Chapter Summaries

Obito killed his clone, broke free of Madara's curse seal, and reunited with Rin, while Orochimaru and Nagato assembled a new Akatsuki lineup with Itachi, Kisame, Kakuzu, and Hidan. Orochimaru revived Hashirama, Tobirama, and Minato, who began questioning the state of Konoha and how Minato died.

• Obito destroyed the clone's heart, removed Madara's Curse Seal, took its Mangekyo Sharingan, and told Rin he was back.
• Orochimaru recovered Minato's soul with the new Pain's help, and Nagato empowered Itachi, Kisame, Kakuzu, and Hidan with the Rinnegan.
• Nagato declined to control Hashirama and Tobirama because his body could no longer bear the strain, so Orochimaru placed precautions on the three revived men.
• Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation to revive Hashirama, Tobirama, and Minato in the Ten-Tails' presence.
• Tobirama learned that Konoha was in its sixty-fourth year and that the Third Hokage had resumed office, while Minato recalled the Nine-Tails' Attack.
• Hashirama asked Minato how he had died.

Orochimaru summoned the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage to explain the Shinobi World's unprecedented crisis. He had Itachi Uchiha reveal how he inherited Kagami Uchiha's will and slaughtered the Uchiha Clan, including his own parents, amid the clan's conflict with the village.

• Minato told Hashirama and Tobirama that he died sealing the Nine-Tails during its rampage twelve years earlier, and defended Hiruzen Sarutobi's actions during the attack.
• Minato explained that a Masked Man attacked during Kushina's labor and that someone had leaked information about it.
• Minato said Kagami Uchiha had died in battle, while Tobirama questioned why Kagami had not mediated the Uchiha's conflict with the village.
• Orochimaru asked Itachi Uchiha to explain the Empire's war, and Tobirama challenged Itachi after recognizing him as an Uchiha.
• Orochimaru revealed that Itachi, Kagami Uchiha's disciple and Shisui's student, had killed the entire Uchiha Clan, including his birth parents, to end the clan's conflict with the village.

Itachi told the resurrected Hokage that invaders from another world threatened the Shinobi World and asked for their strength and the Ten-Tails’ power. The group planned to make Hashirama its jinchuriki instead of Obito, while Minato learned that the Yin Nine-Tails was sealed inside him.

• Tobirama praised Itachi, but argued that Konoha would be stronger without the Uchiha, while Hashirama worried about the clan’s destruction.
• Itachi repelled Tobirama and warned the Hokage that powerful outsiders had invaded their world and killed his younger brother.
• Itachi and Orochimaru told Minato that Naruto had been replaced and that the current Naruto was far beyond Orochimaru’s strength.
• Itachi asked the Hokage to help defend the Shinobi World and use the Ten-Tails’ power against the invaders.
• Itachi revealed that the plan had changed: Hashirama would become the Ten-Tails jinchuriki instead of Obito, using the Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, and Minato’s Nine-Tails.
• Minato questioned how Orochimaru knew the Yin Nine-Tails was sealed inside him, and Orochimaru said the Third Hokage had told Jiraiya, who had told him.

Hashirama absorbed the Ten-Tails and gained immense new power, while the Akatsuki urged him to lead the Shinobi World against an expedition to the Other World. Hashirama questioned whether he needed anyone’s support, leaving his willingness to lead uncertain.

• Minato learned that the Empire had extracted the Nine-Tails from Naruto and vowed revenge.
• Hashirama restrained the Nine-Tails with Wood Release, and Itachi led the Akatsuki in sealing it into the Ten-Tails.
• Hashirama used a sealing technique to absorb the Ten-Tails and transformed, gaining immense power and hundreds of Truth-Seeking Balls.
• Nagato hoped he had made the right choice in trusting Hashirama, while Black Zetsu mourned his failed plans to save his mother.
• Itachi told Hashirama that the Third Hokage had gathered the Shinobi World on Southern Red Island to plan an expedition to the Other World and urged him to lead them.

Rasa and the Empire opened the Cross-Dimensional Channel between the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha University, using the Tailed Beasts to stabilize it. The test shipment arrived, but Sasori suddenly attacked Yakushi Kabuto.

• Rasa rebuked Nagato for the failed mission that left the Six-Tails and Seven-Tails missing, while promising to report his contributions to the Emperor.
• Rasa contacted Uchiha Senju to confirm that the channel’s energy supply was stable, and Uchiha Senju ordered its activation.
• Yakushi Kabuto summoned tens of thousands of Chakra Beasts and sacrificed White Zetsu clones to open the Cross-Dimensional Channel.
• Rasa sent two gold coffins through the channel, and Yakushi Kabuto opened them to find Deidara and Sasori inside.
• Sasori abruptly attacked and severed Yakushi Kabuto’s head.

