Chapter Summaries

Naoki Senju fought Guren, whose Crystal Release countered his Water and Wood Release, and used a toxin-laced Wood Clone to disable her. He caught Guren as she fell and left her unconscious but alive.

• Naoki Senju defended himself from Guren's crystal attacks and used a Wood Clone to draw her attention.
• Guren mistook Naoki Senju's clone for the original and decided she could not let the Konoha ninja return alive.
• Guren crystallized the shuriken and sent crystal dragons toward Naoki Senju's hiding place.
• Naoki Senju's Wood Clone pierced Guren with thorny vines before she crystallized it, and the toxin weakened her.
• Naoki Senju destroyed the crystal dragons, explained the datura-based poison, and caught Guren as she fell unconscious.

Naoki Senju captured Guren after defeating her and carried her across the Gobi. After revealing he was Tsunade’s younger brother, he persuaded her to owe him three favors, leaving their relationship on uneasy terms.

• Naoki Senju carried the unconscious Guren across the Gobi after using up most of his chakra defeating her.
• Guren woke and pretended to remain unconscious, but Naoki Senju exposed her act and struck her when she resisted.
• Naoki Senju questioned Guren about Orochimaru, and she denied serving him until Naoki Senju identified himself as Tsunade’s younger brother and the head of the Senju Clan.
• Guren recognized Naoki Senju as the powerful Water Release ninja she had heard about from the Fuma Clan.
• Naoki Senju claimed Guren owed him three favors for attacking him and for his help, and Guren agreed after he promised not to demand that she betray Orochimaru or risk her life.

Naoki Senju carried the recovering Guren and revealed that his unusual clone was connected to Wood Release, before confronting Orochimaru, who disclosed that Root had attacked him and Tsunade. Tsunade arrived with Shizune, and Orochimaru promised the attack would not happen again as Naoki met him properly.

• Naoki Senju explained Wood Release to Guren after she asked how his clone kept fighting after a fatal blow.
• Naoki Senju sensed Orochimaru nearby, and Orochimaru emerged and asked how Naoki had detected him.
• Orochimaru told Naoki Senju that Root, controlled by Shimura Danzō, had sent the ninjas who attacked him and Tsunade.
• Tsunade and Shizune arrived, and Naoki Senju handed Guren to Shizune for treatment with datura poison antidote.
• Tsunade confronted Orochimaru, who promised to send Root a portrait of Naoki Senju so the attack would not happen again.
• Tsunade introduced Orochimaru as her former teammate and one of the Sannin, and Naoki Senju greeted him as Lord Cold-Blooded.

Orochimaru brought Tsunade, Naoki Senju, Shizune, and Guren to his secluded base in the Land of Rice Fields, where Tsunade settled in and began planning for her return to Konoha. The chapter ended as Guren balked at Tsunade’s enormous order for medicinal supplies and Naoki offered to help.

• Orochimaru concealed his interest in Naoki Senju and led the group toward his base after Shizune neutralized Guren’s poison.
• When Guren collapsed while trying to follow Orochimaru, Naoki caught her and placed her on a Wood Clone.
• The group arrived at Orochimaru’s secluded village base, and Orochimaru went to organize Wood Release materials while Tsunade resolved to settle scores with Konoha.
• Naoki took Tsunade’s hand and promised to protect her, while she told him to wait until he learned Wood Release before discussing Konoha.
• Guren showed Tsunade her new residence and received a list requesting one hundred jin of each of many rare medicinal ingredients.
• Guren trembled at the scale of Tsunade’s order, and Naoki offered to help her obtain the supplies.

Naoki Senju and Tsunade discussed working with Orochimaru to obtain supplies for Medical Ninjutsu research, while Tsunade became eager to investigate the lobster’s supposed longevity. After Tsunade wrecked the courtyard chasing Naoki, Guren brought him a Wood Release scroll, and he built a new house on the ruins.

• Guren said she needed Orochimaru’s approval before agreeing to Naoki Senju’s proposal, then went to arrange the equipment and supplies she could obtain.
• Naoki Senju told Tsunade that Guren’s Crystal Release could make their project profitable and warned that Orochimaru would agree to cooperate.
• Tsunade reminded Naoki Senju to be cautious with Orochimaru, then insisted on approaching him herself because she wanted to begin her Medical Ninjutsu research.
• Naoki Senju asked Tsunade to keep him company that night and fled using the Body Flicker Technique when she retaliated, leaving the courtyard and gate shattered.
• Guren returned with a Wood Release scroll from Orochimaru, and Naoki Senju used the Four Pillars House Technique to build a wooden residence over the ruined courtyard.

