Recaps

The Fourth Hokage and the Third discussed an anonymous warning about a powerful ninja threatening Konoha, while Danzo and Orochimaru argued over Root's shrinking resources and their failed Wood Release experiments. The chapter ended as an experiment subject’s foreign growth broke through a nutrient tank.

• The Fourth Hokage showed the Third an anonymous letter warning that a powerful ninja might attack Konoha within months, and the Third recalled Root’s devastating losses.
• The Third reassured the Fourth Hokage about Kushina’s safety, then discussed village affairs with him.
• Danzo told Orochimaru that the Fourth Hokage had cut Root’s funding and warned that opposition to the Hokage was gathering.
• Danzo and Orochimaru inspected failed Hashirama cell experiments involving children, and Orochimaru warned Danzo to be cautious about his own transplant.
• A foreign growth burst through the glass of the farthest nutrient tank, alarming Danzo and Orochimaru.

Orochimaru and Danzo fought over a child whose Wood Release marked him as a rare success in Orochimaru’s experiment. As their summoning beasts clashed nearby, Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha recognized the battle and began carrying out their plan.

• The child’s Wood Release vines revealed his compatibility with Hashirama cells, and Danzo claimed custody while Orochimaru demanded to keep him.
• Orochimaru seized the child and fought Danzo, while Root operatives turned on one another amid the chaos.
• Danzo and Orochimaru escaped the collapsing Laboratory and summoned Baku and Manda to battle over the child.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha spotted the distant clash and identified the summoning beasts as Danzo’s and Orochimaru’s.
• Zou ordered Oto to put their plan into action, and she fired a signal flare into the sky.

Zou Hyuga left the battlefield after sending a Ninja Beast to spy on Danzo and Orochimaru, who were fighting over a child with the Wood Release kekkei genkai. When the two sensed the distress flare, they joined forces to find its source, while Zou escaped their notice and returned to the village.

• Zou Hyuga retreated with Oto and sent a Ninja Beast to learn why Danzo and Orochimaru were fighting.
• Danzo demanded that Orochimaru surrender the Wood Release kekkei genkai, but their battle remained unresolved as both men noticed a distress signal.
• Danzo and Orochimaru dismissed their Summoning Contracts and went to investigate the flare, finding traces of an elite ANBU operative.
• Zou watched the pair through his Ninja Beast and saw Orochimaru carrying a child, then the Ninja Beast was destroyed by a kunai and Explosive Tag.
• Zou opened his eyes near the village, led Oto on a detour, and entered while several squads went to investigate the battle.

The Fourth Hokage and the Third mobilized ANBU after reports of a large battle near the village, while Zou Hyuga and Oto were sent to investigate the ruined forest. The Fourth Hokage found traces of a battle near a Root base, and Danzo and Orochimaru renewed their fight after Danzo's proposed truce turned into an ambush.

• A sensory ninja reported signs of a large battle near the village, and the Fourth Hokage and the Third ordered ANBU to assemble.
• Kushina urged the Fourth Hokage to take Zou Hyuga, Oto, and the others with him, and he led ANBU toward the outskirts while the Third remained behind.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto joined the search and reached the devastated forest, where the Fourth Hokage suspected a Root base had been nearby.
• Danzo proposed a temporary truce with Orochimaru, then attacked him, but struck a Shadow Clone.
• Orochimaru counterattacked with venomous snakes, and Danzo and Orochimaru resumed their fight.

The Fourth Hokage investigated a devastated battle site with Kakashi, Zou Hyuga, and Oto Uchiha, uncovering evidence that Orochimaru and Danzo had fought near a hidden Root base. Inside, he found poisoned Root ninja, researchers bound by Cursed Seals, and experiments that left him angry.

• The Fourth Hokage examined the battle site and identified a purple scale linked to Ryūchi Cave, while Kakashi found no further clues.
• Zou Hyuga recovered a piece of flesh from a severed snake and spotted an underground base beneath the area.
• The Fourth Hokage blasted open the base entrance with the Rasengan and led the squad inside.
• The squad found researchers unable to speak because of Cursed Seals and masked Root ninja incapacitated by neurotoxin, whom the Fourth Hokage ordered treated.
• The Fourth Hokage entered the deepest laboratory and grew angry after seeing the experiments conducted there.

The Fourth Hokage discovered human experiments in Danzo and Orochimaru’s Underground Base and confronted Danzo over the surviving child with Wood Release. Danzo tried to keep the child, but the Fourth Hokage marked him with the Flying Thunder God Technique and insisted on overseeing his treatment.

