Chapter Summaries

Kushina infiltrated Kusagakure and followed wounded ninja after learning they were seeking a young girl used as a medical pack. Kusagakure’s leaders prepared a Sealing Sand Array ambush, unaware of who Kushina was.

• Karin Uzumaki was forced to heal wounded Kusagakure ninja until she collapsed, and one injured ninja bit her arm and slapped her for resisting.
• Kushina entered Kusagakure to search for the clansman Anju had mentioned, while a Jonin discovered her and reported her to the village leaders.
• Kushina witnessed wounded ninja demanding access to Kusagakure’s medical pack, and hospital staff said the girl could no longer be used.
• Three wounded ninja left the hospital to find Karin, and Kushina secretly followed them as other ninja tracked her.
• Kusagakure’s leader ordered the Sealing Sand Array readied to ambush the infiltrator, whom he believed was after the village’s medical techniques.

Kushina rescued the sick Karin from Kusagakure ninjas who had been exploiting her, then fought off the Kusagakure forces that tried to stop her. She left with Karin after learning that the girl’s mother had died, while the Kusagakure chief believed his village had been spared.

• Kushina used Phantom Array to incapacitate the Kusagakure ninjas in Karin’s hut and carried the feverish girl away to seek treatment.
• Kushina’s Flying Thunder God Formation failed, so she confronted Shinzaku and learned that the Kusagakure chief had ordered Karin’s mistreatment.
• The Kusagakure chief attacked Kushina with more than forty elite ninjas and ten Jonin, but her sealing chains and Phantom Array stopped most of them.
• Kushina entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, prompting the chief to surrender and tell her that Karin was the only Uzumaki Clan member in Kusagakure.
• Karin briefly woke in Kushina’s arms, called her “Mom,” and fell asleep again; Kushina learned Karin’s mother had died of illness and left with the girl.

Kushina brought Karin to Konoha and left her in Jiraiya’s care, while Naruto arranged for Root to check Karin’s condition and headed to the Uchiha Clan Residence. Back in the Kamui Dimension, Kushina agreed to teach Anju part of Sealing Jutsu Basics in exchange for his help meeting her demands, while withholding the Phantom Array for later.

• Kushina used the Flying Thunder God Formation to bring Karin to Jiraiya in Konoha, and he took the sick girl to Konoha Hospital.
• Naruto sent a Root member to check Karin’s condition, gave Hozuki Leng Che documents about matters needing attention, and headed to Uchiha Training Grounds Number Four.
• Kushina returned to the Kamui Dimension, reassured herself that Obito had not reacted, and asked Anju about her other clansmen.
• Anju warned Kushina that Karin had nearly died and demanded a reward for his help.
• Kushina offered to teach Anju part of Sealing Jutsu Basics before teaching him the Phantom Array, and Anju accepted the arrangement.

Karin woke up in Konoha Hospital, where Naruto welcomed her into his family and took her to live with him. After examining Karin, Tsunade asked Jiraiya to approve her plan to take Karin as her disciple, and he agreed.

• Sasuke warmed water for Karin and helped her drink before leaving to meet Naruto at the Training Grounds.
• Naruto told Karin that she was family and that he would protect her, while Hinata introduced herself and explained that Kushina had brought Karin to Konoha.
• Tsunade examined Karin, found no major hidden injuries, and discharged her; Naruto then took Karin home with him.
• Tsunade told Jiraiya that Karin had strong Yang Attribute Chakra and asked to take her as a disciple.
• Jiraiya agreed to Tsunade's request, saying he would explain it to Kushina if she returned.

Naruto agreed to help Karin study Medical Ninjutsu and to teach Izumi Sage Jutsu, while Kurama asked him to help Anju prepare to leave Kushina's body. Naruto accepted Kurama's plan to test whether the Ryūmyaku could sustain a Jinchuriki after separation from a Tailed Beast.

• Jiraiya asked Naruto to let Karin study Medical Ninjutsu under Tsunade, and Naruto agreed after Karin had time to settle in and choose her path.
• Jiraiya asked Naruto to teach Izumi Sage Jutsu, and Naruto agreed to meet her at Uchiha Training Grounds Number Four in three days.
• Hinata told Naruto that Karin had agreed to learn Medical Ninjutsu, and Naruto planned for Fugaku to arrange her enrollment at the Ninja Academy.
• Naruto asked Kurama for help adding another person to Sage Jutsu training, and Kurama revealed that Anju planned to leave Kushina's body.
• Kurama asked Naruto to help find a way for a Jinchuriki to survive separation from a Tailed Beast, and Naruto agreed to test using the Ryūmyaku with Kurama.

Naruto searched for the Ryūmyaku in Rōran while arranging Karin’s enrollment at the Konoha Ninja Academy and training under Tsunade. At the training grounds, Izumi surprised Itachi with her skills and trapped him in an illusion, leaving him stuck in an Oil Swamp.

