Chapter Summaries

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.

Yubi and Sasori faced Minato and five other Konoha ninja in the woods, where Minato’s Flying Thunder God and Yubi’s Blood Release made their duel difficult for both. The battle continued with the two sides separated, and Minato realized Yubi understood and countered his fighting methods.

• Minato used a kunai feint and a Body Flicker Technique to strike Yubi from behind, but Yubi’s blood armor blocked the attack and he evaded Tsume Inuzuka’s Fang Over Fang.
• Shikaku Nara recognized Yubi and Sasori as Sunagakure’s Blood Medic and Red Sands, and Yubi taunted him over Konoha’s past pursuit of them.
• Minato coordinated with Tsume Inuzuka while two Sarutobi Clan jonin attacked Sasori with Fire Release; Yubi raised an Earth-Style Wall to help the pair escape the flames.
• Yubi activated Crimson Scale Pulse and Wing King, then used his speed and blood armor to fight Minato while Minato repeatedly used Flying Thunder God to keep up.
• Minato realized Yubi knew his techniques and deliberately countered his marked kunai, spatial targeting, and attempts to place a formula on Yubi’s blood armor.

Yubi fought Minato Namikaze and the Konoha shinobi, using Blood Release while Minato’s Flying Thunder God overwhelmed him. After Minato struck Yubi through the heart and Shikaku restrained him, Yubi revealed he was still alive, leaving Minato rushing to kill him again.

• Yubi realized Minato’s Flying Thunder God made him difficult to hit, but believed Minato lacked the Rasengan and was still short on chakra.
• Yubi drew Tsume Inuzuka into the fight and attacked her with Blood Release: Piercing Blood, but Minato teleported her away.
• Tsume Inuzuka struck Yubi and shattered his blood-crystal defenses, while Minato used a hidden Flying Thunder God marking to stab Yubi through the heart.
• Shikaku restrained Yubi with the Shadow Imitation Technique as Minato carried the poisoned Tsume Inuzuka away, believing Yubi was dead.
• Yubi spoke despite the wound, and Minato turned back and charged at him as Yubi’s pupils changed color.

Yubi defeated Konoha’s vanguard, killing Inoichi and Tsume while Minato escaped with Shikaku. He returned to Tsume’s body, leaving Konoha’s advancing main force without knowledge of Sunagakure’s ambush or its commander.

• Yubi replenished his chakra with a Senzu Bean and told Minato that Tsume was dead.
• Yubi attacked Shikaku and Inoichi, but Minato rescued Shikaku and left Inoichi behind.
• Yubi killed Inoichi with a Blood Edge strike while Minato fled with Shikaku.
• Yubi turned back toward Tsume’s body and noted that he had not captured anyone who could identify Konoha’s main-force commander.

Yubi reflected on the Konoha fighters he had killed before reaching Sasori, who had just defeated two Sarutobi Jonin with a costly puppet technique. The two Sunagakure shinobi left together with the bodies, while most of Sasori’s puppet components were destroyed or packed away.

• Yubi received experience and Konoha hatred points for killing Tsume Inuzuka and Inoichi Yamanaka, then considered the damage their deaths would cause Konoha.
• Yubi recalled that Minato, Shikaku, and Inoichi’s battlefield abilities made them dangerous, and credited his knowledge of the targets with helping him repel Minato.
• Yubi reached Sasori’s battlefield as Sasori overwhelmed two Sarutobi Jonin with a tide of mechanical puppet arms, blades, and kunai.
• Yubi lamented the expense of Sasori’s puppet components as Sasori stored some and destroyed others to erase traces.
• Yubi told Sasori that two Konoha fighters had escaped and two had died, and the pair left with the bodies.

Yubi and Sasori handed Sunagakure’s ambush over to Hideki, emphasizing that his forces should delay Konoha, gather intelligence, and survive rather than pursue kills. After Minato and Shikaku rejoined Konoha’s main army with news of the failed advance mission, Hiruzen Sarutobi recognized Sunagakure’s unusually sophisticated tactics and realized the campaign might be harder than he had expected.

• Yubi warned Hideki to use scattered squads and traps to harass Konoha’s main force, report its composition, and retreat along the planned routes while preserving his troops.
• Yubi and Sasori returned to the border, while Yubi worried that Sunagakure’s shinobi might let their hatred of Konoha derail the operation.
• Minato Namikaze and Shikaku Nara rejoined Konoha’s main army after six scouts had been sent ahead and only the two of them survived.
• Minato accepted responsibility for the mission’s failure, and Hiruzen Sarutobi praised him while noting that Konoha had learned about Yubi’s bloodline ability and Sunagakure’s twin stars.
• A senior Konoha official questioned who was directing Sunagakure’s precise, adaptive tactics, and Hiruzen ordered every battalion to stay alert for ambushes.
• Hiruzen realized Sunagakure’s forces and strategy might prevent him from ending the war quickly, leaving him feeling the pressure of the campaign.

