Chapter Summaries

Hinata discovered that her Flying Thunder God kunai had been switched, and Kurenai decided the team should withdraw and report their findings. Three tattooed enemies surrounded them, so Kurenai assigned each member an opponent and Hinata prepared to fight the woman.

• Hinata noticed that the kunai Bai Hao had given her was missing and warned Kurenai that someone had switched it.
• Kurenai decided that the team should retreat and report the suspicious base to Tsunade.
• A tattooed man on a giant bird attacked the team with explosive feathers as they tried to escape.
• A second tattooed man emerged from the ground, while a tattooed woman pursued them on giant hounds, surrounding the team.
• Kurenai assigned herself the aerial enemy, Hinata the woman, and Kiba and Shino Aburame the remaining man.

Hinata used Flint Release Mode to defeat Lady Two and Mr. One, then rescued Kurenai Yuhi and knocked Mr. Three from the sky. As Kurenai called for everyone to fall back, the stronghold’s master was expected to appear.

• Hinata activated Flint Release Mode and killed Lady Two with Flint Release: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
• Hinata joined Kiba and Shino and killed Mr. One with the same technique.
• Hinata rescued Kurenai Yuhi by blocking Mr. Three’s feather bombs with Flint Release: Heavenly Spin.
• Hinata attacked Mr. Three with Spark Release: Eight Trigrams Air Palm Consecutive Strike and sent him crashing down.
• Kurenai Yuhi ordered everyone to fall back as the stronghold’s master was about to appear.

Hiruko confronted Kurenai, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino, revealing that he knew their specialties and planned to become a god. His Storm, Swift, and Steel Releases overwhelmed the group, but Hinata countered with Flint Release as the battle continued.

• Hiruko appeared before the group, identified himself as a former Konoha ninja, and recognized Kurenai, Kiba, and Shino.
• Kurenai ordered an attack while Hinata began preparing Sage Mode, Kiba charged, Shino sent his insects, and Kurenai moved in to use genjutsu.
• Hiruko used Storm Release to destroy Shino's insects and knock Kiba and Kurenai away, then used Swift Release to strike them again.
• Hiruko attacked Hinata, whose Lightning Release briefly numbed him, while Shino's kunai bounced off Hiruko's Steel Release.
• Hinata activated Flint Release Mode and fired Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palms, but Hiruko caught the attacks with his palms and announced Nether Release: Absorbing Hole.

Hinata crippled Hiruko with Flint Release, and Black Zetsu learned of his defeat. Believing the Black-Clad Organization posed a growing threat, Black Zetsu sought a way to create stronger fighters and obtained the Chimera Technique.

• Hiruko’s Dark Style absorbed Hinata’s attack, but the Lightning Release Chakra left in his body numbed him.
• Hinata struck Hiruko’s acupuncture points with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, crippling him with flames and lightning.
• White Zetsu told Obito that Hinata had defeated Hiruko without using Roar of the Thunder Flame Dragon.
• Black Zetsu abandoned the investigation into Bai Hao and decided to find a way to counter the Black-Clad Organization.
• Black Zetsu met a White Zetsu clone near Mount Sumeru and received the stolen Chimera Technique scroll.

Black Zetsu gave Orochimaru the Chimera Technique and powerful individuals’ blood for research, then set out to investigate a mysterious high-tech stronghold. Meanwhile, Team 7 found the injured Shibuki, who woke to learn that the huge lake where he had collapsed had been destroyed and replaced by a forest.

• Black Zetsu decided Hidan might benefit from the Chimera Technique and delivered the technique and several tubes of blood to Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru agreed to study the Chimera Technique and the blood, while privately wondering whether his forbidden techniques would help the Akatsuki Organization stand against the Black-Clad Organization.
• Black Zetsu and White Zetsu traveled underground as Black Zetsu searched for strange places and discovered a high-tech stronghold he could not enter.
• Shibuki fainted while traveling toward the Land of Fire to seek help rescuing Takigakure’s Jinchuriki, and Sakura treated him after Team 7 found him.
• Shibuki woke and asked where the huge lake had gone, and Naruto explained that their friend had accidentally destroyed it and it had turned into a forest.

