Chapter Summaries

After Gaara died during the extraction of Shukaku, Nanfeng headed for Fuma Cave to confront the Akatsuki members responsible. Deidara and Scorpion of the Red Sand attacked him, but their barrage left him unharmed.

• Temari gave Nanfeng a map to Fuma Cave and pleaded with him to save Gaara.
• Deidara and Scorpion of the Red Sand completed the capture of Shukaku, leaving Gaara dead on the ritual platform.
• Deidara disparaged Sunagakure, while Scorpion warned that Konoha might intervene to protect its ally.
• Deidara and Scorpion sensed Nanfeng approaching and summoned Itachi and Kisame for support.
• Deidara's clay birds exploded at Nanfeng, and Scorpion followed with hidden weapons, but Nanfeng emerged from the smoke without a scratch.

Nanfeng fought the Akatsuki members as Itachi, Deidara, and Scorpion joined the battle, while Konoha shinobi arrived and the fighting split into separate fronts. Nanfeng headed toward Scorpion, who confronted his grandmother, Grandma Chiyo, and the story left them facing each other.

• Itachi Uchiha attacked Nanfeng with a powerful Great Fireball Technique, but Nanfeng sensed it posed no real killing threat.
• Nanfeng closed in on Deidara, who escaped on his clay bird before lightning engulfed it, and Scorpion of the Red Sand caught him with a puppet.
• Scorpion drew off several approaching shinobi while Deidara departed, and Nanfeng chose to pursue Scorpion rather than Deidara.
• Itachi engaged Shikamaru, Karui, and Naruto as Nanfeng flew toward their group with Grandma Chiyo.
• Scorpion appeared before Naruto's group, greeted Grandma Chiyo, and faced his elderly grandmother.

Chiyo confronted her grandson, Scorpion of the Red Sand, while Nanfeng assessed the value of his puppets. Scorpion targeted Sakura, then revealed his puppet made from the Third Kazekage and attacked the group with poison.

• Chiyo openly acknowledged that Scorpion of the Red Sand was her grandson, and he recalled that the village had tried to kill him after he defected.
• Nanfeng considered the high cost of puppetry and realized that Scorpion and his puppets were worth billions.
• Scorpion chose Sakura Haruno as his first target, but Chiyo controlled Sakura's movements and helped her dodge the puppet's attacks.
• Scorpion dismissed the Performance of a Hundred Puppets and summoned his puppet made from the Third Kazekage's corpse.
• The Third Kazekage puppet sprayed green poison from a launcher in its mouth.

Nanfeng fought Scorpion of the Red Sand’s Third Kazekage puppet with Magnet Release while Sakura and Naruto pressured Scorpion. After Sakura destroyed Scorpion’s outer puppet, the group saw that Scorpion still looked like a young boy, leaving Chiyo and the others stunned.

• Sakura handed out antidote pills as Nanfeng faced Scorpion of the Red Sand without taking one.
• Scorpion sent the Third Kazekage puppet at Nanfeng, who produced iron sand of his own but struggled to control it.
• Nanfeng told Scorpion that the Third Kazekage had once broken free of Orochimaru’s Impure World Reincarnation.
• Nanfeng asked Sakura, Naruto, and Chiyo to handle Scorpion while he dealt with the Third Kazekage puppet.
• Naruto’s Shadow Clones distracted Scorpion as Chiyo guided Sakura into striking his outer puppet with her Monster Strength Fist.
• Sakura destroyed Scorpion’s outer puppet, revealing that Scorpion still looked like a young boy and shocking Chiyo, Naruto, and Sakura.

The Scorpion of the Red Sand revealed that he had transformed his body into a puppet and upgraded the Father and Mother puppets he had made as a child. As the fight with Chiyo and Nanfeng continued, Nanfeng began to grasp Magnet Release and abruptly offered to end the battle.

• The Scorpion of the Red Sand explained that he had replaced nearly his entire body with puppet parts to pursue eternal art.
• The Scorpion of the Red Sand summoned the Father and Mother puppets, revealing their upgraded alloy bodies, swift movement, and deadly weapons.
• Nanfeng watched the Third Kazekage puppet fight and began to understand how Magnet Release could disrupt chakra and strengthen allied ninjutsu.
• Chiyo controlled Sakura Haruno to dodge the Scorpion of the Red Sand's increasingly dense attacks, but her control began to falter.
• Nanfeng released immense chakra that disturbed the flow of time around them and asked to end the fight.

Nanfeng defeated Scorpion of the Red Sand and, believing death was the only cure for his illness, used Scorpion’s Father and Mother puppets to kill him. Overwhelmed afterward, Nanfeng lost control of the One-Tail chakra within him and fled, leaving Naruto and Sakura Haruno worried.

