Recaps

Kei and Mei completed their mission in the Land of Rainbows, eliminating the final target and sinking the freighter before reporting to the daimyo. The daimyo thanked the team and promised future assistance, and Kei left focused on his own growth.

• Mei confirmed the final mission target was dead, recovered his token, and sealed his corpse in a scroll.
• Kei destroyed the freighter with his Ice Release technique, and Mei praised his growing strength.
• Kei and Mei returned to the capital after completing the A-rank mission to purge the officials threatening the daimyo.
• The daimyo thanked Kei and his teammates, paid them, and offered to help them in the future.
• Kei accepted the daimyo’s thanks politely and reflected that his priority was still improving himself.

After completing their mission in the Land of Rainbows, Kei, Mei Terumi, and Kisame returned to Kirigakure amid escalating clashes between the great nations. Kei remarked that peace depended on fighting, then turned in the squad’s mission and chose to rest rather than accept another assignment.

• At the Land of Rainbows' daimyo’s invitation, Kei and his companions stayed an extra day before departing for Kirigakure on December 1.
• On the journey home, Kei reflected on the growing violence between shinobi villages and the collapse of the Third Hokage’s efforts to preserve peace.
• At Kirigakure’s main gate, Mei Terumi and Kisame discussed a wounded Mist Ninja squad, and Kei said that peace was won through fighting and conflict ended only when one side fell.
• At the mission center, Jackdaw praised the squad’s record and offered another mission, but Kei collected the remaining payment and declined so the three could rest.

After recovering from a recent mission, Minazuki Kei received a sudden emergency summons from Kirigakure. He reported to the village gate and found a large, formidable force gathering, though its mission remained secret.

• A Yuki Clan Jonin delivered an emergency order for Kei to report to Kirigakure's main gate at five thirty the next morning.
• Kei considered asking his teacher Ao about the unexplained summons, but decided to obey without seeking answers.
• Kei learned that the summons covered hundreds of Kirigakure ninja, including large numbers from the Hozuki, Kaguya, and Minazuki clans.
• Kei arrived at the gate before dawn and saw more than a hundred experienced Mist Ninja assembling.
• Kei recognized Minazuki Fuuka and Suikazan Fuguki among the leaders gathered at the gate.

Suikazan Fuguki led more than three hundred Mist Ninja on a mission to eliminate forces outside Kirigakure between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Tea. As the force headed west, Karatachi Yagura revealed that the mobilization was part of his effort to reclaim power from the three great ninja clans, with Kei caught up because he was a Minazuki.

• More than three hundred Mist Ninja assembled, including Kei, and Suikazan Fuguki announced that their mission was to kill every enemy in the region from the Land of Rivers to the Land of Tea.
• Suikazan Fuguki led the Mist Ninja out of Kirigakure's main gate toward the western front.
• Karatachi Yagura watched the force depart and said he would act ruthlessly if the three great ninja clans continued to defy him.
• Karatachi Yagura intended to take back the influence and resources he had conceded to the clans, and Kei's participation came from his Minazuki surname.
• The mobilization was part of a contest between Karatachi Yagura and the three great ninja clans, with another Mist Ninja force sent to a different front.

Minazuki Shun accepted that the Yuki Clan had little choice but to join the Hozuki and Kaguya Clans’ risky deployment. Ao learned that Kei had been sent toward the Land of Rivers to face the Sand Ninja, but could do nothing to interfere with the order.

• Minazuki Shun reflected that the Yuki Clan’s choice to send part of its younger generation could bring either gains or losses it would have to accept.
• Ao discovered Kei’s name on the list of Mist Ninja sent to the front and hurried to learn why he had been assigned there.
• Ao learned that the deployment answered Sand Ninja activity near the Land of Rivers and the Land of Tea, which Kirigakure viewed as footholds on the continent.
• Ao suspected Kei’s selection was connected to a larger conflict between the Mizukage and the three great clans, but recognized he had no authority to intervene.
• Ao destroyed the order and hoped Kei would survive.

Kei traveled with Suikazan Fuguki’s force toward the Land of Rivers and the Land of Tea, trying to determine the mission’s purpose from what he could observe. He concluded that Kirigakure was seeking to protect and expand its trade interests, while recognizing that as a Chunin he had little choice but to follow orders.

