Chapter Summaries

Namikaze Minato intervened after the Hyuga Clan attacked the Hidden Cloud delegation to rescue Neji, and agreed to inspect their carriage to prove whether it held the boy. The carriage instead contained the Land of Lightning’s princess consort and Second Prince, while Prince A revealed that the real Neji had already been spirited away in another carriage.

• Namikaze Minato confirmed with Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga that the Hyuga Clan believed Neji was inside the guarded carriage, then reassured Hizashi that saving his son justified the attack.
• Prince A denied abducting Neji and threatened another war, so Namikaze Minato offered to inspect the carriage and promised a full-prostration apology if Neji was not inside.
• Hizashi opened the carriage and found a woman nursing an infant; the woman revealed herself as the Land of Lightning’s princess consort, traveling with the Second Prince.
• Hizashi and the other Hyuga checked the infant with their Byakugan and realized it was not Neji, leaving Hizashi bewildered.
• Prince A explained that his advisers had used decoys and Hallucinatory Techniques to mislead the Hyuga, while the real Neji had escaped in another carriage.

After Prince A ended the confrontation without demanding an apology, Minato and the Hyuga brothers secretly planned to retrieve Neji by attacking Kumogakure. Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected the plan, and Minato left discouraged until he realized Uchiha Mai might offer another way to bring Neji back.

• Hizashi Hyuga and Hiashi Hyuga each tried to take responsibility for Minato’s promise, but Prince A called off the demand for anyone to kneel or die.
• Minato, Hizashi Hyuga, and Hiashi Hyuga agreed that they needed to fight immediately to recover Neji, then asked Sarutobi Hiruzen to approve a blitzkrieg against Kumogakure.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen argued that an attack would risk a costly new war and advised Minato to wait for an opportunity, while Minato insisted Neji had to be rescued.
• Minato chose not to challenge Sarutobi Hiruzen’s advice and left the Sarutobi residence with the Hyuga brothers, doubting his ability to be Hokage.
• Minato then suggested that Uchiha Mai might know a way to retrieve Neji, leaving the Hyuga brothers unsure whether to ask him for help.

Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga asked Uchiha Mai to help recover Neji, whom Kumogakure had abducted, after Konoha’s leaders chose not to risk war. Mai agreed after Hiashi pledged the Hyuuga Clan’s friendship and allegiance, leaving Mai to decide how to deliver justice against Kumogakure.

• Hyuga Hiashi recounted how Kumogakure abducted Neji and how Sarutobi Hiruzen persuaded Namikaze Minato not to retaliate, prompting Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga to seek Uchiha Mai’s help.
• Uchiha Mai initially refused to attack Kumogakure and challenged Hiashi over the Hyuuga Clan’s cold treatment of him and its refusal to recognize him as Mizukage or Hokage candidate.
• Uchiha Mai offered to help recover Neji if the Hyuuga Clan became his friend and stopped backing Sarutobi Hiruzen’s faction.
• Hyuga Hiashi bowed to Uchiha Mai as Lord Mizukage and Lord Hokage candidate, committing the Hyuuga Clan to Mai’s side.
• Uchiha Mai promised to give the brothers justice, then sent Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga to a hot spring inn and returned to Mei Terumi.

Uchiha Mai flew to Kumogakure to take Neji back, while the Third Raikage prepared the village for his arrival. Yugito Nii fought Mai but was badly outmatched and began losing control of the Two-Tails.

• Uchiha Mai flew north from Kirigakure toward Kumogakure, intending to retrieve Neji.
• The Third Raikage learned that Neji had been renamed Nightmoon Neji and was being raised as Prince A’s adopted son.
• After Uchiha Mai arrived near Kumogakure, the Third Raikage ordered the villagers evacuated and set out to confront him.
• Uchiha Mai fought Yugito Nii and overwhelmed her despite her speed, strength, and Tailed Beast chakra.
• Yugito Nii lost control of the Two-Tails’ chakra and began entering a full Tailed Beast Transformation.

