Chapter Summaries

Menma befriended Naruto while privately considering his plans for the village and wondering what had happened to Naruto’s inheritance. Hiruzen watched the brothers and began planning to teach Naruto the Will of Fire and make him dependent on him.

• Naruto asked Menma why he was willing to spend time with him, and Menma told him they were friends.
• Menma said goodbye to Naruto, then told Mini-Kurama that Naruto was his foolish little brother and thought about recruiting ninja clans against Konoha.
• Hiruzen watched Naruto return home and reviewed a report identifying Menma as an orphan with Fire Release aptitude.
• Hiruzen recalled Minato and Kushina’s deaths and the disappearance of their other child, then planned how to introduce Naruto to the Will of Fire and foster his dependence on him.

Yashiro Uchiha and the Konoha Military Police Force failed to identify the thief who stole thirty million ryo in tools from Tenten Ninja Tool Shop. Fugaku decided to name the mysterious Asura as a suspect, but the discovery of thirty million ryo in the shop’s basement raised new questions about the thief’s return.

• Yashiro Uchiha gave Tenten’s parents the inconclusive investigation report, and they wept over their losses.
• Yashiro told his subordinates that one suspect remained, then went to report to Fugaku Uchiha.
• Fugaku ordered Yashiro to list Asura as a suspect and report the case to the Hokage.
• An Uchiha chunin announced that Tenten Ninja Tool Shop’s owners had found a box containing thirty million ryo in the basement.
• Fugaku and Yashiro wondered whether Asura had returned to the village.

Hiruzen Sarutobi received reports that Asura may have entered Konoha again and worried about the Uchiha Clan’s growing discontent. After sharing a tender moment with Itachi Uchiha, Izumi Uchiha returned to the clan district and discovered Itachi killing members of the clan.

• Fugaku Uchiha told Hiruzen Sarutobi that the Military Police Force had found evidence suggesting Asura had entered Konoha again.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi dismissed the report for the moment and worried that the Uchiha Clan’s dissatisfaction could be exploited.
• Fugaku Uchiha saw Itachi Uchiha and Izumi Uchiha sharing Three-color Dango by the river and left them undisturbed.
• Itachi Uchiha noticed Fugaku, then left Izumi with the unfinished dango and went home.
• Izumi Uchiha followed the scent of blood into the Uchiha Clan District and saw Itachi dragging a child from a hidden compartment before striking the child with his blade.

Izumi was trapped in repeated genjutsu portraying the Uchiha massacre and repeatedly tried to escape or seek help. The chapter ended with masked ninja killing her under orders to leave no Uchiha alive.

• Itachi killed a child and used Tsukuyomi to show Izumi a false lifetime together.
• Menma appeared inside the genjutsu, revealed that Izumi could awaken from it, and then vanished as the scene reset to the Naka River.
• Izumi rushed to the Konoha Military Police Force, where a Tiger-Patterned One-Eyed Mask Man attacked and killed her in the illusion.
• Izumi woke again at the river, suspected she was still trapped, and ran toward the Third Hokage for help.
• Two masked ninja stabbed Izumi and declared that their orders were to let no Uchiha escape.

Izumi endured repeated genjutsu cycles of the Uchiha clan massacre before finding herself in a peaceful evening with her family and clanmates. Menma observed her from afar and explained that the Book of Vermilion Moon let him create and adjust the illusion.

• Izumi repeatedly tried to escape the massacre and seek help, but Itachi, the Tiger-Striped Mask Man, or masked ninja killed her each time.
• Izumi returned to the Uchiha compound at sunset and accepted Grandma Kuna and Keiju’s invitation to dinner, remaining on guard as the evening passed peacefully.
• Izumi went home and tearfully embraced her mother, Hazuki Uchiha, who comforted her.
• Menma watched Izumi from a rooftop and told Mini-Kurama that the Book of Vermilion Moon could create and alter powerful genjutsu.
• Menma considered Izumi one of three Uchiha he might use in his plans and looked forward to seeing her Sharingan.

Izumi struggled with the trauma of a realistic genjutsu depicting the Uchiha massacre while trying to resume her ordinary life. At the Hyuga Compound, Big Sister Hinata took control and confronted Hiashi over Hinata’s small breakfasts, then hesitated in her mother’s embrace as she thought about her family in another world.

