Recaps

Minato Namikaze defeated Kakashi Hatake in a forest spar, then helped him overcome his resentment toward stronger opponents and commit to improving. Ye Feng continued training his Flying Thunder God and told Orochimaru that two Ōtsutsuki were searching for the shinobi world, leaving Orochimaru alarmed but aware they had years to prepare.

• Kakashi Hatake ambushed Minato Namikaze with explosive tags, but Minato used a shadow clone as bait and appeared behind Kakashi to win the spar.
• Minato Namikaze encouraged Kakashi Hatake to work hard rather than despair over Ye Feng's strength, and Kakashi thanked him for the guidance.
• Minato Namikaze dismissed the group, and Ye Feng stayed behind to practice controlling his Flying Thunder God teleportation.
• Ye Feng visited Orochimaru's laboratory, learned that natural energy was still eroding him, and encouraged him to keep working toward Sage Mode.
• Ye Feng claimed his master had warned him that two Ōtsutsuki were searching for the shinobi world's coordinates, prompting Orochimaru to ask about their strength.
• Ye Feng said the Ōtsutsuki were weaker than Hagoromo Otsutsuki but far stronger than the current Kage, and reassured Orochimaru that they had years to prepare.

Ye Feng helped Orochimaru accelerate his adaptation to natural energy, then went to meet his team and learned that Uchiha Shinichi had joined them. Minato Namikaze took the three genin to a secluded training ground for a sparring session, restricting Ye Feng from using the Eight Gates Released Formation and items.

• Orochimaru urged Ye Feng to give him more natural energy, and Ye Feng warned him to stay calm before carefully increasing the amount.
• Orochimaru held his own against the natural energy for six hours and continued adapting overnight while Ye Feng watched over him.
• Ye Feng left Orochimaru's Residence at dawn, ate breakfast, and went to Hokage Rock, where Kakashi Hatake was already training.
• Minato Namikaze arrived with Uchiha Shinichi and explained that Shinichi had joined their team with approval from Uchiha Tianchang and the Third Hokage.
• Minato Namikaze told Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi to spar against him, forbidding Ye Feng from using the Eight Gates Released Formation or any items.
• Minato Namikaze led the team nearly five kilometers from the village to a secluded training ground.

Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi sparred against Minato Namikaze, who used his speed and skill to defeat Shinichi and Kakashi. Ye Feng surrendered rather than reveal his full strength, and Minato reluctantly ended the fight.

• Ye Feng assigned Kakashi Hatake to set traps and Uchiha Shinichi to attack from a distance while he engaged Minato Namikaze up close.
• Ye Feng, Kakashi, and Shinichi coordinated attacks that forced Minato to dodge, counter, and reveal the Rasengan.
• Minato shifted his position and rushed past Ye Feng to defeat Uchiha Shinichi with a blow to the abdomen.
• Minato created two shadow clones to fight Kakashi while he held Ye Feng back, and Ye Feng made one clone to even the fight.
• Minato's clones disarmed and defeated Kakashi, so Ye Feng withdrew and surrendered rather than use the Eight Gates Released Formation.
• Minato urged Ye Feng to keep fighting, but accepted that ending the spar would make it easier to lead the squad.

After their sparring match, Minato Namikaze discussed the team's training goals and explained the Rasengan, which Ye Feng finally mastered. Ye Feng also revealed that he had a Flying Thunder God scroll, and Minato Namikaze invited him to study the technique together.

• Minato Namikaze offered to help Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi plan their development, and both asked to learn Ye Feng's hand-seal-less ninjutsu.
• Minato Namikaze explained that Ye Feng had created the A-rank Rasengan, then taught its principles to the team.
• After studying Minato Namikaze's demonstration, Ye Feng used the image of winding strands of yarn to understand the technique and form a Rasengan.
• Ye Feng noticed Minato Namikaze studying a Flying Thunder God scroll and said Orochimaru-sensei had given him one too.
• Minato Namikaze invited Ye Feng to research Flying Thunder God with him in hopes of finding an easier way to learn it.

