Chapter Summaries

The Third Raikage unveiled Black Lightning while battling the Third Hokage, who assessed how to counter the technique. Meanwhile, Chiri identified Black Lightning’s nature and led her forces toward Kusagakure to destroy it and investigate the Box of Paradise.

• The Third Raikage recovered from the Third Hokage’s attack and resolved to keep fighting while his subordinates retreated.
• The Third Raikage transformed his Lightning Release into a Black Panther-shaped beast and challenged the Third Hokage with his new technique.
• Mimi asked Chiri about Black Lightning, and Chiri identified it as a combination of Yin Release and Lightning Release that could be countered with a sealing formation.
• Chiri reassured Mimi that she had left a Flying Thunder God Mark on the Third Hokage, then led her ninja toward Kusagakure.
• Kusagakure’s guards shouted that Konoha’s ninja had arrived.

Konoha's forces invaded Kusagakure, meeting little resistance as many Grass Hidden ninjas fled. Chiri killed four Grass Hidden attackers before vanishing from the battlefield through a strange Mangekyo technique, leaving Flying Thunder God Marks scattered across the village.

• Konoha's invasion caused Kusagakure's defensive line to collapse, and many Grass Hidden ninjas fled toward the Earth Country.
• Chiri watched the battle from a rooftop as Grass Hidden fighters and civilians scattered amid the destruction.
• Four Grass Hidden ninjas attacked Chiri, but she used deceptive shuriken techniques to kill them.
• Chiri released a purple Lightning Light Blade, then shattered into fragments that became marked blue Butterflies.
• Chiri disappeared without a trace as the Butterflies carried Flying Thunder God Marks across the battlefield.

Chiri used her new lightning-based technique to slaughter the Grass Hidden forces and force Kusagakure’s surrender. She rejected the leaders’ pleas for mercy, ordered them killed, and left to raid the prison at Hozuki Castle.

• Chiri’s hidden lightning strikes decapitated thirty-six Grass Hidden Ninjas, and Konoha’s forces recognized the pale-blue butterflies as her work.
• Chiri’s unseen attacks continued to kill Grass Hidden Ninjas, breaking their resistance until the village surrendered.
• Chiri entered a hall of Grass Hidden higher-ups, kicked down the horse-masked leader, and rejected his plea to spare the village.
• Chiri declared Grass Hidden finished, ordered the Konoha Ninjas to leave no one alive, and departed for Hozuki Castle after leaving forces to control Kusagakure.

The Third Hokage and the Third Raikage fought at extreme speed, each suffering grave injuries in their clash. The Hokage rose again to face the Raikage, while Konoha’s ninjas prepared to defend him.

• The Third Raikage attacked at blinding speed, forcing the Third Hokage to rely on instinct to track him.
• The Third Raikage pierced the Third Hokage’s abdomen, but Enma intervened and helped hold him back.
• The Third Hokage used Ninjutsu Killer: Five Elements Collapse to cripple the Raikage’s arms, while Enma was badly injured.
• The Third Raikage formed new lightning claws and challenged the wounded Hokage to keep fighting.
• The Third Hokage treated his wound and stood back up, and the Konoha ninjas readied themselves to protect him.

Konoha captured the Box of Paradise at Hozuki Castle, while Chiri killed the fleeing Young Master Mui and Mimi ordered the news sealed. Mimi then planned new measures to strengthen her city and strike at the Pure Land as the Third Hokage and Third Raikage continued fighting; in the Rain Country, a Konoha squad leader received orders to attack Amegakure.

• The Castle Lord sent prisoners into the Box of Paradise, but Konoha Ninja broke through Hozuki Castle and took control of the square.
• After the Castle Lord killed himself, a Grass Hidden Ninja escaped through a secret passage with Young Master Mui, but Chiri killed them both after Mimi warned her about a nearby White Zetsu.
• Mimi ordered the Box of Paradise transported, the prisoners rescued, and a trap prepared while Grass Hidden personnel who knew what happened were executed.
• Mimi called for experienced Medical Ninja to run a citywide free clinic and planned to strengthen local control, spread Chakra, and strike at temples in the Pure Land.
• The Third Hokage and Third Raikage fought through the night, while a Konoha Jonin Squad leader in the Rain Country received orders to attack Amegakure.

