Chapter Summaries

Naruto challenged Minato's belief in the Will of Fire, arguing that it excluded clans and people across the Land of Fire. Meanwhile, Juzo Biwa joined an Akatsuki meeting where the members welcomed Itachi and examined the circumstances of Kakuzu's teammate's death.

• Naruto told Minato that the Will of Fire could not encompass the entire Land of Fire or reach the Uchiha and Uzumaki Clans, then went to spend time with the Nine-Tails.
• Juzo Biwa collected payment at an underground black market and browsed its bounty list, noticing Itachi Uchiha's S-Rank Missing-nin bounty.
• Juzo Biwa used the Phantasm Body Technique to join an Akatsuki meeting, where Pain welcomed Itachi as a new member and announced an investigation into Kakuzu's teammate's death.
• Orochimaru invited Itachi to team up, while Itachi studied Pain and recognized his Rinnegan.
• Pain showed White Zetsu's memories of Kakuzu engulfing his teammate and an enemy in Fire Release, and Kakuzu insisted that his teammate had failed to dodge.

Itachi Uchiha learned why Juzo Biwa had defected from Kirigakure, while Nagato and Konan discussed the Uchiha clan’s survival and Madara’s possible plans. Naruto uncovered Living Corpse Reincarnation in the Scroll of Seals, then asked Minato Namikaze about learning its other jutsu.

• Itachi Uchiha asked Obito why Juzo Biwa had defected, and Obito said Juzo had been a good person who could not change the Blood Mist Policy.
• Konan told Deva Path Pain that many Uchiha had escaped Konoha, and Pain suspected Madara had cultivated Itachi as a pawn rather than Konoha sending him as a spy.
• Naruto broke part of the Scroll of Seals’ formula and discovered Living Corpse Reincarnation, which he decided he had no reason to learn.
• Naruto asked Minato Namikaze how to break the scroll’s seal, and Minato offered to teach him the Flying Thunder God Technique or the Reaper Death Seal.

Naruto traveled by fishing boat to the Land of Whirlpools, seeking information about the outlaws and Rogue Ninjas living there. He discovered the boatman also had Chakra, suggesting his arrival on the island could lead to a fight.

• Naruto bought supplies in a port city and learned that merchant ships avoided the Land of Whirlpools because outlaws there attacked passing vessels.
• Naruto hired a fishing boat, and the boatman explained that heavy taxes had forced ordinary people to fish near the dangerous island.
• Naruto recognized that the boatman was connected to pirates and demanded information about the island and its Rogue Ninjas.
• Naruto stepped onto the sea and questioned the boatman, who suspected that the ninja villages were preparing for another war.
• Naruto sensed that the boatman possessed a small amount of Chakra and realized he had mistaken him for an ordinary person.

Naruto and Shisui subdued the rogue ninjas occupying the ruins of Uzushio Village and discovered their leader was a surviving Uzumaki who specialized in Sealing Jutsu. Naruto began questioning the captive by revealing a trace of Nine-Tails Chakra.

• Naruto defeated a group of Rogue Ninjas and learned that smuggling through the Land of Whirlpools had caused the trade routes to be cut off.
• Naruto met Shisui, who explained the Uchiha Clan’s supply problems, and ordered him to strip the captured Rogue Ninjas of their valuables and keep them alive for the future base.
• Shisui told Naruto that an organized group of ninjas occupied Uzushio Village’s ruins, so they traveled there and subdued the guards.
• Naruto and Shisui confronted the group’s leader, who used Konoha’s Sealing Jutsu and proved to be a surviving Uzumaki ninja.
• Naruto bound the Uzumaki ninja, released him from genjutsu, and revealed a trace of Nine-Tails Chakra.

Naruto arranged for Homura Uzumaki to settle the Uchiha survivors in the ruins of Uzushio Village while pursuing his plan to rebuild the Land of Whirlpools. He then told Minato Namikaze that his former subordinates had suffered under Konoha and that one had attacked him, leaving Minato silent.

