Recaps

Kei evaded Heiji Kaguya by using Ice Release to fake his disappearance, then set out to collect the mission items required for his graduation exam task. He avoided unnecessary fights and headed toward the area where he expected to find the first item.

• Kei's ice-needle attack ended, and Heiji discovered that Kei had vanished and pursued a figure he saw fleeing.
• Kei revealed he had stayed nearby, using refracted light and breath suppression to fool Heiji.
• Kei decided to avoid needless battles and prioritize completing his exam task, wary of examinees with clan backgrounds.
• Kei climbed a tall tree, located the likely direction of the first mission item, and sped toward it.

Kei avoided the fights in Kirigakure’s graduation assessment and collected four of his five mission items. He set out for the scarce final item, unaware that another examinee had begun following him.

• Kei avoided other examinees and completed four parts of his mission without getting drawn into battle.
• Kei studied a map during lunch and realized his final item was scarce, with only about two-thirds of examinees assigned the same mission expected to find it.
• Kei chose a route to reach the final item before sunset and hurried into the forest.
• Two furtive figures found Kei’s trail, and one followed him while the other headed back.
• Kei continued toward his target, unaware that he was being tracked.

Kei followed a coded mark toward the final mission item, but encountered the wounded Minazuki Ranne fleeing a pursuer. He chose to help his clanswoman and recognized the pursuer as Kisame Hoshigaki.

• Kei found a coded mark in the forest and used it to determine the direction of the final mission item.
• Kei sensed someone ahead and decided to continue toward the item rather than abandon his search.
• Kei encountered the badly wounded Minazuki Ranne as she fled from a pursuer.
• Kei chose to meet Ranne and help her, despite the danger.
• Kei recognized Ranne's pursuer as Kisame Hoshigaki and realized they were taking the assessment in the same year.

Kei and the wounded Minazuki Ranne faced Kisame Hoshigaki, who demanded their mission item and threatened their clan’s honor. Ranne refused to retreat, and Kisame launched a Water Release attack as the battle began in earnest.

• Kei judged Kisame Hoshigaki to be a formidable opponent and told Ranne to tend to her wounds while he fought.
• Ranne insisted on fighting alongside Kei despite her injuries, and Kei accepted her decision.
• Kisame offered to let them go if they handed over the mission item.
• Ranne refused to surrender the item or let Kisame sully the Minazuki Clan’s honor.
• Kisame used Water Release: Water Ripple Jutsu, and Kei and Ranne leaped aside to evade the surging water.

Kei and Minazuki Ranne fought Kisame Hoshigaki, with Ranne supporting Kei after he blocked Kisame's attack. Kei overwhelmed Kisame with Ice Release and close-range strikes, but Kisame rose and charged back into the fight.

• Minazuki Ranne used Ice Release: Flower Crystal Technique to block and send Kisame Hoshigaki's waves back toward him.
• Kei intercepted Kisame as he charged at the injured Ranne, blocked his sword, and told her to retreat and support him from behind.
• Kisame used Water Release: Water Bullet Technique, but Kei froze and shattered the bullets before attacking from above.
• Kei used Ice Release: Frost Binding Technique to freeze Kisame's sword, then kicked him away and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Kisame sprang up, drew a kunai, and charged at Kei again.

Kei overwhelmed Kisame Hoshigaki in close combat while Minazuki Ranne watched in shock, though Kei continued to restrain his dangerous Ice Release. Cornered and badly injured, Kisame unleashed a massive Water Release attack.

• Minazuki Ranne watched Kei suppress Kisame Hoshigaki and realized Kei was far stronger than she had believed.
• Kei kept his Ice Release power restrained because he could not fully control it, while using taijutsu to dominate Kisame.
• Kei exploited Kisame's lack of skill with short weapons and repeatedly wounded him, leaving him pinned on the defensive.
• Kei broke Kisame's guard with a heavy kick, sending him crashing into a tree and coughing up blood.
• Kisame, fearing he would die if the fight continued, used Water Release: Water Shockwave Jutsu, summoning a massive wave from beneath the ground.

Kei stopped Kisame Hoshigaki’s massive Water Release jutsu with Ice Release, forcing Kisame to retreat. Kei returned to Ranne and asked who Kisame was and how she had become involved with him.

