Chapter Summaries

Maki secured Konoha’s agreement to leave the Great Love Society alone and welcomed the war orphans Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato into the village. After discovering Nagato’s Rinnegan, he began teaching the three children so they could protect themselves and others.

• Maki wrote to Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru asking Konoha to avoid the Great Love Society and describing how it could weaken Hanzō’s rule.
• Orochimaru replied that Konoha accepted the plan and urged Maki to value his own life above the civilians’ welfare.
• Maki gave the Society’s members white armbands marked with a dormant cicada and explained their meaning.
• Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato arrived as war orphans, and Maki let them stay after arranging food and shelter in exchange for equal work.
• Maki noticed the faint ripples of the Rinnegan in Nagato’s eyes and resolved to keep him from becoming Madara Uchiha’s pawn.
• Maki taught Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato chakra control and water-walking so they could protect themselves and others.

Yuno recognized Nagato as her late sister’s son, and Maki helped him begin controlling his Rinnegan while assuring him that he had a family. As the Great Love Society grew and Hanzō’s threat loomed, Maki began training Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan to defend it themselves.

• Yuno found Nagato working in the rain, recognized his resemblance to her older sister, and embraced him after learning his mother had died.
• Nagato’s Rinnegan began to surge, but Maki calmed him and taught him to view the eyes as power he could learn to control.
• Maki brought Yuno, Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan to an empty house, where Yahiko affirmed that the children had always been family.
• Over two months, the Great Love Society grew from one hundred people to three hundred as war refugees and deserters arrived, while Maki reported its growth and Hanzō’s supply-line checkpoints to the Sannin.
• Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru warned Maki about Hanzō’s forces and advised caution or evacuation if necessary.
• Maki taught Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan about explosive tags and said they would need strength to protect the Great Love Society and innocent people.

Hanzō invaded the Land of Iron to seize its iron and supplies, using Ibuse’s poison gas to crush its border defenses. With the Land of Iron’s army routed, Mifune stood alone to face Hanzō and defend his conviction.

• Hanzō chose to invade the Land of Iron rather than reinforce the front or attack the Great Love Society, and ordered Amegakure to prepare Ibuse’s poison gas.
• Hanzō’s forces launched a surprise gas attack that devastated the Land of Iron’s border positions and routed its samurai.
• The Land of Iron’s daimyō and generals considered surrender, while Mifune went to the last defensive pass with Kurosawa.
• Hanzō halted his advancing army and faced Mifune, who declared that he would show his conviction.

Mifune lost his duel with Hanzō but earned his respect, leading Hanzō to withdraw from the Land of Iron and spare his life with an antidote. Mifune secured the country’s survival by arranging a secret pact to supply Amegakure with iron ore in exchange for its neutrality and protection.

• Hanzō defeated Mifune in a sword duel, then gave him an antidote and ordered Amegakure’s army to withdraw from the Land of Iron.
• Mifune woke after several days and told the country’s leaders that Hanzō had withdrawn because he recognized Mifune’s conviction, but that the Land of Iron must submit to him.
• Mifune proposed secretly supplying iron ore to Amegakure in exchange for Hanzō’s promise not to invade the Land of Iron.
• Mifune persuaded the daimyo to accept the pact, choosing the country’s survival over his own reputation.
• One week later, Mifune and Hanzō quietly finalized their secret agreement at the border pass.

Hanzō secured a secret alliance with the Land of Iron, then ordered the eradication of the Great Love Society, which he suspected Konoha was supporting. As Amegakure forces marched toward the settlement, Amamiya Maki recognized the danger and told Minato to flee.

• Hanzō and Mifune agreed to trade iron ore and allow Land of Iron samurai to volunteer for Amegakure service under strict protections.
• The secret agreement eased border tensions, secured Amegakure's iron supply, and brought more than a hundred samurai into its ranks.
• Hanzō concluded that Konoha was protecting the expanding Great Love Society and ordered its settlement destroyed and its residents captured.
• Amegakure's hundred-strong Special Mobile Squadron set out for the settlement with poison gas and sealing units.
• Amamiya Maki received Minato's intelligence report about the alliance and ordered Minato to pack up and run.

Amegakure troops destroyed the Great Love Society’s base and imprisoned its members, while Maki and his allies stayed silent to protect the civilians and await Hanzō’s interrogation. In the Iron Country, Mifune learned of the attack and chose to wait until the outcome was clear before helping whoever won.

