Recaps

Kakashi, Hatake Sakumo, Shisui, and Itachi demonstrated how they could combine their skills with new Scientific Ninja Tools during a sparring match. The trainees then began the third phase of advanced training, learning to remotely control White Zetsu puppets through Soul Replacement Devices.

• Hatake Sakumo and Kakashi countered Shisui and Itachi's traps and attacks by combining their ninja skills with aerial equipment, communications, and defensive armor belts.
• Kakashi used Lightning Blade from above to nearly strike Shisui, and the four finished their sparring match to the trainees' amazement.
• Orochimaru and Amado brought the trainees to the Soul Deep Dive laboratory and explained that the devices let users control prepared bodies remotely while their real bodies remained safe.
• Kakashi thought of Obito, Rin, and Minato Namikaze before entering a Soul Replacement Device and putting on a Mental Transmission Device helmet.

Kakashi entered a White Zetsu Puppet for the first time and gradually learned to control its unfamiliar body. After Orochimaru moved the group to a training ground, they inspected their puppet forms and an elite from the Public Security Department complained about their appearance.

• Kakashi’s consciousness entered the puppet while his original body remained asleep in the hibernation pod.
• Kakashi struggled to control the puppet until he used his mental power to connect with its energy network and move a finger.
• Kakashi practiced controlling the puppet, touched his sleeping body’s cheek, and observed Hatake Sakumo, Shisui Uchiha, and Uchiha Itachi training.
• Orochimaru announced that the beginner’s tutorial was over and directed everyone through a newly opened passage.
• The group entered a large multipurpose training ground and examined their pallid puppet bodies.
• An elite from the Public Security Department complained that the puppets looked so shabby they might frighten people on missions.

Senju Chen had the new White Zetsu puppet users test their bodies and chakra abilities, forcing them to adapt instead of relying on old techniques. Their practice ended when a swarm of armed puppets attacked and Chen began phase two of the test: staying alive.

• Senju Chen told the trainees to experiment with their transformed White Zetsu puppets and Chakra Converters.
• Natsuki Uchiha burned out his puppet’s chakra network by using the Great Fireball Technique, while Kakashi found that his Lightning Blade was slower and weaker in the new body.
• Hatake Sakumo discovered that he could stretch his arm to strike a target fifty meters away, inspiring the others to explore their bodies’ unusual properties.
• The trainees tested new abilities, including Wood Release, Partial Multi-Size Technique, and Kabuto Yakushi’s bone scalpels, while Kakashi improved his lightning chakra flow by using his whole body.
• An alarm sounded, and hundreds of armed White Zetsu puppets poured into the training ground as Senju Chen announced the start of phase two: stay alive.

Senju Chen launched a brutal training battle, and the White Zetsu Puppets quickly eliminated several Public Security Department rookies. Hatake Sakumo adapted to his puppet body and destroyed three attackers with grotesque ease while Kakashi watched in shock.

• Senju Chen released Sasori's White Zetsu Puppets against the rookies, and Natsuki Uchiha was eliminated within thirty seconds.
• Kabuto Yakushi ordered the survivors to scatter and lure the puppets away, but their coordinated attacks picked off trainees one by one.
• Orochimaru noticed that some fighters were already adapting to their puppet bodies.
• Hatake Sakumo evaded three puppets with a boneless movement, then destroyed them by crushing two heads and biting off the third.
• Kakashi saw Hatake Sakumo's fighting style and wondered what his father had endured to become so grotesque.

Kakashi, Shisui Uchiha, and Itachi fought puppet attackers during their training, while Senju Chen and Orochimaru discussed who could safely join research involving Divine Spirit Masks. Senju Chen declined to recruit Shisui for now, leaving Kabuto Yakushi as their only current candidate.

• Kakashi modified his body’s energy network to unleash False Chidori Stream, then smashed through the puppets with his lightning-charged body.
• Shisui Uchiha followed Itachi’s directions to crush three emerging puppets with True Big Feet, while Itachi’s Phoenix Sage Fire Technique disrupted the enemy formation.
• Orochimaru proposed that Shisui Uchiha and Itachi join the fourth-stage Divine Spirit Mask project after watching their performance.
• Senju Chen explained that candidates needed strong self-affirmation and low reverence to resist influence from the gods, and said Kabuto Yakushi was the only person who currently qualified.
• Senju Chen rejected recruiting Shisui for now, citing the risks of exposing too many newcomers to the masks and the need to keep the Public Security Department staffed.