• Naruto arranged for Hinata to show Karin around Konoha and for Fugaku to handle her Ninja Academy enrollment, while Karin agreed to study ninjutsu under Tsunade.
• Naruto visited Hozuki Leng Che to search for the Ryūmyaku, learned that the Land of Rōran had disappeared, and asked to meet the Third Hokage.
• Itachi warned Izumi that Sage Jutsu was dangerous, but took her to the training grounds after she spoke about feeling helpless in battle.
• Izumi used shuriken and a Great Fireball as a feint, then spread Oil Swamp where Itachi was about to land.
• Izumi caught Itachi in the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, and he collapsed into the Oil Swamp.

Itachi told Fugaku that Izumi had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, prompting Fugaku to consider supporting her as a future Hokage. Naruto and Tsunade agreed on a plan for Karin’s education, combining Ninja Academy with private instruction.

• Itachi returned home exhausted after losing to Izumi in training, and he told Sasuke that she would soon learn Sage Jutsu from Naruto.
• Sasuke agreed to help Izumi with Sage Jutsu and accepted Fugaku’s request to deliver Karin’s enrollment application to the Ninja Academy.
• Itachi told Fugaku that Izumi had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and Fugaku urged him to get along with her while considering the possibility of an Uchiha Hokage.
• Naruto met with Tsunade and agreed that Karin would attend the Ninja Academy for stability and basic knowledge before receiving further teaching from Tsunade.

Naruto asked Sarutobi Hiruzen for the location of Rōran so he could use the Ryūmyaku for ninjutsu experiments, but learned that he needed Sealing Jutsu to control it. Utatane Koharu agreed to teach him as Root Ninja searched for Rōran, while Hinata and Karin showed Sasuke around the Ninja Academy.

• Naruto asked Sarutobi Hiruzen for Rōran’s location, but Hiruzen refused to reveal the classified information.
• Naruto admitted that he had not learned Sealing Jutsu, so Sarutobi Hiruzen took him to Utatane Koharu for instruction.
• Utatane Koharu agreed to teach Naruto Sealing Jutsu, and Sarutobi Hiruzen sent Root Ninja to search for information on Rōran.
• Hinata and Karin met Sasuke outside the Ninja Academy, where Sasuke asked why Naruto was absent.
• Sasuke challenged Hinata to spar, and Hinata agreed to practice with him after showing Karin around the academy.

Karin began her studies at the Ninja Academy and met Tsunade, who agreed to teach her Medical Ninjutsu. Meanwhile, Sasuke trained with Izumi, Itachi considered learning Sage Jutsu, and Naruto and Anju continued their Sealing Jutsu studies with very different results.

• Karin joined the first-year class at the Ninja Academy and quickly fit in with the other students.
• Hinata brought Karin to Tsunade, who discussed her goals and gave her introductory medical books to study.
• Sasuke praised Izumi's skills to Itachi, who then challenged Sasuke to taijutsu and left him sore from training.
• Fugaku urged Itachi to learn Sage Jutsu and encouraged him to arrange an engagement with Izumi.
• Naruto learned Sealing Jutsu basics from Utatane Koharu, while Anju struggled with Kushina's rough teaching and relied on Keychain Kurama to review the material.

Pain and Obito revealed their plan to use Konoha to conquer the Ninja World and gather the Tailed Beasts, then demanded Kushina's cooperation. Kushina rejected them, and Pain threatened Naruto, leaving her facing a choice between helping them and risking her son.

• Kushina practiced Minato's Rasengan in the Kamui Dimension while teaching Anju sealing basics.
• Pain arrived with Obito and told Kushina he knew she had used a Tailed Beast Ball in Kusagakure and knew about the Uzumaki girl in Konoha.
• Obito gave Kushina a scroll outlining a plan for Konoha to wage war against the other villages while Akatsuki secretly gathered the Tailed Beasts.
• Pain and Obito revealed that they intended to create a Tailed Beast Weapon, extract the Nine-Tails from Kushina, and use the weapon to unify the Ninja World.
• Kushina refused to help Pain, who threatened to make her son Naruto the next target.

Obito and Nagato forced Kushina to sign an agreement requiring Konoha to pursue unification of the Ninja World in exchange for her freedom and the diversion of Akatsuki's attention. After returning to Minato Namikaze's Impure World Reincarnation Body, Kushina discussed delaying the war and coordinating with the other shinobi villages.

