Chapter Summaries

Naruto unleashed Heavy Particle, a devastating technique that tore through the sky above Leaf Village, then recognized its severe chakra and life-force costs. Hiruzen arranged to speak with Naruto after training, while the explosion drew the attention of a white-haired old man on the moon.

• Naruto's Heavy Particle explosion devastated a distant forest and cleared a vast opening in the clouds, shocking Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya, the ANBU, and the villagers.
• Naruto explained to himself that Heavy Particle fused his chakra with the Nine-Tails' chakra, but drained him completely and damaged both his and Fox Teacher's life force.
• Jiraiya and Hiruzen wondered whether Naruto had aimed the technique skyward to express his resentment, and Hiruzen ordered the ANBU to calm the villagers and explain the blast as a ninjutsu experiment.
• Hiruzen told Naruto to visit his office after training, then left as Jiraiya resumed the session with Naruto and Sasuke.
• On the moon, a white-haired old man opened his eyes after sensing the explosion's fluctuations.

Ōtsutsuki Rito sensed an abnormal Chakra fluctuation from the Shinobi World, prompting the Branch Family elders to use their half-finished Tenseigan to investigate. In the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi announced that he intended to name Hanabi Hyuga heir instead of Hinata Hyuga.

• Ōtsutsuki Rito sensed a faint disturbance in his Chakra and suspected that a new power had emerged in the Shinobi World.
• The Main House Clan Head chose to convene a meeting about the Shinobi World while dismissing Rito’s concerns as extreme.
• Ōtsutsuki Rito and two Branch Family elders decided to risk using their unfinished Tenseigan to observe the Shinobi World more closely.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi left the Hyuga Clan Grounds after the elders admitted they had found no clues about the Red Moon’s infiltration.
• Hyuga Hiashi told the elders he intended to make Hanabi Hyuga the Main House heir because of Hinata Hyuga’s shortcomings.

Menma visited the Dawn Institute in the Land of Snow to inspect the captured Zero-Tails and ask whether it could provide a renewable energy source. Shinnō admitted that its Chakra could not yet be recycled, and Menma sensed someone watching him as he considered Dark Chakra and Rōran.

• Menma entered the heavily guarded Dawn Institute and was greeted by Shinnō, now its second-in-command under semi-confinement.
• Menma and Shinnō inspected the Zero-Tails, which curled into a motionless ball when Menma approached.
• Menma asked whether the Zero-Tails' Chakra could be recycled to power the mobile fortress, but Shinnō said current technology could not do so.
• Menma considered whether someone in Rōran could use Dark Chakra, then stiffened as he sensed he was being watched.

Menma ordered Shinnō to focus on research for removing the darkness from Zero-Tails Chakra and using it for medicine, then punished him for treating sacrifices as inevitable. After sensing a strange gaze from above, Menma suspected the moon’s descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki had obtained the Tenseigan and considered harvesting a seed he had planted.

• Menma told Shinnō to research extracting darkness from Zero-Tails Chakra for medical use, despite Shinnō’s concern that consuming Zero-Tails would prevent its regeneration.
• Shinnō began to object that sacrifices were unavoidable, but Menma caused him intense pain and ordered him to obey.
• Menma explained that Shinnō’s research group had lost sight of its purpose and warned him not to let work on Artificial Tailed Beasts fail.
• Menma left the research institute and considered how the Land of Snow could use fortress blueprints and weapons research to strengthen its military.
• Menma sensed a fleeting gaze that seemed to come from the sky and suspected that Hamura Otsutsuki’s descendants had obtained the Tenseigan.
• Menma judged that the Giant Tenseigan could threaten him and decided it might be time to harvest the seed he had planted on the young lady’s side.

Ōtsutsuki Rito and the elders used the Tenseigan to locate the Ten Tails' husk and found it near Amegakure, where Nagato sensed their surveillance. Rito launched a massive meteor at the village, and Yakushi Kabuto appeared as Nagato and Konan faced the threat.

• Ōtsutsuki Rito and the two elders scanned the Shinobi World with the Tenseigan and detected the Ten Tails' husk near Konoha's barrier.
• The elders shifted the Tenseigan's sight to Amegakure and identified Nagato as the one who had stolen the husk.
• Nagato sensed someone watching him, and Deva Path Pain challenged the presence on the moon.
• Ōtsutsuki Rito used the Tenseigan to send a massive meteor toward Amegakure.
• Konan offered to destroy the meteor, but Yakushi Kabuto emerged and said they had already trespassed into a god's domain.

Nagato used his new artificial legs to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and withstand a descending Meteorite. As Pain, Konan, Yakushi Kabuto, and others joined the fight, the Meteorite began to break apart, while Ōtsutsuki Rito warned that the Statue could not destroy it.