Senju Chen ordered Sasori to raise the training difficulty, and over a hundred Chakra Cannons wiped out the participants’ White Zetsu Puppets in a single volley. The survivors woke in the soul deep-dive laboratory, reflected on the puppets’ potential, and were dismissed until training continued the next day.

• Senju Chen told Sasori to increase the difficulty after the Public Security Department elites began using their puppets effectively.
• Sasori activated Chakra Cannons on more than a hundred puppets, whose simultaneous volley destroyed the battlefield and eliminated every participant.
• The surviving participants awoke in the soul deep-dive laboratory, shaken by how real their deaths had felt.
• Shisui Uchiha and Hatake Sakumo recognized how technology and the White Zetsu Puppets could reshape combat.
• Senju Chen ended the lesson and told everyone to consider their strengths and how to use the puppets before training resumed tomorrow.

Kakashi and the Public Security Department elites returned to the White Zetsu puppets and spent two hours experimenting with their bodies before facing another energy-beam barrage. Their improved defenses held against the first wave, and Kabuto Yakushi ordered them to scatter as the battle began.

• The elites logged into their puppet bodies, and Senju Chen told them to explore their abilities freely for two hours.
• Gecko reshaped himself into a handsome man, while other ninjas tried transformations and weapons; Itachi installed crow eyes across his body for 360-degree vision.
• Kakashi turned his hands into scythes, stretched his arms to swing across the training ground, and practiced moving between metal pillars.
• When Senju Chen announced another cannon execution, the elites combined Earth and Water Release defenses to withstand the first wave of energy beams.
• Kabuto Yakushi told everyone to scatter, watch their surroundings, and prevent the enemy from concentrating fire on them.

The Public Security Department’s elites developed increasingly elaborate combat styles using White Zetsu Puppets, including controlling puppets through other puppets. After three months of training, Senju Chen announced a graduation exam against their seniors.

• Kabuto Yakushi directed the Public Security Department’s squads as they fought back against enemy puppets with new tactics, including a two-person tank that destroyed three puppets.
• The elites practiced using chakra threads to control Puppet Clones while moving their own puppets, discovering that they could create layers of puppet operators.
• Over the following months, Gecko, Kakashi, Hatake Sakumo, and the others developed distinctive combat styles based on their White Zetsu Puppets.
• Senju Chen arrived at the training ground and told the elites their advanced training had ended and that they had gained a second life and a second form.
• Senju Chen announced a graduation exam against their seniors and glanced at Kakashi.

Senju Chen announced a 2v2 graduation exam in which examinees would fight masked seniors using puppets and a limited selection of Scientific Ninja Tools. Shisui Uchiha and Natsuki Uchiha began their match against Dissolution and Flounder, whose advanced weapons and techniques quickly revealed their danger.

• Senju Chen announced the exam rules, allowing each examinee one puppet and three Scientific Ninja Tools, with victory requiring either defeating the examiners or surviving for thirty minutes.
• Kabuto Yakushi urged the examinees to choose equipment that suited their fighting styles and partners rather than being dazzled by the weapons.
• Shisui Uchiha and Natsuki Uchiha were assigned to face the masked examiners Dissolution and Flounder in a simulated training ground.
• Dissolution and Flounder summoned identical duplicate puppets with the Mayfly Technique, turning the battle into a four-on-four fight.
• Natsuki Uchiha sent his puppet forward and used Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu, but Flounder blocked the fire with a chakra-light shield before dispersing it into needles.
• Shisui Uchiha used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside Dissolution with his puppet and launch a coordinated assassination strike.

Shisui and Natsuki used disguised puppets, a Gatling gun, and a coordinated genjutsu to attack the examiners, but Dissolution revealed she was controlling a puppet and overwhelmed them. Their defeat was announced, while the other participants learned from their unconventional tactics.

• Dissolution defended herself with lava and acidic steam, destroying Shisui and Natsuki’s support puppets and neutralizing their attacks.
• Natsuki fired Chakra Metal Storm while Shisui and Natsuki used their disguised puppets to set up a coordinated counterattack.
• Shisui caught Flounder’s surprise strike and used acidic mist as cover to approach Dissolution.
• Shisui’s Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique briefly stunned Dissolution, but she recovered and revealed that the body he had attacked was a puppet.
• Dissolution unleashed a volcanic blast that defeated Shisui and Natsuki, and the other participants took note of their puppet strategy.

Uchiha Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi faced Zabuza Momochi and Yukimura Ryota in the second assessment. Zabuza’s relentless attacks and his puppet’s hidden water techniques suppressed them, while Yuki remained still as Itachi and Kabuto prepared to use plan B.

