Chapter Summaries

Nara Shikaku argued that the shinobi world was entering an era of military expansion and urged Konoha to strengthen its forces to deter war. In Rain Hidden Village, Obito told Pain that Gaara had defected from Sunagakure and would soon arrive, prompting Pain to prepare to meet him.

• Nara Shikaku explained how villages swung between military expansion and contraction, warning that Sunagakure’s decline could trigger a wider war and leave Konoha vulnerable.
• Shikaku concluded that Konoha needed to expand its army, deter its enemies, and secure surrender, while Jiraiya listened and Aburame Shibi objected.
• Obito Uchiha visited Deva Path Pain and Konan, discussed recruiting new Akatsuki members, and revealed that Gaara had left Sunagakure and was heading to Rain Hidden Village.
• Deva Path Pain learned that Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, was arriving and considered recruiting him into Akatsuki.
• Gaara entered Rain Hidden Village with White Zetsu Tobi and complained that the rain had soaked his sand.

Neji Hyuga completed the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm training and asked Orochimaru to teach him Kidomaru’s Spider Sticky Gold so he could develop long-range sniping attacks. Orochimaru suggested he train with Kidomaru and promised to find him a heavy bow if the approach worked; the chapter ended with Yakushi Kabuto reporting that Gaara had defected and asking whether they should hunt him for the bounty.

• Neji Hyuga shattered a stone pillar with the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm and completed his training despite severe exhaustion.
• Neji asked to learn Kidomaru’s Spider Sticky Gold, and Orochimaru explained that secret techniques required natural affinity and were inefficient for outsiders to learn.
• Neji said he wanted to combine the Byakugan’s vision with a long-range one-hit kill, and Orochimaru told him to train with Kidomaru and offered to find him a heavy bow if it suited him.
• Yakushi Kabuto reported that Gaara had defected from Sunagakure and that a forty-million-ryo bounty had been issued for him.
• Yakushi Kabuto asked Orochimaru whether they should hunt Gaara because the base was short on funds, and Orochimaru considered the proposal.

Second Pillar and Neji Hyuga debated Orochimaru’s plans after Gaara’s defection, with Neji suspecting a plot involving Akatsuki and Kumogakure. They left the archive room to question a figure they believed was Yakushi Kabuto, unaware of the danger ahead.

• Orochimaru went to the Land of Lightning and ordered Yakushi Kabuto to make contact with Akatsuki, while Second Pillar stayed behind to study the Sharingan.
• Neji Hyuga challenged Second Pillar’s belief that Orochimaru had gone to admire windmills and argued that Gaara’s defection might lead to a new war.
• Neji Hyuga reasoned that Orochimaru could be conspiring with Kumogakure to attack the Sand Hidden Village and urged that Konoha be warned.
• Second Pillar and Neji Hyuga left the archive room after deciding to discuss their suspicions elsewhere.
• Second Pillar spotted a tall, thin figure in dark purple in the corridor and called out, asking if it was Yakushi Kabuto.

Uchiha Sasuke confronted Yakushi Kabuto after suspecting he had overheard Sasuke and Neji Hyuga's secret conversation, then sought advice through the Suggestion System. He learned Kabuto was a double agent and a key catalyst for the Fourth Shinobi World War, and left to make plans with Neji.

• Uchiha Sasuke drew his sword when Yakushi Kabuto returned to the base, but let him leave without attacking because a fight might expose Sasuke's undercover identity.
• Uchiha Sasuke and Neji Hyuga discussed whether Kabuto had overheard them, and Sasuke decided Kabuto had to die while Orochimaru was away.
• Uchiha Sasuke asked the Suggestion System's netizens how to eliminate Kabuto, and they advised him to use Sasori of the Red Sands as his weapon.
• Yang Baogang explained that Kabuto was Orochimaru's spy within Sasori's network, and the system offered Sasuke a Rank A scroll for leaking that information to Sasori.
• Uchiha Sasuke accepted the plan and went to Neji Hyuga's room to discuss their next steps.

Jiraiya argued for peace talks to protect Sunagakure’s authorities and deter other villages, and Tsunade unexpectedly supported his approach. Back in his office, Jiraiya received Sasuke’s intelligence about Orochimaru, Yakushi Kabuto, and Akatsuki, then moved to act on Sasuke’s plan to eliminate Kabuto using Sasori’s help.