• Yakushi Kabuto revealed that he had perfected artificial limbs for Nagato using Sasori's Puppet techniques and White Zetsu tissue, allowing Nagato to regain his strength.
• Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which pierced him with black rods and drew on his Chakra and life force.
• Yakushi Kabuto guided Natural Energy into the Statue and confirmed that it could absorb the energy without harm.
• The awakened Statue caught the descending Meteorite and began pushing it back upward as Nagato strained to hold it.
• Deva Path Pain used Almighty Push, Konan detonated paper attached to the Meteorite, and Yakushi Kabuto attacked with Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation.
• Other hidden fighters joined the assault with Compound Ninja Art: Strange Mask Explosion Flame, Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method, and Amaterasu.

After Pain ordered Akatsuki to kill everyone who had witnessed the meteorite, Konan, Kakuzu, and Yakushi Kabuto hunted down the spies in Amegakure. They encountered the Xuanyuan Group, whose hidden technique incapacitated Kakuzu and began draining Konan’s chakra.

• Pain concluded that the meteorite’s destruction had stopped the immediate threat, then ordered Akatsuki to kill every infiltrator in Amegakure.
• Spies fled toward the village outskirts, but Konan attacked them, and Akatsuki eliminated those who tried to hide, escape, or resist.
• Yakushi Kabuto exposed five concealed men, and their leader introduced himself as Bug, naming the others Yan, Yao, Miao, and Rui.
• Kakuzu recognized the men as the Xuanyuan Group and accused them of taking a job against Amegakure.
• Bug’s group unleashed a blinding burst, then caused a grotesque growth to emerge from Kakuzu’s chest and drain his chakra.
• Konan’s chakra began draining when she tried to use ninjutsu, while Bug warned her she would explode if she continued; Yakushi Kabuto remained still.

The Xuanyuan Group Five attacked Konan and Kakuzu in Amegakure, but Yakushi Kabuto rescued them and forced the attackers to flee. Nagato revealed his true body to Akatsuki and announced that their next mission was to seize the One-Tail Jinchuriki, while the Xuanyuan Group regrouped at the Land of Rain's border.

• Bug used his secret technique to immobilize Kakuzu and Konan, but Yakushi Kabuto countered with Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation and drove off the Xuanyuan Group Five.
• Kakuzu and Konan thanked Yakushi Kabuto, and Nagato learned that Kabuto had saved them.
• Nagato admitted that he had previously appeared as Pain because of his condition, invited the Akatsuki members to test him, and assigned them to seize the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
• The Xuanyuan Group Five reached a cave at the border of the Land of Rain, where Miao complained to Bug about the mission and his exposed Exploding Bugs.

The Xuanyuan Group completed its mission in Amegakure and considered accepting the Land of Snow’s long-term employment as the Shinobi World grew wary of Amegakure. Black Zetsu feared the moon’s Hamura’s Lineage might threaten Akatsuki and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, so he urged an exhausted Obito to reclaim his power from Kakashi Hatake.

• Bug explained that the Akatsuki members did not know the Exploding Bugs’ true nature, while Yao suggested the Glasses Kid had evaded them through his eyes and sensory abilities.
• Miao asked whether the Xuanyuan Group could work with the Land of Snow again, and Bug warned that they could not stay uninvolved as the Shinobi World changed.
• Reports of the meteorite spread, and Amegakure’s survival despite its fall prompted spies to infiltrate the village, where they disappeared.
• Black Zetsu feared that Hamura’s Lineage on the moon might target Akatsuki and reclaim the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, so he decided Akatsuki needed to grow stronger.
• Obito returned to the cave exhausted and admitted that Nagato had begun resisting him and was difficult to suppress.
• Black Zetsu advised Obito to retrieve what belonged to him from Kakashi Hatake.

Obito argued with Black Zetsu about reclaiming his left eye from Kakashi, then ordered Zetsu to keep searching for Orochimaru before heading to Leaf Village. There, Jiraiya helped Sasuke confront his frustration over falling behind Naruto, and Sasuke named restoring the Uchiha Clan as his goal before Jiraiya whisked him away to relax.

• Black Zetsu urged Obito to take back his left eye from Kakashi and warned that they might act for him if he kept hesitating.
• Obito changed the subject to Orochimaru, and Black Zetsu reported that Orochimaru had appeared in the Rice Field Country near the newly founded Otogakure before disappearing.
• Obito ordered Black Zetsu to continue investigating Orochimaru and then left for Leaf Village.
• Jiraiya ended Sasuke's training when Sasuke became too agitated and reassured him that he was talented despite his slower progress than Naruto.
• Jiraiya advised Sasuke to set a broader goal beyond revenge, and Sasuke said he wanted to find a wife, have children, and restore the Uchiha Clan.
• Jiraiya suggested that Sasuke could try to become Hokage, then grabbed him and took him out to relax.