• Nagato and Obito proposed using Konoha's campaign to unify the Ninja World to distract the major villages while Akatsuki collected the Tailed Beasts.
• Anju urged Kushina to accept the agreement, and Pain threatened to kidnap Naruto if she refused.
• Kushina signed the agreement after insisting that Akatsuki could not interfere with how Konoha started or fought the war.
• Kushina used the Flying Thunder God Formation to leave the Kamui Dimension and meet Minato Namikaze's Impure World Reincarnation Body at a secret base in River Country.
• Minato Namikaze's Impure World Reincarnation Body advised Kushina to stall Akatsuki, reclaim Konoha's lost interests, and secretly coordinate with the other shinobi villages before returning to Konoha.

Kushina returned to Konoha as Fifth Hokage after Akatsuki temporarily ceased hostilities, and she briefed the village leaders on her capture and the losses from Konoha’s failed campaign. She left the village preparing to reclaim missions and strengthen its forces while she handled relations with the other villages.

• Kushina told Jiraiya she was returning to Konoha and that Akatsuki had temporarily given up fighting the village, freeing him from his role as Acting Hokage.
• Jiraiya summoned Konoha’s advisors and leaders, and Kushina explained that Akatsuki’s leader had defeated and captured her and that Obito Uchiha had joined Akatsuki after releasing the Nine-Tails.
• Utatane Koharu blamed the Uchiha Clan for Nine-Tails Night, but Kushina accepted responsibility alongside Minato Namikaze and acknowledged Konoha’s losses in its campaign against Akatsuki.
• Kushina confirmed that Akatsuki had temporarily ceased hostilities and said Konoha should rebuild its strength while remaining wary of the organization.
• Utatane Koharu urged Konoha to reclaim lost missions, and Nara Shikaku advised Kushina to contact the other villages’ Kage.
• Konoha began reclaiming missions and purchasing military supplies as Kushina took responsibility for communicating with the other villages.

Anju agreed to help Naruto buy time to locate the Ryūmyaku, while Naruto continued training and learning sealing techniques. Anju then guided Kushina through negotiations with Kumogakure, where she confronted Fourth Raikage A.

• Naruto told Anju he still needed time to find the Ryūmyaku and asked him to stall Akatsuki; Anju agreed, and Kurama promised to watch over Naruto.
• Anju gave Naruto the sealing materials Kushina had taught him, and Naruto continued training with Shadow Clones, Kurama, and his students.
• Anju returned to Kushina's Sealing Space and agreed to help persuade the other ninja villages, on the condition that Kushina follow his lead.
• Fourth Raikage A learned that Kushina had returned to Konoha and worried about her ability to shift the balance of a war.
• Fourth Raikage A entered a meeting with the Three Great Advisors and was shocked to find Kushina waiting there.

Kushina and Anju maneuvered Kumogakure into agreeing to return Konoha’s missions and other benefits while preserving the alliance and avoiding war. Kushina left Kumogakure after the agreement, using a dramatic departure to make Akatsuki believe Konoha was preparing for conflict.

• Kushina told Fourth Raikage A that she had approached the Kumogakure advisors first, and A threatened war when he thought she was pressuring Kumogakure.
• Anju used the advisors’ concern about war to persuade them to urge A to accept Konoha’s demands, and Kushina left them to negotiate.
• The advisors persuaded A to calm down, and he realized Kushina had given him a way to compromise without losing face.
• The advisors agreed to sign an alliance agreement and gradually return Konoha’s missions and other benefits, while A left the negotiations to them.
• Kushina used the Flying Thunder God Formation to leave, then complained to Anju about the chakra and scrolls it had cost.
• Anju explained that Kushina’s show of strength would help recover Konoha’s benefits and convince Akatsuki that Konoha was preparing for war, and Kushina headed back to Konoha.

Kushina went to Iwagakure to reclaim Konoha’s benefits and tried to persuade Ōnoki to cooperate against Akatsuki. She left with the benefits restored under the previous summit’s terms, but Ōnoki remained unwilling to trust Konoha with joint research.

• Anju advised Kushina to announce a visit to Kirigakure to make Ōnoki worry that Konoha was building alliances, and Kirigakure accepted her diplomatic request.
• Ōnoki learned Kushina had arrived in Iwagakure and agreed to meet her, while ordering preparations in case the meeting turned hostile.
• Kushina demanded that Ōnoki stop taking Konoha’s benefits, and Ōnoki tore up the cession agreement before agreeing to divide them under the previous Five Kage Summit terms.
• Kushina warned Ōnoki that Akatsuki could destroy Konoha and proposed that Iwagakure join Konoha in researching the Gravity Array.
• Ōnoki rejected the proposal because Konoha had monopolized the results of their earlier joint research, and he asked Kushina to leave while he considered the matter.

After Konoha secured concessions from Iwagakure and Kirigakure, Anju advised Kushina to prepare for Akatsuki by buying military supplies on credit. Kato Tsukitani negotiated a deal with Akatsuki at thirty percent monthly interest, leaving Konoha supplied for war and Akatsuki expecting profit.

