Chapter Summaries

Amado proposed that the gods behind the masks might be ancient humans who cultivated their souls into higher life-forms, and Orochimaru enthusiastically supported the hypothesis. Senju Chen embraced the idea and decided to direct the group's research toward understanding and becoming gods.

• Orochimaru reflected on the different dimensions of soul power and resolved to study the soul further.
• Amado suggested that ancient cultivators focused on cultivating the soul and that the masked gods might have once been humans.
• Amado presented evidence that souls served as universal offerings and that stronger or more numerous souls allowed the gods to display greater power.
• Sasori objected to the idea that gods could be humans, while Orochimaru argued that powerful humans such as Hashirama Senju could become gods in later generations' eyes.
• Senju Chen accepted that Amado's hypothesis might be true and decided the group should study, enslave, and ultimately become gods.

Senju Chen continued training Chōjūrō and secretly caring for the dying Genji while reporting Mei Terumi’s progress. Genji warned him that Karatachi Yagura was eliminating his supporters and ordered him to take Mei somewhere safe before he died.

• Senju Chen trained Chōjūrō and concealed his excitement about Amado’s theories while resolving to secure the future Mizukage candidates.
• Senju Chen visited Genji and reported that Mei Terumi was improving her combat skills and control of her two Kekkei Genkai.
• Senju Chen told Genji that Karatachi Yagura’s purge had led to arrests, deaths, and defections among Genji’s supporters.
• Genji said he had only days left and ordered Senju Chen to protect Mei Terumi, teach her, and take her somewhere safe.
• Genji warned Senju Chen not to visit again after that day, fearing Karatachi Yagura would search for him once Genji died.

Senju Chen used Genji’s supposed final order to persuade Mei Terumi to flee Kirigakure with him as the purge closed in. They headed for the Land of Water’s capital, while Obito Uchiha prepared to seize control of the village.

• Senju Chen left Genji’s residence and decided to abduct Mei Terumi under the cover of Genji’s order.
• At the Hot Spring Mountain mine, Senju Chen told Mei that Genji was dying and ordered her to leave before Yagura’s men found her.
• Mei Terumi tried to return to Genji, but Senju Chen stopped her and convinced her to escape so she could survive and fight Karatachi Yagura later.
• Mei changed into stealth clothes and followed Senju Chen through the woods, avoiding Anbu patrols as they traveled toward the Land of Water’s capital.
• Obito Uchiha watched Genji’s residence from the Mizukage Building and expected to take control of Kirigakure after Genji died.

Senju Chen convinced Mei Terumi to flee to the Capital of Water and hide at Food Is Heaven, a restaurant protected by ties to the daimyo’s estate. Two days later, they arrived in disguise, with Senju Chen posing as a wealthy young man and Mei Terumi as his maid.

• Mei Terumi confronted Senju Chen about their destination, and he told her they were heading to the Capital of Water.
• Senju Chen explained that Food Is Heaven was a safe haven because Lord Kiryu had a stake in it and the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad had previously been barred from the restaurant.
• Senju Chen claimed Lord Genji had arranged their refuge with Food Is Heaven, easing Mei Terumi’s doubts.
• Two days later, Senju Chen and Mei Terumi reached the Capital of Water in disguises.
• Mei Terumi hissed at Senju Chen after he put his hand somewhere she objected to.

Senju Chen brought Mei Terumi to Food Is Heaven under the pretense that it was a refuge arranged by Genji, then met with Aying and Yukimura Shigure. He revealed Mei’s identity and ordered them to maintain the deception while she stayed there.

• Senju Chen and Mei Terumi posed as lovers to evade Kirigakure spies and entered Food Is Heaven.
• Senju Chen left Mei Terumi in a room and went to meet his contacts upstairs.
• Aying reported that Food Is Heaven’s branches were profitable and that their operations had distracted Kirigakure and rescued seven children with Kekkei Genkai.
• Yukimura Shigure told Senju Chen that the children were doing well and had chosen to stay.
• Senju Chen revealed that Mei Terumi possessed Boil Release and Lava Release and believed he was Genji’s trusted aide.
• Senju Chen ordered Aying and Yukimura Shigure to treat Mei Terumi as a refugee and preserve the cover story.

