Chapter Summaries

Oyashiro Chino graduated early from Hoshinin Academy, joined Natsuhi’s genin squad, and set out on a B-rank mission to hunt bandits. Uchiha Shisui watched them leave and envied the peace and acceptance he saw in Star City.

• Oyashiro Chino rushed to the academy, where Yakushi Nonō awarded her a Hoshigakure forehead protector for graduating early.
• Natsuhi introduced herself as Chino’s supervising jōnin and took her to meet Morishita Shun-jin and Murahashi Hazuki.
• Morishita Shun-jin doubted Chino’s abilities, but Natsuhi stopped their argument and reminded the genin that they were comrades.
• Natsuhi briefed the squad on a B-rank mission to eliminate the remaining bandits hiding in the snowy forest near Ahe Town, and the team set out.
• Uchiha Shisui passed the departing squad and envied the peaceful, welcoming life that Star City’s clans and children shared.

Shisui reflected on the peaceful integration in Star City while Natsuhi’s squad entered Aga Snow Forest and was ambushed by bandits. Chino awakened her Ketsuryūgan and killed an attacker with a blood dragon, and Natsuhi’s squad moved to finish off the remaining bandits.

• Shisui completed his training and watched the peaceful activity around Hoshinin Academy, thinking about Konoha and the alternative before him.
• Natsuhi led Morishita Shun-jin, Murahashi Hazuki, and Chino north, warned them to stay alert, and arranged them in a triangular formation at the edge of Aga Snow Forest.
• Bandits ambushed the squad with poisoned arrows and a concealed spike pit, wounding Chino; Morishita injured one bandit with Earth Release: Earth Spear while Hazuki forced others back with shuriken.
• Natsuhi, Morishita, and Hazuki engaged the bandits, while an attacker charged the injured Chino; Chino opened her Ketsuryūgan and pierced him with a blood dragon formed from nearby blood.
• Natsuhi cut off the one-eyed leader’s sword hand and ordered the others to finish the bandits as Morishita and Hazuki pressed the attack.

Natsuhi’s squad clashed with Snow ninja after Chino’s Ketsuryūgan helped drive them off, leaving Chino unconscious and the team injured. Back in Star City, Menma heard Natsuhi’s report and learned that the Uzumaki Namida Hall ruins lay near the Naka River forest outside Hidden Leaf Village.

• Chino awakened her Ketsuryūgan to kill bandits, then Natsuhi’s squad encountered Fuyuki Fubuki and three Snow ninja pursuing them across the border.
• Fuyuki Fubuki attacked the squad, and her armored subordinates wounded Morishita Shun-jin and Murahashi Hazuki while threatening Chino.
• Chino unleashed the Ketsuryūgan again, turned a Snow ninja into a deadly explosion, and summoned a blood dragon that forced Fuyuki Fubuki and her surviving subordinates to retreat.
• Chino collapsed from chakra and mental exhaustion, and Natsuhi led the injured squad back to Star City after gathering the battlefield evidence.
• Natsuhi reported the mission to Menma, who ordered the Snow ninja encounter classified as confidential and noted the potential of their Chakra Armor.
• Uzumaki Fuka told Menma that the Uzumaki Namida Hall ruins had been located in the Naka River forest near Hidden Leaf Village.

Menma retrieved the Grim Reaper masks from the Uzumaki Clan’s Hall of Masks and prepared to use Impure World Reincarnation to bring back Kushina first. The jutsu began with Shiso as the sacrifice, leaving Menma in the middle of the summoning ritual.

• At Chino’s hospital bedside, Oyashiro En and his wife reassured Natsuhi that Chino’s injuries and Ketsuryūgan awakening were part of her growth, while thanking Natsuhi and her teammates for protecting her.
• Natsuhi told Morishita Shun-jin and Murahashi Hazuki that their mission had been raised to A-rank and that the squad would have half a month without fixed assignments to recover.
• Menma followed the Uzumaki scroll map to the Hall of Masks by the Naka River and sealed its Grim Reaper masks into a storage scroll.
• In his laboratory, Menma decided to reincarnate Kushina before Namikaze Minato so he could ask her about the past and his plans.
• Kisame Hoshigaki brought the prisoner Shiso to Menma, who placed him over Kushina’s tissue sample and began the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.

