Chapter Summaries

Gaara accidentally injured a child, and Yashamaru comforted him as he struggled to understand why others feared him. Meanwhile, Rasa sent Baki and two ANBU companies to rescue a reconnaissance squad and capture a creature that controlled Wind Scorpions.

• Gaara's sand nearly killed a child, but Yashamaru blocked it and suffered a deep wound to his hand.
• Yashamaru reassured the remorseful Gaara and took him home after bandaging his injury.
• Gaara reflected on the shop owner's words about beasts and sheep, while Temari and Kankuro watched him with concern.
• Baki reported that a reconnaissance squad had found an ancient ruin holding over a thousand Wind Scorpions and a creature that controlled them.
• Rasa ordered Baki to lead two ANBU companies to support the besieged squad and capture the creature unharmed.

Simu told Shukaku that his chance to escape the seal was near, and Shukaku began restoring his Chakra. Gaara returned a ball to a child before Rasa summoned Yashamaru to test whether Gaara was a stable weapon.

• Simu told Shukaku that drawing his Chakra had weakened Rasa's seal and that the time for Shukaku to escape was near.
• Shukaku decided to cultivate and restore his Chakra in preparation for a possible escape.
• Gaara returned the ball to the child he had nearly killed, then dismissed the people around him as sheep who could not fight back.
• Rasa summoned Yashamaru and said Gaara had to be tested as Sunagakure's weapon, which needed to have no emotions.

Gaara spoke with Temari and Kankuro about the village as a sheep pen, then fought an assassin who was revealed to be his uncle, Yashamaru. As Yashamaru died after claiming his affection for Gaara had been false, Gaara carved the character for “love” into his forehead and cracks appeared across his body.

• Temari and Kankuro joined Gaara on the roof, where he called the entire village a sheep pen.
• After his siblings left, an assassin attacked Gaara with kunai, and Gaara trapped and grievously wounded him with sand.
• Gaara recognized the attacker’s bandaged hand and uncovered the masked assassin’s face, discovering Yashamaru.
• Yashamaru told Gaara that his kindness had been an act and that he hated him for his sister’s death, then died from his wounds.
• Gaara wiped away his tears, carved the character for “love” into his forehead, and cracks appeared across his body.

Simu sabotaged Rasa’s attempt to suppress Shukaku and helped Gaara’s tailed beast fully manifest in Sunagakure. The chapter ended with Shukaku’s complete form descending on the village amid widespread explosions.

• Gaara’s growing malice triggered Shukaku’s transformation, and Rasa used Gold Dust to activate the seal and suppress it.
• Simu emerged from Gaara and weakened Rasa’s seal with foul blood while another Simu confronted Rasa.
• Simu introduced himself as Tobi, a spokesperson for Lord Jashin, and destroyed Rasa’s Gold Dust with an explosion.
• Shukaku fully manifested as Rasa rushed toward him, but explosive bugs detonated and explosions erupted across Sunagakure.
• Rasa protected himself with Gold Dust, but Shukaku’s complete form descended upon the village.

Gaara released Shukaku, which began devastating Sunagakure as Simu recorded its rampage and taunted Rasa. Rasa attacked Simu with Gold Dust, but Simu evaded him and took to the air as Rasa launched a massive wave after him.

• Gaara gave up on living, released Shukaku, and the Tailed Beast began smashing Sunagakure with its enormous tail.
• Simu recorded Shukaku's release and destruction as experimental data while Rasa watched the rampage.
• Simu rebuked Rasa for making Gaara suffer and warned that Shukaku would reduce Sunagakure to ruins.
• Rasa abandoned his plan to deal with Shukaku first and attacked Simu with spears of Gold Dust.
• Simu escaped underground, flew into the sky on crimson wings, and faced Rasa's Gold Dust Tidal Wave.

Simu attacked Rasa with poison, tentacles, and a barrage of defenses before unleashing a composite Wind and Lightning Release technique. His Roar of the Wind-Thunder God shattered Rasa’s Gold Dust wall, leaving the clash unresolved.