• Zou Hyuga reported that the wounded Root members were safe, then collected valuable experimental equipment from the Underground Base.
• Danzo escaped his fight with Orochimaru carrying the surviving test subject, having lost a Three-Tomoe Sharingan but secured the boy with Wood Release.
• The Fourth Hokage blocked Danzo’s path and demanded an explanation for the experiments and the child.
• Danzo claimed he had rescued the child from Orochimaru, but the Fourth Hokage demanded custody of him.
• Oto Uchiha and Zou Hyuga recognized the child’s exceptional chakra, and Zou suspected he was Yamato.
• Danzo warned that the child needed treatment, and the Fourth Hokage agreed while marking him with a Flying Thunder God Mark and requiring that he remain present.

After escaping Danzo, Orochimaru decided to leave the village, while the village leadership met to address his experiments and apparent defection. The Fourth Hokage then revealed that one of Orochimaru’s test subjects could use Wood Release.

• Orochimaru collected flesh samples from his fight with Danzo, decided to leave the village, and was observed by the Masked Man and Zetsu.
• The Fourth Hokage asked Danzo to explain the day’s events at an emergency leadership meeting, and Danzo blamed Orochimaru for Human Experimentation and attacks on village ninja.
• Jiraiya challenged Danzo’s account, but the investigation files convinced him that Orochimaru had secretly experimented on civilians.
• The Third proposed designating Orochimaru an S-Rank Rogue Ninja, and the Fourth Hokage agreed to let Jiraiya try to bring him back while ordering an investigation and a wanted notice.
• The Fourth Hokage announced that one of Orochimaru’s test subjects had demonstrated Wood Release, shocking the village leaders.

The village leaders debated who would care for the surviving child from Orochimaru’s Wood Release experiment, and the Third agreed to train him. The Fourth Hokage sent Jiraiya to investigate the shinobi world while searching for Orochimaru and Tsunade, and the Third named the child Yamato.

• The Fourth Hokage refused Danzo’s request to take the Wood Release child into Root and agreed to let the Third train him.
• The Third and Fourth Hokage showed Jiraiya an anonymous letter that had appeared that morning, but they could not identify its sender.
• The Fourth Hokage asked Jiraiya to investigate the shinobi world while searching for Orochimaru and Tsunade, and Jiraiya accepted.
• The Fourth Hokage told Jiraiya that Kushina would give birth in two months and hoped he would return to see them.
• The Third revealed that he had named Fugaku and Mikoto’s child Sasuke, then named the Wood Release child Yamato.

Zou Hyuga resented the Fourth Hokage’s handling of the spoils from Root and learned that Orochimaru had defected, while continuing his ANBU duties alongside Oto. The chapter ended with Zou and Oto confronting Orochimaru in an alley after he remained in Konoha.

• Zou Hyuga lamented losing most of his Root spoils and considered experimenting with the Wood Release tissue he had taken from Orochimaru.
• Zou and Oto discussed dividing their spoils, and Zou overheard ANBU members saying Orochimaru had defected with several subordinates.
• Zou and Oto relieved Kakashi on guard duty at Kushina’s home, where Zou reflected on how events in the Shinobi World had diverged from what he expected.
• After leaving Kushina’s home, Zou and Oto spotted Orochimaru in an alley and prepared to face him.

Orochimaru confronted Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha over their role in cleaning up the scene from the previous morning, then attacked them when they refused to serve under him. The two held their ground and called for help, leaving the battle unresolved as Kakashi arrived.

• Orochimaru told Zou Hyuga he wanted the pair to serve under him, and Zou refused.
• Oto Uchiha attacked Orochimaru with her sword, but her blade broke against the Kusanagi Sword.
• Zou Hyuga lit a signal flare, then used Rotation to deflect Orochimaru's snakes and shuriken.
• Oto Uchiha summoned Bell Cat, and Zou Hyuga agreed to pay the cat forty thousand ryo to fight Orochimaru.
• Kakashi arrived to support Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha as the two sides remained in a standoff.

Kakashi, Zou Hyuga, and Oto fought Orochimaru until he escaped the ANBU reinforcements and the Fourth. As Orochimaru fled with a chakra-disrupting chest injury, the Third confronted him and asked why he had defected.

