Recaps

Menma drew Iwagakure into the conflict and prepared Takigakure to face the Konoha–Kirigakure alliance, while Naruto escaped Konoha and confronted him. After Kushina intervened, Menma spared and imprisoned Naruto, then began the battle against Konoha’s advancing forces.

• Ōnoki approved Roshi’s plan to exploit Kumogakure’s weakness, sending more than five thousand Stone Ninja under Kitsuchi to seize Cloud territory while Menma and his allies watched the war unfold.
• Konoha and Kirigakure assembled forces to encircle Takigakure, while Tsunade mobilized Konoha and Naruto escaped the village despite her orders.
• Menma strengthened his alliance with Takigakure and Kusagakure, secured Matatabi’s Chakra, and prepared the base’s defenses as the allied forces approached.
• Naruto met Menma and fought him in Sage Mode, but Menma overpowered him and bound him with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Kushina appeared between the brothers, comforted Naruto, and urged both sons to choose their own paths, and Menma promised to spare Naruto but refused to abandon his plan.
• Menma teleported Naruto to Takigakure, sealed his Chakra, and assigned Muku to guard him while Jiraiya and Tsunade prepared the allied forces to attack.
• Mei Terumi and Ao led the Mist Ninja on a flanking maneuver as Jiraiya advanced with Konoha’s main force, and Menma’s traps and weapons killed or wounded about a thousand Konoha Ninja.

Menma’s victories over Konoha and Kirigakure established Takigakure and Kusagakure as a major power, while the Great Ninja Villages withdrew and negotiated with him. As Menma pursued a merger and managed new diplomacy, he investigated Naruto’s cells and prepared to leave the village for a crucial inventor.

• Jiraiya’s Konoha army attacked Menma’s base, but Muku’s Satori form and Fū’s Seven-Tails transformation devastated the defenders, forcing Jiraiya to retreat and Menma to seize the battlefield.
• Menma joined Utakata’s fight against Kirigakure, killed Mei Terumi and Ao, and drove the Mist Ninja into a retreat while Takigakure suffered more than 1,300 casualties.
• Menma halted further offensives as the Taki-Kusa Alliance’s victory shook the Shinobi World, and the other villages began withdrawing or turning their attention to new threats.
• After Iwagakure captured Kumogakure’s stronghold and Konoha withdrew, Menma began planning a Takigakure-Kusagakure merger and identified Iwagakure and Konoha as future dangers.
• Menma met with Orochimaru, shared his Byakugan research, and learned the locations of the Three-Tails and another target, accepting Kabuto’s help to find the latter.
• Menma negotiated with Dodai and agreed to return most Cloud Ninja prisoners in exchange for supplies and cooperation, while keeping Yugito in Takigakure.
• After a week of talks, Dodai finalized a treaty with Menma and took the released prisoners home, leaving Yugito behind.
• Menma and Karin confirmed powerful activity in Naruto’s cells during their Cellular Activation experiment, and Menma prepared to leave the village to find the inventor of a technique needed for later work.

Menma gathered Isobu, killed Hiruko and Shinno for their powers and knowledge, and built the Village of Light from Takigakure and Kusagakure. The new village’s founding ceremony approached as delegations arrived, including Konoha’s envoy, whose members quietly considered how to investigate.

• Menma killed Hiruko, took his research, and discovered that a White Zetsu had been monitoring him before Obito and Black Zetsu discussed their plans for Kirigakure.
• Menma persuaded Isobu to join him, sealed the Three-Tails inside himself, and returned to find Tsunade considering Iwagakure’s offer of cooperation.
• Menma seized Shinno’s knowledge of Zero-Tails cultivation and the Land of Sky’s technology, then warned Itachi not to interfere with his plans for Konoha, the Akatsuki, and Sasuke.
• Menma returned to Takigakure, tasked Shibuki with forming an Air Combat Unit, named the merged Takigakure and Kusagakure the Village of Light, and chose Heaven Shadow as his title.
• Menma formed a twenty-four-member Shadow Guard and told Naruto that he planned to unite the world under one nation and one shinobi village, using war against those who resisted.
• The Village of Light held its first high-level meeting and prepared for its founding ceremony as Menma learned the two daimyo planned to disrupt it with foreign support.
• Delegations from Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Konohagakure arrived, while Menma ordered surveillance of the Iwagakure delegation and warned Karin about Shikaku and Might Guy.
• Shibuki escorted the Konoha delegation to its lodging, where Shikaku cautioned the younger shinobi against impulsive investigations and forbade dangerous actions.

Menma established the Village of Light as a great power, used negotiations and political pressure to keep other villages from attacking, and advanced his experiments and military preparations. The arc left Menma preparing to target Sunagakure while Obito mobilized Kirigakure against the Village of Light.

• Menma declared the Village of Light established and asserted its authority over entry into the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Grass, while foreign delegations acknowledged its power.
• Menma accepted Kumogakure’s offer of cooperation and promised to return Yugito after extracting Matatabi, while Obito seized control of Kirigakure.
• Shikaku negotiated a temporary agreement with Menma, but Menma refused Hinata’s request to meet Naruto and secretly planned to use Konoha’s trust for his own ends.
• Yamanaka Fu infiltrated the Village of Light to search for Naruto, but Muku captured him, and Menma used the incident to pressure Konoha over Danzo.
• Shikaku returned to Konoha, where Tsunade stripped Danzo of leadership of Root and began reorganizing the division while delaying further action against Menma.
• Menma strengthened Yugito enough to survive extraction, sealed Matatabi into Karin and Isobu into Suigetsu, then transformed his own body into a Sage Body.
• Menma advanced weapons and Chakra Armor production and selected Sunagakure as his first target, while Obito directed Kirigakure to seek an alliance with Konoha and Iwagakure against the Village of Light.