Chapter Summaries

Mizuki arranged for his student Shinnosuke to injure students during Friday’s practical lesson, hoping to cause trouble for Umino Iruka. Hinata Hyuga decided to challenge Neji Hyuga, and Shihui Aburame invited her and Shino Aburame to train after school.

• Mizuki learned that Shihui Aburame, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno had scored full marks, then offered Umino Iruka another chance to teach a lesson.
• Umino Iruka announced that his class would have a practical combat lesson with Class 2-A on Friday, and Sasuke Uchiha looked forward to showing off his Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
• Mizuki told Shinnosuke to target the younger students during the lesson and promised to cover for him as long as nobody died.
• Hinata Hyuga asked Shihui Aburame if she could challenge Neji Hyuga during the practical lesson, and Shihui told her to make her own decision.
• Shihui Aburame invited Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame to train with him after school.

After school, Shihui Aburame trained with Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga at his courtyard. He tested his powerful Kikaichū, gave one to Shino, and began sparring with Hinata to help her prepare to challenge Neji.

• Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha left school together, leaving Sakura Haruno stunned and Ino Yamanaka disappointed that Hinata Hyuga had gotten ahead of her again.
• Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha practiced physical training at Shihui Aburame’s courtyard while Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga arrived with Shihui.
• Shihui Aburame tested Shino Aburame’s three strongest Kikaichū against his own, whose attack quickly split a tree in two.
• Shihui Aburame gave Shino Aburame one of his Kikaichū to raise, then sent him away.
• Shihui Aburame told Hinata Hyuga that challenging Neji would be difficult and invited her to attack him for training.
• Hinata Hyuga activated her Byakugan and sparred with Shihui Aburame, who found himself under pressure from her Gentle Fist.

Shihui Aburame finished training Hinata Hyuga and walked her home before asking Tsunade to teach him basic taijutsu. Tsunade began their lesson with a stomp, and Shihui asked her to take off her shoes as they prepared to spar.

• Shihui Aburame ended Hinata Hyuga's sparring session, gave her water, and teased her while she rested in the cabin.
• Shihui Aburame walked Hinata Hyuga home after passing Naruto Uzumaki encouraging a tired Sasuke Uchiha on the road.
• Hinata Hyuga invited Shihui Aburame to dinner, but he declined and headed back to the old Senju residence.
• Shihui Aburame asked Tsunade to teach him basic taijutsu, and Tsunade agreed in exchange for another bottle of nectar wine each day.
• After dinner, Tsunade began training Shihui Aburame with a stomp, and he asked her to take off her shoes.

Shihui Aburame impressed Tsunade during an exhausting spar and recovered at her wooden house. The next day, Ino Yamanaka and Hinata Hyuga separately asked Shino Aburame what Shihui liked, and Shino recalled a strange project from two years earlier.

• Tsunade sparred with Shihui Aburame for an hour, then carried the exhausted boy back to the wooden house.
• Shizune offered to bathe Shihui Aburame, but he insisted on washing himself and went to bed early.
• Shino Aburame remembered that the new kikaichū Shihui had given him consumed all his chakra when he tried to feed it.
• Ino Yamanaka asked Shino what Shihui liked, and Shino said he enjoyed growing flowers and offered to take her to the Aburame Clan grounds.
• Hinata Hyuga asked Shino what Shihui liked so she could prepare him a gift, and Shino remembered a strange creation Shihui had called a man's romance.
• Shino told Hinata she would need to find a few more people to help make it.

Ino Yamanaka and Shino Aburame went to Shihui Aburame’s cabin, where Ino admired the Moon Orchids, while Shihui trained with Tsunade and used a Bronze Relic Gu to advance his cultivation. Later, Hinata Hyuga gathered friends at the cabin and asked them to help make something from her drawing.

• Ino Yamanaka stayed behind after school while Shino Aburame delayed their trip to the cabin so Shihui Aburame would not notice them.
• Ino Yamanaka and Shino Aburame reached the cabin, where Ino admired the Moon Orchids and saw Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki exercising nearby.
• Tsunade knocked Shihui Aburame down repeatedly during their sparring, and Shihui received a Bronze Relic Gu achievement reward for Sasuke Uchiha’s high jumps.
• Shihui Aburame used the Bronze Relic Gu to rise from rank one middle stage to rank one upper stage, then went to sleep.
• Hinata Hyuga returned to the cabin, gathered Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, and Shino Aburame, and asked them to help make the item shown in her drawing.

