Recaps

Shinji tested successive Aging Potions on demons while training Shion and pursuing a stronger formula. After the Type Three Potion proved less effective than hoped against Kokushibo, Shinji turned to a Type Four Potion and took Neji to the moon, where Toneri confronted him.

• Kokushibo overwhelmed Sasuke until Haku injected him with the Type Two Aging Potion, and Shinji later sent Haku and Sasuke to test it on Upper Moon Two.
• Upper Moon Two defeated Sasuke, who survived by using Izanagi at the cost of temporarily losing his right eye, while Shinji resolved to improve the potion.
• Tsunade’s squad captured Upper Moon Five, but the Type Two Potion strengthened him during a trial, so Shinji used Izanagi to devise a stronger Type Three formula.
• The Type Three Potion weakened Upper Moon Five in a live trial, and Shinji took Shion to test it on Kokushibo after she demonstrated her sealing technique.
• Shinji injected Kokushibo with the Type Three Potion, but Kokushibo quickly metabolized it and resurrected from hidden flesh, prompting Shinji and Shion to withdraw.
• Shinji began planning a Type Four Potion and arranged another lunar trip so Neji could absorb Chakra from the Giant Tenseigan.
• Shinji and Neji reached the Giant Tenseigan, but Neji’s exoskeleton began absorbing its Chakra, forcing Shinji to seal it as puppets surrounded them.
• Shinji fought off the Tenseigan puppets while Neji escaped, and Otsutsuki Toneri appeared before him.

Shinji reshaped the sentient biological exoskeleton and helped hunt down Upper Moon Two while Sasuke pursued the demon and clashed with Konoha’s leadership. The arc ended with Kakashi restraining Sasuke during a lesson as the village’s elders questioned his identity and Akatsuki’s role.

• Shinji escaped the Giant Tenseigan’s illusion with Neji and Karin, but Neji’s biological exoskeleton later fused him with Kimimaro before they separated again.
• Shinji fused two pairs of pure Byakugan, used the enhanced eyes to subdue the exoskeleton, and named it H as he made it an Akatsuki member.
• Shinji and Yakumo joined Tsunade’s mission to capture Kokushibo, while Sasuke stayed behind and Shinji secretly perfected the Type Four Aging Potion.
• Sasuke defied orders and joined Shinji in the Land of Iron, where Kokushibo fled through a snowstorm as Iwagakure and Kumogakure forces pursued them.
• Shinji injected Kokushibo with the Type Four Aging Potion, and Sasuke wounded the demon before Kokushibo escaped into the blizzard.
• Shinji’s Shadow Clone burned the weakened Kokushibo to ash, then staged a fight that drove Akatsuki’s ‘A’ and ‘E’ away.
• The Fourth Raikage suspected Sasuke was Akatsuki’s ‘E’, and Sasuke returned to Konoha frustrated that Shinji had killed Kokushibo.
• Kakashi fought Sasuke at a training ground and trapped him with wires after Sasuke struck his Lightning Clone, while Konoha’s elders debated whether Sasuke was an impostor.

Shinji awakened Karin’s Rinnegan, took it for himself, and entered the Demon Slayer World with Haku and Karin to investigate the demons and the mysterious man. Haku infiltrated the Demon Slayer Corps, then turned the Pillars selection into a one-man hunt as he pursued both demons and rival swordsmen.

• The Third Hokage accepted Shinji’s account of killing Upper Moon Two and awarded him an S-rank mission credit, while Shinji declined Utatane Koharu’s offer to join ANBU and investigate Sasuke for her.
• Shinji tracked the remaining demons and killed Upper Moon Five before Konoha could extract dangerous information from him, then prepared to awaken Karin’s Rinnegan.
• Shinji channeled Yugito Nii’s, Yakumo’s, Sasuke’s, and finally his own Chakra into Karin until she awakened the Rinnegan, which he later removed and installed in Susanoo.
• Shinji took Haku and Karin through a Space Rift into the Demon Slayer World, where Haku joined Sakonji Urokodaki’s training and Karin investigated hidden demons.
• Haku mastered Water Breathing, became a candidate for Water Hashira, and cut through the required boulder to graduate before traveling to Mt. Fujikasane for the Pillars selection.
• Haku killed more than fifty demons during the selection and defeated Inosuke and four other swordsmen, then began hunting rival candidates and ordering their unconscious competitors carried off the mountain.

Shinji and the others entered the demon realms, defeated the mutated Lantern Bearer Ryuhei Ubuyashiki, and learned that the Overlord of Fear was behind the invasion. Shinji recovered Ryuhei’s records and a device that could lead the Overlord to the Shinobi World, then prepared to leave the Demon Slayer World with his allies.

• Haku became Water Hashira as demon attacks spread, and Shinji discovered that several cities, including Kyoto and Osaka, had gone silent.
• Haku and the others entered the demon-filled cities, where they fought giant creatures and followed tunnels leading toward a cavern with a massive cocoon.
• Shinji and the arriving fighters destroyed the cocoon, freeing Ryuhei Ubuyashiki, who attacked them before Shinji captured him and read his memories.
• Shinji learned that Ryuhei had stolen Muzan Kibutsuji’s power and invaded the Shinobi World to divert the Overlord of Fear, which had targeted the Demon Slayer World.
• The Overlord appeared in Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s form, broke Shion’s seal, and pursued Ryuhei, who revealed the Overlord’s identity before Shinji killed him.
• Shinji searched Ryuhei’s palace and discovered records of plundered worlds, along with the Feathered Serpent Rudder, which could lead the Overlord directly to the Shinobi World.
• Shinji gathered the rudder, Ryuhei’s notebook, and other useful materials, then reunited with his allies as Sasuke challenged Karin to a test of strength.