Chapter Summaries

Menma negotiated with the Katsuyu Sage to learn Shikkotsu Forest sage arts in exchange for helping it escape its confinement. Under its guidance, he learned to sense natural energy and successfully formed his first strand of senjutsu chakra.

• The Katsuyu Sage recognized Menma’s Tenseigan power and cautiously asked what he wanted in return for helping it leave Shikkotsu Forest.
• Menma asked to learn how to sense, absorb, and use natural energy, and the Katsuyu Sage explained how sage arts chakra differed from conventional chakra.
• The Katsuyu Sage agreed to teach Menma the sage arts of Shikkotsu Forest, which emphasized fusion and harmony with nature.
• Following the Katsuyu Sage’s instructions to quiet his senses and recognize the rhythms of life, Menma began to perceive natural energy.
• Menma patiently balanced natural energy with his physical and spiritual energy and successfully condensed his first strand of senjutsu chakra.

Kitsuchi and Akatsuchi went to release Deidara from confinement, but found him escaping on a clay bird. Ōnoki assigned Deidara, Void, and Kirara to represent Iwagakure at Konoha’s joint Chunin Exam, where they would test the Land of Stars’ young ninja and gather intelligence.

• Kitsuchi and Akatsuchi discussed the pressure from the Land of Stars and went to escort Deidara from confinement.
• Deidara blasted open the confinement facility and flew out on a clay Giant Bird before agreeing to meet Ōnoki.
• Deidara met Ōnoki’s final disciples, Void and Kirara, and learned they would join him at the joint Chunin Exam.
• Ōnoki appointed Akatsuchi as team leader and ordered Deidara, Void, and Kirara to represent Iwagakure at the exam.
• Ōnoki tasked the squad with defeating and assessing the Land of Stars’ Genin, gathering intelligence on other villages, and keeping Void and Kirara’s full abilities concealed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted the daimyo’s demand for a joint Chunin Exam and ordered Shikaku to invite Kirigakure as well. Sasuke and Boruto arrived in the past, where they encountered young Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi, and the unfamiliar Menma.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the advisors debated the Land of Stars and Iwagakure joining the exams after the daimyo ordered Konoha to invite them.
• Shikaku proposed inviting Kirigakure to balance the risks, and Hiruzen ordered him to send the invitation and promise a grand exam.
• Sasuke and Boruto emerged from a disrupted space-time passage near Konoha, with Sasuke injured and the Small Turtle reporting that their destination had shifted.
• Sasuke recognized the village as Konoha from the past when Boruto saw that Hokage Rock displayed only the first four Hokage.
• Sasuke and Boruto spotted young Kakashi, Naruto, Hinata, and an unfamiliar black-haired boy named Menma, who noticed Sasuke watching them.

Sasuke and Boruto discovered that they had arrived in an unknown, altered spacetime and tried to gather information while hiding their identities. Their search revealed that the Uchiha clan had left Konoha and that unfamiliar businesses had transformed the village, before they encountered Team 7 and a strikingly different Hinata.

• Karasuki warned Sasuke and Boruto that the spacetime was an abnormal parallel branch with unknown changes, so Sasuke whisked them away before Kakashi could approach.
• Sasuke told Boruto to conceal their identities, and they changed into ordinary travelers' clothes before exploring Konoha.
• Sasuke found that the former Uchiha compound had become a commercial district and learned from a shopkeeper that the Uchiha clan had moved away five years earlier.
• Sasuke and Boruto spotted modern shops, including Burger King and Wanxiang Sweet Drinks, and overheard merchants discuss the influential Land of Stars.
• After buying burgers and milk tea, Sasuke and Boruto ran into Team 7, where Boruto was shocked to see Hinata acting like a confident delinquent and hanging intimately around Menma.

Adult Sasuke and Boruto tried to pass as wandering performers in an altered Konoha, but their attempt to register brought them into conflict with the younger Sasuke and Sai. As adult Sasuke subdued his younger self, the masked Anbu figure Asura appeared and overwhelmed the group with his presence.

