Chapter Summaries

Setsuna disguised himself in a miko robe to report that Hashirama Senju had brought his eight-year-old son, Naoki Senju, to the battlefield, then revealed his plan to kidnap the boy. Madara Uchiha explained why the scheme would endanger the Uchiha, and Setsuna grudgingly accepted the lesson as Madara took him away to learn more.

• Setsuna, dressed in a miko robe and wig, told Izuna that Sarutobi Sasuke was present and that Hashirama Senju had brought Naoki Senju to the battlefield.
• Izuna identified Setsuna’s plan to kidnap Naoki Senju, and Madara Uchiha condemned the idea as despicable.
• Setsuna argued that any method was justified in war, while Madara warned that harming another clan’s child could make Uchiha children targets in turn.
• Madara explained that Hashirama’s generosity restrained Tobirama Senju’s harsh policies and helped keep the Senju from becoming everyone’s enemy.
• Setsuna silently conceded that Madara was right, and Madara seized him by the collar and took him away to teach him a few lessons.

Madara Uchiha tested Setsuna in a brutal fight to show him the difference in their strength and the danger of reckless attacks. Setsuna collapsed after landing one last surprise hold, and Izuna carried him away while Madara warned that battlefield success depended on protecting the whole clan, not just individual prowess.

• Madara Uchiha let Setsuna choose weapons and permitted ninjutsu, then repeatedly defeated him in their training-ground fight.
• Setsuna attacked with a sword, kunai, fireball, and Shadow Hands, but Madara evaded and countered each move.
• After Madara struck him into a wooden post, Setsuna struggled to his feet and demanded to fight again.
• Setsuna secretly trapped Madara's ankles with Shadow Hands and declared that he had not lost before collapsing unconscious.
• Izuna cleaned Setsuna's face and carried him away as Madara explained that reckless fighters could endanger their entire squad and clan.

Izuna explained to Setsuna why the clans had forbidden attacks on young children, recounting the deaths that had driven Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju to establish the rule. He then invited Setsuna to read the intelligence about the Senju proposal to share the disputed land, and Setsuna began studying it.

• Izuna reviewed Hashirama Senju's proposal to share Cloudfield and judged that the Senju and Hagoromo would inevitably sabotage each other if they agreed.
• Setsuna woke, ate a rice ball, and admitted that he resented Madara Uchiha's dressing-down.
• Izuna told Setsuna that Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju had forbidden clans from killing young children after losing siblings to clan violence.
• Izuna described how Itama Senju had been tortured to death by adult Uchiha, helping Setsuna understand why the rule mattered.
• Izuna offered Setsuna the intelligence, and Setsuna took it and began reading.

Izuna explained that the Daimyo had awarded Cloudfield to provoke conflict between the Senju and Hagoromo, keeping the Uchiha and Senju from uniting against him. Setsuna called for overthrowing the Daimyo, but Madara argued that shinobi were a small minority and that a clan leader had to protect all his people; Setsuna challenged him to break the rules, leaving their disagreement unresolved.

• Setsuna realized the Senju and Hagoromo would clash over Cloudfield, drawing the Uchiha into another war.
• Izuna explained that the Daimyo had deliberately chosen a disputed territory to keep the Uchiha and Senju at odds, since their unity threatened his rule.
• Setsuna proposed that shinobi clans unite to overthrow the Daimyo and divide the landlords’ land.
• Setsuna rejected the claim that the Daimyo descended from a god and demonstrated his shadow hand as proof of shinobi power.
• Madara entered the tent and argued that shinobi were vastly outnumbered, and that protecting ordinary people was central to a leader’s duty.
• Setsuna urged Madara to break oppressive rules and establish new ones, but Madara’s concern for the Uchiha left their disagreement unresolved.

Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju met beside the Naka River during a ceasefire and discussed their heirs and the Daimyo’s role in the war. They agreed that overthrowing the Daimyo could bring wider conflict, so they could not act without a sound plan.

• Hashirama Senju crossed the river to join Madara Uchiha and told him he had brought his son, Naoki, hoping to introduce him to Madara’s heir.
• Hashirama Senju explained that Tobirama had identified Setsuna as a likely candidate for Uchiha young clan head after encountering his escort near Hagoromo.
• Madara Uchiha warned that Setsuna was radical and might hurt Naoki, revealing that the boy wanted to overthrow the Daimyo and take his place.
• Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju discussed the Daimyo as an obstacle to peace and rejected backing one of his sons as a reliable solution.
• Hashirama Senju warned that overthrowing the Daimyo could prompt the other countries to invade the Land of Fire, and Madara Uchiha agreed they could not act yet.

