Chapter Summaries

Maki traveled to the Land of Iron to exchange White Fang Swordsmanship insights for Mifune’s Iaido, while warning Hatake Sakumo about dangers surrounding a missing Sunagakure puppeteer unit. After learning Iaido, Maki returned toward Konoha concerned that Sasori had begun killing his own people and might become a threat at the Chunin Ninja Exams.

• Maki arranged to enter the Land of Iron under a blade-escort mission and exchanged White Fang Swordsmanship with Mifune for Iaido.
• Orochimaru told Maki that Hatake Sakumo was investigating a missing Sunagakure puppeteer unit, and Maki suspected Sasori was responsible.
• Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō departed Konoha and completed their escort mission without incident.
• Maki warned Sakumo about Sunagakure’s poisons and the possibility of danger from within the puppeteers’ ranks before Sakumo left to investigate.
• Maki and Mifune sparred, then exchanged their swordsmanship insights.
• On the journey back to Konoha, Maki worried that Sasori had already begun slaughtering his own people.

After completing enough low-level missions to qualify for the Chunin Ninja Exams, Maki’s squad was dispatched with Tsunade and Minato to support Sakumo against Sunagakure puppeteers on the Land of Rivers border. The team left Konoha for a dangerous operation that could change Sakumo’s tragic fate.

• Minato explained that ordinary missions helped gather useful intelligence, and Maki confirmed the squad had completed the required missions for exam eligibility.
• An Anbu operative summoned Maki’s squad to the Hokage’s Office, where Tsunade briefed them on Sunagakure puppeteers ambushing Sakumo’s team along the Land of Rivers border.
• Tsunade assigned Maki’s squad to help eliminate the infiltrating puppeteers, and Maki and Minato explained how their abilities could counter the enemy’s poison and ambush tactics.
• Tsunade outlined a swift assault plan, and Nawaki promised to follow orders rather than rush ahead alone.
• Tsunade led the squad out of Konoha toward the Land of Rivers, while Maki reflected that his interventions might spare Sakumo from his original tragic fate.

Tsunade’s team attacked and cleared the abandoned mine, destroying its combat puppets and capturing or killing the puppeteers. Their investigation revealed three separate Sunagakure factions operating near Konoha’s border, while Maki suspected Sasori was behind the distinctive custom puppets.

• Minato scouted the mine and reported its traps, puppet defenses, and crossfire formation before Tsunade assigned the team their roles.
• Minato disabled the sentry puppet, and Tsunade, Nawaki, Nonō, Maki, and Minato fought through the mine, destroying puppets and neutralizing their operators.
• Maki compared the puppet wreckage and found that the mine’s custom-modified puppets differed from standard military puppets and the force Sakumo was pursuing.
• Tsunade concluded that three separate factions had infiltrated Konoha’s border and ordered the prisoners interrogated and the findings sent to Sakumo.
• Maki recognized the custom puppets’ intricate modifications as evidence that Sasori had entered the conflict, though Konoha did not know of him.

Maki led Konoha’s forces in an ambush against Sunagakure’s modified puppet units, while Sakumo recovered from poison and helped plan the operation. After Maki captured the enemy commander and the others destroyed the puppets, the surviving forces were eliminated, and Sakumo ordered the team to return to Konoha.

• Tsunade treated Sakumo’s poisoned arm, and Sakumo explained that Sunagakure’s puppet squads were searching for something in the Land of Rivers.
• Maki identified an abandoned shrine as the target and assigned Minato to block escape routes, Nawaki to hold the torii, Nonō to provide medical support, and Tsunade and Sakumo to attack the puppets.
• Maki concealed the battlefield with the Hidden Mist Technique as Nawaki blocked the armored puppets, Nonō treated the wounded, and Tsunade and Sakumo destroyed the front-line puppets.
• Minato intercepted Sunagakure fighters attempting to escape through the forest, while Maki infiltrated the left wing and captured its commander.
• Tsunade destroyed the commander’s defensive puppet, and Sakumo and the others eliminated the remaining puppets.
• Sakumo confirmed that the Sunagakure forces along the border had been defeated and ordered everyone to return to Konoha.

