Chapter Summaries

Meikyō survived the Xuanyuan Group’s attempt to take him down with them after Minato and Jiraiya helped him escape the blast. The attack left Meikyō suspecting a leak inside Konoha, while Danzō mistakenly believed the explosion had killed him and abandoned his plan to recruit him.

• Minato used Flying Thunder God to bring Meikyō to Jiraiya, who shielded them from the Xuanyuan Group’s enormous explosion with his hair.
• After the shockwave passed, Jiraiya praised Meikyō for surviving, while Minato and Meikyō saw that the blast had destroyed the Flying Thunder God marks in the area.
• Meikyō suspected that someone with access to Konoha’s S-rank mission details had exposed his location, and resolved to warn Tsunade and Kato Dan and stay wary.
• Danzō viewed the distant crater and assumed Meikyō had died in the explosion, then gave up on recruiting him and ordered his Root ninja to leave.

Ashina Tsuchida explained why the border outpost had lost most of its garrison and described a recent massacre in the Land of Tea. After returning to Konoha, Meikyō handed over the Thunder God Blade and submitted his report, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi to reassess the fourteen-year-old’s strength.

• Ashina Tsuchida told Minato Namikaze, Meikyō, Inuzuka Ryo, and Aburame Nami that a pursuit of the rogue ninja Bhiruho and a massacre in the Land of Tea had depleted the outpost’s garrison.
• Ashina Tsuchida said the Land of Tea’s capital had been slaughtered and its wandering ninja had disappeared without leaving bodies.
• Meikyō, Minato Namikaze, Inuzuka Ryo, and Aburame Nami rested overnight and then traveled back to Konoha.
• Meikyō presented the Thunder God Blade to the Third Hokage and submitted his mission report alongside Minato Namikaze’s.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi read Meikyō’s account of his encounters with Hanzo and the Xuanyuan Group, then wondered whether Meikyō might eventually awaken powers like Madara’s.

Hiruzen Sarutobi praised Meikyō and Minato Namikaze, using talk of the Hokage legacy and the Will of Fire to win their loyalty. Meikyō played along while privately recognizing Hiruzen's manipulation, and the chapter ended with Hiruzen recalling Meikyō's second granduncle, Kagami Uchiha.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi congratulated Meikyō for defeating the Xuanyuan Group and brought him and Minato to the window to speak as an elder.
• Minato Namikaze expressed his ambition to become Hokage while deferring to Hiruzen and other senior ninja.
• Meikyō praised Hiruzen's leadership, arguing that the Third Hokage faced greater challenges than the First and Second Hokage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi praised Meikyō's Hokage-like mindset, and Meikyō pretended to be deeply moved by the recognition.
• Meikyō called the Hokage succession the inheritance of the Will of Fire, prompting Hiruzen to compare him to Kagami Uchiha and recall their old squad.

Hiruzen Sarutobi invited Meikyō and Minato Namikaze to spar so he could guide them and assess their abilities. Their battle began in a guarded training ground, where Hiruzen demonstrated his powerful, versatile combat skills while the Nine-Tails reacted to Meikyō’s Sharingan.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Meikyō and Minato Namikaze to spar with him, and both agreed while Meikyō resolved not to reveal his full strength.
• Hiruzen brought them to a training ground behind Hokage Rock, where Tsunade and Kushina joined the guarded gathering.
• Minato attacked with Trident Kunai as Meikyō used his Three Tomoe Sharingan to cast the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, but Hiruzen evaded them with a substitution.
• The Nine-Tails sensed Mangekyo-level ocular power in Meikyō’s Sharingan and struggled against its chains, so Tsunade reinforced Kushina’s seal with the Five Elements Seal.
• Meikyō spotted Hiruzen underground and warned Minato before attacking with clones and Sun Breathing, but Hiruzen summoned Enma as the Adamantine Staff and fought them at close range.

Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Meikyō sparred with Hiruzen Sarutobi, combining their speed and techniques to pressure the Third Hokage before Tsunade ended the fight. Afterward, Hiruzen treated the two as promising future leaders of Konoha and gave them guidance in elemental ninjutsu.

• Minato Namikaze and Meikyō combined Wind Style and Fire Style, but Hiruzen Sarutobi countered their attack with a lightning-and-water dragon.
• Minato marked Meikyō and supplied him with a Trident Kunai, then coordinated a rapid assault with him that they jokingly called Super Gale Body Flicker Flash Style Two.
• Minato summoned Gamabunta while Meikyō summoned Katsuyu, but Hiruzen deflected Gamabunta and blocked Katsuyu's acid with an Earth Style Wall.
• Tsunade stopped the spar after Meikyō and Minato gave Hiruzen minor wounds, and she treated Minato and Meikyō while Meikyō healed Hiruzen.
• Hiruzen praised Meikyō, Minato, and Kushina as Konoha's future strength, then instructed Meikyō and Minato in elemental ninjutsu.

Meikyō was promoted to Jonin as Konoha learned that Sunagakure was preparing for war over the Third Kazekage’s disappearance. Dan Katō and Tsunade led Konoha’s western campaign, while Danzo was removed from Root; the chapter ended with them planning a defensive line in the Land of Rivers.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi promoted Meikyō to Jonin, then received word that Sunagakure blamed Konoha for the Third Kazekage’s disappearance and was preparing to attack.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi appointed Dan Katō commander of the western front and Tsunade his deputy, and Meikyō told them that Danzo had tried to target him.
• Tsunade and Dan Katō vowed to oppose Danzo, and Hiruzen Sarutobi removed Shimura Danzō as Root’s leader and appointed Orochimaru in his place.
• Dan Katō and Tsunade led 3,500 Konoha Ninja out of the village toward the Land of Rivers as villagers, including Uchiha Yu and Shisui, watched them depart.
• In the Land of Rivers, Tsunade and Dan Katō discussed establishing a defensive line to contain Sunagakure’s invasion and prepare for a counterattack.

Dan Katō and Tsunade planned to locate Suna’s main forces, while Uchiha Meikyō’s task force tracked enemy movements. Hizashi Hyuga and Inuzuka Ryo found a Suna temporary base with about twenty people, and the team crept closer.

• Dan Katō explained that the forces needed to pin down Suna’s main army and said Meikyō’s scouting mission would gather intelligence on its location and strength.
• Hizashi Hyuga reported traces of enemy movement, and Ise Niinami proposed that his squad lead while Meikyō stayed in the rear.
• Meikyō and Hizashi insisted that their squads should take the lead, so Ise arranged the three squads in an inverted-triangle formation.
• Hizashi used the Byakugan to find hidden tracks, and Inuzuka Ryo followed the enemy’s scent to guide the team onward.
• Hizashi spotted a temporary base about one kilometer ahead with around twenty people, and Ise ordered the team to approach.

Meikyō led a swift assault on the Sunagakure stronghold, where Yamanaka Shin uncovered intelligence about a poison-production base run by Chiyo. Hizashi Hyuga spotted Chiyo’s force approaching, and Meikyō summoned Katsuyu as the threat drew near.

• Meikyō charged the stronghold, and Ise Niinami, Hizashi Hyuga, and their squad followed after him.
• Meikyō slaughtered nearly all the Sunagakure ninja while Hizashi subdued an enemy and Ise’s team stopped those trying to escape.
• Yamanaka Shin interrogated two captured Sand Ninja and learned about the Puppet Force, its poison production, and the main Suna army’s encampment.
• Hizashi spotted Chiyo leading a force toward them from one kilometer away, and Ise warned that she was too powerful for an ordinary Jonin.
• Meikyō summoned Katsuyu as Chiyo’s force approached.

Meikyō sent intelligence about Chiyo to Tsunade and then fought Chiyo as his group fled. He damaged several of her puppets, but Chiyo unleashed the Three Treasures Absorption, leaving Meikyō searching for a way to counter it.