• Big Sister Hinata confronted Boruto after he accidentally called her Mom, while Menma teased her and Kakashi questioned the travelers.
• Adult Sasuke introduced himself as Sazun and used a sleight-of-hand trick to satisfy Kakashi, then headed with Boruto toward the Hokage Office Building to register.
• Adult Sasuke and Boruto encountered young Sasuke and Sai, who ordered them to cooperate with an investigation; adult Sasuke disarmed his younger self and trapped him in a genjutsu.
• Sai used his ink kirin to pull young Sasuke away, while Boruto prepared for a fight and adult Sasuke reflected on his younger self's weaknesses.
• Asura appeared on a nearby utility pole, and his crushing presence made Boruto tremble as young Sasuke shielded him and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan.

Menma, disguised as Asura, confronted young Sasuke, Adult Sasuke, Sai, and Boruto, overwhelming them with his speed, defense, and strange eye powers. The chapter ended with young Sasuke warning Boruto to run as Menma’s attack left them helpless.

• Menma followed young Sasuke and Boruto, then appeared as Asura when Sai and Adult Sasuke intercepted them.
• Menma taunted young Sasuke by mentioning Itachi, prompting him to attack in a rage before Menma kicked him away.
• Adult Sasuke attacked Menma with a blade and Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique, but an invisible barrier stopped both attacks.
• Menma quoted Uchiha Madara’s words, then struck young Sasuke and slammed him into the ground.
• Boruto charged Menma with a Rasengan, but Menma erased it with Dojutsu: Rinyu.
• Young Sasuke warned Boruto to run as Menma kept him pinned down.

Menma restrained Sasuke and targeted Boruto, but Jiraiya rescued Boruto and confronted him with Gamabunta. Menma claimed he was an invited guest attending the Chunin Joint Exams, and Hiruzen accepted his credentials and invited him to the Hokage’s office.

• Menma pinned young Sasuke and moved to examine Boruto, recognizing the Otsutsuki aura within him.
• Jiraiya used the Wild Lion’s Mane Jutsu to pull Boruto away, then summoned Gamabunta to face Menma.
• Boruto thanked Jiraiya, while young Sasuke noticed the Sharingan in adult Sasuke’s eye and questioned how another Uchiha could exist.
• Menma explained that he had come at the invitation of the Land of Fire’s Daimyo and the Hidden Leaf, and kicked adult Sasuke toward Jiraiya, who caught him with his hair.
• Hiruzen arrived as Leaf ninja surrounded the scene, and Sai reported what had happened.
• Menma presented the Daimyo’s invitation, which Hiruzen verified before recognizing him as a guest and inviting him to discuss the exams at the Hokage’s office.

Jiraiya took the injured young Sasuke and Boruto to a discreet inn, where he questioned Sasuke and explained how Asura had transformed the Land of Stars into a major power. Sasuke was left wondering what had happened to the Uchiha clan in this time and space.

• Hiruzen invited Asura to the Hokage Office, while Menma secretly marked young Sasuke with the Flying Thunder God technique so he could respond if Urashiki attacked.
• Jiraiya brought young Sasuke and Boruto to a hot spring inn and examined Sasuke, finding severe internal injuries and dangerously depleted chakra.
• Young Sasuke sent Boruto to buy Military Ration Pills so he could speak privately with Jiraiya, who questioned his origins and connection to Konoha.
• Jiraiya recounted Asura's rise, including his clashes with the great nations and the Land of Stars' annexation of the Land of Wind and Sunagakure.
• Jiraiya told Sasuke that Uchiha Hikari had defeated Ōnoki and an Iwagakure army of ten thousand, leaving Sasuke stunned and wondering where the Uchiha clan had gone.

Jiraiya told Young Sasuke that the Uchiha and Hyuga clans had defected from Konoha to the Land of Stars after upheavals involving Itachi Uchiha, Uchiha Shisui, and Hizashi Hyuga. Young Sasuke learned that Asura had supported the defections and that rumors of a Ten-Tails in the desert might connect Asura to the wider abnormalities, leaving him uncertain how to pursue Otsutsuki Urashiki without worsening this altered timeline.

