Chapter Summaries

Toneri questioned Obito about remaining hidden and what would happen after his ordeal ended, while Yahiko and the others flew toward Takigakure amid signs of a Dusk Organization attack. A sudden, unexplained earthquake struck Takigakure, leaving Ruri and Kakuzu wondering what had caused it.

• Toneri asked Obito when he could leave and what would happen after everything was over, but Obito gave him no clear answer.
• Yahiko and four Akatsuki members flew toward Takigakure as the Chunin Exams filled the Land of Waterfalls with visitors and security patrols.
• Flocks of crows attacked the group, and Itachi recognized the birds and underground disturbances as signs that Dusk had begun its move.
• Masked Takigakure Anbu appeared around the Bird's Nest as the ground began cracking beneath the arena.
• A powerful earthquake split the ground across Takigakure, damaged walls and the Bird's Nest, but caused no casualties.
• Ruri told Kakuzu the earthquake had begun without any buildup, like the one decades earlier, leaving him confused about Dusk's apparent attack.

Ruri and Kakuzu discovered that Dusk had triggered a devastating underground nuclear explosion beneath Takigakure, and Ruri ordered the village to prepare for the threat. As the villages began repairing the damage, Deidara arrived wearing an Akatsuki robe, leaving Kakuzu wondering about his own unpaid salary.

• Kakuzu investigated the deep fissure and found radioactive rocks, which Ruri identified as evidence that Dusk had used nuclear energy to cause the earthquake.
• Ruri ordered the Anbu to cover the underground with lead, hired Iwagakure Ninja to repair the fissures, and instructed them to spread news of Dusk's nuclear capability.
• Ōnoki and Iwagakure Ninja helped repair Takigakure while Ōnoki questioned Deidara about joining the Akatsuki.
• Deidara told Ōnoki that the Akatsuki offered strength and a monthly salary, and Ōnoki returned to repairing the ground.
• Kakuzu realized that the Akatsuki paid its members and decided to ask Ruri about the decades of wages he had never received.

Ruri told the Kage that Dusk had developed nuclear weapons and cloning, while Madara planned to use the Ten-Tails and Dragon Vein to turn back time and eliminate chakra. He proposed using Madara to replant the God Tree, destroy Dusk, and establish reincarnation, while also making Takamagahara a divine realm, then left the Kage to consider their role.

• Ruri gathered the Kage in Takamagahara and explained Dusk’s nuclear energy, Atomic Bombs, radiation, and cloning methods.
• Ruri revealed that Madara intended to gather the nine tailed beasts, become the Ten-Tails jinchuriki, and use the Dragon Vein to return to a time before chakra existed.
• Ruri explained his plan to use a pseudo Ten-Tails jinchuriki and turn Madara into the God Tree after Dusk was destroyed.
• The Sage of Six Paths appeared and said that replanting the God Tree was necessary to stabilize the world's origin and establish reincarnation.
• Ruri declared that he would make Takamagahara a true divine realm, asked the Kage for their future support, and left.
• Hashirama wondered whether their presence in Takamagahara was possible because Ruri had brought something different to the Shinobi World.

Kakashi took Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on a mission to help film a movie adapted from Jiraiya’s novel, and they met a crew whose actors practiced with real kunai wounds. The team encountered Koyuki at the film set, leaving her role in the production unclear.

• Guy lent Kakashi a camera that his father, Dai, had invented and improved.
• Kakashi explained that Naruto and Sasuke were still genin because Naruto had missed the exams while training away and Sasuke had not graduated from Shinobi United University.
• Kakashi revealed that the film was adapted from Jiraiya’s The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi, and Sakura used a clone to take a group photo of Team 7.
• Naruto rushed to help an injured actor, but Fubuki Kazahana explained that the crew’s genin were practicing with real kunai and that her supposed poison was chocolate.
• Sakura recognized Koyuki when the disguised woman appeared on set and spoke about the importance of authentic acting.

Kazahana Koyuki’s film crew traveled with Team Kakashi and Ruri’s team to the Land of Snow to shoot the final scenes on a snowy mountain rumored to hold a dangerous monster. After reaching a village at its foot, Kakashi explained what the villagers knew about the creature, leaving its nature unresolved.

