Recaps

Neji established a Gate of Time and Space between Punk Hazard and Seria's Inn, then brought Izumi and more than a thousand mechanical puppets to the laboratory. He ordered the puppets to take over the research institute and replace its guards.

• Neji sent Law to rescue Nami and the others, then chose the laboratory as his base and built a Gate of Time and Space in its central hall.
• Neji traveled through the gate to Seria's Inn and went to his room.
• Neji returned through the gate, met Izumi, and brought her with him to Punk Hazard.
• Izumi showed Neji more than a thousand mechanical puppets, which he stored and then deployed in the laboratory.
• Neji gave the puppets knowledge and personalities, then ordered them to take over the research institute and replace the guards.
• The puppet teams fought the guards, and the sounds of resistance soon faded.

Neji and Izumi searched Caesar’s laboratory, where Neji injected Momonosuke with a substance that left him believing the Kozuki Family would have no heirs. After taking Vegapunk’s failed Artificial Devil Fruit, Neji suspected Devil Fruits might repel Chakra and joined Law, Sanji, Franky, and the children in the Biscuit Room.

• Neji and Izumi saw the frozen giants created by failed Human Gigantification experiments in Caesar’s laboratory.
• Neji took the strange fruit Momonosuke was about to eat and injected him with a syringe; Momonosuke believed he had lost the chance to produce heirs and broke down crying.
• Neji examined Vegapunk’s failed Artificial Devil Fruit and suspected that Devil Fruits repelled Chakra, so he decided not to let his people eat it.
• Neji entered the Biscuit Room and found Law, Sanji, Franky, Kin'emon, and the children together.
• Law explained that Caesar had owned the laboratory before Neji took it over and told Sanji that Neji had saved the place.

Neji and Izumi secured the research base while Law, Sanji, and Franky went to find Luffy. Smoker arrived at Punk Hazard, recognized Neji from his past, and reacted with anger when Neji mocked the World Government’s account of his supposed defection.

• Law explained that he controlled the base and its puppets, then asked Sanji and Franky to accompany him to the central lake to find Luffy.
• Nami and Chopper stayed behind with the children while Sanji and Franky left with Law.
• Smoker led the G-5 Marines onto Punk Hazard and found a fortified research institute despite the records describing the island as abandoned.
• Neji and Izumi appeared at the gate, where Neji teased Smoker and caught his smoke-formed punch with an Armament Haki-coated arm.
• Neji mentioned the Island Clouds he had given Smoker, prompting Smoker to recognize him as the man reported to have died after killing more than half of CP0.
• Neji questioned the World Government’s description of his actions as a defection, and Smoker angrily cursed the people above him.

Neji took control of Caesar’s laboratory and negotiated with Smoker to have the Marines relocate and treat the children used in Giantification experiments. After fighting and transforming Smoker into a woman, Neji agreed to erase the Marines’ memories, while the Straw Hats reluctantly accepted that the children would be better off with the Marines.

• Smoker recognized Neji and demanded Caesar, but Neji said Caesar was gone and asked Smoker to take the child test subjects for treatment.
• Neji transformed Smoker with a syringe, quickly defeated her, and said he would erase the Marines’ memories after they took the children to Vegapunk.
• Smoker ordered his Marines to wait quietly outside the research facility while Neji went inside.
• Neji explained the arrangement to the others at the Biscuit House, and Nami and Chopper objected to handing the children to the Marines.
• Neji argued that the Marines could provide the children with medicine and a future, and the others fell silent as they watched the children.

Neji sent the children away with Smoker’s Marines, then told Izumi about his past life on the island and erased the Marines’ memories before they departed. After Luffy and his crew reached the laboratory, Kin'emon learned that Momonosuke might have left with the children and rushed off to search for him.

• Neji arranged for the children to leave with the Marines, and Nami asked him to ensure they could go home.
• Neji told Izumi about his past life on the island while they watched Smoker’s ship prepare to depart.
• Neji erased and altered the Marines’ memories, changed Smoker back into a man, and sent them away with the children.
• Neji returned to the laboratory and waited as his puppets began remodeling the base, while Luffy and his group eventually arrived.
• Luffy and Zoro fought over food, and Nami knocked the brawling Straw Hats into submission.
• Nami told Kin'emon that Momonosuke might have left with the children, and Kin'emon rushed out to find him.