• Mitokado Homura argued that Konoha should capitalize on Sunagakure’s decline, while Shimura Danzō warned that rival villages might seize its legacy and proposed intervening.
• Jiraiya rejected Danzō’s plan to send Root, proposed peace talks, and defended his authority as Hokage after Danzō mocked his call for peace.
• Tsunade called for a vote and declared that she supported Jiraiya’s approach to Sunagakure.
• Gamako Kosuke told Jiraiya that Sasuke was safe but that Yakushi Kabuto might have discovered his identity, and reported that Orochimaru had gone to the Land of Lightning.
• Jiraiya learned that Kabuto was headed to meet Sasori of the Red Sands and agreed to Sasuke’s plan to use Sasori to eliminate Kabuto.
• Jiraiya sent Genma to summon Nara Shikaku and watched toward the Sound Ninja Village.

Shikamaru Nara arrived in Sunagakure with Aburame Shibi and Temari to begin diplomatic talks. Meanwhile, Orochimaru confronted Fourth Raikage A in Kumogakure and forced him to let their negotiations continue.

• Shikaku Nara sent Shikamaru Nara west to help mediate with Sunagakure as Konoha sought to slow the approach of war.
• Shikamaru Nara arrived at Sunagakure with Aburame Shibi and Temari, where Temari reunited emotionally with Kankuro.
• Orochimaru infiltrated the Raikage Building and took Mabui hostage to confront Fourth Raikage A.
• Orochimaru provoked Fourth Raikage A by insulting Kumogakure, and the Raikage smashed his body with Heavy Stream Smash.
• Orochimaru emerged from his destroyed body and told Mabui to guard the door, warning that negotiations would end if she did not comply.
• Fourth Raikage A ordered Mabui to do as Orochimaru said, giving Orochimaru the initial advantage.

Shikamaru Nara persuaded Baki that cooperating with Konoha was Sunagakure’s best chance to survive, while confessing that he wanted to marry Temari. Baki accepted the proposal and gave Shikamaru his approval, but a shadow of danger still hung over the village as the chapter ended.

• At the council meeting, Temari demanded that Sand Hidden Village prioritize finding Gaara, while Aburame Shibi presented Konoha’s proposal for joint missions and military cooperation worth five hundred million ryo in monthly income.
• At the banquet, Temari argued with Baki over Gaara’s disappearance, then Kankuro and other ninja escorted her away.
• On the balcony, Shikamaru told Baki he wanted to marry Temari and used Gaara’s future and Sunagakure’s military weakness to urge Baki to accept Konoha’s support.
• Baki agreed that Konoha might be Sunagakure’s best option and said he could consider Shikamaru as Temari’s husband; Temari overheard the final exchange and was left flustered.
• In Kirigakure, Nara Shikaku’s delegation finished its objectives and set out for the Land of Lightning, while Shikamaru felt uneasy beneath a moon veiled by a snake-shaped cloud.

Shikaku Nara risked his life to stop Kumogakure from joining Orochimaru's war alliance, but Orochimaru killed him after he publicly accused the Fourth Raikage of pursuing war. His death left Konoha with a powerful symbol for the coming conflict and Shikamaru's future in the hands of the Nara Clan.

• After Konoha, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure announced a collective-defense alliance, Shikamaru Nara prepared to visit Elder Ebizo, while Shikaku Nara traveled alone to negotiate with the Fourth Raikage.
• At Kumogakure's border, Shikaku rejected Nara Suzaku and Shino Aburame's warnings and explained that his mission could either persuade the Fourth Raikage to reject Orochimaru or give Konoha a cause for war if he died.
• Shikaku presented the Fourth Raikage with a peace proposal, but the Raikage denied understanding his warning about Orochimaru and did not stop him from leaving.
• Orochimaru ambushed Shikaku inside the Raikage Building, and Shikaku escaped through a window before running into the streets and accusing the Fourth Raikage of preparing an invasion.
• Orochimaru's snake bit through Shikaku's throat as he shouted, and Shikaku fired a signal flare before dying in the streets of Kumogakure.
• Nara Suzaku and the delegation saw the flare and mourned Shikaku, who entrusted Shikamaru's future to them.

