Chapter Summaries

Kiyoshi’s column traveled through the night and was attacked while crossing the Ice Bridge, where Sasuke, Koyuki, Sakura, Naruto, and Kiyoshi helped the carts get through. Afterward, Kiyoshi found an insignia and copied its engraved pattern into the notebook as the column continued toward the city.

• Kakashi refused the Liaison Officer’s offer of lodging and ordered the column to travel through the night.
• Kiyoshi chose the Ice Bridge route, and the column reached the bridge as armored attackers approached from the far side.
• Sasuke attacked with Fire Style and shuriken while Koyuki seized the brake and steered the carts onto the bridge.
• Sakura fell through breaking ice, and Naruto jumped in after her and pulled her out.
• Kiyoshi subdued two attackers at the rear as the group withdrew, while Kakashi sat injured and Sasuke watched the far side.
• Kiyoshi found a copper insignia beneath fresh snow, copied its engraved design into the notebook, and set off with the column across the bridge.

Kiyoshi’s group uncovered the Royal City’s role in directing their journey and pressed the city lord for answers about Koyuki’s return and succession. Koyuki disappeared from her room, and Kiyoshi told Naruto they would not pursue her.

• At the guesthouse, Sandayu showed footage of Kiyoshi standing in the background, and the crew joked about him while Koyuki chose a place beside the machine.
• Kakashi told Kiyoshi that a past job had taken him along the bridge road, where he failed to rescue a woman.
• Koyuki asked Kakashi who he was escorting, and Kakashi bowed to her without answering.
• At the hall, the city lord said Koyuki should return and succeed to the throne on the premiere day, while Kiyoshi demanded to know about the preview footage.
• Kiyoshi showed the group a dispatch record naming the Royal City, and Kakashi concluded that someone had known their route since they left the village.
• Kiyoshi found Koyuki’s room empty, with her broken crystal pendant left behind, and told Naruto they would not go after her.

Kiyoshi’s camp was overrun by an armored force, and Kakashi was captured after fighting to protect the others. Koyuki walked away with the attackers, leaving Kiyoshi at the courtyard to watch their tracks lead toward the Royal City.

• Kiyoshi heard an unauthorized signal, discovered the outer sentries had gone silent, and ordered the password changed as armored ranks breached the camp.
• Kakashi used Lightning Blade against an armored attacker, then was restrained with an iron ring and dragged away despite shouting for the others to escape.
• Kiyoshi used a Firecracker Kunai and the cellar’s narrow entrance to delay attackers while guiding the crew and wounded into shelter.
• Kiyoshi ordered the crew into the cellar, where Sakura treated the wounded and Naruto’s shout was cut off outside.
• An attacker took Koyuki’s pendant, and she walked away with the armored ranks as Kakashi was dragged toward the Royal City.
• Kiyoshi saw two sets of tracks leading toward the city: one dragged and one made by someone walking willingly.

Kiyoshi and the others learned that the Warmhouse Machine beneath the Royal City could melt or unleash snow, and that its keys were tied to the young lady and seven-colored ice. After she gave Kiyoshi a route map and asked to return through the main gate, he revised the plan to take her home by crossing the ice and slipping along the annex wall.

• Kiyoshi checked three clues in his notebook and found that they matched, while Sakura bandaged his cut.
• Naruto said they would fight their way into the Royal City in the morning, and Kiyoshi warned that as many people might not come out as went in.
• Sandayu revealed that the Warmhouse Machine lay beneath the Royal City and explained that its keys were the young lady’s crystal pendant and seven-colored ice beneath the Old Royal City.
• Kiyoshi observed the annex guard changes as Naruto spoke with the young lady inside; she said she would go with her captors and gave Kiyoshi a route map.
• The young lady asked Kiyoshi to take her back to the Royal City through the main gate, and he answered that they would take the ice.
• Kiyoshi crossed out the old route, revised the watch schedule, and planned a route along the ice and annex wall under the words “Take her back home.”

Kiyoshi, Naruto, and Sasuke broke into the garrison, defeated its armored defender, and freed Kakashi while a ceremonial procession confronted the figure in the hall. Kiyoshi then discovered a frozen doorway and a trail of footprints leading into a dark opening lit by a steady seven-colored glow.

