Chapter Summaries

Shimura Danzō confronted Kaedeji and demanded that he hand over his corpse-controlling secret technique, offering access to valuable corpses while threatening to seize the jutsu. Kaedeji refused Danzō’s moral pressure, and Danzō ordered Root ninjas to attack him.

• Shimura Danzō approached Kaedeji with Root ninjas and praised the potential of his corpse-controlling secret technique.
• Kaedeji explained that his position in the Corpse Disposal Unit already gave him access to corpses, but Danzō argued that Root could provide more valuable bodies and protection in exchange for the jutsu.
• Danzō’s thoughts turned to using Kaedeji’s technique to revive famous dead ninjas, including Uchiha Madara and Kagami Uchiha, and to excavating the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki ancestral graves.
• Danzō invoked the Will of Fire to pressure Kaedeji into surrendering his technique, but Kaedeji rejected the moral coercion.
• Danzō called Kaedeji ungrateful and ordered the Root ninjas to attack.

Kaedeji used his controlled corpses to resist Danzo’s Root ninja and survived their explosive attack by transferring himself to a hidden chamber. Danzo recognized that Kaedeji’s corpse-control technique consumed far less chakra than expected and ended the battle, intent on keeping him.

• Sandstorm Araki and Kaedeji’s other zombies disrupted Root’s ambush with coordinated ninjutsu, impressing Danzo with how much strength the corpses retained.
• Terai and the Root ninja counterattacked, but Kaedeji’s zombies combined their techniques and kept him protected.
• Root trapped the Explosion Release Zombie and detonated a formation of Explosive Tags, apparently destroying everything in the blast zone.
• Kaedeji emerged from a hidden chamber uninjured, revealing that he had transferred himself away and used a corpse to take the explosion.
• Danzo noted that Terai had underestimated how little chakra Kaedeji needed to control the corpses, then declared the battle over.

Kaedeji used his prepared corpse-explosion threat to make Danzo abandon his attack and offer him access to corpses in exchange for secrecy and future service. After Danzo left, Root blocked other Konoha forces from investigating the cemetery, leaving Kaedeji’s confrontation with the Uchiha Police Force unresolved.

• Kaedeji threatened to flee and detonate corpses he had prepared around the cemetery, while Terai questioned how he had planted them unnoticed.
• Danzo stopped the attack, praised Kaedeji’s potential, and promised him corpses in exchange for concealing the incident as a normal experiment.
• Kaedeji accepted Danzo’s terms but resolved to protect his freedom and obtain more corpses to advance his cultivation.
• Anbu, the Uchiha Police Force, and the Konoha Patrol Unit arrived, but Root barred them from investigating under Danzo’s orders.
• Uchiha Yashiro protested Root’s interference, and a Root ninja coldly told him to take the matter up with Danzo.

After a confrontation between Root and the Konoha Military Police Force, Kaedeji accelerated his corpse-conversion training while keeping his connection to Tsunade clear. Five months later, as the war against Iwagakure intensified, Kaedeji finally left the Corpse Disposal Unit.

• Uchiha Yashiro confronted Root over its growing influence and warned Kaedeji not to let Shimura Danzō exploit his secret technique.
• Kaedeji explained that his corpse experiments were connected to Tsunade, and Uchiha Yashiro withdrew after the standoff.
• Kaedeji converted fifty-three corpses into zombies, then processed another forty the following day, but received no bloodline corpses.
• Over the next five months, Kaedeji trained in seclusion as the fighting between Konoha and Iwagakure grew increasingly brutal.
• Kaedeji finally walked out of the Corpse Disposal Unit.

After five months of corpse-based cultivation, Kaedeji emerged from his laboratory and spent several days exploring Konoha while assessing the village’s wartime mood. He then encountered Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina, and Mito’s glance immediately made him feel overwhelming pressure.

• Kaedeji left the laboratory after five months of cultivation and told the Corpse Disposal Unit assistants to call him if anything unusual happened.
• Kaedeji wandered through Konoha, observing its shops and its residents’ anger over the ongoing war with Iwagakure.
• Kaedeji spent several days relaxing in the village without taking missions or visiting anyone.
• Kaedeji recognized Uzumaki Mito and Uzumaki Kushina when he encountered them outside a barbecue restaurant.
• Uzumaki Mito met Kaedeji’s gaze, and he felt a mountain-like pressure from the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

Kaedeji encountered Uzumaki Mito and Kushina, then returned to the Corpse Disposal Unit and received an A-rank mission to find the missing Jiraiya in the Land of Rain. The mission came as Konoha’s front-line campaign struggled to make progress.

