Recaps

Hiruzen Sarutobi confronted Orochimaru over his forbidden experiments, but Orochimaru attacked and escaped Konoha. As the village went on alert, Senju Chen retrieved three forbidden technique scrolls, intending to deliver them to his former teacher.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi accused Orochimaru of sacrificing lives for his research, and Orochimaru defended his pursuit of eternal life and rejected the Will of Fire.
• Orochimaru attacked Hiruzen Sarutobi and two Anbu with Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, then escaped by scattering into small snakes.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi stayed behind, believing Orochimaru had prepared his escape, and mourned losing his student.
• News of Orochimaru's experiments and defection spread through Konoha, and Senju Chen reflected that Danzo's exposure had merely accelerated the inevitable.
• Senju Chen entered the Senju Clan's underground scroll archive and took the Spirit Transformation Technique, Eight Branches Technique, and Impure World Reincarnation scrolls.
• Senju Chen sealed the three scrolls, planning to deliver them to Orochimaru, who he believed would remain near Konoha for its valuable materials.

Senju Chen tracked Orochimaru to an abandoned mine and gave him three forbidden jutsu as a farewell gift. Orochimaru invited Chen to leave Konoha with him, but Chen chose to stay for Tsunade and the people he wanted to protect.

• Senju Chen slipped past Konoha's patrols and barrier, then traveled to a likely hiding place near the Land of Fire's border.
• Senju Chen found Orochimaru in an abandoned mine and explained how he had guessed his location.
• Senju Chen gave Orochimaru scrolls containing the Spirit Transformation Technique, the Eight Branches Technique, and Impure World Reincarnation.
• Senju Chen urged Orochimaru to leave Konoha and pursue his ambitions elsewhere.
• Orochimaru invited Senju Chen to join him, but Chen refused, saying Tsunade needed him and he wanted to protect people in Konoha.

After Orochimaru defected, Senju Chen comforted Mitaraishi Anko and reflected on how the scandal had damaged Shimura Danzō’s standing. A week later, Konoha’s Hokage election began, and Minato Namikaze was nominated first.

• Orochimaru left Senju Chen at the mine after inviting him to join him if he ever changed his mind.
• Senju Chen returned to Konoha and considered how Orochimaru’s defection had turned the Hokage contest into a rivalry between Shimura Danzō and Minato Namikaze.
• Mitaraishi Anko came to Senju Chen in tears, and he reassured her that Orochimaru’s choices did not define her own path.
• A week later, Senju Chen and representatives of Konoha’s clans gathered in the Hokage Building to elect the Fourth Hokage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the election, and an attendee nominated Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze won the Hokage election by an overwhelming margin, defeating Shimura Danzō’s bid for the position. He was inaugurated before cheering villagers and promised to protect Konoha and unite its people.

• Shikaku Nara nominated Minato Namikaze, and the clan heads voiced their support.
• Shimura Danzō argued that Minato lacked experience and nominated himself, but no one seconded him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi held a vote, and Senju Chen cast his ballot for Minato Namikaze.
• The ballots overwhelmingly favored Minato, and Hiruzen announced him as Konoha’s Fourth Hokage.
• Minato appeared at the Hokage Building inauguration and pledged to protect Konoha and pass on the Will of Fire.

After Minato Namikaze became Hokage, Senju Chen considered how to use the coming Nine-Tails' Attack to change fate while advancing his own plans. Minato asked him to persuade Orochimaru to return, but Chen privately intended to let his teacher continue causing trouble as he prepared to visit Rin Nohara and investigate a mysterious scientist.

• Senju Chen watched Minato Namikaze's inauguration and decided he needed to prepare for the Nine-Tails' Attack and Obito Uchiha's planned strike.
• Maruboshi Kosuke told Senju Chen that Rin Nohara was resting safely at Food Is Heaven and that the establishment would open in three days.
• Senju Chen reviewed intelligence about Kirigakure's movements and the whereabouts of a mysterious scientist.
• Minato Namikaze asked Senju Chen to persuade Orochimaru to stop harming Konoha and offered him a chance to atone if he returned.
• Senju Chen agreed to pass on Minato's message but privately hoped Orochimaru would keep drawing attention away from his own plans.

