Chapter Summaries

Konan and Pain negotiated with Iwagakure jōnin Bunya to carry out a dangerous mission against the Land of Stars for one hundred million ryo. After securing the payment through an underground Bounty Station, Nagato decided the mission could also let Akatsuki assess Asura and consider recruiting him—or confront him.

• Konan and Pain met Bunya and three Iwagakure chūnin in an abandoned cabin to discuss a mission against Hoshigakure.
• Bunya tasked Akatsuki with scouting Hoshigakure’s defenses and powerful fighters while disrupting its military facilities and supply routes.
• Pain demanded one hundred million ryo, and Konan required the full payment to be held by an underground Bounty Station; Bunya accepted and left the mission scroll.
• After confirming the Iwagakure party had departed, Konan warned Pain about Asura’s rapid expansion and powerful allies.
• Nagato ordered the mission to proceed so Akatsuki could measure Asura and possibly invite him to join, or show him Akatsuki’s power if he opposed their idea of peace.

Danzō investigated Yakushi Nonō’s reported death and Shisui’s disappearance while worrying about the Land of Stars’ rise. In Star City, Menma challenged Shisui’s doubts about conquest by inviting him to see conditions in Nether Prefecture, but Kushina’s appearance left Shisui stunned and questioning who Menma was.

• Danzō ordered Aburame Tatsuma to keep searching for proof of Yakushi Nonō’s fate and for Uchiha Shisui, who had vanished after their encounter.
• Menma and Shisui played Go, and Shisui questioned whether the Land of Stars’ military expansion could bring peace.
• Menma argued that the old political order caused conflict and invited Shisui to visit Nether Prefecture with a relief and administrative convoy.
• Shisui agreed to see the changes in Nether Prefecture for himself.
• Uzumaki Kushina brought fruit, and Shisui recognized her as the supposedly deceased wife of the Fourth Hokage, leaving him shocked by her presence and Menma’s identity.

Menma told Kushina he planned to free Minato from the Grim Reaper’s stomach once the conquered prefectures had stabilized, while Shisui traveled through Nether Prefecture and saw how the Land of Stars was rebuilding it. After Fire Fly explained why Hoshinin fought for a clear purpose and recovered amid the people they helped, Shisui began to accept Asura’s path, though he still worried about a future conflict with Konoha.

• Menma told Kushina he intended to free Minato from the Grim Reaper’s stomach and show her Konoha’s decline, despite her doubts about resurrection and her complicated feelings toward the village.
• Shisui joined Natsuhi’s squad to escort supplies and officials to Nether Prefecture in chakra-powered trucks, marveling at the Land of Stars’ technology and disciplined military camp.
• At New Star Town, Shisui saw refugees receive food, medicine, housing, land, and work as the Land of Stars rebuilt the war-damaged region.
• Shisui questioned Fire Fly about the wounded Hoshinin’s lack of apparent war trauma, and Fire Fly said their belief in liberating people and building a better future gave their battles clear purpose.
• Seeing the town’s residents recover and hearing Fire Fly’s explanation, Shisui reconsidered whether peace meant preserving Konoha’s existing order or protecting people through wider change.

Nagato sent the four Pain puppets into the Land of Stars to judge its rule, and what they saw in the newly conquered territory unsettled his beliefs. Outside Honmatsu Castle, Natsuhi confronted them as Deva Path Pain declared himself a god.

• Konan hid Nagato's frail body in a disguised tree while Nagato took control of four Pain puppets and headed toward Swamp Prefecture.
• Nagato observed the Land of Stars repairing roads, supporting farmers, providing relief and medical care, and organizing public works, which contrasted with the misery of the Land of Rain.
• The four Pain puppets followed a supply convoy to Honmatsu Castle, where Natsuhi and Miroku coordinated the delivery of grain and medicine for villages suffering from a spring plague.
• Murahashi Hazuki sensed the four powerful intruders, and Miroku organized the civilians' retreat into the city while Natsuhi and her team went to meet them.
• Natsuhi demanded to know the intruders' purpose, and Deva Path Pain stepped forward and announced, "I am God."

Natsuhi and her team were overwhelmed by Pain until Asura’s Seal Chakra Network healed and empowered them, allowing them to fight back. As Deva Path Pain nearly killed Shisui, a new mark awakened on his hand and unleashed a far greater power, ending with Asura’s voice demanding to know who had touched his people.