Neji discussed Law’s plan to undermine Doflamingo’s SMILE trade while the Straw Hats learned that Luffy had allied with Law to fight Kaido. Kin’emon returned with the unconscious Momonosuke, whose changed appearance left him in shock when Chopper confirmed he was a boy.

• Neji told Law he had other uses for the three captives and discussed the flaws in artificial Devil Fruits with the crew.
• Luffy announced that he had formed an alliance with Law to fight Kaido, and Nami scolded him for provoking another Emperor.
• Kin’emon rushed in carrying an unconscious little girl and begged Chopper to examine her.
• Law and Chopper concluded that the girl had fainted from hunger and exhaustion and needed nourishment.
• Kin’emon realized the girl was Momonosuke, whose changed body had left him looking like a girl, and collapsed in shock.
• Luffy misunderstood the situation, and Nami hit him as she explained that the child was Kin’emon’s son.

Neji reunited with Aokiji near Punk Hazard and brought him to the laboratory to share drinks and discuss their past. Aokiji declined Neji’s offer to help, and their conversation about Teacher Zephyr revealed that Zephyr’s tragic fate had still occurred.

• Chopper treated Peach with an IV while Robin rewarded him with cotton candy, and Neji left after telling Izumi and Robin to stay behind.
• Neji met Aokiji near Punk Hazard, where Aokiji had come to investigate after encountering Smoker and his companions.
• Neji transported Aokiji and Camel to the laboratory, where he and Aokiji drank liquor and caught up after Aokiji’s departure from the Marines.
• Aokiji confirmed that Neji had been behind what happened to Smoker and said he had gained new perspective after leaving his position.
• Neji asked Aokiji about Teacher Zephyr, and Aokiji’s reaction showed that Zephyr’s fate had unfolded as Neji feared.

Neji reunited with Robin, learned that Kuma was in poor condition, and prepared to prevent future regrets before returning with Izumi to the Naruto World. He rode into Konoha to meet his teacher, who wanted to step down as Hokage.

• Neji met Robin, asked about her allies, and learned that Kuma's condition was poor.
• Izumi comforted Neji, who resolved not to let future opportunities slip away.
• Neji gave Law a Den Den Mushi and Chopper a coordinate device before leaving a clone to oversee the base.
• Neji and Izumi passed through the Gate of Time and Space and returned to the Naruto World.
• Neji rode his Chakra-and-electricity-powered motorcycle into Konoha and headed to the Hokage Building because his teacher wanted to step down.

Tsunade insisted on resigning as Hokage, arguing that Konoha no longer needed her and that a younger leader should take over. After Jiraiya refused the position, she rejected the advisors’ attempt to keep her in office until a successor was found and said she would choose one herself.

• Neji arrived at the Hokage Office and learned from Shizune that Tsunade had decided to resign after months of hesitation.
• Tsunade dismissed the advisors’ arguments that Konoha’s stability required her to remain Hokage.
• Tsunade called Jiraiya, but he refused to become Hokage and ended the call.
• Tsunade told the advisors that the Era of Innovation called for a young Hokage, while Neji recognized her words as ones he had used before.
• The advisors proposed that Tsunade stay until a successor was chosen, but Tsunade rejected their delay and declared she would choose someone herself.

Tsunade pushed to nominate Neji as Hokage, challenging the village advisors to accept him if the jonin recognized his strength and earned trust. After Konoha’s jonin voiced their support, the advisors agreed to his nomination as the Sixth Hokage, while Neji remained reluctant.

• Tsunade held Neji and confronted Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu over their objections to his nomination.
• Tsunade secured the advisors’ agreement to accept Neji if the jonin recognized him and believed he could lead Konoha.
• Konoha’s jonin gathered in the office and voiced their support for Neji, citing his strength, service, leadership, and fairness.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu agreed to Tsunade stepping down and Neji Hyuga’s nomination as the Sixth Hokage.
• Tsunade privately told Neji he could not refuse, leaving him helpless at how quickly the succession had been arranged.