Menma summoned Uzumaki Kushina with Impure World Reincarnation, and she recognized him by his eyes. As he told her about his fifteen years in the Limited Tsukuyomi world, her words led him to suspect that he had created that world himself as a refuge, leaving him shaken by the possibility.

• Menma used Shizo as the sacrifice for Impure World Reincarnation and brought Uzumaki Kushina back to life.
• Kushina recognized Menma by his blue eyes and reached to embrace him, but he recoiled, confused about how she could know who he was.
• Menma told Kushina that he had spent fifteen years trapped in the Limited Tsukuyomi world and described the family and life he had there.
• After learning that Menma had known the world was false and had tried to escape it, Kushina apologized and embraced him; Menma admitted he could no longer distinguish which world or family was real.
• Kushina insisted that the love in both worlds had been real and suggested that the genjutsu world reflected Menma’s deepest wishes.
• Menma recalled details from that world and wondered whether he had subconsciously created it; his chakra surged, shattering the laboratory lights as he reeled against the wall.

Menma learned from Kushina why she and Minato had died during the Nine-Tails Incident, then took his resurrected mother to explore Star City. When they returned home, Kushina discovered other Uzumaki survivors nearby, and Uchiha Hikari was shocked to learn Kushina was Menma’s mother.

• Menma asked Kushina why she and Minato had died, and Kushina explained that the masked man attacked after her childbirth and Minato used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to protect Konoha.
• Kushina confirmed that the Third Hokage had known she was carrying twins but could not find Menma amid the chaos after the attack.
• Menma told Kushina that he had founded the Land of Stars, gave her a cloak, and took her to see Star City.
• Kushina excitedly explored the commercial district, admired its technology, and bought a kimono, a fox-patterned scarf, and other items with Menma.
• Menma told Kushina that Uzumaki Fuka and her daughter, Ka, lived across the street after he brought them from Kusagakure.
• Uchiha Hikari confronted Menma and Kushina at home, then reacted with shock when Menma introduced Kushina as his mother.

Menma introduced Uchiha Hikari to Kushina as a woman sealed away for more than three hundred years, and Kushina welcomed her as family. After learning how Naruto had been mistreated in Konoha, Kushina agreed to visit him with Menma; the next morning, she and Hikari shared a quiet moment together in the snowy courtyard.

• Menma told Kushina that Uchiha Hikari was over three hundred years old and had been sealed since the Warring States Period.
• Kushina embraced Hikari and welcomed her into the family, then brought her to the kitchen to talk and cook together.
• Kushina asked Menma whether Naruto was well cared for, and Menma told her that villagers shunned and mistreated him.
• Menma promised to take Kushina to Konoha the next day so she could see Naruto and the village for herself.
• The following morning, Menma watched Kushina and Hikari share tea and conversation in the snowy courtyard.

Menma brought Kushina through Konoha in disguise and showed her how the village’s suspicion of the Uchiha had grown. She witnessed Naruto being shunned and mistreated, and the chapter ended with Kushina devastated by how alone her child had been.

• Menma explained how Danzō had kept the Uchiha from fighting the Nine-Tails, fueling rumors and isolating the clan.
• Kushina stopped before Minato’s statue on Hokage Rock, and Menma pointed out Naruto walking nearby.
• Kushina heard villagers call Naruto a demon fox and watched a stall owner drive him away for having no money.
• Menma and Kushina followed Naruto as villagers, children, and a shopkeeper continued to avoid or insult him.
• Kushina demanded to know why no one had protected Naruto, and Menma explained the circumstances surrounding the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, and Kakashi.
• Kushina watched Naruto disappear into his apartment and grieved over the cruelty he had endured.

Menma showed Kushina Naruto’s lonely, neglected apartment and let her meet Naruto in the park, deepening her grief over how Konoha treated him. He then explained his ambition to unify the Shinobi World and showed her Hoshinin using their abilities to build a dam, leaving Kushina newly hopeful about his vision of a peaceful, prosperous era.

