Chapter Summaries

Nagato convened an Akatsuki meeting after losing contact with Kakuzu, Hidan, and Juzo Biwa, and learned that both missions in Konoha had failed. With Konoha’s strength now clear, Pain redirected Akatsuki’s plans toward capturing the other Tailed Beasts.

• Nagato summoned Akatsuki members to a cave, where Kakuzu, Hidan, and Juzo Biwa’s phantoms failed to appear.
• Itachi told Pain that Juzo Biwa had sacrificed himself during their failed attempt to reach the Two-Tails Jinchuriki in Konoha.
• Pain confirmed that Kakuzu’s mission had also failed, accepted responsibility for underestimating Konoha, and ruled out secretly infiltrating the village.
• Sasori of the Red Sands reported that he and Deidara had reached Sunagakure’s border and planned to capture Gaara before going after Konoha’s Jinchuriki.
• Pain stopped Sasori of the Red Sands and Itachi from arguing and told Itachi to take charge of capturing the other Tailed Beasts.

Pain introduced Kisame Hoshigaki as Itachi’s partner for capturing the Three-Tails, then asked Akatsuki whether to accept the Land of Lightning’s request for protection against Konoha. The members learned that Kaze had killed Raikage Killer B and crippled Kumogakure, and Sasori and Deidara withdrew to resume their mission for the One-Tail.

• Pain introduced Kisame Hoshigaki, an S-rank rogue ninja from Kirigakure, and assigned him to team up with Itachi to capture the Three-Tails.
• Pain told Akatsuki that the Land of Lightning had hired shinobi organizations and villages for protection against Konoha.
• Black Zetsu explained that Kaze had killed Raikage Killer B and devastated Kumogakure’s forces, leaving the Land of Lightning at risk of conquest.
• Sasori of the Red Sands argued that Akatsuki should capture the One-Tail before deciding whether to join the war, then ended his projection.
• Deidara expressed shock at Kaze’s strength and also ended his projection.

Sasori and Deidara continued their plan to capture Gaara despite Konoha declaring war on the Land of Lightning. Deidara reached Gaara’s isolated home at night, intending to defeat him quickly, while Sasori headed to the Kazekage Building.

• Sasori gave Deidara a bottle of nerve-paralyzing poison gas to mix into his clay bombs.
• Sasori explained that Gaara’s sand defense and Fourth Kazekage Rasa posed threats, then assigned Deidara to capture Gaara while he went to the Kazekage Building.
• Deidara made a clay owl, mounted it, and flew toward Gaara’s home under cover of night.
• Deidara arrived above Gaara’s brightly lit, isolated house and thought of his own past.

Deidara attacked Gaara’s home with explosive clay grasshoppers to test his Absolute Defense, but Gaara survived the blast unharmed and confronted him. The two faced each other as Gaara demanded to know who Deidara was and why he had come.

• Deidara recalled that his childhood isolation in Iwagakure had been similar to Gaara’s, then sent clay grasshoppers to search Gaara’s home.
• Gaara noticed the grasshoppers but assumed they might be another test arranged by his father, Rasa.
• The grasshoppers attacked and exploded, setting Gaara’s home ablaze and collapsing it around him.
• Gaara’s sand barrier protected him, pushed aside the rubble, and extinguished the flames.
• Gaara spotted Deidara on his Clay Owl and asked who he was, why he had come, and who had sent him.

Gaara fought Deidara, an intruder sent to capture the One-Tail Jinchuriki, using his sand to counter the explosive clay attacks. Deidara evaded Gaara’s assaults but found himself pursued in the air as Gaara continued attacking.

• Gaara questioned Deidara about his identity and purpose, but Deidara refused to answer and launched clay birds at him.
• Deidara detonated the birds around Gaara, while Gaara used the explosion as cover to attack from above with Sand Shower.
• Deidara shielded himself with his Clay Owl and escaped the sand rain, but Gaara lifted sand into the air to pursue him.
• Gaara sent four Sand Shuriken after Deidara, and their fragments transformed into daggers that kept attacking him.
• Deidara realized that the Genin was far more troublesome than expected as Gaara warned him not to run.

Gaara overwhelmed Deidara with a powerful sand attack, forcing him to use his secret weapon, C4 Garuda. Deidara launched the giant clay puppet and fled upward as Gaara’s vast sand torrent closed in.

