Recaps

Yubi explained his plan to sell Sunagakure’s medicines and described how the profits could strengthen the village’s influence. After Arai left the hospital, he remained troubled by Yubi’s questions about his value compared with the Kazekage.

• Yubi reassured Arai and outlined a strategy to enter foreign markets by sharing profits and using local forces to protect distribution.
• Yubi explained that control of the medicine market could bind other powers to Sunagakure, while warning that rival villages might eventually copy the formulas.
• Arai said the plan could affect the balance of the Shinobi World, and Yubi asked how much credit he would earn and whether he was more valuable than the Kazekage.
• Yubi laughed off his questions, and Arai said he supported Yubi becoming the next Kage if the plan succeeded.
• Yubi told Arai to keep the finished medicines secret, and Arai agreed before leaving the hospital.
• Arai continued to dwell on Yubi’s words and grew more suspicious and unsettled about what they meant.

Yubi and Sasori moved ahead with their plan to poison the Third Kazekage while preparing Sunagakure to profit from Yubi’s medicines. After the medicines entered the market on a trial basis, Yubi revealed his research and its potential to give Sunagakure a years-long monopoly.

• Yubi told Sasori that the village’s new medicine business would ease internal tensions and approved the plan to poison the Third Kazekage.
• Sasori poisoned the Third Kazekage without being detected, while Yubi stayed in Sunagakure to prevent the poisoning from being discovered.
• Yubi established trade channels with local and traveling merchants, then left for the Land of Rain to raise money and stockpile medicinal ingredients.
• A few months later, Sunagakure merchants began distributing the first medicines, and Yubi presented his plan to the village’s senior officials.
• The Third Kazekage and the other officials recognized the medicines’ commercial value, while Chiyo explained that Yubi’s medicinal ingredient research was Sunagakure’s deeper advantage.

Yubi helped Sunagakure’s leaders plan a pharmaceutical industry while secretly monitoring the Third Kazekage for signs of Sasori’s poison. His success impressed the leadership, but Rasa began to fear Yubi’s growing influence could block his own path to becoming Kazekage.

• Yubi secretly watched the Third Kazekage during a meeting and noticed a faint bluish-black tinge in the veins on his hand, though his vital signs seemed normal.
• The senior leadership discussed building a medicine factory and expanding sales, and the Third Kazekage and Chiyo agreed to seek funding from the Daimyo of the Land of Wind.
• When the Third Kazekage demanded Yubi’s research data, Yubi proposed that Chiyo safeguard the ingredient data while the Kazekage kept the formulas, and the Kazekage accepted.
• Yubi teased the Third Kazekage about having doubted his ability to improve the village’s economy, and the Kazekage acknowledged his achievement.
• Rasa worried that Yubi’s growing prestige could make him a stronger Kazekage candidate and concluded that he would need to win Yubi over.

Yubi reassured Rasa about his prospects of becoming Kazekage while considering how to preserve Rasa’s service to Sunagakure if someone else took the position. He reviewed his abilities and the village’s needs, then prepared to move his laboratory under ANBU guard as the Kazekage and Chiyo set out to meet the daimyo.

• Rasa approached Yubi after the meeting and cautiously sounded him out about becoming Kazekage.
• Yubi said he had little interest in the position and told Rasa he believed he would make a good Kazekage, easing Rasa’s concern.
• Yubi considered how Rasa might react if he lost the succession and concluded that Sunagakure needed to retain his strength and service.
• Yubi checked his system panel and reflected on his slowed experience gains, Sunagakure’s shortage of talent and techniques, and his own need to develop further.
• Yubi prepared to relocate his laboratory to a vacant village building where ANBU would guard and monitor it, while the Kazekage and Chiyo prepared to visit the daimyo.

Yubi expanded Sunagakure’s new medicine industry while training in Water Release and waiting for sales to grow. When the Kazekage sought funds to promote the medicines and build factories, Yubi predicted that the daimyo would eventually demand the industry’s revenue, and Arai was left considering his warning.

• Yubi opened a pharmacy in Sunagakure, promoted the medicines, and oversaw their adoption at the hospital as Saori, Yashamaru, and others trained medical workers.
• The first merchants returned with weak sales, leaving the Kazekage and senior officials anxious, while Yubi believed the medicines simply needed time to gain a reputation.
• Yubi practiced Water Release techniques but struggled to reproduce them without detailed ninjutsu information.
• Arai told Yubi that the Kazekage wanted to raise funds from shinobi to hire promoters and asked for Yubi’s opinion on building factories.
• Yubi told Arai that medicine sales would grow and predicted the daimyo would later demand a large share of the revenue, prompting Arai to pause and reflect.