• Kei followed the main force toward the western Land of Water and worried that he lacked the intelligence needed to understand his mission.
• At a Kirigakure port, a short-haired Mist Ninja gave Suikazan Fuguki intelligence about Sand Ninja movements and possible activity by Konoha Ninja along the northern border.
• More than three hundred Mist Ninja boarded ships and sailed toward the Land of Tea and the Land of Rivers.
• While eating aboard ship, Kei inferred that the mission aimed to secure Kirigakure’s trade routes and commercial interests.
• Kei concluded that the three great clans likely sought greater influence through the mission, but accepted that he had to obey orders as a low-ranking Chunin.

Kei and more than three hundred Mist Ninja arrived on the northern coast of the Land of Tea, where their forces split up for missions. Kei joined Suikazan Fuguki’s squad, tasked with destroying a Sand Ninja outpost in the Land of Rivers’ capital, as the Sand Ninja remained unaware that the Mist had entered the region.

• Kei arrived with the Mist Ninja on the northern coast of the Land of Tea after a journey lasting more than half a day.
• Suikazan Fuguki and the other Jonin divided the Mist Ninja into groups and sent them toward separate missions.
• Kei saw Minazuki Fuuka lead a squad away but remained with the group led by Suikazan Fuguki.
• Suikazan Fuguki ordered Kei and the nineteen other Mist Ninja to destroy the Sand Ninja outpost in the Land of Rivers’ capital and leave no survivors.
• The Mist Ninja moved out while the Sand Ninja remained unaware of their arrival and focused mainly on the Stone Ninja along the northern front.

Mist Ninja launched a surprise invasion of the Land of Rivers, quickly overrunning Sand Ninja outposts and advancing toward the capital. Yao Kazuki learned of the attack too late and ordered his forces to regroup, report to Sunagakure, and investigate the enemy.

• Mist Ninja crossed into the Land of Rivers at night and began attacking Sand Ninja positions under cover of the Hidden Mist Technique.
• Mist Ninja wiped out two southeastern coastal outposts and took control of the coast before pushing inland.
• Suikazan Fuguki and Kei led the advance toward the capital, the Sand Ninja headquarters in the Land of Rivers.
• Yao Kazuki received word that the front-line force at Higashi had been routed and feared the other outposts had also fallen.
• Yao Kazuki ordered the remaining Sand Ninja to regroup, sent for reinforcements, and tasked Otani, Akemi, and others with assessing the Mist Ninja's strength and intentions.

Suikazan Fuguki led Kei and the Mist Ninja in an assault on a Sunagakure stronghold near the Land of Rivers capital. Fuguki killed the guards and clashed with Yao Kazuki, while Kei overpowered a young Sand Ninja girl and drove his kunai toward her heart.

• Suikazan Fuguki led Kei and the Mist Ninja to Sunagakure's stronghold and ordered them to kill every defender without letting anyone escape.
• Fuguki killed Kotaro and two other Sand Ninja guards in seconds as Kei watched his strength.
• Yao Kazuki arrived with nearly twenty Sand Ninja, and he and Fuguki ordered their forces to attack before clashing.
• Kei engaged a young long-haired Sand Ninja girl, overpowered her, and thrust his kunai toward her heart.

Kei killed a Sand Ninja and joined the Mist Ninja’s decisive victory over Yao Kazuki and the Sand force. After ordering the outpost occupied, Suikazan Fuguki brought Kei to the Land of Rivers’ capital, where General Saemon awaited them at the walls.

• Kei killed the Sand Ninja girl by tearing off her arm and stabbing her through the heart.
• Suikazan Fuguki defeated and beheaded Yao Kazuki, while Kei prevented the remaining Sand Ninja from escaping.
• The Mist Ninja killed all the Sand Ninja at the outpost, suffering one death and four or five injuries.
• Suikazan Fuguki ordered his troops to occupy the outpost and report to the village, then summoned Kei to accompany him.
• Suikazan Fuguki and Kei reached the capital, where General Saemon watched them from the city walls.

Suikazan Fuguki and Kei reached the Land of Rivers' capital and met General Saemon Yamazaki Heiji, who escorted them to the daimyo's palace to discuss cooperation against the Sand Ninja. While they waited, Suikazan questioned Kei about why he had joined his squad and warned him to remember a ninja's duty, saying the village and Lord Fourth needed clever people.

