Recaps

After returning to Konoha with Yashamaru, Xia Yan invited Kakashi to visit the Heroes' Cemetery during their time off. On the way, they sensed chakra signatures tracking them and discovered seals designed to block sensory ninja.

• Xia Yan and Kakashi brought Yashamaru back to Konoha and handed him over to the Anbu.
• Xia Yan asked Kakashi how he planned to spend their two days off, then suggested visiting the Heroes' Cemetery.
• Kakashi agreed to accompany Xia Yan and chose to visit Rin and Obito as an Anbu member.
• As Xia Yan and Kakashi crossed a secluded forest, they sensed several chakra signatures following them.
• Xia Yan detected sealing formulas meant to thwart sensory ninja and wondered whether he had found the people he suspected.

Xia Yan and Kakashi encountered hostile Root ninja near a concealed underground entrance, and an apparent Root leader stopped the confrontation. After Xia Yan identified them as Anbu, the man recognized Kakashi and reflected that the newly recruited Root ninja had acted recklessly.

• Xia Yan assessed Root’s weakened state and recalled Danzo’s political defeat and his own past encounter with Root.
• Armed ninja in Anbu attire emerged and took a hostile stance toward Xia Yan and Kakashi, who prepared to defend themselves.
• A man emerged from a concealed underground entrance, ordered the ninja to stop, and asked whether Xia Yan and Kakashi were Anbu.
• Xia Yan identified himself as Nightingale, captain of Squad Five, and named Kakashi White Fang while asking which division the man belonged to.
• The man recognized Kakashi by his Sharingan and worried that the inexperienced Root ninja had tried to intercept two people they could not safely attack.

Xia Yan defused the confrontation with Danzo’s men and left the forest with Kakashi, while secretly identifying their watcher as Aburame Ryoma. He and Kakashi were no longer followed once they left the area, but Xia Yan suspected the guarded basement was a Root laboratory connected to Orochimaru.

• Xia Yan agreed to keep the encounter and location out of his report, except that he would tell Lord Hokage the truth if asked.
• Kakashi asked who the men were, but Xia Yan told him to follow Anbu confidentiality rules and forget the incident.
• Xia Yan signaled that someone was listening and sensed chakra-bearing insects following them.
• Xia Yan identified the watcher as Aburame Ryoma and suspected the basement was a joint Root and Orochimaru laboratory.
• The insects stopped following Xia Yan and Kakashi after they left the forest.

Danzo learned that Xia Yan and Kakashi had encountered Root, then ordered the matter watched and his subordinates punished. At Rin and Obito’s graves, Kakashi confessed that he felt like a failure, and Xia Yan began to answer him.

• Aburame Ryoma told Danzo that Xia Yan and Kakashi had encountered Root after returning from a mission, and Danzo ordered the matter to end while keeping watch on them.
• Xia Yan and Kakashi went to the Heroes' Cemetery and stood before Rin Nohara’s and Obito Uchiha’s graves.
• Kakashi asked Xia Yan whether he was someone worth envying and admitted he felt responsible for killing Rin and betraying Obito’s trust.
• Xia Yan stopped Kakashi’s self-recrimination and told him that failure was the main theme of life.

Xia Yan helped Kakashi reconsider his guilt over Rin and Obito’s deaths, urging him to face failure and live on carrying their will. Kakashi resolved to protect Konoha and the people he cherished, while Xia Yan left him with a hint to ask the Fourth Hokage about certain people.

• Xia Yan told Kakashi that failure was part of life and that maturity meant facing shortcomings instead of being trapped by past mistakes.
• Kakashi listened as Xia Yan encouraged him to live on in honor of Rin and Obito’s sacrifices.
• Xia Yan told Kakashi he could ask Lord Fourth Hokage about those people, then disappeared into the night.
• Kakashi reflected at Rin and Obito’s gravestones and resolved to carry their will and live bravely.
• Kakashi vowed to protect Konoha and everyone he cherished so that Rin and Obito’s sacrifices would not be wasted.

