Chapter Summaries

Jiraiya learned that Orochimaru had abducted Tokumo Hyuga and the Branch Family guards protecting him, and he kept Tokuma on the front lines while the search began. After Iwagakure defeated Kumogakure at Fengzhui Stronghold, Tsunade ordered Konoha’s army to withdraw, bringing the brief Fourth Great Ninja War to an end.

• Inoichi Yamanaka told Jiraiya that Tokumo and his Hyuga Branch Family guards had vanished, likely abducted by Orochimaru for the Byakugan.
• Tokuma asked to join the search, but Jiraiya ordered him to remain at the front lines and trusted the village to rescue the missing Hyuga.
• Jiraiya told Inoichi to watch Takigakure closely as the war continued across the other fronts.
• Iwagakure defeated the Cloud Ninja and captured Kumogakure’s Fengzhui Stronghold.
• After consulting Shikaku, Tsunade ordered Jiraiya to lead the Konoha army’s withdrawal, ending the Fourth Great Ninja War after little more than a month.

After Sunagakure and Konohagakure withdrew, Menma rejected Jiraiya’s request to meet and began withdrawing Takigakure and Kusagakure’s forces cautiously. The war ended with Iwagakure ascendant, and Menma turned his attention to preparing for Ōnoki as his greatest future threat.

• Baki withdrew most of Sunagakure’s forces after Kirigakure and Konohagakure began pulling out, and Menma received confirmation that Konoha was openly withdrawing.
• Menma read Jiraiya’s request for a private meeting, discarded it, and ordered his subordinates to monitor Konoha and Sunagakure and congratulate Iwagakure.
• Jiraiya waited alone for Menma from morning until dusk, then left without meeting him.
• After reconnaissance confirmed the enemy’s main forces had withdrawn, Menma ordered Takigakure and Kusagakure’s troops to return in stages while keeping garrisons at the frontlines.
• Menma assessed Sunagakure and Kumogakure as weakened and shifted his strategic focus toward Iwagakure, which he regarded as his greatest future enemy.

After the war’s major fronts quieted, Menma proposed formally merging Takigakure and Kusagakure to establish a powerful new nation and shinobi village. Shibuki and Mui supported the plan, and Menma began considering the preparations and name for the merged village.

• The Fourth Raikage withdrew Cloud forces while Ōnoki halted Iwagakure’s advance, leaving the war paused but tensions high in the north.
• Menma confirmed that fighting had temporarily subsided and decided to pursue a formal merger of Takigakure and Kusagakure.
• Shibuki questioned whether Kusagakure would accept the merger and warned that choosing either village’s name could cause resentment.
• Mui declared that Kusagakure would follow Menma’s orders, even if it meant being incorporated into Takigakure.
• Menma said the merger required careful preparation, a new village name, and the support of most residents before formal integration began.

Menma, Mui, Shibuki, and Karin moved forward with plans to merge Takigakure and Kusagakure while Ōnoki prepared for a possible future conflict with Menma. The chapter left Menma focused on consolidating the two villages, with the Akatsuki Organization identified as a more dangerous future threat.

• Menma, Mui, and Shibuki planned to secure senior Jonin and daimyo support before merging the two villages, and Menma assigned Karin to handle negotiations with the national governments.
• Ōnoki recognized Menma as a growing threat and secretly sent a trusted subordinate to contact Konohagakure, while telling Kitsuchi that Iwagakure's future actions had to account for Menma.
• Karin reported Ōnoki's preparations to Menma and worried that Iwagakure might join the villages opposing them.
• Menma told Karin that the Five Great Shinobi Villages lacked the unity to threaten them and said the Akatsuki Organization was their greater future enemy.
• Karin promised Menma she would settle the merger's preliminary arrangements within three months.

Menma met with Orochimaru, who brought news about the two targets Menma had asked him to locate and sought the secrets of the Byakugan’s evolution. Menma gave Orochimaru a scroll of research material, leaving their partnership intact and Orochimaru with new theories to investigate.

• Menma sensed Orochimaru approaching, dismissed Karin, and welcomed him into the laboratory’s tea room.
• Orochimaru said Menma’s Mind’s Eye of the Kagura had detected him almost immediately, despite his efforts to improve his concealment.
• Orochimaru reported that he had definite information on the one person and one beast Menma wanted located, then asked when Menma would act.
• Orochimaru pressed Menma for the Byakugan’s evolutionary requirements and what power its evolved form could reach.
• Menma handed Orochimaru a scroll containing his Byakugan research and conjectures, including information about the Tenseigan and Jōgan.

