Chapter Summaries

Master of Open Stratagems stopped the Glory Legion’s players from arguing and began planning an assault on Kusagakure to find and rescue the Village Chief. Falcon's Eye provided a detailed map of the village’s defenses, but the players questioned whether their forces could hold the enemy while an elite team infiltrated.

• Master of Open Stratagems silenced the disgruntled players and urged them to focus on rescuing the Village Chief.
• Master of Open Stratagems proposed scouting Kusagakure before attacking, and Falcon's Eye arrived with a detailed map of its outskirts and defenses.
• Master of Open Stratagems used Falcon's Eye’s map to identify the village’s ambushes and remaining elite defenders.
• Master of Open Stratagems proposed engaging Kusagakure’s forces outside the village while an elite group infiltrated from the flank to locate the Village Chief.
• A player questioned whether the legion could keep Kusagakure’s main force occupied, and the others looked to Master of Open Stratagems for an answer.

Master of Open Stratagems used the Cowhide War Drum to grant the Third Catastrophe powerful buffs and organized an elite team to infiltrate Kusagakure. As the players prepared to strike, Ye Chen suddenly opened his eyes while still restrained by Grass Ninja experts.

• Master of Open Stratagems revealed the Cowhide War Drum and explained that it could grant three faction-wide buffs.
• The drum activated Radiance, Earthshaker, and Godspeed, each lasting one hour and boosting chakra recovery, terrain destruction, and movement speed respectively.
• Master of Open Stratagems selected seven strong players, including Raijin, for an infiltration mission into Kusagakure.
• Raijin and Azure Bird: Thunderclap were assigned to lure away the enemy while the team infiltrated the village.
• The players rallied behind Master of Open Stratagems, while Ye Chen suddenly opened his eyes despite being restrained by Grass Ninja experts.

Ye Chen was secretly taken into Kusagakure’s underground headquarters, where the system revealed that his captor, Lü Shijian, had ties to the Uchiha Clan and could replicate their Genjutsu. As players from Hidden Jun Village attacked Kusagakure and threw it into chaos, the village chief arrived to have Ye Chen brought for interrogation.

• Ye Chen let Kusagakure’s ninjas carry him underground while he recorded the route and used the system to analyze Lü Shijian’s Genjutsu and background.
• Ye Chen learned that Lü Shijian was a Kage Level Genjutsu practitioner with past ties to the Uchiha Clan, and decided to stay captured to learn more about his methods.
• Ye Chen noticed three faction buffs and realized players from Hidden Jun Village were preparing a major attack on Kusagakure.
• Tremors and reports of attackers and flying birds revealed that Hidden Jun Village’s players had begun attacking the village from outside.
• Kusagakure’s chief ordered Ye Chen brought in for personal interrogation, and the secret chamber door opened as the chief arrived.

Ye Chen let Kusagakure’s forces carry him to the Kusagakure Official Residence so he could get close to its leader, Kusagakure. When the injured leader began to question why Ye Chen remained asleep, Ye Chen revealed himself and seized him.

• Bibiye inspected Ye Chen, failed to detect his concealed chakra, and ordered his men to take him to the Kusagakure Official Residence.
• Ye Chen chose not to contact the nearby Hidden Jun Village players, keeping his location and presence hidden as the guards transported him.
• The guards delivered Ye Chen into Kusagakure’s dwelling, where he heard the leader groan in pain and wonder why he had not woken up.
• Ye Chen opened his eyes and lunged at the haggard Kusagakure leader, who tried to escape with genjutsu.
• Ye Chen grabbed Kusagakure by the throat and stopped him from resisting.

Ye Chen captured Kusagakure’s Village Chief while Master of Open Stratagems led players in demolishing buildings and fighting the village guards. As Bibiye prepared to seize power from within, the players’ rewards for kills and assists drove them to keep charging into battle.

• Ye Chen subdued Kusagakure’s old man, while the village and the players outside remained unaware that he had been captured.
• Master of Open Stratagems’s players discovered that destroying buildings earned contribution points and drew Kusagakure’s guards into battle.
• Bibiye exploited the village’s weakened forces and the absence of its leader to begin a plan to take control of Kusagakure.
• The players learned that killing enemies and assisting in kills earned contribution points, and they fought the guards with renewed enthusiasm.

