Chapter Summaries

After Nagato died, Yahiko sealed his body and traveled with Katsuki to find Konan. They followed the battle trail through the Land of Rain and found signs that Konan and the others had been ambushed, leaving Yahiko with a faint hope that Jiraiya had intervened.

• Yahiko grieved over Nagato’s death, then sealed his body in a scroll and agreed to go with Katsuki to find Konan.
• On the way, Yahiko asked about Madara Uchiha and rejected the idea that Nagato’s death had been fate.
• Katsuki and Yahiko reached the devastated battlefield where Hanzō and Zetsu had ambushed them, and Katsuki warned Yahiko not to blame himself for Nagato’s death.
• They followed the retreating group’s trail and found cement and enormous footprints at another battle site.
• Yahiko recognized the cement as Kyusuke’s Secret Technique, and he and Katsuki wondered whether Jiraiya’s summoned toads had been there.

Katsuki learned that Jiraiya and Konan had left to pursue Nagato, while Yahiko struggled to explain their departure. In an underground hideout, Black Zetsu gave Senju Zen the Rinnegan and said it could be transplanted at any time.

• Katsuki asked Kyusuke and Great Buddha whether Jiraiya and Konan had left any instructions before departing.
• Yahiko told Kyusuke to answer Katsuki, and Kyusuke asked where Nagato was.
• Senju Zen and Uchiha Genso met Black Zetsu at an underground base and reported that Jiraiya had discovered their battle with Hanzō.
• Black Zetsu handed Senju Zen a bottle containing the Rinnegan and told him it could be transplanted at any time.

Jiraiya and Konan got lost while traveling through a newly formed forest and encountered the Senju Clan. Jiraiya recognized Nawaki, and the group paused their confrontation to reunite and discuss directions.

• Jiraiya denied being lost as he and Konan searched for their location through the forest.
• Jiraiya sensed that the forest had been created by Wood Style and wondered who had made it.
• Konan spotted Nawaki and the Senju Clan and asked them for directions to Konoha.
• Nawaki ordered the Senju to stay alert and hold their fire while Konan approached.
• Jiraiya rushed into the group, recognized Nawaki's Wood Clone, and told Konan that the Senju were friends.

Jiraiya questioned Nawaki about Senju Zen and hinted that a dangerous matter involving Madara Uchiha might require Nawaki’s help, but first he needed to speak with Katsuki. Katsuki arrived unexpectedly, and Nawaki realized the secret might concern him after all.

• Nawaki explained that the Senju Clan trained Wood Style Jutsu far from the village to avoid the trouble their gifted members caused there.
• Jiraiya showed Nawaki a portrait, and Nawaki identified the man as his distant cousin Senju Zen, who had died on a mission.
• Jiraiya said the matter might require Nawaki’s help but that he first needed to confirm the situation with Katsuki.
• Nawaki told Jiraiya that Katsuki was away on an Anbu operation, likely hunting bandits.
• Katsuki arrived in a burst of lightning and greeted Jiraiya, Nawaki, and Konan.
• Katsuki tried to send Nawaki away while he explained the complicated matter, but Nawaki suggested it might concern him, leaving Jiraiya confused.

Katsuki told Nawaki that Madara Uchiha had survived the Valley of the End, then explained that Nagato had died defending his Rinnegan from Madara Uchiha's subordinates. Katsuki recognized one of the attackers in Jiraiya's portrait as Senju Zen, and the conversation ended with the question of whether the attackers had found a new host for the Rinnegan.

• Nawaki reacted with disbelief when Katsuki and Jiraiya told him Madara Uchiha was alive, then demanded an explanation.
• Katsuki told Jiraiya that Nagato had died in battle and that Yahiko was on his way with Katsuki's shadow clone.
• Konan flew off to find Yahiko after Katsuki said Yahiko could explain Nagato's death.
• Katsuki told Jiraiya that Madara Uchiha's subordinates had attacked Nagato for the Rinnegan and recognized Senju Zen in Jiraiya's portrait.
• Jiraiya said Senju Zen and a Sharingan user had killed Hanzō, and Katsuki asked whether they had found a new host for the Rinnegan.

Senju Zen survived an eye transplant and urged Uchiha Genso to help ignite a war against Konoha, while Zetsu outlined a plan involving the Cloud, Stone, and Mist Ninja. In Konoha, Orochimaru welcomed Yahiko and his companions, leaving their discussions for another time.

