Chapter Summaries

Sakura Haruno rejected Shikamaru Nara’s suggestion to seduce Naruto Uzumaki and accepted Ino Yamanaka’s offer to help her access medical materials. Their plan to trick Shikamaru backfired when Kabuto Yakushi’s Genjutsu and drug left Naruto attacking Shikamaru while Kabuto documented his observations.

• Shikamaru Nara told Sakura Haruno that she lacked the credentials or connections to obtain advanced medical materials, then suggested she use Naruto Uzumaki to secure help.
• Ino Yamanaka confronted Sakura, offered to guarantee her access to medical materials, and persuaded her to join a plan to test Shikamaru.
• Sakura disguised herself as Shikamaru and arranged for Naruto to visit the hospital room, where the real Shikamaru planned to use Transformation Jutsu and a drug to fool him.
• Kabuto Yakushi noticed the scheme and secretly cast Genjutsu as Naruto drank the drugged water, causing Naruto to attack the exposed Shikamaru.
• Kabuto Yakushi watched and took notes while Naruto overwhelmed Shikamaru, treating the incident as an opportunity for biological research.

After a humiliating hospital incident sparked rumors about Shikamaru, Team 7 gathered for a strained farewell before beginning separate training paths. Naruto resented Gaara joining in his place, while Shikamaru reported to his father that the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance had split apart.

• Naruto fled the hospital after Sasuke walked in on him and Shikamaru, and rumors spread that Shikamaru preferred men.
• Kabuto treated Shikamaru's injuries, warned him about possible physical and psychological effects, and suggested he seek out singing girls if he wanted to change.
• At Q BBQ Restaurant, Kakashi explained that Naruto would train with Jiraiya, Sasuke and Gaara with Orochimaru, and Sakura with Yakushi Nonō, while Team 7 remained together.
• Naruto felt rejected by Gaara taking his place, while Sasuke and Sakura were relieved to have Gaara join them.
• Shikamaru reported the clan situation to Nara Shikaku, who confirmed that the Ino-Shika-Cho clans had split and urged his son to take responsibility for the clan.

Uchiha Yoru revealed his Rinnegan to Orochimaru and discussed the hidden forces shaping the Shinobi World, including the reincarnating wills of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. He left Sasuke in Orochimaru’s care as he prepared to challenge the unseen powers within three years.

• Uchiha Yoru showed Orochimaru his Rinnegan, and Orochimaru concluded that the Rinnegan was the Sharingan’s ultimate evolution through the union of Uchiha and Senju powers.
• Uchiha Yoru explained that Naruto Uzumaki’s Chakra carried the same will as the First Hokage’s, while Sasuke Uchiha’s matched Madara Uchiha’s, and he suspected they were reincarnations tied to an ancient conflict.
• Orochimaru uncovered records saying the Sage of Six Paths’ two sons inherited the Sage’s Eye and Sage Body, fought over Ninshu, and reincarnated through generations.
• Uchiha Yoru suspected that the Akatsuki Organization’s Rinnegan had been transplanted and that an unseen hand was manipulating the Shinobi World.
• Uchiha Yoru declared that he might become the new god and told Orochimaru to look after Sasuke, who had just arrived in Otogakure.

Uchiha Yoru met Pain and the Akatsuki outside Amegakure, where the two leaders agreed to cooperate before ultimately deciding who would rule the Shinobi World. In a Genjutsu, Yoru revealed that he had awakened the Rinnegan and warned Pain about the conspiracy behind his eyes and the dangers surrounding the Tailed Beasts.

• After three years of mounting militarization across the Shinobi World, Pain summoned the entire Akatsuki Organization outside Amegakure.
• Uchiha Yoru arrived with Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara, Kimimaro, Jugo, Hozuki Suigetsu, Ino Yamanaka, and Karin Uzumaki, whose group assessed Akatsuki's strength.
• Pain greeted Uchiha Yoru respectfully and proposed that they cooperate, with Pain taking the Tailed Beasts and Yoru unifying the Shinobi World before a final battle between them.
• Uchiha Yoru and Pain entered a Genjutsu, where Pain admitted that his Rinnegan was part of a conspiracy and Uchiha Yoru revealed that he had awakened the Rinnegan.
• Uchiha Yoru warned Pain not to capture Naruto Uzumaki personally and said the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could help draw out the hidden conspirator.
• Uchiha Yoru and Pain emerged from the Genjutsu smiling, leaving both groups aware that the two had reached an agreement.

