Recaps

After Hiruzen Sarutobi’s embarrassing confession made Madara Uchiha chase him through the orchard, Shingetsu reunited with Chinatsu and learned how the Orphanage had recovered and moved into the village. The chapter ended with Chinatsu asking when Shingetsu would return to school, a decision Shingetsu could not make for herself.

• Madara Uchiha pursued Hiruzen Sarutobi through the orchard while Hashirama Senju tried to restrain him, and Hiruzen fled for his life.
• Kagami Uchiha brought Shingetsu the dango Hiruzen had dropped and comforted her after the embarrassing incident.
• Chinatsu arrived and tearfully embraced Shingetsu, relieved to see her safe.
• Chinatsu told Shingetsu that Director Yakushi and the Orphanage children had recovered from the poisoning and that Hashirama Senju had helped them move into the village.
• Chinatsu asked Shingetsu when she would return to school, and Shingetsu admitted that the choice was not hers to make.

Shingetsu spent the day with Chinatsu, Kagami, and Tobirama in the orchard while Konoha’s tensions kept her from returning to school. After Chinatsu left with a basket of fruit, Madara returned with Hashirama and the badly beaten but still living Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Madara prepared to take Shingetsu home.

• Shingetsu told Chinatsu she could not say when she would return to school because she was confined to the Uchiha compound amid threats and Madara’s overprotectiveness.
• Kagami offered Chinatsu dango, and Shingetsu shared fruit with her as Tobirama watched the children enjoy each other’s company.
• Shingetsu used Wood Release to weave Chinatsu a large basket, and Chinatsu carried it away full of fruit for the Orphanage.
• Madara returned to the orchard with Hashirama, who carried the battered Hiruzen Sarutobi on his back.
• Shingetsu ran to Madara, who picked her up and told her they were going home; when Kagami hoped to join them, Madara told Hashirama to take the boy back later.

Madara agreed to let Shingetsu return to the Ninja Academy after Hashirama confronted him about sheltering her too tightly and reminded him that she was not Izuna. Tōka and Hōkaku crowded into Shingetsu’s bed overnight, and the family’s breakfast was interrupted by the arrival of the Uzumaki princess in Konoha.

• Madara asked Shingetsu if she wanted to return to the Ninja Academy and promised to protect her.
• Hashirama challenged Madara for treating Shingetsu as though she were Izuna, and Madara beat him before accepting his point about letting children grow up.
• Tōka climbed into bed beside the sleeping Shingetsu, and Hōkaku joined them, squeezing into the remaining space.
• Shingetsu dreamed that two bears were crushing her, then told Hōkaku and Tōka about it at breakfast.
• The princess of the Uzumaki Clan arrived in Konoha after a journey of about a month.

Mito Uzumaki traveled to Konoha for a political marriage but resolved to prove the Uzumaki Clan’s value and seek an alliance with the village instead. Meanwhile, Princess Aoi planned to secure Hashirama Senju’s favor and began plotting revenge against Madara Uchiha through her brother Muneshito.

• Mito reflected on her clan’s dependence on the Senju and resisted the marriage arranged by her father, Uzumaki Ashina.
• Mito decided to use her mission to build Konoha’s barrier to demonstrate the power of Uzumaki Sealing Jutsu and forge ties with Konoha beyond the Senju.
• Princess Aoi considered marrying Hashirama Senju to protect the Land of Fire’s nobles, with Senju Ryūju as her fallback choice.
• Aoi slapped Muneshito when he insulted the woman they were expected to honor, warning him that reckless words could endanger their family.
• Aoi urged Muneshito to win the woman’s love so he could become Daimyō and help avenge their grandfather and the humiliation caused by Madara Uchiha.

Tobirama rejected the Daimyō’s attempt to send Princess Aoi and Muneshito to Konoha, then demanded money and valuable resources in exchange for reconsidering. Meanwhile, Mito arrived in Konoha and Hashirama was tasked with showing her around, leaving him to seek help from Madara and Shingetsu.

• Tobirama refused the Daimyō’s envoy’s request to send Princess Aoi and Muneshito to Konoha, citing the village’s security crisis.
• Tobirama demanded additional funds and valuable resources from the Daimyō, and the envoy left to seek instructions.
• Mito arrived in Konoha, where Hashirama and the villagers welcomed her.
• Hashirama and Mito recognized that neither wanted a political marriage, but a Senju elder sent them on a tour together.
• Hashirama took Mito to the Uchiha Clan Compound, then ran to Madara and Shingetsu and begged them for help.