• Naruto freed Homura Uzumaki, proved his Uzumaki lineage, and said he intended to rebuild the Land of Whirlpools.
• Naruto asked Homura Uzumaki to secretly settle more than a hundred Uchiha ninja and their families, then brought Shisui in to negotiate the details.
• Naruto explored Uzushio Village and considered founding a nation of his own rather than trying to reform Konoha.
• Shisui and Homura Uzumaki agreed on the settlement, and Shisui moved the Uchiha into ruined houses in Uzushio Village.
• Minato Namikaze remembered the Uchiha by name, and Naruto told him that Tenpu had attacked him and that his former subordinates had fared poorly.

Naruto explained to Minato why he had helped the Uchiha, while Jiraiya was summoned to Mount Myōboku to hear a prophecy about a golden-haired Konoha ninja who would change the ninja world. The Great Toad Sage said Jiraiya would meet the Child of Prophecy through fate, rather than needing to search for him.

• Naruto told Minato that saving the Uchiha was a deliberate social experiment to see whether they would fare better outside Konoha.
• Jiraiya returned to his inn after being chased from a bathhouse and wondered why the village had not sent him a mission in over a month.
• A toad summoned Jiraiya to Mount Myōboku, where Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima brought him to the Great Toad Sage.
• The Great Toad Sage prophesied that a golden-haired boy with constantly changing eyes, a ninja from Konoha, would change the entire ninja world.
• The Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya not to search for the Child of Prophecy because fate would bring them together.

The Great Toad Sage foretold a coming calamity and said the Child of Prophecy would save the ninja world, while Jiraiya realized Naruto might be that child. After learning Naruto had left Konoha, Jiraiya accepted an S-rank mission to find and bring him back.

• The Great Toad Sage told Sage Fukasaku that he had foreseen a Sealed Demon God, a battle between the Child of Prophecy and the Rinnegan, and Jiraiya becoming Hokage.
• Sage Fukasaku urged Jiraiya to find the Child of Prophecy and build a good relationship with him because the future of the ninja world and Mount Myōboku depended on it.
• Jiraiya returned to Konoha and learned from the Third Hokage that Itachi Uchiha had attacked his clan and Shisui Uchiha had led its survivors out of the village.
• The Third Hokage revealed that Naruto had left Konoha after village rumors about the Demon Fox hurt him, and that Naruto had become powerful enough to defeat Kakashi.
• Jiraiya suspected Naruto was the Child of Prophecy, declined the Third Hokage's offer to become Hokage, and accepted an S-rank mission to find Naruto and bring him home.

Jiraiya learned from Kakashi why Naruto had left Konoha and agreed to take him away for training once he was found. A month after Naruto arrived in Uzushio Village with the surviving Uchiha, he found Homura and Shisui arguing over how to develop the village.

• Jiraiya questioned Kakashi about Naruto, and Kakashi explained the years of mistreatment and revealed Naruto already knew he was the Fourth Hokage's son and a Jinchuriki.
• Jiraiya left Konoha after deciding Naruto should train outside the village, and he sent the Third Hokage a letter requesting permission to take Naruto on his travels.
• The Third Hokage agreed to Jiraiya's request, recognizing that the damaged relationship between him and Naruto made Jiraiya a better guardian.
• A month after Naruto arrived in Uzushio Village, the surviving Uchiha adjusted to their new lives and began rebuilding their clan compound.
• Naruto, disguised as Doctor Menma, visited the village office and found Homura and Shisui arguing over whether to prioritize foreign trade or build a Ninja Academy and mission center.

Naruto obtained the Scroll of Seals, had Homura break its seal, and copied the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu and Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. After mastering the reincarnation technique, he considered using White Zetsu as sacrifices, while Minato objected to his research and Naruto defended it.

