Recaps

Xue Ge and Kakashi prepared for an early graduation assessment that required them to withstand Choza Akimichi for a minute. As the assessment began, both faced Choza with determination while their friends watched and hoped they would pass.

• Shisui warned Xue Ge that facing Choza Akimichi would be a difficult assessment, and Xue Ge said he intended to pass.
• Muzi found Xue Ge, delivered snacks and good-luck charms from their classmates, and wrapped her scarf around him.
• More than half a month later, Xue Ge and Kakashi arrived at the Ninja Academy as their friends gathered to support them.
• Hiruzen praised Kakashi and Xue Ge before Choza warned them he would not hold back.
• Kakashi and Xue Ge showed their resolve, and Choza crouched to begin testing them.

Xue Ge and Kakashi fought Choza Akimichi in a one-minute exam, revealing their teamwork and techniques as they tried to defeat him. The chapter ended with Kakashi charging Choza with Chidori after Xue Ge distracted him.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi began the exam, and Kakashi opened with Great Fireball Technique as Choza charged the pair.
• Xue Ge used Wind Release and Lightning Release attacks, but Choza dodged and deflected them while Kakashi rejoined him.
• Xue Ge and Kakashi agreed to speed up and coordinate an attack, with Xue Ge drawing Choza into close combat.
• Xue Ge used Chakra Threads to escape Choza's spinning defense and demonstrated the Body Manipulation Technique in midair.
• Kakashi unleashed Chidori as Xue Ge pulled himself in front of Choza and distracted him with a kunai strike.

Kakashi and Xue Ge fought Choza during their examination, testing their techniques against his powerful defenses. Xue Ge activated his dangerous Overload Mode and managed to cut Choza, revealing how far his strength had advanced.

• Choza endured Kakashi's Chidori and followed with Spiked Human Bullet Tank, forcing Kakashi and Xue Ge to dodge and combine Fire and Wind Release.
• Choza challenged Kakashi and Xue Ge to keep fighting, and Kakashi said he wanted to make the end of this stage of his life memorable while Xue Ge wanted to measure his distance from becoming a jonin.
• Choza attacked with Earth Release: Dual-Phase Earth Spear, and Kakashi urged Xue Ge to reveal the move he had kept secret.
• Xue Ge activated Taijutsu Mode as his prosthetic limbs cracked and his skin split under the strain.
• Xue Ge flashed behind Choza and sliced through his armor, drawing blood, then identified his technique as Taijutsu: Overload Mode.

Xue Ge and Kakashi fought Choza in Hiruzen's graduation test, combining their lightning techniques to challenge him before the time ran out. Hiruzen declared that they had passed and officially graduated from the Ninja Academy.

• Xue Ge used Overload Mode to overwhelm Choza with rapid attacks, while Kakashi watched for an opening.
• Xue Ge joined his lightning chakra to Kakashi's Chidori, and the two attacked Choza with Lightning Transmission.
• Choza broke their attack with Earth Release techniques, trapped Xue Ge in mud, and expanded into a giant form as the fight turned against them.
• Hiruzen stopped the test when the incense burned out, and Xue Ge and Kakashi learned that they had passed.
• Hiruzen officially declared Xue Ge and Kakashi graduates of the Ninja Academy.

After Kakashi and Xue Ge graduated as Genin, Orochimaru visited Xue Ge with a new communication snake and offered him a Ryūchi Cave summoning contract, which Xue Ge declined for now. Hiruzen assigned Shisui to Team Minato despite Danzo’s objections, leaving Danzo worried that Shisui would grow closer to Xue Ge.

• Kakashi and Xue Ge became Konoha Genin after graduating in six months and earned the nicknames White Boy and Black Boy.
• Ōnoki regretted failing to capture Xue Ge after seeing news of his graduation.
• Orochimaru gave Xue Ge a white snake for exchanging scrolls and samples, then offered him a Ryūchi Cave summoning contract, which Xue Ge declined for now.
• Orochimaru told Xue Ge that Kakashi Hatake and Shisui Uchiha would be his fellow graduates and hinted that Hiruzen had other plans for his Guiding Jonin.
• Hiruzen decided Shisui Uchiha would join Team Minato, overruling Danzo’s objections.
• Danzo left his meeting with Hiruzen angry and worried that Shisui would spend more time with Xue Ge.

