Chapter Summaries

Aoki Tsuki welcomed two new Genin to his team over a meal and laid out his cautious approach to surviving in Amegakure. The team set out on a C-rank mission to kill weapons smuggler Ogawa Kōhei, and Tsuki began planning around their specialties.

• Aoki Tsuki told Ryōta and Shinichi that the team would prioritize safety and caution, then had everyone share their likes, dislikes, and dreams.
• Aoki Tsuki paid for the team's meal at the Silver Fish Pavilion and said goodbye to Kikuno Momo before leaving with his teammates.
• Mieko explained that their target was Ogawa Kōhei, a weapons smuggler near Bishui Town who sold weapons to rogue ninja without paying the village.
• Aoki Tsuki asked his teammates about their specialties, and Ryōta said he focused on Taijutsu while Shinichi specialized in hidden weapons.

Aoki Tsuki led his squad to Bishui Town to assassinate Ogawa Kōhei, whose weapons trade served local forces. After Kareki killed a water clone and survived an apparent defeat, Aoki Tsuki and Ryōta caught him in a trap and killed him, while Ogawa Kōhei’s fate remained unresolved.

• Aoki Tsuki assigned Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi roles in a three-part plan to assassinate the target and led them to Bishui Town.
• The squad gathered information about the Gokudo Group and the Araki Ronin, then prepared to move against the target at night.
• Mieko sensed at least five ninja inside Ogawa Kōhei’s residence, and Aoki Tsuki sent in a water clone while the squad surrounded the building.
• Kunai with Explosive Tags struck the residence, and Okamoto Hisao escaped as Ogawa Kōhei’s guards shielded him from the blast.
• Kareki fought Aoki Tsuki’s water clone and believed he had killed him, but the clone exploded and Aoki Tsuki arrived with Ryōta.
• Kareki escaped a staged attack using the Substitution Technique, but Aoki Tsuki and Ryōta lured him into a poisoned Senbon trap and Aoki Tsuki stabbed him through the heart.

Aoki Tsuki completed a mission to stop a weapons deal, returned to Amegakure, and reported the results to Takenaka Osamu while reinforcing his image as a loyal and capable Chunin. He returned home to his mother and resumed training his spiritual power, hoping to advance his abilities.

• Aoki Tsuki interrogated Ogawa Kōhei about the weapons trade, then killed him and took the bodies and recovered weapons back to Amegakure.
• Aoki Tsuki declined Mieko's suggestion to investigate the Araki Ronin and taught his teammates how to use Kunai tied to Explosive Tags before returning to the village.
• Aoki Tsuki submitted his mission report and evidence to Takenaka Osamu, who praised the mission and discussed Aoki Tsuki's ambition to become one of Lord Hanzō's guards.
• Aoki Tsuki told his teammates how the mission payment would be divided, then returned home and reassured his mother, Eiko, that he was safe.
• Aoki Tsuki reviewed his inherited techniques and practiced meditation to strengthen his spiritual power.

Aoki Tsuki continued his daily mental, physical, and sensory training while helping his mother Eiko run their gift shop. After Sunagakure’s Third Kazekage disappeared and tensions rose, Aoki Tsuki and his team were assigned to a border patrol, leaving for the village entrance the next morning.

• Aoki Tsuki trained his mental energy, strength, and hair control, then practiced sensing Natural Energy in the rain and improved his perception.
• Aoki Tsuki helped Eiko make gifts and carved wooden character figures for their shop, Hardware Hall.
• Aoki Tsuki learned that the Third Kazekage had vanished and the Land of Wind was in internal turmoil, prompting Amegakure to strengthen patrols.
• Satō Ichirō selected Aoki Tsuki, Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi for the border patrol and ordered them to assemble the next morning.
• Aoki Tsuki told Mieko to prepare medical supplies, then informed Eiko at dinner that he would be going on patrol.

Aoki Tsuki led his squad on patrol along the Land of Rain’s border, where they found two dead Sunagakure ninja and evidence of powerful Fire and Wind Release. When two Sunagakure ninja arrived and accused the squad, a puppet master summoned his weapons and prepared to attack.

