Chapter Summaries

Kisame Hoshigaki shared an unexpectedly intimate moment with Terumi Rei during a patrol, while Menma returned to Orochimaru’s ship with two stolen ninja swords. After sensing Kisame’s chakra nearby, Menma decided to meet him and try to recruit him.

• Terumi Rei sat beside Kisame Hoshigaki at lunch despite his request to keep her distance, then asked him to meet after their mission.
• Menma returned to the merchant ship carrying Samehada and Kubikiribōchō, refused Orochimaru’s request to study them, and sealed them in a Storage Scroll.
• Orochimaru checked on the abducted children as the ship prepared to leave port, while Menma used the Mind's Eye of the Kagura to search the area.
• Menma detected a nearby squad with enormous chakra and recognized its leading ninja as likely Kisame Hoshigaki.
• Menma recalled Kisame’s tragic loyalty to Obito’s promised peace and decided to go meet him and recruit him.

Asura pursued Kisame Hoshigaki’s Kirigakure squad after Kisame ordered a retreat, killing one ninja and cornering the survivors at a cliff. Kisame turned on his own squad to protect the village’s intelligence, but Asura stopped him from killing the wounded Terumi Rei and condemned his choices.

• Asura appeared at the camp, and Kisame recognized him and ordered the squad to flee with their intelligence.
• Asura chased the Kirigakure ninja north and killed one with Biwa Juzo’s Kubikiribōchō.
• The fleeing squad reached a deep chasm, where Kisame cut down four comrades and wounded Terumi Rei to prevent the enemy from obtaining village intelligence.
• Terumi Rei pitied Kisame and said his life must be hard, unsettling him as he prepared to finish her off.
• Asura threw a Kunai to force Kisame away from Terumi Rei and called his life pathetic for slaughtering fellow Kirigakure ninja in service of a traitor.

Menma defeated Kisame Hoshigaki and revealed evidence that Suikazan Fuguki had betrayed Kirigakure, while claiming someone was controlling Mizukage Karatachi Yagura. Kisame left to investigate the claims, finding Fuguki and Biwa Juzo's bodies at the battle site.

• Kisame Hoshigaki prepared to kill the surviving Terumi Mei, but Menma showed him a scroll found on Suikazan Fuguki that documented Fuguki's dealings with a neighboring country.
• Kisame read the scroll and struggled to accept that his Anbu captain, who had ordered him to kill injured comrades to protect Kirigakure's secrets, might be a traitor.
• Menma claimed that someone had controlled Karatachi Yagura since the Third Shinobi World War and invited Kisame to serve him, promising to unite the shinobi world under one country and village.
• Menma gave Kisame a special Flying Thunder God Kunai, took the unconscious Terumi Mei, and vanished; Kisame remained behind, shaken and uncertain.
• Kisame buried his comrades and followed Menma's directions, finding Suikazan Fuguki's severed corpse and Biwa Juzo's body amid the ruins of a fierce battle.

Terumi Mei woke in Menma’s medical facility and learned that Kisame Hoshigaki was investigating Suikazan Fuguki’s betrayal. Menma welcomed Haku into Uzumaki Fuka’s household, then reviewed research on stabilizing the Iburi Clan and treating Kimimaro, leaving Gota prepared to undergo a dangerous experiment and a Byakugan transplant under consideration.

• Terumi Mei woke in the experimental zone, where Number 81 warned her not to escape and told her that Kisame Hoshigaki was investigating Suikazan Fuguki’s betrayal.
• Menma remembered that Haku was staying with Uzumaki Fuka after Fuka mistook him for a girl, and Fuka offered to adopt him.
• Menma visited the laboratory, where Number 11 explained Orochimaru’s research into stabilizing the Iburi Clan using White Zetsu and Hashirama Cells.
• Gota volunteered for the risky experiment, explained that he wanted Yukimi to succeed him as clan leader, and prepared to begin.
• Number 12 reported that Kimimaro’s illness came from an imbalance in Yang Release chakra and proposed testing whether a transplanted Byakugan could help correct it.
• Menma considered obtaining a Byakugan from the Hyuga Main House because the Caged Bird seal made other Hyuga eyes difficult to acquire.

Rōshi confronted Ōnoki over Gari’s month-long confinement, and Ōnoki promised to release him after a few more days. Ōnoki explained Iwagakure’s cautious plans for the Land of Bears as Miroku awoke from a disturbing prophecy.