Uchiha Mai defeated Yugito Nii and fought Killer B after coming to Kumogakure to demand Neji Hyuga’s release. As Prince A joined the confrontation, Mai dismissed Susanoo and attacked Killer B with a newly devised fist technique.

• Uchiha Mai blocked the Two-Tails’ attack with Susanoo, then critically injured Yugito Nii with Distortion Power and kicked her away.
• Killer B caught Yugito Nii, sent a clone to carry her back for treatment, and attacked Uchiha Mai with his seven-blade style.
• Uchiha Mai blocked Killer B’s strikes, then used Susanoo to punch him into Prince A.
• Uchiha Mai told Prince A to hand over Neji Hyuga, but Prince A denied that Kumogakure had anyone by that name and refused.
• Killer B attacked with Lightning Style: Lariat and cracked Susanoo, but fell short of reaching Uchiha Mai.
• Uchiha Mai dismissed Susanoo and struck Killer B’s acupoints with his newly devised Hokuto Hundred Crack Fist.

Uchiha Mai overwhelmed Killer B and Prince A with his Taijutsu and strange abilities, while the brothers struggled to coordinate an effective attack. The fight continued with both brothers attacking him, and Mai considered whether to push Innate Time Control beyond its safe Full Power state.

• Uchiha Mai struck Killer B with Hokuto Shinken, stopping his heart briefly before the Eight-Tails restarted it.
• Prince A warned Killer B against a full Tailed Beast Transformation and the brothers tried to attack Uchiha Mai from different directions, but Mai anticipated and blocked them.
• Uchiha Mai knocked the brothers back with a knee, a leg sweep, and black flames from Ura 108 Shiki: Ya Sakazuki.
• Killer B entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation and fired a Tailed Beast Ball, which Uchiha Mai slapped back into him before turning on Prince A.
• Uchiha Mai suppressed Prince A with his killing fist until Killer B returned from the rubble and joined the fight again.
• As the brothers attacked together, Uchiha Mai considered raising Innate Time Control above its current Full Power level.

Uchiha Mai defeated the A-B Brothers in battle and faced the Third Raikage, who refused to surrender Neji Hyuga. As the two prepared to fight over Neji, Uchiha Mai revealed that he considered the whole Ninja World—and its talented ninja—to be his own.

• Uchiha Mai evaded the A-B Brothers’ Double Lariat, injured them, and escaped the Third Raikage’s attack with Susanoo.
• Uchiha Mai kicked the Third Raikage into a rocky hill, but the Raikage emerged unharmed and ordered Prince A to take Killer B back to Kumogakure.
• Uchiha Mai declined to fight and demanded that the Third Raikage hand over Neji Hyuga, but the Raikage admitted Neji was in Kumogakure and refused.
• The Third Raikage insisted that Uchiha Mai defeat him before Neji could be taken, explaining that he wanted to preserve the infant’s potential for Kumogakure.
• Uchiha Mai explained that he preferred nurturing valuable talent to killing it, then declared that the Ninja World belonged to him and that the A-B Brothers were already his talents.

Uchiha Mai fought the Third Raikage and copied his Thunder God Armor, then shattered the Raikage’s defense with a powerful counterattack. The Third Raikage, unwilling to let Kumogakure be conquered, prepared his final One-Finger Nukite as Uchiha Mai answered with a finger of his own.

• The Third Raikage charged Uchiha Mai, and the two fought across the battlefield in a prolonged, evenly matched clash.
• Uchiha Mai copied the Third Raikage’s Thunder God Armor and used it to withstand Two-Finger Nukite without injury.
• Uchiha Mai struck the Third Raikage with a lightning- and Deathfire-infused punch, caving in his chest and breaking the Thunder God Armor’s reputation as the Ninja World’s strongest shield.
• The injured Third Raikage gathered chakra for his final Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite, resolved to die rather than witness Kumogakure’s future conquest.
• Uchiha Mai accepted the challenge and raised one finger of his own.

