Chapter Summaries

Aozora trained Shisui and investigated ways to strengthen his body while Konoha considered how to prove the Akatsuki Organization had captured Han. He arranged to frame the Akatsuki Organization and headed to the Land of Grass after learning Roshi and the Art Duo were there.

• Aozora taught Shisui to use Nature Energy with Susanoo and study the Human Path's abilities, while Shisui began researching the mind and soul.
• Aozora found that Shennong's Body Activation Technique consumed vitality, so he ordered the Sleeping Dragon Team to intensify its search for the Four-Tails.
• Tekka reported that Han had likely been captured by the Akatsuki Organization, but Aozora said there was no way to prove it and proposed creating evidence instead.
• Aozora and Fugaku agreed on the plan and arranged payment through materials for a Barrier.
• After learning Roshi and the Akatsuki Organization's Art Duo were in the Land of Grass, Aozora informed Kisame and flew there on the Golden Winged Great Peng Bird.

Roshi was ambushed by Deidara and Sasori while fishing in the Land of Grass, and the battle turned against him as he activated his Lava Release Chakra Mode. Genga went to help Roshi while Ryuhei returned to report, and Aozora and Kisame emerged nearby to join the fight.

• Roshi evaded a barrage of kunai and recognized Deidara as a defector from Iwagakure before confronting him and Sasori.
• Deidara and Sasori countered Roshi's Lava Release with explosives and water, leaving him battered.
• Roshi activated Lava Release Chakra Mode, prompting Sasori to summon the Third Kazekage puppet and Deidara to prepare for a tougher fight.
• Ryuhei sensed that Roshi was outmatched, so Genga killed their captive and went to help Roshi while Ryuhei returned to Iwagakure with the report.
• Aozora and Kisame emerged from concealment, and Aozora assigned Kisame to fight Sasori while he took Deidara.

Roshi fought Sasori and Deidara in the Land of Grass but was poisoned and forced to retreat. Genga stayed behind to hold off the Art Duo, and as he hid intelligence about them, a refined-iron chain shot toward him through the smoke.

• Sasori and Deidara coordinated their attacks to trap Roshi, and Sasori’s poisoned Iron Sand spears wounded him when he broke free.
• Genga arrived and urged Roshi to leave, then used Earth Release and Explosive Tags to damage Sasori’s Third Kazekage puppet and Hiruko.
• Sasori ordered Deidara to pursue Roshi and declared that he would deal with Genga himself.
• Genga wrote information about Sasori and Deidara on a scroll and buried it underground in case Roshi failed to escape.
• A refined-iron chain pierced through the smoke and shot toward Genga.

Aozora defeated Deidara with a genjutsu and killed him, then revealed he could see Deidara’s spirit. As Deidara tried to depart for the Pure Land, Aozora summoned Yama and swallowed him.

• Deidara attacked Aozora with clay birds, but Aozora destroyed them with Sword Light Diversion.
• Deidara believed he had trapped Aozora in an explosion, only to discover he had been caught in Aozora’s genjutsu and had been blown apart himself.
• Aozora explained that Deidara had fallen into his illusion when he first saw Aozora’s eyes, and Deidara died from his injuries.
• Deidara’s spirit emerged from his corpse and realized that Aozora could see him.
• Aozora showed Deidara his Tomoe Rinnegan and Yama, then swallowed Deidara’s spirit.

Aozora watched Kisame defeat Sasori, then helped disguise the battlefield before sending Kisame and Roshi back to Lingxiao Palace. He headed alone to Kusagakure to recruit Karin, an Uzumaki talent trapped there.

• Sasori exhausted his puppets and poison trying to reach Kisame, but Kisame sensed and destroyed Sasori's hidden heart.
• Kisame dispelled the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave, and Aozora sealed Sasori's heart fragments and drew his soul into Yama's stomach.
• Aozora and Kisame altered the battlefield to make it look like Roshi and Genga had fought there.
• Aozora sent Kisame to escort Roshi back to Lingxiao Palace and went alone to Kusagakure.
• Aozora decided to rescue Karin and recruit her as an intern for the Heavenly Court.

Aozora infiltrated Kusagakure and found Karin and her mother being exploited for their healing abilities. He rescued them, used six Grass Ninja to restore Karin’s mother’s life force, and left the village with both of them.

• Aozora investigated Kusagakure and tracked two powerful Chakra sources to a dilapidated house.
• He found Karin’s mother injured from being used as free medicine by Grass Ninja and revealed that he was a Konoha Ninja.
• Karin’s mother asked Aozora to take Karin to safety, but he promised to rescue them both and said he could save her mother.
• Aozora used genjutsu to control Grass Ninja and made six of them transfer their life force to Karin’s mother.
• After Karin’s mother recovered enough to walk, Aozora quietly left Kusagakure with her and Karin.

