Recaps

Disguised as Uchiha Kagami, Watanabe Ichiro returned to the village where he had once stolen sweet potatoes and secretly repaid the villagers. He followed a suspicious group of recruiters to a cave, where the villagers were drugged and abducted, and recognized the man dragging him away.

• Watanabe Ichiro surveyed the sweet-potato village and slipped money beneath the doors of the homes he had once stolen from.
• When strange recruiters arrived offering doubled wages, Watanabe Ichiro disguised himself as a villager and joined the crowd.
• Watanabe Ichiro learned that earlier recruits had returned safely from well-paid quarry work and went with the new group that afternoon.
• The recruiters led the villagers to a secluded cave, where an herbal poison made them collapse.
• Watanabe Ichiro pretended to pass out, then recognized the face of the person dragging him away.

Watanabe Ichiro rescued young Jiraiya from a Jashin Cult hideout after the boy recklessly followed its followers. He decided Jiraiya needed a lesson, while Jiraiya became excited by the prospect of joining ANBU and begged to be Watanabe Ichiro’s sidekick.

• Jiraiya disguised himself as a guard, knocked out two guards, and freed Watanabe Ichiro from a blood-soaked cage.
• Watanabe Ichiro recognized Jiraiya and wondered why the boy had ended up far from Konoha after his uncontrolled summoning jutsu.
• In Konoha, the Uchiha Ichiro disguise reassured Hiruzen Sarutobi that Jiraiya had been found, while warning him that Tobirama Senju and Shimura Danzō knew about the incident.
• Watanabe Ichiro learned that Jiraiya had followed Jashin Cult followers into their hideout because he wanted to make his summoning adventure seem more impressive.
• Watanabe Ichiro introduced himself as ANBU codename Leaf Dragon (Ichiro), and Jiraiya eagerly hugged his leg and offered to be his sidekick.

Watanabe Ichiro uncovered the Jashin Cult’s human experiments and sent little Jiraiya to protect the villagers while he confronted the cult. He tested Jiraiya’s ability to follow his safety advice, and Jiraiya escaped after being seized by a disguised Wood Clone.

• Little Jiraiya reported that the Jashin Cult was experimenting on villagers to develop immortality, and Watanabe Ichiro decided to destroy the cult.
• Watanabe Ichiro gave Jiraiya tasks to stay safe, guard the villagers, and guide them toward Konoha, then placed a Flying Thunder God seal on him.
• Watanabe Ichiro infiltrated the cult’s hideout and used genjutsu to control its leader while his Wood Clone grabbed Jiraiya.
• Jiraiya fought back, dislocated his wrist, and escaped the Wood Clone’s grasp using his clothes as a decoy.
• Remembering Watanabe Ichiro’s warning, Jiraiya activated Transparent Release and retreated, while Watanabe Ichiro prepared to end the confrontation.

Jiraiya’s inexperience left him vulnerable to an enemy’s technique, and Watanabe Ichiro tried to teach him through a staged battle. The chapter ended with the enemy controlling Jiraiya into stabbing Watanabe Ichiro in the heart.

• Jiraiya rushed into an obvious opening, and Watanabe Ichiro blocked a counterattack that would have killed him.
• After Watanabe Ichiro defeated the Cult Leader, another enemy used a strange technique to make him clutch his stomach and collapse.
• Jiraiya failed to summon the toads, evacuated the villagers, then returned to the battlefield despite Watanabe Ichiro’s warning.
• Watanabe Ichiro disguised himself as an ANBU and pretended to have survived the fight, comforting the guilt-ridden Jiraiya.
• The enemy secretly connected a shadow to Jiraiya and controlled him into stabbing Watanabe Ichiro through the heart.

After Leaf Dragon's staged death left Jiraiya devastated, he returned to Konoha determined to become stronger and atone. Hiruzen Sarutobi comforted him by praising Leaf Dragon, but Jiraiya broke down again when he learned the ANBU operative had no family.

• Jiraiya killed the last enemy, mourned Leaf Dragon, and returned to Konoha blaming himself for the ANBU operative's death.
• Watanabe Ichiro told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Jiraiya had returned and explained that Leaf Dragon's identity and death had been staged to teach Jiraiya a lesson.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi asked after Jiraiya's safety, then planned to reprimand him once he was reassured that the boy was unharmed.
• Jiraiya gave Hiruzen Sarutobi and Watanabe Ichiro an emotional account of what had happened and said he wanted to apologize to Leaf Dragon's family.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Jiraiya that Leaf Dragon had been a devoted ninja who would not blame him, then explained that Leaf Dragon had been an orphan with no family.

Watanabe Ichiro sensed an unknown watcher in the Hokage’s Office and searched Konoha, but found no trace of them. Jiraiya returned grieving Leaf Dragon and tried to hide his pain from Tsunade, who offered him pastries and company.

• Watanabe Ichiro sensed someone watching him in the Hokage’s Office, but the feeling vanished before he could identify them.
• Watanabe Ichiro searched Konoha with his spirit body and found no sign of the intruder.
• Tsunade encountered Jiraiya wandering home in a devastated state after Leaf Dragon’s death.
• Tsunade gave Jiraiya pastries and invited him to spend time with her and Orochimaru.
• Jiraiya told Tsunade to stay alive, then pretended to complain about her pastries and ran off with them.

Jiraiya threw himself into intense training as he recovered from his pain, while Watanabe Ichiro taught the children and hunted down the person spying on him. He discovered the watcher was Dan Katō and confronted him at home.

• Tsunade and Orochimaru learned from Hiruzen Sarutobi that Jiraiya had been deeply shaken, so they tried to comfort him and help him stabilize.
• Jiraiya devoted himself to studying and training, and Hiruzen Sarutobi praised Watanabe Ichiro’s plan for helping him.
• Watanabe Ichiro took over teaching the children and trained them using modified techniques from Tobirama Senju’s Scrolls of Seals.
• Watanabe Ichiro sensed someone watching him, used shadow clones and his system to locate the spy, and chased the figure across Konoha.
• Watanabe Ichiro traced the watcher to the Katō residence, found Dan Katō holding a scroll for the Spirit Transformation Technique, and accused him of spying for the village’s enemies.

Watanabe Ichiro discovered Dan Katō spying on him with the Spirit Transformation Technique, but welcomed the boy and brought him to train with Jiraiya and the others. As Ichiro napped above them, he realized his Uchiha Ichiro disguise was nearing the end of its lifespan and fell asleep thinking it was time to change disguises.

• Watanabe Ichiro noticed Dan Katō using the Spirit Transformation Technique but decided not to confront or harm him.
• Dan Katō asked Watanabe Ichiro for an autograph and excitedly praised his victory at the Five Kage Summit.
• Watanabe Ichiro sent Dan Katō to practice with Jiraiya and the other children, while a shadow clone informed Dan's parents.
• Watanabe Ichiro considered the risk of being watched by the moon's Byakugan and decided he might deal with it later.
• Watanabe Ichiro felt his disguise's lifespan running out and fell asleep on a tree branch, thinking he needed to change disguises.