Chapter Summaries

After finishing their written exams, Uka Senju and his friends arranged a celebratory meal for after the practical assessment. As Uka and Senju Harumi headed home, samurai ambushed them in an alley, and Uka prepared to fight.

• Uka Senju and his friends agreed to gather at the Akimichi Clan's barbecue restaurant after the practical assessment, with Uka offering to pay.
• Kurama Shimei encouraged the group to accept Uka's invitation and treat the meal as the first of many future gatherings.
• Uka and Senju Harumi parted from their friends and discussed Senju Chiharu taking charge of the graduating class's special training.
• Uka pulled Harumi behind him when samurai attacked from both ends of an alley, and he countered their swords while Harumi reported their positions.
• Harumi guarded their rear as Uka told her not to fear the attackers, who were samurai.

Uka Senju and Senju Harumi fought off six samurai who had come for the bounty on Uka, collecting energy and salvaging their equipment afterward. Uka gave Harumi the spoils to help her buy custom armor, and he looked forward to more bounty hunters coming after him.

• Uka Senju told Senju Harumi to handle the two samurai behind them while he fought the attackers ahead.
• Uka defeated the two samurai in front of him with his sword, then used Wood Release: Violent Spear Tree to kill the fleeing samurai who had ambushed Harumi.
• Senju Harumi killed the remaining samurai and asked Uka how they should deal with the bodies; he told her to take the heads and gather the spoils.
• Uka collected energy while cutting off the samurai's heads and decided to go out on his seventh-day breaks in hopes of attracting more bounty hunters.
• Uka told Harumi to keep the money and sell the weapons to the clan's workshop so she could put the proceeds toward custom armor.

Uka Senju met Inuzuka Sawa and Inuzuka Furin on the way to the Ninja Academy’s practical combat assessment, where their contrasting outfits made him feel like an unremarkable bodyguard. They arrived at Training Ground No. 10 and joined their friends as the assessment gathered its students.

• Uka Senju dressed for combat, checked his weapons and tools, and headed to school.
• Uka Senju met Inuzuka Sawa and Inuzuka Furin, and they discussed their outfits for the assessment.
• Uka Senju noticed that other students moved aside as they approached Training Ground No. 10, where eleven arenas had been set up.
• Kurama Shimei called Uka Senju, Inuzuka Sawa, and Inuzuka Furin over to their friends.
• Senju Harumi called Inuzuka Furin to join her, teasing her about spending time with the others.

The students gathered for the practical combat assessment as Senju Raizan and Sarutobi Chūdo set its safety rules. Once the arena matches were announced, Uka Senju and his friends agreed on a plan and sent six students to compete first.

• Inuzuka Furin went to join her friends while Uka Senju joined Hatake Bunkei and Kaun, and Kurama Shimei argued that they should enjoy dressing up before becoming strong enough to wear unusual clothes on missions.
• Senju Raizan told Sarutobi Chūdo to run the assessment as planned and said teachers should intervene only to prevent deaths, prompting Chūdo to accept his rules.
• Yuhi Katsuyo went to his assigned grandstand, considering how to use his position as a teacher to benefit the Yuhi Clan at its meeting that night.
• Nakada Kazuya announced that the first arena round would begin at 9:05 and that students could compete for one of sixty spots.
• Uka Senju and his friends agreed that six students would enter first while the others watched, and Uka took Furin, Kafumi, and Ten'in with him.

Senju Uka sent Ten'in, Kafumi, and Furin to their matches while rival clans planned to target his team and undermine Wood Release. Sarutobi Gensei recruited Uchiha support, and as Uka watched his teammates win, he noticed their opponents had scattered.

• Senju Uka assigned Ten'in, Kafumi, and Furin to separate arenas and warned them not to risk serious injuries.
• Utatane Akino asked how the clans should target Uka's team, and Sarutobi Gensei assigned groups to interfere with the Aburame, Hatake, and Senju fighters.
• Sarutobi Gensei approached Uchiha Yashiro to propose working together, but Yashiro rejected the idea and disparaged his companions.
• Uchiha Maiko explained that she and Uchiha Hitomi would join the clans' plans at the appropriate arenas, and Sarutobi Gensei accepted the arrangement.
• Senju Uka watched his three teammates defeat several challengers and noticed that the gathered opponents had dispersed.