• Izumi woke from nightmares about the Uchiha massacre and found a comforting breakfast note from her mother.
• Izumi recalled the genjutsu’s sealed-off Uchiha Compound and the Anbu hunting survivors, but could not tell Shisui what she had seen.
• Izumi joined her teammates for low-level missions but stayed distracted by the genjutsu’s events.
• At breakfast, Big Sister Hinata took control and accused Hiashi of raising hamsters because Hinata was not allowed to eat enough.
• Hinata’s mother ordered five more servings and embraced her, and Big Sister Hinata wondered about the family she had left in her own world.

Kakuzu drove the Sakamoto Caravan out of the Land of Fire and reported back to his business partner, Gato. Menma arrived at Gato Company and questioned them about the western countries, leaving Kakuzu to explain what he knew of Hoshigakure.

• Kakuzu attacked the Sakamoto Caravan, burned its goods, and ordered its leader to leave the Land of Fire within three days.
• Kakuzu reported the job to Gato, who paid him and planned to use the damage to expand into the Land of Rice Fields.
• Menma arrived at Gato Company's headquarters and asked how the Iburi Clan had been settled.
• Menma asked Gato and Kakuzu what they knew about the western countries, and Gato described the Land of Snow, the Land of Bears, the Land of Demons, and the Land of Nether.
• Menma asked Kakuzu about Hoshigakure, and Kakuzu dismissed its Mysterious Peacock Method as the stuff of clowns.

Menma ordered Gato and Kakuzu to escort supplies to a new base in the Land of Bears while another team handled clearing the area. He then sought out Orochimaru in the Land of Rice Fields, where he realized Orochimaru had sent a Sharingan-wielding subordinate as a gift.

• Menma examined Gato’s maps and ordered supplies sent to the Land of Bears for the organization’s new base.
• Menma told Kakuzu to escort the supplies with Gato and assigned another team to clear the Land of Bears.
• Menma considered potential recruits, then headed to the Land of Rice Fields to find Orochimaru.
• Menma used the Mind’s Eye of the Kagura to track Orochimaru’s chakra to a hidden base beneath a village.
• Orochimaru’s subordinates confronted Menma, and their captain revealed a Two-Tomoe Sharingan before ordering an attack.
• Menma recognized that Orochimaru had sent the Sharingan-wielding ninja as a gift.

Menma entered Orochimaru’s base, where Orochimaru discussed experiments on bloodlines and the Sharingan. Menma suggested pursuing cloning technology, leaving Orochimaru intrigued and asking what deal Menma had come to make.

• Menma overwhelmed the ninja captain with his mental world, then took the captain’s Two-Tomoe Sharingan and had Tayuya lead him to Orochimaru.
• Menma found Orochimaru observing prisoners and test subjects fighting in an underground arena.
• Orochimaru said he planned to investigate a village in the Land of Water, and Menma guessed he really wanted to explore Kirigakure for children with Kekkei Genkai.
• Menma suggested Orochimaru focus on cloning technology and explained that awakening the Sharingan depended on Yin Release.
• Orochimaru became interested in cloning Three-Tomoe Sharingan and asked Menma what deal he wanted to make.

Menma gave Orochimaru a White Zetsu specimen and explained its origins, then ordered him to research it alongside the Iburi Clan and deliver results within a year. Back in Konoha, Menma continued experimenting with Yin-Yang chakra, seeking to master Yin-Yang Release and give the Nine Masked Fox Cub independent life and thought.

• Orochimaru examined White Zetsu cells and was amazed by their plant-like nature and chakra compatibility.
• Menma explained that White Zetsu were ancient humans transformed by the God Tree, and warned Orochimaru to use them sparingly.
• Menma demanded ten pairs of Sharingan and research results on White Zetsu and the Iburi Clan within a year, then warned Orochimaru to distance himself from Danzo.
• Orochimaru wondered whether Asura’s identity was connected to the Fourth Hokage before returning to his White Zetsu research.
• Menma’s clone failed another attempt to fuse Yin- and Yang-nature chakra and recorded the chakra ratio.
• Menma concluded that mastering Yin-Yang Release was necessary to give the Nine Masked Fox Cub independent consciousness and greater power.