• Meikyō had Katsuyu deliver intelligence about Chiyo to Tsunade, then withdrew with Hizashi Hyuga and the others after killing two Sand Ninja.
• Chiyo pursued Meikyō's group, which encountered a Suna patrol; Meikyō turned back to hold her off while the others continued.
• Chiyo summoned the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, and Meikyō used the Mirror Body Flicker Technique and his Sharingan-guided shuriken to counter her attacks.
• Meikyō used Sun Breathing to destroy or damage three of Chiyo's puppets, but Chiyo blocked his final slashes and fired needles at him.
• Chiyo activated Three Treasures Absorption, forcing Meikyō to retreat and consider how to destroy the sealing technique from a distance.

Meikyō and Tsunade drove Chiyo’s forces into retreat, and Meikyō cut off Chiyo’s arm with a powerful fire technique. After returning to camp, Tsunade began analyzing the poison on the Sand Ninja weapons with Meikyō’s help, while Chiyo ordered Rasa to identify Meikyō and warn the Sand Ninja about him.

• Meikyō prepared to use his Mangekyo against Chiyo, but Tsunade arrived and destroyed one of the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets.
• Chiyo ordered the Sand Ninja to retreat and used the puppets to cover their withdrawal, but Meikyō unleashed Sun Halo Dragon Dance and smashed through their defenses.
• Meikyō cut down a Sand puppeteer and severed Chiyo’s arm as she escaped, while Tsunade and Ise Niinami recognized his strength.
• Tsunade treated the wounded Konoha Ninja and directed Meikyō to collect poison samples for analysis.
• Chiyo returned to the Sand Ninja encampment, told Karura that Tsunade’s disciple had wounded her, and ordered Rasa to investigate Meikyō and warn the Sand Ninja about him.

Meikyō and Tsunade developed medicine that delayed Chiyo’s poison, but Sunagakure attacked the Konoha camp before the troops could rest. Meikyō fought through the Sand Ninja and faced Chiyo alongside Tsunade, while Karura joined Chiyo and Rasa struggled against Dan Katō.

• Chiyo told Karura that she would replace her lost arm with a chakra-conductive puppet mechanism and urged Rasa to attack before Tsunade could study the poison.
• Tsunade and Meikyō analyzed the poison and created medicine that delayed its effects for at least five hours, then ordered the Medical Corps to produce it.
• After Meikyō had rested for just over an hour, Inuzuka Ryo warned that a large Sand Ninja force was approaching the camp, and Dan Katō ordered Konoha's forces to prepare defenses.
• Rasa attacked the camp with Magnet Release, and Dan Katō met him with his mental power while Meikyō cut down Sand Ninja on the battlefield.
• Chiyo confronted Meikyō with the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, but Tsunade joined Meikyō, and Karura came to Chiyo's aid.
• Dan Katō battered Rasa's sand-gold defense, while Chiyo and Karura prepared to fight Meikyō and Tsunade together.

Meikyō, Tsunade, and Dan Katō fought Chiyo, Karura, and Rasa as the poison on the battlefield failed to incapacitate the Konoha Ninja quickly enough. Dan Katō and Tsunade helped break the Sand Ninja defense, forcing Chiyo to order a retreat, and Konoha won the battle before withdrawing to treat the poisoned ninja.

• Meikyō and Tsunade combined their techniques to counter Karura's sand and Chiyo's puppets, while Dan Katō gained the upper hand against Rasa.
• Chiyo expected her poison to weaken the Konoha Ninja, but Tsunade's special medicine delayed its effects, and Chiyo ordered Karura to retreat with Rasa.
• Meikyō attacked Chiyo with the Sun Halo Dragon, but Rasa and Karura shielded her with a massive barrier of Gold Dust and sand.
• Tsunade shattered the barrier, and Dan Katō followed with a Psychic Shockwave that injured Chiyo and Karura and left Rasa nearly unconscious.
• Dan Katō ordered the Konoha Ninja to pursue the retreating Sand Ninja, then called them back when the delayed poison began affecting their ranks.
• Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami survived the battle, and Inuzuka Ryo collapsed after Konoha's victory.

