Recaps

Yubi watched Sasori leave Sunagakure and promised he would return to missions after handling matters in the village. In Konoha, Danzo offered to take charge of investigating Sunagakure’s improved medical support and left without explaining what he knew.

• Yubi teased Sasori at Sunagakure’s gates, and Sasori criticized him for staying away from the battlefield before departing.
• Yubi told Sasori he would join him on missions once he finished matters keeping him in the village.
• Captain Shinji greeted Yubi, learned Sasori had just left, and hurried after him with his squad.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s leaders discussed Sunagakure’s restored fighting strength and the pressure Konoha faced on multiple fronts.
• Danzo said he would handle Sunagakure’s affairs and left without explaining his intentions.

Danzo ordered Root to target Yubi, a promising Sunagakure medical ninja, hoping to eliminate a potential threat and prove his worth against Sarutobi. Meanwhile, Yubi reviewed the abilities he had purchased and planned to leave the village on missions with Sasori to keep growing stronger.

• Danzo told a Root guard to make their move against Yubi, whom he regarded as a possible threat to Konoha.
• Danzo reflected that Yubi’s medical talent had drawn his attention and that the operation could also help him demonstrate his ability to lead.
• Yubi reviewed his system interface and noted that he had spent his Positive Experience Points on medical techniques while accumulating far more Negative Experience Points.
• Yubi decided to save for powerful techniques such as Tsunade’s Strength of a Hundred and Creation Rebirth, while avoiding costly abilities he considered impractical.
• Yubi concluded that the hospital yielded too few experience points and planned to leave Sunagakure on missions with Sasori when he returned.

Yubi was summoned secretly by the Third Kazekage, but the supposed escort and Kazekage were part of an ambush. After healing a near-fatal wound, Yubi faced the two attackers and demanded to know who they were.

• Yubi decided to experiment with Medical Ninjutsu to strengthen his body while waiting for Sasori to return.
• An Anbu ninja summoned Yubi late at night on the Third Kazekage’s confidential orders and led him along a route that avoided patrols.
• At the village’s edge, the supposed Anbu suddenly stabbed Yubi, while the figure posing as the Third Kazekage vanished and a Fūma Shuriken flew at him.
• Yubi dodged the shuriken and healed his abdominal wound with Yin Healing Wound Destruction, realizing the two men were impostors trying to kill him.
• Yubi prepared to fight the attackers and asked them to reveal their identities.

Yubi fought off two disguised Konoha operatives who tried to assassinate him in Sunagakure. He killed one and identified the other as likely belonging to Shimura Danzō’s Root as Sunagakure’s guards approached.

• The fake Kazekage and his companion attacked Yubi with blades and kunai, trying to kill him without alerting Sunagakure’s guards.
• Yubi used controlled blades and nearly invisible threads to fend off their attacks and injure one assassin with a poisoned blade.
• Yubi paralyzed the wounded assassin and killed him with his Death Waltz technique, shredding him with razor-sharp threads.
• The fake Kazekage used Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique, but Yubi escaped unharmed and reappeared at a distance.
• Yubi recognized signs of Konoha’s Genma Shiranui and suspected the assassins had been sent by Shimura Danzō’s Root; the surviving assassin charged as Sunagakure’s guards arrived.

After two infiltrators tried to assassinate Yubi, Sunagakure sealed the village and postponed his chunin examination. Under Anbu surveillance, Yubi began intense experiments and training to strengthen his body, while the Third Kazekage chose not to interfere.

• Yubi explained that two infiltrators had attacked him, and Sunagakure guards identified them as merchants who had traded with the village for years.
• The Kazekage ordered Sunagakure sealed and a thorough investigation launched, while Chiyo and the other leaders debated who had sent the assassins.
• Chiyo postponed Yubi's chunin examination until the war ended, and Yubi accepted the decision.
• During the lockdown, Yubi kept the suspected connection to Danzo and Root to himself and began experimenting with cell activation to improve his physical abilities.
• Anbu followed Yubi around the clock and reported his punishing training to the Third Kazekage, who decided not to interfere.

Yubi reflected on his stalled efforts to develop Tsunade-like strength and decided to seek out Sunagakure ninjutsu scrolls to deepen his understanding. As the village’s battlefield losses and weakening resolve became clear, he anticipated that a truce was near and that Sasori would take the news badly.