• Hao Yuan led Amegakure troops in crushing the Great Love Society’s fields and homes, binding its residents, and taking them prisoner.
• Maki ordered everyone not to resist, and he stopped Minato from proposing that killing civilians would end the war.
• Amegakure’s troops marched the prisoners to Amegakure Main City and locked them in underground cells as Maki warned them to stay silent during questioning.
• Mifune received word that Hanzō would interrogate and sentence the prisoners, then decided to wait and help whoever won.

During Hanzō’s public interrogation of the Great Love Society, Yahiko and Amamiya Maki openly challenged his rule and called on the people of the Land of Rain to unite. Hanzō withdrew without ordering a massacre, while Minato helped Maki stage a disappearance and spread a rumor that Hanzō had killed the Sage of Six Paths’ messenger.

• Hanzō offered Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan pardons and academy training if they denounced the Great Love Society, but Yahiko accused him of sacrificing the people for his own idea of dignity.
• Hanzō interrogated Amamiya Maki as a suspected Konoha spy, and Maki argued that Hanzō feared the Great Love Society because it showed people they could live well without him.
• Maki condemned Hanzō’s rule and urged the suffering people of the Land of Rain to unite, prompting citizens to set down their tools in silent defiance.
• Hanzō left the square without executing Maki or dispersing the crowd, and Yahiko realized that conviction and courage could help create peace.
• Minato remained concealed among the crowd and used a scythe strike and smoke to make Maki vanish, then spread a rumor that Hanzō had killed the Sage of Six Paths’ messenger.

Minato and Nonō spread rumors that Amamiya Maki was a divine envoy, turning Hanzō’s failed execution into a crisis of public trust. The Land of Iron samurai abandoned Hanzō’s service, while Hanzō sat alone and blamed Konoha for his humiliation.

• Hanzō ordered Amegakure shinobi to search the city for Amamiya Maki and seal every gate after learning the executed man had been a Shadow Clone.
• Minato and Nonō spread stories that Amamiya Maki was an envoy of the Sage of Six Paths who could heal people without ninjutsu.
• Civilians embellished the rumors and began fleeing the city despite Hanzō’s orders.
• The Land of Iron samurai captain rejected Hanzō’s use of them to hunt civilians, and dozens of samurai removed their Amegakure forehead protectors and left for the Land of Iron.
• Hanzō recalled Mifune’s words about conviction, recognized how Amamiya Maki had ruined his reputation without fighting, and cursed Konoha.

Maki reunited with Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru at Konoha’s frontline camp and explained how his actions had weakened Hanzō’s rule. The Sannin led a dawn assault on Amegakure Main City, but Hanzō’s elite defenders continued to resist.

• Tsunade treated Maki’s facial wound, Jiraiya praised his speech in the Land of Rain, and Orochimaru gave him a brief commendation.
• Maki assessed the gaps in Hanzō’s defenses and planned a three-route assault, with himself leading a covert squad to sever Hanzō’s chakra link to Ibuse.
• Minato gave Maki a specially marked kunai so he could summon Minato to his side, and Maki agreed not to use another clone to take Hanzō’s blade head-on.
• At dawn, Konoha’s forces blasted through Amegakure Main City’s iron gates, while Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade led the assault and medical support.
• Amegakure’s elite defenders regrouped and fought on despite the breach in the city walls.

Hanzō fought the Sannin and their allies amid Ibuse’s poison mist, then turned his full attention to Maki when he called him out. Maki joined the battle with shadow clones and lightning techniques, and the chapter ended as Minato used Flying Thunder God to attack Hanzō’s wrist.

• Hanzō entered the battle with Ibuse and spread poison mist across the frontline, incapacitating several Konoha ninja.
• Hanzō fought Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, gradually wearing them down as the poison mist thickened.
• After Hanzō called for Amamiya Maki, Maki left the ruins and attacked with shadow clones, Rasengan, and Chidori Stream.
• Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Maki surrounded Hanzō, but he countered their attacks and wounded Maki’s jaw with his sickle.
• Minato used Flying Thunder God to appear beside Hanzō and thrust his kunai toward Hanzō’s wrist.

Maki revealed that he had used Jiraiya’s Fire Release to build thunderclouds and summoned the natural lightning technique Kirin against Hanzō. After the battlefield was engulfed in lightning, a huge charred crater remained, leaving Hanzō’s fate unclear.