Konoha medical ninjas opened a free clinic in the Land of Fire, healing residents and building support for the new ninja-led government and the Fourth Hokage. Meanwhile, soldiers surrounded a temple as the Ninja Magistrate arrived with the general’s orders.

• Medical ninjas discussed the overthrow of the nobles and daimyos, Tsunade’s future as Fourth Hokage, and Insect Princess’s influence over the village.
• The medical ninjas opened a free clinic, where residents lined up for treatment without charge.
• The clinic director used Medical Ninjutsu to draw toxins from a critically ill woman and heal her sores, astonishing residents and local physicians.
• The director credited the Fourth Hokage with developing the healing techniques, prompting residents to praise the Hokage and local physicians to join the clinic.
• The Ninja Magistrate brought the general’s orders to a temple, which soldiers surrounded and sealed off.

Mimi imposed steep taxes, labor duties, and three centuries of retroactive fees on the temples, forcing the monks to decide whether to resist or comply. The Silver Pavilion Temple’s abbot agreed to pay while ordering the gold scraped from their Buddha statue to help cover the bill.

• Mimi’s officials ordered temples to pay head taxes, land rent, business fees, and labor and military duties, along with retroactive fees based on each temple’s age.
• The Ninja Magistrate’s Squad Leader told Silver Pavilion Temple to pay three hundred years of fees and warned the monks not to disappoint the general.
• The monks debated rebellion but feared Konoha’s strength and knew commoners would not rise to defend them.
• The abbot confirmed the temple had enough money to pay, though the fees would nearly empty its coffers.
• The abbot ordered the monks to scrape the gold from the Buddha statue and smelt it into ingots.

Mimi prepared to bring the territories outside the capital under the Ninja Magistrate’s control, while a group of monks sought help from the hidden Cixuan. After mistaking Aburame Insect Princess for Kaguya reincarnated, Cixuan killed the monk who summoned him and feared he might be facing a trap.

• Mimi prepared to lead an expedition against the temples and territories resisting the Ninja Magistrate.
• The monks appealed to Saint Monk Cixuan for help, reporting that the Sixth Heaven Demon King was destroying Buddhism and that Konoha was expanding its power.
• Cixuan initially dismissed the monks’ troubles, but grew alert when he learned about the Shinobi World’s changing balance and saw Insect Princess’s portrait.
• Cixuan recognized the portrait as resembling Kaguya and suspected that she had reincarnated as Insect Princess to rebuild the Ōtsutsuki bloodline’s power.
• Cixuan impaled the old monk with a Black Rod and worried that Kaguya was testing him or setting a trap.

Mito struggled to manage the growing population and dwindling supplies while reflecting on Mimi’s plans for a vast, peaceful society. When Mimi’s supplies arrived, Mito discovered they included a mountain of gold.

• Mito received the Kamizuru Clan and Sky Ninja prisoners and ordered the abducted civilians separated.
• Mito surveyed the village and remembered Mimi’s plans for a tree-built metropolis supported by flying Summoning Beasts, Ninja Bees, and Ninja Ravens.
• Mito recalled Mimi’s promise to remain with immortal Tsunade and imagined a future without deadly conflict.
• A ninja told Mito that supplies from Insect Princess-sama had arrived and asked her to inspect the unusually large shipment.
• Mito saw the gold mountain and exclaimed that killing people had made far more money than she had expected.

As Konoha’s forces advanced into the Land of Rain, Hanzo weighed retreat and surrender while Madara’s White Zetsu urged him to resist. White Zetsu began offering good news as Jiraiya led Konoha’s army toward Amegakure.

• Hanzo learned that Konoha had invaded Amegakure and ordered his forces to withdraw inland and defend using the terrain.
• Fuma Kotaro challenged Hanzo over his reluctance to fight, while Kakuzu considered finding a new employer if Hanzo backed down.
• White Zetsu appeared on Madara’s behalf and told Hanzo that Sand Hidden Village, Iwagakure, and Hidden Cloud had suffered devastating defeats.
• White Zetsu warned that Grass Hidden Village had been erased and invoked Amegakure’s memories of the battle with Aburame Insect Princess to persuade Hanzo to resist Konoha.
• White Zetsu said Hanzo’s opponent was not strong, while Jiraiya ordered Konoha’s more than ten thousand ninja to advance and break through Amegakure.