Aburame Nami used her newly bred medical insects to detoxify Inuzuka Ryo and Tetsu Maru, then brought them to Meikyō and Tsunade for examination. Tsunade recognized the insects’ potential and assigned Nami to help the Medical Corps treat the wounded.

• Inuzuka Ryo planned to seek help from the Medical Corps, but Aburame Nami offered her medical insects to treat his poisoning and injuries.
• Aburame Nami explained that the insects descended from a mutated Kikaichū and could consume toxins while healing tissue, then made Inuzuka Ryo swallow them.
• Inuzuka Ryo vomited out the insects, which died after exposure to his toxins, while Tetsu Maru reluctantly underwent the same treatment.
• Aburame Nami took Inuzuka Ryo and Tetsu Maru to Meikyō and Tsunade, who confirmed that both were safe after Meikyō examined them.
• Aburame Nami described her limited supply of medical insects, and Tsunade assigned her to the Medical Corps, offering Katsuyu’s Chakra to support her work.

Tsunade made Meikyō responsible for teaching Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami Medical Ninjutsu after accepting both as disciples. Meanwhile, Kumogakure deployed troops against the Land of Fire, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s leaders to decide how to respond.

• Tsunade accepted Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami as disciples and tasked Meikyō with teaching them Medical Ninjutsu.
• The Third Raikage agreed with the Fourth Raikage to send seven thousand troops toward the Land of Fire while keeping forces ready to guard against or attack Ōnoki’s forces.
• Kumogakure deployed seven thousand troops toward the Land of Fire, alarming Konoha.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi called a high-level meeting with Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, Shimura Danzō, and Orochimaru to discuss what Konoha should do.

Orochimaru was appointed to lead Konoha’s remaining elite forces against Kumogakure, while Meikyō was tasked with infiltrating Suna’s poison production base to steal its core documents. Meikyō’s team reached the waterfall concealing the base and began searching for a way inside.

• Shimura Danzō proposed making Orochimaru commander of the force sent to the Land of Hot Water, and Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned him five thousand shinobi to hold back Kumogakure.
• Dan Katō summoned Meikyō and explained that he would lead a secret mission to steal the core poison-production documents from Suna’s new base, with Dan accompanying him using the Spirit Transformation Technique.
• Dan Katō assembled Meikyō’s team with Inuzuka Gaku, Hizashi Hyuga, and Aburame Shikuroo, then ordered them to depart immediately under S-rank secrecy.
• Dan Katō guided the team toward the base hidden behind a waterfall, while Hizashi Hyuga used his Byakugan to detect a sealing barrier carved into the mountain.
• Meikyō instructed his teammates to continue cautiously toward the waterfall, where the team arrived and prepared to investigate the concealed entrance.

Meikyō’s team infiltrated Sunagakure’s poison facility and brought back the data Tsunade needed to develop an antidote. Dan Katō launched Konoha’s counterattack ahead of schedule, and Meikyō fought Sand Ninja as Rasa and Chiyo prepared to respond.

• Meikyō, Hizashi Hyuga, and Aburame Shikuroo slipped through the barrier at the waterfall, copied the poison preparation records, and escaped without being detected.
• Tsunade examined Chiyo’s new poison, while Dan Katō said Rasa needed at least another week to recover and Konoha had time to make an antidote.
• Chiyo told Rasa that Sunagakure’s new poison was ready, and Rasa planned to counterattack once his injuries healed.
• Dan Katō learned Sunagakure intended to attack in three days and ordered Konoha’s forces to march against the Suna camp immediately.
• Rasa learned of Konoha’s advance and prepared to meet it, while Meikyō cut down Sand Ninja and wounded a Jonin who tried to stop him.