Menma gave Orochimaru a scroll outlining the Byakugan’s potential, which drove Orochimaru to pursue more Hyuga research. Orochimaru revealed the Three-Tails’ location and offered assistance, while Menma prepared to act alone and left Orochimaru wary after hinting at his Uzumaki bloodline experiment.

• Orochimaru read Menma’s scroll and grew eager to research the Byakugan, deciding to seek more Hyuga bloodlines for experiments.
• Orochimaru told Menma that the Three-Tails was in the northwestern Land of Water and offered Guren and another subordinate to help capture it.
• Orochimaru said his sources had located the other target around the Land of Rivers and offered Kabuto’s assistance.
• Menma declined help capturing the Three-Tails but accepted Kabuto’s help locating the other target, whom he planned to pursue himself.
• When Orochimaru asked why Menma was looking for the target, Menma mentioned an experiment involving the Uzumaki bloodline, frightening Orochimaru into ending the conversation.
• After Orochimaru vanished into the shadows, Menma sensed that he had left and decided he needed to move faster.

Menma prepared to meet a Kumogakure delegation led by Dodai, who had come as the Fourth Raikage’s representative to negotiate. Menma was willing to return Cloud Ninja prisoners but refused to give up the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, while Dodai recognized Takigakure’s growing strength.

• Menma learned that Dodai had arrived from Kumogakure under the Fourth Raikage’s orders and invited him to the Government Hall.
• Menma told Shibuki that Kumogakure would likely seek peace because it had lost ground and still had prisoners and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki in Takigakure’s hands.
• Menma agreed that ordinary Cloud Ninja prisoners could be returned if Kumogakure showed sufficient sincerity, but declared that the Two-Tails Jinchuriki would not be returned.
• Menma asked Ajun to carry out their earlier plans and prepared to meet Dodai with Shibuki.
• Dodai entered Takigakure and observed the confidence of its residents, concluding that the village could establish itself as a great power if it avoided a major setback.

Menma received Dodai and Kumogakure’s envoys, who sought to smooth over the war and negotiate for their captured comrades. Dodai offered gifts and promises of friendship, but Menma kept control of the talks, leaving the fate of the prisoners and Yugito unresolved.

• Dodai arrived at Takigakure’s Government Hall with Samui and C and greeted Menma and Shibuki.
• Menma recognized the two Cloud Ninja envoys and chose to let Dodai explain Kumogakure’s purpose first.
• Dodai described the conflict as a misunderstanding and offered friendship and cooperation in exchange for leniency toward the captured Cloud Ninja.
• Menma echoed Dodai’s diplomatic promises while making clear that the terms for releasing the prisoners still required negotiation.
• Dodai presented a scroll of supplies as a gift, and Menma judged it insufficient to secure the return of the captured Cloud Ninja.

Menma negotiated with Dodai over Kumogakure’s trade and cooperation offers, agreeing to release most captured Cloud Ninja while keeping Yugito longer. After Dodai’s party left, he gave Shibuki instructions, while Dodai told Samui and C that Kumogakure needed to avoid provoking Takigakure amid threats from Iwagakure and Konohagakure.

• Dodai offered supplies and future cooperation in exchange for the return of captured Cloud Ninja and Yugito, and Menma accepted the proposal.
• Menma said most Cloud Ninja could leave after two days, but special cases would have to wait, making clear that Yugito would remain in Takigakure.
• Menma and Shibuki ended the meeting, and Menma gave Shibuki several important instructions after Dodai, C, and Samui departed.
• C scanned the guest inn for eavesdroppers, and Samui asked whether Menma intended to keep Yugito.
• Dodai confirmed that Yugito’s release was unlikely and said Kumogakure could not risk further conflict with Takigakure while it faced Iwagakure and Konohagakure.

Dodai negotiated a peace treaty with Takigakure, securing the release of nearly a hundred Cloud Ninja while leaving Yugito behind. With the villages entering a brief period of recovery, Menma prepared to leave Takigakure and continued research that could strengthen bodies and help extract Matatabi from Yugito.

