Recaps

Yanbai let Mito help the Uzumaki Clan in her own name, and her arrival with the tailed beasts forced Kirigakure to withdraw from the Land of Whirlpools. Back in Konoha, Yanbai pressed ahead with his reforms while the Hokage Building became an animal-filled gathering place.

• Cherry Ink told Yanbai that Kirigakure had attacked the Land of Whirlpools while Konoha was occupied with other wars, and Yanbai chose not to send official reinforcements.
• Mito returned to the Uzumaki Clan to help personally, accompanied by the Nine-Tails and Shukaku, with Yanbai's tacit approval.
• Mito and the tailed beasts appeared on the battlefield and announced her identity, causing Kirigakure to withdraw rather than risk provoking Konoha.
• The Uzumaki Clan lost many people, and some surviving orphans followed Mito to seek refuge in Konoha.
• Yanbai met with the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Nara clan leaders in the Hokage conference room and presented documents on prisoners of war, construction, immigration, and public welfare.

Yanbai persuaded Konoha’s advisors to approve his plans for prisoner-of-war labor and construction, then proposed demanding emotional distress damages from nations that had failed to support the Land of Fire during the war. The advisors recognized that Yanbai could use disasters and economic pressure to enforce his demands, and the chapter ended with the Nara Clan Head realizing Yanbai’s ambitions reached across the entire shinobi world.

• Yanbai convinced the three Hokage Advisors that prisoners of war could safely manufacture separate weapon components under strict controls.
• Yanbai’s detailed construction, production, and livelihood plans left the advisors with little to discuss.
• Yanbai proposed collecting fifty percent of each nation’s annual revenue as emotional distress damages from countries that had remained silent during the invasion.
• Yanbai argued that nations refusing to pay would no longer be friends, and Konoha could leave them to future disasters.
• The Nara Clan Head recalled that Princess Senju had long aimed beyond rival shinobi villages and had set her sights on every nation in the shinobi world.

Yanbai used the Land of Fire’s overwhelming power to demand compensation from other nations, then Konoha’s Academy students began installing artificial bird nests as a community service project. The nests were meant to attract birds that Konoha could use for reconnaissance and aerial attacks.

• Yanbai persuaded Konoha’s leaders to pressure nations that had stayed neutral during the war into paying the Land of Fire compensation, while sparing the devastated Land of Whirlpools.
• The Land of Wind and several small nations agreed to pay under pressure from Yanbai’s power.
• Months later, a teacher led Konoha Academy students in attaching artificial bird nests to trees throughout Konoha Shinobi Village.
• The Uchiha teacher smiled awkwardly as the children praised the nests and called the current Lord Hokage gentle.
• Konoha’s shinobi understood that Yanbai intended the nests to attract birds for intelligence gathering and attacks on enemy troops.

Yanbai relied on the Heavenly Eye Technique and a disciplined administration to oversee Konoha Shinobi Village. After Shikaku Nara reported that Takigakure shinobi were earning money by performing at the Konoha Hot Spring Baths, Yanbai ordered them to pay a hefty fee.

• The enhanced Telescope Technique became the Heavenly Eye Technique, powered by natural energy and installed throughout Konoha to monitor and record activity.
• Yanbai had Konoha establish a three-shift monitoring team from the Konoha Military Police Force, while Shikaku Nara reported on village policies and activities.
• Shikaku Nara told Yanbai that the Land of Waterfalls had cut ties with the Land of Fire, and that locusts had ravaged its crops, leaving its people in need.
• Shikaku Nara revealed that Takigakure shinobi were performing acrobatics for money at the Konoha Hot Spring Baths.
• Yanbai ordered the performers to pay a stall fee and surrender fifty percent of their earnings, threatening surveillance and compensation demands if they performed secretly.

Muye and Silver Moon visited Madara in his private cave-heaven world while Yanbai worked as Hokage. Silver Moon sang a lullaby he claimed Yanbai had composed for Madara, then went to find the missing Muye.

• Satsuki and Yumemizuki took Muye and Silver Moon on mountain outings, and the children entered Madara's world whenever they slept.
• Muye and Silver Moon appeared before Madara and called him Dad, and Silver Moon explained that Yanbai was busy working as Hokage.
• Madara took the children through the island's forests and meadows, though Muye wandered away from them.
• Silver Moon sang a gentle song that eased Madara's troubled feelings and drew birds and butterflies closer.
• Silver Moon told Madara that Yanbai had taught him the song and suggested that Yanbai had composed it for him.
• Silver Moon said he would go find Muye because Muye got lost easily.