Menma tested a new Chakra Cannon and learned that Ōnoki wanted Red Moon to help excavate a rare ore vein in the River Country, which he suspected was the Gelel Stone. Sunagakure’s leaders also identified the vein and resolved to obtain it, leaving Menma and Rasa preparing to pursue the same prize.

• Menma tested the flying ninja tool’s Thunder-Fire Bomb on Kukomaka, whose Tailed Beast Cloak failed to block the attack completely.
• Kukomaka told Menma that Ōnoki had drawn Red Moon’s attention and wanted it to help Akatsuki excavate a rare ore vein in the River Country.
• Menma suspected the ore vein was the Gelel Stone and decided to go with Kukomaka, Izumi Uchiha, and Shisui.
• Rasa told Sunagakure’s leaders that the Gelel Stone could improve the Wind Country’s landscape, and they agreed that Sunagakure must obtain the ore vein.

Rasa prepared to secure the Gelel ore vein in River Country as Ōnoki focused on the same resource and Deidara fled Iwagakure with Rōshi. In the Leaf Village, Hiruzen assigned Kakashi and Yamato an urgent S-Rank mission, whose details Kakashi had not yet read.

• Rasa appointed Baki to lead Sunagakure's mining operation, promised to join him, and warned him that the Gelel ore vein had to belong to Wind Country.
• Ōnoki learned that Deidara had flown away with Rōshi and ordered Kitsuchi to bring back Iwagakure's Four-Tails Jinchuriki and Deidara.
• Ōnoki told Kitsuchi to monitor Amegakure from a distance and prioritized Iwagakure's mining operation in River Country.
• Hiruzen summoned Kakashi and Yamato and ordered them to prepare for an urgent S-Rank mission.
• Kakashi caught the mission scroll but had not yet read its details.

Baki's elite Sunagakure mining team was ambushed by Sky Ninja using advanced firearms and aerial explosives, leaving most of the team dead or wounded. Rasa arrived to protect Baki, but Izumi Uchiha confronted them with a powerful Fire Release that clashed with Rasa's Gold Dust.

• Baki led Sunagakure's mining team toward the canyon, where Sky Ninja opened fire with weapons that fired Wind Release-infused bullets.
• Baki ordered his team to counterattack, but the Sky Ninja retreated and dropped explosive spheres from their Flying Ninja Tools, devastating the Sand shinobi.
• Baki survived behind an Earth Release wall and tried to launch a Signal Flare, but Rasa arrived and stopped him as more explosions struck nearby.
• Baki explained the Sky Ninja's weapons and aerial attacks, and Rasa told him to hide while he dealt with them.
• Izumi Uchiha appeared among the Sky Ninja and unleashed Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation at Rasa and Baki.
• Rasa countered with Magnet Release: Gold Dust Tsunami, and the two attacks collided in a fierce clash.

Izumi Uchiha confronted Rasa and Baki with her Mangekyō Sharingan while Kakashi escorted an old man tied to the ruins of an ancient empire. Meanwhile, an Iwa mining team hired Kakuzu and Sasori and sent scouts into River Country, where they sensed an unseen presence.

• Rasa's Gold Dust barely extinguished Izumi Uchiha's Great Fire Destruction, and Izumi revealed her Mangekyō Sharingan and summoned a dark crimson skeletal giant.
• Rasa ordered Baki to retreat and countered Izumi's attack with a massive Gold Dust cube, but the clash shattered the skeletal giant and scattered Gold Dust.
• Kakashi and Yamato learned from their drunken passenger that he came from another continent and hinted at the lost empire's vast resources before he fell asleep.
• The Iwa Captain prepared his mining team to enter River Country and reminded Kakuzu and Sasori of their agreement to clear the way for payment.
• Three Iwa scouts entered River Country and sensed a figure moving through the unnaturally silent woods.

Shisui killed an Iwagakure advance team and used genjutsu to learn the mining team's location, then ambushed Kakuzu and Sasori at their camp. After the fight began, he identified Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear technique and revealed that he was Amaterasu of Red Moon, while Sasori attacked him.

• Shisui silently killed two Rock Ninja and cut down the third before using his Sharingan to extract the team's location from him.
• At the Iwagakure mining camp, Sasori complained to Kakuzu about the lack of suitable Puppet materials, and the Iwa Captain reported that the advance team had gone missing.
• Shisui used a Shadow Technique to restrain Kakuzu and Sasori, then slashed Kakuzu across the chest.
• Kakuzu released four masked monsters from his body, and he and Sasori broke free during their clash with Shisui's Fire Release technique.
• Kakuzu mistook Shisui for Ame-no-Minaka-Nushi, but Shisui identified himself as Amaterasu of Red Moon and recognized Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear technique.
• Kakuzu demanded Red Moon's information, while Sasori attacked Shisui with a scorpion-tail weapon.

