Chapter Summaries

Hada Ichiba realized that the wounded Blood Moon Silver Robe was a living-person puppet controlled by the hidden Uchiha Nobuhiko, who revealed that Taki Chiba had deeper soul research and greater ambitions. As Hada Ichiba reacted to the claim that Chiba sought to challenge the gods, Nobuhiko ensnared him and prepared to discover whether he really was Taki Chiba.

• Hada Ichiba searched for an opening but found that the apparently injured Blood Moon Silver Robe showed no weakness and could still control the encounter.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko explained that Blood Moon Silver Robe was a Spirit Puppet, a living person he controlled remotely using a technique inspired by Taki Chiba’s Spirit Transformation Jutsu.
• Hada Ichiba concluded that Nobuhiko was hidden elsewhere and that attacking the puppet would not free him from control.
• Nobuhiko said Taki Chiba had first desecrated life through soul research and could separate memories from souls, while his own puppet technique used a different method.
• Nobuhiko claimed that Taki Chiba wanted to challenge the authority of the gods, then concealed Hada Ichiba’s strange-patterned eye and announced that he would test whether Hada Ichiba was truly Taki Chiba.

Uchiha Nobuhiko reflected on Taki Chiba’s evolution and resolved to verify whether Hada Ichiba was Taki Chiba, then sent a golden flame into the stupefied boy. At the battlefront, Silver Moon Black Robe rescued Teacher Fujiki and three young shinobi, but Fujiki shouted at him instead of thanking him.

• Uchiha Nobuhiko recalled how Taki Chiba’s resilience and influence had earned his respect, while insisting that they remained enemies.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko sent a golden flame into Hada Ichiba to confirm the boy’s identity, then collapsed after the flame left his body.
• Silver Moon Black Robe appeared beside Teacher Fujiki and three young shinobi after an explosion, and his burned arm healed rapidly.
• Silver Moon Black Robe ordered the children and Teacher Fujiki to retreat, then turned his crimson gaze on the black-armored giant snake, which recoiled in fear.
• Fujiki Shigeru shouted at Silver Moon Black Robe, saying he would not thank him.

Chiba saved Fujiki Shigeru and explained that he had acted out of gratitude for their shared past and for Fujiki’s help to his friend. As Chiba turned to face the Black-armored Giant Snake, he praised Fujiki’s courage and strength before striking the monster.

• Chiba dismissed Fujiki Shigeru’s hostile response and said saving him had repaid old memories and a debt to his best friend.
• Chiba recognized Fujiki’s Exploding Tag as one made by Uchiha Hirohiko and explained how it had reached him.
• Fujiki grew angry at Chiba’s remarks and reflected on how his failed mission had led to his demotion and teaching post.
• Chiba said the Third Hokage had arranged Fujiki’s teaching position and praised him as a courageous, strong, outstanding elite ninja.
• The Black-armored Giant Snake recoiled in terror as Chiba unleashed Monster Strength Burst with a downward punch.

Silver Moon Black Robe, revealed as Chiba, destroyed one giant black-armored serpent with a single punch and made the other vanish with a glance. Fujiki Shigeru was moved to tears after realizing the Third Hokage and Chiba had recognized his potential, while Chiba turned his attention to Uchiha Nobuhiko at the First Hokage’s statue.

• Silver Moon Black Robe struck the black-armored serpent, shattering its armor and causing it to crash down, devastate the battlefield, and disappear in white smoke.
• Konoha ninja, enemy ninja, and civilians fled as the serpent fell and part of Konoha’s wall collapsed.
• Fujiki Shigeru’s three disciples emerged from the rubble unharmed and found their teacher standing safely on untouched ground.
• Fujiki Shigeru cried as he realized that the Third Hokage and Taki Chiba had recognized him as an outstanding elite ninja and that his choices had mattered.
• Chiba faced the second giant serpent, which shuddered and vanished when their eyes met.
• Chiba turned toward the First Hokage’s stone statue, where Uchiha Nobuhiko was.

Uchiha Nobuhiko realized Taki Chiba’s controlled battlefield destruction had foiled the first stage of his attack, then withdrew while keeping the children as leverage. Chiba recognized the trap but stayed behind to protect Konoha, while Nobuhiko’s departure triggered an attack on Hada Ichiba.

• Uchiha Nobuhiko saw that Taki Chiba had reshaped the battlefield without causing casualties, intimidating Konoha’s attackers and ruining his plan to provoke Chiba.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko spotted a vacant-eyed youth on a rooftop, concluded that the children were still in his hands, and vanished from the village.
• Chiba realized Uchiha Nobuhiko was luring him away while hidden threats might remain in Konoha, so he stayed to protect the village.
• A smaller version of Uchiha Nobuhiko emerged from Hada Ichiba in golden flames, said the situation had eliminated one possibility, and shot away.
• Four sand spikes erupted around Hada Ichiba and stabbed toward him.