• Kisame Hoshigaki unleashed a huge wave of water that left Ranne shaken by the gap in their strength.
• Kei used Ice Release: Freezing to turn Kisame’s waves into an enormous iceberg.
• Kisame cursed Kei and retreated, while Kei chose not to pursue him.
• Kei dispelled the iceberg and returned to Ranne, who asked whether he had defeated Kisame.
• Kei said Kisame had retreated and asked Ranne who he was and how she had encountered him.

Kei learned that Ranne had been defeated by Kisame Hoshigaki while competing for the same exam item. Unable to continue the exam, Ranne gave Kei the item he needed, and he accepted it.

• Ranne explained that Kisame Hoshigaki had defeated her while they fought over their shared exam assignment.
• Kei acknowledged Kisame's strength and reassured Ranne that he had not come to take her mission item.
• Ranne offered Kei the item, explaining that her injuries meant she could no longer continue the exam.
• Ranne told Kei she planned to train and take the graduation exam again next year.
• Kei accepted the mission item from Ranne.

Kei accepted Ranne’s mission item and escorted her toward the exam exit after saving her from Kisame Hoshigaki. Near the outskirts, a female attacker ambushed them with water bullets, and Kei blocked the attack with an Ice Wall Jutsu.

• Ranne gave Kei the mission item, and he accepted it as repayment for saving her life.
• Kei offered to escort the injured Ranne out of the exam grounds, and she agreed.
• Kei and Ranne traveled toward the exit, with Kei taking a detour to avoid other examinees.
• Near the forest’s outskirts, a female attacker fired a Water Bullet Technique at them.
• Kei formed an Ice Wall Jutsu that blocked the water bullets.

Mei Terumi intercepted Kei during the examination and challenged him to a fair fight, while Kei realized she had tracked him down and reflected on his lack of vigilance. Ranne understood the personal reason behind Mei’s challenge, but Kei missed the hint and prepared to take her words at face value.

• Mei Terumi appeared on a tree branch after blocking Kei’s attack, and Ranne was shocked to see her seeking him out.
• Kei wondered how Mei had found him, unaware that she had recruited academy students to track him.
• Kei asked Mei why she had intercepted him, while reflecting that he no longer intended to avoid every fight.
• Mei said she wanted a fair fight and pointed out that Kei had fought Heiji Kaguya and Kisame Hoshigaki but refused to fight her.
• Ranne understood Mei’s pride and turned a knowing look toward Kei, while Kei focused on how Mei had learned about his other battles.

Kei accepted Mei Terumi’s challenge to fight before graduation, asking her to let the injured Ranne leave first. After Ranne departed, Kei and Mei began battling, and Kei’s ice jutsu froze and shattered Mei’s water attack before his ice cones continued toward her.

• Kei accepted Mei Terumi’s challenge and asked her to let the injured Ranne leave the examination grounds.
• Mei agreed, and Kei reassured Ranne that she would be safe before she left.
• Ranne departed, mistakenly suspecting that Kei and Mei shared a secret relationship.
• Mei Terumi attacked Kei with Water Release: Water Fang Wave Jutsu.
• Kei countered with Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm Jutsu, freezing and shattering Mei’s waves as his ice cones continued toward her.

Kei changed tactics against Mei Terumi after her Boil Release melted his ice spikes, then used a combination of techniques to disrupt her advance. The chapter ended as Mei noticed nearly invisible threads beside her and tried to retreat.

• Mei Terumi used Boil Release to melt Kei's ice spikes, forcing him to abandon a direct Ice Release clash.
• Kei backed away and fired Water Bullets, but Mei dodged them and advanced with a Water Release technique that sent two waves toward him.
• Kei froze the incoming waves into an ice sculpture, climbed to its peak, and attacked Mei with shuriken and a Wind Release technique.
• Kei's gale scattered the shuriken and dispersed some of Mei's Boil Release mist, while also revealing transparent threads beside her.
• Mei noticed the threads and tried to pull back.

Kei defeated Mei Terumi by using feints and a hidden wire trap, then spared her after she conceded. Mei accepted the loss and was reminded that a moment of carelessness in the shinobi world could cost her life.

• Kei pulled the shuriken threads tight and bound Mei Terumi before she could use a jutsu.
• Kei put a kunai to Mei Terumi’s neck and declared that she had lost.
• Mei Terumi conceded that Kei’s feints had fooled her, and Kei freed her.
• Kei said he had been lucky and that Mei’s slight advantage might decide a rematch, but Mei insisted a win was a win.
• Mei Terumi reflected that Kei could have killed her and resolved not to let her guard down as she entered the shinobi world.

