.
• The Third Raikage deduced that Uchiha Hikaru had summoned the Nine-Tails and realized Kumogakure might face retaliation.
• The Third Raikage ordered his subordinates to return to the village, then planned to go back to the Land of Earth to command the battlefield.

Hikaru summoned the wounded Nine-Tails and explained how the Third Raikage had fought it and the Eight-Tails. The Nine-Tails regained its confidence after learning that the Eight-Tails had redirected the Raikage’s Hell Stab into his own chest.

• Hikaru summoned the injured Nine-Tails in a forest and teased it about its wounds.
• The Nine-Tails admitted that the Third Raikage had fought it fiercely but insisted it would have won if the battle had continued.
• Hikaru told the Nine-Tails that the Third Raikage had repeatedly suppressed the Eight-Tails and had been wounded during one encounter.
• The Nine-Tails questioned how the Eight-Tails could have wounded the Raikage, and Hikaru explained that it had redirected his Hell Stab into himself.
• The Nine-Tails relaxed and decided it could also redirect the Raikage’s attack, while Hikaru considered using tactics instead of matching his speed head-on.

Uchiha Hikaru told the injured Nine-Tails that he would confront the Third Raikage over the attempt to capture it. Back on the Land of Earth battlefield, the Third Raikage admitted his mission had failed and warned young A that Hikaru was a threat Kumogakure could not afford to underestimate.

• Hikaru told the Nine-Tails to recover before they went together to demand an explanation from the Third Raikage.
• The Third Raikage returned to the Land of Earth battlefield and resumed pressuring Ōnoki as Kumogakure continued its war against Iwagakure.
• Young A eagerly asked the Third Raikage what had happened during the failed attempt to capture the Nine-Tails.
• The Third Raikage admitted that the Nine-Tails had been too powerful and had escaped through a Summoning Jutsu, and he recognized that Hikaru might retaliate against Kumogakure.
• Young A struggled to believe that Uchiha Hikaru could use the Nine-Tails as a summoned beast.

The Third Raikage discussed Uchiha Hikaru’s power with young A and assessed Kumogakure’s war against Iwagakure. Back in Konoha, Hikaru welcomed an exhausted Tsunade, who returned from the battlefield and eagerly ate and drank.

• The Third Raikage reminded young A that Hikaru had controlled the Seven-Tails and Nine-Tails, then comforted him by comparing Hikaru’s potential to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
• Young A reported that he had slowed Kumogakure’s offensive and that Iwagakure had tightened its battle lines while Ōnoki waited cautiously.
• The Third Raikage approved young A’s steady handling of the front and said Kumogakure should pressure Iwagakure toward defeat without letting the war drag on.
• Tsunade returned to Konoha on leave after the Medical Department’s reorganization and the transport of clan members’ bodies, then visited Hikaru first.
• Hikaru poured Tsunade wine as she devoured the food, and he urged her to eat more slowly.

After returning to Konoha, Tsunade rested with Hikaru and said she might not return to the Land of Wind, though she could stay to oversee reforms in the Medical Department. She visited Mito Uzumaki’s grave with Nawaki, and the chapter ended with Nawaki confronting Hikaru about marrying Tsunade.

• Hikaru asked Tsunade when she planned to return to the Land of Wind, and she said she might never go back.
• Tsunade explained that she could stay in Konoha if the village approved reforms to the Medical Department, and she rested with Hikaru.
• Tsunade visited Mito Uzumaki’s grave with Nawaki while Hikaru waited outside in the rain.
• Nawaki confronted Hikaru about Tsunade staying at his house and demanded to know when they would get married.

Hikaru teased Nawaki Senju after Tsunade returned from visiting Mito Uzumaki's grave, then left the siblings to speak privately. Nawaki asked Tsunade why Lord Danzo had been sent to command the front against Sunagakure instead of Hikaru, and Tsunade paused at the question.

• Hikaru dismissed Nawaki Senju's talk about becoming Hokage and teased him about having Tsunade give him a nephew.
• Tsunade returned from Mito Uzumaki's grave in the rain, took an umbrella from Hikaru, and scolded Nawaki for standing without one.
• As they headed back, Nawaki asked Tsunade to speak with him privately, and Hikaru left them alone.
• Tsunade took Nawaki to a restaurant, where he asked why the village had sent Lord Danzo to command the battle against Sunagakure instead of Hikaru.
• Tsunade paused, then poured herself a drink before responding.

Tsunade tried to keep Nawaki Senju from asking about the village's decisions and the war, but he kept pressing her with questions. After she answered what she could, he asked when she and Hikaru would marry, sending her into a rage.

• Tsunade refused to explain why the village rotated forces, and Nawaki Senju argued that this might have cost the Senju Clan many lives.
• Tsunade offered to answer a different question, so Nawaki Senju asked why the village refused the Uchiha Clan's service.
• Tsunade claimed Konoha needed reserves while fighting Sunagakure, and Nawaki Senju accepted the explanation enough to start eating.
• Nawaki Senju asked whether Hikaru would go to the battlefield, and Tsunade told him to stop talking and eat.
• Nawaki Senju asked when Tsunade and Hikaru would marry and whether they planned to have a child before marriage, prompting Tsunade to threaten him.

