Chapter Summaries

Aizen confronted Orochimaru in his underground laboratory after Orochimaru investigated the Byakugan and Sharingan, and trapped him in a powerful Genjutsu. Orochimaru realized his attempts to escape and dispel the illusion had failed, and found himself stranded in a boundless starry sky.

• The Hyuga brothers admitted they knew nothing about the supposed ancestor whose reputation had drawn visitors and gifts to the clan grounds.
• Orochimaru reflected on Itachi's talent and his research into the Sharingan, including its evolution into the Mangekyō Sharingan and the technique Susanoo.
• Aizen entered Orochimaru's laboratory and revealed that he had used Genjutsu to control someone who knew the village barrier's formula.
• Orochimaru attacked Aizen and fled, but emerged back in the laboratory, realizing he was trapped in a Genjutsu.
• Orochimaru disrupted his Chakra to dispel the illusion, but Aizen challenged him, and the surroundings shattered into a boundless starry sky.

Aizen defeated Orochimaru with an inescapable Genjutsu and invited him to join the Hollow Organization, revealing its ties to Akatsuki. He offered clues about Orochimaru’s dream of immortality, and the chapter ended with Orochimaru asking about living forever.

• Aizen’s Genjutsu trapped Orochimaru until he conceded, after which Orochimaru could not determine how the illusion had worked.
• Aizen invited Orochimaru to join the Hollow Organization and revealed that about one-third of Akatsuki, including Orochimaru, belonged to it.
• Aizen told Orochimaru he was a triple agent because he also had ties to Leaf Village, then warned that Orochimaru might not be able to reveal the truth about the organization.
• Aizen identified Orochimaru’s ambitions as immortality and mastering all knowledge and ninjutsu, and claimed the underworld might preserve powerful souls as a training ground.
• Orochimaru asked how he could achieve immortality while alive.

Aizen recruited Orochimaru by offering him a path to immortality through atavistic bloodline research and assigned him work for both the Hollow Organization and Akatsuki. Meanwhile, Yahiko's group discussed how their operation had frightened Leaf Village into leaning toward sacrificing the Hokage, and they considered the mission successful despite not obtaining the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.

• Aizen told Orochimaru that combining the Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga, and Kaguya bloodlines could restore an Otsutsuki ancestor's power and offer a path to immortality.
• Orochimaru agreed to join Aizen's organizations and learned that he would research Kekkei Mōra with a Hollow Organization member and improve the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu for Akatsuki.
• Yahiko noticed Aizen's absence at the meeting, and Nagato suggested that he might be thanking the Byakugan senior who had helped them.
• Yahiko reported that Leaf Village was leaning toward sacrificing the Hokage rather than trading for hostages, and explained that the group's display of strength had altered their original plan.
• Raiga asked whether Akatsuki had overdone it, but Yahiko said the operation had successfully diverted attention and weakened the Five Great Shinobi Countries' authority.
• Black Zetsu secretly welcomed the likelihood that the Five Great Shinobi Countries would refuse to hand over the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, while the others credited the Byakugan fighter for making Leaf Village feel threatened.

Black Zetsu persuaded the Akatsuki to keep Danzo in power and use him, while Aizen approved of the plan for his own purposes. Aizen then revealed that he had entered Leaf Village, recruited a newcomer, and learned the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.

• Sasori and Obito called for Danzo to be killed, but Black Zetsu argued that keeping him as Hokage would help the Akatsuki and hinder Shimizu Soseki.
• Konan, Kakuzu, and Yahiko questioned whether Danzo would cooperate, and Black Zetsu insisted they should help him regain power and try to recruit him.
• Aizen revealed that he had been listening and privately considered Danzo's return to extremism a way to dismantle Leaf Village's leadership without damaging his own reputation.
• Black Zetsu proposed using Danzo's Hokage title to arrange a summit and trap Shimizu Soseki, but Yahiko questioned how they would control the other Kage.
• Aizen said he had been inside Leaf Village to invite a newcomer and had also learned the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, delighting Sasori and Obito and shocking Black Zetsu.

Aizen gave Obito the Impure World Reincarnation training method, and Obito began preparing to revive Rin. Black Zetsu searched Rin’s grave for flesh to sabotage the ritual, found no body, and then took the blame when Obito confronted him.

• Aizen told the organization that he had secretly learned the Impure World Reincarnation from Leaf Village’s Book of Seals, then agreed to give Obito its training method.
• Obito excitedly began training but could not concentrate, so he decided to prepare the revival ritual and ordered a sacrificial vessel from Sasori.
• Black Zetsu went to Leaf Village’s war cemetery and opened Rin’s coffin, intending to take rotting flesh, but found no body or bones inside.
• Black Zetsu suspected that Rin had survived and that the Three-Tails held the key to waking her.
• Obito found Black Zetsu at Rin’s grave and accused him of destroying her body, so Black Zetsu admitted to it rather than reveal his suspicion.

