Chapter Summaries

Yanbai refused Sasori’s request to attend the Konoha Ninja Academy but offered to teach him privately, and Sasori began designing and building the “Raiden Shogun” puppet in Konoha. After several months of study and industrial manufacturing, the puppet’s frame, muscles, organs, and artificial skin took shape.

• Yanbai warned Sasori to obey the Land of Fire’s laws, including his rule against copying a living person’s face without permission.
• Yanbai rejected Sasori’s request to attend the Konoha Ninja Academy because he feared Sasori might kill another student, and offered him private lessons instead.
• Sasori began reporting to the Hokage Office each morning, studying the “Raiden Shogun” and arranging for Konoha workshops to manufacture its alloy skeleton.
• Sasori designed the puppet’s muscle tissue, organs, and artificial skin, studied medicine and suturing, and ordered the components from local workshops.
• After several months, Sasori assembled the skeleton, added artificial muscles and organs, and covered them with artificial skin as Yanbai watched the design take shape.

Yanbai and Sasori completed the Raiden Shogun puppet after six months of work, then Yanbai made a small puppet modeled on young Uchiha Itachi and brought it to the Uchiha Clan. Fugaku and pregnant Mikoto received the gift, which was addressed to their soon-to-be-born child as “Uchiha Weasel.”

• Yanbai suggested implanting individual strands of hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes into the humanoid puppet, and Sasori carefully completed its custom hair.
• Sasori dressed the finished Raiden Shogun puppet, declared it their child, and held its hand while calling himself its father.
• Shikaku Nara told Yanbai that the Three-Kidney Pill had sold out, and Yanbai ordered purchase limits and warnings after learning small shinobi clans had bought it in bulk.
• Yanbai used leftover materials to make a small puppet modeled on young Uchiha Itachi, and Sasori meticulously implanted its hair.
• Yanbai gave Sasori a cash reward and delivered the doll to Uchiha Fugaku and pregnant Mikoto with a card addressed to “the soon-to-be-born Uchiha Weasel.”

Yanbai visited Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto to question their choice of Itachi for their unborn son, joking that the name sounded inauspicious. He accepted their decision but warned Fugaku not to honor him by naming a future child after Yanbai or his family.

• Yanbai explained the meanings and traditions behind names, then wondered whether Fugaku might name a second son Uchiha Butsuma.
• Fugaku and Mikoto confirmed that they had chosen Itachi for their unborn son after learning from a Hyuga doctor that they were expecting a boy.
• Yanbai said Itachi sounded inauspicious but accepted the name because Fugaku and Mikoto had chosen it themselves.
• Yanbai joked that he had feared Fugaku would name the child Uchiha Yanbai, and Fugaku assured him he would not.
• Yanbai warned Fugaku not to honor him by using his father's or brothers' names for a second child, and Fugaku agreed.

While Yanbai was away, Sasori became attached to the completed “Raiden Shogun” puppet and insisted it could not be sold. Yanbai proposed that Sasori buy it himself, then presented an agreement demanding payment beyond the commission’s costs and fees.

• While Shikaku Nara watched, Sasori carefully applied makeup to the puppet and braided its hair.
• Sasori asked Shikaku Nara about Yanbai’s popular Three-Kidney Pill, and Shikaku explained its sales and use.
• Yanbai returned to the Hokage Office and found Sasori shielding the puppet and declaring that it could not be sold.
• Sasori treated the puppet as his child and asked Yanbai how to keep it from being sold.
• Yanbai suggested Sasori buy the puppet and showed him an agreement listing costs, fees, and an additional profit.

Yanbai offered Sasori a way to keep the Raiden Shogun by buying it in installments and working for him to cover the payments. Sasori considered the deal as Yanbai proposed hiring him personally instead of renewing Sunagakure's contract.

• Yanbai presented Sasori with documents to renew the puppet-making contract with Sunagakure, but Sasori could not afford to buy the Raiden Shogun outright.
• Yanbai offered Sasori installment payments, calculating that twelve monthly payments would make the puppet cost 32,250,000 ryo in total.
• Yanbai proposed that Sasori sign a twelve-month contract and use his wages to pay for the Raiden Shogun.
• Yanbai told Sasori he could hire him personally rather than renew the contract with Sunagakure, and urged him to sell himself to Yanbai.

Yanbai brought Sasori from Sunagakure to live and work at his home under a one-year contract. He then hurried to Mito’s bedside, where she confessed her long-held feelings before dying peacefully.

