Recaps

Jiraiya confronted Xianai in the Jashin Temple’s territory, but enemy reinforcements and monstrous summons forced him into a running battle. When the three priests cornered him, Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and prepared to fight them.

• Xianai attacked Jiraiya from the air, and Jiraiya retaliated with a fireball before fleeing when Jugo intervened and more enemy forces approached.
• A giant scorpion and other summoned monsters surrounded Jiraiya, so he summoned Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro to help break through.
• The giant spider exploded into poisonous mist, and Sage Fukasaku revealed he had been poisoned while destroying the scorpion.
• Jugo stopped Gamabunta’s escape with a Chakra projectile, and Xianai and Uzumaki Rii joined him as the [Plague], [War], and [Death] Priests.
• Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima helped Jiraiya enter Sage Mode as Uzumaki Rii declared her intention to take his head for Simu.

Jiraiya and the two sages fought Simu’s three followers, but their unfamiliar abilities left Jiraiya badly injured and Gamabunta forced to retreat. Simu blocked Jiraiya’s final attack, allowing him to escape, and chose not to pursue because he still needed Jiraiya for the coming game.

• Jiraiya attacked Jugo with a barrage of hardened hair needles while Xianai launched Uzumaki Rii at him from the air.
• Uzumaki Rii struck Gamabunta with tremendous force and bound him with sealing tentacles, but Jiraiya cut her down with a Sage Rasengan before she emerged again from a severed tentacle.
• Jugo ambushed Jiraiya and sent him crashing into a small mountain, while Sage Fukasaku used Sage Art: Frog Song Slash to free Gamabunta and himself from Rii’s restraints.
• Jiraiya recovered with a limp shoulder and joined Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima in unleashing Sage Art: Goemon against the three followers.
• Simu blocked the inferno with a vast Iron Sand fortress, and Jiraiya escaped with the two sages while Simu ordered his followers to return.

Jiraiya returned from the Land of Rivers with intelligence about the Jashin Cult and briefed Nara Touya on its forces and abilities. At Mount Myoboku, the Great Toad Sage warned that chaos was coming and that the Son of Destruction would rise as the mastermind behind the Shinobi World overturned it.

• Jiraiya escaped the Divine Kingdom's territory with Sage Shima and secretly had his fractured arm treated at Konoha's base in the Land of Rivers.
• Jiraiya gave Nara Touya intelligence on Tobi, the Apostles, the bishop, and the divine officials, and Nara Touya prepared to share it with Sunagakure.
• Jiraiya traveled to Mount Myoboku after receiving a message from the Great Toad Sage and learned that Sage Fukasaku's viruses had been removed, though he could not fight for some time.
• The Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya that chaos was coming and that the Son of Destruction would rise as the mastermind behind the Shinobi World overturned it.

Danzo was crowned the Fifth Hokage after negotiating aid from the Land of Fire's Daimyo, who became captivated by Arima and Fang Zhu's Quinque. The nobles began building their own Ghoul-hunting and Quinque forces, while a hidden power stirred beneath the capital and Mr. Shenmu's influence over the Daimyo became clear.

• Danzo arrived in the capital and learned that Ghouls had been attacking civilians, while Arima sensed their presence among the crowds.
• Danzo secured funding from the Daimyo by offering Arima and Fang Zhu to help deal with the Ghoul crisis, then was formally crowned Fifth Hokage.
• After Danzo returned to Konoha with the first batch of aid, Arima demonstrated the Quinque's power to the Daimyo and the nobles.
• Fang Zhu explained how Quinque were made and how their users could grow stronger, prompting the Daimyo to establish a research institute and the Investigation Bureau.
• A white-haired girl in a wheelchair awakened in a cavern beneath the capital and vowed to make the world feel her and her brother's pain.
• The Daimyo praised Mr. Shenmu's plan and considered breaking free of Konoha's restraint.

Konoha and Sunagakure prepared a joint assault on the Jashin Cult while their scouts infiltrated its territory. Sasuke and Gaara fought the allied villages’ ninja, and Jugo ordered Gaara to retreat as the enemy advanced.

