Recaps

At Konoha's graduation exam, Asuma set an unusually harsh challenge: touch the hem of his clothes before one stick of incense burned out. While the other students attacked, Asuma singled out Gojo Satoru and demanded he show his ninjutsu.

• Students gathered outside the exam grounds, speculating that Gojo Satoru was taking the graduation exam despite being only five years old.
• Anko arrived with Orochimaru, who watched Gojo Satoru inside the grounds without answering her question about Asuma.
• Asuma announced that examinees had to touch the hem of his clothes before the incense burned out, and urged them to get moving.
• The students rushed Asuma with ninjutsu, weapons, and other attacks while Gojo Satoru watched and wondered about their battle calls.
• Asuma pointed at Gojo Satoru and ordered him to stop stalling and show his ninjutsu.

Uchiha Satoru faced Asuma in the graduation exam, joking with a fake technique before nearly catching Asuma off guard with Earth Release. He then dropped his playful demeanor and revealed a chilling presence, drawing Orochimaru’s interest.

• Asuma ordered Uchiha Satoru to move, and Satoru challenged him to witness his signature move.
• Uchiha Satoru used the Roadblock Technique, which did nothing but make Anko laugh and anger Asuma.
• Asuma charged at Satoru, who used Earth Release: Earth Flowing River to erupt the ground beneath him.
• Asuma criticized Satoru for misnaming the technique, and Satoru answered that he needed to open his eyes.
• Uchiha Satoru raised his head and released a chilling presence that made Asuma recoil while Orochimaru watched with satisfaction.

Gojo Satoru used unexplained high-speed movement and shuriken to put Asuma on the defensive, while Orochimaru predicted that Asuma would lose. The match continued as Gojo vanished from Asuma’s sight and another barrage began.

• Asuma realized Gojo Satoru’s presence was dangerous but decided he could not afford to lose to a five-year-old.
• Gojo Satoru attacked Asuma with a rapid barrage of shuriken, forcing him to dodge by instinct.
• Asuma assumed Gojo relied on taijutsu and planned to exploit the distance between them, while overlooking Gojo’s cursed energy.
• Orochimaru predicted Asuma’s defeat and wondered how Gojo had moved without a chakra fluctuation.
• Gojo Satoru said he was done wasting time, vanished before Asuma, and launched another attack.

Gojo Satoru overwhelmed Asuma with ricocheting shuriken, then used a wind jutsu to blow away Asuma’s clothes and satisfy the examiner’s graduation requirement. The other examinees grabbed the scattered scraps to claim they had passed, while Asuma vowed revenge.

• Gojo Satoru trapped Asuma in a barrage of ricocheting shuriken, leaving the spectators and Mitaraishi Anko amazed by his skill.
• Asuma declared that Gojo Satoru had failed to touch his clothes before the incense burned down and refused to grant him a graduation certificate.
• Gojo Satoru used Wind Release: Blow Whatever, and the breeze stripped Asuma of his clothes.
• Gojo Satoru picked up a scrap of Asuma’s clothing as proof that he had touched it, and the other examinees scrambled to claim scraps and pass.
• Asuma stood naked and furious, then shouted that his fight with Uchiha Satoru was not over.

Uchiha Satoru defeated Asuma in the examination, leaving Orochimaru puzzled by his unexplained movement and the spectators impressed by his skill. Back home, Fugaku and Sasuke lectured him, Itachi announced he was leaving on a C-rank mission, and Satoru spent his new roleplay points browsing the System Shop.

• Asuma fled after his defeat, and Gojo Satoru left the examination room without learning whether he had passed.
• Orochimaru wondered whether Satoru had used the Flying Thunder God Technique, but could detect neither a mark nor chakra.
• The examiners and candidates praised Satoru's precise shurikenjutsu and debated how he had appeared behind Asuma.
• Uchiha Fugaku and Sasuke lectured Satoru at home, while Fugaku privately showed pride in his skills.
• Itachi said he would leave for a few days on a C-rank mission, disappointing Sasuke and prompting Satoru to offer to teach him instead.
• After Sasuke and Itachi left, Satoru browsed the System Shop and selected a few items with his roleplay points.

