Chapter Summaries

Kushina tested how much of Kurama’s chakra she could control, reaching a two-tailed cloak before the Third Hokage challenged her to a fight. Their battle showed Nobuhiko just how formidable the Third Hokage remained.

• Kushina entered the seal space, and Kurama gradually released chakra as she transformed into a one-tailed cloak while keeping her reason.
• Kushina asked Kurama to release more chakra, and a second tail appeared as her mood and fighting instincts intensified.
• The Third Hokage urged Kushina to stop, but she insisted she was fine and challenged him to fight.
• The Third Hokage summoned Enma, who transformed into the Adamantine Staff, and accepted Kushina’s challenge.
• Kushina and the Third Hokage exchanged rapid, forceful blows, while Nobuhiko watched the Third Hokage easily block her attacks with Enma.

Kushina recovered at home after exhausting herself fighting the Third Hokage, while Nobuhiko humored her and promised to praise her to enemy ninja. Three months later, the Third Hokage summoned Nobuhiko and told him that Tsunade’s lover had been killed in action.

• Kushina ended her fight with the Third Hokage after becoming exhausted, and he erased the other participants’ memories of the incident.
• Nobuhiko helped Kushina recover at home, where she asked him to tell enemy ninja that she was invincible in the Shinobi World.
• Kushina fell asleep, and Nobuhiko covered her with a blanket before leaving to get food.
• Nobuhiko returned with Ichiraku Ramen, and Kushina ate it after he left.
• Three months later, the Third Hokage summoned Nobuhiko and told him that Tsunade’s lover had been killed in action.

After Dan Katō died, Tsunade returned to the village grieving and emotionally numb, and Nobuhiko and Kushina tried to support her. As Nobuhiko comforted her at home, Tsunade decided to push him away and ordered him to stay away from her.

• The Third Hokage told Nobuhiko that Tsunade would return with Dan Katō's body and asked him and Kushina to help her through her grief.
• Nobuhiko told Kushina that Dan Katō had died, and they agreed not to burden Tsunade with other news yet.
• Nobuhiko and Kushina met Tsunade outside the Hokage Building and accompanied her home, where she remained hollow and unresponsive.
• Nobuhiko sent Kushina home and tried to comfort Tsunade with a foot bath and a massage.
• Tsunade recalled how accustomed she had become to Nobuhiko's company, then told him to move back to his own home and stay away from her.

Nobuhiko learned that Tsunade wanted to send him away because she feared he would die after receiving a gift or kiss from her, as her younger brother and lover had. He comforted her and persuaded her not to leave him behind, though Tsunade remained puzzled by his sudden insistence that he was not afraid of dying.

• Nobuhiko pleaded with Tsunade not to send him away and tried to win her sympathy.
• Tsunade told Nobuhiko that her younger brother and lover had died on the battlefield shortly after she gave them gifts and kissed their foreheads.
• Nobuhiko held Tsunade, reminded her of her promise to share her troubles, and told her his death would not be her fault.
• Tsunade cried on Nobuhiko's shoulder, then regained her composure after he poured out her cold foot-soaking water.
• Tsunade questioned why Nobuhiko was no longer afraid of dying, and he challenged her to test whether her affection would bring him harm.
• Tsunade pulled Nobuhiko into her arms, and he grinned foolishly as she dismissed his earlier show of courage.

Tsunade told Nobuhiko that her fear of blood and exhaustion had made her decide to leave the village and travel, and he chose to go with her. After hearing about his training and the Masked Man’s attack, Tsunade planned their preparations to depart.

• Tsunade gave Nobuhiko her grandfather’s necklace and asked him to promise he would stay alive.
• The next morning, Tsunade told Nobuhiko she feared blood and wanted to leave the village to clear her head.
• Nobuhiko insisted on accompanying Tsunade, and she agreed not to leave him behind.
• Nobuhiko listed the jutsu he had learned and recounted the Masked Man’s attack, while concealing the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
• Tsunade told Nobuhiko to say goodbye to people in the village, gather jutsu scrolls, and prepare to leave in a few days.