• Gaara fired Sand Shower Barrage and pursued Deidara with the Sand Hand, but Deidara dodged while repairing his Clay Owl.
• Gaara realized Deidara had led him to an uninhabited area and unleashed Flowing Sand Waterfall, sending a huge wave of sand toward him.
• Deidara reached for Sasori’s poison gas but chose to use C4 Garuda against Gaara’s massive attack.
• Deidara spat out a giant clay puppet resembling himself, then flew the Clay Owl toward the high sky.

Deidara used C4 Garuda against Gaara, unleashing a massive explosion over Sunagakure. The blast sent Gaara flying while Deidara watched his creation in exhilaration.

• Deidara prepared C4 Garuda, a powerful explosive technique infused with Sasori's poison, and retreated beyond its blast radius.
• Gaara anticipated Deidara's escape and used sand from his gourd to form a Sand Hand that seized Deidara.
• As Gaara's Flowing Sand Waterfall engulfed C4 Garuda, Deidara detonated the giant clay doll with Gaara still within its blast radius.
• Gaara formed Sand Armor and a thick Sand Wall, but the explosion produced a mushroom cloud and shockwave that blasted him away.
• Deidara admired the explosion and exclaimed that art truly was explosion, thinking that Sasori must be watching.

Deidara’s C4 Garuda left Gaara severely injured and poisoned, and Gaara lost consciousness after one final failed attack. The explosion alerted Sunagakure, while Kazekage Rasa watched from the Kazekage Building.

• Gaara fell from the sky after the C4 Garuda explosion, badly injured and unable to stand as Deidara approached.
• The explosion’s invisible Clay Spiders, carrying Sasori of the Red Sands’ nerve-numbing poison, entered Gaara’s body through his breathing.
• Gaara tried to grab Deidara with sand and gravel, but Deidara destroyed the attack with a Clay Mouse explosion.
• Gaara lost consciousness, and Deidara confirmed he was down before reflecting on the strength of Jinchuriki and Konoha’s Genin.
• The blast woke Sunagakure’s civilians and ninjas, who reacted in alarm and prepared to investigate.
• Kazekage Rasa watched the explosion from the Kazekage Building.

Sasori saw Deidara's enormous explosion and rushed toward it, while Rasa mistook the blast near Gaara's home for another rampage and organized Sunagakure's response. Rasa reached the scene and was stunned by what he found.

• Sasori judged that Deidara had probably dealt with Gaara and left the Kazekage Building to head toward the mushroom cloud.
• Rasa escaped the Kazekage Building on a platform of sand and assumed Gaara had lost control again.
• Rasa ordered Elite Jonin to evacuate civilians and establish a defensive line before he hurried toward the blast.
• Rasa raised a twenty-meter sand wall with Magnet Release to shield Sunagakure from the explosion's shockwave, though buildings collapsed and villagers were buried.
• Rasa blamed Gaara for the disaster and arrived at the scene, where what he saw left him stunned.

Rasa found Deidara carrying the unconscious Gaara on a Clay Owl and pursued them through the air. Deidara broke through Rasa’s Golden Sand Wave, but Rasa continued attacking and closing off his escape.

• Rasa arrived and saw the unconscious Gaara clutched in Deidara’s Clay Owl’s talons.
• Deidara recognized Rasa as Sunagakure’s Kazekage and tried to flee with Gaara.
• Rasa used Magnet Release: Golden Sand Wave to ensnare Deidara and the owl.
• Deidara detonated Explosive Clay birds to open a gap in the gold dust and flew through it.
• Rasa pursued Deidara, identified him as a likely Iwagakure Missing-nin, and attacked again with more gold dust.

Rasa defeated Deidara and recovered Gaara, but Sasori ambushed him with poisoned needles. Sasori chose to take Gaara and leave rather than kill Rasa, who attacked him with a Gold Dust Cube before he could get close.

• Rasa used Gold Dust Waves to knock Deidara, Gaara, and the Clay Owl into the sand, then restrained Deidara and recovered Gaara.
• Sasori ambushed Rasa with poisoned needles, striking his left shoulder before Rasa raised a gold dust barrier.
• Sasori considered turning Rasa into a Human Puppet but decided to take Gaara and escape instead of killing Rasa.
• Rasa tore away Deidara's ninja tool pouch and hurled a Gold Dust Cube at Sasori.

Rasa used two masses of gold dust to crush Sasori of the Red Sands' puppet, only to discover that his old rival had survived and that a poison needle was already weakening him. Sasori urged Rasa to conserve his strength, but Rasa began using Magnet Release.