Uchiha Yoru and Pain reached an agreement to exchange Tailed Beast Chakra and intelligence, while the Akatsuki prepared to begin collecting the Tailed Beasts. Naruto Uzumaki returned to Konoha after three years of training, and Jiraiya discussed with Tsunade the possible forces influencing Naruto and Sasuke.

• Uchiha Yoru silenced Masked Obito’s demands, made him apologize, and gave Pain two sealed bodies containing One-Tail and Nine-Tails Chakra in exchange for intelligence.
• Pain assigned the Nine-Tails mission to Tobi and Sarutobi Asuma, then ordered the Akatsuki Organization to begin its Tailed Beast collection plan.
• Naruto Uzumaki returned to Konoha, met Inuzuka Kiba, and congratulated him on becoming a Jōnin before heading to the Hokage Building.
• Jiraiya told Tsunade that Naruto had matured during their travels but had buried his dream, and Tsunade criticized how he had trained him.
• Jiraiya explained Orochimaru’s findings about Indra’s influence on Sasuke and Asura’s influence on Naruto, and questioned whether love alone could preserve peace.

Jiraiya and Tsunade discussed the reincarnations of Asura and Indra, the hidden history surrounding the Sage of Six Paths, and the coming turmoil in the Shinobi World. After seeing Uchiha Yoru’s perfect Sage Mode and learning that Nagato’s Rinnegan had been transplanted, Jiraiya agreed to investigate Akatsuki and test Naruto.

• Jiraiya told Tsunade that Naruto had been influenced by Asura’s will, while he questioned the Sage of the Toads’ role in the hidden history of the Shinobi World.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade considered how the current generation might differ from the thousand-year conflict between Asura and Indra.
• Jiraiya found Uchiha Yoru meditating atop Hokage Rock and was astonished by his perfect Sage Mode.
• Yoru told Jiraiya that he planned to join forces with Akatsuki to throw the Shinobi World into chaos and said Naruto’s fate would depend on his own choices.
• Yoru revealed his Rinnegan and explained that Nagato’s eyes were transplanted, prompting Jiraiya to agree to investigate Nagato and Konan and test Naruto.

Naruto reunited with Team 7 over barbecue, where Sasuke brought Kin and Tayuya, while Itachi watched proudly and worried about his brother’s future. Elsewhere, Kakuzu and Hidan burned down the Fire Temple and took Jirō’s corpse to claim his bounty before Konoha exposed his treason.

• Kakashi treated Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Gaara, Kin, and Tayuya to a Team 7 reunion barbecue.
• Naruto was shocked that Sasuke had brought Kin and Tayuya, and Sasuke nervously served them grilled meat under Itachi’s matchmaking instructions.
• Itachi watched from outside, reflected on Sasuke’s growth, and worried about the reincarnated bloodlines and Sasuke’s lack of interest in women.
• Kakuzu and Hidan destroyed the Fire Temple and emerged with Jirō’s corpse after killing the former Guardian Shinobi, who had plotted to restore the daimyo’s power.
• Kakuzu explained that Jirō’s thirty-million bounty would soon fall once Konoha revealed the Fire Temple’s collusion with enemy nations, so he hurried to collect it.
• Kakuzu had Hidan signal Tobi and the others that he was lost, delaying their meeting with Asuma so they could claim the bounty first.

After Fire Temple was destroyed and four Akatsuki members entered the Land of Fire, Tsunade ordered a pursuit squad to confront them, while Naruto and Konohamaru clashed with the village leadership over joining. As the squad departed without Konohamaru, Uchiha Yoru warned Nagato and Konan that the masked man was likely a pawn controlled by someone else.

• Tsunade, Mei Terumi, and Pakura learned that Kakuzu and Hidan had destroyed Fire Temple and that Asuma and Tobi had entered the Land of Fire.
• Shikamaru volunteered to pursue Asuma, while Naruto, Temari, and Konohamaru asked to join; Tsunade reprimanded Naruto and Konohamaru for their disrespectful entrances.
• Kakashi assembled a pursuit squad with Itachi, Kisame, Sasuke, Gaara, Sakura, Naruto, Temari, Shikamaru, and Konohamaru, but Kisame and Kakashi objected to bringing the young Genin.
• Kakashi assigned Kisame, Temari, and Shikamaru to target Asuma, paired Itachi with Sasuke and Sakura, and set out with the others to confront Tobi; Naruto left Konohamaru behind.
• Konohamaru vowed to pursue revenge alone as the squad departed, while Nagato and Konan prepared to ambush Tobi.
• Uchiha Yoru told Nagato and Konan that Tobi was likely a puppet and that someone else stood behind him, urging them not to attack without considering the masked man's identity.