Menma spent time with Hinata, who struggled with leaving the world she had known but vowed to stay with him, then introduced her to Naruto. The three went to race toward the Naka River together, while Naruto felt anxious about the happiness of having friends.

• Menma met Hinata and her guard, Ko Hyuga, and walked through the park with her.
• Hinata told Menma she had prepared to leave her clan for him, then warned him not to let her down.
• Naruto arrived and greeted Menma, then met Hinata, who recognized his resemblance to the Menma she remembered as a child.
• Hinata suggested that they go fishing at the Naka River, and the three raced across the rooftops.
• Naruto looked back at Menma and Hinata laughing together and felt afraid of losing what he had gained.

Menma, Naruto, and Hinata spent the afternoon fishing and sharing stories at Naruto’s secret base. Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived to meet them, and Hinata exposed his identity before Menma offered him grilled fish.

• Naruto brought Menma and Hinata to his riverside secret base, where Hinata used her Byakugan to help them find earthworms.
• The three children fished together while Menma told Naruto a fable about Zigong and explained how moral pressure could discourage people from doing good.
• Naruto, Menma, and Hinata caught fish and roasted them, laughing when a fish slapped Naruto in the face.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared beside Ko Hyuga, then approached the children while pretending to be an ordinary old man.
• Hinata recognized Hiruzen as the Third Hokage, Naruto reacted with admiration, and Menma offered him a grilled fish.

Menma searched the ruins of Uzushio Village for records about where Uchiha Hikari was sealed and found a hidden chamber that seemed to require pure Uzumaki blood to open. Unable to access it, he decided to visit Kusagakure, then replaced his right eye with a Two-Tomoe Sharingan and awakened its third tomoe.

• Menma teleported to the Land of Hot Water, reached the ruins of Uzushio Village, and had the Grim Reaper kill the pirates and rogue ninja occupying the ruins.
• Menma looted the camp and used Mind's Eye of the Kagura to find faint chakra coming from damaged writing on a stone chamber wall.
• Menma determined that the sealed chamber likely required pure Uzumaki blood and decided to visit Kusagakure to seek Karin's mother.
• Menma rested at the camp, replaced his right eye with the Sharingan he had taken from Orochimaru, and used yin-natured chakra to awaken its third tomoe.

Menma used his newly evolved Three-Tomoe Sharingan to find Karin Uzumaki in Kusagakure and began rescuing her. After Karin accepted him as a clansman, he led her toward the village, where his genjutsu turned the pursuing and defending Kusagakure ninja against one another.

• Menma evolved the Sharingan he had taken from Orochimaru into a Three-Tomoe Sharingan using Yin Release chakra.
• Menma teleported to the Land of Grass and found three-year-old Karin Uzumaki gathering herbs with Kusagakure children.
• When a Kusagakure genin attacked, Menma caught and returned her shuriken, then used genjutsu to make her kill herself.
• Menma told Karin he was her clansman and promised to take her and her mother away from Kusagakure.
• At the village entrance, Menma used his Sharingan to make Jonin Kosei attack his teammates and then kill himself.
• Menma released Karin's hand and formed seals for Nine Mask Svāhā.

Mui agreed to become the new castellan of Hozuki Castle, but Menma attacked Kusagakure’s hospital and rescued Uzumaki Fuka and her daughter Karin. Recognized as Asura, Menma ordered his summoned fighters to slaughter the village’s ninja.

• Kusanagi Koji appointed Mui as Hozuki Castle’s new castellan, and Mui accepted the assignment.
• An explosion destroyed part of Kusagakure’s hospital, where Menma emerged carrying the dying Uzumaki Fuka while Karin stayed beside them.
• Kusanagi Koji and the Kusagakure ninja surrounded Menma, and Ryuseki identified him as Asura, the ninja wanted by Kumogakure.
• Menma condemned Kusagakure for Fuka’s condition and ordered his masked beasts and other fighters to kill the village’s ninja.
• Menma’s forces attacked Kusagakure, killing and injuring its ninja as they bound and overwhelmed the defenders.

The Nine Masked Beasts devastated Kusagakure, killing its leader Kusanagi Koji and leaving the village in chaos. Back at Menma’s base, Uzumaki Fuka begged him to protect Karin, and Menma offered her his wrist to bite.

