Chapter Summaries

Yechen accepted the Command Center’s order to lead fifty Konoha ninja from the Forward Base toward the Northern Defense Line. As Kirigakure prepared to intercept them at sea, Yechen spotted the thickening mist and ordered his team to focus on defense and avoid casualties.

• Uchiha Zhixiong explained that the Command Center wanted the Forward Base to send fifty ninja to encircle Kirigakure’s raiding force, while the rest stayed behind on alert.
• Uchiha Zhixiong asked Yechen to lead the mission, and Yechen agreed.
• Yechen led fifty Konoha ninja onto a ship bound for the Northern Defense Line, while a Kirigakure Anbu observed their departure and sent an encoded message.
• After five hours at sea, Yechen sensed energy in the thickening mist and sounded the alarm.
• Uchiha Wildfire asked whether they were surrounded, and Yechen told him to relay orders to defend themselves and avoid casualties.

Yechen led the Konoha Ninja through a Kirigakure ambush at sea, protecting their ship and turning the attack against the enemy. After ordering his allies to engage the Kirigakure forces, he searched for their hidden ship and concealed his Byakugan behind sunglasses.

• Konoha Ninja used Wind Release to clear the mist, but Kirigakure replenished it and launched kunai carrying explosive tags at their ship.
• Yechen told everyone to intercept the kunai, then raised four water dragons that blocked the barrage and swept nearby Kirigakure Ninja into the sea.
• The mist cleared, revealing about thirty injured Kirigakure Ninja, and Yechen ordered the Konoha Ninja to charge them.
• Yechen stayed on the ship because he suspected more enemies were hiding nearby, then put on sunglasses and activated his Byakugan to search for their vessel.

Yechen discovered a disguised Kirigakure warship carrying Xueyu of the Yuki Clan and confronted him. Xueyu challenged Yechen to fight atop a giant Ice Dragon.

• Yechen spotted the camouflaged Kirigakure warship five kilometers away with his Byakugan.
• Xueyu used an ice mirror to view the battlefield, but Yechen severed the connection and shattered the mirror.
• Yechen rushed toward the warship as Xueyu's blizzard and ice-crystal shuriken failed to stop him.
• Yechen landed on the deck, and Xueyu summoned a giant Ice Dragon and challenged him to fight.
• Yechen accepted Xueyu's challenge and said he hated pretty boys.

Yechen fought Xueyu across the sea, overpowering his Ice Release before Xueyu trapped him in an Ice Prison. Yechen broke free with a space-compressed punch, leaving Xueyu's prison shattered above the churning sea.

• Xueyu sent an Ice Dragon after Yechen, who dodged its attacks and countered with flames that overwhelmed Xueyu's freezing breath.
• Xueyu used the steam from the clash to spread the Hidden Mist Technique, then attacked Yechen with ice spikes rising from the sea.
• Xueyu formed an Ice Prison around Yechen and taunted him, confident the cage would freeze him solid.
• Yechen activated Level 1 Space Compression and punched through the ice walls, shattering the prison and sending waves surging across the sea.

Yechen fought a masked Kirigakure Anbu and recognized him as Kisame Hoshigaki after breaking his mask. He wounded Kisame but spared him, then offered him a chance to serve under him.

• Kirigakure Anbu rescued the gravely injured Xueyu and carried him back aboard the ice-crystal warship.
• A masked Kirigakure Anbu attacked Yechen, and the two exchanged rapid sword strikes across the sea.
• Yechen used his Sharingan to make the Anbu retreat, then split his mask and recognized him as Kisame Hoshigaki.
• Yechen pierced Kisame's arm but let him escape several meters away.
• Yechen asked Kisame to serve under him and help create a better era.

Yechen fought Kisame Hoshigaki, using their duel to challenge his swordsmanship and invite him to join his organization. Kisame unleashed Water Release: Rain Four Sharks, but Yechen cut through the swarm before Kisame launched a massive wave of seawater at him.