• Yubi concluded that he needed to study ninjutsu principles and resolved to ask Arai for village scrolls the next day.
• Yubi saw a dispirited squad of Sunagakure ninja returning from outside the village and realized the front lines were contracting as the village lost ground to Konoha.
• Yubi entered a ramen shop, where the meager seafood in his meal reminded him of the war’s damage to the village and its economy.
• Yubi reasoned that the war was effectively ending, that Sunagakure’s higher-ups were considering a truce, and that Sasori would soon hear news he disliked.
• Yubi finished his ramen, paid the owner, and left the shop.

Yubi borrowed ninjutsu scrolls to study chakra and hand seals, then learned that Sunagakure was preparing to reduce its fighting with Konoha because it could not sustain a large-scale war. He accepted the village’s retreat but privately blamed the Third Kazekage’s poor wartime decisions for Sunagakure’s defeat and casualties.

• Yubi borrowed ninjutsu scrolls from Arai and said he wanted to study how hand seals and chakra pathways worked.
• Arai suggested Yubi might someday learn to form seals with one hand or use ninjutsu without seals.
• Yubi questioned Arai about peace talks, and Arai explained that Sunagakure would continue only small-scale clashes with Konoha because the village could no longer bear a major war.
• Yubi asked Arai to tell the Third Kazekage that he believed Sunagakure would improve, leaving Arai moved by his confidence.
• Yubi reflected that the Third Kazekage had mismanaged the war and its deployments, and concluded that the Kazekage had no place in the village’s future.

Yubi left Sunagakure with Sasori and Arai to intercept a Konoha supply route in the Land of Grass. The team planned to travel through the dangerous and politically unstable Land of Rain before approaching their target.

• Yubi studied ninjutsu scrolls and reflected on how hand seals and chakra responded to one another.
• After learning Sasori had returned, Yubi went to the mission office and found him preparing to take a mission targeting Konoha.
• Sasori explained that the mission was to intercept and kill a Konoha support squad in the Land of Grass, and Yubi joined him.
• Arai arrived to accompany Yubi and Sasori, and the three left Sunagakure together.
• During a rest in a stony desert, Arai laid out a plan to enter the Land of Rain, obtain travel permits, and disguise the team as merchants.

Arai led Yubi and Sasori through Amegakure’s defenses and deeper into the war-ravaged Land of Rain. After seeing the country’s suffering, Yubi argued that Hanzō’s rule and the beliefs behind it—not war alone—had left the nation trapped in a cycle of exploitation.

• Arai led Yubi and Sasori past Amegakure patrols and a concealed chakra-sensing ninja near the border defenses.
• After resting in the Land of Rain’s heartland, the three disguised themselves as civilians and traveled along its roads.
• Arai explained that Konoha and Sunagakure forces had repeatedly breached the Land of Rain’s defenses, while local factions also worsened its devastation.
• Yubi reasoned that Hanzō’s rule through force and the corruption of his followers had made the Land of Rain’s crisis self-perpetuating.
• Arai reacted to Yubi’s political analysis, but Yubi smiled and said he was only guessing.

Arai, Yubi, and Sasori encountered Jiraiya training Konan beside a lake in the Land of Rain, but Arai hurried them away to avoid a confrontation. They continued on another route, while Sasori wondered why Jiraiya was there and Yubi realized the encounter had brought Sasori and Konan together early.

• Arai, Yubi, and Sasori spotted Jiraiya sparring with Konan on a lake as they traveled through the Land of Rain.
• Yubi recognized Jiraiya and Konan, while Sasori’s hostility toward Konoha surfaced and Jiraiya noticed the three observers.
• Arai grabbed Yubi and Sasori and fled through the woods, fearing Jiraiya might attack them.
• After running for nearly fifteen minutes, Arai set the boys down and said they would take another route.
• Sasori asked why Jiraiya was in the Land of Rain, and Arai suggested sending word about him to Sunagakure or other forces.
• Yubi reflected that the chance encounter had made Sasori and Konan meet ahead of time.

Arai, Yubi, and Sasori entered the Land of Grass to ambush Konoha supply squads and disrupt their route to the front. They reached a forest along the route, set traps, and waited for their targets.

