Chapter Summaries

Yanbai strengthened cooperation between the villages and shifted his attention to observing the younger generation. At the academy, Rin Nohara overheard a strange conversation between Obito Uchiha and Might Guy and fled before delivering the reimbursement form.

• Yanbai returned to Hanamaki City and resumed work after discussing his destruction of a barren mountain with Shikaku Nara.
• Chōmei escorted the Kage home after they signed the Cooperation Agreement with Konoha, and Yanbai later signed new treaties with Ōnoki and A.
• Trade and exchanges between the villages increased, while Yanbai allowed young foreigners to study and train in Konoha Shinobi Village.
• Yanbai decided to stop competing with everyone and quietly observe the characters from the story.
• Rin Nohara's teacher asked her to take a medical reimbursement application to Obito Uchiha in the infirmary.
• Rin overheard Obito and Might Guy joking about mixers and embarrassing personal matters, then hid from Guy and delayed delivering the form.

Rin Nohara went to the hospital intending to tell Obito Uchiha to stop pursuing her, but she lost her nerve when she saw how happy he was to see her. Just as she began to explain her feelings, a ghostlike figure appeared outside the window, and Rin tried to stop Obito from looking.

• Rin Nohara reflected on how Obito's persistent attention had made her determined to focus on her studies and leave Konoha after graduation.
• Rin brought Obito a medical reimbursement application form at the hospital and explained that their homeroom teacher had asked her to deliver it.
• Rin struggled to tell Obito she wanted him to stop coming near her, even as he thanked her and smiled.
• Rin saw a ghostlike figure appear outside the hospital window and rushed to stop Obito from turning around.

Yanbai visited Obito at the school infirmary and interrupted Rin Nohara as she tried to reject Obito. Rin accidentally fell on Obito, leaving him unable to breathe, and Yanbai disappeared before Obito noticed him.

• Yanbai visited the school after learning Obito was in the infirmary.
• Yanbai found Rin Nohara with Obito and mistook her rejection speech for a possible romantic moment.
• Yanbai appeared at the window with a warning not to break school rules, startling Rin and interrupting her.
• Rin lunged to stop Obito from turning around, and they fell to the floor with Obito's face buried in her chest.
• Rin hurriedly got up and apologized as Obito caught his breath, then Obito asked if someone had been at the window.
• Rin saw that the window was empty and blamed her mistaken sight while feeling embarrassed about what had happened.

Rin Nohara left Obito after he unexpectedly confessed his love and proposed marriage, then returned home to her foster father, Jiraiya. After making Jiraiya dinner, she went to her room, while he suspected she had been with a lovestruck boy.

• Obito asked Rin what she had been trying to tell him, then proposed that they marry and promised to bring the betrothal gifts his grandmother had prepared.
• Rin found herself back at home, where her foster father Jiraiya greeted her and chided her for returning late.
• Jiraiya complained that hunger had given him writer’s block while he worked on the next chapter of Icha Icha Paradise.
• Rin made egg fried rice for Jiraiya, then went to her room after he encouraged her to spend time with her friends.
• Jiraiya watched Rin leave and remarked that he could smell the sweet scent of a boy in heat.

Rin Nohara woke from a recurring dream in which Obito Uchiha proposed to her, while Obito believed Rin had confessed her feelings to him. Yanbai learned more about Rin’s troubled home life and helped Obito choose a gift, leaving Obito happily heading to the Ninja Academy.

• Rin Nohara woke from a dream of Obito proposing and worried that she could not remember how she had answered him.
• Obito told Yanbai that Rin had confessed her feelings to him, while Yanbai recalled witnessing their awkward encounter the previous day.
• Yanbai reflected on how Jiraiya had become Rin’s adoptive father and how Rin’s upbringing had made her withdrawn and uncomfortable around men.
• Obito asked Yanbai for advice on a present for Rin, and Yanbai helped him choose one.
• Obito left the Hokage Office carrying a food box for Rin.