• Sasori agreed to work for Yanbai for a year, and the Third Kazekage approved the contract for 2.25 million ryo.
• Yanbai brought Sasori home, where Kushina told him that Mito’s condition had worsened and she wanted to see him.
• Yanbai used the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach Mito, who apologized for past trouble and spoke about the Senju Clan’s future.
• Mito confessed that she had fallen for Yanbai and said that voicing her thoughts made her feel truly happy.
• Mito died peacefully while Yanbai held her hand.

At Mito’s funeral, Yanbai reflected on death, resurrection, and the preparations he was making involving Sasori. He sensed someone near the Memorial Stone and caught Killer B, who had sneaked into the Land of Fire and crashed banquets, singing before Yanbai arrested him.

• Yanbai attended Mito’s funeral and wondered whether resurrecting the dead would only prolong their suffering.
• Yanbai reflected that Mito’s death and Itachi’s birth had occurred on the same day, then considered visiting Mikoto and Itachi.
• Yanbai sensed someone hiding near the Memorial Stone and stopped Shikaku Nara from speaking.
• Killer B emerged from behind a tree and launched into a song and dance.
• Yanbai slapped Killer B and declared him under arrest for attempting to molest the Hokage.
• Killer B’s recent travels had involved sneaking into the Land of Fire and crashing hundreds of weddings and funerals for their food.

Yanbai detained Killer B and sent the Fourth Raikage A a bill for his meals and entertainment in the Land of Fire. After arranging for Killer B to be pampered in custody, Yanbai went home to find Sasori, newly interested in Granny Chiyo's Living Reincarnation.

• Yanbai and Shikaku Nara brought Killer B to the Konoha Military Police Force detention center, where Yanbai told Shimura Danzō to keep him well fed and entertained.
• Yanbai wrote Fourth Raikage A a letter detailing Killer B's unpaid banquet meals, pig-trotter feasts, and fashion magazines, then sent it by express airdrop.
• Yanbai ordered his subordinates to monitor Kumogakure and Shimura Danzō to continue fattening Killer B, while deciding not to use the incident as a reason to attack the Land of Lightning.
• After Mito's death made Yanbai more attentive to Sasori, he finished his work and went home to find him, intent on learning more about Granny Chiyo's Living Reincarnation.

Yanbai helped Sasori industrialize puppet construction while Sasori devoted himself to bringing the Raiden Shogun to life and pursuing eternity. Sasori confronted Yanbai about seeming to know him from the start and said Yanbai had shown him that true immortality might be possible.

• Yanbai let Sasori use his puppet-component standards so Konoha's industrial department could mass-produce puppet bodies.
• Sasori continued working to bring the Raiden Shogun to life, while Yanbai learned about his past and watched his fascination with puppets and eternity deepen.
• During lunch, Sasori discussed human puppets, the friend he had turned into one, and his plan to transform his own body.
• Sasori told Yanbai that he seemed to know him before they had met and never acted surprised by his confessions.
• Sasori said he wanted eternity and asked whether Yanbai's example meant that true immortality was possible.

Yanbai explained to Sasori how death and being forgotten made existence precious, and challenged Sasori’s belief that puppets could replace the people he had lost. Sasori confessed how he had turned a boy into a Human Puppet and recognized that Yanbai was protecting him, then promised to stop anyone who could kill Yanbai; Yanbai said she could only be sealed.

• Yanbai told Sasori that he could die and described how his experiences with death and oblivion had changed his understanding of what mattered.
• Sasori argued that people and objects could endure even when forgotten, but Yanbai asked whether endless loneliness was truly the eternity he wanted and reminded him that puppets could not replace his parents.
• Sasori recounted how he had accidentally caused a boy’s death while fitting him with a puppet arm, then made him into a Human Puppet, and how Chiyo had concealed the truth to protect him.
• Sasori realized Yanbai already knew his secret and had kept him close to protect him, then asked whether they had known each other in a previous lifetime.
• Sasori thanked Yanbai for remembering him and vowed to stop anyone who could kill him; Yanbai said she could only be sealed, and Sasori agreed to seal her.

After Kirigakure shinobi landed in the Land of Whirlpools, Yanbai's family discussed intervening without involving Konoha or the Land of Fire officially. Silver Moon hinted that he and Muye had powerful combat methods, while Yanbai wondered whether Minato might gain a reputation in the coming conflict.

• Shikaku Nara reported that Kirigakure shinobi had landed on the coast of the Land of Whirlpools.
• Yanbai realized the landing was a test of whether he would protect the Land of Whirlpools after Mito's death.
• Muye proposed that Yanbai's family members help Kushina and Nagato as relatives rather than as Konoha shinobi.
• Yanbai agreed that Muye, Silver Moon, Junlin, and Minato could take part in the family effort.
• Yanbai questioned whether Muye and Silver Moon could fight, and Silver Moon hinted at their Overload Reaction combat technique.