Neji, now the Sixth Hokage, used Tsunade’s document to clear Sasuke’s name and announce her return to Konoha. Naruto and Sakura rushed to the Hokage’s office to reunite with her, while Kakashi watched from the doorway.

• Neji became the Sixth Hokage after Tsunade resigned, and Tsunade left him a document concerning Sasuke.
• Neji showed Sasuke the S-rank mission document that framed her defection as an undercover mission against Orochimaru.
• Neji publicly announced that Sasuke had returned to Konoha as a hero, and Sasuke accepted the restored status and her preserved clan compound.
• Naruto and Sakura rushed into Neji’s office after seeing the announcement; Sasuke dodged Naruto’s hug and knocked him to the floor.
• Sakura hugged Sasuke while crying, then stepped off Naruto, as Sasuke continued to stand on him and Kakashi watched from the doorway.

Neji celebrated Sasuke’s return with his friends before traveling with Izumi to the Pirate World to test whether Devil Fruit powers could be transferred. He successfully extracted the Axolotl Fruit’s power from an artificial human and confined it in an apple, which began transforming into a Devil Fruit.

• Neji offered Naruto and Sakura a free meal if they gathered people, then sent them and Kakashi and Sasuke off to celebrate Sasuke’s return.
• Neji told Izumi he planned to step down as Hokage after two more years and said he would put Orochimaru to work on research.
• Hinata and Hanabi met Neji, and the group joined the others at his Hot Pot Restaurant to celebrate Sasuke’s return.
• Neji and Izumi entered the Pirate World, where a puppet presented Neji with an Axolotl Fruit for an experiment.
• Neji had an artificial human eat the Axolotl Fruit, extracted its power, contained it in a Truth-Seeking Orb, and transferred it into an apple.

Neji and Izumi traveled to Dressrosa, where Neji revealed that the island’s living toys had once been human, transformed and erased from everyone’s memories by the Hobby Hobby Fruit. They left the city’s cheerful surface behind them and faced the darkness beneath it.

• Neji’s experiment showed that the clash between Devil Fruit powers and Chakra could make a body explode, so he returned the damaged artificial human to its cultivation tank.
• Neji detected that the Straw Hat Pirates and Law were in Dressrosa and invited Izumi to visit the island with him.
• Neji and Izumi explored Dressrosa and saw a toy chase a woman who did not remember it, before the Toy House’s workers dragged the toy away.
• Izumi noticed the toys’ unsettling behavior, and Neji explained that nearly all had once been humans forgotten by the world after the Hobby Hobby Fruit transformed them.

Neji explained the Hobby Hobby Fruit and Haki to Izumi before bringing her to meet Princess Violet. Violet recognized that they knew her concealed identity and agreed to speak with them privately.

• Neji told Izumi that the Hobby Hobby Fruit could turn people into toys and that Armament Haki could help resist its power.
• Neji explained the fruit's age-stopping side effect and described how the different types of Haki could counter powerful abilities.
• Neji took Izumi through Dressrosa and introduced her to Violet after watching her dance.
• Violet became wary when Neji called her Princess, then led Neji and Izumi to a secluded spot.
• Neji introduced himself and Izumi, revealed that he had once been part of the Revolutionary Army, and invited Violet to talk further.

Neji revealed his past as Vice Admiral Norsen to Violet and recruited her to help the Revolutionary Army overthrow Doflamingo. At a restaurant, he reunited with Sabo and Koala, who were overjoyed to learn he was alive.

• Neji transformed into his former Marine appearance to convince Violet that he was Vice Admiral Norsen and said he now served the Revolutionary Army.
• Neji asked Violet to persuade King Riku to become a hidden ally, and she agreed to help overthrow Doflamingo.
• Neji told Violet that the Straw Hat Pirates would soon arrive and urged her to prepare and protect the people of Dressrosa.
• Neji and Izumi went to a restaurant, where Neji recognized Sabo and Koala and greeted them.
• Neji asked Sabo and Koala about Ivankov and the supply of Female Hormone, and they reacted with tears and joy at finding him alive.