Danzo decided to seek an alliance with Akatsuki and use it against Shimizu Soseki, hoping to strengthen his position in Leaf Village. Outside the village, Black Zetsu talked Obito out of killing him by arguing that they still needed each other to carry out the Eye of the Moon plan.

• Danzo told Ryoma to arrange a meeting with Akatsuki's leader so they could prepare for the coming chaos.
• Danzo planned to make Akatsuki fight Shimizu Soseki and hoped they would destroy each other.
• Black Zetsu fled Leaf Village after Obito attacked him over Rin's destroyed corpse.
• Black Zetsu warned Obito that he could not control the Ten-Tails without the true owner of the Rinnegan and would lose Akatsuki's support if he killed him.
• Black Zetsu blamed Obito for prioritizing Rin over their shared goals, and Obito admitted he might abandon Madara's plan if Rin were revived.
• Black Zetsu proposed that they pretend nothing had happened, and Obito stopped attacking him.

Black Zetsu persuaded Obito to accelerate the Eye of the Moon plan by starting the Fourth Shinobi World War as soon as the Three-Tails revived. They plotted to use White Zetsu attacks to force Akatsuki and the Five Great Shinobi Countries into conflict, while weakening Nagato so they could take his Rinnegan.

• Obito backed down after Black Zetsu promised loyalty and urged him to continue the Eye of the Moon plan.
• Black Zetsu warned that Shimizu Soseki's rapid growth made it urgent to launch their plan before he became even stronger.
• Black Zetsu proposed beginning the Fourth Shinobi World War as soon as the Three-Tails revived, and Obito agreed.
• Black Zetsu planned to build a White Zetsu army and use attacks on major shinobi villages to force Yahiko and Nagato into the war.
• Black Zetsu proposed making Nagato frequently use the Six Paths of Pain during the war so they could ambush him and seize the Rinnegan.
• Obito said he would conceal his intangibility and avoid revealing his ability until the ambush.

Soseki visited Star Hidden to fulfill his promise to treat the village’s sick shinobi with Gelel Ore. His arrival delighted the villagers and strengthened his effort to build support for a Shinobi World alliance.

• The Third Hoshikage, Hokushinsei, decided to restart Star training because he believed the village needed strength amid the coming war, while Natsuhoshi warned that it caused illness.
• A Star Hidden jonin announced that Soseki had arrived, and Hokushinsei welcomed him at the council hall while hoping his reputation would deter threats.
• Soseki declined a banquet and said he had come to keep his promise to cure the villagers using Gelel Ore taken from Akatsuki.
• Soseki offered the ore and treatment for free, and Natsuhoshi explained that he had taken the blame for the delay because she had failed to provide the Star Meteorite.
• The villagers praised Soseki, while he counted Star Hidden among the small villages he hoped to bring into his planned Shinobi World alliance.

Soseki examined Hoshigakure shinobi and discovered their illness came from a power in Star Chakra that transformed their bodies. At the shrine, he touched the meteorite, attracting the attention of a monk in another dimension who considered Soseki a potential vessel for his power.

• Soseki sensed a dangerous power within Natsuhoshi and two other Hoshigakure shinobi, finding it was connected to their Star Chakra rather than simply radiation or Ten-Tails fragments.
• Soseki explained that he could stop the illness from worsening but could only partly restore the life force already lost.
• Soseki examined the Star meteorite and found that its Chakra matched the power inside the sick shinobi, but was more complete.
• A monk in an alternate dimension identified Soseki's forehead mark as the Slave Seal and recognized that his physique might withstand the monk's Chakra.
• The monk decided that Soseki could become a perfect vessel for his power.

Jigen learned that Shimizu Soseki was the Shinobi World's strongest, decided to take his body, and prepared to block space-time ninjutsu. Soseki sensed an observer near the Star Meteorite, resolved to have Aizen hide nearby, and returned to treat the Hoshigakure patients.

• Jigen summoned his subordinates and demanded information about the man shown touching the meteorite.
• Jigen's subordinates identified the man as Shimizu Soseki, the God of Shinobi, and said he had no Jinchuriki status or eye-based Kekkei Genkai.
• Jigen decided to capture Soseki's body and planned a three-second space-time sealing barrier to counter Flying Thunder God and block Six Paths' perception.
• Soseki suspected an Otsutsuki was watching him through the Star Meteorite and decided to have Aizen hide nearby for protection.
• Soseki told Natsuhoshi he knew how to treat the patients and returned to the hospital, where the waiting villagers hurried to line up.

Soseki revealed that the Star Meteorite caused Star Village’s illnesses and prevented its people from learning other ninjutsu, then accepted the meteorite after offering to treat them and help protect the village. Jigen waited outside Star Village, restraining himself from attacking as three days passed.