Orochimaru left Kumogakure after securing the Fourth Raikage’s cooperation, while Shikamaru and Temari said an affectionate goodbye as the Konoha delegation departed Sunagakure. Sasori received a warning that Yakushi Kabuto’s mind control had been broken, and Kabuto was summoned to meet Sasori at Tenchi Bridge, unaware that his death was only twenty-one days away.

• Orochimaru told Fourth Raikage Ay he would reveal the truth about Blue B after they reached Konoha, then vanished from Kumogakure.
• Shikamaru Nara told Temari that his visit to Ebizo and Granny Chiyo had gone smoothly, and Temari chose to stay in Sunagakure to help pursue Gaara.
• Temari kissed Shikamaru, thanked him for the happy time she had spent at the Nara Residence, and said she hoped to live there again.
• Kaze no Daimaru warned Sasori of the Red Sands that Konoha had confirmed Yakushi Kabuto’s Mind Control Sand Manipulation was broken and that Kabuto might be plotting against him.
• Yakushi Kabuto received Sasori’s order to return to Tenchi Bridge for an urgent discussion and set out from the border of the Land of Iron.

At Tenchi Bridge, Sasori of the Red Sands exposed Yakushi Kabuto’s deception and defeated him after learning Konoha had revealed their connection. Sasori left Kabuto’s body behind, but as darkness fell, the corpse began to move and Kabuto opened his eyes.

• Yakushi Kabuto met Sasori of the Red Sands at Tenchi Bridge, where Sasori accused him of being under Orochimaru’s control and attacked him with his poisoned scorpion tail.
• Kabuto used a disguised corpse and a surprise strike to sever Sasori’s head, but Sasori revealed himself to be a puppet and counterattacked with poisoned senbon.
• Sasori identified Kabuto’s decoy through its old wound and false face, then learned Kabuto had traced the exposure of his identity to Konoha and Second Pillar.
• Kabuto carved a warning about Sasuke, Konoha, and the undercover agent into his arm, and Sasori killed him with the poisoned needles from Hiruko’s prosthetic arm.
• Sasori left Tenchi Bridge, but after sunset Kabuto’s fingers twitched and he opened his eyes.

Sasuke, Neji, and Kidomaru tested Susanoo’s defenses at Orochimaru’s base before learning that Orochimaru had returned. Meanwhile, Yakushi Kabuto crawled for hours after surviving Sasori’s poison, only to be recognized by a bandaged stranger on the road.

• Neji and Kidomaru used repeated arrows to break Susanoo’s purple hand, and Sasuke discussed how they could improve their next test.
• Tayuya announced that Orochimaru had returned, and Sasuke led the others to go see him.
• Kabuto used medical ninjutsu and the Dead Soul Technique to limit his injuries and poison, then struggled toward the road for nearly nine hours.
• Kabuto reached the roadside at dawn and waited for someone to rescue him, believing he could recover at Orochimaru’s base.
• A bandaged wanderer found Kabuto, yanked him up by the hair, and demanded to know whether Kabuto recognized him.

Dosu Kinuta confronted and killed Yakushi Kabuto after learning Kabuto had forgotten his former teammates. Back at the Sound Ninja Village, Orochimaru gave Neji Hyuga the Dragon Scale Bow and ordered Tayuya, Kidomaru, and Jirobo to teach Sasuke and Neji the Four Black Mist Formation.

• Dosu Kinuta revealed that Sasuke had spared him and helped fake his death, then attacked Yakushi Kabuto over his past treatment of Dosu and his teammates.
• Dosu asked Yakushi Kabuto about Zaku Abumi and Kin Tsuchi, but Kabuto could not remember them, so Dosu killed him with his modified Porous Armor and Sonic Wave Vibration.
• Orochimaru asked where Yakushi Kabuto was after Jirobo reported that he had left alone and had not returned.
• Orochimaru gave Neji Hyuga the Dragon Scale Bow, a lightning-nature weapon obtained from Kumogakure.
• Orochimaru ordered Tayuya, Kidomaru, and Jirobo to teach Sasuke and Neji the Four Black Mist Formation and said he anticipated their Cursed Seal Second State.

