Recaps

Orochimaru noticed hidden watchers at the Ninja Academy and used the Flower of Thorns to deal with them while keeping Tsunade and Jiraiya safe. After learning about Tobirama Senju’s limited Telescope Technique, Orochimaru decided to help develop a Heavenly Eye Technique that could monitor all of Konoha.

• Tsunade pulled Jiraiya off Orochimaru and beat him while Orochimaru sensed enemies hiding near the school grounds.
• Orochimaru used Projection Ninjutsu to send thorn roots after the hidden watchers, then led Tsunade and Jiraiya back to the classroom building.
• Orochimaru realized the watchers had all been clones and thought his research could not wait.
• Konoha’s growth and cooperation with other shinobi villages brought more outsiders into the village and increased the risk of spies.
• After Tobirama Senju explained his Telescope Technique, Orochimaru decided to help improve it into a Heavenly Eye Technique covering Konoha.

On his first day at the Ninja Academy, Orochimaru realized his use of Yanbai’s Flower of Thorns projection might expose him and worsen his relationship with Madara. He invited Madara to see a popular play about Madara and Princess Senju, and Madara agreed to go.

• Orochimaru realized the clones he had punctured with Flower of Thorns would return their memories to their originals and reveal he could use the technique.
• Orochimaru decided to improve his relationship with Madara so he could ask him to store more uses of Flower of Thorns in the future.
• Orochimaru returned to the Princess Mausoleum and found Tangerine repeatedly asking Madara whether he loved it.
• Orochimaru invited Madara to see the play “I Am Madara Uchiha, Asura of the Ninja World” and explained its romantic story about Madara and Princess Senju.
• Madara wrestled with his reaction to the play and agreed to accompany Orochimaru to see it.

Yanbai stayed home while Madara Uchiha took Orochimaru to a play portraying Madara’s life, and Madara quickly regretted attending when the romantic scenes began. The play continued with Madara wondering whether its scriptwriter wanted to dance too.

• Yanbai held Cherry Ink and recalled how Madara Uchiha had hypnotized Tangerine and shaved most of its fur after the cat provoked him.
• Orochimaru felt awkward about leaving Yanbai out of his outing with Madara, but Madara explained the invitation and Yanbai wished them a safe trip.
• Madara Uchiha and Orochimaru went to the Konoha Grand Hall, where Madara realized the play was meant to soften the public’s view of him.
• Madara saw that the actor portraying him looked like Izuna, while the actress playing Yanbai had silver-white hair but an unfamiliar face.
• Madara listened to the play’s dramatic romantic dialogue and silently wondered whether the scriptwriter wanted to dance too.

Orochimaru and Madara watched a wildly inaccurate romantic play about Madara and Yanbai, then endured the audience’s enthusiastic and bizarre interpretations. They left the theater with Madara furious and Orochimaru realizing Yanbai had warned them about the danger of going out.

• Orochimaru and Madara watched a play that portrayed their lives as a tragic romance, leaving both of them baffled and irritated.
• The play ended with Madara destroying the Four Countries and dying in Yanbai’s tomb, to the audience’s acclaim.
• Madara complained to Orochimaru as they left the Konoha Grand Hall, but nearby women praised the play and planned to see it again.
• Orochimaru and Madara overheard audience members debating the characters and suggesting bizarre pairings, including Madara and Tobirama Senju.
• Orochimaru understood why Yanbai had told them to be careful outside, then hurried after the increasingly angry Madara.

Madara Uchiha took Orochimaru through the Memorial Stone cemetery, where the afterimages of people Madara had killed appeared and cursed him. After they vanished, Madara told Orochimaru that his life was nearing its end, but he comforted the boy by saying death was only another beginning.

• Madara Uchiha hurried along the night road with Orochimaru following him, then stopped in the cemetery when he heard approaching footsteps.
• Madara Uchiha told Orochimaru that the figures surrounding them were afterimages of the dead, and they cursed Madara for his crimes and urged him to die.
• Madara Uchiha dismissed the spirits, and they vanished before he continued toward the Back Mountain with Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru asked whether the spirits were people Madara had killed, and Madara said they were a side effect of his eyes.
• Madara Uchiha explained that Yanbai's healing techniques could not prevent his natural death and said he might live only a few more years.
• Orochimaru admitted he did not want Madara Uchiha to die, and Madara placed a hand on his head and told him that death was another beginning.

