Chapter Summaries

Kakashi’s squad staged attacks on Iwagakure outposts to provoke a conflict, and Ōnoki ordered a measured response while growing wary of the Sharingan. In the Death Sand Sea, Menma explained his pursuit of Six Paths-level power to Tsunade, then confronted Sunagakure’s force and twice kicked Rasa aside, leaving the Kazekage’s allies stunned.

• Kakashi’s squad killed the defenders at an Iwagakure outpost, disguised the scene as a Sunagakure attack, and confirmed that two survivors had been found.
• Ōnoki ordered Kitsuchi to reinforce the northern border and strike a Land of Stars outpost, while Bunya issued a diplomatic protest and was told to locate Han and Rōshi.
• Menma told Tsunade that he was pursuing power on the level of the Sage of Six Paths as Dark Kurama absorbed the juvenile Ten-Tails’ chakra.
• Rasa, Chiyo, Ebizo, and thirty-six Sunagakure ninja arrived at the Death Sand Sea and saw Dark Kurama absorbing the Ten-Tails.
• Menma attacked Rasa with a kick, evaded the Sunagakure ninja’s weapons, then shattered Rasa’s Gold Dust Shield Wall and kicked him away again.

Menma overwhelmed Sunagakure’s forces, forcing Rasa to release Shukaku from Gaara in a desperate attempt to turn the battle around. Shukaku emerged rejoicing, then froze when he saw the Ten-Tails and Dark Kurama nearby.

• Chiyo summoned the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets as Sunagakure’s forces formed up around the wounded Rasa and Gaara.
• Menma identified himself as Asura of the Land of Stars and declared that Sunagakure would pay for its border conflicts.
• Rasa’s Gold Dust ambush failed, and Menma charged the formation, breaking through its ninjutsu, puppets, and fighters.
• Pakura, Fuyi, and the Barrier Team attacked Menma, but he injured them and destroyed the barrier with Black Receivers.
• Rasa forced Gaara into sleep and hurled him at Menma, summoning Shukaku with the Feigning Sleep Technique.
• Shukaku emerged celebrating his freedom, then saw the bound Ten-Tails and Dark Kurama devouring its chakra and stopped in alarm.

Menma fought Shukaku and drove off the Sunagakure forces, killing Ebizo and leaving Chiyo devastated. After Shukaku retreated into the unconscious Gaara, Menma caught the child and left Rasa and Chiyo to escape.

• Shukaku attacked Menma, but Menma deflected his Air Bullet with a chakra Black Receiver and repelled Rasa’s gold-dust attack with Shinra Tensei.
• Shukaku’s Tailed Beast Bomb devastated the battlefield, and Rasa ordered Baki and Pakura to retreat with the surviving Sunagakure Ninja.
• Shukaku trapped Menma in a sand pyramid, but Menma burst out with Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, wounding Rasa and Chiyo and fatally impaling Ebizo as he protected Chiyo.
• Menma battered Shukaku with Tenseigan-powered punches until Rasa fled with Chiyo and Ebizo’s body, and Shukaku withdrew into Gaara.
• Menma caught the unconscious Gaara, picked up his teddy bear, and placed it beside him as the child slept more peacefully.

Menma defeated Shukaku, rescued the sleeping Gaara, and challenged Tsunade’s beliefs about nobles, social class, and the hidden village system. He left her questioning whether Senju Hashirama could have prevented the later Shinobi World Wars by uniting the entire world.

• Tsunade and Shizune saw Menma brutally overwhelm Shukaku, while Tsunade recognized that Menma could control the Nine-Tails and the Ten-Tails.
• Menma emerged with the sleeping Gaara, asked Shizune to prepare a blanket and hot water, and explained why Rasa had brought Sunagakure’s jinchūriki into battle.
• Tsunade accused Menma of provoking a war with the Land of Wind, and Menma challenged her defense of nobles and daimyo by describing them as exploitative parasites.
• Menma used a staircase to explain society’s classes and argued that ninja warfare had caused immense suffering, forcing Tsunade to confront memories of the Land of Rain and her losses.
• Menma asked whether Hashirama could have united all nations and hidden villages, preventing the later Shinobi World Wars, and Tsunade was left stunned by the possibility.

Menma rejected Tsunade’s belief that Hashirama founded peace through reconciliation, arguing that Madara submitted because he could not defeat the Senju. After Kisame reported attacks and forged evidence implicating the Land of Stars, Menma ordered a war mobilization and warned Iwagakure that further attacks would be treated as a declaration of war.