• Sasori of the Red Sands dodged Rasa's Gold Dust Cube, but Rasa redirected it and crushed Scorpion's Puppet between two masses of gold dust.
• Deidara called Sasori his brother, prompting Rasa to recognize the exposed man as Sasori of the Red Sands, his former rival and Chiyo's grandson.
• Rasa demanded to know why Sasori had returned, then collapsed as the poison from Sasori's needle spread through his body.
• Sasori explained that Rasa had lost once the poison struck and advised him to lie still until his subordinates could rescue him.
• Rasa ignored Sasori's advice and began to invoke Magnet Release.

Rasa fought to stop Sasori of the Red Sands from taking Gaara, but Sasori revealed that he had turned the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet. Rasa attacked in fury, yet Sasori used the Third Kazekage’s Iron Sand to repel him, and Rasa collapsed from the poison.

• Rasa broke apart the Gold Dust beneath Sasori of the Red Sands, but Sasori unfurled a puppet scroll marked with the number three.
• Sasori summoned the Third Kazekage as a Human Puppet, whose Iron Sand blocked Rasa’s Gold Dust.
• Rasa recognized the Third Kazekage and accused Sasori of killing the man who had once valued him and considered him as a successor.
• Rasa launched a Great Sand Wave at Sasori, but the Third Kazekage’s Iron Sand Wall stopped the attack.
• Rasa collapsed from Sasori’s poison, unable to rise again, while Sasori and the Third Kazekage remained unharmed.

Sasori and Deidara defeated Rasa, abducted Gaara, and escaped, leaving Rasa to warn Baki and urge Sunagakure to seek Konoha’s help. Meanwhile, Kaze welcomed Team 7 back from their successful mission and assigned them another job, while Zabuza and Haku remained in his office.

• Sasori and Deidara left Rasa poisoned and incapacitated, carrying the unconscious Gaara away from the battlefield.
• Baki and Sunagakure’s jonin found Rasa, who revealed that Sasori had abducted Gaara with an Iwagakure missing-nin and had turned the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet.
• Rasa ordered the ninja not to pursue Sasori and Deidara, asked Baki to request Konoha’s help, and then lost consciousness.
• Baki sent Rasa to the hospital and dispatched a ninja to Konoha to request aid, while planning to investigate the abductors’ movements.
• Kaze agreed to hold negotiations with the Land of Lightning’s Daimyo in the Land of Iron, then welcomed Team 7 back after they helped defeat Gato and complete Tazuna’s bridge.
• Kaze awarded Minato two million ryo, placed Gato’s ten-billion-ryo fortune in Konoha’s treasury, and assigned Team 7 another mission before meeting with Zabuza and Haku.

Kaze offered Zabuza the Kubikiribōchō and invited him to join Konoha, explaining that he wanted to unite the ninja world and bring peace. Zabuza remained stunned by Kaze’s ideals and proposal as Kaze revealed Konoha’s plans to conquer the great nations.

• Kaze brought out the Kubikiribōchō and explained how it had come into Konoha’s possession after Juzo Biwa died.
• Zabuza tested the sword, and Kaze gave it to him because it suited him.
• Kaze recounted Zabuza’s past and recognized that his rebellion against Kirigakure had been driven by opposition to the Bloody Mist Village, though Zabuza denied it.
• Zabuza questioned why Kaze would accept a Kirigakure rogue ninja, and Kaze described his vision of a fairer world inspired by Konoha.
• Kaze invited Zabuza to help end the age of ninja and proposed unifying the ninja world through war and political means.
• Kaze told Zabuza that Konoha planned to annex the Land of Lightning, then the Land of Wind, the Land of Water, and the Land of Earth.

Kaze persuaded Zabuza and Haku to stay in Konoha and experience its treatment of people with Kekkei Genkai, then learned that Akatsuki had attacked Sunagakure and taken its Jinchuriki. He sent for Minato Namikaze and assigned Team 7 to pursue the attackers, with Sasuke and Naruto eager to accept.

• Kaze promised Haku that people with Kekkei Genkai deserved fair treatment and invited Zabuza and Haku to stay in Konoha while they considered his proposal to unify the ninja world.
• Kaze used a Den Den Mushi to summon Setsuna, who arranged lodging for Zabuza and Haku; Zabuza thanked Kaze before leaving.
• Mahong arrived from Sunagakure and reported that Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara had defeated Kazekage Rasa and taken his child.
• Kaze agreed to aid Sunagakure, learned that Rasa was unconscious from Sasori's poison, and summoned Minato Namikaze to handle the mission.
• Kaze told Minato Namikaze and Team 7 that Akatsuki had taken Sunagakure's Jinchuriki, and Sasuke and Naruto eagerly accepted the pursuit mission.