Gojo Satoru dressed up as Hatake Satoru-ko and used teleportation to find Itachi on his mission. He arrived just in time to block Obito Uchiha's attack, leaving himself exhausted and facing a dangerous enemy.

• Gojo Satoru worried about Itachi's upcoming birthday and decided to disguise himself as Hatake Satoru-ko to ask what gift he wanted.
• Gojo Satoru dressed in a blue dress, mask, and Forehead Protector, then teleported to the forest where Itachi's escort mission was traveling.
• Gojo Satoru used the Six Eyes to locate Itachi and realized that Itachi had awakened his two-tomoe eyes during the mission.
• Gojo Satoru appeared in front of Itachi with the Body Flicker Technique and took Obito Uchiha's attack, despite his exhaustion.
• Obito Uchiha questioned the disguised Gojo Satoru, who introduced himself as Satoru-ko.

Gojo Satoru confronted Obito Uchiha while Uchiha Itachi tried to fight him, but Obito easily survived Itachi's attacks. Gojo recovered enough strength to step in as Obito prepared to end the fight.

• Gojo Satoru approached Obito Uchiha, who wondered whether he was connected to Kakashi.
• Uchiha Itachi told the girl who had saved him to flee, then tried genjutsu and shuriken attacks against Obito.
• Obito dodged Itachi's shuriken and emerged unharmed from the explosion, leaving Itachi stunned by the gap in their strength.
• Gojo Satoru recovered his stamina, revealed his azure-blue eyes, and challenged Obito for looking down on them.
• Obito said he had no time to play and prepared to finish the fight.

Satoru-ko used her mysterious black energy to survive Obito’s fire attack and bluff him into retreating. After Obito vanished, she revealed that her power was nearly spent and that she had only been pretending to be stronger than him.

• Obito attacked Satoru-ko and Itachi with Blast Wave Wild Dance, engulfing them in flames.
• Satoru-ko used black energy to tear open the fire and emerged with Itachi, making Obito wary of her power.
• Obito decided to conserve his strength, used Kamui to leave, and told Satoru-ko they would meet again.
• Satoru-ko gave Obito her full name, Hatake Satoru-ko, before he disappeared.
• After Obito left, Satoru-ko admitted she had bluffed and that her attacks had drained nearly all her stamina.

Gojo Satoru resolved to grow stronger after his encounter with Obito Uchiha, while Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo argued over Uchiha Itachi's future. Hiruzen refused to send Itachi to Root and offered ANBU instead, leaving Danzo dissatisfied.

• Uchiha Itachi called after Gojo Satoru, but Gojo left without giving his name.
• Gojo returned home, checked his system panel, and decided he needed to earn more roleplay points and increase his power.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo discussed the Sharingan-wielding survivor and Minato's old accounts, with Danzo accusing the Uchiha of orchestrating the incident.
• Danzo demanded that Uchiha Itachi join Root so he could be watched closely.
• Hiruzen refused because Itachi was too young and offered to place him in ANBU when he was ready, angering Danzo.

Gojo Satoru tried to sneak cake from the refrigerator, so Mikoto sealed it away and ordered him to make three cakes for his eldest brother’s birthday. He enlisted Sasuke to help, then made a cake of his own, leaving Sasuke suspicious about what Gojo had put in it.

• Mikoto caught Gojo Satoru sneaking cake and sealed the cake in a scroll before putting it in the refrigerator.
• Mikoto told Gojo Satoru to make three cakes for his eldest brother’s birthday.
• Gojo Satoru persuaded Sasuke to help him make a cake.
• Sasuke baked a cake while Gojo Satoru watched, then Gojo Satoru made one himself.
• Sasuke eyed Gojo Satoru’s cake suspiciously and wondered what he had put in it.