Uchiha Yoru warned Nagato and Konan that the Masked Man was Uchiha Obito and gave them Flying Thunder God kunai as the Akatsuki Organization prepared to collect the Tailed Beasts. In the Land of Fire, Akatsuki members clashed with a Konoha team, and the chapter ended with Pain announcing that Uchiha Yoru had arrived.

• Uchiha Yoru revealed that the Masked Man was Uchiha Obito and gave Nagato Flying Thunder God kunai to use if danger arose.
• Nagato ordered Konan to summon the Akatsuki Organization, while Uchiha Yoru suggested leaving Kumogakure's Two-Tails and Eight-Tails to Obito.
• Hidan and Kakuzu emerged from a public restroom, and Hidan's remarks about eating candy horrified the gathered Akatsuki and Konoha ninjas.
• Konohamaru attacked Sarutobi Asuma, prompting Naruto Uzumaki to reveal the Konoha team's position and disrupt Hatake Kakashi's battle plan.
• The Konoha ninjas and Akatsuki members split into fights, with Kisame Hoshigaki battling Hidan, Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara, and Sakura Haruno facing Kakuzu, and Kakashi and Itachi confronting Masked Obito.
• Pain sensed Uchiha Yoru approaching, and the Akatsuki Organization members tensed as the battles continued.

Hidan used his ritual to make his injuries afflict Shikamaru, and Naruto’s reckless attack with Wind Style: Rasenshuriken killed Shikamaru. Uchiha Yoru’s arrival forced the Akatsuki Organization to retreat, leaving Naruto devastated and facing the others’ criticism.

• Sarutobi Asuma and Hidan fought Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Kisame while Hidan obtained Asuma’s blood and began his ritual.
• Hidan’s ritual transferred his injuries to Shikamaru, and Asuma’s Fire Style attack killed Shikamaru through the link.
• Naruto struck Hidan with Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, severely damaging Hidan and fatally destroying Shikamaru’s cells.
• Uchiha Yoru’s devastating Fire Style attack arrived, prompting Kakuzu, Deidara, and the Akatsuki Organization to flee.
• Naruto mourned Shikamaru as Kisame rebuked his recklessness, while Sasuke, Konohamaru, and Temari reacted to the loss.

After Shikamaru Nara died because of Naruto Uzumaki’s impulsiveness, Kakashi and Jiraiya helped Naruto confront his guilt and understand the consequences of his choices. Meanwhile, Pain ordered the Akatsuki Organization to capture the remaining Tailed Beasts while avoiding Uchiha Yoru, and Jiraiya left to investigate the organization.

• Uchiha Yoru ordered the Fire Temple declared traitorous and barred from the Land of Fire, then told Kakashi to warn everyone not to confront the Akatsuki Organization alone.
• Pain reprimanded Kakuzu and Hidan for provoking Uchiha Yoru, then assigned the Akatsuki members missions to capture the remaining Jinchuriki.
• Naruto grieved at the Memorial Stone over Shikamaru’s death, while Kakashi delivered a warning and gave him a scroll containing the Rasenshuriken instructions.
• Jiraiya comforted Naruto and urged him to learn from his mistakes, then explained why Naruto could not take his dangerous mission in place of another ninja.
• Jiraiya left Konoha to investigate the Akatsuki Organization, while Naruto watched him go with guilt and concern.

Akatsuki captured the Eight-Tails and other Jinchuriki, prompting the Fourth Raikage to call a Five Kage Summit, while Jiraiya died fighting Pain. After Tsunade blamed Naruto for Jiraiya’s death and restricted him, Uchiha Yoru named Sasuke as a future Sixth Hokage and urged him to think beyond his bonds with Team 7.

• Masked Obito used his Mangekyō Sharingan to capture Killer B and the Eight-Tails, then withdrew before the arriving Fourth Raikage could stop him.
• Akatsuki captured the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails, and the Fourth Raikage called a Five Kage Summit in response to the threat.
• Pain fought Jiraiya in Amegakure, and Mount Myōboku’s summons later confirmed that Jiraiya had died in battle.
• Tsunade reprimanded Naruto over his recklessness, ordered Kakashi to monitor him, and forbade him from leaving the village without authorization.
• Uchiha Yoru told Sasuke that he intended to train him as the Sixth Hokage, alongside Gaara as the Sixth Kazekage and Kaguya Kimimaro as the Sixth Mizukage.
• Sasuke accepted the responsibility and resolved to broaden his thinking, while Uchiha Itachi watched from the shadows and approved.

