Chapter Summaries

Menma organized the Land of Bears’ reconstruction and used his shadow clones to run government work and research. He treated Fire Fly and considered Akahoshi the likely spy among the captured Hoshigakure shinobi.

• Menma divided the new capital into military, administrative, experimental, residential, and commercial districts, and ordered preparations for winter and infrastructure work.
• Gato reported that neighboring countries had blockaded the Land of Bears, but Menma expected merchants to find ways around it and assigned his subordinates responsibility for government and development.
• Menma deployed shadow clones across the country to support the state apparatus, educate residents, train administrators, and conduct research.
• Menma examined Fire Fly’s radiation damage while Natsuhi thanked him for treating her husband.
• After confirming Natsuhi and Fire Fly knew nothing about Hoshigakure’s secrets, Menma suspected Akahoshi was the spy among the captured shinobi.

The Daimyo of the Land of Wind and the Daimyo of the Land of Earth chose to contain Hoshigakure’s rebellion through border patrols rather than risk war. As the story reached the start of Year 55, Menma welcomed Naruto to celebrate New Year together.

• Rasa told the Daimyo of the Land of Wind that Sunagakure lacked the intelligence and strength to intervene in the Land of Bears, and the daimyo declined to fund a campaign.
• The Daimyo of the Land of Earth discussed the rebellion with Ōnoki, and neither wanted to risk war without reliable intelligence.
• The Land of Earth and the Land of Wind sealed their borders with the Land of Bears and stationed ninja there, occasionally clashing with Hoshi ninja.
• At the start of Year 55, Menma noticed Naruto sneaking into his courtyard and invited him to sit together.
• Naruto joined Menma for New Year’s fireworks, delighted to have someone to celebrate with.

On New Year's Eve, Menma welcomed Naruto to his large home, and the two shared a warm meal and talked about living alone. Watching them with the Telescope Technique, Hiruzen Sarutobi considered Naruto's future at the Ninja Academy and noticed Menma's talent and sensory ability.

• Naruto asked Menma whether he felt lonely in his quiet, spacious home, and Menma asked Naruto how he felt living alone.
• Menma invited Naruto to eat with him, reheated the New Year's dishes, and served them dinner.
• Naruto ate eagerly, and Menma urged him to have vegetables, making Naruto feel cared for.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the boys through his crystal ball and felt relieved to see Naruto sharing a meal with Menma.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi considered Naruto's future Academy education, recalled Menma's fire-nature chakra talent, and noticed Menma glance toward the ceiling.

After staying overnight at Menma’s house, Naruto enjoyed a warm meal and walked home with him through the snow. Menma recognized the young Katasuke Tono and, after making sure Naruto would be treated fairly at Gato Department Store, left the crowded store with him.

• An Anbu ninja watched Naruto sleep at Menma’s residence after the two had played video games through the night.
• Menma served Naruto ramen and took him home, where Naruto said the Third Hokage had become his guardian and brought him living expenses.
• Menma spotted a young Katasuke Tono leaving Gato Department Store with electronic goods and considered recruiting the future scientific ninja tool expert.
• Menma introduced Naruto to Morita Ryo as his little brother and ordered the staff not to make things difficult for him when he shopped there.
• Menma decided to take Naruto to browse the department store another time because the New Year promotion had drawn a crowd.

Uchiha Hikari and Kakuzu began the Cicada Plan by arranging the release of captured Sunagakure and Iwagakure ninja as bait. The first release drew Yashamaru’s patrol squad into a deadly border clash, and Pakura handed over a scroll of Hoshigakure intelligence before collapsing.

• Uchiha Hikari visited Kakuzu in the prison and told him the Cicada Plan could begin.
• Uchiha Hikari ordered Kakuzu to release a squad of Sunagakure prisoners first, then release an Iwagakure prisoner a few days later.
• Uchiha Hikari placed Mangekyō Sharingan patterns on the hands of the three Hoshi traitors, making their eyes hollow and lifeless.
• Yashamaru led a Sunagakure patrol squad toward three escaping prisoners pursued by Hoshigakure shinobi, and Yura recognized Pakura among them.
• Yashamaru’s squad joined Pakura’s group in battle and killed five Hoshigakure pursuers, while one Sunagakure ninja died and two were badly wounded.
• Pakura gave Yashamaru a scroll containing Hoshigakure intelligence before collapsing, and he ordered his subordinates to carry her and the surviving wounded ninja back to the village.

Rasa received Pakura’s intelligence about Hoshigakure and weighed the risks of renewed conflict while worrying about Gaara. After recovering in Sunagakure, Pakura was compelled by a mysterious mark to record the village’s secrets in a genjutsu space alongside the captured Iwagakure ninja Gari.