Xia Yan reflected on his obligations to the Senju Clan and the uncertain futures of both founding clans before heading to a Konoha training ground. There, he recognized a familiar Uchiha girl who was likely his former deskmate, Uchiha Sora.

• Xia Yan slipped a mission report into an elder’s cabin, acknowledging his role as a Senju Clan spy and his debt to the clan.
• Xia Yan considered the Senju Clan’s decline and the Uchiha Clan’s internal divisions, concluding that neither clan would fare well.
• Xia Yan went to a Konoha training ground and judged that none of the early-morning ninja present were suitable sparring partners.
• Xia Yan spotted a Uchiha girl practicing with kunai and suspected she was his former deskmate, Uchiha Sora.

Xia Yan ran into his former deskmate Uchiha Sora at a training ground and caught up with her while concealing his Anbu identity. Sora said she planned to join Konoha’s Medical Department, and Xia Yan encouraged her to keep pursuing it.

• Xia Yan recognized Uchiha Sora at the training ground and accepted her invitation to share it.
• Sora recognized Xia Yan as Fukami Natsuhiko, and he said he was a low-ranking ninja who went on missions.
• Sora told Xia Yan she had served in the Land of Whirlpools, returned after the war with Kirigakure, and hoped to join the Medical Department.
• Xia Yan encouraged Sora’s plan and said he might need her help in the future.
• Xia Yan reflected on the contrast between the gentle Uchiha women and the men of the clan.

Xia Yan trained while Uchiha Sora watched and considered how she might help him. In Konoha, Minato Namikaze reviewed Kakashi and Xia Yan’s mission report about capturing Yashamaru, then reacted with alarm to the next scroll.

• Xia Yan doubted Uchiha Sora could enter the Medical Department but chose not to discourage her ambitions.
• Xia Yan practiced basic training while Uchiha Sora watched and wondered whether his limited access to ninjutsu was holding him back.
• Minato Namikaze read Kakashi’s report about the mission and considered how Konoha could use Yashamaru’s capture without provoking a war.
• Minato Namikaze praised Kakashi and Xia Yan for completing the mission, then opened another scroll from Kakashi.
• Minato Namikaze’s expression changed as he read the second scroll.

Minato Namikaze read Kakashi’s report and suspected that Root and Orochimaru were involved in human experimentation beneath Konoha, resolving to investigate the hidden basement. He recognized how Xia Yan had helped Kakashi and sent him to find his captain, while planning to meet Xia Yan himself.

• Minato Namikaze read Xia Yan’s report and suspected Root’s interest in the hidden basement was connected to Orochimaru’s human experiments.
• Minato Namikaze decided to uncover what was inside the basement and considered thanking Xia Yan for helping Kakashi.
• Minato Namikaze dismissed Kakashi and told him to bring Xia Yan to meet him after their days off.
• Kakashi went to Xia Yan’s home, learned he was training nearby, and hurried to the training ground.
• Kakashi found Xia Yan in the training ground’s innermost section and called out to his captain.

While on leave, Xia Yan encountered Kakashi, who told him that Minato wanted to meet with him. Xia Yan agreed to go in two days, when his leave ended, and considered how his pursuit of the Flying Thunder God had affected his judgment.

• Xia Yan turned to greet Kakashi at the training ground, surprising Uchiha Sora when Kakashi called him captain.
• Xia Yan reflected on Konoha’s system for selecting and training promising young shinobi.
• Kakashi told Xia Yan that Minato wanted to see him.
• Kakashi explained that Minato wanted Xia Yan to come in two days, after his leave ended.
• Xia Yan understood Minato’s timing and reflected that his desire to learn the Flying Thunder God might be clouding his judgment.

Xia Yan invited Kakashi to spar, both to test their abilities and to ease the awkwardness between them. They exchanged kunai at high speed, and Xia Yan pressed his advantage as the spar continued.