Uchiha Sasuke learned that activating Curse Mark State Two required the Mind Awakening Pill and the Four Black Mist Formation, then consulted the system’s netizens about the risks. He left without deciding whether to advance, while the replies fixated on his transformed appearance and one fan’s bizarre affection.

• Orochimaru left Sasuke with the Sound Ninja Trio, who explained that the Mind Awakening Pill awakened State Two but would cause death unless the Four Black Mist Formation reduced it to suspended death.
• Tayuya explained that the formation required four people, so Sasuke and Neji Hyuga would need to practice with the remaining trio.
• Sasuke postponed training and posted on the system to ask netizens whether he should take the pill and advance.
• Netizens joked about Sasuke’s appearance in State Two, while Sasuke interpreted their replies as a lack of serious warnings about the risks.
• Sasuke Uchiha's Mom Fan urged Sasuke to take the pill and called him her baby, but Sasuke told the fan to stop acting crazy before shutting down the system.

Second Pillar activated the Heaven's Curse Mark's second state, flew above the Sound Ninja Village, and learned from Orochimaru how the different Cursed Seals enhanced Yin and Yang Release. Orochimaru revealed that Kimimaro was another successful bearer and ordered a broader search for missing Yakushi Kabuto, leaving Second Pillar to consider whether Kabuto could still be found.

• Second Pillar activated State Two, grew wings, and flew through the sky while Uchiha Itachi watched in anguish and Neji Hyuga and the others looked on enviously.
• Second Pillar asked Orochimaru why he could fly, and Orochimaru explained the three ranks of Cursed Seals and their different powers.
• Orochimaru said the Heaven's Curse Mark enhanced Yin Release and suited the Uchiha, while the Earth Curse Mark supported Neji Hyuga's development.
• Orochimaru named Kaguya Kimimaro as another successful bearer, and Second Pillar rejected Orochimaru's claim that abandoning Kimimaro had been an act of care.
• A Sound Ninja reported that Yakushi Kabuto could not be found, so Orochimaru ordered more than a hundred men to search several neighboring lands and asked Second Pillar if Kabuto could still be found.

Sasuke and Neji Hyuga worried that Orochimaru suspected their role in Yakushi Kabuto’s disappearance, while Konoha and Kumogakure traded accusations over Shikaku Nara’s death and war threatened. After Orochimaru received a badly damaged body believed to be Kabuto’s and ordered his followers to assemble at the Northern Stronghold, he called Sasuke to stay behind, leaving them facing each other in silence.

• Sasuke warned Neji Hyuga that Orochimaru might suspect something about Yakushi Kabuto, and Neji admitted he doubted Sasuke’s intelligence source.
• Shikamaru Nara returned to Konoha, became a Jonin, and succeeded Shikaku Nara as head of the Nara Clan after Shikaku’s death in Kumogakure.
• Konoha and Kumogakure issued competing statements over Shikaku Nara’s death, and Konoha’s published records undermined Kumogakure’s account.
• Yakushi Kabuto’s body was found in the Land of Grass after Dosu Kinuta attacked him, and Orochimaru examined the corpse while questioning the circumstances of his death.
• Orochimaru told his followers that Kabuto might be dead and ordered four of them to lead teams to the Northern Stronghold in three days.
• Orochimaru called Sasuke to remain behind, and Sasuke faced him in the empty hall with his hand on his sword.

Orochimaru mourned Yakushi Kabuto and asked Second Pillar whether he was a bad person, then confessed that he wanted Sasuke to stay by his side as a partner. The chapter ended with Orochimaru offering Sasuke Living Corpse Reincarnation and proposing they build an eternal paradise together.

• Orochimaru recalled meeting Yakushi Kabuto, sparing him from Root, and working with him for more than a decade before grieving his death.
• Second Pillar called Orochimaru a terrible person for his crimes, then admitted Orochimaru had treated him well while pointing out that he had been meant as a vessel.
• Orochimaru praised Sasuke’s talent and rebelliousness, explaining that his fondness for him had grown beyond seeing him as a future vessel.
• Orochimaru said Kabuto had been like his other arm and asked Sasuke to remain by his side as a partner who would help him uncover the ninja world’s truths.
• Second Pillar angrily rejected the idea of replacing Kabuto, declaring, “I am Second Pillar!”
• Orochimaru offered Sasuke Living Corpse Reincarnation and proposed that they build an eternal paradise together.