• Nanfeng blocked Scorpion of the Red Sand’s attack and learned the system classified his puppet body as an incurable illness.
• Nanfeng told Scorpion of the Red Sand he would cure him by killing him, and Scorpion unleashed his full strength in response.
• Nanfeng’s body phased through Scorpion’s attacks, then he took control of the Father and Mother puppets and made them pierce Scorpion’s core.
• The system confirmed Nanfeng had cleansed a special illness, but he felt powerless and his chakra began slipping out of control.
• Naruto approached Nanfeng, whose eyes had turned reddish-purple, but Nanfeng hurled him away and fled.
• Sakura Haruno recalled Nanfeng losing control years earlier as Naruto watched him run off in alarm.

After Gaara died and the One-Tail vanished, Nanfeng lost control of the Shukaku chakra he had absorbed and transformed into a strange, tailed-beast-like creature. He charged toward the Akatsuki’s sealing ritual, leaving both allies and enemies shocked by his apparent connection to Shukaku.

• Sakura told Chiyo what had happened to Nanfeng before, and Chiyo promised to keep it secret.
• Naruto, Sakura, and Chiyo found Gaara dead in Fuma Cave, with the One-Tail gone, and Chiyo said she could revive him.
• A surge of Shukaku’s chakra erupted from Nanfeng’s direction, drawing the fighters toward him.
• Nanfeng’s absorbed chakra overwhelmed his mind, and he transformed into a creature resembling the One-Tail, covered in chaotic markings.
• The transformed Nanfeng raced toward the Akatsuki’s sealing ritual, while Itachi, Kisame, Deidara, and Chiyo recognized Shukaku’s chakra in him.
• Kisame recalled that Nanfeng may have absorbed some of the One-Tail’s chakra three years earlier, when he disrupted the Akatsuki’s plan.

Nanfeng’s transformation into a monstrous tailed beast overwhelmed the assembled ninjas, and even the Nine-Tails could not defeat him. As Naruto fought Nanfeng, the Nine-Tails proposed undoing its seal completely, leaving Naruto to decide whether to take the risk.

• Nanfeng reflected Kakashi’s genjutsu, injured him, and flung him away; Sakura caught Kakashi but suffered internal injuries.
• Nanfeng fired a Tailed Beast Bomb, which Naruto blocked with the Nine-Tails’ chakra, while the Nine-Tails warned that Nanfeng seemed to have surpassed the limits of biology.
• Nanfeng launched another Tailed Beast Bomb, and Deidara carried Uchiha Itachi and Kisame away on a clay bird as the blast swept the area with a sandstorm.
• Naruto transformed into the Nine-Tails and battled Nanfeng, but Nanfeng’s power and genjutsu gave him the advantage.
• The Nine-Tails told Naruto that completely undoing its seal was the only way to suppress Nanfeng, and Naruto hesitated over the decision.

Naruto decided to release the Nine-Tails’ seal so it could help defeat Nanfeng, but Minato appeared and then removed the seal when he saw how badly the Nine-Tails was losing. Naruto combined Senjutsu Chakra with the Nine-Tails’ power, and the Nine-Tails struck Nanfeng with a massive fire attack, though it sensed the attack had only temporarily weakened him.

• Naruto began tearing open the seal, but Minato appeared and questioned why he was releasing the Nine-Tails.
• Naruto told Minato that Nanfeng was his friend, while Minato realized the Nine-Tails was being overwhelmed by the One-Tail.
• The Nine-Tails urged Minato to release it, and Minato tore away the seal before disappearing after telling Naruto to handle the battle.
• Naruto transformed into the Nine-Tails and used a Shadow Clone’s stored Senjutsu Chakra to strengthen their power.
• The Nine-Tails engulfed Nanfeng in a giant fireball, but it sensed that the attack had only weakened him temporarily.

Nanfeng recovered after the Nine-Tails’ destructive attack and used transformed chakra to revive Gaara. He collapsed from exhaustion, but Sakura confirmed that he would recover.

• The Nine-Tails’ attack ended after Naruto exhausted his Senjutsu Chakra, and ninjas used Ninjutsu to repair the scorched Land of Wind.
• Nanfeng awoke with his power under control, thanked Kakashi, Itachi Uchiha, and the Nine-Tails, and restored the injured people around him.
• Deidara recognized that he could not attack Nanfeng and left with the others while Itachi Uchiha remained unconscious.
• Nanfeng sensed that he could revive Gaara, then infused him with gentle chakra that brought him back to life.
• Nanfeng collapsed from exhaustion, and Sakura reassured Naruto and the others that he would recover after resting.