• Jiraiya recounted rumors that multiple tailed beasts, including a Ten-Tails, had appeared in the desert near the Land of Stars and were linked to Asura.
• Young Sasuke considered whether Asura could be Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito, Jigen, or an unknown Otsutsuki, but could not identify him.
• Young Sasuke told Jiraiya that he and his companions were hunting a dangerous enemy targeting Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and Jiraiya concluded that Young Sasuke was an Uchiha.
• Jiraiya explained that Itachi Uchiha had attacked the clan, but Uchiha Shisui led surviving Uchiha clansmen to defect to the Land of Stars with support from Asura and Uchiha Hikari.
• Jiraiya revealed that Hizashi Hyuga had also led Branch House clansmen in a rebellion and defected to the Land of Stars.
• Young Sasuke recognized how far this timeline had diverged and worried that his and Boruto's actions against Otsutsuki Urashiki could cause further unpredictable changes.

Menma challenged Hiruzen Sarutobi’s defense of the shinobi world’s existing order, arguing that the Land of Stars sought peace by transforming society. In Kirigakure, Suigetsu and Chojuro were assigned to join the Chunin Joint Exams as scouts, while Ao brought a red-haired Uzumaki orphan to the Mizukage Office.

• Menma told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Konoha could not overturn the old order because it depended on the Land of Fire’s ruling class, then condemned the wars produced by Senju Hashirama’s balance of power and defended the Land of Stars’ revolutionary changes.
• Hozuki Suigetsu paid respects to his deceased family, then encouraged Chojuro to choose one of Kirigakure’s remaining ninja swords as they headed to the Mizukage Office.
• Karatachi Yagura, Genji, and Mei Terumi told Suigetsu and Chojuro to join the Chunin Joint Exams in Konoha and gather intelligence on the participating villages, especially the Land of Stars.
• Suigetsu agreed to the mission, and Chojuro accepted it while Mei Terumi urged him to choose a sword; Suigetsu said he wanted to test the Hoshinin in Konoha.
• After Suigetsu and Chojuro left, Mei Terumi questioned whether sending them was safe, and Genji said Kirigakure needed its young shinobi to represent the village.
• Ao entered the Mizukage Office with a timid red-haired orphan of the Uzumaki Clan.

Pain ordered Sasori and Hidan to ambush the Land of Stars team returning from Konoha’s Chunin Exams, while Obito decided to attend the exams himself. In Konoha, Team 7 accepted Tazuna’s escort mission to the Land of Waves and set out under covert Anbu surveillance, as a white-clad stranger watched Naruto from above.

• Pain ordered Sasori and Hidan to target the Land of Stars’ One-Tail Jinchuriki after the Chunin Exams, while Obito planned to visit the exams and Konan noted that Zabuza and Aoi Rokushō were away on a merchant escort mission.
• Naruto protested Team 7’s sixty D-rank missions, and Menma persuaded Hiruzen Sarutobi to assign them a C-rank escort mission.
• Tazuna arrived drunk and insulted Naruto before explaining that Team 7 had to escort him to the Land of Waves and protect him while he built a bridge.
• Menma wondered whether the mission would still involve Zabuza, while Kakashi accepted the assignment and Team 7 prepared to leave Konoha.
• Uzuki Yugao led Sai and Sasuke in secretly following Team 7 to protect Naruto, while Sasuke remained troubled by his encounter with Sazun and Asura.
• Team 7 departed for the Land of Waves as the Anbu followed, and a white-clad stranger spotted Naruto from the sky and said he had found him.

After his seventh Gene Modification Surgery, Shisui learned that recovering his original right eye could help him reach the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Minato assigned him to lead the Land of Stars delegation to Konoha’s Chunin Joint Exams and secretly raid its facilities during Orochimaru’s planned attack.

• Shisui awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan in his transplanted right eye, and Hiruko estimated that his body could safely endure only nine surgeries.
• Hiruko told Shisui that reclaiming his original right eye could restore its missing source ocular power and give him a strong chance to reach the Eternal Mangekyō.
• Hizashi told Shisui that Minato wanted him to lead the Land of Stars delegation to Konoha, where Neji might also join the group.
• Minato showed Shisui the delegation roster and revealed that Orochimaru planned to launch the Konoha Crush Plan during the Chunin Exams.
• Minato ordered Shisui to infiltrate Konoha during the attack, seize classified records and research from key facilities, and withdraw without engaging its main forces.
• Shisui accepted the mission and vowed to return to Konoha under a new identity and reclaim his lost eye from Danzo.

