Chapter Summaries

After returning to Konoha, Senju Chen arranged for his trusted aide to hide Rin Nohara and brought the details of her dangerous cursed seal to Orochimaru. Orochimaru began investigating the seal, while he remarked that Chen had wisely kept the Senju Clan neutral.

• Senju Chen arrived in Konoha exhausted and asked Maruboshi Kosuke to secretly move Rin Nohara to the rear courtyard of Food Is Heaven in the Capital of Fire.
• Senju Chen told Orochimaru that Kirigakure had sealed the Three-Tails inside Rin Nohara and placed a cursed seal on her heart.
• Senju Chen explained that the cursed seal could control Rin's will and trigger the Three-Tails if anyone tried to remove it.
• Orochimaru asked Senju Chen to draw the seal, then studied its structure with intense interest.
• As Senju Chen prepared to leave, Orochimaru praised his decision to keep the Senju Clan neutral.

Senju Chen returned to Konoha exhausted after rescuing Rin Nohara and reflected on his system’s rewards and how changing pivotal characters’ fates earned powerful draws. He kept Rin’s letter to Kakashi for a later moment and began considering future targets and an ability for his empty skill slot.

• Senju Chen praised Orochimaru’s plan to gain clan support through personal backing, and Orochimaru promised him the Hokage position after stepping down.
• Senju Chen encountered Kabuto Yakushi carrying Orochimaru’s experimental records, then left the institute with Rin Nohara’s tear-stained letter to Kakashi.
• Senju Chen reviewed his seven skill slots and rewards, including a pending Isobu card that could make him a Three-Tails jinchūriki, but chose not to claim it yet.
• Senju Chen concluded that changing the fates of pivotal characters such as Hatake Sakumo, the Third Raikage, and Rin Nohara had earned his major system rewards.
• Senju Chen considered future targets including Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, Jiraiya, Nagato, Yahiko, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, while deciding to rest before filling his empty skill slot.
• Senju Chen kept Rin’s letter from Kakashi and planned to reveal it at a moment that would affect Kakashi and Obito Uchiha.

Shimura Danzō told Konoha’s leaders that he had thwarted Kirigakure’s plan to destroy the village and that Rin Nohara had died stopping it. He expected the achievement to secure support for his Hokage bid, but the room’s silence left him suspecting Senju Chen had undermined him.

• Shimura Danzō claimed Kirigakure had abducted Rin Nohara, sealed Isobu inside her, and placed a Cursed Seal on her to trigger an attack from within Konoha.
• Shimura Danzō said he had sent Shisui Uchiha to investigate and that Root had eliminated the invading force, while Rin had sacrificed her life to prevent Isobu from being unleashed in the Land of Fire.
• Jiraiya reacted angrily to the news, while Minato Namikaze was shaken by the revelation about Rin.
• Shimura Danzō expected the leaders to praise his actions and support his Hokage bid, but they remained silent and showed little admiration.
• Shimura Danzō blamed Senju Chen for the meeting’s unexpected reaction.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned the crisis over Rin Nohara’s death into a call to confront Kirigakure and moved the Fourth Hokage election forward to one week away, undermining Danzo’s political strategy. Senju Chen recognized that the accelerated vote had cut off Danzo’s plans, while Danzo erupted in fury underground.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi promised to explain Rin Nohara’s death to her family, demanded an explanation from Kirigakure, and threatened that Konoha would not shrink from war.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi scheduled the Fourth Hokage election for one week later, with Konoha’s Jonin choosing the winner by secret ballot.
• Senju Chen and Orochimaru discussed how the Senju Clan’s declaration of neutrality had helped Hiruzen act decisively.
• Senju Chen reflected that the short timeline prevented Danzo from building support through Root’s intelligence network and public opinion.
• Shimura Danzō smashed a desk in his underground base and shouted Hiruzen Sarutobi’s name in anger.

After Hiruzen Sarutobi announced a vote in a week, Danzo decided to expose Orochimaru’s human experiments to undermine Hiruzen and turn the election in his favor. The evidence reached Hiruzen, who ordered Orochimaru’s bases surrounded and confronted his student in the laboratory.

• Danzo blamed Senju Chen’s declaration of neutrality and Hiruzen Sarutobi’s tactics for his defeat in the Hokage election.
• Danzo ordered Root to send copies of Orochimaru’s human-experiment evidence to Hiruzen, the clan heads, and the village at large.
• Hiruzen read the evidence, declared a Class A alert, ordered Orochimaru’s known bases surrounded, and summoned Jiraiya.
• Hiruzen went to Orochimaru’s laboratory with two Anbu and confronted him over the experiments.

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.