Chapter Summaries

Yechen and the Konoha unit agreed on defensive preparations after their costly breakout, and Nara Yijiu revealed that Sunagakure was scaling back its attacks because its supplies were nearly exhausted. Yechen realized the war might be nearing its end, though he expected several brutal battles before peace could come.

• Nara Yijiu credited Yechen with helping break the Iwagakure encirclement and killing Han, while Yechen praised the unit and remembered the fallen.
• Nara Yijiu led a discussion on future defenses, and the group agreed on a plan to guard against further Rock Ninja attacks.
• Nara Yijiu announced that Sunagakure had suspended its offensive because its logistics could no longer sustain the war.
• The Konoha shinobi questioned the news, while Yechen concluded that Sunagakure's shortages explained its eagerness to make peace and its later dealings with Kirigakure.
• Yechen judged that the war might soon end but anticipated several exceptionally brutal battles first.

Konoha’s front-line commanders debated the Rock Ninja’s counteroffensive as the Third Raikage’s injuries flared up again. Yechen ordered Elder Lei to recover, then, after three days of training, learned that the Main Camp had suddenly ordered his outpost to retreat to Willow Town.

• Nara Yijiu reported that the Third Raikage’s old injuries had flared up and that the Rock Ninja had attacked several Konoha outposts.
• Konoha’s Jonin argued over whether to withdraw to their former defensive line, and Nara Yijiu told them to await orders from the Third Hokage and Orochimaru.
• Yechen summoned Elder Lei to the Nine Heavens Evolving Heaven Palace, urged him to recover, and gave him ten Spirit-Transforming Fruits.
• Yechen trained for three days and increased his base attributes, focusing on strengthening his constitution.
• Nara Yijiu told the outpost’s commanders that the Main Camp had ordered them to retreat to Willow Town and help defend it against a possible attack.

After learning that nearby outposts had fallen and Iwagakure had deployed the Four-Tails' jinchūriki and the Explosion Corps, Yechen’s unit planned a withdrawal. While scouting ahead, Yechen spotted an ambush and escaped an explosive-tag attack, then faced a group of Iwagakure ninjas.

• Nara Yijiu told the outpost that nearby positions had fallen and that the Main Camp ordered them to withdraw.
• Nara Yijiu reported that Iwagakure had sent the Four-Tails' jinchūriki and elites from the Explosion Corps.
• Yechen and the others planned their withdrawal, and Yechen later scouted south of the outpost with a special jōnin.
• Yechen sensed an ambush in the woods and warned his companion to retreat as explosive-tagged kunai struck their former position.
• Yechen confronted more than a dozen Iwagakure ninjas and identified their strongest man as likely Kage Level.

Yechen encountered Hunt and the Iwagakure squad, but they withdrew rather than fight him. After learning that Rock Ninja had ambushed several Konoha squads and two squads were missing, Nara Yijiu ordered the main force to break out toward Willow Town, with Yechen scouting ahead.

• Yechen recognized Hunt as an Iwagakure Explosion Corps member and kicked back a Jonin who tried to stop a Special Jōnin from reporting to Nara Yijiu.
• Hunt’s squad attacked Yechen with kunai and explosions, then fled when they judged they could not defeat him.
• Yechen left a Flying Thunder God Mark and returned to the main force, where the Special Jōnin reported that other squads had also been ambushed.
• Nara Yijiu told Yechen that two squads were still missing and ordered the Konoha Ninja to discard unnecessary supplies and break out toward Willow Town.
• Yechen led a squad ahead to scout the route, staying close to the main force because a major battle seemed unavoidable.

Yechen’s force encountered three Rock Ninja units attempting to surround them, and Nara Yijiu ordered a breakthrough before the encirclement closed. Yechen’s massive Fire Release cleared a path, and he left the battle cutting through Rock Ninja as the Konoha force charged out.

• Hyuga Jingci spotted a Rock Ninja blockade ahead and two more forces closing in from the flanks.
• Nara Yijiu realized Iwagakure was surrounding them and ordered the force to break through one defensive line.
• Yechen led the spearhead and obliterated the Rock Ninja’s explosive-tag kunai with a powerful Fire Release jutsu.
• Nara Yijiu ordered everyone to charge through the opening, and the two forces collided.
• Yechen created three Shadow Clones and raced through the battlefield, killing Rock Ninja with his blade and Lightning Release.

