Chapter Summaries

After securing control of the Land of Snow, Xing Ran turned his attention to developing loyal, disposable subordinates who could help him withstand future attacks from the Akatsuki Organization. He began researching ways to improve his clone technology, while a scene shift introduced a mysterious forest of immense stone pillars.

• Xing Ran ordered Bing Ya to move the king to the city defense camp and arrange the royal palace's reconstruction, then told Bing Ya to call him Bing.
• Xing Ran returned to his secret base in the Land of Marshes and postponed enhancing his Magnet Release clone so he could focus on creating a mercenary organization.
• Xing Ran considered activating his stored Pakura clones but concluded their limited lifespans and lack of Scorch Release techniques made them unsuitable combat subordinates.
• Xing Ran drafted research plans to address clones' life force, adaptation, and replacement problems.
• As affairs in the Land of Snow settled and Zetsu stopped appearing, Xing Ran used the temporary lull to pursue his plan to build a powerful force.
• The scene shifted to a dense forest where enormous stone pillars rose above the surrounding trees.

Xing Ran began the Revival Project, using summoned souls and clone bodies to test a method of bringing the dead back with their memories. After successfully reviving Kazahana Dōtō in a spare clone, he prepared to refine the process further.

• Kakashi and Tenzo completed an Anbu mission in the Land of Fire, where Kakashi killed a fleeing Mist Ninja with his Lightning Blade.
• Tenzo asked when their Anbu team would fill its vacant spot, and Kakashi said there was no rush.
• Xing Ran examined Pakura during an experiment and considered raising the next manifestation ratio to eighty percent.
• Xing Ran summoned Kazahana Dōtō's soul after killing him, then placed it into an inactive Dotō clone body.
• Dotō revived with his consciousness and memories intact and immediately tried to fight Xing Ran again.

Xing Ran tested his Spiritualization Reincarnation method on clones, discovering that the revival drained bodies and required compatible vessels. His attempts to revive Pakura left her severely impaired and confused, while a separate forest scene ended with an unidentified figure crawling through the ruins of an explosion.

• Xing Ran observed Dotō's revived clone collapse and concluded that the method rapidly consumed its life force.
• Xing Ran tested Dotō's soul in other clones and inferred that only clones made from his own genes could serve as vessels for revival.
• Xing Ran adjusted the curse mark on Pakura Clone No. 1 to admit half her soul, but the experiment left her almost vegetative.
• Xing Ran tested further Pakura clones with larger portions of her soul and revived Pakura Clone No. 4 with an 80% reception limit.
• Pakura Clone No. 4 awoke, ranted about Mist Ninja, and struggled to remember her Scorch Release technique.
• Explosions devastated a forest, and an unidentified long-haired figure crawled through the ruins after the smoke cleared.

Orochimaru attacked Deva Path Pain to seize the Rinnegan, but Pain repelled him and offered him a place in the Akatsuki Organization, which Orochimaru accepted. In Konoha, Might Guy decided to find out why Kakashi had become so withdrawn and went to see Hiruzen Sarutobi.

• Konan dismissed Orochimaru after finding him sprawled among the ruins, but Orochimaru revealed a second body and lunged at Deva Path Pain for the Rinnegan.
• Deva Path Pain used Shinra Tensei to blast Orochimaru away and devastate the surrounding forest.
• Deva Path Pain invited Orochimaru to join the Akatsuki Organization, and Orochimaru accepted.
• In Konoha, Kakashi brushed off Might Guy, Asuma, and Kurenai when they invited him to the dango shop.
• Might Guy decided to help his withdrawn rival and went to Hiruzen Sarutobi's office.

Guy tried to join the Anbu to support Kakashi, but Hiruzen rejected him and Danzo told him he lacked darkness. Hiruzen assigned a young Danzo-recommended newcomer to Kakashi’s Team 6, while Xing Ran’s latest Pakura clone appeared awake and wary after a 95% spiritualization experiment.

• Guy begged Hiruzen to let him join the Anbu, but Hiruzen refused because Guy was not suited for it.
• Guy asked Danzo to recruit him into Root, and Danzo told him he lacked darkness.
• Hiruzen informed Kakashi that a young ninja recommended by Danzo would join Team 6.
• Xing Ran performed a 95% spiritualization reincarnation experiment on Pakura Clone Number Five and found her apparently unconscious for longer than usual.
• Xing Ran detected that Pakura was awake and refining Chakra, then confronted her and said he had resurrected her.