Aozora brought Karin and her mother back toward Konoha and arranged for them to receive support, while Iwagakure discovered that the Akatsuki had attacked Roshi. In Konoha, Aozora reported the Akatsuki’s actions and Karin’s Uzumaki heritage, and Fugaku agreed to place her in Naruto and Sasuke’s class.

• Aozora reassured Karin’s mother that Konoha would provide them with a home and allowance, and planned for Karin to attend the Ninja Academy after recovering.
• Kitsuchi’s team found evidence that Roshi and Genga had died, and Genga’s scroll identified Deidara and the Akatsuki as their enemies.
• Kitsuchi ordered the stone ninja to investigate nearby Bounty Brokerages for information about the Akatsuki Organization.
• Aozora told Fugaku that Sasori and Deidara had tried to capture Roshi and urged him to send secret letters to the Kazekage and Tsuchikage.
• Aozora reported rescuing Karin and her mother, and said Karin might have the talent to become a Jinchūriki.
• Fugaku approved Aozora’s plan for Karin to join Naruto and Sasuke’s class at the Ninja Academy.

Karin joined Naruto’s class, while Aozora watched their first meeting before joining Fugaku’s mission to negotiate a joint assault on the Akatsuki Organization. The three Kage agreed to contribute elite forces, with Iwagakure insisting on recovering the Four-Tails and Five-Tails.

• Iruka introduced Uzumaki Karin to Class 3-A, and Naruto and Sasuke reacted to her shared surname.
• Aozora watched Karin meet Naruto, then answered Fugaku’s summons to the Hokage’s Office.
• Fugaku appointed Aozora, Shisui, and Kakashi as Guards for the secret talks with Ōnoki and Rasa.
• Fugaku, Ōnoki, and Rasa met in a cave and agreed to personally join the assault on the Akatsuki Organization with elite forces.
• Ōnoki demanded the recovery of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, and Fugaku and Rasa accepted the arrangement for dividing the spoils.

Fugaku, Aozora, Ōnoki, and Rasa agreed to launch a direct assault on Amegakure rather than risk reconnaissance exposing their plans. In Amegakure, Pain and Zetsu discussed the growing threat from the villages and ordered a search for Sasori and Deidara, while preparing to capture more Jinchūriki.

• Aozora argued that the Sage's Eye could detect reconnaissance teams, and Fugaku proposed canceling the assault if a team were discovered.
• Ōnoki pushed for an immediate assault to rescue Han and Roshi, and Rasa agreed; the three villages began gathering manpower.
• Konan told Pain that Sasori and Deidara had vanished and worried that the Akatsuki Organization had drawn the major villages' attention.
• Zetsu reported that Iwagakure and Sunagakure had appeared in the Land of Grass, while Pain and Zetsu judged that the villages would not unite quickly enough to stop them.
• Pain agreed to recall Kakuzu and Hidan, ordered Zetsu to find Sasori and Deidara, and said he would send them after the One-Tail Jinchūriki if they had failed to capture the Four-Tails.

Pain considered Zetsu’s recommendation to recruit another Konoha rogue ninja, while Jiraiya joined the Three Kage’s assault on the Akatsuki Organization in Amegakure. As the attack began, Aozora secretly revived Sasori and Deidara with Impure World Reincarnation and placed them under his control.

• Zetsu recommended a Konoha rogue ninja to Pain, but Pain told him to observe the candidate longer and find Sasori and Deidara first.
• Jiraiya followed a group of elite ANBU, met Aozora, and agreed to join the operation against the Akatsuki Organization after learning its leader possessed the Rinnegan.
• Fugaku, Ōnoki, and Rasa led nearly two hundred elite ninja into the Land of Rain and divided their forces to encircle Amegakure.
• Fugaku led Konoha’s forces into Amegakure through underground waterways while Aozora stayed behind.
• Aozora used Impure World Reincarnation to revive Sasori and Deidara, then put control Kunai in their heads and ordered them to obey.

Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure launched a surprise attack on Amegakure, prompting Pain to deploy the Akatsuki Organization and defend the village. Konoha’s forces advanced under Fugaku’s command, where Itachi took to the air to fight Konan.

