Chapter Summaries

Utakata left Kirigakure’s front lines to hunt Neji on Skull Island, while Yugito prepared Kumogakure to exploit the resulting troop movements. Neji’s group was attacked, and he fought Utakata as the Six-Tails Jinchuriki began drawing on Tailed Beast Chakra.

• Utakata learned that Neji had occupied Skull Island and captured Lin Yuyuri, then decided to go after Neji himself.
• Yugito received news that Neji was back and ordered Kumogakure to rest briefly before launching an all-out attack.
• As Kirigakure forces gathered around Skull Island, Neji encouraged the anxious Samui to practice swordsmanship, and Sasori criticized her technique.
• Neji explained that Samui could pursue dangerous methods such as cursed seals to gain strength, but a sudden blast interrupted their discussion.
• Utakata emerged and attacked Neji, who matched him in close combat and struck him hard enough to expose his bones.
• Utakata began healing with the Six-Tails’ chakra and entered a partial transformation as Neji urged him to use full Tailed Beast Transformation.

Neji defeated Utakata and the Six-Tails, took control of Utakata, and routed the Mist Shinobi forces in the eastern seas. News of the victory reached the village leaders, while Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo worried that Kumogakure could now recover unless Sunagakure joined the fight.

• Pakura evacuated Samui and Lin Yuyuri as Utakata transformed into the Six-Tails and knocked Neji into the sea.
• Neji opened the Seventh Gate and used Day Tiger to overcome the Six-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball and defeat Utakata.
• Neji controlled Utakata with the Curse Seal of the Mind, used the Six-Tails to rout the Mist Shinobi, and led a counterattack against their base alongside Samui and Pakura.
• The Fourth Raikage praised Neji's victory and considered shifting troops from the eastern front to face Iwagakure.
• Danzo brought Hiruzen Sarutobi a report that Neji had defeated the Six-Tails and broken the Mist Shinobi forces; Hiruzen resolved to persuade Rasa to send troops.

Obito ordered the Fourth Mizukage to lead another assault on Kumogakure, while Neji followed Uchiha Mikoto’s intelligence to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools and freed Uchiha Hikari from a centuries-old seal. Neji told Hikari about the changed world and began earning her trust, but her memories of fighting the Senju and Uzumaki showed how she had been used as a weapon.

• Obito learned that the Mist Shinobi army had been routed and ordered his forces to regroup for another battle, with the Fourth Mizukage taking the field.
• Neji told Yugito that he planned to go to Kirigakure, then left for the Land of Water with Samui, Pakura, and the others.
• Neji received Uchiha Mikoto’s report locating Uchiha Hikari’s seal and changed course for the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
• Neji used Tenseigan Chakra to break the remaining seals and release Hikari, who initially confronted him with her Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Neji told Hikari her name and explained that more than two hundred years had passed; she listened while eating Three-color Dango and reacted to news about the Senju and Uchiha founding Konoha.
• Hikari recalled how she had fought the Senju and Uzumaki as a War Weapon, relying on Yachihoko to replenish her ocular power.

Neji brought Uchiha Hikari with him to Kirigakure and earned her trust by asking her to place a Yachihoko mark on him. As they began investigating the village, Obito prepared to exploit suspected Kumogakure spies, and Neji considered how to reach the controlled Fourth Mizukage.

• Hikari learned that Neji would keep her with him rather than send her back to the Uchiha, and he asked her to mark him with Yachihoko.
• Hikari revealed that Yachihoko could control another person’s chakra, body, and mind, but Neji reassured her that he trusted her; she fell asleep in his arms and resolved to stay by his side.
• In Kirigakure, Obito learned that the moderate faction led by Genji wanted peace talks with Kumogakure and decided to use White Zetsu disguised as spies to provoke Genji.
• Neji and Hikari encountered three thugs in Kirigakure; Hikari knocked them down, and Neji killed them with senbon before comforting her.
• At a restaurant overlooking the Mizukage Building, Neji weighed ways to reach the Fourth Mizukage, then heard a woman call to Haku.

Neji recognized Orochimaru in a woman’s body while Zabuza prepared a coup against the Fourth Mizukage. After an unknown force massacred Mei Terumi’s intelligence outpost and left evidence pointing toward Kumogakure, Mei went to confront Neji at the inn.

• Neji saw Orochimaru with Haku at Ju Restaurant, then returned to the inn and secretly contacted Raiga Kurosuki and the others.
• Zabuza gathered fifty followers and announced that they would move against the Fourth Mizukage the next day, unaware that a crow was watching him.
• Ao reported Zabuza’s preparations to Mei Terumi, who also received Genji’s list of foreign infiltrators and ordered her people to monitor them.
• White figures killed the occupants of Mei Terumi’s intelligence outpost, and the wounds suggested a Kumogakure sword technique; Mei suspected the evidence might be a frame-up and ordered Ao to contact Kumogakure’s spies.
• Mei Terumi and Ao brought the Special Jonin’s body to the inn, where Neji sensed their approach and prepared to receive them.

Neji met with Mei Terumi to negotiate an alliance between Kumogakure and Kirigakure, then exposed White Zetsu attackers and revealed that the Fourth Mizukage was under genjutsu control. Mei agreed to pay Neji’s steep price for help rescuing the Mizukage, while Obito learned the attack had failed and ordered Kisame to deal with intruders in the Mizukage Building.

• Neji identified himself to Mei as Hyuga Neji and argued that Kirigakure needed an alliance with Kumogakure.
• Three Kirigakure shinobi possessed by White Zetsu attacked Mei and Ao, and Neji captured them and forced the White Zetsu out.
• Neji told Mei and Ao that a rogue Uchiha had used genjutsu to control the Fourth Mizukage and the Three-Tails.
• Mei asked Neji to help rescue the Fourth Mizukage, accepted his price, and planned to consult Genji.
• Obito heard that the attack on Mei had apparently succeeded, then ordered Zetsu to notify Kisame about intruders in the Mizukage Building.

Neji and Uchiha Hikari infiltrated the Mizukage Building during Zabuza’s coup, while Obito recruited three bloodline survivors into the Akatsuki Organization. After Hikari’s Susanoo exposed their presence, Obito left the underground chamber to investigate, and Neji raided Kirigakure’s archives.

• Zabuza’s rebels attacked six locations near the Mizukage Building as unrest spread through Kirigakure.
• In the basement, Genji discovered that Obito controlled the Fourth Mizukage, and Obito recruited Genji, Sora, and Kanryu into the Akatsuki Organization.
• Neji and Uchiha Hikari slipped into the Mizukage Building, searched for the hidden chamber, and found the archive room instead.
• Hikari used Susanoo to kill the four archive guards and smash through the sealed door, alerting Obito.
• Neji collected valuable scrolls and Ninja Blades from the archives as Obito entered his space-time vortex to investigate the disturbance.

Zabuza’s coup stalled as Kisame and three Bloodline Anbu resisted his forces, while Neji and Uchiha Hikari confronted Obito in a secret storage room and uncovered his identity. The Fourth Mizukage moved toward the battle, and Genji prepared to follow Neji’s orders if Zabuza continued losing ground.

• Zabuza stormed the Mizukage Building, where Kisame, Genji, Sora, and Kanryu met his attacking forces.
• Orochimaru checked Haku’s reaction to the Heavenly Cursed Seal and wondered whether Haku had a talent for Senjutsu.
• Obito caught Neji and Uchiha Hikari in the secret storage room, but Neji’s repulsive force and Hikari’s Susanoo freed them and severed Obito’s left arm.
• Hikari called Obito Uchiha Obito, and Neji explained how he had deduced that Obito survived the Third Shinobi World War and caused the Nine-Tails’ Rampage.
• Obito attacked Neji and Hikari with his Gunbai, while they coordinated their counterattack and forced him to rely on Kamui.
• Ao reported that Zabuza was losing ground to Kisame and the Bloodline Anbu, and Samui reminded Genji that Neji had ordered them to intervene if that happened.

Neji used Uchiha Hikari’s sealed Mangekyō techniques to attack Obito, breaking the Genjutsu controlling Karatachi Yagura. After Neji demanded that the Three-Tails be sealed, Yagura confronted Kisame and the other rebels as the fighting around the Mizukage Building continued.

• Neji baited Obito into using Kamui at close range, then struck him with Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu before unleashing Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion; Obito’s fate remained uncertain.
• Obito’s apparent defeat freed Karatachi Yagura from his Genjutsu, and Neji demanded that the Three-Tails’ power be sealed.
• Pakura, Sasori, and Uchiha Izumi joined Zabuza’s fight, turning the tide against Kisame and the other Mist shinobi.
• Karatachi Yagura attacked Kisame, then confronted Genji, Sora, and Kanryu over their betrayal of Kirigakure.
• Ao confirmed that the Mizukage had appeared and entered Tailed Beast Transformation, so Mei Terumi and the others set out to face him.

Kirigakure’s coup collapsed after the Fourth Mizukage broke free of Obito’s control, and Neji secured an alliance and support from the village. Meanwhile, Obito survived Neji’s attack with Izanagi and continued to blame the world for Rin’s death, while Kisame’s group met the strange Tobi.

• The Fourth Mizukage defeated Kisame, Genji, Sora, Kanryu, and Zabuza’s forces after Samehada returned to him, and Kisame’s group fled as reinforcements approached.
• The Fourth Mizukage regained control of Kirigakure, revealed that a masked man had controlled him, and agreed to step down after a successor was chosen.
• Neji negotiated an alliance with Kirigakure and requested military support, while Mei Terumi accepted a mission to aid Kumogakure and asked Genji to release Zabuza to assist her.
• Raiga Kurosuki reported that Orochimaru had evaded him, so Neji arranged to request a meeting with Orochimaru in the name of the Star of the Clouds.
• Kisame’s group met Tobi on an uninhabited island, while Obito revived elsewhere using Izanagi and declared that the false world was to blame for Rin’s death.
• Obito revealed that the Star of the Clouds from Kumogakure had defeated him.

After Obito’s defeat by Neji, Black Zetsu pushed him to reclaim his left Sharingan while Obito avoided confronting Kakashi and redirected his attention to Akatsuki’s hunts. Neji lured Orochimaru to an island and revealed his Tenseigan, leaving Orochimaru fascinated by its power and eager to learn more.

• Black Zetsu raised Neji’s threat level and urged Obito to take back his left eye from Kakashi, but Obito refused to commit.
• White Zetsu reported that Hiruko and Sasori’s hunt had failed and that Sasori was missing, so Obito set out to hunt an Information Release shinobi and a Uchiha himself.
• Neji waited on an island outside the Land of Water with Uchiha Hikari and Uchiha Izumi, hoping to draw Orochimaru in with information about the Sharingan.
• Orochimaru arrived and eyed Uchiha Izumi’s Sharingan, while Neji claimed he had even more impressive eyes.
• Neji revealed his Tenseigan and repelled Orochimaru’s attack, sending him into the sea, but Orochimaru survived and became intensely interested in Neji.

Neji traded Orochimaru the secret of the Tenseigan for the Cursed Seal and cloning research, outlining three possible ways to evolve the Tenseigan. Two days later, Neji’s group followed Mei Terumi’s Mist squad toward the Land of Hot Water, where the battle had turned against Konoha and Asuma faced a Kumogakure fighter.

• Neji used Uchiha Hikari’s Tsukuyomi to pressure Orochimaru, who agreed to trade his Cursed Seal and cloning research for the Tenseigan’s secrets.
• Neji gave Orochimaru a scroll describing three possible methods of Tenseigan evolution, and Orochimaru left eager to collaborate.
• Two days later, Neji and his companions followed Mei Terumi’s squad toward the Land of Hot Water, where Neji studied Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal scroll and considered using it to transmit Tenseigan chakra to puppets.
• On the battlefield, Yugito drove back Choza while Konoha’s forces struggled against Kumogakure, and Jiraiya and Uchiha Shisui fought to a stalemate.
• Asuma held off Teika, a Kumogakure ninja with the Information Release Kekkei Genkai, after Teika taunted him as the Hokage’s son.

Teika ambushed Asuma but was pulled into a space-time vortex, while Yugito’s rampage and Kirigakure’s alliance with Kumogakure forced Jiraiya to withdraw from the Land of Hot Water. At camp, Yugito sealed Samui’s chakra and drew her into an intimate encounter with Neji, while Uchiha Hikari tried to discover what was happening inside Samui’s tent.

• Teika struck Asuma with an Earth Release technique, but a space-time vortex appeared and dragged Teika away.
• Yugito broke out of the Earth Prison Dome, killed six Earth Release Ninja, and overwhelmed the Konoha forces with her attacks.
• Jiraiya learned that Kirigakure had joined Kumogakure, received no promise of reinforcements, and ordered the Konoha army to retreat to Kikyo Castle.
• Yugito sealed Samui’s chakra with Iron Armor Sealing and restrained her as Neji watched.
• Uchiha Hikari approached Samui’s tent, but Neji blocked her perception when she used Yachihoko, and Pakura and Uchiha Izumi distracted her with the promise of barbecue.

Neji mastered Magnet Release and began investigating how to adapt the Flying Thunder God Technique to his own chakra and spatial sensing. Meanwhile, Orochimaru prepared to launch the Konoha Crush Plan and seize the Hyuga clan's Main Family heir.

• Neji studied Toroi's notes and mastered Magnet Release after training with iron sand for eight hours.
• Neji tested his Iron Sand Giant Spear against Uchiha Hikari's Susanoo, then let her win.
• Neji studied Minato's Flying Thunder God notes but could not sense the formula on his kunai, so he reconsidered how the technique connected to spatial coordinates.
• Orochimaru examined Neji's research and wondered how Neji had evolved his Tenseigan.
• Orochimaru learned that Kimimaro's painkillers had stopped working and told him to recover.
• Orochimaru told Kimimaro he planned to launch the Konoha Crush Plan and seize the Hyuga clan's Main Family heir.

Orochimaru suspected the Hyuga Byakugan could help cure Kimimaro’s Kekkei Genkai disease, while Shisui prepared an assault on Konoha forces at Kikyo Castle. Mei Terumi persuaded Neji to ask Shisui to let Utakata join the operation, and Konoha’s commanders decided to send Hot Water ninja to harass Kumogakure, leaving their leader Kaizumi pleading for mercy.

• Kimimaro asked Orochimaru to let him join a mission, and Orochimaru agreed before considering whether the Byakugan could reveal a cure for Kimimaro’s illness.
• Uchiha Inabi reported that Konoha had withdrawn to Kikyo Castle, and Shisui decided to plan a direct assault while the Mist Shinobi volunteered to lead.
• Mei Terumi told Neji that Utakata had refused to join the operation, then kissed Neji until he agreed to ask Shisui to reconsider.
• Neji explained to Uchiha Izumi that helping Mei could benefit Kumogakure by strengthening ties with Kirigakure’s future Mizukage.
• At Kikyo Castle, Shibi Aburame persuaded Jiraiya to order the Hot Water ninja to harass Kumogakure, and Kaizumi pleaded that his forces could not face them alone.

Kumogakure launched a major assault on Kikyo Castle, forcing Jiraiya and Konoha’s clans to prepare to face Shisui, Yugito, and Utakata. Neji slipped into the battle but was ambushed by Anko and Kurenai; after escaping their attacks, he left Kurenai with a Cursed Seal, while Orochimaru led his followers toward Hiruzen Sarutobi in Konoha.

• Kaizumi accepted Jiraiya’s decision to leave Yugakure’s forces to harass the enemy while Kumogakure attacked Konoha’s front line.
• Jiraiya’s Byakugan scout and Shikaku identified Shisui, Yugito, and Utakata among the attackers, and Konoha assigned the Aburame and Ino-Shika-Cho Clans to hold off the two Jinchuriki.
• Jiraiya put Kurama Murakumo in command of Kikyo Castle’s defenders and led his guard squad to confront Shisui.
• Neji infiltrated the area near Kikyo Castle, where Orochimaru, Anko, and Kurenai ambushed him; Neji resisted their attacks and placed a Cursed Seal on Kurenai before escaping.
• Orochimaru arrived in Konoha with the Sound Five and Guren, sending Guren to the Hyuga clan and taking the others to visit Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Yugito and Utakata were held up by Konoha forces while Mei Terumi led her Mist ninjas toward Kikyo Castle to confront Kakashi. Meanwhile, an attack on Konoha wounded Utatane Koharu and ended with an assailant stabbing Hiruzen Sarutobi in the chest.

• Yugito fought the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and faced Might Guy after he opened the Sixth Gate.
• Shibi Aburame's insect cloud stalled Utakata, so Mei Terumi led her group toward Kikyo Castle and set out to confront Kakashi.
• Uchiha Obito emerged from the shadows after Mei Terumi's group departed.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisors considered the shortage of reinforcements when an intruder alert sounded in Konoha.
• A masked attacker wounded Utatane Koharu, evaded Hiruzen Sarutobi's kunai, then charged past the Anbu and plunged a kunai into Hiruzen's chest.

Orochimaru attacked the Hokage Building and confronted Hiruzen, while Danzo deliberately kept Root out of the fight. Elsewhere, Konoha and Mist shinobi clashed, and Obito targeted Kakashi to reclaim his left eye.

• Hiruzen restrained the masked intruder, recognized Orochimaru, and watched him break free and escape onto the Hokage Building’s roof.
• Sakons, Ukons, Tayuya, and Kidomaru formed the Four Violet Flames Formation around the Hokage Building, while Kimimaro fought Konoha reinforcements.
• Hyuga Gensuke sent his clan’s shinobi to the village wall and refused to reinforce Hiruzen at the Hokage Building.
• Danzo refused to mobilize Root after learning of Orochimaru’s attack, revealing that he expected Hiruzen might be killed and wanted the Hokage Position for himself.
• Kakashi fought Mei Terumi and Zabuza as the battle between Konoha and Mist shinobi spread through the forest.
• Obito attacked Kakashi through the mist, used Kamui to evade his explosive kunai, and told Kakashi to give up while Kakashi wondered if he had been targeted specifically.

Kakashi awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan during his fight with Obito and pulled them both into Kamui Space, but Obito defeated him and reclaimed his left eye. Meanwhile, Jiraiya battled Shisui as Neji attacked Kikyo Castle with overwhelming force, leaving Konoha’s forces devastated.

• Obito trapped Kakashi with Wood Release and nearly sent him to Kamui Space, but Kakashi’s left eye awakened as a Mangekyō and transported them both there.
• Jiraiya, Gamabunta, and the Sage elders fought Shisui’s Susanoo, forcing Shisui to release it and face Jiraiya directly.
• Neji infiltrated Kikyo Castle, revealed himself to Kurama Murakumo and the gathered Konoha ninjas, then unleashed a massive repulsive shock wave that destroyed the castle’s center.
• Obito knocked Kakashi unconscious, removed his original left eye, and discovered that its Kamui could transfer anything in his field of vision without physical contact.

Obito spared Kakashi while returning to the battlefield, where Jiraiya learned Kikyo Castle had fallen and Konoha’s forces began retreating. Meanwhile, Orochimaru killed Hiruzen and abducted Hinata, leaving Hyuga Gensuke to fear for the clan’s future.

• Obito returned Kakashi to a forest instead of killing him, then learned that Star of the Clouds had destroyed Kikyo Castle and withdrew toward the battlefield.
• Jiraiya learned from Inoichi Yamanaka that Kikyo Castle had fallen and ordered a retreat, while Shisui collapsed after their fight and headed for the castle with Uchiha elites.
• Hyuga Gensuke refused to send the clan to support Hiruzen, then discovered that an intruder had killed a guard and abducted Hinata while leaving Hanabi unconscious.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi died after Orochimaru defeated him, and Orochimaru departed with Kimimaro and Tayuya after learning Guren had succeeded.
• Hyuga Gensuke blamed Orochimaru for Hinata’s abduction and concluded that Hanabi might have to carry the clan’s future.