• Kakashi attacked Orochimaru, but the Sannin evaded him and fought Kakashi, Zou Hyuga, and Oto while they waited for reinforcements.
• Orochimaru fled as more ANBU arrived, but Kakashi, Zou Hyuga, and Oto pursued and injured him with explosive tags and Gentle Fist strikes.
• The Fourth arrived and chose not to pursue Orochimaru, directing the squad to rest and leaving the matter to the Third.
• Orochimaru escaped, treated his wounds, and realized Zou Hyuga's palm strike had disrupted his chakra and resisted healing.
• The Third appeared in Orochimaru's path and asked him why he had defected from the village.

The Third confronted Orochimaru, who fled the village and became a missing-nin, while Obito learned that Kushina was pregnant and planned to exploit the coming birth. The next day, Zou Hyuga helped care for Kushina and met Uchiha Fugaku and baby Uchiha Sasuke at her home.

• The Third attacked Orochimaru, but let his former student escape after learning that Orochimaru no longer wanted to remain in the village.
• The Third returned to Konoha and planned to ask Minato not to issue a harsh kill order against Orochimaru.
• Obito learned from White Zetsu that Orochimaru was injured, then discovered that Kushina was pregnant and would soon give birth.
• Zou Hyuga heard rumors that Orochimaru had wounded the Third, then went with Oto to guard Kushina while Kakashi worked despite his injury.
• Zou took over cooking after Kushina accidentally used flour instead of salt, and Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Fugaku, and baby Uchiha Sasuke arrived at Kushina's house.

Fugaku visited Minato and Kushina with Mikoto and Sasuke, while privately assessing Oto and Zou amid tensions within the Uchiha Clan. Zou recognized Sasuke as Indra’s reincarnation and wondered whether the boy’s future power would let him escape the constraints that trapped Zou himself.

• Mikoto and Kushina chatted about Sasuke and joked about arranging a future marriage between their children.
• Fugaku watched Oto and Zou, while Zou wondered why the Uchiha Clan Head was interested in him.
• Fugaku reflected on the Uchiha Clan’s division over Minato’s policy and hoped to ask Minato for help dealing with the radicals.
• Itachi offered Sasuke to Oto, but she refused, and Zou stepped in to praise the baby to ease the awkwardness.
• Zou sensed Indra’s presence in Sasuke and thought that Sasuke might one day have the power to break free, unlike himself.

After Fugaku’s visit, Oto told Zou about pressure from the Uchiha Clan, and Zou considered how to raise her combat strength by replenishing her chakra. The Fourth Hokage returned home exhausted by the aftermath of Orochimaru’s defection, then found comfort in his family and ANBU squad and considered rewarding the squad with the Scroll of Seals.

• Uchiha Fugaku warned Zou Hyuga to take care of his life before leaving Kushina’s home.
• Oto Uchiha explained that clan members were watching her for information after she joined the ANBU and revealed her three-tomoe Sharingan.
• Zou judged that the village’s clan and civilian-ninja tensions would persist and considered ways to improve his own and Oto’s strength.
• Zou decided that temporarily replenishing Oto’s chakra with large amounts of chakra was their best way to increase her power.
• The Fourth Hokage signed orders to deal with ninja associated with Orochimaru’s defection, wary of falsely accusing innocents.
• The Fourth Hokage returned home, felt soothed by Kushina and the ANBU squad, and considered letting the squad learn ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals as a reward.

Zou Hyuga met with Hyuga Yu and the Hyuga clan leaders, shared what he knew about Orochimaru’s defection, and was urged to make the most of his ANBU position. The Branch Family’s doubts about the Caged Bird Seal contrasted with the Main Family’s debate over whether to create a new Main Family line.

• Zou Hyuga encountered the ailing Hyuga Yu, who asked how he felt about the Main Family, and Zou replied that both families were ninja of the village.
• Hyuga Hiashi asked Zou about Orochimaru’s defection, and Zou recounted what he knew, including the battle with Orochimaru.
• Hiashi urged Zou to use his ANBU service beside the Fourth Hokage to earn a good position and bring honor to the clan.
• Waiting outside with Hizashi Hyuga, Zou suggested that the Branch Family could carry its cage with it as it sought freedom, but Hizashi thought he was being naive.
• Hyuga Yu and Hiashi discussed whether the clan should establish a new Main Family line because the existing elders were dwindling.

Orochimaru crossed into the Land of Wind to escape Jiraiya, while Zou Hyuga left a tense meeting with the Hyuga Main Family and encountered Oto Uchiha training in the Back Mountain. As they looked out over Konoha at dusk, Zou warned that future upheaval would reduce the village to ruins and resolved to prepare.