• Naruto rejected Homura and Shisui’s early development plans and advised them to stabilize Uzushio Village and grow its population before pursuing major projects.
• Naruto presented Konoha’s Scroll of Seals to Homura, who broke its sealing formula while Shisui left the office.
• Naruto copied the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags and Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu from the scroll, alarming Minato with both his access to forbidden techniques and his plans to change the ninja world.
• Naruto spent several weeks mastering the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu and captured White Zetsu to use as materials for it.
• Naruto argued that using the technique during the Nine-Tails’ Rampage might have saved Kushina and let Minato remain Hokage, then told Minato he had already found suitable sacrifices.

Naruto used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Ashina Uzumaki, hoping to restore the Uzumaki Clan’s lost Sealing Jutsu inheritance. After a fight, Ashina learned that the Land of Whirlpools had fallen and demanded to know what had happened to it.

• Minato Namikaze wondered whether White Zetsu could serve as sacrifices for Impure World Reincarnation and suspected they were connected to the Masked Man.
• Naruto asked Homura Uzumaki to take him to the Uzumaki Ancestral Hall, where Homura explained that the masks could perform the Reaper Death Seal but their sealing formulas had been lost.
• Naruto revealed that Konoha’s Scroll of Seals contained the Reaper Death Seal and decided to summon a Uzumaki ancestor to recover the clan’s Sealing Jutsu inheritance.
• Naruto performed Impure World Reincarnation on White Zetsu and summoned Ashina Uzumaki, who broke free, sealed Homura, and attacked Naruto with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Naruto fought Ashina in Dark Kurama Mode, defeated him, and explained that he was the third generation of Konoha’s Jinchuriki and that Mito Uzumaki had died.
• Ashina asked whether the Land of Whirlpools was thriving under Konoha’s protection, and Naruto’s silence made him realize that Uzushio Village had declined.

Naruto told Ashina Uzumaki about Uzushio’s destruction and Konoha’s decline, then revealed his identity and his plans for the Land of Whirlpools. Ashina agreed to teach him the Uzumaki secret techniques and help him manage the village, and the group set out with Homura freed from his seal.

• Naruto told Ashina Uzumaki that Uzushio had been destroyed and that few Uzumaki remained, prompting Ashina to regret not joining Konoha with his clan.
• Naruto explained that the Senju Clan had dissolved, the Uchiha had been driven out, and Hiruzen Sarutobi was Hokage when Uzushio fell.
• Naruto revealed his real name, his connection to Kushina, and his plan to build a force in the Land of Whirlpools, while Minato Namikaze reacted painfully to Naruto’s criticism of Konoha’s leadership.
• Naruto asked Ashina to teach him the Uzumaki secret techniques and manage the village, and Ashina agreed on the condition that Naruto learn the techniques within half a year.
• Ashina released Naruto from the sealing jutsu, removed Homura’s seal, and followed Naruto as Homura hurried after them.

Obito focused on the Uchiha remnants and continued weakening Kirigakure while operating as the power behind the Fourth Mizukage. After revealing himself to Kisame, he recruited him as a future Akatsuki pawn and planned to provoke a coup in Kirigakure.

• After White Zetsu sent to watch the Uchiha remnants disappeared, Obito stopped monitoring them and decided to share information about them with Akatsuki.
• Zetsu told Obito that Kisame had killed Suikazan Fuguki and returned to Kirigakure, so Obito arranged to meet him in the Anbu base.
• Obito revealed that he controlled Karatachi Yagura and identified himself as Madara Uchiha, leaving Kisame shaken by the truth behind the Blood Mist Village.
• Obito recruited Kisame, assigned him to assassinate the Daimyo of the Land of Water, and planned to use the failed mission to make him a rogue ninja and bring him into Akatsuki.
• Obito reviewed a list of Jonin plotting against the Fourth Mizukage, crossed out Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu, and planned to incite their coup so he could eliminate them.