• Nara Touya briefed the allied Jonin on the Jashin Cult’s forces and proposed steadily reclaiming towns before attacking its headquarters.
• A Konoha reconnaissance team used a Hyuga ninja’s Byakugan to survey a Jashin Cult outpost, but Sasuke discovered them and pursued them.
• Sasuke killed the middle-aged Konoha captain and the Hyuga scout, then asked Xianai to take him to the nearest Konoha ninja.
• Gaara slaughtered Sand Shinobi infiltrators with Iron Sand and said his target was Rasa.
• Jugo spotted enemy forces approaching through a floating eyeball and told Gaara it was time to retreat.

After scouting losses exposed the Jashin Cult’s War Fog and its God Children, Jiraiya and Ebizo agreed to advance cautiously while pursuing Sasuke and Gaara. On the fifth day of the war, Jiraiya disguised himself and confronted Sasuke, who had been hunting Allied Shinobi Forces squads.

• Nara Touya reported that the War Fog disrupted most sensing and that Sasuke and Gaara, both children serving as God Children, had been targeting scouting teams.
• Jiraiya proposed killing the God Children to prevent Jashin’s descent, but Ebizo refused to risk Gaara and Shukaku; Nara Touya redirected them to planning the campaign.
• Jiraiya and Ebizo agreed to concentrate their forces, and the alliance organized into seven divisions to attack the Jashin Cult and guard the borders.
• Three days later, Xianai and Jugo watched the Allied Shinobi Forces attack a stronghold, where exploding corpses killed eight shinobi and injured eleven; Jiraiya ordered squads to search strongholds with clones.
• On the fifth day, Sasuke broke away from a withdrawal warning to attack a nearby Konoha squad, but a disguised Jiraiya caught his wrist and threw him into a tree before revealing himself.

Sasuke fought Jiraiya but was badly injured and nearly killed before Simu intervened and whisked him away. Jiraiya turned to find the battlefield under a storm of explosive-tag kunai.

• Sasuke activated his Cursed Seal, evaded Jiraiya’s attacks, and struck him with a sword after trapping him in a genjutsu.
• Jiraiya escaped the fatal blow with a substitution, seized Sasuke, and smashed him through trees with a punch.
• Jiraiya prepared to kill the incapacitated Sasuke with a Rasengan, but black spears forced him to dodge.
• Simu emerged, stopped Sasuke’s trial, and had a giant white worm swallow them both as Jiraiya tried to intervene.
• Simu warned Jiraiya to look behind him, and Jiraiya saw enormous black shadows raining explosive-tag kunai over the battlefield.

The Jashin Cult used airborne Flying Rays to devastate the Allied Shinobi Forces, then attacked underground to target their Hyuga scouts. The forces adapted with Earth Release defenses and Sunagakure reconnaissance, while Sasuke recovered in the Blood Pool and learned that merging with his inner power could let him defeat Itachi Uchiha.

• Uzumaki Rii and Jugo led a Flying Ray bombardment that killed and wounded many of Jiraiya's Allied Shinobi Forces, until a Konoha ninja sacrificed himself to destroy several Flying Rays and inspire the survivors to raise an Earth Release dome.
• Jiraiya ordered a retreat and reported 290 combat losses, but the Allied Shinobi Forces advanced again after reorganizing and reduced casualties by watching the sky and shielding themselves with Earth Release.
• On the eighteenth day of the war, centipede-like monsters attacked from underground and killed eleven Hyuga Clan scouts before Earth Release users drove them back.
• Ebizo proposed that Sunagakure ninja use desert creatures for reconnaissance in the fog, and Jiraiya accepted the plan.
• Sasuke emerged from the Blood Pool, and Simu told him that merging with the power inside him would eventually give him the means to defeat Itachi Uchiha and transform him into an Apostle.

Sunagakure helped Jiraiya's forces advance through the War Fog, but their capture of River Willow ended in a massacre when the town's followers transformed into monsters and attacked. Jiraiya's forces killed them all, leaving him to wonder who the real monsters were.

