Chapter Summaries

Aoba killed Raiga Kurosuki, secured the Lightning Blade: Kiba, and stopped Ranmaru from trying to revive Raiga with his Kekkei Genkai. He rested in the village and learned that the earlier Konoha shinobi's bodies had been thrown into a ravine.

• Aoba picked up Ranmaru and questioned him about Raiga's crimes, but Ranmaru bit his arm and stayed devoted to Raiga.
• Raiga attacked Aoba to free Ranmaru, and Aoba pierced Raiga's heart with his hand blade.
• Raiga told Ranmaru to live well before dying, leaving Ranmaru hollow and apparently intent on using his green chakra to revive him.
• Aoba pulled Ranmaru away from Raiga's corpse, then sealed Raiga's body and the Lightning Blade: Kiba in separate scrolls.
• Aoba asked the villagers about the Konoha shinobi who had visited earlier, and an old granny told him their bodies had been thrown into a ravine.

Aoba brought Ranmaru to Granny Sansho’s curry shop, where Ranmaru offered to serve as his eyes but agreed to remain behind and decide later whether to follow or hate him. Aoba and Ranmaru then tried Granny Sansho’s intensely spicy Life Curry, which left them both overwhelmed.

• Karashi panicked when Aoba looked at him and spilled water, so Granny Sansho sent him away and cleaned up.
• Ranmaru woke and offered to become Aoba’s eyes, explaining that he would do anything to survive and honor Raiga Kurosuki’s last wish.
• Aoba asked Ranmaru whether he hated him, then agreed to leave him behind and meet again in a few years, when Ranmaru could choose whether to seek revenge or follow him.
• Granny Sansho served two portions of Life Curry, and Aoba and Ranmaru both ate it despite its alarming red color.
• Aoba cried out from the heat while Ranmaru fainted after taking a bite.

Aoba endured the Life Curry to complete a system mission and discovered that its reward restored stamina, then arranged for Granny Sansho to care for Ranmaru temporarily. After resting overnight, he left wearing a Konoha Headband to use his alternate identity.

• Aoba forced himself to finish two servings of Life Curry to avoid the mission penalty, while repeatedly gulping water to cope with the spice.
• Aoba received two Life Curry Pills and learned that each immediately restored ten percent of his maximum stamina, despite an unavoidable spicy side effect.
• Aoba reflected on how the system's mission rewards and risks varied, then praised Granny Sansho's curry and asked her to look after Ranmaru.
• Granny Sansho agreed to care for Ranmaru temporarily, and Aoba rested for the night.
• Aoba took a Konoha Headband and left to bring his alternate identity out.

Aoba, Konan, and Kakuzu set out to investigate two potential Akatsuki recruits, beginning with the missing-nin Hidan. They found Hidan promoting the Jashin Cult, and Konan realized another cult had emerged.

• Konan and Kakuzu accompanied Aoba to investigate two potential recruits selected by Zetsu, while Kakuzu complained about their past candidates.
• The trio found Hidan, a missing-nin from the Hot Spring Village who had defected at nine and was rumored to be immortal.
• Kakuzu charged at Hidan, who insulted all three Akatsuki members and sparked their anger.
• Hidan invited the trio to join the Jashin Cult, which encouraged killing to please the Evil God.
• Konan was surprised that Zetsu had not reported the Jashin Cult and glanced at Aoba, recalling the Blood Moon Cult.

Kakuzu fought Hidan during the newcomer’s examination, but Hidan’s blood-based ritual destroyed one of Kakuzu’s hearts. Konan ordered Aoba to recruit Hidan without killing him, and Aoba stepped in to teach him a lesson.

• Hidan attacked Kakuzu after Kakuzu dismissed the Jashin Cult, and Kakuzu pierced Hidan’s chest and abdomen without killing him.
• Hidan used Kakuzu’s blood to activate his Blood Stasis ritual and stabbed his own heart, causing Kakuzu to lose one of his hearts.
• Konan told Aoba to recruit Hidan and spare his life, while Aoba wondered how to make Hidan call him Big Brother.
• A system mission ordered Aoba to teach Hidan a lesson and make him call Aoba Big Brother, and Aoba stepped between Hidan and Kakuzu.