• Senju Zen told Uchiha Genso that he had replaced his eyes to gain the power needed to fulfill his wish.
• Zetsu urged Uchiha Genso to provoke a war against Konoha by giving the Cloud Ninja, Stone Ninja, and Mist Ninja an excuse to attack.
• Jiraiya reflected on Nagato's death as he met Orochimaru, now the Fourth Hokage, in Konoha.
• Orochimaru greeted Yahiko and invited him, Konan, and Katsuki to rest and look around Konoha before discussing other matters.

Katsuki brought Otoha to Minato’s residence, where Orochimaru asked him to help with a sensitive matter involving the Uchiha Clan. Otoha grew wary when he realized the clan elders had been deliberately left out, and the chapter ended with Katsuki denying he would betray Otome.

• Otoha abandoned Yashuo during their patrol after spotting Jiraiya and left him a note saying he had gone to eat.
• Katsuki caught Otoha and persuaded him to help identify someone, buying him taiyaki on the way.
• Katsuki led Otoha into Minato’s residence, where several senior Konoha figures had gathered.
• Orochimaru explained that Fugaku was away and said he had summoned Otoha because Minato and Katsuki recommended him, while involving the Uchiha elders might cause trouble.
• Otoha eyed Katsuki suspiciously, and Katsuki insisted he would never do anything to betray Otome.

Orochimaru told Otoha that Madara Uchiha was likely still alive and asked the Uchiha Clan to disavow him as an impostor and remain loyal to the village. Otoha identified a portrait as the missing Uchiha Genso, revealing another connection to the scheme.

• Orochimaru asked Otoha what he thought of Madara Uchiha, and Otoha called Madara’s story dull and awful.
• Orochimaru revealed that information suggested Madara was still alive, and Otoha reacted with shock before insisting Madara had nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan.
• Orochimaru asked Otoha to ensure the Uchiha Clan did not defect, telling him to treat the living Madara as an impostor.
• Orochimaru had Jiraiya show Otoha a portrait, and Otoha identified the man as Uchiha Genso, who had gone missing on a mission about two years earlier.
• Orochimaru confirmed that Genso was closely connected to the matter and inferred that someone was using Senju and Uchiha disciples as weapons.

Konoha’s leaders discussed the threat of Madara Uchiha, and Orochimaru argued that Madara’s long absence suggested he had been weakened. Orochimaru then redirected their attention to the changing situation in the Land of Rain after Hanzō’s death.

• Jiraiya warned the others that Madara Uchiha was their greatest danger, while the Third Hokage and Tsunade reacted grimly to the news that he was still alive.
• Minato privately challenged Katsuki to reveal what he knew about Madara, but Katsuki insisted he had already shared everything and teased Minato about becoming his brother-in-law.
• Orochimaru reasoned that Madara’s reliance on hidden schemes meant he lacked the strength to attack Konoha directly, and the Third Hokage and the elders agreed that Madara might have been injured by the First Hokage.
• Katsuki wondered why Madara had not pursued his ambitions earlier, then remained uncertain whether an injury explained Madara’s behavior.
• Orochimaru ended the discussion of Madara and turned the group’s attention to the Land of Rain after Hanzō’s death.

After the meeting about Madara Uchiha, Orochimaru took charge of the village’s next steps and proposed reorganizing Anbu and Root into separate divisions. Minato supported the plan, and the chapter ended with Orochimaru preparing to establish the Root Division.

• Jiraiya persuaded the Third Hokage to leave the meeting, and the Hokage advisors soon departed as well.
• Katsuki took Otoha away, leaving Orochimaru and Minato to discuss the Land of Rain and Madara Uchiha.
• Orochimaru kept the original Land of Rain plan but decided to let his senior brothers and sisters rest in the village for a few days first.
• Orochimaru proposed splitting personnel from Anbu to create a Root Division with duties separate from Anbu’s.
• Minato supported Orochimaru’s reorganization plan and welcomed the name Root Division.

Konoha remained peaceful while Katsuki struggled through the Anbu’s paperwork and learned that the Anbu and Root would be reorganized. After the Hokage summoned him, Katsuki brought Hiruzen's eldest son along to advise on the reforms.