Sunagakure’s medicine found buyers and began generating profits, but the daimyo demanded a share, and the Kazekage approved the payment despite Arai’s objections. Yubi set out to expand the medicine trade while preparing to kill the Kazekage, ignite a war, and eliminate the daimyo.

• The Third Kazekage rejected Yubi’s proposal to raise funds and remained impatient as Sunagakure waited for its new industry to take off.
• Sunagakure’s medical teams trained more personnel, and later merchant groups sold most of the medicine they carried before demand grew enough for shipments to sell out.
• The village used its substantial early profits to buy medicinal ingredients in preparation for war.
• Arai objected when the daimyo demanded a share of the medicine industry’s income, but the Kazekage defended his decision and ordered Arai to focus on protecting him.
• Yubi joined a caravan team to promote Sunagakure’s medicine in new markets, then planned to kill the Kazekage, start a war, and get rid of the daimyo.

Tsunade returned to Konoha with evidence that Sunagakure was producing powerful medicines and expanding their sales, warning Hiruzen Sarutobi that the village might be preparing for war. Hiruzen asked her to return to the village and help Konoha respond to Blood Medic Yubi’s rise.

• Tsunade forced her way into Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office and showed him medicines she had traced to Sunagakure.
• Tsunade explained that the medicines treated common illnesses and wounds with exceptional effectiveness, and that villages across the region were buying them.
• Tsunade demonstrated how quickly Sunagakure’s wound medicine healed a cut, convincing Hiruzen that the products could greatly strengthen its army in a future war.
• Tsunade identified Blood Medic Yubi as the likely force behind Sunagakure’s pharmaceutical advances and warned that Konoha needed to act quickly.
• Hiruzen asked Tsunade to return to Konoha, and she agreed to do her best.

Yubi and Sasori killed the Third Kazekage after he refused to stop the daimyo from taking a share of medicine revenue. Yubi left Sasori to handle the body, declaring that the Kazekage had to die for Sunagakure's future.

• The Third Kazekage welcomed Yubi late at night and listened as he requested land for a branch factory and asked him to negotiate with the daimyo over medicine revenue.
• The Third Kazekage rejected Yubi's challenge and ordered Sasori to escort him out.
• Yubi and Sasori revealed their plan as the Third Kazekage grew dizzy from the tea and tried to summon Iron Sand.
• Yubi's blood projectile pierced the Third Kazekage's face, killing him before he could defend himself.
• Yubi left the room and told Sasori to handle the rest, and Sasori caught the falling body with Chakra Threads.

Yubi and Sasori killed the Third Kazekage, and Yubi returned to his duties while the village remained unaware. When Sunagakure’s senior officials investigated the Kazekage’s disappearance, they trusted Yubi’s account and placed Chiyo in charge of the village’s affairs.

• Yubi recalled how Sasori’s poison weakened the Third Kazekage and how he added his own poison to the Kazekage’s tea to ensure the killing succeeded.
• Yubi received a system notice confirming the Kazekage’s death, then reflected that Sunagakure’s future was now in his hands.
• An Anbu patrol saw the Kazekage lying in bed and left without realizing he was dead.
• After the Kazekage failed to appear for work and could not be found, Chiyo called the village’s senior officials together to investigate his disappearance.
• Yubi claimed he had discussed pharmaceutical factory matters with the Kazekage, and Chiyo and the others accepted his account because it matched Sasori’s.
• Chiyo took charge of the village’s affairs and ordered the Anbu and guards to keep the Kazekage’s disappearance secret.

In Year 47, Yubi prepared to use the looming Third Shinobi World War to strengthen Sunagakure and establish himself and Sasori as major figures. As the village secretly searched for the missing Third Kazekage, Yubi left his office to meet the pregnant Karura, who had come for a checkup.

• Yubi reviewed the timeline of major events and planned to use the war to prove his and Sasori’s battlefield abilities.
• Yubi noted that the medicine factory was nearly ready and that Sunagakure had bought up most medicinal ingredients, frustrating Konoha’s efforts to reproduce the new medicine.
• Nearly a month after the Third Kazekage disappeared, Sunagakure’s leaders began searching for him and suspected the other major villages, especially Konoha.
• Saori told Yubi that Karura had arrived, and Yubi went to meet her at the hospital entrance.
• Yubi stopped Karura from getting up and learned that she had come for a checkup with Yashamaru while Rasa was occupied.

