Chapter Summaries

Kagetsu demonstrated his ability to shape different Chakra natures and explained how Yahiko's power could decompose, absorb, and control energy. He showed Yahiko how to walk on air and left him with an explanation of the demanding technique.

• Kagetsu formed weapons and objects from Lightning, Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind, surprising Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.
• Nagato revealed that his Rinnegan had seen Kagetsu silently extract Chakra from him and Konan.
• Kagetsu explained that Yahiko's ability involved decomposition, absorption, and control rather than simply devouring Chakra.
• Kagetsu walked through the air, and Nagato recognized that he was using Chakra to condense the air beneath his feet.
• Kagetsu described Air Walking as a difficult Chakra-control technique that only people with special Kekkei Genkai abilities could master.

Kagetsu explained that Yahiko’s modified body gave him unusual potential for Air Walking, though learning it would not let him defeat Hanzo alone. A month later, Yahiko began mastering the technique at Ancor Vantian, where his first outdoor attempt ended in a fall but revealed his ability to shape energy beneath his feet.

• Kagetsu told Yahiko that Air Walking required exceptional Chakra control and warned that it would not make him strong enough to defeat Hanzo alone.
• Kagetsu explained that he had repaired Yahiko’s body and given him an undeveloped Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, but would not keep training him if he lacked talent for Air Walking.
• One month later, Yahiko practiced Air Walking in the plaza at Ancor Vantian and was carried through the air by the wind before Nagato softened the ground to break his fall.
• Nagato encouraged Yahiko after the failed attempt, and Yahiko returned to training after realizing he had begun to grasp how to shape energy and Chakra.
• Yahiko formed invisible steps beneath his feet and began climbing upward.

Yahiko continued training to master a new ability while Orochimaru used the Hogyoku to experiment on Iwa prisoners and develop modified bodies. After creating several successful subjects, Orochimaru began a Hogyoku experiment on his willing guard Akimichi Dong, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Yahiko repeatedly fell while training, but he learned to recall and reproduce the feeling of successfully activating his ability.
• Orochimaru examined the Hogyoku, a powerful orb made from souls and Natural Energy, and recognized its potential to transform and strengthen people despite the danger of corruption.
• Orochimaru used Iwa prisoners in Hogyoku experiments, creating uncontrollable modified fighters and eventually producing several subjects who retained their consciousness.
• Orochimaru concluded that the Hogyoku might let him attain a powerful form comparable to Sage Mode.
• Hyuga Ran, Akimichi Dong, and Yamanaka Xue Kui agreed to undergo the experiment, and Akimichi Dong volunteered to go first.
• Orochimaru began channeling the Hogyoku's light into Akimichi Dong and warned him not to let its will erode his own.

Kitsuchi’s Iwagakure forces attacked a Konoha supply point, but Akimichi Dong and Hyuga Ran arrived to confront them. Akimichi Dong battled Kitsuchi while Hyuga Ran engaged Kari, leaving both fights underway.

• Kitsuchi led Iwagakure forces in destroying a Konoha supply point and ordered a pursuit squad to chase the survivors.
• Akimichi Dong charged the Iwagakure formation with Human Bullet Tank, then used Super Push Palm to devastate its defenses.
• Kitsuchi formed a Clay Giant and fought Akimichi Dong to hold him back while his forces prepared to retreat.
• Hyuga Ran recognized Kari of the Explosion Corps and countered his Landmine Fist with Gentle Fist strikes.
• Kari revealed that his initial attack had been an Earth Clone and considered how to overcome Hyuga Ran’s Byakugan and Gentle Fist.

Hyuga Ran fought Kari and the Explosive Destruction Squad, then activated Hogyoku Mode when the Iwa ninja overwhelmed him. With his Byakugan enhanced, he began predicting and evading their attacks, killing one Iwa Jonin and striking two more with a wind technique.

• Kari used Explosion Release to attack Hyuga Ran from a distance, but Hyuga Ran countered with Gentle Fist Art: Wind Cutter and landed a damaging strike on Kari.
• Five other members of the Explosive Destruction Squad joined Kari and cornered Hyuga Ran with Earth Release attacks.
• An Iwa Jonin crushed Hyuga Ran beneath a boulder while Kitsuchi tried to distract Akimichi Dong by claiming Ran was dead.
• Hyuga Ran emerged in Hogyoku Mode, which enhanced his body and Byakugan, though he estimated he could sustain it for only about two minutes.
• Hyuga Ran predicted the Iwa ninja's movements, killed one Iwa Jonin with Gentle Fist, and attacked two others with Gentle Fist Art: Wind Serpent.

