Chapter Summaries

Toyotomi Yinglang and his advisers examined how Hiruzen Sarutobi used Konoha’s academy system to absorb talented commoners into his clan and secure their loyalty. Yinglang told Tsunade that the Empire could eventually save the Shinobi World, while Mikoto took comfort in the Empire’s existence and hope for herself and Yun Jing.

• Yutian and Sasori argued that the Shinobi World was too insular to recognize the Empire or defend itself from outsiders.
• Toyotomi Yinglang presented intelligence showing that Hiruzen Sarutobi used academy awards, medals, and the Sarutobi bloodline to expand his clan and benefit his disciples.
• Yinglang explained that talented commoner graduates were absorbed into the Sarutobi Clan, creating generations of loyal fighters for Hiruzen.
• Tsunade asked what Hashirama Senju would think of Konoha’s corruption, and Yinglang said he would grieve while the village continued to rot.
• Yinglang told Tsunade that the Empire would save the Shinobi World once it was powerful enough to determine its fate.
• Mikoto remembered the Uchiha Clan Massacre Night and found hope in the Empire’s presence for herself and Yun Jing.

Toyotomi Yinglang held a family banquet in the Imperial Palace garden, inviting Mikoto and Kaguya to join the family rather than remain apart as a maid and a distant goddess. As the evening ended, he encouraged his children to grow in their own ways and said he hoped they would one day reach the stars.

• Toyotomi Yinglang called Mikoto and Kaguya to sit at the table, and Mikoto joined with Yunsheng while Kaguya sat with Yueji.
• The family shared a meal as Toyotomi Yinglang asked his children about their abilities and listened to their progress.
• Toyotomi Yinglang told the children to protect themselves and develop their own paths, giving each one advice suited to their powers.
• As the banquet ended, Toyotomi Yinglang gazed at the stars and said his children would one day stand among them.

At the Imperial Palace Training Ground, Liying defeated Chengkong by anticipating his time stop and defending against his attack with Color of Armament. Chengkong surrendered after learning that his ability was not invincible, while Toyotomi Yinglang reminded him that true strength came from the person using an ability.

• Toyotomi Yinglang arranged sparring matches and sent Liying and Chengkong to fight first.
• Liying used his Sharingan to predict Chengkong's declaration that time stop was unbeatable.
• Chengkong stopped time and punched Liying, but Liying's intermediate Color of Armament protected him from harm.
• Liying explained how he read Chengkong's habits and attack cues, and Chengkong admitted defeat.
• Liying told Chengkong that he had noticed his preference for using his right hand when eating braised pork.
• Toyotomi Yinglang told Chengkong that no ability was invincible and left him reflecting on how to become stronger.

Moro defeated Yōsa in a training match by exploiting a gap in his sandstorm and stopping an Armament Haki strike at his neck. Senrin then challenged Yōsa, and the two took their places to begin another match.

• Moro and Yōsa faced off at the Imperial Palace training ground as Toyotomi Yinglang warned them not to hurt each other.
• Yōsa used Imperial Sandstorm and gold dust soldiers to defend himself and wear Moro down, but Moro found a gap in the tornado.
• Moro used Color of Armament to threaten Yōsa through his armor, and Yōsa conceded.
• Moro suggested that Senrin fight Yōsa, and Senrin insisted that Yōsa still had enough strength to accept her challenge.
• Senrin and Yōsa bowed to each other and prepared to fight, each promising not to go easy.

Yōsa defeated Senrin in a restrained training match, using his Imperial Sand Devil Fruit against her Nectar Devil Fruit. Senrin accepted the loss and vowed to fight again so she could learn how to win.

• Yōsa transformed the Training Ground into a dry desert with Drought Sovereignty, while Senrin answered with Heavenly Nectar Rain.
• Senrin attacked with Wave of Purification and Spirit Liquid Clone, but Yōsa pierced her wave and trapped her clones with Gold Dust Flow Prison.
• Senrin surrendered after Yōsa restrained her and left her with only shallow wounds.
• Tsunade treated Senrin, who pointed out that Yōsa had deliberately avoided her vital points because he did not want to seriously injure her.
• Senrin teased Yōsa for calling her his big sister, then told Toyotomi Yinglang she would fight again because losing could teach her how to win.

Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin fought one another in a three-way training battle as Toyotomi Yinglang watched. Jilan broke Jin Zhiyin’s vine restraint and unleashed a shockwave, leaving both rivals braced for his next attack.