• Ebizo ordered Sunagakure to support the sensory mission, and Sand Shinobi used desert creatures to scout through the War Fog and capture River Willow.
• Jiraiya promised the town's followers they would be spared if they left the Jashin Cult, but they defended Jashin and rejected his offer.
• Jiraiya summoned Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima, whose Senjutsu revealed that the followers' supposed food was rotten scraps and insects.
• The followers admitted they knew the truth but needed hope and food to survive, then transformed into monsters and charged the Allied Shinobi Forces.
• Baki, Ebizo, and Jiraiya fought back, and Jiraiya's Sage Art: Goemon suppressed the monster army, but all of River Willow's residents died.
• Jiraiya saw smiles on the followers' corpses and wondered who had truly been the monster.

After the Allied Shinobi Forces advanced to the Jashin Cult’s capital, Simu explained that the cult’s defeat would provoke a struggle among the great nations and lead to the Fourth Shinobi World War. Jiraiya launched the decisive assault, and as the cultists transformed into monsters, Kakashi faced Jugo, the War Priest.

• Baki blamed Jiraiya for the Sand Shinobi casualties, and Jiraiya yielded command to Ebizo.
• Under Ebizo’s leadership, the Allied Shinobi Forces captured four more towns and reached the Jashin Cult’s capital on the thirty-fifth day of the war.
• Simu explained to Sasuke and Gaara that either the Jashin Cult’s victory or its defeat would draw the great nations into conflict and bring about the Fourth Shinobi World War.
• Jiraiya summoned the three toad brothers and led the assault on the capital, while the Allied Shinobi Forces breached the walls and resisted the cult’s Flying Rays.
• Tens of thousands of cultists transformed into monsters and attacked, so Kakashi and Might Guy fought to protect the Allied Shinobi Forces.
• Kakashi killed a powerful monster, then evaded Jugo’s Chakra Cannon and prepared to fight the War Priest.

Kakashi and Might Guy fought Jugo and Uzumaki Rii, while a bug gave Jugo a Tailed Beast-like cloak before Guy's attack seemingly defeated them. The Allied Shinobi Forces then engaged Simu’s forces, and Jiraiya confronted Simu as the battle began in earnest.

• Kakashi severed Jugo’s arm, but Jugo regenerated it and evolved while fighting back with natural energy.
• A white bug infused Jugo with red chakra, and Might Guy used the Sixth Gate to strike him down alongside Uzumaki Rii, leaving two charred bodies behind.
• Two powerful enemies arrived on the battlefield, and Nara Touya directed the Allied Shinobi Forces to counter the poisonous fog, meat mountain, and giant eye.
• Jiraiya accused Simu of turning civilians into war monsters, but Simu blamed the great nations’ treatment of them and left Jiraiya speechless.
• Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and attacked Simu with the three brothers of Mount Myoboku as Simu unleashed black iron sand, while Ebizo sent puppets toward the giant eye.

The Apostle of Fear’s giant Sharingan incapacitated much of the Allied Shinobi Forces until Yamanaka Hexi sacrificed himself to disrupt its control. Masked Simu then battled Ebizo, who ultimately trapped Simu’s Susanoo in a pyramid with the Great Burial Seal.

• Masked Simu used the Apostle of Fear’s giant Sharingan to cast Genjutsu over the battlefield, leaving many shinobi vulnerable to the monsters.
• Yamanaka Hexi used the Mind Body Switch Technique against the giant eye and died, but his brief interference dispelled the Genjutsu.
• Ebizo attacked Simu with puppets and traps, but Simu’s Susanoo resisted his attacks and crushed two of his prized puppets.
• Simu mentioned Sasori, prompting Ebizo to ask where his former relative was, but Simu refused to disclose his location.
• Ebizo used cables, explosive kunai, quicksand, and sealing scripts to trap Simu’s Susanoo in a pyramid with the Great Burial Seal.

Might Guy and Kakashi helped turn the battle against the Jashin Cult, but Simu defeated Jiraiya’s toad summons before Jiraiya finally struck him down. Simu sealed himself away after revealing the Jashin Temple’s supposed treasure, and Rasa’s attack on Konoha’s forces left the alliance in ruins.