• Tsunade argued that Hashirama and Madara ended their feud through understanding, but Menma said Madara had been forced to submit because Hashirama was stronger.
• Menma revealed details of the Senju and Uchiha brothers’ deaths, then refused Tsunade’s demand that the Land of Stars surrender to the Leaf.
• Kisame Hoshigaki arrived with Anbu reinforcements, and Menma ordered him to secure the perimeter of the Death Sand Sea.
• Kisame reported that mysterious shinobi had attacked border strongholds in the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, leaving evidence to frame the Land of Stars, while Iwagakure had retaliated against Star outposts.
• Menma suspected the Leaf was behind the framing and ordered Hikari to issue a war mobilization order while Fuka sent Iwagakure a diplomatic warning against further attacks.

Yakushi Kabuto returned to Sunagakure and learned that the Land of Wind had declared war on the Land of Stars after a disastrous mission that cost Ebizo his life and saw the One-Tail jinchūriki taken. Rasa secured the daimyo’s support and war funds, while the Hidden Leaf debated aiding Sunagakure until Danzō revealed that Asura was suspected of abducting the jinchūriki.

• Yakushi Kabuto returned to Sunagakure from a routine mission and quietly gathered intelligence on the village’s defenses and layout.
• Yakushi Kabuto overheard that Ebizo had died in a disastrous mission, then learned that the Land of Wind had officially declared war on the Land of Stars.
• Rasa persuaded Daimyo Sato Masaki to fund the war and seek support from the Hidden Leaf and Iwagakure, while Chiyo emerged determined to avenge Ebizo.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisers debated whether the Hidden Leaf should send troops or supplies to Sunagakure.
• Shimura Danzō entered the Hokage’s office and revealed that Asura was suspected of abducting Sunagakure’s One-Tail jinchūriki.

As the Land of Wind declared war, the Land of Stars mobilized for total war while Minato learned that Menma was suppressing the Ten-Tails. Menma returned to Star City with Gaara, Tsunade, and Shizune, where Tsunade was stunned to see Minato alive.

• Hizashi and Shisui discussed the mounting pressure of war as they headed to an emergency meeting.
• Uzumaki Fuka announced the Land of Wind's declaration of war and issued wartime orders placing the Land of Stars under total mobilization.
• Uchiha Hikari revealed that Menma was in the Land of Wind suppressing the Ten-Tails, shocking Minato and provoking the Yin Nine-Tails to deny that it could exist.
• Uzumaki Fuka received word that Menma had returned, and the officials left the meeting to greet him at the military district.
• Menma arrived carrying Gaara and accompanied by Tsunade and Shizune; Uchiha Hikari reacted jealously to Tsunade, while Shizune recognized Minato.

Tsunade and Shizune visited Minato and Kushina in Star City, where the resurrected couple explained their freedom and refused to reveal Asura’s identity. After Kushina asked about Naruto, Tsunade realized the Leaf had failed him, and she left questioning the village as she discovered Star City housed many clans living together.

• Kushina welcomed Tsunade and Shizune into her home, and Minato explained that their improved Impure World Reincarnation bodies gave them free will.
• Minato and Kushina refused to reveal Asura’s identity before Konoha Year 63, and Minato said they had already fulfilled their duty to the Leaf.
• Kushina asked whether Naruto had been cared for and lived happily, and Tsunade understood why the couple had stayed in the Land of Stars.
• Tsunade agreed to keep their revival secret for now, but warned she could not promise to do so if the Leaf entered the expanding war.
• Tsunade noticed signs that two younger people lived with Minato and Kushina, then saw Star City’s Uchiha, Hyuga, Kaguya, Uzumaki, and Chinoike clans living together.
• Tsunade wondered whether the Leaf was still the village she had once known.

Ōnoki faced pressure from the Land of Earth’s daimyo to consider entering the war between the Land of Wind and the Land of Stars, while A and Karatachi Yagura responded to the conflict and their own village crises. The chapter left Yagura asking to resign as Mizukage and entrusting Genji with overseeing the next election.

• Daimyo Muto Kai urged Ōnoki to attack the Land of Stars, and Ōnoki agreed to send spies and consider intervention if its forces were occupied.
• Kitsuchi and Bunya warned Ōnoki that a third party might have staged the attacks blamed on the Hoshinin, but Ōnoki said the daimyo already had enough of an excuse to act.
• Karui reported Sunagakure’s heavy losses to A, who ordered Kumogakure spies to infiltrate the Land of Stars and gather intelligence on Asura and the Hoshinin.
• A ordered Karui to covertly spread the claim that Asura was the Hidden Leaf’s defected Nine-Tails jinchūriki, hoping to draw the Hidden Leaf and Iwagakure into the conflict.
• Karatachi Yagura apologized for the harm caused while he was controlled by genjutsu, resigned as Mizukage, and asked Genji to oversee the next election.

