Chapter Summaries

Konoha’s haori-clad healers eased tensions between the clans while Tsunade explained to Orochimaru why Aizen’s research and conduct had left her unsure whether he was an enemy. Hatake Sakumo and Dan Katō offered to bring Orochimaru to meet Aizen, and Orochimaru agreed to go in hopes of learning about immortality.

• Aizen’s followers treated injured ninja from opposing clans and helped them apologize and settle their dispute.
• Tsunade told Orochimaru that Aizen’s research had advanced medical knowledge and that he had shared his findings with Konoha, leaving her uncertain about opposing him.
• Hatake Sakumo and Dan Katō revealed they had been listening, and Sakumo noted that Kagami Uchiha had been missing on a mission for nearly half a month.
• Sakumo suggested that Orochimaru meet Aizen to discuss his research into life, and Orochimaru accepted despite his apprehension.

Kagami Uchiha tracked a hidden research base to the Graveyard of Mountains in the Land of Iron and prepared to destroy it before another threat like Aizen could arise. An old man revealed himself as Uchiha Madara and invited Kagami to learn the truths of the world, leaving Kagami uncertain whether to trust him.

• Kagami Uchiha investigated the Wood Release puppets and traced their concentration to a research base inside the Graveyard of Mountains.
• Believing the base might produce another Aizen, Kagami activated his Pseudo Bankai and began raining ash and flames over the mountain.
• The mountain opened an entrance, and a frail old man emerged, recognizing Kagami and provoking him about Aizen.
• Kagami recognized the old man as Uchiha Madara, whom he believed had died at the Valley of the End, and demanded that he confirm his identity.
• Uchiha Madara invited Kagami to come with him and learn the truths of the world, then walked back into the mountain.

Kagami Uchiha confronted Uchiha Madara at Graveyard of Mountains, believing he had been sent to make Madara surrender, but Madara killed him and Kagami’s transformed soul killed Madara in return. Kagami flew back to Konoha without realizing the encounter had been an illusion, while the real Madara remained alive and questioned what Sosuke Aizen had seen.

• Kagami Uchiha urged Uchiha Madara to return to Konoha and surrender, but Madara challenged his defense of Tobirama and the village’s treatment of the Uchiha.
• Kagami defended Tobirama’s intentions, and Madara used a translucent arm to crush Kagami’s body.
• Kagami’s soul emerged from the remains and stabbed Uchiha Madara through the brain, then realized that Aizen’s research had transformed him into another form of life.
• Kagami declared that Madara and Sosuke Aizen had to die for Konoha and the Uchiha, then flew back toward Konoha.
• After Kagami left, the apparent Madara became an ash-gray puppet, revealing that the real Madara had watched the encounter from his chair.
• The real Uchiha Madara read Sosuke Aizen’s paper on creating realistic illusions and wondered what Aizen had seen.

Orochimaru discussed life, death, and immortality with Aizen, who helped him clarify that he wanted to pursue the truth of the world rather than immortality for its own sake. They agreed to exchange knowledge as companions, but their conversation ended when Kagami appeared in the sky.

• Aizen explained to Orochimaru that life and death were flexible definitions and described several ways to achieve immortality.
• Orochimaru reconsidered his fears after reflecting on Impure World Reincarnation, Dan Katō's techniques, and Aizen's research.
• Orochimaru told Aizen that he wanted to research the truth of the world, and Aizen welcomed him as a companion rather than a subordinate.
• Aizen and Orochimaru agreed to exchange techniques and knowledge while allowing Orochimaru to follow his own path.
• Aizen, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Dan Katō, and Hatake Sakumo sensed Kagami's return and looked toward the white figure in the sky.

Kagami Uchiha unveiled his Bankai and declared that he would kill Sosuke Aizen, transforming the sky above Konoha into a vision of the village burning. The chapter left Aizen facing Kagami within the Bankai’s bleak, ash-filled world as Konoha’s residents watched in terror.

• Aizen explained to Orochimaru that Kagami’s Shinigami Transformation was created through Soul Surgery and his own obsession.
• Aizen briefly overwhelmed Kagami in midair, then revealed that Kagami was a puppet whose Bankai and Mangekyo Sharingan he intended to display.
• Kagami concluded that he needed no reason beyond his own decision to kill Aizen and awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan.
• Kagami activated Bankai—Fallen Scenery of Autumn Leaves and Ashes, covering Konoha in a gray world where warm embers fell as ash.
• Konoha’s residents saw burning images of familiar landmarks, including Ichiraku Ramen, the Hokage’s Office, and Hokage Rock, appearing in the sky.