Yanbai visited Konoha Hospital to assess wounded shinobi and plan support for their recovery and future livelihoods. He offered to heal Shimura Danzō for a steep fee, then tried to sell him additional procedures.

• Yanbai inspected the wounded shinobi and considered suitable jobs for those whose injuries prevented them from returning to regular duty.
• Yanbai found Shimura Danzō badly disfigured in the intensive care ward and joked that Danzō could seek his help for an extra fee.
• Yanbai offered to heal Shimura Danzō after asking strange questions about his ancestry and demanding half of his assets.
• Shimura Danzō agreed to sign Yanbai's agreement, then faced offers for extra procedures to straighten his teeth and alter his bone structure.
• Yanbai's reputation as a businessman left Shimura Danzō fearing that the Hokage would empty his savings and put him in debt.

Shimura Danzō signed Yanbai’s agreement, accepting treatment and future work to repay his debts. Yanbai beat and healed him, leaving him handsome and restored, while planning to see whether this version of Shimura Danzō would still become the Darkness of Konoha.

• Shimura Danzō agreed to sign Yanbai’s Cooperation Agreement and accepted that he would work off the costs of additional services.
• Shikaku Nara secured the hospital room so Yanbai could carry out the treatment in private.
• Yanbai beat Shimura Danzō to realign his bones, knocking out all his teeth, then used Healing to restore him.
• Shikaku Nara wrapped Shimura Danzō in bandages again, and Yanbai told him to keep the medical miracle secret until he was home.
• Yanbai decided to observe whether an unscarred Shimura Danzō would still become the Darkness of Konoha.

Madara read ancient legends to Silver Moon while searching for Muye, and the stories reminded him of Yanbai. They found Muye battling floating, electrified mushrooms, which Silver Moon said Muye had beaten to tears.

• Madara read legends from the region to Silver Moon while Muye wandered away.
• Silver Moon compared the stories about the Red King and Flower God to his mother, Yanbai, and Madara recalled what he had learned about the gods of this world.
• Silver Moon suggested they go find Muye, and Madara took his hand as they searched.
• Madara and Silver Moon found Muye throwing flaming objects at a cluster of floating, crackling mushrooms.
• Silver Moon said Muye had beaten the mushrooms to tears.

Madara watched Muye play with fire in the forest, then learned from the Lesser Dendro Archon that his children seemed to connect this world to an unseen presence. He studied the history of the Three God-Kings and found disturbing parallels between the Flower God and Yanbai, leaving him increasingly certain that he was nearing the truth about Yanbai’s incarnation.

• Madara and Silver Moon watched Muye throw flames at sentient mushrooms until Silver Moon called him home for dinner.
• Madara brought the children’s consciousnesses back to the Shinobi World, then spoke with the Lesser Dendro Archon, who sensed a presence observing the world through them.
• Madara returned to his residence and organized his notes about the Three God-Kings: Ahemar, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and the Flower God.
• Madara recognized similarities between the Flower God’s actions and Yanbai’s, including her apparent pursuit of death, and wondered whether Yanbai remained alive because he had not yet achieved his goal.
• Madara read that the Flower God died amid the blazing sun and sands, after which the Red King went mad and built a dreamlike homeland in the desert.

Madara considered whether Yanbai could be summoned through a humanoid puppet while Yanbai visited Konoha’s hospital. Outside Tsunade’s office, Yanbai and Shikaku overheard Nawaki reveal his resentment toward his sister’s talent and the Hokage position.

• Madara dismissed the legends of the Flower God as evidence of Yanbai’s identity and wondered whether a puppet could serve as Yanbai’s Incarnation.
• Yanbai visited patients around the hospital while Shikaku Nara followed him and studied his behavior.
• Yanbai headed to Tsunade’s office, where he and Shikaku heard a boy complain that Tsunade was more talented than he was.
• Nawaki accused Tsunade of leaving the Senju Clan and called her a liar for promising to return.
• Nawaki told Tsunade he hated the Hokage position because their father’s duties kept him away from his family.

Yanbai overheard Nawaki accuse Tsunade of forcing the Senju to live under relentless pressure, while Tsunade explained why she could not give up. After Nawaki stormed out, Yanbai returned to work and rejected his application for a border posting.