Ye Feng’s Team 7 studied the Flying Thunder God and Rasengan before meeting Fujiwara Inomura’s Ino-Shika-Cho team over barbecue. The chapter ended with the trio envying Team 7’s permission to take C-rank missions but backing down when challenged to prove their strength.

• Ye Feng and Minato Namikaze split Team 7’s training between the Flying Thunder God and the Rasengan.
• Minato Namikaze invited Team 7 to barbecue, where they met Fujiwara Inomura and his team, including Yamanaka Keiko, Akimichi Dingyuan, and Nara Shikahira.
• Fujiwara Inomura explained that Ye Feng had returned Yamanaka Keiko’s spiritual power unharmed after her Mind Body Switch Technique failed, and Ye Feng gave a cover story for his unusual spiritual strength.
• Minato Namikaze told Fujiwara Inomura that Team 7 would begin C-rank missions the next day with the Third Hokage’s approval.
• Yamanaka Keiko asked Fujiwara Inomura to let her team take C-rank missions, but the Ino-Shika-Cho trio backed down when he said they would have to defeat Ye Feng and his teammates first.

Minato Namikaze tested the team’s basic skills before their planned C-rank mission, and Ye Feng quickly learned Tree Walking and Water Walking despite never having been taught them. As Ye Feng prepared to leave the village, he checked on Orochimaru and found that Orochimaru had begun absorbing natural energy on his own.

• After lunch, Minato Namikaze told Uchiha Shinichi that the team’s C-rank mission depended on their afternoon performance.
• Minato Namikaze discovered that Ye Feng had never learned Tree Walking and taught him the technique, which Ye Feng mastered after a few attempts.
• Minato Namikaze had the team practice Water Walking, and Ye Feng soon ran around on the water for fun.
• The team quickly completed their remaining basic training, so Minato Namikaze dismissed them early to prepare for the next day’s mission.
• Ye Feng went to Orochimaru’s laboratory and found that Orochimaru had absorbed natural energy after sensing it where Ye Feng had been; Ye Feng scolded him for risking his life.

Ye Feng prepared to leave Konoha on his first mission and got practical packing advice from Orochimaru. Before departing the next morning, he visited Might Duy and made sure Orochimaru could not absorb natural energy while he was away.

• Orochimaru reassured Ye Feng about his experiments with natural energy, and Ye Feng warned him that absorbing too much could turn him to stone.
• Ye Feng told Orochimaru that the Third Hokage had approved him for C-rank missions, and Orochimaru explained which tools and supplies he should bring.
• Ye Feng packed his belongings, bought additional supplies, and visited Might Duy's training ground to tell him he was leaving the village.
• Ye Feng returned to Orochimaru's residence and spent the night cultivating while watching over Orochimaru.
• Before Ye Feng departed the next morning, he repeatedly warned Orochimaru not to absorb natural energy and dispersed the energy nearby; Orochimaru then saw him off.

Ye Feng joined Minato Namikaze’s squad for its first C-rank mission, a journey to eliminate the bandits at Black Wind Stockade. On the way, Ye Feng’s extraordinary sensory ability exposed a possible bandit lookout, and Minato Namikaze warned the squad to keep Ye Feng’s power secret.

• Ye Feng waited at the wrong meeting place, so Minato Namikaze’s squad set out more than an hour late after Kakashi Hatake found him.
• Minato Namikaze arranged the squad’s traveling formation and explained their mission to wipe out the bandits at Black Wind Stockade.
• Ye Feng revealed that his senses reached roughly three kilometers, while Minato Namikaze suspected the ability was connected to the mysterious watcher he had sensed in Konoha.
• The squad traveled for two days with Minato Namikaze keeping out of sight, then Ye Feng detected a brawny man hiding in a hollow tree and heard him complain about being sent to stand watch.
• Minato Namikaze realized the man might be a bandit and told Ye Feng, Uchiha Shinichi, and Kakashi Hatake to keep Ye Feng’s sensory ability secret.

Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi uncovered Black Wind Stockade’s defenses and launched a surprise attack after Ye Feng sensed what the stockade’s bandits were doing. They eliminated the perimeter guards and prepared to strike the crowded interior before the remaining bandits could gather.

• Kakashi Hatake knocked out a sentry, and Uchiha Shinichi used genjutsu while the team questioned him about Black Wind Stockade.
• The sentry revealed the stockade’s location and defenses, including three chiefs who might be ninja, and the three decided to continue the mission.
• Uchiha Shinichi killed the captured sentry as Minato Namikaze watched from the shadows.
• Ye Feng enhanced his Divine Sense, found no ninja in the stockade, and ordered Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi to kill all the bandits.
• The three used concealed attacks to eliminate about forty perimeter guards in just over half an hour.
• Ye Feng told Uchiha Shinichi to strike the largest gathering with his widest-range Ninjutsu while he and Kakashi Hatake attacked from either side.

Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi fought their way through the Black Wind Stockade as reinforcements arrived and the three chiefs attacked. Ye Feng used the Eight Gates Released Formation to kill the chiefs, then revealed a Metal Spirit Talisman to help defeat the remaining bandits.

• Uchiha Shinichi struck the bandits with a Great Fireball Technique, and Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi cut down the wounded before retreating to avoid being surrounded.
• The three stockade chiefs returned from a meeting with their contacts, who were spies gathering intelligence for the Land of Fire, and pursued Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi.
• Ye Feng opened the second gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation and killed all three chiefs before they could join the battle against his teammates.
• Surrounded by more than a hundred bandits, Ye Feng fought alongside Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi as they began to tire.
• Ye Feng told Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi to jump, then activated a Metal Spirit Talisman that sent metal spikes into the bandits.
• Ye Feng chased down and killed the surviving bandits as they tried to flee.

Ye Feng and Minato Namikaze defeated two enemy puppeteers and returned to Black Wind Stockade, where they discovered the bandits’ abused captives and victims. Ye Feng told the frightened women they were Konoha ninja and that the bandits were dead, but they remained too traumatized to respond.

• Ye Feng sensed Minato Namikaze fighting two powerful puppeteers and left Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi to clear the stockade while he went to help.
• Ye Feng smashed one puppet’s head, then used the Eight Gates Released Formation to stop the fleeing puppeteer so Minato Namikaze could knock him unconscious and seal his brain and chakra.
• Minato Namikaze sealed the dead puppeteer and his puppet in a scroll, then returned with Ye Feng to Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi, who had left no bandits alive.
• Ye Feng led Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi to a house where they found more than thirty young women, girls, and infants, as well as dead captives and a pit filled with corpses.
• Ye Feng told the captives that they were Konoha ninja and the bandits had been wiped out, but the women remained silent and unmoved.

Ye Feng and Minato Namikaze rescued the captive girls from Black Wind Stockade, then prepared a meal for them and the team. After everyone feasted on Ye Feng’s spicy stir-fry hot pot, Minato Namikaze tried to recruit him as the team’s cook, but Ye Feng refused.

• Minato Namikaze destroyed the stockade walls and roof, and the rescued girls broke down in tears after seeing the bandits’ corpses.
• Minato Namikaze and the others found clean clothes for the girls, gathered the bandits’ bodies, and Uchiha Shinichi burned them while Minato Namikaze buried the other dead.
• Ye Feng cooked spicy stir-fry hot pot with ingredients from Black Wind Stockade and invited the girls to eat with the team.
• Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi eagerly competed with Ye Feng for the food, and everyone ate until they were full.
• Minato Namikaze praised Ye Feng’s cooking and asked him to cook for the team on missions, but Ye Feng cited the rule against lighting fires and declined.

Minato Namikaze and his companions found a place for the refugees left vulnerable after Black Wind Stockade was destroyed. They led nearly a thousand people toward Konoha and left them settled near the Land of Fire’s border, with Minato promising to seek further protection for them.