Kagami Uchiha revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and Bankai, demanding that Sosuke Aizen swear loyalty to Konoha, but Aizen exposed him as an experiment in merging Sharingan and Shinigami powers. Aizen defeated Kagami’s attack and sealed him, then prepared to recover the experimental subjects as Konoha’s civilians watched the strange heat and mirages fade.

• Kagami Uchiha used his Mangekyō Sharingan and Bankai to threaten Sosuke Aizen and offered to spare him if he swore to protect Konoha’s interests.
• Sosuke Aizen revealed that Kagami had been a test subject in his experiments on Chakra, souls, the Sharingan, and Zanpakuto.
• Kagami summoned Susanoo and brought a burning vision of Konoha down on Aizen, insisting that his power could not be dismissed.
• Aizen blasted Susanoo with Kidō 91, Senju Kōten Taihō, then used Kyōka Suigetsu to shatter the giant and bring Kagami crashing into the courtyard.
• Aizen made Kagami vanish inside a sealing frame and said that he would now recycle the experimental subjects.
• The heat source and mirages disappeared, and Konoha’s civilians felt relieved as rain began to fall.

Sosuke Aizen maintained his influence over Konoha while Kagami Uchiha awakened with altered memories and believed Aizen was his enemy. Kagami began researching how to fuse Bankai and the Sharingan, unaware that Aizen was manipulating him as experimental material.

• Aizen told Hiruzen Sarutobi that his experiments remained limited and that internal interference hindered his work, while Hiruzen accepted his assurances.
• Kagami Uchiha awakened in an experimental base and remembered himself as a Konoha Ninja who had become a Shinigami and possessed Bankai.
• Aizen presented Kagami with research documents and mentioned strange wooden dolls monitoring Konoha, but Kagami identified him as an enemy and rejected his colleagues.
• Tsunade, Orochimaru, Dan Katō, Hatake Sakumo, and the other Ninja reacted to Kagami with shock and left without explaining their behavior.
• Kagami entered a laboratory to study the fusion of Bankai and the Sharingan, while Aizen revealed that he intended to reuse and cultivate Kagami as experimental material.

Shimura Danzō abandoned his negotiations with Hanzō and sought out Jiraiya’s three young disciples in the Land of Rain. He offered Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan training through Root, asking them to sacrifice themselves for world peace.

• Shimura Danzō learned that Konoha’s underground library had been raided and that other shinobi villages were developing new techniques, weakening his position with Hanzō.
• Hanzō pressured Shimura Danzō to share Konoha’s secrets and courted the Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja, so Danzō ended their negotiations and left Amegakure.
• Shimura Danzō secretly went to the village where Jiraiya’s disciples lived, intending to claim the red-haired Nagato and his Rinnegan for Konoha.
• Shimura Danzō told Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan that Jiraiya wanted them brought to Konoha, then offered to train them as a compromise.
• Shimura Danzō asked Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan whether they would become Root and sacrifice everything for world peace.

Kakashi asked Sosuke Aizen to complete a Ninja Academy assignment about the person he respected most, prompting Aizen to explain that he admired people who dared to pursue the impossible. After Kakashi left to write his own answer, Hatake Sakumo delivered Aizen a sealed message containing a jar of flesh and blood and a letter from Aizen's partner.

• Kakashi brought Aizen the assignment requiring parents and students to name the people they respected most.
• Aizen told Kakashi he admired people who had courageously advanced toward seemingly impossible goals, and encouraged Kakashi to find his own ideal.
• Kakashi dismissed Aizen's answer as vague and left to consider what to write himself.
• Hatake Sakumo spoke with Aizen about Kakashi and challenged Aizen over how he had treated Kagami Uchiha.
• Hatake Sakumo delivered a scroll that Aizen identified as a letter from his partner, and its seal revealed a jar of flesh and blood.

Aizen explained to Hatake Sakumo that he had engineered a strategic rivalry among the Ninja villages as a trial to provoke progress and reveal people’s courage. After the major factions formed opposing alliances, Aizen prepared to make his next move.

• Aizen read Uchiha Madara’s letter, which included secret techniques, fused Hashirama and Madara cells, and warnings about Danzo and the Rinnegan.
• Hatake Sakumo stayed to listen as Aizen discussed his plans and denied that he simply wanted to control the world.
• Aizen explained that a common enemy could drive villages to improve, while Hatake Sakumo objected to manufacturing hatred and suffering.
• Aizen described the growing rivalry among Ninja villages as a trial that could prompt people to stand against suffering with courage and hope.
• The Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja formed a mutual aid alliance, while the Cloud Ninja allied with Mist Village, creating three competing blocs.
• Aizen said it was time for them to make their move.

