Chapter Summaries

Rasa learned from Moomu’s letter that Nagato had defeated Hanzo and that the Land of Rain was in turmoil, while Yahiko planned to visit Sunagakure. In the Land of Fire, Kabuto defended Sunagakure’s work with refugees against Jiraiya, who seized on an excuse to challenge him.

• Rasa read Moomu’s report about Nagato’s victory over Hanzo, the unrest in the Land of Rain, and Yahiko’s planned visit to Sunagakure.
• Rasa decided Sunagakure should prepare to welcome Yahiko and the Land of Rain delegation.
• Jiraiya confronted Kabuto about Sunagakure gathering civilians and children in the Land of Fire.
• Kabuto explained that the refugees had come from other countries and mocked Jiraiya over Konoha’s past handling of Orochimaru’s human experiments.
• Jiraiya summoned a toad and used its tongue to wrap up Kabuto, declaring he would test Sunagakure’s new generation.

Rasa prepared Sunagakure to welcome Amegakure, while redirecting the overly proud Jonin Ding Shi to Ebizo’s unpleasant desert-reclamation work. By the chapter’s end, Amegakure had officially arrived for its visit in late May of Konoha’s forty-eighth year.

• Rasa stressed the importance of welcoming Amegakure and building cooperation between the villages.
• Ding Shi argued that Sunagakure should ignore Amegakure, prompting Rasa to praise his confidence and apparent loyalty.
• Rasa assigned Ding Shi to assist Ebizo, who was studying feces and desert reclamation, and Ding Shi eagerly accepted.
• Ebizo explained that Ding Shi was rigid and had treated his subordinates unfairly, but Rasa insisted he had assigned him only for his talents and asked about reclamation research.
• Amegakure officially arrived in Sunagakure at the end of May in Konoha’s forty-eighth year.

Rasa warmly welcomed Yahiko’s Rain Village delegation and quickly formed an alliance with him, offering aid to the impoverished Land of Rain. When Yahiko could not pay for grain, Rasa proposed that Rain Village provide resources instead and presented a prepared aid contract.

• Rasa ordered a ninja to accurately record Rain Village’s visit and led a large welcoming party to greet Yahiko’s delegation.
• Yahiko arrived wary of Sunagakure’s intentions, but Rasa’s warm greeting and tour eased his suspicions.
• Rasa and Yahiko discussed peace and agreed to work together, with Yahiko pledging Rain Village’s support for Sunagakure.
• Sunagakure and Rain Village signed an alliance treaty promising help with Rain’s internal turmoil, jobs, food, and recovery.
• When Yahiko admitted Rain Village could not afford grain, Rasa offered to accept mineral deposits or manpower and showed him a prepared aid contract.

Yahiko toured Sunagakure with Rasa and arranged aid and cooperation to help bring peace to the Land of Rain. Rasa took him to visit someone at the hospital, while Moomu remained in Sunagakure as a hostage and liaison.

• Yahiko admired Sunagakure’s prosperity and reflected on the suffering and unrest in the Land of Rain under Hanzo.
• Rasa showed Yahiko the Astronomical Observatory and explained how seeing the Star God had brought him and Karura together.
• Yahiko thanked Rasa for agreeing to send food and help people from the Land of Rain find work, with a larger water transportation project planned later.
• Rasa learned that Nagato and Konan had left Moomu in Sunagakure as a hostage, and agreed that he could stay to manage cooperation between the villages.
• Rasa led Yahiko to the hospital to visit someone who was resting.

Rasa planned Sunagakure’s projects while considering the village’s uncertain relationship with the Land of Wind’s Daimyo’s Office and Kana’s happiness at learning Nagato was alive. Meanwhile, Kabuto took Jiraiya to a red-light district under the pretense of learning how he gathered writing material, and urged him to drink heavily.

• Rasa watched Yahiko leave Sunagakure with relief supplies and sand ninja who would help Rain Country resume production.
• Rasa considered the Daimyo’s Office’s neglect of Sunagakure, Kana’s wish to help Nagato, and plans for sand stabilization, mining, and construction.
• Jiraiya teased Kabuto for inviting him to the capital’s red-light district, then accepted the offer to teach him how to gather writing material.
• Kabuto flattered Jiraiya and encouraged him to drink as much as possible, while a strange glint appeared in his eyes.

