Chapter Summaries

Hyuga Taichi uncovered hidden records revealing Hyuga Tatsu’s role in wielding the Giant Tenseigan and the mysterious curse that later struck the clan. On the front lines, Jiraiya agreed to seek a ceasefire with the Cloud shinobi and chose Tsunade as Hokage, proposing that Danzō serve as Acting Hokage until she returned.

• Hyuga Gensuke found that a history book about the Caged Bird Seal had been stolen, though the sealed scroll itself remained in the archives.
• Hyuga Taichi read the stolen history and discovered hidden writing describing Hyuga Tatsu, the Giant Tenseigan, and a mysterious curse that devastated the Hyuga clan.
• Jiraiya learned that Orochimaru had killed Hiruzen Sarutobi and ordered Shikaku Nara to offer the Cloud shinobi a ceasefire.
• Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka urged Jiraiya to become Hokage, but Jiraiya nominated Tsunade instead.
• Jiraiya said Danzō could serve as Acting Hokage until Tsunade returned.

Kumogakure prepared a decapitation strike against the Fourth Kazekage after Konoha agreed to peace talks, and Neji led Pakura and others to ambush Rasa. As Pakura and Rasa fought, Uchiha Hikari unleashed her Perfect Susanoo and forced Rasa to defend himself with a massive Gold Dust pyramid.

• Yozuki A told Dodai that Konoha had agreed to peace talks and that the Third Hokage had died, while reinforcements headed to the western front.
• Neji revealed that he planned to kill Rasa so Sunagakure would retreat and become Kumogakure’s subordinate.
• Neji, Pakura, Sasori, Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Hikari, and Samui ambushed Rasa and his two bodyguards near the Land of Lightning.
• Pakura revealed herself to Rasa and attacked him with Scorch Release, while Rasa countered with Magnet Release and Gold Dust.
• Sasori joined the fight, and Uchiha Hikari summoned her Perfect Susanoo and tore through Rasa’s Gold Dust defenses.
• Rasa gathered Gold Dust into a forty-meter pyramid to defend himself from Hikari’s airborne Susanoo.

Uchiha Hikari defeated Rasa, and Sasori later killed Kaisa, causing two Kazekage to disappear in succession. As Sunagakure struggled to respond, Kumogakure prepared to counterattack, Ōnoki considered hiring the Akatsuki, and Orochimaru remained debilitated without his arms.

• Uchiha Hikari broke through Rasa's defenses, and Neji brought Samui and Uchiha Izumi to the dying Fourth Kazekage as Sasori claimed his body.
• Sunagakure's leaders chose Kaisa as the Fifth Kazekage, but Chiyo and Ebizo clashed with him over whether to negotiate or withdraw from the war.
• Neji ordered Sasori to make the new Kazekage disappear, and Sasori killed Kaisa with help from the undercover Yura.
• The Fourth Raikage and Dodai celebrated Sunagakure's crisis and prepared Kumogakure to launch a counterattack.
• Ōnoki considered turning to the Akatsuki after learning that Sunagakure could no longer support Iwagakure against Kumogakure.
• Orochimaru lay weakened in Otogakure after Hiruzen Sarutobi sealed away both of his arms.

Orochimaru considered Tsunade as the only person who could heal his arm, while Chiyo and the Fourth Raikage negotiated Sunagakure and Iwagakure’s surrender terms. After Ōnoki accepted Kumogakure’s demands, he sent Akatsuchi to contact the Akatsuki Organization, and Hiruko continued refining the Chimera Technique using White Zetsu.

• Guren told Orochimaru that Hinata had been settled in, and Orochimaru said the Main Family heir’s Byakugan could reach its full potential only by becoming the Tenseigan.
• Chiyo silenced Sunagakure’s leaders, named Gaara as the only candidate for Sixth Kazekage, and sent Ebizo to lead the army back to Sunagakure.
• The Fourth Raikage negotiated with Chiyo and Ōnoki, accepting Sunagakure’s reparations and three-year stay for Temari and Kankuro, while demanding thirty percent of Iwagakure’s mission share and Black Earth’s stay in Kumogakure.
• Ōnoki accepted the Fourth Raikage’s terms and told Akatsuchi to contact the Akatsuki Organization in the Land of Rain.
• Hiruko experimented on a man and planned to transplant a White Zetsu into his body to overcome the Chimera Technique’s rejection flaw.