Xing Ran resurrected Pakura and explained that Sunagakure’s leaders had traded her life for political reasons, while admitting he wanted her strength for his faction. Pakura refused to work for him and asked to leave so she could spend her remaining year and a half living freely.

• Xing Ran told Pakura that her resurrection was incomplete and she had at most a year and a half left to live.
• Pakura recalled being ambushed by Mist Ninja and learned from Xing Ran that Sunagakure’s leaders had exchanged her life in a deal with Kirigakure.
• Pakura suspected Xing Ran had resurrected her to use her against Sunagakure, but he said he held no grudge against the village.
• Xing Ran introduced himself as a member of Konoha’s Yamanaka Clan and openly said he wanted Pakura to work for his faction.
• Pakura thanked Xing Ran for giving her another chance at life, refused to work for him, and asked to leave so she could live freely.

Xing Ran offered Pakura a century of life in exchange for ten years of service after she refused to surrender her freedom for immortality. Meanwhile, Uchiha Itachi joined Anbu Team 6 and calmly endured his new teammates’ hazing.

• Pakura prepared to fight or leave, but Xing Ran explained that her revived body and soul were bound by safeguards he controlled.
• Xing Ran offered Pakura longer-lasting bodies and potentially endless life, but she refused to trade her freedom for survival.
• Xing Ran offered Pakura a hundred years of life if she worked for him for ten years.
• Uchiha Itachi collected his equipment and reported to Anbu Team 6, where Tenzo welcomed him and showed him to his locker.
• Team 6 members threw shuriken around Itachi to test him, but he stayed calm and avoided being rattled.

Itachi joined Team 6 and secretly positioned himself between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan while pursuing his own plans. Meanwhile, the Third Kazekage and Pakura argued over codenames and armor testing at Xing Ran’s secret base.

• Kakashi stopped Team 6 from challenging Itachi and introduced him to the Anbu’s rules and structure.
• Fugaku told Itachi to use his Anbu position to gather information for the Uchiha Clan, unaware that Itachi had already reported to Danzo.
• Danzo praised Fugaku and planned to advance Itachi, believing he had secured a spy within the Uchiha Clan, while Itachi kept his own motives hidden.
• At the Land of Snow base, the Third Kazekage complained about choosing a codename, and Pakura refused to suggest one for him.
• Bai interrupted the Third Kazekage and Pakura as they prepared to fight, reminding them that they had come to test their new armor.

Xing Ran compared the effects of resurrecting people with different soul-descent rates and considered testing a 93% rate on carefully chosen candidates. He then watched Pakura and the Third Kazekage evaluate their new combat suits while Bai prepared to record their movement tests.

• Xing Ran concluded that 95% soul descent preserved personalities better than 90%, though it also made resurrected people more likely to resist control.
• Xing Ran ruled out candidates such as Sasori and Dan Katō because their unusual traits or abilities could create risks.
• The Third Kazekage dismissed his combat suit, while Pakura praised its armor, Chakra barrier, and flight capability.
• Bai prepared a writing board and asked Pakura and the Third Kazekage to test their movements in the suits.

Xing Ran prepared the Third Kazekage and Pakura to defend the Land of Snow against an Akatsuki attack. As Orochimaru and a Paper Release ninja confronted them outside the city, Xing Ran assigned the two subordinates their opponents and identified himself as the leader.

• Xing Ran arrived at the Land of Snow base and ordered the Third Kazekage and Pakura to prepare for battle.
• Xing Ran led his masked subordinates to the city walls, where they spotted Akatsuki members approaching the royal capital.
• Xing Ran recognized Orochimaru and a Paper Release ninja, then assigned Pakura to fight Orochimaru and the Third Kazekage to face the other enemy.
• Orochimaru demanded to speak with the Ice Release leader, and Xing Ran identified himself.

Orochimaru and Konan attacked Xing Ran and his allies, but the Third Kazekage and Pakura revealed their abilities and moved to fight back. Pakura charged Konan in the air, where their angel-and-demon showdown began with Konan’s Paper Rain meeting Pakura’s Flame Ball.

• Orochimaru demanded Sasori’s human puppet and the Land of Snow’s submission, then launched a Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique at Xing Ran’s group.
• The Third Kazekage used Magnet Release: Sand Shigure to knock down Orochimaru’s shuriken and pierce Orochimaru and Konan, but both recovered from their ruined bodies.
• Pakura mocked the Third Kazekage and stopped him from revealing his boastful title, identifying him as Magnet and herself as Scorch.
• Pakura activated her Chakra Armor wings and flew toward Konan, who unfolded paper wings and rose into the sky.
• Konan unleashed Paper Rain as Pakura formed four orbiting Flame Balls and combined them into a flaming vortex that collided with the paper sheets.