Shibuki told Bai Hao that the Akatsuki Organization had kidnapped the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, and Bai Hao devised a plan to intercept them when they came for the Six-Tails. Bai Hao left to locate Might Guy, while Naruto and Sasuke waited for him.

• Shibuki recognized Bai Hao as the Wood Release user who had rescued Gaara and asked him to save the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Bai Hao explained that finding the Akatsuki Organization would be difficult because Obito had hidden the captive in another dimension.
• Bai Hao proposed tracking the Akatsuki by waiting for them to target the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, and Shibuki agreed to leave the mission to him.
• Bai Hao said they should find Might Guy, who was searching for Utakata, and teleported away using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Bai Hao returned to Team 7 after reporting his mission to Tsunade, and they continued toward the Land of Water to find Might Guy’s team. At Jinyuan, Utakata escaped two criminal organizations but left behind a White Zetsu clone that the criminals mistook for the legendary Ginseng Fruit.

• Bai Hao used the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach Konoha, reported to Tsunade, and returned to Team 7.
• Bai Hao and Team 7 traveled for two days toward the border near the Land of Water and found that Might Guy’s team had run into trouble.
• Two criminal organizations in Jinyuan pursued the injured Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, hoping to sell information about him.
• Utakata fought off the organizations’ ninja teams, suffered severe injuries, and escaped while his pursuers were unconscious.
• The criminals found a weak White Zetsu clone caught in the battle and decided it was a valuable Ginseng Fruit.

Might Guy’s Team struggled to find Utakata after rumors about White Zetsu drew rival underground forces into town. Bai Hao and Team 7 arrived, and the group learned that the gangs had mistaken White Zetsu for a chakra-enhancing “Ginseng Fruit.”

• Underground forces gathered in town to fight over the White Zetsu, leaving Might Guy’s Team unable to learn where Utakata was.
• Rock Lee wondered whether eating White Zetsu could let him use ninjutsu, and Tenten corrected his misunderstanding about its effects.
• Might Guy told his team that fighting had broken out and that they would have to track Utakata themselves.
• Two ninjas attacked Might Guy’s Team, but Bai Hao arrived with Team 7 and knocked them away with a Rasengan.
• An old ninja questioned whether the Konoha shinobi intended to seize the White Zetsu, and Might Guy denied it while asking for information about Utakata.
• Bai Hao realized the gangs had acquired White Zetsu and believed his earlier explanation that it was a Ginseng Fruit.

Bai Hao used his sensory abilities to search for Utakata after learning the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki had been captured by the Akatsuki. He found Kakashi and Team 10 near the Tsuchigumo Clan’s territory and returned to explain the discovery before they investigated together.

• Might Guy finished questioning the others, and Bai Hao explained that the Akatsuki had taken the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki while he searched for clues to their whereabouts.
• Bai Hao and the group traveled to the devastated mountain range where Utakata had disappeared.
• Bai Hao used the Power of Earth to locate White Zetsu underground and learned they were searching for Utakata but had not found him.
• Bai Hao searched farther afield and discovered Kakashi and Team 10 near the Tsuchigumo Clan’s territory.
• Bai Hao suspected Utakata had returned to the Tsuchigumo Clan because of the original story’s events, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Might Guy’s group.

Bai Hao met Kakashi and Team 10 while searching for Utakata, then used the Power of Earth to investigate underground after finding no signs of him nearby. Kakashi and Might Guy were astonished when Bai Hao vanished without leaving detectable traces.

• Bai Hao’s group followed his directions and encountered Kakashi and Team 10, who said they had found no clues about Utakata.
• Kakashi explained that his team had protected the Tsuchigumo Clan from bandits and would remain nearby to guard the clan’s descendants.
• Naruto complained that the Akatsuki had already captured the person his team was supposed to protect, making their mission fruitless.
• Bai Hao sensed the area but found no nearby person with a large amount of Chakra, so he considered that Utakata might be absent or badly injured.
• Bai Hao told the other team leaders he would investigate and used the Power of Earth to move underground, leaving Kakashi unable to sense him.

Bai Hao found the unconscious Utakata and told Hotaru and Tonbei that the Akatsuki Organization was hunting him. Hotaru refused to leave her clan or give up on Utakata as her hoped-for master, and Tonbei realized Utakata was a Jinchuriki.