Uchiha Mai killed the Third Raikage and overwhelmed the Kumogakure forces guarding their village. He secured Neji Hyuga, whom the Third Raikage had adopted and renamed Nightmoon Neji, and prepared to leave after sparing Kumogakure.

• Uchiha Mai used Sword Twenty-Three to kill the Third Raikage, suffering only a small wound that healed immediately.
• Prince A, Killer B, Yugito Nii, and the Elite Jonin gathered at Kumogakure's gate, where they saw Uchiha Mai approach alone.
• Uchiha Mai demonstrated his Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Aura by destroying Kumogakure's city wall, then warned Prince A not to attack.
• Uchiha Mai carved the Raikage monument into a throne and demanded that Kumogakure hand over Neji Hyuga in exchange for sparing the village.
• Prince A accepted the Raikage's death and gave Uchiha Mai the infant, explaining that the Third Raikage had adopted him and renamed him Nightmoon Neji.
• Uchiha Mai discovered the Nightmoon name on Neji's pendant and laughed at the Third Raikage's plan to raise the abducted child as Kumogakure's future pillar.

Uchiha Mai left Neji in Kumogakure, persuading A to raise him as Nightmoon Neji and revealing the Hyuuga’s connection to Hamura Otsutsuki and the Byakugan’s potential. Back in Kirigakure, he told the Hyuuga brothers that Neji was alive and being groomed as a future Raikage, and Hizashi accepted his son’s new future.

• Uchiha Mai changed his mind about taking Neji and asked A to raise him as his own son and train him to become a future Raikage.
• Uchiha Mai told A and the others that Neji could surpass him and Uchiha Madara, explaining the Sage of Six Paths’ descendants and the Byakugan’s potential to evolve.
• A decided to trust Uchiha Mai and raise Nightmoon Neji as his hope of avenging the Third Raikage; news then spread that A had succeeded his father as the Fourth Raikage.
• Uchiha Mai summoned Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi in Kirigakure, where Hizashi mistook a Shiba Inu in a basket for Neji.
• Uchiha Mai explained that Neji was alive, had been adopted by A, and might become the Fifth Raikage; Hizashi chose to support his son’s promising future in Kumogakure.

Namikaze Minato visited Kirigakure to attend a commerce summit and invited Uchiha Mai to Konoha for Kushina's childbirth. In his underground hideout, Uchiha Madara learned that his plans were faltering and decided to attack Mai openly, using his death to announce his return.

• Namikaze Minato arrived in Kirigakure and explained that the commerce summit had expanded while inviting Uchiha Mai to Konoha for Kushina's delivery.
• Uchiha Madara learned that Uchiha Mai had killed the Third Raikage and that the proxy plan involving Obito was unlikely to succeed.
• White Zetsu reported that Nagato had mastered five Rinnegan paths but had not developed the Outer Path.
• Uchiha Madara concluded that Uchiha Mai had repeatedly disrupted his plans and decided to kill him.
• Uchiha Madara rejected an ambush and declared that he would return openly, seize the nine Tailed Beasts, and become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.

Uchiha Madara attacked while Kushina was giving birth, using a Summoning Jutsu and Sharingan Genjutsu to free and control the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails rampaged through Konoha as Minato stayed with Kushina, Tsunade joined the village’s defense, and Uchiha Mai confronted Madara.

• Uchiha Mai sensed a powerful chakra approaching Kushina’s delivery cave, and Uchiha Madara arrived and identified himself.
• Uchiha Madara summoned the Nine-Tails from Kushina and controlled him with his Sharingan, while Minato returned to protect Kushina, Biwako, and the baby.
• Uchiha Madara directed the Nine-Tails toward Konoha, and Tsunade left Uchiha Mai to face Madara while she went to help defend the village.
• The Nine-Tails charged into Konoha, knocked Sarutobi Hiruzen aside, and overwhelmed the efforts of the village’s defense forces.
• Tsunade attacked the Nine-Tails and helped Sarutobi Hiruzen recover, then told him that Minato was guarding Kushina and Uchiha Mai was confronting Uchiha Madara.