• Rōshi barged into Ōnoki’s meeting and demanded that he release Gari, whom Iwagakure had kept confined for a month.
• Kitsuchi explained that Gari’s return from the Land of Bears required an investigation, while Rōshi argued that the evidence against him was weak.
• Rōshi and Ōnoki clashed with Lava Release and Earth Release before Ōnoki promised Gari’s confinement would end when the one-month period was up.
• Ōnoki told Kitsuchi that the Daimyo planned to use diplomacy and Sunagakure to probe Hoshigakure while avoiding an immediate war.
• Miroku woke in the Land of Demons shrine, shaken by a vision of darkness swallowing the shinobi world and an indistinct figure appearing in a beam of light.

Miroku awoke from a prophecy of darkness over the shinobi world and suspected it was connected to a star in the Land of Bears. After hearing conflicting reports about Hoshigakure’s coup, she ordered Priest Ashikishi to investigate the neighboring country.

• Miroku recalled a prophecy in which a figure brought dawn to the darkened shinobi world and noticed a star falling before her.
• Miroku found a star marked on a map of the Land of Bears and connected it to the Meteorite and Hoshigakure.
• Miroku comforted Shion after her daughter woke, then summoned Priest Ashikishi the next morning.
• Priest Ashikishi described reports that the Land of Bears had recovered after its coup, contradicting the nobles’ claims of widespread slaughter.
• Miroku ordered Priest Ashikishi to send someone to the Land of Bears under the name of diplomacy and learn the truth.

Menma planned to build schools and establish compulsory education in the Land of Bears while Uzumaki Fuka oversaw the new policies. After an envoy from the Land of Birds offered recognition and trade, Menma renamed the country the Land of Stars and chose to wait and see what the surrounding daimyos intended.

• Menma told Uzumaki Fuka that a Ninja Academy and civilian schools would be established, with six years of compulsory education planned.
• Uzumaki Fuka questioned the scale and length of compulsory education, and Menma explained that education could reduce illiteracy and improve the country's workforce.
• An Anbu ninja reported that an envoy from the Land of Birds had arrived, and Uzumaki Fuka went to receive him.
• The envoy offered trade and recognition of the new daimyo, while Uzumaki Fuka noted that the Land of Birds was likely acting under a stronger country's influence.
• Menma told Uzumaki Fuka to call the country the Land of Stars and decided to wait and see what the daimyos were planning.

Hiruzen Sarutobi reviewed intelligence about the Land of Stars’ new regime and growing trade, then visited Naruto with his monthly living allowance. As Naruto asked about his parents, an ANBU arrived with news that Asura had left a notice at the Hyuga estate.

• Nara Shikaku briefed Hiruzen Sarutobi on the Land of Stars, its trade, and the great nations’ blockade.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered closer monitoring of the Land of Stars and Hoshigakure and warned westbound escort teams to stay vigilant.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi brought Naruto his monthly living allowance and found him about to go to the park.
• Naruto asked Hiruzen Sarutobi about his parents, and Hiruzen told him they had been heroes who could not return from the dead.
• An ANBU ninja reported that Asura had left a notice at the Hyuga clan's estate.

The Hyuga clan prepared for Asura’s announced raid while Hiashi and Hizashi debated whether he was a Konoha insider. Far away, Menma searched a mountain village for the Red Eye Clan and exposed a villager whose eyes changed when the villagers offered him up.

• Hizashi told the Hyuga council that Asura might be from inside Konoha, citing his knowledge of the Gentle Fist and the village.
• Hiashi went to meet the Third Hokage as the Hyuga compound mobilized its fighters and began keeping the Byakugan active around the clock.
• Menma reached a remote mountain village after sensing an abnormal chakra fluctuation and demanded that its villagers hand over the Red Eye Clan.
• Menma destroyed a cowshed with an explosive kunai, frightening the villagers into pushing a skinny man forward.
• The village chief offered to bring the man’s pregnant wife as well, and the man’s eyes filled with blood-colored chakra.

Menma rescued Ranshi and his pregnant wife from villagers who wanted to hand them over, then took Ranshi’s Red Eyes in exchange for shelter and support. After transplanting one Red Eye into himself, Menma considered its abilities and planned to collect other kekkei genkai eyes before his appointment at the Hyuga clan compound.