• Arai explained that Kusagakure stayed out of the war and that the Land of Grass served as a buffer between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth.
• Arai mapped out an ambush plan, aiming to kill supply squads over a short period and force Konoha to abandon its route.
• Yubi noted that they could target at most two squads before Konoha reacted, depending on the squads' strength.
• Arai, Yubi, and Sasori traveled through the Land of Grass without engaging other villages' ninja.
• The three reached a dense forest near the supply route, set traps, and waited for Konoha's squads.

Yubi and his allies ambushed a Konoha supply convoy, but Inuzuka Kuri detected them and fought back with his ninja dog. Yubi trapped Kuri with threads and fatally struck him with a Chakra Scalpel, revealing his medical-ninja skills.

• Arai reported that two Konoha squads, four Chunin and two Genin, were approaching with supplies, and the three Sunagakure ninja prepared an ambush.
• Yubi recognized Inuzuka Kuri among the Konoha team, but Kuri smelled the hidden enemies and warned his squad before Yubi killed two of his teammates.
• Hisamaru found Yubi in the treetops and took a wound protecting Kuri, while the rear Konoha squad retreated with its supplies.
• Kuri deflected Yubi’s flying knives and used the Beast Human Clone Technique, but Yubi ensnared him in threads with Death Waltz.
• Yubi released the threads and pierced Kuri’s abdomen with a Chakra Scalpel as Kuri struggled to break free.

Yubi, Arai, and Sasori destroyed Konoha’s supply squad and killed the investigators sent to find it, forcing Konoha to abandon the route. As the trio fled toward the Land of Rain, Konoha pursuers detected them and Arai urged them to run faster.

• Yubi killed Inuzuka Kuri and Hisamaru, then caught up with Sasori, who had killed the three fleeing Konoha ninja.
• Arai ordered the area cleaned up and the trio waited for more Konoha searchers, whom they also killed before withdrawing.
• Orochimaru learned that Konoha’s supply route had been exposed and tasked the village with identifying the enemy and assessing its plans.
• Arai, Yubi, and Sasori headed toward the Land of Rain, expecting Konoha to pursue them.
• The trio sensed that powerful Konoha pursuers had located them, and Arai urged them to move faster.

Arai led Yubi and Sasori on a prolonged flight from Konoha pursuers, then redirected them toward the Land of Earth's border to use the danger of Iwagakure's territory as cover. Shikaku recognized the move and sent two Jonin ahead to keep the Sunagakure team occupied while Ino-Shika-Cho followed.

• Arai, Yubi, and Sasori ran for hours while the Konoha pursuers steadily closed in and Sasori began to tire.
• Arai turned toward the Land of Earth's border, gambling that the threat of Iwagakure's battlefield would deter Konoha from following.
• Inoichi Yamanaka tracked the fleeing team and reported that they were heading toward the Land of Earth.
• Shikaku Nara realized Arai intended to use Iwagakure to slow or deter the pursuit and warned that the Sunagakure team must not reach that territory.
• Shikaku ordered the two Jonin, Ryosuke and Mr. Otani, to rush ahead and occupy Arai's team until Ino-Shika-Cho could catch up.

Arai, Yubi, and Sasori were intercepted by two Konoha Jonin, who targeted the boys to hinder Arai. Arai engaged one Jonin while Sasori and Yubi faced Otani, who resolved to kill them after seeing their potential.

• Arai realized the pursuing Konoha squad had split up and warned Yubi and Sasori that more enemies might be behind the two Jonin.
• Ryosuke attacked the group with Earth Release and explosive-tagged kunai, but Arai deflected the kunai and rescued Yubi and Sasori.
• Arai chose to fight Ryosuke while the other Konoha Jonin, Otani, went after Yubi and Sasori.
• Otani used the Body Flicker Technique to attack Yubi from behind, but Yubi and Sasori reacted with a sidestep and a puppet's venom-coated spikes.
• Otani recognized the boys' potential and decided he had to kill them.

Yubi was seemingly killed by Otani while protecting Sasori, who was driven back until he summoned his Father and Mother puppets. Yubi suddenly rose again, unsettling Otani and Sasori, and challenged Otani to resume their fight.