Rasa learned that Kabuto had left the team for the Land of Rain and decided to conceal his letter from Kana while asking Amegakure to watch for him. At the glass factory, Ebizo showed Rasa a battery-powered talking statue, prompting Rasa to plan a toy factory and request one more item whose message was left unrevealed.

• Rasa read Kabuto's letter saying he had temporarily left the team for the Land of Rain, and decided to hide it from Kana.
• Rasa planned to ask Amegakure to keep an eye out for Kabuto and postponed deciding whether to find a new agent in Konoha.
• Ebizo showed Rasa a glass statue that played a recorded line and lit up using batteries.
• Rasa ordered the glass factory to produce statues of the Kage and famous events, then proposed establishing an independent toy factory.
• Rasa asked Ebizo to make one item first, but the chapter ended before he revealed its message.

Rasa welcomed his newborn son Gaara and tried to spend the day with his family, while Yahiko worked to stabilize the Land of Rain and decided the Akatsuki Organization would reject Orochimaru. The chapter ended with Yahiko choosing to protect the organization’s ideals despite Orochimaru’s power.

• Maki teased Yashamaru about Gaara’s red hair and speculated that Kana’s Fuinjutsu might explain it.
• Rasa dismissed the rumors about Gaara’s birth and comforted Karura as she held their newborn son.
• Rasa decided to skip work to stay with Karura and their children, but a report about returning traders and refugees brought Ebizo into the matter.
• Yahiko and Konan discussed why reactionary forces in the Land of Rain still distrusted the Akatsuki Organization.
• Yahiko refused to accept Orochimaru into the Akatsuki Organization and told Konan to send him away to spare Jiraiya’s feelings.

Orochimaru decided he might have to fight Jiraiya’s student in Amegakure, while Jiraiya fled Konoha ninja who had tracked him down over an unpaid brothel bill. The establishment later advertised that even the Hokage’s teacher had visited and approved of it.

• Orochimaru burned a note rejecting him and decided he might attack Jiraiya’s student, the Rinnegan wielder in Amegakure.
• Jiraiya complained that he had been tricked into leaving without paying for a brothel visit and swore to get even.
• Inuzuka Gaku and other Konoha ninja found Jiraiya during an A-rank mission to apprehend him for slandering Konoha ninja and skipping his bill.
• Jiraiya summoned Bunta and escaped before the Konoha ninja could arrest him.
• Inuzuka Gaku and the others pooled money to cover Jiraiya’s bill and planned to seek reimbursement from the Hokage.
• A famous establishment in the Capital of the Land of Fire advertised that the Hokage’s teacher had visited and said it was good.

Rasa arranged for Ebizo to recruit workers from the incoming refugees to support Sunagakure’s projects. Meanwhile, Tobi told Black Zetsu he planned to return to see his teacher and give the teacher’s soon-to-be-born child a grand gift.

• Rasa read Moomu’s report about refugees and mine work in the Land of Rain, and considered allocating more support.
• Ebizo asked Rasa for more workers for his factories and the Grass Grid Sand Stabilization project.
• Rasa told Ebizo to intercept the refugees coming from the Land of Rain, but warned him not to take them all.
• Black Zetsu told Tobi that Akatsuki’s plan had failed after the organization rejected Orochimaru.
• Tobi said he planned to return to see his teacher and give the teacher’s child a grand gift, surprising Black Zetsu with how much he had said.

Kabuto traveled through the deserted Land of Rain in a puppet body, found signs of a recent battle, and learned from a carriage driver that the Rain Ninjas had withdrawn from the area. Elsewhere, Orochimaru recovered from his fight and considered the Rinnegan as he headed toward Amegakure.

• Kabuto examined battle traces and concluded that four powerful fighters, including a giant snake, had recently fought there.
• Kabuto continued toward Sunagakure, thinking of Karura, Temari, and the baby she was expecting, before deciding to hitch a ride.
• Orochimaru recovered from his wounds, reflected on Jiraiya and the young fighters who had defeated him, and headed toward Amegakure while wondering about the Rinnegan.
• Gouyu picked Kabuto up in his carriage and said the Rain Ninjas had rarely appeared nearby since a great battle near Amegakure over a month earlier.
• Gouyu told Kabuto he planned to seek work in the Land of Rain after hearing that workers were being offered food and payment.