• Bai Hao used Earth Release to find Utakata, who lay unconscious near En no Gyōja’s gravestone.
• Hotaru and Tonbei were startled when Bai Hao emerged from the ground, then relaxed after seeing his Konoha forehead protector.
• Bai Hao said he had come to take Utakata, but Hotaru stood in his way and asked to make Utakata her master.
• Bai Hao suggested Hotaru go to Konoha with Utakata, but she refused because she was the Tsuchigumo Clan’s heir.
• Bai Hao explained that Utakata was a Kirigakure missing-nin now pursued by the Akatsuki Organization, and Tonbei realized Utakata was a Jinchuriki.

Bai Hao took the Six-Tails Jinchuriki Utakata away, while Ying asked him to teach her self-defense and tried to become his disciple. White Zetsu reported the abduction to his main body, which learned that Bai Hao had taken the Jinchuriki.

• Bai Hao warned Ying that Utakata was a Jinchuriki and could bring danger to everyone around him, then carried him away with a Wood Golem.
• Tonbei recognized Bai Hao's Wood Style and begged him to teach Ying self-defense.
• Ying knelt before Bai Hao and asked him to accept her as a disciple, arguing that training would help protect her clan and fulfill Konoha's agreement.
• Bai Hao demonstrated the Rasengan by shattering a large stone, then burrowed underground with Utakata and disappeared.
• White Zetsu reported to his main body that Bai Hao had taken the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.

Bai Hao captured Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, and returned with him to the temporary Konoha camp. Meanwhile, Hidan was stolen from Konoha, prompting Tsunade to suspect the Akatsuki Organization and order a search.

• Black Zetsu accepted that Bai Hao had taken the Six-Tails Jinchuriki and said he would suspend the plan while preparing another scheme to revive his mother.
• Ying began training to learn Bai Hao's Rasengan so she could preserve the Tsuchigumo Clan's inheritance.
• Bai Hao returned to the temporary camp with Utakata, and Sakura and Ino treated the injured Jinchuriki.
• Bai Hao and his companions left the camp to report their mission, while Kakashi stayed behind and struggled with his feelings about Obito and Asuma.
• Tsunade learned that Hidan had been stolen from Konoha and ordered a village-wide investigation and an Anbu search for Akatsuki traces.

Tsunade told Jiraiya that Kurenai Yuhi had killed Hiruko and uncovered his Chimera Technique, which could steal Kekkei Genkai and add them to its user. After learning Orochimaru and the Akatsuki Organization were conducting experiments and might use Hidan, Jiraiya realized the danger and resolved to stop them.

• Tsunade cursed Danzo for failing to keep Hidan under watch after Root had received permission to study his immortal body.
• Jiraiya returned to Konoha and told Tsunade that Orochimaru had joined the Akatsuki Organization in a secret laboratory where they fused people and animals.
• Tsunade explained that Kurenai Yuhi and Team 8 had encountered Hiruko at a secret base, where Kurenai killed him and recovered documents about the Chimera Technique.
• Tsunade revealed that the Chimera Technique could strip targets of their Kekkei Genkai and incorporate those abilities into its user.
• Jiraiya imagined Hidan gaining Kakuzu's abilities and concluded that the Akatsuki Organization had to be stopped.

Jiraiya decided to investigate Orochimaru’s secret laboratory alone, despite Tsunade’s warnings, and left to confront his former students. After Bai Hao returned to Konoha, Tsunade told him that Hidan had been rescued from Root, possibly by Obito Uchiha.

• Jiraiya explained to Tsunade that Amegakure’s civilians trusted the Akatsuki Organization, while the Akatsuki had also waged wars for hidden clients such as Rasa and Ōnoki.
• Jiraiya insisted that he had to investigate Orochimaru’s secret laboratory and refused Tsunade’s offer to wait for Bai Hao.
• Tsunade urged Jiraiya to return alive and to send a message by toad if anything happened, and Jiraiya left without turning back.
• Bai Hao and his companions returned to Konoha and submitted their mission report.
• Tsunade told Bai Hao and the others that Danzo had handed Hidan to Root for research, but someone had rescued him, possibly Obito Uchiha.