Kirigakure’s leaders restricted Yagura’s authority and discussed the mysterious Sharingan user who controlled him, while Menma’s war council reviewed the Land of Stars’ growing military strength and its offensive against Sunagakure. The First Legion had already seized key positions in the Death Sand Sea as the Land of Stars prepared to push the war into the Land of Wind.

• Genji and Kirigakure’s leaders postponed choosing a new Mizukage, restricted Yagura’s authority, and ordered the secret of his manipulation sealed.
• Yagura said the controller had used Sharingan genjutsu and seemed to bear a grudge against Asura, prompting Genji and Mei Terumi to connect the mystery to Asura’s past encounter in Kirigakure.
• Mei Terumi and Genji discussed the Land of Stars’ growing collection of bloodline clans, and Genji urged Yagura to send infiltrators to gather intelligence on the Land of Stars and the mysterious enemy.
• Uchiha Hikari reported that the Land of Stars had 807 registered ninja, including fourteen jonin, while Oyashiro En estimated that Sunagakure could field several thousand troops.
• Oyashiro En outlined a strategy to prevent Sunagakure from harassing the Land of Stars’ interior by carrying the fighting into the Land of Wind.
• The First Legion, numbering 170 under Hikari’s command, had taken control of eight oases and four cities in the southern Death Sand Sea and established a forward defensive line.

Menma organized the Land of Stars for war against Sunagakure, then entrusted Uchiha Hikari with the western front while he guarded Mini-Kurama as it absorbed the Ten-Tails. Star Ninja forces defeated a Sunagakure flanking unit and held off Rasa’s much larger army, while Rasa ordered another assault and pinned his hopes on Konoha and Iwagakure joining the war.

• Menma formed four legions, assigned Hikari, Hizashi Hyuga, Natsuhi, and Uzumaki Fuka to command them, and ordered a wartime internal purge and broad mobilization.
• Menma asked Namikaze Minato to coordinate the rear from Star City while Hikari and Hizashi led the Death Sand Sea front, and Minato agreed to suppress any unrest.
• Kaguya Kimimaro led twelve Hoshinin, including Neji, Haku, Yukimi, and Uchiha ninja, in an ambush that devastated Yura and Fuyi’s two-hundred-person Sunagakure unit; Yukimi’s Wood Release broke the survivors’ will to fight.
• Kimimaro’s squad captured the surviving Sunagakure ninja and prepared to return to Shashin City after Neji recovered from a poisoned wound.
• Rasa’s more than two thousand five hundred ninja suffered heavy losses against fewer than four hundred Hoshinin, and Baki reported over five hundred Sunagakure casualties after four days of battle.
• Chiyo warned Rasa that continued frontal attacks could ruin Sunagakure, but Rasa ordered another assault at dawn and counted on Konoha’s promised support and Iwagakure entering the war.

Pakura betrayed Sunagakure during a Hoshinin ambush, and Uchiha Hikari’s forces later crushed the Sunagakure main army and captured the wounded Fourth Kazekage Rasa. As Hikari learned that Ōnoki was leading more than ten thousand Iwagakure Ninja toward the eastern border, the western front’s victory gave way to a new threat.

• Otsutsuki Toneri detected Pakura’s approaching force, and Fire Fly led the Hoshinin Squad in an ambush that killed Ryosuke after Pakura revealed her betrayal.
• The Hoshinin captured nearly one hundred Sunagakure survivors, while Kimimaro reported that his detachment had killed most of its opposing force.
• Uchiha Hikari ordered a general offensive, and the Hoshinin attacked Sunagakure’s main camp before Rasa’s reinforcements could settle in.
• Shisui broke free of Rasa’s Gold Dust Imperial Funeral with Susanoo, helping rout the Sunagakure army as Izumi severed Rasa’s arm and Chiyo died covering the retreat.
• Kimimaro and Fire Fly’s detachments blocked the fleeing Sunagakure guards and captured Rasa, while the main force collapsed.
• A communications ninja told Hikari that Ōnoki was advancing toward the eastern border with more than ten thousand Iwagakure Ninja.

Konan announced Pain as Amegakure’s new ruler, while Nagato struggled to imagine how to rebuild the village and learned that Kirigakure had broken Obito’s control of Yagura. At Tottori Mountain Fortress, Uchiha Hikari faced Ōnoki’s invading army alone, and her attack left Ōnoki injured as Han charged her.

