Chapter Summaries

After Tsunade praised the squad’s Medical Ninjutsu practice, Dan Katō treated his disciples to grilled game and offered to teach them his secret Spirit Activation Technique. He explained that the technique could develop Mental Energy and might prepare them to learn the dangerous Spirit Transformation Technique.

• Tsunade said Meikyō, Nami, and Ryo needed to master Fish Revival before they could prove themselves as qualified Medical Ninja.
• Meikyō and the others prepared wild game, and Dan Katō grilled it with Fire Style before the squad ate together.
• Dan Katō presented his Spirit Activation Technique, explaining that it developed Mental Energy and improved Chakra control and sensory abilities.
• Tsunade said the technique had helped her achieve the precise Chakra control needed for Medical Ninjutsu.
• Dan Katō said Meikyō’s naturally powerful Mental Energy might let him master the technique, then demonstrated how it could move a senbon without a medium.
• Dan Katō explained that reaching this level would qualify Meikyō, Nami, and Ryo to attempt the dangerous Spirit Transformation Technique.

Uchiha Fugaku arrived at the camp with an elite force and met with Meikyō, praising his battlefield record before offering to teach him Fire Style. Meikyō learned the Great Dragon Fire Technique under Fugaku’s instruction, impressing the clan head.

• Dan Katō and Tsunade left the camp after helping Meikyō and two others begin the Spirit Activation Technique, while Tsunade left them a list of medical books to study.
• Konoha sent Uchiha Fugaku and an elite force with supplies to support its alliance with Hanzo in the Land of Rain.
• Fugaku met Meikyō, praised his battlefield performance, and told him to uphold the Uchiha clan’s image.
• Meikyō answered that earning war merit and displaying strength were the best ways to represent the clan, satisfying Fugaku.
• Fugaku instructed Meikyō in Fire Style, and Meikyō successfully used the Great Dragon Fire Technique against a mountain wall.

Uchiha Fugaku gave Meikyō his notes on Fire Style Nature Transformation before leaving to lead the Uchiha to the front line. Three months of missions and training passed, and Meikyō’s squad continued practicing the Spirit Activation Technique, whose first two stages focused on meditation and controlling emotions.

• Uchiha Fugaku explained how Meikyō could further develop the Great Dragon Fire Technique and gave him a scroll recording his Fire Style training experience.
• Meikyō described Kato Squad’s second-line duties, which included guard work, supply escorts, and border scouting.
• Over the next three months, Meikyō, Inuzuka Ryo, and Aburame Nami completed more than thirty C-rank missions and trained intensively.
• Meikyō brought Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami out to train before dawn after they finished a supply escort mission.
• Meikyō reviewed the Spirit Activation Technique’s stages, explaining that meditation cleared distractions and that greater Mental Energy helped control emotions.

Meikyō studied Fire Style nature transformations and trained to increase the heat of his flames, while his squad continued its Spirit Activation Technique practice. The squad received orders to join Konoha’s large-scale campaign against Suna and prepared to head to the front lines.

• Meikyō compared the Fire Style scrolls from Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Yu, and Dan Katō, learning about the Uchiha’s Blast nature transformation and the more common high-temperature transformation.
• Meikyō practiced Fire Style: Great Fireball Style and judged that mastering Fire Style nature transformation required white flames, while Blast nature transformation required a blue core.
• Meikyō spent the day training, while Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo continued their Spirit Activation Technique practice.
• Inuzuka Gaku delivered news that Konoha was launching a large-scale campaign against Suna and transferring Meikyō’s squad to the front lines.
• Meikyō, Aburame Nami, and Inuzuka Ryo had one day to rest and resupply before joining other camp members on their march to the frontline camp.

Meikyō and his teammates joined the reserve force on the Land of Rain battlefield, where Dan Katō assured them they would only be deployed at critical moments. At camp, the squad prepared a hearty meal, drawing the attention of Maruboshi Kosuke.

• Meikyō and his teammates traveled to the front with two companies of Konoha shinobi.
• Dan Katō told his disciples that Orochimaru had assigned young, talented shinobi to the reserve force for use in emergencies or decisive battles.
• Meikyō unpacked cooking supplies and provisions at the squad’s campsite.
• Inuzuka Ryo supplied a rabbit, while Aburame Nami brought edible wild vegetables gathered by her insects.
• Meikyō demonstrated a Fire Style technique to cook without smoke, and Ryo used his clan technique to conceal scents and tracks.
• Maruboshi Kosuke smelled the food and approached the campsite.

