Chapter Summaries

Menma overpowered Hiruko, dodging his Storm Release and pinning him to a wall with a black Yin-Yang Release rod that disrupted his chakra and Chimera Technique. Hiruko was left helpless as Menma declared that he would take the Chimera Technique.

• Hiruko unleashed Storm Release: Thunder Cloud Cavity Wave, but Menma used his Sharingan to evade all five lightning bolts.
• Menma struck back with Mini Spiraling Ring, carving a huge hole into a mountain wall as Hiruko narrowly dodged it.
• Hiruko began casting Storm Release Secret Technique: Storm Ghost Dragon, but Menma used the Flying Thunder God Technique to appear beside him.
• Menma stabbed Hiruko's hands with a black Yin-Yang Release rod, pinning him to the stone wall and disrupting his chakra and Chimera Technique.
• Menma told Hiruko that he intended to take the Chimera Technique, leaving Hiruko unable to resist.

Menma forced Hiruko to lead him to his underground lair and surrender the scroll containing the Chimera Technique. After taking the technique, Menma ordered Hiruko to serve him, and Hiruko accepted, offering his loyalty and research.

• Menma subdued Hiruko and made him lead the way to his hidden lair.
• Menma and Hiruko entered the underground laboratory, where Hiruko’s Chimera Technique experiments were kept.
• Hiruko retrieved the sealed scroll containing the core of the Chimera Technique and handed it to Menma.
• Menma read the scroll, took it, and offered Hiruko a chance to come with him and serve him.
• Faced with Menma’s overwhelming killing intent and power, Hiruko pledged his loyalty to Lord Asura and offered the Chimera Technique.

Menma brought Hiruko to Star City’s prison after accepting his loyalty and the Chimera Technique, leaving Uchiha Hikari to guard him. Hiruko attacked Hikari in an attempt to escape, but she trapped him in her Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu as Menma ordered her not to kill him.

• Menma returned Hiruko to Star City and placed him in the underground prison.
• Uchiha Hikari told Menma that Kakuzu had accompanied Gato to the Land of Water.
• Hiruko mistook Hikari for an easy target and planned to take her hostage.
• Menma gave Hikari the Chimera Technique scroll and said he had to leave again.
• Hiruko lunged at Hikari, but she used her Mangekyō Sharingan to trap him in the Tsukuyomi World.
• Menma left the prison and told Hikari not to kill Hiruko.

Menma found Yakushi Nonō disguised as the Iwagakure medic Suzuhara Ai and exposed her identity at a remote outpost. As the Iwa ninja attacked him, he blocked their assault with the Northern Dipper Sage barrier.

• Menma used the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel from the Land of Stars to an Iwagakure outpost near the Land of Rain.
• Suzuhara Ai treated wounded Iwa ninja while concealing her identity as Yakushi Nonō.
• An apparent attack alarmed the outpost, and Menma appeared wearing the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask.
• Menma addressed the disguised medic as Yakushi Nonō, forcing her to drop her cover.
• The Iwa ninja attacked Menma with Earth and Fire Release techniques, but he raised a Northern Dipper Sage barrier that stopped them.

Menma captured Yakushi Nonō after breaking the Iwagakure stronghold’s resistance and brought her to Star City’s underground prison. There, he found Uchiha Hikari hiding a book titled XX Paradise.

• Menma’s barrier repelled the Iwagakure Ninja’s attacks and sent them crashing into the stronghold walls and ground.
• Yakushi Nonō tried to escape through a rocky passage, but Asura used Red Eye to disorient her and Menma seized and restrained her.
• Menma activated Flying Thunder God and vanished from the stronghold with Nonō and the Northern Dipper Sage barrier, leaving the Iwagakure Ninja terrified.
• Menma put Nonō in a cell in Star City’s underground prison, where Hiruko remained curled up and shaken by the Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu.
• Menma asked Uchiha Hikari why her face was red, and she concealed a book whose title read XX Paradise.

Menma opened the Star Ninja Academy with a speech urging its students to use their power to unite the Shinobi World and end war and hunger. As the crowd embraced his promise of a new world, Yakushi Kabuto wondered why Asura's face and voice seemed familiar.

