Chapter Summaries

Madara Uchiha spent the night unable to sleep, while Uchiha Tajima discovered that Madara’s wounds had healed and concluded Yanbai had secretly visited him. Back at the Senju Clan, Yanbai’s late-night outing left Tobirama Senju entangled in his plans as his accomplice.

• Madara Uchiha tossed and turned, searching his room for Yanbai before finally falling asleep at dawn.
• Uchiha Tajima brought the sleeping Uchiha Izuna to Madara’s room after hypnotizing Izuna and hearing his account of the Silver-Haired Girl.
• Uchiha Tajima found the medicine and bedding disturbed, then discovered Madara’s injuries had healed overnight and decided Yanbai had visited him.
• Uchiha Tajima moved to increase security and began exterminating rats and insects across the Uchiha Clan Grounds.
• Yanbai returned to the Senju Clan with grilled fish for Tobirama Senju, who had kept watch and shared the meal with him.
• Butsuma Senju caught Tobirama leaving Yanbai’s courtyard, and Tobirama realized Yanbai had made him a willing accomplice.

Yanbai sheltered Cherry Ink and its family after Uchiha Tajima burned their home, then planned to spy on the Uchiha Clan and send Tajima reports of its residents’ private lives. Tobirama witnessed Yanbai’s bizarre schemes and was left wishing Yanbai would trust him less.

• Yanbai comforted Cherry Ink and offered refuge to its family after Tajima destroyed their home.
• Yanbai decided to document the Uchiha Clan’s daily life with help from birds and send Tajima monthly reports.
• Tobirama visited Yanbai and reflected on how Yanbai used trust to stop him from lecturing him.
• Tobirama recalled Yanbai swapping eagle eggs for chicken eggs and raising the hatched eaglets in the Senju Clan’s coop.
• Tobirama asked about the returned mice, and Yanbai explained Tajima had burned their home before sharing his plan to monitor the Uchiha Clan.
• Yanbai reassured Tobirama that he showed his true self because he trusted him, leaving Tobirama silently wishing he would stop.

Tobirama Senju joined Yanbai in secretly gathering detailed intelligence on the other ninja clans, then showed the dossiers to Butsuma Senju. Worried about Yanbai’s lack of morals, Butsuma sent him to study Buddhism with Hashirama Senju, where Yanbai helped inspire Hashirama’s future tailed-beast technique.

• Tobirama Senju proposed that he and Yanbai monitor every ninja clan they could reach so the Uchiha Clan would not stand out.
• Tobirama Senju gave Butsuma Senju Yanbai’s dossiers, which recorded the clans’ private affairs in exhaustive detail and included maps of their grounds.
• Butsuma Senju worried that Yanbai’s power and lack of morals made him dangerous, so he arranged for Yanbai to study Buddhism with Hashirama Senju.
• Yanbai joined Hashirama Senju’s training and discussed Buddhism and Wood Release techniques with him, while the other three brothers watched in bewilderment.
• Yanbai explained the Buddhist meaning behind Kakuan’s phrase, and years later Hashirama Senju created Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique: Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands to deal with tailed beasts.

Yanbai and Hashirama playfully practiced Wood Release while Tobirama and Butsuma discussed the clan’s next commissions. At the Uchiha compound, Madara realized Yanbai’s revenge had arrived when Izuna was made to read aloud a humiliating scroll in front of Tajima.

• Yanbai and Hashirama traded Wood Release techniques and sang together as they trained.
• Butsuma asked Tobirama whether Yanbai had been doing anything beyond gathering intelligence, and Tobirama said Yanbai was too busy to take on other work.
• Madara told Izuna he did not blame him for revealing information and worried about how Yanbai would take revenge.
• An eagle delivered a heavy scroll to the Uchiha clan head’s residence, and Madara suspected it was Yanbai’s revenge.
• Izuna began reading an embarrassing account of Uchiha Eiji’s affair with his sister-in-law aloud while Tajima ordered him to continue and called Madara inside.

Madara and Izuna listened as Tajima reviewed Yanbai’s detailed record of the Uchiha clan’s private affairs. Tajima saw the information as both a useful guide to clan loyalties and proof of Yanbai’s extraordinary reach, and the chapter ended with him urging Madara to bring Yanbai home—or kill him if he could not be made useful.

• Madara entered the hall and joined Tajima and Izuna as Izuna read aloud Yanbai’s records of Uchiha clan members’ private lives and conduct.
• Tajima smiled through the revelations, while Madara and Izuna realized he was treating Yanbai’s intrusion as a display of ability rather than an insult.
• Tajima used the records to identify Uchiha Tama as a loyal supporter and Uchiha Motoyuki and Uchiha Tan as disloyal conspirators, along with other useful information about the clan.
• Tajima teased Madara about Yanbai’s supposed affection and asked when Madara would bring him home.
• Tajima warned Madara to kill Yanbai if he could not bring him into the clan’s service, and Madara agreed without correcting his father’s misunderstanding.