• Konan proclaimed Pain the new ruler of the Land of Rain, and Amegakure’s ninja divided among Akatsuki, Hanzo’s remnants, and those who fled.
• Nagato questioned how to rebuild Amegakure as Konan reported the split, while Obito and Zetsu revealed that Kirigakure had freed Yagura from the Sharingan genjutsu.
• Jigen told Amado that recovering his daughter’s soul from the Pure Land would require planting the God Tree and gaining power to oppose Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
• Uchiha Hikari reached Tottori Mountain Fortress, where Natsuhi reported that Iwagakure’s main force was approaching.
• Uchiha Hikari taunted Ōnoki, defeated hundreds of Iwagakure ninja, and unleashed a massive Fire Style attack against the army.
• Uchiha Hikari burst through the steam and struck Ōnoki, and Han activated his Steam Armor and charged at her.

Uchiha Hikari tore through the Iwagakure army with Susanoo, overcame Ōnoki’s Dust Release with Mangekyō abilities, and forced Rōshi and Han to unleash their complete Tailed Beasts. The chapter ended as Hikari revealed her complete-body Susanoo, leaving Ōnoki and the Iwa-nin terrified.

• Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo blocked Han’s full-powered strike and knocked him back, prompting Han and Rōshi to consider complete Tailed Beast Transformation.
• Uchiha Hikari charged into the Iwagakure ranks, killing and wounding over a thousand ninja as Kitsuchi, Akatsuchi, and Bunya coordinated a counterattack.
• Rōshi and Han joined Kitsuchi and other elite jōnin in attacking Hikari, but Ōnoki’s Dust Release was the first technique to destroy part of her Susanoo.
• Uchiha Hikari awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan, used Kagutsuchi to regenerate Susanoo’s arm, and burned Rōshi and Han with Amaterasu until they abandoned their tailed-beast chakra cloaks.
• Ōnoki urged Rōshi and Han to stop holding back, and they transformed into the Four-Tails Son Gokū and the Five-Tails Kokuō.
• Uchiha Hikari expanded her Susanoo into its complete-body form, drawing a colossal chakra blade as Ōnoki and the Iwagakure ninja watched in fear.

Uchiha Hikari overwhelmed Iwagakure’s forces with her complete-body Susanoo while reinforcements headed toward the eastern front. In Sunagakure, Konoha’s force arrived amid the village’s collapse, only for Hoshinin led by Hizashi Hyuga to launch an attack as Danzō and Kakashi watched.

• Uchiha Hikari raised her two-hundred-meter Susanoo, stunning Iwagakure’s army and raising the morale of the Star Ninja at Tottori Mountain Fortress.
• Uzumaki Fuka and Namikaze Minato met Uchiha Shisui, Izumi Uchiha, and Inabi Uchiha at Star City’s North Railway Station, where Shisui reported Sunagakure’s defeat and Chiyo’s death.
• Shisui, Izumi, and Inabi boarded a military train to reinforce the eastern front and deliver Menma’s order against Iwagakure.
• Shimura Danzō and Kakashi’s Konoha force entered Sunagakure and learned that its front had collapsed and few defenders remained.
• An explosion struck Sunagakure’s northern passage, and Hizashi Hyuga led Hoshinin troops into the village, prompting the Konoha ninja to recognize former allies among the attackers.

Hizashi Hyuga’s Hoshinin forces overwhelmed Konoha’s defenders in Sunagakure while Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo defeated the Four-Tails and Five-Tails and devastated the Iwagakure army. The chapter ended with Ōnoki surrendering after Shisui Uchiha, Izumi Uchiha, and Inabi Uchiha arrived with their own Susanoo.

• Hizashi Hyuga led Gota, Kimimaro, Haku, and Yukimi toward the Kazekage Building as Hoshinin troops swept through Sunagakure.
• Gota and Yukimi pressured Kakashi and Yamato, Kimimaro battled Might Guy, and Haku trapped Gaku Inuzuka and Mimura Hamaki in Ice Release.
• Hizashi confronted Danzō over his stolen Sharingan, then fought Iroha Hyuga after rejecting his offer to return to Konoha.
• Danzō withdrew as the Konoha defensive line faltered and the Hoshinin gained the upper hand in Sunagakure.
• Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo deflected a Tailed Beast Bomb into the Iwagakure army, killing thousands, then severed the heads of Five-Tails Kokuō and Four-Tails Son Gokū.
• Shisui Uchiha, Izumi Uchiha, and Inabi Uchiha arrived with three Susanoo, and Ōnoki surrendered to Uchiha Hikari.

