Chapter Summaries

Hirohiko and Kagari received an urgent provisional S-rank mission from the Raikage and prepared to depart with their assigned leaders. Meanwhile, Dada began Sage Mode training, where his unusual purple spine appeared to counteract petrification by absorbing Natural Energy.

• Third Raikage A summoned Hirohiko and Kagari, assigned Brunhild and Kawanishi Kyohei as their leaders, and ordered the team to assemble at the village gates in three hours.
• Dada began Sage Mode training with Sage Katsuyu, but he struggled to sense Natural Energy and became distracted by thoughts about mixing it with Chakra outside the body.
• Dada's arm began to petrify while Katsuyu's acidic fluid corroded his skin, and he could not control the Natural Energy because he had failed to sense it.
• A glowing purple spine and tiny electric arcs appeared beneath Dada's skin, and the petrification in his arm rapidly receded as he suspected the spine was absorbing Natural Energy.

Dada discovered that his spine could absorb Natural Energy directly, marking him as one of the rare beings born able to use it, though he could not retain any to refine Sage Chakra. Meanwhile, Hirohiko and Kagari joined Brunhild and Kawanishi Kyohei for a secret mission and met their formidable captain, Blue B, aboard an Island Turtle.

• Sage Katsuyu confirmed that Dada's spine naturally absorbed Natural Energy and said he was one of her kind.
• Dada tried to blend Natural Energy with his Chakra but found that his spine absorbed every trace of it.
• Hirohiko and Kagari left home for a special mission after their mother packed them rice balls.
• Brunhild and Kawanishi Kyohei led the siblings to the Land of Lightning's coast, where they waited for the mission captain.
• An Island Turtle emerged from the sea, and Hirohiko and Kagari recognized Blue B standing on its head as their captain.

Dada continued absorbing Natural Energy in Shikkotsu Forest while Uzumaki Hirohiko and Uzumaki Kagari traveled with Blue B’s team toward Konoha. The group reached the village’s outskirts, where Blue B decided that only three of them would infiltrate while he and another stayed behind.

• Dada complained about the slow, tedious absorption process, and Sage Katsuyu explained that his progress was already unusually fast.
• Uzumaki Hirohiko told Uzumaki Kagari that they needed to project confidence and presence so others would not mistake them for novices.
• Blue B led the group to the Land of Fire, where Konoha Anbu met them and demanded that they release their Transformation Jutsu.
• The group traveled to Konoha’s outskirts, and the Anbu explained that a gap in the village barrier would open for three hours after nightfall.
• Blue B refused to entrust the escape route to Konoha and said that he and another would wait outside while the other three infiltrated the village.

Danzo arranged extra guards for a covert operation to capture the Nine-Tails, while Kushina struggled with her isolation in Konoha. She was ambushed at home and carried toward the village wall by Uzumaki Hirohiko, Kagari, and Brunhild.

• Danzo learned that five disguised people from Kumogakure had arrived and ordered two more squads to guard the barrier exit.
• Kushina met Minato Namikaze on the street, but declined his invitation to eat with him and Mikoto.
• Kushina returned to her empty home, where three ninjas dropped from the ceiling and knocked her unconscious with a blow that disrupted her Chakra.
• Uzumaki Hirohiko, Kagari, and Brunhild confirmed the Fuinjutsu had worked, then carried Kushina toward Konoha's village wall.

Kushina was captured by Brunhild and her companions, while Minato Namikaze discovered her abduction and followed the red hairs she left behind. Kagari planted her own red hair to mislead him, leaving Minato lost among several trails.

• Kushina met the Nine-Tails in her sealing space, and they recognized that they were both prisoners.
• Brunhild put the bound Kushina down and led her away from Konoha with Hirohiko and Kagari.
• Kushina dropped strands of her distinctive red hair to mark the captors’ route, but Kagari noticed and left her own hair at other crossroads.
• Minato Namikaze found signs of Kushina’s abduction at her home and left a note for a neighbor before pursuing the captors.
• An animal-masked ninja took Minato’s note from the neighbor, while Minato followed the red hairs and repeatedly chose the wrong trail.

Minato Namikaze confronted the Cloud ninja who had abducted Kushina and declared that he would save her regardless of her being a Jinchuriki. While he faced Uzumaki Hirohiko, Brunhild took Kushina toward the barrier, and Blue B and Kawanishi Kyohei waited nearby after defeating Root, unable to work out how to calculate their coordinates.