Sasuke Uchiha showed off his Great Fireball Technique to his parents and gained Uchiha Fugaku’s praise, while Shihui Aburame encouraged Hinata Hyuga before the practical combat class. The students gathered at the training ground, where Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Naruto Uzumaki’s progress, but the class’s battles had not yet begun.

• Naruto Uzumaki told Sasuke Uchiha he could not spar because he had extra training with Might Guy, and Sakura Haruno misunderstood his wording before Sasuke stormed off.
• Sasuke Uchiha demonstrated the Great Fireball Technique to Uchiha Mikoto and received praise from Uchiha Fugaku, boosting his confidence ahead of the coming fight.
• Shihui Aburame encouraged Hinata Hyuga to do her best against Neji Hyuga, and Hinata resolved not to disappoint him.
• At practical combat class, Naruto Uzumaki challenged Sasuke Uchiha over second place, and both boys said they intended to fight Neji Hyuga.
• Umino Iruka greeted the students at the training ground as Mizuki and Hiruzen Sarutobi secretly watched; Hiruzen monitored Naruto’s training progress.

Umino Iruka taught the students two Konoha-Style Taijutsu moves before allowing friendly sparring. Sasuke Uchiha decisively defeated Shinnosuke with a Shuriken Manipulation Technique, then challenged Neji Hyuga.

• Umino Iruka demonstrated the Powerful Elbow Strike and a powerful roundhouse kick, then gave the students time to practice.
• Shinnosuke asked Umino Iruka for permission to hold friendly sparring matches and invited the younger students to face him.
• Sasuke Uchiha stepped forward, and Shinnosuke charged at him using the Body Flicker Technique.
• Sasuke Uchiha deflected Shinnosuke's kunai and used threads to control them, striking Shinnosuke's limbs and trapping him by the neck.
• Sasuke Uchiha challenged Neji Hyuga, while Hiruzen Sarutobi praised Sasuke's Shuriken Manipulation Technique.

Naruto Uzumaki challenged Sasuke Uchiha and surprised the class by knocking him down with a powerful kick. Sasuke used Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, but Naruto’s final attack knocked them both unconscious, leaving the match unresolved.

• Naruto Uzumaki interrupted Sasuke Uchiha’s challenge to Neji Hyuga and insisted on fighting him.
• Naruto Uzumaki gained the upper hand in their first exchange and sent Sasuke Uchiha flying with Konoha Whirlwind.
• Sasuke Uchiha stood back up and used Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, which Naruto narrowly dodged, though it set his sleeve alight.
• Sasuke Uchiha charged Naruto with a kunai, but Naruto dodged and launched Konoha Rock-Shattering Rise.
• Sasuke Uchiha’s kunai struck Naruto, and Naruto’s falling body knocked Sasuke unconscious.

Naruto Uzumaki defeated Sasuke Uchiha, and Shihui Aburame healed him before the students continued their training. Hinata Hyuga challenged Neji Hyuga and surprised him with her strength, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Shihui Aburame used Medical Ninjutsu to confirm Sasuke Uchiha was fine, and Sasuke woke up after Naruto Uzumaki had defeated him.
• Umino Iruka called the class back to training, and Shihui Aburame encouraged Hinata Hyuga to step forward.
• Hinata Hyuga chose to challenge Neji Hyuga, drawing cheers from the students.
• Neji Hyuga activated his Byakugan and attacked Hinata Hyuga without holding back.
• Hinata Hyuga met Neji Hyuga's palm with her own, forcing him to retreat three steps and wonder how she had become so strong.

Hinata Hyuga fought Neji Hyuga with strength from the White Boar Gu, but Neji defeated her with the Gentle Fist's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Shihui Aburame healed Hinata, challenged Neji's claims about fate, and left the onlookers stunned when one punch broke Neji's bone and sent him flying.

• Hinata Hyuga briefly matched Neji Hyuga in strength, but Shihui Aburame and Shikamaru Nara predicted Neji would adapt and win.
• Hinata Hyuga unlocked the Water Arrow Gu achievement, and Neji Hyuga used four strikes of Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to defeat her.
• Shihui Aburame caught and healed Hinata Hyuga as Neji Hyuga declared her defeat inevitable and walked away.
• Shihui Aburame called Neji Hyuga weak, and Neji challenged the students to take him on before attacking Shihui.
• Shihui Aburame blocked Neji Hyuga's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms with one punch, broke his bone, and blasted him away along with Umino Iruka.

Shihui Aburame defeated Neji Hyuga with Superhuman Strength, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi to order Mizuki’s arrest. After class, Shihui invited everyone to Ichiraku Ramen, where Hinata Hyuga and Choji Akimichi ate enough to leave Ino Yamanaka worried about the bill.