• Suikazan Fuguki and Kei leaped over the capital's gate, and General Saemon Yamazaki Heiji ordered the soldiers to lower their weapons.
• Yamazaki Heiji introduced himself and escorted Suikazan Fuguki and Kei to the daimyo's palace to arrange a meeting.
• Suikazan Fuguki and Kei waited in the palace hall while Yamazaki Heiji went to report to the daimyo.
• Suikazan Fuguki asked Kei why he had been assigned to his squad instead of Fuka-san's.
• Suikazan Fuguki praised Kei's cleverness and urged him to remember that a ninja's duty mattered to the village and Lord Fourth.

Kei recognized that his name and position left him caught between Karatachi Yagura, Genji, and the Yuki Clan, and he accepted Suikazan Fuguki’s guidance. Suikazan secured the Land of Rivers’ support for Kirigakure, then ordered Kei to report that the country had fallen under Mist Ninja control.

• Kei understood that factions would distrust his ties to Genji and bowed to Suikazan Fuguki, promising to remember his teachings.
• Date Masamune and Yamazaki Heiji arrived in place of the ailing daimyo, and Suikazan Fuguki pressed them with an implicit threat.
• Date Masamune agreed to provide Kirigakure with supplies and territorial support on terms modeled on the Sand Ninja’s previous agreement.
• After the meeting, Suikazan Fuguki ordered Kei to coordinate the agreement with Ano and report to Lord Fourth that the Land of Rivers was under Mist Ninja control.

After Kirigakure conquered the Land of Rivers and killed Yao Kazuki, Sunagakure’s leadership met to decide how to respond. Chiyo and Ebizo urged the Third Kazekage to show strength, while the meeting ended without a final decision.

• Suikazan Fuguki’s forces wiped out Yao Kazuki’s main base, and Kirigakure began sweeping the Land of Rivers.
• News of the territory’s fall and Yao Kazuki’s death reached Sunagakure’s leadership.
• The Third Kazekage asked Chiyo, Ebizo, Rasa, Pakura, and other senior ninja how Sunagakure should respond.
• Chiyo warned that Kirigakure might exploit any sign of weakness, and Pakura asked whether the Mist Ninja intended to start a war.
• Ebizo agreed that Sunagakure needed to demonstrate its strength, while Chiyo rebuked a Jonin who cautioned against taking risks.

The Third Kazekage ordered Rasa to lead a force into the Land of Rivers to assess the Mist Ninja and demonstrate Sunagakure’s resolve. As other villages watched the confrontation for their own advantage, Karatachi Yagura remained relaxed about Kirigakure’s campaign.

• Rasa agreed with Chiyo and Ebizo’s view that Sunagakure should challenge Kirigakure’s actions in the Land of Rivers.
• The Third Kazekage ordered Rasa to take more than five hundred troops to the border, assess the Mist Ninja’s strength, and gather intelligence.
• Rasa assembled his force and led it toward the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.
• Reports of the clash spread, and Ōnoki ordered Iwagakure’s forces to monitor Sunagakure for a chance to attack.
• Karatachi Yagura received news of the campaign and remained unconcerned, believing failure would cost Kirigakure little.

Karatachi Yagura kept Kirigakure’s true objective focused on controlling the Land of Waves while using other troop movements as a smokescreen. After learning that Kirigakure had sent reinforcements, Rasa led Sand Ninja into the Land of Rivers to test their strength.

• Karatachi Yagura chose to make a limited concession to the three great clans while planning to use their divisions to strengthen Kirigakure.
• Yagura ordered intelligence passed along and told Shin and Akutsu to follow the established plan, keeping the Land of Waves as Kirigakure’s true target.
• Kirigakure sent another contingent toward the Land of Tea, increasing other villages’ suspicions and making Sunagakure more nervous.
• Rasa learned that Mist Ninja reinforcements had arrived and ordered his forces to investigate their numbers and contact the Land of Rivers.
• After reporting back to Sunagakure, Rasa led over a hundred Sand Ninja openly across the border into the Land of Rivers to test the Mist Ninja.