Hyuga Ran overwhelmed Kari’s Iwa squad with Hogyoku Mode, using wind-enhanced Gentle Fist to defeat Kari and kill several of his teammates. He deactivated the mode as two Iwa Jonin escaped, then recognized that it had removed the Caged Bird Seal’s flaw from his Byakugan and let him add wind nature to Gentle Fist.

• Hyuga Ran’s Wind Serpent tore through the Iwa defenses and killed two Jonin, leading Kari to suspect that Ran was using a power-up like a Jinchuriki’s transformation.
• Three Iwa Jonin coordinated Earth Release attacks against Hyuga Ran, but his rotating wind barrier shredded their techniques and sent wind blades flying at the squad.
• Kari ordered his surviving teammates to stall Ran until his apparent Forbidden Technique wore off, but Ran swiftly killed one Jonin with wind-infused Gentle Fist.
• Hyuga Ran pursued Kari through explosive traps, crippled one of his arms, and exposed his attempt to attack with his other arm before disabling him.
• Hyuga Ran sealed Kari’s Chakra and let two Iwa Jonin escape, then deactivated Hogyoku Mode and realized it had restored his Byakugan and enabled him to infuse Gentle Fist with wind.

After Konoha’s reinforcements helped turn the battle, Kitsuchi escaped their pursuit by using a Mud Clone, while Hyuga Ran and Yamanaka Xue Kui captured three Iwa ninja. The survivors prepared to return to Orochimaru with their prisoners, having proven the new powers granted by the Hogyoku.

• Kitsuchi declared Iwa’s victory and withdrew, but Akimichi Dong tried to keep him on the battlefield.
• Two Iwa Jonin betrayed Kitsuchi with kunai and Exploding Tags, but he survived by substituting a Mud Clone and escaped underground.
• Hyuga Ran stopped pursuing Kitsuchi after spotting Yamanaka Xue Kui controlling the two Iwa Jonin with her Mind Transfer Clone Technique.
• Akimichi Dong destroyed Kitsuchi’s Clay Giant, while Hyuga Ran and Yamanaka Xue Kui restrained the two Jonin and captured Kari.
• Yamanaka Xue Kui suggested taking the prisoners to Orochimaru for interrogation, and the team reflected on the Hogyoku’s power and risks.

Hanzo and Karatachi Yagura led Amegakure and Kirigakure ninja through the fog to Ankor Bandian to capture Yahiko and his companions and obtain the Healing Tag method. Yahiko’s group faced Hanzo in the fortress’s Main Control Room, with its defenders badly outnumbered.

• Hanzo and Karatachi Yagura brought more than a hundred ninja toward Ankor Bandian under cover of Kirigakure’s fog.
• Hanzo agreed to ally with Kirigakure if they helped him secure the Healing Tags and Yahiko’s group.
• Hida alerted Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan that the fortress guards had lost contact and that Hanzo was among the attackers.
• Hanzo and Karatachi Yagura entered the Main Control Room with their forces and confronted Yahiko and the others.

Hanzo, Karatachi Yagura, and their forces battled Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, and Kakuzu in the Main Control Room. Yahiko’s restored strength and strange abilities shocked Hanzo as their clash continued and Hanzo’s Chakra began to malfunction.

• Hanzo questioned Kakuzu’s involvement while Karatachi Yagura attacked Yahiko, and Nagato deflected the Water Pistol Technique with Shinra Tensei.
• Nagato dispersed Yagura’s Hidden Mist Technique, then repelled the advancing Mist Village and Rain Hidden ninja with another Shinra Tensei.
• Hanzo tried to seize Konan as a hostage, but Kakuzu stopped him; Konan then wiped out most of Hanzo’s Rain Ninja with a barrage of Paper Shuriken.
• Yahiko fought Hanzo, survived being kicked into rubble, and emerged unharmed to continue attacking him.
• Yahiko’s invisible strikes injured Hanzo despite his dodges, and Hanzo’s Chakra suddenly became disordered when he tried to use a Water Release technique.

Yahiko survived Hanzo’s Exploding Flame Formation with an invisible barrier, but Hanzo’s Water Release shattered it and left Yahiko at a disadvantage. As the battles between Nagato and Karatachi Yagura and between Hanzo and Yahiko continued, Shisui arrived with reinforcements’ strength uncertain, and Hanzo summoned Ibuse to escalate the fight.

• Hanzo’s hidden Exploding Flame Formation detonated beneath Yahiko, but Yahiko protected himself with invisible air walls and survived with minor injuries.
• Hanzo broke Yahiko’s barrier with Water Shockwave and sent him crashing into a wall while studying his unusual ability.
• Nagato and Karatachi Yagura exchanged powerful techniques, each struggling to overcome the other’s defenses and Chakra drain.
• Shisui burst into the hall with Emerald Chakra Arrows, then joined Kakuzu, Nagato, and Konan as Hanzo recognized him as a Konoha ninja.
• Hanzo summoned Ibuse, signaling that he intended to fight without trying to capture Yahiko and the others unharmed.