• Rumors that Konoha's Hokage rejected Kushina's agreement with Ōnoki damaged Konoha's credibility, and Anju rebuked Kushina for signing it.
• Karatachi Yagura returned Konoha's benefits and missions and agreed to expand maritime trade with Konoha.
• Anju urged Kushina to focus on developing the Gravity Array and to have Kato Tsukitani stockpile supplies, including Exploding Tags from Akatsuki, on credit.
• Kushina sent Kato Tsukitani a letter proposing installment payments with interest, and he approached Akatsuki to arrange the purchase.
• Konan and Kakuzu negotiated with Kato Tsukitani, settling on a monthly interest rate of thirty percent for Konoha's military supplies.

Naruto prepared to travel to Rōran to investigate the Ryūmyaku and find a way to free the Nine-Tails. He secretly left Konoha with Uchiha Izumi, then explained that Tailed Beasts were misunderstood rather than evil.

• Kushina worried that Konoha could not afford its debt to Akatsuki, and Anju urged her to stall and avoid drawing attention.
• Naruto’s root ninja located the Loulan Ruins, and Naruto realized his sealing knowledge could help him deal with the Ryūmyaku seal.
• Naruto asked Anju for help leaving Konoha without Kushina noticing, while Itachi and Izumi agreed to cover for him.
• Naruto created a Shadow Clone and left Konoha disguised as an orange cat alongside Izumi, who was traveling as Jiraiya’s disciple.
• Naruto told Izumi that he sought the Ryūmyaku to replace the Nine-Tails’ power and eventually grant the tailed beast freedom.
• Naruto lent Izumi Tailed Beast Chakra so she could sense its malice, then explained that the Nine-Tails had absorbed that malice when helping her learn Sage Jutsu.

Naruto and Izumi discovered Orochimaru’s secret laboratory in River Country and destroyed it with Naruto’s explosive ninjutsu. As they checked the ruins, Kimimaro attacked, and Izumi recognized him as the enemy who had escaped her before.

• Izumi persuaded Naruto to destroy the secret laboratory, hoping to avenge her teammates killed by the Akatsuki.
• Kimimaro fled with Jugo through a hidden passage as Naruto formed nine tails and launched nine Flame Sun Courages.
• Naruto’s explosions buried the laboratory and destroyed its equipment, while the blast’s sound left Kimimaro deaf.
• Kimimaro saw Naruto and Izumi among the ruins and charged them, believing he and Jugo could defeat them.
• Naruto countered with a dragon-shaped storm tornado, and Izumi recognized Kimimaro and activated her Mangekyō Sharingan.

Naruto and Uchiha Izumi fought Kimimaro and Jugo, with Izumi trapping and burning Kimimaro while Naruto used Sage Art: Eye of the Typhoon against Jugo. As the expanding storm overwhelmed the battlefield, Kimimaro charged into it, and Naruto and Izumi stayed to watch.

• Uchiha Izumi bound Kimimaro with shuriken and Steel Wire, then used Great Dragon Fire Technique to burn him.
• Jugo attacked Izumi, but Naruto used Sage Guiding Path to disrupt Jugo's Pseudo-Sage Transformation.
• Naruto threw the Eye of the Typhoon at Jugo, whose shield could not withstand the storm's escalating Wind Blades.
• Izumi fought Kimimaro again, using genjutsu and fire to weaken him while Kimimaro's attacks seemed less effective.
• As the Eye of the Typhoon expanded and forced them apart, Kimimaro charged into the tornado to reach Jugo.
• Naruto suggested leaving, but Izumi wanted to ensure the Sharingan in their eyes would not fall into enemy hands, so they stayed to watch the storm.

Kimimaro rescued Jugo from Naruto and Izumi’s Eye of the Typhoon, then emerged and confronted them. Izumi weakened Kimimaro with Tears Swamp and tore out one of his eyes, prompting him to unleash his curse mark and attack as Naruto answered with another tornado.

• Kimimaro used the Dance of the Seedling Fern to find Jugo, cut off his trapped arm, and send him underground to hide him from Naruto and Izumi.
• Kimimaro realized that Izumi’s Tears Swamp had reduced the Chakra cost of his ninjutsu, then emerged and confronted Naruto and Izumi.
• Izumi trapped Kimimaro with Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique and weakened his ninjutsu with Tears Swamp before attacking with Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
• Izumi tore out Kimimaro’s right eye while his ninjutsu output was weakened, and Kimimaro cried out in pain.
• Kimimaro activated his Earth Curse Mark and attacked Naruto and Izumi with the Dance of the Seedling Fern.
• Naruto told Izumi to move aside and launched Demolition Four-Style Storm Tornado Forward Charge at Kimimaro’s bone spike forest.