• The assessment paired Uchiha Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi against examiners Zabuza Momochi, known as “Demon Blade,” and Yukimura Ryota, known as “Yuki.”
• Itachi and Kabuto entered the field together and took a back-to-back defensive stance with two White Zetsu Puppets guarding them.
• Zabuza’s Puppet Clone spread the Hidden Mist Technique as Zabuza charged directly at Itachi and Kabuto with his Kubikiribōchō.
• Zabuza shattered their earth walls and drove them into retreat, while his puppet launched concealed water attacks through the mist.
• Itachi and Kabuto recognized that Zabuza was suppressing them while Yuki remained motionless, and they agreed to use plan B.

Yuki trapped Uchiha Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi inside a vast Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals dome, while Zabuza Momochi destroyed their support puppets. Itachi and Kabuto tried to break the mirrors, but learned they could regenerate as long as the mist's water-nature chakra remained.

• Kabuto Yakushi used sound-wave jammers to disrupt Zabuza Momochi and sent his puppet to attack Zabuza's puppet.
• Yuki and his puppet created a twenty-one-mirror ice dome and unleashed a barrage of senbon, damaging Itachi and Kabuto's support puppets.
• Zabuza Momochi seized the opening and cut both damaged puppets in half.
• Itachi and Kabuto struggled to locate Yuki as Zabuza attacked and ice senbon continued to strike from every direction.
• Itachi's Great Dragon Fire Technique and Kabuto's Amplification Pulse Cannon cracked two mirrors, but the mirrors quickly healed.
• Itachi identified the mist as the chakra source sustaining the mirrors and recognized how effectively Yuki and Zabuza worked together.

Uchiha Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi shattered Yukimura Ryota’s ice prison with a compressed Great Fireball and the Pulse Cannon, but the second match ended when Senju Chen declared them defeated. As the next assessment began, Kakashi noticed the persistent gaze on him and was paired with Hatake Sakumo against examiners Kō and Rin.

• Uchiha Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi combined a compressed Great Fireball with a Pulse Cannon blast beneath their feet, using the heat to shatter the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
• Yukimura Ryota survived by letting his puppet bear the worst of the blast, then unleashed Final Dance: White Lotus as Itachi and Kabuto lay exhausted in a pit.
• Senju Chen announced that Uchiha Itachi and Kabuto Yakushi had been defeated, and Yukimura Ryota stopped his attack and carried the badly burned Zabuza Momochi for treatment.
• Senju Chen approved of Itachi and Kabuto’s tactics while the Public Security Department’s elites reacted to their second consecutive loss.
• Kakashi reflected on the mysterious gaze that had followed him throughout the assessments before Senju Chen announced his match with Hatake Sakumo against examiners Kō and Rin.

Kakashi and Hatake Sakumo faced the examiners Rin and Kisame Hoshigaki, and the battle began with each pair splitting into separate fights. As Kisame fought Sakumo, the story recalled how Rin’s hidden strength and kindness transformed Kisame’s view of her into that of a younger sister.

• Kakashi recognized Rin’s gaze and felt an unexplained familiarity as he and Hatake Sakumo entered the arena to face Rin and Kisame Hoshigaki.
• The assessment began, and Kisame charged at Hatake Sakumo while Rin rushed Kakashi, dividing the battle into two fights.
• Kisame recalled initially dismissing Rin Nohara as weak and assigning her cooking and logistical duties after her compassionate behavior disrupted their early missions.
• On an S-rank bounty mission, enemies poisoned and critically wounded Kisame before Rin awakened the Three-Tails’ power and killed the attackers.
• Rin proved she could control the Three-Tails and healed Kisame, prompting him to train her and gradually protect her kindness as if she were his younger sister.

Hatake Sakumo and Kisame Hoshigaki fought fiercely while Kakashi was held back by the examiner code-named "Rin" and her puppet. As Kisame flooded the training ground and pursued Sakumo, Kakashi struggled to reach his father, but "Rin" blocked him.

• Kisame Hoshigaki opened his fight with five water sharks, but Hatake Sakumo cut them apart and forced Kisame back in a clash of swords.
• Hatake Sakumo and Kisame Hoshigaki battled toward the edge of the field while Kakashi fought "Rin" and her puppet.
• Kakashi noticed that "Rin" seemed to be guiding him through attacks rather than trying to defeat him.
• Kisame used Samehada to drain Sakumo's chakra, then flooded much of the training ground with Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
• Kisame pursued the retreating Sakumo through the water while "Rin" and her puppet prevented Kakashi from helping.
• Kakashi tried to break through, but "Rin" blocked him and said, "Your opponent is me."