Yubi reassured Karura and Yashamaru about Karura’s pregnancy and resolved to protect her from being treated as a means to produce heirs. As war approached, he considered Sunagakure’s future and went to meet Sasori, who was secretly preparing to turn himself into a puppet.

• Yubi examined Karura and told her and Yashamaru that she was carrying a healthy girl who looked like her.
• Yubi asked Yashamaru about Karura and Rasa, then promised that Karura would not be mistreated.
• After Yashamaru left, Yubi considered Karura’s unusual chakra, Bunpuku’s future, and whether he might become the One-Tail’s next Jinchūriki.
• Yubi decided to visit Sasori as they prepared for the Third Shinobi World War and sought to strengthen their claims as Kazekage candidates.
• Sasori continued his seclusion, secretly preparing to turn his body into a puppet, a plan only Yubi knew about.

Sasori had begun replacing parts of his body with puppet components, confident that his new form would let him redefine puppeteering. After Yubi checked on his condition and raised the possibility of reviving Sasori’s parents, Sasori rejected the idea as a challenge to his art, leaving Yubi to return to his work as Sunagakure continued to prosper.

• Yubi visited Sasori and found him practicing with his artificial arm while repairing a puppet component.
• Sasori explained that he had replaced only some parts of his body and planned to continue adapting his puppet form before the war.
• Yubi said he had come to check Sasori’s vital condition, since he had helped with some of the operations involved in the transformation.
• Yubi asked what Sasori would do if his parents could be brought back to life, and Sasori took the suggestion as an insult to his art.
• Yubi left Sasori’s home and walked through Sunagakure, pleased by the village’s lively streets and its people’s genuine smiles.

Yubi spent experience points to obtain and fuse the Red Eye and Ketsuryūgan, gaining a new crimson-and-gold dōjutsu. He tested its powerful perception and decided its altered appearance would help him conceal its origins.

• Yubi reviewed the Red Eye and Ketsuryūgan and chose them to improve his perception, genjutsu, and mental power.
• Yubi considered the risks of obtaining the Byakugan or Sharingan and chose to avoid drawing Konoha’s attention.
• Yubi purchased the Red Eye and Ketsuryūgan for 2,000 experience points each, and the system offered to fuse them.
• Yubi accepted the fusion, and his eyes turned crimson with golden flecks as his perception spread through his surroundings.
• Yubi used a mirror to inspect his eyes and decided he could explain their unfamiliar appearance as an awakening tied to his Blood Release.

After the pharmaceutical factory opened, Sunagakure’s leaders confronted the growing rumors that the Third Kazekage had disappeared and feared rival villages would exploit their wealth and lack of a Kage. Yubi urged them to prepare for war, leaving the village poised to launch a surprise attack on Konoha.

• Sunagakure celebrated the pharmaceutical factory’s completion as its medicines spread across the Shinobi World, while rumors about the Third Kazekage’s disappearance reached the village.
• Chiyo summoned the senior officials and said they had to respond to the Kazekage’s disappearance, as foreign spies were probing the Land of Wind.
• Yubi warned that rival villages coveted Sunagakure’s medicinal industry and could attack while the village lacked a Kage; Ebizo confirmed that other villages were secretly studying the medicines.
• Rasa argued that Sunagakure had to go to war, and Yubi agreed that the village should strike first against its greatest potential threats.
• Chiyo named Konoha and Iwagakure as likely threats, and Yubi proposed blaming Konoha publicly while secretly preparing an attack without informing the daimyo.
• Yubi urged the officials to prepare for the Third Shinobi World War.

Sunagakure spread rumors blaming Konoha for the Third Kazekage’s death, turning public opinion against Konoha and raising the risk of another Shinobi World War. At a meeting, Hiruzen Sarutobi resisted Danzo’s call to seize Sunagakure’s pharmaceutical industry, while Danzo invoked the absent Tobirama Senju before leaving.

• Sunagakure’s trade caravans spread rumors that Konoha had killed the Third Kazekage and sought to provoke war.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi met with Danzo, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and other senior officials to assess the rumors and the threat of other villages attacking Konoha.
• Hiruzen and the officials considered whether Iwagakure had killed the Kazekage and concluded that Sunagakure was using public opinion to shift attention and protect itself.
• Danzo argued that Sunagakure wanted to redirect the fighting toward Konoha and profit from its pharmaceutical industry during a war.
• Danzo urged Hiruzen to take the initiative and seize Sunagakure’s resources, but Hiruzen resisted because war would devastate Konoha.
• Danzo left after alluding to Tobirama Senju, reminding the officials that Tobirama had chosen Hiruzen over him as successor.