Senju Chen trained Mei Terumi by day and won her over with lavish meals, then learned that Genji had died and told her the news. Mei was left alone in shock and grief, while Chen saw Genji’s death as an opportunity to begin the next stage of his plan.

• Senju Chen arranged a safe place for Mei Terumi to stay and began putting her through punishing training in its courtyard.
• Mei Terumi grew wary of the extravagant meals at first, but their quality soon softened her suspicion of Gonbei.
• Yukimura Shigure informed Senju Chen that Genji had died and Karatachi Yagura’s forces were purging Genji’s supporters in Kirigakure.
• Senju Chen recognized Genji’s death as the end of Kirigakure’s old era and decided to advance his plans for Mei Terumi.
• Senju Chen told Mei Terumi that Genji had died, then left her alone as she stumbled and called after him in grief.

After Genji's death left Mei Terumi overwhelmed by grief and hunted by her village, Senju Chen forced her to confront her loss and begin brutal training. She chose revenge and ran weighted laps through the night, while Aying described her as becoming Chen's blade.

• Mei Terumi grieved Genji's death alone until Senju Chen entered her room with a weighted training suit.
• Senju Chen told Mei that Karatachi Yagura and his followers had driven Genji to his death, then demanded that she stop crying and train for revenge.
• Mei Terumi embraced her hatred of Karatachi Yagura and Kirigakure and asked Senju Chen what she had to do.
• Senju Chen ordered Mei to change into the weighted suit and run around the courtyard until dawn or death.
• Mei Terumi began running despite exhaustion, drawing strength from thoughts of Genji's death.
• Aying told Yukimura Shigure that Senju Chen was pulling Mei from despair and shaping her into his sharpest blade.

After Mei Terumi fled to Kirigakure to pay respects to Genji, Senju Chen raced after her and discovered that Kirigakure’s forces had encircled her. He prepared a contingency plan as Mei Terumi moved deeper into the trap.

• Senju Chen ordered Aying and Yukimura Shigure to take the exhausted Mei Terumi back to recover.
• Senju Chen found Mei Terumi’s note saying she had returned to Kirigakure to pay respects to Genji.
• Senju Chen ordered Aying to ready Kirigakure’s covert lookouts and activate the “Against the Bloody Mist” contingency plan if needed.
• Senju Chen used the Mayfly Technique to travel toward Kirigakure and evade detection.
• Senju Chen sensed Mei Terumi near Genji’s clan cemetery, surrounded by at least twenty Kirigakure forces led by a powerful operative.

Mei Terumi infiltrated Kirigakure to pay her respects at Genji’s grave and vowed to avenge him by killing Karatachi Yagura. As she grieved, Kirigakure’s masked Special Assassination and Tactical Squad surrounded the cemetery and confronted her.

• Mei Terumi used the stealth and climbing techniques Gonbei had taught her to evade patrols and scale a cliff into the Genji Clan’s cemetery.
• Mei reached Genji’s gravestone, kowtowed three times, and vowed to avenge him by killing Karatachi Yagura.
• Mei failed to notice the mist thickening and masked figures encircling the cemetery.
• A masked squad member appeared behind Mei and called her a remnant of Genji as the squad closed off her escape.

Mei Terumi was ambushed by the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad while trying to avenge Genji, and Gonbei’s training helped her survive their attacks. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed, Senju Chen (Gonbei) arrived, cut through the enemy’s water technique, and sent her over the cliff to escape while he faced the squad.

• Mei Terumi was surrounded in the cemetery by the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad and realized the enemy had laid a trap for her.
• Mei Terumi fought back with Boil Release and Lava Release, but the Masked Man and his squad countered her techniques and trapped her under sustained ranged attacks.
• Mei Terumi used the movement and chakra-control skills Gonbei had drilled into her to evade the squad’s attacks, but the Masked Man unleashed a Great Waterfall Technique when she was nearly exhausted.
• Senju Chen (Gonbei) appeared and slashed open the enormous wave, then scolded Mei Terumi for ignoring his orders and infiltrating carelessly.
• Senju Chen (Gonbei) flung Mei Terumi toward the cliff and ordered her to return to Food Is Heaven while he turned to face the pursuing squad.