Ōnoki and Rasa discussed the threat posed by Konoha’s rapid deployment of Blut Arterie and Blut Vene, based on Aizen’s stolen research. Facing a possible invasion and dwindling time, Ōnoki ordered clans and secret-technique users to share their knowledge through a joint research institute.

• A Stone Ninja told Ōnoki that Konoha’s guards made capturing Aizen impossible, so Ōnoki abandoned the attempt.
• Ōnoki recalled his fear of Konoha and worried that Blut Vene was causing severe losses across the front lines.
• Rasa appeared through the Kongluo communication device and explained that Aizen’s stolen research covered many fields, including ways to develop Blut Arterie.
• Rasa proposed that the villages publicly share secret techniques to strengthen their forces against Konoha.
• Ōnoki ordered clans with Kekkei Genkai and Ninja with secret techniques to join the Wind-Earth Joint Ninjutsu Research Institute and develop their techniques for distribution.

Third Raikage A decided Kumogakure would copy Konoha’s new techniques despite suspecting they were bait, and ordered the village to seek an alliance with the Mist Ninja. In Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that other villages had seen through his strategy, while Sosuke Aizen commiserated with him.

• Third Raikage, A questioned Dodai about whether Kumogakure could adapt Konoha’s All-around Nerve Activation Technology and Chakra Flesh Augmentation, and Dodai said it could not.
• Third Raikage, A concluded that Hiruzen Sarutobi had recalled Konoha’s forces and revealed Blut Arterie to push his policy through, but that the plan had prompted the Four Great Shinobi Villages to coordinate.
• Third Raikage, A ordered Kumogakure to copy the new secret techniques to strengthen its fighters and to contact the Mist Ninja because the Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja had already joined forces.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi read an intelligence report showing that the enemy had realized his scheme, and Sosuke Aizen remarked that the plan had been exposed because it was too flawless.

Sosuke Aizen persuaded Hiruzen Sarutobi that a supposed grand strategy had been ruined and that Konoha must unite for war, while privately revealing how he had manipulated the villages through carefully distorted information. After leaving the Hokage's Office, Aizen greeted a confused Kagami Uchiha.

• Sosuke Aizen described a fabricated plan that blamed Danzo for disrupting Konoha's supposed opportunity to defeat the Sand Ninja and Stone Ninja.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi admitted he had never intended such a scheme, but Aizen persuaded him to treat the surrounding alliances as an opportunity to unite Konoha and prepare for war.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the heads of all major clans to attend a meeting at the Hokage's Office.
• Sosuke Aizen reflected that he had used real but fragmented information to make the Four Great Shinobi Villages believe Konoha planned to conquer the world.
• Sosuke Aizen left the Hokage's Office and greeted Kagami Uchiha, who stared back in confusion.

After being reassigned from Aizen’s Guard Squad to research space-time ninjutsu, Minato Namikaze met Kushina at Ichiraku Ramen, where the two decided to marry despite the uncertain future facing them. Aizen’s adopted son arrived just after they shared the news.

• Minato Namikaze sighed over his transfer from Aizen’s Guard Squad to the Konoha Ninjutsu Research Institute, where he would research space-time ninjutsu.
• Kushina confronted Minato about his gloomy mood, and he explained that he could not discuss the village matter troubling him.
• Kushina revealed that she had also received secret missions and urged Minato to marry her before the future grew more dangerous.
• Minato accepted Kushina’s proposal, and the two affirmed their love at Ichiraku Ramen.
• Aizen’s adopted son entered the shop, congratulated Minato and Kushina, and told them to ask Aizen for a wedding gift.

Kakashi Hatake met Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki at Ichiraku Ramen, where he explained that he intended to become a ninja and make up for his father's losses. After the three parted for secret missions, they discovered they had all been heading to the same gathering place.

• Minato Namikaze and Kakashi Hatake bickered at Ichiraku Ramen, while Kushina Uzumaki tried to smooth things over.
• Kakashi Hatake told Kushina Uzumaki that he had left the Ninja Academy after defeating his teacher.
• Kakashi Hatake revealed that Hokage-sama and Sosuke Aizen had assigned him new tasks involving Blut Arterie.
• Kakashi Hatake said he still wanted to become a ninja and carry out missions to make up for his father's losses, then left after sharing a friendly farewell with Minato Namikaze.
• Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, and Kakashi Hatake each set out on secret missions and unexpectedly met at Konoha's Ninjutsu Research and Development Office.