• Kisame Hoshigaki attacked Yechen, who blocked his strike and fought defensively while studying Kisame's swordsmanship.
• Yechen told Kisame that his swordsmanship lacked the spirit to overcome all opposition and again invited him to join his organization.
• Kisame used Water Release: Rain Four Sharks, and the four sharks split into thousands of smaller ones even though Yechen had not attacked them.
• Yechen used Lightning Run: Instant Break to slash through the shark swarm before the sharks could explode.
• Kisame formed hand seals and spat out a wave of seawater over ten meters tall toward Yechen.

Yechen defeated Kisame Hoshigaki and Xueyu’s attack, then led his battered unit to the Northern Defense Line. There, Yuna Kurozawa told him that Kirigakure had captured the Forward Base and killed everyone stationed there, leaving Yechen to wonder whether his departure had affected the outcome.

• Yechen overwhelmed Kisame Hoshigaki’s water attack with fire, but Xueyu intervened and helped Kisame escape with him.
• Uchiha Wildfire joined Yechen, who gave him a Blood Spirit Fruit to help heal his wounds.
• Yechen learned that his unit had suffered five deaths while Kirigakure had left twenty dead, then ordered his people to rest before continuing to the Northern Defense Line.
• Yechen reached the defense line and met Yuna Kurozawa, who revealed that the Forward Base had fallen three hours earlier and all its defenders had been killed.
• Yechen realized Kisame Hoshigaki and Xueyu had stalled him while Kirigakure attacked the Forward Base, and wondered whether its fate would have changed if he had stayed.

After the Forward Base fell, Yechen told his subordinates to hold their position and visited the badly wounded Shisui Uchiha to compare intelligence about Kirigakure’s attack. Five quiet days passed as both sides held back, and Yechen’s training evolved his Water Dragon Bullet Technique into the Jade-Scaled Water Dragon Bullet.

• Yechen informed his subordinates that the Forward Base had fallen and ordered them to take on defensive duties while awaiting orders.
• Yechen brought Uchiha Wildfire to the Wounded Soldiers' Camp, where they found the badly injured Shisui Uchiha.
• Yechen compared Shisui’s account of the attack with Yuna Kurozawa’s intelligence, then gave Shisui a Blood Spirit Fruit to aid his recovery.
• Over the next five days, Kirigakure and Konoha adopted defensive postures while Yechen focused on training.
• Yechen’s Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique reached level 10 and evolved into Water Release: Jade-Scaled Water Dragon Bullet.

Yechen learned that Iwagakure had captured Qu River Town, a major Konoha stronghold, and considered the danger this posed to Konoha’s wider war effort. He received new orders to keep his unit in place and guard against a Kirigakure surprise attack.

• A messenger summoned Yechen to the meeting room, where Yuna Kurozawa told him Qu River Town had fallen to Iwagakure.
• Yechen considered the threat to Konoha and recalled the conflicts and tragedies that might follow, but chose not to share his foreknowledge.
• Yechen asked when the stronghold had fallen and whether Captain Nara had issued new arrangements.
• Yuna Kurozawa gave Yechen his latest orders: keep his unit stationed there and defend against another surprise attack from Kirigakure.

After gaining insight into cyclone force, Yechen used the system to create Wind Release: Wind Realm Freedom and trained until he mastered flight. He practiced his new aerial combat skills over the sea, where Uchiha Wildfire arrived to speak with him.

• Yechen assigned official guard-duty missions to his subordinates without revealing the stronghold in Qu River Town.
• After a month of cultivation, Yechen evolved his cyclone-force insight into Wind Release: Wind Realm Freedom, a technique for flying and moving through the air.
• Yechen trained for three days and gained basic control of flight, while the evolution also unlocked the no-hand-seal attack Wind Release: Wind Cutter.
• After forty days of secluded training, Yechen mastered flight and combined it with Lightning Run: Instant Break to achieve impressive speed.
• Yechen practiced casting ninjutsu while flying over the sea, and Uchiha Wildfire appeared on the shore and called out to him.

Yechen learned that the Uchiha Clan was divided over whether to reclaim the Sharingan transplanted into Kakashi, and Wildfire revealed that the clan wanted Yechen’s opinion. Yechen discovered that his standing in the clan had grown enough for many to see him as a possible next Clan Leader.