Aoba fought Hidan with the ninja swords, using his superior speed and strength to overwhelm him and prevent him from taking blood. The chapter left Hidan disarmed and decapitated but still shouting that he would revive and kill them all.

• Konan warned Kakuzu to stand down because Aoba's strange abilities had already affected him, and Kakuzu retrieved his severed hand.
• Aoba challenged Hidan, pulled out five ninja swords, and began the fight with the Exploding Sword and Kubikiribōchō.
• Aoba blasted Hidan away and destroyed the ritual symbol, then continued to overpower him in close combat.
• Hidan tried to trade injuries and seize Aoba's blood, but Aoba severed both of his arms.
• Aoba decapitated Hidan, who continued declaring that he would revive and sacrifice everyone to Lord Jashin.

Aoba defeated Hidan and used threats and torture to make him submit, then claimed to belong to the Blood Moon Cult. Hidan eagerly accepted Aoba as his big brother, while Konan clarified that he would be joining the Akatsuki Organization.

• Aoba cut Hidan apart, stitched his body parts to a tree, and threatened to test whether he could survive being burned or fed to fish.
• Hidan admitted defeat after Aoba sewed his mouth shut, and Konan argued that his abilities could benefit the Akatsuki Organization alongside Kakuzu.
• Aoba asked to take Hidan for disposal later, and Konan agreed if Hidan became useless.
• Aoba claimed he was a ritual executor of the Blood Moon Cult, prompting Hidan to excitedly embrace their supposed kinship.
• Konan told Hidan he was joining the Akatsuki Organization, and Hidan called Aoba big brother while asking about the Blood Moon Cult.

After Hidan was assigned to partner with Kakuzu, Konan and Aoba continued their newcomer evaluations and headed toward Iwagakure to recruit a target driven out of the village. They stopped in a nearby town to rest before approaching the target, who lived near Iwagakure.

• Kakuzu stitched Hidan back together, and Hidan eagerly asked Aoba about the Blood Moon Cult.
• Konan assigned Hidan to partner with Kakuzu; after arguing, Hidan backed down when Konan and the others threatened him.
• Kakuzu left with Hidan, while Konan and Aoba continued toward the Land of Earth to evaluate another newcomer.
• Konan and Aoba reached a small town near Iwagakure's security perimeter and decided to rest for a day.
• Konan told Aoba that the target had been driven out of Iwagakure and lived nearby, so they would try to capture him quietly and take him away if necessary.

Aoba settled into an inn with Konan and upgraded his new Phantom Deception skill. When his lewd comment about scrubbing Konan’s back triggered a Death-Seeking Mission, he disguised himself as the hot-water deliveryman and entered her room.

• Aoba and Konan found an inn, and Aoba chose the room next to hers.
• Aoba received Phantom Deception and used his skill cards to raise it to LV5, increasing its range and duration.
• After Konan prepared to bathe, the system assigned Aoba a mission to scrub her back at least ten times before she finished.
• Aoba transformed into the hot-water deliveryman and entered Konan’s room after she let him in.

Aoba used Phantom Deception to sneak into Konan’s room and complete his mission by scrubbing her back ten times before escaping. Konan searched the inn with Yasuo but found no trace of the intruder and wondered whether she had been affected by Genjutsu.

• Aoba used Phantom Deception to approach Konan unnoticed while she was bathing.
• Aoba covered Konan’s mouth and scrubbed her back ten times with a towel, completing his mission before fleeing.
• Aoba changed his disguise and skin, then acted as though he had just come out of his room when Konan’s room was wrecked.
• Konan questioned Yasuo about the intruder, and he claimed he had noticed nothing unusual.
• Konan borrowed Yasuo’s room to change, then searched the inn with him but found no sign of the intruder.
• Konan learned that the intruder had posed as a hot-water delivery person and wondered if Genjutsu had made her overlook him.

Aoba and Konan traveled to recruit Deidara for the Akatsuki, and Aoba discovered his mission reward could turn blank paper into Explosive Tags. They found the young Deidara outside Iwagakure, where Aoba tried to impress him with a baffling definition of art.