Konan used explosive-tag paper spears to destroy Pakura’s Chakra Armor and knock her from the sky, but Pakura survived and retaliated with Scorch Release. The chapter ended with Konan apparently reduced to a desiccated corpse as the Third Kazekage “Magnet” urged her to surrender, while Xing Ran frowned from the city wall.

• Pakura’s Scorch Release overwhelmed Konan’s paper defenses, but Xing Ran spotted explosive tags concealed inside Konan’s latest paper spears.
• Two explosive paper spears blasted open Pakura’s flaming vortex, and a third struck her, with her Chakra Armor’s barrier shielding her from the worst of the explosion.
• Konan attacked Pakura as she fell, but Pakura vanished in a substitution and reappeared near the Third Kazekage “Magnet,” her Chakra Armor badly damaged.
• Pakura enlarged her Scorch Release Flame Balls and sent them toward Konan, who made no effort to dodge or defend herself.
• The Third Kazekage “Magnet” laughed as Konan’s apparently mummified body fell into the snow, while Xing Ran frowned from the city wall.

Xing Ran realized Orochimaru had noticed the fighters’ Bloodline Abilities and that the supposed Konan was a decoy, while Pakura and the Third Kazekage "Magnet" faced Orochimaru. Orochimaru’s attempted summoning produced only a frozen snake, and "Magnet" accidentally revealed his identity, though Orochimaru grew suspicious that the admission was a deliberate trick.

• Xing Ran realized the Konan Pakura had killed was a male corpse, and he inferred that Orochimaru had been checking whether Chakra Armor could combine different Bloodline Release Ninjutsu.
• Orochimaru formed hand seals to summon reinforcements, but a small snake appeared and quickly froze before vanishing.
• The Third Kazekage "Magnet" mocked Orochimaru and admitted he was the missing Third Kazekage when Orochimaru asked.
• Pakura interrupted "Magnet" after his admission, and Orochimaru suspected the pair were deliberately misleading him about their identities.
• The Third Kazekage "Magnet" realized too late that Xing Ran had ordered him to keep his identity secret.

Orochimaru escaped after poisoning “Magnet,” leaving Xing Ran to rescue him and discover that he needed a new body. Later, Xing Ran endured an awkward blind date in Konoha and planned to slip away as he and his match neared the village gates.

• The Third Kazekage attacked Orochimaru with an iron sand hand, but Orochimaru allowed himself to be captured to confirm whether “Magnet” was a living person.
• Orochimaru escaped by leaving behind a poison-filled air sac, and the poison incapacitated “Magnet” despite Pakura’s warning.
• Xing Ran checked for Zetsu, carried “Magnet” back to the Land of Marshes base, and treated him, but the poison left his body in poor condition.
• Xing Ran concluded that Orochimaru had used a snake and Reverse Summoning to escape after confirming “Magnet” was alive.
• In Konoha, Xing Ran walked with the shy granddaughter of an Aburame elder on a blind date while watching Asuma and Kurenai act affectionately.
• As Xing Ran planned to leave the date near Konoha’s gates, a hearty voice called out behind him.

Xing Ran recognized that Might Guy’s mission to the Land of Forests was a suspected trap and decided to implicate Akatsuki by disguising himself in their robes. Meanwhile, Akatsuki began extracting Three-Tails Isobu from Yagura, as Obito explained why he was sealing the beast early.

• Xing Ran recognized Guy’s mission as the operation involving the Bannou-shu and used his vision to spot Kakashi and Itachi secretly following the team.
• Kakashi told Itachi that Guy’s squad did not know the mission’s true purpose, and the two Anbu followed them out of the village.
• Xing Ran left his companion and headed for the Land of Snow Textile Factory to make Black Robes with Red Clouds and frame Akatsuki for the Bannou-shu affair.
• Pain gathered Akatsuki to extract Three-Tails Isobu from Fourth Mizukage Yagura.
• Konan questioned Tobi about sealing Isobu so early, and Obito said he wanted to secure the beast before other matters distracted him.

Obito explained why the Akatsuki Organization planned to seal the Three-Tails from Yagura, while Orochimaru challenged Pain over the organization’s failed mission and priorities. The chapter ended with Orochimaru questioning whether the suspected Third Kazekage was the reason for targeting the Land of Snow.