• Satō Ichirō assigned Aoki Tsuki’s squad to patrol the Chōkai Peak area and instructed the patrol leaders to avoid unnecessary battles.
• Aoki Tsuki and his squad surveyed their patrol area, then spent two uneventful days patrolling before Mieko sensed a fight near a ravine.
• The squad found two dead Sunagakure ninja and examined the battlefield, discovering signs of powerful Fire Release and Wind Release as well as weapons with their markings rubbed off.
• Mieko sensed approaching ninja, and Aoki Tsuki ordered the squad into a defensive formation and signaled for reinforcements.
• A Sunagakure puppet master accused Aoki Tsuki’s squad of killing the dead ninja, dismissed their explanation, and summoned a centipede puppet and a scorpion puppet.
• Aoki Tsuki recognized that the Sunagakure ninja wanted to vent their anger rather than investigate the deaths, and signaled his squad to fight.

Aoki Tsuki and his squad fought off Yoshiki and Fire Fly after discovering the two Amegakure ninja were pursuing the killers of Taya and Anna. Reinforcements arrived, the attackers withdrew, and Satō Ichirō ordered the injured squad back to camp for a week of rest.

• Fire Fly attacked Aoki Tsuki and Ryōta with poison mist while Captain Yoshiki used Wind Release to drive it toward them.
• Aoki Tsuki destroyed Fire Fly's centipede puppet with an Explosive Tag, but Yoshiki overpowered him and injured Ryōta.
• Aoki Tsuki evaded Yoshiki with a Substitution Technique and warned him that reinforcements were approaching; Yoshiki withdrew with Fire Fly and the bodies.
• Mieko treated Ryōta, while Aoki Tsuki reported that his ribs might be broken and that the Sunagakure ninja had been killed with Fire Release.
• Satō Ichirō arrived with reinforcements, heard Aoki Tsuki's account, recorded the squad's merits, and sent them back to camp to rest for a week.

While Aoki Tsuki trained and developed his Rain Breathing swordsmanship, Amegakure’s worsening situation led to new patrol assignments amid the start of the Third Shinobi World War. When Kurokawa’s squad sent a distress signal, Aoki Tsuki delayed before arriving to find its three members dead and Sunagakure and Iwagakure forces fighting nearby.

• Aoki Tsuki mastered Water Formation Wall and refined the first two stages of his Rain Breathing while training during a week of recovery.
• Satō Ichirō told the gathered ninja that Sunagakure and suspected Iwagakure forces were provoking conflict, and Aoki Tsuki argued that Amegakure should fight if its position was ignored.
• Satō assigned Aoki Tsuki’s squad and Kurokawa’s squad to patrol separate halves of Chōkai Peak together.
• When Kurokawa’s squad sent a distress signal, Aoki Tsuki led his team toward them cautiously and delayed along the way.
• Aoki Tsuki’s squad found three members of Kurokawa’s squad dead, then tracked ongoing fighting to a waterfall.
• Aoki Tsuki’s squad saw three Sunagakure ninja, including Yoshiki and Fire Fly, fighting five Iwagakure ninja, with the Sunagakure side at a disadvantage.

Aoki Tsuki abandoned the search for Kurokawa and helped Satō Ichirō’s forces repel Sunagakure Ninja, earning public praise while concealing what he had seen. Back at camp, he explained his absence to Kurokawa, who apologized after learning Aoki Tsuki had recovered his squadmates’ bodies.

• Aoki Tsuki led his squad away from the clash between Sunagakure and Iwagakure, then found Satō Ichirō and Tomohisa’s Rain Ninja fighting Sunagakure forces near Mount Tanzawa.
• Aoki Tsuki ambushed and killed a Sunagakure Ninja who had been fighting Umatsu, then joined Umatsu in the battle.
• Shinichi, Ryōta, and Mieko killed an enemy, and Aoki Tsuki’s squad helped turn the fight around until the Sunagakure Ninja retreated.
• Satō Ichirō praised Aoki Tsuki, who reported finding Kurokawa Squad’s bodies and privately told him the enemy fighters resembled Konoha operatives.
• Aoki Tsuki caught Kurokawa sneaking into camp and explained that he had searched for him before rushing to support the main force; Kurokawa apologized for misunderstanding him.