After Uchiha Tajima sent Yanbai a message implying he welcomed Yanbai joining the Uchiha Clan, Tobirama explained that Tajima was testing both Yanbai and Madara. Tobirama warned Yanbai to be cautious as the Uchiha might soon face the Senju on the battlefield.

• A bird carried news from the Uchiha Clan to Yanbai, who learned that Tajima had spoken about Yanbai and Madara's relationship.
• Tobirama collected the Cookies he had won from Yanbai in a bet and explained that Tajima had deliberately let Yanbai overhear his words.
• Tobirama said Tajima had mistaken Yanbai's interest in Madara for romantic affection and was inviting Yanbai to join the Uchiha Clan.
• Tobirama warned Yanbai that Madara might resist cooperating with Tajima and urged Yanbai to stop toying with the Uchiha.
• Tobirama cautioned Yanbai that the Uchiha might soon fight the Senju, since their employer's enemies had likely hired the Uchiha Clan.

Date Yuzhi sought the Senju Clan’s protection, and Yanbai revealed how Yuzhi had survived the attack on his family. As the Senju team escorted Yuzhi toward the Land of Pines, Yanbai and Tobirama sensed a familiar presence before an ambush separated them from Hashirama and the bodyguards.

• Date Yuzhi arrived at the Senju Clan’s residence and passed Yanbai and Tobirama Senju, whom Maki identified as the Clan Leader’s children.
• Yanbai told Tobirama that Yuzhi had used his younger brothers as shields to survive an attack, and explained that the Uchiha Clan had hired assassins against the Date House.
• Yanbai revealed that animals had rescued two of Yuzhi’s brothers, Haizhi and Sencang, and described ways he could use their identities to secure the Senju Clan’s mission.
• After Butsuma Senju sent Yanbai along with Senju Longshu’s team, Yuzhi and the Senju ninja set out for the Land of Pines, with Tobirama accompanying Yanbai.
• Yanbai and Tobirama sensed a familiar concealed presence along the Imperial Road, then trees crashed down and split Yuzhi’s sedan chair and Hashirama from the bodyguards.
• Tobirama recognized the attackers as the Uchiha Clan as Yuzhi’s bodyguards suffered heavy casualties.

Yanbai and Tobirama Senju fled an Uchiha ambush while trying to reach Hashirama Senju and their employer. Yanbai used Wood Release traps to cripple the pursuing Uchiha, and the chase continued with both sides alive.

• Yanbai used Body Flicker to escape an explosion with Tobirama Senju, then healed Tobirama's wounds with the Restoration Technique.
• Yanbai blocked a swordsman's ambush with Wood Release: Guanyin Chaotic Shadows and escaped with Tobirama Senju as the Uchiha arrived.
• The Uchiha recognized Yanbai from a portrait and chased the two children after an assassin declared that the Senju should be killed.
• Yanbai used Wood Release to grow saplings beneath the pursuing Uchiha, launching several into the air and injuring them.
• Tobirama Senju remembered their agreement to flee and avoid killing Uchiha, while the remaining pursuers slowed to avoid Yanbai's traps.

Uchiha Motoyuki ambushed Senju Longshu, Hashirama Senju, and Date Yuzhi, forcing Senju Longshu to fight while Hashirama protected Yuzhi. Hashirama escaped with Yuzhi toward the princess, leaving Senju Longshu to face Motoyuki and the Uchiha forces.

• Uchiha Motoyuki ambushed the group with a fire attack, and Hashirama Senju carried Date Yuzhi clear of the burning palanquin.
• Uchiha Motoyuki attacked Senju Longshu, who blocked his fire technique with Mountain-Cleaving Hand before shuriken wounded him.
• Senju Longshu defended Yuzhi with his Giant Axe while Hashirama Senju used Wood Release to protect him.
• Uchiha Motoyuki attacked Senju Longshu with his Worn Blade, breaking through his chakra barrier as the Uchiha forces surrounded them.
• Senju Longshu ordered Hashirama Senju to take Yuzhi and find the princess, and Hashirama escaped with Yuzhi using Wood Release.

Senju Longshu nearly killed Uchiha Motoyuki with the Princess’s specially designed blades, but Madara Uchiha rescued him before Longshu escaped. Madara realized his suspicions about the mission had been right and reflected on how he had arranged for Motoyuki to take the fall, leaving Motoyuki badly injured and his own hands clean.