Gojo Satoru teased Itachi and Shisui, then joined the Uchiha family’s birthday celebration. When Mikoto served the cakes Satoru and Sasuke had made, Sasuke realized his slice might contain the wasabi he hated, but Satoru ate his own slice without reacting.

• Gojo Satoru mocked Itachi for having only Shisui as a friend, and Shisui reminded Satoru that he still owed him the ramen contest prize.
• Gojo Satoru pretended not to remember the free-meal voucher, then joked with Shisui and Itachi until they headed to the dining area.
• Mikoto welcomed Shisui and gathered the family around the birthday cakes.
• Sasuke stayed quiet about the cake after remembering Gojo Satoru’s threat involving an embarrassing photo.
• Mikoto handed out the cake, and Sasuke worried that his slice contained wasabi while Gojo Satoru ate his without any sign of discomfort.

At Fugaku’s birthday party, Gojo Satoru’s cake switcheroo exposed the tampered cake and sparked a chaotic food fight. Fugaku and Mikoto left the boys to clean up the wrecked room.

• Fugaku praised Mikoto’s cake, while Shisui and Itachi struggled through their servings and Gojo Satoru left his untouched.
• Sasuke bit into a cake laced with mustard, and Mikoto realized someone had switched the cake she had taken from her scroll.
• Mikoto confronted Uchiha Satoru, while the others fixed hostile stares on him for the prank.
• Someone hit the light switch with a shuriken, and a cake fight began in the darkness; Shisui ended up the most splattered.
• Gojo Satoru revealed through his thoughts that his Six Eyes let him see in the dark and that Mikoto’s precise throw made him suspect she had known about the tampered cake.
• Fugaku told the boys to clean the room and left with Mikoto, leaving them overwhelmed by the mess.

Uchiha Satoru confronted Orochimaru, who tried to recruit him as he prepared to leave Konoha. Satoru refused and warned Orochimaru that he could not afford to make a scene, but approaching footsteps interrupted their standoff.

• Uchiha Satoru noticed Orochimaru emerging from a tree and demanded to know what he wanted.
• Orochimaru asked Uchiha Satoru to leave Konoha with him and promised power and knowledge.
• Uchiha Satoru mocked Orochimaru for preparing to defect and immediately rejected his offer.
• Orochimaru threatened Uchiha Satoru, but Satoru stayed calm under his killing intent.
• Uchiha Satoru warned Orochimaru that he could not afford to cause a disturbance, making Orochimaru reconsider his plans.
• A ninja's footsteps sounded nearby, and Orochimaru turned toward them.

Kakashi tracked down Uchiha Satoru, who was confronting Orochimaru, and ordered him to complete a mission alone as punishment for skipping work. Back in his laboratory, Orochimaru refused Danzo’s Root operatives access to his experiment data and killed them, leaving his plans unresolved.

• Kakashi followed his ninja hound’s trail and found Uchiha Satoru facing Orochimaru.
• Uchiha Satoru claimed he had taken a wrong turn on the road of life, while Orochimaru suspected he had planned Kakashi’s arrival.
• Kakashi gave Uchiha Satoru a scroll for a mission meant for a three-man team and left him to do the work alone.
• Uchiha Satoru decided to earn achievements and get promoted to Jonin so he could delegate his work.
• Orochimaru refused the Root operatives’ demand for his experiment data and killed them in his laboratory.

After Orochimaru fled Konoha, Gojo Satoru thought the commotion might distract the Third Hokage and Danzo from the Uchiha. He found Mitaraishi Anko alone amid the village’s suspicion and left her with a skewer of Three-Color Dango, which made her smile.

• Gojo Satoru heard that Orochimaru had defected and considered how the escape might draw attention away from the Uchiha Clan.
• Danzo accused Hiruzen Sarutobi of letting Orochimaru escape, and Hiruzen answered coldly.
• The next day, villagers gossiped about Orochimaru and eyed his former student, Mitaraishi Anko, with suspicion.
• Gojo Satoru found Anko crying on a bench and irritated her until she stopped crying.
• Gojo Satoru gave Anko his extra skewer of Three-Color Dango and walked away, leaving her smiling.