Uchiha Yoru revealed to Hatake Kakashi that the masked Akatsuki member was Uchiha Obito, and the two accepted that Obito could not be forgiven for the Nine-Tails Night attack. As preparations began for a coming war to unite the Shinobi World, Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara, and Kimimaro planned their Five Kage Summit security mission while Ōnoki worried about Akatsuki and tried to lure Deidara back to Iwagakure.

• Uchiha Yoru told Hatake Kakashi that blood evidence and shared space-time techniques confirmed the masked man was Uchiha Obito, whose body Root had likely taken for experiments.
• Uchiha Yoru reminded Hatake Kakashi that Obito's actions on Nine-Tails Night left no path to forgiveness, and Kakashi agreed to remember the hero Obito while treating the masked man as someone else.
• Uchiha Yoru ordered Hatake Kakashi to prepare for turmoil and a war intended to unite the Shinobi World, and Kakashi said he finally understood war as a bridge to peace.
• Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara, and Kimimaro met at Training Ground 44 to discuss their security duties for the Five Kage Summit and their roles as future Kage in Uchiha Yoru's new era.
• Ōnoki reviewed reports about Akatsuki and Uchiha Yoru, lamented Iwagakure's lack of successors, and told Kurotsuchi to contact Deidara and offer to forgive his defection if he returned.

At the Five Kage Summit, Konoha, the Sand Ninja, and the Mist Ninja refused to treat Kumogakure and Iwagakure as equals and pushed for unifying the Shinobi World. The argument was interrupted when masked Obito appeared, prompting the Raikage to recognize the Akatsuki member who had captured Kumogakure’s Tailed Beasts.

• Mifune opened the Five Kage Summit, where Ay and Ōnoki called for action against Akatsuki while Mei Terumi and Pakura challenged their claims about the Tailed Beasts.
• Ōnoki cited Konoha’s Fourth Hokage and Akatsuki’s strength to press Tsunade, but Tsunade dismissed the losses as Iwagakure and Kumogakure’s responsibility.
• Ay accused Konoha of sending the attackers to Kumogakure, and Sasuke Uchiha and Neji Hyuga confronted him before Ay ordered Darui and Cee to stand down.
• Tsunade, Pakura, and Mei Terumi declared that the three allied villages would not accept equal standing with the other Kage and urged Ōnoki and Ay to join a unified Shinobi World.
• Ay rejected Tsunade’s proposal, and Ōnoki tried to return the summit’s focus to Akatsuki.
• Masked Obito appeared through a space ripple, and Ay recognized him as the Akatsuki member responsible for capturing Kumogakure’s Two-Tails and Eight-Tails.

At the Five Kage Summit, Sasuke exposed Obito’s identity, and Obito declared war on the Shinobi World. Pain and the other Akatsuki members then expelled Obito, who burned Sasuke’s clan notice and renewed his threat to destroy the world and create a new one.

• Ay attacked Obito, but Obito’s body passed through the strike as he presented Akatsuki’s plan to gather the Tailed Beasts and enforce peace through fear.
• Sasuke challenged Obito to give the weapon to Uchiha Yoru and revealed that blood samples from Kakashi’s Sharingan had exposed Obito’s identity.
• Obito removed his mask, declared the Fourth Great Ninja War, and summoned Akatsuki members to the summit as Deidara arrived on a Clay Bird.
• Konan challenged Obito’s authority, and Pain and the other Akatsuki members sided with her and expelled Obito from the organization.
• Sasuke stripped Obito of the Uchiha surname by clan notice, and Obito burned it before declaring war in his own name and vowing to destroy the world.

At the Five Kage Summit, Uchiha Obito fought Nagato and the Kage while Kakashi and Shisui opposed him, and both sides’ allies joined the sprawling battle. Obito escaped into the shadows after using Impure World Reincarnation to unleash controlled fighters, then set his sights on capturing Konan to force Nagato to surrender his remaining Rinnegan.

• Hatake Kakashi confronted Uchiha Obito and vowed to use his Mangekyo Sharingan to make Obito recognize his sins, while Uchiha Shisui warned that Obito had become a murderer.
• Uchiha Obito used genjutsu to incapacitate Akatsuki members, and Nagato unleashed Super Shinra Tensei before Obito’s allies took one of his Rinnegan eyes.
• Obito sent Akatsuki fighters against the Five Kage’s forces as the Fourth Raikage Ay and Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki attacked Nagato, who summoned the Six Paths of Pain.
• Black Zetsu raised seven Impure World Reincarnation fighters, and Obito placed control seals on them before sending them into battle against Kakashi, Shisui, Tsunade’s forces, and others.
• Tsunade punched the Third Raikage into the ground and used Wood Release against the resurrected fighters, while Obito and Zetsu withdrew from the battlefield.
• Obito observed that Hiruzen Sarutobi’s will had disrupted the control technique and decided to have Hiruzen fight beside Danzō, then targeted Konan so he could threaten Nagato into giving up his remaining Rinnegan.