After Amegakure withdrew from the border, Aoki Tsuki returned home, improved his abilities, and discussed a suppression mission with his squad. They chose to investigate the Araki Rōnin Organization near the Land of Fire, where Aoki suspected Konoha Ninja might be involved.

• Umatsu told Aoki Tsuki and Kurokawa that Amegakure would pull back from the border and send its elite squads to suppress rebels at home.
• Satō Ichirō ordered the squads to return to the village and rest for a week before taking suppression missions, and Aoki Tsuki went home to Eiko.
• Aoki Tsuki advanced his meditation and natural-energy sensing, collected his squad’s B-rank mission reward, and learned Mieko had applied for Chunin assessment.
• Aoki Tsuki treated Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi to grilled fish at Silver Fish Pavilion and proposed taking a mission against the Araki Rōnin Organization.
• Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi agreed to follow Aoki Tsuki’s lead as he explained why the southeast mission seemed safer than operations near Iwagakure or Sunagakure.

Aoki Tsuki’s squad attacked the Araki Ronin at their dōjō and shrine in Takeda Town, drawing the ronin into a fight while Aoki infiltrated their hideout. Aoki faced Aburame Shinobu, while Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi fought the ronin at the dōjō and prepared to regroup with their captain.

• Aoki Tsuki split the squad, sending Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi to attack the Araki Dōjō while he investigated the abandoned shrine.
• The dōjō attack drew the shrine’s defenders away, and Aoki encountered Aburame Shinobu, who revealed he had been watching the squad.
• Aoki used an explosive clone to destroy many of Aburame Shinobu’s insects, then fought his Insect Clone and evaded more Kikaichū with a Water Formation Wall and Body Flicker Technique.
• Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi faced twenty or thirty ronin and thugs at the dōjō, then used smoke bombs and gas masks to confuse and defeat some of them.
• Many ronin fled as the smoke spread, and Mieko told Ryōta and Shinichi to regroup with Aoki.

Aoki Tsuki defeated Aburame Shinobu, seized supplies from a hidden depot, and returned to the village with his squad. Mieko passed her Chunin assessment, and Takenaka Osamu assigned the squad to guard the daimyō in Kyoto after three days.

• Aoki Tsuki used poison smoke to incapacitate Aburame Shinobu's insects, defeated him, and watched him die by suicide rather than be captured.
• Aoki Tsuki searched the shrine's underground chamber, took its supplies, and reunited with Mieko and the other squad members after they defeated the rogue ninja.
• Aoki Tsuki's squad returned to the village, where Takenaka Osamu approved Mieko's Chunin promotion but delayed her transfer to medical duty.
• Takenaka Osamu arranged for Aoki Tsuki's squad to reinforce the daimyō's guards in Kyoto, and Aoki Tsuki accepted the assignment.
• Aoki Tsuki gave his squad members training advice and told them to prepare to leave for Kyoto in three days.

Danzo ordered Root to eliminate the Aoki Tsuki Squad as they traveled to Kyoto to guard the Land of Rain’s daimyō. After months without incident, poisoning and a nighttime intrusion disrupted the residence’s security, and Aoki Tsuki discovered the intruder had escaped through the artificial lake.

• Danzo learned that Amegakure had destroyed a Root supply outpost and ordered his subordinate to find an opportunity to kill the Aoki Tsuki Squad.
• Hanzō sent the Aoki Tsuki Squad to reinforce the daimyō’s residence in Kyoto, where Jōnin Shinonome assigned them to patrol its perimeter.
• Aoki Tsuki positioned his squad around the residence, then reduced their overnight surveillance after weeks passed without an attack.
• Several attendants died after drinking poisoned water, but Aoki Tsuki’s squad detected no suspicious activity during their watch.
• On the fourth night after the poisoning, fighting broke out near the daimyō’s quarters, and Aoki Tsuki realized the intruder had entered and escaped through the artificial lake.

