Chapter Summaries

Menma left Orochimaru’s Secret Base to carry out the task he had agreed to, leaving Karin behind to support the ongoing experiment and monitor Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Kakashi received orders to join Naruto’s pursuit of Sasuke, and Orochimaru told Kabuto to prepare a ritual as his condition deteriorated.

• Tsunade deployed Konoha Ninja to obstruct the Sound Four’s routes, giving Naruto’s Pursuit Squad a chance to catch up.
• Kakashi learned that Sasuke had defected and raced north to rendezvous with Naruto’s team or intercept Sasuke’s group.
• Karin told Menma it was time to leave for the task he had arranged with Orochimaru.
• Menma left Karin at the base to complete an experimental support step and watch Orochimaru, promising to return within two days.
• Orochimaru’s condition worsened, and he ordered Kabuto to prepare the ritual because his body could no longer hold on.

Orochimaru's worsening condition forced him to prepare for another body transfer instead of waiting for Sasuke, while Naruto's pursuit squad finally caught up with the Sound Four. Sakon and Tayuya continued toward Orochimaru with Sasuke as Jirobo and Kidomaru stayed behind to hold off the pursuers.

• Orochimaru told Kabuto Yakushi that the Reaper Death Seal's corrosion was destroying his body, so Kabuto prepared for his reincarnation.
• Orochimaru resolved to seek the Sharingan of Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha in the future.
• After delays and interceptions along the route, Naruto's squad caught up with the Sound Four carrying Sasuke.
• Sakon ordered Jirobo and Kidomaru to stop the pursuers while he and Tayuya took Sasuke onward.
• Jirobo and Kidomaru activated their Cursed Seals and charged at Naruto, Shikamaru, and the others.

Shikamaru split the pursuit squad, leaving Neji, Shino, and Choji to hold off Jirobo and Kidomaru while he, Naruto, Kiba, and Lee chased Tayuya and Sakon. On an open plain, Sakon stayed behind to fight and sent Tayuya onward with Sasuke as he awakened Ukon and entered the second stage of the Cursed Seal.

• Shikamaru recognized that Jirobo and Kidomaru were trying to delay the pursuit and ordered Neji, Shino, and Choji to fight them while the others continued after Sasuke.
• Choji, Shino, and Neji engaged Jirobo and Kidomaru, allowing Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba, and Lee to get around them and continue the chase.
• Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba, and Lee tracked Tayuya and Sakon to a wide plain, where Sakon handed Sasuke's barrel to Tayuya and told her to leave.
• Sakon activated his Cursed Seal and awakened Ukon, who emerged from Sakon's body as the pursuers arrived.

Menma stopped at the Valley of the End, refusing to go farther than his agreement with Orochimaru required, while Kimimaro continued ahead. Menma settled atop Madara Uchiha's statue to wait for the others.

• Menma refused to proceed beyond the Valley of the End, explaining that his agreement with Orochimaru only required him to receive the arriving group there.
• Kimimaro drew a bone spike after taking Menma's refusal as a slight against Orochimaru, but Menma's powerful chakra made him reconsider.
• Kimimaro withdrew his weapon and hurried alone toward the front.
• Menma reflected on Orochimaru's loyal followers and his potential as a leader before climbing onto Madara Uchiha's statue.
• Menma sat down to meditate and wait for the reunion.

Menma met Tayuya and Sasuke at the rendezvous point, where Sasuke emerged from the barrel and reunited with Menma. Naruto and Shikamaru tried to persuade them to return, but Konohagakure Anbu appeared and ordered the two rogue ninja to surrender.

• Menma waited for Tayuya, who arrived carrying the barrel containing Sasuke and offered to hold off their pursuers.
• Sasuke burst out of the barrel as Naruto and Shikamaru arrived, and Menma greeted him.
• Menma and Sasuke discussed their partnership and made clear they had no intention of returning to the village.
• Naruto pleaded with Menma and Sasuke to come home, but Menma mocked his appeal and pointed out the people beside him.
• Six or seven Konohagakure Anbu appeared, and their Jonin leader ordered Menma and Sasuke to surrender or be killed.

Menma and Sasuke faced Root operatives who attacked them under a ruthless kill order, despite Naruto insisting Tsunade had promised not to issue one. Menma unleashed the Nine-Tails’ chakra and began overwhelming the attackers, while Sasuke and Tayuya engaged Naruto and Shikamaru.

• Naruto challenged the Root leader’s kill order, and Menma recognized the attackers as Danzō’s Root operatives.
• Menma taunted Naruto and told the Root members to attack, then cloaked himself in Nine-Tails chakra.
• Sasuke charged at Naruto, while Tayuya went after Shikamaru.
• Menma countered the Root members’ water defense with concealed, multiplying shuriken, killing one operative.
• Menma evaded a blade, struck back against multiple Root members, and sent two flying with a chakra-enhanced kick.

Menma used the Nine-Tails Chakra to kill two Root Members in front of Kakashi, leaving three of the seven dead and two others injured. He rejected Kakashi’s plea to stop, condemned Konoha’s leaders and Kakashi’s past neglect, then charged the surviving Root Members.