• Toyotomi Yinglang ordered Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin to fight each other because they were all too strong to face weaker siblings.
• Jilan attacked Ryukōshi, who dodged with Angel Leap and taunted him.
• Jin Zhiyin trapped Jilan in a Thorn Cage, but Jilan broke free with tenfold strength and defense.
• Jilan used Multiplication: Airquake to blast Ryukōshi backward and scatter the broken vines.
• Jilan asked which opponent would fall first while Toyotomi Yinglang and Mikoto watched.

Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin continued their battle, exhausting themselves while holding back their strongest abilities. The three remained locked in a standoff as Toyotomi Yinglang told Mikoto they would use their trump cards when they thought they were about to lose.

• Jilan attacked Ryukōshi, who escaped with Angel Leap, while Jin Zhiyin covered the Training Ground in thorns that slowed Jilan and kept Ryukōshi from landing.
• Ryukōshi used Blade of Light against Jilan and Jin Zhiyin, but Jilan endured the slashes and Jin Zhiyin healed from them.
• Ryukōshi landed on Jin Zhiyin's thorns, using holy light to make them recoil, while Jilan prepared a twentyfold-strength punch.
• Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin each readied a powerful move, then waited for one of the others to expose an opening.
• Toyotomi Yinglang told Mikoto that the three had used less than half their strength and would reveal their trump cards when they felt close to losing.

Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin fought at full strength across the Training Ground, each using their powers to overcome the others. Jin Zhiyin awakened his Color of the Supreme King and summoned a Spirit-Slaying Giant Tree, but the three ultimately agreed to call the battle a draw.

• Jin Zhiyin attacked Jilan and Ryukōshi with thousands of razor-sharp leaves and a whirlwind, while Jilan charged through the storm and Ryukōshi purified the leaves with his holy light.
• Ryukōshi wounded Jin Zhiyin with a holy blood slash and bound him with chains that drained his chakra, stamina, and life force.
• Jilan and Ryukōshi clashed their Supreme King attacks, and Jin Zhiyin awakened his emerald-green Color of the Supreme King amid the shockwaves.
• Jin Zhiyin summoned the Spirit-Slaying Giant Tree, which trapped all three and began devouring their strength and life force.
• Jilan and Ryukōshi attacked the tree together, then all three withdrew and agreed that the battle had ended in a draw.

After the battle, Mikoto watched Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin recover and worried that her young son Yun Jing would fall behind them. Toyotomi Yinglang reassured her that Yun Jing had his own path and that he would live to see the Empire’s future, while the three fighters vowed to grow stronger for their next encounter.

• Jilan, Ryukōshi, and Jin Zhiyin stood amid the wreckage after their exhausting fight, each promising to defeat the others next time.
• Mikoto asked Toyotomi Yinglang whether Yun Jing could catch up to the three powerful children, and Toyotomi Yinglang told her Yun Jing did not need to follow their paths.
• Mikoto asked what Yun Jing’s Sharingan would look like, and Toyotomi Yinglang said he did not know but believed it would be powerful.
• Jin Zhiyin healed the crack in the Spirit-Slaying Giant Tree and said it was only asleep and would be stronger when it woke.
• Toyotomi Yinglang told Mikoto that the shinobi world would learn of the Empire only when the Empire chose to reveal itself and was strong enough to decide its fate.
• Mikoto said Yun Jing would see the Empire’s future, and Toyotomi Yinglang agreed.

Toyotomi Yinglang and Kaguya explained to Mikoto how the Byakugan marked the Ōtsutsuki cadet families as expendable, while the Hyuga had turned that hierarchy into a system of oppression. The conversation left Mikoto reflecting on whether Kaguya’s rebellion against Isshiki had counted as resistance.

• Toyotomi Yinglang brought Mikoto to bed, where she found Kaguya waiting, and introduced her as the former Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
• Kaguya told Mikoto that the Byakugan belonged to Ōtsutsuki cadet families treated as tools and sacrifices, while the main and branch families used other eyes.
• Toyotomi Yinglang said the Hyuga had inherited oppression rather than protection, and argued that their cadet family could resist but did not dare.
• Toyotomi Yinglang told Mikoto that Yun Jing’s Sharingan came from the Toyotomi bloodline and that he would follow his own path without Hyuga traditions.
• Mikoto asked whether Kaguya had resisted, and Kaguya recounted ambushing Isshiki, eating the Chakra Fruit, and being sealed by her sons.
• Mikoto said Kaguya’s actions had counted as resistance, and Kaguya accepted her answer.

