Chapter Summaries

After Hiruzen Sarutobi died, Danzo took up the mantle of Fifth Hokage while Shikaku investigated whether he had secretly stolen Sharingan. Tsunade returned to a devastated Konoha, learned her mentor was dead, and prepared to join Jiraiya in confronting the Jashin Cult.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi named Danzo as his successor, then died from his injuries, and Danzo declared himself the Fifth Hokage.
• Shikaku had a Hyuga Clan ninja inspect Danzo with the Byakugan, confirming that Danzo had ordinary Sharingan on his arm but no sign of Shisui's green Chakra.
• Danzo rallied Konoha's ninjas by declaring that they would strike the Jashin Cult and avenge Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• Tsunade won a hundred million ryo at a casino before ANBU delivered an emergency message about Konoha's crisis.
• Tsunade used Katsuyu's Reverse Summoning Technique to return to Konoha and saw the destruction around the village.
• Jiraiya told Tsunade that Hiruzen Sarutobi had died and that they needed to support the fight against the remaining Jashin Cult member at the Uchiha Clan Grounds.

Sasuke’s assault on Itachi revealed the power and hatred of the Uchiha souls bound within him, while a fleeting, godlike aura emerged from inside Sasuke and then vanished. Simu rescued Sasuke as Jiraiya and Tsunade arrived to confront him.

• Sasuke battered Itachi’s Susanoo with lightning attacks, while Itachi realized Sasuke had become a vessel for the Uchiha Clan’s hatred and tried to stop him from falling under the Jashin Cult’s influence.
• Itachi covered his Susanoo with Amaterasu, then used Tsukuyomi on Sasuke, causing the bound souls in Sasuke to erupt and torment him.
• A cold aura from within Sasuke silenced Itachi and the souls, and Sasuke’s wings and altered body receded into a single Cursed Seal before he collapsed.
• Simu sensed the aura in Sasuke, while Obito recognized a resemblance to Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu reacted with fear.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade arrived with Gamabunta and attacked; Obito escaped with Itachi, while Simu rescued Sasuke and retreated from Tsunade’s punch.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade confronted Simu, blaming the Jashin Cult for plotting something terrible.

Simu escaped Konoha after battling Jiraiya and Tsunade, using Iron Sand and a false death to evade Jiraiya’s Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. As Danzo organized Konoha’s response, Simu flew toward a hideout in the Land of Fire with Sasuke, nearly out of Chakra.

• Tsunade and Jiraiya attacked Simu, but he evaded them and countered with iron feathers before retreating into the air.
• Tsunade released the Yin Seal and smashed through Simu’s Iron Sand, while Jiraiya used Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro to launch a surprise attack.
• Jiraiya struck Simu with Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan, but Simu used Izanagi to survive and reappeared unharmed.
• Simu escaped toward Konoha’s outskirts as Danzo arrived, then Danzo ordered Tsunade to treat the wounded, Jiraiya to guard the village, and Kakashi to track the enemy without engaging.
• Simu broke through Konoha’s barrier and flew toward a hideout in the Land of Fire with Sasuke.

Kakashi's pursuit team failed to track Simu, and Danzo tried unsuccessfully to recruit Kakashi as Root's leader. As Konoha assessed its devastating losses and Danzo tightened his control, Jiraiya questioned why Hiruzen had chosen Danzo and wondered whether his own absence had contributed to the disaster.

• Kakashi and his team found Jashin Cult hideouts but lost Simu's trail after barely surviving repeated dangers.
• Kakashi reported the failed mission to Danzo, who offered him leadership of Root, but Kakashi declined.
• Shikaku reported Konoha's enormous casualties to Danzo, who refused to pull troops from the borders and ordered Jiraiya and Tsunade to remain in the village.
• Shikaku told Jiraiya that Hiruzen had explicitly named Danzo as his successor and that observers had found no sign Hiruzen was under Genjutsu.
• Jiraiya wondered whether Hiruzen would still be alive and Konoha less damaged if he had never left the village.

Danzo consolidated his position as the Fifth Hokage by distributing resources to Konoha’s clans, blaming the Uchiha Clan and Jashin Cult for the devastation, and promising retaliation. After Hiruzen Sarutobi’s funeral, Konoha launched raids against suspected Jashin Cult strongholds, while Ōnoki and Kitsuchi reacted to the cult’s attack on Konoha.

• Danzo settled compensation and business interests with Konoha’s clans, then designated Itachi Uchiha and the Jashin Cult members called Tobi as S-Rank Rogue Ninja and ordered targeted raids against the cult.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade watched the clan leaders leave the Hokage Building and discussed why Danzo was the only practical choice for Hokage, with Tsunade explaining how her fear of blood kept her from serving.
• Danzo praised Hiruzen Sarutobi at his funeral, condemned the Uchiha Clan and Jashin Cult, and won public support for his succession as Fifth Hokage.
• Konoha sent reconnaissance ninja throughout the region and dispatched ten elite squads to purge suspected Jashin Cult strongholds.
• In Iwagakure, Ōnoki and Kitsuchi discussed Hiruzen Sarutobi’s death and the Jashin Cult’s terrifying attack on Konoha.