• Menma caught a Root Member’s lightning whip, hurled him into another Root Member, and killed both with a kunai.
• Kakashi arrived and watched Menma kill the two Root Members despite ordering him to stop.
• Menma mocked Kakashi for invoking Minato and Konoha, and accused Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō of allowing the village’s corruption.
• Menma declared that he and Kakashi would settle things through strength, then charged at the remaining Root Members.

Menma and Sasuke overwhelmed Danzo’s Root squad while Kakashi tried to stop Menma and Naruto struggled against Sasuke. Menma’s strength forced Kakashi onto the defensive, and the chapter ended with their kunai locked as Kakashi felt sorrow and guilt.

• Menma used ninjutsu and Shadow Clones to suppress the Root Members as Kakashi charged in to protect them.
• Menma overpowered Kakashi with a heavy blow that sent him falling toward the water, where he landed safely.
• Sasuke’s Three Tomoe Sharingan gave him the advantage over Naruto, who was wounded, while Shikamaru was also being suppressed.
• Kakashi used Water Style techniques against Menma, but Menma’s Nine-Tails Chakra severed Kakashi’s Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
• Menma pressed his attack and thrust a Kunai toward Kakashi’s chest; Kakashi blocked it with his own Kunai, sorrow and guilt in his eyes.

Menma rejected Kakashi’s plea to return to the village and attacked him, intent on taking his Sharingan. After breaking through Kakashi’s Water Style, Menma and Kakashi prepared to clash with their strongest techniques beneath the stone statue.

• Kakashi pleaded with Menma to stop fighting and return to the village, but Menma refused and threatened to kill him.
• Menma awakened a third Nine-Tails tail and wounded Kakashi with a kunai and a forceful kick.
• Menma used the Great Fireball Technique, and Kakashi countered with the Great Waterfall Technique.
• Menma burst through Kakashi’s wave of water and formed a Rasengan as Kakashi prepared his Lightning Cutter.
• Menma infused his Rasengan with Nine-Tails Chakra, darkening it as he faced Kakashi’s lightning attack.

Menma defeated Kakashi with his Spiraling Ring and prepared to kill him, while Naruto fought Sasuke and vowed to bring both brothers back. Kakashi pleaded with Menma to spare Naruto and leave room for reconciliation, but Menma suppressed his feelings about his parents and dismissed Kakashi's concern.

• Naruto charged at Sasuke and vowed to bring him and Menma back, even if he had to break their arms and legs.
• Menma and Kakashi clashed their Spiraling Ring and Lightning Cutter, and Menma's technique overwhelmed Kakashi.
• Kakashi was blasted into a trench by the riverbank, gravely injured and drained of Chakra, while Menma's Shadow Clones killed the remaining Root members.
• Kakashi pleaded with Menma to spare Naruto and consider what Minato and Kushina would want for their sons.
• Menma felt a moment of emotion at hearing his parents' names, then suppressed it and told Kakashi not to concern himself with that.

Menma tore out Kakashi’s Sharingan and moved to kill him, but Naruto and Choza Akimichi intervened. Kakashi was left critically wounded as Tsunade’s Anbu arrived and began treating him.

• Menma ripped out Kakashi’s Sharingan, sealed it in preservation fluid, and prepared to kill Kakashi with a kunai.
• Naruto rushed in with a Rasengan, forcing Menma to abandon his attack when Choza Akimichi struck from the side with Partial Expansion Jutsu.
• Naruto and Choza guarded the collapsed Kakashi as Hyuga Neji and Shino Aburame arrived to support them.
• Naruto checked on Kakashi, who was critically wounded and missing his left eye.
• Tsunade’s Anbu arrived, and a Medical Ninja began treating Kakashi.

Menma rejected Naruto’s pleas for reconciliation and fought him and Choza, overpowering both of them. As Naruto lay gravely injured, memories of the original story flashed through Menma’s mind.

• Naruto confronted Menma over Kakashi’s injuries and the dead Anbu, insisting that Menma’s actions were cruel and that he would change his way of thinking.
• Menma dismissed Naruto’s pleas and said that anyone who stood in his way deserved to die.
• Naruto charged at Menma, and Choza followed to protect him, using the Partial Expansion Jutsu to attack.
• Menma restrained Choza with his Demon Fox Tails, lifted him into the air, and hurled him aside.
• Menma caught Naruto’s punch, slammed him to the ground, and stomped on his chest, leaving him coughing up blood.
• As Naruto lay pale and in agony, memories of the original story flashed through Menma’s mind.

Menma nearly killed Naruto before a vision of their mother stopped him long enough for Choza to intervene. Menma then regrouped with Sasuke and Tayuya and retreated toward the border, leaving Naruto alive.

• Menma hesitated briefly before trying to kill Naruto, but a vision of their mother made both brothers freeze.
• Choza arrived after taking his clan's Secret Medicine and drove Menma away from Naruto.
• Naruto recovered beside Choza and wondered whether the figure he had seen was his mother.
• Menma called Sasuke back, and Sasuke withdrew from fighting Neji and Shino.
• Menma used the Great Waterfall Technique to separate the Konoha shinobi, then escaped with Sasuke and Tayuya toward the border.
• Choza ordered the Anbu not to pursue the retreating trio because the border was near.