While unconscious, Nanfeng learned that the Nine-Tails Chakra and Shukaku’s resistance to the sealing technique had intensified his loss of control, while the system described his transformed power as a new evolution capable of confronting threats beyond the stars. After waking, Nanfeng found Naruto and Gaara waiting for him, and Gaara said he sensed Shukaku would be reborn inside him in another form.

• Nanfeng entered his mental space and realized the Nine-Tails Chakra had made it feel oppressively hot.
• The system explained that Shukaku’s resistance to returning to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had worsened Nanfeng’s emotional and power instability.
• The system said Nanfeng’s enhanced Tailed Beast essence represented an evolution that could help him contend with the Otsutsuki Clan and threats beyond the stars.
• Nanfeng woke after a day and found Gaara waiting outside his room with Naruto and Sakura Haruno nearby.
• Gaara told Naruto that he felt Shukaku would be born inside his body again in another form, and Naruto relayed this to Nanfeng.

Nanfeng tried to figure out how to forge a seal for Naruto after learning that Shukaku was transferring his essence through chakra. Unable to draw or recall the Eight Trigrams Seal design, he took Naruto to Orochimaru, who agreed to help make the Reaper Death Seal look as though it remained in place.

• Gaara explained that his strange sensation of having a tailed beast was related to chakra, and Nanfeng considered whether Shukaku could be reborn in Gaara using chakra he had supplied.
• Nanfeng asked Naruto about sealing techniques and decided to forge a seal for him, but none of them knew what the Eight Trigrams Seal looked like.
• Nanfeng told Naruto to leave two Shadow Clones behind and asked Gaara to say Naruto needed help with unstable chakra, then took Naruto to Orochimaru's base.
• Nanfeng asked Orochimaru to create a convincing design that made it appear Naruto's Reaper Death Seal had not been removed.
• Orochimaru agreed to use chakra control to make the seal look authentic and suggested applying it as a tattoo, which Nanfeng enthusiastically endorsed.

Gaara caught up with Sasuke at Orochimaru’s laboratory and learned about Sasuke’s research and Naruto’s altered chakra. After helping Orochimaru finish work on Naruto’s seal, Nanfeng asked him to analyze Nanfeng’s bloodline again.

• Sasuke welcomed Gaara to the laboratory and explained that his research included a combat drug that he had originally developed to fund his work.
• Gaara told Sasuke how the Akatsuki had taken his tailed beast and explained that Nanfeng had absorbed some of the One-Tail’s chakra.
• Sasuke examined Naruto’s unusual chakra and learned from Gaara that Naruto’s seal had been removed during a dangerous incident.
• Nanfeng and Orochimaru finished working on Naruto’s seal after the Nine-Tails’ chakra repeatedly went berserk.
• Nanfeng gave Orochimaru a blood sample and asked him to investigate Nanfeng’s bloodline and provide specific results.

Nanfeng returned Naruto and Gaara safely to Sunagakure after taking Gaara’s blood sample to Orochimaru, then brought the mission team back to Konoha. He admitted to Tsunade that losing control had been caused by an imbalance from chakra he absorbed from the One-Tail, leaving their confrontation briefly softened by her laughter.

• Nanfeng gave Orochimaru Gaara’s blood for testing, then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return with Naruto and Gaara to Sunagakure.
• Nanfeng reassured Grandma Chiyo that Naruto and Gaara’s physical problems were resolved, while warning that the Akatsuki Organization would target other Jinchuriki.
• Shikamaru arranged the mission report and reminded Sunagakure to pay for the shinobi sent from the Land of Snow, then the team returned to Konoha.
• Tsunade summoned Nanfeng to the Hokage Office, where he nervously admitted that the One-Tail chakra he had absorbed three years earlier had caused his loss of control.
• Tsunade laughed at Nanfeng’s remorseful expression, easing the tension between them.

Nanfeng discussed his loss of control and the growing threat from Root with Tsunade, then advised against sending Jiraiya to investigate the Akatsuki Organization yet. After returning home, he read Orochimaru’s test results and wondered what it meant that his bloodline was evolving beyond the limits of humanity.

• Tsunade questioned Nanfeng about what had caused him to lose control, and he explained that his emotions and an imbalance in his power had been involved.
• Nanfeng told Tsunade he believed his power could eventually let him defeat Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, while Tsunade warned him that Root and Danzo remained threats.
• Tsunade told Nanfeng that Jiraiya had accepted a mission to investigate the Akatsuki Organization in the Land of Rain, and Nanfeng urged her to wait before making a move.
• Tsunade asked Nanfeng to protect Naruto and the Nine-Tails while she was occupied, and he agreed before leaving the Hokage Office.
• Nanfeng received Orochimaru’s test results through Sasuke and wondered whether his bloodline’s evolution meant he was no longer human.