Ai and Rasa responded to Konoha’s devastation by preparing to exploit its weakness and cooperate against the Jashin Cult, while Simu reviewed his gains and watched Sasuke and Gaara fight at his base. Sasuke remained trapped by Gaara’s sand as Simu praised Gaara’s progress.

• Mabui reported Konoha’s losses to Ai, who ordered Kumogakure to probe the Land of Fields and seek out surviving Uchiha.
• Baki delivered Danzo’s request for Sunagakure’s cooperation against the Jashin Cult, and Rasa agreed after Kawanishi endorsed an alliance.
• Simu examined his increased reputation, new research progress, captured genetic material, and stolen techniques, and anticipated a war that would spread across the Shinobi World.
• An explosion alerted Simu to Sasuke and Gaara fighting in the base, with Hidan urging them on.
• Sasuke attacked Gaara while Gaara was distracted, but Gaara evaded the strike with sand and buried Sasuke up to his head.

Simu brought Sasuke into the Jashin Cult’s care and confirmed that Sasuke was determined to gain strength and take revenge. At Akatsuki’s meeting, Itachi and Biwa Juzo joined as new members, and Itachi later escaped Orochimaru’s attempt to seize his eyes with a Genjutsu.

• Simu stopped Sasuke’s Cursed Seal from spreading, introduced himself as a Jashin Cult member, and told Sasuke he planned to make him a vessel for Lord Jashin.
• Sasuke agreed to accept anything for the strength to take revenge, and Simu left Gaara to look after him while he and Hidan went to Akatsuki’s headquarters.
• Tobi brought Itachi to the Akatsuki meeting, while Konan introduced Biwa Juzo; Itachi chose the Vermilion Bird codename and Juzo chose Southern Dipper.
• Pain assigned Itachi and Juzo to work together and told Akatsuki to prepare for capturing the Tailed Beasts.
• Itachi asked Simu about Sasuke and learned he was training to kill him.
• Orochimaru tried to restrain Itachi with snakes and steal his Sharingan, but Itachi revealed the captive was a Genjutsu and left him behind.

Danzo coordinated Konoha’s response to the Jashin Cult and other nations while arranging a mission to secure the Daimyo’s reconstruction funds. He left for the capital to meet the Daimyo, as Arima prepared to protect him and hunt Ghouls.

• Danzo ordered Konoha to prepare for threats from the Land of Earth and Land of Lightning, appointed Jiraiya to lead the Land of Rivers operation, and asked Tsunade to train medical shinobi.
• Jiraiya persuaded Kakashi to join the operation with the promise of a new Make-Out Paradise, then departed for the Land of Rivers with elite squads.
• Shikaku told Danzo that the Daimyo would fund Konoha’s reconstruction if Kishou Arima and Dr. Fang Zhu accompanied Danzo to the capital and remained as guards.
• Danzo accepted Shikaku’s advice to secure the Daimyo’s support while having Ryoma handle the Quinque issue.
• Arima received orders to protect the Daimyo and eliminate Ghouls, hoping to grow strong enough to help Itachi take Sasuke back.
• Two days later, Danzo set out for the Land of Fire’s capital to meet the Daimyo and receive his investiture.

Jiraiya and Ebizo formed an alliance between Konoha and Sunagakure to destroy the Jashin Cult in the Land of Rivers. In the Cult’s capital, Sasuke, Gaara, Xianai, Jugo, and Uzumaki Rii learned that Jiraiya had entered Divine Kingdom, and Rii trusted that Simu’s plan would proceed.

• Jiraiya negotiated with Ebizo, and Konoha and Sunagakure agreed to form an Allied Shinobi Force against the Jashin Cult, with Ebizo commanding and both sides dividing the spoils.
• Jiraiya left Nara Touya to coordinate the alliance and infiltrated the Land of Rivers to gather intelligence.
• Divine Kingdom’s followers held a frenzied ceremony in the former capital, where a crowd killed nobles as a priest denounced them and their shinobi protectors.
• Sasuke watched the executions with disgust, while Xianai reminded him that his desire to kill Itachi resembled the believers’ fanaticism.
• Uzumaki Rii reported that Jiraiya had entered Divine Kingdom, and Jugo voiced concern before Rii assured the group that events would follow Simu’s plan.

Jiraiya infiltrated the Jashin Cult’s territory and found its towns unusually peaceful, its believers devoted, and its officials seemingly honest. After uncovering that the cult provided abundant food during wartime, he used the sages’ Senjutsu Chakra to reveal that his meal was actually insects and tree bark.

• Jiraiya disguised himself as a farmer and entered a town in the Land of Rivers with a caravan of refugees.
• He observed that the Divine Guards treated the refugees fairly and that the town was peaceful, then learned about Jashin, the Three Apostles, the Three High Priests, and two God Children.
• Jiraiya realized the cult’s food supply might explain its influence and visited a church to inspect the statues of Jashin and the Apostles.
• He summoned Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima and asked them to examine a meal he had received from the cult.
• Fukasaku released Senjutsu Chakra, revealing that the meal was made of insects and tree bark, leaving Jiraiya horrified about what the believers ate.

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.