• Tsunade devoted herself to Medical Ninjutsu research, refused Jiraiya’s invitation to gamble, and punched him through a window into a tree.
• Fugaku met privately with the Hokage, leaving the Hokage Building with a dark expression and heavy steps.
• Katsuki and his Shadow Clones worked through a mountain of Anbu documents while Hiruzen's eldest son delivered more paperwork.
• Katsuki told Hiruzen's eldest son that the Hokage planned to replace the Root Organization with the Root Division and Anbu, using Minato to establish the new division.
• When an Anbu messenger summoned Katsuki to meet the Hokage, Katsuki invited Hiruzen's eldest son to come advise him on the reforms.
• Katsuki and Hiruzen's eldest son headed toward the Hokage Building, leaving a Shadow Clone to continue stamping documents.

Orochimaru offered to help Yahiko’s Akatsuki Organization defeat Amegakure, but demanded that it abandon its name and establish a new Amegakure under the one nation, one village system. Yahiko understood that Orochimaru had left him little choice, and the chapter ended with him weighing the proposal.

• Katsuki arrived as Orochimaru asked Yahiko about the Akatsuki Organization’s plans after Hanzō’s death.
• Yahiko said Akatsuki intended to overthrow Amegakure, but its future would be decided with his companions.
• Orochimaru proposed that Akatsuki absorb Amegakure and asked Yahiko how he would define that arrangement.
• Orochimaru offered Konoha’s help to defeat Amegakure on the condition that Akatsuki disband under its old name and establish a new Amegakure.
• Yahiko raised the need for the Rain Daimyo’s recognition, and Orochimaru said he would secure it through the Fire Daimyo.

Yahiko agreed to Orochimaru’s proposal for an alliance between Konoha and the future Rain Ninja, seeking protection for the Land of Rain. He persuaded Orochimaru to consider joint border patrols and a Konoha presence in Rain, and Orochimaru ultimately agreed.

• Orochimaru argued that the one country, one village system had brought order and asked Yahiko whether he meant to preserve it; Yahiko said he only wanted peace for the Land of Rain.
• Yahiko accepted Orochimaru’s alliance proposal, and Orochimaru presented a prepared agreement for Yahiko and Katsuki to witness and review.
• Yahiko and Orochimaru debated the agreement’s terms, and Yahiko asked Konoha to help protect the Land of Rain from foreign invasions.
• Yahiko proposed that Konoha and Rain Ninja patrol the Land of Rain’s borders together and that Konoha station troops there.
• Yahiko explained that the alliance would support the isolated Akatsuki Organization and protect the Land of Rain, and Orochimaru ultimately agreed to the proposal.

Yahiko and Orochimaru signed an alliance treaty, and Konoha reorganized its forces before sending an elite clan-based army to help establish a new Amegakure. As the troops traveled toward the Land of Rain under Katsuki’s command, Yahiko listened to Rokuro Kaguya describe Katsuki’s battle with the Third Mizukage.

• Yahiko and Orochimaru signed two copies of a treaty formalizing an alliance between Konoha and the Akatsuki Organization.
• Konoha established Root, reduced the Anbu’s internal inspection duties, and assigned Root to monitor misconduct and hunt rogue ninja.
• Orochimaru assembled more than twelve hundred elite ninja from Konoha’s clans to support Yahiko in building a new Amegakure, with Katsuki chosen to command them.
• Katsuki left to coordinate with the Border Defense Force while Yahiko stayed with Rokuro Kaguya and wondered whether Konan had arrived in the Land of Rain.
• Rokuro Kaguya told Yahiko that he had witnessed Katsuki fight the Third Mizukage and Kirigakure’s top experts on Aomori Island.

After Hanzō's death plunged Amegakure into chaos, Katsuki led Konoha's forces and the Akatsuki Organization toward the village to crush the remaining loyalists. The combined force advanced through the rain, and its clash with Amegakure's defenders began.

• Konan explained that Hanzō's death had splintered the Rain Ninja into factions, leaving the Land of Rain without effective patrols.
• Katsuki reviewed the situation at Black Tail Mountain and ordered his forces to kill anyone who blocked their advance into Amegakure.
• Rokuro Kaguya relayed Katsuki's order, and the combined Konoha and Akatsuki force set out for Amegakure.
• Katsuki and Nawaki discussed Hanzō and their past battles as they marched toward the village.
• Katsuki spotted the first clash ahead as explosive tags lit up the rain-darkened battlefield.

Katsuki led Konoha’s shinobi army into the Land of Rain, where Rokuro Kaguya’s vanguard crushed a Rain Ninja force with overwhelming strength. After the victory, the army continued toward Amegakure as the Rain leadership’s scattered defenses began to collapse.

