Chapter Summaries

Mukai and Pakura combined Wind Release and fire to melt the tunnel walls into a reinforced mass of cooled magma. After Chiyo told Sasori he would attend the joint Chunin Ninja Exam in Konoha next year, Mukai joined him above the oasis and asked if he was afraid.

• Mukai and Pakura used a wind-formed Great Breakthrough to drive Pakura's intensified Extremely Steaming Murder flames through the tunnel, melting and compressing the surrounding soil and rock into solidifying magma.
• Konan, Sasori, and Chiyo watched the technique transform the tunnel, and Chiyo praised Mukai's strength before telling Sasori that Sunagakure would send him to the joint Chunin Ninja Exam in Konoha next year.
• Sasori asked whether the village would let him avenge himself on Hatake Sakumo, but Chiyo warned that seeking revenge would be fatal and urged him to prove himself in the exam instead.
• Mukai finished guiding the flames through the tunnel, and Pakura praised his skill and the increased power of her technique.
• Mukai noticed Sasori's mood, invited him to the top of the Iron Sand hill, and listened as Sasori mentioned the upcoming exam.
• Mukai asked Sasori whether he was afraid.

Mukai confronted Sasori’s fear of going to Konoha by challenging him to see Hatake Sakumo as a shinobi caught in a system of war rather than a born demon. He urged Sasori to join him in changing the Land of Wind and the wider Shinobi World, leaving Sasori to consider a purpose beyond revenge.

• Sasori insisted he was not afraid of fighting but admitted he dreaded going to Konoha.
• Mukai asked Sasori whether Hatake Sakumo was born evil and reminded him that both sides had lost parents in war.
• Mukai argued that borders and the rules imposed by rulers turned shinobi into tools and caused repeated tragedies.
• Mukai told Sasori that his grief and hatred were valid but that he should not remain trapped in them.
• Mukai called on Sasori to help change the Land of Wind and the Shinobi World by using their strength and ninjutsu to benefit people.

Mukai and Sasori planned to recruit Shisō for their squad for the next Chunin Ninja Exams. When Kawasaki Ryūji provoked Shisō by insulting his late wife and son, Mukai stopped him and revealed that Shisō had been recommended as a ninja, then challenged Kawasaki to a duel.

• Mukai told Sasori he wanted Shisō, rather than Konan, to join their squad, and Sasori accepted his judgment.
• Shisō worried that he could not perform the Three Basic Techniques despite mastering difficult Nintaijutsu.
• Kawasaki Ryūji provoked Shisō and insulted his late wife Delia and his son Shira, prompting Shisō to activate the Seven Heavens Breathing Method.
• Mukai caught Shisō's wrist and revealed his Genin paperwork and Forehead Protector, saying the village council of elders had specially recommended him.
• Kawasaki doubted Shisō's promotion, and Mukai punched him and challenged him to a duel between ninja.

Mukai defeated Kawasaki Ryūji in a duel, using his Zealot Mecha to paralyze him with electricity before beating him down and demonstrating the mecha’s power. After Kawasaki Ryūji’s teammates carried him away, Mukai offered Shisō special training and asked whether he was comfortable leaving Shira at Mukai’s house while they went to the border.

• Mukai punched Kawasaki Ryūji after he insulted Shisō, and Kawasaki Ryūji challenged him to a duel to the death.
• Shisō tried to take the duel himself, but Mukai gave him his identification and forehead protector and insisted on fighting as his future captain.
• Kawasaki Ryūji attacked with Kunai, an Explosive Tag, and a clone, but Mukai deflected the attack with Wind Release and electrocuted him through his Ninja Blade.
• Mukai slapped and punched the paralyzed Kawasaki Ryūji, then cut his Ninja Blade in two and smashed a crater into the ground to show he had held back.
• Kawasaki Ryūji’s teammates apologized and carried him away, while Mukai asked Shisō about Shira and offered to train him at the border.

Mukai brought Shisō to the border oasis to join his team and began training him while the camp’s others continued their demanding work. After the canal was completed, the day finally came to let water through it.

• Shisō thanked Mukai for caring for Shira, and Mukai told him he had recommended him for ninja qualification and would train him for the Chunin competition.
• Mukai took Shisō from the village to the border oasis and explained that Chakra strengthened a Taijutsu ninja’s body rather than disappearing.
• Mukai introduced Shisō to Konan, Sasori, and Pakura, then assigned him weighted training and the task of hauling Iron Sand.
• Sasori trained his Chakra Threads while operating puppets in the workshop, and Konan produced insulating paper and developed complex Shikigami designs.
• Yahiko visited with Moon Sake Village representatives to thank Mukai, while Nagato reinforced the embankments and Mukai and Pakura worked to widen the canal tunnel.
• Mukai and Pakura finally finished advancing through the tunnel, and the day came to let water through the canal.