• Obito told Konan that Kirigakure planned to dispel Yagura’s genjutsu, so the organization intended to seal the Three-Tails before it died and revived.
• Orochimaru asked whether Obito could control the Third Hokage, hoping to use the Hokage’s authority to lure Itachi into a trap.
• Pain challenged Orochimaru for abandoning the mission, and Orochimaru blamed his disposable partner and the enemy’s Kage-level fighters.
• Orochimaru argued that attacking the Land of Snow wasted the organization’s limited resources and suggested controlling a daimyo instead.
• Konan told Orochimaru to obey orders, but he pressed Pain about whether the suspected Third Kazekage was the real target.

Xing Ran interrupted a battle between Konoha and the Bannou-shu, abandoning his plan to frame Akatsuki so he could test whether the Bannou-shu’s life force could extend his dying clone’s lifespan. As Kakashi rushed to confront him, Itachi stayed behind to protect Kosuke and the others.

• Konan explained that the Third Kazekage had been killed by Sasori and declined to recruit the mysterious person Orochimaru had asked about.
• Obito proposed recruiting a Mist swordsman nicknamed the Tailed Beast Without Tails, then said he could not control the Third Hokage with genjutsu.
• Xing Ran watched Konoha’s Kakashi, Itachi, and Might Guy defeat the Bannou-shu, then filled the canyon with fog.
• Xing Ran decided to save the surviving Bannou-shu and use their life force to prolong Magnet Release Unit 01’s remaining lifespan.
• Itachi spotted Xing Ran moving the surviving Bannou-shu, and Kakashi charged into the fog to confront him.

Xing Ran rescued two Bannou-shu members while fighting Kakashi and Itachi, then let them see his disguised Rinnegan before escaping. Back in Konoha, the reports led Hiruzen Sarutobi to suspect the mysterious man was connected to an organization Jiraiya had told him about.

• Might Guy withdrew with his squad while Itachi covered their retreat, and Xing Ran rescued two injured Bannou-shu members from the mist.
• Kakashi confronted Xing Ran, who caught Kakashi’s Lightning Blade arm and revealed his pierced face and rippling purple eyes.
• Itachi attacked with shuriken to free Kakashi, and Xing Ran escaped with the surviving Bannou-shu members as Kakashi and Itachi withdrew.
• Kakashi and Itachi reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who connected the suspected Black Robes with Red Clouds to an organization Jiraiya had described.

Kakashi and Itachi reported encountering a man with the Rinnegan to the Third Hokage, while Itachi joined Fugaku’s clan meeting and learned of the Mangekyō Sharingan. In the Land of Snow, Xing Ran began an experiment using a captured Bannou-shu member and the Third Kazekage, Magnet.

• Kakashi and Itachi told the Third Hokage and Jiraiya that the orange-haired man they fought had purple, ringed eyes, which Jiraiya identified as the Rinnegan.
• Itachi picked up Sasuke from the Ninja Academy, and the brothers shared a warm moment before night fell.
• Fugaku asked Itachi to report at the Uchiha clan meeting, and Itachi urged the clan to consider its position amid divisions among Konoha’s leaders.
• Itachi’s Sharingan revealed the stone tablet’s writing about the Mangekyō Sharingan, and he memorized what he saw.
• Xing Ran imprisoned and treated five captured Bannou-shu members in the Land of Snow, then chose the most severely injured as material for an experiment.
• Xing Ran used the Spirit Transformation Technique to enter the injured captive’s body beside Magnet, the Third Kazekage.

After months without trouble in the Land of Snow, Xing Ran restored Magnet’s vitality and tested how his cells responded. In Konoha, Itachi began surveillance duty on the Uchiha district and watched his younger brother, while Kirigakure prepared to bury the Fourth Mizukage and appoint the Fifth.

• Xing Ran used his Spirit Transformation Technique to flood Magnet with life-giving Chakra, then took him to the laboratory to examine the effect on his cells.
• Months passed without the Akatsuki returning to the Land of Snow, while Itachi’s circumstances in Konoha grew darker.
• Kakashi explained that Konoha had monitored the Uchiha district since the Nine-Tails incident and brought Itachi to relieve the Anbu surveillance shift.
• An Anbu member told Itachi that Danzo’s Root was also watching the Uchiha, but Itachi calmly accepted his assignment.
• Kakashi offered to switch shifts, but Itachi declined and watched his little brother through a telescope.
• Kirigakure prepared to bury the Fourth Mizukage as the Fifth Mizukage was set to take office.