• Kushina tried to question her captors as Brunhild wondered why Konohagakure had not sent a pursuit force.
• Minato Namikaze attacked the group, but Kushina urged him to flee, and he learned that she was a Jinchuriki.
• Minato said Kushina was his companion and that saving her needed no reason, but Brunhild ordered Uzumaki Hirohiko to delay him while she took Kushina away.
• Uzumaki Hirohiko used Earth Release: Earth Flow River to sweep Minato into mud, and Minato prepared to fight him after Kushina was taken.
• Ten minutes earlier, Blue B and Kawanishi Kyohei had defeated a group of Root ninjas, then discovered neither of them knew how to calculate coordinates from their manual.

Minato Namikaze fought Hirohiko in the Death Forest, where their matching Rasengan collided as Hirohiko’s fire spread across the forest. Hatake Sakumo learned the village barrier had failed, and Hiruzen Sarutobi revealed that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and her guards had vanished.

• Hirohiko unleashed powerful Wind and Fire Release techniques, setting much of the Death Forest ablaze while Minato tried to find an opening.
• Minato used clones and the Substitution Technique to cut Hirohiko’s face, then pressed him in close combat to prevent further ninjutsu.
• Minato and Hirohiko each formed a Rasengan and struck them together.
• An Anbu reported the forest fire and the failure of Konoha’s barrier to Hatake Sakumo.
• Sakumo ordered Anbu Squads One and Two to investigate and notified Elder Sarutobi before heading toward the fire.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi met Sakumo in combat gear and revealed that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and her guards had vanished.

Danzo learned that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had vanished, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo pursued the suspected attackers through the burning Death Forest. The chase ended at the barrier, where an unfamiliar group confronted them and was revealed to include Jinchuriki, while the Nine-Tails' location remained unknown.

• A Root ninja told Danzo that the Jinchuriki had disappeared, a battle had set the Death Forest ablaze, and the barrier had an anomaly.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hatake Sakumo, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio raced to the fire to find the Nine-Tails.
• Hirohiko defeated Minato Namikaze, then fled as Hatake Sakumo and the other Konohagakure ninja pursued him.
• Hirohiko reached the barrier, where Kawanishi Kyohei, Brunhild, and Blue B ambushed Hatake Sakumo.
• A Hyuga Anbu member identified Jinchuriki among the unfamiliar group, and Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded to know where the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was.

Kumogakure and Danzo’s scheme converged on a confrontation between Blue B’s team and Konohagakure’s forces, while the Third Raikage prepared an aerial assault using the Heavenly Transfer Technique. The Raikage’s team overshot the battlefield and flew out over the ocean, leaving both sides stunned.

• Third Raikage A and Dodai decided to exploit Danzo’s plan and secretly prepare an assault from the sky, sending Blue B’s team ahead as bait.
• Hatake Sakumo and Hiruzen Sarutobi confronted Blue B, Kawanishi Kyohei, Brunhild, and Uzumaki Hirohiko near Konohagakure’s Death Forest.
• Third Raikage A gathered nine elite Cloud Ninja, had Dodai prepare protective membranes for the Transport Pods, and entered the Heavenly Transfer Technique facility with a new battle axe.
• Blue B’s team revealed their identities as streaks of light approached, and Hiruzen recognized the Heavenly Transfer Technique and warned Konohagakure’s ninja to prepare for battle.
• The ten streaks flew over the fighters and continued beyond the horizon over the ocean, prompting Blue B and Kawanishi Kyohei to realize their coordinates might have been wrong.

Uzumaki Kagari tried to persuade Kushina to leave Konohagakure for Kumogakure, offering her food and the hope of a new life with someone from their clan. After the Raikage passed overhead without stopping, Root tracked them down and surrounded them, leaving Kagari to search for a way out.

• Kagari hid with the bound Kushina and revealed that she was also from the Uzumaki Clan, urging Kushina to come with her to Kumogakure.
• Kagari told Kushina that someone inside Konohagakure had helped the kidnappers enter the village, then offered her a rice ball and described the peaceful life she could have in Kumogakure.
• Kushina ate the rice ball and considered Kagari's offer, but remembered the yellow-haired boy who had called her a companion and wondered whether Mikoto would be angry if she left.
• The Raikage and several streaks of light passed overhead without stopping, leaving Kagari confused about what had happened.
• Root ninja tracked Kagari and Kushina through a tiny insect hidden in Kushina's hair, chased them into the forest, and surrounded them.
• Panicked at facing the Root team, Kagari remembered that Brother Dada had given her something.