Yechen’s combat team fought its way through the Rock Ninja blockade and retreated toward the Willow Town outpost under relentless pursuit. After clearing nearby enemies to give his exhausted teammates time to rest, Yechen led them onward as more than eight hundred Rock Ninja followed their trail.

• Yechen and the Konoha force broke through the Rock Ninja blockade, and Nara Yijiu ordered them to rush toward the Willow Town outpost.
• The Rock Ninja pursued and used repeated attacks to stall the retreat, while reinforcements caught up and increased the pressure on the Konoha force.
• After hours of fighting and retreating through heavy rain, Yechen’s combat team reached a dense forest, where Hyuga Jingci found no large enemy forces nearby.
• Yechen went ahead and cleared every enemy within one kilometer, giving his exhausted team half an hour to rest.
• Yechen’s team resumed its retreat, and Rock Ninja scouts followed their trail as a main force of more than eight hundred pursued behind them.

Yechen's unit encountered Hunt and an elite Rock Ninja force blocking their route to Willow Town. Yechen broke free of Hunt's Mud Swamp Technique, but the battle and the threat of encirclement continued.

• Yechen's unit found more than a hundred Rock Ninja blocking the road, led by Hunt of the Explosion Corps.
• Yechen and the Konoha Ninja clashed with the Rock Ninja, and Yechen killed five opponents before Hunt blasted two Konoha Ninja with his fists.
• Yechen focused on killing enemy Chunin until Hunt charged him after Yechen reached ten kills.
• Yechen and Hunt fought cautiously, each avoiding the other's deadly attacks as the battlefield grew more dangerous.
• Yechen taunted Hunt, accelerated with Lightning Release: Thrust, and escaped Hunt's Mud Swamp Technique by blasting apart the mud with Lightning Explosion.

Yechen fought off Hunt and led the surviving Konoha Ninja through the Rock Ninja defenses to the Willow Town outpost. He learned the outpost could not send help because the Four-Tails jinchūriki had attacked it, and after receiving a day to rest, he heard the Rock Ninja might attack again in about a week.

• Hunt used the swamp and a volley of kunai to slow Yechen, but Yechen countered with a fire technique and wounded him with a Lightning Blade strike.
• Yechen joined the ongoing battle, and the Rock Ninja withdrew after apparently receiving a message.
• Yechen led the Konoha Ninja through the final defensive line and into the Willow Town outpost.
• Yechen learned the outpost had been unable to send reinforcements because the Four-Tails jinchūriki was nearby and had attacked it.
• Nara Yijiu's battered team returned with only forty-odd people, while the force of more than three hundred had fallen to fewer than a hundred.
• Tanaka Erito ordered the newcomers to rest for one day before joining the defense, and estimated that the Rock Ninja would attack again in about a week.

Yechen evolved Lightning Release: One-Sword Slash into Lightning Run: Instant Break and used several days of training to improve his abilities before his evolution points ran out. When his rest ended, he chose to lead a team defending the strategic high ground near Willow Town, where clashes with Rock Ninja were likely.

• Yechen trained with Shadow Clones for three days until Lightning Release: One-Sword Slash reached its foundational limit, then evolved it into Lightning Run: Instant Break.
• Yechen spent his evolution points and substantially improved his strength, while recognizing that Flying Thunder God Technique and Wood Release were especially difficult to master.
• After two more days, Yechen's rest ended, and Tanaka Erito arranged for him to lead a team on missions.
• Yechen chose to defend the high ground west and north of Willow Town, and Tanaka Erito approved his request.

Yechen encountered a strange group calling themselves the Ghost Clan, who revealed they had come to kill him for a black-market bounty. He suspected Ōnoki had arranged the hit, but remained uncertain whether the Ghost Clan was a real clan or a fabricated name.

• Yechen detected a group hiding in the woods and warned his six Chunin subordinates to be ready.
• The Ghost Clan leader introduced himself and his companions, then used a sound-based genjutsu that Yechen recognized and stopped his men from falling victim to.
• The leader told Yechen that someone had placed a black-market bounty on his head and that the Ghost Clan had come for the reward.
• Yechen suspected the Rock Ninja, likely Ōnoki, had posted the bounty because the hunters had reached the battlefield undetected.
• Yechen considered whether the Ghost Clan was an obscure clan, one that had been wiped out, or simply a name the group had invented.