• Iwagakure ninja led by Ōnoki erupted from underground and attacked Amegakure, while Konoha and Sunagakure forces began assaults from other directions.
• Pain sensed the invasion, appointed Hiruko to the Akatsuki Organization, and assigned Konan, Kakuzu, Hidan, Zetsu, Hiruko, and himself to defend against the three fronts.
• Pain deployed the Six Paths of Pain to quickly repel the attackers, and Konoha’s ANBU cut through Rain Ninja under Shisui’s lead.
• Konan appeared above Konoha’s advancing forces to gather intelligence, and Fugaku ordered Itachi to confront her.
• Itachi burned Konan’s paper airplanes with golden flames, then used Blue Lights to pursue her into the sky.

As Konoha’s forces fought the Six Paths of Pain across Amegakure, Fugaku assigned specialists to counter several Paths while Aozora volunteered to confront the Deva Path. Nagato realized Konoha knew Pain’s abilities and had separated the puppets, but wondered whether they knew the Animal Path could summon the others.

• Sasori chose the northwest battlefield, and he and Deidara split up at a crossroads.
• Jiraiya recognized Konan fighting Itachi, then watched Itachi survive an attack by the Animal Path’s summoned rhinoceros and drive three Paths of Pain from a tower.
• Fugaku explained the Six Paths’ abilities and assigned Jiraiya to the Animal Path, Might Guy to the Preta Path, and Kakashi to the Asura Path.
• Iroha detected two more Paths nearby, so Fugaku sent Shisui after the one at eight o’clock while Aozora volunteered to face the Deva Path.
• Nagato realized Konoha was isolating the Paths of Pain and wondered whether its forces knew the Animal Path could summon them.

Kitsuchi and the Iwagakure forces overwhelmed Hidan and Kakuzu, sealing Hidan beneath a pile of rocks while Ōnoki’s troops cornered Kakuzu. Kakuzu retreated underground, but noticed tiny white creatures approaching the Iwagakure forces.

• Hidan survived a fatal wound and Kitsuchi crushed half his body with a powerful punch.
• Kitsuchi ordered the stone ninja to bury Hidan, then sealed him beneath a mountain of rocks.
• Ōnoki and dozens of stone ninja attacked Kakuzu with Earth Release techniques, forcing him to use his masked monsters to fight back.
• The stone ninja regrouped and surrounded Kakuzu’s monsters, while Kitsuchi arrived with reinforcements.
• Kakuzu decided to retreat, merged into the earth, and saw small spiders and centipedes crawling toward Iwagakure’s forces.

Sasori and Deidara joined the battles against Sunagakure and Iwagakure, while Deidara ultimately unleashed a massive self-destruction in Amegakure. The explosion spread across the village, consuming everything in its path.

• Rasa and Chiyo struggled to overcome Hiruko and Zetsu as Sunagakure's forces fled the giant flying Summoning Beast.
• Sasori arrived, attacked Zetsu with puppets, and drew a shocked reaction from Chiyo.
• Deidara bombed the Iwagakure forces, but Ōnoki destroyed his Clay Clone with Dust Release.
• Aozora taunted Deidara, who revealed the mouth sealed in his chest and fed it his Explosive Clay.
• Deidara detonated himself, unleashing a blinding explosion that spread through Amegakure and reduced everything it touched to dust.

Deidara’s self-destruction unleashed a vast blast across Amegakure, forcing fighters on several battlefields to flee or raise defenses. The Preta Path absorbed the chakra in the advancing shockwave, but nearly half the village was destroyed.

• Might Guy defeated the Preta Path with Morning Peacock, then headed toward the explosion after seeing the light in the distance.
• Jiraiya restrained the Animal Path and questioned him, but the Animal Path escaped on a flying bird and flew toward the blast; Jiraiya followed.
• Hiruko fled the northeastern battlefield and Zetsu sank underground, while Chiyo raised a Gold Dust Barrier to protect the Sunagakure forces from the blast.
• Ōnoki, Akatsuchi, and Kitsuchi formed Rock Golems and an earthen dome to shield the Iwagakure ninja, but the white light destroyed those outside and began cutting through the dome.
• The Animal Path summoned the Preta Path and sent him to absorb the shockwave, which dissipated after losing its chakra, though nearly half of Amegakure had already been destroyed.

Aozora ended Deidara’s Impure World Reincarnation and retrieved Sasori’s soul as the allied forces surveyed the devastation in Rain Village. Ōnoki and Rasa held back their remaining troops, while Fugaku gathered Konoha’s strongest fighters to face the Akatsuki Organization.