Jiraiya, Sasuke, and Boruto followed Team 7 toward the Land of Waves after Sasuke feared the altered timeline might make Naruto’s mission dangerous. When the Demon Brothers ambushed the team, Menma defeated them with an explosive-tag-filled Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, and Kakashi confronted Tazuna about concealing the mission’s true danger.

• Jiraiya told Sasuke and Boruto that Naruto’s Team 7 had left on a C-rank mission to escort Tazuna to the Land of Waves, and Sasuke insisted they follow in secret.
• Three days later, Team 7 traveled toward the coast while Tazuna described how the Matsuo Group had monopolized the Land of Waves’ trade and threatened his plan to build a bridge.
• Naruto rushed at a suspicious roadside puddle with his Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, prompting Gozu and Meizu to emerge from hiding and attack the team.
• Menma used the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique with explosive tags to blast and incapacitate Gozu and Meizu, while Naruto’s shadow clones tied them up.
• Kakashi questioned Menma about learning the difficult technique, then demanded that Tazuna explain the mission’s real circumstances after the ambush exposed that it involved enemy ninja.

After the Demon Brothers attacked, Kakashi let Team 7 continue Tazuna’s mission after raising it to B-rank, and the group headed by boat toward the Land of Waves. Meanwhile, Anbu and Jiraiya investigated the captured attackers, while Sasuke and Boruto learned that the mission’s events had diverged from their expectations.

• Menma searched the unconscious Gozu and Meizu and found poisoned weapons and vague correspondence, while Kakashi confronted Tazuna for hiding the mission’s danger.
• Tazuna explained that the people of the Land of Waves had pooled their money to build a bridge and could not afford a B-rank mission, prompting Naruto, Hinata, and Menma to choose to continue.
• Kakashi raised the commission to B-rank, recorded the attack for the Third Hokage, and sent Pakkun to deliver the report before leading the group toward a ferry.
• Tazuna guided Kakashi and Team 7 to a fishing village, where an old fisherman took them by boat through the sea fog.
• Uzuki Yugao, Sasuke, and Sai examined the battle site; Sai sent a report to Konoha, and Sasuke recognized Menma’s powerful shuriken technique.
• Jiraiya arrived with the adult Sasuke and Boruto, took charge of the Demon Brothers, and planned to interrogate them about the Matsuo Group and the rogue ninja leader.

Team 7 reached the Land of Waves and learned that the Matsuo Group had sabotaged the bridge to preserve its trade monopoly. At Matsuo's docks, Zabuza and Aoi Rokushō planned an attack on Tazuna and the Konoha ninja two days later.

• Hinata spotted the unfinished bridge, and Tazuna explained that the Matsuo Group had threatened workers and halted construction to protect its monopoly.
• The boatman brought Tazuna, Naruto, Hinata, Menma, and Kakashi to a poor lakeside village, while Uzuki Yugao, Sasuke, and Sai secretly followed them.
• At the Matsuo Group's docks, Zabuza dismissed the captured Demon Brothers as useless, and Aoi Rokushō warned him that their failed mission could cost Akatsuki its commission.
• Matsuo stormed into Zabuza and Aoi Rokushō's office to demand results, but Aoi cut his cheek with a Senbon and Zabuza's killing intent drove him and his thugs away.
• Zabuza ordered Aoi Rokushō to kill Tazuna and the Konoha Genin two days later while he dealt with Kakashi.

Menma and the others reached Tazuna’s home, where they learned how Inari’s father figure, Kaiza, had been executed for resisting the Matsuo Group. After Menma organized their security and taught Naruto a new technique, Menma sensed an Otsutsuki presence and saw a mysterious white-clad man hovering above Naruto.

• Tazuna introduced his daughter Tsunami and grandson Inari to the Konoha ninja, but Inari warned that everyone who opposed the Matsuo Group ended up dead.
• Tazuna explained that Kaiza had raised Inari like a son before the Matsuo Group framed and publicly executed him for leading resistance.
• Menma arranged watch shifts, then took Naruto to survey the area and set up warning traps while Hinata guarded the house and Kakashi rested.
• Menma began teaching Naruto the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, but Naruto struggled to control his chakra and chose to keep practicing after Menma headed home for dinner.
• Menma sensed an Otsutsuki presence and turned to see a white-clad man hovering above Naruto, who looked up in confusion when the stranger addressed him.