Konoha’s scouting team advanced into the Rain Country rainforest without realizing Amegakure had already begun its attack through the terrain and the pathogens carried by the rain. Hidden Amegakure observers watched the team as it moved deeper into the forest.

• At three in the afternoon, Konoha began its attack on Amegakure, whose forces pulled back their defensive lines.
• Konoha’s scouting team advanced through the rain without encountering Amegakure, while its members struggled with the rainforest’s hazardous terrain and wildlife.
• The captain warned the team not to use Exploding Tags or Fire Release because the rainforest’s vast carbon reserves made fires especially dangerous.
• Rain carrying fungal spores fell on the ninja, and Mimi’s Insect began clearing spores that entered their bodies.
• Hidden observers watched Konoha’s movements beneath the dense jungle as the team continued into the forest.

Konoha’s forces found Amegakure abandoned and burned, then faced Hanzo’s guerrilla tactics and a forest fire that cut off their route. Meanwhile, the Third Raikage died after a prolonged battle with the Third Hokage, and Konoha’s ninjas collected his body.

• Jiraiya and Konoha’s forces reached Amegakure and found the village deserted and reduced to charred ruins.
• The Squad Leader recognized Hanzo’s guerrilla strategy and ordered Jiraiya to attack other cities, but Jiraiya objected to targeting civilians.
• A fire spread through the Rainforest and cut off the road behind Konoha’s forces, prompting the Squad Leader to maintain camp and send Ninja Eagles to report.
• Mimi watched the battle as the Third Hokage received medical treatment and the Third Raikage weakened from his wounds.
• The Third Raikage stopped moving, Konoha’s ninjas confirmed his breathing had stopped, and they cautiously collected his corpse.

Amegakure’s poison left Jiraiya paralyzed and dying, and his memories revealed his childhood loneliness and his fear of being hated. As he relived his past, he remembered how he had avoided the masked Insect Princess despite her kindness, before his memories returned to his teacher and his ambition to find the Child of Destiny.

• Hanzo confirmed that Ibuse’s poison had failed to incapacitate most of Konoha’s shinobi, and Amegakure’s raid retreated underwater after suffering losses in close combat.
• Jiraiya lay paralyzed in his tent as the poison impaired his breathing and left him unable to call for help.
• Jiraiya’s memories replayed his childhood, his affection for Tsunade, and his bond with Teacher Hiruzen.
• Jiraiya recalled the masked girl offering him candy and understood that he had repeatedly avoided her because he feared others would hate him.
• Jiraiya remembered declaring that he would find the Child of Destiny, while Teacher Hiruzen encouraged him and told him he could rely only on himself.

Jiraiya relived the failures and cruelty that had shaped his resolve to find the prophesied savior and change the world. The chapter left him watching children die during an Anbu mission, swearing through his despair to keep his Ninja Way.

• Jiraiya remembered being beaten and humiliated by Hidden Cloud ninja after they destroyed a village, and fleeing when he could not fight them.
• He blamed himself for surviving and vowed to find the savior foretold by prophecy, while a cold female voice called him a coward.
• Jiraiya stopped an Anbu comrade from killing two children and challenged the mission order.
• The captain showed Jiraiya a briefing bearing the Third Hokage's seal and ordered him to accept the mission.
• Jiraiya let go as his teammates moved to kill the children, then swore he would find the savior and change the cruel world.

Jiraiya woke from a painful dream about being left behind, then struggled with guilt and helplessness as Amegakure attacked his unit. Mimi monitored the fighting in the Rain Country and the terror campaign against the Earth Country daimyo, which was nearing its goal.

• Jiraiya dreamed that the Great Toad Sage admitted there was no prophecy or savior, and that he had fallen behind Tsunade and the girl leading the way.
• Jiraiya awoke in a medical tent after being poisoned, and his Squad Leader told him to rest while his body recovered.
• When Amegakure attacked, Jiraiya tried and failed to rise, then blamed himself as his companions repelled the assault without him.
• Mimi surveyed the Rain Country and considered Jiraiya's exhaustion, the supply shortage, and how to reinforce the Konoha forces.
• Mimi observed that three days of head-mound terror had pushed the Earth Country daimyo close to collapse.