• Deva Path Pain and Asura Path attacked Natsuhi, Chino, Morishita Shun-jin, and Murahashi Hazuki, badly injuring them despite their defenses.
• Chino used her Blood Dragon Technique against Deva Path Pain, but Shinra Tensei destroyed the dragons and blasted her, Shun-jin, and Hazuki away.
• Uchiha Shisui arrived and attacked Pain, but Deva Path Pain repelled him with Shinra Tensei and left him badly injured.
• The seals on Natsuhi, Chino, Shun-jin, and Hazuki released Dark Kurama’s chakra, healing and empowering them, and they launched a coordinated counterattack with Shisui.
• Deva Path Pain used Banshō Ten'in to drag Shisui toward him while Animal Path’s summoned chameleon seized Shisui with its barbed tongue.
• A dark-red mark appeared on Shisui’s hand, freeing him from the pull, healing his wound, and unleashing a voice that demanded to know who had touched his people.

Menma controlled Shisui through the hidden mark and confronted Pain, rejecting Nagato’s ideals and defeating most of his forces with nine powerful masked summons and a devastating attack from the sky. He left Deva Path and Animal Path standing, then revealed that he knew Nagato’s name, leaving Nagato horrified.

• Menma took control of Shisui, healed his shoulder, and ordered Natsuhi, Chino, Morishita Shun-jin, and Murahashi Hazuki to retreat to Honmatsu Castle.
• Deva Path Pain admitted that Ōnoki had hired Akatsuki to cause destruction in the Land of Stars and invited Menma to join their plan to gather the tailed beasts; Menma refused and challenged Nagato’s vision of peace through pain.
• Menma summoned nine masked beasts, which overwhelmed Animal Path’s five summons, while Human Path failed to extract the Grim Reaper’s soul and was thrown into a rock wall.
• Deva Path attacked Shisui with Banshō Ten'in, but Menma countered with Shinra Tensei and blasted Deva Path away.
• Menma called down Divine Punishment, erasing Asura Path and Human Path in a massive golden blast that left a vast crater.
• Menma addressed the remaining Deva Path and Animal Path Pains by Nagato’s name, shocking Nagato in his hiding place.

Menma used Shisui to unsettle Nagato by revealing that the masked Uchiha Madara might have caused Yahiko’s death and Akatsuki’s destruction, then withdrew as Uchiha Hikari arrived and drove Pain’s forces into retreat. Nagato escaped with Konan while Shisui and Hikari were left to reckon with the battle and its revelations.

• Menma told Nagato that he knew Pain’s true nature and suggested that the masked Uchiha Madara had engineered Yahiko’s death and Akatsuki’s destruction, planting suspicion in Nagato’s mind.
• Menma withdrew from Shisui as Uchiha Hikari arrived in her complete Susanoo and attacked Deva Path Pain and Animal Path Pain.
• Hikari destroyed Animal Path Pain and forced Deva Path Pain into a desperate defensive fight, while Nagato ordered Konan to retreat toward the Land of Wind.
• Deva Path Pain escaped by drawing Hikari away with boulders and Rinnegan abilities, and Hikari stopped pursuing him at the border.
• Shisui returned toward Honmatsu Castle, shaken by what he had learned, while Nagato watched Hikari’s Susanoo disappear and fled with fear and doubts about the masked Uchiha Madara.

Nagato recounted Akatsuki’s disastrous battle with Asura and Uchiha Hikari, then began to suspect that Obito and Zetsu had hidden the truth about Yahiko’s death. Akatsuki spread information about Hoshigakure to stir up other nations, and Ōnoki began to fear that the Land of Stars held powerful Uchiha who could use Susanoo.