Tsunade told Bai Hao that the Akatsuki Organization had targeted Hinata’s team and obtained Hiruko’s Chimera Technique for Orochimaru to research. Bai Hao moved up his plan to destroy the Akatsuki Organization, while Tsunade remained concerned about Orochimaru using the technique on Hidan.

• Tsunade explained that someone disguised as her and sent Kurenai Yuhi and the others to Hiruko’s secret base, though they returned safely.
• Bai Hao suspected the Akatsuki Organization had been testing Hinata and decided to move up his plan to wipe out the organization.
• Tsunade revealed that Hiruko had researched the Chimera Technique, which let its user steal and fuse other ninjas’ Kekkei Genkai.
• Tsunade said Jiraiya had reported that Orochimaru rejoined the Akatsuki Organization and received the Chimera Technique to study.
• Bai Hao assured Tsunade that Hidan would not be a serious threat, even if Orochimaru used the technique on him.

Bai Hao learned that Jiraiya had gone to investigate the Akatsuki Organization’s base and decided to support him before he could be killed. Before departing with Team 7, Bai Hao gave Hinata a pill to evolve her Byakugan into the Tenseigan.

• Bai Hao agreed to go support Jiraiya at the Akatsuki Organization’s base, intending to save him and deal with those targeting Hinata.
• Bai Hao told Team 7 to rest and meet him at the village entrance in two hours.
• Bai Hao visited Hinata and checked that she was unharmed after White Zetsu had tricked her.
• Bai Hao gave Hinata an Otsutsuki Clan Chakra Energy Pill and explained that it would evolve her Byakugan into the Tenseigan.
• Hinata swallowed the pill without asking what it was, and Bai Hao told her to expect changes until her eyes turned sky blue.

Bai Hao sent the Spirit Pavilion to search for Black Zetsu, while Black Zetsu encountered Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and learned about his past with Kaguya. Black Zetsu welcomed the chance to ally with Isshiki, but Isshiki dismissed their circumstances as unequal.

• Bai Hao said goodbye to Hinata, returned to his bookstore, and ordered the Spirit Pavilion to search for Black Zetsu.
• Ōtsutsuki Isshiki revealed to Black Zetsu that he had come to the planet with Kaguya, who betrayed him and left him surviving inside a monk.
• Black Zetsu realized that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki led the Shell Organization and felt delighted at the prospect of gaining a powerful ally.
• Black Zetsu suggested that he and Ōtsutsuki Isshiki were in similar circumstances, but Isshiki arrogantly rejected the comparison.

Black Zetsu proposed an alliance with Ōtsutsuki Isshiki against the Black-Clad Organization, while secretly pursuing his own plans to resurrect Kaguya. In Konoha, Bai Hao told Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura that Jiraiya was in trouble and led them out as the first strike force.

• Black Zetsu recognized Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's resentment toward the Black-Clad Organization and proposed that they cooperate against it.
• Ōtsutsuki Isshiki considered using the alliance to further his goals and formed a new plan to swallow Kaguya Otsutsuki.
• Black Zetsu told Ōtsutsuki Isshiki that he wanted to resurrect Mother and pretended to advocate reconciliation between them.
• Amado worried that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and Zetsu were going to cooperate, but feared trying to send another message after Zetsu intercepted his previous one.
• Bai Hao summoned Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura at Konoha's gates and told them Jiraiya was in trouble with the Akatsuki Organization.
• Bai Hao led the three as the first strike force and warned them that reinforcements were following.

Jiraiya infiltrated Orochimaru’s secret island laboratory to discover and stop his plans, but a sealed stone door blocked his way. Inside, Orochimaru and Kabuto conducted an experiment and confirmed that Test Subject 12 had learned Earth Grudge Fear.

• Jiraiya reached the uninhabited island where the Akatsuki Organization’s laboratory was hidden and infiltrated it.
• Jiraiya found a stone door protected by a barrier that required several talismans to be removed simultaneously.
• Jiraiya hid nearby and waited for a chance to enter without raising an alarm.
• Orochimaru asked Kabuto about Test Subject 12 during an experiment, and Kabuto reported that the subject had successfully learned Earth Grudge Fear.
• Orochimaru expressed satisfaction with the experiment’s results.