Hiruzen Sarutobi led Konoha’s army through Sunagakure’s traps and drove off a small ambushing force, but the scattered Sunagakure ninja repeatedly returned to harass the march. Sarutobi recognized that Arai’s guerrilla attacks were meant to unsettle Konoha and disrupt its advance, leaving him wary of the Sunagakure commander.

• Konoha’s army entered Sunagakure’s trapped ambush zone, and Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the main force to keep advancing while its troops fought the attackers.
• Konoha’s forces routed the small Sunagakure raiding force, and Sarutobi learned that Arai, a Third Kazekage’s personal guard and assistant, commanded it.
• Sunagakure ninja returned to attack the marching army, then fled again before Konoha could engage them decisively.
• Sarutobi realized the repeated guerrilla attacks were designed to keep Konoha on edge and disrupt its march, and he grew wary of Arai.

Konoha’s army, commanded by Hiruzen Sarutobi, advanced toward Sunagakure’s forest position after its troops were slowed and worn down by repeated harassment. Sunagakure’s leaders learned that Konoha was bringing a powerful force and prepared for an immediate night battle.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi’s army stayed on high alert after Sunagakure’s harassment, fell half a day behind schedule, and neared the forest along the Land of Rivers border.
• Arai and Sunagakure’s leaders learned that Hiruzen Sarutobi was commanding Konoha’s army and recognized the threat posed by his arrival.
• Hideki reported that his harassment force had suffered nearly half its members killed or wounded and identified several Konoha clans among the enemy troops.
• Hideki told Yubi that Konoha’s genjutsu forces included members of the Kurama Clan, while the presence of the Uchiha Clan remained uncertain and the Hyuga Clan appeared absent.
• Yubi concluded that Konoha would attack immediately to regain the initiative, and Arai’s forces prepared for a night battle.

Konoha and Sunagakure began a fierce battle in the sea of trees, where both armies’ traps and tactics inflicted heavy losses. Yubi used his dōjutsu to infiltrate Konoha’s ranks and target key units, killing a Yamanaka Clan commander while the surviving guards tried to stop him.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Konoha’s army to charge into the forest, where Sunagakure’s ranged squads attacked with Wind Release and Konoha troops triggered traps.
• Arai sent Sunagakure’s puppet troops into the fighting as both armies clashed across the forest.
• Yubi used his dōjutsu to locate dangerous targets in Konoha’s formation and killed shinobi with blood projectiles as he moved through the battle.
• Yubi found a Yamanaka Clan member coordinating Konoha’s troops, guarded by an Aburame Clan shinobi and two others.
• Yubi used Blood Release: Supernova to kill one guard, then bound and executed the Yamanaka Clan member as the remaining guards watched.

Yubi evaded Konoha’s encirclement and targeted clan members whose battlefield roles strengthened Konoha’s squads. He found a Shimura Clan trap-clearing squad and attacked its surviving captain, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Yubi used Earth Release to disrupt pursuing Konoha ninja and searched for a gap in their encirclement while a sensory ninja tracked him.
• Yubi assessed how Konoha’s clan members coordinated and supported its squads, deciding to prioritize those key figures over ordinary troops.
• Two Shimura Clan members led a squad clearing Sunagakure’s traps, but Yubi used Genjutsu to make the squad members explode.
• Yubi confronted the surviving Shimura captain, recognized the clan’s connection to Danzo, and lunged to kill him.

Yubi retreated from Konoha’s army while Minato Namikaze tried to delay him, and he hinted that Sunagakure had more plans in store. Hiruzen Sarutobi then noticed Sunagakure spreading its forces beyond the main battlefield, disrupting Konoha’s advantage.

• As Konoha’s forces gained ground and organized pursuit squads, Yubi decided to withdraw before Hiruzen Sarutobi could confront him.
• Minato Namikaze caught up with Yubi, but his attacks could not break Yubi’s Blood Release armor, so he tried to slow Yubi and let other Konoha squads close in.
• Yubi escaped toward Sunagakure’s positions and told Minato that the real show was only beginning.
• Minato stopped his companions from pursuing Yubi into Sunagakure’s territory and ordered them to warn Hiruzen Sarutobi of possible further plans.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed Sunagakure splitting its main force into combat squads and spreading beyond the main battlefield, which would disperse both armies and disrupt Konoha’s coordination.