The Nine-Tails broke free of Konoha’s barrier and rampaged through the village, while Sarutobi Hiruzen and Tsunade struggled to limit the destruction. As the beast charged toward the Uchiha Compound, Fugaku’s newly awakened Mangekyō failed to overcome Uchiha Madara’s control, but Shisui awakened his own Mangekyō and drew the Nine-Tails west to fight him.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen’s Four Violet Flames Formation trapped the Nine-Tails briefly, but the beast shattered it and killed the four barrier users.
• The Nine-Tails fired a Tailed Beast Ball toward Konoha, and Tsunade deflected it while Sarutobi Hiruzen’s Triple Rashomon redirected it beyond the village, though the blast devastated the southwestern district.
• Fugaku awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and tried to control the Nine-Tails, but Uchiha Madara’s three-tomoe Sharingan overpowered him.
• The Nine-Tails charged toward the Uchiha Compound, threatening Fugaku’s wife and infant son Sasuke.
• Shisui awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, summoned a second-stage Susanoo, and struck the Nine-Tails with Yasaka Beads to draw him away from the compound.
• At Sarutobi Hiruzen’s direction, Shisui lured the Nine-Tails west toward the forest, where the beast charged at his Susanoo.

Shisui lured the Nine-Tails away from Konoha while Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Danzo prepared a sealing technique. A Tailed Beast Ball exposed Orochimaru’s hidden laboratory and his experiments on missing villagers, but Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered him to help restrain the beast before facing the scandal; the Three-Way Sealing Technique trapped the Nine-Tails as Shisui collapsed from exhaustion.

• Shisui fought the Nine-Tails as he drew it toward the forest west of Konoha, while Sarutobi Hiruzen led Konoha’s forces after them.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Danzo began preparing the Three-Way Sealing Technique as Konoha’s ninja protected them from the Nine-Tails.
• Orochimaru abandoned the technique and raised Triple Rashomon to divert a Tailed Beast Ball from his underground laboratory, exposing his human experiments on missing villagers.
• Danzo blamed Orochimaru for the experiments, and Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Orochimaru to resume the sealing preparations before dealing with him later.
• Shisui withdrew after Sarutobi Hiruzen’s signal and collapsed unconscious, while Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Danzo completed the Three-Way Sealing Technique and trapped the Nine-Tails.

Sarutobi Hiruzen’s forces sealed the Nine-Tails while Orochimaru and Danzo’s alliance was exposed. Meanwhile, Uchiha Mai rejected Madara’s plan and fought him to a standstill; the chapter ended as they summoned their Susanoo for a second round.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen’s forces restrained the rampaging Nine-Tails with the Three-Way Sealing Technique, while he considered punishing Orochimaru and Danzo for their collusion.
• Madara criticized Konoha’s weakness and offered Uchiha Mai a plan to create peace, but Uchiha Mai rejected him and declared the Ninja World his to rule.
• Uchiha Mai and Madara exchanged attacks and taunts, with neither gaining a clear advantage as they tested each other’s strength.
• Madara acknowledged Uchiha Mai’s ability, and both fighters summoned their third-stage Susanoo to begin their second round.

Uchiha Mai and Uchiha Madara fought with their Susanoo while Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Danzo kept the Nine-Tails sealed. Mai unleashed Six Paths Five Wheels: Kurikara Astral Phenomenon, cleaving Madara’s Susanoo and destroying his left arm, but Madara remained in danger.

• Madara tested Mai with his Susanoo, and their third-stage giants fought to a standstill as the battle destroyed the surrounding forest and terrain.
• Madara struck Mai’s Susanoo with a strengthened Yasaka Bead, then attacked Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, and Danzo to force Mai to intervene.
• Mai struck Madara’s Susanoo with Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Aura, then used another barrage to smash it apart and send Madara flying.
• Madara formed a Fourth-Stage Susanoo, but Mai attacked its legs with successive techniques and forced it back into its third stage.
• Mai unleashed Six Paths Five Wheels: Kurikara Astral Phenomenon, cutting Madara’s Susanoo in half and consuming much of his chakra.
• Madara dodged the killing strike at the cost of his left arm, but remained in danger.