Yubi helped Sunagakure's leaders plan their wartime deployments, warning them about Minato Namikaze and worrying that Kumogakure might target the village. After returning home, he discovered that Orochimaru had broken in and attempted to kill him.

• Yubi and Rasa disagreed over military plans, but most arrangements followed Rasa's lead while incorporating Yubi's advice.
• Yubi warned that Minato Namikaze could decide the war's outcome, then proposed that he and Sasori fight on the front against Konoha.
• Sunagakure assigned Rasa to the Land of Earth border, Chiyo to oversee the village, and younger shinobi to the battlefields.
• On his way home, Yubi worried that Kumogakure might exploit Sunagakure's weakened position and covet its pharmaceutical industry.
• Yubi pretended to sleep when a venomous snake attacked him, then cut it down and confronted Orochimaru, who emerged from the darkness.

Orochimaru infiltrated Sunagakure to assassinate Yubi, but Yubi survived his opening attacks and fought back with Blood Release. Their clash escalated across the village rooftops, and the chapter ended with Yubi dodging a devastating explosion.

• Yubi recognized Orochimaru and accused him of being involved in Konoha's repeated attempts to kill him, while Orochimaru hinted at Sunagakure's role in stirring up war.
• Orochimaru used the Hell Viewing Technique and Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, but Yubi's crystalline Blood Release armor stopped the snakes' fangs.
• Yubi struck Orochimaru with blood droplets, only for Orochimaru's body to turn out to be a mud substitute; Yubi then blocked and severed another attacking snake.
• An explosion drew Sunagakure's guards toward Yubi's home as he and Orochimaru continued fighting across the rooftops with Water Release and Wind Release.
• Yubi tracked Orochimaru through the windblown debris and fired blood arrows, then dodged Orochimaru's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique with Blood Release: Wing King as the rooftop exploded.

Orochimaru infiltrated Sunagakure and tried to assassinate Yubi, but fled after their brief fight. Yubi persuaded Sunagakure’s leaders to conceal the incident and stick to their plan to attack the Land of Fire in half a month.

• Orochimaru attacked Yubi in Sunagakure, but escaped before the village’s shinobi could catch him.
• Yubi told Chiyo, Rasa, and the other officials that Orochimaru had been the attacker and reassured them that he was unharmed.
• Chiyo ordered a search of the village, and the senior officials gathered to discuss whether Orochimaru’s attack signaled that Konoha intended to strike.
• Yubi argued that Danzo had likely sent Orochimaru to test Sunagakure’s response and urged the village to make no public statement, keeping Konoha off guard.
• Chiyo agreed to Yubi’s proposal to follow the original plan and deploy against the Land of Fire in half a month.

Sunagakure mobilized its forces for a surprise attack on Konoha, sending them toward the Land of Rivers under cover of night. Yubi outlined a multi-pronged invasion plan to Arai as the army advanced toward the Land of Fire.

• Sunagakure sealed the village and secretly assembled its forces after rumors about the Third Kazekage's disappearance spread.
• Arai assigned duties to the assembled units, and Yubi ordered the army to move out toward the Land of Rivers.
• Yubi explained that Sunagakure had secretly secured permission to use the Land of Rivers as cover for its advance toward the Land of Fire.
• Yubi told Arai to split the invasion into several routes, seize border strongholds, ambush Konoha's reinforcements, and seek an opportunity to attack Konoha itself.
• Yubi instructed Arai to contact Kumogakure, predicting it might redirect its forces against Konoha if the village was caught unprepared.

Sunagakure launched a surprise invasion across the Land of Fire border, overwhelming Konoha’s outposts before they could organize a defense. Yubi reached a Konoha command camp and slaughtered its defenders, leaving the attack in progress.

• A Konoha sensory ninja spotted Sunagakure’s approaching army but was killed before he could warn the outpost.
• Yubi directed Sunagakure’s forces to split up, eliminate Konoha outposts, and continue advancing through the border defenses.
• Konoha survivors assembled to delay Sunagakure and send word to the village, while the wounded jonin ordered noncombatants, including Takumi’s group, to evacuate.
• Yubi appeared at the command camp and killed the jonin after his genjutsu left him vulnerable.
• Yubi used Blood Release: Supernova to pierce the Konoha ninja in the camp with a storm of blood droplets.

