Recaps

Akaseki learned that the Cursed God’s followers used curse techniques and that Rashomon could block them, then passed the warning to Clan Head Jiancheng for Konoha. After Lanyu’s gruesome death in Yugakure was reported, Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the remaining Konoha ninja to avoid conflict and wait for reinforcements, intending to let Sunagakure and the Jashin Cult clash first.

• Hell Yama King told Akaseki that the Cursed God’s followers used sin-based curses and that Rashomon’s true body could block them, while the formless Cursed God itself could only be sealed.
• Hell Yama King warned Akaseki that the one who stole the Six Paths power had obtained complete Six Paths Eyes, increasing the threat of his control over Hell Yama King.
• Akaseki shared the curse intelligence with Clan Head Jiancheng and asked him to inform Hiruzen Sarutobi, who passed the warning to the Konoha ninja in Yugakure.
• Jiancheng learned that the other Konoha ninja were alive and that Lanyu had died in his room with burst eyes and severe wounds, though there were no signs of a fight.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the Konoha ninja in Yugakure to avoid disputes and wait ten days for reinforcements, intending to let the Sunagakure ninja and the Jashin Cult fight each other.

Akaseki completed copying the Uchiha Clan’s Water Style techniques and joined Minato’s team for a mission to Yugakure. There, they met Dan Katō and learned that a Jashin Cult had likely cursed and killed both Uchiha Lanyu and a Sunagakure jonin.

• Setsuna taught Akaseki the final Water Style technique and asked him to visit again in three months.
• Akaseki met Minato near Kushina’s home, where Kushina briefly lost control of the Nine-Tails before calming down.
• Akaseki, Ranwu, and Minato traveled to Yugakure and met Uchiha Fuyouwen and Caozhen at the village entrance.
• Dan Katō told Akaseki that a Sunagakure jonin had died in the same manner as Uchiha Lanyu after attacking Jashin Cult members.
• Dan Katō explained that the cult was secretive and hostile toward ninja, and he suspected its members had inflicted a curse on both jonin.

Akaseki learned that the Jashin Cult’s curses required large-scale sacrifices and decided to coordinate a strike with Sunagakure. Meanwhile, cult leader Gou Zang hired Kakuzu to defend the hideout, and the chapter ended as Akaseki prepared to meet Sunagakure’s commander, Zong Xuan, and his wife, Zhen Sha.

• Dan Katō told Akaseki that the Jashin Cult sacrificed many followers to curse its targets and that a high-ranking cultist’s body had disappeared from Yugakure.
• Dan Katō explained that the cult gathered often, had ninja contacts inside Yugakure, and that Hiruzen Sarutobi had ordered him to follow Akaseki’s command.
• Gou Zang hired Kakuzu to guard the Jashin Cult’s hideout for ten days and offered him extra money for killing Jonin.
• Gou Zang revealed that he had faked his death when Lanyu attacked and sought to create a saint by sacrificing nine ritual officiants.
• Akaseki asked Dan Katō to arrange a meeting with Sunagakure’s commander, Zong Xuan, who had arrived with his wife, Zhen Sha.

Akaseki challenged Zong Xuan and Gumu over whether to abandon Yugakure’s establishment or confront the Jashin Cult, then arranged a joint strike on a gathering site. After Zong Xuan agreed to the plan and secretly prepared to use trigger-type puppets, Dan Katō told Akaseki about ancient murals at a preserved ritual site, which Akaseki decided to inspect.

• Dan Katō introduced Akashi Uchiha to Zong Xuan and Gumu as a key participant in Yugakure’s establishment, while Akaseki provoked Zong Xuan with jokes about his ancestry.
• Akaseki asked whether Sunagakure would relocate or abandon the plan, and Zong Xuan argued that the allies should confront the Jashin Cult rather than retreat.
• Akaseki proposed that Konoha and Sunagakure jointly attack a Jashin Cult gathering the next day and split responsibility for dealing with its believers, while Gumu asked to join.
• Zong Xuan agreed to the strike and told Zhen Sha he would use his uncle’s trigger-type puppets to kill without being traced.
• Dan Katō told Akaseki that a preserved ritual site held ancient murals about the Jashin Cult’s origins, and Akaseki chose to visit it that day.

Akaseki examined the Jashin Cult’s cave mural and confronted the Hell Yama King about his role in its events. He learned that the mural had been altered to conceal the Sage of Six Paths’ defeat and sealing of Jashin, and he vowed to bring down the cult.