• Kiyoshi divided the group’s plan: Sandayu led the procession through the main gate while Naruto and Sasuke broke through the wall with him.
• Sasuke’s fire failed against Akihiko Rōga’s armor, but Naruto drove him onto thin ice, where he sank beneath the flowing water.
• Naruto broke open the holding room door, and Kiyoshi and Naruto freed Kakashi from his chakra-absorbing cuff.
• Sakura treated Kakashi as the procession entered the city and blocked the hall’s entrance with the garrison gathered there.
• A cloaked woman revealed herself at the foot of the hall steps, said she had returned, and Sandayu began reading an old decree.
• Kiyoshi found a frozen door and fresh footprints leading into a dark opening, where a seven-colored light shifted and then steadied.

Naruto’s team fought through the guards outside the cave and used the ice and a thread to open a path to its entrance. Inside, Koyuki led them toward a seven-colored light, where an armored figure welcomed the key and waited facing deeper into the cave.

• Naruto and Sasuke examined the sealed opening where Akihiko Rōga had fallen, then followed tracks uphill to an ice cave guarded by armored men.
• Koyuki showed the guards her key and said she knew the cave, while Kiyoshi and Sakura circled the ice wall and subdued two attackers.
• Kiyoshi used spikes and a thread to manipulate the light and seal a gap in the guards’ sightlines as half the guards went down toward the bridge.
• Sasuke used fire to melt the snow beneath an armored guard, Naruto knocked him off the path, and Kiyoshi announced that ice could defeat the guards.
• Kiyoshi pulled the thread taut to clear the cave entrance, and Naruto and Sasuke charged inside as the remaining guards backed away.
• Koyuki entered the cave’s seven-colored light first, followed by Kiyoshi, and an armored figure said they had brought the key.

Naruto used the cave’s converging rainbow light to break Tōsetsu’s armor, and the man disappeared into a closing fissure. Koyuki claimed the Land of Snow, the Warmhouse Machine began melting the ice, and the squad departed by ship, leaving a green streak across the ice fields.

• Naruto followed Kiyoshi’s direction onto the patch of light and used a rainbow-colored sphere to break Tōsetsu’s armor, sending him into a fissure that closed behind him.
• Koyuki declared that the Land of Snow was hers, inserted the Hexagon into the gate, and started the Warmhouse Machine.
• Kiyoshi found a crate containing cases that recorded his finishing motions, while Kakashi remained seated at the camp entrance.
• The scattered armor was gathered for the New Government’s weapons ledger, and the inventory clerk recorded the fallen man as Akihiko Rōga.
• Koyuki gave Kiyoshi an Insignia for the premiere, and Sakura tucked it into her backpack.
• The squad boarded the ship and departed as Naruto watched a green streak stretching across the ice fields.

Kiyoshi returned from the Land of Snow with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, handed the mission report to Iruka, and went home. At the village noticeboard, he read the registration dates and requirements, memorized the dates, and confirmed to Nakajima that he would sign up.

• Kiyoshi and the others sailed back, and Naruto repeatedly recounted the cave’s light, naming it “Rainbow Color.”
• The group disembarked and parted from Tazuna and the Film Crew before traveling by cart to the village.
• Villagers crowded around Kiyoshi at the gate with questions about the Land of Snow, while Iruka watched without approaching.
• Kiyoshi’s group submitted their report to Iruka, who removed a separate sheet and added a note that a cross-border coordination document had been filed separately.
• Kiyoshi returned home, wrote in the Transcription Notebook, and went to the village noticeboard to study the registration dates and requirements.
• Nakajima asked whether Kiyoshi was signing up, and Kiyoshi said yes.

Kiyoshi confirmed that he had completed enough assignments to register, then obtained Kakashi’s signatures on four registration sheets. After registering, he used his saved slips to draw several items, including the Thunderclap Blade, and ended the chapter by writing himself instructions in his notebook.

• Kiyoshi counted his completed assignments and found that the Land of Waves and Land of Snow jobs gave him enough to qualify for registration.
• Kiyoshi brought four registration sheets to Kakashi, who signed each one and told him not to lose any of the four names.
• Kiyoshi submitted his record book at the registration office, where Iruka noted that the last two assignments had been approved by the higher-ups.
• Kiyoshi used his saved slips to obtain items, fill the Substitution Technique slot, and receive the guaranteed Thunderclap Blade.
• Kiyoshi found that Izumi had written July 7 and drawn a circle in his notebook, then added the instructions “Do not use the eyes” and “let the drawer sleep.”