• Kushina saw the filthy state of Naruto’s apartment and clutched the worn scarf he had kept.
• Menma’s Shadow Clone pushed Naruto on a swing and bought him peaches from Kushina, who approached in disguise.
• After Naruto left, Kushina thanked Menma for giving his little brother warmth, then reflected on her disappointment in Konoha.
• Menma told Kushina he wanted to unify the Shinobi World and end the cycle of wars and hatred.
• Menma took Kushina to the Nether River Gorge, where Hoshinin and ordinary workers were building a dam together.
• Menma explained that the dam would provide electricity and reliable irrigation, and Kushina began to anticipate the new era he envisioned.

Menma taught Hoshinin students that the new ninja should use chakra to build and protect society, while Fuka reported that nobles in the Land of Swamps and the Land of Nether had seized land reclaimed by Hoshigakure. In the Land of Snow, Kazahana Dōtō decided to exploit the dispute by sending Yukinin to support the nobles and expand Snow’s influence southward.

• Menma introduced Hoshinin students to the ideal of new ninjas, teaching them to use their skills for construction, protection, and human prosperity.
• Kushina watched Menma teach and felt shaken by how his vision surpassed the narrow purpose of the Konoha Ninja Academy.
• Fuka told Menma that nobles in the Land of Swamps and the Land of Nether had broken their agricultural agreement, driven off settlers, and surrounded Hoshigakure’s stations.
• Menma ordered Fuka to protect Hoshigakure’s personnel and avoid direct conflict while he arranged a response.
• Matsuzuki Denosuke urged Kazahana Dōtō to use the dispute to test Hoshigakure and extend Snow’s influence into the southern countries.
• Kazahana Dōtō ordered Denosuke to negotiate military employment and sent Nadare Rōga’s elite squad to help drive out Hoshinin if necessary.

Menma rejected a plan to use famine to destabilize the Land of Nether and the Land of Swamps, ordering targeted economic sanctions and humanitarian relief instead. When intelligence revealed that the Land of Snow was preparing to intervene, Menma ordered Uchiha Hikari to ready forces along the borders while the conflict remained poised to escalate.

• Menma introduced Uzumaki Kushina to Uzumaki Fuka as his mother, and Fuka welcomed her as a fellow Uzumaki survivor.
• Uchiha Hikari urged an attack on the nobles who had surrounded Gota’s team, but Menma assigned Fire Fly, Kimimaro, Yukimi, and Haku to reinforce Gota and ordered them to defend their personnel and work site.
• Oyashiro En proposed raising grain prices and restricting shipments to provoke unrest, but Menma rejected the scheme because it would cause innocent civilians to starve.
• Menma ordered trade with the Land of Nether and the Land of Swamps suspended except for basic humanitarian supplies, directed officials to expose the nobles’ actions, and sent Miroku’s shrine workers to distribute porridge to refugees.
• Terumi Mei reported that Matsuzuki Denosuke and Nadare Rōga had met with the daimyos of both countries to discuss military intervention on behalf of the Land of Snow.
• Menma ordered Uchiha Hikari to command two elite squads and secretly prepare them along the borders of the Land of Nether and the Land of Swamps.

Fire Fly led Kimimaro, Haku, and Yukimi to reinforce Gota’s besieged agricultural base on the Land of Nether border, where refugees and workers faced dwindling supplies. When Nadare Rōga led a night raid, Kimimaro and Haku killed him and his three subordinates, and Fire Fly ordered their bodies searched and the survivors’ bodies returned to the enemy camp.

• Fire Fly gathered Kimimaro, Haku, and Yukimi and led them to support Gota’s encircled base, carrying Menma’s order to hold position and counterattack if attacked.
• Fire Fly learned that the base held more than a thousand refugees and that its food would last half a month while its cold-weather supplies would last only ten days.
• Matsuzuki Denosuke ordered Nadare Rōga and three Yukinin to infiltrate the base, kill a few defenders, and create chaos without provoking a desperate response.
• Kimimaro spotted the raiders at the eastern wall, killed Xueyan, and defeated two more Yukinin with his Shikotsumyaku techniques.
• Haku trapped the wounded Nadare Rōga in Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals and killed him with a barrage of Senbon.
• Fire Fly and Gota arrived at the wall, and Fire Fly ordered the three subordinate corpses searched for intelligence before they were taken to the Land of Nether army camp.