Jiraiya and Ajisai learned that the Land of Stars had defeated Sunagakure and Iwagakure, prompting them to set out for the country. Meanwhile, Ōnoki traveled to Star City as a prisoner and arrived to negotiate, where he was horrified to recognize the person waiting for him as Namikaze Minato.

• Jiraiya heard merchants discuss Iwagakure joining Sunagakure in the war against the Land of Stars and worried about the country's chances.
• A victory report announced that the Land of Stars had defeated both great villages, captured the Kazekage, and forced Ōnoki to surrender; Ajisai tearfully asked Jiraiya to take her there, and he agreed.
• At Tottori Mountain Fortress, Ōnoki left Kitsuchi and Bunya in charge of the Iwagakure prisoners and boarded a train to Star City with Otsu Uchiha and his companions.
• On the train, Ōnoki learned that Otsu Uchiha was over three hundred years old and saw how the Land of Stars had transformed the Nether River Plains into productive farmland.
• Ōnoki arrived in Star City to face negotiations and froze in shock when he recognized Namikaze Minato among the officials waiting on the platform.

Ōnoki signed a harsh treaty that made the Land of Earth and Iwagakure vassals of the Land of Stars after their defeat. Meanwhile, Tsunade learned the war was over and went with Shizune to the Uzumaki residence, where they found Mikoto Uchiha caring for Gaara.

• Namikaze Minato greeted Ōnoki in Star City as a resurrected dead man and took charge of the postwar negotiations.
• Uzumaki Fuka told Ōnoki that the Land of Stars had taken control of the Land of Wind and Sunagakure, while Minato said the Land of Earth would not be fully annexed.
• Minato presented a nineteen-article treaty that ceded five eastern counties and imposed political, military, economic, and cultural control on the Land of Earth; Ōnoki signed it.
• Shizune told Tsunade that Sunagakure and Iwagakure had been defeated, and Tsunade hurried to the Uzumaki residence.
• Tsunade and Shizune saw Mikoto Uchiha mending Gaara’s teddy bear, and Tsunade recognized her.

Tsunade and Shizune visited Mikoto, Kushina, and Minato, learning how the Land of Stars planned to govern its victories and establish a casino concession in the Land of Earth. Far away, Menma watched Mini-Kurama absorb the Ten-Tails’ source chakra and evolve, leaving him determined to strengthen his body enough to contain its power.

• Tsunade and Shizune met Mikoto and learned that she was caring for Gaara, the One-Tail’s jinchuriki and Rasa’s son.
• Kushina told Tsunade that the Land of Stars had defeated Sunagakure and Iwagakure in seven days, captured Rasa and Ōnoki, and taken control of the Land of Wind.
• Minato explained that the Land of Wind would be annexed and the Land of Earth made a vassal state, with a licensed casino and entertainment zone established in Aomori City.
• Tsunade recognized that the casino city could serve as a forward base for influencing the Land of Earth, and Minato said it could also shelter people facing unjust persecution.
• Menma watched Mini-Kurama absorb the Ten-Tails’ remaining source chakra, gain a tenth tail, and reach a level beyond ordinary tailed beasts.
• Menma realized his body was struggling to contain Mini-Kurama’s power and resolved to develop his Sage Body and complete their fusion.

After returning from the failed mission to Sunagakure, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Kakashi to infiltrate the Land of Stars and obtain its Will of the Star teaching materials. Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Ajisai explored the country, where they encountered a village threatened by bandits and saw a young Uchiha policeman arrive.

• Danzō and Kakashi escorted the Daimyo of the Land of Wind to the Leaf, then reported Sunagakure’s defeat and the Land of Earth’s submission to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• Kakashi showed Hiruzen photographs of the enormous Nine-Tails and Ten-Tails, and Hiruzen deduced that Asura had obtained Minato’s half of the Nine-Tails.
• Hiruzen assigned Kakashi to secretly infiltrate the Land of Stars and retrieve materials about its education system and the Will of the Star.
• Jiraiya and Ajisai entered Shimono City, observed its disciplined law enforcement and modern infrastructure, and heard Old Man Yamashita describe how life had improved under Asura’s rule.
• At the village below Gunma Mountain, Jiraiya learned that bandits had demanded a hundred thousand ryō, while the villagers waited for the police to respond.
• Jiraiya recognized the young police officer arriving with the others as an Uchiha when he saw the boy’s single-tomoe Sharingan.