Chapter Summaries

Kushina confronted Anju about his dealings with Akatsuki, but Minato Namikaze's Chakra vanished before he could explain the truth about Nine-Tails Chakra. Kushina then tried to resist her captors, but Pain subdued her and left her imprisoned.

• Kushina demanded to know what Anju had told Akatsuki, and Minato Namikaze's Chakra revealed the details before admitting it was fading.
• Minato Namikaze's Chakra warned Kushina about the Nine-Tails and vanished, leaving Anju to realize that Nine-Tails Chakra's ability to sense malice had made Minato and Kushina distrust him.
• Kushina bound Anju with Adamantine Sealing Chains and forcibly took some of his Chakra to enter Nine-Tails Mode.
• Kushina broke free of Konan's White Paper Seal, but two Chakra Black Receivers pierced her legs and stopped her.
• Deva Path Pain told Kushina she could not defeat the Eye of God, then ignored her question about why Akatsuki had captured her.

While Kushina remained missing, Sarutobi Hiruzen struggled to manage Konoha and his advisors reconsidered their plan to control Naruto. Meanwhile, Danzo tried to hire Akatsuki to kill Kushina, but Konan refused his commissions.

• Terumi Mei challenged Sarutobi Hiruzen over his handling of Kushina's disappearance, then left the Hokage Office.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Naruto had lost memories after a Delayed Genjutsu, and they proposed letting Kushina remain Hokage.
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke assigned Anbu missions to search for Kushina and criticized several Anbu members for their inadequate strength.
• Kakashi Hatake explained that some Anbu members were Hyuga Clan ninja and noted that missions had become less frequent and difficult under Kushina.
• Shimura Danzō offered Akatsuki multiple commissions, but Konan's Paper Clone refused both, and Danzo left with the prison guards.

While imprisoned in the Land of Rain, Kushina tried to persuade Obito to cooperate with her by appealing to his desire to bring Rin back, but he refused. Nagato decided to keep Kushina captive, believing her imprisonment would weaken Konoha and benefit Akatsuki.

• Kushina continued missing Naruto while Anju failed to master Sage Jutsu and shared his experience with Naruto and Kurama.
• Obito visited Kushina, mocked her over Minato's death, and refused to believe that Minato was truly gone.
• Kushina suggested using an array to create a world of Genjutsu, startling Obito with its resemblance to the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• Kushina asked Obito to help her regain her freedom so she could prepare the array, but he refused and left.
• Obito asked Pain about helping Kushina escape or extracting the Nine-Tailed Demoness, and Pain rejected both ideas.
• Nagato decided to keep Kushina imprisoned, reasoning that her captivity would weaken Konoha while allowing Akatsuki to profit from the resulting tensions.

Naruto comforted Hinata, then used Kurama’s help to master Sage Jutsu while training in Nine-Tails Mode. He told Konoha’s Jonin that Kushina had been imprisoned, but withheld what little he knew to avoid endangering her.

• Naruto apologized to Hinata for her separation from the Hyuga Clan, and she reassured him that she would stay by his side.
• Naruto told Hinata he was cultivating Sage Chakra, then began training in Nine-Tails Mode with Kurama filtering out its malice.
• Naruto sensed Natural Energy and briefly began petrifying, but Kurama steadied him and helped him complete Sage Jutsu.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen and the other Jonin arrived, and Naruto revealed that Kushina was imprisoned after contacting the Nine-Tails inside her.
• The Jonin offered to organize a rescue, but Naruto refused to share further information because he feared putting Kushina in danger.

