Chapter Summaries

Ye Zi and White Zetsu returned to the battlefield to collect corpses and recover Ao’s Byakugan. They found the wounded Mei Terumi, but Ye Zi killed her and had White Zetsu collect her remains for Impure World Reincarnation.

• Ye Zi ordered White Zetsu to gather material from the Mist ninja corpses for Impure World Reincarnation.
• Ye Zi removed Ao’s Byakugan and stored it in a glass bottle.
• Ye Zi found the badly wounded Mei Terumi beneath a corpse and lifted her by the neck.
• White Zetsu suggested killing Mei Terumi, while Ye Zi discussed preserving or experimenting on her because of her potential and Kekkei Genkai.
• Black Zetsu revealed he could control Mei Terumi’s will, but Ye Zi snapped her neck before using the ability.
• Ye Zi told White Zetsu to continue collecting materials, and White Zetsu began harvesting Mei Terumi’s corpse.

After helping destroy the Mist ninja force, Ye Zi studied Nagato’s abilities and worried that her own strength was insufficient to take his Rinnegan. Nagato summoned the assembled members and ordered them to destroy the allied forces of Sunagakure and Konoha while capturing the One-Tail.

• Ye Zi and White Zetsu returned to Amegakure after burying the Mist ninja corpses, and Ye Zi reviewed Nagato’s abilities while questioning how she could grow stronger.
• Kotoha, Shin, Scorpion, Juzo, and Kakuzu arrived in Amegakure, and Nagato noted that Kakuzu’s latest partner had died.
• Nagato summoned Ye Zi and the others after learning that Sunagakure and Konoha had allied and sent elite shinobi against them.
• Ye Zi told Scorpion that the White Fang was among Konoha’s forces, and Scorpion eagerly welcomed the chance to face him.
• Nagato gave the group two objectives: destroy the forces of Sunagakure and Konoha, and capture the One-Tail in Sunagakure.

Nagato assigned Ye Zi and Akatsuki’s forces to intercept the Sand and Konoha strike teams while Konan and Kakuzu went after the One-Tail. In a tavern, Tsunade received a message from Jiraiya, reacted with fury, and left with Shizune.

• Nagato ordered Kakuzu and Konan to capture the One-Tail and tasked Ye Zi with leading Akatsuki members and Rain ninja against the Sand and Konoha forces.
• Scorpion insisted on facing Konoha’s White Fang, and Ye Zi promised to help him eliminate the famed ninja while their allies held off the rest.
• Nagato appointed Empty Chen to command the operation and told the fighters to retreat to the Land of Rain if they failed.
• Jiraiya’s toad delivered a scroll to Tsunade in a tavern, and she read its contents before her drunken expression turned solemn and angry.
• Tsunade smashed a tavern wall with one punch, told Shizune to leave money for the damage, and walked out with a bottle of wine.

After reading Jiraiya’s warning that Ye Zi had mastered Wood Release and might threaten Konoha, Tsunade rejected his advice to return to the village and decided to find Ye Zi herself. She and Shizune set out without knowing his whereabouts, with Tsunade furious over the possibility that Ye Zi had killed Dan.

• Tsunade walked through town with Shizune following as Jiraiya’s message confirmed her suspicions and fueled her anger.
• Tsunade allowed Shizune to read Jiraiya’s scroll, which reported that Ye Zi could use Wood Release: Wood Forest and warned that he might threaten Konoha.
• Jiraiya’s scroll said he had taken Minato to Mount Myōboku for training and urged Tsunade to return to Konoha while the village was under the Old Man’s temporary management.
• Tsunade refused to follow Jiraiya’s advice and decided to go directly to Ye Zi, considering the possibility that he had Senju ties.
• Tsunade admitted she did not know where to find Ye Zi, while Shizune asked where they were going.
• Tsunade clenched her fist as she thought Ye Zi might have killed Dan and resolved to confront him.

Jiraiya brought Minato to Mount Myōboku to learn Senjutsu, where Minato repeatedly failed to balance Natural Energy and Chakra. The Great Toad Sage summoned them, and Jiraiya wondered if the summons concerned a prophecy about Minato.

• Jiraiya brought Minato to Mount Myōboku and began training him to master Senjutsu with the help of a rod that expelled excess Natural Energy.
• Minato repeatedly failed to balance his energies and began transforming into a toad, so Jiraiya struck him with the rod to restore him.
• A small blue-green toad told Fukasaku that the Great Toad Sage had summoned Jiraiya and Minato.
• Jiraiya and Minato followed Fukasaku toward the sage hall, and Jiraiya told Minato that the Great Toad Sage was like Mount Myōboku's First Hokage.
• Jiraiya wondered whether the Great Toad Sage had summoned them because of a prophecy concerning Minato, whom he believed to be the Child of Prophecy.

The Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya and Minato that a new dream had cast doubt on his earlier prophecies and identified Minato as the Child of Prophecy, destined to face a disaster-bringing Black Snake. Minato accepted Jiraiya’s encouragement and resumed training, while the Great Toad Sage fell asleep wondering whether the snake was connected to an old enemy.

• Fukasaku led Jiraiya and Minato to the Great Toad Sage, who initially failed to recognize Jiraiya.
• The Great Toad Sage explained that an unknown thing had altered the shinobi world and made him question his previous prophecy.
• The Great Toad Sage said Minato was the Child of Prophecy, whose future depended on confronting a Black Snake.
• Jiraiya encouraged Minato to face the sudden responsibility, and Minato resolved to continue training.
• The Great Toad Sage recalled an old white snake that had once challenged him, then fell asleep.

Sunagakure and Konoha sent an elite team to purge Amegakure and weaken Akatsuki, killing Amegakure ninja as they advanced. After slaughtering a squad in the Land of Fire, Sakumo’s team continued toward the expected counterattack from Akatsuki.

• Pakura killed three Amegakure ninja by evaporating their bodies and burning their remains to ashes.
• Sakumo’s nearly sixty-person team encountered a twenty-six-man Amegakure squad in the Land of Fire, and the squad fled after seeing Sakumo’s blade.
• Sakumo and his Konoha ninja pursued and killed the fleeing Amegakure ninja, while Pakura cremated the bodies she killed.
• Inuzuka Gaku called Pakura terrifying, and Sakumo said her treatment of the corpses was wasteful and meaningless.
• Uchiha Hyō called Pakura’s behavior stupid, while Nara Shiosui repeatedly tried and failed to get Aburame Shikuroo to comment on her.
• Sakumo told the team to focus and warned that Akatsuki’s skilled core members might counterattack.

Pakura and the Sand ninja advanced toward the border, with Fūya focused on avenging his family by killing Ye Zi. Ye Zi’s team waited in the Forest of Birdsong, using White Zetsu’s intelligence to prepare traps against the approaching forces.

• Pakura acknowledged that the Sand ninja were reluctant to cooperate with Konoha because Sakumo was leading the operation, but she urged them to focus on their mission.
• Fūya told Pakura that he wanted to avenge his family, who had died during the Shukaku incident, and that he would keep fighting until he killed the enemy or died.
• The Sand ninja began hunting Amegakure shinobi along the borders, hoping to provoke a response from Amegakure or Akatsuki and ultimately encounter Ye Zi.
• Ye Zi’s team waited in the Forest of Birdsong, where White Zetsu detected the Sand and Konoha teams approaching separately, only five hundred meters apart.
• Ye Zi realized the teams’ separation gave him an opportunity to confront them individually and considered moving to set traps.

Ye Zi arranged his forces to intercept the Sand ninja and prepare for the approaching Konoha team, but Scorpion insisted on personally fighting White Fang to avenge his parents. Ye Zi assigned a Wood Clone to help Juzo hold off the remaining Konoha ninja and set the Rain ninja to lay traps, leaving the teams readying for battle.

• Ye Zi assigned Kotoha and Shin six Chunin and five Jonin to tie down the Sand ninja, with a White Zetsu clone guiding them as they prepared traps.
• Ye Zi warned Kotoha and Shin not to risk their lives, and Kotoha promised she would stay by his side.
• Ye Zi tried to persuade Scorpion to fight the Konoha ninja while Ye Zi handled White Fang, but Scorpion refused to give up avenging his parents himself.
• Juzo volunteered to use Hidden Mist Technique to hold off the Konoha forces while Ye Zi separated White Fang from the others.
• Ye Zi created a Wood Clone to assist Juzo, then sent White Zetsu to choose trap locations and led the remaining Rain ninja to prepare.

Ye Zi and the Rain ninja prepared a trap-centered ambush for Hatake Sakumo’s Konoha group, using Scorpion’s magnetic spikes and Juzo’s Hidden Mist Technique to drive the enemy into hidden weapons. Ye Zi, Scorpion, and Juzo waited in the open as bait while the traps on Ye Yan’s side were also completed, leaving both enemy groups approaching prepared ambushes.

• Ye Zi led the Rain ninja in setting concealed trigger-wire traps, while Scorpion scattered magnetic spikes and summoned the Third Kazekage's Puppet.
• Ye Zi assigned Juzo to use the Hidden Mist Technique to obscure the traps and coordinated a plan to divide the Konoha force and target White Fang.
• White Zetsu reported that the Konoha group was two kilometers away and then hid beneath the earth.
• Ye Zi sent the Rain ninja and Wood Clones more than a kilometer away, then stood with Scorpion and Juzo in the open as bait for the Byakugan-bearing Konoha group.
• Ye Yan’s Sand ninja finished setting traps that included Explosive Tags and poisoned hidden weapons.