Senju Chen traveled to the Capital of Fire to inspect his new restaurant and check on Rin Nohara. He discovered that the seal restraining the Three-Tails was being eroded by her Cursed Seal and began reinforcing it.

• After Minato Namikaze became Fourth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake joined the Anbu under the Hokage's command.
• Senju Chen left Konoha and traveled in disguise to the Capital of Fire.
• Senju Chen visited Food Is Heaven, his restaurant and planned base for dining, lodging, and intelligence trading.
• Senju Chen examined Rin Nohara and found that her Cursed Seal was eroding his seal and resonating with the Three-Tails' chakra.
• Senju Chen began reinforcing Rin's seal with chakra while she lay on the bed.

Senju Chen renewed Rin’s cursed seal and used a forged letter from Kakashi to encourage her to keep living and waiting. He then opened Food Is Heaven as a gathering place for the Land of Fire’s elite, laying the groundwork for a wider network of money, intelligence, and influence.

• Senju Chen renewed Rin’s cursed seal and told her that Orochimaru was the only person who could remove it.
• Senju Chen gave Rin a forged copy of Kakashi’s eulogy, and she wept as she read it.
• Food Is Heaven opened on Vermilion Bird Avenue, and officials, merchants, and noblewomen arrived for its invitation-only launch.
• Maruboshi Kosuke reported that thirty-seven prominent guests had attended and that Lord Saeki was curious about the restaurant’s guards.
• Senju Chen told Kosuke to keep the guards’ backgrounds mysterious and make sure the guests left satisfied.
• Senju Chen watched the gathering and planned to expand Food Is Heaven into a network of funds, intelligence, and influence.

Senju Chen received intelligence identifying Amado, a scientist seeking resources in the Land of Iron, and saw an opportunity to recruit him. He also promised Xuanyuan Gari that he would find a way to remove the life-draining device attached to his squad, leaving Xuanyuan in charge of Food Is Heaven’s security.

• Xuanyuan Gari reported that his men had settled into their jobs and gave Senju Chen intelligence on a scientist called Ark, last seen seeking Mifune’s support in the Land of Iron.
• Senju Chen recognized Ark as Amado and realized the scientist’s advanced research could be valuable to him.
• Senju Chen asked Xuanyuan Gari about the life-draining device attached to his squad and said he wanted the person responsible to resolve the danger.
• Xuanyuan Gari pledged his loyalty after Senju Chen promised not to leave his men burdened by the device.
• Senju Chen appointed Xuanyuan Gari to oversee security in the Capital of Fire and considered recruiting Amado while he was still being rejected in the Land of Iron.

Senju Chen traveled to the Land of Iron and learned that Amado had been rejected by General Mifune and the samurai for promoting scientific enhancements. He found Amado in an abandoned smithy and introduced himself as an investor interested in the future.

• Senju Chen left the Capital of Fire after entrusting Food Is Heaven to Maruboshi Kosuke and its protection to Xuanyuan Gari and his squad.
• Senju Chen spent two days observing the Land of Iron and heard that Amado had repeatedly been thrown out of General Mifune's dojo.
• Senju Chen learned that Amado had rented an abandoned smithy and continued working on his inventions despite the samurai's rejection.
• Amado cursed the samurai for dismissing his research and called their belief in inner strength unreasonable.
• Senju Chen entered Amado's workshop, praised his work, and introduced himself as an investor interested in the future.

Senju Chen persuaded Amado that he understood and could support Amado’s scientific ambitions, then asked him to join his team. Amado recognized Chen’s value but remained silent, weighing the offer.

• Amado dismissed Chen’s offer to invest, but Chen argued that scientific power could be reproducible and precisely controlled, unlike bloodline abilities and chakra.
• Chen told Amado that he understood his goal of making power accessible through science, and proposed using research to replicate abilities such as the Sharingan and Tailed Beast chakra.
• Chen revealed that he was Senju Chen, known as the Tailed Beast Hunter, and showed Amado detailed data on Wood Release cells, Sharingan chakra, and Tailed Beast chakra.
• Chen promised to supply funding, materials, test subjects, and data if Amado joined his team.
• Amado examined the data and considered accepting, recognizing that Chen understood his work even though the offer would come with a price.