• Simu used Explosive Bugs to break apart Rasa’s Gold Dust wave, then attacked with poisonous crimson tentacles.
• Rasa blew the poison gas away with Wind Release and cut off one of Simu’s tentacles with Gold Sand Chain Blades.
• Rasa hurled thousands of Gold Dust spears at Simu, whose Koukaku armor endured the barrage.
• Rasa tried to trap Simu in Gold Dust, but Simu blasted himself toward him from inside his flesh sphere.
• Simu combined Wind Release: Pressure Damage with Lightning Release: False Darkness to create the Roar of the Wind-Thunder God, which shattered Rasa’s Gold Dust wall.

Simu attacked Rasa but was trapped in a sealed Gold Dust prison, leaving Rasa to face Shukaku’s rampage. Rasa restrained the Tailed Beast and knocked its Tailed Beast Bomb off course, but the battle remained unresolved.

• Simu’s attack revealed Rasa’s Sand Clone, and Rasa dragged Simu into quicksand before sealing him inside a Gold Dust pyramid.
• Shukaku devastated Sunagakure with an Air Bullet, killing ninja and carving a deep scar through half the village.
• Rasa used Gold Dust to bind Shukaku, lifting the spirits of the defending ninja.
• Shukaku began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb, and Rasa struck it with a Gold Dust Tidal Wave, sending the attack into the sky.

After Shukaku’s Tailed Beast Bomb, Rasa resealed the One-Tail and ordered Gaara treated before questioning the masked man, Simu. Simu claimed to serve Lord Jashin, and an ANBU ninja trying to search his mind suddenly attacked his comrade and declared, “Long live Lord Jashin!”

• Shukaku’s Tailed Beast Bomb exploded above Sunagakure, and Rasa sealed the One-Tail back into Gaara.
• Rasa ordered a medical ninja to treat Gaara, then turned his attention to the captured Simu.
• Rasa lifted Simu’s seal enough to expose his head and demanded his identity and purpose.
• Simu claimed he was Tobi, Lord Jashin’s agent and most loyal believer, but the ANBU did not recognize his face.
• An ANBU ninja tried to search Simu’s mind, then stabbed his companion and shouted, “Long live Lord Jashin!”

Simu detonated himself in Sunagakure’s center while Hidan attacked Gaara’s escort and abducted the One-Tail Jinchuriki. After the blasts and poison gas plunged the village into chaos, Rasa mobilized Sunagakure’s forces to contain the damage and search for Gaara.

• Rasa tried to restrain Simu, but Simu unleashed a mass of tentacles and exploded, destroying the center of Sunagakure and spreading poisonous gas.
• Hidan killed the ANBU squad guarding Gaara at the hospital and took Gaara out of the village.
• As Sunagakure focused on the explosion, Hidan followed an insect-guided route and escaped with Gaara.
• Rasa learned that Gaara was missing and ordered elite squads to pursue him while the village cleared poison, investigated its personnel, and strengthened its defenses.

Hidan continued evading Sunagakure’s pursuit while carrying the unconscious Gaara, until Sasori confronted him to test his abilities. After Hidan destroyed Sasori’s two puppets, Sasori prepared to reveal his true strength.

• Hidan defeated another group of Sunagakure pursuers and gathered supplies at one of Simu’s hidden desert bases.
• Sasori revealed himself and challenged Hidan, saying he wanted to examine his strength and was interested in Jashin.
• Hidan attacked Sasori, who released two humanoid puppets and tested Hidan with poisoned senbon and a Ninja Blade.
• Hidan endured the attacks and destroyed both puppets with his scythe.
• Sasori summoned a black-haired puppet from a scroll marked with the character “Three.”

Sasori used Iron Sand and a hidden Magnetic Lock to trap Hidan, preparing to crush him with an Iron Sand pyramid. Just as Hidan faced defeat, Kamizuki Simu appeared and stopped the attack.

• Sasori defended against Hidan with Iron Sand and pierced him with spears, then explained that he intended to capture him and make him a Human Puppet.
• Sasori spread Iron Sand across the battlefield, keeping Hidan at a distance and exploiting the limits of his Immortal Body.
• Sasori trapped Hidan with Magnetic Lock, revealing that Iron Sand he had planted inside Hidan's wounds was holding him in place.
• Sasori lowered a dense Iron Sand pyramid toward Hidan, who feared being crushed before he could teach Simu a lesson.
• Kamizuki Simu appeared and used scarlet tentacles to stop the pyramid, introducing himself to Sasori.

