Chapter Summaries

Moriyue searched Tsunade’s dream for intelligence, learning about recent events and destroying a monument tied to her memories before she woke. The next morning, he joined Naruto’s group as Yamato and Sai were assigned to the Sasuke search, while Kazeki challenged Naruto’s insistence on bringing Sasuke back; the team prepared to leave Konoha that afternoon.

• Moriyue followed Tsunade through her dream to a flower field with memorials for Dan and her younger brother, then used the Black-faced Sheep to enter her memories and learn about Gaara’s rescue and the coming search for Sasuke.
• Moriyue attached a damaged notebook to Dan’s monument, destroying it as Tsunade’s dream turned hostile; Tsunade woke in tears with a vague sense that she had forgotten someone important.
• Moriyue met Naruto and Hinata, then learned from Tsunade that Yamato would lead the search for Sasuke and that Sai, sent by Danzo, would join the group.
• Naruto objected to Sai replacing Sasuke, and Sakura punched Sai after he insulted Sasuke; Yamato intervened and ordered the group to prepare to leave that afternoon.
• Kazeki questioned Naruto’s plan to force Sasuke back to Konoha, arguing that friendship did not mean controlling someone else’s choices; Moriyue supported her and led her away.

Moriyue’s group joined Yamato’s team on the journey to Tenchi Bridge, where Ajisai attacked and was captured by Moriyue. At the bridge, Yamato’s meeting with Kabuto erupted into a battle with Orochimaru, and Naruto lost control to the Nine-Tails; after Orochimaru escaped, Moriyue pursued him with a sample of Naruto’s chakra.

• Moriyue and Kazeki left Konoha with Yamato, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai to investigate Orochimaru and Sasuke at Tenchi Bridge.
• Moriyue chased down Ajisai, defeated her summoned bull, and took her with him after altering her allegiance.
• Moriyue’s group split from Yamato’s team, and the two groups reunited at Tenchi Bridge when Kabuto arrived to meet Yamato disguised as Sasori.
• Orochimaru appeared, Naruto attacked him and transformed under the Nine-Tails’ chakra, and Sakura was knocked unconscious while Yamato tried to contain Naruto.
• Orochimaru wounded Naruto and escaped with Kabuto; Moriyue then pursued them with Kazeki and Ajisai, carrying a sample of Naruto’s chakra.

After Sai told Yamato that Moriyue and the others had attacked him, Yamato chose to pursue Orochimaru rather than intervene in their dispute. Moriyue, Ajisai, and Kazeki met Orochimaru and Kabuto, and Moriyue handed over Danzo’s proposal and intelligence, leaving the two sides ready to do business.

• Yamato moved the unconscious Naruto and injured Sakura aside, then decided to go after Orochimaru because he wanted to stop the experiments that had once been done to him.
• Ajisai struggled to land Archaeopteryx, dismissed it in midair, and summoned a panda to cushion the group’s crash beside a river.
• Orochimaru appeared behind Moriyue, Ajisai, and Kazeki, examined Ajisai’s hand mark, and called her promising experimental material.
• Moriyue gave Orochimaru the backpack containing Danzo’s letters and ANBU intelligence, explaining that Danzo wanted to work with him and had sent someone after them.
• Orochimaru accepted the intelligence, while Kabuto openly expressed hostility toward Moriyue and praised the chance to work with Orochimaru.

Moriyue met Sasuke in Orochimaru’s Underground Palace and provoked him to test his strength. Sasuke’s Genjutsu failed against Moriyue’s soul power, and the chapter ended with Sasuke trapped in Moriyue’s terrifying counterattack.

• Moriyue followed Orochimaru, Ajisai, and Kazeki through the Underground Palace to meet Sasuke.
• Sasuke ignored Moriyue and asked Orochimaru to train him, but Moriyue taunted him about Itachi and the Uchiha Clan Massacre Night.
• Sasuke cast a Genjutsu on Moriyue and ordered him to kill himself, but Moriyue turned the sword against Sasuke instead.
• Moriyue revealed the Black-faced Sheep and explained that its soul power could defend against spiritual attacks such as Genjutsu.
• Sasuke became trapped in Moriyue’s chain-filled illusion as Moriyue confronted him: “So you're the damn Uchiha Sasuke?”