• Wildfire told Yechen that Kakashi had received one of the Uchiha Clan’s Sharingan after Obito Uchiha’s death.
• Wildfire explained that some Uchiha wanted to take the Sharingan back, while he believed doing so would make the clan look bad.
• Yechen reasoned that Minato Namikaze, Kakashi’s status as a war hero, and his father’s connections would make reclaiming the eye difficult.
• Wildfire said the clan had asked for Yechen’s opinion and that many members would support him as the next Clan Leader.
• Yechen realized the clan’s elders valued his talent and influence more than he had understood.

Yechen learned that Kirigakure squads were scouting Konoha’s defense lines, prompting a meeting to prepare for an attack. Yuna Kurozawa reassigned Yechen’s squad to Sea-Viewing Cliff, a dangerous northern stronghold that had been breached before.

• Uchiha Wildfire told Yechen that Kirigakure patrols had appeared along the coast and were probing the defense line.
• Yechen attended a meeting with Shisui Uchiha and Yuna Kurozawa after receiving a summons.
• Yuna Kurozawa reported Kirigakure activity along the Northern, Southern, and Central Defense Lines, and the assembled Jonin discussed preparations for a possible attack.
• Yuna Kurozawa ordered Yechen to lead his squad to Sea-Viewing Cliff, a remote position vulnerable to attacks from three sides.

Yechen arrived at Sea-Viewing Cliff to take command of its heavily reinforced outpost and joined Uchiha Wildfire on a patrol. The patrol found no sign of Kirigakure, leaving Yechen puzzled because the enemy had recently been active nearby.

• Yechen accepted Yuna Kurozawa's assignment and led his team to Sea-Viewing Cliff, where he took command after a smooth handover.
• Yechen left the outpost's daily duties to his subordinates and spent the night training.
• Yechen inspected the area in the morning and told Uchiha Wildfire he would join the day's patrol.
• Yechen and Uchiha Wildfire took a squad of Konoha ninja by sailboat to patrol the nearby waters while Yechen trained aboard.
• Yechen returned to the harbor at sunset without finding Kirigakure, and the other squads reported the same lack of activity.
• Yechen wondered whether Kirigakure had stopped reconnaissance despite its recent activity in the nearby waters.

Yechen grew suspicious of Kirigakure’s absence around Sea-Viewing Cliff and kept his outpost on alert while patrolling the waters. On the third day, he detected four concealed Kirigakure warships and prepared to face the approaching attackers alone.

• Yechen checked with the Northern Defense Line Command Center and learned that only his outpost lacked signs of Kirigakure reconnaissance squads.
• Yechen ordered extra nighttime patrols, but the next two days passed without any enemy sightings near Sea-Viewing Cliff.
• Yechen detected four approaching warships and ordered his squad to report Level One Combat Readiness.
• Yechen recognized that the warships were covered in light-refracting ice crystal and saw Xueyu aboard one of them.
• Yechen sent Uchiha Wildfire and the others back, then rose into the air to meet the attacking Kirigakure ninja.

Yechen’s squad defeated a Kirigakure probing force and captured three ice-crystal warships before returning to Sea-Viewing Cliff Stronghold. He concluded that Kirigakure would regroup and prepare another attack after its raid failed.

• Yechen cut down many charging Kirigakure ninja with Wind Release: Wind Cutter, and Xueyu ordered the Mist forces to retreat.
• Yechen unleashed a jade-scaled Water Dragon Bullet that broke through Water Formation Wall and devastated the fleeing Kirigakure ninja.
• Yechen pursued the retreating forces and captured three ice-crystal warships, though Xueyu escaped.
• Yechen brought the captured ships to Sea-Viewing Cliff Stronghold, where the alarm was raised before he explained the victory.
• Yechen considered the attack a failed probing raid and expected Kirigakure to regroup for another assault.

Yechen prepared the Sea-Viewing Cliff stronghold for Kirigakure’s main-force assault and faced more than four hundred attackers alone. As the Kirigakure ninja charged, he activated his Susanoo Battle Form.