Kei and Mei Terumi discussed his changed attitude and her organized group’s efforts to track his movements during the graduation exam. After they parted, Kei passed the exam and received his Kirigakure forehead protector.

• Mei Terumi asked Kei about his strength and changed attitude, and Kei said he had gained clarity after figuring things out.
• Kei realized Mei Terumi had organized candidates to track him, and she explained that they cooperated to improve everyone's chances of completing the exam.
• Mei Terumi and Kei congratulated each other and agreed to call one another by name as future comrades.
• Kei left the exam grounds, where an examiner confirmed he had collected the required items, declared him a graduate, and handed him a Kirigakure forehead protector.
• Mei Terumi watched Kei leave, then returned to the forest to continue her exam and preparations for the future.

Kei passed the graduation assessment and officially became a Mist ninja, then returned to the Yuki Clan compound to tell Kiko Minazuki the good news. He was greeted by clan members before meeting little Ayumi Minazuki at Kiko’s door.

• Kei accepted Kirigakure’s forehead protector after passing the assessment and was told to return for the graduation ceremony in three days.
• Kei returned to the Yuki Clan compound, where the guards and clan members congratulated him on graduating.
• Kei made his way to Kiko Minazuki’s home to share his success with her.
• Ayumi Minazuki greeted Kei warmly and asked whether he had been busy because he had not visited her for days.

Kei returned to Kiko Minazuki’s home after passing Kirigakure’s graduation exam, easing her fears and celebrating with the family. He left determined to become stronger so he could protect the warmth he shared with them.

• Kei reunited with Ayumi and told her he had come to visit after finishing his schoolwork.
• Kiko Minazuki saw Kei’s Mist Ninja forehead protector and asked if he had passed the graduation exam.
• Kei confirmed that he had graduated, and Kiko wept with joy and congratulated him.
• Kiko announced that the family would celebrate with a feast, then went out to buy food and tell Uncle Hisashi to come home early.
• Kei stayed with Ayumi and learned that Takahiro had gone out again, then vowed to grow stronger to protect his family.

After celebrating Kei’s graduation with the Minazuki family, Kei left with Takahiro, who wanted to discuss enrolling in the Ninja Academy next year. Kei guessed that Takahiro wanted to enroll early and that Kiko opposed it.

• The Minazuki family celebrated Kei’s graduation, and Hisashi drank too much sake before falling asleep.
• Kei declined Kiko’s offer to stay the night and prepared to leave while Ayumi slept on his lap.
• Takahiro waited outside and asked Kei to speak with him, so they went for a walk.
• Kei guessed that Takahiro wanted to enroll in the Ninja Academy next year and that Kiko would not agree.

Kei advised Takahiro to prove he was ready for the Ninja Academy through his actions, suggesting he master the Yuki Clan’s Ice Release before next year. Takahiro left determined to try, while Kei reflected on the danger of the world they lived in.

• Takahiro told Kei that his mother, Kiko, refused to let him enroll in the Ninja Academy at five, and asked whether he was wrong to want to go.
• Kei asked Takahiro why he wanted to enroll, and Takahiro said he wanted to become a capable ninja and make his mother proud.
• Kei urged Takahiro to speak with Kiko and prove his readiness through his actions.
• Kei demonstrated Ice Release and told Takahiro that mastering it before next year could convince Kiko to let him enroll.
• Takahiro left excited and determined to master Ice Release, while Kei watched him go and reflected on the harshness of their world.

The graduation assessment ended with heavy casualties, which Kei accepted as an entrenched part of Kirigakure’s system. He waited anxiously for news about his clan’s plans for team assignments until the January 11 graduation ceremony began.

• By dusk, about half the candidates had completed the assessment, more than sixty had died, and most of the survivors were injured.
• Kei dismissed the assessment’s casualties and focused on getting a capable squad for the coming war.
• Kei waited three days for the clan to discuss team assignments, but only Ranne visited and she had no useful information.
• On January 11, Kei and the candidates who had passed returned to school for the graduation ceremony.
• Hozuki Shingetsu, a nine-year-old son of the Hozuki Clan head, was revealed as the first candidate to complete the assessment.

The graduation assessment results showed that most candidates passed, while the Yuki Clan suffered the most failures, including Minazuki Shinya after Heiji Kaguya defeated him. Kei arrived at the Ninja Academy to await his team assignment, where Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki were also present, and Kisame still resented losing to him.