• Konan stopped searching for the person who had attacked her back and found a new inn with Aoba.
• Aoba learned that Konan’s bathwater could transform blank paper into a thousand Explosive Tags.
• Konan explained that the Akatsuki wanted Deidara, the Tsuchikage’s former disciple, to join them.
• Konan and Aoba found Deidara admiring Buddhist statues outside Iwagakure and invited him to join the Akatsuki.
• Deidara showed off his explosive clay art, and Aoba countered with a cryptic speech about life and death that left Deidara and Konan confused.

Aoba tried to make Deidara reconsider his view of art, but when the argument failed, he used Suzumushi’s Bankai to trap Deidara and Konan in a space that stripped away their senses. Deidara’s panic and pain began to shake his conviction as Aoba left Konan safe inside the barrier.

• Aoba received a mission to deny Deidara’s art and gain some recognition from him, with failure risking Ōnoki of Both Scales's favorability.
• Deidara rejected Aoba’s words and prepared to attack, so Aoba drew his Zanpakuto and activated Bankai: Suzumushi Final Form: Enma Cricket.
• Aoba’s barrier swallowed Deidara, Konan, and himself, stripping away everyone’s senses except touch.
• Aoba gave Konan his blade to restore her senses and told her to wait while he dealt with Deidara.
• Deidara panicked in the darkness, tested his bombs on his own leg, and felt the resulting pain without being able to see or hear the explosion.

Aoba tormented Deidara in a space where Deidara lost all his senses except touch, forcing him to confront the terror of helplessness and question his explosive art. After Aoba restored Deidara’s senses with a sword thrust, Deidara begged to be let out.

• Aoba struck Deidara with shuriken and kunai while Deidara, unable to see or hear, screamed and demanded to be released.
• Deidara used clay bombs and creatures to explore, but Aoba destroyed them until Deidara ran out of Explosive Clay.
• Deidara fled blindly, was struck again, and sat down in despair as he questioned whether explosions were truly art.
• Aoba pierced Deidara’s chest with his sword, restoring his senses, and challenged his understanding of art and life between life and death.
• Deidara admitted he had seen the art Aoba described and begged him to let him out.

Aoba broke Deidara’s resistance with the Enma Cricket Barrier Space, prompting Deidara to join the Akatsuki Organization while insisting he would never abandon his explosive art. Aoba, Deidara, and Konan escaped Iwagakure by air after killing the shinobi sent to investigate, but a sudden change occurred as they left.

• Aoba dismissed the barrier after Deidara yielded, and Konan grew wary of Yasuo’s power while deciding he should remain in the Akatsuki Organization.
• Deidara agreed to join the Akatsuki Organization but vowed to keep pursuing his explosive art and prove it to Aoba.
• Aoba warned that the barrier had attracted attention, and Deidara scratched a line through his forehead protector before preparing Explosive Clay.
• Aoba and Konan killed the Iwagakure shinobi who confronted them, while Deidara showed no reaction to the deaths.
• Deidara created three enormous birds, and the trio flew away from Iwagakure before a sudden change occurred.

Aoba, Deidara, and Konan tried to escape the Land of Earth while Ōnoki pursued them with Dust Release. Aoba disrupted Ōnoki’s decisive attack with Suzumushi, letting the group escape as Ōnoki gave up the chase and accepted that Deidara had defected.

• Ōnoki attacked the fleeing group with Dust Release, destroying the Clay Giant Bird carrying Konan, who stayed airborne with paper wings.
• Deidara warned Aoba and Konan that Ōnoki was closing in, and Aoba ruled out using Bankai because too little time remained.
• Aoba fired Suzumushi’s Crimson Locusts at Ōnoki while Deidara sent clay birds to attack him from multiple directions.
• Ōnoki blocked their attacks with a Dust Release barrier, then prepared a stronger technique as the trio widened the distance.
• Aoba used Suzumushi’s sound waves to disrupt Ōnoki’s senses, causing Dust Release: Limit Stripping Technique to miss them.
• Ōnoki stopped pursuing the group and flew back down, realizing Deidara had defected from the village.

After returning from the Land of Earth, Aoba reported his mission to Hiruzen and concealed that he had kept the Lightning Sword: Fang by blaming its disappearance on his Yasuo identity. Hiruzen accepted his account and ordered Raiga Kurosuki's corpse returned to Kirigakure.