Rin Nohara prepared breakfast and lunch for herself and Jiraiya, who asked about her relationship with Obito and offered to help. The offer turned into Jiraiya presenting her with his collection of pornographic books and urging her to study them.

• Rin Nohara cooked breakfast and packed lunches for herself and Jiraiya.
• Jiraiya asked Rin Nohara how things were going with Obito from the Uchiha Clan.
• Rin Nohara said that little was happening with Obito, and Jiraiya offered to help her.
• Jiraiya summoned a pile of pornographic books and told Rin Nohara to choose titles that matched her kinks and ask him questions.

Rin Nohara fled Obito after finding Jiraiya’s erotic books hidden among her school supplies. Sasori woke beside the Raiden Shogun puppet and concealed the Yanbai-like puppet head he had secretly made, while worrying that he had only a year to finish a matching body without Yanbai discovering his theft.

• Rin Nohara found Jiraiya’s note and erotic books in her schoolbag, then rushed out when Obito approached with breakfast.
• Obito wondered whether Rin had run into trouble, while Might Guy announced that Obito had been dumped again.
• Sasori woke beside the Raiden Shogun puppet and recalled how hard he had worked for Yanbai’s care and praise.
• Sasori hid the puppet head resembling Yanbai in a Storage Scroll and put the Raiden Shogun head back on its body.
• Sasori worried that he had only one year to make a body matching Yanbai’s appearance without arousing suspicion.

Sasori asked Orochimaru to use artificial-human technology to give him a child from his own cells and cells taken from Orochimaru’s mother. Orochimaru refused, warning Sasori that his mother would never love him and that creating a child without consent would provoke the family’s anger.

• Sasori visited Orochimaru under the pretense of asking for energy-restoring medicine, then revealed that he wanted help creating a child.
• Orochimaru explained that artificial-human procedures required consent, approval, and eligibility that Sasori did not have.
• Orochimaru recognized that Sasori had provided silver-haired cells and warned him not to fall in love with his mother.
• Orochimaru explained that Muye and Silver Moon had been created without their parents’ consent and that his mother had retaliated against Tobirama Senju.
• Orochimaru refused Sasori’s request, fearing the consequences of defying his mother, father, uncle, and younger siblings.

Jiraiya visited Yanbai after hesitating outside the Hokage Building all morning, and Yanbai teased him about his conflicted fascination with the Hokage. Jiraiya finally revealed that he had come to discuss his daughter, Rin.

• Jiraiya spent the morning outside the Hokage Building before going in to meet Yanbai.
• Yanbai served Jiraiya an elaborate seafood lunch sent from Kirigakure.
• Jiraiya struggled with his attraction to Yanbai while reminding himself that the Hokage was a man.
• Yanbai guessed that Gamamaru had told Jiraiya he was a man and urged him to explain his visit.
• Jiraiya apologized and said he had come to talk about his daughter, Rin.

Jiraiya and Yanbai discussed Obito’s unchanging feelings for Rin and why Rin kept her distance from boys. Jiraiya defended his belief in pursuing many loves, while Yanbai concluded that Rin’s distrust of men came from her upbringing and lack of security.

• Jiraiya told Yanbai that Obito had sincerely proposed to Rin years ago, but Rin still did not like him.
• Yanbai advised Jiraiya to encourage Rin to spend more time with people her own age instead of interfering in her love life.
• Yanbai suggested that Jiraiya’s erotic novels might have shaped Rin’s expectations of men and made her cast boys as his male protagonists.
• Jiraiya defended his protagonist’s many romances, saying that he believed in love and that a man could have more than one true love.
• Jiraiya argued that waiting at home for true love showed a lack of faith in love, while Yanbai reflected that Rin’s fear of socializing came from her upbringing and insecurity.