Uka Senju watched the platform matches as Hatake Kobun defeated her fifth challenger with a brutal sword attack. With the crowd too frightened to challenge her, she appeared close to advancing, but the people Uka had been watching suddenly began to move.

• Uka Senju told the fighters on the platforms to hurry because their opponents were approaching.
• Hatake Kobun defeated her fourth challenger and chose to continue without resting.
• Kōryō Hiroshi taunted Hatake Kobun, but she severed his limbs and won her fifth match.
• Several called challengers refused to step onto Hatake Kobun’s platform, leaving the twenty-minute countdown to begin.
• Uka Senju noticed the people he had been watching suddenly start to move.

Hatake Kafumi defeated Utatane Akino with a powerful Lightning Release technique but suffered chakra depletion and internal damage. Uchiha Maiko challenged her next, and Uka Senju intervened to insist Kafumi get treated before fighting again.

• Utatane Akino challenged Hatake Kafumi just before the arena timer ran out and attacked with concealed weapons and Wind Release.
• Hatake Kafumi dodged Akino's attacks, then used an incompletely mastered family secret technique to strike Akino off the arena.
• Jonin instructor Kato declared Kafumi the winner and explained that he had saved Akino from a potentially fatal blow.
• Uchiha Maiko challenged Kafumi, but Uka Senju stopped the match and told Kafumi to get treated first.

Uka Senju challenged Uchiha Maiko and drew a crowd eager to witness Wood Release. He defended against her weapons and Great Fireball Technique, then counterattacked with Tree Spears, but Maiko escaped with Substitution; the fight continued as she formed more Hand Seals and Uka summoned binding vines.

• Hatake Kobun forfeited her match, and Uka Senju helped her reach the medical team before returning to the arenas.
• Uka Senju challenged the opponents waiting near Arenas Three and Five, then took the unchallenged Arena Four and invited them to face him one by one.
• A blonde girl arrived near the training field with a white-haired boy and a black-haired boy, heard the commotion, and hurried toward Training Ground No. 10.
• Uchiha Maiko opened with Senbon, Shuriken, and a Great Fireball Technique, while Uka Senju sheltered inside a Wood Locking Wall and sensed her movements.
• Uka Senju's Tree Spears struck only Uchiha Maiko's Substitution Wood, and his Wood Locking Wall withstood her fireball.
• As Uchiha Maiko began forming more Hand Seals, Uka Senju used Vine Binding from the wooden walls around him.

Uka Senju defeated Uchiha Maiko and Shimura Kaze with Wood Release during the combat assessment, leaving the audience stunned by his strength. He continued the matches and was matched next against Mitokado I.

• Uka Senju trapped Uchiha Maiko with vines and tightened them until she surrendered, leaving her arms broken.
• Uchiha Yashiro carried Maiko to the Medical Treatment Team while Kato announced Uka's first victory.
• Shimura Kaze challenged Uka, but vines caught him after his Substitution Technique and crushed his bones before he could surrender.
• Kato announced Uka's second victory, and Uka chose to continue without a break.
• Kato called Mitokado I as the next challenger, and the boy turned pale after seeing what happened to Shimura Kaze.

Sarutobi Gensei and Mitokado I faced Senju Uka in the arena, where Uka’s Wood Release overwhelmed both of them. Gensei survived a barrage of poisonous thorns but collapsed with severe injuries as Jonin Kato called for a stretcher.

• Sarutobi Gensei urged Mitokado I to overcome his fear and fight, but Uka defeated Mitokado I with Substitution Technique and Wood Release vines.
• Sarutobi Gensei told Utatane Akino to look after him and his injured friends, then entered the arena to face Senju Uka.
• Gensei attacked Uka’s wooden defense with a Wind-and-Fire combination and Phoenix Flower Jutsu.
• Uka countered with Wood Release: Thorny Killing, sending poisonous thorns across the arena while Jonin Kato and the other teachers raised a Water Formation Wall.
• Gensei used Substitution Technique but was pierced by thorns; the water wall enclosed him, and he collapsed as Kato called for a stretcher.

Uka Senju won his fourth match, and Uchiha Yashiro entered the arena after Uchiha Maiko warned him that Uka had hidden much of his Wood Release strength. Yashiro revealed his two-tomoe Sharingan and began fighting cautiously, but the chapter ended with Uka destroying his wooden substitute with a Wood Release attack.