• Uzumaki Mito sensed that Kaedeji was unusually complicated and warned Kushina to stay away from him.
• Kushina questioned why Mito had spoken to Kaedeji, and Mito advised her to care for her hair and said she might develop similar sensory abilities depending on how she dealt with the Nine-Tails.
• Kaedeji returned to the Corpse Disposal Unit, reviewed a report showing 3.52 million ryō in revenue, and learned that Danzo had assigned him an A-rank mission.
• Kaedeji opened the mission scroll and discovered that he was to search the Land of Rain for Jiraiya, who had been missing for more than two years.
• An assistant explained that Orochimaru’s offensive had stalled and Tsunade’s reinforcements had failed to achieve significant results.

Kaedeji accepted Danzo’s mission to search the Land of Rain and set out with three Root shinobi, while recognizing that Danzo also wanted to test his strength. After a nonstop journey, the team reached the Land of Rain’s border, where Kaedeji’s stamina impressed Komatsu Fuji.

• Kaedeji learned that Danzo wanted him to search the Land of Rain and demonstrate the results of his training, after using 1,216 shinobi corpses over five months.
• Kaedeji prepared his equipment, including a Summoning Scroll, and departed with Komatsu Fuji and two other Root shinobi.
• Kaedeji and his team left Konoha as gate guards recognized him as the young shinobi who had used the Dead Soul Technique in the battle against Sunagakure.
• Kaedeji led the team on a nonstop dash and reached the Land of Rain’s border in fifty-seven hours.
• Komatsu Fuji noticed that Kaedeji’s stamina was unusually high as the three Root shinobi struggled behind him.

Kaedeji entered the Land of Rain and used his Corpse Manipulation technique to send forty masked corpses searching in every direction. Nearby, Nagato sensed unusual Chakras approaching Jiraiya and the others, then detected more people suddenly appearing to confront them.

• Komatsu Fuji noticed that Kaedeji had become much fitter and more open about his abilities.
• Kaedeji summoned forty masked corpses and sent them to explore the Land of Rain.
• Jiraiya finished training Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko and reflected on leaving the war to teach Nagato.
• Nagato sensed several unusual Chakras moving toward them and suspected they were not Amegakure ninja.
• Nagato sensed more people appear suddenly and confront the approaching group.

In the Land of Iron, Uchiha Madara learned that Kaedeji could control corpses and sent White Zetsu to stop him from approaching Nagato. In the Land of Rain, Kaedeji located Jiraiya’s general area and realized Madara’s forces were blocking his servants.

• White Zetsu told Uchiha Madara that Kaedeji of Konohagakure controlled corpses capable of using their former ninjutsu.
• Madara dismissed Kaedeji’s technique as inferior and ordered White Zetsu to keep Kaedeji’s puppets away from Nagato.
• White Zetsu headed to the Land of Rain and gathered other White Zetsus to intercept Kaedeji.
• Kaedeji rested with Komatsu Fuji and two other Root ninja in an abandoned house during the heavy rain.
• Kaedeji said he had roughly located Jiraiya but that strange forces had stopped his servants.
• Kaedeji realized Uchiha Madara was monitoring Nagato and preventing him from getting close.

Kaedeji led three Root ninja to battle White Zetsu, whose forces had clashed with his zombies while searching for Nagato. After the fighting, Kaedeji revealed himself and told his subordinates that they had to die because they had seen White Zetsu.

• Kaedeji considered Nagato vulnerable and decided the White Zetsu cells were a worthwhile alternative to Hashirama Cells.
• White Zetsu sent its forces against Kaedeji's zombies, and both sides used their unusual abilities in a brutal battle.
• Black Zetsu watched from a puddle, decided that Nagato's safety mattered more than Madara's, and stayed hidden while waiting for an opportunity.
• White Zetsu lost twenty-seven of its kind and failed to disguise itself as a zombie before Kaedeji arrived with three Root ninja.
• Komatsu Fuji asked Kaedeji who the White Zetsu were, and Kaedeji told the Root ninja they had to die for the sake of the future.

Kaedeji turned the three Root ninja into zombies to keep them from reporting what they had learned about White Zetsu, but the technique left him nearly out of Chakra. As White Zetsu attacked, Kaedeji summoned thirty-five zombies and prepared to use Reincarnation.