• The refugees’ village chief explained that Black Wind Stockade had protected them from other forces, but the refugees had requested its destruction because they could no longer support it.
• Ye Feng whispered an idea to Minato Namikaze, who offered to lead the refugees closer to Konoha while keeping them outside the Land of Fire’s interior.
• The refugees prepared to leave the next morning, and Minato Namikaze’s team led them past Konoha guards after Minato identified himself and promised to report the situation to the Third Hokage.
• After traveling slowly for a day, Minato Namikaze stopped the refugees near the border and said he would ask Konoha ninja to patrol the area and put up a sign for them.
• The refugees thanked Minato Namikaze and his companions as they settled in their new location.

After returning to Konoha, Minato Namikaze reported on the refugees and the intelligence gathered during the mission, prompting the Third Hokage to prepare for possible conflict with Sunagakure. Ye Feng returned to his empty home and noticed someone had cleaned it while he was away.

• Minato Namikaze brought the refugees to a settlement, then returned to Konoha with Ye Feng and his teammates and reported their mission to the Third Hokage.
• The Third Hokage approved the refugees' settlement, arranged to monitor them, and upgraded the mission to A-rank with extra rewards for the team.
• An Anbu delivered intelligence extracted from a captive's memories, revealing that the Third Kazekage was training troops and sending spies into the Land of Fire.
• The Third Hokage met with the advisers, agreed to expand Root's intelligence efforts, strengthen the Land of Wind border, and increase operations against bandits and missing-nin.
• The Third Hokage ordered the refugees to remain in their area and warned that anyone who left would be eliminated.
• Ye Feng returned to his empty home and found that someone had cleaned it while he was away.

After returning from his mission, Ye Feng visited Might Duy and told him about the suffering he had witnessed among refugees. He later agreed to a Taijutsu match with Might Duy atop Hokage Rock, where a crowd gathered to watch.

• Ye Feng visited Might Duy at the training ground, described the refugees' hardships, and trained alongside him.
• Might Duy said Kurenai Yuhi and Inuzuka Clan Fengyu had cleaned Ye Feng's house while he was away.
• Might Guy and Ye Feng's other friends arrived after the Ninja Academy let out, and Ye Feng recounted his journey to them.
• Ye Feng asked about promising Taijutsu students, then accepted Might Duy's challenge to a match on Hokage Rock.
• Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki joined the spectators, and Minato called Kakashi Hatake and Uchiha Shinichi out of hiding.
• As the crowd gathered, Ye Feng wondered how so many people had learned some of his secrets and decided he needed to keep a lower profile.

Ye Feng and Might Duy held an increasingly intense taijutsu spar, opening the second and then the third gates of the Eight Gates Released Formation. After five minutes of fighting, both were exhausted, and Minato Namikaze pointed out that their battle had wrecked the Training Ground.

• Ye Feng and Might Duy exchanged blows while holding back, then agreed to get serious after warming up.
• Ye Feng and Might Duy opened the second gate and fought so quickly that even Hyuga Kong and Uchiha Shinichi could not follow them.
• Ye Feng opened the third gate, the Gate of Life, and paused to check that his body could withstand it before Might Duy opened the same gate.
• Ye Feng and Might Duy fought for five more minutes, then stopped exhausted, with Ye Feng lying down and Might Duy sitting nearby.
• Might Duy proposed sparring again after Ye Feng's body grew stronger, and Minato Namikaze warned them that their fight had ruined the Training Ground.

Minato Namikaze turned the group’s cleanup into a dinner at Ye Feng’s expense, but a mission scroll canceled Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi’s leave. Ye Feng cooked a huge feast with shadow clones, and the meal ended with everyone happily scrambling for food together.

• Minato Namikaze agreed to clean up the training ground if Ye Feng cooked dinner, and he invited the others to join them.
• Minato Namikaze received a mission scroll canceling Ye Feng, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi’s leave and ordered them to gather at the Konoha Gate the next day.
• Kushina Uzumaki returned with a large haul of ingredients, and Ye Feng created six shadow clones to help prepare more than forty dishes.
• Everyone rushed to eat Ye Feng’s food, and Minato Namikaze made sure Kushina Uzumaki got a share before she joined the scramble.
• The group finished the meal stuffed and laughing, while they left the Big Eaters Five dishes they could reach.