Meikyō and the Konoha forces defeated Sunagakure again, forcing Chiyo, Rasa, and Karura to retreat toward the border of River Country. Chiyo identified Saki, Yakushi Nonō’s alias, as the spy who had compromised Suna’s poison, while discontent over the repeated defeats threatened Rasa’s position.

• Meikyō killed a Suna Jonin, then charged Chiyo while Inuzuka Gaku and Hizashi Hyuga engaged the other Suna elites.
• Chiyo and Meikyō’s duel escalated until Rasa, Karura, Dan Katō, and Tsunade joined the battle.
• Chiyo, Rasa, and Karura realized Konoha had neutralized Suna’s poison and suspected a spy had leaked it.
• Meikyō, Tsunade, and Dan broke through the sand-and-gold-dust defenses and helped Konoha suppress Suna’s forces.
• After fighting until night, Suna retreated with most of its main force, and Konoha withdrew after a brief pursuit.
• Chiyo learned that Saki had not returned and concluded that Yakushi Nonō had fled after being exposed as Konoha’s spy.

After Suna’s defeat, Tsunade and Meikyō recruited Yakushi Nonō into the Medical Corps by promising support for her orphanage, provoking Danzo. As Iwagakure prepared to join the war and an alliance with the Land of Water failed, the conflict widened and intensified over the following two years.

• Chiyo recovered from Suna’s defeat and vowed that the war against Konoha, Tsunade, and Meikyō was not over.
• Tsunade and Meikyō urged Yakushi Nonō to leave Root and join the Medical Corps, and Nonō agreed after they promised annual funding for her orphanage.
• Danzo protested Nonō’s transfer to Hiruzen, then reported that Ōnoki was preparing to attack the Land of Fire and sought more Root personnel.
• Hiruzen ordered Danzo to sow discord among the great nations and limited Root’s expansion, barring recruits from the Uchiha and Hyūga clans.
• Homura’s mission to the Land of Water failed, and Iwagakure’s entry expanded the war before more than two years passed amid escalating battles.

Uchiha Meikyō helped Tsunade’s team save Inuzuka Ōi after a battle with Rasa, while Konoha’s leaders suspected Suna was preparing a major offensive with the One-Tail as its trump card. Rasa learned that Bunpuku would cooperate with Shukaku only if Suna granted the tailed beast freedom after Bunpuku’s death, and Shukaku demanded at least three years.

• Meikyō, Tsunade, and the Medical Corps removed gold dust and toxins from Inuzuka Ōi and used the Regenerative Healing Technique to stabilize him.
• Tsunade told Inuzuka Tsume and Inuzuka Gaku that Ōi had survived but needed at least half a year to recover and could no longer serve on the front lines.
• Meikyō, Tsunade, and Dan Katō concluded that Suna’s escalating attacks might be preparation for a decisive campaign backed by the Tailed Beast.
• Rasa asked Chiyo and Bunpuku whether they could deploy and control the One-Tail in the coming war.
• Bunpuku said Shukaku would cooperate if Suna granted him freedom after Bunpuku died, but Rasa refused; Shukaku then requested at least three years of freedom.

Rasa and Bunpuku brought Shukaku to the battlefield as Suna attacked Konoha, while both Rasa and Shukaku secretly planned to betray their agreement. Konoha’s experts engaged Suna’s forces, and the chapter left Dan Katō fighting Shukaku after the beast emerged.

• Rasa agreed to Bunpuku’s proposal while secretly planning to seal Shukaku into a new vessel, and Shukaku planned to escape.
• Rasa led the Sand Ninja in another attack on Konoha, prompting Minato Namikaze to join Dan Katō, Tsunade, and Meikyō.
• Meikyō fought Rasa, Tsunade held off Karura, and Minato Namikaze confronted Chiyo.
• Bunpuku released Shukaku, who emerged and began rampaging toward Konoha’s forces.
• Dan Katō attacked Shukaku with telekinesis, and Shukaku countered with sand and Wind Style.