Uchiha Mai killed Madara and subdued the Nine-Tails, resolving the immediate attack on Konoha. As the surviving Jonin moved to arrest Danzo over the human experiments, Danzo tried to break through their encirclement.

• Uchiha Mai destroyed Madara's Susanoo, shattered his heart, and reduced him to ashes with sword aura.
• After Orochimaru fled and the others withdrew, Uchiha Mai battered the Nine-Tails and dispersed its body into chakra, which returned to Kushina's seal.
• Danzo urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to pursue Orochimaru, but Hiruzen ordered the Jonin to take Danzo into custody over the experiments.
• The Jonin surrounded Danzo despite his appeals to his position as Hokage advisor, and Danzo used a Vacuum Style ninjutsu to charge at a weak point in the encirclement.

Uchiha Mai killed Danzo and explained to Fugaku that Madara’s survival could help the Uchiha rule the Ninja World. Madara escaped with Izanagi and planned to recover his strength before challenging Mai again, while Konoha declared Orochimaru a rogue ninja and sent teams to hunt him.

• Uchiha Mai struck Danzo with his sword auras and reduced him to ashes as Sarutobi Hiruzen’s forces surrounded him.
• Namikaze Minato reported that Kushina had safely given birth to Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Mai told Fugaku that he had knowingly allowed Madara to survive as a future threat and foil.
• Uchiha Madara reappeared after using Izanagi, then resolved to heal himself, reclaim the Rinnegan from Nagato, and later fight Mai for the Tailed Beasts.
• Black Zetsu considered his options while Madara returned to the Land of Rain and connected himself to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to recover.
• After returning to Konoha, Namikaze Minato, Uchiha Mai, and the others declared Orochimaru an S-rank rogue ninja and dispatched fourteen Jonin to hunt him.

Hunted and running out of supplies, Orochimaru was recruited by Black Zetsu and White Zetsu to serve Uchiha Madara, who promised a better chance of defeating Uchiha Mai. Orochimaru reached Madara’s underground hideout in the Land of Rain and saw the aged Uchiha connected to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

• Exhausted and cornered by Konoha’s pursuit team, Orochimaru considered defecting to Uchiha Mai or seeking refuge elsewhere.
• Black Zetsu and White Zetsu found Orochimaru and offered him a place in Uchiha Madara’s service.
• Black Zetsu explained that Madara had survived with Izanagi, possessed the Rinnegan, and had used genjutsu to make Orochimaru overlook Nagato’s eyes.
• Orochimaru agreed to help Madara restore his body, and White Zetsu warned that Konoha’s pursuers were only five kilometers away.
• Orochimaru followed Black Zetsu and White Zetsu to the Land of Rain, where he saw the aged Madara connected to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Orochimaru created the False Death, Rebirth Technique, allowing Uchiha Madara to restore his strength before they set out to reclaim the Rinnegan from Nagato in Amegakure. Madara revealed that the Rinnegan belonged to him and that Nagato had been their vessel, leaving Nagato shaken as battle loomed.

• Orochimaru presented Madara with the False Death, Rebirth Technique, and Madara used the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's life force to rejuvenate himself to about fifty years old.
• Madara led Orochimaru and Black-and-White Zetsu to Amegakure to retrieve the Rinnegan.
• Nagato sensed the approaching chakra and, expecting Uchiha Mai, went with Konan to confront the intruders.
• Orochimaru told Nagato that they had come to return the Rinnegan to their original owner, and Madara challenged Nagato's claim to the eyes.
• Madara declared that he was Uchiha Madara, explained how he had awakened the Rinnegan and used Nagato as their vessel, and threatened to kill him.