Recaps

Kamitachi Ayato used Shadow Clones to balance school with intense training, advanced his chakra skills, and helped Rock Lee regain his resolve. After discovering the Void State and developing Lightning Release Massage, Ayato topped the midterm exams, drawing the attention of his classmates and Sasuke Uchiha.

• Kamitachi Ayato befriended Naruto Uzumaki at the Academy and asked his mother, Kamitachi Sinai, for the Shadow Clone Technique.
• Ayato quickly learned the Three Body Technique, impressed Umino Iruka, and began using Shadow Clones to study and train while keeping his efforts discreet.
• Ayato celebrated Sinai’s birthday with flowers and cake, and later encouraged Naruto to try befriending Shikamaru.
• Ayato revealed his Shadow Clone routine to Iruka, earned broad library access from the Third Hokage, and resolved to pursue the Flying Thunder God.
• Ayato briefly reached a state of complete stillness during training, then reassured Rock Lee that taijutsu could still make him a successful ninja.
• Ayato called the tranquil state the Void State after using it to perceive chakra and sharpen his Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
• Ayato developed Lightning Release Massage to ease his training fatigue, but it caused Rock Lee pain, so Ayato promised to improve his technique.
• Ayato earned perfect midterm scores, while Sakura surpassed Sasuke Uchiha overall, and Sasuke approached Ayato after class.

Ayato strengthened his bonds with Naruto, Ino, and Sinai while developing his combat skills and beginning to study the Flying Thunder God. As the Uchiha Massacre shook Konoha, Ayato prioritized protecting those close to him and learned that Sasuke had survived.

• Ayato trained Naruto, stood up for him when older students bullied him, and reassured him that they were still friends.
• Ayato defeated Iruka in a spar, impressing the Third Hokage, who gave him a special kunai and a test for learning the Fourth Hokage’s technique.
• Ayato established a connection with the Flying Thunder God mark and practiced sensing and summoning the kunai while planning his nature-transformation training.
• Ayato grew closer to Ino during the New Year festivities, then borrowed a chakra-conducting kunai from her to practice Lightning Release.
• As assaults and tensions around the Uchiha increased, Ayato escorted Ino and went to meet Sinai after being warned to stay home.
• The Uchiha Massacre shocked Konoha, and Ayato decided against trying to take a Sharingan and continued reading as he trusted Sasuke would be safe.
• Iruka learned that Sasuke had survived but kept the news secret, while Sasuke’s classmates grieved over his empty seat.

Ayato became Jiraiya’s disciple and spent three years training in sealing, senjutsu foundations, and Flying Thunder God at Mount Myōboku. After returning to Konoha, he showed the Third Hokage his Flying Thunder God notes and quickly learned the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

• Ayato defeated Sasuke in their spar, and the Third Hokage later blocked Danzo’s attempt to recruit Sasuke into Root.
• Ayato summoned the Flying Thunder God kunai despite its concealed connection, impressing Jiraiya and becoming his disciple.
• Jiraiya taught Ayato about Flying Thunder God, Chakra, and summoning, while Ayato declined the offer of early graduation.
• Jiraiya brought Ayato to Mount Myōboku, where Sage Fukasaku took charge of his training and Sage Shima gradually won him over with fruit dishes.
• Ayato trained for three years, developed Flying Thunder God by studying spatial fluctuations, and learned the Rasengan and other ninjutsu.
• The Great Toad Sage prophesied that Ayato would unleash a Bloody Storm across the shinobi world, but Ayato decided not to let the prophecy dictate his choices.
• Ayato returned to Konoha and gave the Third Hokage his Flying Thunder God notes in exchange for an A-rank technique.
• Ayato chose the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, copied it after one demonstration, and produced more than a hundred shuriken clones.

Ayato joined Tenzō’s Anbu team, proved his strength on increasingly dangerous missions, and became known for protecting Konoha shinobi. Haunted by the killing, he left Anbu and returned to Konoha as a twelve-year-old Special Jonin.

• Ayato mastered the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, graduated early, and asked the Third Hokage to assign him to the Anbu responsible for external affairs.
• Ayato said goodbye to Ino and his classmates, encouraged Sasuke to work harder, and reinforced Naruto’s seal before teaching him the Clone Technique.
• Ayato joined Tenzō, Hyena, and Fox as Ink Shadow, completed his first killing mission, and later proved his strength by swiftly killing rogue ninja.
• Ayato helped protect Master Craftsman and Takumi Tetsuya during an attack involving outlaws and Mist ninja, killing nearly ten Mist shinobi before assisting Tenzō in defeating a Kirigakure Jonin.
• After returning to Konoha, Ayato left Tenzō’s team and accepted a solo Anbu mission, in which he killed the rogue ninjas threatening a supply escort.
• Ayato realized that his growing killing intent and the deaths he had witnessed were affecting him, so he told the Third Hokage he needed to leave Anbu.
• The Third Hokage agreed to disband the Ink Shadow Team and let Ayato resume life in Konoha as a twelve-year-old Special Jonin.