Toyotomi Yinglang inspected Mechanical Star’s new air-food technology and ordered a machine that turned corpses into rations destroyed and forbidden. Mikoto later reflected on his choice while holding Yunsheng, as the air-food synthesizer continued producing food for the Empire.

• Toyotomi Yinglang, Tsunade, and Mikoto examined Sasori’s machine, which synthesized edible starch and buns from atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• Sasori explained corpse rice technology, and Mikoto retched while Tsunade condemned the process of turning corpses into biscuits.
• Toyotomi Yinglang classified corpse rice as a forbidden technique, ordered the machine destroyed, and told Sasori to continue developing air food.
• Toyotomi Yinglang explained to Mikoto that corpse recycling could lead to using prisoners and citizens, so the Empire had to stop before it began.
• Mikoto held Yunsheng in her side hall and wondered whether Toyotomi Yinglang was a good man, while the air-food machine kept running on Mechanical Star.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Orochimaru to create the Vine Organization, a covert force designed to serve Konoha directly without becoming another Root. The chapter ended with Hiruzen alone, wondering whether Danzo would believe that Vine would not grow into a rival power.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Orochimaru a top-secret document outlining the proposed Vine Organization and its duties.
• Orochimaru questioned how Vine differed from Danzo's Root, and Hiruzen said Vine would have no leader and answer only to the Hokage.
• Orochimaru accepted responsibility for forming the Vine Organization and left the Hokage Office.
• Orochimaru established the Vine Division's headquarters beneath his laboratory and set its first recruits to come from Anbu candidates, outstanding Ninja Academy graduates, and war orphans with no clan.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi wrote down Vine's direct accountability to the Hokage, then wondered whether Danzo would believe it could remain distinct from Root.

In Year 29 of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisers compared the military strength and war preparations of the major powers. Facing a combined force far larger than Konoha’s, Hiruzen concluded that Konoha had to keep its enemies divided rather than fight them all at once.

• Mitokado Homura reported that Kinkaku had placed the Land of Lightning under Kumogakure’s military control and built an army of about eighteen thousand.
• Mitokado Homura described Ōnoki’s thirty thousand Iwagakure ninja, Kirigakure’s twenty thousand, Hanzō’s eight thousand elite Amegakure ninja, and Rōran’s eight thousand well-equipped defenders.
• Mitokado Homura reported that Konoha had thirty-eight thousand ninja, but Hiruzen Sarutobi and Utatane Koharu warned that Konoha lacked enough elite fighters to match its rivals.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi noted that the other powers totaled about ninety-six thousand ninja and rejected further conscription because it would leave too few people to sustain the country.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi decided that Konoha should exploit rivalries between the powers and prevent them from attacking Konoha, relying on the Vine Division to help achieve that goal.

In Rōran, six-year-old Shining Sand received part of the Empire’s air food technology from Toyotomi Yinglang and set out to turn the northwest wind into food. He organized ten scientists to build the machinery, aiming to feed Rōran’s people and strengthen the country within three months.

• Shining Sand told Sasha he planned to use carbon dioxide in the northwest wind to produce starch and mantou for Rōran.
• Toyotomi Yinglang gave Shining Sand a segmented version of the air food technology and explained how the Empire protected its secrets.
• Shining Sand ordered Sasha to assign ten scientists to separate parts of the technology and planned a factory, installation, and testing schedule for the next three months.
• Toyotomi Yinglang advised Shining Sand to use future payments, rather than fear of punishment, to keep the scientists loyal.
• Shining Sand offered the ten scientists gold and annual bonuses, then ordered them to begin building working machinery.

Yōsa approved Shigeng’s fertilizer technology, which turned agricultural waste, city garbage, and insect carcasses into fertilizer that could raise Rōran’s crop yields. He rewarded the research team, arranged Shigeng’s return to the Empire, and left the technology set for mass production as Shigeng continued working in Rōran.

• Shigeng presented Yōsa with a report describing fertilizer made by processing agricultural waste, municipal garbage, and insect carcasses.
• Shigeng estimated that the fertilizer could increase crop yields by thirty to fifty percent and make Rōran self-sufficient in grain within three years.
• Yōsa granted Shigeng leave to visit the Empire after production began, kept his position open, and awarded him one thousand taels of gold and the research team five hundred taels each.
• Yōsa told Sasha to classify the technology as a Rōran second-level secret and arrange mass production, payment, and a ship ticket for Shigeng.
• Shigeng received Yōsa’s instructions and continued working by moonlight, determined to cultivate Rōran’s land.