The Master of Open Stratagems ordered the players to unleash a coordinated Rasengan barrage, routing the Kusagakure guards and opening the way for the players to enter the village. Meanwhile, Ye Chen restrained a wounded Kusagakure elder, who offered secrets in exchange for his life and revealed the Mental Power Cultivation Manuscript.

• After learning the infiltrating players had been exposed, the Master of Open Stratagems ordered the second stage of the plan and coordinated Rasengan attack.
• The players combined their Rasengan attacks, and the Earthshaker buff amplified the bombardment's terrain damage.
• The barrage killed around a dozen Kusagakure guards, who fled as the players pursued them.
• Ye Chen dispelled the wounded Kusagakure elder's genjutsu and kept him restrained.
• The elder divulged secrets to bargain for his life, including the Mental Power Cultivation Manuscript.

Ye Chen captured Kusagakure's old genjutsu specialist and learned of the Mental Power Cultivation Manuscript, which the system verified but found incomplete. When Ye Chen challenged the old man's account of its origins, the old man faltered, leaving Ye Chen to demand the Uchiha prodigy's real name.

• Ye Chen subdued the injured old man and interrogated him amid Kusagakure's disrupted defenses.
• The old man said he had traded insights with an Uchiha Clan prodigy who helped create the Mental Power Cultivation Manuscript.
• Ye Chen uploaded the manuscript to the system, which verified it as effective but identified numerous errors and began correcting it.
• Ye Chen realized the old man had withheld crucial details and suspected his story about the Uchiha prodigy was a lie.
• Ye Chen demanded the prodigy's real name, and the old man hesitated.

Ye Chen exposed the old man from Kusagakure’s story as a lie and left him unable to use his mental power after striking him. Bibiye arrived with Grass Ninja experts and attacked the old man.

• Ye Chen identified Orochimaru as the supposed Uchiha genius behind the body-transplant cultivation method, leaving the old man from Kusagakure stunned.
• The old man begged Lord Junyin for mercy and admitted that parts of his earlier account were inaccurate.
• Ye Chen said he would spare the old man’s life, then struck his head and disappeared, leaving him dazed and unable to summon his mental power.
• The old man threatened Ye Chen before Anbu Commander Bibiye entered with Grass Ninja experts.
• The old man tried to cast an illusion but could not summon his mental power, so Bibiye drew his kunai and thrust it at him.

Bibiye assassinated Kusagakure Lüshijian and took over as acting village chief, while Ye Chen remained hidden in the bedroom and decided Bibiye had to be eliminated. The players received an updated mission to enter Kusagakure, defeat its defenders, and capture or kill Bibiye.

• Bibiye killed Kusagakure Lüshijian, blamed the Hidden Jun Village chief, and declared himself acting village chief.
• Bibiye ordered Grass Ninja to detain dissenters and search Kusagakure for the escaped Hidden Jun Village chief.
• Bibiye considered abandoning Kusagakure if the danger became too great, then left the bedroom after it was cleared.
• Ye Chen appeared in the bedroom, watched Bibiye leave, and decided to eliminate him.
• The players received a system notification announcing Kusagakure Lüshijian's death and assigning them a mission to defeat Kusagakure's defenders and capture or kill Bibiye.

After Kusagakure's leader died, Master of Open Stratagems concluded that the Hidden Jun Village Chief had been captured as part of a plan and redirected the Glory Legion to push into Kusagakure. The players broke through the village's outskirts with little resistance, but met powerful enemies in its core area.

• Players speculated that the Hidden Jun Village Chief had caused Kusagakure's leader's death by faking his capture.
• Master of Open Stratagems learned the elite players had failed to infiltrate Kusagakure and that enemies remained in ambush there.
• Master of Open Stratagems ordered the Glory Legion to abandon its current route and push into Kusagakure to rendezvous with the infiltration team.
• The players used ninjutsu and items to bombard Kusagakure's outskirts, while its guards held back and waited in vain for reinforcements.
• The Glory Legion charged into Kusagakure with little resistance and encountered powerful enemies in the core area.