• Nawaki confronted Tsunade, saying he hated the pressure to match her ambition and wanted an ordinary life.
• Tsunade told Nawaki she could not fall into decline with him, and Yanbai recognized that Nawaki felt she had broken her promise never to leave him behind.
• Nawaki left with a bruised and swollen face, and Yanbai told Tsunade that parents and guardians—not older siblings—bore responsibility for raising children.
• Tsunade declined Yanbai's invitation to lunch so she could continue teaching the hospital's medical staff.
• Yanbai reviewed the new graduates' job applications and rejected Nawaki's request for a border posting.

Yanbai denied Nawaki and Mikoto's requests to work in Hanamaki, worrying that their choices could alter the futures of familiar characters. When Kima Senju asked why Nawaki could not go, Yanbai began investigating who had chosen the assignment and why.

• Yanbai noticed that Senju Nawaki and Uchiha Mikoto had both applied to work in Hanamaki and denied their applications.
• Yanbai worried that Nawaki might marry Mikoto or Kushina, changing whether Sasuke and Naruto would be born, then returned to processing paperwork.
• Kima Senju brought Nawaki to the Hokage Office and asked why he could not go to Hanamaki.
• Yanbai sent Nawaki outside and asked Kima whether he or Nawaki had selected the assignment.
• Kima said Nawaki had filled out the application himself and explained that he believed Nawaki wanted to build merit.

Yanbai challenged Senju Nawaki’s application to work in Hanamaki, arguing that he lacked the qualifications for the city’s planned development. Nawaki left without permission to go there, and Yanbai remained suspicious about his plans and his reaction to Uchiha Mikoto’s name.

• Yanbai suggested Ishinomaki as a more suitable place for Nawaki to build administrative achievements, and Kima Senju agreed to discuss changing Nawaki’s work application.
• Kima asked Nawaki about changing his preferred location to Yuzumaki, but Nawaki went straight to Yanbai to demand an explanation about Hanamaki.
• Yanbai said Nawaki had not told Mito about his plan and explained that Hanamaki’s upcoming development required professional qualifications Nawaki did not have.
• Nawaki admitted that he had made plans with classmates, and Yanbai asked whether he had arranged to meet Uchiha Mikoto in Hanamaki.
• Nawaki reacted strangely to Mikoto’s name, then said she might not be the only person who had chosen Hanamaki as a preferred location.
• Yanbai told Nawaki to get further training and pass an assessment before working in Hanamaki, while suspecting that he had deliberately deflected her questions.

Yanbai rejected Nawaki’s application to guard Hanamaki’s border because he lacked the required professional certificates, but approved his new application to teach first graders there. Nawaki hurried off to pack, while Kima grew uneasy after recognizing Yanbai’s ominous kindly smile.

• Yanbai explained that border guards needed professional qualifications and that Nawaki was not suited to work on Hanamaki City’s construction projects.
• Nawaki admitted he lacked the certificates and applied instead to teach elementary school in Hanamaki City.
• Yanbai approved Nawaki’s teaching application, and Nawaki rushed home to prepare to leave Konoha.
• Kima entered the Hokage Office and asked Yanbai what had happened; she explained Nawaki’s new position and said she had let him go to Hanamaki.
• Kima recognized Yanbai’s kindly smile as a warning that someone might suffer and asked what was really going on.

Yanbai explained how he had rejected Uchiha Mikoto’s application to work in Hanamaki City while approving Nawaki’s revised application to become a teacher, leaving Kima Senju to realize Nawaki had misunderstood the situation. The next morning, Nawaki waited outside the Hokage Office for Yanbai, who stayed home to review his children’s memories with their consent.

• Yanbai told Kima Senju that Nawaki had applied to teach after seeking approval to serve in Hanamaki City, and Yanbai had approved the revised application.
• Yanbai revealed that he had denied Uchiha Mikoto’s application to Hanamaki City because the city was dangerous, and Kima Senju realized Nawaki had mistakenly assumed she could go there.
• Kima Senju concluded that Nawaki would be devastated when he learned the truth and silently pitied him.
• The previous evening, Nawaki learned Mikoto’s application had been denied and flew into a rage.
• Yanbai sent Shikaku Nara a message that he would arrive at noon because he needed to review his children’s memories at home, while Nawaki waited outside the Hokage Office for him.