Kiyoshi trained with his peers, demonstrated his developing skills to the man on the slope, and learned that Sunagakure’s candidates were coming for the exam. He ended the chapter by meeting three unusual green-clad newcomers, glimpses of the people waiting beyond the exam hall.

• Kiyoshi used the Substitution Technique to evade Kiba and Akamaru, then kept his other abilities secret.
• At the academy, Iruka told Kiyoshi’s team that the exam would test what kind of team they were.
• Kiyoshi showed the man on the slope his practice, including a blade sequence and a self-invented fire technique, and agreed to an inspection after the exam.
• Kiyoshi heard that Sunagakure had submitted its roster and wrote its name in his notebook.
• Kiyoshi encountered three green-clad newcomers on the road; the first declared there were no shortcuts to youth, and the largest called a worthy rival nourishment for youth.

Kiyoshi watched the villages gather for the exam and tracked the candidates, security, and registration details around the entrance. As he entered the grounds, he marked Gaara as a greater concern than Kabuto Yakushi.

• Kiyoshi counted the flags, candidates, and routes while Naruto shouted to the crowd and received no answer.
• Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara arrived from Sunagakure, and Gaara fixed his gaze on Kiyoshi and his team.
• Temari questioned Kiyoshi about the Land of Waves and the bridge, while Kankuro adjusted the heavy bundle on his back.
• Kiyoshi noticed Kabuto Yakushi's name on a separate register with its village affiliation blank, and he recorded the name privately without reporting it.
• Kiyoshi observed masked watchers on the rooftops and heard Iruka warn that checks were strict this year.
• After the flags came down, Gaara looked back at the spot where Konoha's flag had stood, and Kiyoshi circled his name before entering the grounds.

Kiyoshi passed the document check and prepared for the written exam while rumors about a final question spread among the candidates. After watching someone review papers inside the closed examination grounds with Kakashi, he kept the last box of his plan empty and followed Kakashi away.

• Soldiers rejected a three-person team's Dossiers for a missing village registration page, then verified Kiyoshi's documents and confirmed his birth date.
• Kakashi spoke quietly with three Forehead Protectors before telling Kiyoshi to answer normally at the exam.
• Kiyoshi drafted a ten-box exam plan, erased the line predicting Naruto would fail to answer, and left the final box blank.
• Temari asked Kiyoshi whether he could cheat on the written exam, and he replied that people said he could.
• Candidates circulated rumors about an unknown final question, while Sasuke dismissed the concern and returned to his room.
• Kiyoshi watched a figure review a paper inside the examination grounds with Kakashi, then chose to keep his final box empty and followed him away.

Kiyoshi entered the written exam, where Ibiki announced rules that allowed copying but punished candidates caught doing it. Faced with questions beyond his lessons, Kiyoshi answered what he knew while watching the room’s strict proctors, and the chapter left the remaining candidates writing under heightened pressure.

• Kiyoshi took his assigned seat as Ibiki announced that candidates could copy answers but would lose points if caught, and teams would be dismissed when their score reached zero.
• Kiyoshi found that most questions exceeded what he had learned and counted only three he felt sure he could answer; Naruto asked whether he understood any of them, and Kiyoshi said he understood one.
• As candidates made subtle movements to help teammates, Kiyoshi answered a question without using his eye and then moved on to another he knew.
• A proctor caught a team in the third row on the left, and the three candidates left the hall as Ibiki crossed their line out of the register.
• Kiyoshi returned to his paper and continued writing while the remaining candidates resumed their work more quietly and uniformly.

During the written exam, Kiyoshi observed how candidates used covert methods to obtain answers and realized the test was really about catching them. He told Sasuke that the paper was a decoy, and the chapter ended with Ibiki announcing that fifteen minutes remained.

• Candidates were called out of the exam room one by one as Ibiki marked their departures on the blackboard.
• Kiyoshi watched the candidates’ different methods, including Gaara’s floating grain of sand and Temari’s brief glances beneath her fan.
• Sakura blocked a suspicious gaze from reaching Kiyoshi’s desk while he continued writing without looking up.
• Ibiki scrutinized each row, and Kiyoshi followed the rule not to use his eyes while the proctor watched.
• Kiyoshi told Sasuke that the paper was a decoy and the exam was about seeing who got caught; Sasuke agreed.
• Ibiki checked his watch and announced that fifteen minutes remained.