Mukai and his companions opened the waterway, bringing river water to the parched border of the Land of Wind. After the ceremony, Mukai showed Sasori charged supercapacitors and proposed upgrading their mecha into a powered model.

• Chiyo and Ebizo visited the reservoir, where Sasori explained the children's work and Shisō's training.
• Shisō returned carrying over a thousand jin of Iron Sand, impressing Ebizo with his speed and Taijutsu.
• Mukai gave a speech and declared the waterway open, while Konan sent an origami swift as the signal to begin.
• Nagato opened the embankment, and river water flowed through the tunnel into the reservoirs and the surrounding oasis.
• Mukai gave Sasori a charged supercapacitor and installed another in a Chakra Metal arm, inviting him to try controlling it.

Mukai and Sasori tested the newly powered Mountain God Mecha while Mukai finished designing dual-form mecha for the team, including Shisō’s Tiger-Leopard Combat Mecha. As conflicts increased across the Shinobi World and the Chunin Ninja Exams approached, the team prepared to set out.

• Mukai warned Sasori to reserve the Mountain God Mecha’s ultimate killing move for desperate situations and gave him two supercapacitor boards to power it.
• Sasori tested the newly powered Mountain God Mecha, which could move and attack using stored energy and had powerful armor and multiple combat modes.
• Mukai completed dual-form designs that let the team conceal their mecha in storage scrolls and deploy them over their bodies in battle.
• Mukai tuned Shisō’s Tiger-Leopard Combat Mecha to protect his body and support the Seven Heavens Breathing Method, while forbidding him from using the dangerous Fourth Activation.
• Clashes grew more frequent across the Shinobi World as the Chunin Ninja Exams neared, and the team prepared to depart.

Mukai and his companions traveled through the Land of Rivers, where he observed how its lack of a ninja village left it vulnerable to nobles and bandits. When they heard a girl pleading for help, Mukai exposed a nobleman abusing her, and the noble threatened to send his clan’s missions to Konoha.

• Mukai checked Konan’s safety precautions, then left the Oasis Workshop with Pakura and the others.
• The group crossed into the Land of Rivers, where Mukai observed its fertile land, samurai, and dependence on ninja villages for protection.
• After leaving a town, Mukai and his companions heard a girl begging for help in a canyon and confronted Lord Ogawa’s retainers.
• Pakura was ready to leave the nobles alone, but Mukai used Wind Release-Great Breakthrough to tear away the carriage and expose Lord Ogawa assaulting the girl.
• Lord Ogawa ordered the Sunagakure ninja to leave and threatened to give his clan’s missions to Konoha.

Mukai rescued a little girl from Noble Ogawa and used Sasori’s memory-sealing technique to keep their encounter from being traced. The group reached a border town that evening, where Mukai suggested they stay the night.

• Mukai used Lightning Release to incapacitate Noble Ogawa’s guards and confronted Ogawa as he tried to assault a little girl.
• Pakura warned Mukai not to harm a noble, while Shisō offered to take the blame and Sasori prepared to support Mukai.
• Mukai took the girl away, then knocked her and Ogawa unconscious when Ogawa claimed he would not cause trouble.
• Pakura proposed burning the witnesses and carriage, but Mukai suggested Sasori erase their memories instead.
• Sasori used Chakra Threads and a fine needle to seal away two days of memories from the guards and Noble Ogawa.
• The group left with the girl and reached a town on the Land of Rivers and Land of Fire border, where Mukai proposed staying overnight.

Mukai and Sasori secretly killed the noble Ogawa, then Mukai explained to Sasori that his newly awakened consciousness was consuming his Lightning Release Chakra. He revealed that he called the consciousness Komushi and planned to help it evolve before the Chunin tournament.

• Mukai assigned Shisō to guard the room while he and Sasori went to kill Ogawa, and Shisō agreed to trust him.
• Mukai and Sasori entered Ogawa's inn, and Sasori used the modified Crow puppet to kill the sleeping noble.
• Mukai confirmed Ogawa was dead, and he and Sasori returned toward town without being detected.
• Sasori asked about Mukai's reliance on supercapacitors, and Mukai explained that a second consciousness was absorbing nearly all his daily Chakra.
• Mukai reassured Sasori that he could use a generator and his Hierarch Mecha to manage the risks, then named the intelligent consciousness Komushi.