Orochimaru left for school with a lunchbox from Yanbai, reflecting on the affection he had received from Yanbai and Madara Uchiha. At the Ninja Academy, he shared lunch with Tobirama Senju and explained why the Improved Bayonet should not be sharpened too much.

• Yanbai gave Orochimaru a lunchbox for himself, Tsunade, and Jiraiya, and Madara Uchiha silently watched Orochimaru leave with him.
• Yanbai told Madara Uchiha that he did not need to hear about the play because Madara and Orochimaru's improved relationship mattered more than its content.
• Yanbai said Cherry Ink had reported that Toshio Hyuga would bring his two great-grandsons over, and he led Madara Uchiha to meet them.
• Orochimaru went to the principal's office and gave Tobirama Senju one portion of Yanbai's lunch, saving another for Tsunade.
• Tobirama Senju asked Orochimaru to explain why the Improved Bayonet should not be sharpened too much, and Orochimaru began listing four reasons based on his experience in the Dōjutsu World.

Orochimaru explained why bayonets should not be sharpened excessively while skipping class with Tobirama Senju, and Tsunade and Jiraiya joined him for lunch. Yanbai turned away Toshio Hyuga, Izuna, and Mito after they brought children to the barrier, leaving them outside the Resting Place.

• Orochimaru wrote four reasons for keeping bayonets from becoming too sharp, drawing on his experience being hunted and fighting his father.
• Orochimaru's Uchiha homeroom teacher recorded his truancy, but Tsunade brought the teacher to the principal's office before he faced discipline.
• Tsunade shared her lunch with Jiraiya while she and Orochimaru ate food made by Yanbai, easing the tension among the three children.
• Yanbai turned back from the barrier after birds warned them that Toshio Hyuga's plans had drawn attention from Izuna and Mito, who brought children from their clans too.
• Yanbai explained that the animals had blocked Toshio, Izuna, and Mito from entering the Resting Place, and Madara Uchiha agreed to leave them waiting outside.

Orochimaru took the midterm exams for every grade and became the top scorer in the academy, drawing attention from students and staff. His homeroom teacher, Uchiha Setsuna, discovered that Orochimaru’s guardians were Madara Uchiha and Yanbai Senju, leaving him to face a daunting choice about calling them in.

• Yanbai’s show of force drove the Senju, Hyuga, and Uchiha clans away from the Princess Mausoleum, restoring peace for him and Madara Uchiha.
• Tobirama Senju arranged for Orochimaru to take the midterm exams across all six grades so he could earn credits and graduate early.
• Orochimaru topped the academy’s midterm rankings, making him famous among its teachers and students.
• Uchiha Setsuna reviewed Orochimaru’s student records and found that Madara Uchiha and Yanbai Senju were listed as his guardians.

Orochimaru realized that Jiraiya might be targeted by upperclassmen angered over the midterm results and hurried to warn Tsunade. The chapter ended with Tsunade rushing off with Orochimaru to save him.

• Tsunade told Orochimaru that Jiraiya had gone to the cafeteria to buy them drinks.
• Orochimaru worried that Jiraiya had been away too long and explained that their class had been assigned easier, lower-paying work since the midterms.
• Orochimaru revealed that he had taken the scholarship places across every year and suspected the class was being punished because of him.
• Tsunade and Orochimaru realized that students with powerful families might attack Jiraiya without fear of the school’s rules.
• Tsunade stood up and told Orochimaru they were going to save Jiraiya.

Tsunade and Orochimaru headed to the cafeteria to meet Jiraiya, while Orochimaru comforted Tsunade after she worried she had acted too roughly. Jiraiya found himself confronted by an Uchiha upperclassman who questioned whether his friendship with top student Orochimaru could last despite Jiraiya’s low marks.

• Tsunade left the classroom to find Jiraiya, and Orochimaru followed while considering how to handle the situation.
• Tsunade worried that she had been too rough, so Orochimaru reassured her and patted her head before they continued toward the cafeteria.
• Jiraiya left the cafeteria carrying a bag of orange juice and encountered an Uchiha upperclassman blocking his way.
• The Uchiha upperclassman asked Jiraiya whether he resented Orochimaru for being a perfect-scoring genius while Jiraiya ranked among the lowest students.

Uchiha Sumi approached Jiraiya to discuss a plan involving Orochimaru, but Tsunade mistook their conversation for bullying and intervened. Sumi explained that he wanted Jiraiya to fight Orochimaru so he could avoid being punished by the entire Uchiha Clan, leaving Jiraiya to realize Sumi had manipulated his sympathy.