Hashirama Senju struggled with his arranged marriage to Princess Mito, so Shingetsu urged him to speak with her directly. The four toured Konoha together, where Mito admired Shingetsu’s Wood Release orchard and Shingetsu offered to grow more fruit.

• Madara Uchiha angrily told Hashirama Senju to refuse the marriage, but Hashirama worried that doing so would humiliate Mito.
• Shingetsu suggested Hashirama talk to Mito and learn what she wanted, and Hashirama hurried to meet her at the Uchiha compound’s gate.
• Hashirama returned with Madara and Shingetsu, apologized to Mito for keeping her waiting, and invited the two Uchiha to join their tour.
• The group toured Konoha, and Mito’s curiosity led her to drop some of her formal reserve as she explored the village.
• Mito praised Shingetsu’s orchard, and Shingetsu offered to grow more fruit after Hashirama explained that the villagers had eaten the latest harvest.

Shingetsu used Wood Release to fill her orchard with fruit, then helped Hashirama and Mito admit they both wanted to avoid their arranged marriage. As Madara carried Shingetsu away, Senju elder Senju Yo confronted them and offered the Senju Clan’s help with her recurring bloodline disease.

• Shingetsu made the orchard trees rapidly bear fruit, while realizing that using Wood Release depleted a mysterious reserve in her body that barely recovered.
• Mito and Hashirama admitted they did not want to marry each other, then privately discussed how to persuade their families to cancel the engagement.
• Madara left the orchard with Shingetsu before Hashirama and Mito finished talking, and encountered Senju elder Senju Yo on the street.
• Senju Yo asked Madara to let Shingetsu visit the Senju Clan Compound, arguing that her Wood Release made her important to the Senju.
• Senju Yo said the Senju Clan might be able to treat Shingetsu’s recurring bloodline disease, which the Uchiha Clan could not cure.

Madara considered Senju Yo’s offer to treat Shingetsu’s supposed Bloodline Disease because he would do anything to cure her. He agreed to the treatment but insisted the Senju come to the Uchiha Clan Compound, leaving Senju Yo intimidated and forced to comply.

• Shingetsu realized her chakra-draining weakness had made Senju Yo mistake her condition for Bloodline Disease.
• Madara remembered caring for Shingetsu as a fragile infant and accepted the possibility that the Senju could cure her.
• Senju Yo urged Madara to trust Hashirama, while privately doubting the Senju could treat Shingetsu’s illness.
• Madara ordered Senju Yo to bring Hashirama and the others to the Uchiha Clan Compound that afternoon.
• Senju Yo suggested Shingetsu visit the Senju Compound instead, but Madara threatened him and made him agree to his terms.

Hashirama brought Morika Senju to examine Shingetsu, but she could not identify the cause of Shingetsu’s chakra problems, and Madara seized on Hashirama’s remark about an abundant chakra source as a possible solution. As Princess Aoi and Muneshito arrived in Konoha to find the village barrier blocking their way, the chapter left their welcome in doubt.

• Hashirama brought Morika Senju to the Uchiha compound, where she examined Shingetsu and drew her blood for testing after failing to diagnose her illness.
• Hashirama doubted that Shingetsu had a bloodline disease, and Madara realized he might supply her with chakra from a vast existing source.
• Mito and the Uzumaki continued building Konoha’s barrier, and Madara allowed Shingetsu to return to school as he resumed teaching.
• Tobirama accepted the Daimyō’s investment and approved Princess Aoi and Muneshito’s visit to Konoha.
• Princess Aoi vowed to use Hashirama and punish Shingetsu and Madara, but her procession reached Konoha without a welcome and was stopped outside by the village barrier.

Tobirama humiliated and confined Princess Aoi and Muneshito to keep them from meeting Hashirama and Shingetsu. Muneshito finally approached Shingetsu at the Dumpling Shop, where Kagami and Hiruzen dragged him away to beat him, and Shingetsu left without noticing.

• Tobirama made Princess Aoi and Muneshito choose only a maid and guard to accompany them into Konoha, sending the rest of their entourage home.
• Tobirama restricted the siblings’ movements and concealed their arrival, preventing Aoi from reaching Hashirama and Muneshito from approaching Shingetsu.
• Hashirama saw Aoi being escorted away and asked Tobirama about her, but Tobirama dismissed her as irrelevant.
• Muneshito disguised himself as a commoner and waited at the Dumpling Shop until Shingetsu arrived with Kagami, Chinatsu, and Hiruzen.
• When Muneshito tried to approach Shingetsu, Kagami and Hiruzen seized him and took him into the woods to beat him.
• Chinatsu led Shingetsu back to school without telling her where Kagami, Hiruzen, or Muneshito had gone.

