Chapter Summaries

Sasuke tested the powers of her newly awakened Mangekyō Sharingan, but overuse caused pain and eye fatigue. Neji began experimenting with containing Amaterasu as a heat source, while Sasuke learned that using the Mangekyō could diminish her eyesight.

• Neji noticed Izumi watching him strangely, then let Sasuke test her abilities at the testing ground.
• Sasuke used Amaterasu and shaped its black flames with Katon: Kagutsuchi before her right eye began to hurt.
• Izumi took Sasuke for an examination, while Neji collected the remaining Amaterasu flames and started designing a Sealing Jutsu to contain them for energy use.
• Izumi found that Sasuke's eyes were severely fatigued from overuse and told her that her eyesight had declined slightly.
• Sasuke remembered the man's words that she was his light and began to understand the Sharingan through her own experience.

Neji explained that the masked man who helped Itachi was Obito Uchiha, not Madara, and revealed Obito’s role in the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha. Sasuke learned more about the history behind her clan’s massacre and was left considering how past choices had shaped the present.

• Izumi told Neji that Sasuke’s body was unharmed, her vision had declined slightly from Mangekyō Sharingan use, and Orochimaru’s Chakra and Curse Mark were gone.
• Sasuke studied her examination results and resolved to kill Danzo and the man with the other Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Sasuke asked Neji whether the man who helped Itachi was Madara Uchiha.
• Neji revealed that the masked man was Obito Uchiha, Kakashi’s former teammate, and said he had controlled the Nine-Tails and attacked Konoha.
• Neji suppressed Sasuke’s reopened Mangekyō Sharingan and explained how Madara, Obito, and Black Zetsu had contributed to the tragedy.

Neji explained his plans to Sasuke, including his cooperation with the Masked Man and the scheme to hand over a substitute for the Nine-Tails. Sasuke agreed to help him kill Danzo and the Masked Man, then left to process what she had learned; afterward, Izumi apologized for misunderstanding Neji and Sasuke.

• Sasuke asked Neji what he intended to do, and he said he wanted a more comfortable life and asked whether she would help him.
• Sasuke agreed to help Neji kill Danzo and the Masked Man, and Neji told her he was cooperating with the Masked Man to gather the remaining tailed beasts.
• Neji clarified that he would not hand Naruto over or extract the Nine-Tails from him, and explained that Naruto held only the Yang half while the Yin half would not be handed over either.
• Neji showed Sasuke Gaara and explained that Chiyo had revived him after the One-Tail was extracted, then ended the conversation and sent Sasuke to rest.
• After Sasuke left, Izumi embraced Neji and apologized for misunderstanding him and Sasuke.

Neji reassured Izumi about his relationships and discussed Karin’s attachment to him. Elsewhere, Deidara fought the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata, and won, only to find Tobi missing when he needed help carrying his captive.

• Neji told Izumi that Karin’s future depended on Karin herself, and Izumi decided to speak with her.
• Deidara fought Utakata while Tobi mocked him from the sidelines, and Utakata’s corrosive acid damaged Deidara’s clay bird.
• Deidara kicked Tobi off the bird and continued fighting alone as Obito appeared and watched, intending to prevent Deidara from taking the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Deidara defeated Utakata after a prolonged battle and called for Tobi to help carry him, but Tobi was nowhere to be found.

Neji and Obito advanced their plan after Deidara captured the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, while Tsunade pushed for a joint campaign against the weakened Akatsuki. Pain learned that Zabuza had appeared as the Three-Tails Jinchuriki and vowed to capture him once the sealing ritual ended.

• Deidara collapsed after defeating the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, and Obito took both of them away through Kamui.
• Neji met Obito in the Land of Water, obtained a fragment from the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, and left to await Pain.
• Obito sent Tobi to care for Deidara and the Six-Tails Jinchuriki while he prepared to inform Pain about the Three-Tails.
• Tsunade learned that Akatsuki had captured the Six-Tails Jinchuriki and called for the four other great ninja villages to join an operation against the organization.
• Pain summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and began the sealing ritual with Zetsu, who reported seeing Zabuza using a Tailed Beast Cloak.
• Pain confirmed he would personally capture Zabuza after the sealing ritual was complete.