The Country of Roran distributed its first batch of free fertilizer as Shining Sand watched for suspicious behavior. He discovered that a false farmer had stolen a sample, then reasoned with Shigeng that the thief had taken only fertilizer mixed with soil and dust.

• Shining Sand and Sasha oversaw the distribution of fertilizer, while a gray-cloaked man used a false name and details to collect a bag and secretly took a small sample.
• The gray-cloaked man hid the sample in a crate on a camel and rode west into the desert.
• Shining Sand reported that the thief had lied about owning three mu of land because his hands had no farming calluses, and Sasha approved stricter registration for future distributions.
• Shining Sand told Shigeng about the stolen sample, and Shigeng explained that its composition could be analyzed but would not reveal the manufacturing process.
• Shining Sand pointed out that the sample had been taken from a field and was mixed with soil, sand, and dust, leaving Shigeng to infer that the thief had obtained impure material.

Orochimaru studied Rōran’s fertilizer and conceived of turning human corpses into military rations through a process he called Death Grain Technology. Hiruzen Sarutobi separately ordered Konoha to develop its own fertilizer, unaware of Orochimaru’s plan.

• Orochimaru analyzed the fertilizer taken from Rōran and identified its agricultural, insect, and animal remains as ingredients.
• Orochimaru considered replacing those materials with human tissue and began outlining a process to produce edible rations.
• Orochimaru declared research and development of military rations a new Vine Division duty.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi discussed Rōran’s fertilizer distribution with Mitokado Homura and decided Konoha would produce its own fertilizer.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Konoha Institute of Technology to prioritize fertilizer research, unaware of Orochimaru’s Death Grain Technology.

Orochimaru spent a month refining a process that turned human remains into sterile nutrient powder and devised a plan to disguise it as brown rice balls for Konoha’s soldiers. He declared Konoha’s food problem solved as another experiment began, while Hiruzen Sarutobi wondered what Orochimaru was doing.

• Orochimaru tested different temperatures, pressures, pretreatments, and finishing steps, recording repeated failures in his notebook.
• After a month, Orochimaru settled on a process that separated bones from a nutrient slurry before drying it into sterile powder.
• Orochimaru planned to mix the powder with starch, salt, coloring, and flavoring, then shape it into brown rice balls.
• Orochimaru declared that Konoha could feed its soldiers with enemy corpses and named the method “Death Grain Technology.”
• Hiruzen Sarutobi reviewed slow progress on agricultural fertilizer and wondered what Orochimaru was doing as a new experiment began underground.

Orochimaru presented Hiruzen Sarutobi with a plan to make military rations from human remains to address Konoha’s looming food shortage, and Hiruzen tacitly approved it. The chapter ended with mass production underway and Hiruzen recording the project as top secret.

• Orochimaru showed Hiruzen Sarutobi experimental data and a process for turning human tissue into military rations, proposing battlefield corpses as raw material.
• Hiruzen questioned the rations’ safety and morality, and Orochimaru explained that they were edible but admitted soldiers would not know what they contained.
• Hiruzen ordered Orochimaru to burn the report, then authorized equipment, a site beneath Vine Division headquarters, and production without additional staff.
• Orochimaru named the product “Death Rations” and directed Vine Division to begin producing military rations.
• Orochimaru began mass production, while Hiruzen wrote that the top-secret development and production of “Special Military Rations” had been approved.

Hiruzen Sarutobi organized Konoha’s response to the Land of Lightning’s declaration of war, sending Orochimaru to lead an expeditionary force that included Shinnosuke Sarutobi and several powerful clans. As the force departed, Shinnosuke learned he had been sent partly as a hostage to ensure the others fought, while Kinkaku prepared his army for war.

• Mitokado Homura reported that the Land of Lightning had declared war, and Orochimaru described Kumogakure as a disciplined army encompassing the entire country.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Orochimaru to deploy the Third Raikage, A Yotsuki, the Yotsuki Clan, the Uchiha Clan, and the Hyuga Clan, and proposed using the conflict to draw Ōnoki toward Konoha.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Orochimaru two thousand elite Sarutobi Clan troops and assigned his twelve-year-old son, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, to the expeditionary force.
• Uchiha Fushan and the Hyuga clan leader signed orders committing their clans to the force, while A Yotsuki vowed that the Yotsuki Clan would march against Kinkaku and retake Kumogakure.
• Three days later, Orochimaru led the force out of Konoha, and Shinnosuke promised his father he would return.
• Orochimaru told Shinnosuke that he was being used as a hostage to make the other groups fight, while Kinkaku watched the Land of Fire from Kumogakure with his twenty-thousand-strong army.