Maki recommended Might Duy as Kushina’s teammate for Konoha’s chunin ninja exams, and Tsunade sought the Third Hokage’s approval. The Third approved the internal selection plan while warning that Sunagakure was preparing a major assault, leaving Tsunade set to reinforce the front after the exams.

• Maki gave Kushina, Nawaki, and Nonō handmade figurines made by their former teacher Junji Ito.
• Tsunade explained the internal chunin exam rules, and Kushina asked to compete but lacked a team.
• Maki recommended Might Duy to complement Kushina’s abilities, and Kushina chose him as her teammate.
• Kushina demonstrated her mastered Rasengan, while Nonō and Maki described their training plans to prepare for the exams.
• Tsunade reported Kushina’s team application to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who revealed that Sunagakure was preparing a large-scale assault for the following month.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi said Tsunade would lead reinforcements to the front after the exams and acknowledged Might Duy’s reputation in the village.

Tsunade received approval to form a temporary Chunin Exam squad for Kushina, with Might Duy and Nara Suisei as her teammates. As the exam began, Maki explained that the written test would assess covert intelligence gathering, while the crowded classroom buzzed about his reputation.

• Tsunade told Kushina that the Third had approved her temporary squad, and Orochimaru explained that the exam could help Kushina form bonds with her fellow villagers.
• Might Duy and Nara Suisei introduced themselves as Kushina's new teammates, and Suisei outlined how their abilities could work together.
• Before the written exam, Nawaki boasted about his preparation, Duy admitted his past failures, and Suisei shared his analysis of previous tests.
• Maki explained that cheating was allowed if examinees avoided detection, and Kushina reassured Duy that his teammates would help him.
• Genin in the classroom whispered about Maki's reputation, while Minato Namikaze, Kahoe Uzumaki, and Suzume Inuzuka arrived just before the exam began.
• Chief examiner Inuzuka Agito entered with the proctors as the school bell rang.

Maki and his teammates passed the written exam and survived the Forest of Death, where Maki collected several Earth Scrolls while Nawaki and Nonō secured one for their team. The third exam’s individual matches were set to begin at Konoha’s First Training Ground, with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade, and Orochimaru in attendance and Jiraiya away gathering intelligence.

• Maki noticed the written exam allowed candidates to cheat, and Suisei secretly guided Might Duy through the questions so Duy passed.
• The candidates learned the Forest of Death rules, and Maki’s team drew a Heaven Scroll before splitting up to search for an Earth Scroll.
• Maki used a Ninja Crow to locate candidates, defeated several teams, and collected multiple Earth Scrolls while Nawaki and Nonō secured one of their own.
• Maki, Nawaki, and Nonō reunited at the Central Tower, where Minato’s and Kushina’s teams also arrived and passed the exam.
• The examiners announced that the individual matches would begin in two days, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade, and Orochimaru attended the quiet First Training Ground while Jiraiya gathered intelligence in the Land of Rain.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade, and Orochimaru discussed Amamiya Maki and Minato Namikaze’s prospects, while Maki realized the exam draws were arranged to preserve Konoha’s rising fighters as a unit. The individual matches advanced through two rounds, and Maki’s second-round fight against Nara Suisei began with Suisei attacking first.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Tsunade and Orochimaru who was most likely to win the individual matches, and both named Amamiya Maki.
• Tsunade argued that Maki’s ability to create ninjutsu set him apart, while Orochimaru analyzed Minato Namikaze’s Flying Thunder God techniques.
• In the first round, Maki defeated Kuwano after countering his Wind Release: Great Breakthrough with Chidori Stream, and Nara Suzaku, Kahoe Uzumaki, Nawaki, and Might Duy also won their matches.
• Maki realized that the draw had kept the nine members of his, Kushina’s, and Nawaki’s squads apart and suspected Hiruzen Sarutobi was preparing them to fight together at the Sunagakure front.
• Nawaki defeated Suzume Inuzuka in the second round with Water Release techniques, knocking her unconscious while her ninja dog tried to wake her.
• Amamiya Maki and Nara Suisei entered the final match of the second round, and Suisei seized the initiative with the opening attack.