Fire Fly’s squad held off the Land of Nether while Miroku faced threats from its daimyo, and Kazahana Dōtō brought the Yukinin main force to the border. Menma ordered preparations to destroy them, while Asama Sandayu urged Kazahana Koyuki to reclaim the Land of Snow and she refused.

• Fire Fly’s team stored Nadare Rōga’s body, stripped the Yukinin chūnin of their Chakra Armor, and threw their corpses back at the Land of Nether camp, prompting Matsuzuki Denosuke to request reinforcements.
• Miroku distributed porridge to famine victims in the Land of Swamps, but Ono Takuto threatened the victims to pressure her into staying; Kisame Hoshigaki offered to kill him, and Miroku declined while awaiting Menma’s instructions.
• Kazahana Dōtō arrived in the Land of Nether with a large Yukinin force and agreed with Yokogawa Taichi that the Land of Snow would receive a northern forest in exchange for attacking the Hoshigakure ninja.
• As famine and unrest worsened in the Land of Nether and the Land of Swamps, Menma ordered Uzumaki Fuka to prepare an annihilation operation against Kazahana Dōtō’s force.
• Asama Sandayu told Kazahana Koyuki that Dōtō had left the Land of Snow and urged her to rally her father’s former retainers, but she rejected the idea of returning; Sandayu secretly contacted his old allies anyway.

After seeing Fujikaze Yukie in a movie, Naruto met the actress in a snowy Konoha park and asked her for an autograph. Menma recognized her as exiled Land of Snow princess Kazahana Koyuki and considered how her past might soon change.

• Menma, Naruto, and Hinata watched a movie starring Fujikaze Yukie, and Naruto excitedly praised her performance afterward.
• Menma gave Hinata his scarf and took her and Naruto to play in the park.
• Naruto built a crooked snowman while Menma and Hinata played nearby, and Menma noticed Ko Hyuga secretly guarding Hinata.
• Naruto recognized a melancholy girl sitting alone on a swing as Fujikaze Yukie and rushed over to ask for her autograph.
• Kazahana Koyuki signed Naruto's ticket stub, and Menma recognized her as the exiled heir to the Land of Snow.
• Menma thought Kazahana Dōtō would soon lose his power and wondered whether Naruto's interest in Koyuki could lead to a future between them.

Kisame Hoshigaki captured Ono Takuto and the leading nobles of the Land of Swamps, while Miroku declared they would face a public trial. Kisame then joined the battle against Kazahana Dōtō, whose first attack he shattered with Samehada, leaving their duel underway.

• Kisame Hoshigaki and his Anbu killed the lord of Honmatsu Castle, captured Ono Takuto and the key nobles, and routed their forces.
• Miroku condemned Ono Takuto’s rule and ordered that the people of the Land of Swamps decide his fate in a public trial.
• Kisame left Anbu behind to aid Miroku and relief efforts, then traveled to the Land of Nether battlefield.
• Uchiha Hikari directed the outnumbered Hoshinin as they repelled the Yukinin, and Kisame arrived after completing his mission.
• Kisame entered the battle with Samehada and slaughtered Yukinin, prompting Kazahana Dōtō to attack him with Ice Release: Ice Cone Fist.
• Kisame smashed Kazahana Dōtō’s ice gauntlet and sent him flying, beginning their duel.

Kisame overwhelmed Kazahana Dōtō and the Yukinin with his enormous chakra, but Uchiha Hikari intervened to save Dōtō so he could be captured alive. With the Yukinin defeated, Hikari ordered Kisame to advance into the Land of Snow while other forces suppressed the Land of Nether.

• Kisame Hoshigaki battered Kazahana Dōtō’s Ice Release defenses with successive Water Release attacks and trapped him in a swarm of sharks.
• Uchiha Hikari stopped Kisame’s final attack with Majestic Destroyer Flame and told him that Lord Asura needed Dōtō alive.
• The Yukinin lost their fighting spirit and fled, but Kimimaro, Haku, Fire Fly, Gota, Yukimi, and the other Hoshinin intercepted and captured them.
• Uchiha Hikari assigned Gota and Fire Fly to suppress the Land of Nether and ordered Kisame to advance into the Land of Snow.
• Kisame set out with Anbu First Squad and twelve chūnin toward the capital of the Land of Snow.