Sasori and Deidara tried to exploit an opening, but Yakushi Kabuto immobilized them and removed Sasori’s puppet core for study. Kabuto then traveled to World 64, where he began preparing a Cross-Dimensional Channel as the others readied the Tailed Beasts.

• Sasori spotted an opening and prepared to attack, while Deidara tried to use his Explosive Clay but found it had been taken away.
• Yakushi Kabuto reattached his head, revealing his advanced biological body, and asked Orochimaru and Uchiha Senju for permission to study Sasori’s consciousness-uploading technology.
• Yakushi Kabuto immobilized Sasori and Deidara, removed Sasori’s puppet core, and sent a Shadow Clone to preserve part of it in the Chakra Submersion Tank.
• Yakushi Kabuto stepped through the Cross-Dimensional Channel and arrived in World 64, where Rasa and the others greeted him.
• Yakushi Kabuto summoned vast quantities of materials and tens of thousands of Shadow Clones to prepare a new Cross-Dimensional Channel.
• Yakushi Kabuto told the others to release the Tailed Beasts so he could construct the channel.

Yakushi Kabuto and Obito established a stable transmission channel between the Empire and World 64 by sealing the Tailed Beasts beneath the Hidden Sand Village. Kabuto celebrated his achievement, while Rasa explained how research could help talented innovators rise within the Empire.

• Obito used Kamui to release the Tailed Beasts, and Yakushi Kabuto began forming a cross-dimensional channel with his Shadow Clones.
• Rasa had moved civilians and dispatched most ordinary ninjas, leaving the Hidden Sand Village clear for the channel’s construction.
• The Eight-Tails broke free of its Genjutsu briefly, but a Sealing Technique trapped it and the other five Tailed Beasts beneath the formation.
• The transmission channel stabilized, and Natural Energy from the Empire refreshed the Hidden Sand Village.
• Yakushi Kabuto declared that he would record history, prompting Obito, Nagato, and Rasa to discuss the value of researchers and research as a path to advancement.

Yakushi Kabuto brought the seven Tailed Beasts together in one sealed space and left the Chakra Beast King with them before traveling to the Empire. The Tailed Beasts discovered the newcomer was Kurama’s offspring, who then told them about the Empire.

• Yakushi Kabuto reshaped the seal so the seven Tailed Beasts could share a space and talk, then said the Cross-Dimensional Channel would remain stable and that he would oversee it.
• Yakushi Kabuto forced the Chakra Beast King from his body and placed it in the seal with the Tailed Beasts before entering the channel and disappearing.
• Gyūki recognized Nine-Tails, and the Tailed Beasts discussed their imprisonment, with Gyūki urging them to resist while others questioned whether escape was worth the risk.
• The Tailed Beasts counted themselves and realized an unfamiliar eighth presence was among them; the Chakra Beast King called Kurama his dad.
• Kurama fought the other Tailed Beasts, then demanded the Chakra Beast King explain himself, and it described its creation from Kurama’s genes and Chakra and its experiences in the Empire.
• Gyūki mocked Kurama for being captured while Six-Tails and Seven-Tails escaped, prompting Kurama to harass and attack him afterward.

Uchiha Senju confirmed the Cross-Dimensional Channel was complete and ordered Orochimaru to proceed with the next stage while he notified the Empire's Third Army. Orochimaru explained why the Third Army, rather than the First or Second, would be deployed, hinting that Senju had a deeper purpose.

• Uchiha Senju praised Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto for completing the Cross-Dimensional Channel and offered them a week's paid leave, but they asked about doubling their salary instead.
• Uchiha Senju left to notify the Empire's Third Army while Orochimaru instructed Yakushi Kabuto to continue the next stage of the process.
• Yakushi Kabuto asked Orochimaru why the Empire was deploying the Third Army rather than the First or Second.
• Orochimaru explained that the First Army was a rare trump card, the Second Army handled major projects and disasters, and the Third Army was suited to face the Shinobi World with few casualties.
• Orochimaru hinted that Uchiha Senju had a deeper reason for choosing the Third Army, leaving Yakushi Kabuto curious.

The Empire’s Third Army prepared to invade six nations, with Jiraiya appointed to lead the expedition. Meanwhile, Orochimaru secretly conducted experiments in World 64 before the army began crossing into that world.