Mukai’s group reached Konoha, where Pakura treated them to ramen after deciding to bring the orphan Kari back to the Land of Wind. At Ichiraku, Mukai overheard Konoha ninja discussing Sakumo’s suicide, and Sasori and Kakashi both called Sakumo a coward.

• Sasori asked Mukai why he had named the intelligence Komushi, and Mukai explained that the name represented his painful past.
• Pakura took Kari under her care and planned to bring her to the Land of Wind after the Chunin Exam.
• Pakura led Mukai, Sasori, Shisō, and Kari into Konoha and treated them to ramen at Ichiraku.
• Mukai noticed a masked, white-haired young ninja eating nearby and wondered if he was Kakashi Hatake.
• Shinsuke Yamada argued with Kaisō Tanaka about the village’s treatment of Sakumo, and Sasori and Kakashi shouted that Sakumo had been a coward.

Sasori confronted Kakashi in Ichiraku Ramen Shop after learning that Hatake Sakumo had died, and Mukai and Shisō backed him up. Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha stopped the quarrel before it turned into a fight, and Mukai left Sasori questioning Konoha’s leadership and the Shinobi World.

• Kakashi confronted Sasori after hearing him call Hatake Sakumo a coward, while Sasori explained that Sakumo had been the target of his revenge.
• Sasori summoned Crow and prepared to fight Kakashi, as Mukai and Shisō stood beside him in support.
• Mukai criticized Konoha’s leaders for slandering Sakumo, prompting Kakashi to prepare to attack the Sand ninja.
• Minato Namikaze and Shisui Uchiha arrived and stopped both sides from fighting, while Obito and Rin rushed in to help Kakashi.
• After the dispute ended, Mukai paid for Sasori’s ramen and told him not to be bound by hatred as they left the shop.

Mukai reunited with his friends in Konoha while Hiruzen confronted Danzō over an assassination and unauthorized operations in Amegakure. At the orphanage, Yakushi Nonō went to seek food on credit but learned that someone had already paid for a year’s supply.

• Mukai gave Pakura Sasori’s wallet to fund her shopping, then went shopping with Sasori and Shisō.
• Hiruzen received a report linking Konoha’s Anbu to the assassination of Noble Ogawa and summoned Danzō.
• Danzō denied responsibility for the assassination, then admitted he had sent people to investigate Akatsuki in Amegakure without Hiruzen’s permission.
• Hiruzen froze Root’s funding and ordered Anbu to monitor Danzō until the Chunin Ninja Exams ended.
• Yakushi Nonō left the orphanage to seek food on credit, but the rice shop owner told her someone had paid in advance for a year’s supply.

Yakushi Nonō learned that Mukai had paid the orphanage’s debts and arranged a year’s worth of supplies, while Mukai and his teammates prepared their equipment and training for the joint Chunin Ninja Exams. The exams began as Mukai’s team headed into the competition with charged supercapacitors, mechas, and Shisō’s growing strength.

• Yakushi Nonō discovered that Mukai had secretly paid the orphanage’s debts and ordered food and other supplies, identifying him by the doodle on the receipts.
• Mukai and Sasori finished building a hand-cranked generator, and Shisō strained to charge a supercapacitor while Sasori worried about the exams’ approaching start.
• Mukai explained that the team had enough supercapacitors and mechas for the exams, and Sasori decided to reserve the available power for Mukai.
• Mukai continued planning improvements with Sasori while Shisō trained to open the first three gates and reached the ability to open the fourth.
• Mukai’s Chakra began replenishing faster than the special consciousness absorbed it, and he privately fumed over Pakura’s teasing warnings.
• The joint Chunin Ninja Exams finally began.

Mukai and his team entered the joint Chunin Ninja Exams and tackled a difficult written test, where Mukai impressed head examiner Shikaku Nara with his answers. After Mukai proposed five possible locations for unexplained barrier fluctuations in Konoha, Shikaku seized his exam paper and vanished, leaving Mukai baffled.

• Mukai, Sasori, and Shisō encountered Rasa's team before entering the exam room, and Sasori explained that its members were veteran Chunin posing as Genin.
• Shikaku Nara explained the written exam rules, and Mukai quickly answered the questions, including one about barrier power using an analogy to electrical circuits.
• Shikaku noticed Mukai's unusually sophisticated answers and stopped beside him as he worked on a question about Konoha's unexplained barrier fluctuations.
• Mukai mapped the barrier as a network of hexagonal cells and used circuit principles to identify five possible locations for parallel node loops.
• Shikaku snatched Mukai's exam paper and vanished with a Body Flicker Technique, leaving Mukai confused.