• Senju Longshu overwhelmed Uchiha Motoyuki with his bladed vambraces, leaving him gravely wounded.
• An Uchiha intervened and carried Motoyuki away as Senju Longshu retreated from the smoke and fire.
• Senju Longshu recognized Madara Uchiha and, remembering the Princess’s order to kill him and Tobirama Senju’s warning to avoid him, escaped instead of fighting.
• Madara Uchiha stood over Motoyuki and recalled how he had assigned him the mission while secretly following to investigate his suspicions.
• Madara Uchiha recognized that Motoyuki’s defeat would keep him from challenging Tajima for a time and wondered how he had adopted Yanbai’s way of thinking.

Hashirama Senju brought Yuzhi to Yanbai and Tobirama Senju, where he found Yanbai’s Wood Clones beating captured Uchiha Clan members. After seeing how Yanbai had subdued them, Hashirama Senju realized Yuzhi was even more frightened of Yanbai than before.

• Hashirama Senju led the trembling Yuzhi toward the distant wails, intending to leave him with Yanbai before returning to help Senju Longshu.
• Hashirama Senju found Yanbai and Tobirama Senju beside a group of Uchiha Clan members bound with Wood Release and being beaten by Wood Clones.
• Yanbai explained to Tobirama Senju which body parts were too dangerous to strike, then recommended beating the Uchiha Clan members’ asses instead.
• Tobirama Senju told Hashirama Senju how Yanbai had injured the Uchiha Clan members, used Hypnotic Birds to incapacitate them, and strung them up for a beating.
• Hashirama Senju watched Yanbai cheerfully greet him and noticed Yuzhi trembling even harder in his presence.

Yanbai reunited with Senju Longshu and led the group on a thrilling shortcut to Pinefrost City, leaving Yuzhi exhausted and terrified. At the city gates, Yuzhi recoiled from Yanbai and turned his attention to Hashirama Senju instead.

• Senju Longshu reunited with Yanbai after leaving the battlefield, and Yanbai had his clones leave the surviving Uchiha Clan members on the ground.
• Senju Longshu arranged for Yanbai, Hashirama Senju, and Tobirama Senju to escort Yuzhi toward the Land of Pines, while Yanbai planned to train Madara Uchiha someday so he could keep pace with Hashirama Senju.
• Yanbai offered Yuzhi a faster route and took the group through a series of frightening cliff, slope, and water rides that brought them to Pinefrost City in less than half a day.
• Yuzhi vomited at the city gates and became so wary of Yanbai that he distanced himself from her and redirected his attention to Hashirama Senju.

Madara Uchiha read Yanbai’s message and went to rescue the Uchiha clansmen she had tormented. In Pinefrost City, Yanbai questioned why the Senju brothers were staying in a brothel and realized how Hashirama Senju might have developed his gambling habit.

• Madara Uchiha found Yanbai’s message, learned she had spared the Uchiha clansmen, and burned the scroll.
• Madara Uchiha set out to find and rescue the clansmen, suspecting many had awakened their Sharingan under Yanbai’s torment.
• Yanbai and his companions stayed in a luxurious brothel in Pinefrost City after Lord Date Zhixing arranged their accommodations.
• Yanbai asked Hashirama Senju whether he often stayed in brothels in the Land of Pines, and Hashirama explained that the Lord’s Residence and better accommodations were unavailable.
• Yanbai asked whether Pinefrost City had hot spring inns, and Hashirama Senju said the Land of Pines had no natural hot springs.

Yanbai charmed the maids at the brothel and went to bathe alone in its artificial hot spring, while Tobirama Senju reluctantly let him roam. The chapter ended when someone approached Yanbai from behind and covered his mouth.

• Yanbai decided to find a place to bathe, and Tobirama Senju warned him about the brothel and its risks.
• Hashirama Senju persuaded Tobirama Senju not to confine Yanbai, and Yanbai charmed the maids while arranging his bath.
• Yanbai teased Tobirama Senju, who returned to the room in frustration before he and Hashirama Senju went out.
• The maids prepared an artificial hot spring for Yanbai, who scorched the pool with Fire Release before bathing alone.
• Yanbai sensed someone behind him, but the person covered his mouth before he could react.

Yanbai subdued a ninja who attacked him while he was bathing and learned the assassin claimed the Date House had hired him. After Yanbai exposed how the attack could be a frame-up, Tobirama suspected the Saionji House or the Uchiha Clan was behind it.

• A ninja ambushed Yanbai in the bathroom, but Yanbai struck him down and immobilized him.
• Yanbai questioned the intruder, rejected his offer of intelligence, and forced fish bones into his mouth until he confessed that the women of the Date House had sent him to kill Yanbai.
• Yanbai summoned Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju, then proposed handing the attacker to the Date Lord and demanding double the commission.
• The attacker reacted when Tobirama asked whether the Date House had sent him, so Yanbai knocked him unconscious and suggested someone had deceived him to frame the Date House.
• Tobirama blamed the Saionji House or the Uchiha Clan, saying they could benefit from killing Yanbai or provoking the brothers.