Yanbai discussed godhood and the origins of gods with Muye and Silver Moon before leaving the Princess Mausoleum for work. At the Memorial Stone, Senju Nawaki blocked his path and suddenly knelt before him.

• Yanbai reassured Silver Moon that the Dendro Archon meant no harm, then told Muye that godhood was a curse and described his detached view of humanity.
• Muye questioned whether a god without a stance could make people feel secure, while Silver Moon argued that divine neutrality helped preserve balance.
• Muye asked where gods came from, and Yanbai explained the Void through an account of a holographic virtual game network, continuing until lunchtime.
• Yanbai shared lunch with Muye and Silver Moon, then left for work after they went down for an afternoon nap.
• Yanbai walked toward the Memorial Stone to leave flowers for Hashirama Senju, where Senju Nawaki blocked his way and dropped to his knees.

Yanbai counseled Senju Nawaki about his crush on Uchiha Mikoto, pushing him to examine whether he liked the real girl or an idealized image. The chapter left Nawaki flustered as Yanbai pressed him to consider Mikoto’s feelings and whether he intended to marry her.

• Senju Nawaki asked Yanbai for help pursuing Uchiha Mikoto, and Yanbai made him sign a contract and pay for counseling.
• Yanbai sent Nawaki home to think about why he liked Mikoto and what he wanted before choosing a career.
• Nawaki returned and said he liked Mikoto because she was pretty and did well in school.
• Yanbai used Nawaki’s close, sibling-like relationship with Kushina to show how little he knew Mikoto and how idealized his feelings were.
• Yanbai asked whether Nawaki wanted to marry Mikoto, then warned that dating without intending marriage was morally wrong, leaving Nawaki flustered.

Yanbai challenged Senju Nawaki to think seriously about marriage and what he could offer Mikoto, then urged him to focus on improving himself. The chapter ended with Yanbai offering to make Nawaki handsome and help his growth in exchange for extra payment.

• Yanbai asked Senju Nawaki to consider the responsibilities of marriage and what might make Mikoto like him.
• Yanbai criticized Nawaki's height, appearance, talent, wealth, and strength, leaving him dejected.
• Nawaki argued that he worked hard to follow in Tsunade's footsteps, and Yanbai told him that training and exams were not enough without understanding what he learned.
• Yanbai urged Nawaki to train, improve his abilities, and wait before deciding whether his feelings for Mikoto would last.
• Nawaki cried when Yanbai suggested he might remain short, then asked what he should do.
• Yanbai offered to improve Nawaki's appearance, physique, and potential for extra payment.

Yanbai’s harsh lessons transformed Senju Nawaki, while Yanbai’s chance encounter with Junlin revealed a timid child who seemed unhappy living with Tobirama. Yanbai took Junlin out for food and planned to bring him home, still uncertain how Tobirama treated him.

• Senju Nawaki became a familiar face at the Hokage Office as Yanbai charged him for lessons and other help, and the Nine Tailed Beasts repeatedly trained him until his appearance and behavior changed.
• Yanbai wandered through Konoha, encountered familiar figures including Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, and Hatake Sakumo, and noted that Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki still attended the Ninja Academy.
• On his way to visit Mito, Yanbai spotted a melancholy silver-haired child in an alley and recognized him as Junlin.
• Yanbai gently asked Junlin whether he wanted to go to his father, but Junlin showed resistance and could not name anywhere he wanted to go.
• Yanbai took Junlin for a nearby meal before planning to return him home, while observing that the boy seemed timid, fearful, and reluctant to speak freely.

Junlin revealed that he had sealed Tobirama Senju after years of secretly preparing to escape his father's harsh control. After meeting Yanbai and receiving his kindness, Junlin returned to the hidden chamber where Tobirama was imprisoned and told him that he would decide whether his existence was a sin.

• Yanbai encouraged Junlin to ask for what he wanted, and Junlin brushed Yanbai's hair before they parted at a street corner.
• Junlin returned to his hidden residence, checked its barrier, and entered the sealed room where Tobirama Senju lay restrained in a coffin.
• Tobirama Senju told Junlin that his existence was a sin, while Junlin recalled how his father's insults had shaped his resentment and fear.
• The chapter revealed that Junlin had secretly studied ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu, then sealed Tobirama Senju and wept after gaining his freedom.
• Junlin remembered Yanbai's advice and told Tobirama Senju that he would soon learn whether his existence was truly a sin.