Ye Feng joined Minato Namikaze and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio on a sweep mission from Konoha toward Takigakure amid signs that Sunagakure might be preparing for war. On the first night, Ye Feng learned that his team’s previous mission had been upgraded to A-rank and listened as Yamanaka Keiko boasted about her team’s strength.

• Ye Feng left Minato Namikaze’s home and visited Orochimaru, who warned him to prioritize his own safety on the upcoming mission.
• Ye Feng met Minato Namikaze, Kakashi Hatake, and Uchiha Shinichi at Konoha’s gate, where Fujiwara Inomura arrived with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
• Minato Namikaze explained that the eight ninja would sweep the route toward Takigakure, eliminating bandits and missing-nin while driving away wandering ninja.
• After the group encountered almost no outsiders on their first day, Yamanaka Keiko asked Ye Feng’s team about their supposed A-rank mission.
• Minato Namikaze admitted that the team’s previous C-rank mission had been upgraded to A-rank and that its bonus had increased by a hundred thousand.
• Yamanaka Keiko claimed her team had been allowed on the mission because they were strong, and Nara Shikahira awkwardly tried to stop her from boasting.

Ye Feng's team encountered Kakuzu in a village, where he attacked Minato Namikaze and Fujiwara Inomura. Ye Feng rescued Inomura from Kakuzu's lightning strike, and the battle remained unresolved.

• Ye Feng's team reached a village crowded with ninja, and Minato Namikaze went ahead to investigate.
• After an explosion, Fujiwara Inomura led the others to find Minato Namikaze fighting Kakuzu, a Takigakure missing-nin said to possess Kage-level strength.
• Fujiwara Inomura joined Minato Namikaze, and Kakuzu attacked them with powerful wind and lightning techniques.
• Kakuzu's lightning strike left a crater where Fujiwara Inomura had stood, but Ye Feng pulled him clear at the last moment.
• Kakuzu noticed Ye Feng and remarked that the boy was not on his bounty list.

Minato Namikaze and Fujiwara Inomura fought Kakuzu until Ye Feng stopped Kakuzu’s hidden counterattack and negotiated his retreat. After Kakuzu left the Land of Fire, Fujiwara Inomura praised Ye Feng and tried to claim him as a student, but Minato Namikaze refused.

• Fujiwara Inomura rejoined Minato Namikaze in fighting Kakuzu, who used his severed, thread-controlled arm to restrain Minato Namikaze and knock Fujiwara Inomura back.
• Minato Namikaze activated a Fire Spirit Talisman, blasting Kakuzu and shattering one of his masks.
• Kakuzu’s arm attacked Minato Namikaze from behind, but Ye Feng pinned it down with a kunai and exposed Kakuzu’s survival.
• Ye Feng persuaded Kakuzu to leave the Land of Fire, and Kakuzu departed with the Body Flicker Technique.
• Fujiwara Inomura thanked Ye Feng and tried to take him as a student, but Minato Namikaze refused, prompting the Ino-Shika-Cho trio to react jealously.

After the sweep mission, Ye Feng told the Genin about Maruboshi Kosuke, Konoha’s exceptionally skilled eternal Genin. As the teams prepared to return to Konoha, Minato Namikaze sensed something amiss and asked Ye Feng to check the area.

• Minato Namikaze asked Ye Feng how he knew Kakuzu had survived, and Ye Feng explained Kakuzu’s heart-stealing technique and its limits.
• Fujiwara Inomura ended the discussion, and the teams checked a village with a bounty exchange before eliminating Missing-nin and uncooperative Wandering Ninja.
• Yamanaka Keiko asked about powerful ninja with unusual abilities, and Ye Feng introduced Maruboshi Kosuke; Fujiwara Inomura described Kosuke’s history, training, and skills.
• Ye Feng’s teams found the border settlements deserted and prepared to return to Konoha, but Minato Namikaze felt that something was wrong.
• Minato Namikaze asked Ye Feng to sense the area, and Ye Feng activated his divine sense as Fujiwara Inomura felt watched.