• Might Guy used Daytime Tiger to blast the Apostle of Fear away from Simu’s seal, while Kakashi caught Guy after his strength gave out.
• Jiraiya fought Simu with Sage Art: Goemon and a Massive Rasengan, but Simu used Hyuga techniques and Iron Sand to batter the toad summons.
• Jiraiya and the sages used Toad Chant to freeze Simu, allowing Jiraiya to hit him with a Rasengan and leave him near death.
• Simu told Jiraiya that the Jashin Cult’s defeat did not mean Konoha had won, then claimed the Jashin Temple held everything needed to rule the Shinobi World.
• Simu sealed himself away in a sphere of Iron Sand and curse markings, prompting Jiraiya to worry that Konoha and Sand Village would stop cooperating.
• Rasa appeared and unleashed Gold Dust pellets that attacked Jashin Cult monsters and Konoha ninjas alike.

Rasa and the Sand Shinobi betrayed Konoha on the battlefield to seize the Jashin Cult’s spoils, forcing Jiraiya to evacuate a small group of survivors. Jiraiya collapsed after confronting the cycle of hatred, while Rasa entered the Shrine and fixed his attention on the Blood Pool.

• Rasa attacked the battlefield with Gold Dust, and Jiraiya realized the Sand Shinobi had planned to betray Konoha.
• Sage Shima and Fukasaku persuaded Jiraiya to survive for Konoha, and he escaped with them inside a frog.
• Ebizo attacked Kakashi and Might Guy with puppets as the Sand Shinobi overwhelmed Konoha’s forces.
• A frog swallowed Kakashi and Might Guy and carried them to Jiraiya, who told the gathered Jonin that the Sand Shinobi had betrayed Konoha and that they were fleeing toward Mount Myoboku.
• Jiraiya apologized to the survivors and urged them to preserve their strength, then collapsed as he contemplated the growing hatred between Konoha and Sunagakure.
• Rasa and Ebizo entered the Jashin Cult’s Shrine to claim its treasures, and Rasa focused on the Blood Pool.

Rasa discovered that the Blood Pool could greatly increase a ninja’s power, while Simu revealed that he had manipulated Sand Village into preparing for war. As the great nations moved against the Land of Fire, Tsunade operated on Jiraiya, but Danzo learned that the Cloud Shinobi had already entered the Land of Fire.

• Rasa ordered Green Scorpion into the Blood Pool, where curse markings entered his body and tripled his Chakra.
• Rasa classified the Blood Pool as an S-rank Sand Village secret, while Simu and Nagato watched from outside the shrine and Simu revealed that he had used Izanagi to fake his sealing.
• Simu planned to use the Blood Pool to strengthen Sand Village and provoke war; Sand Village then occupied the Land of Rivers as Kumogakure and Iwagakure advanced into neighboring small countries.
• Jiraiya arrived in Konoha critically ill, and Tsunade overcame her hemophobia to operate on him successfully before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Danzo learned that Konoha’s forces had suffered a crushing defeat at the border and that the Fourth Raikage Ai had led the Cloud Shinobi into the Land of Fire.

The Fourth Raikage Ai led a Cloud Shinobi assault on Konoha’s border defenses, where he faced Shimura Danzō and the Wood Release he had mastered. Their first clash ended with Ai and Danzō’s giant Wood Human trading powerful blows, leaving both sides ready to continue fighting.

• Ai ordered five thousand Cloud Shinobi to attack the Land of Fire, and he raced ahead to break through Konoha’s defenses at Rido.
• Ai destroyed the border wall and defeated the Konoha shinobi who ambushed him as Cloud Shinobi poured through the breach.
• Mabui caught up with Ai and warned him against recklessly leading the attack, but Ai sensed Danzō’s arrival.
• Danzō used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to bind and crush Cloud Shinobi inside the town.
• Ai struck Danzō, but the body turned out to be a wooden substitute, and Danzō revealed a giant Wood Human.
• Ai activated his Strongest Lightning Release Armor and punched the Wood Human, whose returning fist left Ai’s arm numb.

Danzo fought Ai to a draw, while Konoha prepared for a worsening three-front war. Pain assigned Akatsuki teams to capture the Tailed Beasts, and Simu secured the mission to go to Kirigakure with Hidan.