• Yechen learned that Kirigakure forces were gathering elsewhere and agreed to prolong the battle while Captain Yuna Kurozawa moved to cut off their retreat.
• Yechen gathered his squad leaders, ordered them to follow their battle plan, and prepared the stronghold’s more than two hundred Konoha ninja.
• Yechen watched five Kirigakure warships approach and saw three or four hundred ninja disembark.
• Yechen rose above Sea-Viewing Cliff and challenged the attackers, whose jonin rallied them into a charge.
• Yechen signaled the Konoha ninja to hold their positions, then activated his Susanoo Battle Form as the Kirigakure force advanced.

Yechen used his Bronze Battle Armor Susanoo to withstand Kirigakure’s assault and devastate their forces with a single sword strike. As the surviving Mist ninjas fled, Uchiha Wildfire led the Konoha forces in a charge to seize the Kirigakure warships.

• Yechen transformed his Susanoo into a thirty-three-meter giant clad in Bronze Battle Armor as the Kirigakure ninjas charged.
• The Kirigakure forces bombarded Yechen, but their attacks left his armor unmarked.
• Yechen’s Illusion-Breaking Bronze Sword carved a huge trench through the sea and swept away most of the more than four hundred Kirigakure ninjas.
• After the surviving Mist ninjas resurfaced, Yechen signaled Uchiha Wildfire to lead Konoha’s forces in an attack.
• Uchiha Wildfire and the Konoha ninjas charged to kill the fleeing enemies and capture their warships, while Kirigakure called for a retreat and protection of the ships.

After Yechen repelled Kirigakure’s attack on Sea-Viewing Cliff, he moved between Konoha’s defensive lines to stop Kirigakure’s renewed offensive. The fighting quieted after Might Duy killed four of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, leaving only the Lucky Two Treasures alive.

• Kirigakure’s forces retreated from Sea-Viewing Cliff, and Yechen stopped the pursuit before his troops secured the captured warships and supplies.
• Yuna Kurozawa’s reinforcements arrived after the battle, and Yechen kept them at the stronghold to strengthen his forces.
• Kirigakure later attacked every defensive line except Sea-Viewing Cliff, but Yechen used his Taiji Yin-Yang Seals to rush between strongholds and prevent a breakthrough.
• Might Duy opened the Eight Gates and single-handedly killed four members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
• Yechen learned that Suikazan Fuguki and Kushimaru Kuriarare were the only two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen left alive, after which Kirigakure stopped its raids.

Yechen’s genjutsu evolved as Kirigakure renewed its attacks on Konoha’s eastern defenses. At the Command Center, Nara Yue Guang revealed that Red Leaf Stronghold had fallen, opening a dangerous route toward the Land of Fire’s Daimyo’s Mansion.

• Yechen’s Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique evolved to affect multiple targets within range, and his combat power increased.
• Kirigakure launched fierce attacks across Konoha’s eastern border, forcing Nara Yue Guang to shift troops between strongholds.
• Yuna Kurozawa summoned Yechen to the Command Center, where he reunited with Shisui Uchiha and joined a meeting with several Jonin.
• Nara Yue Guang announced that Kirigakure had captured Red Leaf Stronghold, shocking the assembled ninja.

Konoha learned that Kirigakure had used the Six-Tails to capture the Red Leaf Stronghold, and Yechen volunteered to contain the tailed beast. He reached the ruined stronghold and activated his Byakugan to search the area.

• Nara Yue Guang told the gathered Jonin that Kirigakure had deployed the Six-Tails at the Red Leaf Stronghold, where Konoha survivors were still holding out.
• Yechen concluded that Minato Namikaze would be sent to stop the Six-Tails to protect Kushina Uzumaki, but decided to pursue the beast himself.
• Yechen volunteered for the mission, and Nara Yue Guang approved his assignment to the rescue team.
• After the meeting, Yechen flew to the Red Leaf Forest and saw that Red Leaf Town had been reduced to ruins.
• Yechen activated his Byakugan to search the area around the stronghold.