• Yashamaru reported that Pakura’s pursuers included one weakened jōnin and several lower-ranked shinobi, and Rasa told him to spend more time with Gaara.
• Rasa read Pakura’s account of her mission in the Land of Bears, her imprisonment by Hoshigakure, and her escape with help from its conservative shinobi.
• Komaki visited her recovering teacher Pakura at the hospital and shared news about Sunagakure.
• Sunagakure’s Anbu questioned Pakura and her companion and examined them before allowing them to leave the hospital.
• That night, Pakura activated the mark on her hand and, under genjutsu, wrote confidential intelligence about Sunagakure.
• Gari appeared in the same space and began writing confidential intelligence about Iwagakure.

Menma received Orochimaru’s message through Guren and Gozu, agreeing to provide an experimental building but refusing to let Orochimaru establish an independent stronghold in Hoshigakure. He then collected samples from the Iburi Clan for Orochimaru’s research and learned that Orochimaru wanted him to travel to Kirigakure.

• Guren and Gozu entered Hoshigakure and told its shinobi that Orochimaru had sent them to find Lord Asura.
• Menma received Orochimaru’s scroll, which reported progress researching the Iburi Clan’s Kekkei Genkai, requested fresh samples, proposed a stronghold in the Land of Bears, and invited Menma to Kirigakure.
• Menma rejected Orochimaru’s request for a separate stronghold and ordered that an experimental building be arranged instead.
• Menma visited the Iburi Clan underground and collected blood, skin, and hair samples for Orochimaru’s research.
• Gota led the Iburi Clan in kneeling as Menma departed.

Menma learned that Naruto had spare clothes and scarves in darker colors, suggesting Minato and Kushina had prepared for twins, then brought Iburi Clan samples to Orochimaru. Orochimaru shared research progress and invited Menma to Kirigakure, leaving their next move undecided.

• Menma heard Naruto mention that he had spare clothes and scarves, and suspected Minato and Kushina had prepared for a second child.
• Menma returned home for the Iburi Clan samples, then used the Flying Thunder God technique to reach Orochimaru's base in the Land of Rice Fields.
• Orochimaru explained that White Zetsu cells had enabled him to neutralize the Iburi Clan's genes in tissue experiments, but Menma refused to provide clansmen for human testing.
• Menma told Orochimaru that his lack of a moral bottom line distinguished him from Tobirama Senju.
• Menma declined to establish a new stronghold in the Land of Bears and offered Orochimaru a laboratory building at his base there instead.
• Orochimaru accepted Menma's research data and invited him to travel to Kirigakure.

Konan secretly helped a group of orphans in Amegakure and met the purple-haired Ajisai, while she and Nagato discussed Asura and Madara’s activities. Zetsu revealed that Madara had likely gone to Kirigakure to reinforce his control over Yagura.

• Menma agreed to meet Orochimaru in the Land of Waves in three days to help recruit people from Kirigakure.
• Konan left food for a group of orphans and met Ajisai, who returned the dropped package before sharing it with her friends.
• Konan and Nagato discussed Madara’s absence, Asura’s strength, and their suspicion that Madara and Zetsu wanted Nagato to fight Asura.
• Zetsu visited Nagato and Konan and said Madara had probably gone to Kirigakure to reinforce the genjutsu controlling Yagura.

Menma and Orochimaru traveled to the Land of Water to investigate Kirigakure’s turmoil, and Menma found the young Haku in a snowy city. Menma took Haku with him, while Orochimaru considered searching for other children with Kekkei Genkai.

• Menma met Orochimaru on the coast of the Land of Waves, and they boarded a ship bound for the Land of Water.
• During the voyage, Menma and Orochimaru saw ninja fighting in the sea fog, and Orochimaru noted that Kirigakure’s defections were worsening.
• Orochimaru explained that Kirigakure’s depleted Seven Ninja Swordsmen, Kekkei Genkai clans, and Mizukage’s Anbu could pose threats.
• Menma sensed a cold chakra in a nearby city and led Orochimaru there.
• Haku killed a stray dog with Ice Release while searching for food, and Menma found him in the snow.
• Menma took Haku by the hand and said he would come with him, while Orochimaru envied Haku’s Kekkei Genkai and considered finding other gifted children.

Menma took Haku from the Land of Water to the Land of Bears and entrusted him to Uzumaki Fuka, then returned to Orochimaru and went to survey Kirigakure. The chapter left Menma and Orochimaru overlooking the village, where Menma understood how Karatachi Yagura’s Bloody Mist rule had driven its Kekkei Genkai clans toward destruction.