• Danzo used Wood Release against Ai, but Ai's speed kept the two Kage-level fighters locked in a stalemate until Konoha reinforcements arrived and Ai withdrew.
• Jiraiya learned of Danzo's strength in Konoha Hospital, while Tsunade said she would overcome her hemophobia and go to the front; she refused to let the still-injured Jiraiya leave.
• Pain announced that the Fourth Shinobi World War had begun and ordered Akatsuki to seize the Tailed Beasts while the nations were at war.
• Pain first assigned Itachi and Biwa Jūzō to target Kirigakure, but Simu asked to go there with Hidan instead, and Pain approved.
• Pain assigned Itachi and Biwa Jūzō to target the Two-Tails, Sasori and Orochimaru to target the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, and reserved the Nine-Tails for himself.

Simu and Hidan traveled toward the Land of Water, where Hidan slaughtered a gang of boatmen and rogue ninja who tried to rob them. Their journey ended with Zabuza Momochi confronting them, and Simu declared that they intended to kill the Mizukage.

• Simu tricked Hidan into eating a foul-tasting worm as they crossed the Land of Waves.
• Simu and Hidan boarded a boat whose crew poisoned their tea and tried to rob them at sea.
• Hidan killed the boatmen and their leader, Hido, after revealing his devotion to Jashin.
• Simu identified the last surviving boatman as Zabuza Momochi, who asked why they were heading to the Land of Water.
• Simu told Zabuza that they intended to kill the Mizukage.

Simu and Hidan confronted Zabuza and tested whether he would join their goal of killing the Mizukage and ending the Blood Mist Policy. Zabuza’s Hidden Mist was countered by their implanted Byakugan, and the chapter ended with Hidan activating a Tailed Beast transformation to fight him.

• Simu told Zabuza that he intended to kill the Mizukage, and Zabuza attacked him alongside Hidan before Simu blocked both strikes with his crimson armor.
• Zabuza covered the ship in Hidden Mist and stabbed Hidan, but Hidan bound him with spider silk and cut down a Water Clone.
• Simu used his Byakugan to track Zabuza through the mist, countered his water techniques, and blocked his blade attack.
• Hidan revealed his own Byakugan and fought Zabuza through the mist, gradually gaining the upper hand with his heavy scythe and rapid healing.
• Hidan ate a red bug and unleashed dark-red Tailed Beast Chakra, shocking Zabuza as he prepared to test Hidan’s power.

Hidan defeated Zabuza with Tailed Beast Chakra and his Jashin ritual, but Simu intervened before Hidan could kill him. Simu offered Zabuza a path to freedom from the Bloody Mist, and Zabuza accepted as Simu awakened his soul and transformed his body.

• Hidan overwhelmed Zabuza with Tailed Beast Chakra, wounded him in a mutual strike, and used his Jashin ritual to inflict matching injuries on Zabuza.
• Simu stopped Hidan from killing Zabuza, then beheaded Hidan to prove that Hidan depended on the Byakugan to locate attacks in the mist.
• Simu healed Zabuza and explained that lineage and genes shaped the body, which bound the soul.
• Simu revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, Magnet Release, and Tailed Beast Chakra, convincing Zabuza that transcending the body's limits could bring freedom.
• Zabuza accepted Simu's offer, and Simu placed his hand on Zabuza's head as power awakened his soul and changed his body.

Yagura ordered the Kaguya Clan exterminated, while Obito planned to recruit or kill Simu. Simu reached the Kaguya settlement with Zabuza and Hidan as Kirigakure forces attacked, and he sent Zabuza to protect Ringo Ameyuri.

• Yagura ordered Fuguki Suikazan and Ringo Ameyuri to destroy the Kaguya Clan after ANBU reported they were preparing a rebellion.
• Obito dismissed Black Zetsu's warning and decided to recruit Simu in Madara Uchiha's name or kill him if he refused.
• Ringo Ameyuri challenged the order to attack the Kaguya Clan, but Yagura pressured her into obeying and Fuguki threatened her.
• Three days later, Zabuza brought Simu and Hidan to the Kaguya settlement and revealed Yagura had ordered him to help eliminate the clan and Ameyuri if she hesitated.
• Kirigakure's forces and the Kaguya Clan clashed, and Simu told Zabuza to keep Ringo Ameyuri alive.

Kirigakure’s campaign against the Kaguya Clan turned into a battle among the Mist shinobi when Ringo Ameyuri protected a wounded white-haired Kaguya child and challenged Fuguki Suikazan. Zabuza joined Fuguki against her, and Fuguki appeared poised to kill her after blocking her surprise strike.