Gouyu and Kabuto traveled toward Amegakure, where rumors of widespread hiring led three ninja passengers to discover that Sunagakure was involved. Meanwhile, Rasa approved more funding for the Land of Rain and Ebizo’s research, then prepared to attend Kanna’s performance, where Kaguya had been learning to cook.

• Gouyu worried that he might be too old to find work in Amegakure, while Kabuto questioned him about the village’s hiring plans.
• Kabuto studied the other passengers and suspected they were ninjas, including a possible puppeteer among them.
• The Black-haired sinister youth said the Land of Rain had partnered with Sunagakure, prompting Kabuto and the Red-haired youth to realize the connection.
• Rasa approved funds for the Land of Rain and Ebizo’s research, despite the strain on Sunagakure’s finances.
• Rasa prepared to attend Kanna’s debut performance, where Kaguya had been learning household skills instead of ninja techniques.

Yumekagari and Oborou recruited workers for the Akatsuki Organization in a village near Amegakure, while Kabuto and two disguised ninjas arrived with the elderly Gouyu. Gouyu was accepted, but Kabuto was rejected for being too young, leaving the disguised intruders still trying to get inside.

• Yumekagari urged Oborou to keep recruiting, explaining that each new worker brought the Land of Rain closer to peace.
• Gouyu drove his carriage toward the recruitment village with Kabuto, Sasori, and Snake disguised as passengers.
• Oborou accepted Gouyu after learning that his grandson and granddaughter depended on him for food.
• Oborou questioned Sasori, Snake, and Kabuto, mistook them for three brothers, and turned Kabuto away because he was seven.

Rasa dealt with the fallout after Advisor Ebizo took most of the Land of Rain workers for himself, while Kabuto secretly investigated Sasori and Snake in Amegakure. The chapter ended with Sasori suspecting Sunagakure had discovered his secret.

• Rasa heard that Ebizo had taken nearly all the workers, leaving fewer than thirty for the factories, and promised Jonin Kousa he would reprimand the advisor.
• Jonin Kousa realized Rasa was trying to minimize the matter and ended his complaint.
• Kabuto learned the workers would be sent to Sunagakure the next day and watched the mysterious ninja Sasori and Snake.
• Kabuto sent an ant-shaped puppet toward the village gate to alert the sand ninja, but a wooden bird followed and vanished after pecking the pillar.
• Sasori noticed Kabuto's puppet and wondered whether Sunagakure had already discovered his secret.

Kabuto’s attempt to infiltrate Sunagakure was disrupted when Shikiri found him and brought him to treat an injured Uzumaki. Rasa then learned Orochimaru had appeared near Amegakure again and escaped Nagato’s attack.

• Shikiri found Kabuto and explained that Lady Kana had asked Sunagakure to watch for him.
• Kabuto revealed his Crow Puppet, and Shikiri told him about Sasori’s disappearance and Sunagakure’s suspicions about the Third Kazekage.
• Shikiri took Kabuto to examine an injured member of the Uzumaki Clan, while Sasori watched Kabuto with interest.
• Rasa heard that Orochimaru had returned near Amegakure and escaped after Nagato Uzumaki attacked him.
• A sand ninja suggested coveting Nagato’s eyes, and Rasa dismissed him before going to see Ebizo.

Rasa visited Ebizo’s experimental grounds, where Ebizo showed him grass-grid sand-control plots and another project he hoped to fund. After Rasa stepped in the unfinished, foul-smelling fertilizer, he angrily declared Ebizo’s funding cut off.

• Rasa inspected Ebizo’s grass-grid plots and learned that the straw and reeds had been seized from neighboring lands.
• Ebizo explained that the grids could improve plant survival in the desert, but making them required substantial labor and money.
• Rasa realized Ebizo had summoned him because the experiments had run out of funding and demanded to see the next project before approving more.
• Ebizo revealed that the dark lumps of mud beneath Rasa’s feet were fertilizer that had not finished fermenting.
• Rasa stepped into the foul-smelling fertilizer and told Ebizo to get lost, declaring that he was cutting off all funding.

Kabuto investigated Sasori while Sasori reflected on his unfinished Red Secret Scroll and the Land of Rain. Fei was sent to observe Sunagakure, and Orochimaru fled Nagato’s attack while still coveting the Rinnegan.