Master of Open Stratagems redirected the elite infiltration squad to coordinate with the main force after a game notification suggested the Hidden Jun Village Chief was in Kusagakure. As powerful Grass Ninja reinforcements blocked the combined players, Master of Open Stratagems ordered them to prepare a joint Rasengan attack.

• Master of Open Stratagems changed the elite infiltration squad’s role from expendable pawns to the main force coordinating an attack from within Kusagakure.
• Raijin drew enemy fire from above while Corpse Bearer, Bullfighting Master, and the other elite players fought Kusagakure’s defenders on the ground.
• The seven elite players received the notification about the Kusagakure Village Chief’s mysterious death and fought with renewed confidence after learning the Hidden Jun Village Chief might be nearby.
• Master of Open Stratagems’s main army joined the seven elite players, but more than a dozen Jonin and over thirty Chunin led by Bibiye emerged to block their advance.
• Master of Open Stratagems ordered the players to form basic units and prepare a joint A-Rank Rasengan attack.

Ye Chen overheard Bibiye’s plan to attack Hidden Jun Village while its main force was away, then confronted him in the Kusagakure Official Residence. As Ye Chen pursued the fleeing Bibiye, Bibiye smashed his own head and released a terrifying tide of chakra that engulfed Ye Chen.

• Bibiye’s confidant reported that his men had failed to find Ye Chen, then asked whether they could begin the next stage of the plan.
• Bibiye ordered the force ambushing outside Hidden Jun Village to attack its weakened defenses, and Ye Chen learned of the scheme while listening from concealment.
• Ye Chen stepped out to confront Bibiye, who recognized that calling the guards would not help and hurled his confidant at Ye Chen as a distraction.
• Bibiye turned to flee, but when Ye Chen pursued him, Bibiye stopped, struck his own forehead until his head was crushed, and unleashed a tide of chakra that engulfed Ye Chen.

Ye Chen realized Bibiye had lured him into a trap involving a decoy and a massive detonation of Explosive Tags, then faced a Wood Release Cooperation Ninjutsu. As the Kusagakure Official Residence collapsed, Ye Chen spotted Bibiye leading the fleeing Jonin and prepared to continue the fight.

• Bibiye's apparent self-detonation unleashed a huge chakra explosion, forcing Ye Chen to dodge.
• A group of Kusagakure ninja attacked Ye Chen with Wood Release: Wood Thorn Dragon, and its strength caught him by surprise.
• Ye Chen recognized that the Bibiye inside the residence was likely a puppet or Shadow Clone and deduced that the explosion came from tens of thousands of Explosive Tags.
• Ye Chen realized Bibiye had arranged the decoy, explosion, and Cooperation Ninjutsu to lure him into a trap.
• Ye Chen launched himself above the collapsing residence and saw Bibiye leading more than a dozen Kusagakure Jonin as they fled.

Ye Chen discovered that Bibiye had survived the explosion and used a forbidden technique to unleash Explosion Release: Wood-Fire Stream. Ye Chen escaped the blast by disguising Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique as Boil Release and hiding himself within the resulting mist.

• Ye Chen recognized Bibiye among the fleeing Kusagakure Jonin and realized he had served as the vessel for their Cooperation Ninjutsu.
• Bibiye stopped running, ignited his life force, and used the lingering wood and fire chakra to unleash Explosion Release: Wood-Fire Stream.
• A fire dragon surged toward Ye Chen and exploded around him as he fell.
• Ye Chen shouted that he was using Boil Release: Hidden Mist Technique, then secretly used Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique to conceal himself in the mist and avoid injury.

Ye Chen killed Bibiye, but a mysterious spark touched his arm as a bloody shadow escaped underground. With Bibiye dead, the system changed the battle objective to capturing Kusagakure, and Master of Open Stratagems ordered the players to unleash their S-rank cooperative Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

• Ye Chen struck down Bibiye, who released a nearly transparent spark that vanished after touching Ye Chen's arm.
• A bloody shadow slipped underground from beneath Bibiye's corpse, while one Grass Ninja quietly left the squad and headed into the forest.
• The system announced Bibiye's death and changed the players' objective to capturing Kusagakure and seizing its resources.
• Master of Open Stratagems rallied the struggling players and ordered the combat personnel to cast Wind Release: Rasenshuriken as support squads prepared to protect their withdrawal.