Neji became Kumogakure's Raikage's Assistant and began learning to govern under Mabui, while pushing to prioritize civilian safety over profitable missions. Mabui questioned his motives for launching a bandit-suppression campaign, leaving Neji to explain his intentions.

• Hiruko told Deva Path Pain that he planned to attempt bloodline fusion during the Land of Rain's Solar Eclipse, while Konan voiced suspicions about Uchiha Madara.
• The Fourth Raikage appointed Neji as Raikage's Assistant after praising his role in Kumogakure's wartime victories, and Dodai willingly stepped down.
• After three days of celebration, Neji began work with Mabui, Kurotsuchi, and Temari, who were assigned to help him manage village affairs.
• Neji ordered a campaign to suppress bandits across the Land of Lightning, despite Kurotsuchi and Temari arguing that the village should prioritize more profitable missions.
• Mabui sent Kurotsuchi and Temari to draft the mission notice, then confronted Neji about his real reason for prioritizing civilians' requests.

Neji pushed reforms in the Land of Lightning, but the daimyo’s refusal to fund road repairs left him seeking money from the nobles. He expanded his plans to trade with the Land of Water and confronted a wealthy local lord, while Tsunade rejected a summons to return to Konoha.

• Neji told Mabui he wanted to repair roads across the Land of Lightning and eventually take control of its economy and rule.
• Tsunade received letters asking her to return to Konoha and inherit the Hokage Position, but she tore them up and continued traveling with Shizune.
• Mabui told Neji the bandits had mostly been cleared, but the daimyo had approved only half the payment, leaving them short of funds.
• Neji decided to take money from the nobles and sent Yugito to clear pirates from the eastern sea for a planned trade route to the Land of Water.
• Neji, Yugito, and another girl appeared in Kobayashi Koji’s bedroom, where Neji identified himself as Hyuga Neji and Kobayashi Koji warned him the Daimyo could punish him.

Neji forced Kobayashi Koji to surrender most of his business profits and recruited Uchiha Izumi to help him seize wealth from the Land of Lightning’s powerful figures. Meanwhile, Jiraiya learned from Gamamaru that the prophesied future had changed, leaving him considering a world where shinobi worked in production instead of fighting.

• Neji threatened Kobayashi Koji with forged evidence of treason, then demanded seventy percent of his monthly profits in exchange for Kumogakure protection.
• Neji took assets worth about two billion ryo from Kobayashi Koji, and Uchiha Hikari marked him with Yachihoko before the three left.
• Neji told Uchiha Izumi to help bring the Land of Lightning’s local bosses and oligarchs to heel, and she agreed to serve as his blade.
• Jiraiya traveled to Mount Myōboku to consult Gamamaru about the uncertain future and the Child of Prophecy.
• Gamamaru said his visions had changed and described shinobi replacing civilians in production after a terrible war.
• Sage Shima suggested that shinobi using their powers to produce goods could end wars, and Jiraiya began to see how that future might bring peace.

Neji met Jiraiya in Kumogakure after Jiraiya was arrested for peeping at women, then agreed to help him find Tsunade and told him that his former students were alive. Neji asked Jiraiya to persuade Nagato to abandon the Akatsuki Organization’s plans for revenge, while hinting that another visitor would soon arrive.

• Orochimaru learned Tsunade was in the Land of Lightning and decided to travel there to seek Neji’s support and funding.
• Neji launched a road-building project across Kumogakure, offering five hundred million in startup funds and assigning Yugito to lead ninja crews.
• Kumogakure patrol members arrested Jiraiya after catching him spying on women at the hot springs, and Neji freed him and took him to an izakaya.
• Jiraiya asked Neji to use Kumogakure’s resources to help find Tsunade, and Neji agreed.
• Neji told Jiraiya that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were alive and explained how Danzo’s actions had led to the Akatsuki Organization’s conflict with Hanzō.
• Neji offered peaceful support if Nagato abandoned revenge, but warned that Kumogakure would oppose the Akatsuki Organization if it pursued war or the Tailed Beasts; Jiraiya promised to try to persuade Nagato.