During the first exam, many candidates withdrew while Kiyoshi, Naruto, and Sasuke stayed and finished the questions they could answer. As the remaining candidates waited, Ibiki announced that the final question was beginning.

• Several teams turned in their papers and left the exam room, choosing to preserve their eligibility for another year.
• Ibiki erased marks for those who had withdrawn and updated the roster, leaving Kiyoshi’s row unmarked.
• Naruto quietly asked Kiyoshi if he was scared, and Kiyoshi answered that he was.
• Kiyoshi set down his pen, leaving the line reserved for the final question blank, while Naruto and Sasuke continued waiting at their desks.
• Ibiki took a sealed envelope from beneath the lectern, and the room fell silent as he announced, “The final question begins now.”

Ibiki laid out the first test’s rules, warning that a wrong answer would keep candidates Genin for life and that one person’s withdrawal would eliminate their whole team. Several groups left, and the chapter ended with no one else raising a hand to withdraw.

• Ibiki told the candidates they could leave before the question was revealed, but a wrong answer would leave them Genin for life and any withdrawal would eliminate the whole team.
• Sasuke asked Kiyoshi if he was leaving, and Kiyoshi told him to ask himself.
• Kiyoshi left his final answer blank while Naruto held his pen without writing.
• Several groups stood and left the room as Ibiki marked names off the roster.
• Ibiki asked whether anyone else wanted to leave, and no one raised a hand.

During Ibiki’s test, candidates left the room one by one, while those who remained endured the pressure without turning in their papers. When Ibiki called time, no team raised a hand, and Kiyoshi’s test paper remained facedown.

• Candidates raised their hands and left in groups as Ibiki marked their names off the roster.
• Sakura stopped writing, Sasuke gripped his pen, and the remaining candidates continued their tests under mounting tension.
• Naruto quietly asked Kiyoshi what he would do, and Kiyoshi answered, “Same as you.”
• A candidate threw his pen at Ibiki’s lectern and stormed out; Ibiki retrieved the pen and marked the roster without speaking.
• The last candidates left the corridor, and Ibiki announced that time was up.
• No team raised a hand, and Kiyoshi stayed still beside his untouched, facedown test paper.

As the examiners gave the room its last chance to leave, Kiyoshi and Naruto kept their papers blank while many candidates chose to depart. Ibiki announced that ten seconds remained, leaving the room waiting in darkness.

• Kiyoshi turned his paper faceup and left it blank, while Naruto's paper remained blank too.
• Ibiki repeated the choice to leave or stay, and Kabuto Yakushi rose, put his desk in order, and left with two others.
• More candidates quietly left, while Kiyoshi watched them go and kept his own paper blank.
• Naruto asked Kiyoshi whether he had written anything, and Kiyoshi said he had left his paper blank.
• Ibiki raised his wrist and announced that ten seconds remained as the candidates sat motionless.

Naruto stood up to demand the tenth question, and Ibiki declared that everyone who remained in the room had passed the first exam. Kiyoshi’s blank paper was collected and placed atop the stack, leaving Ibiki’s attention fixed on it.

• As Ibiki counted down, Naruto stood and declared that he would become Hokage his own way, then demanded the tenth question.
• Ibiki stopped the countdown and announced that the first exam was over and the remaining candidates had passed.
• Ibiki explained that choosing to stay had answered the tenth question, and that gathering information without getting caught was the exam’s measure.
• Kiyoshi noticed that Gaara had left his paper untouched, then told Sasuke that he had left his own paper blank.
• The collector gathered the papers and placed Kiyoshi’s blank sheet on top of the stack, where Ibiki studied it.

After passing the first stage, Kiyoshi and the other candidates learned that the second stage would take place in the dangerous Forest of Death. The next morning, they gathered at the entrance to Training Ground Forty-Four as Anko welcomed them with a warning to return alive.

• Kiyoshi watched the candidates celebrate passing before Anko arrived and announced that the second stage would be held in the Forest of Death.
• Anko explained that teams had five days to collect a Heaven Scroll and an Earth Scroll and bring them to the Central Tower without opening the scrolls.
• Kakashi waited outside, briefly acknowledged that they had all passed, and signaled for Kiyoshi to go home and rest.
• Kiyoshi recorded that he had passed the first stage, prepared supplies for the next morning, and chose not to mention the blade.
• Kiyoshi joined the candidates gathered at the gate marked Forty-Four, where Anko appeared and told them to come back alive.