Chapter Summaries

The Akatsuki Army was established under Yahiko’s leadership, while Jin explored the changing Land of Rain and discovered that Kakuzu had returned to an ordinary-looking body after Earth Grudge Fear was sealed into a sword. Jin later learned that Minato Namikaze was nearing the Super Kage stage as he prepared to return.

• Nagato confirmed that the Akatsuki Army had been established, and the group celebrated with Explosive Tag fireworks.
• Jin and Yugito Nii saw the Akatsuki Army recruitment notice and surveyed the prosperous, transformed streets of the Land of Rain.
• Jin recognized Kakuzu in a ramen shop, where Kakuzu explained that sealing Earth Grudge Fear into the sword had changed his body.
• Jin left Kakuzu with the ramen bill, then carried Yugito Nii away as Kakuzu angrily shouted after them.
• Jin returned to the Daimyo's Estate, where his clone reported that Minato Namikaze had been gone for a while and was nearing the Super Kage stage.

Jin visited the hospitalized Jiraiya and spoke with Minato Namikaze, who had returned to Konoha and planned to spar with Jin after adjusting to his strength. Meanwhile, Ōnoki struggled to master Dust Release through Chakra Inner Cultivation before learning that Kumogakure had found Iwagakure’s relocated village.

• Jin noted the other villages’ quiet and created a new clone before heading to Konoha to see Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze.
• Jin teased Minato Namikaze for not visiting Kushina first and learned that Minato planned to spar with him in a few days.
• Jin told Jiraiya that Minato had reached the Third Layer and urged Jiraiya to grow stronger if he hoped to pursue Tsunade.
• Ōnoki reflected on the difficulty of developing Dust Release Chakra Inner Cultivation and the delay in using its innate sage technique.
• A messenger told Ōnoki that Kumogakure had come to visit Iwagakure’s new mountain settlement, surprising him because its location was meant to be secret.

Ōnoki confronted a gray-robed visitor from Konoha after learning Kumogakure had discovered Iwagakure’s secret relocation. In Konoha, Jin urged Shisui to think beyond the village before Minato arrived and provoked Jin into challenging him to a fight.

• Ōnoki suspected Iwagakure had a Kumogakure spy and went to meet the gray-robed visitor, recognizing him as someone from Konoha.
• Jin discussed Kagami Uchiha’s diary with Shisui and encouraged him not to limit his thinking to the clan, village, or Land of Fire.
• Jin used a genjutsu projection to show Shisui the wider world and galaxy, leaving Shisui awestruck.
• Minato Namikaze visited Jin, teased him about not catching any fish, and watched Shisui’s rod get dragged into the lake.
• Jin challenged Minato to fight.

Jin and Minato Namikaze fought an escalating battle that ended with Jin defeating him, though Minato had grown strong enough to force Jin to use his full power. After Minato wondered how to grow further and asked about Jin’s drive, messengers reported suspicious movements by Iwagakure, signaling that the war was about to resume.

• Minato Namikaze challenged Jin at the ruined Valley of the End and used Wind God Mode, while Jin countered with advanced Observation Haki and sword techniques.
• Minato Namikaze activated Light God Mode and Sage Mode, striking Jin with powerful Rasengan techniques as Jin answered with Perfect Form Susanoo and other abilities.
• Minato Namikaze trapped Jin with a space-time Rasenshuriken, but Jin transformed into his Heavenly Demon True Body and defeated him with a massive slash.
• Jin caught the unconscious Minato Namikaze, and Minato later acknowledged his loss and wondered what new path could help him catch up to Jin.
• Minato Namikaze asked why Jin worked so hard to grow stronger, and Jin cited immortality, freedom, and possible future threats.
• Two messengers told Jin and Minato Namikaze that Iwagakure was making suspicious moves and Lord Hokage had summoned them to a meeting.

As Konoha prepared for renewed war against Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure, Hiruzen assigned Minato, Orochimaru, and Kushina to lead the defense. Days later, Minato and his young team visited Jin to say goodbye before departing for the battlefield.

• Hiruzen confirmed Minato's advancement and assigned him to stop Iwagakure's Tsuchikage, while Orochimaru revealed that he had also reached the Third Layer and was tasked with facing Sunagakure.
• Hiruzen ordered Kushina to intercept Kumogakure's forces, and the gathered ninja pledged to fight for Konoha.
• Jin returned home and waited as Konoha made its wartime preparations, aware that Hiruzen seemed intent on settling accounts with him.
• Minato visited Jin with Kakashi, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara to say goodbye before their team left for the battlefield.
• Jin teased Obito about helping old ladies and joked that Rin liked him, prompting Obito to defend Jin and Kakashi to needle him.