• More than eighty percent of the candidates passed, while six of the Yuki Clan's fifteen participants failed.
• Minazuki Shinya lost his collected nameplates and was seriously injured by Heiji Kaguya, then withdrew from the assessment.
• Kei arrived at the Ninja Academy, where graduates waited in separate lecture halls for their team assignments.
• Kei noticed Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki in his classroom and wondered if he might be assigned to their team.
• Kisame Hoshigaki watched Kei with resentment because Kei had beaten him during the assessment.

Minazuki Kei attended the Ninja Academy graduation ceremony as Kirigakure prepared its new Genin for increasingly unstable times in the Shinobi World. After the ceremony, his teacher Minato began announcing the graduates’ team assignments.

• Mei Terumi watched Minazuki Kei and noticed that he was more unsettled than he appeared.
• Vice Principal Koshimizu Tsuki moved the graduation ceremony forward after all two hundred graduates arrived, citing the urgency of the changing Shinobi World.
• Koshimizu Tsuki delivered the graduation address while Karatachi Yagura was away on official business.
• Minato congratulated his students, urged them to remember their identities and duties, and explained how Genin teams would work.
• Minato began calling out names to announce team assignments as the graduates listened.

Minato announced Team 7 as Minazuki Kei, Mei Terumi, and Kisame Hoshigaki, an assignment that surprised all three. Kei realized the team’s strength might earn them a Jonin captain and leave them eligible for high-intensity missions, though the captain had not yet been named.

• Minato announced several teams before calling out Team 7.
• Minato assigned Minazuki Kei, Mei Terumi, and Kisame Hoshigaki to the same team, surprising all three.
• Mei Terumi quietly thought their pairing felt like fate, while Kisame Hoshigaki smiled at the prospect of working with Kei.
• Kei reconsidered the assignment and recognized that his team’s combined strength could rival some Chunin squads.
• Kei hoped Kirigakure would assign the team a Jonin captain, but Minato had not yet announced their leader.

Minato announced the graduates’ teams, and Kei was assigned to Team 7 with Kisame Hoshigaki and Mei Terumi. Their instructor, the young Jonin Ao, took them to the village outskirts and said they would begin missions the next day, leaving Kei to realize Ao was the future Byakugan Ao from the original story.

• Minato finished announcing the teams and told the graduates to wait for their instructors.
• Mist Ninja instructors collected their teams, and Kei watched as ordinary Chunin led the first groups away.
• Ao called for Team 7, and Kei, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Mei Terumi followed him from the academy.
• Ao led the three graduates to an open space west of the village, then introduced himself as their Jonin instructor and said missions would begin the next day.
• Kei recognized Ao as the future Byakugan Ao, though he had not yet transplanted the Byakugan.

Kei was pleased to learn that Ao would lead his squad alongside Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki, and the three new teammates discussed their first mission. After parting ways, Kei returned to his clan compound, eager to begin his shinobi path.

• Ao told Kei, Mei Terumi, and Kisame Hoshigaki to meet at the village gate at seven the next morning for their first mission.
• Mei Terumi welcomed Kei and Kisame Hoshigaki as teammates, while Kisame Hoshigaki warned Kei that he would teach him plenty.
• Kei suggested that Ao might take Team 7 on a C-rank mission outside the village, and Mei Terumi and Kisame Hoshigaki agreed to follow their instructor's orders.
• Kei, Mei Terumi, and Kisame Hoshigaki said goodbye, with Kisame leaving first and Mei Terumi departing soon after.
• Kei reflected on his teammates and instructor, then leaped back toward his clan's compound.

Ao visited Genji, Kirigakure’s founding elder, but left after Genji insisted that the village’s future belonged to the younger generation. Genji later warned his bodyguard Abe to keep out of his affairs, while Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura learned of the visit; Kei focused on preparing for his first team mission.

• Ao visited Genji at his residence and was told not to waste time paying respects to an old man.
• Genji urged Ao to devote himself to the village’s future, and Ao left after briefly acknowledging him.
• Abe questioned Genji’s decision to turn away Ao, Midori, Gonbei, and Tasumori, so Genji reprimanded him and warned him not to repeat the mistake.
• Karatachi Yagura learned that Ao had visited Genji and left within a minute, then returned to his work.
• Kei focused on developing as a ninja and preparing for his first team mission.