Madara Uchiha terrorized the Ninja Academy students with harsh criticism and demanding homework, while Shingetsu arranged for Shiring Aburame to raise bees in her family’s fields. At the farmland, she saw Kazuko’s greenhouses thriving and planted sprouted potatoes as she hoped her Wood Release crops would grow and produce harvests.

• Madara Uchiha criticized the students’ homework one by one, leaving nearly the whole class dejected before dismissing them.
• Shingetsu nervously asked Shiring Aburame to raise bees in her family’s fields, and he agreed in exchange for half the honey.
• Shingetsu recalled planting Wood Release-grown sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, hoping they would grow and bear fruit normally.
• Shingetsu visited the farmland and saw Kazuko’s greenhouses producing winter vegetables while chicks and ducklings grew under their care.
• Shingetsu planted sprouted potatoes in a greenhouse beside Kazuko and hoped her crops would thrive.

Shingetsu took Shiring Aburame and the others to the Dumpling Shop, where they shared sweets and discussed her Senju family ties. After a battered boy approached Shingetsu, Kagami Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi took him away, while Madara Uchiha asked Mito Uzumaki whether Uzumaki sealing jutsu could seal a tailed beast inside a person.

• Shingetsu led the group to the Dumpling Shop instead of going straight to her family's fields, and the children ate fruit jam dango.
• Shiring Aburame asked Shingetsu whether Hashirama and Tobirama were her uncles, and she hesitantly agreed.
• The proprietress gave Shingetsu a platter of sweets in gratitude for her fruit, and the group shared them.
• A battered boy approached Shingetsu, and Kagami Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi took him away while the others headed toward the Uchiha fields.
• Madara Uchiha appeared before Mito Uzumaki and asked whether the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu could seal a tailed beast inside a human body.

Madara Uchiha obtained the Uzumaki Clan’s Four Symbols Seal from Mito Uzumaki and accepted her request for Uchiha support. Meanwhile, Shingetsu’s fear of bees caused her Wood Release to trap Kazuma, and she was roped into making beehives for the children’s outing.

• Mito Uzumaki explained that the Four Symbols Seal could contain a Tailed Beast inside a human, gave the scroll to Madara Uchiha, and asked for Uchiha support in the future.
• Mito warned Madara about the risks Jinchūriki faced, but he dismissed the Tailed Beasts as mere beasts.
• During the spring outing, Shingetsu panicked when Kazuma startled her with a bee and used Wood Release to hang him upside down from a tree.
• The children returned to the fields with their beehives, and Shiring Aburame asked Shingetsu to build a home for the bees.
• After Shiring rejected several designs, Shingetsu made a hive box he approved, and he asked her to make two more.

Shingetsu hosted the Ninja Academy children at the farm, where they roasted sweet potatoes and enjoyed an evening together. She also learned that Yota Uchiha and Hayato Uchiha had secretly taken a chick and a duckling home as pets, and reluctantly let them keep the animals under strict conditions.

• Kazuko brought sweet potatoes to the children, who roasted them in a leaf fire and eagerly shared them with Shingetsu and Shiring Aburame.
• Shiring Aburame worried that the bees lacked food, so Shingetsu used Wood Release to make a field of flowers bloom.
• Yota Uchiha and Hayato Uchiha emerged from the greenhouse with a chick and a duckling hidden in their clothes, startling the children and Shingetsu.
• Yota and Hayato confessed that they had grown attached to the animals, Gaga and Xiaoji, and had secretly taken them home to spare them from becoming food.
• Shingetsu allowed Yota and Hayato to keep Gaga and Xiaoji but warned that she would take them back if the men brought home any more chickens or ducks.

Shiring Aburame’s father considered the Uchiha’s approach to his clan, while Tobirama Senju struggled to establish military farming and pondered how shinobi could govern the Land of Fire. Tobirama’s plans were interrupted when he learned Madara Uchiha had left with Shingetsu to catch the Nine-Tails.

• Shiring told his father that the Uchiha had asked him to raise bees, and his father considered the political significance of their offer.
• Shiring described the Uchiha as cute, shocking his father.
• Tobirama struggled to recruit farmers because they trusted the Uchiha’s established reputation over the Senju’s promises.
• Hashirama urged Tobirama to ask Shingetsu for advice about farming and governing, but Tobirama hesitated.
• Tobirama learned that Madara and Shingetsu had left the village to catch the Nine-Tails and cried out in shock.