• Aoba said goodbye to Konan and Deidara, then traveled back through the Land of Fire while leaving traces to support his mission cover story.
• Aoba revisited the town where he had first met Tsunade, but found neither Tsunade nor Shizune there.
• After two months, Aoba returned to Konoha and reported to Hiruzen that Raiga Kurosuki had been killed and the Lightning Sword: Fang taken by the Akatsuki Organization.
• Aoba falsely claimed that a powerful sword collector had pursued him after he killed Raiga Kurosuki, concealing that the collector was his Yasuo identity and that he had kept the sword.
• Hiruzen accepted Aoba's report, praised his work, and told him to hand Raiga Kurosuki's corpse over so it could be returned to Kirigakure.

After returning from his mission, Aoba met Itachi and Shisui to discuss the Uchiha clan’s growing crisis. Shisui revealed Kotoamatsukami as his proposed solution, but Aoba argued that controlling Fugaku alone would not end the clan’s resentment.

• Aoba handed Raiga Kurosuki’s corpse over to the waiting officials, then left the Hokage Building after Hiruzen raised the mission’s rank to S-rank.
• Aoba went to the Uchiha compound and met Itachi and Shisui, who took him somewhere secluded to talk.
• Shisui told Aoba that he opposed Itachi’s plan because even a small mistake could ruin Itachi’s life, and asked whether Aoba had a better solution.
• Shisui revealed Kotoamatsukami and explained his plan to use it to alter Fugaku Uchiha’s will; Itachi was shocked by the ability.
• Aoba warned Shisui that changing Fugaku’s will would not stop the other Uchiha from rebelling or resolve their underlying resentment.

Aoba persuaded Shisui to join the risky plan he and Itachi had devised to avert a violent Uchiha rebellion. The three agreed to prepare further and set a date, while Hiruzen remained unaware that the plan would make him bear the blame.

• Aoba argued that trusting Konoha's leaders to treat the Uchiha fairly was unrealistic and that the clan should use its strength as leverage rather than resort to mutual destruction.
• Shisui called the plan too risky, but refused Aoba's suggestion that he use Kotoamatsukami to change Hiruzen's and Fugaku's wills.
• Aoba estimated the plan had a seventy percent chance of success if Shisui joined, and Shisui agreed to take part.
• Shisui questioned Aoba about the plan's details, and Aoba learned that Itachi had repeatedly refused Hiruzen's and Fugaku's requests to join the Anbu.
• Aoba, Itachi, and Shisui agreed to meet again after preparing and considering the plan's remaining details.

Kisame Hoshigaki killed Suikazan Fuguki, joined the Akatsuki Organization, and received a warning about Yasuo, while Mei Terumi prepared to challenge Yagura’s rule. After hearing that the Daimyo had been killed and Kisame was wanted, Mei saw an opening and moved to plan an attack on the Mizukage.

• Kisame Hoshigaki escaped an ambush led by Ibiki Morino, returned to Kirigakure, and killed Suikazan Fuguki for betraying the village.
• Obito appeared with the Fourth Mizukage, recruited Kisame Hoshigaki into the Akatsuki Organization, gave him Samehada, and warned him about Yasuo.
• Mei Terumi gathered supporters and prepared to overthrow Yagura as her influence grew and the Mizukage’s Anbu began watching her.
• Mei Terumi learned that Kisame had killed Suikazan Fuguki and that the Daimyo of the Land of Water had been killed, with Kisame suspected of the murder.
• Mei Terumi summoned her key supporters to plan a preemptive attack on Yagura.

Aoba tested the Fate Coin again and received the European Emperor Buff, which made him immediately find two wallets full of money. He left to explore his newfound luck, convinced the buff was powerful.

• Aoba recalled how the Fate Coin’s African Chief Debuff had subjected him to a string of near-fatal accidents and decided to toss it again.
• The coin landed European Emperor-side up, and Aoba celebrated his new buff and decided to test it at a casino.
• Aoba found a wallet containing more than ten thousand ryo, took the money, and discarded the wallet.
• Aoba overheard a couple searching for the discarded wallet and arguing over the missing private savings.
• Another wallet fell at Aoba’s feet, and he silently picked it up as he marveled at the buff’s power.