Naoki Senju went alone to meet Orochimaru, who offered him a collection of Wood Release techniques in exchange for defeating him. Naoki immediately struck Orochimaru with a poisoned kunai, but Orochimaru survived using his signature substitution technique and counted the attack as Naoki’s first earned ninjutsu.

• Kabuto Yakushi summoned Naoki Senju to meet Orochimaru, but Naoki first alerted Tsunade and Shizune and warned Kabuto not to order him around.
• Tsunade told Naoki that Orochimaru was not as sinister as he seemed, though she advised caution, then she and Shizune followed him at a distance.
• Kabuto led Naoki to a mountain valley where Orochimaru had prepared a training ground and explained that Naoki’s name reminded him of Senju Nawaki.
• Orochimaru offered Naoki his collected Wood Release techniques on the condition that Naoki defeat him, with each successful kill earning one technique.
• Naoki pierced Orochimaru’s heart with a poisoned kunai, but Orochimaru shed his old body using the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique and awarded Naoki one ninjutsu.

Naoki Senju battled Orochimaru in the flooded training ground, using Water Release and Wood Release against Orochimaru’s snakes and unusual techniques. After Orochimaru struck him hard, Naoki struggled back to his feet and insisted on continuing.

• Orochimaru attacked Naoki Senju with Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, and Naoki countered with Water Release before flooding the training ground with Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
• Naoki trapped Orochimaru in a water sphere and cut him with Water Severing Wave, but Orochimaru survived by shedding his body and emerging from a giant snake.
• Orochimaru summoned a sea of snakes, drove Naoki from his footing, and bound him with Hidden Shadow Snake Limbs.
• Naoki used a Wood Clone to distract Orochimaru and hurled Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs, but Orochimaru escaped with an Earth Clone and attacked from behind.
• Orochimaru sent Naoki crashing through a tree and asked if he wanted to continue, and Naoki wiped blood from his mouth and said he did.

Naoki Senju used Wood Release clones, traps, and spiked wooden staffs to press Orochimaru, who drew the Kusanagi Sword and destroyed the staffs. Naoki then completed a Snake seal and unleashed Deep Forest Emergence, surrounding Orochimaru with rapidly growing trees.

• Naoki Senju created a Wood Clone and attacked Orochimaru alongside it, but Orochimaru threw the clone aside and evaded Naoki’s hidden Wood Release attack.
• Two Wood Clones fought Orochimaru recklessly, forcing him to destroy them with Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.
• Naoki Senju attacked with a spiked wooden staff that nearly pierced Orochimaru’s head, then used a Wood Locking Wall and two Wood Clones to launch another assault.
• Orochimaru summoned the Kusanagi Sword and cut through all three wooden staves, leaving Naoki Senju struggling to overcome his advantage.
• Naoki Senju completed a Snake seal and used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence, surrounding Orochimaru with rapidly growing branches, roots, and trunks.

Naoki Senju used Wood Release to overwhelm Orochimaru’s Triple Rashomon and capture him, impressing Tsunade and Shizune. Orochimaru escaped with a substitution, conceded Naoki had won, and gave him the promised Wood Release scroll.

• Orochimaru summoned Triple Rashomon to break free of Naoki Senju’s tree bindings, while Naoki nearly collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
• Naoki unleashed Deep Forest Emergence, which overwhelmed Orochimaru’s gates and bound him in a vast sea of trees.
• Tsunade caught the exhausted Naoki, and he brought the captured Orochimaru to her and Shizune.
• Orochimaru revealed that the bound figure was a substitute, reclaimed his Kusanagi Sword, and praised Naoki’s skill.
• Orochimaru conceded the contest and gave Naoki the Wood Release scroll, which Naoki accepted while calling him Aunt Snake and then Uncle Snake.

After the battle, Naoki Senju and the others cleaned up Orochimaru’s base, and Guren took the exhausted Naoki back to his room. When Naoki woke at sunset, he realized Guren had changed his clothes while he slept.

• Naoki Senju controlled and buried the aggressive trees while the Sound Four caught the escaped venomous snakes.
• Orochimaru ordered Guren to stay with Naoki, then invited Tsunade to his base to discuss cell division research.
• Guren carried Naoki on a Crystal Release dragon after refusing to carry him on her back, and they returned exhausted to the Wood Release courtyard.
• Naoki fell asleep without examining the Wood Release scroll, and Guren cleaned and changed his clothes while he slept.
• Naoki woke at sunset, found the scroll beside his pillow, and realized Guren was likely the one who had changed him.

