Chapter Summaries

Kōki urged Nara Yūsuke and the others to trust his Wood Release, then used Deep Forest Emergence to devastate the surrounding Sunagakure force. The surviving Sunagakure ninja overcame their fear and resolved to kill Kōki before he could return to Konoha.

• Kōki asked Nara Yūsuke, Yamanaka Kenji, and Akimichi Tsuyoshi to trust his Wood Release and let him lead them through the encirclement.
• Nara Yūsuke and the others took positions behind Kōki, pledging to protect his back as the Sunagakure ninja charged.
• Kōki unleashed Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence, trapping many attackers and absorbing their chakra; more than half of the Sunagakure force died in the attack.
• The Sunagakure leader and his surviving ninja recognized Kōki's technique as Wood Release and were shaken by its return.
• The Sunagakure leader rallied his troops by urging them to kill Kōki while he was still a child, and they made him their sole target.

Kōki used several Wood Release techniques to devastate the Sunagakure force and stop its intelligence from reaching the village. He sheltered with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio as his Piercing Formation attacked the remaining enemies.

• Kōki stopped Advent of a World of Trees and used Adamantine Attacking Trees, killing another twenty or thirty Sunagakure ninja and wounding their leader.
• The Sunagakure leader ordered Maruyoshi to carry intelligence about Kōki back to the village and sent a summoned beast as a backup messenger.
• Kōki hurled a wooden spike at Maruyoshi, but the leader intercepted it; the spike pierced both men, and Kōki killed them with Cutting Technique.
• The surviving Sunagakure ninja launched desperate attacks, but Kōki blocked their attacks with trees and trapped them in Piercing Formation.
• Kōki sheltered beneath Wood Expulsion Jutsu with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio as wooden spikes filled the surrounding space.

Kōki and his companions surveyed the horrific aftermath of his Impaling Formation, and Kōki agreed to avoid using the jutsu except in critical situations. After they discovered that a wounded Sunagakure ninja had escaped with information about Kōki, they erased the battlefield and hurried back to Konoha to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

• Kōki stopped the Wood Spike Formation and recoiled at the gruesome battlefield, while Nara Yūsuke advised him not to use the jutsu unless necessary.
• Kōki recovered one scroll containing information about him from a dead Sunagakure ninja and continued searching for a second copy.
• Kōki noticed that one of the Sunagakure ninja he had struck with his Cutting Technique was missing and found a blood trail leading toward a stream.
• Nara Yūsuke concluded that the injured ninja had likely escaped downstream with the intel and ordered the group to erase the battle traces and return to Konoha.
• Kōki and Yamanaka Kenji burned and buried the battlefield before Kōki, Nara Yūsuke, Yamanaka Kenji, and Akimichi Tsuyoshi set off for Konoha.

Maruyoshi returned to Sunagakure with intelligence that a powerful Wood Release user had devastated his unit, prompting Chiyo and the village leaders to assess the threat. After Maruyoshi recounted the ambush and Captain Arashi’s death, Sunagakure was left facing the possibility that Konoha’s power would reshape the Shinobi World.

• Maruyoshi collapsed outside Sunagakure, and the guards carried him to the hospital while his intelligence reached the village leadership.
• Chiyo, Tsunoda, and Minamoto argued over whether to verify Maruyoshi’s report before Chiyo urged them to establish the facts and prepare for Wood Release’s return.
• A secretary brought the injured Maruyoshi to the conference room, where Chiyo asked him to explain what had happened.
• Maruyoshi reported that his unit had ambushed a Konoha Anbu team but that the enemy’s Wood Release quickly killed many of their men.
• Maruyoshi said Captain Arashi had ordered him to escape with the intelligence and died protecting him, while Maruyoshi survived and fled back to Sunagakure.

After learning that a Konoha Anbu had awakened Wood Release and killed over a hundred Sunagakure shinobi, Chiyo argued that Sunagakure had to eliminate him even if it meant losing the war. She outlined a plan to distract Konoha with heavier fighting and use Bunpuku to force the Wood Release user onto the battlefield.

• Maruyoshi reported that a Konoha Anbu with Wood Release had killed over a hundred Sunagakure shinobi.
• Chiyo ordered Rasa to send more forces and kill the Wood Release user, even at the cost of the war.
• Young Sunagakure officials objected, but Ebizo explained that Wood Release could restrain Tailed Beasts and tip the balance between the villages.
• The young officials accepted Chiyo's reasoning and asked how Sunagakure could eliminate the user without alerting Konoha.
• Chiyo planned to intensify the front-line offensive to hold Konoha's attention and bring Bunpuku onto the battlefield to draw out the Wood Release user.