• Menma appeared at the academy's opening ceremony, where Uchiha Hikari, Uzumaki Fuka, the Star ninja, officials, and commoners saluted him as Lord Asura.
• Menma told the students that war, noble oppression, and division had left them orphaned, and called for the Shinobi World to become one nation.
• Menma urged the children to use their power to protect others and spread peace, and the crowd erupted in cheers.
• Yakushi Kabuto, disguised as Kumamoto Kabuto, watched Menma and wondered where he had seen him before.
• The ceremony's witnesses prepared to spread stories of Asura and his vision from the Land of Stars to the wider Shinobi World.

Menma traded Uchiha cells to Orochimaru for information about Yakushi Kabuto and Danzo’s Root plan in the Land of Stars. They agreed to research Kimimaro together, but Menma warned Orochimaru that Kimimaro belonged to him.

• Menma arrived at Orochimaru’s underground base and gave him a sealed container of Uchiha cells.
• Menma asked Orochimaru for Yakushi Kabuto’s information and details of Danzo’s Root infiltration plan for the Land of Stars.
• Orochimaru agreed to prepare a detailed record of Danzo’s activities in exchange for the Uchiha cells.
• Orochimaru proposed studying Kimimaro at the joint laboratory in Star City, and Menma accepted.
• Menma warned Orochimaru that his Shadow Clone would oversee the research and that Kimimaro was his.

Hamayen Shun and the nobles confined Miroku to the shrine after condemning her interest in the Land of Stars. As Ashikishi fled with her secret letter, a monster’s seal was opened in the Demon Capital, and he reached Star City to beg the masked ruler of the Hoshinin to save Miroku and the Land of Demons.

• Hamayen Shun accused Miroku of stirring unrest by investigating the Land of Stars and ordered her confined to the shrine, with all messages forbidden.
• Miroku sensed the dark chakra beneath the earth stirring and resolved to send a warning to stop the monster’s resurrection.
• Ashikishi escaped the shrine at night carrying Miroku’s secret letter, while patrols and hunting dogs pursued him.
• A blast and a blood-red glow erupted over the Demon Capital as an evil chakra swept across the Land of Demons, and Ashikishi realized the monster’s seal had been opened.
• Ashikishi reached Star City and pleaded with the masked Hoshinin ruler to rescue Miroku and the Land of Demons.

Menma learned that Miroku and Shion were trapped in the Land of Demons after the demon’s seal was broken, so he sent a rescue team and arranged reinforcements. He and his companions reached the shrine amid a massacre, where Menma confronted the demon and shielded Miroku and Shion.

• Ashikishi told Menma that Miroku and Shion had been confined at the shrine and that the Land of Demons had fallen into chaos after the demon’s seal was undone.
• Menma ordered Uchiha Hikari, Kaguya Kimimaro, and Haku to rescue Miroku and Shion, while Uzumaki Fuka prepared thirty Hoshinin elites, officials, doctors, and supplies to support the Land of Demons.
• Menma used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take Uchiha Hikari, Kimimaro, Haku, and Ashikishi to a mountaintop near the burning capital.
• The group reached the shrine and found the dead daimyo, Hamayen Shun, and many soldiers, while Miroku and Shion remained behind a weakening spiritual shield.
• Uchiha Hikari, Kimimaro, and Haku confronted Yomi and the Dark Medical Ninja as Menma stepped between Miroku and Shion and the eight-headed demon.

Uzumaki Menma and his allies fought Yomi, the Dark Medical Ninja, and the eight-headed Moryo outside Miroku’s shrine. After Menma trapped Moryo in Tsukuyomi, he called on Miroku to seal it.

• Menma resisted Moryo’s psychic roar, giving Uchiha Hikari, Haku, and Kimimaro the chance to attack Yomi and the five Dark Medical Ninja.
• Haku trapped the enemy ninja in an ice-mirror maze, while Kimimaro killed one with bone spikes and Haku struck back with ice senbon.
• Hikari used Amaterasu to burn a Fire Release ninja to ash, and Kimimaro and Haku finished off the remaining Dark Medical Ninja and Yomi.
• Moryo unleashed eight torrents of evil chakra at Menma and the shrine, but Menma cast Tsukuyomi and overwhelmed it with a world of corpses and despair.
• Menma urged Miroku to act, and she used her shrine maiden power to begin the Secret Sealing Technique.