• Aozora explained Deidara’s reanimated body, then extracted his soul and sent it to Yama’s stomach before going to retrieve Sasori’s soul.
• Ōnoki learned that only twenty-one of his sixty-two stone ninja had survived, ordered Kitsuchi to lead them away from the next battle, and continued toward Rain Village’s central structure with Akatsuchi.
• Rasa and Chiyo found that few Sunagakure ninja remained; Chiyo warned that their losses could endanger the village, and Rasa ordered his troops to rest rather than advance.
• Fugaku assessed the devastation with Iroha, then regrouped with Might Guy, Itachi, Shisui, Aozora, and Kakashi after their opponents disappeared.
• Aozora warned that the coming battles against Rain Village’s leader and the Akatsuki Organization were too dangerous for ordinary Jonin, so Fugaku assigned Kage-level fighters and elite Jōnin to advance and left Tekka in command of the others.

Nagato prepared to confront the allied forces attacking Amegakure, confident in the power he had gained from Hashirama’s cells and the Rinnegan. He explained his plan to Jiraiya: create a weapon from the tailed beasts to inflict equal pain on every nation and deter future wars, as reinforcements approached.

• Konan and Zetsu reported that the Three Great Ninja Villages had broken through Amegakure’s defenses and that Deidara, Sasori, Dan, Kakuzu, and Hiruko could not be relied upon.
• Nagato refused to retreat, recalled the Pains into the tower, and declared that he would make the attackers feel pain.
• Jiraiya reached the tower with Fukasaku and Shima and tried to persuade Nagato to abandon his path.
• Nagato invited Jiraiya to join the Akatsuki Organization, but Jiraiya condemned its actions and challenged its claim to seek peace.
• Nagato revealed that he planned to gather all the tailed beasts and create a weapon capable of destroying a great nation, believing equal pain would deter war.
• Nagato ended the conversation as allied ninja approached.

Nagato confronted the gathered Konoha and Iwagakure shinobi, revealing immense power by absorbing Ōnoki’s Dust Release. As Nagato began forming a black sphere in the sky, Aozora and the others tried to stop him, but Nagato unleashed an enhanced Shinra Tensei.

• Konoha and Iwagakure shinobi arrived in Amegakure and faced Nagato, while Aozora recognized that Nagato was far more powerful than before.
• Ōnoki attacked Nagato with Dust Release, but Nagato absorbed the technique with his left hand.
• Aozora warned the assembled shinobi that Nagato likely possessed all the Six Paths of Pain’s abilities and urged them to test his limits.
• Nagato and his companions rose into the air as Nagato formed a black sphere, and Aozora, Itachi, Shisui, Ōnoki, and Akatsuchi moved to stop him.
• Nagato aimed his hand at the approaching shinobi and unleashed an enhanced Shinra Tensei.

Nagato used Shinra Tensei to devastate Amegakure, but Aozora, Shisui, and Itachi shielded the shinobi with their Susanoo. As the survivors began to feel another Rinnegan ability pull them skyward, Itachi noticed a massive sphere overhead.

• Nagato unleashed Shinra Tensei, stopping the Flying Dagger and scattering Ōnoki's Dust Release beam.
• Ōnoki and Akatsuchi formed a Rock Golem while Jiraiya raised earthen walls to protect the Konoha shinobi.
• Aozora, Shisui, and Itachi summoned their Susanoo and braced against the repulsive force, which crushed Amegakure's towers and drove them into the ground.
• The Shinra Tensei ended, leaving Amegakure's center in ruins and the three battered Susanoo standing amid the destruction.
• Nagato's pulling force made the shinobi lose their footing, and Itachi spotted an enormous rock-covered sphere overhead.

Nagato’s Planetary Devastation began pulling the Konoha and Iwa shinobi into the sky, but Aozora summoned extraordinarily dense boulders that formed stable hills and gave them shelter. Nagato intensified the technique, yet Aozora and Ōnoki reinforced the hills, leaving Nagato’s attack unable to lift them as Amegakure began to suffer damage.

• Fugaku explained that Nagato’s gravitational technique could only be stopped by destroying its black sphere as soon as it was cast, while the shinobi struggled to stay grounded.
• Aozora summoned massive, unusually dense boulders that fell through the gravitational pull and formed small hills, allowing the shinobi to escape onto stable ground.
• Jiraiya and the sages helped rescue the remaining shinobi, while Ōnoki recognized the hills’ powerful Earth Release and Yang Release properties.
• Black Zetsu reacted with shock when Nagato’s Planetary Devastation failed to seal the shinobi.
• Nagato intensified Planetary Devastation, but Aozora enlisted Ōnoki to use Weighted Boulder Jutsu and double the linked stone hills’ weight.
• The stone hills sank deeper instead of rising, and Nagato realized his attack could damage Amegakure before it defeated the shinobi.