Maruboshi Kosuke joined Meikyō, Inuzuka Ryo, and Aburame Nami at their camp and revealed his interest in Meikyō’s smokeless Fire Style. The chapter ended with Kosuke offering to teach Meikyō Second Hokage-derived Konoha Style Swordsmanship in exchange for learning the technique.

• Maruboshi Kosuke entered the genin’s tent unnoticed and asked to share their cooking.
• Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami realized Kosuke had skill far beyond an ordinary genin, while Meikyō recognized him from Uchiha Yu’s stories.
• Kosuke replaced Meikyō’s small pot with his own and watched Meikyō start a fire without producing smoke.
• Meikyō offered to teach Kosuke his secret Fire Style technique, hinting that he expected something in return.
• Kosuke offered to guide Meikyō in Konoha Style Swordsmanship, which had been passed down from the Second Hokage.

Meikyō learned Maruboshi Kosuke’s Konoha Style Swordsmanship: Willow before Konoha and Sunagakure assembled for a decisive battle in the Land of Rain. The battle began with Konoha destroying Sunagakure’s fortifications, but Rasa and Karura stopped the assault with walls of gold dust and earth.

• Meikyō helped Maruboshi Kosuke cook, then quickly mastered the Konoha Style Swordsmanship: Willow technique he taught him.
• Orochimaru assembled more than four thousand Konoha Ninja and handed command of the assault to the Nara Elder while he prepared to fight Sunagakure’s upper ranks.
• Chiyo led Sunagakure’s forces opposite Konoha, with Rasa and Karura among the defenders.
• Aburame Nami reported that the battle had begun, and Meikyō’s reserve force was ordered to remain in position.
• The Nara Elder ordered Jiraiya’s Earth Style squad to unleash Earth River Flow, which destroyed Sunagakure’s fortifications.
• Rasa and Karura raised walls of gold dust and earth to block the advancing mudslide, and Konoha carried out its next order.

Konoha and Sunagakure clashed in a major battle, with Konoha gaining ground until Sunagakure unleashed the One-Tail and spread poison across the battlefield. Tsunade identified and countered the poison, while the Nara Elder continued to hold back Konoha’s reserves.

• Konoha’s Water Style and Earth Style units destroyed Sunagakure’s defenses, and the main forces charged into close combat.
• Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade confronted Rasa, Karura, and Chiyo as Dan Katō and Kiyomi Kōtō led Konoha’s advance.
• Bunpuku was sent into battle, and the One-Tail appeared; Orochimaru summoned a Giant Purple Snake while Rasa pinned him down with Gold Dust.
• Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta to confront the One-Tail, while Kiyomi Kōtō and Dan Katō intercepted Karura.
• A green poison mist weakened Konoha fighters, and Tsunade used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to remove Chiyo’s poison from her body.

Tsunade countered Chiyo’s poison with Katsuyu, allowing Konoha’s reserve force to break through the Sand Ninja formation. Meikyō fought with his squad, drew the attention of a Sunagakure Special Jonin, and met his shuriken attack with his own technique.

• Tsunade summoned Katsuyu, whose tiny clones cured the poisoned Konoha Ninja and healed their wounds.
• The Nara Elder sent the reserve force into battle, and Konoha’s charge split the Sand Ninja formation.
• Meikyō awakened his Sharingan and fought alongside Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo, adjusting his attacks to conserve Chakra and stamina.
• Meikyō and his squad killed many Sand Ninja, prompting a Sunagakure Special Jonin to target them.
• After Nami warned him, Meikyō countered the Special Jonin’s shuriken with Uchiha Style: Controlled Shuriken Technique.

Uchiha Meikyō and his teammates nearly defeated a Suna Special Jonin through coordinated attacks, but a Sunagakure Jonin arrived and overwhelmed them. As the Jonin prepared to kill Meikyō, his Sharingan began evolving.

• Meikyō, Inuzuka Ryo, Tetsu Maru, and Aburame Nami fought the Suna Special Jonin, whose Wind Style gradually overcame Meikyō's Fire Style.
• Ryo and Tetsu Maru used their Two-Headed Wolf transformation while Nami trapped the Sand Ninja in a tornado of insects.
• Meikyō and Nami coordinated a sword attack, but another Sunagakure Jonin intervened and saved the Special Jonin.
• The Suna Jonin defeated Meikyō and left Ryo and Nami entangled with the Special Jonin.
• As the Suna Jonin raised his blade to kill Meikyō, Meikyō's Single Tomoe Sharingan began developing a second tomoe.

Maruboshi Kosuke saved Meikyō and his teammates from a Sunagakure jonin, then chased the enemy away. Meikyō’s Sharingan evolved during the battle, which ended with Sunagakure retreating after Rasa and Karura were badly injured.