Hatake Sakumo ended his stalemate with Kisame Hoshigaki by revealing the gap between strength and swordsmanship, then cornered him with lethal blades. Kisame refused to surrender, still determined to keep his promise to Rin.

• In the monitoring room, Orochimaru explained that Hatake Sakumo had been studying Kisame Hoshigaki and could have ended the fight earlier.
• Kisame grew uneasy but attacked more fiercely to keep Hatake Sakumo away from Rin's battlefield.
• Kisame and his Puppet Clone launched a combined Great Shark Bullet attack, and Hatake Sakumo sliced through both water sharks.
• Hatake Sakumo struck Kisame with a concentrated blow, sent him flying, and explained that Kisame relied on strength instead of swordsmanship.
• Hatake Sakumo and his White Zetsu Puppet pinned Kisame with blades and asked whether Rin knew his son, but Kisame shouted that he had not lost yet.

Hatake Sakumo trapped Kisame inside Kisame’s own Water Prison Shark Dance Technique, but Rin released the Three-Tails’ chakra and transformed the prison into a destructive attack. The chapter ended as Rin’s corrosive flood engulfed the training ground.

• Hatake Sakumo escaped Kisame’s water prison by switching places with his puppet, leaving Kisame and his puppet trapped inside it.
• Rin released the Three-Tails’ chakra, revealing that she carried Isobu, and rushed to reinforce Kisame’s water prison.
• Kakashi and Hatake Sakumo attacked the puppets maintaining the technique while Kisame fired a High-Pressure Water Cannon at Hatake Sakumo.
• Rin used Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave, flooding the training ground with a corrosive, purplish-red surge.

Rin Nohara fought Hatake Sakumo and Kakashi while under the Three-Tails’ influence, but repeatedly refused to harm Kakashi and stopped a Tailed Beast Bomb before it could kill them. Hatake Sakumo surrendered, and Kakashi was left wondering whether the girl really was Rin.

• Kisame Hoshigaki trapped Hatake Sakumo and Kakashi in a sea of Tailed Beast Chakra and water, prompting Hatake Sakumo to order Kakashi to create an opening.
• Kakashi charged Rin Nohara while Hatake Sakumo attacked Kisame Hoshigaki, but Rin stopped herself from striking Kakashi and used her tails to block Hatake Sakumo’s blade.
• Rin Nohara began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb at close range, and Kakashi rushed to shield Hatake Sakumo as the attack threatened to erupt.
• The Tailed Beast Bomb dispersed on its own, blasting Hatake Sakumo and Kakashi away and injuring Rin Nohara.
• Hatake Sakumo surrendered, and Kisame Hoshigaki caught Rin as her Chakra Cloak faded.
• Hatake Sakumo asked whether Kakashi knew the examiner, and Kakashi silently wondered if the girl before him was really Rin.

Kakashi struggled to process seeing Rin alive as the fourth assessment began, pitting Tokuma Hyuga and Uchiha Inabi against Kimimaro and Hidan. Kimimaro’s bone techniques overwhelmed the pair’s first attacks, and the fight continued with the examiners’ strength still largely untested.

• Kakashi watched Rin leave the field and wondered why she had remained away from Konoha, while Hatake Sakumo urged him to move on.
• The broadcast announced Tokuma Hyuga and Uchiha Inabi as candidates against the examiners codenamed “Bone” and “Curse,” revealed as Kimimaro and Hidan.
• Tokuma used the Byakugan and discovered that the examiners and their White Zetsu Puppets had nearly identical chakra patterns, while the real examiners’ chakra seemed unnaturally still.
• Kimimaro launched a bone spike at Inabi and followed with a bone whip, while his Puppet Clone attacked Tokuma in the same fashion.
• Inabi and Tokuma used a Great Fireball Technique and Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, but Kimimaro and his clone blocked both attacks with rib-bone shields.

Kimimaro overwhelmed Uchiha Inabi and Tokuma Hyuga with his Shikotsumyaku, while Hidan used Inabi’s blood to activate a ritual that linked their bodies. The chapter ended with Hidan laughing as Inabi felt the pain of a blade embedded in Hidan’s chest.