• Xia Yan thanked Kakashi for explaining the situation and invited him to spar.
• Kakashi accepted, curious to see how Xia Yan would fight while holding back.
• Uchiha Sora moved aside to watch as Xia Yan and Kakashi began their spar.
• Xia Yan and Kakashi crossed blades, then threw kunai that clashed in midair.
• Xia Yan charged faster and tried to overwhelm Kakashi before he could copy his movements.

Xia Yan and Kakashi escalated their spar, testing their speed, senses, and Earth Release techniques. As Kakashi struck at a chakra eruption beneath the ground, he sensed another eruption elsewhere.

• Xia Yan blocked Kakashi's low kick, swept at him, and dodged the kunai Kakashi threw while retreating.
• Kakashi used Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears, but Xia Yan evaded them and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
• Kakashi substituted a wooden log for himself, then charged Xia Yan, and the two fought at high speed with taijutsu.
• Xia Yan summoned an Earth and Stone Dragon, and Kakashi countered with an Earth-Style Wall as nearby ninja watched the clash.
• Kakashi detected chakra erupting underground and stabbed at it, then sensed another chakra eruption on the opposite side.

Kakashi reflected on his defeat by Xia Yan and resolved to follow his advice and live on while carrying Obito and Rin’s wills. Uchiha Sora returned home remembering Xia Yan from their school days and was stunned by how formidable he had become.

• Kakashi returned home sore from sparring with Xia Yan and realized Xia Yan could use both Water Release and Earth Release.
• Kakashi recalled how Xia Yan used clones and misdirection to exploit the Sharingan and defeat him.
• Kakashi remembered Obito, Rin, Might Guy, and Xia Yan, then vowed to carry Obito and Rin’s wills and live bravely.
• Uchiha Sora recalled her school days with Xia Yan, her worry when he went to war, and how she had followed news of him after they parted.
• Uchiha Sora unexpectedly met Xia Yan again at a training ground and saw how formidable he had become.

Xia Yan returned from leave and met with Minato Namikaze, who thanked him for helping Kakashi recover and offered to reward him by supporting his study of Sealing Jutsu. The meeting stayed formal and left Xia Yan wondering about the Anbu’s ties to the Fourth Hokage and the unresolved underground laboratory.

• Xia Yan used his spar with Kakashi to help explain his years of absence and reinforce his cover as Kakashi’s former teammate.
• Xia Yan went to the Hokage Building to meet Minato Namikaze after his leave ended.
• Minato Namikaze thanked Xia Yan for helping Kakashi improve and said Kakashi was his only remaining student.
• Xia Yan confirmed that he wanted to learn Sealing Jutsu, and Minato Namikaze offered him a reward.
• Xia Yan noticed that Minato Namikaze did not ask about the underground laboratory and questioned why the Anbu received so few orders from him.

Xia Yan left his meeting with Minato Namikaze suspecting that Minato was trying to communicate with him beyond the Third Hokage’s watch. He discovered the Flying Thunder God Cursed Seal hidden in Minato’s scroll and decided to contact him first.

• Xia Yan considered the tension between Minato Namikaze and the Third Hokage’s faction, especially over the Uchiha.
• Xia Yan left the Hokage Building with Minato Namikaze’s scroll and hid himself in the shadows.
• Xia Yan reflected on the Sealing Jutsu he believed remained hidden in the abandoned Uzumaki residence and in the Senju Clan’s care.
• Xia Yan sensed a Flying Thunder God Cursed Seal concealed inside Minato Namikaze’s introductory Sealing Jutsu scroll.
• Xia Yan decided to activate the Cursed Seal and contact Minato Namikaze, intending to be candid about knowing Flying Thunder God and his Senju identity.

Minato Namikaze reflected on the political difficulties of being Hokage and hoped Xia Yan could help him understand the Anbu. After Xia Yan activated one of Minato’s Flying Thunder God marks, the two met in a forest and agreed to work together.