• Kazahana Koyuki explained that Yukigakure genin made up the film crew and that escort ninja would clear the mountain filming location.
• Naruto recognized Kaede and met Jugo, now the Five-Tails’ jinchuriki, while Ruri explained that his team had received the S-rank escort mission.
• Kakashi led the crew onto a Chakra Steam Train, and Sakura treated the actors’ injuries during the journey.
• The crew reached a village beneath the great snow mountain and received a warm welcome from its residents.
• Naruto reflected on poverty in the Shinobi World and said he wanted to become Hokage to improve people’s lives.
• Kakashi told the teams that villagers described a monster that breathed white flames and had wiped out a group of Snow ninja.

Ruri’s group and Team Kakashi discovered that the supposed snow-mountain monster was a natural shadow phenomenon, not a creature. Once the Film Crew began preparing to shoot, Koyuki revealed she had transformed into Naruto’s lookalike to play the male lead, while Naruto was put to work carrying equipment.

• Naruto and Sasuke argued over who would handle the rumored monster, while Kaede and Sakura kept the team focused on guarding the Film Crew.
• Ruri led the group up the snow mountain, where they initially found no sign of a monster and Fuyukuma Setsu decided to begin filming.
• As the sun rose and fog lifted, huge shadows appeared; Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kaede, Jugo, and Taki formed a defense, and their clones revealed how the shadows multiplied.
• Sasuke explained that the shadows were a sunlight projection on the fog, and Naruto confirmed the explanation by creating Shadow Clones that made some shadows disappear.
• Koyuki appeared transformed into a blond boy and announced that she was playing the male lead, while Kakashi called Naruto over to carry the camera.

The filming of The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi continued under Kakashi’s skilled camera work until Fubuki Kazahana was poisoned for real during a scene. Sakura treated her, but Kazahana Koyuki and the film crew insisted on continuing, while Kakashi stopped Naruto from intervening.

• Kakashi filmed the actors steadily and found effective angles as they shot a snowy mountain battle scene.
• Naruto helped the exhausted Fubuki Kazahana into a cave, where Director Fuyukuma Usetsu explained the scene in which she would be poisoned.
• Fubuki Kazahana drank real poison and collapsed, prompting Sakura to treat her with Cellular Extraction Jutsu.
• Kazahana Koyuki said Fubuki had taken the poison deliberately for a realistic performance and asked Sakura to remove her so filming could continue.
• Haruyuki threatened Sakura with a Kunai, then lowered it when Koyuki told him to stop.
• Kakashi held Naruto back and ordered the filming to continue, so Sakura carried Fubuki away while watching the others.

During filming, Koyuki injured herself for a scene, and Meile died after accidentally falling from a cliff during another. As Fuyukuma Usetsu resumed production, Naruto objected to continuing a movie that had already claimed two victims.

• Koyuki stabbed herself in the lung and thigh for a scene, then Sakura treated her wounds.
• Koyuki explained that she was performing so seriously because she wanted to honor Fuyukuma Usetsu's hopes for the film.
• Ruri read the script and described Meile's planned cliff jump to protect Naruto and the intelligence.
• Meile jumped without remembering to use chakra to catch herself and fell to her death.
• Koyuki and others praised Meile's sacrifice, while Naruto called for production to stop and condemned the film.

Ruri and the others questioned Fubuki Kazahana and learned that someone had switched the poison, while filming resumed with Aobane Haruyuki apparently turning the staged fight into a real attack. The ninja stagehands collapsed as Fuyukuma Usetsu continued writing in his script, leaving the danger unexplained.

• Takigakure, Kaede, and Jugo questioned Fubuki Kazahana about the poisoned water pouch and the chocolate bottle, and she admitted she had not used real poison.
• Fubuki Kazahana explained that she had hidden the truth because she did not want to disappoint Fuyukuma Usetsu and believed someone had switched the poison.
• Aobane Haruyuki resumed filming as the villain and knocked the extras down with what appeared to be fatal wounds and toxins.
• Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke confronted Aobane Haruyuki, and Sakura confirmed the extras were in mortal danger.
• Aobane Haruyuki threw a Kunai at Naruto, cutting his face, while the ninja stagehands collapsed and Fuyukuma Usetsu kept marking up the script.

Fuyukuma Usetsu used a strange script to make the film crew behave like actors who could ignore fatal injuries, and Kakashi killed him to stop him. The crew then attacked the group in the same death-defying state, forcing Sasuke to call for wide-range ninjutsu.

• Fuyukuma Usetsu narrated the group's actions as he wrote in his booklet, and Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stabbed him without stopping him.
• Jugo knocked Fuyukuma Usetsu down, and he explained that Koyuki had become an actress by following someone else's script before she joined his film crew.
• Fuyukuma Usetsu knocked Koyuki unconscious, and Kakashi beheaded him after the others brought him down again.
• The film crew's extras and staff attacked, while Aobane Haruyuki survived a fatal wound long enough to die from blood loss.
• Sasuke found that genjutsu did not work on the attackers and called for wide-range ninjutsu.