• Ranshi begged Menma to spare his wife and unborn child as villagers dragged her over and offered the family to Menma.
• Menma tossed Ranshi a kunai and urged him to reclaim his dignity; Ranshi used his Red Eye to confuse the villagers and killed more than a dozen of them.
• Menma teleported Ranshi and his wife to the Hoshigakure Base, where his Shadow Clones transplanted Ranshi’s Red Eyes with ordinary eyes.
• Ranshi agreed to serve Menma in exchange for his wife and child being allowed to live ordinary lives, while Menma promised them shelter and care.
• Menma implanted one Red Eye in himself and studied how its chakra phantoms interfered with perception, comparing them to a weakened Limbo: Border Jail.
• Menma decided to seek the Byakugan and Ketsuryūgan, considered using Orochimaru’s cloning technology, and prepared to visit the Hyuga clan compound for his appointment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s leaders prepared for Asura’s threatened attack on the Hyuga Clan while trying to decode his warning. Menma infiltrated the Hyuga compound, sealed Neji’s Caged Bird temporarily, and left him questioning what it meant to live freely.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Anbu, the Military Police Force, and Konoha’s ninja forces to guard the village and stand ready to protect the Hyuga compound.
• Nara Shikaku interpreted the warning as pointing to the midnight hours, the Hyuga compound, and the Caged Bird, while Hyuga Hiashi said Hamura was an ancestor of his clan.
• Five-year-old Hyuga Neji stayed awake in the Branch House courtyard despite his father’s warning not to go anywhere.
• Menma appeared in Neji’s room, and Neji discovered that his Byakugan could not see him.
• Menma sealed Neji’s Caged Bird temporarily, giving Neji a renewed sense of freedom, then asked whether he wanted to understand freedom and truly live before disappearing.

Fugaku deployed the Uchiha to guard Konoha against Asura while privately focusing on the Hyuga grounds. He urged Shisui to bridge the Uchiha and the village, and revealed that he had proposed sending Itachi into the Anbu.

• Fugaku assembled thirty-six Konoha Military Police Force shinobi, warned them to signal for help if they encountered Asura, and sent them out on patrol.
• Fugaku kept Shisui with him and explained that he suspected Asura would target the Hyuga clan grounds, though the Uchiha still had to obey the Third Hokage’s order to patrol.
• Fugaku told Shisui that Kirigakure’s Kaguya Clan had been exterminated after rebelling against the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura.
• Fugaku asked Shisui to become a bridge between the Uchiha Clan and the village, and said he had proposed transferring Itachi into the Anbu.

Kakashi and the Hyuga clan defended the compound against a mist-shrouded assault by countless figures that confused the Byakugan. After finding Hyuga shinobi unconscious and realizing the attack was a distraction, Kakashi rushed toward the Main House council hall.

• Kakashi and Yamato monitored the Hyuga compound as the clan maintained heightened patrols against Asura.
• Homon Hyuga spotted hundreds or thousands of chakra-bearing figures in the mist and raised the alarm with a signal flare.
• Kakashi led Anbu reinforcements into the compound and discovered that the figures were illusions that vanished when struck.
• Homon Hyuga urged Kakashi to reach the Main House council hall, warning him that the attack was interfering with the Byakugan.
• Kakashi, Yamato, and the Anbu fought through the illusions and found several Hyuga shinobi unconscious but alive.

Asura attacked the Hyuga compound under cover of a mysterious mist, while his ability left him invisible to those using the Byakugan. Hiruzen and Konoha’s elite forces arrived and revealed Asura to the Hyuga clan after Hiashi turned off his Byakugan, and Asura began a new attack.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi led Konoha’s main force toward the Hyuga compound after signal flares appeared, and an Anbu scout reported that enemies were attacking from within a thick mist.
• Hizashi Hyuga and the Branch House guards fought figures in the mist, but the figures vanished when struck and an unseen enemy began knocking the guards down.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elite jonin broke into the meeting hall, where Hiruzen could see Asura but the Hyuga clan members could not while their Byakugan was active.
• Nara Shikaku told Hyuga Hiashi to turn off his Byakugan, allowing Hiashi and the others to see Asura surrounded by Anbu ninja.
• Asura taunted Hiashi, kicked an unconscious Hyuga ninja toward him, and formed the Tiger seal to use Nine Mask Svāhā.

Asura summoned the Nine Masked Beasts to hold off Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s reinforcements while he attacked the Hyuga Main House. After defeating Hizashi Hyuga and the elders, Menma began taking their Byakugan as Hiashi watched helplessly behind the barrier.

• Asura summoned the Nine Masked Beasts, which fought Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi, Nara Shikaku, Akimichi Choza, and the other reinforcements.
• Black Tortoise knocked Akimichi Choza through a wall, while Vermilion Bird and the other beasts kept the Konoha fighters at bay.
• The Southern Dipper Sage and Northern Dipper Sage raised a purple barrier that divided the battlefield, leaving Hiruzen and the others unable to reach the Hyuga Main House elders.
• Asura defeated Hizashi Hyuga and wounded the four Main House elders within the barrier.
• Menma gouged the Byakugan from the elders and placed the eyes in glass tubes as Hyuga Hiashi and the others watched helplessly.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi created four Shadow Clones and launched five elemental techniques at the Grim Reaper and the Celestial Maiden.