• The Nine Masked Beasts overwhelmed Kusagakure’s defenders, and Mui was badly wounded while Kusanagi Koji and Ryuseki fell amid the fighting.
• Mujo used Fire Style: Great Fire Heavenly Prison to restrain the five beasts, but they vanished along with the masked man before the villagers could counterattack.
• Mui found Kusanagi Koji’s charred corpse and bitterly blamed the Uzumaki Clan for Kusagakure’s disaster.
• Menma brought the awakened Uzumaki Fuka to his base, where Karin clutched her mother’s hand as Fuka pleaded for him to take Karin in.
• Menma refused to let Uzumaki Fuka die and held out his wrist, ordering her to bite.

Menma rescued Uzumaki Fuka and Karin, restored Fuka’s strength, and brought them to the Uzushio ruins to open the Uzumaki Clan’s secret chamber. The chamber revealed a sleeping black-haired girl with Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Hikari.

• Menma made Uzumaki Fuka bite his wrist to replenish her life force and help her recover.
• Menma gave Fuka and Karin food and shelter overnight at the ruined wandering ninja base.
• Fuka learned that the masked boy was called Asura in public and Menma in private.
• Menma took Fuka and Karin into the Uzushio ruins and had Fuka inject chakra into a sealed stone wall.
• Fuka’s chakra opened the chamber, revealing Uchiha Hikari as she woke with Mangekyō Sharingan.

Menma freed Uchiha Hikari from her centuries-long seal beneath the ruins of Uzushio Village and explained how the shinobi world and the Uchiha Clan had changed. Seeing her lost and grieving, he challenged her to a fight to draw out her fighting spirit and win her trust.

• Uchiha Hikari awoke in Uzushio Village and attacked Menma, Uzumaki Fuka, and little Karin with four tracking fire dragons, which Menma destroyed.
• Menma summoned the masked White Tiger and Black Tortoise to escort Uzumaki Fuka and little Karin to safety while he faced Uchiha Hikari.
• Menma told Uchiha Hikari that the Warring States Period had ended, the Uchiha Clan had joined the Senju Clan to found the Hidden Leaf Village, and the Uzumaki Clan had been wiped out.
• Uchiha Hikari asked whether Menma had freed her to use her power, and Menma admitted it could help his plans but said she seemed lost.
• Menma challenged Uchiha Hikari to fight, and her Mangekyō Sharingan began to spin as her fighting spirit returned.

Uchiha Hikari battled Menma in the ruins of Uzushio Village, using her Mangekyō Sharingan and Susanoo against him. Menma summoned Dark Kurama, and the two giant warriors collided in a devastating clash.

• Uchiha Hikari and Menma traded taijutsu blows before Hikari launched a fire-style attack and Menma countered with Water Severing Wave.
• Uchiha Hikari trapped Menma in her Tsukuyomi world, but Menma broke free and replaced it with a blood-soaked battlefield under his control.
• Hikari tried Imprinted Tsukuyomi, but Menma severed its connection to the moon, forcing them back into the real world.
• Uchiha Hikari manifested her crimson Susanoo and prepared to fight Menma.
• Menma summoned Dark Kurama, which lunged at Susanoo and began gathering a Tailed Beast Bomb as Hikari defended with her chakra greatsword.

After their battle devastated Uzushio Village, Menma explained to Uchiha Hikari that he wanted to unite the Shinobi World and build a peaceful new era, not destroy it. Hikari accepted his invitation to join him, reclaimed her name, and vowed to stand by his side.

• An old fisherman near the Land of Waves witnessed two colossal creatures fighting on the distant island and returned home shaken, telling people he had seen a god battle a fox demon.
• Menma and Uchiha Hikari rested on the ruined island after their day-long battle, and Hikari asked why he needed her power.
• Menma said his enemies included powerful shinobi and forces from beyond the firmament, and described his plan to eliminate the existing nations and shinobi villages and unify the Shinobi World.
• Menma told Hikari that he needed people who believed in his ideals and reached out to her.
• When Hikari said her clansmen had called her Nameless, Menma told her that her name was Uchiha Hikari.
• Hikari remembered her parents, took Menma's hand, introduced herself by her name, and vowed to stand by him even if the whole Shinobi World opposed them.