Simu revealed that the Jashin Cult was behind Sunagakure’s monsters and recruited Sasori after praising his Human Puppet Technique. Hidan reluctantly accepted Sasori as a junior after Simu teased him about losing, and Simu sensed that guests had arrived.

• Simu identified the Third Kazekage puppet and admitted that the Jashin Cult had created the monsters in Sunagakure and the desert.
• Simu and Sasori praised each other’s techniques, and Sasori agreed to join the Jashin Cult.
• Hidan objected to Sasori joining, then challenged him to fight again, but balked when Simu called for an immediate rematch.
• Simu suggested Sasori’s membership would give Hidan future chances to defeat him, and Hidan reluctantly accepted Sasori as a junior.
• Simu sensed that guests had arrived.

Youji’s Sand Village force found the stronghold and moved to reclaim Gaara, but Sasori confronted them alone and revealed his ten-puppet technique. The Sand Shinobi recognized their former comrades among the puppets as Sasori prepared to turn them into more of his weapons.

• Gangmaru sensed Gaara, his kidnapper, and two other people inside the stronghold, while Youji rallied his eighteen Sand Shinobi for an attack.
• Simu judged that the group needed to eliminate the Sand Shinobi quickly before their location drew more pursuers.
• Hidan prepared to attack, but Sasori asked to fight instead as a pledge of allegiance to the Jashin Cult.
• Youji recognized the approaching Sasori of the Red Sands and warned his squad that he was an S-Rank rogue ninja.
• Sasori summoned ten puppets, many of them former renowned Sunagakure ninjas, and threatened to make the Sand Shinobi part of his eternal art.

Sasori used his puppets to overwhelm Youji and the Sand Shinobi pursuing him, revealing that he could control a human body with Chakra threads. He then unveiled the Third Kazekage as a Human Puppet and unleashed its Magnet Release, leaving the Sand Shinobi facing a massive Iron Sand wave.

• Sasori's Fire and Wind Release attacks killed a young Sand Shinobi, and Youji recognized that Sasori could preserve the abilities of people he turned into puppets.
• Youji and the Sand Shinobi coordinated their attacks, destroyed two of Sasori's puppets, and were struck by an Exploding Flame Formation that killed two of their comrades.
• Sasori used Chakra threads to control Youji's body, making him kill a teammate while five of Sasori's puppets fell after losing their threads.
• Sasori decided to reveal his true strength for Simu and connected to a hidden puppet of the Third Kazekage.
• The Sand Shinobi realized Sasori could use the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release as a giant wave of Iron Sand surged toward them.

Sasori defeated Sunagakure’s pursuit squad and joined Simu on the journey to a desert stronghold, where he discovered the Jashin Cult’s biological weapons. He became captivated by Simu’s creations and realized how much influence Simu held in Sunagakure.

• Sasori used Iron Sand and poison to defeat Sunagakure’s six Jonin, keeping them alive as materials for Human Puppets.
• Hidan attacked Simu after arguing over the captured Jonin, but Simu cut off Hidan’s head and stopped his cursing.
• Simu summoned an enlarged raven, and he and Sasori escaped with Gaara and the six Jonin materials before Sunagakure’s reinforcements arrived.
• Simu brought the group to his desert stronghold, where he intended to study Gaara and the Tailed Beast Chakra before handing him over.
• Simu demonstrated how a Broodmother produced Ghost-Faced Wind Scorpions, Poison-Blade Centipedes, and Desert Dragonflies, and Sasori realized Simu’s creations and businesses influenced Sunagakure.
• Sasori praised Simu’s biological weapons as true art, revealing that he was far more fanatical than his calm exterior suggested.

Simu and Sasori discussed Sasori’s Human Puppet Technique and the limits on how many puppets he could control. Simu proposed a way to expand Sasori’s abilities, leaving Sasori inspired to pursue the design in the laboratory.