Asura fought off Konoha’s forces inside a mysterious barrier, then escaped with the Byakugan he had stolen from the Hyuga clan. Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others were left to suspect that Asura had used Space-Time Ninjutsu to bypass Konoha’s defenses.

• Yamato and Kakashi struggled against Asura’s summoned beasts as they overwhelmed Konoha’s reinforcements.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi’s combined elemental attack failed to break Asura’s purple barrier, and Yamanaka Inoichi collapsed after Asura repelled his mind invasion.
• Asura revealed that he had taken a pair of Main House Byakugan and announced that he was leaving.
• Asura’s summoned beasts vanished, and Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to trap him inside the Four Violet Flame Formation.
• Asura and his two humanoid summoned beasts disappeared from inside the barrier, prompting Nara Shikaku to suspect Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Barrier Team to investigate.

After Asura attacked the Hyuga compound, thirty-seven people were wounded and four Main House elders had their Byakugan stolen. As Hyuga Hiashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi investigated Asura’s abilities, an elder revealed that the Hyuga Clan once had a vanished enemy called the Red Eye Clan.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the wounded treated, and Konoha’s Medical Department took Hizashi Hyuga, the four elders, and other injured clansmen to the hospital.
• Nara Shikaku reported that thirty-seven people were wounded, including thirty Hyuga, but no one had died.
• Hyuga Hiashi told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Asura’s illusions had disrupted the Byakugan and that Asura had also used an unfamiliar concealment method.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi asked whether the Hyuga Clan had a sworn enemy, and an elder identified the long-vanished Red Eye Clan as the Byakugan’s natural enemy.

In Konoha Hospital, Hizashi Hyuga questioned Asura about his plans and considered joining him. After hearing Asura’s ambition to unify the Shinobi World, Hizashi chose to gamble on leading part of the Hyuga clan away and breaking free of the Caged Bird.

• Hizashi Hyuga woke in his private ward and reflected on Asura’s overwhelming power and the battle’s lack of casualties.
• Menma visited Hizashi, who thanked him for showing mercy and asked about his connection to the Hyuga clan and the Giant Tenseigan.
• Menma said his fiancée had ties to the Hyuga clan, denied wanting to use the Hyuga as test subjects, and warned Hizashi he would need to grow stronger to join the future war over the Giant Tenseigan.
• Hizashi asked whether Asura had caused the upheaval in the Land of Bears and Hoshigakure, and Menma confirmed it while declaring his goal of unifying the Shinobi World.
• Hizashi knelt before Asura, deciding to gamble the clan’s fate on escaping the Caged Bird and making the Hyuga clan great again.

Menma spent a quiet morning with Hinata and Naruto before the three ran into the wandering doctor Shennong and his apprentice, Amaru. After Naruto and Amaru apologized for colliding, Shennong introduced himself and his apprentice to the children.

• Menma left home and met Hinata, then took her to the park, where they found Naruto sitting alone.
• Menma, Hinata, and Naruto decided to visit their secret base by the Naka River and set off together.
• Naruto collided with the red-haired Amaru, and both children fell to the ground.
• Naruto apologized, and Menma pointed out that Amaru was a girl.
• Shennong introduced himself as a wandering doctor and introduced Amaru as his apprentice.
• Menma, Naruto, and Hinata introduced themselves to Shennong and Amaru.

Menma recognized Shennong as the hidden leader of Soragakure and began planning to locate the village and seize its technology. Meanwhile, Uchiha Hikari’s squad confirmed the Kurosuki Clan controlled Jiangcao Gold Mountain and prepared to carry out their mission.

• Menma questioned Shennong about his origins while Shennong told Naruto, Hinata, and Menma stories about his travels with Amaru.
• Menma recalled Shennong’s plans for the Zero-Tails and suspected he had come to Konoha to steal ninjutsu and a sealing scroll.
• Menma considered using Amaru’s birthplace to search for Soragakure’s old site, Ancor Vantian, and planned to exploit the village’s weapons and resources.
• Shennong said he was going to Konoha Hospital, and Menma and Hinata secretly marked his and Amaru’s chakra signatures before saying goodbye.
• Natsuhi reported to Uchiha Hikari that the Kurosuki Clan controlled Jiangcao Gold Mountain, where Raiga Kurosuki and Lightning Blade Kiba were the targets of their mission.