• Kabuto examined the remains of his scouting puppets, considered Sasori’s hidden flaws, and decided to notify Kazekage before involving Chiyo.
• Sasori recognized the White Secret Scroll in some powder and recalled that he had come to the Land of Rain to gather materials for his Red Secret Scroll.
• Sasori dismissed the Land of Rain and Sunagakure as boring, but said he had seen an interesting fellow.
• White Zetsu ordered Fei to pay attention to Sunagakure’s cooperation with the Land of Rain, and Fei eagerly agreed to go.
• Orochimaru escaped Nagato’s renewed Rinnegan assault and insisted that his retreat was only temporary, as he still coveted the Rinnegan.

Rasa approved a circuit installation project for Sunagakure and argued with Ebizo over the workers being reassigned from his factories and grass-grid projects. After receiving a secret letter from Kabuto, Rasa promised Ebizo a talented worker who could do the work of more than a hundred people.

• Rasa approved using grass grids to protect the areas where Sunagakure's new electrical circuits would be installed.
• Ebizo complained that Rasa had sent Pakura to take workers from his grass-grid and factory projects, while Rasa said the circuit project served the village.
• Rasa told Ebizo to focus grass-grid installation around the circuit routes rather than trying to cover all of Sunagakure at once.
• Ebizo agreed to handle the circuit installation but discovered that other factory managers had already taken many of his workers, and demanded their return.
• A sand ninja delivered a secret letter from Kabuto, and Rasa promised Ebizo a talented person capable of doing the work of more than a hundred people.

Kabuto confronted Sasori, who revealed he had turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet and tried to recruit Kabuto. Their battle left Kabuto poisoned, and he called for the Kazekage as gold sand surged toward them.

• Sasori and Kabuto discussed the Third Kazekage's death and Sasori's role in the war while Sasori spoke through a distant puppet.
• Kabuto revealed himself after Sasori exposed his Transformation Technique, and Sasori displayed the Third Kazekage as a Human Puppet and invited Kabuto to join him.
• Kabuto summoned the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu and fought Sasori, but the Third Kazekage puppet's Magnet Release gave Sasori the advantage.
• Sasori's poison left Kabuto wounded, and Sasori offered him time to use a final trump card.
• Kabuto shouted for the Kazekage, and Sasori saw waves of gold sand approach.

Rasa and Kabuto discussed Kabuto’s fight with Sasori and the trouble awaiting him over a letter Temari had found. After Sasori emerged from Rasa’s Gold Sand trap without his famed puppet techniques, Rasa faced him as a rogue ninja who had turned the Third Kazekage into a puppet.

• Rasa praised Kabuto’s skill and learned that his injuries from Sasori were treated, then warned him that Kana was angry.
• Rasa told Kabuto that Temari had found his letter about the red-light district, leaving Kabuto stunned.
• Rasa and Kabuto waited as the Gold Sand pyramid held Sasori longer than expected, then watched it crack apart.
• Sasori emerged wounded beside the Third Kazekage Puppet, and Rasa asked why he had not prepared his Red Secret Technique or other famed abilities.
• Sasori sent the Third Kazekage Puppet at Rasa with Iron Sand and challenged him to fight his former teacher.
• Rasa declared Sasori a rogue ninja for murdering the Third Kazekage and desecrating his body, then prepared to take him in.

Rasa subdued Sasori and brought him to Amegakure, where Kana examined Nagato and assessed his chances of recovery. After overseeing reconstruction in the Land of Rain, Rasa decided to begin the North Water South Transfer Project; back in Sunagakure, Temari tried to learn puppetry from Grandma Chiyo’s manual and let Kaguya read it.

• Rasa defeated Sasori, had Kabuto suppress his chakra, and arranged layers of seals and restraints to prevent his escape.
• Kana examined Nagato and found severe damage to his legs, while Yahiko tearfully promised to keep him from overusing his chakra.
• Rasa gave Kana Red Medicine and inspected the reconstruction work in the Land of Rain with Yahiko.
• Rasa decided to launch the North Water South Transfer Project and told the people of Amegakure that Sunagakure and the Land of Rain would always be good friends.
• Temari complained about her homework and picked up Grandma Chiyo’s manual on becoming a puppeteer.
• Kaguya asked to see the manual, and Temari gladly handed it to her.