After an assassination attempt exposed weaknesses in the daimyō’s defenses, Aoki Tsuki reorganized his squad’s watch and prepared for another attack. When Iwagakure Ninja Jizō launched a renewed assault in heavy rain, Aoki Tsuki fought him but was caught by an explosive trap as the battle continued.

• Shinonome rejected Yotaka’s demand to switch shifts and assigned Shioame to act as a hidden lookout instead.
• Aoki Tsuki reorganized his squad into four watch positions around the daimyō’s residence and ordered Mieko to sense for threats every fifteen minutes.
• Aoki Tsuki’s squad guarded the estate for two days, while Shioame observed their improved patrol plan from a hidden cave.
• During a storm, Iwagakure Ninja Jizō attacked Aoki Tsuki with Earth Release techniques, but Aoki Tsuki evaded his traps and struck back.
• Aoki Tsuki and Jizō clashed through rain and smoke, and Jizō detonated an Explosive Tag beneath Aoki Tsuki after raising an Earth-Style Wall.

Aoki Tsuki killed Jizō and joined the battle to protect the daimyō, helping Ryōta defeat Ryūka and saving Shioame from another enemy. The attackers retreated after a signal sounded, and the daimyō promised rewards to his protectors.

• Aoki Tsuki escaped Jizō’s Rock Pillar Prison with Rain Breathing and killed him with a Chakra-powered sword strike.
• Aoki Tsuki reached the daimyō’s chambers, where Ryōta, Shinichi, and Mieko had been defending the courtyard alongside Shioame.
• Aoki Tsuki and Ryōta fought Ryūka together and escaped when Ryūka charged them with Explosive Tags strapped to his body.
• Aoki Tsuki and Ryōta helped Shioame defeat his opponent as the Yotaka Squad suffered casualties and killed one enemy.
• A whistle sounded, prompting the remaining attackers to flee, and the daimyō thanked the defenders and promised them rewards.

After helping investigate an attack on the daimyō, Aoki Tsuki took over Shioame’s intelligence duties and recorded the factions seeking the daimyō’s support. He observed Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan present Akatsuki’s peace ideal, while the daimyō offered them funding but no official recognition.

• Yotaka argued that the attackers only wore Iwagakure Forehead Protectors, and the daimyō ordered everyone to investigate before drawing conclusions.
• Shinonome assigned Aoki Tsuki to replace the injured Shioame and record visiting factions, their leaders, ideals, and aims.
• Aoki Tsuki began documenting the groups that sought the daimyō’s support and assessing their objectives and threat levels.
• Yahiko told the daimyō that Akatsuki aimed to end war through dialogue, and the daimyō challenged how the young group could make great nations listen.
• The daimyō praised Yahiko’s conviction and gave Akatsuki money, but withheld official authorization.
• Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan left encouraged, and Yahiko vowed to bring peace to the Land of Rain.

Aoki Tsuki was ordered to spy on the Yotaka Squad while Root reconsidered its failed plans in the Land of Rain. Aburame Ryoma infiltrated the daimyo’s residence and confronted Aoki Tsuki, who detected and killed his insect before Ryoma threatened his mother.

• Shinonome assigned Aoki Tsuki to monitor the Yotaka Squad and seek evidence that it colluded with Iwagakure, so Aoki Tsuki tasked Mieko, Ryōta, and Shinichi with gathering intelligence.
• After half a month, the daimyo’s residence condemned the assassination attempt, while Root members reacted with confusion to the Land of Rain’s response.
• Aburame Ryoma took charge of Root’s operations in the Land of Rain, halted current plans, and decided to heighten tensions between Amegakure and Iwagakure.
• Aburame Ryoma infiltrated the daimyo’s residence and watched Aoki Tsuki for a week before sending a Kikaichū to investigate him.
• Aoki Tsuki sensed the insect, slapped it dead, and confronted Aburame Ryoma, who accused him of killing Konoha operatives and threatened his mother.

Aoki Tsuki accepted Aburame Ryoma’s offer to cooperate with Root in exchange for help and ninjutsu, agreeing to obtain evidence that the Iron Fang Group had colluded with Iwagakure. Before that investigation could bear fruit, Shinonome ordered him to secretly follow the departing Yotaka Squad and infiltrate its hidden base, forcing Aoki to bring Mieko along.