Xue Ge returned home to find Danzo waiting, and Danzo urged him to think about what he wanted and how he might repay the resources invested in him. The next morning, Xue Ge, Kakashi, and Shisui met their guiding jonin, Minato Namikaze, forming Team Minato.

• Xue Ge returned home late and found Danzo waiting to tell him to meet his guiding jonin at the Fifth Training Ground the next morning.
• Danzo praised Xue Ge for completing his mission early, offered him a reward, and urged him to consider his own wishes and how to repay Danzo.
• Xue Ge arrived at the training ground and exchanged teasing remarks with Shisui and Kakashi while they waited.
• Minato Namikaze arrived before ten and greeted Xue Ge, Kakashi, and Shisui as their guiding jonin.
• Minato introduced himself and began leading the newly formed Team Minato.

After returning from six months of missions, Team Minato was summoned to take part in a top-secret S-rank mission to Rōran. Minato secured permission for Xue Ge, Kakashi, and Shisui to join, and the team prepared to depart the next day.

• Minato, Xue Ge, Kakashi, and Shisui returned from an escort mission and reunited with Obito, Rin, Anko, Guy, and the others while heading to Ichiraku Ramen.
• The group talked about the new ramen shop, and Shisui asked Xue Ge to visit Muzi at the hospital when he had time.
• Hiruzen ordered Minato, Choza Akimichi, and Shibi Aburame to carry out an urgent, top-secret S-rank mission to Rōran.
• Minato asked Hiruzen to let Xue Ge, Kakashi, and Shisui join the mission, and Choza and Shibi agreed.
• Minato summoned Team Minato away from the ramen line, and Guy announced that he intended to graduate early.

Before leaving for an S-rank mission in the Land of Wind, Xue Ge visited Muzi and learned about his kekkei genkai, then passed the first stage of Iris Moon’s taijutsu training. Iris Moon gave him her father’s wolf-fang necklace as a protective charm for the mission.

• Minato told Kakashi, Shisui, and Xue Ge to meet at the village entrance at six the next morning for their S-rank mission to the Land of Wind.
• Xue Ge visited Muzi at Konoha Hospital, where Muzi explained that his Six-Mind Eye could share other people’s senses and mental activity.
• Xue Ge warned Muzi never to share his senses, then left to train with Iris Moon.
• Xue Ge passed the first stage of Iris Moon’s taijutsu training after dodging her attacks for a minute without being hit.
• Iris Moon learned that Xue Ge’s mission was in the Land of Wind and gave him her father’s wolf-fang necklace as a protective charm.

Minato’s team infiltrated Rōran to investigate Anrokuzan and the city’s mysterious growth, while Naruto and Sasuke arrived there after being caught in Mukade’s technique. As Sara fell from a collapsing platform during a celebration, a black hawk caught her, and Naruto and Sasuke recognized its rider as Black Pine.

• Minato briefed the Konoha team on Rōran’s sudden rise and split them into groups to investigate the city.
• Sara mourned her mother before Anrokuzan urged her to appear before her subjects at a celebration.
• Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi discovered that Rōran’s streets were nearly empty and that chakra threads controlled the celebrating crowd, which Xue Ge identified as puppets.
• Naruto and Sasuke argued about being transported to Rōran and suspected that the Dragon Vein had caused time travel.
• The platform collapsed beneath Sara, and a black hawk caught her as Naruto and Sasuke recognized its rider as Black Pine.

Naruto and Sasuke pursued Xue Ge after recognizing Black Pine and realized they had traveled back in time. Xue Ge rescued Queen Sara, and the group accepted Naruto and Sasuke’s claim that they came from the future before moving to talk privately.

• Naruto and Sasuke spotted Black Pine carrying Xue Ge and decided to catch up, while Sasuke warned Naruto not to reveal the future.
• Xue Ge rescued Sara as she fell from above Rōran, then brought her to a secluded place with Kakashi and Shisui.
• Kakashi questioned Xue Ge’s decision to reveal himself, and they discussed how to return Sara safely.
• Naruto and Sasuke arrived, and Sasuke identified the year as Konoha year 42 and claimed they were ninja from year 67.
• Sasuke proved his knowledge of Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi by naming their techniques and specialties, convincing them that the boys likely came from the future.
• Shisui suggested they move somewhere else to talk.

Kakashi, Sasuke, Shisui, Naruto, and Xue Ge linked Anrokuzan to Mukade and planned to investigate him, but Sara rejected their accusations and left. Xue Ge and Naruto followed to protect her, while Sara was suddenly pulled into a passage where masked people questioned whether she was truly the queen.