Senju Chen recruited Amado by promising him freedom and resources for his research, then volunteered to be tested. The two combined Sealing Jutsu with Amado’s chakra-absorbing device and built a bracelet that stored chakra as stable energy, leaving them ready to miniaturize and weaponize it.

• Senju Chen promised Amado results, resources, and freedom to pursue his research, and Amado tested his commitment by asking to use him as a test subject.
• Senju Chen agreed to undergo testing on the condition that it would not harm his combat ability or leave noticeable aftereffects, and he and Amado formed an alliance.
• Amado showed Senju Chen his research, including an unfinished device that absorbed chakra but failed when its metal exceeded its capacity.
• Senju Chen proposed using Sealing Jutsu to expand the device’s capacity and convert absorbed chakra into other energy, and he shared his sealing knowledge with Amado.
• On the fifth night, Senju Chen and Amado completed a rune-engraved bracelet that stored converted chakra without collapsing, holding energy equal to about thirty percent of Senju Chen’s reserves.
• Amado proposed miniaturizing the bracelet and turning it into a weapon, and Senju Chen agreed.

Senju Chen brought Amado to Orochimaru’s hidden laboratory in the Land of Fire and arranged for him to receive workspace and resources in exchange for sharing his research. After meeting over Orochimaru’s Tailed Beast cell experiments, the two scientists began discussing ways to make the cells safer to transplant.

• Senju Chen and Amado entered the Land of Fire after leaving the Land of Iron.
• Senju Chen led Amado to Orochimaru’s underground laboratory and described Orochimaru’s research interests.
• Orochimaru welcomed Amado after learning he specialized in human modification and Scientific Ninja Tools.
• Senju Chen arranged for Orochimaru to provide Amado with a laboratory and resources in exchange for access to his research results.
• Orochimaru showed Amado his Tailed Beast cell culture medium, and Amado proposed using a buffer layer to help hosts adapt to the cells.

Senju Chen learned that Kakuzu was expected near the Land of Birds and prepared to seek him out. He brought Xuanyuan Gari and Aying to Orochimaru’s laboratory, where Amado agreed to improve their dangerous mechanical tails.

• Orochimaru told Senju Chen that Kakuzu had appeared near the Land of Hot Water and might visit the Land of Birds’ black market within days.
• Senju Chen left Orochimaru and Amado to their discussion and arranged for Xuanyuan Gari and Aying to come to the laboratory.
• Amado examined Xuanyuan Gari and identified flaws in the tails’ neural connections, energy efficiency, and effect on their life force.
• Amado agreed to improve the tails, with Xuanyuan Gari and Aying providing experimental data alongside Orochimaru and Amado’s expertise.
• Senju Chen told Xuanyuan Gari and Aying to stay and cooperate, then planned to pursue Kakuzu.

Senju Chen visited the Land of Rain to check on the Akatsuki and found that Yahiko had built a growing relief network. He spotted Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan at the group’s refurbished base, leaving his reunion with them just ahead.

• Senju Chen left Orochimaru and Amado to work with the Xuanyuan Group on improving the tail technology, then set out to find Kakuzu and recruit him.
• Senju Chen decided to stop in the Land of Rain to see how Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were doing and how the Akatsuki had developed.
• Senju Chen saw that the Akatsuki had improved conditions in a town by distributing food, repairing houses, and teaching children to read.
• Senju Chen worried that the Akatsuki’s rapid growth would attract Hanzo of the Salamander’s attention and headed for its base near Amegakure.
• Senju Chen found Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan at the Akatsuki’s refurbished factory base.

Senju Chen reunited with Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan and learned that Akatsuki had grown rapidly under Yahiko’s leadership. He warned Yahiko that Hanzō viewed Akatsuki as a threat and laid out two possible responses as the danger of a meeting loomed.

• Senju Chen arrived at Akatsuki’s base and reunited with Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, noticing that Konan still wore the paper rose he had made for her.
• Yahiko showed Senju Chen the renovated factory and explained that Akatsuki had grown to nearly two hundred members and established bases in more than a dozen villages.
• Yahiko told Senju Chen that Hanzō had sent a message requesting a meeting, and Yahiko wanted to explain Akatsuki’s peaceful intentions.
• Senju Chen warned Yahiko that Hanzō would see Akatsuki’s growing influence as a threat and might seek to annihilate it.
• Senju Chen advised Yahiko either to refuse the meeting and keep growing quietly or to meet Hanzō while preparing for the worst.