Yechen discovered that Ghost controlled seemingly immortal corpse puppets that could explode and release corrosive flesh and bone. After using his Sharingan genjutsu to freeze Ghost and behead him, Yechen learned that Ghost could survive decapitation and counterattacked with more exploding puppets.

• Yechen's six subordinates clashed with Ghost's fighters, who showed no fear and appeared impossible to kill.
• Yechen rescued a Konoha Ninja from a corpse puppet's corrosive self-destruction and spotted more figures surrounding them.
• Ghost demanded that Yechen's subordinates leave, while Yechen concluded that Ghost controlled the puppets and told his team to protect themselves.
• Yechen trapped Ghost in Sharingan genjutsu and cut off his head, but Ghost survived and said Yechen could not kill him.
• Ghost made nearby corpse puppets detonate, but Yechen evaded the blast and decapitated another puppet before it could explode.

Yechen defeated Ghost’s corpse puppets with Lightning Run: Instant Break, but Ghost used green liquid to escape by taking over a Konoha Chunin. Yechen ordered his surviving subordinates to search the area, then resumed the patrol, expecting to face Ghost again.

• Yechen purified the negative energy around him and used Lightning Run: Instant Break to destroy Ghost’s corpse puppets faster than Ghost could make them explode.
• After the last puppet fell, Ghost claimed he was immortal, then exploded into green liquid and disappeared.
• Yechen found a dead Konoha Chunin and deduced that Ghost had used the green liquid to enter the man’s body, drain his life, and escape underground.
• Yechen told his surviving subordinates to clear the battlefield and look for other enemies, but they found no sign of the Rock Ninja.
• Yechen ordered the patrol to resume, and his subordinates buried their fallen comrades before following him.

Yechen watched as Roshi launched a Tailed Beast Bomb at the Willow Town Stronghold, and Minato Namikaze arrived in time to teleport it away. Minato’s feat won the battlefield’s attention, while Yechen saw an opportunity to confront the Four-Tails Jinchūriki.

• Yechen sensed a powerful presence and used his Byakugan to identify Roshi approaching the stronghold.
• Roshi formed a Tailed Beast Bomb and fired it toward the Willow Town Stronghold.
• Minato Namikaze appeared before the bomb and used Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder to send it through a spatial rift to a distant plain.
• The bomb exploded far away, and Konoha’s forces cheered while the Rock Ninja feared the Yellow Flash.
• Yechen admired Minato’s technique and considered how his arrival could help him capture the Four-Tails Jinchūriki.

After Roshi’s Tailed Beast Bomb failed to surprise Konoha, the battle for the Willow Town outpost began. Yechen defended the western heights and cut through the Rock Ninja, leaving the fight in progress after killing an Iwagakure Jonin.

• Roshi’s Tailed Beast Bomb struck from afar, but Konoha and the Rock Ninja weathered its shock wave, and Roshi could not launch another without risking the tailed beast’s control.
• An Iwagakure Jonin ordered the Rock Ninja to attack the Willow Town outpost, and Konoha’s ninja advanced to meet them.
• A subordinate warned Yechen that more than a hundred Rock Ninja were approaching the western heights, so Yechen ordered his squad to take defensive positions and charged the enemy.
• Yechen used Lightning Release: One-Sword Slash to kill more than a dozen Rock Ninja and help Konoha scatter their formation.
• As Rock Ninja tried to surround him, Yechen swept through them with a lightning-charged attack and killed a charging Iwagakure Jonin.

After the Rock Ninja withdrew from their all-out assault, they resumed fighting the Willow Town outpost with small squads. As Konoha’s jonin met to plan their next move, Yechen considered Minato Namikaze and his own plans for the Uchiha, Kushina, and the village.

• Yechen watched the Rock Ninja retreat, then returned to training while his subordinates cleaned up the battlefield.
• The Rock Ninja attacked the Willow Town outpost in small squads, and Yechen sent his men to fight them instead of taking action himself.
• For three days, Konoha and the Rock Ninja fought only small skirmishes, with no powerful shinobi joining the battles.
• Konoha’s jonin gathered at the Willow Town outpost to discuss a plan to strike the main Rock Ninja force, while Tanaka Erito reviewed the recent fighting.
• Yechen exchanged greetings with Minato Namikaze and considered sparing Minato and Kushina, easing tensions between the village and the Uchiha, and pursuing power rather than becoming Hokage.