Naoki Senju copied Orochimaru’s Wood Release scroll and spent the night learning its techniques to prepare for his conflict with Danzo and Root. Guren arrived to summon him, but became flustered and captivated after seeing him fresh from his bath.

• Naoki Senju copied the Wood Release scroll, including powerful techniques such as True Several Thousand Hands.
• Naoki Senju found Tsunade and Shizune absent, cooked dinner, and trained with the scroll through the night.
• Naoki Senju learned a third of the scroll’s more than thirty techniques before dawn and returned home to bathe.
• Guren appeared in Naoki Senju’s courtyard and ordered him to meet Orochimaru, prompting him to get dressed.
• Guren saw Naoki Senju after his bath, blushed, and became captivated by his white hair and appearance.

Naoki Senju hurried to Orochimaru’s secret research base after Guren told him Orochimaru had something important to discuss. There, Naoki saw the people held for experiments and heard Orochimaru explain their origins, then followed him upstairs to learn why he had been summoned.

• Guren told Naoki Senju that Orochimaru wanted to see him, and Naoki eagerly changed and went with her.
• Guren opened the hidden entrance to Orochimaru’s research base, but Naoki ordered her to enter with him and pulled her inside.
• Naoki Senju saw the vast underground facility and sensed that many people were being held in its cells.
• Orochimaru explained that the prisoners were citizens of the Land of Birds whom their daimyo had intended to sacrifice to cure his illness.
• Naoki Senju declined to discuss the prisoners further and walked toward the second floor with Guren, asking Orochimaru what he had summoned him for.

Naoki Senju joined Tsunade, Shizune, and Orochimaru in testing how his Wood Release chakra affected lobster cells, Hashirama cells, and Katsuyu's cells. The experiments showed that his chakra caused dramatic changes in the first two samples, and Orochimaru eagerly sought to advance his research with Naoki's help.

• Orochimaru led Naoki Senju and Guren to the sixth-floor laboratory, where Tsunade and Shizune were conducting their experiment.
• Naoki Senju reunited with Tsunade, and she showed him Petri dishes containing lobster cells, Hashirama's cells, and Katsuyu's cells.
• Naoki Senju injected Wood Release chakra into the three dishes, causing the lobster cells to form flesh-like buds that began turning woody.
• The Hashirama cells divided rapidly under Naoki Senju's chakra, releasing enough vitality to make a grass seed sprout and grow beyond its normal limit before withering.
• Orochimaru explained that Hashirama cells could divide into three hundred portions before becoming ordinary cells, but Wood Release chakra might break that limit.

Tsunade and Orochimaru studied Katsuyu cells and discussed research into immortality, while Naoki Senju redirected them toward understanding the cells rather than relying only on human experiments. After agreeing to help with the research and requesting Kabuto Yakushi as an assistant, Naoki brought Tsunade, Shizune, and Guren home, offering Guren a place among them.

• Tsunade and Orochimaru observed Katsuyu cells proliferating under Wood Release chakra and recorded their extensive division and eventual lignification.
• Naoki Senju urged Orochimaru to study how Katsuyu and lobster cells differed from human cells, and Orochimaru proposed conducting cell research alongside human experiments.
• Naoki agreed to participate in the research and requested Kabuto Yakushi, whom Orochimaru promised to bring while asking Naoki to spare his life.
• Naoki changed the subject when Tsunade noticed Guren, then persuaded Tsunade and Shizune to go home and rest.
• Naoki called for Guren to follow them, and Guren followed, moved by the warmth she saw between them.

Naoki Senju settled Guren into a new home, then turned away Kabuto Yakushi when he arrived to assist with research. Later, Naoki drank with Tsunade and Shizune, carried the two unconscious women to bed, and frightened Tonton by joking about eating her.

• Kabuto Yakushi arrived at the research base on Orochimaru's orders but found the laboratory empty and tidied it before leaving.
• Naoki Senju used Wood Release to expand the courtyard and gave Guren a wooden house as her new home.
• Kabuto Yakushi introduced himself at the courtyard gate, but Naoki Senju slammed it shut and called him a rat.
• Naoki Senju prepared Tsunade's favorite drinking dishes, and Tsunade made him and Shizune drink with her until all three were drunk.
• Naoki Senju carried Tsunade and Shizune to bed, then teased Tonton about eating her and sent her scurrying into a cabinet.