• Orochimaru examined the Flying Thunder God kunai after Menma vanished with Haku and marveled at the technique’s range.
• Menma brought Haku to the Land of Bears, introduced him to Uzumaki Fuka, and left Haku in her care.
• Menma asked Uzumaki Fuka to prepare rooms for more children with Kekkei Genkai, then returned to Orochimaru.
• Menma and Orochimaru traveled to the outskirts of Kirigakure and surveyed the village from a mountain.
• Orochimaru pointed out the territories of Kirigakure’s Kekkei Genkai clans, while Menma recalled how Obito controlled Karatachi Yagura and imposed the Bloody Mist Policy.

The Kaguya Clan launched a coup against Karatachi Yagura, while Orochimaru and Menma went to retrieve the sick Kimimaro from the clan’s prison. Menma eased Kimimaro’s pain, but warned that his frail body could not withstand awakening All-Killing Ash Bones.

• The Kaguya Clan Head agreed to rebel against Karatachi Yagura, and the clan charged toward the Mizukage Building.
• Orochimaru predicted the coup would fail and that Kirigakure’s Anbu would target the Kaguya Clan’s remaining family members.
• Orochimaru and Menma entered the Kaguya Clan’s underground prison to find Kimimaro suffering from a bloodline illness.
• Menma twisted open Kimimaro’s cell, sent chakra into his body, and eased his pain until he fell asleep.
• Menma told Orochimaru that Kimimaro’s body was too weak to withstand awakening All-Killing Ash Bones.

Menma and Orochimaru abducted Kaguya children and took the clan’s secret scrolls as the Kaguya Clan launched a rebellion against Kirigakure. As the battle raged, Zabuza attacked Karatachi Yagura in the Mizukage’s office, and the two began fighting.

• Menma returned to the Kaguya compound with Orochimaru, and they abducted children and collected secret technique scrolls while Orochimaru killed people they encountered.
• The Kaguya Clan’s forces attacked the Mizukage Building, and Karatachi Yagura ordered Kirigakure’s Anbu, major clans, and civilian ninja to suppress them.
• Uchiha Obito watched the battle from the Mizukage’s office and discussed Nagato, Konan, and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist with White Zetsu.
• Momochi Zabuza entered the office with a scroll and struck Karatachi Yagura, who survived by using the Water Replacement Technique.
• Zabuza declared that he would claim the Mizukage’s seat by killing Yagura, and they clashed with their weapons.

Kirigakure's forces crushed the Kaguya Clan rebellion, while Yagura ordered the clan's remnants exterminated. Obito watched from the Mizukage Building ruins until a mysterious masked figure appeared behind him, prompting him to turn intangible.

• Kirigakure shinobi overwhelmed the Kaguya Clan rebels as Hozuki Mangetsu battled the Kaguya Clan Head with Hiramekarei.
• Suikazan Fuguki helped lead the suppression until an explosion tore through the Mizukage Building.
• Yagura arrived and told Suikazan Fuguki that Zabuza had tried to assassinate him before fleeing.
• Yagura ordered Biwa Juzo and Kisame Hoshigaki to lead Anbu squads in wiping out the Kaguya Clan remnants.
• Obito watched the battle from the ruined Mizukage Building as a mysterious figure wearing a white Three-Eyed Fox Mask appeared behind him.
• Obito immediately entered his intangibility state and realized Asura was in Kirigakure.

Menma teased Obito at the Mizukage Building, then watched the Kaguya Clan’s rebellion end in devastating losses for both sides. He went to meet Orochimaru on a hill outside Kirigakure, where three swordsmen ambushed him through the mist.

• Obito questioned Menma about his presence in Kirigakure, then attacked after Menma claimed he had come to avenge a comrade.
• Menma dodged Obito’s attacks, mocked him by claiming to be Senju Hashirama, and let Obito and Zetsu escape through Kamui.
• Menma watched the Kaguya Clan Head die after killing three Kirigakure jonin and gravely wounding dozens of ninja, while the clan’s remaining rebels were killed.
• Menma arrived at his arranged meeting place with Orochimaru but found him missing as the mist thickened.
• Menma sensed an ambush, and Kubikiribōchō, Twin Blades Hiramekarei, and Samehada attacked him from three directions.

Menma fought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist sent to pursue him in Kirigakure, overcoming their attacks and killing Biwa Juzo. Suikazan Fuguki and Hozuki Mangetsu faced him as the chapter ended, with Menma eyeing Samehada.