• Hanzō knocked Minato from the air and left him and the other fighters wounded, then lowered his weapon as he weighed the consequences of killing the Sannin.
• Maki forced himself to stand and told Hanzō that his next move required no chakra.
• Maki explained that Jiraiya’s earlier Fire Release had created updrafts that gathered moisture into thunderclouds.
• Maki raised the Sword of the Thunder God and called down Lightning Release: Kirin.
• Natural lightning engulfed the battlefield, and a massive charred crater appeared after the smoke cleared.

After defeating Hanzō, Maki helped secure a ceasefire that recognized the Great Love Society and gave it freedom to rebuild across the Land of Rain. As the refugees returned and Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan looked toward the future, Maki returned to Konoha and entered Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office.

• Hanzō stood wounded after losing to Amamiya Maki and accepted that the ceasefire terms would have to reflect his defeat.
• On the day the ceasefire agreement was signed, A-Tie, Yunai, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan returned to Great Love City with other refugees and began rebuilding.
• Maki told Yahiko that the agreement recognized the Great Love Society and barred Amegakure from forcibly conscripting people or requisitioning grain, allowing the Society to rebuild the Land of Rain.
• Yahiko reconsidered the role of strength in protecting peace, while Nagato recognized his power could be used to protect people and Konan placed a paper flower on the Society’s flag.
• Maki returned to Konoha with Minato and Nonō, and Hiruzen Sarutobi studied Hanzō’s signed ceasefire agreement before Maki entered his office.

After Maki returned from the Land of Rain, the Third explained that he would delay Maki’s promotion and send him to the expanded Chunin Ninja Exams in six months as a public display of Konoha’s strength. Maki learned that Minato and Nonō had also been assigned new roles, then left the Hokage’s Office to find Kushina waiting with rice balls and a warning not to risk himself at the exams.

• The Third praised Maki for forcing Hanzō to sign a ceasefire but said he would not promote him yet.
• The Third explained that Maki would graduate from the Ninja Academy, enter the Chunin Ninja Exams in six months, and rest while preparing.
• The Third told Maki that Minato would lead a team and take key missions, while Nonō had become deputy director of surgery at Konoha Hospital.
• Maki asked about Minato and Nonō, bowed to the Third, and left the Hokage’s Office.
• Kushina met Maki outside, gave him Glutinous Rice Balls, and threatened to tie him up and beat him if he endangered himself at the exams.

Amamiya Maki and Nonō helped Tsunade test mixtures for an antidote to Hanzō’s deadly venom. They found a promising reaction and continued working through the remaining formulas.

• Amamiya Maki and Nonō joined Tsunade in the laboratory to help find a counteragent for Ibuse’s venom.
• Tsunade explained that she was trying to neutralize Hanzō’s poison by combining it with another controllable toxin.
• Maki and Nonō began systematically testing the assigned mixtures while Tsunade supervised.
• Maki’s mixture produced grayish-white sediment, and Tsunade recorded it as a promising candidate for further testing.
• Maki reassured Nonō as they worked, and Tsunade brought them lunch before they resumed testing the remaining ratios.

Orochimaru sent Tsunade precise data on Hanzō’s venom, allowing her team to replace exhaustive antidote testing with targeted experiments. Maki agreed to begin poison-resistance training with Orochimaru, while Tsunade’s new medical-ninja system moved forward.

• Orochimaru’s reconnaissance snake delivered Maki a note containing venom analysis and news that the Hokage had approved Tsunade’s medical-ninja system.
• Tsunade realized Orochimaru had used the venom research budget to obtain equipment and help secure approval for her proposal, and resented that he had spent her money.
• Tsunade read Orochimaru’s offer to train Maki against poison and warned him about Sunagakure’s concealed puppet poisons.
• Maki decided to refine the antidote in the laboratory each morning and train with Orochimaru each afternoon.
• Tsunade gave Nonō the venom data and instructed her to develop a new formulation plan using three promising samples.

Maki, Kushina, Minato, and Nonō began moving on from the Ninja Academy, with Minato seeking Jiraiya and Nonō entering medical training. Maki joined Tsunade and Nonō at Konoha Hospital to prepare antidotes for Chiyo’s puppet poisons, while Kushina headed to the training ground and insisted they eat ramen together later.