Neji reunited with Sabo and Koala in Dressrosa, explained the weapons trade behind their mission, and told them to proceed without relying on him. Meanwhile, Doflamingo grew concerned about losing contact with Punk Hazard and prepared a tempting offer for Luffy.

• Neji praised Sabo for taking over as Chief of Staff and urged him and Koala to help bring Dressrosa out of darkness while continuing their plan to sabotage weapons supplies.
• Neji told Sabo and Koala that Violet had agreed to persuade her father to become a covert ally, and revealed that Kaido manufactured the weapons Doflamingo distributed.
• Neji said he would remain behind the scenes rather than return to the Revolutionary Army, then left with Izumi as Sabo and Koala began their operation.
• Doflamingo questioned Trebol about losing contact with Vergo, Monet, and Caesar on Punk Hazard after Law and the Straw Hat Pirates appeared in Dressrosa.
• Trebol told Doflamingo that Buffalo and Baby 5 had gone to investigate, then said he had prepared an item Luffy would find impossible to refuse.

Baby-5 and Buffalo descended toward Punk Hazard's research facility and discovered that Monet and Vergo had turned against the Donquixote Family. Baby-5 stayed behind to hold them off while Buffalo fled at full speed.

• Baby-5 persuaded a frightened Buffalo to descend toward the research facility despite their inability to contact anyone.
• A worsening blizzard trapped them, and Baby-5 fired into the snowstorm after sensing someone watching them.
• Monet attacked from the blizzard, damaged Baby-5's cannon, and knocked her and Buffalo toward the ground.
• Baby-5 recognized Monet and then realized Vergo was working with her when he deflected a bullet aimed at Monet.
• Baby-5 transformed her body into weapons and ordered Buffalo to run while she opened fire to hold Vergo and Monet back.

Vergo and Monet captured Baby 5 and Buffalo, while Neji registered for the Corrida Colosseum tournament and entered Block D. As Luffy drew attention in the waiting area, Rebecca approached Neji.

• Monet and Vergo subdued Baby 5 and Buffalo, then had puppets bind them with Seastone handcuffs.
• Neji learned that Baby 5 and the others had been sent to investigate, and decided their capture could provide him with manpower.
• Neji sent Izumi to the stands to observe the fighters, then registered under his own name and was assigned to Block D.
• Luffy, disguised as Lucy, defeated Sparta and drew the attention of other competitors, including Pirate Prince Cavendish.
• Rebecca approached Neji as he rested in the waiting area.

Rebecca brought Neji a letter explaining how Law and Violet had recruited her to share information about the arena’s Flame-Flame Fruit contest, and Neji agreed to help Dressrosa. After healing the injured gladiators, he returned to watch the matches as Luffy faced Chinjao.

• Rebecca delivered Law and Violet’s letter to Neji and asked to work with him, and he agreed to visit the injured gladiators.
• The arena announced Jesus Burgess as Block A’s winner, while Rebecca learned that she and Neji were both in Block D.
• Neji healed the injured gladiators with orbs of light and told them to live through the coming changes in Dressrosa.
• Neji returned to the arena in time to see Elizabello II’s King Punch strike Bartholomew’s barrier.
• The next match was announced as Luffy versus Chinjao, renewing the grudge between their families.

Neji watched the Area C battle with Rebecca as Luffy fought Pound Cannon, who confronted him over their shared connection to Garp and Rayleigh. Luffy remained determined to win the Devil Fruit, and Neji turned his attention elsewhere in Dressrosa as their battle resumed.

• Neji watched the Area C fighters with Rebecca, while Cavendish glared at disguised Luffy and Neji spotted Izumi in the stands.
• Pound Cannon charged at Luffy, knocking Sai and the Longarm Tribe boxer out of the fight before clashing Haki with Luffy and clearing the arena of the other contestants.
• Pound Cannon questioned Luffy about his ambition to become Pirate King and learned that Rayleigh had taught him Haki.
• Pound Cannon lamented that he could not reach his family's treasure beneath the ice because he had lost the drill on his head.
• Luffy dismissed Pound Cannon's complaints and attacked him again, while Neji turned his gaze elsewhere in Dressrosa.

Law and his allies pursued their plan to dismantle Doflamingo’s operations in Dressrosa as Neji watched events unfold and Luffy learned the truth about the country. Neji and Rebecca entered Block D, where Neji effortlessly overwhelmed the other contestants.