Ruri uncovered how Fuyukuma Usetsu and the Film Crew had been affected by a berserk-inducing chakra, and concluded that Twilight likely controlled the Land of Snow. After the group survived an avalanche, an airship arrived to take them away, leaving Ruri convinced Twilight had begun to move.

• Kakashi recognized the approaching avalanche and sheltered the group inside an Earth Prison Dome while Ruri explained that the so-called white flame was an avalanche triggered by fear.
• Ruri examined Fuyukuma Usetsu's chakra and found a substance like Tailed Beast chakra that could drive people berserk, leading him to suspect Usetsu was a discarded pawn connected to Twilight.
• The avalanche stopped, and Ruri cut through the snow above the group so they could escape the Earth Prison Dome.
• Suigetsu, Kimimaro, and Haku arrived in an airship, and Ruri explained that he had ordered them to pick up the group if the railway was destroyed.
• Ruri carried Fuyukuma Usetsu's corpse aboard the airship and concluded that Twilight had begun to move.

After Twilight sabotaged transportation and attacked Konoha, Ruri redirected the airship there while the villages braced for war. Sarutobi Hiruzen set out to return to Konoha and face the crisis.

• Kimimaro reported that explosives had destroyed the train tracks, and Naruto sensed trouble in Konoha and urged Haku to change course.
• Naruto revealed that Jiraiya was unconscious after being badly injured, explosions had caused many casualties in Konoha, and the United Nations Teleportation Array had been destroyed.
• Ruri ordered the airship to Konoha, believing Takigakure was secure and the attacks had been planned to isolate Konoha.
• Minato Namikaze mobilized Konoha’s forces as investigators found explosives buried in the village for thirty years, alarming the other villages.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen put on his battle uniform, left his pipe behind, and leaped from the window to find a way back to Konoha.

Minato organized Konoha’s evacuation as Toneri arrived with Obito and attacked the village. Toneri used True Chibaku Tensei to lift the surrounding earth and seal Konoha beneath a massive mound.

• Minato sensed the enemy’s arrival, ordered Hiruko and Root to evacuate Konoha’s villagers, and vowed to protect the village and Kushina.
• Toneri and Obito reached Konoha’s gate and found its barrier operating at full power.
• Toneri killed several returning Konoha ninja after asking whether Kushina was in the village.
• Toneri formed a black sphere above Konoha and unleashed True Chibaku Tensei.
• The technique pulled up earth, rocks, and trees, enclosing Konoha beneath a gigantic mound.

Naruto lost control after learning that Konoha had been sealed, but Ruri and Kakashi calmed him and planned to rescue the village. As Konoha rose inside a growing sphere of rock, Toneri and the masked fighters attacked the returning defenders.

• Naruto's negative emotions triggered a Tailed Beast transformation, and Haku calmed him with an Ice Release Popsicle.
• Naruto told Kakashi that Kurama had reported a Black Sphere before contact with Kushina was lost, and Ruri explained that Chibaku Tensei had sealed Konoha.
• Ruri warned that the group would have to face the enemies without support, while Sasuke and Kakashi cautioned that the mission might be a trap.
• Toneri continued drawing rocks into the sphere around Konoha as Asuma attacked him with Ash Pile Burning, but Toneri nullified the flames and pulled Asuma toward him.
• Choji, Shikamaru, and Ino helped Asuma escape, but three masked fighters attacked them and dodged their strikes before knocking Asuma into the ground.

Kurenai, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata joined Asuma’s team against the masked attackers, but they discovered their opponent had a powerful puppet-like body that resisted their techniques. Hinata was drawn before Otsutsuki Toneri, who revealed a sense of kinship with her and asked her to marry him.

• Kurenai arrived and used genjutsu against the man in the Suzaku mask, but he avoided her attack and scattered the Kikaichū defending her and Asuma.
• Hinata used her Byakugan to reveal that the masked attackers lacked chakra and normal chakra networks, while Kiba and Akamaru exposed the Suzaku-masked man’s puppet-like body.
• Shino’s insects discovered that the puppet had no joints, and Hinata’s Gentle Fist strikes failed to hurt it before she was knocked away.
• Toneri used gravitational force to draw Hinata to him, where she saw dead Konoha ninja and learned his name was Otsutsuki Toneri.
• Hinata identified herself as Hinata Hyuga and asked why he had attacked Konoha, but Toneri told her to marry him.