Suikazan Fuguki and Kei assessed Rasa’s approaching Sand Ninja force as a probing attack and prepared the Mist Ninja to meet it. Fuguki led the concentrated force out from the central stronghold, with Kaguya Mashin and dozens of Kaguya Clan fighters among them.

• Suikazan Fuguki learned that Rasa, the Sand Ninja’s leading Kazekage candidate, was commanding the invasion force.
• Kei reasoned that the fewer than two hundred Sand Ninja were likely testing the Mist Ninja’s strength rather than attempting to conquer the Land of Rivers.
• Suikazan Fuguki agreed with Kei and ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
• Fuguki gathered nearly two hundred Mist Ninja at the central stronghold, leaving some behind to defend it.
• Fuguki led the remaining force toward the approaching Sand Ninja alongside Kaguya Mashin and more than fifty members of the Kaguya Clan.

Suikazan Fuguki and Kaguya Mashin led the Mist forces into battle against Rasa and the Sand forces, with Kei recognizing the Kazekage candidate’s overwhelming strength. The leaders began fighting while Kei faced a veteran Sand Ninja and revealed his Ice Release.

• Kei sensed Rasa among the advancing Sand forces and judged that he could only hope to survive a direct fight with him.
• Rasa attacked Suikazan Fuguki with a Gold Dust Cube, which Fuguki’s Water Dragon Bullet and Kaguya Mashin’s Dance of the Larch shattered.
• Rasa unleashed more chakra as Suikazan Fuguki and Kaguya Mashin attacked him together, and the Sand and Mist forces clashed around them.
• Kei blocked a bearded Sand Ninja’s meteor-hammer-like weapon with a blade of frost, causing the veteran to recognize him as a Yuki Clan ninja.

Kei used Ice Release to kill a Sand Ninja and then faced the enraged jonin who had tried to save him. Kei charged through the jonin’s defenses and ended the chapter poised to strike at close range.

• Kei froze the bearded Sand Ninja’s legs and cut off his head despite a companion’s Wind Release attack.
• Kei blocked the attack with an Ice Wall, then confronted the young Sand Ninja jonin who vowed revenge.
• Kei fired a barrage of ice bullets at the jonin, who used explosive-tagged kunai to destroy most of them.
• Kei rushed through the lingering smoke and raised his blade beside the startled jonin.

Kei fought a Sunagakure Jonin who recognized the young Yuki Clan ninja as a serious threat. Kei combined Water Release and Ice Release to break through the Jonin’s defenses and injure him, leaving the Jonin realizing Kei was stronger.

• The Sunagakure Jonin attacked Kei with Wind Release: Wind Blade, and the two clashed with their weapons.
• Kei’s ice attack was shattered by the Jonin’s Wind Release: Wind Extreme, forcing Kei to retreat.
• Kei used Water Release to drive a wave toward the Jonin, who raised an earthen wall to block it.
• Kei froze the water beneath the Jonin, then struck him with an Ice Release: Ice Cone Technique as he leapt to escape.
• The Jonin was knocked down and spat blood, then recognized that Kei was stronger than he was.

Kei and the young Sand Ninja fought a desperate close-range battle, each using powerful Wind Release and Ice Release techniques. Kei left the Sand Ninja impaled and restrained, but the enemy used his last strength to thrust at Kei with a Wind Blade.

• The young Sand Ninja poured out his chakra to unleash Tornado Hurricane Technique, and Kei countered with Pressure Damage Technique.
• The Sand Ninja charged through the clash of winds, and Kei met him with his frost sword before forcing him back with freezing power.
• The Sand Ninja used Substitution Technique to appear at Kei’s side and break through his incomplete Ice Wall, cutting Kei’s arm.
• Kei detonated the remaining ice crystals, injuring the Sand Ninja, then restrained and stabbed him with an Ice Blade.
• The Sand Ninja made a final attack with his Wind Blade, and Kei caught it in his ice-covered left hand, taking a deep cut as the Sand Ninja’s strength ran out.

Kei killed a young Sand Ninja but recognized that his injuries and chakra expenditure exposed gaps in his combat experience. Across the battlefield, the Mist Ninja held the advantage, but Rasa overwhelmed Suikazan Fuguki and Kaguya Mashin and launched another attack as Fuguki chose to stand his ground.