Chiba ordered the enemy ninja to end the war or face his intervention while Konoha's forces quietly withdrew to clear the battlefield. Elsewhere, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Second Pillar rested in a dark space before an unfamiliar boy appeared and claimed there was no trick to escaping.

• Fujiki Shigeru led his three disciples away, and Konoha's ninja began distancing themselves from Chiba while leaving the civilians in place.
• Chiba warned the enemy ninja to retreat or let him end the conflict by force, while privately thinking about finding the children and identifying the space-time ability.
• Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Second Pillar stopped walking in the dark space, and Second Pillar shared Ration Balls that Kakashi had given him.
• Second Pillar concluded that wandering without direction was useless and suggested they search for a trick.
• An eleven- or twelve-year-old boy appeared behind them and declared that there was no trick there.

Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata realized they could not escape the dark space by wandering and rested together until a white-clad girl appeared. Elsewhere, Kankuro and Temari found Gaara chained and unconscious, then noticed other prisoners hidden in the darkness.

• Neji Hyuga told Hyuga Hinata that their long walk was pointless because they lacked supplies and had no way to understand or escape the space.
• Hyuga Hinata accepted their predicament calmly and told Neji Hyuga she was glad they could face danger together.
• A white-clad girl appeared behind Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata and warned them that they might have no way to leave.
• Kankuro and Temari found Gaara kneeling unconscious with black chains binding him, apparently imprisoned by the Blood Moon Silver Robe.
• Temari spotted several more chained figures behind Gaara, all held in the same posture.

Uchiha Nobuhiko released Temari and Kankuro from the Dark Space, then put them to sleep and met with Baki and Kabuto Yakushi. As Sunagakure and the Hidden Sound Village considered what to do after Taki Chiba stopped the invasion, Nobuhiko threatened to wipe out their forces if they retreated.

• Temari and Kankuro stepped out of the Dark Space onto Konoha's main road, where Uchiha Nobuhiko appeared behind them and put them to sleep with his ocular power.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko returned Temari and Kankuro to Baki and said he planned to salvage the failed plan and move to a second phase.
• Kabuto Yakushi emerged on behalf of the Hidden Sound Village and proposed discussing their allies' plans after the setback.
• Baki and Kabuto Yakushi acknowledged that Taki Chiba's intervention had effectively ended the war and that their forces could not afford further losses.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko warned Baki and Kabuto Yakushi that if they retreated, his clones would wipe out both their forces.

Uchiha Nobuhiko revealed that his Wood Release clones had sealed every route of retreat, leaving Kabuto Yakushi and Baki’s forces under his control. When they demanded to know why he had let the attack fail, he admitted he was unsure whether the Taki Chiba before them was the original and said Taki Chiba had challenged—and succeeded in challenging—the authority of the gods.

• Uchiha Nobuhiko explained that his Wood Release clones blocked every escape route and could maintain nearly the original’s combat strength, forcing Kabuto Yakushi and Baki to recognize their forces were trapped.
• Kabuto Yakushi and Baki realized Sunagakure’s destruction could destabilize the nations and lead to war, and they regretted cooperating with Uchiha Nobuhiko.
• Kabuto Yakushi questioned why Uchiha Nobuhiko had not restrained Taki Chiba or helped win the battle, and Baki insisted they deserved to know why they were being sent to die.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko agreed to explain and said he had delayed acting because he could not determine whether the Taki Chiba before them was the original body.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko clarified that the uncertainty was not because he could not detect a clone; he said Taki Chiba had challenged the authority of the gods and succeeded.

Uchiha Nobuhiko explained that Taki Chiba had created life, including a second version of himself with all the power he had shown. Baki and Kabuto Yakushi learned that the Sage of Six Paths had created the Tailed Beasts, while Nobuhiko concluded that Taki Chiba could create only one identical copy because the world enforced a hidden balance.

• Uchiha Nobuhiko told Baki and Kabuto Yakushi that the Sage of Six Paths had been the only person capable of godlike feats.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko explained that Taki Chiba had created life, and clarified that the Sage of Six Paths had created the Tailed Beasts.
• Baki and Kabuto Yakushi reacted with shock as they realized Taki Chiba might possess the power to create Tailed Beasts.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko revealed that Taki Chiba had created an identical version of himself with all the power he had displayed.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko said there could be only one such copy because even outsiders could not break the world's hidden balance.