Nobuhiko told Kushina that he would leave the village with Tsunade, upsetting them both because they would be separated. As they resolved to grow stronger so Kushina could join them, Nobuhiko's Sharingan evolved into its Two-Tomoe form.

• Kushina arrived while Nobuhiko sorted ninjutsu scrolls, and he told her Tsunade planned to leave the village to clear her head.
• Nobuhiko revealed that he would accompany Tsunade, and Kushina protested that she would miss training with him.
• Nobuhiko and Kushina agreed to grow stronger so they could travel together without being constrained by the village's rules.
• Tsunade returned, sent Kushina away, and sealed the room after noticing Nobuhiko was distressed.
• Nobuhiko's One-Tomoe Sharingan evolved into a Two-Tomoe Sharingan.

After Nobuhiko’s Sharingan evolved, Tsunade left him several Water Release scrolls before preparing to leave, and he chose five techniques to learn. He reunited with Kushina, who accepted that he and Tsunade were keeping a secret and planned to join them on their travels once she grew stronger.

• Nobuhiko told Tsunade that his Sharingan evolved after he felt sad and blamed himself over Kushina’s reaction to his travel plans, and she urged him to deactivate it.
• Tsunade gave Nobuhiko two S-rank and three A-rank Water Release scrolls, then left to spend time with people in the village.
• Nobuhiko read the scrolls and set aside four techniques to master first: Water Release: Heavenly Weeping, Water Release: Water Severing Wave, Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade, and Water Release: Water Dragon Bite Explosion Jutsu.
• Nobuhiko found Kushina and asked why she had left; she said she was upset that he and Tsunade were keeping a secret from her.
• Kushina told Nobuhiko not to reveal the secret until they were strong enough, and said she would join him and Tsunade on their travels after Kurama helped her grow stronger.

Nobuhiko spent time with Kushina before she gave him four Sealing Jutsu scrolls to practice while he traveled with Tsunade. After two quiet days, Tsunade told him they would leave the next morning, and the two departed Konoha together.

• Nobuhiko promised to become strong enough to protect Kushina, and she treated him to barbecue before they spent the afternoon chatting instead of training.
• Kushina gave Nobuhiko scrolls for the Four Symbols Seal, Contract Seal, Memory Seal, and Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
• Nobuhiko decided not to visit Kurenai Yuhi before leaving, choosing to keep the departure quiet.
• Tsunade returned home early and told Nobuhiko she had said goodbye to everyone and wanted to leave the next morning.
• Tsunade and Nobuhiko arrived at the Konoha Gate early the next day, and they left the village together.

Nobuhiko and Tsunade traveled to Ishikawa Town, where Tsunade tried to send him back to the inn so she could gamble. After he insisted on joining her, Nobuhiko sent a transformed Shadow Clone into the casino to bet against her.

• Tsunade and Nobuhiko wandered along the road until they reached Ishikawa Town and booked a luxury room with two bedrooms.
• After lunch, Tsunade urged Nobuhiko to return to the inn, and he realized she planned to go gambling.
• Nobuhiko persuaded Tsunade to take him to the casino by promising to enter with a Shadow Clone.
• At the casino, Nobuhiko transformed his Shadow Clone into a middle-aged man and sent it inside with their money to bet against Tsunade.

Nobuhiko studied new ninjutsu while his Shadow Clone gambled against Tsunade, earning 3.5 million ryo. Meanwhile, Kushina learned more about Kurama’s power, and Tsunade returned furious without realizing Nobuhiko was behind her losses.

• Nobuhiko had a Shadow Clone study Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere while he practiced the Memory Seal Jutsu.
• Nobuhiko tried to buy goggles but left the shop without purchasing any because he had given his money to his Shadow Clone.
• Kushina entered the sealed space and asked Kurama when she could withstand his power; Kurama estimated she would be seventeen or eighteen and boasted that he could destroy Konoha with a few Tailed Beast Bombs.
• Nobuhiko’s Shadow Clone returned with 3.5 million ryo after defeating Tsunade in a hundred bets, then dispelled and passed the memories to him.
• Tsunade stormed into the inn, complained about a gambler who had beaten her every time, and smashed the table without knowing Nobuhiko was responsible.