• Nagato told Konan that Asura had destroyed the Asura Path and Human Path, while Uchiha Hikari had killed the Animal Path and matched his Shinra Tensei with her dark-red chakra giant.
• Nagato revealed that Asura knew his real name and accused someone close to him of causing Yahiko’s death, leading Konan and Nagato to suspect Uchiha Madara and Zetsu.
• Nagato ordered Konan to misrepresent Akatsuki’s losses to Ōnoki, secretly investigate Uchiha Madara and Zetsu, and spread claims that Asura controlled Hoshigakure and that Uchiha served him.
• Mabui restrained A’s plan to attack the Land of Stars by reminding him that Iwagakure lay between Kumogakure and its target, while reporting that Killer B and Yugito needed months to recover.
• Ōnoki read reports of Akatsuki’s losses and a dark-red armored giant near Honmatsu Castle, then feared that Hoshigakure’s Uchiha could wield Susanoo and reconsidered his strategy.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō debated the Land of Stars’ growing threat and Shisui Uchiha’s disappearance, while Danzō ordered Kabuto back to Konoha to test his loyalty. Meanwhile, Menma began a ritual to free Minato’s soul from the Death God, and the chapter ended as Impure World Reincarnation took shape around him.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō argued over whether Uchiha were colluding with Asura, and Hiruzen challenged Danzō about Shisui’s disappearance before ordering Root to investigate the Land of Stars.
• Danzō ordered Aburame Tatsuma to summon Yakushi Kabuto to Konoha within seven days or brand him a defector.
• Kabuto recognized the order as a test, received Menma’s instructions to reveal selected intelligence, and told Yakushi Nonō he would return to Konoha to protect Menma and their secrets.
• Menma told Kushina he planned to free Minato’s soul and use Impure World Reincarnation, then took her to a guarded underground chamber with Kazahana Dōtō and Nadare Rōga.
• Menma used Kazahana Dōtō and the Death God Mask to release Minato’s soul, sacrificing Dōtō in the ritual.
• Menma performed Impure World Reincarnation using Nadare Rōga as the vessel, and Namikaze Minato began to appear.

Menma resurrected Namikaze Minato and told him that Uchiha Obito had caused the Nine-Tails Incident and that Konoha planned to exterminate the Uchiha Clan. As Minato explored the Land of Stars with Kushina, he saw its new society and began considering Menma’s plans to unify the shinobi world, before sensing Orochimaru near a research facility.

• Menma used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Minato, who recognized Menma as his missing eldest son and apologized for failing to protect him.
• Menma revealed that Konoha’s leadership planned to exterminate the Uchiha Clan and declared his intention to build a new nation, wage the Fourth Shinobi World War, and unify the shinobi world.
• Menma explained that Uchiha Obito had controlled the Nine-Tails during the attack that killed Minato and Kushina, shocking Minato and leaving both parents to reflect through the night.
• Menma sent Kushina and Minato to explore Star City, where they saw its technology, public services, academy, farms, and museum documenting abuses by nobles and daimyo.
• Near a military research facility, Minato sensed a familiar chakra and recognized Orochimaru among researchers handing crates to Star Ninja Army officers.

Minato and Kushina toured the Land of Stars, learning about Orochimaru’s research, the country’s reforms, and the clans Menma had sheltered. Meanwhile, Menma assessed experimental Chakra Powered Armor and its potential to strengthen the Star Ninja Army as he prepared for future expansion.

• Orochimaru recognized Minato and Kushina, brought them to his laboratory, and explained his past collaboration with Danzō and his current experiments using criminals and enemy shinobi.
• Minato and Kushina met Hiruko at the laboratory and learned that he traded Storm Release research data with Orochimaru for White Zetsu materials.
• Over half a month, Minato and Kushina toured the Land of Stars and saw its cities, farms, infrastructure, public trials, and improvements to ordinary people’s lives.
• Kushina showed Minato the clan estates Menma had established, including the homes of surviving Uzumaki, Yuki, Kaguya, Otsutsuki, and Iburi clansmen.
• Menma and Uchiha Hikari observed tests of three Chakra Powered Armor models, and Hikari raised concerns about dependence on the equipment.
• Menma reviewed the armor’s production limits and combat potential, viewing the technology as a way to expand the Star Ninja Army for his plans to unify the Shinobi World.

Menma ordered the Star Ninja Army to expand its powered-armor program and explained Nagato’s history and Rinnegan to Uchiha Hikari. He brought Hikari home to meet Namikaze Minato, where the family shared dinner and Minato questioned Menma’s decision to control Orochimaru and Hiruko’s research.

• Uchiha Hikari reported that the Star Ninja Army had 452 registered ninja, and Menma ordered more Chakra Powered Armor production, an instructor corps, and a powered-armor unit made from ordinary people.
• Menma told Hikari that Nagato’s Rinnegan had belonged to Uchiha Madara and explained how Obito had manipulated Nagato after Yahiko’s death.
• Menma brought Hikari home, where she met Namikaze Minato and awkwardly called him Dad before Kushina welcomed everyone to dinner.
• Minato questioned whether Menma could control Orochimaru and Hiruko, and Menma argued that keeping their research under supervision would be safer than letting them work unchecked.
• Minato accepted Menma’s reasoning but warned him to maintain control, while Hikari felt she had found a home with the family.