Moriyue defeated Sasuke’s Genjutsu and taunted him, prompting Orochimaru to leave Sasuke in Moriyue’s care for training. Sasuke agreed to train with Moriyue in hopes of learning how to face Itachi, but Moriyue demanded payment before he would teach him.

• Ajisai checked on Moriyue while Kazeki treated him, and Orochimaru applauded before telling Sasuke that Moriyue would train him.
• Orochimaru left with Kabuto, while Sasuke realized that other Chakra inside Moriyue had disrupted his Genjutsu.
• Moriyue mocked Sasuke’s Genjutsu and compared him unfavorably to Itachi, while Ajisai and Kazeki prepared to intervene.
• Sasuke lowered his sword and asked Moriyue to train him because he hoped Moriyue could help him defeat Itachi.
• Moriyue said he would teach Sasuke only if Sasuke offered payment.

Moriyue provoked Sasuke with outrageous demands, then demonstrated his superior skill by defeating Sasuke’s Lightning Release and sword techniques. He offered to help Sasuke grow stronger so he could defeat Itachi and asked what Sasuke was willing to pay.

• Moriyue asked Kazeki what she wanted and suggested that Sasuke provide her with ninjutsu and Sharingan, prompting Sasuke to attack him.
• Sasuke and Moriyue clashed with their swords, and Moriyue urged Sasuke to put more strength into his attacks.
• Sasuke used Lightning Release and Chidori through the Kusanagi Sword, but Moriyue shattered his attack and sent him flying.
• Moriyue asked Sasuke whether he had had enough and offered to help him grow stronger so he could defeat Itachi.
• Moriyue told Sasuke their goals aligned and asked what he was willing to pay for his help.

Moriyue secretly completed a deal with Orochimaru and received a Sharingan, then warned Kazeki about the risks of using it. He proposed modifying summoning beasts with Ajisai and revealed he could also turn people into summoning beasts.

• Orochimaru arrived while Sasuke seethed after Moriyue's taunts, and he asked Moriyue about training.
• Orochimaru secretly handed Moriyue an item, which Kazeki noticed but did not mention.
• Moriyue showed Kazeki a Sharingan and cautioned that its power could cause severe mental distortion.
• Moriyue promised Ajisai a reward and proposed mechanically modifying disobedient summoning beasts as test subjects.
• Moriyue revealed he had a forbidden technique to seize summoning beasts and transform people into them.

Sai led Yamato, Naruto, and Sakura to the Underground Palace base, where they hoped to find Sasuke. Moriyue escaped through the entrance after blasting Sakura aside, while a flood of Black Snakes swallowed the others.

• Sai used the clue he had left on the stolen documents to locate the Underground Palace base.
• Yamato warned Naruto that Sasuke was a rogue ninja, but Naruto insisted he still believed in him.
• Sai pinpointed the base, and Sakura rushed inside ahead of the others, hoping to reunite with Sasuke.
• Sakura mistook the approaching Moriyue for Sasuke, but Ajisai used a Sealing Card to blast her aside as Moriyue fled.
• Moriyue escaped with his group on an Archaeopteryx, and a tide of Black Snakes surged from the Underground Palace and swallowed the others.

Naruto and Sakura fought the Black Snakes until Sasuke arrived and attacked them, Sai, and Yamato. Sasuke left Sai incapacitated and wounded Yamato, while Sakura still refused to give up on him and Moriyue’s group watched from above.

• Sakura and Naruto slaughtered the Black Snakes in Orochimaru’s Underground Palace.
• Sai tried to pursue Moriyue’s group, but Kazeki shielded them from the rain as the storm disrupted Sai’s ink-based ninjutsu.
• Sasuke appeared and used Chidori, but Yamato raised a wooden giant to protect Naruto and Sakura.
• Sai provoked Sasuke, met his gaze, and collapsed after seeing a horrifying vision of his victims.
• Sasuke pierced Yamato’s palm with a lightning spear, while Sakura stared at him and remained unwilling to give up on him.
• Moriyue and Ajisai ate food above the battlefield and commented on Sakura’s devotion.

Naruto tried to bring Sasuke back, but Sasuke attacked him and Sakura stopped the Kusanagi Sword with her injured hands. As Naruto struggled to accept that Sasuke had changed, Moriyue left with Ajisai and Kazeki for Amegakure.