The Five Kage Summit became a chaotic battlefield as the revived shinobi fought the allied forces, while Konan revealed a trap of Six Hundred Billion Explosive Tags aimed at Uchiha Obito. The explosions continued for ten minutes, and Deidara and Kakuzu broke free of Genjutsu, with Deidara celebrating the blasts and Kakuzu rushing to save the unexploded tags.

• Mifune ordered the Land of Iron samurai to withdraw as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō clashed with Anko, Yugao, and Kurenai, who forced them onto the defensive.
• Nagato fought Ōnoki and Ay, Obito intercepted Konan, Tsunade battled the Third Raikage, and the other revived Kage and Akatsuki members fought across the summit grounds.
• Sasuke warned the others that the Akatsuki members were controlled by a bodily restriction, while Konan revealed that she had hidden Six Hundred Billion Explosive Tags beneath the snow to trap Obito.
• Konan ignited the tags, setting off explosions that continued for ten minutes as the shinobi defended themselves across the battlefield.
• Deidara broke free of Genjutsu and celebrated the explosions as art, while Kakuzu also broke free and charged toward the tags to save the unexploded ones.

Sasuke identified the Akatsuki members’ illusions as reflecting their obsessions, while the Five Kage forces fought Obito and Nagato. Kakashi and Shisui disrupted the Impure World Reincarnation sealing of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Kagami, leaving the battlefield in ruins as Kakashi warned that war was approaching.

• Sasuke deduced that Kakuzu represented money, Deidara art, Sasori childhood, and Hidan faith, and Gaara identified Sasori’s parent puppets as the target for breaking his illusion.
• Obito survived Deidara’s attack with Izanagi, then Kakuzu and Deidara attacked him while Konan moved to support Nagato.
• Ōnoki and Ay ordered their forces to retreat, and Obito and Zetsu vanished after Obito promised Kakashi he would create a new world with Rin.
• Kakashi and Shisui used Contract Seal to free Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Kagami from Impure World Reincarnation while the other reincarnated ninja were sealed away.
• Sasuke reunited briefly with Fugaku before he and Kagami dissipated, and Kakashi warned that war in the Shinobi World was about to begin.

As the Shinobi World edged toward war, Uchiha Yoru prepared Konoha and persuaded four captured Akatsuki members to join his side. He left Nagato and Konan as the remaining Akatsuki members outside his control, while Sasuke Uchiha approached the prison.

• Iwagakure and Kumogakure accused Uchiha Yoru of plotting to conquer the Shinobi World, while Uchiha Yoru accused them of secretly gathering the Tailed Beasts with the Akatsuki Organization.
• Tsunade, Mei Terumi, and Pakura mobilized Konoha’s forces as Uchiha Yoru deployed troops and promised ninja new techniques ahead of the coming war.
• Uchiha Yoru offered Hidan permission to expand the Evil God Cult, and Hidan agreed to join him.
• Uchiha Yoru promised Kakuzu a legal slave trade, and Kakuzu accepted his offer.
• Uchiha Yoru tempted Deidara with a chance to display his art and the possibility of becoming a Jinchuriki, while Sasori agreed to join in exchange for Impure World Reincarnation.
• After Uchiha Yoru subdued the four prisoners, Sasuke Uchiha walked toward the prison.

Sasuke Uchiha asked Uchiha Yoru to help him awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, accepting the risk of losing an arm and agreeing to have his memories sealed. At Root’s research base, Orochimaru and Uchiha Yoru began the procedure by placing Sasuke under genjutsu, where he returned to the memories of his eight-year-old self and encountered Uchiha Itachi.

• Sasuke Uchiha asked Uchiha Yoru to use a dangerous method to uncover the power of Indra’s Chakra and awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Uchiha Yoru explained that the procedure involved injecting Wood Style Cells into Sasuke’s arm and sealing his memories from after age eight, and Sasuke accepted the risk without informing his mother or Itachi.
• Uchiha Yoru brought Sasuke to Root’s research base, where he described his plans for the facility and its test subjects.
• Kabuto Yakushi used the Yamanaka Clan’s secret technique to seal Sasuke’s memories, and Orochimaru prepared the mental stimulant and Wood Style Cells.
• Uchiha Yoru used genjutsu to make Sasuke experience the clan compound as an eight-year-old, where Sasuke walked home beneath a moon shaped like a Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Uchiha Itachi appeared in the genjutsu, standing on a utility pole in Anbu attire.