• Maruboshi Kosuke blocked the Sunagakure jonin’s attack, defeated a special jonin, and forced the wounded jonin to retreat.
• Meikyō warned Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo to avoid jonin-level enemies and target weaker opponents, while Inuzuka Ryo noticed Meikyō’s Sharingan had gained another tomoe.
• Meikyō treated his wounds, and his squad continued fighting cautiously until the battle ended in the evening.
• Orochimaru badly injured Rasa, and Karura was severely injured after abandoning her opponent to save him, so Chiyo ordered Sunagakure to retreat.
• Dan Katō found Meikyō, Aburame Nami, and Inuzuka Ryo alive and explained that war was what Konoha had sought to end since its founding.

After the battle, Dan Katō brought Meikyō and his teammates to help treat Konoha’s many wounded, as the village had too few Medical Ninja. Meikyō treated Uchiha Fugaku’s wounds, and Fugaku asked about his Sharingan.

• Dan Katō healed Meikyō with the Healing Technique and asked him to help treat wounded Konoha Ninja.
• Dan Katō led his students to the frontline’s rear, where the shortage of Medical Ninja left them overwhelmed with patients.
• Meikyō used the Hemostasis Technique to treat lightly wounded shinobi, who asked that medicine be saved for more seriously injured comrades.
• Uchiha Fugaku arrived with several wounds, and Meikyō stitched and treated them without anesthetic.
• Fugaku told Meikyō that he had killed more than forty enemies, including four Jonin, then asked about Meikyō’s battle gains.
• Meikyō said his other gain was his Sharingan.

After awakening his Double Comma Sharingan, Meikyō spent three days treating wounded ninja before Dan Katō gave him and his teammates Chunin promotions. Asked what he thought about war, Meikyō questioned whether lasting peace had ever existed and paused while searching for an answer.

• Uchiha Fugaku praised Meikyō's newly awakened Double Comma Sharingan and promised him access to advanced clan techniques and personal guidance.
• Meikyō worked as a Medical Ninja for three exhausting days while Konoha treated casualties and sent recovering ninja back into action.
• Dan Katō gave Meikyō, Inuzuka Ryo, and Aburame Nami their Chunin promotion orders and arranged a day of rest.
• Inuzuka Ryo said war was cruel and vowed to give everything for the village, while Aburame Nami said war was not a good thing.
• Meikyō told Dan Katō that the Ninja World had known no true peace since the era of the First Hokage and fell silent as he considered how to answer further.

Meikyō shared his vision of peace with Dan Katō and Ryo, then learned that his newly promoted squad had been assigned to frontline intelligence reconnaissance. Meikyō Squad reached a rainforest northwest of the camp to search for enemy ninja.

• Meikyō argued that each generation could build on past efforts to bring peace, and Dan Katō was impressed by his interpretation of the Will of Fire.
• Shirakumo Tokinobu delivered green chunin vests to Meikyō, Aburame Nami, and Inuzuka Ryo, then assigned their squad to the Intelligence Reconnaissance Unit under Dan Katō.
• Shirakumo Tokinobu warned the squad that the Land of Rain front was likely to settle into a prolonged stalemate and that intelligence work would be dangerous.
• After a high-level meeting, Meikyō Squad received orders to search a forest fifty kilometers northwest of camp for Sand Ninja or other non-Konoha ninja.
• Meikyō Squad arrived at the rainforest before dawn and began its search.

Over the past half year, Meikyō improved his Fire Style and other abilities while leading his team through repeated intelligence missions. After intercepting information about Suna’s supply lines in the Land of Rain, Meikyō, Aburame Nami, and Inuzuka Ryo sheltered from the rain and shared a meal before tiny insects crawled onto Nami’s palm.

• Meikyō’s Double Comma Sharingan helped him copy ninjutsu and taijutsu, and his team easily completed its first mission against two Suna squads.
• For nearly half a year, Meikyō’s team carried out intelligence missions while he trained his Fire Style, swordsmanship, and other skills.
• Meikyō advanced his Fire Style and broadened his ninjutsu, though his young body limited his swordsmanship and he still fell short of Jonin strength.
• In the Land of Rain, Meikyō and his teammates finished a mission to intercept intelligence about Suna’s supply lines and found shelter in a ruined house.
• Meikyō cooked fish soup for Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo, and after they ate, tiny insects crawled onto Nami’s palm.

Aburame Nami discovered Sand and Rock Ninja meeting in the Land of Rain, and Uchiha Meikyō planned an ambush to intercept them. Meikyō's team reached a sparsely traveled forest and watched the Sand squad, preparing to strike.