Konoha’s request for the other villages to help find Kushina was recognized as a warning against interference, while Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō argued over Konoha’s future. Hiruzen assigned Danzō a mission to eliminate Akatsuki members Kakuzu and the scythe-wielding rogue ninja, and agreed to let him take Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

• Fourth Raikage A consulted Kumogakure’s advisers, who concluded Konoha’s search request warned the other villages not to interfere or attack Kushina.
• Shimura Danzō told Sarutobi Hiruzen that Akatsuki had refused the mission and ransom, and Hiruzen confronted him over reducing the commission from ten billion ryo to one hundred thousand.
• Hiruzen rejected Danzō’s plan to seize Naruto and argued that neither of them could take the Hokage position from Kushina without endangering Konoha’s prosperity.
• Hiruzen assigned Danzō to deal with Akatsuki members Kakuzu and the scythe-wielding rogue ninja who had fought Kushina in the Land of Hot Water.
• Hiruzen authorized Danzō to choose his personnel, and Danzō requested Sarutobi Shinnosuke, whom Hiruzen agreed to send.

Anju persuaded the New and Old Kurama Consciousnesses to cooperate so Kurama could gradually escape the Sixteen Character Yin-Yang Seal, while planning to bring the new consciousness to the Yin Nine-Tails. Meanwhile, Danzo’s Anbu team traced Kushina’s trail to Tangyu Town, captured Taniguchi Tomine, and took him as bait toward a place inhabited by white humanoid creatures.

• Anju told the New Kurama Consciousness that Naruto’s Sage Jutsu could gradually weaken the seal, but escaping required it to share Chakra with the Old Nine-Tails Consciousness.
• Anju proposed that the New Kurama Consciousness leave Naruto’s body and join the Yin Nine-Tails, and both Kurama consciousnesses accepted the plan.
• Kurama began slowly breaking free of the Little Black Room, though the limited Chakra meant opening and widening a gap would take time.
• Anju taunted Kushina about waiting for Obito to rescue her, but she turned away and refused to respond.
• Danzo led twenty-six Anbu to Tangyu Town, found Kushina’s battlefield, and captured the Iwagakure Rogue Ninja Taniguchi Tomine.
• After Taniguchi Tomine reported seeing white humanoid creatures, Danzo took him along as bait and led the team toward them.

Kakuzu and Hidan were discovered by Konoha’s prison guards and forced into a battle while trying to escape. Hidan activated his ritual and survived Shinnosuke’s fire ninjutsu, then returned to the fight and began transferring injuries to another guard.

• A White Zetsu Clone warned Kakuzu and Hidan that Konoha ninja had surrounded their cabin, and Kakuzu ordered Zetsu to take them underground.
• Danzo signaled the prison guards to move in, but an Earth Release technique forced Kakuzu, Hidan, and the White Zetsu Clones back to the surface.
• Kakuzu fought several guards while Hidan struggled against his opponents, until Hidan obtained blood and activated his Jashin ritual.
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke attacked Hidan with Earth and Fire Release ninjutsu, but Hidan survived despite being badly burned.
• Hidan charged back into the melee, took a prison guard Special Jonin’s blood, and activated his ritual again as the guard screamed in pain.

Konoha’s prison guards overwhelmed Hidan and Kakuzu, but Kakuzu’s offer to trade himself for Kushina provoked Danzo into ordering his death. Kakuzu fought his way out of the encirclement, and Danzo pursued him, destroying two of his masks and leaving his escape uncertain.

• Sarutobi Shinnosuke warned the prison guards not to let Hidan draw their blood as they overwhelmed him and reduced him to a crippled, voiceless state.
• With twenty prison guards surrounding Kakuzu, he withdrew his masks and offered to surrender in exchange for Kushina, angering Danzo, who ordered the guards to kill him.
• Kakuzu resumed fighting, using his masks and Earth Release to break through the encirclement; his combined attack badly injured three prison guards after Shinnosuke failed to stop it.
• Danzo pursued Kakuzu through the air and forced him to stop, while Kakuzu used two masks’ combination ninjutsu to slow the pursuers.
• Danzo used Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves to destroy the two masks maintaining the combination ninjutsu, leaving Kakuzu with two hearts lost and fewer ways to escape.