Madara gave Shingetsu the reforged Futsunomitama and took her from Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails and seal it inside her. After a difficult journey, they found the beast, and Madara confronted it with his Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Madara gave Shingetsu the reforged Futsunomitama and told her they were leaving on a long journey.
• Madara told Shingetsu they would capture the Nine-Tails and seal it inside her.
• Shingetsu struggled with the cold and food during their journey, and Madara comforted her by holding her and singing a lullaby.
• Madara and Shingetsu reached the Nine-Tails one week after leaving Konoha.
• Madara faced the enraged Nine-Tails and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, ordering the beast to submit.

Madara Uchiha subdued the Nine-Tails, then fought it with Susanoo while preparing to seal it inside Shingetsu. When a Tailed Beast Bomb threatened a nearby village, Shingetsu created a Wood Dragon Technique and sent the dragon to swallow it.

• Madara Uchiha controlled the Nine-Tails with his Sharingan, and Shingetsu asked to pet the obedient beast.
• Madara Uchiha stopped before sealing the Nine-Tails into Shingetsu and chose to beat it into submission instead.
• The Nine-Tails attacked Madara Uchiha with a Tailed Beast Bomb, but his Susanoo cut through it and overwhelmed the fox.
• Shingetsu spotted another Tailed Beast Bomb heading toward a small village and created a wood dragon to intercept it.
• The wood dragon swallowed the Tailed Beast Bomb, absorbed its chakra, and returned some chakra and God Tree source power to Shingetsu.

Shingetsu’s Wood Dragon and Madara’s Susanoo subdued the Nine-Tails, whose chakra fed the God Tree and greatly strengthened her. After Shingetsu emerged from her cocoon, she and Madara discovered the Nine-Tails had vanished, but Madara caught a tiny nine-tailed Red-Furred Fox fleeing nearby.

• Shingetsu’s Wood Dragon restrained the Nine-Tails, absorbed its chakra, and swallowed the Tailed Beast Bombs it fired.
• Madara used Susanoo and his Sharingan to help immobilize the Nine-Tails as the Wood Dragon’s forest enclosed the beast and Shingetsu.
• The God Tree absorbed nearly all the Nine-Tails’ chakra, grew into a towering tree, and granted Shingetsu power before entering dormancy.
• After an unknown number of days and nights, Shingetsu emerged from the green sphere, and she and Madara watched the Wood Dragon disappear.
• Shingetsu spotted a tiny red, nine-tailed creature fleeing the collapsed sphere, and Madara caught the Red-Furred Fox.

Shingetsu persuaded Madara to let her keep the tiny Nine-Tails, Kurama, and the three took shelter from a storm in a village Shingetsu had saved. There they learned that an elderly couple had mistaken them for their dead family, and that the village’s survival depended on the fear Kurama inspired in tax collectors; with Kurama now gone, its future was uncertain.

• Shingetsu cuddled the shrunken Nine-Tails and convinced Madara to let her take him along, while Kurama angrily revealed his name.
• A sudden downpour drove Madara and Shingetsu to shelter in a village hut, where an elderly couple invited them in for food and warmth.
• The old woman mistook Madara and Shingetsu for her dead son and granddaughter, while her husband explained their family had died amid violence and illness.
• The old man said the village had survived because the Nine-Tails’ presence kept tax collectors away, and Kurama realized the villagers believed he had protected them.
• The old couple thanked Kurama, but the old man worried that the tax collectors would return now that the Nine-Tails was gone.

Shingetsu and Madara stayed with an elderly couple in a poor village, where a meal and a late-night conversation revealed the couple's grief and courage. Madara left the old man’s reassurance about his parents as the rain continued outside.

• Kurama accepted the elderly couple’s gratitude while Shingetsu held him, and the old woman served them a meager porridge meal.
• Madara went out into the rain, hunted a wild boar, and brought it back so the group could share a meal and preserve the meat.
• The old man told Madara he had recognized him as a shinobi and guessed that they had come for Lord Fox, then explained he had invited them in to protect the other villagers.
• The old man revealed that shinobi had killed his son, but said he was proud of his son for resisting injustice.
• Madara wondered whether his parents would be proud of him and said his mother must hate him for failing to keep his promise, while the drowsy old man reassured him that parents would not hate their children for such a failure.

Madara relived his mother's death in a dream and realized her final plea to protect his brothers had burdened him with regret. After the rain stopped, he and Shingetsu left the village, where Shingetsu used Wood Release to protect its elderly residents and Madara promised they would return.