Neji joined Jiraiya and Orochimaru in searching the Land of Lightning for Tsunade while arranging a partnership with Orochimaru to raise money from wealthy nobles. When their search failed, Neji used Tsunade’s gambling addiction to lure her toward new casino machines, while Tsunade continued to avoid her old friends.

• Neji met Orochimaru in Kumogakure, agreed to work with him to target wealthy families, and negotiated a seventy-thirty share of the proceeds in his own favor.
• Neji told Orochimaru that Jiraiya was also searching for Tsunade and arranged a meeting between the two former teammates; they traded barbs but did not fight.
• Neji, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru traveled through the Land of Lightning, where Jiraiya admired Neji’s efforts to put his ideas for changing the world into practice.
• The three searched for Tsunade for ten days without finding her, so Neji gave Orochimaru a blueprint for a gambling machine designed to attract her.
• Orochimaru built and installed the machines in casinos across the country, while Tsunade told Shizune she wanted to avoid meeting the three ninja.

Neji engineered Tsunade’s casino loss and debt crisis, then burned her IOUs and asked her to help complete Hashirama Senju’s unfinished goal. Tsunade was tempted by his plan to unite the Shinobi World through reform, though her fear of blood and doubts about lasting peace remained.

• Neji watched Tsunade lose two hundred million at pachinko and explained to Orochimaru and Jiraiya that the machine used no genjutsu.
• At Neji’s signal, Tsunade’s creditors surrounded her, but Neji and Uchiha Izumi intervened; Izumi recognized Tsunade, humiliating her into fleeing.
• Tsunade hid in the bushes, where Neji found her, gave her a tissue, and burned the IOUs recording her seven hundred million debt.
• Neji asked Tsunade to help finish Hashirama Senju’s unfinished work, and she considered joining him despite her reservations.
• Neji proposed curing Tsunade’s fear of blood with genjutsu and uniting shinobi through reforms that would strip nobles of their power; Tsunade was deeply tempted.

Tsunade agreed to stay in Kumogakure and help Neji change the world, while Neji organized a force to confront the Akatsuki Organization before it could collect the Tailed Beasts. Neji and Orochimaru infiltrated Amegakure to observe Hiruko’s five-kekkei-genkai experiment, entering the hidden base disguised as Hiruko’s subordinates.

• Tsunade accepted Neji’s offer, then refused Jiraiya’s request to return to Konoha as the Fifth Hokage and chose to stay in Kumogakure.
• Tsunade healed Orochimaru’s arm, and Neji revealed reliable intelligence that Hiruko had perfected the Chimera Technique with help from White Zetsu.
• Neji assembled the Sannin and Kumogakure allies, briefed them on the Akatsuki Organization, and led the force toward the Land of Rain.
• Neji and Orochimaru left the group to spy on Hiruko’s experiment, and Shinnō mistook them for Hiruko’s subordinates and led them into Amegakure.
• Neji and Orochimaru entered the hidden experimental base, where they encountered Kakuzu and Hidan.

Hiruko underwent the Chimera Technique’s bloodline fusion during a solar eclipse, surviving the catastrophic rejection with help from white spores and gaining chakra comparable to a Tailed Beast. Afterward, he claimed he had gained freedom and fixed his predatory gaze on Neji, prompting the Akatsuki to surround Neji and Orochimaru.

• Neji and Orochimaru arrived with Shinnō at Amegakure’s central tower, where Akatsuki members gathered to witness Hiruko’s fusion ceremony.
• The Deva Path and Konan arrived as Nagato cleared the rain clouds, while Obito watched the ceremony from hiding with Black and White Zetsu.
• During the solar eclipse, Hiruko used the Chimera Technique to devour five unconscious bloodline ninjas and absorb their chakra orbs.
• Hiruko’s body began collapsing from the fusion, but white spores emerged from the purple mass and restored him after the eclipse ended.
• The Deva Path praised Hiruko, who claimed he had gained freedom and stared at Neji; Orochimaru realized their cover had been exposed as Akatsuki members moved to surround them.