• Medical ninjas carried the badly injured Sarutobi Gensei away, and Jonin Kato announced Uka Senju's fourth victory before calling Uchiha Yashiro as the next challenger.
• Jonin Kato persuaded three other instructors to stay and help supervise the match after fearing someone might die.
• Uchiha Maiko warned Yashiro that Uka had been holding back, and Yashiro promised to fight carefully without fear.
• Yashiro revealed his two-tomoe Sharingan, trapped Uka in the Hell Viewing Technique, and threw shuriken at him.
• Uka broke the genjutsu, used Wood Release: Wood Substitution, dodged Yashiro's Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu, and shattered the wooden substitute with Wood Release: Violent Spear Tree.

Uka Senju defeated Uchiha Yashiro after trapping him underground with Wood Release, and Jonin Kato and another teacher rushed to rescue the Uchiha. The chapter left Yashiro in the medical team's care after Uka removed the blood-red vines that had drained him nearly to skin and bones.

• Uka Senju sensed Uchiha Yashiro trapped beneath the platform and allowed Jonin Kato and another teacher to dig him out.
• Hyūga Kageyama used his Byakugan to see Yashiro pinned among Uka's Wood Release constructs and shuddered at his condition.
• Two Chunin watching from the wall praised Wood Release, while the blonde girl punched her white-haired friend after he teased her about her fiancé.
• The teachers uncovered Yashiro pinned to a wooden cross and called for the Medical Treatment Team.
• Uka Senju carefully removed the red vines from Yashiro, and Jonin Kato caught him as he fell, seeing that he had been reduced to skin and bones.

Senju Uka killed a Sarutobi faction Chunin who demanded that Uka’s assessment results be invalidated, then withdrew from the competition. Senju Raizan intimidated Sarutobi Chūdo into agreeing that the man deserved to die.

• After no students stepped forward to challenge Senju Uka, Jonin instructor Kato prepared to announce Uka’s advancement.
• A Sarutobi faction Chunin demanded that Uka’s results be invalidated, accusing him of violating the Will of Fire by attacking his classmates.
• Senju Uka used Wood Release: Vine Bind to kill the Chunin, then left the stage and told his friends he would stop competing.
• Inuzuka Sawa and the others joked with Uka while celebrating their improved chances of reaching the top twenty.
• Sarutobi Chūdo considered demanding an explanation, but Senju Raizan’s killing intent made him back down and say the Chunin deserved to die.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru watched Uka Senju kill a Chunin during the assessment, and Tsunade resolved to ask her teacher and family what was happening. Two hours later, Uka congratulated Kurama Shimei on winning first place and encouraged Hatake Bunkei to master his clan’s secret technique.

• Jiraiya complained that Uka Senju had killed a fellow Chunin, while Orochimaru suspected the Senju and their teacher were close to splitting apart.
• Orochimaru calmed Jiraiya and told him not to ask Tsunade about the incident, but Tsunade said she would investigate and would not be forced into the arranged marriage if there was a problem.
• Orochimaru suggested that the three visit the Akimichi Clan for food, and Jiraiya offered to pay as they left the training ground.
• Two hours later, Uka Senju met his friends after their assessment, and Kurama Shimei boasted that he had won first place.
• Uka Senju reassured Hatake Bunkei that he would become stronger once he mastered the Hatake Clan’s secret technique or grew older.

Uka Senju and his friends left the academy for a day of food and fun, with Uka disguising their roles as they carried their belongings. They reached the Akimichi Clan BBQ Restaurant, where Uka ordered a lavish meal for the group.

• Uka Senju joked that the friends who had changed into tattered clothes should carry everyone’s belongings as servants.
• The group explored Konoha’s southern district and shared snacks, while Uka hurried past an alley marked Hot Springs and Inuzuka Furin secretly looked inside.
• Uka and Inuzuka Furin bought tempura, then joined their friends at the Akimichi Clan BBQ Restaurant.
• An Akimichi clansman seated the ten at a large table with three grills and recommended beef and pork belly.
• Uka Senju ordered ten jin each of the recommended meats, another ten jin of the restaurant’s choice, and side dishes for fifteen people.

Uka Senju and his friends celebrated their assessment with a huge meal at the Akimichi Clan restaurant, while an unseen observer watched Uka and Inuzuka Furin. As the friends discussed training for their future as ninja, Kurama Shimei revealed the background of the Chunin Uka had killed.