Yubi used Sunagakure’s medical system and scattered battlefields to give his forces an advantage against Konoha. After his unit annihilated a pursuing Konoha group with March of the Dead, Hiruzen Sarutobi found Sunagakure medicine and wondered why the battle had turned against his expectations.

• Yubi’s plan scattered Konoha’s forces across the border and used captured outposts as protected treatment stations for Sunagakure’s medical ninja.
• Yubi led a hundred-strong unit to ambush a pursuing Konoha group, using his Dōjutsu and March of the Dead to catch the hidden enemy within range.
• Yubi’s flute induced genjutsu among the Konoha ninja, allowing Sunagakure’s fighters to rout and nearly annihilate them in little more than fifteen minutes.
• Yubi ordered his troops to clear the battlefield and moved on to the next scattered Konoha unit.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi found a Sunagakure pill on a corpse and questioned why the battle had shifted against Konoha.

Konoha suffered heavier casualties than Sunagakure as its medical squads and battlefield tactics kept the scattered fighting in Sunagakure’s favor. Sunagakure withdrew toward the Land of Rivers after booby-trapping its medical strongholds, leaving Sarutobi to reckon with a costly Konoha victory that had benefited the enemy more.

• A Konoha ninja reported to Sarutobi that Sunagakure knew the scattered battlefields, used mobile medical squads and painkillers, and relied on Yubi’s wide-area genjutsu tool to inflict heavy losses.
• Sarutobi learned that Konoha’s casualties far exceeded Sunagakure’s and ordered the army to target the medical strongholds while he searched for Yubi.
• Sunagakure suddenly withdrew toward the Land of Rivers after evacuating its medical strongholds.
• Konoha squads suffered additional casualties when they entered the strongholds, which Sunagakure had rigged with mechanisms and Explosive Tags.
• Sarutobi insisted he was fine, but concluded that Konoha had won at a devastating cost while Sunagakure had come out ahead.

After Sunagakure withdrew into the Land of Rivers, Yubi and Arai reviewed their army’s successful first clash with Konoha and prepared for a prolonged struggle. Hiruzen Sarutobi’s officers also assessed Konoha’s heavy losses, identifying Sunagakure’s tactics and medical support as the main dangers.

• Konoha pursued Sunagakure into the Land of Rivers, then withdrew after confirming Sunagakure no longer threatened the Land of Fire.
• Arai ordered an assessment of Sunagakure’s condition while Yubi mobilized the medical corps to treat the wounded.
• Yubi and Arai reviewed the battle, noted that Sunagakure had achieved better results than expected, and planned for future fighting.
• Kazuto told Konoha’s officers that Sunagakure’s tactics and medical system had caused their severe losses.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed that Konoha needed to address Sunagakure’s battlefield command and medical support.

Minato proposed a plan that earned Hiruzen Sarutobi’s approval as Konoha and Sunagakure continued their limited clashes in the Land of Rivers. Yubi waited for Kumogakure to join the war, and the chapter ended when intelligence confirmed that Kumogakure and Konoha had gone to war.

• Minato presented a plan to Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other Konoha leaders, who praised his idea.
• Konoha and Sunagakure fought repeated small-scale engagements while both villages avoided a major battle and managed their troops.
• Yubi explained that Sunagakure used tactical plans to limit its losses and sought to draw other villages into the war.
• Yubi learned that informants from several villages were watching the conflict and wondered why Kumogakure had not attacked Konoha.
• A subordinate reported to Arai that Kumogakure and Konoha had gone to war, and Yubi welcomed the news.

Yubi kept Sunagakure’s fighting limited while waiting for other villages to pressure Konoha, and used the war to promote the village’s medicines. When medicines vanished from a secret supply outpost, Yubi blamed Minato Namikaze and concluded that Hiruzen Sarutobi had helped cover the theft.

• Yubi told Arai to keep harassing the Land of Fire’s border and ordered Sunagakure’s factories to produce medicines at full capacity.
• Sunagakure and Konoha continued frequent but mostly small clashes in the Land of Rivers as both sides fought an intelligence and attrition war.
• Yubi benefited from the battlefield’s increased experience gains, despite being exhausted by the fighting.
• Yubi and Arai arrived at a Sunagakure outpost and discovered that its recently delivered medicines had disappeared.
• Yubi deduced that Minato Namikaze had used his Space-Time Ninjutsu to steal the medicines while Konoha’s forces distracted Sunagakure.
• Yubi told Arai that Hiruzen Sarutobi was sly and had to be watched, prompting Arai to angrily curse the Third Hokage.