Senju Chen urged Yahiko to consider striking first against Hanzo of the Salamander, arguing that the Akatsuki's ideals required its members to survive. He then privately explained the Rinnegan’s potential and risks to Nagato, leaving Nagato determined to train.

• Senju Chen told Yahiko that waiting for Hanzo of the Salamander to attack could doom the Akatsuki and its supporters, but Yahiko said he needed time to think.
• Senju Chen took Nagato outside and revealed that he knew Nagato possessed the Rinnegan.
• Nagato admitted that using the Rinnegan drained his chakra and that he did not understand its abilities.
• Senju Chen explained that Nagato needed to master chakra control, understand the Rinnegan’s powers, and strengthen his body to avoid exhausting his life force.
• Senju Chen told Nagato that the Rinnegan could decide the outcome of a future fight with Hanzo of the Salamander, and Nagato vowed to train harder.

Senju Chen warned Konan about Akatsuki’s rapid growth and the danger of provoking Hanzo of the Salamander, then left for the Land of Birds after giving her a specially made kunai. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan decided to consolidate Akatsuki’s bases, train its core members, and prepare to defend themselves.

• Senju Chen advised Konan to stop expanding Akatsuki, strengthen its fighting force, and prepare for Hanzo of the Salamander to attack.
• Senju Chen promised Konan he would help whenever she needed him.
• Senju Chen gave Konan a black kunai engraved with jutsu formulas and left for the Land of Birds to find someone he called an old monster.
• Yahiko and Nagato teased Konan about her feelings for Senju Chen, while Nagato agreed that Hanzo likely viewed Akatsuki as a threat.
• Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan agreed to pull back, consolidate their bases, train their core members, and prepare to defend themselves.

Senju Chen entered the Land of Birds' black market and found Kakuzu searching for high-value bounties. After Kakuzu bought information about a bounty hunter called Iron Arm, Senju Chen approached the intelligence seller to learn more about him.

• Senju Chen entered the black market after learning its rules and headed to the bounty notice area to look for Kakuzu.
• Senju Chen spotted Kakuzu inspecting the bounty posters, then followed him to an intelligence stall.
• Kakuzu paid the stallholder five hundred thousand ryo for information about Iron Arm, a bounty hunter with a twelve-million-ryo bounty.
• Senju Chen approached the stallholder and asked for information about Kakuzu.

Senju Chen learned that Kakuzu was heading toward the Land of Fire’s border, then spotted a business opportunity in the Land of Birds’ capital. He bought a three-story building for a Food Is Heaven branch and planned its dining areas for customers at different price levels.

• Senju Chen paid a black market proprietor one million ryo to learn that Kakuzu was going to meet a bounty hunter called Iron Arm near the Land of Fire’s border.
• Senju Chen surveyed the Land of Birds’ busy capital and decided it would be a good location for a Food Is Heaven branch.
• Senju Chen found a vacant three-story building and asked its owner to show him the property.
• Senju Chen agreed to buy the building for twenty million ryo and gave the owner a one-million-ryo deposit.
• Senju Chen planned to use the first floor as a main dining hall, the second floor for private rooms, and the third floor as a VIP area.

Senju Chen tracked down the bounty hunter Iron Arm at an abandoned mine and defeated him, capturing him for his modified mechanical arm. He planned to wait for Kakuzu to come after Iron Arm’s twelve-million-ryo bounty.

• Senju Chen used intelligence gathered in the Land of Birds to locate Iron Arm at an abandoned mine near the Land of Fire’s border.
• Senju Chen slipped into the mine and found Iron Arm alone in a deep tunnel.
• Iron Arm attacked Senju Chen with his barbed greatsword and a hidden wrist spike, but Senju Chen easily dodged every strike.
• Senju Chen knocked Iron Arm unconscious, examined his mechanical arm, and tied him up.
• Senju Chen decided to wait for Kakuzu to pursue Iron Arm’s bounty.

Senju Chen waited three days for Kakuzu to arrive at the abandoned mine, then attacked him when Kakuzu demanded Iron Arm. Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear began repairing his wounds, but Senju Chen pressed the assault and vowed to make him pay for the delay.