• Minato remembered how a proposal concerning the Uchiha Clan had been blocked and considered how Xia Yan might help him within the Anbu.
• Minato sensed that someone had activated his Flying Thunder God mark in a remote corner of Konoha and went to investigate.
• Minato found Xia Yan waiting in the forest beside a Sealing Jutsu scroll and addressed him as Nightingale.
• Xia Yan revealed that Minato could also call him Senju Natsuhiko, and explained that his candor showed respect.
• Minato accepted Xia Yan’s openness and said he looked forward to working with him.

Xia Yan explained to Minato Namikaze why he had sought him out, assuring him that he wanted Konoha to avoid conflict while Minato reclaimed the Hokage’s authority. Minato agreed to receive intelligence from Xia Yan and personally teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique, leaving Xia Yan surprised that Sealing Jutsu was not mentioned.

• Xia Yan removed his mask and explained that he had approached Minato because the Third Hokage’s influence blocked Minato’s orders, including within the Anbu.
• Minato questioned whether Xia Yan meant to turn him against the Third Hokage, and Xia Yan denied it, warning that conflict would harm Konoha after the war.
• Xia Yan admitted he wanted to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique and hoped Minato would become the true Hokage without harming Konoha.
• Xia Yan said his hopes were his own rather than the Senju Clan’s official position, and Minato asked him to provide intelligence about the Anbu and Konoha’s internal affairs.
• Minato offered to personally teach Xia Yan the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Xia Yan wondered why Minato had not offered to teach him Sealing Jutsu first.

Xia Yan reflected on Minato’s offer to teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique and sealing jutsu, then learned from Kakashi that Kakuzu had killed two teams in the Second Division. The chapter ended with Xia Yan discovering that the killings were connected to him and Kakashi.

• Xia Yan considered Minato’s offer to teach him the complete Flying Thunder God Technique and planned to pursue sealing jutsu as well.
• Kakashi told Xia Yan that Minato wanted to teach him sealing jutsu, and Kakashi was pleased that they would become senior and junior disciples.
• Kakashi informed Xia Yan that one person had wiped out Team 5 and Team 9 of the Second Division.
• Kakashi revealed that Kakuzu had killed the two teams and that the matter involved him and Xia Yan.

Xia Yan and Kakashi discussed Kakuzu’s retaliation and the deaths of two Anbu members, then considered their understaffed squad. The chapter ended with Xia Yan recording details about their attackers for the Hokage as part of a mission.

• Kakashi told Xia Yan that Kakuzu had killed two members of their squad, and Xia Yan realized the Captain’s earlier transfers had been a warning about the danger he had brought upon them.
• Xia Yan reassured Kakashi that they had reported the Kakuzu incident and had no reason to risk their lives trying to kill him.
• Xia Yan decided to leave the squad’s two vacancies open rather than rush to recruit and train replacements.
• Kakashi asked whether his earlier slip of the tongue had caused trouble, and Xia Yan assured him that it had not.
• Xia Yan began writing a report about the people who had tried to attack them, explaining to Kakashi that it was for the Hokage and part of his mission.

Xia Yan prepared intelligence about the Anbu to give Minato Namikaze when he learned the Flying Thunder God Technique. He considered ways to increase his chakra and decided the unclaimed Ryūmyaku hidden in Rōran might be worth pursuing once he learned Sealing Jutsu.

• Xia Yan prepared to report the Root members and Underground Laboratory he had encountered to Minato Namikaze as a token of sincerity.
• Xia Yan speculated that learning the Flying Thunder God Technique could raise his strength to elite jonin or Kage level, though his limited chakra would restrict its use.
• Xia Yan dismissed tailed beasts as impractical chakra sources because of his strength, position, and the dangers surrounding them.
• Xia Yan recalled the Ryūmyaku in Rōran and resolved to investigate it after learning Sealing Jutsu.