Miroku and Menma sealed Moryo after a brutal battle, and Miroku explained that it was born from humanity’s hatred and would eventually return. Menma learned that Shion held immense sealed power, while Miroku said she had sealed it so her daughter could grow up safely.

• Miroku and Menma combined their sealing techniques to imprison Moryo in a clay jar, and Miroku collapsed as Shion clung to her.
• Ashikishi helped Miroku and Shion inside, where Menma introduced himself as Asura and questioned Miroku about the sealed creature.
• Miroku explained that Moryo was formed from humanity’s accumulated evil and that shrine maidens had passed down the duty of containing it.
• Miroku asked whether Menma’s Land of Stars could end the suffering that sustained Moryo, but Menma gave no answer.
• Menma sensed immense power sealed inside Shion, and Miroku said she had sealed it so her daughter could live safely as an ordinary girl.

Menma revealed his young face to Miroku and argued that ending war required unifying the Shinobi World, while warning of ancient enemies beyond humanity. Convinced by his words and the disciplined Hoshinin response, Miroku agreed to lead the Land of Demons into joining the Land of Stars.

• Menma removed his Three-Eyed Fox Mask, revealing his young face and mismatched black and red eyes to Miroku, Shion, and Ashikishi.
• Menma said that unifying the Shinobi World under one nation and ending noble privilege could break the cycle of oppression and human war.
• Menma warned Miroku that a thousand-year mastermind and watchers from beyond the heavens threatened the world, and Miroku sensed their gaze.
• Miroku agreed to lead the Land of Demons in joining the Land of Stars.
• Uzumaki Fuka arrived with Hoshinin and organized medical aid, battlefield cleanup, barriers, and guards around the shrine.
• Miroku saw the Hoshinin caring for the wounded and collecting the dead as Menma and Uchiha Hikari watched over the shrine.

After the Land of Demons joined the Land of Stars, the new nation expanded rapidly and its ideals spread through neighboring lands. At the start of Konoha Year 56, Naruto celebrated New Year with Menma, then received a visit and a gift from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

• Hoshinin and Land of Stars officials took control of the Land of Demons and began incorporating its territory and population into the new nation.
• Miroku's support and the Land of Stars' ideals stirred unrest among oppressed people and small ninja clans in neighboring nations.
• Menma prepared a New Year's dinner for Naruto, who said celebrating with him felt like home.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi visited Naruto and Menma, quietly scrutinized Menma, and gave Naruto a New Year's present.

Hiruzen told Naruto and Menma they would enter the Ninja Academy in a year, while Menma privately wondered what major events occurred in Konoha Year 56. In Star City, Orochimaru examined Kimimaro after his Byakugan transplant as Menma’s Shadow Clone explained the cause of the Kaguya clan’s illness.

• Hiruzen visited Naruto and Menma, and Naruto eagerly celebrated the news that he could attend the Ninja Academy.
• Menma agreed that becoming a ninja sounded worthwhile, and Hiruzen arranged for both boys to start the Academy in a year.
• After Hiruzen left, Menma quietly wondered what important events had happened in Konoha Year 56.
• Orochimaru drew blood from Kimimaro and praised how well his bloodline power had harmonized with the transplanted Byakugan.
• Menma’s Shadow Clone explained that the Kaguya clan’s disease resulted from Yang Release becoming imbalanced as dormant bloodline power awakened.

Menma's Shadow Clone explained how the Byakugan balanced Kimimaro's bloodline power and delayed his disease, inspiring Orochimaru to pursue new research. Hiruko arrived to assist Orochimaru, and Orochimaru realized that Asura had completely subdued the former rogue ninja.

• Menma's Shadow Clone explained that Kimimaro's excess Yang Release caused his Kekkei Genkai Disease and that the Byakugan's Yin Release suppressed and balanced it.
• Orochimaru praised the idea and eagerly considered new experiments involving bloodlines, Yin and Yang Release, and artificial vessels.
• Hiruko entered the laboratory, and Orochimaru recognized his former classmate by his distinctive chakra.
• Menma's Shadow Clone assigned Hiruko to assist with tissue fusion and chakra compatibility research, noting that Hiruko's Chimera Technique data was archived in Archive No. 7.
• Hiruko addressed Asura's Shadow Clone as his lord, and Orochimaru concealed his greed and wariness.