Jin warned Minato Namikaze to return alive as Minato departed for the battlefield with Kakashi, Obito Uchiha, and Rin. In the Land of Rain, Jin pushed Hanzō to prepare for advancement to the Third Layer while the Akatsuki Army gathered materials for a mysterious project.

• Jin teased Kakashi and questioned whether Minato Namikaze should take his young students to the battlefield, then wished Minato a safe return.
• After Minato left, Jin spotted a White Zetsu underground and returned to fishing with Shisui nearby.
• Jin met Hanzō in the Land of Rain and demanded that he advance to the Third Layer, threatening to let him die alongside the country if he failed.
• The Land of Rain rapidly gathered rare materials while keeping its intentions secret and maintaining armies facing Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha.
• Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan examined the materials in Empty City as the Akatsuki Army loaded them into a sealed black chamber.

Uchiha Jin used a dangerous ritual to advance Kakuzu and Hanzō to the Third Layer, hiding the deadly consequences from Kakuzu until the process had begun. Both survived, and Jin assigned Hanzō to deal with Sunagakure and Iwagakure.

• Uchiha Jin explained that his advancement ritual used Ninja Beasts, rare plants, ores, runes, and Natural Energy, with a fifty percent chance of survival.
• Kakuzu volunteered to go first, but Uchiha Jin warned him only after sealing him inside that failure would destroy his body.
• Kakuzu survived the ritual and attacked Uchiha Jin, who overpowered him with his armored Demon God and black blade.
• Hanzō entered the ritual next, survived, and emerged at the Third Layer despite believing Uchiha Jin had tricked him into it.
• Uchiha Jin congratulated Hanzō and told him that Sunagakure and Iwagakure were in his hands.

Ōnoki and Bunpuku attacked the Land of Rain in a joint effort to kill Jin, but Hanzō and Kakuzu stopped them. Bunpuku withdrew after Kakuzu defeated his Dharma Body, while Ōnoki fled from Hanzō.

• Ōnoki found Jin fishing at the Daimyo's Estate and attacked him with his transparent Dharma Body, but Hanzō intercepted the strike and fought him.
• Bunpuku appeared before Jin and agreed to fight Kakuzu, who hurled him away from New City to protect its buildings.
• Ōnoki battled Hanzō with a Dust Release staff, but Hanzō's poison forced Ōnoki to flee into the sky.
• Kakuzu trapped Bunpuku's Four-Armed Buddha Dharma Body with black threads and destroyed most of it with his Final Shot.
• Hanzō arrived beside Kakuzu, and Bunpuku withdrew into sand after asking them to persuade Jin to preserve peace in the ninja world.

Jin told Hanzō that wars between Dharma Body powerhouses would decide the future, while the Land of Rain could wait as they fought. War erupted between Sunagakure and Konoha in the Land of Rivers, where powerful fighters clashed and Orochimaru rose to face Bunpuku.

• Kakuzu and Hanzō returned to Jin after failing to capture their targets, and Jin dismissed Kakuzu.
• Jin told Hanzō that Dharma Body powerhouses had changed warfare and that the Land of Rain should wait for the major villages to decide a victor.
• Sunagakure broke its treaty with Konoha and attacked in the Land of Rivers, where Might Duy, Mimura Hamaki, and other Konoha fighters battled Sunagakure forces.
• Sasori deployed the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, and Shikuro Aburame sent his insects against the puppet unit.
• Might Duy opened the Seventh Gate to confront Pakura, while the previous generation of Ino–Shika–Cho attacked Rasa.
• Bunpuku challenged Orochimaru, who transformed into the Snake God Dharma Body and flew up to fight him.

Orochimaru fought Bunpuku, using his regenerative Snake God and Natural Energy poison to overcome Bunpuku’s powerful sand techniques. Bunpuku escaped by using an ability linked to Shukaku’s revival, leaving Orochimaru to wonder whether he had used Space-Time Ninjutsu.

• Bunpuku’s Sand Body Buddha buried and crushed Orochimaru’s Snake God, but the snake reassembled and attacked again.
• Orochimaru’s Snake God bit Bunpuku’s Dharma Body and poisoned it with Natural Energy, while Bunpuku broke off the infected arm too late to stop the venom spreading.
• Bunpuku unleashed Sand Shower and Sand Dust World, repeatedly destroying Orochimaru’s Snake God, but its body continually regenerated.
• Orochimaru waited as the poison weakened Bunpuku, then coiled around his kneeling Dharma Body and struck with flames until Bunpuku vanished.
• Orochimaru found the Snake God fading away and wondered if Bunpuku had used Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Bunpuku reappeared in Sunagakure and thanked Shukaku for the escape ability, then apologized to the Kazekage for failing again.