• Inuzuka Furin served Uka Senju grilled meat, and their friends teased them while Inuzuka Sawa and his Ninja Dog quietly ate.
• An unseen pair of light brown eyes watched Uka feed Furin a wrap through a gap in the bamboo screen.
• After eating seventy jin of food, Inuzuka Sawa praised the meal, and Kurama Shimei urged the group to train seriously for their ninja careers.
• Uka Senju proposed a toast to the end of their Ninja Academy days and the beginning of their lives as ninja, hoping they would all survive to share the next nine meals.
• Kurama Shimei explained that the Chunin Uka killed had entered the Ninja Academy with his siblings, served on the front lines, and was transferred to the academy before offending its Jonin teachers.

Kurama Shimei offered to kill the dead Chunin’s younger siblings, and Uka Senju agreed until Jiraiya burst in and condemned them. Uka recognized Jiraiya and suspected the siblings could become his future enemies, then smiled as Jiraiya challenged him to respond.

• Kurama Shimei described Vice Principal Sarutobi backing down after Vice Principal Raizan frightened him, disappointing his listeners.
• Uka Senju decided the dead Chunin’s younger brother and sister should be killed to prevent future trouble.
• Kurama Shimei volunteered to take his cousin and Ten'in's older female cousin to kill the siblings.
• Jiraiya entered the private room and rebuked Uka and the others for killing the Chunin and planning to target his family.
• Jiraiya’s black-haired companion tried to pull him away, but Jiraiya broke free and challenged Uka to refute his accusations or kill him too.
• Uka recognized Jiraiya and smiled at his challenge.

Uka Senju’s companions attacked Jiraiya and Orochimaru after Uka gave the signal, and Tsunade joined the fight before stopping to question him. Uka ordered the two men to leave and told Tsunade to meet them at the Hokage Building at three that afternoon, while Orochimaru suspected something was wrong after seeing the empty dining room and a panicked Akimichi clan member.

• Uka Senju’s companions attacked Jiraiya and Orochimaru, and Jiraiya escaped Uka’s Wood Release by using the Substitution Technique.
• Tsunade entered and charged toward the surrounded Jiraiya, but Uka Senju stopped her by asking whether she was Senju or Sarutobi.
• Tsunade accused Uka Senju of killing someone and threatening their family, then Uka Senju ordered everyone to stop fighting.
• Uka Senju told Jiraiya and Orochimaru to leave and find out what had happened for themselves.
• Tsunade told Jiraiya and Orochimaru to meet her at the Hokage Building at three that afternoon, and Orochimaru noticed the empty dining room and the panicked Akimichi clan member.

After Tsunade was taken back to the Senju compound, Uka Senju and his friends left the barbecue restaurant while the clans quietly collected and tracked the Wood Release samples. The Nara, Akimichi, and Yamanaka leaders discussed their failed choice to support the Senju and debated whether to side with the Sarutobi instead.

• Two Senju clan members forcibly escorted Tsunade toward the Senju compound after Uka Senju asked Aunt Tsukika to take her home.
• Uka Senju reassured his friends, then agreed to find another place to sit with them as Kurama Shimei led the group away.
• Uka Senju promised the Akimichi restaurant clerk that the Senju clan would cover the damage and expenses.
• Teachers and clan members gathered Wood Release creations from the assessment grounds while Senju ninja recorded who took them.
• A Nara leader told Torifu Akimichi and a Yamanaka leader that the Wood Release was made of earth and water but far weaker than Hashirama's.
• Torifu Akimichi argued that siding with the Senju now would bring little benefit and that the Sarutobi's Four Clans would offer a better price.

The Nara Clan Head advised the Yamanaka Clan Head to remain neutral while the Sarutobi leaders discussed the threat posed by a young Wood Release user and considered a future plan to eliminate him. Jiraiya arrived at Hiruzen Sarutobi’s office after learning the background of the conflict involving Uka Senju.

• The Nara Clan Head told the Yamanaka Clan Head to avoid taking a public stance and wait before choosing a side.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi examined a Wood Release creation, then discussed the assessment results and the young user's prospects with Shimura Danzō and Utatane Koharu.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi urged his allies to wait for an opportunity after the Wood Release user left the village, while Shimura Danzō warned against delaying too long.
• Jiraiya entered Hiruzen Sarutobi's office after he and Orochimaru investigated the conflict and learned why Uka Senju had acted as he did.