• Dodai contacted the Fourth Raikage and finalized a treaty after a week of negotiations, trading development rights, mission quotas, and supplies for the release of the Cloud Ninja prisoners.
• Menma ordered the prisoners released once the supplies arrived, and Dodai led them home while Yugito remained in Takigakure.
• Menma monitored diplomatic movements among the ninja villages and recognized Konoha and Iwagakure as the greatest future threats to his alliance.
• Menma and Karin found that Naruto's cells showed powerful activity in their Cellular Activation experiment, confirming Menma's suspicions about Naruto's unusual nature.
• Menma instructed Karin to continue the neutralization experiments while he prepared to leave the village and bring back the inventor of a technique needed for their later work.

Menma left Takigakure with Kabuto Yakushi to capture Hiruko and obtain the Chimera Technique for his experiments. As Hiruko prepared to pursue the Sharingan as his final Kekkei Genkai, Menma and Kabuto headed toward Maple Leaf City to confront him.

• Menma told Karin to help watch Naruto and prevent him from acting recklessly.
• Menma secretly left Takigakure and met Kabuto Yakushi near the Land of Rivers, where Kabuto confirmed Hiruko's location in Maple Leaf City.
• Menma explained that he wanted Hiruko's Chimera Technique to support his efforts to evolve his body and combine powers.
• Menma and Kabuto rushed toward Maple Leaf City while Hiruko, unaware of their approach, prepared to begin another experiment.
• Hiruko considered targeting Itachi Uchiha for his Sharingan and decided he might accept an invitation to join an organization.

Menma confronted Hiruko, whose four absorbed Kekkei Genkai made him a formidable opponent, and overwhelmed him with the Nine-Tails’ power and Adamantine Sealing Chains. As Hiruko tried to summon help, an unseen attacker stabbed him from behind with a lightning-charged blade.

• Menma appeared before Hiruko and launched a sudden attack, but Hiruko detected him and countered with Storm Release lightning.
• Menma dodged Hiruko’s attacks and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to strike at close range, but Hiruko absorbed his Spiral Gale Technique with Dark Release.
• Hiruko used Steel Release and Swift Release to evade Menma, while Menma unleashed the Nine-Tails’ Chakra and forced Hiruko to defend against his Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Menma’s chains restrained Hiruko’s Thunder Dragon and closed in on him, forcing Hiruko to realize he could not win and attempt to summon his Summoning Beast.
• An unseen attacker struck Hiruko from behind with a three-foot blade and unleashed lightning through the wound, making Hiruko spit blood.

Menma defeated Hiruko, searched his memories for the Chimera Technique, and killed him to obtain his research. After sealing Hiruko’s corpse, Menma detected and confronted a White Zetsu that had been spying on him.

• Hiruko unleashed Storm Release, but Menma countered it and kicked him into a tree.
• Menma bound Hiruko with Adamantine Sealing Chains and used the Hell Viewing Technique to render him unconscious.
• With Kurama’s help, Menma searched Hiruko’s memories and learned that his Chimera Technique had reached its final stage.
• Menma killed Hiruko, took his research scrolls, and sealed his corpse for future experiments.
• Menma sensed a faint Wood Release chakra nearby, found a White Zetsu, and demanded to know why it had been monitoring him.
• White Zetsu said it had come for Hiruko and hinted that Menma would have to discover what it was for himself.

Menma killed a White Zetsu that had been sent to find Hiruko, then learned nothing from its memoryless body. Obito and Black Zetsu discussed Menma’s interference and chose to leave him alone while pursuing plans to weaken the shinobi villages and regain control of Kirigakure.

• Menma captured and killed the White Zetsu after it revealed that it had been searching for Hiruko, but he found no memories to extract.
• Menma suspected Obito might be accelerating his plans, stored the corpse in a Sealing Scroll, and headed southeast.
• Black Zetsu told Obito that Menma had killed Hiruko and discovered the White Zetsu, prompting Obito to rule out sending more to follow him.
• Obito confirmed that White Zetsu could not reveal their information and ordered Black Zetsu to focus on other preparations and try to regain control of Kirigakure.
• Black Zetsu reported that White Zetsu had infiltrated Kirigakure, but strong figures including Gonbei and Bi made further covert action difficult.

Menma traveled to the Land of Water to recruit Isobu for his plans, while Obito prepared to infiltrate Kirigakure and regain control of the village. Menma located Isobu beneath a lake but failed to draw him out, leaving him ready to try a rougher approach.

