Chapter Summaries

After Soseki became leader of the Shinobi Alliance, he organized the villages to prepare for Akatsuki’s war and assigned them to build a vast defensive barrier. He claimed he could handle Madara, Hashirama, and Nagato himself, leaving the alliance stunned by his confidence.

• Leaf Village residents and clan members celebrated Soseki’s rise, while relocated villagers from other lands felt relief after hearing how Iwagakure had been destroyed.
• At the alliance meeting, Ōnoki warned the village representatives that Akatsuki had revived powerful shinobi, including Madara, Hashirama, and several former village legends.
• Soseki asked the village leaders to reassure their relocated people and combine their barrier squads and lower-ranked shinobi to build a defensive barrier around the villages.
• Soseki explained that ordinary shinobi would support the barrier while the Kage and leaders fought Akatsuki’s strongest forces.
• Soseki said he would face Madara, Hashirama, and Nagato himself, then revealed that he had not gone all out against Madara the previous night.

Akatsuki prepared for the coming war, debating how to overcome the Ninja Alliance’s barrier and capture the Jinchuriki. Nagato agreed to let the others join the battle, while Aizen offered to use Genjutsu to disable the barrier; Madara secretly planned to control Obito and seize the Jinchuriki.

• Yahiko told Akatsuki that the Ninja Alliance had formed, and Nagato warned that he doubted even Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara could stop Shimizu Soseki at full strength.
• Raiga insisted that Akatsuki’s members join the battle and be summoned back if the situation became hopeless, and Nagato accepted.
• Yahiko learned that Tobirama Senju’s Flying Thunder God formulae had been erased and that Aizen’s Leaf spy could not destroy the barrier.
• Aizen proposed infiltrating the barrier with Genjutsu and temporarily disabling it, and Yahiko entrusted him with helping capture the Jinchuriki.
• Hashirama and Tobirama discussed the alliance, while Madara privately considered using his Black Rods to control Obito and seize the Jinchuriki.

As the Alliance prepared for war, Soseki tried to keep Kushina and Naruto off the battlefield because the Akatsuki targeted jinchuriki. Jiraiya arrived at Minato’s home to ask Soseki about the Akatsuki’s leader, Yahiko.

• The Alliance trained and organized defenses as the Akatsuki threat loomed.
• Kushina argued with Soseki that she should fight, while Kurama said he wanted to seal Hashirama Senju; Kushina also refused Naruto’s request to join the battle.
• Jiraiya and Minato arrived at Kushina’s home, where Naruto mocked Jiraiya over his reputation as an erotic novelist.
• Jiraiya asked Soseki whether Yahiko was the leader of the Akatsuki.

Soseki helped Jiraiya understand that Nagato and the others still cared about their former teacher despite their extreme methods. Kushina asked Soseki to take Naruto as a disciple, and he agreed to do so after Naruto graduated.

• Jiraiya blamed himself for failing to guide Yahiko, Nagato, and their companions, but Soseki said they still pursued change and had hidden their identities to avoid disappointing people they cared about.
• Soseki suggested that Nagato and the others might have concealed their identities because they respected Jiraiya, leaving Jiraiya to reconsider their relationship.
• Kushina praised Naruto and asked Soseki to take him as a disciple, and Soseki agreed to teach him after he graduated from the academy.
• Naruto resolved to study hard and hoped Sasuke could become Soseki's disciple alongside him.
• Jiraiya declared that he would fulfill his duty as a teacher and pull his former students back from the wrong path.

Soseki stopped three meteorites from destroying the Alliance, while Madara and Nagato prepared an armored True Several Thousand Hands Susanoo to attack the Leaf Village. Soseki rallied the assembled Alliance army and led it out as the war began.

• Soseki flew into the sky and kicked all three meteorites away, saving the Alliance and winning its cheers.
• Madara admitted his meteorite attack had failed to weaken the Alliance’s morale and told Nagato to control Hashirama and use the True Several Thousand Hands.
• Nagato suppressed Hashirama’s consciousness, and Madara covered the giant Buddha statue with Susanoo armor, creating the Armored True Several Thousand Hands Susanoo.
• Soseki returned to the Leaf Village, told Minato and the others that the war had begun, and joined the assembled army.
• Soseki declared that the Alliance’s only outcome would be victory, then ordered the army to move out.