• Kei killed the young Sand Ninja at the cost of minor injuries and reflected on his limited combat experience and chakra reserves.
• Kei saw that the Mist Ninja were winning most clashes, largely because the Kaguya Clan members fought fiercely.
• Rasa used his Gold Sand Wave Technique to overcome Suikazan Fuguki and badly injure Kaguya Mashin.
• Rasa launched the Gold Dust Boundary Method Technique to finish off the two Mist Ninja.
• Suikazan Fuguki decided not to retreat and countered with the Exploding Water Colliding Wave Technique.

Kei joined Suikazan Fuguki and the injured Kaguya Mashin to face Rasa, whose gold dust attacks threatened to overwhelm them. The three formed a team and struck back together, leaving their battle against Rasa underway.

• Suikazan Fuguki used Water Release against Rasa's gold dust spikes, but Kei's Ice Release: Extreme Ice Blooming Jutsu was needed to block the remaining attack and protect Kaguya Mashin.
• Suikazan Fuguki retreated to Kaguya Mashin, who spat out blood but said he could continue fighting.
• Kei joined Suikazan Fuguki and Kaguya Mashin, and the three agreed to hold off Rasa until their allies defeated the other Sand Ninja.
• Rasa unleashed Magnet Release: Gold Dust Rain, and Kei's Ice Release: Storm Swirl Killing Technique blasted a hole through the golden wave.
• Suikazan Fuguki sent a Water Dragon Bullet Technique through the opening toward Rasa.

Kei, Suikazan Fuguki, and Kaguya Mashin coordinated attacks against the airborne Rasa, but he evaded them and judged that the fight was becoming too costly. Rasa used a large gold-dust attack to make his opponents retreat, then led the Sand Ninja away while covering their withdrawal.

• Kei used an ice pillar to launch a surprise strike at Rasa, who dodged and fell into a vulnerable position.
• Kaguya Mashin attacked Rasa, but Rasa bound him with sand and used the distraction to regain his footing on a sand cushion.
• Rasa evaded Suikazan Fuguki’s blow and rose back into the air as Kei and the others recognized how difficult his flight made him to fight.
• Rasa decided to retreat because the battle was draining his chakra and his subordinates were at risk.
• Rasa unleashed a gold-dust attack that sent Kei, Suikazan Fuguki, and Kaguya Mashin retreating, then withdrew in the opposite direction with the Sand Ninja while using smaller gold-dust storms to cover them.

The Mist Ninja repelled Rasa’s probing attack but suffered losses, and reinforcements led by Kamijuya Nishizora arrived after the battle. Suikazan Fuguki warned that the Mist Ninja’s stronghold remained at risk because the Sand Ninja outnumbered them by more than three to one.

• Suikazan Fuguki and Kaguya Mashin ordered the Mist Ninja to stop pursuing the retreating Sand Ninja.
• The Mist Ninja counted their casualties and treated the wounded, while the Sand Ninja’s losses proved much heavier.
• Kamijuya Nishizora arrived with reinforcements and learned that Rasa had led the Sand Ninja attack.
• Kamijuya Nishizora recalled Rasa’s Magnet Release and remarked that he might become the next Kazekage.
• Suikazan Fuguki warned that Rasa could return with hundreds of Sand Ninja and overwhelm their force of just over two hundred.

Kirigakure's commanders argued over whether to withdraw from the Land of Rivers or defend their main stronghold against Sunagakure. Kaguya Mashin refused to surrender the clans' interests, leaving Suikazan Fuguki to weigh their demands against the village's limited support.

• Kamijuya Nishizora proposed splitting Kirigakure's forces into small units to harass the enemy while securing their trade interests and preventing Sunagakure from reclaiming the Land of Rivers.
• Kaguya Mashin rejected withdrawal, insisting that reinforcements would arrive soon and that Kirigakure must hold its stronghold in the Land of Rivers' capital.
• Kamijuya warned that losing their forces would hand the whole Land of Rivers to Sunagakure and reminded Kaguya that Kirigakure also had to guard against the Cloud Ninja.
• Kaguya pressed Suikazan Fuguki to support his refusal to abandon the stronghold.
• Suikazan considered Karatachi Yagura's willingness to back the clans' campaign with limited assistance, but recognized that the decision depended on the overall situation.