Shisui battled Hanzo and Ibuse in Ancor Vantian, using his Sharingan and Susanoo to overcome their attacks. After Ibuse was badly injured and forced to retreat, Karatachi Yagura led the Mist forces away, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Shisui used his Phantom Body Flicker Technique to confound Hanzo and put Ibuse under Genjutsu, but Hanzo broke the illusion and flooded the hall with poisonous mist.
• Nagato used Wind Release while Hida activated Ancor Vantian's ventilation system, clearing the poison from the hall.
• Ibuse swallowed Shisui, but Shisui escaped from inside it using his emerald-green Susanoo and inflicted severe injuries.
• Shisui's Susanoo seized Ibuse by the tail and hurled it into the hall wall, forcing Hanzo to recall the wounded summon.
• Karatachi Yagura judged the mission lost and led the Mist forces in retreat.

Uchiha Madara learned that Nagato had defeated Karatachi Yagura and Uchiha Shisui had killed Hanzo, revealing a new Mangekyo Sharingan wielder. With his body failing and Nagato unable to carry out his plans, Madara sent White Zetsu to find a suitable Uchiha child in Konoha and approach Danzo, despite Zetsu’s warning that his offshoots were disappearing there.

• White Zetsu reported that the plan to bring Nagato to Madara had failed and that Hanzo and the Mist Village forces were dead.
• Black Zetsu told Madara that Uchiha Shisui had killed Hanzo and awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, while Nagato had defeated Karatachi Yagura.
• Madara read White Zetsu’s memories and saw Nagato drain Yagura’s chakra and Shisui shoot Hanzo through the heart.
• Madara said his weakening body required an heir, but Nagato’s faith in companionship made him unsuitable.
• Madara ordered White Zetsu to find an emotionally intense Uchiha child in Konoha and contact Danzo about Wood Release.
• White Zetsu warned that several of his offshoots had vanished inside Konoha, but Madara still sent him there.

Danzo confronted Zetsu in the Land of Fire, where Zetsu demonstrated Wood Release and claimed to serve Uchiha Madara. Danzo doubted Madara had survived, while Zetsu challenged his understanding of the Uchiha Clan.

• Danzo arrived in a forest clearing with Root Ninja and called for the hidden figure to come out.
• Zetsu emerged, and his Wood Release killed two Root Ninja who charged him.
• Danzo's men surrounded Zetsu and raised a Four Violet Flames Formation barrier as Danzo suspected Orochimaru and Nara Kagetsu were behind him.
• Zetsu denied the connection and declared that he served Lord Madara, shocking Danzo with the claim that Uchiha Madara was alive.
• Danzo argued that the First and Second Hokage had witnessed and confirmed Madara's death, but Zetsu questioned whether the dead could be brought back to life and criticized Danzo's knowledge of the Uchiha Clan.

Danzo questioned Black Zetsu about Uchiha Madara and learned about Izanagi before testing Zetsu’s claim to grant Wood Release. He then confronted Uchiha Fugaku about Izanagi and Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan, but Fugaku denied knowing about Shisui’s eyes and defended his freedom to keep them secret.

• Black Zetsu explained that Izanagi could undo unfavorable events at the cost of permanently blinding the Sharingan used to cast it.
• Danzo questioned whether Madara wanted something from Konoha, but Black Zetsu said he did not know and agreed to modify one of Danzo’s Root Ninja to demonstrate Wood Release.
• Before leaving with two Root Ninja, Zetsu told Danzo that Uchiha Shisui had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Danzo summoned Uchiha Fugaku to the Hokage Building, where Fugaku confirmed that Izanagi was an Uchiha Forbidden Technique.
• Danzo asked whether Fugaku knew Shisui had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but Fugaku denied knowing and argued that Shisui could keep his eyes secret.

Uchiha Fugaku learned that Konoha suspected a mysterious organization linked to the Uchiha and Wood Release, and agreed to investigate the clan. At the border, Kagetsu examined the exhausted Shisui after his battle with Hanzo and offered him another source of power to compensate for his damaged eyes.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi rejected Danzo's demand to question Shisui and told Uchiha Fugaku that Uchiha Madara might still be alive.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi explained that a mysterious organization knew Uchiha secrets, possessed Wood Release, and might have a spy in Konoha.
• Uchiha Fugaku agreed to investigate the Uchiha Clan after reading Danzo's intelligence scroll, while Hiruzen Sarutobi postponed Root's involvement.
• Shisui returned from Ankor Bandian and told Kagetsu that Hanzo was dead, bringing Hanzo's and Karatachi Yagura's bodies in a scroll.
• Kagetsu examined Shisui's failing vision and offered him another kind of power to make up for his inability to use the Mangekyō freely.