• Aburame Ryoma approached Aoki Tsuki and offered Root’s support, then left him a scroll containing two ninjutsu techniques.
• Aoki Tsuki studied the Hidden Mist Technique and Lightning Release: Earth Flow, memorized them, and burned the scroll.
• Aoki Tsuki met Aburame Ryoma at an inn and agreed to help Root secure conclusive evidence of the Iron Fang Group’s collusion with Iwagakure within a week.
• Shinonome visited Aoki Tsuki and ordered him to follow the departing Yotaka Squad, find its hidden base, and search for evidence.
• Aoki Tsuki agreed to the dangerous assignment and decided to take Mieko with him because he could not track the squad alone.

Aoki Tsuki and Mieko tracked Yotaka Squad to a likely Iron Fang Group base in Nagano, where Aoki Tsuki stayed behind to investigate. He captured Ryōsuke after a fierce fight, but Ryōsuke refused to answer his questions.

• Aoki Tsuki sent Shinichi and Ryōta to guard the residence while he and Mieko followed Yotaka Squad.
• Aoki Tsuki and Mieko entered Nagano through an underground drain and found Yotaka Squad inside a likely Iron Fang Group base.
• Mieko returned to report the discovery while Aoki Tsuki watched the base and followed Ryōsuke home.
• Aoki Tsuki attacked Ryōsuke, but the body on the bed was a water clone, and the real Ryōsuke ambushed him.
• Ryōsuke's speed overwhelmed Aoki Tsuki until Aoki Tsuki used Hidden Mist and Cutting Rain to sever Ryōsuke's leg and capture him.
• Aoki Tsuki questioned Ryōsuke, but Ryōsuke refused to cooperate and demanded to be killed.

Aoki Tsuki uncovered an Iron Fang Group supply shipment possibly bound for Iwagakure and tried to carry the intelligence to Kyoto. Yotaka and Hanashōmaru intercepted him, and after Hanashōmaru died protecting the pursuit, Aoki Tsuki fled with Yotaka close behind.

• Aoki Tsuki tortured Ryōsuke into revealing that the izakaya hid an Iron Fang Group base and that supplies were being moved from a warehouse in southern Nagano City toward the Izushi Mine.
• Aoki Tsuki watched the shipment leave, confirmed it was heading northeast, and raced toward Kyoto with the intelligence.
• Yukiya failed to find Ryōsuke, and Hanashōmaru discovered signs of a struggle before reporting to Captain Yotaka.
• Hanashōmaru and Yotaka ambushed Aoki Tsuki near the forest, but Aoki Tsuki used a Water Clone and killed Hanashōmaru while escaping Yotaka’s Earth Release attack.
• Yotaka scattered Aoki Tsuki’s mist with Wind Release and pursued him along the main road, while Aoki Tsuki relied on his speed to keep fleeing.

Aoki Tsuki obtained evidence of the Iron Fang Group’s collusion with Iwagakure and told Aburame Ryoma about a suspected supply shipment at Izushi Mine. After Shinonome received the evidence, Amegakure moved to attack the Iron Fang Group, and the chapter ended as the Rain Ninja engaged Haibi’s squad.

• Yotaka wounded Aoki Tsuki, but Aburame Ryoma’s Kikaichū killed Yotaka and rescued him.
• Aburame Ryoma gave Aoki Tsuki a scroll proving Iwagakure had asked the Iron Fang Group to gather wartime supplies, and Aoki Tsuki shared what he knew about a shipment at Izushi Mine.
• Aoki Tsuki delivered the scroll to Shinonome, then Mieko healed his wounds with her newly learned Healing Technique.
• Shinonome returned with orders from Lord Hanzō to execute the Iron Fang Group, and Aoki Tsuki gathered his squad to carry them out.
• Ginjirō warned Captain Haibi that Rain Ninja were approaching, and Haibi prepared his squad to fight while secretly planning to escape.
• Rain Ninja attacked Haibi’s squad, and Shinonome confronted Haibi while revealing his Lightning Release.