Gojo Satoru and Kakashi were sent by the Third Hokage to investigate a hidden laboratory Orochimaru had abandoned. At Root Base, Danzo ordered his men to take Kakashi’s Sharingan and Gojo Satoru’s eyes.

• Kakashi questioned Gojo Satoru about wearing a blindfold beneath his mask, and Gojo insisted it was his true form.
• The Third Hokage told Gojo Satoru and Kakashi that Orochimaru had left secret laboratories in the country and asked them to investigate a newly discovered facility.
• Danzo revealed that the Sharingan in his eye had been exhausted and ordered Root members to find him a replacement.
• Danzo identified Kakashi as a target because he had no parents or teacher left and possessed a Sharingan.
• Danzo ordered his men to take the eyes of Uchiha Satoru as well, motivated by Gojo Satoru’s earlier insult.

Danzo questioned Hiruzen about the investigation of Orochimaru's abandoned hideout while privately plotting to take Uchiha Satoru's eyes. At the hideout, Gojo Satoru and Kakashi triggered a trap and encountered A, who said he was there on a mission.

• Danzo asked Hiruzen whether the hideout had been found and whether the investigators were reliable.
• Hiruzen said he had sent two dependable shinobi, including a novice with an unusually high mission success rate.
• Danzo realized Hiruzen meant Uchiha Satoru and resolved to take his eyes.
• Gojo Satoru and Kakashi reached Orochimaru's hideout, and Gojo warned Kakashi about the sealing strip on the laboratory door.
• Kakashi cut the strip loose from a distance, triggering an explosion that revealed A.
• Kakashi recognized A and questioned his presence, while A calmly said he had a mission.

Gojo Satoru taunted A about Danzo's intentions, while Kakashi insisted that comrades should not be suspected or killed on a whim. A's uncertainty gave way to renewed resolve, and he apologized to Kakashi.

• Kakashi questioned A about Root's mission to investigate Orochimaru's experimental facilities, but A stayed silent as Gojo Satoru inspected him.
• Gojo Satoru accused Danzo of targeting him and suggested A might have come to take Kakashi's head.
• Kakashi rebuked Gojo Satoru for joking about a comrade and said he would not let one die in front of him.
• A briefly doubted Danzo's claims about Kakashi, then hardened his resolve and apologized to Kakashi.

A attacked Kakashi after Danzo told him Kakashi had killed his teammate, Rin Nohara, while Uchiha Satoru challenged A’s accusations. Explosives and a group of attackers interrupted them, and A was left wondering why Kakashi had saved him.

• A attacked Kakashi, who blocked his strikes while Uchiha Satoru accused Danzo of using his position to pursue a personal grudge.
• A bound Kakashi with Wood Release, but Kakashi escaped with a substitution and restrained A at shuriken point.
• A accused Kakashi of killing Rin Nohara, and Kakashi froze as memories of her death returned.
• Uchiha Satoru questioned whether Kakashi was a traitor and asked A whether Danzo had also ordered him to kill Satoru.
• Explosive-tagged kunai struck the abandoned laboratory, and Kakashi shoved A out of danger before a group of attackers rushed Kakashi and Uchiha Satoru.
• A stared at the battle and wondered why Kakashi had saved him.

A turned against Root and protected Gojo Satoru and Kakashi, but the fighting was interrupted when a giant python emerged from the collapsing laboratory. Kakashi and A tried to stop it, and Gojo Satoru leaped onto its head to help.

• A rejected Root's accusations, used Wood Release to shield Gojo Satoru and Kakashi, and told them to escape.
• Gojo Satoru called A a root of Konoha, and A felt admiration for him.
• The laboratory shook and began collapsing, then a giant python appeared and swallowed the Root members.
• A tried to restrain the python with Wood Release while Kakashi attacked it with Chidori.
• Gojo Satoru jumped onto the python's head and prepared to support the others.

