Chapter Summaries

Duke overwhelmed Yhwach with powerful sword techniques, forcing him to use Blut Vene and then Auswählen to recover from his devastating wounds. As Duke continued attacking, Haschwalth and the Quincy realized Yhwach was in danger, leaving their fate uncertain.

• The Captain Commander and Chōjirō withdrew from the battlefield while keeping Haschwalth contained.
• Duke struck Yhwach with Azure Dragon, breaking through Shell Blut Vene and leaving him gravely wounded.
• Yhwach used Auswählen to absorb the souls and power of more than a thousand Quincy, including Sternritter, to heal himself.
• Duke followed with Nine-Headed Dragon Flash, shattering Yhwach’s Blut Vene and cutting his Reishi Claymore into three pieces.
• Haschwalth tried to reach Yhwach, but the Captain Commander and Chōjirō blocked his path as the other Quincy feared for their lives.

Yhwach opened the Almighty early, sacrificing every other Quincy to regain his power and turn the battle against Duke. As the Almighty failed to reveal Duke’s Bankai, Duke unleashed Bankai · Huidi: Moon Unseen.

• Quincy across the battlefield rushed toward Yhwach, while Jugram Haschwalth knelt and offered up everything he had.
• Yhwach opened the Almighty ahead of schedule, and Auswählen drained the lives and power of the Quincy, leaving him alone in the Seireitei.
• Duke confronted Yhwach, but Yhwach used his foresight to evade and counter Duke’s attacks in close combat.
• Duke pointed out that the Almighty had not foreseen his Bankai, then activated Bankai · Huidi: Moon Unseen.

Duke revealed his Bankai, Huidi: Moon Unseen, and fought Yhwach as The Almighty struggled to predict his movements. Duke wounded Yhwach with a powerful strike, leaving Yhwach trying to understand the true nature of Duke’s Bankai.

• Duke activated Bankai and explained that Huidi forbade killing, while his Zanpakuto had fused with him.
• Yhwach realized The Almighty could not alter Duke’s future, though it could still show him Duke’s movements.
• Duke and Yhwach exchanged fierce attacks that devastated the Wandenreich as Duke guided their battle away from the Seireitei.
• Duke increased his speed and power as he learned to use his Bankai, then cut through Yhwach’s Blut Vene and severely wounded him.
• Yhwach survived by shifting aside after seeing the future and began searching for the deeper nature of Duke’s Bankai.

Duke fought Yhwach after awakening his Bankai, but Yhwach escaped to the Soul King Palace to reach the Soul King. Duke broke into the palace and caught up with him, where Yhwach revealed that the Soul King was his father.

• Duke’s Bankai resisted Yhwach’s Sanctuary Usurpation, and Yhwach trapped Duke in a sanctuary before fleeing toward the Soul King Palace.
• Duke broke through the spatial barriers to the Soul King Palace and found the Royal Guard defeated.
• Duke hurried through the damaged palace and caught Yhwach at the entrance to the Soul King’s inner hall.
• Yhwach told Duke that the Soul King was his father.

Duke fought Yhwach after Yhwach absorbed the Soul King's power, while the three worlds began collapsing. The two clashed in the desert, where Duke unleashed New Moon against Yhwach's darkness.

• Yhwach absorbed the darkness within the Soul King's crystal and gained the Soul King's power as the Soul King's palace collapsed.
• Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and the Human World began crumbling, and Yhwach realized Duke had transcended his former limits after using Bankai.
• Duke transformed further and struck Yhwach through a dimensional barrier into a desert in Soul Society.
• Yhwach shattered Duke's falling Sword Qi and answered with Reishi arrows, which Duke cut apart before attacking him at close range.
• Duke and Yhwach's Reiatsu collided, vaporizing the desert, and Duke's New Moon cut into Yhwach's darkness.

Duke fought Yhwach across Hueco Mundo, overcame God's Domain with his Waning Moon technique, and appeared to defeat him. As Duke prepared to behead Yhwach, the Royal Guard's bald monk arrived and begged him to preserve the corpse.

• Duke struck Yhwach with New Moon and Full Moon, but Yhwach survived by altering the future with The Almighty.
• Yhwach fled to Hueco Mundo and trapped Duke inside God's Domain, draining his Reiatsu and attacking him with Reishi flames.
• Duke used Full Moon to distract Yhwach, then unleashed Waning Moon and swallowed him in darkness.
• God's Domain collapsed, Duke's Reiatsu recovered, and Yhwach remained motionless as his presence vanished.
• Duke raised his blade to cut off Yhwach's head, but the Royal Guard's bald monk rushed in and told him not to destroy the corpse.