• Obito ordered White Zetsu to replace key Mist Ninja and resolved to seize control of Kirigakure again.
• Menma met Kabuto Yakushi and traveled by ship to the Land of Water to find Hiruko and Isobu.
• Kabuto revealed that his people had located Isobu beneath a giant lake, then offered to bring a subordinate who could resonate with the Three-Tails' Chakra.
• Menma intimidated Kabuto into staying behind, and Kabuto left to inspect the surrounding area.
• Menma called to Isobu twice from the lakeshore, but the tailed beast did not respond, so Menma decided to use rougher methods.

Menma subdued the Three-Tails, Isobu, then earned his trust by releasing him and sharing the other Tailed Beasts’ chakra. After Menma revealed their common enemy through a fist bump, Isobu understood the threat of the Ten-Tails’ revival and why the other beasts were helping Menma.

• Menma attacked Isobu as he emerged from the lake, but Isobu responded with powerful water attacks and a rolling charge.
• Menma used the Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain Isobu, then released him and let him sense the chakra of Kurama, Matatabi, Saiken, and Chōmei.
• Isobu recognized the other Tailed Beasts’ chakra and accepted that Menma had approached him in good faith.
• Menma told Isobu they shared an enemy and bumped fists with him, forming a spiritual channel that conveyed information about the threat.
• Isobu learned that their enemy had prepared to revive the Ten-Tails using the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Menma sealed Isobu inside himself, bringing five Tailed Beasts together in his mental world before setting off back. Meanwhile, in Konohagakure, Tsunade began in-depth negotiations with Iwagakure envoy Jōshū Iwagaki but remained wary of his offer.

• Isobu agreed to help Menma and temporarily enter his body instead of waiting for a separate Jinchuriki.
• Menma used a sealing technique to draw Isobu into himself, where Kurama and the other Tailed Beasts welcomed him into their gathering.
• Menma asked the Tailed Beasts to lend him their strength against their enemies, and they agreed while reminding him of his promises.
• Menma left the lake and began his return journey after completing five of his nine planned tasks.
• In Konohagakure, Tsunade questioned Iwagakure envoy Jōshū Iwagaki about his village’s intentions as he offered terms for cooperation.

Iwagakure envoy Jōshū Iwagaki told Tsunade that the Third Tsuchikage had offered to strike first against Menma’s forces. After Iwagaki left, Shikaku argued that Iwagakure’s strategic position made the offer credible, leaving Tsunade and Jiraiya to weigh the threat.

• Jōshū Iwagaki told Tsunade that the Third Tsuchikage would make the first move against Menma’s alliance.
• Tsunade asked Iwagaki to remain in Konohagakure while she considered the offer, and he agreed before leaving.
• Tsunade asked Jiraiya and Shikaku whether the Third Tsuchikage genuinely intended to attack or was deceiving them.
• Jiraiya said either possibility fit Ōnoki’s cautious and calculating nature.
• Shikaku pointed out that Takigakure and Kusagakure had effectively half-encircled Iwagakure, making them a direct strategic threat.
• Jiraiya acknowledged that Shikaku’s reasoning made sense.

Shikaku explained why Iwagakure was seeking an agreement with Konoha, and Tsunade assigned him and Shizune to negotiate its terms. On his way back to Takigakure, Menma sensed a powerful battle near the Land of Wind and hurried toward it cautiously.

• Shikaku told Tsunade and Jiraiya that Iwagakure had hoped to weaken Konoha and Menma before joining forces with the victor, but Menma's strength had disrupted its plans.
• Tsunade agreed to negotiate with Iwagakure and tasked Shikaku with handling the details, with Shizune assisting him.
• Menma returned from the Land of Water, sealed the Three-Tails Chakra in a scroll, and sent Kabuto Yakushi away with it.
• Menma sensed a battle with Kage-level force near the Land of Wind, used his sensory abilities to locate it, and approached while concealing his presence.

Menma discovered Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki fighting Shinno and decided to capture Shinno for his technological knowledge. After Shinno swallowed a strange purple creature and transformed into a far stronger form, Kisame charged to meet him while Menma watched for an opening.

• Menma recognized Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Shinno, then decided to take Shinno for his research and technology.
• Kisame overwhelmed Shinno, and Itachi offered him membership in the Akatsuki Organization.
• Shinno refused, swallowed a purple insect-like creature, and transformed after Itachi struck him with the Great Fireball Technique.
• Shinno's power surged, forcing Itachi and Kisame to take him seriously as Menma watched from nearby.
• Kisame charged at the transformed Shinno with Samehada while Itachi moved to support him.