• Law and his disguised allies split up to target the Toy House, royal palace, and factory, while Sanji shopped elsewhere and Issho gave the lost Zoro directions.
• Luffy defeated Chinjao, restoring the point of his skull and breaking the arena platform; Chinjao was later rescued, and Block D’s fight was paused for repairs.
• Cavendish attacked Luffy, and Chinjao chased him until Neji caught Luffy and asked Rebecca to explain Dressrosa’s plight to him.
• After hearing Rebecca’s account, Luffy resolved to help bring down Doflamingo, and Neji led Rebecca into the repaired arena for Block D.
• Neji knocked out nearby contestants with his glare and easily sent others crashing into the platform, drawing Gatz’s announcement that a dark horse had emerged.

Neji reached the center of the arena and used Spirit Ball Rotation to sweep away most of the contestants. Cavendish and Orlumbus then joined forces to attack him, while Rebecca remained at the ring’s edge.

• Neji defeated Rollinger Logan with a strike as the commander entered his one-meter range.
• Contestants surrounded Neji at the center of the ring and attacked him with weapons and firearms.
• Neji unleashed Spirit Ball Rotation, sending attackers flying and leaving Cavendish, Orlumbus, and Rebecca among those still standing.
• Cavendish and Orlumbus moved to attack Neji together, while Rebecca was ignored.
• Cavendish fired Blue Bird sword energy at Neji as Orlumbus leaped overhead and swung his whip.

Neji defeated Cavendish and Orlumbus with Lion's Roar, then challenged Rebecca to fight and urged her to wield authority as well as protect the people. As Orlumbus charged him with a bear hug, Neji made clear that he hated being hugged by men.

• Neji's Lion's Roar disrupted Cavendish and Orlumbus, leaving Cavendish wounded and Orlumbus sprawled on the arena platform.
• Rebecca refused to surrender, and Neji invited her to fight at full strength while the spectators jeered at her.
• Neji explained that the royal family and the people both had duties to protect one another, then shattered Rebecca's sword and pushed her to attack him.
• Rebecca swung her broken sword at Neji, collapsed when she could not overcome him, and heard his advice about a king maintaining authority.
• Orlumbus charged Neji with a crushing bear hug as Izumi and Koala watched without concern, and Neji objected to being hugged by a man.

Neji won Block D by defeating Orlumbus and Cavendish, then escaped the Seastone prison with Rebecca as Sabo prepared to claim the Flame-Flame Fruit. The chapter left Neji and Rebecca secretly moving on while Shadow Clones disguised them in the arena.

• Neji defeated Orlumbus with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and Armament Haki.
• Neji put Cavendish to sleep, fought his Rommel's Sickle Weasel personality, and knocked him unconscious.
• Rebecca surrendered, making Neji the winner of Block D.
• After the contestants fell into a Seastone prison, Neji told Rebecca they would leave rather than fight for the fruit, and Sabo revealed himself as Lucy and said he would take the Flame-Flame Fruit.
• Neji used Shadow Clones and the Transformation Technique to leave a disguised Rebecca behind, then escaped with the real Rebecca.
• Neji and Rebecca's doubles appeared beside Izumi in the stands, took her hand, and vanished with her.

Neji, Izumi, and Rebecca infiltrated Doflamingo’s underground market and discovered that Sugar turned defeated fighters into toys who were forced to work. After watching Cavendish become a toy and seeing memories of him vanish, they confronted Sugar and Trebol in Cadre Tower.

• Neji brought Izumi and Rebecca to the underground market and showed them the tower where Sugar transformed defeated contestants into toys.
• Cavendish awoke restrained in slime, and Sugar turned him into a toy and imposed a contract forcing him to obey the family.
• Cavendish was sent to haul crates, while Neji and Izumi realized Sugar’s power had erased their memories of him.
• Neji told Izumi to handle Trebol with Fire Release, and the three confronted Sugar and Trebol.
• Trebol told Sugar not to turn Rebecca into a toy because Doflamingo wanted to deal with her, then hurled a powerful glob of slime at the intruders.