Shisui battled Kakuzu and Sasori while they demanded information about the Red Moon Organization, then revealed his reanimating body after trapping Kakuzu in the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique. Sasori’s attacks repeatedly tore Shisui apart without killing him, leaving Sasori convinced that Amaterasu had been holding back all along.

• Shisui used his shadow blade to destroy trees and fought Kakuzu’s elemental masks while dodging Sasori’s poisoned kunai.
• Sasori targeted Shisui’s Sharingan, and Kakuzu struck Shisui with lightning before trapping him with his detachable, thread-linked arms.
• Shisui attached multiplying Exploding Tags to Kakuzu and detonated them, destroying Hiruko and leaving Kakuzu charred and shattered.
• Sasori summoned the Third Kazekage Human Puppet and used Iron Sand to attack Shisui, whose damaged body rapidly regenerated.
• Sasori exhausted his Chakra trying to destroy Shisui and concluded that Amaterasu had deliberately concealed his full strength.

Shisui fought Sasori, who revealed that he had killed the Third Kazekage and used his corpse as a Human Puppet. Shisui survived Sasori’s attacks and escaped his Iron Sand prison, but Deidara’s enormous clay explosion swallowed him as the chapter ended.

• Shisui recognized Sasori as the missing Puppet master who had killed the Third Kazekage and turned him into a Human Puppet.
• Sasori unleashed his Hundred Puppet Performance, but Shisui evaded and destroyed the Puppets with his Sharingan-enhanced speed.
• Sasori attacked Shisui with poisoned Iron Sand needles and trapped him in an Iron Sand sphere, but Shisui escaped using Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
• Deidara dropped an expanding clay figure toward Shisui, who began forming a Susanoo as he sensed its danger.
• Deidara’s clay figure exploded and engulfed Shisui while Deidara and Rōshi watched from atop a giant clay bird.

Deidara and Rōshi clashed with Shisui, and Deidara answered Shisui’s powerful attack with a massive explosion. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Yamato uncovered the Gelel Stone mission’s secrets, defeated three attackers, and reached a battlefield strewn with corpses.

• Deidara and Rōshi emerged from Deidara’s C3 explosion and found Shisui unharmed inside his Green Half-Body Giant.
• Deidara sent clay clones against Shisui, who countered with Yasaka Beads, and Deidara threw two giant clay puppets into the attack, triggering an enormous blast.
• Kakashi and Yamato met three armored women blocking their carriage, while the old man explained the Gelel Stone’s history and identified the attackers as descendants of the ancient royal family.
• Yamato swiftly defeated the three women, and Kakashi hurried the carriage toward the River Country canyon despite the distant explosions.
• Kakashi and Yamato stopped at a battlefield where Kakashi found bodies dead for at least five hours and Yamato identified traces of Ninja Tools and ninjutsu.

Kakashi and Yamato tracked the Alien Clan’s trail to a canyon and found a massive mechanical structure, while Menma infiltrated the Ironclad Battleship and agreed to cooperate with Hyde in exchange for a Gelel Stone. At the River Country border, Shisui prepared another attack as Deidara and Rōshi faced the prospect of his seemingly inexhaustible Chakra.

• Kakashi and Yamato followed the Alien Clan’s footprints, discovered the clan had been wiped out, and found a huge mechanical gate in the canyon.
• Menma defeated the Ironclad Battleship’s soldiers and confronted Hyde, Timothy, and the others in the core control area.
• Hyde offered Menma a Gelel Stone, and Menma agreed to help remove their obstacles while secretly planning to use them for his own purposes.
• Shisui gathered Yasaka Beads for another attack after assessing Deidara’s explosive techniques and flying ability.
• Deidara worried that Shisui could keep attacking, and Rōshi began using Tailed Beast Transformation to protect them and the mining teams.

Kukomaka arrived to help Shisui against Deidara, Sasori, and Rōshi, then shattered Rōshi’s Tailed Beast Ball and severely wounded him. When she attacked Deidara, the Four-Tails emerged to stop her, and Kukomaka faced Son Gokū directly.

• Deidara obscured Shisui’s view with exploding C1 spiders while Sasori and Rōshi combined their attacks to break through Susanoo.
• Rōshi fired a Tailed Beast Ball through the gap, but Kukomaka intercepted it and shattered it with a punch before wounding Rōshi and knocking him down.
• Kukomaka joined Shisui and agreed to hold Deidara back while Shisui considered using genjutsu on Rōshi.
• Kukomaka mocked the Four-Tails, and Rōshi learned that it recognized her as resembling Kurama but could not identify her.
• After Deidara insulted Kukomaka, she rushed at him, but the Four-Tails emerged and struck her back to the ground.
• Kukomaka faced the Four-Tails Son Gokū and taunted it for finally showing itself.