• Sasuke explained that Mukade had used the dragon vein to travel to the past, and the group suspected he was now known as Anrokuzan.
• Xue Ge told the others to take down Anrokuzan regardless of whether he was Mukade, but Sara defended her minister and ordered the Konoha ninja to leave Rōran.
• Xue Ge went after Sara, and Sasuke asked Naruto to follow and protect her.
• Shisui recognized Sasuke's Three-Tomoe Sharingan and proposed that the group erase their memories when they parted to avoid revealing future information.
• Kakashi, Sasuke, and Shisui planned to contact their allies and arrest Anrokuzan while Xue Ge and Naruto watched over Sara.
• A masked group pulled Sara into a dark passage and asked whether she really was Her Majesty Sara.

Sara learned that the people petitioning her had lost family members who were taken away under her supposed orders, and Xue Ge revealed that Rōran’s cheering crowds were puppets. The group suspected Anrokuzan was controlling Rōran through the pipes overhead, leaving Sara to face the truth about her rule.

• Masako and the disguised villagers asked Sara to return their missing family members, explaining that Sarai’s father and brother had been taken away in her name.
• Masako said the villagers suspected weapons of war were being made in Rōran, while Sara denied ordering the arrests and pointed to the cheering crowds as proof that the people supported her.
• Xue Ge knocked down several cheering figures and revealed that they were wooden puppets.
• Xue Ge demonstrated that Chakra Threads could make a puppet move and said the threads came from pipes above Rōran.
• Naruto pointed out that nobody had reacted after Sara’s public fall, and Sara began to believe that the people and her rule were not what she had thought.

Sara learned that Anrokuzan had used the dragon vein to power Rōran’s growth and its puppet population, and she resolved to investigate what had happened to the missing families. Meanwhile, Sasuke’s group joined Minato’s team near the central tower, and they set out to regroup with Xue Ge and Naruto.

• Xue Ge sent a shadow clone away as Sara and Naruto saw a puppet dressed as the queen presiding over a puppet celebration.
• Sara explained how Anrokuzan had persuaded her mother to awaken the dragon vein, then described her mother’s sudden death and her loneliness afterward.
• Xue Ge told Sara that she could still put things right, and Sara decided to trace the dragon vein’s chakra and find the missing families with Xue Ge and Naruto’s help.
• Shisui’s group caught up with Minato’s team near the central tower, where Sasuke confirmed he intended to help investigate Rōran’s unusual situation.
• Minato accepted Sasuke’s offer to cooperate and told Shisui to lead them to where the groups had separated.

Xue Ge, Naruto, and Sara discovered Anrokuzan's war-puppet factory beneath Rōran. Sara shut down the factory's dragon vein supply, but Anrokuzan redirected the energy and unleashed his puppet army before Xue Ge attacked him from above.

• Xue Ge led Naruto and Sara through a vent into the factory, where they saw enslaved workers building war puppets.
• Sara recognized Anrokuzan's operation and used a cursed seal to cut off the dragon vein power supplying the factory.
• Anrokuzan appeared, admitted he had caused Sara's fall, and revealed that he planned to replace her with a puppet.
• Anrokuzan diverted dragon vein energy from the external pipes and sent hundreds of puppet soldiers to surround Naruto and Sara.
• Sara escaped through a gap in the puppet army while Naruto prepared to fight Anrokuzan.
• Xue Ge dropped from above and struck Anrokuzan with a Rasengan, destroying half his head.

Xue Ge fought Anrokuzan, whose clay puppet body regenerated from devastating attacks, while trying to uncover the source of his immortality. Badly injured, Xue Ge kept Anrokuzan occupied as Naruto cut through the puppet soldiers and urged Sara to escape.

• Xue Ge attacked Anrokuzan, but Anrokuzan struck him with a prosthetic kunai and quickly regenerated from his injuries.
• Anrokuzan summoned swarms of puppet soldiers that surrounded Xue Ge, Naruto, and Sara, while Xue Ge discovered that the clay puppets also recovered after being destroyed.
• Anrokuzan transformed into a giant centipede-like puppet and badly injured Xue Ge, who then blasted apart Anrokuzan's head with lightning-enhanced Strangling Lines.
• Xue Ge dodged through Anrokuzan's long body and stalled him, conserving his strength while searching for the cause of his regeneration.
• Naruto used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to break through the puppet soldiers and shouted for Sara to go.