The Hidden Rock medical team discovered a way to remove the frozen parasitic worms, but treatment was slow and carried serious risks. The Third Earth Shadow prepared to rally the village while arranging for Manki, Clan Head Kamizuru, to be taken to her death.

• Medical Ninjas found a treatment that involved freezing patients and surgically removing the parasites, but each operation took nearly five hours and required an exhausted Kirigakure Ninja to maintain the temperature.
• The medical team proposed freezing patients who could not be treated immediately, though they warned that some might not wake after thawing.
• The treatment findings and recommendations were delivered to the Third Earth Shadow, who decided to give a public speech and strengthen the villagers' resolve against Konoha.
• The Third Earth Shadow thought that sacrificing Manki was necessary for the village's survival.
• A prison guard told Manki, Clan Head Kamizuru, that she was being taken to her death, and she followed him out of her cell.

Kamizuru Manki faced a public execution after Ōnoki blamed her for the village’s crisis and turned the crowd against her. When a girl she had once saved pleaded for her life, Manki swore allegiance to her unseen master, broke free of the flames and chains, and revealed a monstrous transformation before Ōnoki.

• The villagers gathered to condemn Kamizuru Manki as Ōnoki accused her of conspiring with Konoha and poisoning the village.
• Ōnoki announced that the Medical Department had found a cure, then ordered Manki’s execution by fire.
• Manki resolved to destroy the people before taking her own life, but a little girl she had saved cried out for her to live.
• Manki swore allegiance to her master and begged to be saved, prompting an invisible force to extinguish the flames.
• Manki broke free of her chains, declared her name, and transformed as Ōnoki confronted her.

Kamizuru Manki exposed her apparent conspiracy against the village and challenged Ōnoki, revealing a powerful space-time technique and the insects hidden inside the crowd. As the insect disaster erupted and the village began to collapse, Manki froze Ōnoki in midair with invisible pressure.

• Kamizuru Manki admitted to releasing insects among the crowd and accused the Third Earth Shadow of persecuting her clan, declaring that she would become the Fourth Earth Shadow.
• Manki questioned the cure’s success rate, then survived Ōnoki’s Dust Release attack with the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique and revealed her clan’s secret was space-time Ninjutsu.
• Manki demanded that everyone submit or be destroyed, and voices from inside their bodies repeated the threat as insects attacked the crowd.
• Ōnoki realized the Aburame Insect Princess was involved and charged at Manki while villagers begged her for mercy.
• The ground cracked and buildings collapsed as a terrifying creature stirred beneath the village, and Manki stopped Ōnoki in midair with invisible pressure.

Manki used her mastery of gravity to defeat Old Zi and reveal the enormous Tunneling Insect beneath Hidden Rock Village. As the village’s remaining ninja watched in despair, a vast swarm of bees poured from the creature and darkened the sky.

• Ōnoki was crushed by Manki’s gravity, but Old Zi rushed in with a magma-coated fist to save him.
• Manki stopped Old Zi’s attack with a Gravity Barrier and urged him to support her and become Earth Shadow.
• Old Zi refused, and Manki blasted him through buildings with Fixed-Time Control: Heavy Road Roller.
• Manki released the seal on Tunneling Insect, whose immense tentacles rose from the ground beneath Hidden Rock Village.
• Eggs opened inside the creature, releasing a dense swarm of bees that blotted out the sky.

Manki used Mimi’s insect swarm and the Tunneling Insect to crush Iwagakure’s resistance and trap Ōnoki, drawing out Han and the hidden observers. Snow Princess and Terumi Homura watched as Han prepared to fight Manki, while Homura recognized her target.

• The Uchiha Mask withdrew his White Zetsu and ordered a retreat, deciding that Ōnoki could not be allowed to die and Iwagakure could not fall entirely under Insect Princess’s control.
• Manki’s killer hornets overwhelmed Iwagakure’s defenders, sparing those who surrendered as Mimi’s plan used the village’s stolen Chakra to subdue the resistance.
• Manki tightened her grip on Ōnoki, then eased it to keep him alive as bait while she cleared the hospital courtyard and blocked rescue attempts.
• Han confronted Manki and challenged her takeover, then activated Boil Release as she invited him to show his strength.
• Snow Princess watched Manki from a Rock building, and Terumi Homura recognized her and declared that she had finally found her.