• Madara dreamed of his dying mother asking him to protect his younger brothers, then woke in anguish and understood why she had apologized.
• Madara and Shingetsu left the old house with Kurama after the rain cleared, and Shingetsu told Yusuke that Lord Fox would send a gift.
• Shingetsu used Wood Release to raise a forest and fruit trees around the village, and the villagers believed Lord Fox had blessed them.
• Kaori remembered that her son and granddaughter had gone to Konoha, while Yusuke quietly accepted her mistaken recollection.
• Madara agreed to Shingetsu's request to return to the village someday.

Madara Uchiha and Uchiha Shingetsu returned to Konoha with Kurama, the Nine-Tails reduced to a small fox after Shingetsu drained his chakra, leaving Tobirama Senju incredulous. Black Zetsu realized the loss had derailed his plan to resurrect Mother and resolved not to let the shinobi world stray further from his control.

• Madara Uchiha and Uchiha Shingetsu returned to Konoha after a month away, carrying a small red fox with nine tails.
• Shingetsu identified the fox as Kurama and the Nine-Tails, while Tobirama Senju doubted them and erupted in disbelief.
• Kurama confirmed that Kurama was his name, and Madara and Shingetsu left Tobirama behind.
• Black Zetsu watched from the shadows and lamented that Shingetsu had drained the Nine-Tails' chakra, leaving only his consciousness.
• Black Zetsu recalled how Shingetsu had disrupted his plans, including awakening Wood Release and helping the shinobi gain power over the nobles.
• Black Zetsu resolved to stop the shinobi world from straying further from his plans to resurrect Mother.

Madara and Shingetsu returned to the village with Kurama and reunited with Hashirama, who accidentally terrified Shingetsu by throwing her high into the air. After Hashirama learned that the tiny fox was the Nine-Tails, the group reached the Uchiha compound, where the children mistook Kurama for a dog and mobbed him with affection.

• Hashirama rushed to greet Madara and Shingetsu, and Madara noticed that Hashirama had forgotten Tobirama's request about the Nine-Tails.
• Hashirama asked to hold Kurama, then tossed Shingetsu into the air; Madara caught her and Kurama before beating Hashirama for frightening her.
• Kurama recognized Madara and Hashirama as the reincarnations of Indra and Asura, then tried to attack Hashirama before being grabbed, petted, and kissed.
• Hashirama laughed when Madara identified the tiny fox as the Nine-Tails, but realized Madara was serious and grew nervous.
• Madara and Shingetsu arrived at the Uchiha compound, where the youngsters surrounded them and called Kurama a puppy and a dog.
• The Uchiha children petted and tousled Kurama until he escaped into Shingetsu's arms to avoid being mobbed again.

Shingetsu returned to the Uchiha clan with Kurama, whose hatred had faded enough for him to enjoy her affection and human fruit. Mito visited Madara to confirm their clans’ alliance and proposed scheduling its ceremony, leaving its next steps to be arranged.

• Shingetsu protected Kurama from the children, reunited with Hōkaku and Tōka, and returned home.
• Kurama ate fruit offered by Shingetsu and reflected on how humans had driven him to hate them, while deciding to tolerate being her pet for a few years.
• Hōkaku told Shingetsu that Mito had come to visit Madara, and Mito apologized for the Uzumaki sealing technique failing to make Shingetsu a jinchūriki.
• Mito gave Madara and Shingetsu two improved storage scrolls and asked whether the Uchiha-Uzumaki alliance still stood.
• Madara affirmed the alliance, and Mito proposed putting the alliance ceremony on the agenda soon.

The Uchiha and Uzumaki clans sealed an alliance, then Shingetsu and Mito discussed opening a shop to sell sealing scrolls and Explosive Tags. The Senju elders protested the alliance, but Hashirama and Tobirama defended it, and Hashirama’s engagement to Mito was canceled.

• Madara Uchiha and Mito Uzumaki sealed the alliance as other shinobi clans watched and considered its effect on Konoha.
• At the Uchiha celebration, the Uzumaki clansmen chatted, drank, and ran riot, leaving Hōkaku stunned by their behavior.
• Mito asked Shingetsu about selling storage scrolls in Konoha, and Shingetsu proposed opening a shop together to sell scrolls and Uchiha-made Explosive Tags.
• Senju Yo and the elders condemned the alliance, but Hashirama said the Senju could not dictate whom the Uzumaki allied with.
• Senju Yo canceled Hashirama’s engagement to Mito, which delighted Hashirama, while Tobirama backed his brother and argued that the Senju should support the alliance.