Minato Namikaze left his team to destroy Kannabi Bridge and returned to help Konoha repel Iwagakure’s sudden assault. After wiping out the attacking force, he warned the Konoha troops to retreat as a powerful enemy confronted him.

• Minato Namikaze received a report that Iwagakure had launched a full-scale attack while he was away on the Kannabi Bridge mission, so he left the mission to Obito Uchiha, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara and returned to the front.
• White Zetsu secretly followed Obito Uchiha, Kakashi, and Rin Nohara as they continued toward Kannabi Bridge.
• The Konoha forces battled Iwagakure with Haki and Breathing techniques while struggling to hold the frontline.
• Minato Namikaze appeared above the battlefield and used Sage Art: Infinite Afterimage Annihilation to kill every Iwagakure Ninja there.
• Minato Namikaze ordered the Konoha troops to retreat, then heard an angry voice vow to kill him.

Minato Namikaze fought Ōnoki and Third Raikage A with their massive Dharma Body Forms, but the two Kage joined forces to overwhelm him. As the battle continued, Ōnoki's Dust Release trapped A's arm just as Minato's Space-Time Rasenshuriken closed in.

• Minato Namikaze transformed into his golden Dharma Body Form and clashed with Ōnoki, while Konoha's forces evacuated.
• Minato evaded Ōnoki's Dust Release attacks and struck him with a Super Great Ball Rasengan, then launched a Space-Time Rasenshuriken.
• Third Raikage A arrived and destroyed Minato's Space-Time Rasenshuriken with Raging Thunder, joining Ōnoki against him.
• Minato fought both Kage, using teleportation and Rasengan attacks as Ōnoki's Dust Release rods battered the battlefield.
• Minato hurled another Space-Time Rasenshuriken at A, while Ōnoki trapped one of A's Dharma Body arms with Dust Release.

Minato Namikaze and Ōnoki defeated Third Raikage A after Ōnoki betrayed him, and Iwagakure agreed to withdraw from the war. Back in Konoha, Uchiha Jin learned of Obito Uchiha’s reported death and Nonō’s orphanage, then ordered Root to look for Kabuto.

• Ōnoki attacked A, and Minato Namikaze helped drive the Space-Time Rasenshuriken through A’s Thunder God Dharma Body, killing him.
• Ōnoki ended the fight and announced that Iwagakure would withdraw from the battlefield, warning Minato Namikaze to beware of Mr. An from the Land of Rain.
• Uchiha Jin read reports that A had died and Obito Uchiha had died in battle, and wondered whether Obito’s Sharingan had gone to Kakashi.
• A Root ninja told Jin that Nonō had left Root to open an orphanage, and Jin chose not to interfere with her decision.
• Jin asked Root to check whether Kabuto was at Nonō’s orphanage, and the Root ninja disappeared into the darkness.

Uchiha Jin confronted Yakushi Nonō at the orphanage and pressured her to let Kabuto work for him. Nonō agreed to train Kabuto rather than risk losing the orphanage, leaving Kabuto unaware of the danger facing him.

• Yakushi Nonō sent the orphans inside when Uchiha Jin and Kiyoshi Hyuga approached the orphanage.
• Nonō pleaded with Jin to spare the children, and Kabuto ran over to defend her before she restrained him.
• Jin asked Kabuto to work for him, but Nonō interrupted to say Kabuto was not a ninja.
• Jin ordered Kabuto to report to the Research and Development Department and threatened the orphanage if Nonō refused.
• Nonō agreed to train Kabuto while struggling with the prospect of sending him into Jin's influence.

Jin forced Yakushi Nonō and Kabuto to work for him, making Kabuto his disciple, while Shisui befriended the wary boy. With the Iwagakure Ninja surrendering and Minato Namikaze rumored to be the next Hokage, Jin anticipated that Hiruzen Sarutobi would send him away from Konoha and planned a surprise for him.

• Jin made Nonō agree to work for him and support the orphanage, and ordered Kabuto to become his disciple.
• Kabuto reluctantly called Jin “Teacher,” and Jin sent Shisui to show him around the Research and Development Department.
• Shisui introduced himself to Kabuto, who cautiously shook his hand as Nonō watched.
• Kiyoshi Hyuga told Jin that the Iwagakure Ninja had surrendered and that Minato Namikaze had killed the Raikage of Kumogakure.
• Jin doubted Hiruzen Sarutobi would readily give up the Hokage position and expected him to send Jin away to limit his influence over the Research and Development Department.