• Komatsu Fuji ordered the other two Root ninja to hold Kaedeji off while he tried to escape and report to Danzo.
• Kaedeji used Corpse Manipulation: Corpse Transformation Technique to turn all three Root ninja into zombies, expending much of his stored life force.
• White Zetsu attacked Kaedeji and the surrounding zombies, believing Kaedeji had exhausted his options.
• Kaedeji summoned five zombies from coffins, then released thirty more from a Summoning Scroll.
• Kaedeji said White Zetsu's Chakra absorption stole Chakra that belonged to him, then used Forbidden Technique: Reincarnation.

Kaedeji used One's Own Life Reincarnation to drain the vitality of expendable zombies and restore his strength, astonishing White Zetsu with the technique. He sent his remaining zombies to fight while White Zetsu's main body transmitted information to Madara.

• White Zetsu questioned how Kaedeji could summon so many zombies despite his depleted Chakra and realized the corpses were using their own Chakra to perform ninjutsu.
• Kaedeji used One's Own Life Reincarnation to absorb the vitality of the first circle of zombies, which withered and crumbled as his strength returned.
• Kaedeji explained that he planned to refine the technique and estimated that reviving someone like Gaara would currently require thousands of zombies or more.
• Kaedeji decided to send his three subordinate zombies to fight the White Zetsus before draining their remaining vitality.
• The remaining zombies charged the White Zetsus, while White Zetsu's main body slipped underground and sent information to Madara.

Kaedeji used his zombie forces to wipe out the White Zetsu army and collected their bodies, while Black Zetsu recognized the potential of Kaedeji’s life-force technique for resurrection. Uchiha Madara arrived with White Zetsu and another companion, and told Kaedeji that his talent had caught his attention.

• Black Zetsu realized Kaedeji’s technique could extract life force from corpses and might serve as a practical resurrection method for his plans to revive his mother.
• Kaedeji’s zombies, led by Sandstorm Araki, defeated the White Zetsu force as the rain faded.
• Kaedeji killed a wounded White Zetsu and ordered the zombies to gather every piece of White Zetsu flesh for sealing and future use.
• White Zetsu returned with a spiral-headed companion and the elderly Uchiha Madara after the battle had ended.
• Uchiha Madara opened his remaining eye and told Kaedeji that his technique and talent had caught his attention.

Kaedeji attacked Uchiha Madara with a horde of zombies, but Madara revealed his overwhelming power and destroyed them with Susanoo. Kaedeji escaped the attack and questioned Madara’s identity, suspecting he was someone thought to have died long ago.

• Madara analyzed Kaedeji’s life-force jutsu and said it could extend life but could not restore youth.
• Kaedeji sent dozens of zombies to attack Madara, who incinerated more than twenty with Great Fire Annihilation.
• Kaedeji unleashed a chain of zombie explosions with Corpse Release: Hundred Bones Resounding God, but Madara, White Zetsu, and Tobi emerged unharmed.
• Madara awakened Susanoo with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and used its blade to cut apart the zombie army.
• Kaedeji escaped the final slash with the Void Realm Technique, then praised Madara’s display and questioned his identity.

Kaedeji negotiated a reluctant alliance with Uchiha Madara, agreeing to help advance the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan while gaining control over White Zetsu's main body. The chapter ended with Kaedeji's separated will taking the form of Black Zetsu, a name Madara gave it.

• Madara failed to capture Kaedeji with Susanoo, then invited him to hear about his plan after learning Kaedeji could evade him and resist White Zetsu's spores.
• Jiraiya arrived at the ruined battlefield and found shattered zombies, worrying that the unknown conflict might endanger Nagato.
• At the Mountain Graveyard, Madara explained his Infinite Tsukuyomi plan and asked Kaedeji to use One's Own Life Reincarnation to preserve him.
• Kaedeji tried to turn Madara into a zombie but could not overcome his strength and the White Zetsu assisting him, so he tentatively joined Madara's plan.
• Madara taught Kaedeji a secret technique for separating his will, and Kaedeji used it to take control of White Zetsu's main body.
• Kaedeji's will formed a black half of White Zetsu, and Madara named it Black Zetsu.

Kaedeji discussed Madara’s plans and the limits of his life-restoring technique, then discovered that Sandstorm Araki could recover by eating White Zetsu corpses. The chapter ended with Kaedeji ordering Araki to keep eating so he could test whether the White Zetsu would make his zombie stronger.