• The Third Hoshikage learned that the Star caused the villagers’ illnesses, and Soseki explained that treatment would require giving up Star Chakra.
• The Third Hoshikage and other villagers declined treatment at first to preserve the village’s strength, but Soseki offered Leaf Village ninjutsu resources and explained that the Star blocked their attempts to learn other techniques.
• Soseki offered to leave the Flying Thunder God Technique formula so he could respond if Star Village faced danger, and the Third Hoshikage offered him the Star Meteorite.
• Soseki accepted the Star Meteorite, and the villagers sighed with relief as he created two Wood Clones to treat them.
• Jigen watched Soseki from outside Star Village and decided to wait rather than risk letting anyone escape and alert the Six Paths brat.
• Three days passed while Jigen continued waiting.

After Jigen ambushed Soseki and struck him deep underground, Soseki used Aizen’s Dream World ability to recover and prepared to counterattack with all Eight Gates open. Jigen believed he had killed Soseki, but a blazing red aura appeared as Soseki’s punch reached him.

• Soseki left Hoshigakure with the meteorite after Third Hoshikage and the villagers thanked him.
• Jigen secretly attacked Soseki after locking down spacetime and disabling the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Jigen’s punch shattered Soseki’s defenses and sent him crashing deep underground, leaving him badly injured.
• Soseki could not contact Aizen through the spatial lockdown, but Aizen entered the Dream World and merged with him to heal his injuries.
• Soseki opened all Eight Gates and resolved to frighten the stronger Jigen with a decisive attack.
• Jigen assumed Soseki was dead and flew down to retrieve him, but a blazing red aura appeared and Soseki punched him.

Soseki nearly killed Jigen with the Eight Gates and Dragon Vein Chakra, but Jigen escaped through a tiny break in the spatial barrier. Soseki fled to Rōran, where Aizen separated from him badly damaged, and Soseki concluded he could sustain the Eight Gates for about ten seconds.

• Soseki unleashed a thousand punches on Jigen, shattering his body while the solidified space prevented him from escaping.
• Jigen shrank his head with Sukuna Hikona, but Soseki pierced the stable space with the Wild Lion's Mane Technique, allowing Jigen to flee.
• Soseki sensed the spatial lockdown had ended and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to escape before Six Paths' will arrived.
• Six Paths' will inspected the abyss, wondered whether Otsutsuki had fought there, and urged his children to grow stronger as the world's future guardians.
• Soseki returned to the Dragon Vein at Rōran, where Aizen separated from him, shattered and reassembled several times before stabilizing.
• Soseki estimated that he could maintain the Eight Gates for around ten seconds in that state by transferring its damage to the Ten-Tails.

After being ambushed, Soseki planned to study the Star Meteorite and prepare Kimimaro, Haku, and the others to counter the enemy’s body-snatching. Jigen returned to his dimension badly injured, concluded that Shimizu Soseki was Six Paths’ reincarnation, and ordered his followers to prepare for a final battle.

• Soseki suspected that Jigen had attacked him to seize his body and that Kara was gathering gifted children as potential vessels.
• Soseki decided to study the Star Meteorite and plant contingencies in Kimimaro, Haku, and the others so they might defeat the Otsutsuki.
• Jigen’s subordinates saw his battered head return through the dimensional gate after his three-day absence.
• Jigen concluded that Shimizu Soseki was Six Paths’ reincarnation, with Six Paths’ power left behind to guard the world.
• Jigen said his body had only fifteen years left and ordered his followers to find him a vessel, increase Scientific Ninja Tool production, and prepare for a final fight.

Four years after the Five Kage Summit, widespread turmoil and food shortages drove refugees toward the Land of Fire as Shisui and Itachi discussed whether drastic change could heal the Shinobi World. After leaving Sasuke, Shisui met the masked Obito, who claimed Shisui was the only one who could save the Uchiha clan.

• Shisui told Itachi that the Shinobi World was sick and that someone would need powerful methods to end the chaos.
• Itachi and Shisui discussed Akatsuki’s proposed revolution, the Shimura Diary, and how Shisui’s love for the world had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Sasuke excitedly told Itachi that he had learned the Great Fireball Technique, but Itachi postponed teaching him more ninjutsu.
• Shisui left the Uchiha grounds and met the masked Obito in a forest.
• Obito told Shisui that the Uchiha were on the edge of a cliff and that Shisui was the only person who could save them.

Obito tried to persuade Shisui that the Uchiha’s crisis and the Shinobi World’s turmoil could only be resolved by destroying Leaf Village and creating a new order. He urged Shisui to use his Genjutsu to control Aizen, leaving Shisui to consider the proposal.