At Obito’s grave, Uchiha Jin challenged Kakashi’s beliefs about war and the village, then accepted Hiruzen Sarutobi’s assignment to defend the Kirigakure front. As Jin’s force left Konoha, the Cloud Ninja attacked Kushina’s defensive line, and she met Blue B’s Eight-Tails with Kurama.

• Jin told Kakashi that war served the interests of those in power and invited him to join his cause, but Kakashi refused despite feeling uncertain.
• Jin criticized Hiruzen Sarutobi’s leadership and learned that he was being sent to defend the Kirigakure front against a possible Third Layer powerhouse.
• Jin agreed to the assignment, and Hiruzen assembled a force that included Kiyoshi Hyuga, Hiruko, Research and Development Department personnel, Rin Nohara, and Kakashi.
• Jin told Minato Namikaze that he would compete with him for Hokage after returning, then led the force out of Konoha.
• Blue B led the Cloud Ninja in an assault on Kushina’s defensive line, and she transformed into Kurama to fight his Eight-Tails.

Kumogakure withdrew after the Nine-Tails overwhelmed Gyuki and Konoha’s defenses held, ending the war between them. Jin learned of the withdrawal at the Kirigakure front and chose to wait, watching Rin Nohara among the ninjas behind him.

• Maruboshi Kosuke fought a Kumogakure jonin wielding a weapon that created lightning orbs, then broke the weapon’s blade with a feint and attack.
• The Nine-Tails and Gyuki devastated the battlefield, and the fighting between Konoha and Kumogakure stopped as the beasts battled.
• A ordered the Kumogakure forces to retreat, and Killer B signaled their withdrawal; Gyuki declared that Konoha had won but warned that the grudge remained.
• Kushina chased Gyuki after he vanished, frustrated that the battle had ended before she could do more.
• Jin received the report that Kumogakure had withdrawn and told Kiyoshi Hyuga to wait, looking toward Rin Nohara.

Uchiha Jin arrived at the Konoha camp as Kirigakure’s forces suddenly attacked through the mist. Jin and his clone overwhelmed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and the original absorbed the clone before the story ended.

• Fugaku Uchiha reported that Kirigakure’s ninja had been searching in squads and retreating whenever they encountered Konoha’s forces.
• Jin spotted an approaching mist and realized that someone had exposed the camp, while Fugaku Uchiha discovered that the barrier had been breached.
• The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist surrounded Jin, but he shattered Juzo Biwa’s Kubikiribocho and unleashed Heavenly Demon Four Devours.
• Jin’s darkness engulfed the camp, trapping the ninja and consuming the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
• The original Jin appeared and absorbed his cursing clone, taking the power it had gained from devouring the enemy.

Jin ended the attack on the Konoha camp and discovered that Kakashi and Rin Nohara had vanished. As Kakashi pursued Rin’s captors, Jin confronted Madara Uchiha and left without interfering in the chase.

• Jin dispelled the darkness and fog, ended the battle, and ordered the Konoha Ninja to rebuild the camp.
• Kakashi pursued the ninja who had taken Rin Nohara, with Pakku tracking their scent through the forest.
• A Kirigakure Ninja ambushed Kakashi in the fog, but Kakashi used Wind Release: Tracking Rope and Lightning Release: Chidori to kill him.
• Kakashi summoned Pakku again and continued after Rin, while Jin arrived at the dead ninja’s location with Kiyoshi Hyuga.
• Madara Uchiha warned Jin not to go farther, but Jin refused to be threatened and walked away without intervening in Kakashi’s pursuit.

Rin Nohara asked Kakashi to kill her after Kirigakure sealed the Three-Tails inside her, and Kakashi struck her with Chidori as Obito arrived too late to save her. Obito awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and massacred the Kirigakure Ninja, while Uchiha Jin revealed that he intended to use the violence to expose Konoha’s weakness and draw people into leaving with him.

• Rin Nohara awakened as the Three-Tails' Jinchūriki and attacked the Kirigakure Ninja who planned to use her against Konoha.
• Obito Uchiha learned that Rin had been captured and Kakashi was in danger, then used White Zetsu's body to escape the sealed cave.
• Rin told Kakashi that the Basic Inner Cultivation seal had been released and pleaded with him to kill her before she lost control.
• Kakashi pierced Rin's chest with Chidori, and Obito arrived in time to witness her death and awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Obito used his new powers to slaughter the Kirigakure Ninja, while Jin explained to Kiyoshi Hyuga that he planned to use the attack to reveal Konoha's weakness.