Toneri proposed to Hinata while keeping Konoha trapped inside a shrinking rock sphere, and Naruto and Sasuke confronted him. Ruri left the battle to them and focused on finding a way to free Konoha.

• Toneri stopped the rock sphere and proposed to Hinata, while Obito joked that Toneri had been influenced by reading Icha Icha Paradise.
• Naruto and Sasuke dropped from the sky, and Naruto learned that Konoha was sealed inside the sphere.
• Naruto entered Sage Mode and attacked Toneri with Sasuke, but Toneri absorbed Sasuke’s Chidori and proved able to absorb chakra.
• Ruri told Suigetsu and Kimimaro that rescuing Konoha was the priority, and Haku warned that the rock sphere was shrinking.
• Ruri chose not to intervene, hoping the young shinobi could handle the crisis while he used Toneri’s actions to locate Madara.

Konoha was trapped inside a contracting Chibaku Tensei, and Minato’s group organized the village’s defenses and prepared the Four Red Yang Formation. Meanwhile, Naruto’s Rasenshuriken exploded beneath Toneri, leaving the result of the attack unresolved.

• Minato and Kushina discovered that the rock sphere had sealed Konoha and was steadily contracting, while Shikaku coordinated a village-wide response through a secret technique.
• Akimichi ninja and stone pillars slowed the contracting wall, while Fugaku Uchiha, Fuqiu Uchiha, Hyuga Hiashi, Hizashi, Guy, and Rock Lee joined efforts to protect civilians or attack the barrier.
• Sakumo identified the barrier as a special sealing technique, and Kushina warned that it could only be opposed by a technique of comparable strength.
• Minato decided to use the Four Red Yang Formation, and Hiruko agreed to help as Minato prepared to send the participants to the village’s four corners.
• Toneri repelled Sasuke’s attack and knocked him down, but Naruto hurled a Rasenshuriken that spread into a massive blast beneath Toneri.

Naruto and Sasuke struggled to hurt Toneri, whose ability to absorb ninjutsu and repel attackers gave him control of the fight. Sasuke devised a plan using kunai, wire, and their teamwork, but Toneri countered their attacks and remained nearly untouched.

• Toneri absorbed Naruto's Rasengan and struck him, then repelled Sasuke before his sword could land.
• Sasuke explained that Toneri's attraction and repulsion powers had brief intervals, and recalled learning mechanics from Teacher Toroi at Shinobi United University.
• Sasuke used wired kunai and Uchiha Style—Double Lightning to corner Toneri, while Naruto attacked with a shadow clone and shuriken.
• Toneri used Shinra Tensei to blast away Naruto's shuriken and repel Sasuke, leaving the pair unable to break through his defense.
• Sasuke began using Chidori Current.

Sasuke used magnetism to wound Toneri, but Obito and Toneri pinned Naruto down while the battle continued. Akatsuki arrived as reinforcements, and Hidan charged Toneri.

• Sasuke magnetized his Zanpakuto with Chidori Current, drawing Toneri’s deflected shuriken toward him and cutting his cheek.
• Obito emerged from underground and stabbed Naruto with a Kunai, then Toneri pinned Naruto down with Black Receivers.
• Hinata attacked Obito with Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists, but he escaped underground again.
• Akatsuki arrived by giant bird and announced they would help defeat Toneri and free Konoha.
• Ruri recognized the eight Akatsuki members, while Kimimaro, Haku, and Suigetsu recognized Hidan as their teacher.
• Hidan charged Toneri with his Blood-Stained Triple Scythe.

Deidara, Kimimaro, and Haku worked to penetrate the Rock Sphere while Konan unleashed a massive explosive paper attack against the Masked Men. Obito survived the blast underground, narrowly avoiding being caught in its devastation.

• Deidara used Explosive Clay to propel Kimimaro's finger bones deeper into the Rock Sphere as Haku protected them with Ice Release, and Haku told Suigetsu to find and destroy the seal's Black Sphere.
• Yahiko and Kisame enclosed the Masked Men within a Water Style Wall while Akatsuki and Konoha fighters battled them.
• Konan scattered millions of explosive paper slips over the sealed area, and the other fighters retreated while Yahiko held off the Masked Men.
• Konan activated Paper Person of God from high above, and Kisame and Orochimaru reinforced the barriers as explosions engulfed the Masked Men.
• The blast carved a deep crater and shook the earth, while Obito remained underground and narrowly survived the explosions.