• Shihui Aburame defeated Neji Hyuga and left with Hinata Hyuga as the students watched in shock.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Anbu to arrest Mizuki and investigate suspicious details surrounding a mission and a teammate’s death.
• Umino Iruka ended the practical combat class and took Neji Hyuga to the hospital.
• Shihui Aburame invited the students to Ichiraku Ramen, where Sakura Haruno declared she would learn Medical Ninjutsu.
• Hinata Hyuga and Choji Akimichi ate stacks of ramen bowls, leaving Ino Yamanaka worried she had not brought enough money.

After Hinata Hyuga showed her strength and appetite, Shihui Aburame reassured her and learned she wanted him to visit the wooden cabin. At home, Sasuke Uchiha sought comfort from his mother, while Neji Hyuga questioned whether fate could be changed and resolved to confront Shihui.

• Hinata Hyuga finished ten bowls of ramen, and Ino Yamanaka borrowed Shihui Aburame’s wallet to pay the bill.
• Shihui Aburame walked Hinata Hyuga home and agreed to visit the wooden cabin at noon the next day.
• Hyuga Hiashi praised Hinata Hyuga’s progress and said he would teach her the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
• Uchiha Mikoto comforted Sasuke Uchiha after he told her about his defeat in sparring class.
• Neji Hyuga woke in the hospital, reflected on the Caged Bird Seal and Shihui Aburame’s strength, and planned to seek him out after leaving.

Shino Aburame raised the mutated kikaichū his brother gave him and discovered it could absorb an unfamiliar energy. Shihui Aburame identified the energy as natural energy, and Shino left eager to train the insects with it.

• Shino Aburame fed chakra to his mutated kikaichū and told Shibi Aburame that Shihui Aburame had beaten Neji Hyuga with Superhuman Strength.
• Shino Aburame noticed the kikaichū absorbing energy that was not chakra and decided to ask his brother about it.
• Shizune offered to examine Shihui Aburame, then learned he had injured Neji Hyuga during combat class.
• Shino Aburame showed Shihui Aburame that the mutated kikaichū absorbed natural energy when it grew hungry.
• Shihui Aburame explained natural energy to Shino Aburame, who went home excited to train his kikaichū with it.

Shihui Aburame encouraged Sasuke Uchiha to test his chakra nature and accepted a handmade Rider belt from Hinata Hyuga, who shared a meal with him. When Neji Hyuga came to discuss the Caged Bird Seal, Shihui challenged his belief that the Main Family alone was to blame and said the world’s systems were at fault.

• Shihui Aburame told Sasuke Uchiha to get Chakra Paper and test his chakra nature, arguing that he should learn whichever release made him stronger.
• Hinata Hyuga gave Shihui Aburame a handmade Decade Rider belt, then joined him for a spicy meal and explained that money was not a sincere enough gift.
• Shihui Aburame pinched Hinata Hyuga’s cheek, and Neji Hyuga arrived to speak with him about the Caged Bird Seal.
• Neji Hyuga blamed the Main Family and the seal for his father’s death, but Shihui Aburame said the world’s systems, including the Will of Fire and the Caged Bird Seal, were wrong.

Shihui Aburame persuaded Neji Hyuga that the Caged Bird Seal was a jutsu that could eventually be undone and recruited him into a group seeking to correct the Will of Fire. The chapter ended with Neji accepting the codename Azure Lord and Shihui receiving a healing Gu worm as a reward.

• Shihui Aburame challenged Neji Hyuga to consider whether the Caged Bird Seal and Konoha's practices truly upheld the Will of Fire.
• Shihui argued that the Caged Bird Seal was Sealing Jutsu that could be broken by assembling gifted specialists, and Neji began to see hope of escaping his fate.
• Neji agreed to join Shihui's plan and committed himself to getting stronger.
• Shihui gave Neji a manifesto for the group Heavenly Drive and named him Azure Lord.
• Shihui received the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass, a Rank Two Gu worm with healing effects, after completing the "A single spark" achievement.

Shihui Aburame received a Liquor Worm and made plans to find the liquors needed to refine it into a Four Flavors Liquor Worm. After giving Ino Yamanaka Moon Orchids and arranging a trip with Tsunade, he considered selling the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass and began studying natural energy.