Xue Ge used his newly devised Strangling Thread Rasengan to shield Sara from Anrokuzan’s Great Fireball. Badly burned and exposed when his mask broke, he urged Sara to run.

• Sara freed the slaves and led them toward the factory exit while Xue Ge fought Anrokuzan.
• Anrokuzan trapped Naruto in a chakra-absorbing puppet and launched a Great Fireball at Sara.
• Xue Ge overloaded his body, rushed between Sara and the attack, and blocked the fireball with his Strangling Thread Rasengan.
• Anrokuzan fired a second Great Fireball, and the blast destroyed parts of the factory and badly burned Xue Ge.
• Xue Ge’s mask broke as he turned to Sara and told her to run.

Xue Ge fought Anrokuzan to keep him from pursuing Sara, but his attacks failed to stop the enemy’s seemingly invulnerable body. Shisui and two others arrived in time to cut Anrokuzan in half, though Xue Ge warned that the fight was not over.

• Sara tried to crawl away while Xue Ge blocked Anrokuzan’s attacks and urged him to let her go.
• Xue Ge used Chakra Threads, falling debris, boiling water, and Lightning Release to trap and attack Anrokuzan, but Anrokuzan broke free unharmed.
• Anrokuzan charged at the weakened Xue Ge, who prepared to escape after buying Sara time.
• Shisui rescued Xue Ge as three reinforcements struck Anrokuzan with a Rasengan and two Chidori, severing him at the waist.
• Xue Ge told Shisui that Anrokuzan was Mukade and the source of Rōran’s troubles, then warned that the fight was not over.

Minato and the others fought Anrokuzan while Naruto broke free from a puppet and joined them. Anrokuzan gathered the factory’s clay and wreckage into a gigantic body, leaving the group scrambling to evade his attacks.

• Xue Ge warned Minato’s group to move before Anrokuzan attacked with a Great Fireball, and Minato sent Kakashi and Shisui to carry Xue Ge to safety.
• Naruto burst out of a giant puppet and struck Anrokuzan with a Rasengan, but Anrokuzan regenerated and knocked him back before Sasuke caught him.
• Naruto identified the enemy as Mukade, and Shibi’s chakra-eating insects weakened Anrokuzan before Choza smashed his puppet body apart.
• Anrokuzan regenerated and pulled clay puppets and factory wreckage into an enormous shell, forming a giant body that tore through the factory.
• Minato warned everyone to scatter as Anrokuzan swept at them, while Naruto told Sasuke he could not summon the toads from their time.

Sara reunited with the freed slaves, then fled with Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi as Anrokuzan transformed into a gigantic clay monster and pursued her. Minato split off to find Sara while the others tried to delay Anrokuzan, and Naruto realized the young Minato was his father.

• Sara reunited with Masako, Sarai, and the freed slaves, while Shisui and Kakashi defeated approaching puppet soldiers.
• Sara explained that Anrokuzan drew strength from the Dragon Vein and that she could cut off its power near the rear courtyard.
• Anrokuzan burst from the factory as a colossal clay giant and charged toward Sara and the others.
• Sara ordered the people to flee, then left with Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi for Rōran's central tower, where the Dragon Vein's source lay.
• Minato's group failed to damage Anrokuzan for long, so Minato went ahead to find Sara while the others tried to hold the giant back.
• Naruto recognized that the young Minato using the Flying Thunder God Technique was his father.

Xue Ge and the others fled Anrokuzan while Minato learned how to stop him and went ahead to buy time. At Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage revealed a new prophecy to Jiraiya, leaving him to wonder who the dragon and its child were.

• Sara explained the dragon vein and Anrokuzan’s clay puppets to Minato, while Xue Ge added details from his fight.
• Minato learned that Sara needed time to put the dragon vein to sleep and left to hold Anrokuzan back.
• Xue Ge called Black Pine, which carried him and Shisui above Anrokuzan as Kakashi took Sara.
• The Great Toad Sage woke from his troubled sleep and summoned Jiraiya to Mount Myōboku.
• The Great Toad Sage recited a new prophecy about a dragon, its child, a red moon, the heirs of the Six Paths, and an earth messenger before falling asleep again.
• Jiraiya wondered what the prophecy meant and who the dragon and its child were.