Danzo and the jailers cornered Kakuzu while Hidan escaped his decapitation by taking a new body and attacking the wounded. Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Taniguchi Tomine subdued Hidan, and Shinnosuke discovered that Hidan’s ritual could not take effect while he was trapped.

• A jailer decapitated Hidan, but the Water Release Earth Grudge Fear killed the jailer, attached his head to Hidan’s body, and helped Hidan attack Shinnosuke and Tomine.
• Shinnosuke and Tomine fought Hidan while the Water Release Earth Grudge Fear fled after Shinnosuke sent up a distress signal.
• Danzo ordered Ida to provide support after the signal appeared, while the jailers continued their successful assault on Kakuzu.
• Hidan tried to escape and draw Shinnosuke into his ritual, but Shinnosuke trapped him in the Swamp of the Underworld and Ida’s Ink Painting Tiger pinned him down.
• Shinnosuke realized Hidan’s ritual had failed because he could not draw its circle, and he felt no sign of Hidan’s curse taking effect.

Kurama helped Naruto prepare to rescue Kushina while Akatsuki reconsidered its plans against Konoha. Nagato ordered Obito to investigate Kushina, and Obito decided to test her escape from captivity.

• Kurama began merging his new consciousness body with Anju’s Yin Nine-Tails Chakra, while he told Naruto to master his ninjutsu before rushing to help Kushina.
• Nagato abandoned the plan to destroy Konoha after discussing it with Konan, who said Akatsuki still lacked funds.
• At Akatsuki’s meeting, Black Zetsu reported that Kakuzu had returned and Hidan had been captured; Nagato ordered Zetsu to search for Hidan and promised to retrieve him himself if he found an opportunity.
• Nagato approved Orochimaru’s funding request and asked him to prepare a body for Kakuzu.
• Nagato told Obito to investigate Kushina and draw her out if there was a problem, and Obito resolved to test how she would escape from prison.

Anju refined Sage Chakra faster after Kurama blocked the malice affecting him. In the Land of Rain, Obito helped Kushina escape her restraints, but Deva Path Pain confronted them before they could get away.

• Kurama helped Anju refine Sage Chakra by taking the malice into himself, increasing Anju's refinement speed more than threefold.
• Obito Uchiha broke into Kushina's room and pretended to help her escape from Akatsuki's Main Camp.
• Kushina borrowed Chakra from Anju, broke free of the White Paper Seal, removed the Chakra Black Receivers, and fled the tower with Obito.
• Kushina realized Anju had not absorbed her Chakra and asked whether he wanted to escape too.
• Anju told Kushina to look up, and she saw Deva Path Pain waiting in midair.
• Nagato Uzumaki concluded that Kushina's ability to escape despite the Black Receivers was her trump card and recognized the Nine-Tails as a threat.

Kushina and Obito fought Deva Path Pain as they tried to escape, and Kushina used her sealing techniques and Phantom Array to create an opening. Nagato appeared to stop them, but Obito used Space-Time Ninjutsu to whisk Kushina away, leaving Nagato demanding an explanation.

• Kushina used Adamantine Sealing Chains and Yin-Yang Sealing Bind against Deva Path Pain, but his attacks wounded her and drew her closer.
• Kushina released the Intoxication: Phantom Array, trapping Nagato and Obito in its effects and allowing her to flee with Obito.
• A red-haired Akatsuki member wearing an Eyeless Mask confronted Kushina and Obito, but Obito teleported them away after Nagato redirected his Great Fireball Technique.
• A White Zetsu Clone told Nagato that Planetary Devastation had destroyed the Space Sealing Array and that Black Zetsu was away gathering intelligence on Konoha.
• Nagato demanded to know why Obito had taken Kushina and Yahiko with him.

Obito took Kushina into the Kamui Dimension and appeared to turn against Nagato, but Kushina’s Phantom Array ensnared both Nagato and Obito. It left Kushina struggling to keep Obito out of the Genjutsu while he repeatedly ran back in, crying for Rin.