Uchiha Nobuhiko convinced Baki and Kabuto Yakushi that Taki Chiba’s ability to create life made him a threat to every shinobi village, then ordered them to help locate and delay one of the two Taki Chibas. As Nobuhiko sensed a golden flame entering his mind, another battle ended with the Blood Moon Silver Robe crushed by Gaara’s golden sand.

• Baki and Kabuto Yakushi reacted with fear and disbelief when Uchiha Nobuhiko confirmed that there were two Taki Chibas, one of them created by the original.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko explained that Sunagakure and Sound Village now had reason to join his fight against Taki Chiba, and Baki and Kabuto asked for his plan.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko ordered them to find both Taki Chibas and hold one off while he killed the created one, insisting that the substitute would be weaker than the original.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko sensed a golden flame fall from the sky and pass into his mind, then closed his eyes to concentrate.
• Gaara crushed the Blood Moon Silver Robe inside a sphere of golden sand using Sand Waterfall... Imperial Funeral.

Rasa reflected on Sunagakure’s coerced alliance with Uchiha Nobuhiko and the plan to kill Taki Chiba’s substitute life, while watching Orochimaru use Impure World Reincarnation against the Third Hokage. Hada Ichiba appeared behind Rasa and killed him, then questioned whether Uchiha Nobuhiko had deliberately left Rasa there.

• Rasa considered how Uchiha Nobuhiko had forced Sunagakure into an alliance and concealed the plan to delay Taki Chiba’s true body while Nobuhiko killed his substitute life.
• Rasa watched the purple Barrier and recognized Orochimaru’s use of Impure World Reincarnation, reflecting on Sunagakure’s history with the Forbidden Jutsu.
• Hada Ichiba appeared behind Rasa and stabbed him through the chest with a black sword.
• Rasa died after realizing the attacker’s words implied he was destined to be assassinated during the Chunin Exams.
• Hada Ichiba, grievously damaged but still standing, wondered whether Uchiha Nobuhiko had intentionally left Rasa behind.

Hada Ichiba revealed himself to be a modified Sage Art: Slug Clone of Taki Chiba and killed the Fourth Kazekage after surviving his attack. Uchiha Nobuhiko recognized the danger of the recovering clone and realized it was near his final trump card.

• Hada Ichiba, speaking with Chiba's voice, reflected that he had killed the Fourth Kazekage with a single stab and began absorbing natural energy to restore his damaged body.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko sensed the natural energy gathering near Konoha and used the Spiritualization Seed's memories to identify Hada Ichiba as Taki Chiba's powerful Sage Art: Slug Clone.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko reasoned that Taki Chiba had modified Hada Ichiba's mind and body so the clone could replenish Chakra, recover Sage Chakra, and use powerful Sage Arts without disappearing.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko decided he had to eliminate the clones one by one before Hada Ichiba recovered, noting that Hada Ichiba was near his final trump card.

Chiba, inhabiting Hada Ichiba’s failing Sage Art Slug clone, chose to deal with the Spiritualization Seed in the Fourth Kazekage’s corpse rather than break the Barrier to save the Third Hokage. The chapter revealed that Chiba had developed the Spiritualization Seed himself and that the consciousness occupying Hada Ichiba was the seed he had planted there.

• Chiba realized Hada Ichiba’s clone was irreversibly disintegrating, even with Yin-Yang Release and Sage Art Chakra repairing it.
• Chiba weighed breaking the Barrier to save the Third Hokage against stopping Uchiha Nobuhiko’s Spiritualization Seed from taking over the Fourth Kazekage’s corpse.
• Chiba explained that the seed could awaken in the dead Fourth Kazekage’s body and give Uchiha Nobuhiko control of the corpse and its abilities.
• Chiba chose not to attack the Barrier, turned the Fourth Kazekage’s corpse upright, and pressed a hand to his forehead.
• Chiba revealed that he had developed the Spiritualization Seed through his research into the Rinnegan, the Six Paths, and the Spirit Transformation Jutsu.
• Chiba revealed that the consciousness inhabiting Hada Ichiba was his own Spiritualization Seed, which had hatched inside Hada Ichiba.

Chiba found and removed Uchiha Nobuhiko’s Spiritualization Seed from the Fourth Kazekage, but the effort threatened to exhaust his sage chakra incarnation and derail his plans. As the seed shattered, Chiba noticed the Fourth Kazekage’s eyes had acquired Uchiha Nobuhiko’s Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan pattern.