Nagato’s army broke through the barrier around Takigakure, but Shimizu Soseki emerged to stop them and faced Madara’s fused assault. Soseki unleashed Sage Mode and the Eight Gates, tore through Madara’s blade storm, and overwhelmed him with a rapid barrage of blows.

• Nagato led the Impure World Reincarnation army’s assault until their attacks shattered the barrier around Takigakure.
• Nagato sent his forces through the breach, but the barrier rapidly began to close, revealing a trap.
• Soseki teleported out and struck the Buddha statue, halting its attack as Madara recognized him.
• Madara unleashed a thousand-blade storm at Soseki, who activated Sage Mode and the Eight Gates and ripped through the attack.
• Soseki charged into the Buddha statue, knocked Madara flying, and kicked him repeatedly before catching him in his hand.

Shimizu Soseki defeated Uchiha Madara, but Nagato used Madara’s Limbo: Border Jail to rescue him and challenge Soseki. Madara expected Soseki’s Sage Mode and Eight Gates to run out, while Soseki knew he could sustain them for a long time.

• Soseki asked Kurama to seal Madara, but an invisible force suddenly attacked Soseki and forced him to release Madara.
• Soseki attacked Nagato and discovered that Limbo: Border Jail let unseen shadows defend, attack, and switch places with Nagato.
• Madara explained Nagato’s Limbo ability and revealed that taijutsu could not harm its shadows.
• Madara and Nagato resumed the fight, planning to endure Soseki’s Sage Mode and Eight Gates until his outburst ended.
• Soseki realized his Sage Mode and Eight Gates could last for days without exhausting him.

Inside Nagato’s barrier, the reanimated fighters recognized Soseki’s trap while Minato and Kakashi spoke with their fathers about their pasts. Outside, Soseki challenged Nagato over the people he had hurt, and Nagato began to waver before Madara used the Rinnegan’s influence to try to control him.

• The Third Raikage and A praised Soseki’s plan to separate the reanimated fighters, while Tobirama met Minato and learned that Danzo had framed him with Akatsuki’s help.
• Minato told Tobirama that Hiruzen had failed to stop Danzo and that Homura and Koharu had supported Danzo’s bid for Hokage.
• Kakashi told White Fang that Soseki had helped him understand his father’s suicide, then revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Soseki told Nagato that he had already lost by betraying the people who cared for him, and Jiraiya urged Nagato to live for himself rather than for his teacher’s ideals.
• Madara sensed Nagato wavering and began using the Rinnegan’s power to influence his will.

Nagato used Limbo shadows to attack Soseki and trap him with Chibaku Tensei, while Madara attacked Obito. Soseki escaped with his newly developed Light Release, kicked Madara across the battlefield, and revealed the technique to Nagato.

• Nagato rejected Jiraiya’s plea and blasted him away with Shinra Tensei.
• Soseki tracked Nagato through the Limbo shadows using ice crystals marked with Flying Thunder God formulas, but Nagato cleared them and trapped him with Chibaku Tensei.
• Obito tried to use Kamui to rescue Soseki, but Madara grabbed him and demanded the life he owed.
• Soseki escaped the forming meteor by transforming into light, then kicked Madara so hard that he was blasted across the battlefield.
• Soseki told Nagato that his new Kekkei Tōta was called Light Release.

Soseki revealed Light Release and overwhelmed Nagato, who resorted to merging with his shadows and awakening an incomplete Ten-Tails through the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The battlefield descended into catastrophic storms and destruction, but Soseki remained calm as the chapter ended.

• The Third Mizukage teased Ōnoki about Dust Release, and Ōnoki argued that Soseki himself made Light Release so powerful.
• Soseki used his speed to strike Nagato, then transformed into a giant of light and destroyed Hashirama's wooden constructs.
• Soseki split into tens of thousands of light humanoids and battered Nagato, while Konan urged him to surrender.
• Nagato merged the four shadows into his body and had the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path swallow him.
• Nagato used his Rinnegan to awaken an incomplete Ten-Tails, which unleashed storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, and magma across the battlefield.

Soseki sealed the Ten-Tails after Nagato regained control and negotiated for the Akatsuki members’ safety, but Uchiha Madara then took control of Nagato and restarted the war. The barrier opened, and Impure World Reincarnation fighters and a White Zetsu army appeared.