Dada mastered his own Lightning Sage Mode in Shikkotsu Forest and returned to the Land of Fire. He arrived just in time to rescue Kagari and Kushina from Root, interrupting his bath in the process.

• Dada’s Natural Energy absorption accelerated, transforming his lower spine gold and awakening a lightning-marked Sage Mode.
• Dada discovered that his Sage Chakra let him reshape Lightning Release Chakra freely, then left Shikkotsu Forest to go home, bathe, and eat.
• Root ninja cornered Kagari, who used Dada’s emergency scroll to summon a small white snake for help.
• An Aburame Root ninja attacked Kagari and Kushina with insects that released a gas, but the white snake activated its power and summoned Dada.
• Dada electrocuted the insects and rescued Kagari and Kushina, appearing naked with soap and a toothbrush because he had been bathing.

Dada arrived to rescue Kagari and Kushina, then swiftly defeated the Root ninja surrounding them. After learning Blue B and his father were in danger, he sent Kagari and Kushina toward the Island Turtle and rushed to help Blue B.

• Dada appeared beside Kagari and Kushina, learned the mission had gone wrong, and hurriedly put on a pair of pants.
• Dada killed or incapacitated the Root ninja attacking them in less than three minutes.
• Kagari explained that the Heavenly Transfer Technique had gone wrong and that Kushina was willing to come to Kumogakure.
• Dada told Kagari to take Kushina toward the Island Turtle and keep moving while he went to help Blue B.

Blue B and the others were trapped inside Konoha’s Four Violet Flames Formation after the Third Raikage’s group vanished. Dada arrived through Reverse Summoning, awakened Sage Mode, and used Sage Lightning Armor to charge toward Konoha, forcing Hiruzen Sarutobi to choose between defending the village and holding the barrier.

• Blue B activated the Tailed Beast Cloak and fired a Tailed Beast Bomb, but Konoha’s Anbu raised the Four Violet Flames Formation around the battlefield.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo attacked Blue B while the Ino-Shika-Cho trio fought Hirohiko, Kawanishi Kyohei, and Brunhild.
• Dada arrived through Reverse Summoning and told Hirohiko and Kawanishi Kyohei that he did not know where the Third Raikage and the others had gone.
• Dada entered Sage Mode and discovered that he could not break the Four Violet Flames Formation directly.
• Dada formed Sage Lightning Armor and charged toward Konoha, prompting Hiruzen Sarutobi to confront the threat to the village.

Dada attacked Konoha to force Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo to respond while their forces fought inside the Four Violet Flames Formation. As the village’s ninja pursued him and Might Duy intercepted him, Dada prepared an enormous lightning attack over Konoha’s center.

• Uchiha Fugaku spotted the conspicuously armored Dada, chased him, and watched him unleash Lightning Dragons against the Hokage Building and destroy part of Hokage Rock.
• Dada raced through Konoha, damaging buildings and killing pursuing ninja while avoiding crowded areas; Tsume Inuzuka was sent to a shelter, Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga went to provide support, and Orochimaru continued his cloning research.
• Dada defeated an ambusher and broke through Konoha’s earthen defenses with a Great Lightning Spear as Uchiha Fugaku tried to slow him with kunai.
• Dada charged Uchiha Fugaku, but Might Duy kicked him through a building and stopped his attack.
• Dada sensed that Blue B and the others were in grave danger inside the Four Violet Flames Formation, then flew toward Konoha’s center on a Lightning Dragon as Might Duy pursued him.
• Dada formed an enormous purple Lightning Release Rasengan above the village and prepared to attack.

Dada devastated Konohagakure with the Purple Moon and fought off the village’s furious clans as they encircled him. As Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo rushed to the battlefield, Might Duy opened the Seventh Gate to confront him.

• Dada dropped the Purple Moon into Konohagakure, destroying much of the central district and injuring numerous ninja.
• In a shelter, Kakashi joined Obito and Might Guy in amusing frightened children, while Mikoto witnessed the destruction from the Uchiha compound.
• Konohagakure’s clans gathered to attack Dada, who resisted their mental techniques, genjutsu, giants, and close-range assaults.
• Dada sensed the Four Violet Flames Formation fall as Blue B helped three injured men retreat and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio pursued them.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo hurried toward Dada as Might Duy opened the Seventh Gate.