After the war, Duke helped restore the Soul Society and spent a quiet month with Retsu Unohana before returning to the Unknown Space. There, he and Dead Fish Eye Duke met three newcomers, including an old man who transformed into a young gentleman by a power of his own.

• The Royal Guard monk took Yhwach's corpse to the Soul King Palace, where Yhwach became the new Soul King and stabilized the three worlds.
• Duke healed the wounded Royal Guard and Seireitei survivors, then declined the monk's invitation to join the Royal Guard.
• A month later, Duke shared a moonlit evening with Retsu Unohana in Squad 4's temporary barracks.
• In the Unknown Space, Basketball Star Duke and Dead Fish Eye Duke discussed basketball before three new Dukes appeared.
• The elderly newcomer straightened into a young gentleman, and the other Dukes discovered that his transformation was a natural ability rather than a trick he had learned.

Dead Fish Eye Duke and Basketball Star Duke met three newly transmigrated Dukes, including an NPC who had wrecked virtual games and a zombie leading a horde in America. The newest Dukes’ stories left one facing a powerful man in black in a high-martial world and the zombie Duke having his army stopped by killer plants.

• Dead Fish Eye Duke and Basketball Star Duke learned that the NPC Duke had destroyed several virtual games with pranks and introduced him to their group.
• A newly arrived Duke woke in a mountain realm, saw a man in black declare that the human world had become filthy, and fainted before receiving the original body’s memories.
• Dead Fish Eye Duke and Basketball Star Duke noted that the new Duke had powerful abilities and guessed that his world was high-martial.
• Another Duke transmigrated as a zombie in America, evolved by eating human flesh, and gathered a large horde under his command.
• Zombie Duke’s horde killed Sean, then fought a group of survivors and kept four women while his followers ate the two men.
• Zombie Duke’s army of more than a thousand zombies was halted and slaughtered by weaponized plants in a resident’s backyard.

After two years of failing to find Akatsuki, Duke learned that the group had captured Gaara and joined a mission to help Sunagakure rescue him. Duke, Kakashi, their teams, and Temari flew toward Sunagakure, hoping to save Gaara before Akatsuki extracted the One-Tail.

• Zombie Duke returned to Plants vs. Zombies, while the other newcomers also left the Unknown Space to test the Golden Thigh's power.
• Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage after Third Hokage Sarutobi arranged a unanimous vote, and Duke persuaded Jiraiya to remain in Konoha instead of taking Naruto on a search for Akatsuki.
• Duke spent two years unable to locate Akatsuki, while Terumi Mei repeatedly pressed him about marriage.
• Tsunade told Duke and Kakashi that Akatsuki had captured Gaara and ordered them to support Sunagakure and gather intelligence on the group.
• Duke and Kakashi assembled Team Seven and Team 8, and Temari joined them after learning that Gaara had been abducted.
• Duke's Blue-Ice White Night Dragon carried the teams toward Sunagakure.

Duke's group reached Sunagakure, cured Kankuro, and followed Sasori's trail while Itachi Uchiha stayed behind to delay them. Kakashi faced Itachi alone and was caught in his Illusion Technique.

• Duke rapidly developed an antidote for Sasori of the Red Sands' poison, and Kankuro woke with a scrap of Sasori's clothing.
• Kiba and Shino tracked the scrap's scent as Chiyo joined the pursuit of Gaara.
• The group encountered Itachi Uchiha, whom Duke identified as a clone, and Duke continued onward with Team 8 and Chiyo.
• Kakashi stayed behind to confront Itachi while Naruto and Sakura left with Duke.
• Kakashi attacked after noticing Itachi react to his comment about the Mangekyō Sharingan, but Itachi turned into crows and trapped Kakashi in an Illusion Technique.

Kakashi fought Itachi’s clone and was caught in Tsukuyomi after gaining the upper hand. He awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan and put his mind into a state Itachi could not rouse, forcing Itachi to release him.