• Obito described how the Uchiha’s internal divisions and Leaf Village’s pressure had pushed the clan toward conflict, citing the Nine-Tails Rebellion and warning that more Mangekyō users could embolden extremists.
• Shisui challenged Obito’s knowledge and identity, and Obito claimed to be Uchiha Madara, explaining that Izanagi had allowed him to return from death.
• Obito explained that the Hokage and Danzo had worsened the Uchiha’s situation by stoking conflict and suppressing the clan, while Shisui lamented the village’s leadership.
• Obito rejected the idea that controlling the Hokage would solve the crisis and proposed destroying Leaf Village to forge a new order for the Shinobi World.
• Obito said Shisui could achieve this by controlling Aizen, whom he described as Akatsuki’s true core and the ally of a powerful man who had opposed Shimizu Soseki.
• Obito justified his plan by citing the Shinobi World’s corrupt rulers and argued that sweeping away the existing order would save the world.

Obito recruited Shisui to help control Aizen, but Shisui remained loyal to Soseki and reported the plan. After Soseki prepared a way to rescue him, Obito encountered Soseki and tried to maintain his Uchiha Madara disguise.

• Obito persuaded Shisui to consider using Kotoamatsukami and the Anti-Illusion Domain on Aizen after Obito weakened him.
• After Obito left, Shisui met Soseki, revealed Obito's plan, and refused to use his ability on Aizen unless Obito could defeat him.
• Soseki warned Shisui that Aizen was formidable and gave him a Flying Thunder God formula and a paper slip to summon help in an emergency.
• Obito left Leaf Village, decided that controlling Aizen could restore his plans for the Akatsuki, and encountered Soseki ahead.
• Obito identified himself as Uchiha Madara, but Soseki asked whether they knew each other.

Obito fled after Soseki’s probing made him fear that his identity had been recognized. Back at the Grass Country base, Black Zetsu warned that exposure could undermine their plans and urged Obito to start the Shinobi World War immediately.

• Soseki deduced that Obito was likely a presumed-dead comrade and questioned him until Obito panicked, blamed Shimura Danzō, and escaped using intangibility.
• Obito returned to the underground base in the Grass Country and worried that Soseki had deliberately let him flee because he had guessed his identity.
• Black Zetsu learned what had happened and feared that Soseki might expose Obito and reveal that Rin was still alive.
• Black Zetsu explained that Obito’s exposure could weaken their plan to provoke war and make Akatsuki reject his proposed solution.
• Black Zetsu urged Obito to launch the Shinobi World War immediately so that events would become irreversible before Soseki could act.

Obito agreed to start the Shinobi World War after Black Zetsu revealed he had already captured the revived Three-Tails, and they planned to target Aizen once the war distracted Akatsuki. A week later, Danzo coordinated Leaf Village’s response to a massive invasion of white monsters, then decided to contact Akatsuki to learn why they were attacking across the Shinobi World.

• Black Zetsu told Obito he had captured the revived Three-Tails, and Obito agreed to begin the war and bring Rin back to life.
• Black Zetsu proposed that he and Obito attack Aizen after the war drew Akatsuki’s attention elsewhere.
• Ryoma informed Danzo that more than fifty thousand white monsters had landed in the Land of Fire, with hundreds of thousands attacking across the Shinobi World.
• Danzo and the Third Hokage learned that the monsters had split into small groups and were ravaging the Land of Fire, making Leaf Village’s response difficult.
• Danzo advised sending well-staffed rescue teams, keeping one-third of Leaf Village’s forces in reserve, and asking the Third Hokage to coordinate with the villagers.
• Danzo told Ryoma to contact Akatsuki’s leader and demand an explanation for the attacks.

The Five Great Shinobi Countries weighed how to respond to Akatsuki’s rampaging Demonic Beasts, while Akatsuki’s leaders debated how to regain control of them and whether to begin the war. Black Zetsu urged them to capture all nine tailed beasts, beginning with the Three-Tails he and Tobi had already captured.

• In Kumogakure, A, Dodai, and Yugito debated whether to gather the Land of Lightning’s people or join the other great countries, and Dodai proposed that the Five Great Shinobi Countries unite for protection.
• In Iwagakure, Kitsuchi questioned whether to approach Leaf Village, but Ōnoki argued that Akatsuki feared Shimizu Soseki’s ability to defeat them if they concentrated their forces.
• At an Illusionary Space meeting, Yahiko questioned Obito and Black Zetsu about the Demonic Beasts’ rampage, and Black Zetsu blamed their loss of control on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path exceeding a critical number of beasts.
• Black Zetsu claimed that tailed beasts might restore the statue’s control and revealed that he and Tobi had captured the resurrected Three-Tails for a test.
• Raiga, Nagato, Aizen, and Kisame discussed the need to prepare for war, while Black Zetsu argued that capturing all nine tailed beasts would restore their army and strengthen the statue enough to challenge Shimizu Soseki.