Naruto struggled with loneliness at home until Menma found him at the Naka River and took him to Ichiraku Ramen. Menma’s real body and his parents, Minato and Kushina, watched over Naruto, then disguised themselves and sat beside the boys at the ramen shop, where Naruto sensed something strange about Minato.

• Naruto returned to his messy, empty apartment, imagined the parents he had never known, and ate instant ramen alone.
• Naruto met Sasuke at the Naka River, where Sasuke challenged Menma to beat him in their next practical combat class.
• Menma invited Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen, and the two left Sasuke behind as he headed home in frustration.
• Minato and Kushina watched from the forest as Menma explained that Naruto had friends and was not alone.
• Menma and Naruto ordered ramen at Ichiraku, where Ayame teased Menma about Hinata and Uncle Teuchi prepared their usual bowls.
• Disguised as ordinary customers, Minato and Kushina sat beside the boys, and Naruto briefly sensed something strange about Minato.

Naruto and Menma shared ramen with the resurrected Minato and Kushina, while Kakashi recognized clues suggesting who the pair were. Meanwhile, the Uchiha clan moved toward rebellion, and Konoha’s leaders debated an extermination plan that would force Itachi to destroy his own clan.

• Naruto and Menma ate ramen with Minato and Kushina, who thanked Teuchi for caring for Naruto before leaving.
• Kakashi noticed the blond man and red-haired woman leaving Ichiraku, connected their untouched ramen and behavior to Minato and Kushina, and resolved to identify them.
• Sasuke returned home to Mikoto while Uchiha clan members gathered beneath Naka Shrine and demanded rebellion over Shisui’s disappearance and Konoha’s treatment of the clan.
• Fugaku ordered Yashiro, Tekka, and Inabi to prepare a battle plan, then told Itachi to report that he had temporarily calmed the clan.
• Itachi told Hiruzen Sarutobi and the advisors that the Uchiha were preparing for rebellion, and Danzō urged the village to make Itachi kill the clan’s radical leaders and blame him for the massacre.
• Hiruzen listened as Danzō argued that extermination was the only option, leaving the Uchiha’s fate unresolved.

The Land of Stars reviewed its rapid growth and approved an early graduation assessment to develop its young ninja. Meanwhile, Kisame grew closer to Terumi Mei, and Neji learned from Kimimaro that several peers in the Land of Stars rivaled him, leaving him determined to grow stronger.

• Menma heard reports on the Land of Stars’ economy, population, military, infrastructure, and justice system, then directed officials to settle immigrants and guard the borders.
• Yakushi Nonō asked Menma to let promising Ninja Academy students graduate early, and he approved an assessment with ninjutsu rewards and elite teams led by jonin.
• Kisame and Terumi Mei spent the evening at Star City’s night market, where Kisame analyzed a takoyaki shop as a tactical position before trying its food.
• Neji watched Menma and Hinata at the academy, then trained alone at the Hyuga grounds and went to sleep.
• Kimimaro defeated Neji in their nightly spiritual-space duel and said he had graduated early alongside five peers who were no weaker than Neji.
• Neji woke from the duel with a renewed determination to become stronger and see a wider world.

Kimimaro, Haku, and Fuka attended the ninja school’s graduation assessment, where Menma selected Otsutsuki Toneri, Idasuke, Suzuhara Ai, and Sato Sayun as finalists. He set them the challenge of working together to take a bell from Uchiha Hikari, and their battle was still underway when the chapter ended.

• Uzumaki Fuka sent Kimimaro and Haku to take Fuka to watch the graduation assessment, where they reunited with former classmates and other rising Hoshinin.
• Menma addressed the students, and Yakushi Nonō announced the assessment before sixty-four students took the basic exam and thirty-two advanced to the sparring rounds.
• Otsutsuki Toneri, Idasuke, Suzuhara Ai, and Sato Sayun reached the final four, prompting Menma to replace their scheduled match with a team challenge against Uchiha Hikari for her bell.
• Idasuke organized the four students’ tactics, and they shared Military Ration Pills before beginning their coordinated attack on Hikari.
• Hikari evaded their attacks and disarmed Suzuhara Ai, while the four continued fighting together and tried to find a way to reach her bell.