• Orochimaru recovered from his injuries, realized a Hyuga Branch Family member had struck him with Senjutsu-infused Gentle Fist, and crossed into the desert to evade Jiraiya.
• Zou Hyuga left the old Hyuga residence with Hyuga Yu, who hinted that changes to the clan might be coming but gave no details.
• Zou Hyuga wandered to the Back Mountain and dodged Oto Uchiha's Great Fireball after she mistook him for a possible enemy.
• Oto Uchiha and Zou Hyuga went to the top of Kage Rock and admired the view of Konoha at dusk.
• Zou Hyuga warned Oto Uchiha that upheaval would one day reduce Konoha to ruins and thought that it was time to prepare.

Zou Hyuga remained uncertain whether to leave Konoha or stay, and found no answer while talking with Oto Uchiha and watching Might Guy train. A month later, Konoha’s leaders planned for Kushina’s childbirth amid warnings of an imminent enemy attack, and the Third Hokage decided to take her to a secret location.

• Zou Hyuga asked Oto Uchiha what she thought about the relationship between the clan or village and the individual, but neither of them had a clear answer.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto encountered Might Guy training beneath a waterfall, and Zou encouraged him to keep working toward reversing it with his punches.
• A month later, Konoha’s leaders discussed security for Kushina’s childbirth, with Utatane Koharu urging more ANBU protection and Mitokado Homura advocating secrecy.
• The Third Hokage decided to take Kushina outside the village to a secret, safe location, while the Fourth Hokage excluded Kakashi’s ANBU squad from the guard list.

After their six-month guard assignment ended, Zou Hyuga spent the day with Oto and asked Hyuga Yu to activate the Caged Bird Seal so he could study it. Hyuga Yu warned him against trying to break it and said he would discuss something important with Zou in a few days, while Oto appeared at Zou’s home on Hyuga Yu’s request.

• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha received notice that their guard duty at Kushina’s home had ended and wandered through the village.
• Oto bought weapons and Zou carried them to the Uchiha compound, where he considered whether she might leave the village with him someday.
• Zou visited Hyuga Yu, who mentioned Main Family discussions about the Main and Branch Families’ future relationship.
• Zou asked Hyuga Yu to activate his Caged Bird Seal and discovered that the seal reached into his soul while his mysterious black markings resisted it.
• Hyuga Yu told Zou not to try to break the seal and said he would discuss something important with him in a few days.
• Oto revealed that Hyuga Yu had given her a key and asked her to visit Zou; after dinner, Zou escorted her out.

As Kushina went into labor, Konoha strengthened its defenses against an unknown enemy rumored to wield Space-Time Ninjutsu, while Minato stayed with her. That night, Zou Hyuga set out to meet Oto but was intercepted by his dying uncle, Hyuga Yu, who led him away in silence.

• The Third learned that Jiraiya had not returned and ordered Minato to guard Kushina while he and the other defenders protected the village.
• Minato carried Kushina into the prepared delivery room as night fell.
• Zou Hyuga reflected on the Caged Bird Seal and the unexplained black markings on his body before leaving the Hyuga compound to meet Oto.
• Hyuga Yu stopped Zou Hyuga and led him away, solemnly ordering him to remain silent.

Obito attacked the cabin where the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki was due to give birth, but the Fourth Hokage confronted him after an ANBU ambush failed. Meanwhile, Hyuga Yu brought Zou Hyuga to a forbidden part of the clan residence and revealed that the Hyuga Clan’s true history was passed down orally.

• Obito arrived in Konoha intending to release the Nine-Tails and destroy the village.
• ANBU trapped Obito in the cabin with Explosive Tags and Shadow Possession Jutsu, but he survived and revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• The Fourth Hokage ordered the ANBU to summon the Third and confronted Obito, who escaped through his vortex while sensing the jinchūriki.
• Zetsu and the White Zetsu killed the fleeing ANBU squad, then Zetsu ordered a search for the Fourth Hokage and Obito.
• Hyuga Yu led Zou Hyuga into the forbidden depths of the old residence and showed him a blank book said to recount the clan’s history.
• Hyuga Yu explained that the book had never contained writing because the Main Family passed down the Hyuga Clan’s true history orally.

Oto Uchiha searched for Zou Hyuga when the Nine-Tails began rampaging through Konoha, then defied orders to help rescue villagers. As the Fourth Hokage confronted the Masked Man and Itachi and Izumi faced danger in an evacuation alley, Oto saved them from a falling boulder.