Naruto practiced the Uzumaki Clan’s Sealing Jutsu under the old clan chief, who urged him to grow strong enough to protect the Uzumaki legacy. After the old clan chief shared his historical records and sealing knowledge, Naruto learned that Kirigakure ninja had entered the Land of Whirlpools and rushed to confront them.

• Naruto used Adamantine Sealing Chains to capture the White Zetsu during practice, accidentally killing one, and asked when he could learn another Sealing Jutsu.
• The old clan chief insisted Naruto master his sealing skills and gain enough power to suppress the Nine-Tails, then apologized to the Nine-Tails when Naruto said it could hear them.
• Naruto asked the old clan chief for advice about rebuilding Uzushio Village, and the old clan chief explained why he had founded the Land of Whirlpools and mourned its destruction.
• The old clan chief told Naruto he had compiled historical records and Sealing Jutsu knowledge, then urged him to reestablish the Uzumaki Ninja Clan.
• Naruto received his Shadow Clone’s memories and told the old clan chief that Kirigakure ninja had appeared in the Land of Whirlpools seeking Uzushio Village.
• Naruto used the Body Flicker Technique to leave and confront the Kirigakure ninja.

Shisui reflected on the Uchiha’s integration into Uzushio Village and wondered how to prevent the clan from becoming isolated again. When Izumi reported that suspected Kirigakure ninja had landed on the coast, Shisui mobilized the Uchiha and rushed to alert Menma and Homura.

• Shisui walked through the Uchiha compound, welcomed by clan members who had found hope and friendship in Uzushio Village.
• Shisui accepted Mikoto Uchiha’s invitation to dinner and asked whether Fugaku’s radical supporters had contacted her; he warned that they must not discover the clan’s location.
• Mikoto asked whether the Uchiha could return to Konoha and see Sasuke, and Shisui said that only Menma could decide their future.
• Izumi Uchiha reported that unknown ninja, likely from Kirigakure, had landed on the coast near Uzushio Village.
• Shisui ordered Izumi to assemble the Uchiha ninja on alert and used the Body Flicker Technique to notify Menma and Homura.

Naruto watched Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu fight an Uchiha squad in the Land of Whirlpools, where they had stumbled upon the newly established Uzushio Village. As the battle reached a stalemate, Naruto stepped in to face the two Kirigakure Jonin himself.

• Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu discussed their plan to overthrow the Fourth Mizukage and Mangetsu's concern for his younger brother, Suigetsu.
• Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu were ambushed by Uchiha ninja, and Mangetsu freed Zabuza from Sharingan genjutsu by cutting his arm.
• Naruto determined that Zabuza and Mangetsu were likely not part of a Kirigakure invasion force, while Shisui and Homura worried that the encounter would expose Uzushio Village.
• Zabuza used the Hiding in Mist Technique, but the Uchiha fought on using their Sharingan.
• Hozuki Mangetsu unleashed Hiramekarei's power and blasted the Uchiha squad back, but neither side could gain the upper hand.
• Naruto stopped Shisui from joining the fight, then leaped down to challenge Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu.

Naruto captured Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu when they entered the Land of Whirlpools seeking an escape route before attempting to assassinate the Mizukage. After learning their plans, he ordered them kept imprisoned to obtain Hozuki clan Water Release techniques.

• Hozuki Mangetsu told Zabuza to escape while he sacrificed himself, but Naruto arrived and bound them both with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Naruto ordered Izumi Uchiha to take Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu to the interrogation room for Shisui to question.
• Homura Uzumaki marveled at Naruto's talent with the Adamantine Sealing Chains, and Shisui told him to remain loyal to Lord Menma.
• The next morning, Shisui reported that Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu had come seeking an escape route before planning to assassinate the Mizukage.
• Naruto ordered Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu kept imprisoned because Hozuki Mangetsu might know secret Water Release techniques.

Naruto considered how to develop Uzushio Village and use the tailed beasts’ power, while Shisui’s training memories helped him control his Sharingan. In Kirigakure, Obito learned Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu had vanished into the Land of Whirlpools and suspected Shisui’s Uchiha had captured them.