Jiraiya drunkenly lectured Yanbai and Shikaku Nara about love, prompting Yanbai to advise him to help Rin spend more time with her peers. After Jiraiya left, Izuna appeared and told Yanbai he wanted to kill Uchiha Itachi.

• Jiraiya drunkenly talked about love and relationships while Yanbai and Shikaku Nara listened.
• Jiraiya described visiting women on Flower Street to gather material for his novels, and Yanbai reflected on why Tsunade rejected him.
• Yanbai knocked Jiraiya sober, then told him that Rin Nohara needed to spend more time with people her own age.
• Yanbai confirmed Sasori was having lunch with Orochimaru, sent Shikaku Nara back to work, and began brewing tea.
• Yanbai called out to the concealed Izuna, who appeared and said he wanted to kill Uchiha Itachi.

Yanbai questioned Izuna about why he wanted to kill the young Uchiha Itachi, but Izuna gave cryptic answers tied to a future he had seen. The chapter ended with Izuna revealing that Itachi would propose to Yanbai.

• Yanbai asked Izuna why he wanted Itachi dead, but Izuna said the reason was extremely difficult to explain.
• Yanbai considered how the Uchiha Clan's standing in Konoha had changed and wondered whether Izuna had foreseen a massacre.
• Izuna called Itachi demonic, then praised Yanbai's beauty and asked whether Yanbai was a god.
• Izuna asked what Jiraiya had meant about Yanbai and Madara's compatibility, then asked why Yanbai had never married Madara.
• Yanbai said he would never marry, and Izuna said he could rest easy because Itachi had shown him a future he hated.
• Izuna revealed that Itachi would propose to Yanbai in the future.

Yanbai explained how trying to prevent a foreseen future could bring it about, after Izuna warned him of a future in which Itachi proposed to him. The chapter left Izuna considering that telling Yanbai about Itachi might itself make that future more likely.

• Yanbai wondered why Izuna had seen a future involving Itachi, since he had paid little attention to the boy.
• Izuna told Yanbai about the future he had seen and admitted he disliked the thought of Itachi proposing to him.
• Yanbai described the story of Oedipus, whose father’s attempt to evade a prophecy helped cause it to come true.
• Yanbai pointed out that Izuna’s warning might make him curious about Itachi and lead them to meet, bringing the predicted future closer.

Jiraiya argued with Rin Nohara over her refusal to attend the graduation retreat, while her fears about the trip and judgments about his novels left him questioning himself. Later, Yanbai walked toward the Uchiha Clan Grounds with Uchiha Izuna, who warned him against approaching Itachi, but Yanbai decided to continue.

• Jiraiya insisted Rin attend the graduation retreat after Yanbai advised him to encourage her to spend more time with her peers.
• Rin told Jiraiya she feared the students would sleep together in one room and accused him of writing novels based on sexual fantasies.
• Jiraiya defended the retreat and his novels, then wondered whether the Hokage was right about problems with his protagonists.
• Yanbai strolled through Konoha with Uchiha Izuna after giving his subordinates time off, and they arrived at the Uchiha Clan Grounds.
• Izuna reminded Yanbai that approaching Itachi might make the prophesied future more likely, but Yanbai said he still wanted to look, prompting Izuna to tell him not to go.

Yanbai took Izuna around Konoha and discussed how village life and its residents had changed. He then visited Junlin, whose resemblance to Yanbai left Izuna questioning their relationship.

• Yanbai redirected Izuna away from the Uchiha Clan grounds and listened as Izuna described Konoha's residents and his fading interest in the future.
• Yanbai explained that younger generations felt more pressure but had grown more attached to the Land of Fire and Konoha Shinobi Village.
• Yanbai brought Izuna to Junlin's home, where Junlin warmly welcomed Yanbai as his mother.
• Yanbai introduced Junlin to Izuna as the Second Hokage, whom he had summoned using Impure World Reincarnation.
• Izuna scrutinized Junlin and abruptly asked who his father was.