• Chiba explained how Spiritualization Seeds could be sealed or destroyed and located Uchiha Nobuhiko’s seed in the Fourth Kazekage’s brain.
• Chiba realized sealing the seed would consume most of his sage chakra, disperse his Slug Sage Art clone, and force him to reveal hidden trump cards.
• Chiba admitted that Uchiha Nobuhiko had outmaneuvered him and that his plans for the next few years would have to change.
• Chiba extracted the Spiritualization Seed from the Fourth Kazekage’s forehead and watched it crack apart and explode.
• Chiba saw the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan pattern appear in the Fourth Kazekage’s eyes and wondered when it had happened.

Uchiha Nobuhiko sealed Hada Ichiba, Taki Chiba’s Slug Sage Art clone, and ordered Baki and Kabuto Yakushi to halt their retreating troops. Elsewhere, a mysterious youth appeared in Uchiha Nobuhiko’s Dark Space and claimed to be a Konoha ninja, leaving Naruto, Sakura, and Second Pillar wary.

• A hidden ocular technique activated in the Fourth Kazekage’s eyes and buried Hada Ichiba beneath golden sand, sealing him inside a pyramid.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko judged the seal likely to cut the clone off from natural energy and eventually destroy it, though its easy success made him suspicious.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko warned Baki and Kabuto Yakushi that his clones would slaughter their retreating troops, so they left to command their forces.
• Uchiha Nobuhiko hid Kankuro and Temari underground, then vanished to pursue Taki Chiba and his remaining self.
• In Uchiha Nobuhiko’s Dark Space, Second Pillar shielded Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto from a mysterious youth who claimed he was a Konoha ninja.

A mysterious boy’s powerful Sharingan revealed that he was an Uchiha survivor, and he recognized Sasuke as Fugaku’s son. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke remained wary as the boy tried to earn their trust.

• Naruto questioned whether the mysterious boy was a Konoha ninja because he wore no forehead protector.
• The boy apologized for saying they could not get out, then Sasuke warned Sakura and Naruto not to look into his eyes.
• The boy revealed a Three Tomoe Sharingan and criticized Sasuke’s Two Tomoe Sharingan for being too weak to resist it.
• Sasuke realized the boy was an Uchiha with powerful original Sharingan eyes, despite believing the clan had been exterminated.
• The boy asked after Fugaku, learned Sasuke was his son, and asked whether he was Itachi or Sasuke.

Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata met a mysterious Byakugan girl who appeared to have been trapped since the Night of the Nine-Tails, and Neji recognized her as Aunt Yukina. Elsewhere, Second Pillar met Uchiha Hirohiko, who explained that Mikoto had once cared for him and his brother.

• A mysterious girl in Hyuga clothing asked Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata how long it had been since the Nine-Tails attacked.
• Hyuga Hinata answered that more than ten years had passed, and Neji connected the girl's age, appearance, and lack of a Caged Bird Seal to his Aunt Yukina.
• Neji Hyuga called the girl Aunt Yukina, leaving Hyuga Hinata stunned.
• Uchiha Hirohiko asked Second Pillar whether he was Itachi or Sasuke, and Second Pillar introduced himself as Sasuke.
• Second Pillar asked whether Uchiha Hirohiko had been close to his family, and Hirohiko said Mikoto had secretly cared for him and his brother.
• Uchiha Hirohiko introduced himself by name.

Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata recognized the mysterious girl as their Aunt Yukina, who had been believed dead. Yukina confirmed her identity, then urgently asked about Chiba and whether he had married, had children, and was happy.

• Yukina used her Byakugan to identify Neji as a branch-family member and Hinata as a main-family member, then recognized Neji as her nephew.
• Yukina swiftly patted Neji and Hinata on the head, delighted to have both a nephew and a niece.
• Yukina confirmed that she was Hyuga Yukina, and Neji questioned how she could be alive when her name was on the Monument of Spirits.
• Yukina stopped Neji's questions and asked whether Chiba was safe and alive; Neji and Hinata told her he was the acting Hokage.
• Yukina was relieved to hear Chiba was doing well, then nervously asked whether he had married, had children, and was happy.

Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata told Yukina that Chiba was unmarried and had no children, leaving her joyful but worried about how he had endured more than a decade alone. Yukina then turned her attention to her niece and nephew, who asked how she could be here when she was supposed to be dead.

• Yukina asked Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata whether Chiba was married, then grew alarmed when they hesitated.
• Yukina softened her interrogative manner, and Neji Hyuga and Hyuga Hinata told her Chiba had no wife or children.
• Yukina felt happy that Chiba was unmarried, then worried that he had remained alone and might have fallen into despair.
• Yukina asked what the two had wanted to know, and they asked how she was present despite supposedly being dead.