• Naruto insisted that he would defeat Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha, despite Yamato warning that Sasuke intended to kill him.
• Sasuke tried to stab Naruto from behind, but Sakura caught the Kusanagi Sword and forced him to withdraw with her Monster Strength Fist.
• Moriyue watched as Orochimaru stopped Sasuke from forming the hand sign for Kirin, and Sasuke then departed.
• Yamato warned Naruto not to give in to the Nine-Tails, and Sakura punched him to bring him back to his senses.
• Sakura told Naruto that Sasuke had become their enemy and that they could not return to how things were.
• Moriyue told Ajisai and Kazeki that they were going to Amegakure.

Moriyue entered Amegakure with Kazeki and began seeking people willing to oppose Pain’s rule. After a tavern patron challenged his drinking ability, Moriyue offered to drink with the locals in exchange for their attention.

• Moriyue reminded Ajisai of his instructions, and Ajisai vanished into Amegakure while Moriyue and Kazeki concealed themselves from the chakra-sensing rain.
• Moriyue and Kazeki bought rain gear, then split up so Kazeki could investigate Konan’s informants while Moriyue searched for Jiraiya.
• Moriyue left the rainwear shop after hearing its owner praise Pain for bringing peace to Amegakure.
• Moriyue entered a tavern and recognized the anger and fear among the residents living under Pain’s surveillance.
• When a drunken patron mocked him for being an outsider, Moriyue offered to drink the strongest liquor and asked the locals to hear him out afterward.

Moriyue tried to recruit Amegakure’s disgruntled residents by getting them drunk, but they all passed out before he could start a rebellion. Meanwhile, Kazeki encountered Pain and fought off Human Path Pain as she tried to escape.

• Akimoto Osamu reflected on Amegakure’s brutal rule and earned the tavern nickname Alcohol Demon through his heavy drinking.
• Moriyue drank the tavern’s patrons and owner into unconsciousness, leaving only Akimoto Osamu awake with him before Akimoto also passed out.
• Moriyue waited for the drunks to wake and wondered how Kazeki was faring in Amegakure.
• Kazeki encountered Deva Path Pain in the rain, tried to walk away, and was attacked by another Pain.
• Kazeki used Wind Release: Gale Palm to knock away Human Path Pain’s iron rod, seize his wrist, and crush it with wind.

Moriyue gathered Akimoto Osamu and a group of drunks to rally opposition against Amegakure’s ruler, denouncing the village’s oppressive rule and calling for the people to unite. His speech left the group stirred and hopeful, but also fearful of the consequences of rebellion.

• Moriyue decided to stir up conflict in Amegakure to help search for its Talisman.
• Moriyue woke Akimoto Osamu and the other drunks and persuaded them to listen to him.
• Moriyue condemned the ruler’s persecution and declared that the people would not be satisfied until Amegakure had peace and justice.
• Akimoto Osamu agreed that Amegakure needed to change and hoped Moriyue could lead them.
• Moriyue urged the group to unite and overthrow the false god’s tyranny.

Moriyue rallied Amegakure’s discontented drinkers to resist Pain while Kazeki fled after destroying one of Pain’s bodies. Konan intercepted Kazeki, who activated her modified Curse Mark and faced Konan’s lethal paper attacks.

• Moriyue won over a group of drunks, stirred their resentment toward the gods, and urged them to recruit others for the resistance.
• Nagato sent Konan after Kazeki because the Deva Path could not act, and Konan tracked Kazeki through the rain.
• Kazeki spotted Konan’s paper cranes, fled across rooftops and pipes, and mistakenly thought she had shaken the pursuit by throwing away a metal fragment.
• Konan’s paper had already marked Kazeki’s raincoat, and an explosion forced Kazeki to stop running and prepare to fight.
• Kazeki activated Moriyue’s improved Curse Mark as Konan formed deadly paper blades, spears, and feathers and attacked her.

Kazeki endured Konan’s paper storm until a mysterious vision left Konan incapacitated, giving Kazeki a chance to attack. Deva Path Pain arrived in time to protect Konan, and Kazeki fled as the confrontation escalated.