Anrokuzan fought the allied shinobi while the Dragon Vein continually restored his giant puppet body, then launched a massive fireball at Shisui and Xue Ge. Shisui saved Xue Ge from the blast, but vanished in the falling flames.

• Shibi’s insects slowed Anrokuzan briefly, and Choza seized his tail and slammed him into the buildings.
• Minato concluded that Anrokuzan’s giant form was a puppet repaired by chakra threads, and the team prepared to search for its controller.
• Anrokuzan feinted toward Kakashi and Sara, then fired a huge fireball at Shisui and Xue Ge in the sky.
• Sasuke struck the fireball with Chidori Sharp Spear while Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to carry Xue Ge away.
• Shisui hurled Xue Ge onto a distant platform, but the flames swallowed Shisui from sight.

Minato rescued Shisui from the flames and helped him and Xue Ge regroup while the others fought Anrokuzan. Shisui and Xue Ge reached Sara and Kakashi at the rear courtyard, but a falling building destroyed it before they could confirm whether its seal still worked.

• Minato saved Shisui, marked Shisui and Xue Ge with Flying Thunder God formulas, and sent them to safety while he went to mark Kakashi.
• Xue Ge made Shisui promise not to risk his life needlessly, and the two headed to the surface.
• Choza collapsed after helping Minato, Shibi, Sasuke, and Naruto hold Anrokuzan back, but Anrokuzan unleashed massive Chakra Threads and began sweeping away buildings.
• Shisui and Xue Ge joined Kakashi and Sara at the rear courtyard, where Sara explained that its ancestral seal was meant to block the Dragon Vein's power.
• A tower wreckage crashed into the rear courtyard and reduced it to rubble, leaving Sara unsure whether the seal still worked.

Kakashi, Shisui, and Xue Ge fought Anrokuzan while Sara reached the Dragon Vein device to cut off the power sustaining him. As Sara activated it, Anrokuzan sensed his power weakening and chose to attack, prompting Xue Ge and the others to charge him.

• Kakashi, Shisui, and Xue Ge discovered Anrokuzan’s true body guarding the source of the Dragon Vein after his remote-controlled puppet had misdirected them.
• Xue Ge pulled the injured Kakashi clear of Anrokuzan’s chakra threads and warned the others that Anrokuzan’s Great Fireball required no hand seals.
• Sara ran toward the device as Kakashi destroyed the bridge, while Xue Ge, Kakashi, and Shisui blocked Anrokuzan from crossing.
• Shisui and Kakashi countered Anrokuzan’s Great Fireball, while Xue Ge threatened to drop a Rasengan into the Dragon Vein if Anrokuzan attacked.
• Sara activated the device, disrupting the chakra flow inside Anrokuzan, who decided to attack before she could shut off his power.
• Xue Ge shouted for the others to attack, and three figures lunged at Anrokuzan together.

Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi defeated Anrokuzan after Sara completed the ritual, but Anrokuzan fell into the Dragon Vein and caused it to run wild. As the bridge collapsed, Shisui shoved Xue Ge to safety and fell backward into the void.

• Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi restrained Anrokuzan on the bridge while Sara completed the ritual to stop the Dragon Vein's flow.
• Kakashi struck Anrokuzan with Chidori, and the three saw that his wounds no longer regenerated.
• Anrokuzan survived Kakashi's Great Fireball, then smashed through the bridge and fell into the Dragon Vein pool.
• The Dragon Vein turned red and shook the tower, forcing Xue Ge, Shisui, and Kakashi to flee across the collapsing bridge.
• Shisui shoved Xue Ge forward as the bridge broke, then fell backward into the void.

As Rōran shook and the bridge over the Dragon Vein began to collapse, Xue Ge held Kakashi and Shisui above the churning chakra while Minato hurried toward the central tower. Xue Ge regained his strength long enough to throw Kakashi and Shisui to safety, then fell into the Dragon Vein as a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared.

• The giant puppet stopped regenerating and was destroyed by Minato, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others.
• Rōran began shaking, its central tower tilted, and Minato could no longer sense the Flying Thunder God Formulas he had placed near Xue Ge and the tower.
• Xue Ge held Kakashi and Shisui over the Dragon Vein with chakra threads as the bridge cracked and his injuries worsened.
• As the three faced death, Xue Ge's mind cleared and strength returned, and he apologized for breaking his promise.
• Xue Ge bent his limbs and flung Kakashi and Shisui toward Sara before the bridge collapsed and he fell into the Dragon Vein.
• A pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared.