Chapter Summaries

Sai used his drawings to provoke Sasuke into awakening Susanoo, but his outrageous manga characters enraged Sasuke instead. The chapter ended with Sasuke determined to kill Sai after Sai's drawing of Fugaku declared that Izuna was Sasuke's mother.

• Naruto stepped between Sasuke and Sai, but Sai took Naruto's hand and claimed they had a child together.
• Sai attacked Sasuke with characters drawn from Kakashi's novel while Shirozumi let the fight continue to stimulate Sasuke's Susanoo.
• Tobirama Senju arrived with Shikamaru, Sakura, and Gaara, and Shirozumi told them to watch quietly.
• Sai drew bizarre characters, including Raikage and Uchiha Izuna, and Sasuke used Chidori Stream to defend himself.
• Sai drew Fugaku Uchiha embracing the injured Izuna and calling him Sasuke's mother, prompting Sasuke to vow to kill Sai.

Sasuke attacked Naruto and Sai after Sai provoked him with ink made by the Eight-Tails and Saiken. Naruto repeatedly blocked Sasuke to protect Sai, and the chapter ended with Sasuke threatening to use Kirin as storm clouds gathered.

• Sasuke stabbed the figures Sai had drawn, then grew suspicious when their ink tasted and smelled like the sea.
• Sai sprayed Sasuke with ink from drawings of Saiken, and Naruto grabbed Sasuke to stop him from attacking Sai.
• Sasuke shocked Naruto with Chidori Stream and drew his Kusanagi Sword, but Naruto used Frog Kumite and briefly entered Sage Mode to block him.
• Naruto told Sasuke he was protecting Sai as a fellow Konoha shinobi, while Sai continued provoking Sasuke with ink.
• Sasuke raised his hand beneath the storm clouds and threatened to use Kirin, prompting Naruto to ask Kurama for help.

Naruto asked the Nine-Tails for power to stop Sasuke, and the Nine-Tails took control of his body, turning their battle into an embarrassing spectacle. Sarada fainted after learning how many people claimed to share a special bond with Naruto.

• The Nine-Tails agreed to lend Naruto its power but insisted on controlling his body.
• The Nine-Tails entered Chakra Mode, reached Sasuke at incredible speed, and silenced him before he could summon Kirin.
• Naruto protested from the mental space as the Nine-Tails claimed it was still getting used to controlling a human body.
• Sasuke broke free with Susanoo, but the Nine-Tails-controlled Naruto attacked him again while Sarada watched in shock.
• Shirozumi explained that Gaara felt down because Naruto was not his one and only, and Shikamaru described his promise to support Naruto as Hokage.
• Sakura said she was Naruto's teammate, and Sarada fainted.

After Sarada fainted from the shock of watching Naruto and Sasuke, Tobirama returned her to Orochimaru, who began growing replacement eyes while discussing what awakens Susanoo. Back at the fight, Sasuke and Naruto resumed their clashes, and Tobirama intervened by stabbing each of them with a syringe.

• Shirozumi handed the unconscious Sarada to Tobirama, who teleported her to Orochimaru's laboratory.
• Orochimaru placed Sarada in her cultivation chamber and took samples to grow replacement eyes as Tobirama considered how Bonds might keep the Uchiha from turning evil.
• Gaara asked Shikamaru whether he was truly in love with Naruto, and Shikamaru claimed Naruto was the only person in his heart.
• Sasuke and Naruto resumed their fight by shouting each other's names and launching their ultimate moves.
• Tobirama returned, saw Sasuke's Susanoo, and used Flying Thunder God Slash to stick a syringe into each fighter's backside.

The Nine-Tails took control of Naruto and tried to force himself on the unconscious Sasuke, but Shirozumi ordered everyone to stop them. Gaara separated the pair, and the Nine-Tails turned his anger on Shukaku.

• Tobirama Senju used Flying Thunder God to get close enough to Susanoo to inject Sasuke with anesthetic, and Sasuke passed out.
• The Nine-Tails resisted the anesthetic by controlling Naruto's body through Chakra and took advantage of Naruto's helplessness to pursue Sasuke.
• Tobirama Senju asked Shirozumi whether they should intervene, and Shirozumi said they had to stop the Nine-Tails.
• Gaara rushed in and used sand to separate Naruto and Sasuke, while Sakura realized she would have to get in line.
• Shirozumi explained that forcing Sasuke into a relationship would not work because the Uchiha needed genuine emotional connection, and the Nine-Tails became furious at Gaara.

Kurama tried to attack Gaara, but Shukaku and Gaara trapped Naruto in a sealing technique, ending Kurama’s control. As Gaara approached the unconscious Naruto, Killer B intervened and blocked him with the Eight-Tails’ tentacles.

• Kurama lunged at Gaara, but stopped when Gaara gave up resisting and turned his attention to Sasuke.
• Shukaku devised a plan, and Gaara sent sand toward Naruto while targeting the unconscious Sasuke.
• Gaara and Shukaku sealed the cave’s entrance and exit with sand and the Desert Layer Great Burial Seal, trapping Kurama.
• Kurama’s chakra cloak disappeared, and Naruto passed out from the anesthetic; Gaara thanked Shukaku for the sealing technique.
• Killer B used the Eight-Tails’ tentacles to stop Gaara from approaching Naruto.

Tobirama Senju brought the unconscious Sasuke and Naruto to Orochimaru’s medical facility, where Gaara and Shukaku removed Sasuke’s seal while the group sought a safe way to remove the Eight-Tails’ tentacles from Naruto. The tentacles disappeared on their own, leaving everyone unsure what would happen next.

• Gaara tried to pull the tentacles off Naruto, but a Kumogakure Medical Ninja warned him that yanking them could cause injury.
• Tobirama Senju took Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara to a medical facility outside Amegakure, while Shikamaru returned to watch the matches.
• Orochimaru examined Naruto, and Gaara used Shukaku to undo the seal on Sasuke.
• Orochimaru instructed Gaara to release the suction cups on Naruto’s tentacles carefully, while Tobirama Senju suggested asking Nagato to absorb them.
• Sakura noticed that Naruto’s tentacles were shrinking and then disappeared.

Naruto absorbed chakra from the Eight-Tails and Shukaku, and Orochimaru learned that the Tailed Beasts could share their power through Naruto as a relay. The chapter left Orochimaru considering whether Naruto’s connections could extend Baryon Mode by letting its user borrow chakra from every Tailed Beast.

• Orochimaru tested whether Naruto’s rapid absorption could drain him, but Shirozumi explained that the Eight-Tails’ chakra counted as a willing gift and described Naruto’s role as a liaison for the Tailed Beasts.
• Orochimaru confirmed with Shirozumi that the Tailed Beasts could communicate through Naruto, who carried chakra from all of them, and then arranged to put Sasuke and the other patient in separate rooms.
• Gaara asked Shukaku to give Naruto power, and Shukaku’s chakra entered Naruto despite Shukaku’s complaints about the Nine-Tails.
• Gaara reported that Shukaku could contact the Nine-Tails, and Shirozumi suggested the Nine-Tails was ignoring him because of Shukaku’s constant insults.
• Orochimaru theorized that Naruto could borrow the Tailed Beasts’ power and wondered whether sharing their chakra could strengthen and prolong Baryon Mode.

After waking, Sasuke reunited with Itachi, learned the truth about the Uchiha massacre, and discovered that his revenge targets had already died. Itachi offered him a mission against other culprits, but Sasuke’s Mangekyō ability activated when he saw the scroll’s photo, leaving him screaming in pain.

• The Sound Four transported Naruto back to Konoha and Sasuke to Itachi in the Land of Waves.
• Sasuke woke and tried to attack Itachi, who trapped him in Tsukuyomi to talk.
• Itachi revealed the truth about the massacre and played Sasuke a Konoha song until Sasuke gave up demanding revenge.
• Itachi told Sasuke that Danzo and Hiruzen were dead and suggested he target the Konoha High Command instead.
• Itachi handed Sasuke a scroll naming other culprits, and Sasuke activated his Mangekyō Sharingan after seeing a photo of Utatane Koharu bathing.

Sasuke discovered that his Mangekyo abilities let him see through targets, and Itachi explained Tsunade’s covert mission to kill Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu. Sasuke chose revenge, but Itachi proposed transplanting his eyes first so Sasuke could awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

• Sasuke’s Mangekyo vision exposed Utatane Koharu’s toy and overwhelmed him with unwanted detail.
• Itachi examined the photograph and explained that Sasuke’s intelligence-gathering ability could serve the Konoha Military Police Force.
• Itachi told Sasuke that Tsunade had ordered them to kill Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, and Sasuke chose to carry out the revenge mission.
• Itachi proposed transplanting his eyes so Sasuke could gain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, then said he had a spare pair.
• Sasuke worried that the spare eyes were Shisui’s and that using them might still make him go blind; Itachi remembered that Shisui’s eyes had been recovered by the Reanimated Second Hokage.

Sasuke traveled with Itachi toward Konoha but became increasingly shaken after discovering that several people he mistook for girls were boys. He ended by asking Kisame whether he liked women.

• Sasuke agreed to return to Konoha with Itachi and planned to seek a professional for his eye transplant.
• Sasuke encountered Haku in the men's restroom and realized Haku was a boy.
• After Ranmaru rushed into the men's restroom, Sasuke used Tenko and confirmed his suspicion about Ranmaru.
• Sasuke saw Guren enter the women's restroom, then watched another apparent girl run into the men's room.
• Sasuke began doubting whether Sakura was really a girl and asked Kisame if he liked women.

Sasuke questioned Kisame and Itachi about the women they had cared for, then grew suspicious that Izumi might have been a boy. After Sasuke and Itachi reached Konoha for the eye transplant, Orochimaru offered a hormone to calm them and revealed that it could also produce feminine physical traits in men.

• Kisame told Sasuke that he had killed his former female teammate after encountering Morino Ibiki, and Sasuke concluded that power was needed to protect loved ones.
• Sasuke asked Itachi whether he liked women, and Itachi recalled Izumi's name.
• Sasuke asked whether Itachi had ever seen Izumi use the bathroom or bathe; when Itachi said no, Sasuke suspected Izumi might have been a boy.
• Itachi secretly contacted Tsunade for help with Sasuke's eye transplant, and Tsunade arrived with Sakura, Ino, Orochimaru, and the Sound Four.
• Orochimaru offered a hormone to stabilize their emotions and explained that it could stimulate feminine secondary sex characteristics in men.

After Sasuke refused Orochimaru’s potion and recovered from eye-replacement surgery, Sakura became fixated on its effects and left Konoha for Otogakure, claiming she would study abroad. Tsunade reassured Sakura’s worried parents, but Shizune set off after Sakura to find out more about the potion.

• Sakura eagerly asked about Orochimaru’s potion, while Sasuke refused it and underwent eye-replacement surgery with Itachi.
• After the surgery, Tsunade, Sakura, and Ino returned to Konoha, and Sakura forgot to tell Naruto about Sasuke and Itachi.
• Sakura argued with her parents, left a letter saying she was going to study abroad in Amegakure, and headed for Otogakure to seek the potion and investigate her ancestry.
• Tsunade reassured the Harunos that Sakura was dealing with adolescence and could protect herself.
• After hearing about the potion, Shizune left to catch up with Sakura, hoping to keep her safe and learn more about it.

Naruto learned that Sakura had gone to Otogakure and set out after her, while Hydrangea prepared to keep him available as a sparring partner. She then claimed Kakashi had been captured by Sunagakure, leaving Naruto stunned by the supposed danger.

• Uzuki Yugao told Naruto that Sakura had gone to Otogakure to seek medicine and investigate whether she was adopted.
• Naruto remembered a possible revelation about his mother and decided to go after Sakura.
• Sasori regained his emotions by regulating his Chakra and began improving his puppets after feeling competitive with Orochimaru.
• Hydrangea stopped Naruto and claimed that Sunagakure had captured Kakashi on Grandma Chiyo's orders.
• Hydrangea explained that Chiyo wanted Kakashi to repay her for the death of her son and daughter-in-law at the hands of his father, the Konoha White Fang.

Naruto learned that Kakashi had gone with Grandma Chiyo, an elderly Sunagakure shinobi, and wondered whether he needed to rescue his teacher. Kiba, Shino, and Hinata convinced Naruto that Kakashi might have gone willingly, and Hydrangea explained how Chiyo’s technique could let her have a child.

• Naruto asked Hydrangea and Uzuki Yugao about Grandma Chiyo’s age and appearance, then decided Kakashi needed rescuing from her.
• Kiba, Shino, and Hinata arrived and told Naruto about evidence that Kakashi had a lecherous side and might have gone to Chiyo willingly.
• Kiba explained that a note in Kakashi’s handwriting praised older women, and Shino and Hinata confirmed the group’s discovery in Kakashi’s house.
• Naruto reconsidered whether he should stop Kakashi from pursuing his own happiness, comparing the situation to Sasuke leaving for Orochimaru.
• Uzuki Yugao asked whether Chiyo could still have a baby, and Hydrangea explained that Chiyo’s Life Transfer Technique could restore vitality to specific organs.
• Naruto concluded that Chiyo must have developed the technique because she had long coveted Kakashi’s looks.

Naruto set out to stop Kakashi from marrying Chiyo, and Shirozumi brought him to the desert near Sunagakure. Sasori challenged Naruto on Chiyo’s behalf and revealed his puppet-control method before combining his puppets into Steel Horn.

• Naruto declared that he would rescue Kakashi, but Hydrangea warned him that breaking Kakashi’s limbs would not stop Chiyo from controlling him with Chakra Threads.
• Hydrangea and the others transported Naruto to the desert near Sunagakure, where Shirozumi revealed that he had arranged Kakashi and Chiyo’s marriage.
• Shirozumi told Naruto that Sasori was Chiyo’s grandson and that Naruto would have to defeat him to stop the wedding.
• Sasori summoned puppets without Chakra Threads, using Shadow Clones and copied hearts inside them to control the puppets precisely.
• Naruto entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and Sasori combined his puppets into a giant puppet named Steel Horn.

Scorpion’s Steel Horn, a mechanical Nine-Tails, fought Naruto’s transformed Nine-Tails and converted its Chakra into energy. Kurama figured out how the puppet worked and tried to direct Naruto, but Naruto refused to let Kurama take over and agreed only to follow its instructions.

• Scorpion controlled Steel Horn from its cockpit as it traded punches with Naruto’s transformed Nine-Tails.
• Steel Horn absorbed Naruto’s Chakra and formed nine golden tails from the energy it stored.
• Kurama recognized that Steel Horn converted Chakra-based attacks into energy and warned Naruto to keep his distance.
• Steel Horn fired an artificial lightning bolt that could not be absorbed as Chakra.
• Naruto suggested overloading Steel Horn with Chakra, but Kurama pointed out that its storage capacity rivaled a Jinchuriki’s.
• Kurama asked to take control of Naruto, but Naruto refused because he feared Kurama would misuse his body again.

Naruto sparred with Sasori’s mechanical Nine-Tails, using glass gauntlets to counter its chakra absorption before a miniature puppet forced him to surrender. After Sasori ended the test, Naruto tried to use Thousand Years of Death on him and broke a finger on Sasori’s armor-like body.

• The Nine-Tails guided Naruto as he fought Sasori, who tested the mechanical Nine-Tails’ physical and energy attacks.
• Naruto used heat from a failed Tailed Beast Bomb to turn sand into glass gauntlets, letting him strike the mechanical Nine-Tails without having his chakra absorbed.
• Sasori sent a miniature puppet through Naruto’s chakra defense, and Naruto dispelled his cloak to evade it and declare surrender.
• Sasori disengaged the mechanical Nine-Tails and collected its units after Naruto surrendered.
• Naruto tried to surprise Sasori with Thousand Years of Death, but broke a finger against Sasori’s hard body.

Naruto apologized to Sasori and passed along a torn photograph for Kakashi, while Shirozumi discussed his plans with Black Zetsu. Black Zetsu agreed to help Shirozumi, then crumbled away, leaving only a pale hand in Shirozumi’s grasp.

• Naruto healed his broken finger, then ran after Sasori and apologized, saying he understood Sasori’s pain and hoped the hatred could end.
• Naruto gave Sasori torn pieces of a photograph and asked him to pass them to Kakashi.
• Shirozumi explained to Black Zetsu why he preferred helping individuals grow over building an army and why he valued creation and life.
• Black Zetsu told Shirozumi he was not in a hurry to revive Kaguya, said he trusted him, and offered to help.
• Black Zetsu’s hand turned pale as his body crumbled into ash, leaving Shirozumi holding the hand.

Kaguya sacrificed her soul to give Shirozumi a hand and a new ability tied to life and creation, which could advance Orochimaru’s resurrection plan. Shirozumi then tested Naruto, tapped his forehead without being detected, and left Naruto asking Kurama for advice.

• Kaguya used Black Zetsu’s Chakra to manifest her hand and grant Shirozumi an ability involving life and creation, then her soul fell asleep within the hand.
• Shirozumi recognized that his new ability could solve problems with Orochimaru’s Theseus’s Ship resurrection plan and thanked Kaguya.
• Naruto ran to Shirozumi and said he would stop fighting, but Shirozumi insisted on testing him for his mother’s sake.
• Shirozumi set a challenge in which Naruto had to touch his forehead before Shirozumi touched Naruto’s forehead three times.
• Naruto used Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and tried to keep his distance, but Shirozumi appeared beside him and tapped his Forehead Protector undetected.
• Naruto asked Kurama how Shirozumi had done it and what he should do next.