Tsunade returned to the Land of Wind battlefield to develop an antidote after Sunagakure's new poison caused heavy casualties among Konoha's forces. Danzo pressured her for results and invoked the danger to her Senju Clan members, prompting Tsunade to demand a transfer back to the village and offer to withdraw her clan.

• Tsunade beat Nawaki after he suggested she and Hikaru should have a child before marriage, then left for the Medical Department.
• Tsunade scolded Hikaru for discussing the matter in front of a child, while Kushina and Mikoto Uchiha reacted with surprise.
• An urgent report from the Land of Wind battlefield forced Tsunade to abandon her Medical Department plans and return to counter Sunagakure's new poison.
• Tsunade worked nearly two days without sleep and told Danzo that she had analyzed the poison but could not promise when the antidote would be ready.
• Danzo cited the potential deaths of Senju Clan members to pressure Tsunade, who demanded reassignment and said she would take her clansmen back herself.
• Danzo angrily challenged Tsunade after she refused to show him respect as the battlefield's Commander-in-Chief.

Tsunade clashed with Danzo over his pressure and threats, then completed an antidote for Sunagakure’s poison while refusing to keep handling departments without proper authority. Danzo struggled under the workload, and news of the dispute enraged the Third Hokage while Hikaru mocked Danzo.

• Tsunade argued with Danzo, then left to rest after saying the antidote would soon be ready.
• The Sarutobi Clan representative urged Danzo to be more understanding, and Danzo accepted Tsunade’s withdrawal to avoid worsening the conflict.
• Tsunade prepared the antidote within a few days but stopped managing the Logistics Department and Medical Department.
• Danzo took over Tsunade’s former duties and wore himself out rather than ask her for help.
• The Third Hokage angrily condemned Danzo after hearing what had happened, while Hikaru mocked Danzo for courting trouble.

Hikaru discussed the prolonged war and Fugaku Uchiha’s rise in the Police Department while the elders teased him about taking on Namikaze Minato as a student. With Jiraiya still absent, the Third Hokage continued to see Hikaru as the most suitable mentor, and Hikaru was left to prepare an assessment for the graduating children.

• Hikaru and the Second Elder discussed Fugaku Uchiha’s capable but extreme management of the Police Department and his continued pursuit of Mikoto Uchiha.
• The Second Elder remarked that the war had dragged on for years, with Konoha and Sunagakure both enduring heavy losses and neither side giving way.
• Hikaru said he was content to rest in the village rather than risk his life on the front lines.
• The Third Elder brought up the Third Hokage’s plan for Hikaru to mentor Namikaze Minato, who was about to graduate early while Jiraiya remained away.
• The Second Elder asked Hikaru how he planned to assess the children, and Hikaru leaned back without giving an answer.

Hikaru discussed Namikaze Minato’s potential with the Second Elder, then went to the Hokage’s office after the Third Hokage summoned him. The Third Hokage insisted that Hikaru train the village’s promising children, and Hikaru finally gave in and accepted the file.

• Hikaru told the Second Elder that Namikaze Minato could become a pillar of the village if he was trained properly and stayed on the right path.
• An Anbu ninja delivered the Third Hokage’s order for Hikaru to go to the Hokage Office Building, while the Second Elder teased him about the summons.
• Hikaru arrived at the Hokage’s office and saw the Third Hokage holding out a file without lowering his hand.
• The Third Hokage said he trusted Hikaru to guide the children well, and Hikaru finally agreed to take them on.

Hikaru accepted the Third Hokage’s request to teach Namikaze Minato, Ainoiki, and Adachi Aita, though he dreaded the responsibility and refused to discuss the front-line war. He went to meet the three soon-to-be graduates and opened with a startling warning about their assessment.

• Hikaru accepted the assignment to train Namikaze Minato, Ainoiki, and Adachi Aita and requested access to ninjutsu scrolls.
• Hikaru rejected the Third Hokage’s attempt to discuss the battlefield and left the Hokage’s Office to prepare for his new students.
• Namikaze Minato, Ainoiki, and Adachi Aita waited anxiously at the Ninja Academy, wondering who their teacher would be and whether they would pass the final assessment.
• Hikaru arrived at the classroom, announced that he would abuse the children, and shocked the three students.

Uchiha Hikaru introduced himself as the teacher of Namikaze Minato, Ainoiki, and Adachi Aita, warned them not to anger him, and told them their assessment would be the next day. He heard each child’s hobbies and ambitions, including Minato’s dream of becoming Hokage.

• Hikaru confirmed that he was the three children’s teacher and warned them that making him angry would have severe consequences.
• Hikaru took Minato, Ainoiki, and Adachi Aita to an open space behind the school and explained that their assessment would be tomorrow.
• Hikaru introduced himself as the Uchiha Clan Head and the village’s Anbu Minister, then asked the children to introduce themselves.
• Minato said he liked reading and dreamed of becoming Konoha’s Hokage.
• Ainoiki said he liked eating grilled meat and wanted to become a ninja as powerful as Hikaru.
• Adachi Aita said he enjoyed research and dreamed of becoming a Medical Ninja as powerful as Lady Tsunade.