• Obito took Kushina away from Nagato and told her Deva Path Pain was a corpse controlled through Chakra Black Receivers.
• Kushina asked whether Obito had controlled the Nine-Tails in Konoha, and Obito confessed before blaming Pain and begging her forgiveness.
• Obito urged Kushina to use her Phantom Array, but Deva Path Pain broke her Adamantine Sealing Chains with Shinra Tensei.
• Kushina borrowed Anju’s Chakra, used clones to distract Deva Path Pain, and activated the Phantom Array while Obito approached with a kunai.
• Nagato severed his connection to Deva Path Pain but was affected by the Genjutsu before retreating to the tower.
• Inside the Kamui Dimension, Kushina repeatedly slapped and kicked Obito out of the Phantom Array, but he kept charging back in while crying for Rin.

Kushina examined Yahiko’s corpse in the Kamui Dimension while Obito remained incapacitated by the Phantom Array, and Nagato and Konan learned that Obito had taken Kushina and the body. Meanwhile, Konan planned a mission to counter commercial pressure, and Konoha prepared its next move against Akatsuki.

• Kushina removed the black Chakra receivers from Yahiko’s corpse as Obito writhed under the Phantom Array in the Kamui Dimension.
• Nagato told Konan that Obito had rescued Kushina and taken Yahiko’s corpse, prompting Konan to demand that Obito return it.
• Konan told Nagato that commercial suppression threatened Akatsuki’s income and planned to take Sasori to intimidate a city lord.
• Nagato agreed with Konan’s decision to reject Konoha’s offer to exchange Hidan for Kushina, saying he intended to take Kushina back.
• Danzo left after giving Hidan’s head to Sarutobi Hiruzen, as Konoha prepared to target a merchant family suspected of links to Akatsuki.

Konoha's leaders learned that Hidan's mind could not be probed without killing Yamanaka ninja, while Sarutobi Hiruzen worried about rescuing the captured Kushina. Two days earlier, Shimura Danzō arrived in Hakoami Castle and prepared to confront the Chikamatsu Family with Kato Tsukitani.

• Yamanaka Clan ninja failed to extract intelligence from Hidan, and Nara Shikaku stopped further attempts after four of them died.
• Utatane Koharu warned Sarutobi Hiruzen that Akatsuki might harm Kushina and urged him to prioritize her rescue.
• Mitokado Homura left Hiruzen to handle government affairs, and Hiruzen hoped Danzo would locate Akatsuki's main camp.
• Shimura Danzō met Kato Tsukitani in Hakoami Castle, promised protection from the Chikamatsu Family, and told him to conceal the arrival of his subordinates.
• Kato Tsukitani began a large-scale commercial crackdown on the Chikamatsu Family.

Konan and Sasori infiltrated Hakoami Castle to confront Kato Tsukitani, but Danzo and the prison guards had prepared an ambush. The Akatsuki members were surrounded as Sasori unleashed his Human Puppet and Konan faced Danzo in the air.

• Chikamatsu Kawahei told Konan that Kato Tsukitani had increased the Chikamatsu Family’s taxes and attacked its businesses, and Konan agreed to confront him with Sasori.
• Sasori suggested poisoning Hakoami Castle’s water or attacking it directly, but Konan rejected both plans and chose to infiltrate with a White Zetsu Clone.
• Danzo and the prison guards prepared a trap inside the castle, disguising themselves among Kato Tsukitani’s household while Danzo waited in a guest room beside the study.
• Konan transformed from paper butterflies in Kato Tsukitani’s study, and Sasori emerged from beneath the floor as the Akatsuki’s Jade Maiden.
• Danzo smashed through the wall and revealed the ambush as prison guards attacked Konan and Sasori, forcing Sasori to escape the collapsing study and face fifteen guards.
• Sasori summoned a Human Puppet that released iron sand while Danzo and four guards took to the sky on Ink Painting Birds.