Xia Yan considered how to grow strong enough to become the Shinobi World's biggest boss, settling on collecting chakra of every nature as a possible route to Kekkei Mōra and Truth-Seeking Orbs. He acknowledged that fusion remained a major obstacle and finished writing notes while keeping Orochimaru as a last resort.

• Xia Yan decided to focus on improving his strength before planning a future search for the Ryūmyaku.
• Xia Yan ruled out pursuing Indra's and Asura's chakra, since he was not their reincarnation and feared attracting Hagoromo Otsutsuki's attention.
• Xia Yan identified his cheat's ability to obtain every chakra nature as a potential path to Truth-Seeking Orbs and Kekkei Mōra.
• Xia Yan considered using his cheat to find a Fusion Seed and create a Fusion Fruit, but admitted he had not yet figured out how to fuse chakra natures.
• Xia Yan considered asking Orochimaru for help as a last resort, then finished his notes and set down his pen.

After more than a month of easy missions with Kakashi, Xia Yan earned three days off and found that his Intermediate Senjutsu Seed had grown. Returning home, he discovered someone had cleaned his room and wondered whether the clan was arranging a marriage for him.

• Xia Yan and Kakashi completed a month of missions, and their strong performance earned them three days off.
• Xia Yan checked his panel and saw that his Intermediate Senjutsu Seed had reached 85% maturity.
• Xia Yan slipped a scroll into the elder's house and waited until someone inside took it.
• Xia Yan returned home, found it had been cleaned, and speculated that the clan might be arranging a fiancée for him.

Xia Yan met Minato Namikaze in a secluded forest and gave him a report on suspected Third Hokage loyalists within the Anbu and Root. Minato questioned the report’s reliability, while Xia Yan explained that he had gathered and personally verified the intelligence through his Senju Clan connections.

• Xia Yan used Minato’s Flying Thunder God mark to summon him to a secluded forest.
• Xia Yan handed Minato a scroll listing suspected Third Hokage followers in key Anbu positions and one captain loyal to an unknown person.
• Minato asked whether Xia Yan could vouch for the report, and Xia Yan said it included both firsthand knowledge and conjecture.
• Xia Yan admitted that he had investigated the Anbu for the Senju Clan, and Minato confirmed he had seen similar reports before.
• Xia Yan said the intelligence had been personally confirmed through his own work and the Senju Clan’s resources.

Xia Yan gave Minato Namikaze intelligence suggesting Shimura Danzō had placed a captain inside the Anbu before Minato became Hokage, prompting Minato to suspect hidden struggles within Konoha. After deciding to investigate the claims himself, Minato burned the scroll and prepared to teach Xia Yan sealing jutsu and the Flying Thunder God Technique.

• Minato Namikaze questioned Xia Yan about sharing the Senju Clan's intelligence and the unknown captain's affiliation.
• Xia Yan named Shimura Danzō as the person connected to the captain and said the captain had chosen him before Minato became Hokage.
• Minato connected the intelligence to Danzo's past political maneuvering and resolved to verify the claims personally.
• Minato burned Xia Yan's scroll and offered to teach him sealing jutsu and the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Xia Yan studied sealing jutsu under Minato Namikaze for three days, earning Minato’s trust and receiving instruction in the basic Flying Thunder God seal. As Xia Yan rested after Minato left, his system detected a special plant and identified a basic sealing-type seed.

• Minato Namikaze taught Xia Yan sealing jutsu and shared insights into Flying Thunder God over three days.
• Minato Namikaze verified some of Xia Yan’s information and grew to appreciate his talent, then said he might become Xia Yan’s teacher if the opportunity arose.
• Minato Namikaze inscribed a basic Flying Thunder God seal on a tree and told Xia Yan to study how it was made.
• Minato Namikaze departed, and Xia Yan rested against the tree after training.
• Xia Yan’s system detected a plant with special attributes and identified it as a basic sealing-type seed.