• Kakashi and Itachi exchanged Great Fireball Techniques before Kakashi pierced Itachi’s Shadow Clone with Chidori.
• Itachi’s clone exploded, but Kakashi used his own clone to get behind Itachi and hold a kunai to his throat.
• Itachi activated Tsukuyomi and repeatedly tortured Kakashi in the illusion, controlling its time and space.
• Kakashi awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan and fell into a deep, unresponsive mental state despite Itachi’s attacks.
• Itachi concluded that Kakashi’s mental power had gone silent and released his restraint, ending Tsukuyomi.

Duke’s group encountered Kisame Hoshigaki, who recognized Duke’s fearsome history in Kirigakure before attacking with a massive Water Release technique. Duke froze the flood and killed Kisame’s weakened clone, then found Naruto and the others had barely moved ahead.

• Kakashi recovered from Tsukuyomi, identified Itachi’s defeated body as that of a missing-nin from Sunagakure, and sealed it in a scroll.
• Duke’s group met Kisame Hoshigaki, and Duke warned them about Samehada’s ability to devour chakra.
• Kisame recounted Duke’s history of killing two Mizukage and defeating generations of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
• Duke told the others to continue toward the Kazekage while he stayed to fight Kisame.
• Kisame unleashed a huge Water Release wave, but Duke froze it with Ice Age and killed Kisame with an Ice Beam.
• Duke turned back and scolded Naruto and the others for remaining nearby after he had told them to go on.

Akatsuki completed the extraction of Shukaku from Gaara, then learned that Konoha reinforcements led by Mitarashi Duke had reached the cave. Pain ordered Sasori and Deidara to retreat, but Deidara escaped with Gaara’s body as Duke pursued him, leaving Sasori to face the others.

• Akatsuki extracted Shukaku from Gaara, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path began receiving the One-Tail’s chakra.
• Zetsu reported that Chiyo and Konoha reinforcements, including Mitarashi Duke, had arrived; Pain ordered Sasori and Deidara to avoid fighting them and retreat.
• Deidara challenged Pain’s warning, but Pain commanded him to obey and told Sasori to keep him in check.
• Sasori revealed that he wanted to settle old grievances with Chiyo and told Deidara to leave while he held off the enemy.
• Naruto, Duke, Chiyo, and Sakura broke into the cave, and Deidara seized Gaara’s corpse and flew through the ceiling as Duke pursued him.
• Sasori knocked away a volley of kunai, which detonated explosive tags in a thunderous blast.

Sasori fought Chiyo, Naruto, and Sakura after Deidara escaped with Gaara’s corpse, revealing his true body and the Third Kazekage as one of his Human Puppets. Meanwhile, Duke intercepted Deidara and demanded Gaara’s corpse, and Deidara prepared to fight him with his C2 Dragon.

• Sasori emerged in Hiruko and attacked Chiyo, Naruto, and Sakura with poison needles.
• Naruto charged Hiruko with a Rasengan, but Sasori knocked him away before Sakura smashed Hiruko apart with a chakra-coated punch.
• Sasori revealed his youthful-looking true body and summoned a Human Puppet that Chiyo identified as the missing Third Kazekage.
• Chiyo explained that Sasori had killed the Third Kazekage, whose disappearance had led Sunagakure to blame Konoha.
• Duke blocked Deidara’s escape with an Ice Dragon and demanded that he hand over Gaara’s corpse.
• Deidara swallowed explosive clay and summoned his C2 Dragon to fight Duke.

Duke defeated Deidara’s aerial attacks and survived his C4 Garuda, but Deidara escaped after a hidden chakra presence distracted him. Meanwhile, Sasori gained the advantage over Chiyo, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi with his army of nearly three hundred puppets.

• Deidara attacked Duke with exploding clay insects, but Duke smashed his scanner and beat him in close combat.
• Deidara unleashed C4 Garuda, whose microscopic clay bombs destroyed living things in the dust cloud, but Duke protected himself with Lightning Release.
• Deidara prepared to use C0, then escaped underground after noticing a concealed chakra ripple in the forest; Duke left after confirming the mission was complete.
• Sasori revealed his Human Puppet body and used Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets against Chiyo, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi.
• Sasori’s nearly three hundred poisoned puppets overwhelmed the group and forced them to retreat while fighting.

Duke helped Chiyo save Sakura and revive Gaara after Sasori died, then obtained a scroll from Chiyo and set out to recruit Orochimaru. Meanwhile, Obito and Black Zetsu changed their plans because Nagato remained wary of them.