Sakumo’s Konoha force confronted Ye Zi, Scorpion, and Juzo in the Forest of Birdsong, while Ye Zi provoked Konoha into attacking. Elsewhere, Pakura’s Sand force entered a trap zone without realizing their movements had been tracked.

• Hizashi Hyuga detected three enemies ahead, and Sakumo led the Konoha ninja toward them while preparing for combat.
• Sakumo recognized Ye Zi, Scorpion hidden in Hiruko, and Juzo, and the two groups faced each other across the forest.
• Ye Zi drew Blood and taunted the Konoha force, while Uchiha Ashi and Uchiha Hyō reacted to seeing him.
• Sakumo raised White Fang’s blade, and the Konoha ninja attacked Ye Zi and his companions with Kunai and Shuriken.
• The Sand ninja entered the trap zone, where an outer-edge scout triggered a trap that sent three Shuriken off target.
• Pakura ordered the Sand ninja to prepare for battle as they questioned whether the apparent trap was a threat.

Kotoha’s traps poisoned and killed several Sand ninja as Pakura led them through a barrage, while Ye Zi, Scorpion, and Juzo clashed with Konoha’s elite forces. Ye Zi charged Sakumo, and their blades collided, sending them both flying backward.

• Kotoha’s team watched as the Sand ninja triggered linked traps, and poisoned projectiles and an Explosive Tag killed members of their group.
• Juzo used the Hidden Mist Technique while Scorpion launched magnetic spikes at the Konoha ninja, who defended themselves in teams.
• Juzo restored the mist as Scorpion’s spikes and the triggered traps forced the Konoha ninja to fight through a storm of projectiles.
• Ye Zi burst into the Konoha formation with lightning armor and charged Sakumo.
• Sakumo met Ye Zi’s blade with White Fang, and the collision sent both fighters flying backward.

Ye Zi and Sakumo fought fiercely, and Ye Zi discovered Sakumo’s Wind Release could cut through his Lightning Dragon Armor while his lightning could not paralyze Sakumo. Ye Zi adapted by concentrating his armor at vulnerable points, survived Sakumo’s sudden strike, and earned Sakumo’s praise just as a soul-like light appeared on his shoulder.

• Ye Zi and Sakumo traded rapid sword strikes, and Sakumo wounded Ye Zi’s cheek with an invisible Wind Release slash.
• Ye Zi sent his Lightning Dragon Armor after Sakumo, threw Blood at him, and followed with Wood Release pillars, but Sakumo dispelled the dragon and cut apart the pillars.
• Ye Zi recognized Sakumo’s speed, swordsmanship, and Wind Release as a serious threat, then looked toward the battle involving his teammates.
• Sakumo exploited Ye Zi’s brief distraction and slashed at his vital point, but Ye Zi blocked and concentrated his lightning armor to withstand the attack.
• Sakumo called Ye Zi remarkable, and a soul-like light appeared on Ye Zi’s shoulder.

Ye Zi used his Soul Transformation Technique against Sakumo while Scorpion and Juzo held off the Konoha forces. As the battle intensified and Konoha lost more ninja, Ye Zi's Wood Clone arrived, leaving the Konoha fighters to realize it was a clone.

• Ye Zi sent his spirit at Sakumo, but Sakumo recognized the Soul Transformation Technique and dodged it.
• Scorpion's traps ended after killing three Konoha Jonin, and he used Thousand-Armed Manipulation to stop nine Konoha ninja from reaching Sakumo.
• Scorpion unleashed poisonous mist while Juzo charged the Konoha formation and killed a ninja with Kubikiribōchō.
• Uchiha Hyō kicked Juzo backward, but Ye Zi's Wood Clone arrived and cut down three Konoha ninja with a lightning-wreathed blade.
• Uchiha Ashi identified the arriving Ye Zi as a Shadow Clone.

Ye Zi's clone joined the forest battle, while the Rain ninja and Scorpion helped tie down Konoha's forces. Uchiha Ashi and Uchiha Hyō attacked the clone together, but it survived their combination and pressed Ashi with a counterattack.

• Ye Zi's clone evaded Nara Shiosui's shadow technique and threw a lightning-wrapped blade at him, but Aburame Shikuroo's insects broke the branch and helped Shiosui dodge.
• Ye Zi's clone killed a Konoha swordsman and took his Chakra-conducting blade as the Rain ninja arrived and engaged Konoha's forces alongside Juzo and Scorpion.
• Uchiha Ashi used genjutsu to pause Ye Zi's clone's slash, allowing Uchiha Hyō to punch the clone and send it flying.
• Uchiha Hyō pursued the clone, which used the Substitution Technique and then a Lightning Clone to evade her and deceive Ashi.
• Ye Zi's clone ambushed Uchiha Ashi, but Ashi dodged and countered with Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning while retreating toward Hyō.