• Kirigakure’s Water Release assault failed to stop the Kaguya clansmen, who broke through the defenses and killed Mist shinobi with their bone techniques.
• Fuguki Suikazan killed a Kaguya clansman with Samehada, while Ringo Ameyuri used Thunder Sword: Kiba to disable her opponents without killing them.
• Fuguki Suikazan attacked the white-haired Kaguya child, drained his Chakra with Samehada, and wounded him, but Ringo Ameyuri intervened to protect him.
• Ringo Ameyuri questioned the Mizukage’s orders and the Bloody Mist Policy, so Fuguki Suikazan threatened her; Zabuza then arrived and attacked her.
• Ringo Ameyuri fought Fuguki Suikazan with Lightning Release, but he blocked her attempt to stab his throat and swung Samehada at her.

Zabuza defeated Fuguki Suikazan with borrowed Tailed Beast Chakra, and Simu used Genjutsu to bring Fuguki and Ringo Ameyuri into his plans. After arranging a covert base near the Land of Water border, Simu learned the white-haired boy’s name: Kimimaro.

• Zabuza saved Ringo Ameyuri from Fuguki Suikazan, then challenged Fuguki and unleashed Tailed Beast Chakra.
• Samehada betrayed Fuguki and went to Zabuza, forcing Fuguki to surrender and offer to spy on Yagura.
• Simu arrived with Hidan and the white-haired boy, used Genjutsu to control Fuguki, and took possession of Samehada.
• Simu invited Ringo Ameyuri to join his cause, and she agreed to help locate the Six-Tails.
• Zabuza and Fuguki reported Ringo’s supposed death and the Kaguya Clan’s destruction, while Simu established a base near the Land of Water border.
• Simu asked the white-haired boy his name, and the boy answered that he was Kimimaro.

Yagura prepared a new purge of Kirigakure while Mei Terumi, Hozuki Mangetsu, and Ao sought Elder Genji’s help to use the Six-Tails against him. Simu prepared to capture the Six-Tails, and Zabuza secretly contacted him from his post guarding Utakata before sensing danger.

• Fuguki Suikazan reported Ringo Ameyuri’s death and the red-cloud-cloaked men to Yagura, who ordered him to compile a list of opponents to the Bloody Mist Policy and assigned Zabuza to watch the Six-Tails.
• Obito and Black Zetsu decided they would use the Six-Tails to draw out Simu and Hidan, since their tracking spores kept disappearing from Simu and Hidan.
• Mei Terumi, Hozuki Mangetsu, and Ao planned to use the Six-Tails against Yagura, and Hozuki Mangetsu persuaded Elder Genji to help them find Utakata.
• Simu analyzed the Kaguya Clan’s hereditary illness and Kimimaro’s unusually powerful but damaging Kekkei Genkai, then left with Hidan to capture the Six-Tails.
• Zabuza began guarding Utakata’s lakeside cabin, secretly released Black Beetles to alert Simu, and discovered that his squadmates had vanished.

Mei Terumi, Ao, and Hozuki Mangetsu attacked the wooden house where Yagura had imprisoned Utakata, while Zabuza let them pass without joining their rebellion. They freed the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, but Fuguki Suikazan and Kisame Hoshigaki arrived to stop them, leaving Mei fighting Fuguki as the others faced the reinforcements.

• Mei Terumi attacked Zabuza with Lava Release, but he stepped aside, pointed out where Utakata was held, and promised not to expose the operation.
• Mei, Ao, and Hozuki Mangetsu fought through the ANBU guarding the wooden house, defeating Blood Mist loyalists with their Kekkei Genkai and Ninja Blade techniques.
• Mei and Mangetsu reached Utakata and told him that Elder Genji had sent them to rescue him.
• Fuguki Suikazan and Kisame Hoshigaki arrived, but Utakata used his Bubble Technique to blast the reinforcements and escape the damaged house in a bubble.
• Mei held Fuguki back while Mangetsu and Utakata moved to leave, and Fuguki used Samehada to absorb the Chakra from Mei's Water Dragon Bullet Technique.