Hidden Jun Village players unleashed a coordinated Wind Release: Rasenshuriken that devastated Kusagakure’s central battlefield, leaving both sides stunned. With the players drained of chakra and Kusagakure’s survivors too frightened to attack, the Hidden Jun squads began evacuating and treating their incapacitated fighters.

• Several Kusagakure Jonin split up as some fled and others headed toward the Official Residence, while four stayed because Bibiye held their families under his control.
• The Hidden Jun Village players activated their coordinated Spiral Shuriken, and its blast engulfed the battlefield in white light.
• The attack carved a crater nearly a hundred meters wide, vaporized weaker Grass Ninja Chunin, and left the surviving Kusagakure fighters stunned.
• The Hidden Jun players exhausted their chakra, while the surviving Kusagakure guards were too terrified to counterattack.
• Following the Master of Open Stratagems’ arrangements, Logistics Squad, reconnaissance squad, and Cavalry Squad moved incapacitated players to safety as Dai Xiaomei organized treatment and supplies.

After killing Bibiye, Ye Chen forced Kusagakure’s surviving fighters to choose between leaving, joining Hidden Jun Village, or challenging him. He prepared to return to Hidden Jun Village, leaving the players to sweep up the remaining opposition and take control of Kusagakure.

• Dai Xiaomei became frustrated by livestream comments as players immersed in the game felt increasingly disconnected from the real world.
• After confirming the area was safe, Ye Chen confronted Bibiye’s followers and the Kusagakure Jonin who had arrived.
• Ye Chen offered Kusagakure’s fighters the choice to leave, join Hidden Jun Village, or challenge him, and no one dared take the third option.
• Some fighters fled, while others stayed and pledged loyalty; Ye Chen planned to bring the willing high-level fighters into Hidden Jun Village.
• With Kusagakure’s senior fighters dealt with, Ye Chen prepared to return to Hidden Jun Village and leave the players to defeat the remaining opposition.

Ye Chen left Kusagakure’s remaining resistance to the players, who cleared the village for Contribution Points while some elite players went monster hunting outside. The players captured Kusagakure, and the system announced the battle’s rewards.

• Ye Chen let the players continue fighting and demolishing Kusagakure, expecting to redesign the village after incorporating it into Hidden Jun Village’s territory.
• Corpse Bearer, One Sword Opens Heaven, and other elite players left the army to hunt wild monsters outside Kusagakure.
• Players and livestream viewers discussed the battle’s rewards as the village neared full capture.
• The players defeated Kusagakure’s final gatekeeper, and the system declared the village occupied and tallied the rewards.
• The system awarded all villagers the title “Dual Ninja” and announced special rewards for Raijin, Corpse Bearer, and Master of Open Stratagems.

After the battle, players discussed their exclusive rewards and the advantages they might provide, while many Glory Legion members praised Master of Open Stratagems and others left the group. Master of Open Stratagems tried to keep the legion from losing more members by asking everyone about their settlement rewards, and his followers urged him to reveal his own.

• Players discussed the system's title and personal settlement rewards, including the six displayed stats and whether later players could catch up.
• Some players returned to town to check their mailboxes as the celebration and reward discussions wound down.
• Glory Legion members praised Master of Open Stratagems for being named by the system, while some players left the legion after the battle ended.
• Master of Open Stratagems considered the legion's losses and asked the chat what settlement rewards its members had received.
• Emperor of Sinking, Dai Xiaomei, and San Feng urged Master of Open Stratagems to reveal the rewards he had won.

Master of Open Stratagems drew the legion members into discussing the system's rewards and revealed his title and A-rank ninja tool. The players reacted to their powerful combination, while the battle's settlement rewards remained unannounced.

• Master of Open Stratagems teased Corpse Bearer and Bullfighting Master about their gains, then asked them to reveal their rewards too.
• Master of Open Stratagems used the lively discussion to hold the legion members' attention and prevent more players from leaving.
• Master of Open Stratagems revealed that his Master Strategist title permanently increased four attributes by five points each.
• Master of Open Stratagems showed that the Soulwood Casket could resurrect up to 100 corpses at once, three times per day, with a one-week cooldown.
• The legion members debated whether the rewards were unfair, and Master of Open Stratagems noted that the battle's settlement rewards had yet to be announced.