Senju Chen used Flying Thunder God and Mayfly Technique to slaughter the Kirigakure squad that had attacked Mei Terumi. He killed the masked captain last, leaving no survivors in the cemetery.

• Senju Chen vanished with Flying Thunder God and killed a Kirigakure Anbu, then killed another with a Rasengan.
• Senju Chen used Mayfly Technique to disappear underground and reappear beyond the squad’s encirclement.
• Senju Chen used Flying Thunder God to kill Kirigakure ninja one by one as the squad’s formation collapsed.
• The masked captain fled while Senju Chen killed the remaining Kirigakure ninja.
• Senju Chen caught the captain, called himself a helpful villager, and snapped his neck.

After escaping into the river, Mei Terumi tried to return to help Uncle Gonbei but realized she was too exhausted to climb back to him. She resolved to obey his orders, return to Food Is Heaven, and become strong enough to stand beside him.

• Mei Terumi surfaced in the river and searched the cliff for Uncle Gonbei, then struggled unsuccessfully to climb back up because her chakra and stamina were depleted.
• Mei Terumi remembered Uncle Gonbei protecting her from the Anbu and recognized how badly her recklessness had put him in danger.
• Mei Terumi broke down in shame and fear, realizing that Uncle Gonbei had become her only support after Grandpa Genji's death.
• Mei Terumi recalled Uncle Gonbei's order to return to Food Is Heaven and decided that obeying him was the only way she could help.
• Mei Terumi swore to stop being willful, complete his training, and grow strong enough to stand beside him, then limped toward the Capital of Water.

After Senju Chen abandoned his exposed “Gonbei” identity, he said goodbye to his young students and secretly directed Chōjūrō to Food Is Heaven. He then set his sights on poaching talent from Kirigakure’s Ninja Academy, beginning a plan to recruit the village’s future generations.

• Senju Chen erased the traces of his fight, gathered supplies from the fallen Anbu, and used the Mayfly Technique to return toward Kirigakure.
• Senju Chen met Chōjūrō and the other children, told them he could no longer teach them, and warned them to stay away while the village was in chaos.
• Chōjūrō declared that he wanted to become strong, so Senju Chen gave him a token and instructed him to find Food Is Heaven in the Capital of Water.
• Senju Chen considered Mei Terumi and Chōjūrō dispatched to his “starter village” and decided to recruit more talent from Kirigakure’s Ninja Academy.

Senju Chen chose Kirisame Ryo, a Chunin instructor at Kirigakure’s brutal ninja academy, as his next identity. After observing Ryo’s habits, Senju Chen killed and consumed him, then took his appearance and memories, leaving the story with him ready to operate inside the academy.

• Senju Chen slipped into Kirigakure’s ninja academy and searched for an instructor whose position and habits would make him easy to replace.
• Senju Chen watched Kirisame Ryo oversee children fighting to the death and studied his routines and mannerisms over several days.
• Senju Chen ambushed Kirisame Ryo on the rooftop and killed him before he could call for help.
• Senju Chen’s White Zetsu Clone consumed Ryo, gaining chakra, combat experience, and his memories.
• Senju Chen transformed into Ryo and replicated his distinctive limp and gestures before heading downstairs.

Senju Chen took control of Kirisame Ryo’s training group and replaced its brutal fighting with lessons in betrayal and concealment. Meanwhile, Mei Terumi learned Gonbei was alive after Chōjūrō arrived with his message, and she made the boy her junior brother and began training him harshly.

• Senju Chen assessed the children at the training ground and announced lessons in sneak attacks, betrayal, and hiding evidence.
• Mei Terumi trained relentlessly for three days while worrying that Gonbei might be dead.
• Chōjūrō arrived at Food Is Heaven carrying Gonbei’s room token and told Mei Terumi that Gonbei had sent him.
• Mei Terumi learned Gonbei was alive and understood that he had sent Chōjūrō to her as a message.
• Mei Terumi made Chōjūrō her junior brother and warned that she would break his legs if he failed to keep up with her training.