• Soseki redirected the Ten-Tails’ Tailed Beast Bombs back at it, and the blast temporarily suppressed its beastly consciousness so Nagato could regain control.
• Nagato offered to let Soseki seal the Ten-Tails in exchange for sparing the other Akatsuki members, and Soseki agreed while insisting Yahiko could not simply leave.
• Soseki used the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style to separate the Ten-Tails from Nagato and seal it into a scroll.
• The barrier suddenly opened, and Nagato cried out as Uchiha Madara took control of his body and declared that the war was beginning again.
• The Impure World Reincarnation fighters resumed moving, and a White Zetsu army appeared on the hillsides and in the forests.

As the Alliance struggled to hold off the approaching White Zetsu and Impure World Reincarnation forces, Soseki battled Madara, who used Tobirama to obtain Sharingan and keep Nagato fighting. Meanwhile, Madara’s planted Black Rods incapacitated Obito, and Han and Killer B resisted being kept in hiding.

• An army of White Zetsu advanced on the Alliance as its barrier failed across the entire front, leaving its undermanned forces scrambling to defend the expanded territory.
• Soseki used Yasakani no Magatama to wipe out enemies near the barrier, then confronted Madara controlling Nagato in the sky.
• Tobirama delivered five three-tomoe Sharingan from the Uchiha shrine to Nagato, allowing Madara to use Izanagi and force Nagato to keep fighting Soseki.
• Several enemies broke through the barrier and searched for the Jinchuriki while Black Rods emerged from Obito’s body, and Black Zetsu put him to sleep before he could warn anyone.
• Han and Killer B objected to hiding in a civilian house but promised to kill themselves rather than let the Akatsuki capture them.

Madara used Obito to capture Killer B and Han while Tobirama helped Nagato escape Soseki’s attack. Soseki tracked them to a cave and cornered Madara, who realized Soseki could have found the Akatsuki long ago and demanded to know why he had not.

• Madara, controlling Obito, tricked the Barrier Team with a false confession and used his Mangekyo to pull Killer B and Han into his space before Tobirama teleported him away.
• Soseki overwhelmed Nagato with attacks, but Tobirama grabbed Nagato and escaped with him as his Impure World Reincarnation body regenerated.
• Soseki sensed that Obito’s Flying Thunder God mark had been erased, then expanded his senses and found Madara and Nagato near the Land of Lightning’s border.
• Soseki arrived at the cave and sealed Tobirama before Madara could use him to escape.
• Madara accepted that he had lost, then inferred that Soseki’s sensing range covered nearly half the Shinobi World and asked why he had not uprooted the Akatsuki earlier.

Soseki confronted Madara over his plan to trap the world in a dream and argued that living forever would prevent future wars. After catching Black Zetsu’s attempted attack, he revealed that Black Zetsu had manipulated both Madara and Obito, then challenged Madara’s claim that Black Zetsu was his manifestation of will.

• Madara defended the Eye of the Moon plan, while Soseki called it an escape from reality and proposed living forever instead.
• Black Zetsu, hidden inside Obito, decided to attack Soseki because he feared losing his last chance to save his mother.
• Soseki turned and caught Black Zetsu’s wrist, revealing that he had known Black Zetsu was alive.
• Soseki told Madara that Black Zetsu had controlled him just as he had controlled Obito.
• Soseki pointed out that he had encountered Black Zetsu at Hozuki Castle two years before Madara supposedly created him, leaving Madara questioning Black Zetsu’s origin.

Shimizu Soseki exposed Black Zetsu’s manipulation of Madara and recruited Madara to help prepare for unknown threats. Madara agreed to become a World BOSS in the Dream World, though he objected when Soseki described the arrangement as receiving guests.

• Madara demanded to know when Black Zetsu began controlling his life, and Black Zetsu claimed he had manipulated Madara since birth.
• Black Zetsu started explaining why he had pursued the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but Soseki sealed him away before he could finish.
• Soseki asked Madara to help fulfill his dream of establishing peace and warned him of unknown threats.
• Madara agreed to help Soseki, insisting he was acting to repay Izuna rather than become Soseki’s subordinate.
• Soseki proposed sealing Madara in the Dream World as a World BOSS, and Madara agreed to fight challengers once a day before realizing Soseki called them guests.

The alliance learned that the revived fighters were free, but Uchiha Madara’s Demonic Beasts continued attacking, leaving the exhausted defenders struggling to protect civilians. Jiraiya proposed using the toads to spread a powerful sound-wave Genjutsu, and the story left the alliance preparing to hold the line while he set it up.