Beluhu tested his five fused kekkei genkai against Neji in Amegakure, but Neji defeated him and exposed the limits of his new power. As Pain confronted Neji, the Fourth Raikage, Killer B, Tsunade, and Uchiha Hikari’s forces arrived in the village.

• Beluhu used his Sharingan to trap Orochimaru in genjutsu, while Neji redirected shuriken with Magnet Release and wounded Orochimaru.
• Neji fought Beluhu with his blade and Storm Release, then defeated him with Lightning Release Chakra Mode after assessing his five kekkei genkai.
• Beluhu refused to accept defeat and tried to use a sixth kekkei genkai, but Pain ordered him to stop and acknowledged that he was no match for Neji.
• Pain confronted Neji as Akatsuki members watched, while Konan and Obito assessed the intruder’s abilities.
• Pain and Neji sensed powerful chakra signatures entering Amegakure, and the Fourth Raikage, Killer B, and Uchiha Hikari advanced toward them.

Neji tried to persuade Nagato to abandon his plan for peace through force, but their talks collapsed when Nagato attacked. Neji swiftly cut down the Deva Path, only for the real Nagato to appear atop the tower and confront the gathered shinobi.

• Jiraiya recognized the Deva Path as Yahiko, and Orochimaru reminded him that Yahiko was dead and Nagato had turned his body into a puppet.
• Neji used the Tenseigan to locate Nagato in a hidden room, while Nagato secretly sent the Animal Path out.
• Jiraiya and Konan argued over the Akatsuki Organization’s plan, and Nagato refused to abandon his belief that pain and force could bring peace.
• Neji offered to punish Danzo and challenged Nagato to explain how his rule would keep the Shinobi World peaceful after his death, but Nagato gave no answer.
• The Deva Path attacked Neji with Shinra Tensei, and Neji countered before cutting the Deva Path in half.
• Nagato appeared atop the tower with the Rinnegan, as the gathered shinobi felt his overwhelming presence.

Neji’s allies fought Pain’s Six Paths and the Akatsuki while Neji slipped away to confront Nagato. Elsewhere, the Fourth Raikage battled Hiruko, and Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo forced Obito to abandon his attempt to pull her into the Kamui dimension.

• Pain summoned five bodies with the Rinnegan, while the Sannin summoned Manda, Katsuyu, and Sage Shima and Sage Fukasaku to fight them.
• Konan attacked Neji as he defended himself with Iron Sand, while the Animal Path used the Naraka Path to revive the Deva Path.
• The Sannin fought Pain’s forces; Orochimaru trapped the splitting Multi-Headed Dog, and Neji used a Shadow Clone to conceal his real body as he headed for Nagato.
• Hiruko used Swift Release to evade the Fourth Raikage, but the Raikage struck him with Heavy Downpour and Hiruko’s damaged body quickly healed.
• Obito tried to pull Uguan Boguang into the Kamui dimension, but Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo forced him to stop and turn intangible to avoid its blade.

Neji found Nagato’s real body and interrupted his control of the Six Paths of Pain, allowing Shisui and the Sannin to escape Chibaku Tensei. Neji and Nagato then clashed inside the central tower as Konan rushed to intervene and the Akatsuki members began to realize their leader had been defeated.

• Obito summoned Susanoo and faced Uchiha Hikari while Shisui, Yugito, and Killer B fought the Akatsuki members.
• Deva Path Pain overwhelmed the Sannin with a second Chibaku Tensei, sealing them inside the sphere.
• Shisui used Susanoo to dig into the sphere and free Orochimaru, but the sphere began to reform around them.
• Neji found Nagato in the central tower and used sealing techniques to sever his control over the Six Paths of Pain.
• Shisui and Orochimaru freed the Sannin after Nagato lost control, while Neji and Nagato’s repulsive forces collided.
• Konan hurried toward Nagato, and Shinnō, Kakuzu, and Hidan reacted to the fallen Six Paths of Pain.