Konan, Sasori, and Shimura Danzō fought as Akatsuki clashed with Konoha’s prison guards. Sasori unleashed Puppet Mastery of a Hundred Mechanisms, and Danzō sent Ida to attack him while Sarutobi Shinnosuke fled with Kato Tsukitani.

• Shimura Danzō attacked Konan with Wind Release techniques, forcing her to evade with a Paper Clone.
• Sasori used Iron Sand World Method to poison or disable seven of the fifteen prison guards, but their Water and Lightning Release forced him into a dangerous position.
• The prison guards attacked Sasori with multiple techniques, and he abandoned Hiruko before summoning more than two hundred and ninety puppets with Secret Red Technique: Puppet Mastery of a Hundred Mechanisms.
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke fled with Kato Tsukitani while the remaining prison guards tried to hold off Sasori’s poisoned puppets.
• Shimura Danzō ordered Ida to support the prison guards by attacking Sasori’s actual body.

Danzo’s intervention disrupted Sasori and Konan’s attack on the prison guards, but both Akatsuki members escaped the immediate fight as Konoha’s forces struggled to protect Kato Tsukitani. The chapter left Kato frightened and demanding that Konoha take him to safety and reunite him with his son.

• Danzo and two Wind Release Jonin attacked Sasori from the Ink Painting Bird, destroying many Human Puppets and smashing the Third Kazekage puppet.
• Konan attacked Sarutobi Shinnosuke and Kato Tsukitani, but Shinnosuke blocked her paper assault and fought off the White Zetsu Clones.
• Danzo’s aerial attacks forced Sasori to retreat from Hakoami Castle, while Konan chose to conserve Chakra and fly to support him.
• Four White Zetsu Clones escaped underground, and the prison guards left Shinnosuke and Taniguchi Tomine to guard Kato.
• Kato blamed Konoha for failing to capture the attackers and demanded protection and immediate transport to Konoha so he could see his son.

Danzo abandoned his pursuit of Sasori after Ida’s chakra was nearly exhausted, while Sasori and Konan withdrew toward the Land of Rain. Nagato appeared to promise Sasori funding and corpses, and Danzo headed to the Black Market after ordering the prison guards back to Hakoami Castle.

• Danzo ordered Ida to stop as Konan continued attacking the Ink Painting Bird, then called off the pursuit because Ida could no longer sustain it.
• Sasori stopped after Danzo withdrew, having lost the Third Kazekage Human Puppet and most of his nearly three hundred Human Puppets.
• Sasori asked Konan for an explanation when Nagato emerged from a White Zetsu Clone and offered to handle the organization’s funding and corpse needs.
• Danzo reunited with three prison guards and ordered them to return to Hakoami Castle and follow Sarutobi Shinnosuke’s orders.
• Danzo sent his remaining airborne companions away and set out for the Black Market.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke escorted Kato Tsukitani toward Konoha, but Nagato ambushed them and demanded revenge for Konoha’s attack on the Akatsuki. Nagato defeated Shinnosuke and killed Taniguchi Tomine, leaving Kato’s fate uncertain.

• Sarutobi Shinnosuke escorted Kato Tsukitani and Taniguchi Tomine from the ruined castle toward Konoha, where Kato hoped to place a commission against the Chikamatsu Family.
• Nagato emerged with White Zetsu Clones and declared that the Akatsuki would retaliate against Konoha for its ambush.
• Taniguchi Tomine forced the White Zetsu Clones out of the ground while Sarutobi Shinnosuke confronted Nagato and tried to protect Kato.
• Nagato summoned a Hellhound and used Banshō Ten'in and Shinra Tensei to overcome Shinnosuke’s attacks and seize Tomine.
• Nagato pinned Sarutobi Shinnosuke with Chakra Black Receivers, while White Zetsu Clones killed Taniguchi Tomine.