Kisame and Zabuza fought to a draw at the Land of Waves base, and Neji questioned Kisame about the Moon Eye Plan and the Masked Man. After Neji revealed his identity, Kisame expected to be killed, while Neji confirmed some of his intelligence and began finalizing his plan.

• Kisame and Zabuza discussed why they had defected from Kirigakure and what they wanted to protect.
• Zabuza challenged Kisame, and the two fought fiercely until their battle ended in a draw.
• Neji arrived, then took Kisame to the hall and asked what he knew about the Moon Eye Plan and the Masked Man.
• Neji removed his mask and revealed his face to Kisame, who recognized him and assumed he would not be allowed to leave.
• Neji outlined information about the plan to gauge Kisame's reactions, then sent him back and began finalizing his own plan.

Jiraiya returned to Konoha with a confirmed lead on Akatsuki’s base and prepared to infiltrate it despite Tsunade’s fears. After he left on his mission, Tsunade dragged Neji off to keep her company.

• Tsunade vented her frustration over the other villages rejecting her requests by sparring with Neji, and Jiraiya arrived in time to see their fight.
• At a hot pot meal, Jiraiya told Tsunade, Neji, Kakashi, and Shizune that he had confirmed Akatsuki’s whereabouts and planned to investigate their base.
• Tsunade urged Jiraiya not to go, but he insisted that the dangerous mission was his duty and that he was the only one suited to carry it out.
• Tsunade reluctantly let Jiraiya leave, and he joked that she should bet on his death before setting out at sunset.
• Kakashi nudged Neji toward the grieving Tsunade, who grabbed him and dragged him away to drink with her.

Jiraiya entered Amegakure to investigate the Akatsuki, while Neji secretly arrived and watched the village through the Tenseigan. After Konan identified Jiraiya, Nagato ordered Pain to kill his former teacher, and Konan went to confront him first.

• Jiraiya reached Amegakure, and an unseen figure summoned Zabuza to stand by as Obito reacted to a change in the plan.
• Pain detected an intruder, stopped the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, and sent Konan’s paper butterflies to search the village.
• Neji disguised himself, bought buns from an elderly shopkeeper, and heard that another outsider had arrived.
• Konan identified Jiraiya, and Nagato ordered Animal Path Pain to kill him.
• Konan left to meet Jiraiya first while Neji watched and reflected that Nagato had abandoned hope and chosen to shape the world through his own strength.

Jiraiya confronted his former student Konan in Amegakure, then faced Animal Path Pain, whom he recognized as Nagato. As Konan broke free of Jiraiya’s restraint, Neji waited in a shop for the fight to reveal the information he needed.

• Jiraiya rescued a controlled Amegakure ninja from Konan and fought her with fire, oil, and his hair.
• Jiraiya questioned Konan about Pain and the fate of her former teammates, while she said Akatsuki acted according to its own ideals.
• Animal Path Pain appeared and confirmed that Jiraiya was an outsider, and Jiraiya recognized him as Nagato.
• Animal Path Pain summoned a crab that covered the reservoir floor with foam, washing away the oil and freeing Konan.
• Neji rested in a shop and waited for the fight to reveal information so he could make his entrance.

Jiraiya confronted Nagato’s Animal Path Pain over his plan to use the Tailed Beasts to create a weapon that would impose peace through fear. Neji intervened and attacked Pain with five armored puppets, but Pain revealed the Six Paths, leaving Jiraiya stunned to see Yahiko among them.

• Animal Path Pain told Jiraiya that Nagato planned to use the Tailed Beasts to create a weapon powerful enough to destroy a nation and make the world fear conflict.
• Neji arrived, rejected Pain’s claim to godhood, and sent five armored puppets to attack him.
• The puppets drove Pain from his summoned lizard and unleashed a coordinated assault, but Pain survived and summoned the other Paths.
• Jiraiya recognized Yahiko among the figures beside Pain and saw that Yahiko had Nagato’s Rinnegan.

Jiraiya confronted Deva Path Pain, who revealed that Yahiko and the other Paths were corpses, while the Paths fought Jiraiya’s allies. Neji demonstrated overwhelming Haki and fired a Charged Nen Cannon at Pain, who answered with Shinra Tensei.