Setsuna, dressed as Sailor Moon, befriended Hiruzen Sarutobi while asking him about the Sarutobi clan and learning how to weave a reed-leaf shuriken. Hiruzen persuaded Setsuna to sneak with him to the Naka River, where Setsuna hoped to scout the Senju forces without disrupting the peace talks.

• Hiruzen showed Setsuna a shuriken woven from reed leaves, and Setsuna asked him to teach him how to make one.
• Setsuna recognized Hiruzen as a useful connection but felt guilty that he was befriending the boy for his own benefit.
• When Hiruzen offered to gather reeds at the Naka River, Setsuna considered scouting the Senju deployment despite the risk to the negotiations.
• Hiruzen argued that the two of them could go and return unnoticed, and Setsuna agreed to sneak out with him.
• Setsuna and Hiruzen left the Hagoromo compound for the Naka River, and Setsuna received one rebellion point.

Setsuna accompanied Hiruzen Sarutobi to the reed beds, where he learned to weave a grass shuriken and considered adapting Nen-like chakra control to improve his vision. After detecting Naoki Senju and his jonin guard Liangzhu across the river, Setsuna abandoned thoughts of kidnapping Naoki, but someone on the opposite bank spotted him.

• Setsuna compared chakra techniques to Nen and wondered whether concentrating chakra in his eyes could enhance his vision without risking the Sharingan's side effects.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi taught Setsuna to weave a grass shuriken, and Setsuna proudly admired his first handmade toy.
• Setsuna heard a pebble strike the river and pulled Hiruzen into hiding as voices approached from the opposite bank.
• Setsuna recognized the younger boy as Naoki Senju and identified Liangzhu as his jonin guard, then dismissed kidnapping Naoki as too risky and dishonorable.
• Setsuna looked across the river and met the gaze of someone who had spotted him.

Setsuna hid among the reeds while Naoki Senju sensed him and Hiruzen, then reluctantly introduced himself in disguise as the Hagoromo Clan's princess. The tense first meeting was interrupted by the arrival of the Five Brothers of Demon River.

• Setsuna prepared bamboo shuriken for himself and Hiruzen while he assessed Naoki Senju's exceptional sensory abilities.
• Hiruzen ran out of hiding to greet Naoki, then revealed that Setsuna was the Hagoromo Clan's princess.
• Setsuna emerged in his furisode, introduced himself as Sailor Moon Hagoromo, and insulted Naoki across the river.
• Naoki was captivated by Setsuna's appearance, while Liangzhu considered whether a marriage alliance between the Senju and Hagoromo clans could resolve their dispute over Cloudfield.
• The Five Brothers of Demon River appeared and Liangzhu identified them as rogue ninjas.

Setsuna and Hiruzen faced a masked Kikawa rogue ninja while the other Demon River brothers attacked Naoki Senju across the Naka River. Setsuna realized Black Zetsu had likely arranged the ambush to kill Naoki and reignite the Senju-Uchiha conflict, as Naoki and Liangzhu were already fighting three brothers.

• Setsuna pulled Hiruzen behind him and prepared a shuriken, while suspecting the masked man was concealing his chakra.
• Hiruzen tried to dissuade the masked rogue ninja by warning that kidnapping the children would bring the Senju and Hagoromo clans down on him.
• The masked man revealed that he knew the Hagoromo princess was present, and Setsuna noticed the brothers were willing to risk the clans' revenge because they had been hired.
• Setsuna reasoned that Naoki Senju was the real target and identified Black Zetsu as the likely mastermind behind the ambush.
• Naoki and Liangzhu were already fighting three Kikawa brothers across the river.

Setsuna killed one of the Kikawa brothers with a hidden Shadow Technique, while Liangzhu Senju and Naoki Senju fought off the remaining attackers across the Naka River. With the Senju trapped inside a crumbling earthen wall, Setsuna sent Hiruzen to fetch help and attempted to cross the river using a Shadow Thread.

• Setsuna killed the red-masked Kikawa brother with a shadow concealed inside a grass-woven Shuriken.
• Naoki Senju disrupted the attackers with Earth Strangulation, and Liangzhu Senju killed another Kikawa brother with Water Release: Water-Wind Dance.
• The three remaining Kikawa brothers trapped Naoki Senju and Liangzhu Senju inside Wind Release: Secret Prison, while Naoki protected them with an Earth-Style Wall.
• Setsuna told Hiruzen Sarutobi to get help from Hagoromo and the Uchiha, then planned to cross the Naka River with his Shadow Technique.
• Hiruzen fled through the reeds as the earthen wall began to fail, and Setsuna hurled his grass-woven Shuriken toward the opposite bank.