Ye Zi's Wood Clone fought off Konoha's elite, injuring Uchiha Hyō and Hizashi Hyuga while countering attacks from the others. The battle continued with Ye Zi's clone still holding the upper hand and seeking to weaken Konoha's forces.

• Uchiha Hyō and Uchiha Ashi regrouped against Ye Zi's clone, but lightning threads left on Hyō's body let his redirected Lightning Spear wound and trap her in a lightning net.
• Aburame Shikuroo attacked with an Insect Swarm, but Ye Zi's clone dodged and faced Hizashi Hyuga's Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
• Hizashi increased his attack to Eight Trigrams One Hundred Twenty-Eight Palms and shattered Ye Zi's blade, but Ye Zi fought back with lightning-coated fists and broke Hizashi's chest with a punch.
• Ye Zi's clone burned part of Shikuroo's Insect Swarm and used Explosive Tags to destroy more of it, while Nara Shiosui managed to save one tag's worth of insects.
• Ye Zi's clone assessed Konoha's main force and remained largely unhurt despite being surrounded by its elite fighters.

Ye Zi’s Wood Clone overwhelmed the Konoha forces, defeating Uchiha Hyō and Hizashi Hyuga before countering the remaining jonin. After draining a captured ninja’s Chakra, Ye Zi turned his attention to Uchiha Ashi, while Scorpion arrived where Ye Zi’s main body was fighting the White Fang.

• Uchiha Hyō lost consciousness, and Uchiha Ashi confirmed she was still alive before rejoining the battle against Ye Zi.
• Hizashi Hyuga, badly injured by Ye Zi’s punch, realized he could no longer fight as Nara Shiosui and Aburame Shikuroo continued their attacks.
• Two Konoha Jonin reinforced the siege, and Ye Zi used Twin Dragons' Strangulation to destroy Aburame Shikuroo’s insect swarm.
• Uchiha Ashi disrupted Ye Zi’s Chakra with genjutsu, allowing the Konoha ninjas’ wind and earth attacks to destroy what proved to be a Lightning Clone.
• Ye Zi swiftly captured the Wind Release ninja, absorbed his Chakra, and warned Uchiha Ashi that he would deal with the others before the time was right.
• Scorpion arrived at the battlefield where Ye Zi’s main body was fighting the White Fang.

Ye Zi and Sakumo fought to a stalemate, each struggling to overcome the other's swordsmanship and techniques while conserving chakra. Scorpion arrived to support Ye Zi, and Sakumo faced a new threat.

• Ye Zi used his improved Spirit Transformation Jutsu, but Sakumo continued to suppress him with his swordsmanship and taijutsu.
• Ye Zi avoided using large-scale ninjutsu and waited for Scorpion, while he and Sakumo fought on in a chakra-draining stalemate.
• Scorpion arrived outside the battle and focused his killing intent on Sakumo.

Ye Zi and Scorpion joined forces against Sakumo, whose White Fang repeatedly cut through their attacks and kept him from being cornered. The chapter ended as Scorpion unveiled his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, while Sakumo calmly faced the overwhelming formation.

• Sakumo abandoned his clash with Ye Zi and teleported behind Scorpion, damaging Hiruko before retreating from the Third Kazekage Puppet’s poison needles.
• Ye Zi attacked Sakumo from behind, but Sakumo parried Blood and nearly pierced Ye Zi’s heart before Ye Zi kicked him away.
• Scorpion emerged from Hiruko and attacked with the Third Kazekage Puppet, but Sakumo cut through an iron-sand block and deflected Iron Sand Shower and hidden weapons.
• Ye Zi used Wood Release to hold Sakumo back while Scorpion prepared, but Sakumo dodged and severed the roots with White Fang.
• Scorpion summoned 198 puppets with Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets, and Sakumo watched the formation without losing his composure.

Scorpion confronted Sakumo with his Hundred-Machine Performance while Ye Zi used Wood Release to trap him, seeking to kill White Fang and claim his body. Sakumo cut through the assault and pushed toward Scorpion, but remained more than a hundred meters away and trapped in a dangerous encirclement.

• Scorpion revealed his hatred for Sakumo and sent his puppet army to attack him.
• Ye Zi prepared to support Scorpion from a distance and used Wood Release to send roots after Sakumo.
• Sakumo charged toward Scorpion, destroying nearly thirty puppets with a single slash and cutting through the roots.
• Ye Zi's roots and Scorpion's puppets combined to restrict Sakumo's movements and slow his advance.
• Scorpion hid the Third Kazekage puppet among his forces as Sakumo remained surrounded, still over a hundred meters from him.