• Jiraiya recognized Yahiko and demanded to know what had happened to Nagato, but Deva Path Pain said the six Paths were corpses and called himself a god.
• The Paths split up to fight the surrounding puppets, while Animal Path Pain summoned beasts to attack Jiraiya and Gamaken.
• Gamaken knocked down a charging bull and rhinoceros, while Jiraiya realized Nagato had not yet joined the battle himself.
• Neji shattered the centipede with Haki and stopped the Hell Hound with Conqueror’s Haki, briefly disrupting Pain’s control over the corpses.
• Neji unleashed a Charged Nen Cannon at Deva Path Pain, who raised his hands and used Shinra Tensei.

Neji overwhelmed Deva Path Pain with a powerful Energy Blast, while Jiraiya sent intelligence to Konoha and prepared to continue the fight. Neji confronted Nagato about his false goal, but Pain insisted he was a god and threatened to destroy him.

• Neji's Energy Blast crushed Deva Path Pain's repulsive defense and blasted him through the reservoir into the lake, while Neji gathered the defeated Paths' bodies.
• Gamaken shielded Jiraiya from falling rubble but was injured, so Jiraiya sent him back to Mount Myōboku.
• Jiraiya recorded his intelligence in code, sent it away with a summoned toad, then summoned Fukasaku and Shima and began preparing for Sage Mode.
• Konan stopped the rain ninja from joining the battle and flew up to watch over the lake outside Amegakure.
• Deva Path Pain rose from the lake, and Neji told Nagato that he had lost his guiding purpose after Yahiko's death.
• Pain dismissed Neji's accusation, declared himself a god, and threatened to destroy anyone who stood in his way.

Neji and Deva Path Pain clashed over the lake, each displaying power that stunned Jiraiya, Konan, and the people of Amegakure. Pain then launched Planetary Devastation to seal Neji, whose body began rising toward its gravitational core.

• Neji mocked Pain's claim to godhood by recalling a man who had made the same boast before being defeated.
• Pain used Ultra Shinra Tensei to drive Neji back and send the lake water surging toward Amegakure.
• Neji reversed the tidal wave with gravitational force, drawing it back across the lake.
• Jiraiya and the two sages watched from inside the toad, recognizing that they could not interfere in the battle.
• Neji demanded Pain's Rinnegan, but Pain refused and cast Planetary Devastation, pulling Neji, lake water, and silt toward a black point.

Neji shattered Pain’s Planetary Devastation with a devastating attack, while Obito betrayed Nagato to take the Rinnegan. The chapter ended with Nagato dying beside Konan as an unknown figure emerged from the shadows.

• Neji’s golden attack broke Pain’s Planetary Devastation and carved a vast fissure through the land.
• Black Zetsu urged Obito to strike first, and Obito vanished to deal with Nagato.
• Obito stabbed Nagato and announced that he would take the Rinnegan and take over.
• Konan returned and attacked Obito, but he used Nagato as a shield and fought her off.
• Obito removed Nagato’s eyes and escaped with them, leaving Nagato to die beside Konan.
• A figure stepped out of the shadows behind Nagato.

Neji took control of Konan and arranged for Zabuza and Haku to seize Amegakure and erase Akatsuki’s traces. He ordered Black Zetsu to accelerate Kabuto’s preparations for war against the Five Great Shinobi Villages as Obito prepared to pursue Infinite Tsukuyomi.

• Neji took Nagato’s corpse, extracted Konan’s memories, and left the secret location with her.
• Neji gave Zabuza information about Amegakure and ordered him to take control, erase Akatsuki’s traces, and work with Haku.
• Neji used Konan to issue orders, suppressed Hanzo’s remnants, and put Zabuza in charge of Amegakure.
• Neji told Black Zetsu to hurry Kabuto’s preparations for Impure World Reincarnation and have Obito prepare the Ten-Tails, then handed over the Three-Tails.
• Neji returned to the Land of Waves with Konan, who underwent the same process as Yugito and gained access to the half of the Eight-Tails inside Neji.
• Black Zetsu told Obito about the coming Five Kage Summit and Neji’s plan to declare war, and Obito agreed that the scheme suited their goal of casting Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Jiraiya returned to Konoha with urgent news about the D Organization, while Neji used Kabuto’s Impure World Reincarnation to attack the shinobi villages with revived fighters. The Five Kage agreed to meet in the Land of Iron to discuss an alliance against the threat.