• Suikazan Fuguki, Biwa Juzo, and Hozuki Mangetsu ambushed Menma through the Hidden Mist Technique, but an invisible barrier stopped their weapons and water bullets.
• Suikazan Fuguki recognized Menma as Asura, and Menma used his senses to identify the three swordsmen pursuing him.
• The swordsmen attacked together, but Menma’s fire wall dispersed the fog and blocked Suikazan Fuguki’s needles.
• Hozuki Mangetsu struck Menma’s Shadow Clone with Hiramekarei, while Menma appeared behind Biwa Juzo and killed him with a lightning-charged hand.
• Menma took Kubikiribōchō, and Suikazan Fuguki released Samehada as Hozuki Mangetsu reacted to Menma’s speed.

Hozuki Mangetsu and Suikazan Fuguki attacked Menma, who was disguised as Asura, using mist, explosive weapons, and a Water Prison Technique. Samehada trapped with him gorged on Menma’s dark-red chakra until it became overstuffed and spat it out.

• Hozuki Mangetsu summoned the Exploding Blade Shibuki, and he and Suikazan Fuguki charged at Asura through the mist.
• Hozuki Mangetsu detonated the blade’s Explosive Tags, but Asura emerged unharmed and kept him at a distance with the Kubikiribōchō.
• Hozuki Mangetsu used an explosive-tag scroll to cover Suikazan Fuguki’s approach, and Fuguki trapped Asura in a Water Prison Technique with a water clone.
• Suikazan Fuguki sent Samehada into the prison, where it bit Asura’s shoulder and began absorbing his chakra.
• Menma released a torrent of dark-red chakra into Samehada, which swelled up and spat it out before the stunned Hozuki Mangetsu and Suikazan Fuguki.

Menma overwhelmed Suikazan Fuguki and Hozuki Mangetsu after Samehada became obsessed with his chakra, escaping the Water Prison with the blades and leaving Fuguki pinned and dying. Mangetsu survived by turning his body into water, while Menma advanced on the defeated swordsmen.

• Samehada absorbed Menma’s dark-red chakra until it was bloated, then fawned on him like a dog and ignored Suikazan Fuguki’s calls.
• Menma grabbed Samehada and broke through Suikazan Fuguki’s Water Prison Technique with Kagutsuchi and Amaterasu.
• Hozuki Mangetsu unleashed the Great Waterfall Technique, but Menma used Samehada to absorb the flood and charged through it.
• Menma struck Mangetsu’s shoulder with Kubikiribōchō, and Mangetsu escaped by transforming his body into water.
• Menma threw Kubikiribōchō into Suikazan Fuguki’s waist, pinning him to a tree as Fuguki lost consciousness.

Menma killed Suikazan Fuguki and Biwa Juzo, while Hozuki Mangetsu escaped with his life and reported the mission’s failure to Karatachi Yagura. Obito watched Kirigakure’s losses weaken the village and savored his revenge.

• Menma retrieved the Kubikiribōchō from Suikazan Fuguki’s corpse, and the blade began repairing itself as it absorbed blood.
• Menma sensed Hozuki Mangetsu fleeing but chose not to pursue him, then searched Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki’s bodies for spoils.
• Hozuki Mangetsu escaped through the fog, treated his shoulder wound, and realized Asura had been testing their fighting styles while holding back.
• Hozuki Mangetsu returned to Kirigakure and reported that Biwa Juzo and Suikazan Fuguki were dead and the Kubikiribōchō and Samehada had been taken.
• Karatachi Yagura ordered Hozuki Mangetsu to confine himself and await the village’s decision.
• Uchiha Obito emerged after Hozuki Mangetsu left and reflected on how the rebellion and the failed mission had weakened Kirigakure.

Kisame Hoshigaki was ordered by Karatachi Yagura to patrol the southwestern coast and eliminate Asura or any Kaguya Clan survivors. During the patrol, a brown-haired female ninja invited Kisame to join the group for lunch.

• A Kirigakure Anbu ninja reported that 325 bodies had been cleared from the Kaguya Clan grounds, but Kaguya Kimimaro was missing.
• Kisame Hoshigaki told Karatachi Yagura that someone had attacked the rear courtyard and Kimimaro had vanished; Karatachi Yagura suspected Asura was involved.
• Karatachi Yagura ordered Kisame to take two squads to patrol the southwestern coastline and eliminate Asura or any Kaguya Clan remnants, while warning him to protect Kirigakure's secrets if the mission failed.
• Kisame Hoshigaki led six recently promoted Kirigakure ninja south along the coast, keeping the possibility of encountering Asura classified.
• During lunch, a brown-haired female ninja invited Kisame Hoshigaki to eat with the others.