• Aburame Nami reported that four Sand Ninja and four Rock Ninja, including Jonin-level fighters, were meeting west of town to exchange something before a possible operation.
• Uchiha Meikyō judged that the squads were likely preparing for a joint mission and assessed their Jonin as less dangerous than top-tier opponents.
• Meikyō proposed ambushing the Sand squad, killing one member immediately, and retreating at once if the opening attack failed.
• Meikyō, Inuzuka Ryo, and Aburame Nami traveled to a quiet forest, where Nami's insect began spying on the Sand squad.

Meikyō, Aburame Nami, and Inuzuka Ryo ambushed a Sand Ninja squad in the rain-soaked jungle and defeated its Jonin. They captured him alive and prepared to weaken him so Meikyō could interrogate him for intelligence.

• Aburame Nami, Inuzuka Ryo, and Meikyō coordinated an ambush, using Explosive Tags and a surprise attack to catch the Sand Ninja squad off guard.
• Tetsu Maru, disguised as Inuzuka Ryo, killed an ambushed Suna Chunin while Meikyō held off the Suna Jonin and Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo attacked the other Chunin.
• Meikyō used his Sharingan, genjutsu, and Fire Style to keep the Suna Jonin from aiding his subordinates until Aburame Nami and Inuzuka Ryo defeated their opponents.
• When the Suna Jonin tried to kill himself, Meikyō severed his arms and prevented him from biting his tongue.
• Meikyō ordered the team to cripple the captive and use Aburame Nami's Kikaichū and hallucinogenic methods to weaken him before interrogation.

Meikyō uncovered evidence that Sunagakure and Iwagakure planned to use a Jinchuriki in an ambush, but a sealing technique killed the captive before he could reveal the full plan. At the Konoha camp, Orochimaru and the others confirmed the intelligence and considered whether Tsunade or Orochimaru was the likely target.

• Meikyō used his Sharingan to interrogate Sabafuki, a Sunagakure Jonin, and learned that Sunagakure had thirty-seven Jonin in the Land of Rain.
• Sabafuki began revealing a plan involving Iwa's Jinchuriki surrounding and killing a Konoha ninja, but a seal in his brain activated and killed him.
• Meikyō ordered Inuzuka Ryo to take the Sand Ninja's heads back to camp for analysis and report to Dan Katō.
• Dan Katō shared Meikyō's recorded intelligence with Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Kiyomi Kōtō, and Yamanaka Inoichi reported that the evidence confirmed it.
• Orochimaru reasoned that Suna and Iwa would most likely target him or Tsunade, and explained that eliminating Tsunade would be especially damaging because her healing and detoxification skills were irreplaceable.

Orochimaru proposed using the threat to Tsunade as bait for a counterattack, and Dan Katō and Kiyomi Kōtō agreed to protect her. Dan later told Meikyō that his intelligence had earned an S-rank classification and that he was preparing for a dangerous mission.

• Orochimaru rejected Dan Katō’s proposal to focus only on protecting Tsunade and suggested turning the enemy’s plan into an ambush.
• Tsunade supported Orochimaru’s plan, and Kiyomi Kōtō agreed that it offered the best chance of victory while limiting casualties.
• Dan Katō and Kiyomi Kōtō volunteered to disguise themselves and accompany Tsunade, while Orochimaru arranged to lure in the enemy and summoned Jiraiya.
• Orochimaru said he would visit Hanzo, whose strength could aid the plan.
• Dan Katō told Meikyō that his intelligence had been classified as S-rank and that he would soon undertake a dangerous, important mission.

Meikyō wrestled with guilt after Kato Dan gave him the Kato Clan’s Spirit Transformation Technique scroll and left on a dangerous mission with Tsunade and Kiyomi Kōtō. After Konoha and Hanzo’s forces defeated the ambushing Suna and Iwa armies, Kato Dan was brought back gravely wounded, and Orochimaru said Tsunade could save him but trailed off before explaining further.

• Kato Dan gave Meikyō the Spirit Transformation Technique scroll and asked him to care for Kato Shizune if he did not return.
• Meikyō worried that the intelligence he had provided might lead to Kato Dan’s death.
• Kato Dan, Tsunade, and Kiyomi Kōtō left on their mission two days later.
• Konoha and Hanzo’s forces countered an ambush by Suna and Iwa, killing Bakuton Gari and severely wounding Rōshi and Rasa.
• Tsunade carried the unconscious, blood-covered Kato Dan into the camp’s operating room while Jiraiya and Kiyomi Kōtō followed, injured and exhausted.
• Orochimaru told Meikyō that Tsunade could pull Kato Dan out of life-threatening danger, but left his explanation unfinished.