After twenty-one Kirigakure Anbu were killed at Genji’s cemetery, Obito, controlling Karatachi Yagura, suspected the attacker might be Senju Chen and ordered a massive search. He remained unsettled by the possible use of Space-Time Ninjutsu, which disrupted his plans to go to the Land of Rain.

• An Anbu reported that twenty-one members of the assassination squads, including Izumi Masa, had been killed at Genji’s cemetery, each by a single fatal blow.
• Obito grew furious that the attack had exposed the survival of Genji’s faction and suspected the assailant had used Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Yagura summoned Hozuki Anyue and ordered him to seal off the Land of Water and find the attacker.
• Yagura also ordered an investigation into people recently connected to Konoha, especially anyone around fifteen years old.
• Obito watched over Kirigakure and worried that the unknown attacker had disrupted his plans to travel to the Land of Rain.

Senju Chen taught his brutal class that ninja survived by using deception and strategy, ordering two weak students to defeat the stronger Wild Bull. The children witnessed a new way to stay alive as Chen declared that those who failed to think would die.

• Senju Chen stopped the children fighting and condemned their reckless, strength-based approach.
• Senju Chen ordered Skinny Monkey and Slug to kill Wild Bull, then secretly instructed them to distract him and throw sand into his eyes.
• Slug charged Wild Bull while Skinny Monkey blinded him with sand, and Slug slashed Wild Bull's supporting leg.
• Skinny Monkey held a kunai to the wounded Wild Bull's throat but could not deliver the killing blow.
• Senju Chen pinned Wild Bull's head to the dirt and told the class that ninja won through cunning, underhanded tactics, and clear thinking.

Mei Terumi drove Chōjūrō through a punishing training regimen, revealing that her cruelty came from grief over Gonbei’s absence. Meanwhile, Kirisame Ryo’s ruthless training had changed the Academy’s fights into schemes of deception and alliances, and furious instructors confronted him.

• Mei Terumi ordered Chōjūrō to keep swinging his sword despite his exhaustion and threatened to break his legs if he complained or fell behind.
• Chōjūrō realized Mei Terumi was using the training to cling to her grief over Gonbei, then forced himself to stand and resume swinging.
• At Kirigakure Ninja Academy, students used feigned injuries, traps, teamwork, poison, and surrender to survive their fights, lowering the casualty rate.
• Kirisame Ryo watched the students’ new tactics with approval as several angry instructors approached him.

Senju Chen defended Kirisame Ryo’s survival-focused teaching to Director Aoki with data showing his students had fewer casualties and stronger mission results. The Mizukage’s order for an early graduation exam turned the dispute into a dangerous live-combat exercise called “Purification.”

• Mitsue Ringo and the other instructors confronted Senju Chen over his students’ tactics, but he argued that survival mattered more than glory.
• Mitsue Ringo reported Kirisame Ryo to Director Aoki, who summoned him to the director’s office.
• Senju Chen presented casualty and mission statistics showing his students outperformed the other classes.
• An assistant delivered the Mizukage’s directive ordering an early graduation exam and a live-combat exercise called “Purification.”
• Director Aoki ordered the instructors to notify all graduating students and tell them to prepare.

Senju Chen welcomed Kirigakure’s deadly graduation exam, while Hozuki Anyue investigated a massacre and found evidence that pointed to Chen as the suspect. Anyue ordered his forces to avoid engaging anyone matching Chen’s profile and report sightings immediately.

• Mitsue Ringo and the instructors celebrated the “Purification” exam, while Senju Chen guessed Obito had arranged the battle royale and saw it as an opportunity.
• At Genji’s cemetery, Hozuki Anyue’s Anbu found twenty-one people killed with precise, unfamiliar attacks.
• Kirigakure’s intelligence analysts first matched the combat evidence to Minato Namikaze, then identified Senju Chen as another possible match.
• The analysts were stunned by Chen’s age and combat record, and Hozuki Anyue realized he might be the fifteen-year-old target Lord Yagura had hinted at.
• Hozuki Anyue ordered his subordinates to watch for a young Konoha suspect skilled in high-speed combat, possibly space-time ninjutsu and Wood Release, and to report without engaging.