• Shihui Aburame unlocked an achievement for meeting Neji Hyuga and received a Liquor Worm, which needed four kinds of fine liquor to refine into a Four Flavors Liquor Worm.
• Shihui Aburame took Hinata Hyuga home and told her that Neji Hyuga wanted to train with him.
• Ino Yamanaka repaid Shihui Aburame with five hundred thousand ryo, including a gift, and he gave her Moon Orchids in return.
• Shihui Aburame asked Tsunade where to find sour and bitter liquor, and Tsunade proposed that they visit the Land of Fire Metropolis the following weekend.
• Shihui Aburame considered selling the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass and took out his kikaichū to study natural energy.

Shihui Aburame experimented with a mutated kikaichū that absorbed natural energy and considered whether kikaichū could help Aburame ninja enter Sage Mode. After dinner, he agreed to lend Tsunade 500,000 ryō and ended the chapter by asking her to teach him a new ninjutsu.

• Shihui Aburame observed a mutated kikaichū absorbing natural energy and wondered whether kikaichū could enable Aburame ninja to enter Sage Mode.
• Tsunade announced that she, Shizune, and Shihui Aburame would go to the Land of Fire Metropolis next Saturday to gamble.
• Shizune confronted Tsunade about having no money, and Tsunade demanded a loan from Shihui Aburame.
• Shihui Aburame agreed to lend Tsunade 500,000 ryō after she grabbed him and pressed his head against her chest.
• Shizune asked Shihui Aburame to help persuade Tsunade to stop drinking and gambling, and he agreed.
• Shihui Aburame asked Tsunade to teach him a new ninjutsu.

Sasuke Uchiha discovered he had fire and lightning chakra natures and learned Lightning Release: Flash on his first attempt. Shihui Aburame began learning the Mystical Palm Technique from Tsunade, then prepared to test a natural-energy technique on Shino Aburame’s kikaichū somewhere safer than home.

• Sasuke Uchiha tested his chakra nature with Uchiha Mikoto and found that he had fire and lightning natures.
• Uchiha Mikoto gave Sasuke Uchiha a scroll for Lightning Release: Flash, and he learned the technique on his first try before asking for more lightning ninjutsu.
• Tsunade demonstrated the Mystical Palm Technique to Shihui Aburame, who practiced treating a cut on a carp while Shizune watched.
• Shihui Aburame returned to the Aburame Clan and told Shino Aburame to keep natural energy and chakra in a one-to-one ratio inside his kikaichū.
• Shihui Aburame stopped Shino Aburame from testing the technique at home and decided they should go somewhere else in case the kikaichū went berserk.

Shihui Aburame helped Shino Aburame create explosive kikaichū and began planning how to rescue Karin without revealing Heavenly Drive. At school, Shihui found Ino Yamanaka sharing homemade rice balls with him, and Hinata Hyuga asked him to teach her how to make them.

• Shino Aburame’s kikaichū lost control while absorbing natural energy, and Shihui Aburame shielded him from its explosion with the White Jade Gu.
• Shihui showed Shino that twenty mutated kikaichū had survived and suggested using their explosive power as a secret weapon called Kikaichū: Explosion.
• Shihui considered ways to rescue Karin from Kusagakure and decided to seek a wealthy merchant or noble to fund the mission without exposing his knowledge.
• Shihui heard that Mizuki had been arrested after telling Shinnosuke to teach their class a lesson.
• Ino Yamanaka offered Shihui homemade flower rice balls, and he invited Hinata Hyuga to try one.
• Hinata asked Shihui to teach her to make rice balls, while Shino Aburame quietly withdrew from the situation.

Shihui Aburame arranged for Neji Hyuga to help secretly house Karin, then tested the Nine Leaf Vitality Grass by healing an injured rabbit. After dinner, Shihui returned to the old Senju residence to begin his Medical Ninjutsu training.

• Ino Yamanaka invited Shihui Aburame and Hinata Hyuga to learn flower rice-ball making, and Shihui heard that Gekko Hayate would replace Mizuki as their teacher.
• Shihui Aburame asked Neji Hyuga to arrange a discreet place for Karin, and Neji agreed after learning she was an Uzumaki Clan member and part of the Heavenly Drive Organization.
• Neji Hyuga asked how he should treat the Hyuga Main Family, and Shihui advised him to treat Hinata Hyuga and Hyuga Hiashi as they treated him.
• Shihui Aburame had Neji use Gentle Fist to incapacitate a rabbit, then fed it Nine Leaf Vitality Grass and confirmed that it recovered.
• Shihui Aburame cooked an extremely spicy rabbit dinner with Neji and said he planned to pursue soul-related Ninjutsu through Ino Yamanaka.
• Shihui Aburame returned to the old Senju residence, where his Medical Ninjutsu training began.