Menma tried to conceal his power while protecting Naruto from Otsutsuki Urashiki, but Urashiki overwhelmed the Konoha Anbu and the reinforcements who arrived. As Urashiki prepared to take Naruto, Menma awakened a golden chakra form with a Tenseigan, shocking everyone and provoking Urashiki’s fear.

• Menma sensed young Sasuke’s Anbu squad nearby and Jiraiya, older Sasuke, and Boruto approaching, then attacked Urashiki with an explosive-tagged kunai while urging Naruto to flee.
• Urashiki captured Naruto with his fishing line, but Sai, Uzuki Yugao, and young Sasuke rescued him; Urashiki then drained Yugao’s chakra and repeatedly struck Menma as Menma pretended to be gravely injured.
• Jiraiya, older Sasuke, and Boruto arrived and joined the fight, but Urashiki used his space-time abilities and repulsive force to overpower them and capture Naruto again.
• As Urashiki tried to carry Naruto away, Menma rose from the wreckage in a golden chakra cloak, displaying black markings, a growing horn, and a Tenseigan on his forehead.
• Urashiki reacted with shock and fear at Menma’s Tenseigan, while Boruto’s Karma grew hot and he realized the era held an unfamiliar Otsutsuki.

Menma revealed a terrifying Otsutsuki-like power and overwhelmed Urashiki, who escaped through a space-time portal. As Menma’s own consciousness briefly fought for control, he redirected a devastating attack into the sky, then collapsed, leaving Naruto and the others wary of what was inside him.

• Boruto’s Karma reacted to Menma’s transformation, and Sasuke, Boruto, and Urashiki recognized his Otsutsuki-like aura and golden Tenseigan.
• Menma attacked Urashiki with overwhelming force, pierced his palm, and battered him until Urashiki escaped through Yomotsu Hirasaka.
• Menma began forming a destructive black chakra sphere, but briefly regained control and warned Naruto to run before hurling it into the sky.
• The sphere detonated above the island, creating a vast opening in the clouds and blasting the forest and sea with its shockwave.
• Menma’s transformed features disappeared, and he fell unconscious; Naruto caught him while Jiraiya and Sasuke wondered what power was inside him.

After Menma collapsed from exhausting his chakra while fighting the enemy who targeted Naruto, the group returned to Tazuna's house, where Naruto struggled with guilt and Hinata angrily demanded to know who had hurt Menma. The next morning, Jiraiya offered to train Naruto, who eagerly accepted so he could become strong enough to protect his friends.

• Kakashi examined the unconscious Menma and learned from Jiraiya that a powerful enemy had targeted Naruto's Nine-Tails chakra.
• Adult Sasuke advised against seeking support from Konoha, while Kakashi urged everyone to rest and reassured Naruto that Menma would recover.
• Hinata smashed a hole in the corridor wall and demanded to know who had beaten Menma, then returned to watch over him.
• Young Sasuke questioned whether Menma was truly an ordinary orphan, while he and Boruto privately wondered about Menma's strange power.
• Jiraiya found Naruto sitting alone on the roof at dawn and offered to train him, and Naruto accepted so he could protect Menma and everyone else.

Tazuna’s family and the time-traveling ninja prepared to defend the bridge workers while Naruto began training with Jiraiya and Menma recovered. When Aoi Rokushō seized Inari and attacked the house, Hinata swiftly defeated him and two samurai, but Aoi drew the Sword of the Thunder God.

• Tazuna said villagers would resume building the bridge, and Kakashi, the young Sasuke, and Boruto agreed to help protect them.
• Tazuna and the villagers worked on the bridge under Kakashi’s protection while Jiraiya trained Naruto in chakra control and the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
• Menma regained enough strength to walk with Hinata’s support as Boruto and the young Sasuke watched and discussed Urashiki and the suspicious Matsuo Group spies.
• Aoi Rokushō broke into Tazuna’s house with Inari captive and threatened everyone inside.
• Hinata struck Aoi with Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, freed Inari, and incapacitated two samurai before Aoi drew the Sword of the Thunder God.