Neji battled Nagato and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in Amegakure, ultimately defeating Nagato with the Seventh Gate and the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion. Konan rushed to Nagato’s side and threatened Neji with a hidden stockpile of six hundred billion Explosive Tags as Nagato lay gravely wounded.

• The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path emerged from the central tower, and Neji’s Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion clashed with it as the Sannin and Akatsuki members watched.
• Neji used the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion to knock the statue down, then pursued Nagato and traded Shinra Tensei and gravitational attacks with him.
• Nagato’s Demonic Statue unleashed the Phantom Dragon Nine Seals, but Neji replenished his chakra with the Amber Purifying Pot, resisted the soul attack, and escaped with the Four Symbols Seal and Seventh Gate.
• Nagato unleashed Super Almighty Push, destroying Amegakure, while Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo shielded Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
• Neji defeated Nagato, who fell severed in half, and Konan tried to stop Neji by threatening to use six hundred billion Explosive Tags.

After Nagato survived his defeat, he joined forces with Neji, who proposed bringing Shimura Danzo down through evidence of his crimes rather than attacking Konoha. Danzo was declared a traitor and driven from the village, and the chapter ended with him considering a letter that invited him to seek refuge in the Land of Rain.

• Katsuyu revived Nagato, who accepted Neji's offer to work together while Konan and Jiraiya watched.
• Obito learned that Nagato had lost and feared Star of the Clouds had turned him against the Akatsuki, so he and Black Zetsu prepared to leave with Hiruko and the others.
• Neji proposed exposing Danzo's crimes, and Jiraiya agreed to help bring records of his wrongdoing to light.
• An anonymous letter detailing Danzo's crimes reached Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, and Jiraiya led Konoha clans in an assault on Root's base.
• Konoha declared Danzo a traitor, and Jiraiya's forces pursued him after he fled the village.
• Danzo received Nagato's letter, written in Hanzo of the Salamander's voice, inviting him to the Land of Rain to join forces against Konoha.

Neji, Nagato, and Konan ambushed Danzo in the Land of Rain and killed him, avenging Yahiko. Afterward, Neji joked with Tsunade and Konan before suggesting Kakashi Hatake as Konoha’s next Hokage.

• Danzo traveled to Amegakure with Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune, hoping to use Hanzo’s power to regain control of Konoha, but Neji, Nagato, and Konan intercepted them.
• Danzo tried to sow distrust between Neji and Nagato, but Nagato attacked him while Neji killed Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune with Paper Shuriken.
• Danzo used Izanagi to survive Nagato’s attacks, but Neji severed his Wood Release right arm and removed the Sharingan embedded in it.
• Neji cast a genjutsu that made Danzo relive the moment Senju Tobirama chose Hiruzen Sarutobi as Hokage, then Neji beheaded Danzo after he awoke from the illusion.
• Nagato declared that he had avenged Yahiko, and Neji, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru departed from Amegakure with their companions.
• Neji teased Tsunade and Konan about finding new husbands, and when Jiraiya asked him to become Fifth Hokage, Neji proposed Kakashi Hatake instead.

Neji welcomed Tsunade back to Kumogakure and pushed ahead with roads and a maritime trade route despite the daimyo’s opposition. He partnered with Mei Terumi, then seized Gato’s businesses in the Land of Waves to secure ships and funding, leaving Mei to question his methods.

• Neji said goodbye to Nagato and Konan, then learned from Mabui that the daimyo had ordered Kumogakure to stop building roads.
• Neji told Mabui to proceed with Mei Terumi’s proposed maritime trade route and explained to Tsunade that growing the profits would bring the ninja to his side.
• Mei Terumi offered Kirigakure’s ancestral Ninja Blades as collateral, and she and Neji agreed to establish the trade route together.
• Neji and Mei traveled to the Land of Waves, where Neji ordered his Anbu to capture Gato and take control of his businesses.
• Uchiha Izumi and the Anbu killed Gato’s two Iwagakure guards, and Neji had Gato dragged away and divided his businesses between Kumogakure and Kirigakure.
• Mei asked whether Neji often seized businesses this way, and Neji offered to take Kirigakure’s share for Kumogakure if she objected.