Yanbai allowed Muye and Silver Moon to resolve the crisis in the Land of Whirlpools, while demanding that the Uzumaki Clan affiliate with the Land of Fire. He then ordered Shikaku Nara to prepare a scheme to steal other countries’ war supplies and sell them back at a discount, leaving Kirigakure vulnerable to economic ruin.

• Muye and Silver Moon explained their powers and promised that ghosts and their allies could help keep them safe as they confronted the crisis in the Land of Whirlpools.
• Yanbai agreed to let the children handle the crisis, but Muye promised that the Uzumaki Clan would affiliate with the Land of Fire or receive no help during a future siege.
• After the children left, Yanbai told Shikaku Nara that the Land of Fire would sell war supplies to other countries at fair prices.
• Yanbai ordered Shikaku Nara to organize supplies he planned to steal from countries using the Flying Thunder God Technique, stamp them with the Land of Fire’s mark, and sell them back at a discount.
• Yanbai planned to take Kirigakure’s money and, if it ran out, have its clans and shinobi work in the Land of Fire to pay for supplies.

Muye, Nagato, Kushina, and their companions arrived in the Land of Whirlpools, where Uzumaki Takuma questioned Kushina for returning without Konoha’s army or firearms. Muye then made clear that his brothers would only help the Uzumaki Clan for a price, leaving Takuma displeased as the clan’s younger generation began to doubt its old resistance to Yanbai.

• Uzumaki Takuma welcomed Kushina but asked whether she had brought Konoha’s army or the Land of Fire’s advanced firearms, and Kushina said she had brought neither.
• Uzumaki Takuma questioned why Kushina had returned, upsetting her, while Minato Namikaze comforted her and Nagato defended their companions’ ability to resolve the crisis.
• Uzumaki Takuma recognized Muye, Silver Moon, and Junlin from the Land of Fire’s Shinobi History textbook and tried to smooth over his exchange with Kushina.
• Muye told Uzumaki Takuma that he and his two brothers had come to help out of goodwill but would not work for free.
• Uzumaki Takuma reacted angrily to the mention of payment as the Uzumaki Clan’s younger generation began questioning its elders’ refusal to deal with Yanbai.

Yanbai summoned Izuna and Tobirama for a mysterious task while Muye negotiated the Land of Whirlpools’ fate with Uzumaki Takuma. Under pressure from Kirigakure and Muye’s ultimatum, the Whirlpool Daimyo signed an agreement bringing the territory into the Land of Fire as Whirlpool Sea Port, and Yanbai prepared to take control of its islands.

• Yanbai stood with the reincarnated Izuna and Tobirama above Konoha and hinted that Izuna would help with a task benefiting the Land of Fire.
• Muye told Uzumaki Takuma that the Land of Whirlpools must either join the Land of Fire, pay for protection, or provide labor in exchange for aid.
• Uzumaki Takuma referred Muye’s terms to the Whirlpool Daimyo while Kirigakure delayed its advance because someone kept stealing its military supplies.
• After several days, the Whirlpool Daimyo signed documents making the Land of Whirlpools a city of the Land of Fire provisionally called Whirlpool Sea Port.
• The Fire Daimyo recognized Whirlpool Sea Port, and Yanbai prepared to send people to take over the islands.

Yanbai profited by sending Tobirama and Izuna to steal and resell supplies while the Land of Fire annexed the Land of Whirlpools. As the island’s residents relocated, Yanbai invited every shinobi village’s Kage to witness its formal acquisition, leaving them wary of what would happen if they refused.

• Yanbai had Tobirama and Izuna repeatedly steal and resell supplies, using Tobirama’s summoning marks to reclaim goods after each sale and drain Kirigakure’s treasury.
• The Land of Fire began relocating cooperative civilians and Uzumaki Clan shinobi from the annexed Land of Whirlpools to temporary accommodation along its coast.
• Minato Namikaze announced the Land of Whirlpools’ incorporation and warned unauthorized visitors to leave within three days before the island underwent “comprehensive disinfection.”
• Yanbai sent every village’s Kage an invitation to attend the Land of Fire’s acquisition ceremony at Whirlpool Sea Port in three days.
• The Kage saw the Fire-Earth-Lightning Memorial Park’s human figure covered in white roses and worried that refusing Yanbai’s invitation might make them another landmark.