Junlin told Izuna that he was his son and led him to the study to explain his birth. Meanwhile, Yanbai secretly investigated Itachi’s home, but Itachi sensed someone outside his room and quietly checked the door.

• Yanbai and Junlin secretly exchanged information in Morse code, and Junlin agreed to keep Izuna occupied.
• Yanbai left Izuna with Junlin using Flying Thunder God, and Junlin claimed Izuna was his father.
• Izuna seized Junlin and demanded an explanation, but Junlin asked him to follow him to the study.
• Yanbai went to Uchiha Fugaku’s residence and waited until Fugaku and Mikoto had gone to sleep before approaching Itachi’s room.
• Itachi quietly opened his door, sensed Yanbai outside, and closed it again after checking the hallway.

Junlin told Izuna a fabricated account of his parentage and childhood, portraying himself as Tobirama’s mistreated child and Yanbai’s son. Izuna believed the story enough to ask to meet Junlin’s brothers, while Junlin directed him to visit during the day.

• Junlin showed Izuna the paternity report and claimed Tobirama had created Junlin, Muye, and Silver Moon using somatic cells.
• Junlin implied that Yanbai was his mother and suggested Izuna would hurt her if he rejected him.
• When Izuna asked to meet Muye and Silver Moon, Junlin claimed they could meet their father, Madara, in another world through their dreams.
• Junlin invented a story about Tobirama hiding and abusing him until Yanbai became his guardian, then claimed Tobirama had apologized and treated him well now.
• Junlin told Izuna his brothers would be meeting Madara in their dreams that night and suggested visiting them during the day.

Yanbai tested whether young Itachi was the old acquaintance he remembered by speaking to him in unfamiliar languages and feigning distress. Itachi comforted him but did not reveal whether he understood, leaving Yanbai suspicious after he noticed Itachi react when he hugged Mikoto.

• Yanbai went to Itachi's room and asked through the door whether Itachi had come to save him, speaking in several unfamiliar languages.
• Itachi opened the door and tried to comfort Yanbai, but spoke only in the language of the Shinobi World.
• Yanbai hugged Itachi and sobbed more loudly until Itachi said that the embrace hurt, prompting Yanbai to let him go.
• Yanbai's cries woke Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto, who came to check on Itachi.
• Yanbai hugged Mikoto and placed a hand on her breast, while he noticed a faint unusual expression on Itachi's face.

Yanbai visited Mikoto to learn about Itachi, then returned to find that Junlin had revealed his origins to Izuna. Izuna decided to stay in the world and make up for the fatherly love Junlin had missed.

• Yanbai comforted Mikoto, listened as she described Itachi’s habits, and gave her a wooden rose containing a protective charm.
• Yanbai left Fugaku’s home and wondered whether Itachi’s behavior meant anything before deciding not to dwell on it.
• Yanbai returned to Junlin’s home and found Izuna sulking beside the sleeping Junlin.
• Izuna told Yanbai that Junlin had explained he was Izuna’s son and blamed Tobirama’s Impure World Reincarnation for his condition.
• Izuna changed his plans to return to the Pure Land and decided to make up for the years of fatherly love Junlin had missed.

Yanbai ate breakfast Junlin had prepared while Izuna urged him to spend more time with the child, leaving Yanbai to reflect on Junlin’s childhood and his uncertain search for a Hokage successor. After breakfast, Junlin accompanied Yanbai outside.

• Izuna kept Yanbai from leaving overnight by arguing that Junlin deserved time with him, and Junlin woke, mediated, and made breakfast.
• Junlin worried that Yanbai disliked the food, but Yanbai praised his cooking and Junlin offered to cook for him every day.
• Junlin reflected on Yanbai’s contributions to Konoha and considered why Yanbai’s four disciples were not suitable successors.
• Yanbai decided he could not yet entrust Konoha to any of his disciples and would wait for a suitable younger successor.
• Junlin accompanied Yanbai outside after breakfast.