• Kimimaro used Dance of the Camellia to pierce Inabi’s White Zetsu Puppet and press his attack despite Inabi’s Fire Release.
• Tokuma Hyuga’s Gentle Fist failed against Kimimaro’s bone spikes, and Kimimaro’s puppet knocked Tokuma back.
• Hidan grew impatient with Kimimaro’s fight and walked toward Inabi’s puppet, so Inabi tried to stab him from behind.
• Hidan survived Inabi’s attack, cut him with his scythe, and used Inabi’s blood to draw a ritual pattern.
• Hidan stood in the pattern and let Inabi stab him again, causing Inabi to feel the same injury and learn that their pain was linked.

Hidan and the other examiners overwhelmed the Public Security Department’s teams, leaving them with six losses and a harsh lesson in their limits. After the assessments, Kakashi recognized Rin Nohara, who had survived, and the two tearfully reunited while Kisame Hoshigaki watched in growing jealousy.

• Hidan used his curse to make Uchiha Inabi feel the pain of Hidan stabbing himself, then Kimimaro subdued Tokuma Hyuga and won the fourth assessment for the examiners.
• The examiners won the remaining assessments, including against two researchers who used White Zetsu Puppets as a mobile battle tank, leaving the student team with six losses.
• Kakashi rushed toward Rin Nohara, but Kisame Hoshigaki stepped in to block him until Rin told Kisame it was all right.
• Rin removed her mask, and Kakashi recognized her as the friend he had believed dead; they embraced and wept together.
• Kisame watched Kakashi hold Rin and grew angry and jealous, gripping Samehada as he regarded Kakashi as a rival.

Rin Nohara told Kakashi how Kirigakure made her a Three-Tails Jinchūriki and planted a curse tag to force her to destroy Konoha. Senju Chen rescued her and later removed the curse, but Rin chose to stay away to protect the village from Kirigakure.

• Rin explained that Kirigakure abducted her, sealed Isobu inside her, and planted a curse tag linked to her heart and soul.
• Rin told Kakashi that Senju Chen rescued her from the cavern and brought her to Tsunade for treatment.
• Rin said Chen and Tsunade suppressed the Three-Tails and kept her supposed death secret while she recovered in hiding.
• Rin explained that Chen eventually found a way to remove the curse, but she stayed away because Kirigakure might hunt her and threaten Konoha.

Kakashi learned why Rin had stayed away from Konoha and apologized for misunderstanding her. Rin refused to return until she was strong enough to protect the village herself, while Kakashi accepted her choice and began looking toward the future.

• Kakashi broke down in tears after realizing Rin had stayed away to protect Konoha, and Rin comforted him.
• Rin told Kakashi that Chen-kun had helped her gain control of the Tailed Beast's power and become strong enough to protect herself and those she cared about.
• Kakashi asked Rin to return to Konoha, but she refused, saying she would return openly once she was strong enough not to be a burden.
• Kakashi accepted Rin's decision, apologized and thanked her, then addressed her as Senior 'Rin.'

Senju Chen ended the Public Security Department elites’ training and sent them back to Konoha with Amado to establish a medical institute and introduce Scientific Ninja Tools. He then revealed a secret fourth stage to Kabuto Yakushi, taking him to a chamber of Uzumaki God Masks and explaining the clan’s connection to beings from another world.

• Senju Chen told the elites their advanced training was over and assigned them to escort Amado and his equipment to Konoha.
• Senju Chen explained that Amado would establish a medical institute and promote Scientific Ninja Tools, while the graduates would teach their use in the village.
• Senju Chen asked Kabuto Yakushi to stay and revealed that a true fourth stage of training existed for him alone.
• Senju Chen led Kabuto through the base to a sealed chamber, where he described the Uzumaki Clan’s ancient role as shrine maidens and priests who communicated with gods.
• Senju Chen showed Kabuto twenty-seven God Masks and said he and his colleagues were studying them and seeking to control their power.

Kabuto Yakushi agreed to join Senju Chen and Orochimaru’s dangerous research into the God Masks, which aimed to understand and eventually surpass the gods they summoned. After learning about their permanent clones and the masks’ classifications, Kabuto witnessed a controlled summoning that left him captivated by the research.

• Senju Chen explained that White Zetsu could serve as sacrifices to summon gods and revealed their ambition to analyze, replace, or surpass them.
• Senju Chen warned Kabuto Yakushi that the research could drive people insane, but Kabuto eagerly asked to join.
• Kabuto met two Orochimarus and learned that one was a permanent, independent clone, then discovered Senju Chen was also a clone whose original body remained in Konoha.
• Senju Chen introduced the God Masks, described their categories and powers, and showed Kabuto how the researchers studied them.
• Kabuto watched the Takehaya Susanoo-no-Mikoto Mask summon a wind god inside a protected formation while White Zetsu Clones were consumed and instruments analyzed the entity.