• Uchiha Sumi asked Jiraiya what kinds of novels he liked, while Jiraiya mistook his awkward approach for an attempt at friendship.
• Tsunade smashed the cafeteria paving stones and rushed to protect Jiraiya, then failed to recognize Uchiha Sumi until Orochimaru identified him.
• Uchiha Sumi joined Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya at a cafeteria table and explained that their homeroom teacher wanted him to provoke Orochimaru so he could meet Orochimaru's guardian.
• Uchiha Sumi asked Jiraiya to fight Orochimaru because he feared his father, the clan elders, and his clanmates would all beat him if he fought Orochimaru himself.
• Jiraiya realized Uchiha Sumi's earlier attempt to befriend him had been a setup to recruit him into the plan.

Orochimaru learned that Uchiha Setsuna wanted a legitimate reason to meet Madara Uchiha, while Uchiha Sumi explained why manufactured hardship would not awaken his Sharingan. Yanbai arranged for Madara to meet Setsuna but left him hospitalized, while secretly searching for a way to escape Old Grandmother’s plans through virtual worlds.

• Uchiha Sumi told Orochimaru that his father hoped a beating might awaken his Sharingan, but that deliberate setbacks would not work and parents should support their children.
• Orochimaru reported the situation to Yanbai and Madara Uchiha, and Madara agreed to fight Uchiha Setsuna.
• Uchiha Setsuna was hospitalized after Madara beat him, and his clan members covered his classes while Yanbai refused to heal him.
• Yanbai recognized that Old Grandmother had created the destroyed system to push him toward marrying Madara Uchiha, and that her garbled code was punishment for resisting.
• Yanbai continued searching for a peaceful escape through virtual worlds, believing his Mangekyō Sharingan abilities could connect him to a way out.

After Orochimaru’s biological parents died, he confronted the fragility of life and worried that Yanbai and Madara Uchiha could die without warning. He gave them alarm rings to summon help, hoping they would have a chance to say goodbye if danger came.

• Orochimaru’s biological parents died, and he received their remains as charcoal just five days after his last visit.
• Orochimaru presided over his parents’ funeral and reflected on how fragile life was.
• After returning to the Princess Mausoleum, Orochimaru gave Yanbai and Madara Uchiha two rings he had made.
• Orochimaru explained that crushing a ring would activate an alarm, so Yanbai and Madara Uchiha could call for help if they were in danger.
• Orochimaru told Yanbai he did not want him and Madara to die without a chance to say goodbye.

Years after Kagami Uchiha became Hokage, Yanbai read reports about Kushina Uzumaki’s birth and Tobirama’s worsening illness before Madara revealed he understood the world’s resets and asked whether Yanbai would leave with him. Meanwhile, Orochimaru watched Tsunade berate Jiraiya and Hiruzen Sarutobi after another peeping incident.

• Orochimaru spent increasing amounts of time at the Konoha Research Institute, while Yanbai and Madara let him pursue his own plans.
• After several years passed and Uchiha Akira’s term ended, Kagami Uchiha became the Fifth Hokage and revived the proposal to let shinobi outside the three major clans run for Hokage.
• Yanbai read reports about Kushina Uzumaki’s birth, Jiraiya’s failed confession to Tsunade, and Tobirama’s returning illness.
• Madara told Yanbai he knew that the world would reset and its inhabitants would be replaced, then admitted that his fear of death had faded because of their life together.
• Yanbai asked Madara whether he wanted to leave with him when the world reset again.
• Orochimaru sat with Jiraiya and Hiruzen Sarutobi at a hotel while Tsunade angrily confronted them about peeping into the women’s bathhouse.

Yanbai healed the aging Tobirama Senju, who confided his fears about Konoha’s clan balance and the Uchiha’s growing influence. Yanbai agreed not to oppose changes to Hokage selection for now, choosing instead to spend time with his old companions while they were still alive.

• Tobirama Senju suffered a severe coughing fit, and Yanbai healed him despite Tobirama asking to be left to die.
• Tobirama Senju worried that the Senju Clan was declining as the Uchiha Clan gained talented members and the Hyuga Clan grew stronger.
• Tobirama Senju warned that the Uchiha Clan could control the tailed beasts and noted that Akira and Kagami wanted Hokage selection to extend beyond the Three Noble Clans.
• Yanbai told Tobirama Senju that he would let them make the change, saying he wanted to spend more time with his friends while they were alive.
• Tobirama Senju reflected that Impure World Reincarnation tormented the dead, and that Itama and Yuna had recently finished serving their sentences and entered their long slumber.