Yakushi Kabuto, posing as Kumamoto Kabuto, trained with Natsuhi’s squad and escorted supplies to Star City’s 7th Detention District. During the mission, he secretly observed the city’s defenses and his teammates while pursuing intelligence for Konoha Root.

• Natsuhi tested Kabuto, Morishita Shun-jin, and Murahashi Hazuki in sparring, then praised their teamwork and told them to prepare for a mission.
• Natsuhi briefed the squad on escorting prisoner rations to the 7th Detention District and supervising their delivery.
• Kabuto recalled the academy’s outstanding graduates and his squad’s recent C-rank missions as the team took positions around the supply carts.
• As the carts moved through Star City, Kabuto noted new sentry posts, patrol changes, and signs of northern fortifications.
• Kabuto reflected on his cover identity as Kumamoto Kabuto and his mission to gather intelligence on the Land of Stars, especially Asura and its elite ninja.
• Kabuto’s deepest motive remained helping Yakushi Nonō, the woman he regarded as his mother.

While delivering food in the Land of Stars’ 7th Detention District, Kabuto recognized Yakushi Nonō, the orphanage director he regarded as his mother, imprisoned and unable to recognize him. Her blank stare and unfamiliar thank-you shattered his faith in Danzo’s promise to free her, leaving Kabuto stunned as a companion called him back to work.

• Kabuto, Shun-jin, and Hazuki entered the 7th Detention District with the supply delivery and began distributing food to prisoners.
• While handing out food, Kabuto saw Yakushi Nonō behind an iron door and recognized her as the director who had raised him.
• Nonō stared at Kabuto without recognizing him and accepted the bread with a hoarse, emotionless thank-you.
• Kabuto struggled to hide his shock and wondered why Nonō was imprisoned and whether Danzo’s promise to free her had been false.
• A companion shouted at Kabuto to stop spacing out and continue working.

Yakushi Kabuto broke down after Director Nonō failed to recognize him, and Menma revealed that Danzo had replaced him with a lookalike in her life. Kabuto learned that Danzo had manipulated them both and was left overwhelmed by guilt and despair.

• Yakushi Kabuto saw that Director Nonō did not recognize him, and her hollow response shattered his faith in Danzo’s promise to free her.
• Kabuto dropped the soup while serving prisoners, and Natsuhi ordered him and Hazuki to clean up as she watched him in concern.
• Kabuto was transported to a starry waterscape, where Menma appeared and reminded him of their parting nearly two years earlier.
• Menma showed Kabuto photographs of a boy who resembled him and explained that Danzo had made the boy take Kabuto’s place in Nonō’s heart.
• Kabuto realized Danzo had manipulated him and Nonō, blamed himself for hurting her, and broke down in tears.

Menma used a genjutsu to reveal that Yakushi Nonō was alive and offer Yakushi Kabuto a chance to join Asura’s organization in exchange for her safety. Kabuto accepted and returned to the prison resolved to await word about seeing Nonō.

• Menma told Kabuto that he had secretly arranged for Nonō to be taken to the Land of Stars and warned that her safety depended on Kabuto joining the organization.
• Kabuto agreed to join and asked to meet Nonō so he could confirm she was alive.
• Menma promised to report Kabuto’s request to Lord Asura, and the starry illusion faded.
• Kabuto realized he had experienced a genjutsu and resumed acting like the timid Kumamoto Kabuto in front of Murahashi Hazuki and Natsuhi.
• Kabuto cleaned the spilled soup while privately waiting for a response about Nonō.

Yakushi Nonō was confronted by Asura with the truth that Danzō had manipulated her memories and engineered a mission meant to destroy her bond with Kabuto. The revelation left her devastated after Asura showed that Kabuto had visited her in prison, but she had failed to recognize him.

• Yakushi Nonō dreamed that she killed a young man who called her Director, then saw his face transform into child Kabuto's.
• Yakushi Nonō awoke in her prison cell and found herself standing in a silent, star-filled realm with Asura.
• Asura told Yakushi Nonō that Danzō had used a substitute child and a staged betrayal to break her humanity and turn her into a loyal tool.
• Asura showed Yakushi Nonō an image of Kabuto delivering food to her in prison, and she realized she had not recognized her own child.