• Duke found Sasori defeated by the puppets "Father" and "Mother," while Chiyo treated Sakura and Naruto mourned Gaara.
• Duke discovered the sealed "Father" and "Mother" puppets, healed Sakura with Yang Release, and helped Chiyo keep her life force as Sasori died embraced by the puppets.
• Chiyo used her forbidden jutsu to revive Gaara, with Duke replenishing her life force, then gave Duke a scroll while refusing to admit they had made a deal.
• Team Seven and Team 8 returned toward Konoha after the Sand Shinobi recovered Sasori, the puppet remnants, and the Third Kazekage's body; Duke detoured toward Orochimaru's secret base to recruit him.
• At an Akatsuki stronghold, Obito questioned Black Zetsu's changed plan, and Black Zetsu explained that Nagato's wariness prevented the original plan from proceeding.

Duke recruited Orochimaru and his allies for a plan to destroy Akatsuki, offering Orochimaru the Rinnegan as a reward. After learning Jiraiya had taken Naruto to Mount Myōboku, Duke brought Minato and Kushina there to recruit Naruto too.

• Duke visited Orochimaru's hideout in the Land of Rivers and met the Sound Five, Kimimaro, and Sasuke.
• Duke asked Orochimaru to join the attack on Akatsuki, then revealed that Pain was the red-haired orphan Jiraiya had trained in the Land of Rain.
• Duke gave Orochimaru intelligence on Akatsuki and promised him the Rinnegan, persuading him to join the plan; Sasuke and Kimimaro could serve as substitutes.
• Duke returned to Konoha, learned from Tsunade that Jiraiya had taken Naruto to Mount Myōboku, and set out with Minato and Kushina to bring Naruto into the group.

Jiraiya reunited with Minato and Kushina at Mount Myōboku, where Duke revealed that they were alive and discussed the coming battle against Akatsuki. After learning about Nagato and the others, Jiraiya vowed to bring his former students back, and the group planned to assemble an all-star team once Naruto finished Sage Art training.

• Jiraiya learned that Duke, Minato, and Kushina had arrived at Mount Myōboku and rushed to the Great Toad Sage’s dwelling.
• The Great Toad Sage recognized Minato, and Jiraiya stumbled in shock before Duke blasted him outside with a water technique.
• Duke, Minato, and Kushina explained why they had kept Minato’s survival secret from Jiraiya, and Kushina recounted how Naruto had figured out his parents’ relationship.
• Duke gave Jiraiya information about Akatsuki, prompting Jiraiya to grieve over Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan and vow to bring them back from their wrong path.
• Duke said they would set out after Naruto learned Sage Arts, with Naruto and Sasuke joining the planned all-star lineup.

Seven days after Naruto mastered Sage Mode, Duke assembled a powerful group in Shikkotsu Forest to confront Akatsuki. He disguised himself as the Masked Man and left to infiltrate their base, telling Jiraiya to watch his expression and act.

• Naruto mastered Sage Mode, and Duke summoned Jiraiya, Naruto, and Minato to Shikkotsu Forest, where Orochimaru, Sasuke, and Kimimaro were already gathered.
• Duke arrived disguised as Obito and introduced his organization as S.H.I.E.L.D., while the reluctant group put on matching black robes.
• Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju removed their masks and revealed themselves as Impure World Reincarnation summons.
• Duke explained that he would infiltrate Akatsuki's base and use Flying Thunder God formulas to summon the group, but dismissed Jiraiya's request for a battle plan.
• Duke left disguised as the Masked Man after telling Jiraiya to watch his expression and act, leaving Jiraiya wondering how he could see Duke's face through the mask.

Duke infiltrated Akatsuki’s underground base disguised as Tobi and tried to reach Nagato, but his cover was exposed. He escaped the base only to find nearly all of Akatsuki waiting to surround him in Kusagakure.

• Duke disguised himself as Tobi and wandered through Akatsuki’s base after fooling Deidara.
• Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki confronted Duke, and Itachi’s Tsukuyomi failed against Duke’s Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Kisame attacked with Samehada and Water Release, forcing Duke to smash through the ceiling and flee.
• Pain’s Six Paths intercepted Duke underground, but he escaped through a hole in the ceiling.
• Kakuzu attacked Duke with combined Fire and Wind Release, and Pain dispersed the flames with Shinra Tensei.
• Konan, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Pain’s Six Paths surrounded Duke as Deva Path Pain demanded his surrender.