Sunagakure’s leaders planned to use Bunpuku and enlist other villages in a campaign to kill Kōki, the newly exposed Wood Release user. In Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi learned the secret had leaked and worried that Sunagakure and the other villages would soon target Kōki.

• Chiyo proposed sending the elderly Jinchūriki Bunpuku to the battlefield to draw out Kōki, and Ebizo worried that Bunpuku might die or refuse to fight.
• Chiyo suggested sharing the Wood Release intelligence with Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure to provoke them into joining the effort against Kōki.
• A Sunagakure official urged the village to demand that the other villages contribute, and Chiyo agreed despite doubting that A and Ōnoki would cooperate.
• Chiyo ordered Sunagakure’s spies in Konoha to identify Kōki by investigating young emerging talents.
• Nara Yūsuke told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Kōki’s Wood Release had been exposed, though Sunagakure still did not know his identity.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi concluded that Sunagakure could hunt Kōki without knowing his name and worried that Konoha was unprepared for the consequences.

Kōki persuaded Hiruzen Sarutobi to let him leave the Anbu and fight on the front lines, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio were assigned to accompany him. As they celebrated his promotion, Kumogakure learned about Kōki’s Wood Release and the Third Raikage decided to deal with him without Sunagakure’s help.

• Kōki told Hiruzen Sarutobi he accepted the risks of the battlefield, and Hiruzen agreed to send him to the front lines.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi promoted Kōki Itō and restored Nara Yūsuke, Yamanaka Kenji, and Akimichi Tsuyoshi to jonin, ordering them to report to Orochimaru.
• Kōki and his companions went to a barbecue restaurant to celebrate his promotion, and Kōki remembered a promise made with companions who were gone.
• Third Kumogakure received Sunagakure’s report about Kōki’s Wood Release and ordered a response targeting him, insisting Kumogakure could act alone.

Ōnoki agreed to cooperate with Sunagakure against Konoha’s Wood Release user, while Kirigakure declined to commit its full strength. Chiyo ordered an intensified offensive, and Rasa prepared Sunagakure’s front-line forces for an all-out battle the next day.

• Ōnoki ordered Iwagakure to investigate the Wood Release user, prepare its frontline troops, and tell Sunagakure it would cooperate against the threat.
• Kirigakure gave Sunagakure little support, leaving Chiyo furious that the other villages expected Sunagakure to test Konoha’s strength for them.
• Chiyo told Ebizo that Sunagakure would intensify its offensive to inflict losses on Konoha and draw the other villages into the war.
• Rasa received the order and told his strategist that Sunagakure would launch an all-out offensive the next day, despite the expected casualties.
• Rasa said Chiyo would bring reinforcements and promised to try to reduce the number of troops sent into battle as Sunagakure’s frontline ninja began preparing.

Orochimaru learned that Kōki Itō, a genuine Wood Release inheritor, would reinforce the front lines and eagerly anticipated meeting him. Meanwhile, Nara Yūsuke told Kōki that he, Yamanaka Kenji, and Akimichi Tsuyoshi were considering leaving the Anbu because relying on Kōki had weakened their performance and judgment.

• A Konoha ninja delivered Hiruzen Sarutobi’s report to Orochimaru, which warned that Sunagakure would attack fiercely and announced a thousand reinforcements.
• Orochimaru ordered the unit captains to prepare for Sunagakure’s attack and grew excited upon learning that Kōki Itō, a Wood Release inheritor, was coming.
• Orochimaru studied Kōki’s name and record, eager to meet him, while Kōki ate grilled meat with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
• Nara Yūsuke told Kōki that he, Yamanaka Kenji, and Akimichi Tsuyoshi might leave the Anbu because relying on Kōki had made them careless and ill-suited to their missions.

Kōki’s Ino-Shika-Cho companions decided to part from him at the battlefield so they could grow strong enough to support him, and he wished them safety as they headed to the front. After arriving with a thousand reinforcements, Kōki’s concealed jonin rank surprised the other jonin, and Shikaku Nara led him and the remaining leaders to Orochimaru.