Kakashi, Minato, Kushina, Tsunade, and Orochimaru discovered that their separate missions had brought them into Konoha’s secret Ninjutsu Research Institute, where Aizen assigned them research roles. Aizen outlined his ambition to uncover the Ninja World’s truth as the assembled researchers prepared to begin their work.

• Kakashi, Minato, and Kushina awkwardly reunited, then watched Tsunade and Orochimaru arrive and react with shock to finding each other and Sosuke Aizen.
• Aizen led the five ninjas into the hidden research institute, where Tsunade and Orochimaru saw Konoha personnel and White Haori members working together.
• Aizen distributed white robes and insignias, named the institute’s leadership, and assigned researchers to specialized groups, including Kakashi, Minato, Kushina, Orochimaru, and Tsunade.
• Aizen told the assembled ninjas that he wanted to uncover the truth behind the Ninja World’s violence, explore its laws, and reshape its future.

Tsunade realized that the terrifying Konoha legend described Aizen’s hidden organization, which had quietly replaced the village’s decision-making core. Aizen assigned the research and Executive Department roles, then introduced Black Zetsu as a partner and supposed manifestation of Yin-Yang Release.

• Tsunade recognized that the legend of dead ninja hiding among the living referred to the organization Aizen had built within Konoha.
• Aizen explained that Tsunade and Orochimaru would serve as public liaisons for the Executive Department, while researchers and clan ninja were placed under strict centralized management.
• Tsunade spotted Hatake Sakumo among the masked special operations unit, and Aizen said the unit handled internal problems at the research institute.
• Aizen assigned Dan Katō to lead the 2nd Division, Tsunade to lead the Fourth Division, and Yakushi Nonō to serve as its vice-captain, while giving Orochimaru freedom to choose a research group.
• Aizen introduced Black Zetsu as a partner and a manifestation of Yin-Yang Release, and the assembled ninja assumed he had been tricked into joining.

Aizen traded Bakudō research with Uchiha Madara for Black Zetsu, whom Madara claimed was a fragment of his soul. Aizen presented Black Zetsu to his researchers as experimental material, leaving him surrounded by Ninja eager to dissect him.

• Aizen exchanged Bakudō research materials with Uchiha Madara, who gave him Black Zetsu as a Yin-Yang Release creation.
• Black Zetsu realized Aizen would not be swayed by his secrets or promises and feared he had fallen into the hands of a lunatic.
• Aizen introduced Black Zetsu to the researchers and offered his body as a source of experimental material.
• Tsunade considered defending Black Zetsu but became tempted by the prospect of studying his flesh and Yin-Yang Release.
• Black Zetsu asked to return to his master, but Aizen insisted Uchiha Madara had agreed to let them use him.
• The Ninja raised their Chakra Scalpels and asked Black Zetsu whether he would split himself or let them cut him apart.

The ninja world entered a tense new year as rival powers maintained peace through an arms race and mutual deterrence. In Amegakure, Shimura Danzō explained his evolving vision of the Darkness of Peace to Yahiko and the other youths, then announced that he would leave.

• The great ninja powers expanded their distinct military technologies while spies gathered intelligence and smaller nations used alliances to develop.
• Shimura Danzō reflected that teaching in the Land of Rain had changed his Konoha-centered ideas into a broader doctrine he called the Darkness of Peace.
• Yahiko said people preferred stable lives, even false happiness, and Danzō agreed that this desire helped keep Salamander Hanzō secure.
• Danzō taught that the shared threat of death could restrain nations and make peace possible, naming this Root, the root of peace.
• The three youths accepted Danzō's teaching, and he told them to remember it as he prepared to leave.

While teaching children in the Land of Rain, Shimura Danzō realized that Sosuke Aizen’s technology and engineered mutual destruction had made war unprofitable and brought peace. Aizen appeared behind him, and the two discussed Danzō’s conclusions and Aizen’s offer to join the Unseen Court, which Danzō declined.

• Shimura Danzō reflected on the ninja world’s cycle of war and recognized that peace emerged when conflict could bring no benefits greater than its costs.
• Danzō concluded that Sosuke Aizen had deliberately spread technology that enabled mutual destruction and helped create the current peace.
• Aizen appeared behind Danzō in the Land of Rain and praised him for seeing the broader pattern.
• Danzō told Aizen that necessary malice and the collective will of a village could keep conflict within bounds and support peace.
• Aizen offered to hold a ceremony welcoming Danzō into the Unseen Court, but Danzō rejected the formalities.