• Senju assigned Sakumo Hatake, Sasori of the Red Sand, Zabuza Momochi, Deidara, Darui, and Yahiko to command the six provincial divisions, then introduced Jiraiya as the Third Army’s overall commander.
• Orochimaru moved the main Cross-Dimensional Channel to a new reclaimed-land city, while Do stayed behind to continue his research.
• In World 64, Orochimaru treated Kimimaro’s bloodline disease, helped Jūgo control his Sage Power, and found hundreds of Sharingan eyes at his stronghold.
• Jiraiya led the Third Army to the expanded Cross-Dimensional Channel, where ten staging areas could transfer ten thousand people at a time.
• Senju warned Jiraiya to stay safe, and Jiraiya confidently replied that he could fight the Sage of Six Paths to a draw.

Kushina woke Naruto for breakfast and scolded him for neglecting training before his upcoming Chunin exam. As he ate the lovingly prepared meal, Naruto reflected on how different and secure his life was in this world compared with World 64.

• Kushina dragged Naruto out of bed, reprimanded him for sleeping in, and warned him that the Chunin exam was next Monday.
• Naruto compared himself unfavorably with Sasuke and said that in his former world Iruka-sensei was still a Chunin in his thirties.
• Kushina reminded Naruto that his parents in World 64 were waiting for him to uncover the truth, and Naruto agreed to get up.
• Kushina noticed scraps of paper beside Naruto's bed, and Naruto awkwardly explained that they appeared when he slept.
• Naruto joined Kushina for a carefully prepared breakfast and remembered how hunger and rejection had shaped his life in World 64.

Kushina cared for Naruto over breakfast, and Minato returned to help him prepare for the Chunin Exams. Minato brought Naruto to a natural-energy training area and began teaching him Sage Jutsu, hoping it would balance the competing Chakra in his body.

• Kushina piled food into Naruto's bowl and encouraged him to eat while he eagerly finished breakfast.
• Minato returned home after his work on the Empire's expedition was completed and offered to help Naruto prepare for the Chunin Exams.
• Minato took Naruto to a sealed training area behind the Valley of the End where natural energy was especially abundant.
• Minato explained that Naruto's Uzumaki Body and the Nine-Tails' Chakra were resisting each other and exhausting him.
• Minato began teaching Naruto Sage Jutsu, saying its power could help balance the forces within Naruto's body.

Minato helped Naruto begin mastering the Nine-Tails’ power, Sage Chakra, and the Rasengan while reassuring him that Iruka would likely be safe. Itachi told Sasuke that his brother, the Masked Man, and Danzo were dead, leaving Sasuke grieving and unsure of his future; the chapter ended with Yamato reflecting on the Empire’s use of shinobi to restore the land.

• Minato guided Naruto in merging his Chakra with the Nine-Tails’ power and began teaching him Sage Chakra and the Rasengan.
• Naruto worried about Iruka’s safety, and Minato assured him that Iruka would be fine unless he opposed the Empire.
• Itachi urged Sasuke not to let revenge define his life, and Sasuke said he still wanted revenge if he could manage it.
• Itachi told Sasuke that his brother was dead and explained that he had destroyed the Uchiha Clan to preserve peace in the Hidden Leaf Village.
• Itachi revealed that the Masked Man and Danzo had also died at the hands of the Empire Vanguard, and Sasuke learned that resurrection techniques might let him see the dead again.
• In Wind Province, Yamato and Yamato cultivated rice and planted trees, prompting Yamato to reflect on the Empire’s use of shinobi to restore desolate land.

Kakashi chose to accompany Sakumo Hatake to World 64, while Zabuza Momochi prepared to enter the other world with the Water Division. Haku caught up with Momochi Zabuza and insisted on going with him, leaving Zabuza Momochi offering to take Haku along if his alternate admitted he cared about him.

• Kakashi accepted Sakumo Hatake's invitation to travel to World 64 so he could understand the new world and try to persuade Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai to avoid a pointless death.
• Zabuza Momochi entered the Cross-Dimensional Channel, excited by the chance to see how the Land of Water compared with the Water Province.
• Haku arrived at the channel after flying there with Ice Release and insisted on accompanying Momochi Zabuza.
• Momochi Zabuza told Haku to leave, but Haku refused and prepared to prove his strength.
• Zabuza Momochi stopped Haku and told Momochi Zabuza he could bring Haku to his world if Momochi Zabuza admitted he cared about him.

Rain Division set out for World 64 as strange arrivals gathered on Southern Red Island and local tycoons decided to investigate them. Fourth Raikage A arrived by boat, intending to demand an explanation from the old Hokage.