Kakashi, A, and Gojo Satoru defeated the great snake in the Snake Den, but A planned to return to Root. Kakashi proposed bringing A into the ANBU and seeking the Third Hokage’s protection, and the group left the unstable cave together.

• Kakashi struck the great snake’s exposed vital spot with Chidori, killing it.
• A said he had to return to Root, and Kakashi stopped him from leaving alone.
• Kakashi suggested getting A into the ANBU so the Third Hokage could protect him.
• Gojo Satoru clarified that he had meant for them to seek out the Third Hokage, while privately wondering how much A’s Wood Release might be worth.
• Kakashi led Gojo Satoru and A out of the Snake Den before the cave could collapse.

Hiruzen Sarutobi welcomed A into Konoha and named him Yamato after hearing Kakashi's account of the mission. Days later, Uchiha Satoru joined his first ANBU mission, leaving captain Naoya Kuchiki worried that the young recruit would cause trouble.

• Kakashi told Hiruzen Sarutobi how the group had encountered A, a former Root member, during their mission.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi named A Yamato and welcomed him into Konoha's ranks.
• Uchiha Satoru arrived late to an ANBU mission rendezvous while eating dango, irritating Naoya Kuchiki.
• Kiyota Sato prompted Naoya Kuchiki to explain the mission details, and Uchiha Satoru joined the formation as Naoya worried about him.

Gojo Satoru and his team were ambushed during a rest stop, but Gojo detected the threat and foiled the first attacker’s trap. After the explosion destroyed his Three-Color Dango, he mocked the enemy and countered a volley of projectiles, ending the chapter with a blast.

• Naoya Kuchiki called for the team to rest and eat in a clearing.
• Kiyota Sato questioned whether Gojo Satoru was really eight, and Gojo teased him about his age and strawberry milk.
• Gojo sensed danger and shoved Kiyota Sato away as an explosion struck their resting place.
• A concealed ninja demanded to know how Gojo had spotted him, and Gojo explained that he had anticipated an ambush and planted explosive tags.
• Six hostile presences attacked Gojo with projectiles, which he deflected back toward them.
• The returned projectiles detonated in a thunderous blast.

Gojo Satoru exposed the pale-haired ninja’s group as members of the Giant Rock Clan who were impersonating the Hozuki Clan. The enemy’s covert mission was thrown into disarray, while Gojo privately considered himself to have avenged Three-Color Dango.

• Gojo Satoru knocked out the ninja who had tried to ambush him, surprising Kiyota Sato and the pale-haired ninja.
• Gojo called the pale-haired ninja “Giant Rock,” making him suspect that their true identities had been discovered.
• The pale-haired ninja denied being from the Giant Rock Clan and introduced himself as Hozuki Mizukawa.
• Gojo pointed out the enemy’s physical builds and fighting styles as evidence that they were not members of the Hozuki Clan.
• The pale-haired ninja realized Gojo had exposed their plan to impersonate the Hozuki Clan and provoke Konoha.

Gojo Satoru exposed the Giant Rock Clan ninja’s disguise and predicted his attack, giving Captain Naoya Kuchiki time to dodge. The Giant Rock Clan fighters withdrew, leaving the battle to end in awkward silence.

• Kiyota Sato was distracted by Gojo Satoru’s revelations and narrowly dodged his opponent’s blade.
• Gojo Satoru identified the disguised ninja’s fighting habits and predicted he would use Lightning Release: Lariat against Captain Naoya Kuchiki.
• Naoya Kuchiki dodged the attack after Gojo Satoru’s commentary gave him time to react.
• The fighters from both sides stopped and stared at Gojo Satoru after he exposed the attack and the disguises.
• Gojo Satoru explained that body type and habits made disguises impossible to hide, and the Giant Rock Clan members leaped away.