• Jiraiya found no trace of Konan or Nagato in Amegakure and hurried back to Konoha with news of the D Organization and the Akatsuki’s plans.
• Kabuto used White Zetsu clones as sacrifices to revive dead shinobi, and Neji sealed them to gain experience before ordering their deployment to the villages.
• Neji made Kabuto repeat the summoning process, sending waves of revived shinobi to attack the major villages, while Konoha and the Sand Ninja used sealing techniques against them.
• The attacks alarmed village leaders, who feared the enemy might also revive powerful shinobi from the past.
• After Konoha’s latest intelligence reached the other villages, the Kage agreed to hold a Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron to discuss forming an alliance.

Neji explained that he had released the defective Impure World Reincarnation fighters to stir the living’s memories and deepen their appreciation for peace, while the villages interpreted their final warning as a sign that war would begin at the next full moon. As the Five Kage Summit was arranged in the Land of Iron, Obito and Black Zetsu prepared to pursue the remaining Jinchuriki and advance the Moon Eye Plan.

• Neji told Izumi that the reincarnated dead would gather those resistant to peace and make the living remember the value of their peaceful lives.
• The Five Great Shinobi Villages interpreted the sealed fighters’ final words as a warning of an attack at the next full moon, roughly half a month away.
• Jiraiya’s information about Amegakure led the villages to investigate the enormous Abyssal Passage from the Land of Rain to the Land of Wind.
• Ōnoki, the Fourth Raikage, and Mei Terumi agreed to attend an emergency Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron in three days.
• Obito learned that Neji had moved quickly, then told Black Zetsu to watch the remaining Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails Jinchuriki while he pursued a backup plan.

Neji arranged for the Gold and Silver Brothers’ sealed cocoons to be sent to Kabuto, hoping Obito would target Killer B and clash with the Cloud Ninja. In Konoha, Neji modified Tenten’s weapons with sealing functions as the villages prepared for war.

• Neji ordered Ai-chan to send the Sealed Cocoons containing the Gold and Silver Brothers to Kabuto and told Black Zetsu to receive them.
• Neji anticipated that Obito would try to capture Killer B, who would likely be guarded by the Fourth Raikage.
• The five Kage prepared to travel to the Land of Iron as the villages readied themselves for war against the Impure World Reincarnation army.
• Neji’s Shadow Clone began modifying Tenten’s well-used guns and specialized ninja tools, reassuring her that their scars showed how well they had protected her.
• Neji integrated Chakra Metal threads into the weapons so their bullets could carry Sealing Jutsu and seal anyone they hit.

Obito used the Gold and Silver Brothers to obtain the Nine-Tails’ remaining Chakra, leaving only the Eight-Tails before he could complete the Ten-Tails Divine Tree. As Obito headed for the Eight-Tails, the Five Kage Summit learned Killer B was in danger and saw Gyuki transform nearby.

• Obito unsealed the Gold and Silver Brothers, who attacked him in their Tailed Beast Transformations, but their strikes passed through him.
• Neji sensed the seal’s release and continued studying the Six Paths Ninja Tools while modifying Tenten’s tools in Konoha.
• Obito had the Ten-Tails absorb the Nine-Tails’ Chakra from the Gold and Silver Brothers, then ordered Black Zetsu to take him to the Eight-Tails’ location.
• At the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, the Fourth Raikage sensed Killer B was in danger, and Tsunade warned that the Akatsuki Organization must not obtain the Eight-Tails.
• Gyuki transformed into its full Tailed Beast form near the summit.

Obito attacked Killer B, but the Fourth Raikage and the other Kage drove him off before he could capture the Eight-Tails. The Five Great Shinobi Villages then agreed to unite against the Impure World Reincarnation army and protect the last two Jinchuriki.

• Obito tried to seize Killer B, who transformed into the Eight-Tails and fought back as the Fourth Raikage arrived.
• The Fourth Raikage and Killer B attacked Obito together while the other Kage rushed to the forest.
• Obito escaped through his vortex before the other Kage could trap him, and Killer B reverted to human form.
• Tsunade asked whether anyone still opposed an alliance, and the Fourth Raikage accepted cooperation after apologizing for Killer B.
• The five Kage shook hands and agreed to fight the Impure World Reincarnation army and protect the final two Jinchuriki.