Yubi hunted down Konoha forces to prevent them from sending word about Sunagakure’s sudden attack, killing a large outpost force and intercepting a messenger riding a summoned bird. After confirming the intelligence had not leaked, he continued the hunt to keep Konoha from regrouping.

• Yubi used Red Eye and Blood Release to wipe out a Konoha force, while two intelligence ninjas fled into the forest.
• Yubi caught up to the two fugitives and killed them before ordering Sunagakure troops to collect supplies and examine the bodies.
• Yubi spotted a Konoha ninja escaping on a large summoned bird and shot both the rider and the bird with blood arrows.
• Yubi hypnotized the wounded messenger and confirmed that Konoha had not received the intelligence.
• Yubi left to continue preventing Konoha from catching its breath, determined to protect Sunagakure’s forces.

After Sunagakure’s successful surprise attack, Yubi assessed the intelligence leak and laid out a detailed plan to keep Konoha from tracking the army’s movements. He sent himself and Sasori to handle Konoha’s vanguard while assigning dangerous missions to others, leaving the story with Sunagakure preparing to advance deeper into the Land of Fire.

• Sunagakure discovered that an Aburame Clan member had sent intelligence to Konoha two hours earlier, but Yubi said the army still had time to act before the news reached the village.
• Yubi mapped Konoha’s three defensive lines and ordered Hideki and Takayuki to set ambushes along routes Konoha might use to send reinforcements.
• Yubi assigned himself and Sasori to divert Konoha’s vanguard while Arai remained with the main force to secure routes and prepare traps.
• Yubi ordered Kaga to circle around the battlefield and launch a surprise attack, while privately expecting Kaga and the other senior men to die in the dangerous mission.
• Yubi completed a detailed operational briefing that gave each unit clear responsibilities, timings, and responses to possible situations.

Sunagakure launched a surprise attack and seized Konoha’s border with the Land of Rivers, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi to mobilize the village and prepare for a wider war. He assigned forces to guard other borders and turned his attention to Konoha’s younger generation.

• An Aburame bug delivered a warning to a Konoha Chunin, who rushed away after reading its message.
• A guard told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Sunagakure’s army had occupied Konoha’s border with the Land of Rivers, and Hiruzen summoned the village’s leaders.
• Konoha’s leadership learned that the border had fallen and debated whether the Third Kazekage was leading Sunagakure’s attack.
• Hiruzen ordered Konoha to enter war readiness and deploy forces to defend against threats from the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, and the coast.
• Hiruzen assigned Orochimaru to monitor Kumogakure from the Land of Rice Fields and Yuichiro, Hamaki, and Aoki to defend against Iwagakure from the Land of Grass.
• Hiruzen looked toward several members of Konoha’s younger generation.

The Third Raikage ordered Kumogakure to prepare to attack the Land of Fire while still pursuing plans to seize Sunagakure’s resources. As Sunagakure’s forces advanced, Yubi and Sasori waited in ambush for Konoha’s vanguard, which had just arrived nearby.

• The Third Raikage ordered his troops to accelerate their advance toward the Land of Fire and told his son A to lead the attack.
• The Third Raikage declared that Kumogakure intended to expand its power and territory and would not spare Sunagakure.
• Yubi led sensory ninja in eliminating Konoha’s defenders and destroying settlements to disrupt the enemy and pressure the Land of Fire’s daimyo.
• Yubi and Sasori traveled inland to intercept Konoha’s reinforcements and hid beside a main road in the Land of Fire.
• Hideki reported that the ambush traps were ready, and Yubi reassured him that he and Sasori could handle Konoha’s vanguard.
• Yubi sensed Konoha’s vanguard approaching and quietly alerted Sasori.

Yubi and Sasori were discovered by Minato Namikaze’s Konoha team and forced into a fight in the mountain woods. Yubi evaded Tsume Inuzuka and Kuromaru’s attack, but Minato appeared behind him with a kunai as he was about to land.

• Yubi identified Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, Minato Namikaze, Tsume Inuzuka, and two other Konoha jonin approaching in two teams.
• Yubi noticed the six changing their chakra circulation and warned Sasori that Minato may have detected them.
• Minato signaled the group to leave the road and attack the hidden pair in the woods.
• Tsume Inuzuka and Kuromaru launched Fang Over Fang, smashing through trees as Yubi and Sasori dodged.
• Minato threw a kunai at Yubi’s anticipated landing spot, but Yubi knocked it away with a drop of blood.
• Minato appeared behind Yubi with another kunai as Yubi was about to land.