• Zabuza recoiled after learning Haku was a man, insulted him, and dragged him into the Cross-Dimensional Channel.
• Yahiko led Rain Division toward World 64, declaring the start of the Empire's Holy War.
• Strangers gathered on Southern Red Island, drawing the attention of local merchants and powerful tycoons.
• The tycoons agreed to capture and interrogate some of the newcomers, then headed to the coastline together.
• Fourth Raikage A sailed toward the shore, complained about Hidden Leaf Village, and prepared to confront the old Hokage.
• A group approached Fourth Raikage A and welcomed him to Southern Red Island.

A and the Hidden Cloud delegation entered a trade association on Southern Red Island, where A admired its wealth and plotted to seize the Byakugan. The magnate then revealed his hostility, insulting A’s group and surrounding them.

• A warned the Konoha ninjas that they owed the Hidden Cloud an explanation and ordered them to lead the way.
• The trade association magnate hid his anger and coaxed A’s group into the association.
• A surveyed the luxurious hall and scorned Konoha for spending its wealth on lavish goods.
• A decided that the Hidden Cloud should try to obtain the Byakugan and began considering how to take it.
• The magnate’s men surrounded A’s group, and the magnate insulted them as dark-skinned freaks.

A defeated the merchant ninja who had attacked him, then learned they were connected to Konoha’s invitation and blamed Konoha for the insult. When Yuugao arrived to escort him, the merchant ninja leader tried to shift responsibility onto Konoha, but he was killed before he could finish.

• A suspected the merchant ninja were connected to Konoha and attacked them with his taijutsu, defeating their leader.
• A ordered an interrogating Jonin to question the captured merchant ninja and learned of their connection to Konoha.
• Yuugao arrived, apologized for Konoha’s failure to receive the visitors, and asked A to come with her.
• A rejected Yuugao’s invitation, blamed Konoha for its poor arrangements, and began taking the merchant ninja’s wealth.
• The merchant ninja leader accused Konoha of responsibility and pleaded for protection, but someone cut his throat and he collapsed.

Yuugao killed the Southern Red Island leader and the Merchant Ninjas who denounced the Hidden Leaf, but A rejected the bloodshed as an explanation and threatened another attack. Hashirama and Tobirama appeared, and after Tobirama overwhelmed A with his chakra, A knelt and apologized before Hashirama ordered Tobirama to stop.

• Yuugao killed the Southern Red Island leader and cut down the Merchant Ninjas who accused the Hidden Leaf.
• A refused to accept Yuugao's actions as an explanation and demanded that the Hokage attend the Five Kage Summit.
• Hashirama and Tobirama appeared, and Yuugao recognized them as the First and Second Hokage.
• A challenged the two Hokage, but Tobirama unleashed his chakra and left A in pain.
• A knelt and apologized, and Hashirama told Tobirama to stop because the Hidden Leaf still needed the Hidden Cloud's strength.

A and the Hidden Cloud shinobi encountered Hashirama, Tobirama, and Minato, who brought them to the Five Kage Summit. At the summit, Chōjūrō and Rasa accused Hiruzen Sarutobi's Hidden Leaf of causing deaths and demanded compensation.

• Hashirama's overwhelming aura immobilized A and the Hidden Cloud elites, and A recognized him as the legendary God of Shinobi.
• Hashirama told A to put the past behind them and invited him to attend the Five Kage Summit.
• Minato located the summit's participants, and Tobirama told Yuugao to stay quiet while they investigated what Hiruzen Sarutobi had been doing.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi began the summit, but Chōjūrō demanded an explanation for Mei Terumi's death and the loss of his legs.
• Rasa accused the Hidden Leaf of causing the disappearance of the Hidden Sand's Chunin Exam candidates, and Asuma denied the charge.
• Rasa revealed that three of the missing candidates were his children and demanded compensation from the Hidden Leaf.

At the Five Kage Summit, Kakashi urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to offer compensation while secretly trying to stir up conflict, and Hiruzen argued that the villages needed to unite against the Empire. Rasa demanded payment before negotiations could continue, and Hiruzen revealed that the Empire had already conquered the Hidden Leaf Village, warning the other villages they could suffer the same fate.

• Kakashi advised Hiruzen Sarutobi to promise money and ninjutsu to calm the other villages, while Guy supported his plan.
• Rasa interrupted Hiruzen’s offer and demanded compensation upfront, threatening to derail the Five Kage Summit.
• Tobirama angrily watched Hiruzen hesitate and compromise, questioning whether he had chosen the wrong successor.
• Chōjūrō backed Rasa’s demand and felt reassured to have allies defending the Hidden Mist Village’s interests.
• Hiruzen confirmed that the Hidden Leaf Village no longer belonged to them and urged the villages to unite against the Empire before it conquered them too.