• Simu read Sasori’s Human Puppet Technique and recognized its use of Yin-Yang Release to preserve Chakra pathways in Human Puppets.
• Sasori explained that his ten fingers limited how many puppets he could control, despite his ability to handle more.
• Simu demonstrated controlling countless Chakra threads with his tentacles and suggested that Sasori could overcome human limits by ceasing to be human.
• Simu gave Sasori a blueprint for a chest organ that could release many Chakra threads and control more puppets.
• Sasori hurried to the laboratory to develop the idea while Simu watched with appreciation.

Simu entered Gaara’s body through the Blood Pool to study Shukaku and questioned him about the Rinnegan and the Tailed Beasts’ origins. Shukaku learned Nagato planned to gather all nine Tailed Beasts and grew desperate to escape, but the Rinnegan’s power left him hesitant to oppose Nagato.

• Simu submerged the unconscious Gaara in the Blood Pool and used its Chakra to reach Shukaku inside the seal.
• Shukaku tried to break free, and Simu told him that Nagato had ordered the Tailed Beasts sealed.
• Simu revealed that Nagato possessed the Rinnegan, and Shukaku said only the Sage of Six Paths should have that eye.
• Shukaku told Simu that the Sage of Six Paths had separated the nine Tailed Beasts from the Divine Tree.
• Simu described Nagato’s goal of collecting the Tailed Beasts to create a force powerful enough to bring peace.
• Shukaku offered to help Simu oppose Nagato if Simu released him, but fell silent when he considered the Rinnegan’s power.

Simu persuaded Shukaku that he could help it avoid being sealed back into the Divine Tree, and Shukaku proposed a risky way to deceive Nagato. They agreed to separate Shukaku’s Chakra from its will, though the sealing technique could fail and kill Shukaku.

• Simu showed Shukaku a fragment of the Divine Tree, proving that he had not lied about Nagato’s plan to seal it away.
• Shukaku explained that it feared losing its consciousness if it were sealed back into the Divine Tree, and Simu suspected that the Divine Tree and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path were different forms of the same thing.
• Shukaku agreed to trust Simu if he guaranteed its safety, and Simu promised to let it go after studying its Chakra.
• Shukaku proposed using a Sealing Technique to separate its Yin-Yang Release Chakra from its will, allowing Simu to report part of its body to Nagato and keep the rest behind.
• Shukaku said the technique required exceptional skill in Yin-Yang Release and Sealing Techniques, and admitted that failure could kill it.

After Sunagakure abandoned its month-long search for Shukaku, Rasa faced mounting losses and a damaged reputation. Baki’s report about capturing Broodmother offered a new way to restore the village’s standing, and Rasa placed the Scorpion Jade Plan in Kawanishi’s hands.

• Rasa ended the search for Shukaku and ordered the teams back to their posts, with compensation for the injured and deceased.
• News of Sunagakure’s defeat and loss of Shukaku spread, damaging its reputation and prompting Rasa to seek a way to restore confidence.
• Baki told Rasa that Sunagakure had captured Broodmother, the intelligent commander that produced the Wind Scorpion Swarm.
• Kawanishi confirmed that Broodmother could likely be tamed, and Rasa ordered him to accelerate the research and distribute Scorpion Jade to Sunagakure’s ninja.

Kawanishi received a divine revelation that made Scorpion Jade usable by Genin, and Rasa ordered it mass-produced to strengthen Sunagakure’s forces. Meanwhile, Simu joined an Akatsuki meeting, confirmed he had captured the One-Tail and recruited Sasori, and revealed he had used Tobi’s mask.

• Kawanishi received a revelation describing a Scorpion Jade modification that lowered its chakra requirements to Genin level.
• Ten days later, Kawanishi gave the results to Rasa, who ordered Scorpion Jade devices and Wind Scorpions produced for the border forces and arranged a large purchase of Military Ration Pills.
• Simu sensed a call from his superior and used Nagato’s technique to appear before the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with Pain, Konan, and Tobi.
• Simu told Pain he had captured the One-Tail and told Konan that Sasori had agreed to join Akatsuki, explaining that he had acted in the Jashin Cult’s name.
• Simu revealed to Tobi that he had used Tobi’s mask during the operation, prompting Tobi to consider changing masks.