• Maki, Kushina, Minato, and Nonō applied for early graduation, while Nonō received approval to enter Konoha Hospital’s medical ninja training program directly.
• Maki, Kushina, and Minato met Nawaki at the Academy; Minato left to look for Jiraiya, and Nawaki stayed to await class assignments.
• Kushina invited Maki to practice sealing jutsu, but he refused because Tsunade needed his help preparing antidotes for Chiyo’s puppet poisons.
• Kushina accepted Maki’s explanation, gave him a bag of rice balls, and demanded that he join her for ramen at Ichiraku that night.
• Maki joined Tsunade and Nonō in the laboratory, where Tsunade explained the dangers of Chiyo’s custom mixed poisons and discussed Chiyo’s grief after White Fang killed her son and daughter-in-law.

Amamiya Maki and his friends shared an early breakfast before taking the Ninja Academy graduation exam. After the main candidates passed, Maki waited with the others for the exam results and their team assignments, reflecting on how much had changed since he first arrived in Konoha.

• Nawaki woke Maki and Nonō early, and Kushina, Kahoe, Minato, and Nawaki joined Maki for breakfast.
• The group discussed the likely team assignments, with Maki predicting Kahoe would join Minato's team.
• Maki and his friends went to Class 6-A, where the graduation exam required each student to perform one of the three basic academy techniques.
• Nawaki, Minato, Nonō, Kahoe, and Maki each passed their exams with their assigned techniques.
• Maki rejoined Kushina and the others in the corridor, where they waited for the team assignments and watched students who had failed encourage one another.

The graduating students received their team assignments, and Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō joined Orochimaru’s squad while Minato and Kahoe were sent to meet Suzume Inuzuka. After Tsunade gave Nawaki the First Hokage’s Necklace and Nonō an antidote formula, Orochimaru challenged his new team to survive against him for seven and a half minutes.

• The examiner assigned Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō to Orochimaru’s team, while Minato, Kahoe, and Suzume Inuzuka were assigned to Jiraiya’s team.
• Maki explained that Suzume Inuzuka was a top student in the medical ninja training class, and Minato and Kahoe left to find her at Konoha Hospital.
• Tsunade gave Nawaki the First Hokage’s Necklace as a graduation present and gave Nonō her formula and research data for an antidote to Chiyo’s puppet poison.
• Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō met Orochimaru at the Training Ground, where he warned them to follow the Chunin Ninja Exams’ rules.
• Orochimaru ordered the three teammates to work together and last seven and a half minutes against him or face extra training.

Orochimaru tested Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō in a fifteen-minute spar, exposing their weaknesses while praising their teamwork and assigning more practice. After they passed, he led them to the mission assignment office to accept their first squad mission.

• Orochimaru challenged Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō to keep him from knocking them down for fifteen minutes, with frog-jump laps as the penalty for failure.
• Orochimaru countered their attacks and pointed out Nawaki’s recovery gaps, Maki’s predictable charges, and Nonō’s potential to support the team with combat medical techniques.
• Nonō used smoke to reach Nawaki and restore his movement while Maki attacked under cover, but Orochimaru deflected the strike and sent Maki flying.
• Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō regrouped and maintained their formation until the time limit expired, so Orochimaru declared that they had passed.
• Orochimaru assigned Nawaki extra punches and directed Nonō to obtain high-density smoke bombs before leading the squad to the mission assignment office.
• The assignment clerk greeted Orochimaru and asked whether he had brought his new squad to accept a mission.

Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō completed a D-rank river cleanup while Orochimaru trained Nonō in taijutsu. After submitting the mission paperwork, Maki asked Orochimaru for a mission to the Land of Iron.

• Nawaki objected to the D-rank assignment, but Orochimaru explained that the team needed low-ranking missions on record to qualify for the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Maki and Nawaki used Water Release to clear rubbish from the Naka River, and Maki cautioned Nawaki to control his power.
• Orochimaru taught Nonō a taijutsu technique based on the coiling path of snakes, and she quickly improved her form.
• The team finished the cleanup, and Orochimaru criticized Nawaki's recklessness after Nawaki praised their squad's abilities.
• Maki spoke about earning villagers' trust, and Orochimaru led the team back to Konoha to submit the completion paperwork.
• Maki requested a mission to the Land of Iron, and Orochimaru asked him for his reason.