Uchiha Hikari defeated the graduating genin and gave them guidance, while Menma assigned their mentors and sent Idasuke into the Anbu under Kisame Hoshigaki. As the new teams began training and missions, Menma developed a sealing scroll and considered traveling to Amegakure to find Amado, Jigen, and Isshiki’s Ten-Tails.

• Uchiha Hikari defeated Toneri, Idasuke, Suzuhara Ai, and Sato Sayun in the bell-snatching assessment, then identified each youth’s weaknesses.
• Menma awarded the nineteen graduates their forehead protectors, assigned their mentors, and ordered Kisame Hoshigaki to recruit Idasuke into the Anbu.
• At the next day’s mentor assignments, Uchiha Hikari took Toneri, Suzuhara Ai, and Sato Sayun, while Kisame Hoshigaki brought Idasuke into the Anbu and gave him the code name “Rookie.”
• Uchiha Hikari assigned Toneri, Suzuhara Ai, and Sato Sayun a challenging C-rank mission to hunt armed remnants in the mountains of northern Ogre Prefecture.
• Menma successfully inscribed a Caged Bird Seal into a scroll and considered using the coming massacre to abduct the Hyuga Branch House, the Uchiha, and Katatsuke Tono.
• Menma recalled that Amado might be in Amegakure and resolved to seek an opportunity to visit, hoping to find Amado, Jigen, and Isshiki’s Ten-Tails.

Yakushi Kabuto reported on the Land of Stars to Shimura Danzō, who suspected him and confined him to Konoha under the guise of a vacation. Menma learned of Danzō’s plans and, believing the Uchiha clan’s downfall was approaching, prepared to alert others.

• Yakushi Kabuto told Shimura Danzō about the Land of Stars’ growth and admitted he had little information about Asura; Danzō ordered him to remain in Konoha under surveillance.
• Sasuke Uchiha asked Itachi Uchiha to spar, but Itachi declined and secretly followed Sasuke to the Ninja Academy.
• Itachi watched Sasuke challenge Menma and wondered whether Menma had noticed him before leaving for a mission.
• Yakushi Kabuto told Menma through the Seal Chakra Network that Danzō had placed him under house arrest, and Menma urged him to stay safe and monitor Root.
• Menma recalled that the Uchiha clan’s downfall was expected that year and decided to prepare others for the coming events.

Menma defeated Sasuke in a taijutsu spar with the humiliating One Thousand Years of Death, then treated his classmates to barbecue and paid when Hinata’s enormous appetite exhausted Choji’s coupons. At home, Menma planned to warn allies and use the coming Uchiha Clan Downfall Night to rescue the Uchiha and take advantage of Konoha’s weakened defenses.

• Sasuke attacked Menma with improved taijutsu, but Menma dodged his strikes and used One Thousand Years of Death to send him crashing to the ground.
• Sasuke fled the training field in humiliation, and Iruka declared Menma the winner while forbidding him from using the move again.
• Choji invited Menma, Hinata, Naruto, and their classmates to barbecue, but Hinata ate seventy-two plates and Choji ran out of coupons, so Menma paid the bill.
• Menma walked Hinata home, then returned to his courtyard and read Yakushi Kabuto’s information about Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi preparing for the Uchiha Clan Downfall Night.
• Menma planned to alert Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, and others, rescue the Uchiha, take willing Hyuga Branch House members during the chaos, and abduct Katatsuke Tono.

Menma enlisted Orochimaru to bring the First and Second Hokage to witness Konoha's planned extermination of the Uchiha clan, while preparing a rescue operation for the Uchiha and Hyuga Branch House. The chapter ended with Uchiha Hikari tasked with assembling three elite teams as the Night of Extermination drew near.

• Menma visited Orochimaru's laboratory, where Orochimaru showed him Jugo's unstable natural-energy power and explained his Cursed Seal research.
• Menma requested cells from Senju Hashirama and Tobirama Senju, and Orochimaru revealed that he had already revived both through Impure World Reincarnation.
• Menma told Orochimaru that Konoha's leaders would soon target the Uchiha clan, and Orochimaru agreed to bring the First and Second Hokage to witness the purge.
• Orochimaru reported that White Zetsu supplies were running low, and Menma promised that new materials would be delivered after he advanced his plans.
• Back home, Menma warned Kushina, Minato, and Uchiha Hikari that the Night of Extermination could begin at any time.
• Menma ordered Hikari to assemble three elite teams to evacuate Uchiha survivors, extract Hyuga Branch House members, and disrupt Konoha's Anbu and Root forces.