Yanbai treated the dying Tobirama Senju, then walked alone through Konoha and reflected on his life and his attachment to Madara. At the Memorial Stone, he noticed the Military Police officers who had followed him and considered how to respond.

• Tobirama Senju thanked Yanbai for warning him about Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, then worried about the village's future before his illness worsened.
• Yanbai treated Tobirama Senju, escorted him home, and asked Orochimaru's clone to watch over him.
• Yanbai walked through Konoha at night, realized he had chosen a secluded life because of Madara, and resolved to pull himself together and start over.
• Konoha Military Police officers stared at Yanbai when they encountered him, then secretly followed him out of the village to the Memorial Stone.
• Yanbai stopped at the Memorial Stone and considered explaining that following someone at night was rude or vanishing to frighten the officers.

Yanbai returned to the Princess Mausoleum and woke Madara Uchiha from his dōjutsu dream, then asked him to help explore other worlds through the Dōjutsu World after his body died. Madara agreed, and the chapter ended with them meeting eyes as he rested a hand on Satsuki.

• Konoha Military Police Force members investigated the spot where Yanbai vanished and speculated about his resemblance to the young Tobirama before deciding to report what they saw.
• Yanbai appeared inside the Princess Mausoleum, where cats guarded Madara Uchiha as he remained immersed in a dream.
• Yanbai approached Madara and told him that Tobirama Senju was close to death and that Madara's own improved condition was only superficial.
• Madara asked Yanbai about the Zombie World in his dōjutsu dream, and Yanbai confirmed that such a world existed.
• Yanbai asked Madara to remain in his dōjutsu space after his body died and investigate reaching other worlds, and Madara agreed to help.

Madara Uchiha promised to help Yanbai leave the world safely if Yanbai granted his request, and Yanbai agreed. Later, Black Zetsu questioned whether Yanbai meant it and told him that he and Mother would let the altered course of events unfold.

• Madara Uchiha confessed his feelings to Yanbai and asked him to grant one condition in return for helping him leave the world safely.
• Yanbai agreed to Madara Uchiha's request, and the two joked before Yanbai helped him to bed.
• Yanbai returned to his room, settled the cats, and reflected on the loneliness of living without Orochimaru.
• Black Zetsu asked whether Yanbai had truly agreed to Madara Uchiha's request, and Yanbai said he believed he could fulfill it.
• Black Zetsu told Yanbai that he and Mother had decided to let events unfold despite changes to this version of the Shinobi World.

Orochimaru visited his parents’ home and found Madara immersed in Yanbai’s Dōjutsu World while cats guarded him; he learned Yanbai had gone for a stroll. Yanbai wandered Konoha after winning a fortune at the casino, unaware that Uchiha Sumi had been assigned to watch him.

• Orochimaru returned home to visit Madara and found him sitting motionless beneath a sea of cats, his eyes caught in Yanbai’s Dōjutsu.
• Orochimaru massaged a gray tabby cat, which spoke and helped him learn that Yanbai had gone out shopping and for a stroll.
• After Orochimaru left, the cats protected Madara from Black Specters while he explored a Dōjutsu World where he had received the Deity Statue’s blessing and could understand people.
• Yanbai won over ten million ryō at a casino on Hot Spring Entertainment Street, stored the money, and wandered through Konoha eating dango.
• The Konoha Military Police Force watched Yanbai, and Uchiha Sumi was assigned to keep an eye on him.

Uchiha Sumi surveilled Yanbai around Konoha, then confronted her in an alley and was overwhelmed by her speed. Orochimaru intervened before Yanbai could grab Sumi, then revealed that she was his mother.

• Uchiha Sumi followed Yanbai through Konoha and noted how naturally she used the village’s modern equipment.
• Yanbai appeared behind Uchiha Sumi in an alley and asked why he had been following her.
• When Uchiha Sumi refused to lower his weapon, Yanbai threatened him and struck too quickly for his Sharingan to track.
• Orochimaru blocked Yanbai’s next attack with a summoned shield and checked that Uchiha Sumi was unharmed.
• Orochimaru introduced Yanbai to Uchiha Sumi as his mother.

Yanbai and Orochimaru cleared up the misunderstanding with Uchiha Sumi at an ice cream shop, where Orochimaru privately imagined Yanbai had found a younger lover. After Uchiha Sumi left, Orochimaru asked Yanbai about his agelessness and warned that eternal life meant enduring the loss of everyone he loved.