Mukai’s exam paper revealed a hidden vulnerability in Konoha’s Great Barrier, prompting Shikaku Nara and Hiruzen Sarutobi to launch an investigation. Shikaku awarded Mukai full marks and appointed Orochimaru to oversee the Forest of Death stage.

• Shikaku Nara took Mukai’s exam paper, while Sasori and Shisō worked together to answer the questions without Mukai’s help.
• Shikaku showed Hiruzen Sarutobi Mukai’s deduction that hidden Chakra seal circuits let someone bypass Konoha’s Great Barrier, and Hiruzen ordered the nodes sealed and investigated.
• An assistant examiner asked about Mukai’s missing paper, and Shikaku instructed him to award Mukai full marks and cancel the final question’s mindset test.
• Shikaku told Hiruzen that Mukai was a ten-year-old Sunagakure team captain with very little Chakra, and Hiruzen suspected he had a secret technique.
• Hiruzen assigned Orochimaru to oversee the Forest of Death stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Mukai earned a perfect score on the first Chunin Exam by solving its difficult barrier-pathway question, and his idea helped Konoha’s Barrier Team repair the village barrier. At Kushina’s apartment, Minato and the young ninja celebrated Obito and Rin passing while discussing Mukai’s unusual lack of chakra and his team.

• The exam results announced Mukai’s perfect score, and his solution helped the Barrier Team eliminate the barrier’s hidden gaps.
• Minato, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin visited Kushina, who scolded Obito for calling her Mrs. Kushina and welcomed everyone inside.
• Minato served food he had bought, while Kushina and the others teased each other about her cooking.
• Kushina explained that the Barrier Team had been unable to find the barrier problem until Shikaku received an ingenious solution from an examinee.
• Obito dismissed Mukai as a boastful enemy ninja and said Sae Hyuga’s Byakugan had revealed his chakra was unusually low.
• Minato explained that Mukai was a Ninjutsu specialist leading a team with the taijutsu specialist Shisō and Sasori, Chiyo’s grandson.

Mukai and his companions celebrated their success in Konoha, where Rasa confronted them and was driven off by their retorts and Anbu intervention. Meanwhile, Danzo ordered Mukai killed in the Forest of Death, setting up a threat ahead of the second-stage exam.

• Kushina celebrated Obito and Rin passing the first stage while urging them and Kakashi to eat.
• Danzo and Orochimaru argued over failed Wood Release experiments, the village barrier, and their ambitions; Orochimaru said he would examine Mukai in the second stage.
• Danzo ordered masked operatives to send someone into the Forest of Death to kill Mukai.
• Mukai told Pakura that the Oasis Workshop could help develop the Land of Wind and let ordinary people prosper without plundering other countries.
• Rasa mocked Pakura's group for spending money on barbecue, but Mukai and Sasori answered him sharply.
• Rasa began to summon his Gold Dust, but two Anbu stopped him, and he left after warning the group not to disgrace the village in the exam.

Mukai learned that Orochimaru had replaced the head examiner for the Forest of Death trial and that someone in Konoha was watching him. He reassured his team, discovered Kari could use the Mystical Palm Technique, and led them into the second stage with a plan to win decisively while showing mercy.

• Rasa secretly gave Mukai a scroll revealing Orochimaru's appointment as head examiner and signs that Konoha was targeting him.
• Pakura, Sasori, and Shisō worried about Orochimaru, while Kari offered to help Mukai and demonstrated the Mystical Palm Technique.
• Mukai told Kari to keep her medical talent secret and explained that the team should avoid killing opponents to promote Sunagakure's strength and mercy.
• Mukai and his team arrived in high spirits at the Forest of Death for the second stage of the joint Chunin Ninja Exams.

Mukai’s team entered the Forest of Death to find an Earth Scroll, while Jiraiya learned Orochimaru’s account of the plot that led to Hatake Sakumo’s suicide and left to investigate the Kamizuru Clan. Mukai’s team was caught in a Takigakure ambush, and the chapter ended as the attackers’ techniques closed in around them.

• Mukai collected a Heaven Scroll and led Sasori and Shisō into the Forest of Death to search for an Earth Scroll.
• Jiraiya confronted Orochimaru about Hatake Sakumo’s suicide, and Orochimaru said their teacher had tacitly approved a scheme to control Sakumo.
• Jiraiya told Orochimaru that the Great Toad Sage’s insect-related prophecy had led him to investigate the Kamizuru Clan in Iwagakure, then left the village.
• Orochimaru followed a small snake toward the forest’s northwest edge, where Mukai’s team had gone.
• Mukai detected a three-person Takigakure team and faced them with Sasori and Shisō; the Takigakure ninja launched a water, pollen, and amber trap against them.