Sasuke rejected Orochimaru’s offer of immortality, condemning Living Corpse Reincarnation and challenging Orochimaru’s justification for sacrificing lives. After Orochimaru explained how his disillusionment with Hiruzen and Konoha led him to attack the village, Sasuke tried to leave, but Orochimaru accused him and Neji Hyuga of being Konoha spies.

• Sasuke told Orochimaru that his kindness toward him did not erase his evil deeds and rejected Living Corpse Reincarnation as a theft of other people’s lives.
• Orochimaru argued that sacrifices were necessary for immortality and peace, while Sasuke insisted that no one had the right to decide the value of another person’s life.
• Sasuke entered the inner room, saw Yakushi Kabuto’s corpse on the operating table, and silently carried a chair back for Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru explained that Hiruzen’s ideals had failed him, that the deaths of Nawaki and Dan Katō changed the Sannin, and that he attacked Konoha to prove his pursuit of immortality surpassed Hiruzen’s philosophy.
• Sasuke ended the conversation and started to leave, but Orochimaru accused him and Neji Hyuga of being Konoha spies.

Sasuke admitted to Orochimaru that he had sent Konoha information about Orochimaru’s whereabouts, and the two confronted their irreconcilable beliefs. They agreed that Sasuke would repay Orochimaru’s tutelage by bringing him Sasori of the Red Sands’ head, after which Orochimaru would let him leave.

• Orochimaru accused Sasuke of leaking his whereabouts after revealing that Nara Shikaku had died in Kumogakure.
• Sasuke admitted he had sent the intelligence to Konoha and told Orochimaru that his choices after gaining power made him a source of disasters for innocent civilians.
• Orochimaru asked whether Sasuke had caused Yakushi Kabuto’s death, and Sasuke learned that Orochimaru believed Sasori of the Red Sands had killed Kabuto.
• Orochimaru demanded that Neji Hyuga stay as a potential vessel, but Sasuke refused and offered to repay his debt to Orochimaru another way.
• Orochimaru asked Sasuke to bring him Sasori of the Red Sands’ head, and Sasuke immediately agreed.

Second Pillar agreed to kill Sasori of the Red Sands and planned to leave with Neji Hyuga, while preparing to free Hozuki Suigetsu before the mission. He gained a new skill-plundering secret technique, then opened his door to find Tayuya asking to come in.

• Second Pillar agreed to settle Orochimaru’s score with Sasori of the Red Sands, and told Neji Hyuga to leave with him at dawn.
• Second Pillar told Hozuki Suigetsu to escape that night, refusing to ask Orochimaru to let him join the mission.
• Second Pillar opened two system rewards, gaining one-handed hand signs and the secret technique Thousand Arts, Return to One, which let him permanently steal a slain enemy’s core skill.
• Second Pillar prepared to seek battle advice about Sasori of the Red Sands, but a late-night knock interrupted him.
• Second Pillar opened the door and found Tayuya, who shyly asked if she could come in.

Tayuya visited Second Pillar at Orochimaru’s urging to try to keep him from leaving by marrying and starting a family, but she also confessed that she genuinely loved him. Second Pillar rejected her advances and sent her away, then returned to the system forum to write a question.

• Tayuya entered Second Pillar’s room and approached him, but he shoved her away when she tried to get close.
• After Tayuya asked whether she was pretty, Second Pillar dodged her kiss with a Substitution Technique and learned Orochimaru had asked her to persuade him to stay by marrying her and having children.
• Tayuya confessed that she had loved Second Pillar since their first meeting and begged him not to leave, but he said he did not love her.
• Tayuya offered to become Second Pillar’s only master, but he used the Body Flicker Technique to put her outside and shut the door.
• Second Pillar dismissed Hozuki Suigetsu’s teasing, went to bed, and began typing a question into the system forum.