• At the ice cream shop, Uchiha Sumi struggled to decide what to call Yanbai, while Orochimaru shared his bowl of ice cream with him.
• Orochimaru mistakenly suspected Yanbai planned to replace Madara Uchiha with a younger lover, but Yanbai explained that Madara was staying home to play games in his eyes.
• Orochimaru apologized to Uchiha Sumi for the trouble Yanbai had caused, and Uchiha Sumi said the encounter had been a misunderstanding caused by wariness of spies.
• Yanbai paid the bill, and Uchiha Sumi hurried back to the Konoha Military Police Force to report what had happened.
• As they walked through Konoha, Orochimaru asked Yanbai why he did not age and whether living forever made him suffer the loneliness of watching loved ones die.

Yanbai worried about Orochimaru’s pursuit of immortality, then returned home with Yumemizuki and heard that Madara Uchiha had found the direction of Yanbai’s incarnation in the Dōjutsu World. Madara asked to change characters because his current one was mocked as “the desert shorty,” but Yanbai reassured him that his own incarnation was short too.

• Yanbai reflected on Orochimaru’s plans and recalled making him promise not to experiment on people from the Land of Fire or Konoha Shinobi Village.
• Yumemizuki found Yanbai and complained that home was cold and full of ghosts, so Yanbai carried the cat back to the Underground Palace.
• Madara Uchiha told Yanbai that he had used the information Yanbai gave him to locate the direction of Yanbai’s incarnation in the Dōjutsu World.
• Madara Uchiha asked whether he could play a different character because people called his current character “the desert shorty.”
• Yanbai claimed that his own incarnation was extremely short, and Madara Uchiha accepted the reassurance.

Yanbai visited Orochimaru’s home with roasted pine nuts and startled Tsunade, who mistook him for a romantic rival before learning he was Orochimaru’s mother. The visit ended with Tsunade resuming her argument with Jiraiya over his plan to travel the world.

• Madara Uchiha told Yanbai about exploring the virtual world and rescuing a stranger he later abandoned in the desert.
• Yanbai decided to visit Orochimaru and Tobirama, brought roasted pine nuts, and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach Orochimaru’s home.
• Yanbai met Uchiha Sumi outside and learned that Tsunade was angry because Jiraiya had applied for a dangerous job that would take him around the world.
• Tsunade opened the door, but Orochimaru called Yanbai his mother and invited him inside, dispelling her mistaken suspicion about a fiancée.
• Yanbai went farther into the house while Jiraiya defended his desire to travel, and Tsunade shouted that his wallet was too small to go anywhere.

Yanbai visited Orochimaru’s home and healed Tobirama Senju, who refused Yanbai’s offer to care for him in his final days. Tsunade grew suspicious of Yanbai’s identity as she went to see Tobirama, while Tobirama warned Yanbai that Orochimaru needed to take responsibility for his own family.

• Tsunade beat Jiraiya after he gawked at Yanbai, then brought him to the table when Orochimaru invited everyone to eat.
• Jiraiya asked Orochimaru who Yanbai was, and Orochimaru said Yanbai was his mother before Tsunade punched Jiraiya for questioning how his mother could be alive.
• Tsunade recalled how often Orochimaru credited his adoptive mother for the food and other comforts in his life, and she began to suspect Yanbai’s identity as she headed toward Tobirama Senju’s room.
• Yanbai healed Tobirama Senju enough for him to sit up and speak, then offered to take him in and care for him.
• Tobirama Senju refused Yanbai’s offer and insisted Orochimaru should fulfill his own filial duties, warning that Orochimaru’s closeness to Tsunade concerned him.

Tsunade overheard that Yanbai was Orochimaru’s adoptive parent and her Grand-Grandaunt, then was ambushed by a poisoned assassin in the dark hallway. As Tsunade and the others struggled against him, an old man unleashed thorn-covered vines that turned the fight in their favor, while the assassin began summoning Salamander Ibuse.

• Tsunade overheard Tobirama Senju and Yanbai talking and realized Yanbai was her Grand-Grandaunt.
• Tsunade sensed killing intent and dodged a volley of senbon before the assassin attacked her with a poisoned kunai.
• Tsunade retreated toward Tobirama Senju’s room and warned Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Uchiha Sumi about the poison.
• The assassin overwhelmed the teenagers, and Jiraiya was quickly knocked down while Orochimaru and Uchiha Sumi shielded him.
• An old man complained about the noise and filled the area with thorn-covered vines that trapped the assassin.
• The assassin formed hand seals and began summoning Salamander Ibuse.