Choza, Kakashi, and Shikamaru abandoned the pursuit after Menma proved too powerful, leaving Naruto devastated by his brother’s resolve to kill him. Menma and Sasuke reached Orochimaru’s base in the Land of Grass, where Kabuto welcomed them back.

• Choza judged that pursuing Menma was too dangerous, and the Konoha group turned back as Naruto struggled with Menma’s rejection.
• Naruto asked Kakashi why Menma had become so resolute, but Kakashi could offer no comfort or explanation.
• Kakashi urged Naruto to return, and the Konoha group departed in a different direction from Menma’s party.
• Menma and Sasuke crossed into the Land of Grass and hurried toward the secret base in its southwest.
• Kabuto welcomed Menma and Sasuke at the base and told them that Orochimaru had been waiting for them.

Menma accompanied Sasuke to meet Orochimaru and discovered that Orochimaru had escaped the Reaper Death Seal’s effects by changing bodies. With Sasuke no longer at risk of becoming Orochimaru’s vessel, Menma turned to negotiating for Orochimaru’s research.

• Menma insisted on joining Sasuke when Kabuto Yakushi tried to lead Sasuke to Orochimaru alone.
• Menma recognized that Orochimaru had changed bodies and was no longer constrained by the Reaper Death Seal.
• Orochimaru acknowledged Menma’s perceptiveness but remained wary of him.
• Orochimaru offered to provide Menma with supplies and materials for his work.
• Menma asked Orochimaru for his research on the Sharingan and Yin Release Chakra.

Menma discussed studying Yin Release and the Sharingan with Orochimaru, agreeing to trade for further research. He accepted an invitation to meet Iwagakure's Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and left to continue an experiment.

• Menma explained that obtaining Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan had changed his plans and that he intended to pursue both physical and spiritual power.
• Menma and Orochimaru agreed that Orochimaru would provide preliminary Sharingan research, while further information would require an equitable exchange.
• Orochimaru told Menma that Onoki wanted to meet him through their prior connections.
• Menma agreed to talks with Onoki but insisted on choosing a location that would not put the Tsuchikage in a difficult position.
• Menma left Orochimaru and Sasuke to finish an experiment.

Menma considered his plans to contact Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and the Akatsuki after confirming Orochimaru's reincarnation, while Naruto's battered team returned to Konoha. Tsunade treated the injured young ninja and told Shikamaru they were all out of danger.

• Menma decided he needed to meet Ōnoki and pursue contact with the two great ninja villages, while considering how he might persuade Nagato.
• Menma returned to his residence, where Karin approached him with a delighted expression.
• Naruto, Kakashi, and the surviving members of their group returned to Konoha after Menma killed Danzo's seven Anbu and severely injured Naruto and Kakashi.
• Tsunade treated the injured young ninja for hours, while Shikamaru waited anxiously outside the emergency room.
• Tsunade assured Shikamaru that the young ninja were out of danger and would recover with rest.

Tsunade learned that Menma had attacked Naruto and resolved to alert Jiraiya while keeping watch on Root. At Root's underground base, Danzo received confirmation that Menma had single-handedly wiped out the Heiqi Squad.

• Shikamaru thanked Tsunade after learning his companions were out of danger and left the hospital.
• Kakashi confirmed to Tsunade that Menma had attacked Naruto without mercy.
• Tsunade ordered Shikaku to inform Jiraiya that time was running out and to watch Root closely.
• Tsunade learned Naruto was deeply shaken and told Kakashi to rest before she performed his eye transplant surgery.
• A Root member told Danzo that Menma had killed the entire Heiqi Squad, leaving Danzo in disbelief.

Danzo ordered Root to search for Menma and Sasuke, but Tsunade's warning and Anbu presence forced him to suspend Root's missions. Unaware of the confrontation in Konoha, Menma resumed his experiments and discovered that his cells overwhelmed an ordinary test subject.

• Danzo ordered Root to gather its forces and search for Menma and Sasuke, and told a member to contact Orochimaru.
• A messenger delivered Tsunade's order and reported that four Anbu squads had appeared outside Root.
• Danzo destroyed the scroll in anger but ordered Root to temporarily abandon all missions.
• Menma returned from the Valley of the End and began experimenting with fusing his cells into an ordinary person's body.
• Menma's cells consumed the test subject's cells, causing the subject's organs to explode, and Menma cleaned himself up.

Menma continued adjusting his experiments and weighed the need for Orochimaru’s protection as he built his strength and influence. After Ōnoki agreed to meet him outside Iwagakure, Menma asked Kabuto Yakushi to choose the location and invite Orochimaru to accompany him.

• Menma continued the experiments himself and kept Karin away from the bloody human dissections.
• Menma recognized that he needed Orochimaru’s protection to avoid the Five Great Ninja Villages while he pursued his plans.
• Kabuto Yakushi informed Menma that Ōnoki had agreed to meet outside Iwagakure with only his son, Kitsuchi, as his companion.
• Menma asked Kabuto Yakushi to choose the meeting place and invite Orochimaru to accompany him.