• Senju Chen prepared Flying Thunder God marks around the abandoned mine while he waited three days for Kakuzu.
• Kakuzu found the captured Iron Arm inside the mine and confronted Senju Chen, demanding that he hand over the bounty target.
• Senju Chen revealed his Sharingan, dodged Kakuzu’s attack, and struck him with a blow and a Rasengan.
• Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear repaired his chest wound, but Senju Chen used lightning and Flying Thunder God to hit him repeatedly.
• Senju Chen angrily reminded Kakuzu that he had waited three days and charged to attack again.

Senju Chen defeated Kakuzu with his abilities and Wood Release, then confronted him over the three-day delay and an old kunai attack on his great-uncle. Kakuzu begged for his life, and Senju Chen hinted that he might spare him.

• Kakuzu revealed his stitched body and unleashed his masked heart monsters against Senju Chen.
• Senju Chen used the Flying Thunder God Technique and Rasengan to destroy the wind and lightning monsters.
• Kakuzu merged with the remaining fire monster and fired a powerful combined attack, but Senju Chen blocked it with Wood Release.
• Senju Chen bound Kakuzu inside a wooden cage and kicked him while demanding to know why he had made him wait and whether he had thrown a kunai at his great-uncle.
• Kakuzu begged Senju Chen to spare him and offered all his money, and Senju Chen said sparing his life was possible.

Senju Chen exposed Kakuzu's false surrender and demanded compensation, then offered him a bookkeeping job for the Senju Clan. Kakuzu was left reeling after hearing about Tsunade's enormous gambling losses, triggering Senju Chen's system and refreshing the abilities he could steal.

• Kakuzu begged Senju Chen to spare him in exchange for all his money, but Senju Chen realized he was only pretending to be afraid.
• Senju Chen kicked Kakuzu and demanded compensation for making him wait three days and for throwing a kunai at his great-uncle in the Valley of the End.
• Senju Chen offered Kakuzu a bookkeeping job for the Senju Clan as punishment, and Kakuzu cautiously asked how much money he would manage.
• Senju Chen said Tsunade had lost more money gambling than Kakuzu owned, shocking Kakuzu so severely that the system refreshed its list of stealable abilities.
• Senju Chen asked Kakuzu whether he would accept the bookkeeping position.

Senju Chen forced Kakuzu to accept an accountant position and began leading him to Orochimaru's experimental base to restore his strength. Along the way, Chen’s boasts about his sister’s gambling losses and the Senju Clan’s wealth left Kakuzu stunned.

• Senju Chen freed Kakuzu after he agreed to work as an accountant, then warned him not to plot against him and said they would replenish his hearts.
• Kakuzu agreed to follow Senju Chen and revealed that his money was stored in black-market vaults and a cave near Takigakure.
• Senju Chen demanded Kakuzu pay compensation and an onboarding fee, then learned the vault required Kakuzu’s chakra to open.
• During their three-day journey to Orochimaru's experimental base, Senju Chen told Kakuzu that his sister had lost five hundred million ryo in one night and sometimes lost over a billion in a month.
• Senju Chen said his sister earned at least fifty million ryo per S-rank mission and claimed the Senju Clan treasury held more money than he could count, leaving Kakuzu speechless.

Senju Chen wore down Kakuzu’s convictions about money by boasting about the Senju Clan’s wealth, then used Kakuzu’s emotional shock to steal Earth Grudge Fear. Kakuzu agreed to work for Chen as they approached Orochimaru’s hidden experimental base.

• Senju Chen told Kakuzu that three hundred million ryo was insignificant to the Senju Clan, and Kakuzu’s distress refreshed the list of stealable abilities.
• Senju Chen described the clan’s lavish allowances and the enormous costs incurred by Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, further shaking Kakuzu’s worldview.
• Senju Chen offered Kakuzu a monthly salary of one million ryo, and Kakuzu’s reaction made Earth Grudge Fear appear among the stealable abilities.
• Senju Chen selected Earth Grudge Fear and successfully stole it from Kakuzu.
• Kakuzu said he would not kill himself and would work for Senju Chen as they continued toward Orochimaru’s experimental base.