Madara Uchiha faced his father, Uchiha Tajima, as Tajima questioned him about Yanbai Senju and the Uchiha Clan’s failed attempts to kill her. The chapter ended with Madara asking whether the clansmen who sheltered the would-be assassin were safe, and Tajima answering that they were not.

• Madara Uchiha learned that the Uchiha Clan had identified Yanbai as a Senju and that Date Yuzhi’s group had evaded the clan’s ambushes.
• Uchiha Tajima confronted Madara and suggested Yanbai had spared the Uchiha because she wanted him.
• Tajima said the Uchiha might welcome Yanbai if she betrayed the Senju, while Madara thought she would never do so.
• Tajima revealed that an Uchiha ninja had tried to assassinate Yanbai but was left unable to speak or write after she broke his limbs and stuffed his throat with fish bones.
• Madara asked whether the clansmen who took in the assassin were safe, and Tajima said they were not.

Yanbai revealed how he used magnesium sulfate and animal scouts to torment the Uchiha pursuers, leaving the clan paranoid and obsessed with setting fires. Yuzhi invited Hashirama Senju and his brothers to explore Matsuyama Town, and Yanbai suspected the invitation would feed Hashirama's gambling addiction.

• Zhixing agreed to Tobirama Senju's increased price and arranged for Senju Longshu to leave the assassin near the Uchiha's hiding place.
• Yanbai told Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju that he had used birds to locate the Uchiha pursuers and poisoned their water with magnesium sulfate.
• Yanbai described how the Uchiha suffered severe diarrhea and began setting fires to purify their surroundings out of fear of animals and bird droppings.
• Yuzhi arrived and explained that Matsuyama Town, the Land of Pines' largest brothel, belonged to the Date House.
• Yuzhi invited Hashirama Senju and his brothers to stroll around town with a jade token, and Yanbai suspected Hashirama's gambling addiction was about to come into play.

Yanbai and Tobirama Senju suspected that the wealthy Date House profited from human trafficking and usury, while Hashirama Senju considered gambling with Yuzhi’s pass. The brothers debated why Yuzhi was so eager to help them, and Hashirama concluded that visible human flaws could make someone easier to understand.

• Date Yuzhi left the Senju siblings at the Matsuyama Town casino after one of his subordinates called him away.
• Yanbai’s cold stare sent the brothel workers reeling, and Tobirama Senju scolded her for teasing him about the courtesans.
• Yanbai and Tobirama Senju suspected the Date House used trafficking and usury to grow rich, but Yanbai said the courtesans had come willingly.
• Hashirama Senju asked whether he could gamble with Yuzhi’s pass, and Yanbai warned him not to expect anything for free.
• Tobirama Senju said Yuzhi’s eagerness was suspicious after the Senju Clan’s fee had doubled, and Hashirama Senju replied that people without flaws made others uneasy.

Hashirama Senju ignored Yanbai’s warnings and gambled at the Date House casino, while Yanbai bet against him and won a fortune. Tobirama Senju dragged his addicted big brother out, unable to knock him unconscious because Hashirama had grown too resilient.

• Yanbai urged Hashirama Senju to choose a love of food rather than gambling as his weakness, but Hashirama decided to look around the casino first.
• Hashirama Senju and Yanbai placed their own bets at a high-or-low dice table, with Yanbai always betting against Hashirama.
• After an hour, Hashirama Senju had nearly lost all his money while Yanbai had amassed a large pile of winnings.
• Tobirama Senju tried to stop Hashirama from betting again, but Hashirama begged for another chance to win back his losses.
• Tobirama Senju dragged his tantruming brother out of the casino and failed to knock him unconscious because Hashirama could heal rapidly.

Yanbai was ambushed by Uchiha Tama, who invited him to visit the Uchiha Clan, while his brothers discovered he was missing and received a note from him. Several days later, Madara sensed Yanbai inside a palanquin and ran after the procession.

• Yanbai sensed an attacker approaching, escaped a hostage attempt, and learned that Uchiha Tama had come to invite him to the Uchiha Clan on the Clan Leader's orders.
• Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju realized Yanbai was missing and worried that he might be in danger.
• A nocturnal bird delivered Yanbai's note saying he had gone out to handle something and asking his brothers to delay their father.
• Several days later, Madara Uchiha noticed Uchiha Tama escorting an enclosed palanquin through the Clan Grounds.
• Madara recognized Yanbai's scent of roses and ran after the palanquin.