• Naruto left Uzushio Village’s affairs to Homura and Shisui, then assessed the village’s future and considered recruiting talent from Kirigakure and approaching the Three-Tails and Six-Tails.
• Naruto received Shisui’s Sharingan training memories from the favorability system, nearly succumbed to their influence, and gained better control over his Sharingan and Kotoamatsukami’s rejection.
• Obito continued manipulating the Fourth Mizukage and learned that Kisame had failed to assassinate the Water Daimyo and had been branded an S-rank rogue ninja.
• Obito considered encouraging more Kirigakure Jonin to defect, but White Zetsu reported that Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu had left for the Land of Whirlpools.
• Obito suspected Shisui’s Uchiha had captured Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu.

At an Akatsuki meeting, Itachi learned that the Uchiha survivors had settled in the Land of Whirlpools, while Zetsu’s report raised his suspicions about the organization’s factions. After the meeting, Juzo Biwa revealed a new mission to infiltrate Kirigakure and investigate the Fourth Mizukage, as Orochimaru considered using Kakuzu to pursue the Uchiha.

• Zetsu reported that the surviving Uchiha had settled in the Land of Whirlpools, drawing greedy attention from several Akatsuki members.
• Itachi suspected Zetsu belonged to the Masked Man’s faction and decided he could not risk provoking the Masked Man while the village and Sasuke remained vulnerable.
• After the Akatsuki meeting, Itachi and Juzo Biwa resumed searching the Land of Water for signs of the Six-Tails.
• Juzo Biwa told Itachi that the leader had assigned them to infiltrate Kirigakure and investigate Karatachi Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage.
• Orochimaru failed to persuade Sasori to visit the Land of Whirlpools and decided he could use Kakuzu by placing a high bounty on the Uchiha.

Orochimaru and Sasori joined forces to investigate the Land of Whirlpools, while Jiraiya learned that Orochimaru had destroyed a black market. Naruto met with the imprisoned Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu and asked why they planned to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage.

• Orochimaru met Sasori at a black market while both sought intelligence on the Land of Whirlpools, and Sasori killed the information broker before inviting Orochimaru to travel with him.
• Orochimaru warned that Zetsu might be using them, but agreed to investigate because Shisui Uchiha, who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, was reportedly in the Land of Whirlpools.
• Jiraiya arrived at the town searching for Naruto and learned that Orochimaru had destroyed the black market.
• Naruto partially released the seals on Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu, explained that he and Shisui were not Konoha ninja, and discussed what they might accept in exchange for release.
• Naruto asked Zabuza and Hozuki Mangetsu why they wanted to assassinate the Fourth Mizukage, revealing that he knew about their secret plan.

Naruto led Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza to conclude that the Fourth Mizukage had likely been controlled by the Masked Man, turning Kirigakure into a tool of Naruto’s enemy. Naruto offered possible help from Uzushio Village at a price, leaving Mangetsu wondering whether the Masked Man was the one behind the Mizukage’s manipulation.

• Hozuki Mangetsu listed the Fourth Mizukage’s abuses, and Naruto questioned what the Mizukage could have gained from them.
• Naruto prompted Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza to recall that the Fourth Mizukage’s behavior had changed abruptly after he first ended the Blood Mist Policy.
• Shisui realized that the Fourth Mizukage might have been controlled by Sharingan genjutsu, possibly by the Masked Man who caused Nine-Tails Night.
• Naruto suggested that the Fourth Mizukage had become a puppet, and Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza recognized that their assassination plan would not solve the problem while the mastermind remained alive.
• Hozuki Mangetsu suspected Naruto wanted Kirigakure to fight the Masked Man, and Naruto offered Uzushio Village’s help in exchange for an appropriate price.
• Naruto asked whether Hozuki Mangetsu could represent Kirigakure, and Mangetsu wondered if the Masked Man was the ninja controlling the Mizukage.