Kagetsu and Uchiha Shisui visited Orochimaru’s underground base, where Orochimaru discussed Shisui’s victory over Hanzo and examined the Hogyoku research. The chapter left Orochimaru imagining how the Hogyoku could strengthen souls and eventually help create ultimate power and life.

• Kagetsu and Uchiha Shisui emerged from the Black Coffin into Orochimaru’s underground laboratory, where Kagetsu focused on the Hogyoku and its experimental data.
• Orochimaru praised Shisui for killing Hanzo and asked whether the Mangekyō Sharingan was truly so powerful, while Shisui credited luck.
• Orochimaru explained that he had developed Living Corpse Reincarnation but wanted to reduce the damage it might cause to his soul.
• Orochimaru believed the Hogyoku could improve Living Corpse Reincarnation and help him strengthen his soul.
• Orochimaru considered Kagetsu’s vision of an Hogyoku that could endlessly break limits and imagined pursuing ultimate power and an ultimate life-form.

Orochimaru prepared to test how the Hogyoku affected Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan while reflecting on the power’s effects on the soul and his own plans for Sage Power. He left Shisui undergoing the experiment and remained committed to pursuing his original path, with the Hogyoku as a tool for further research.

• Orochimaru wondered whether the Hogyoku could evolve Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan, recalling how it had transformed Hyuga Ran’s Byakugan and granted him powerful wind abilities.
• Orochimaru warned Shisui not to be greedy as Shisui lay on the operating table and the instruments and technique began shutting out his awareness.
• Kagetsu asked Orochimaru whether he had used the Hogyoku to strengthen himself, and Orochimaru explained that he was holding back to gather more data.
• Orochimaru described how the Hogyoku had strengthened his soul and worried that his modified body might eventually fail to contain it.
• Orochimaru said he intended to keep pursuing his existing path and investigate whether the Sage Powers of Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and the Hogyoku could be combined.

Kagetsu and Orochimaru discussed gathering the Sage Arts of multiple Sage Grounds, then developed the idea of taking others’ abilities rather than mastering each Sage Art themselves. Orochimaru connected the idea to Hiruko’s Chimera Technique and began planning research into it before Shisui awakened from the Hogyoku procedure without physical mutation.

• Kagetsu questioned how Orochimaru would obtain the Sage Arts of Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest, and Orochimaru admitted the Sage Grounds’ requirements made the task difficult.
• Kagetsu proposed taking other people’s strength, experience, and abilities instead of personally cultivating every Sage Art, and Orochimaru wondered whether this meant Living Corpse Reincarnation.
• Kagetsu clarified that he meant seizing abilities, which reminded Orochimaru of Hiruko and the Chimera Technique research fragments he had left behind.
• Orochimaru and Kagetsu spent hours discussing a new technique built around taking abilities, and Orochimaru decided to investigate Hiruko and use the Chimera Technique’s concepts.
• Orochimaru examined Shisui as he regained consciousness and found that he had accepted the Hogyoku’s power without any physical mutation.

After awakening in Hogyoku Mode, Shisui discovered that the power felt under his control and manifested as black lines on his arms. Orochimaru and Kagetsu watched him test his abilities in a clearing, where Shisui summoned a powerful energy bow and demonstrated rapid movement and arrow attacks.

• Shisui awoke after the experiment and told Orochimaru that he felt great, noticing black lines on his right arm.
• Orochimaru explained that the lines were Shisui’s Hogyoku Mode and speculated that his Mangekyo made him exceptionally compatible with Hogyoku Power.
• Kagetsu agreed to test Shisui’s Hogyoku Mode, and Orochimaru led them away from the base to a clearing.
• Shisui activated his Hogyoku Mode and formed a bow made entirely of energy.
• Shisui moved rapidly around the clearing and fired arrows that became ninjutsu on impact, while Orochimaru assessed his speed and attacks.

Shisui tested Hogyoku Mode, displaying immense destructive power and describing how it affected his body, mind, and chakra. Orochimaru learned that it could rival the Mangekyo and might even enhance it, while Kagetsu briefly showed disappointment.

• Shisui unleashed a rain of powerful arrows that devastated the battlefield, impressing Orochimaru with its destructive force.
• Orochimaru asked Shisui how Hogyoku Mode felt, and Shisui reported that he could control his power and draw energy from his surroundings to replenish chakra.
• Shisui explained that unstable Hogyoku Power quickly affected his mind and soul, and that the mode amplified power more than the Mangekyo but lasted less time.
• Shisui said Hogyoku Power did not conflict with the Mangekyo and might elevate its abilities, prompting Kagetsu to show a brief trace of disappointment.