• Kaedeji suspected Black Zetsu had disguised himself as his will to exploit his life-force-transfer technique for future plans, but Madara refused to create a replica of himself yet.
• Kaedeji told Madara he would not provide life force when Madara was dying unless he received sufficient compensation, and Madara asked him to help find a suitable Uchiha heir.
• Kaedeji ordered White Zetsu and Black Zetsu to provide the corpses of the White Zetsu he had killed.
• Sandstorm Araki ate a White Zetsu corpse, replenished his energy, and began healing the hole in his chest.
• Kaedeji ordered Sandstorm Araki to keep eating, even if his stomach burst, so he could see whether White Zetsu made from the First Hokage’s cells would strengthen his zombie.

Kaedeji left Madara’s hideout with the Uchiha Gunbai and returned to the Land of Rain to find Jiraiya. After Jiraiya restrained him and verified his mission document, Jiraiya refused to return to the village or join the war against Iwagakure.

• Black Zetsu decided to learn Kaedeji’s Corpse Release Secret Technique to help revive his mother and viewed Kaedeji as vital to the plan.
• Madara warned Kaedeji not to harm Nagato, then gave him the Uchiha Gunbai before Kaedeji departed using the Void Realm Technique.
• Kaedeji returned to the Land of Rain and considered how Madara might try to place a cursed seal on him.
• Jiraiya trapped Kaedeji and the zombies in the Swamp of the Underworld, questioned his unusual Space-Time Ninjutsu, and sealed away some corpses.
• Kaedeji handed Jiraiya the village mission document and asked him to return for the war against Iwagakure.
• Jiraiya verified the document but told Kaedeji he could not return because he still had matters to attend to.

Kaedeji failed to persuade Jiraiya to return to Konoha and left the Land of Rain after confronting him. Back in Konoha, he reported Jiraiya’s refusal as the village prepared for a decisive battle with Iwagakure, while Danzo questioned him about the encounter.

• Kaedeji confronted Jiraiya, argued over his absence from the war, and left after Jiraiya refused to return to Konoha.
• Jiraiya decided to move with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan and intensify their training.
• White Zetsu told Kaedeji that Iwagakure had sent about a thousand troops toward the Land of Hot Water, led by Rōshi, and Kaedeji suspected a trap.
• Kaedeji returned to Konoha and submitted Jiraiya’s coded mission document, confirming that Jiraiya had refused to come back.
• Danzo questioned Kaedeji about what Jiraiya had been doing and why he would not return, and Kaedeji said he had discovered nothing.

Kaedeji reported his Rain Country mission to the Third Hokage, who punished Danzo lightly and rewarded Kaedeji with 1.2 million ryō. Kaedeji then told Danzo about his life-force transfer technique, leaving Danzo intrigued by its potential and unaware of Kaedeji’s true plans.

• Danzo questioned Kaedeji about why he alone returned from the Land of Rain, and Kaedeji said his subordinates may have been discovered and killed by Amegakure's ninja.
• The Third Hokage reprimanded Danzo for assigning Root ninja an extra mission, transferred the Explosion Release corpses to Kaedeji, and gave Kaedeji 1.2 million ryō.
• Danzo suspected Kaedeji had killed the missing Root ninja and considered secretly contacting Hanzō of the Salamander and pursuing Sharingan.
• Kaedeji waited for Danzo after leaving the Hokage Building and explained that the three Root ninja had tried to uncover his secret technique.
• Kaedeji told Danzo he had mastered a forbidden technique that transferred life force from corpses to living people, while claiming its success and efficiency were limited.
• Kaedeji offered to use the technique to preserve Danzo's health and youth, while hinting that Danzo might face consequences if he developed hostile intentions.

Kaedeji entered Danzo’s Root base and faced a heavily guarded test of his forbidden corpse technique. He began transforming a captive Sunagakure ninja while Danzo watched with a Sharingan, leaving the demonstration poised to reveal whether Kaedeji would earn Root’s support or be seized.

• Danzo led Kaedeji through Root’s base as a dozen ninjas followed them, and Kaedeji identified several of the group.
• Danzo analyzed Kaedeji’s corpse-based abilities and warned that Root’s sealing specialists could prevent him from escaping.
• Danzo brought Kaedeji to a laboratory and said he would support him if he demonstrated his forbidden technique on two Sunagakure captives.
• Danzo revealed a Three-Tomoe Sharingan as Root ninjas prepared to restrain Kaedeji, and Kaedeji began using the Corpse Transformation Technique on one captive.