• The Impure World Reincarnation army stopped fighting after Nagato regained control, but the Demonic Beasts continued their assault under Uchiha Madara’s influence.
• The alliance and revived fighters defended the barrier as Demonic Beasts broke through, and Kushina distributed Kurama’s Chakra to replenish the fighters.
• Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and explained that he would use the toads to transmit a powerful sound-wave Genjutsu across the battlefield.
• Jiraiya asked the alliance to escort and protect at least three hundred toads while the Genjutsu was prepared.
• Ninja and samurai emerged from the barrier to reinforce the defense, and the jonin agreed to fight alongside them.

The Allied Shinobi Forces defeated the White Zetsu army, but Aizen revealed himself and used Genjutsu to turn the battle against them. He left the shinobi facing six hundred thousand enemies against only two thousand jonin.

• Tsunade borrowed Chakra from Kushina and summoned Katsuyu, who split into tiny slugs to heal the wounded.
• Jiraiya and the two Great Sage Toads used Sage Art: Mystical Frog Chorus to incapacitate the White Zetsu army, prompting the Allied Shinobi Forces to celebrate.
• The shinobi spotted Aizen atop the wooden giant, and Mifune recognized him while Aizen said he wanted to exchange hostages and rescue Yahiko and Nagato.
• Aizen snapped his fingers, reviving and controlling the five hundred thousand Demonic Beasts that the shinobi had defeated.
• After the jonin urged the others not to fear, Aizen snapped his fingers again and made the hundred thousand genin and chunin switch sides.

Aizen overwhelmed the Allied forces with Genjutsu and swordsmanship as the Kage struggled to contain him and the controlled army. With the defensive line shrinking, Fugaku planned to use Shisui’s Anti-Illusion Domain near Aizen, and Itachi volunteered to join the attack.

• A warned the fighters not to fear Aizen’s Genjutsu, but Mifune cautioned them that Aizen was also a formidable swordsman.
• Aizen struck A with a sword and sent him flying, while A warned everyone not to meet his attacks head-on.
• Aizen trapped Ōnoki with Genjutsu and nearly killed him, but Mu rescued him and lost an arm in the process.
• Aizen identified the threat of Magnet Release, and Ōnoki warned the others not to look directly into Aizen’s eyes.
• Minato marked the Kage with Flying Thunder God, while more than a dozen Kage attacked Aizen and the others defended against the advancing army.
• As the controlled forces compressed the defensive line, Fugaku asked Shisui to approach Aizen and activate his Anti-Illusion Domain, and Itachi volunteered to go with them.

Fugaku, Itachi, Shisui, and the other Kage coordinated an attack to break Aizen’s Genjutsu, but Aizen revealed that their senses were still being deceived. The chapter ends with the hundred thousand onlookers realizing that the allied leaders had been slaughtering one another under the illusion that they were fighting Aizen.

• Fugaku agreed to send Itachi and Shisui forward, then used Inoichi’s Mind Body Transmission Technique to coordinate with the Kage.
• A charged at Aizen, and Itachi used his Mangekyo to restrain Aizen long enough for Shisui to activate the Anti-Illusion Domain.
• The allied forces attacked the apparent Aizen, but the Third Raikage was found charred in the crater while Aizen stood unharmed nearby.
• Ōnoki fired Dust Release at Minato, but the attack struck Mui instead, confirming that Aizen’s Genjutsu had deceived their senses.
• Aizen challenged the allies’ belief in what they saw, while the hundred thousand onlookers watched the leaders kill one another and cried that they had gone mad.

Soseki broke Aizen’s Genjutsu and knocked out the White Zetsu army, ending the immediate threat on the battlefield. Aizen vanished, leaving Soseki and the others to suspect that he had come to target Soseki and that a greater conflict still lay ahead.

• The shinobi questioned whether their battle and even Soseki were illusions, until Soseki appeared and confronted Aizen.
• Soseki unleashed his soul-infused presence, dispelling the Genjutsu and revealing that the shinobi had been fighting one another and the Impure World Reincarnation warriors.
• Soseki’s power knocked all five hundred thousand White Zetsu soldiers unconscious, leaving Aizen without hostages.
• Aizen said their final meeting would come later and vanished without any spatial fluctuation, alarming the shinobi.
• Soseki assured everyone that the Genjutsu had ended, and the shinobi celebrated while suspecting Aizen’s visit had been aimed at Soseki.