• Akimichi Tsuyoshi, Yamanaka Kenji, and Nara Yūsuke told Kōki they would split from him at the battlefield to prove they could support him, and Kōki urged them to stay alive.
• Kōki and his companions ended their gathering, and the next morning he joined the force assembling at Konoha’s gates.
• Inoichi Yamanaka led a thousand ninja reinforcements toward the front, where many assumed the young Kōki was a chunin.
• At the frontline camp, Shikaku Nara instructed Inoichi and the jonin to attend a pre-battle meeting with Orochimaru.
• After the other reinforcements left, the remaining jonin realized Kōki was a jonin, and Shikaku led the group toward Orochimaru without explaining Kōki’s identity.

Kōki Itō met Orochimaru at the front and was assigned to the medical units despite wanting to join combat. Orochimaru watched him leave, intrigued by Kōki and by a vague sense that they had met before.

• Orochimaru welcomed the newly arrived Jonin and assigned them duties for the coming fighting against Sunagakure.
• Orochimaru asked Kōki whether he wanted to join the combat or medical units, and Kōki decided to choose combat.
• Orochimaru overruled Kōki and assigned him to the medical units, following Hiruzen Sarutobi’s instructions and his own desire to observe Kōki.
• Kōki accepted the assignment, and Orochimaru watched him leave while trying to recall where they had met before.

Kōki considered whether Orochimaru would trade the Second Hokage’s research records for information, then arrived at the frontline medical unit and reunited with Rin Takakura. Rin worried about his presence on the battlefield but was glad his medical skills could help ease the unit’s workload.

• Kōki realized that the current Orochimaru still cared about Konoha and might not agree to a trade without Hiruzen Sarutobi’s approval.
• Kōki arrived at the medical unit’s camp, where Rin Takakura greeted him and questioned why someone so young had been sent to the front.
• Kōki explained that he had volunteered and that Hiruzen Sarutobi had assigned him to the frontline medical unit.
• Kōki recalled how Rin had given him medical scrolls and how he had mastered each technique, eventually prompting her to ask Hiruzen Sarutobi to let him study Medical Ninjutsu.
• Rin first worried that Kōki was at the front, then felt relieved that his skills could help her treat the patients.

Takakura Mie brought Kōki into the medical camp, where he reunited with Genji Ryōma and learned that the veteran had been worried about him entering the war as a Genin. The chapter left Genji and Rin believing Kōki was a Chunin, while Kōki kept his greater strength to himself and prepared to help the medical corps.

• Takakura Mie led Kōki into the medical camp after recruiting him to help treat the wounded.
• Genji Ryōma stabilized a poisoned ninja with Medical Ninjutsu and an antidote before noticing Kōki and Rin Takakura.
• Kōki greeted Genji and told him he had graduated early and become a full-fledged ninja.
• Genji worried that Kōki would be in danger on the battlefield, but Rin noticed his green vest and realized he was a Chunin.
• Kōki let Genji and Rin assume he had Chunin-level strength and decided to focus on helping the medical corps.

Kōki assisted Rin Takakura in treating a critically injured ninja poisoned by Sunagakure, using the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique while Rin stabilized and healed him. The ninja survived, and Kōki spent the rest of the half day gaining practical medical experience alongside Rin.

• Rin Takakura led Kōki to a severely injured ninja and began examining him, discovering that Sunagakure's poison was damaging his organs.
• With the ninja's heart rate falling, Rin asked Kōki to extract the poison while she stabilized his vital signs and treated his injuries.
• Kōki used the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique to clear the poison from the ninja's wounds and body.
• Rin used the Mystical Palm Technique as she and Kōki successfully saved the ninja.
• Kōki spent the next half day assisting Rin and learning practical methods for treating injuries.

Chiyo and Rasa planned a nighttime poison attack on Konoha after Bunpuku refused to join the fight. As Sunagakure’s troops prepared to strike, Orochimaru strengthened Konoha’s defenses but did not know the enemy intended to attack openly once the time came.

• Rasa asked Chiyo why Bunpuku had not accompanied her reinforcements, and Chiyo said the monk had refused to fight.
• Chiyo told Rasa she would initially send two thousand troops to probe Konoha and might force Bunpuku into battle if the attack failed to draw out the Wood Release user.
• Rasa confirmed that Chiyo’s poison had been distributed, and Chiyo explained she had made it less lethal so poisoned Konoha ninja would suffer for seventy-two hours and burden their medical services.
• Chiyo and Rasa agreed to launch the poison attack at night, when the weapons would be harder to detect.
• Orochimaru increased the guards at Konoha’s camp and sent sensory ninja to monitor Sunagakure, unaware that its force planned to charge as soon as the appointed time arrived.