Naoki Senju gave Kabuto Yakushi research on cells while continuing his Wood Release training, but a spy's message exposed the hideout to Danzo. Danzo sent orders to Hanzō of Amegakure and Akatsuki, and Orochimaru told Tsunade and Naoki they had to relocate.

• Guren joined Naoki Senju, Tsunade, and Shizune for breakfast at the hideout.
• Kabuto Yakushi told Naoki Senju that Orochimaru was conducting experiments, and Naoki gave him Tsunade's report to guide his cell research.
• Naoki Senju continued to the mountaintop for Wood Release training as a letter left the hideout in the Land of Rice Fields.
• Danzo deciphered the message, learned that Orochimaru sheltered Tsunade and a Senju who had awakened Wood Release, and sent scrolls to Hanzō of Amegakure and Akatsuki.
• Orochimaru brought the tortured spy before Tsunade and Naoki Senju, revealed that the hideout had been exposed, and said they had to move.

Naoki Senju turned a Root ninja into a wooden carving with a newly developed Wood Release ability, then traveled with Orochimaru and the others toward a hidden base in the Land of Wind. After three days crossing the desert, Kabuto Yakushi spotted the ruins of Rōran ahead.

• Naoki Senju used Wood Release chakra to turn the Root ninja into a wooden carving after learning he had aided Danzo.
• Naoki Senju explained that the technique came from developing Wood Release chakra’s nature transformation, and Orochimaru urged the group to leave before Root could seize him.
• Orochimaru led Naoki Senju, Tsunade, Shizune, Guren, and Kabuto Yakushi toward his hidden base in the Land of Wind.
• Tsunade complained that the group had been lost in the desert for three days, while Orochimaru admitted they should be nearly there.
• Kabuto Yakushi pointed out a vast expanse of ruined buildings emerging through the sand.

Naoki Senju recognized that the desert ruins might be connected to Rōran and its mysterious Ryūmyaku, so he persuaded Tsunade’s group to investigate. At the city’s center, they found a vast fissure that Orochimaru suspected had not been caused by an earthquake.

• Orochimaru became absorbed in thoughts of immortality before noticing extensive ruins in the desert.
• Naoki Senju suspected the ruins might be Rōran and convinced Tsunade to head there to rest and investigate.
• Guren searched the ruins and reported that they had been abandoned for over a decade and seemingly destroyed from within by a powerful force.
• Naoki Senju took Tsunade’s hand and led the group, including Shizune and Tonton, to inspect the city center.
• Orochimaru examined a fissure several meters wide and asked Naoki Senju what might have caused it.

Naoki Senju and the others explored the vast destruction in Rōran and concluded that neither Earth Release nor a tailed beast could have caused it. Suspecting Orochimaru was pursuing the Ryūmyaku, Naoki left Tsunade to follow him and secure some initiative.

• Naoki Senju told Orochimaru that Rōran's vanished survivors and legendary power were known only through rumor, while Orochimaru questioned how he knew the name.
• The group followed the fissure to a nearly thousand-meter-wide pit, where Orochimaru said no Earth Release he knew could cause such destruction and the Five-Tails could not either.
• Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the others descended into the abyss and began searching for the source of Rōran's destruction.
• Naoki Senju noticed Orochimaru leave his group and head purposefully toward a particular spot, then told Tsunade he would follow him.
• Tsunade warned Naoki Senju about the danger and hugged him before letting him go; Naoki promised to return with good news.

Naoki Senju followed Orochimaru to a hidden sealing array in Rōran and learned that it contained the Ryūmyaku, sealed by the future Fourth Hokage. Unable to break the seal, they returned to Tsunade, while Naoki secretly marked the route and resolved to keep the Ryūmyaku’s power from Kabuto Yakushi.

• Naoki Senju pressed Orochimaru to explain the destruction of Rōran, and Orochimaru led him to an enormous sealing array.
• Orochimaru identified the array as a compound seal and said he could not undo it; he revealed that it contained the Ryūmyaku and had been made by the future Fourth Hokage.
• Orochimaru summoned a small white snake to mark the site, while Naoki secretly grew underground trees to mark the route for himself.
• Naoki Senju and Orochimaru returned to Tsunade and the others, and Naoki told Tsunade he would explain the discovery later, away from Kabuto Yakushi.