Ye Feng and Minato Namikaze uncovered six hidden Sunagakure ninja crossing the Land of Fire and challenged them. As the teams fought, Ye Feng stalled a Sunagakure Puppet Master until he revealed his speed and struck the jonin’s kunai with his fist.

• Ye Feng sensed the hidden ninja, and Minato Namikaze revealed them with a fire dragon attack.
• The Sunagakure jonin claimed his group was traveling on a private mission, but Fujiwara Inomura demanded to inspect them and refused to let them leave.
• Minato and Fujiwara Inomura engaged two Sunagakure jonin while Ye Feng, Uchiha Shinichi, Kakashi Hatake, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio took on the remaining jonin and chunin.
• Ye Feng pretended to struggle against the jonin’s taijutsu attacks until the Sunagakure ninja summoned a puppet and intensified his assault.
• Ye Feng dropped his act, dodged the puppet, and punched toward the jonin’s kunai as it struck his fist.

Ye Feng feigned defeat to lure a Sunagakure Jonin close, then killed him and helped Konoha turn the battle around. The remaining Sunagakure Jonin were defeated or killed, with the last one taking his own life to prevent Konoha from searching his memories.

• Ye Feng shattered the Sunagakure Jonin’s kunai and arm, then sent Kakashi Hatake to assist the others.
• The Sunagakure Jonin detonated his puppet, and Ye Feng pretended the hidden weapons and poison had incapacitated him.
• The Sunagakure Jonin approached to finish Ye Feng, who stabbed him with a kunai and killed him by bursting it apart with true qi.
• Ye Feng helped the Konoha group defeat a Chunin, while Minato Namikaze and Fujiwara Inomura kept two Sunagakure Jonin from escaping.
• Ye Feng pierced one Jonin’s legs with kunai, allowing Minato Namikaze to behead him.
• The final Sunagakure Jonin killed himself by punching his own head to prevent Konoha from searching his memories.

After the Sunagakure mission, the Third Hokage rewarded the returning Genin and sent Minato Namikaze to Kumogakure with Orochimaru, allowing him to bring Ye Feng and his squad. The Third Kazekage prepared to renew efforts to ally with other villages against Konoha, while Orochimaru continued researching natural energy.

• Fujiwara Inomura brought the Sunagakure bodies and intelligence to Konoha, and the Third Hokage rewarded each Genin with 200,000 after upgrading the mission to S-rank.
• The Third Hokage told Minato Namikaze that Sunagakure planned to attack Konoha and assigned him to accompany Orochimaru on a mission to contact Kumogakure.
• Minato Namikaze persuaded the Third Hokage to let Ye Feng and the other two squad members join the mission, citing their strength and Ye Feng's Jonin-level taijutsu.
• The Third Kazekage ordered Sunagakure to search for its missing envoys and send another delegation to Kumogakure to secure an alliance against Konoha.
• Ye Feng visited Orochimaru and learned that Orochimaru was experimenting with compressing natural energy into a more powerful form.

Ye Feng revealed true qi to Orochimaru and encouraged him to focus on adapting to natural energy, while Orochimaru prepared to travel to Kumogakure for alliance talks. The next day, Ye Feng helped Minato Namikaze rethink the Flying Thunder God mark, and Minato rushed off to pursue the idea.

• Ye Feng demonstrated true qi to Orochimaru and explained how it was refined from natural energy.
• Ye Feng urged Orochimaru to master sensing natural energy before researching higher forms of power, and promised to teach him to condense true qi later.
• Orochimaru told Ye Feng he would leave for Kumogakure to meet the Third Raikage and seek an alliance or prevent a future war.
• Ye Feng returned home to cultivate, then went to the Training Ground and found Minato Namikaze studying the Flying Thunder God.
• Ye Feng suggested redesigning the Flying Thunder God mark so it could hold spiritual power, and Minato Namikaze hurried away, excited by the idea.