• Yubi's threads caught only Otani's afterimage, and Otani wounded Sasori's puppet before fatally stabbing Yubi in the back.
• As Yubi lost consciousness, he realized Otani had targeted him first and feared Sasori would not survive.
• Otani pressed Sasori with Taijutsu, destroying his puppets and forcing him to use his last scroll to summon Father and Mother.
• Yubi stood up despite his fatal wound, spoke with unsettling ease, and challenged Otani to continue their fight.
• Otani charged at Yubi as Sasori moved, and Yubi laughed frenziedly.

Yubi used his remaining experience points to gain Blood Manipulation, a Kekkei Genkai that let him control blood and keep himself alive. With Arai’s help, he killed Otani, while the surviving Konoha shinobi’s thoughts turned to the danger Yubi posed to Konoha’s next generation.

• As he lay near death, Yubi spent 1,200 negative experience points to acquire Blood Manipulation and used it to stabilize himself with blood control and Medical Ninjutsu.
• Otani charged Yubi, but Yubi bound his legs with blood and wounded him with blood projectiles while Sasori’s Father and Mother puppets attacked from the sides.
• Otani realized Yubi and Sasori were stalling him and decided to retreat to aid Ryosuke, who was fighting Arai.
• Otani damaged Father and leaped away, but Arai arrived and struck him before he could escape.
• Yubi’s blood projectile pierced Otani’s temple, killing him as he worried about Konoha’s next generation.

After sensing that Otani and Ryosuke had been killed, Shikaku, Choza, and Inoichi fled the battlefield and realized the young Sunagakure ninja were far more dangerous than expected. Arai considered pursuing them but chose to lead Yubi and Sasori out of the Land of Grass first.

• Inoichi sensed that Otani and Ryosuke’s chakra had vanished and told Shikaku and Choza they were dead.
• Shikaku ordered Choza and Inoichi to retreat, fearing the Sunagakure trio would attack them next.
• Inoichi reported that one of the Sunagakure boys appeared to have killed Otani after Arai wounded him.
• Shikaku concluded that Sunagakure had produced an extraordinary young ninja and decided the village needed to be warned.
• Inoichi confirmed the Sunagakure trio was not following them, and Shikaku urged the group to hurry away.
• Arai considered chasing the fleeing Konoha reinforcements but instead chose to take Yubi and Sasori to a safer place outside the Land of Grass.

Arai brought Yubi and Sasori back toward Sunagakure after their mission and learned that Yubi had awakened a rare Kekkei Genkai called Blood Manipulation. The Third Kazekage ordered a village meeting to discuss the ability, while Arai worried that Yubi was still young.

• Arai asked Yubi whether his blood-controlling ability was a Kekkei Genkai, and Yubi said it came from his father's bloodline and had to be awakened.
• Yubi explained that his family had no genealogy or surviving teachings, and Sasori warned that Yubi's children might not inherit the ability.
• Arai promised to emphasize the difficulty of awakening the bloodline to the Kazekage and said the Kazekage might advise Yubi on developing it.
• Several days later, Arai reported Yubi's Blood Manipulation to the Third Kazekage, who ordered a meeting with the village's leaders.
• Arai cautioned that Yubi was still young, and the Third Kazekage said the village might eventually require sacrifices but that the time had not yet come.

Yubi demonstrated Blood Manipulation to Sunagakure’s leaders, who hoped he could develop it into a powerful Kekkei Genkai. After Sasori warned that the village was using them to restore its reputation, Yubi drew Sasori into considering a future purge of the leaders.

• Yubi demonstrated Blood Manipulation and explained its limits to the Third Kazekage, Chiyo, Ebizo, and the other leaders.
• The Third Kazekage offered to help Yubi train his Kekkei Genkai, while the leaders questioned whether others in his family could awaken it.
• Yubi left the meeting and Sasori warned that the Third Kazekage was allowing him on missions to exploit his talent and improve Sunagakure’s standing against Konoha.
• Yubi told Sasori that the village’s problems lay with its people and suggested that removing the problematic ones could solve them.
• Sasori accepted the idea, and the two children continued walking together after quietly agreeing on a plan to purge Sunagakure’s power structure.