Nanfeng learned that his blood could break down and consume other blood, while Orochimaru and Sasuke concealed the risk that it could eventually destroy Nanfeng himself. Meanwhile, Danzo met Obito in the Land of Rain and offered him Sharingan and Hashirama Cells in exchange for footage of Nanfeng losing control.

• Nanfeng visited Orochimaru's base, where Orochimaru showed him that his blood broke down and consumed human blood samples.
• Orochimaru told Nanfeng that his powers were fusing poorly and that he would need to endure more episodes of mental instability.
• After Nanfeng left, Sasuke and Orochimaru discussed the danger that Nanfeng's blood could eventually break down his own body, and Sasuke agreed to watch for high-level Kekkei Genkai.
• Danzo met Obito, whom he addressed as Madara Uchiha, in a cave in the Land of Rain and offered him Sharingan and Hashirama Cells for footage of Nanfeng losing control.
• Danzo said he wanted Nanfeng gone from the shinobi world so he could take control of all Konoha.

Obito gave Danzo a sealed recording in exchange for Danzo’s Sharingan collection, while secretly guarding against Danzo’s Genjutsu. Back in Konoha, Danzo rallied Root to spread information about Akiba Nanfeng and undermine the Fifth Hokage.

• Obito accepted Danzo’s offer and handed him the sealed battle recording in exchange for his Sharingan collection.
• After Danzo left, Obito sealed the cave and explained that he had countered Danzo’s attempts to influence him with Genjutsu.
• Obito told Zetsu that Nanfeng and Danzo both threatened their plans, while Black Zetsu silently watched events unfold as expected.
• Danzo returned to Konoha, went to Root headquarters, and secretly summoned Root shinobi.
• Danzo urged Root to expose Akiba Nanfeng’s secret and spread the information using methods they had previously used to control the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

Danzo’s scheme turned Konoha’s villagers against Nanfeng by exposing his One-Tail transformation. Tsunade told Nanfeng that the Land of Fire would put him on trial, with Danzo judging him atop Hokage Rock, and Nanfeng decided to use the trial to reveal the truth about tailed beasts.

• Danzo used altered scrolls and Root’s rumors to portray Nanfeng as a threat to Konoha.
• Villagers pelted Nanfeng’s home and demanded that he leave, while Naruto and Hinata reacted with alarm.
• Tsunade dispersed the crowd, sent Nanfeng’s companions away, and privately showed him a scroll recording his transformation.
• Nanfeng suspected Zetsu had captured the images, and Tsunade said the Anbu had found nothing and the Land of Fire was preparing a trial.
• Tsunade revealed that Danzo would judge Nanfeng atop Hokage Rock, and Nanfeng welcomed the chance to tell people about tailed beasts.

Nanfeng told Tsunade about the Akatsuki Organization’s plan to gather the Tailed Beasts and create the Ten-Tails, then prepared for his trial before the Land of Fire’s Daimyo. At the trial, he challenged Danzo by revealing evidence connected to the Konoha White Fang.

• Nanfeng explained to Tsunade what he knew about the Akatsuki Organization, the Ten-Tails, and the Uchiha Clan’s stone tablet.
• Tsunade told Nanfeng to handle the coming trial as he saw fit and warned him that the Daimyo would be difficult to deal with.
• An Anbu shinobi escorted Nanfeng to the trial on top of Hokage Rock, where the Daimyo, Tsunade, Danzo, and several elders had gathered.
• The Daimyo questioned Nanfeng about becoming a Jinchuriki, but Nanfeng dismissed the pressure and accused Danzo of turning so-called geniuses into pawns.
• Nanfeng brought up the Konoha White Fang and threw down a scroll containing a man in a half-sleeved Hokage robe, enraging Danzo and shocking Kakashi.

Nanfeng exposed Danzo’s schemes against the Senju and Uchiha clans and presented records of his dealings with Orochimaru to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Surrounded by the Twelve Guardian Ninja, Danzo revealed his body covered in transplanted Sharingan and Hashirama Senju’s cells.

• Nanfeng accused Danzo of targeting Kakashi Hatake and orchestrating the Uchiha Clan’s destruction and the Senju Clan’s withdrawal.
• Tsunade and Nanfeng presented financial records showing that Root had taken control of Senju businesses and misused the clan’s money.
• Nanfeng showed the Daimyo records of Danzo’s transactions with Orochimaru, prompting the Daimyo to turn suspiciously toward Danzo.
• The Twelve Guardian Ninja surrounded Danzo, but he dismissed them as no match for him.
• Danzo removed his bandages and revealed transplanted Sharingan covering his eye and arm, along with Hashirama Senju’s cells.