Tobirama Senju reflected on Junlin's Sharingan, their paternity test, and the possibility that Junlin was seeking proof he belonged to Yanbai. Yanbai returned to the Princess Mausoleum to ask Cherry Ink about Junlin, but learned Cherry Ink's latest host had died and it was inhabiting a cloned rat.

• Tobirama Senju realized Junlin's early Sharingan awakening suggested severe trauma and considered whether Junlin's other parent was Uchiha or Yanbai.
• Tobirama Senju understood that Junlin was clinging to the hope of being Yanbai's child and left the matter to Yanbai.
• Yanbai finished his Hokage Office work quickly, spoke with Shikaku Nara, and returned to the Princess Mausoleum using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Yanbai encountered Muye and Silver Moon, who told him Cherry Ink's gravely ill host had died and Cherry Ink was now using a cloned rat's body.

Yanbai privately questioned Junlin after Junlin asked him to become his guardian and attend the Ninja Academy. Junlin confessed what had happened with Tobirama, and Yanbai left him crying after assuring him that the blame was not his alone.

• Yanbai's rats failed to find Tobirama or Junlin inside the sealed residence, but later tracked Junlin to the streets near the Senju Clan.
• Junlin brought Yanbai an application asking to attend the Ninja Academy, skip grades, and have Yanbai become his guardian because Tobirama was publicly considered dead.
• Yanbai sent Shikaku Nara from the office and told Junlin that Tobirama had not known how to express love and that Junlin had suffered because of it.
• Yanbai asked Junlin to tell him exactly what had happened, and Junlin confessed in a quiet voice.
• Yanbai told Junlin that a child's actions reflected the adults in their home and that Tobirama's behavior toward him also needed to be examined; Junlin broke down crying.

Yanbai helped Tobirama Senju and Junlin reconcile, then arranged for Junlin to attend school. Junlin befriended Minato Namikaze in Kushina Uzumaki's class, leaving Yanbai worried he might become Minato's rival for Kushina's affection.

• Yanbai visited Tobirama Senju, who apologized, and encouraged him to face his problems and rebuild his connection with Junlin.
• With Yanbai present, Tobirama Senju and Junlin shook hands and made peace.
• Yanbai arranged for Junlin to attend school in an upper-year class at Junlin's request.
• Junlin was assigned to Kushina Uzumaki's class and befriended Minato Namikaze on his first day.
• Yanbai wondered whether Junlin might become Minato Namikaze's romantic rival and whether Kumogakure would still try to abduct Kushina.

Yanbai profited from Konoha’s expanding wedding and banquet services during the postwar boom. Senju Nawaki returned beaten up by Fugaku, and Yanbai recognized what had happened.

• Yanbai treated Kima Senju and learned that Takekama Senju’s misplanted demolition charges had injured them during construction in Hanamaki.
• Yanbai left Takekama’s discipline to his family as the Land of Fire began developing with help from its prisoners of war.
• Yanbai had Shikaku Nara organize Academy graduates, including Uchiha Mikoto, to launch Konoha’s wedding services and related banquet businesses.
• Yanbai explained to Shikaku Nara that successful businesses kept generating customers’ needs and repeat purchases.
• Senju Nawaki rushed into Yanbai’s office, bruised and upset that he could not defeat Fugaku, and Yanbai guessed Fugaku had beaten him again.

Senju Nawaki kept trying to win Uchiha Mikoto’s affection and surpass Uchiha Fugaku, but he repeatedly failed and returned to Yanbai for help. When Nawaki repeated increasingly outrageous rumors about Yanbai’s romantic life, Yanbai responded with a warm smile that made Nawaki uneasy.

• Senju Nawaki complained that Uchiha Fugaku kept beating him and asked Yanbai how to surpass him, but Yanbai told him to train hard or find someone else to like.
• Might Duy and Sakumo Hatake got married as weddings in Konoha Shinobi Village became less frequent.
• Senju Nawaki arrived at Yanbai’s office covered in injuries and asked why he could not learn Yanbai’s taijutsu, so Yanbai healed him and explained that the style did not suit him.
• Yanbai urged Senju Nawaki to stop fixating on Uchiha Mikoto, but Nawaki said Yanbai could not understand because he had been single for decades.
• Senju Nawaki repeated rumors that Yanbai kept several Uchiha men hoping he might marry them, and Yanbai smiled kindly as Nawaki grew uneasy.