Dada fought off Konoha’s defenders and escaped into the air, but Might Duy used the Adamantine Staff to bring Hiruzen Sarutobi within striking distance. Hiruzen appeared in front of Dada and began the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

• Might Duy opened the Seventh Gate and battled Dada, but Dada overpowered him and sent him crashing through buildings.
• Hatake Sakumo joined the fight and shattered Dada’s Sage Lightning Armor, but Dada restored it and fled toward the coast on a Lightning Dragon.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi found the injured Might Duy and asked him to help catch Dada rather than use his final move recklessly.
• Might Duy used the Adamantine Staff to destroy Dada’s Lightning Dragon and launch himself into the air, then attacked with Ruyi Morning Peacock.
• Might Duy threw the Adamantine Staff at Dada, revealing Hiruzen Sarutobi, who appeared at close range and began the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to try to kill Yotsuki Dana, but the Golden Spine released Natural Energy that petrified Hiruzen and let Dana survive. Dana returned to Blue B's group and headed for Kumogakure, while Danzo began a new experiment on Kushina.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to restrain Dana and began pulling out his soul, hoping his death would unite Konohagakure and protect it from Kumogakure.
• As Dana's soul was nearly extracted, the Golden Spine unleashed its stored Natural Energy, and a lightning strike burned Hiruzen while the Natural Energy turned him to stone.
• Dana's soul returned to his body, and Hiruzen Sarutobi died as the Shinigami swallowed his soul; Konohagakure's ninja found only a broken stone statue.
• Dana escaped the pursuing Konohagakure ninja and rejoined Blue B's group, where he learned that Root had severely injured Uzumaki Kagari; the group chose to return to Kumogakure on the Island Turtle.
• At the Konohagakure Root base, Danzo used curse marks to control Kushina and ordered his subordinates to sever her connection with the Nine-Tails and transplant the Sharingan.

After becoming Kumogakure’s Acting Raikage, Yotsuki Dana responded to the Third Raikage’s disappearance and the fallout from his attack on Konoha. As villages and the Land of Lightning reacted to the news, Minato Namikaze woke in the overcrowded Konoha Hospital, while a flashback revealed that the Third Raikage’s search party had been sent to a frozen wasteland.

• Yotsuki Dana became Acting Raikage, sent a team to search for the Third Raikage, and assigned Kawanishi Kyohei to the search while keeping Blue B in the village.
• Ōnoki read that Hiruzen Sarutobi had died defending Konoha, and Yagura Karatachi summoned the Sealing Squad in response to Kumogakure’s growing strength.
• The Land of Lightning’s Daimyo learned that a hidden force had consolidated much of the country’s weapons and forging industries, then decided to write a letter.
• Minato Namikaze woke in Konoha Hospital, asked about Kushina, and then asked Mikoto to explain what had happened while he was unconscious.
• In a flashback, the Third Raikage A and his elite ninja arrived on a frozen ice field, realized they had been sent to the wrong place, and A vowed to beat Blue B.

Uzumaki Kagari worried about Kushina after Konoha took her back, while Dada weighed Kumogakure’s response to the attack and began a new project at the Experimental Base. In Konoha, the village held a funeral for the dead, where Sarutobi Biwako told Might Duy that Hiruzen had wanted him to form a contract with the Enma Clan.

• Uzumaki Kagari told Uzumaki Hirohiko that she feared for Kushina and asked whether a mission could be assigned to a specific person.
• Dada instructed his secretary to sort the Raikage Building’s documents and considered Konoha’s restrained response to the crisis.
• Dada visited the Experimental Base and asked Anzai Mamoru to develop a portable ninja tool that could keep a small Katsuyu alive.
• Hatake Sakumo and the village elders attended Konoha’s collective funeral as Utatane Koharu took responsibility for finding the village informant.
• Might Duy comforted Sarutobi Biwako, who told him that Hiruzen had wanted him to form a contract with the Enma Clan.

Dada received a portable Communication Snail prototype for Small Katsuyu and brought a mathematics book to Sage Katsuyu in Shikkotsu Forest. Meanwhile, Minato followed a series of coded missions that revealed Kushina was in Root, and decided to join the Anbu to investigate.

• Anzai Mamoru showed Dada a wrist-worn, protective shell designed to house Small Katsuyu, and Dada named the device a Communication Snail.
• Dada visited Sage Katsuyu and presented her with a book about constructing coordinate systems and elementary mathematics.
• After losing his home in the Night of the Purple Moon, Minato returned to missions and received several strange commissions from clients using false names.
• The commissions delivered the message that Kushina was in Root.
• Minato learned Root was a squad under the Anbu and decided to join the Anbu so he could investigate it.