Kaze assigned Minato Namikaze and Team 7 to help Sunagakure rescue Gaara, explaining Akatsuki’s threat and asking Minato to recover Shukaku if circumstances required it. When Mahong doubted the young team’s ability, Kaze arranged a spar, and Naruto’s speed and strength stunned him.

• Kaze told Team 7 that Akatsuki was targeting Jinchuriki, including Naruto, and Minato Namikaze agreed to lead the mission to Sunagakure.
• Kaze assigned Nanami to treat Rasa’s poison and asked Minato Namikaze to recover the Tailed Beast within Gaara if the situation turned unfavorable.
• Kaze sent Minato Namikaze and Team 7 to prepare while Mahong rested, then gathered them again with Nanami and Mahong in the Hokage’s Office.
• Mahong questioned whether the mostly Genin team could rescue Gaara, so Kaze proposed that Mahong test one of them in a spar.
• Mahong chose Naruto, who used Shave to move behind him before striking, leaving Mahong stunned by his speed and force.

Naruto overwhelmed Mahong during a spar in Kaze’s office, after which Team 7 set out for Sunagakure to rescue Gaara. On the journey, Mahong revealed that Sasori had defeated the Fourth Kazekage and turned the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet.

• Naruto struck Mahong into the office wall, then diverted a second punch that destroyed the wall before Kaze stopped the spar.
• Mahong conceded that Naruto possessed Elite Jonin-level strength, and Nanami treated his injuries while Anbu arrived to inspect the damage.
• Kaze sent Mahong and Team 7 to the Land of Wind, then considered Akatsuki’s campaign against the tailed beasts and his own plans for the Land of Lightning.
• Minato asked Mahong for intelligence about Sasori, and Mahong explained that Puppet Masters used chakra threads, hidden weapons, and poison.
• Minato reasoned that Rasa’s Magnet Release should counter puppets, prompting Mahong to reveal Sasori’s Human Puppets and his assassination of the Third Kazekage.

Mahong told Minato Namikaze's group that Sasori of the Red Sands had likely ambushed and turned the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet, prompting Minato to warn that Akatsuki might target them on the way to Sunagakure. Obito mistook Kaze's deployment of Team 7 for a trap and decided to join Akatsuki to speed up the One-Tail sealing, while Minato's group reached Sunagakure and stunned Baki with their small, young-looking delegation.

• Mahong explained that Sasori of the Red Sands had probably ambushed the Third Kazekage and made him a Human Puppet, and Minato Namikaze warned that Sasori might possess other puppets with dangerous abilities.
• Minato Namikaze suspected Akatsuki could have learned of their mission and might send additional enemies, while Naruto and Sasuke looked forward to confronting them.
• After White Zetsu reported Kaze had sent Team 7 to Sunagakure, Obito speculated that Kaze was baiting Akatsuki and ordered Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara to seal the One-Tail quickly before withdrawing.
• Obito decided to join Akatsuki to speed up the sealing, and Kaze sneezed in his Hokage's Office without knowing Obito had misread his intentions.
• Mahong led Minato Namikaze, Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, and Nanami across the Land of Wind to Sunagakure, where Baki was alarmed to see only one adult among the Konoha group.
• Mahong told Baki that Naruto, Sasuke, and Karin were Konoha Genin trained by Kaze and were powerful enough to rival Jonin, leaving the Sand Ninja bewildered.

Naruto demonstrated his overwhelming Taijutsu to Baki and the Sunagakure ninjas, who then accepted Minato Namikaze's help to rescue Gaara and treat Rasa. As Minato Namikaze's team and Sand Ninja pursued Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara, Akatsuki began sealing the One-Tail and prepared to flee if Konoha's forces approached.

• Naruto used Armament Haki and Soru to shatter the street and stop flying boulders, convincing Baki and the Sunagakure ninjas of his strength.
• Baki led Minato Namikaze, Nanami, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others to Rasa, where Nanami examined him but could not identify Sasori of the Red Sands' poison.
• Minato Namikaze proposed finding Sasori of the Red Sands to learn the poison's identity, and Maki agreed to provide the tracking information he had gathered.
• Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara took Gaara to a cave, where Pain assembled Akatsuki members, including Obito as the supposed new member Tobi.
• Pain warned Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara that Konoha's Team 7 was coming, then ordered Akatsuki to seal the One-Tail and leave the Land of Wind afterward.
• Maki sent Sand Ninja to pursue Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara alongside Team 7, while Nanami stayed behind to try to restore Rasa's consciousness.