The Land of Stars conquered the Land of Nether, Land of Swamps, and Land of Snow, then began annexing them through military occupation, relief efforts, and public trials. The three lands became prefectures of the Land of Stars, whose sudden expansion unsettled the great nations of Wind and Earth.

• Fire Fly and Gota captured Yokogawa Taichi and the Land of Nether’s nobles after routing their soldiers.
• Menma ordered the Star Ninja Army and Uzumaki Fuka’s administrative teams to occupy the three lands and provide relief.
• Uzumaki Fuka held a public trial in the Land of Swamps, where citizens accused nobles of crimes and Ono Takuto was sentenced to death.
• Miroku and Star officials helped conduct similar trials across the Land of Nether and Land of Snow, while the Land of Stars dismantled the old ruling class.
• The Land of Snow, Land of Swamps, Land of Nether, and Land of Ogres became prefectures of the Land of Stars, prompting concern in the Lands of Earth and Wind.

The daimyōs of the Land of Earth and Land of Wind reacted to the Land of Stars’ expansion, but their villages’ weakened states limited their responses. By Year 58 of Konoha, Iwagakure was preparing covert attacks while Sunagakure’s rift with its daimyō had deepened, and the Land of Stars was focused on integrating its new territories.

• Muto Kai ordered Ōnoki to eliminate the Land of Stars, but Ōnoki proposed secretly funding mercenaries and covert Iwagakure operations instead.
• Muto Kai approved Ōnoki’s plan and promised to provide special military funds through secret channels.
• Sato Masaki demanded that Rasa use Sunagakure to curb the Land of Stars, but Rasa explained that the village lacked the resources for war.
• Rasa accused Sato Masaki of giving profitable missions to Konoha and told him to hire Konoha shinobi if he wanted the Land of Stars dealt with.
• Rasa left the Daimyo Mansion, deepening the rift between the Land of Wind and Sunagakure.
• Winter passed into Year 58 of Konoha as the Land of Stars began integrating its expanded territory.

On New Year’s Day, Neji endured the Hyuga Main House’s rank-bound ceremonies and carefully staged a spar with Hinata while hiding his resentment. After hearing Homon Hyuga describe Asura’s power, Neji’s longing for freedom and strength deepened, and he saw the clan’s old branches in his mother’s pruned plant.

• Neji attended the Main House’s New Year gathering with Hizashi and saw that Asura had taken the eyes of four elders.
• Hiashi arranged a spar between Neji and Hinata, and Neji controlled his strength so the match appeared even and preserved the Main House’s dignity.
• Homon Hyuga warned Neji that Asura and Hoshigakure were dangerous enemies, recounting their power and his own encounters with them.
• Neji concealed his admiration for Asura and promised to obey Homon’s warning while his hatred of the clan’s hierarchy grew.
• Neji returned home and studied the pruned branches beside a vigorous new shoot, thinking of the Hyuga clan as rotten and diseased.

Menma spent New Year’s Day with Hinata and discussed freeing the Hyuga Branch House from the Caged Bird, then used the Book of Vermilion Moon to put Neji through a nightmare that sharpened his combat ability. By morning, Neji’s sudden improvement astonished his teacher, while Menma’s plans for the Hyuga clan remained underway.

• Hinata invited Menma to build a snowman, and they joined Naruto and Kiba at the park.
• Big Sister Hinata told Menma about Neji’s unsettling demeanor, and Menma explained Neji’s hatred of the Main House and promised to free Branch House members from the Caged Bird.
• Menma visited Neji as Asura and offered him a choice between submission and pursuing power and freedom, and Neji chose to learn from him.
• Menma used the Book of Vermilion Moon to trap Neji in an illusion where repeated cycles of his father’s death, failed rebellion, and battles honed his will and combat instincts.
• Neji displayed dramatically improved Gentle Fist skills during training with Homon Hyuga, who was shocked by his progress.