• Rokuro Kaguya led the vanguard in a charge against fewer than a hundred Rain Ninja, using explosive tags and his bone techniques to overwhelm them.
• Konoha’s clan shinobi joined the attack, wiping out the Rain Ninja in under a minute with only minor injuries on their own side.
• Katsuki discussed the battle with Yahiko and instructed Rokuro Kaguya to keep the army moving and use its resources efficiently.
• The Konoha army advanced toward Amegakure while the Rain leadership sent scattered forces to intercept it, causing the situation to deteriorate rapidly.

Katsuki and Konoha’s forces crushed the Rain Ninja ambushes and advanced toward Amegakure, where Hanzō’s surviving elites failed to unite. Katsuki found the village’s defenders divided into four groups and ordered an attack.

• Katsuki and Yahiko watched Konoha’s forces defeat the Rain Ninja, while the Yuki shinobi used a blizzard to kill many more under Yuki Yoizuki’s leadership.
• Katsuki learned from Rokuro Kaguya that Amegakure was about thirteen kilometers away and used Mind's Eye of the Kagura to scout ahead.
• Four of Hanzō’s surviving elites argued over how to defend Amegakure, then abandoned their meeting and separately took control of parts of the village.
• Katsuki discovered that the Rain Ninja had split into four groups and ordered Konoha’s forces to attack.

Konoha’s three-person squad—Yuki Yoizuki, Kaguya Hibiki, and a Byakugan woman named Kotomi—fought through Amegakure’s disorganized defenses and confronted one of the village’s strongest Rain Ninja. Their coordinated Kekkei Genkai attacks kept him under pressure, but he escaped each assault and the battle continued up a drainpipe.

• Yuki Yoizuki killed a Rain Ninja with an Ice Release lance as the squad advanced through Amegakure.
• Kotomi spotted hidden Rain Ninja while Kaguya Hibiki attacked them with bone blades, and Yoizuki raised an ice wall to block an explosive-tag barrage.
• A powerful Rain Ninja charged the squad, and Hibiki fought him with bone blades before revealing her bone Kekkei Genkai and firing Ten Finger Bullets.
• The Rain Ninja used Substitution and Body Flicker to evade Hibiki’s and Yoizuki’s attacks, then launched Wind Release bullets at Kotomi.
• Yoizuki blocked the Wind Release attack while Hibiki engaged the Rain Ninja on a drainpipe, and Yoizuki pursued them with Ice Release: Cold Spring.

Katsuki watched Yuki Yoizuki, Kaguya Hibiki, and the Byakugan woman fight a powerful Rain Ninja without intervening. After the women survived his Great Waterfall Technique and counterattacked, the exhausted Rain Ninja was struck by Kaguya Hibiki’s finger-bone bullets.

• Katsuki told Yahiko he would intervene only to protect acquaintances from dying, not to save everyone in the battle.
• The Rain Ninja used Wind Release: Vacuum Wave and then Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique against Yuki Yoizuki, Kaguya Hibiki, and the Byakugan woman.
• Kaguya Hibiki shielded the three women from the waterfall with an ice wall, and they emerged unharmed.
• Yuki Yoizuki attacked with Ice Release: Lance while Kaguya Hibiki used Ten Finger Bullet to pressure the Rain Ninja.
• The Rain Ninja, already depleted from earlier battles, was hit by Kaguya Hibiki’s finger-bone bullets.

Konoha’s forces overwhelmed the Rain Ninja, while Katsuki rejected Yahiko’s suggestion to offer the defenders a chance to surrender. Uchiha Genso and Zetsu left for the Land of Earth, and the chapter ended with the slaughter in the village continuing.

• Konan reported that the Rain Ninja were nearly defeated, and Yahiko asked Katsuki whether they should offer them surrender.
• Katsuki refused, explaining that Hanzō’s loyalists would not surrender and that he had no use for prisoners in a war to wipe out the village.
• Katsuki watched the battle and used his lightning to kill Rain Ninja and save Konoha allies as the defenders’ leaders fell.
• Uchiha Genso and Zetsu discussed Katsuki’s strength, then decided to leave for the Land of Earth to stir up the Stone Ninja.
• Zetsu reminded Uchiha Genso that he would have to face Katsuki to destroy the Uchiha Clan, and the two disappeared into the steel pipes.
• Konoha ninja continued killing the remaining Rain Ninja, beheading the dead and collecting their ears as battle tallies.