Yubi and Sasori ambushed and wiped out a Konoha relief squad in the Land of Grass, demonstrating how their combat skills and teamwork had improved. Arai praised them and explained that their mission was to harass smaller Konoha battlefronts while Yubi tested the limits of his Kekkei Genkai.

• Yubi and Sasori attacked a Konoha relief team from the front and rear, killing the squad with their threads, throwing knives, and puppets.
• Sasori claimed he had killed more enemies, and Yubi shrugged off their usual competition before they sensed someone approaching and withdrew.
• Arai caught up with the pair and praised their practical combat experience and increasingly smooth teamwork.
• Arai told Yubi that the Third Kazekage wanted him to test what he could accomplish with blood alone in different combat situations.
• Arai led the squad toward another small battlefront to continue harassing Konoha and avoid attracting Orochimaru's attention.

For six months, Yubi, Sasori, and Arai carried out ambushes against Konoha forces in the Land of Grass while enduring dwindling supplies and constant danger. After learning that Iwagakure was withdrawing, they prepared to leave before Konoha could target them.

• Yubi and Sasori spent six months gathering intelligence and ambushing Konoha forces across the Land of Grass, earning notice from Konoha and Iwagakure.
• Yubi and Sasori discussed puppet construction and experimented with developing a core that could let human puppets use the ninjutsu they had known in life.
• Arai returned to the camouflaged cave and told Yubi and Sasori that several Iwagakure battle lines had withdrawn.
• Arai ordered the squad to erase their traces and leave before Konoha could redirect its forces against them.

After returning from a six-month mission, Yubi was welcomed by Sunagakure’s villagers and joined Sasori in receiving praise from the village leadership. The Third Kazekage gave them intelligence on promising young shinobi from other villages and warned that they might be Sunagakure’s hope in a future war.

• Yubi, Sasori, and Arai returned to Sunagakure, where villagers gathered to welcome and praise Yubi.
• Sasori left the crowd, warning Yubi not to be fooled by the village’s welcome, and Yubi recognized it as a political effort to foster loyalty.
• The Third Kazekage and other leaders praised Yubi and Sasori, then explained that Konoha was nearing victory against Kumogakure and the war was winding down.
• The Third Kazekage gave Yubi and Sasori intelligence on promising young shinobi from the major villages, including their own names.
• Chiyo told Yubi and Sasori that a Konoha infiltrator had attempted to assassinate Yubi after Hanzō leaked information to Danzō.
• The Third Kazekage urged Yubi and Sasori to prepare to lead Sunagakure in a future war, and Yubi nodded firmly.

Yubi faced the Third Kazekage in a public Chunin assessment, testing his Taijutsu and blood-based abilities against the Kazekage’s iron sand. After Yubi landed a concealed blood attack, the Third Kazekage raised the pressure, and Yubi launched a powerful Blood Release technique.

• Yubi began the assessment by attacking the Third Kazekage with fast Taijutsu, but iron sand blocked every strike.
• Yubi threw hidden weapons and used threads to attack, but the Kazekage’s iron sand deflected the knives and weighed down the threads.
• Yubi concealed a solidified blood droplet with a throwing knife and struck the Kazekage between the brows, prompting him to praise Yubi’s improved control and range.
• The Third Kazekage intensified his aura, and Sasori recognized Yubi’s excitement as the same nature he had shown against the Konoha Jonin.
• Yubi compressed a ball of blood to a fingernail’s size and fired it at the Third Kazekage with Blood Release: Deliberate Bombardment Ball.

Yubi demonstrated new transformations of his Blood Release during his examination, but the Third Kazekage overwhelmed him once he began attacking in earnest. The Kazekage passed Yubi, while Rasa left wondering whether the rising young ninja would ever share the Third’s ideals.

• Sunagakure's observers discussed how Yubi had incorporated chakra transformations into his Blood Release, surprising Arai and impressing Chiyo and Ebizo.
• The Third Kazekage attacked Yubi with iron sand cones and spikes, trapping him in a cage and piercing his clothes.
• Yubi acknowledged his defeat, and the Third Kazekage declared that he had passed the examination.
• The gathered spectators applauded Yubi, whose performance had exceeded their expectations despite his loss.
• Rasa watched the Third Kazekage show Yubi his appreciation, then left concerned that Yubi might not inherit the Third's will.