Yechen agreed to lead Operation Decapitation against the Rock Ninja camp, then guided his squad through enemy patrols to a concealed position near the outpost. The team waited for Hyuga Jinghong to find an opening, and the chapter ended as she requested a brief rest after using her Byakugan.

• Yechen accidentally agreed to lead a mission after spacing out during Tanaka Erito's briefing.
• Minato Namikaze explained Operation Decapitation and gave Yechen a marked three-pronged kunai so Minato could bring reinforcements to his location.
• Yechen led two Special Jōnin and Hyuga Jinghong out of Willow Town and toward the Rock Ninja outpost under cover of a nighttime attack.
• Yechen's squad used his Sharingan and Hyuga Jinghong's Byakugan to evade sentries and traps before reaching a concealed position near the outpost.
• Hyuga Jinghong surveyed the defenses with her Byakugan, then signaled that she needed a short rest.

Yechen’s squad infiltrated the Rock Ninja stronghold and used disguises and the Sharingan to enter the underground Command Center. As Hyuga Jinghong led them toward the command post, she discovered the guards were searching the area, indicating their operation had been exposed.

• Hyuga Jinghong guided Yechen and the two Konoha Ninja past the stronghold’s patrols to the underground entrance.
• Yechen assigned the two Special Jōnin to eliminate the concealed sentries while he used the Thousand Faces Illusion Technique and Sharingan to subdue the two guards at the entrance.
• The squad disguised themselves as Rock Ninja and entered the underground space, with Hyuga Jinghong using her Byakugan to search for the Command Center.
• Hyuga Jinghong noticed nearby guards moving and searching the area, and warned Yechen that the squad had likely been exposed.

After their infiltration was discovered, Yechen’s squad fought through the Rock Ninja guards and reached the Command Center. There, Yechen encountered Hunt again, setting up their third clash.

• A Chunin squad captain discovered the guards at the entrance had been attacked, prompting the Command Center to order a search for intruders.
• Yechen ordered his squad to rush toward the Command Center and kill any guards in their way.
• Yechen killed twelve Rock Ninja in a brief fight, punching through an Earth Flow Wall and finishing the squad with Shuriken.
• Yechen’s squad reached the area near the Command Center, where an explosion forced Yechen to dodge.
• Yechen recognized Hunt, the Explosion Corps member he had fought twice before, and prepared for their third clash.

Yechen attacked the Rock Ninja Command Center with a massive fire technique, defeated Hunt, and summoned Minato Namikaze with two Konoha Jonin as reinforcements. Minato ordered his companions to identify their targets and finish the fight quickly as the two sides clashed.

• Yechen unleashed a huge wave of fire at the Rock Ninja Command Center, forcing Hunt and the Rock Ninja squads to defend themselves.
• Hunt attacked Yechen to interrupt his technique, but Yechen used Shadow Clones and a lightning-fast sword strike to badly wound him.
• Kuroki Masayasu ordered the Rock Ninja to protect Hunt and hold Yechen off until reinforcements arrived.
• Yechen activated the mark on his Three-Pronged Kunai and summoned Minato Namikaze, a Nara Clan Jonin, and a Yamanaka Clan Jonin.
• Minato surveyed the battlefield and ordered his companions to confirm their targets and end the fight quickly.
• The Rock Ninja and their opponents clashed in a direct battle, avoiding large-area techniques to protect their allies.

Yechen killed Hunt and three other opponents, then joined the battle around the Nara and Yamanaka Jonin to eliminate more than twenty Iwagakure Chunin. He stopped after wiping out the Chunin and turned his attention to the remaining Jonin.

• Hunt and two Special Jonin attacked Yechen, but he killed all three with a series of lightning-fast sword strikes.
• Yechen gained evolution points from the three deaths and then killed three Chunin with Genjutsu and his sword.
• Yechen used the Void Flash Evasion Technique to break through the encirclement and reach the Nara and Yamanaka Jonin, while Minato Namikaze pursued Kuroki Masayasu.
• The Nara and Yamanaka Jonin engaged the Iwagakure Jonin as Yechen cut down the Chunin surrounding them.
• Yechen killed more than twenty Iwagakure Chunin in three minutes, then faced the few remaining Jonin.