Orochimaru and Rasa fought for the first time when Sunagakure launched a nighttime attack on Konoha's camp. Rasa's Gold Dust Great Wave broke through two of Orochimaru's Rashomon gates but failed to pass the third, leaving Orochimaru unharmed.

• Rasa led two thousand Sunagakure troops toward Konoha's camp under cover of darkness.
• After Konoha's sensory ninja raised the alarm, Orochimaru ordered the combat units to engage Sunagakure and the medical camp guards to stay vigilant.
• Orochimaru and Rasa joined the battle and began their first face-to-face clash.
• Rasa attacked with gold dust and Magnet Release shuriken, while Orochimaru evaded his strikes and countered with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
• Rasa unleashed Gold Dust Great Wave, and Orochimaru summoned Triple Rashomon to stop it; the wave broke through two gates before the third held.

Rasa fought Orochimaru with Magnet Release, destroying his giant snakes and escaping a hidden snake attack, but Orochimaru poisoned him through a trap involving the snakes’ blood. Rasa’s antidote eased his symptoms, and Orochimaru prepared to capture him alive, believing the poison still weakened him.

• Rasa’s gold dust broke through Orochimaru’s Rashomon gates, and he attacked Orochimaru with Gold Dust Waterfall Flow.
• Orochimaru summoned two giant snakes, but Rasa pierced their heads with gold-dust spikes and split them apart.
• Orochimaru sent a small black snake to bite Rasa, and Rasa cut it in two, mixing its blood with the giant snakes’ blood and releasing a toxin.
• Rasa felt dizzy and weak, realized he had been poisoned, and injected an antidote prepared by Chiyo.
• Orochimaru refused to explain the poison unless Rasa defeated him and moved to capture him alive, believing the antidote had only eased the symptoms.

Rasa retreated after Orochimaru’s poison weakened him, and Sunagakure’s surprise attack failed at a heavy cost to both sides. As Konoha counted its losses, Kōki treated wounded ninja in the medical camp and impressed Rin Takakura with his medical skill.

• Rasa used Sand Body Flicker to escape Orochimaru, then told Sunagakure’s forces that Orochimaru had poisoned him and ordered them to retreat.
• Orochimaru pursued Rasa, but Rasa rode gold dust through the air and escaped as Sunagakure withdrew.
• Konoha pursued the retreating Sunagakure forces, which left nearly eight hundred dead, while Konoha lost more than three hundred combatants.
• Kōki began treating wounded ninja independently in the medical camp after Rin Takakura taught him simpler, more efficient procedures.
• Kōki used the Flesh Stitching Technique and a healing technique to treat a severe chest wound, impressing Rin Takakura with his talent.

After helping treat wounded Konoha ninja, Kōki discovered that many patients had been struck by a powerful poison made by Chiyo of Sunagakure. Orochimaru could not identify an antidote, leaving the medical unit to hold out while Konoha sought Tsunade.

• Genji told Kōki to rest after he treated the wounded through the night, and Kōki went to sleep.
• The next morning, Kōki saw medical-nin rushing to the medical station and hurried there to find Orochimaru, Shikaku Nara, Genji, and other leaders gathered.
• Genji explained that poisoned patients had begun suffering intense pain before dawn and that treating them individually took too long to save everyone.
• Orochimaru said the poison was likely made by Chiyo, but he could neither identify it nor develop an antidote quickly enough.
• Genji asked about finding Tsunade, and Orochimaru said he had informed the Hokage and would ask Konoha to search for her.

Kōki learned that Chiyo had poisoned the Konoha patients he had treated, leaving the medical camp struggling to respond. At Sunagakure's camp, Chiyo warned Rasa to learn from his defeat by Orochimaru and ordered him to delay further attacks until he recovered.

• Kōki asked a medical-nin how the poisoning unfolded and learned that Chiyo had poisoned all the patients, including those he had cured the previous day.
• Chiyo treated Rasa and cleared Orochimaru's snake venom from his body.
• Chiyo scolded Rasa for falling into Orochimaru's trap and warned that another mistake could cost him the chance to become Fourth Kazekage.
• Chiyo decided to postpone further attacks until Rasa had mostly recovered, while the poison weakened Konoha and Sunagakure's troops regrouped.
• Chiyo left Rasa to tend to Sunagakure's wounded ninja and rally the frightened survivors.