Yanbai consolidated the Land of Whirlpools’ annexation, intimidated the other nations, and prepared a lavish coastal resort to host the invited Kage. He planned to use the gathering to demonstrate the Land of Fire’s power and make its protection of the island unmistakable.

• The Third Kazekage accepted Yanbai’s invitation and asked Sunagakure’s Council of Elders to choose a gift for him.
• After the Land of Whirlpools merged with the Land of Fire, Kirigakure stopped fighting, while Izuna and Tobirama gathered supplies from the Four Great Nations for Yanbai.
• Shikaku Nara organized Konoha Anbu into shifts to count and sort the stolen weapons, food, and medical supplies.
• Yanbai arranged lanterns and festive decorations along the coast and prepared Hanamaki Resort City to host the Kage.
• Yanbai planned to sterilize the evacuated Land of Whirlpools with meteors, then use the materials to expand the island and build a bridge connecting it to the Land of Fire.

The Third Kazekage and other invited Kage traveled to the Land of Fire aboard luxurious air transports escorted by Chōmei. After arriving in Hanamaki City, the visiting leaders confronted the scale of Yanbai’s development and were left uneasy about the Land of Fire’s power.

• The Third Kazekage and his entourage boarded a Konoha air transport carried by a clone of Chōmei, the Seven-Tails.
• Chōmei flew through torrential rain and carried the Sunagakure party past Ishinomaki City's immense golden alloy walls.
• Chōmei delivered the Third Kazekage to Hanamaki City, where the other major villages' Kage arrived around the same time.
• Konoha's receiving ninja guided the visiting Kage into Hanamaki City's largest hotel.
• The Kage looked over the prosperous city Yanbai had built and felt apprehension, envy, and fear of the unknown.

Yanbai arranged a meteor demonstration over the Land of Whirlpools to remind the visiting Kage of Konoha’s overwhelming power. The spectacle left the Kage and displaced residents terrified, while Ōnoki concluded that resisting cooperation with Konoha was no longer an option.

• Shikaku Nara reported that every village’s Kage had arrived in Hanamaki, and Yanbai ordered the meteor drill to begin once their accommodations were ready.
• The Kage settled into rooms at the Hanamaki Hotel, where balconies offered views of the city and the distant coastline.
• Yanbai’s meteors struck the Land of Whirlpools in a display he called comprehensive disinfection, frightening the Kage and the relocated residents watching from Hanamaki.
• Ōnoki recalled Madara Uchiha’s meteor attack on Iwagakure and realized Yanbai wielded power comparable to both Madara and Hashirama Senju.
• Ōnoki examined a brochure describing Sunagakure’s gains from cooperating with Konoha and concluded that no one would dare refuse cooperation after witnessing the meteor display.

Ōnoki reflected on Yanbai’s coercive tactics and the devastation his Wood Release had brought to the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. The Kage all agreed to meet Yanbai about cooperation, but his offer to let villages use their earnings to ransom prisoners of war left Ōnoki facing a political dilemma.

• Ōnoki recalled how Iwagakure’s shinobi who had worked in the Land of Fire returned as prisoners after Iwagakure joined the war against Konoha.
• Ōnoki watched Yanbai’s meteor shower and considered the giant hogweed spreading through the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
• Ōnoki stayed alone on the observation deck overnight, then heard from a Konoha reception shinobi that the Kage could either leave or meet Yanbai about cooperation.
• The Kage agreed to cooperate with Konoha and prepare to meet Yanbai to sign agreements tailored to their villages’ local specialties.
• Ōnoki learned that Iwagakure and Kumogakure could use their cooperation earnings to pay war reparations and ransom prisoners, forcing him to weigh the cost of freeing them against the consequences of leaving them abandoned.

After signing a cooperation agreement with Iwagakure, Yanbai healed Ōnoki and acquired an upgraded Dust Release technique, which he used to carve through mountains. The power reminded Yanbai that he believed his world was a simulation and that he needed to escape it, leaving him yearning for news of Madara.

• Ōnoki signed the agreements with Yanbai and, after shaking his hand, found that his back and leg pain had disappeared.
• Yanbai sent Shikaku Nara to organize the Iwagakure cooperation documents, then used Flying Thunder God to travel to a wilderness development site.
• Yanbai used the upgraded Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique he had acquired from Ōnoki to erase the barren mountains blocking his planned route.
• Yanbai reflected on his isolation, his belief that the world and its people were part of a simulation, and his desire to escape back to his own world.
• Yanbai decided his younger siblings should ask after Madara and, if necessary, find another incarnation of him, while he lamented how long the wait had become.