• Oto Uchiha waited for Zou Hyuga, then left Konoha Park to look for him at the Hyuga Clan Compound.
• The Nine-Tails appeared in Konoha, and Oto ignored an ANBU jonin's order to evacuate, while Kakashi and Guy followed her back toward the danger.
• Oto rescued a child and sent Guy and Kakashi away before heading toward the Uchiha Clan Compound.
• The Fourth Hokage realized the Nine-Tails had been extracted from Kushina and rushed back toward the village while holding his child.
• Oto rescued villagers among the ruins as Itachi and Izumi fled a falling boulder; she stopped it with earth walls and her short sword.

Oto Uchiha awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan during the Nine-Tails' attack and challenged Fugaku for keeping the Military Police Force from helping the village. She rushed toward the Nine-Tails, while Fugaku changed course and led the Uchiha into rescue efforts and battle.

• Oto Uchiha evacuated civilians and clan children, then learned that Fugaku had taken the Military Police Force to its headquarters.
• Oto confronted Fugaku, who said village leadership had ordered the force to stay put and pointed to the Sharingan controlling the Nine-Tails as a reason to avoid suspicion.
• Oto mocked the clan's hesitation, struck down an ANBU who tried to stop her, and headed toward the Nine-Tails.
• After Oto's words unsettled the Uchiha officers, Fugaku ordered them to rescue villagers and led the clan's elites toward the Nine-Tails.
• The Uchiha officers encountered Itachi and Izumi as they carried out rescue work, while Oto reached the ruined battlefield near the Nine-Tails.

Oto Uchiha joined Konoha’s desperate defense against the Nine-Tails, but her Sharingan genjutsu failed to affect it. Meanwhile, Hyuga Yu revealed that Zou Hyuga’s resistance to the Caged Bird Seal proved he possessed the heavenly ninja bloodline, then began recounting the Hyuga Clan’s history.

• Oto Uchiha tried to control the Nine-Tails with her Sharingan, but the genjutsu failed and hurt her eyes.
• Torifu Akimichi led the jonin against the Nine-Tails while Oto retreated to help the wounded and attack its feet.
• Oto summoned Samehada and joined Kosuke and other ninja as the defensive line collapsed.
• Hyuga Yu told Zou Hyuga that mastering secret techniques and resisting the Caged Bird Seal made him the most suitable heir to the Main Family’s position.
• Hyuga Yu identified Zou as possessing the heavenly ninja bloodline and began telling him about the Hyuga Clan’s power before Konoha was founded.

Hyuga Yu told Zou Hyuga that the Caged Bird Seal had originally been created to defend the Hyuga Clan from the Ōtsutsuki on the moon and urged him to protect the clan as a potential Heavenly Ninja. Their conversation was interrupted by the Nine-Tails’ attack, and Hyuga Yu pushed Zou to act while reminding him that he was still an ANBU.

• Hyuga Yu explained that Heavenly Ninja were exceptionally talented Hyuga with Kage-level strength and said Zou Hyuga had the potential to become one.
• Hyuga Yu told Zou that the Caged Bird Seal had originally guarded against the lunar Ōtsutsuki, then asked him to protect the Hyuga Clan.
• Zou Hyuga said he needed time to decide, since he felt little attachment to either Konoha or the Hyuga Clan.
• The Nine-Tails’ rampage shook the study, and Hyuga Yu told Zou to do what he wanted and acknowledged that he might have forced shackles onto him.
• Hyuga Yu removed his Byakugan and offered them to Zou, then revealed he was not dying and told Zou to go help the village as an ANBU.

During the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, Hyuga Yu secretly left Zou Hyuga a sealed scroll while Zou struggled with the meaning of receiving the Pure Byakugan. The Third Hokage arrived to fight the beast, and Uchiha Fugaku's forces appeared beside the Nine-Tails, drawing suspicious looks from the other ninja.

• Zou Hyuga left the Main Family's old estate with Hyuga Yu's Byakugan and wondered whether he should fulfill his uncle's expectations as the clan mobilized against the Nine-Tails.
• Hyuga Yu returned to Zou Hyuga's home, wrote on a blank scroll, sealed it, and vanished to keep the location of his Byakugan secret from the Main Family.
• Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Torifu Akimichi struggled against the Nine-Tails and discussed Danzo's absence and the Sharingan in the beast's eyes.
• Oto Uchiha used modified ninjutsu to distract the Nine-Tails, allowing Kosuke to rescue wounded ninja and bring them to the rear.
• The Third Hokage summoned Enma as the Adamantine Staff and drove the Nine-Tails back, but realized that he had caused it little harm.
• Uchiha Fugaku arrived with the Military Police Force, whose Sharingan beside the Nine-Tails' Sharingan created an eerie sight that drew hostile suspicion from the surrounding ninja.