• Konan’s paper storm shredded Kazeki’s raincoat and wounded her faster than her altered Hundred Healings could repair her.
• As Kazeki struggled to find a way through the assault, a chilling gust brought her a vision of a child witnessing a fiery hellscape and hearing a voice say, “Found you...”.
• Kazeki regained awareness and saw that Konan had stopped moving and appeared trapped in a Genjutsu.
• Kazeki threw two Wind Blade-coated Kunai at Konan, aiming for her head and heart.
• Deva Path Pain appeared and used Shinra Tensei to repel the Kunai and protect Konan.
• Kazeki immediately ran when she saw Pain arrive.

Ajisai intercepted a dozen Konoha Root ninja who might interfere with Moriyue’s plans and hunted them down using traps and Sealing Cards. She defeated their captain and asked whether he would become her summoned beast.

• Ajisai sensed a group of unfamiliar ninja near Amegakure and decided to stop them from threatening Moriyue.
• Ajisai used a decoy squirrel and a Sealing Card to ambush the Konoha Root ninja, unleashing Blue Beetles on several of them.
• Ajisai kept attacking from a distance with traps and summoned creatures as the Root team searched unsuccessfully for her.
• Ajisai appeared behind the captain, kicked him down, and asked if he would become her summoned beast.

Yugito Nii entered Amegakure to investigate the village’s suspicious calm and its possible connection to the Akatsuki Organization. After her attempt to search a tavern owner’s memories failed, she heard fighting nearby and headed toward it.

• Yugito Nii observed that Amegakure’s rain and nearly empty streets seemed inconsistent with the rumored power struggle.
• Yugito Nii suspected that Amegakure was hiding a secret and might be connected to the Akatsuki Organization.
• Yugito Nii disguised her voice and tried to gather information at a tavern by using Genjutsu on its owner.
• Yugito Nii found the owner’s memories obscured and left the tavern without being noticed.
• Yugito Nii heard sounds of battle nearby, pulled up her hood, and headed toward them through the rain.

Moriyue rushed to rescue Kazeki after the Black-faced Sheep sensed that she was in danger. He arrived just as Deva Path Pain was about to kill her, holding the unconscious Konan and confronting Pain.

• The Black-faced Sheep alerted Moriyue that Kazeki and the notebook had encountered an enemy, and Moriyue followed it toward her.
• Kazeki fled from Deva Path Pain, but Banshō Ten'in dragged her toward a metal rod; she used Wind Release: Spiraling Thread to knock the rod aside.
• Deva Path Pain struck Kazeki with Shinra Tensei, injured her, and lifted her by the throat while declaring that he would make her the new Human Path.
• Kazeki resisted and began to lose control of her Chakra, but Deva Path Pain suppressed it with a metal rod and prepared to pierce her heart.
• Moriyue arrived holding the unconscious Konan and warned Deva Path Pain not to attack Kazeki, and the two faced each other in a standoff.

Moriyue rescued Kazeki from Pain and fought Deva Path Pain, using attacks infused with Tailed Beast powers. The clash escalated when Moriyue activated Blood Death Art and Nagato sensed a strange connection forming between him and Deva Path.

• Deva Path Pain threw Kazeki aside, and Moriyue released Konan to catch Kazeki before she hit the ground.
• Moriyue settled Kazeki and began fighting Deva Path Pain, unleashing Storm Release and a series of attacks that Pain repelled with his powers.
• Moriyue obscured Deva Path Pain's vision with scale powder and pierced his hand with a finger wrapped in black lightning.
• Moriyue activated Blood Death Art, and Nagato sensed that Deva Path had formed a strange connection with him.

Animal Path Pain attacked Ajisai outside Amegakure after she disrupted Danzo and Nagato’s meeting, and the two fought through their summoned beasts. Ajisai turned the tide by using a Sealing Card to make the rhino attack Animal Path, leaving the battle swinging in her favor.

• Animal Path Pain found Ajisai at the meeting site, where she had altered one of Danzo’s tortured ninjas, and summoned the Three-Headed Hellhound to attack her.
• Ajisai ordered the bandaged man to fight the Hellhound, and Animal Path and Ajisai summoned more creatures to begin a battle of beasts.
• Ajisai used a water-based summoned beast to stop the Hellhounds from splitting, but Animal Path’s stronger creatures gradually overwhelmed her summons.
• Ajisai threw a Sealing Card at the charging rhino and summoned a mass of tentacles that pierced its skull and severed Animal Path’s control.
• The rhino turned on Animal Path, and Ajisai’s summoned beasts joined it in a massive charge.