• Caozhen led Akaseki, Ranwu, and Minato into the cave where Lanyu had fought the Jashin Cult, and Akaseki examined its ancient mural.
• Akaseki recognized figures in the mural as the Hell Yama King and another being, and realized the Hell Yama King had withheld details about fighting Jashin.
• Akaseki summoned the Hell Yama King and questioned him about the mural, prompting him to explain the six paths and his former role as a vessel for the Sage of Six Paths’ power.
• The Hell Yama King revealed that he and the Shinigami had lost to Jashin before the Sage of Six Paths intervened and subdued the Cursed God.
• Akaseki concluded that Jashin’s followers had altered the mural to recruit worshippers by hiding the Sage’s victory, and he declared that the cult’s days were numbered.

Akaseki led the joint force toward a Jashin Cult cave while Dan Katō and Hell Yama King revealed that they could see each other’s spirit forms. After Hell Yama King warned that Jashin might have detected Dan Katō’s earlier scouting, Akaseki halted the advance, but tentacles suddenly erupted from the ground and attacked Minato.

• Akaseki divided the Konoha and Sunagakure teams between the cave’s two entrances and warned the joint force not to kill Jashin Cult followers before he summoned Rashomon.
• Akaseki and Dan Katō discovered that they could see each other through Hell Yama King, who explained that Dan Katō’s Spirit Transformation Technique was a Chakra-based form of the Reaper Technique.
• Akaseki questioned Hell Yama King about its former followers’ strange regenerative abilities as the group approached the southern cave entrance.
• Hell Yama King warned that Jashin could detect spirit bodies, leading Akaseki to suspect the cult had discovered Dan Katō during an earlier scouting mission.
• Akaseki stopped the force and warned them to assume the cult knew they were coming, but tentacles burst from the ground and lunged at Minato.

Akaseki’s group fought Kakuzu, a Takigakure rogue ninja whose body contained living masks and multiple Chakra cores. After Kakuzu’s attacks failed to finish them, Akaseki’s combination ninjutsu exposed Kakuzu’s face and left Caozhen recognizing him.

• Kakuzu ambushed Minato from underground, but Minato evaded his tentacle attack after Akaseki detected him.
• Dan Katō’s possession attack failed to harm Kakuzu, and a mask emerging from Kakuzu’s neck used Fire Release: Intense Pain to repel Minato.
• Hyuga Fengyi identified Kakuzu’s inhuman body and five Chakra cores as Akaseki sent Mirror Clones to test him.
• Kakuzu’s masks unleashed a fire-and-wind combination attack, while his tentacles blocked Minato’s Gale Palm.
• Akaseki’s Mirror Clones countered with Lightning Fang Severing Wave, electrocuting and tearing away Kakuzu’s two masks.
• Kakuzu’s mask fell away, and Caozhen recognized his green eyes and ash-yellow complexion as Ranwu reacted to his strange appearance.

Akaseki and Minato battled Kakuzu while their allies fought his masked tentacle monsters, and Akaseki learned that Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear was a chakra-based technique fueled by resentment. Kakuzu realized Akaseki had uncovered the secret and forced the attackers back, demanding to know how he had figured it out.

• Caozhen recognized Kakuzu as the Takigakure assassin who had once tried to kill the First, and Kakuzu proudly announced his name.
• Kakuzu blocked Caozhen’s fire attack and sent two masked tentacle monsters after Ranwu and Hyuga Fengyi, who struggled against their unusual bodies and fighting styles.
• Akaseki ordered Fuyouwen and Caozhen to help Ranwu and Hyuga Fengyi while he and Minato attacked Kakuzu’s main body.
• Akaseki learned through Hell Yama King that Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear was a chakra-based technique whose tentacles were likely formed from resentment.
• Kakuzu unleashed three thick tentacles to drive Akaseki and Minato back, then demanded to know how Akaseki had discovered the secret.

Akaseki used Kakuzu’s resentment and a bluff about a Sharingan genjutsu to unsettle him, then exploited the arrival of Sunagakure forces to turn the confrontation against him. He left Kakuzu facing a possible joint attack while Konoha retreated under Sunagakure’s cover.

• Kakuzu revealed his masks and prepared attacks with all five Chakra natures, but Akaseki confronted him with a claim that Uchiha genjutsu could make him abandon his obsession.
• Kakuzu’s lie-detecting tendrils sensed that Akaseki was telling the truth, and Kakuzu tried to force Akaseki to choose between letting him kill two subordinates or risking his eye.
• Sunagakure’s puppets arrived with Zong Xuan, and Akaseki described Kakuzu as a rogue ninja who had assassinated the First of Konoha.
• Akaseki urged Zong Xuan to kill Kakuzu’s employer, Gou Zang, and Zong Xuan offered to hold Kakuzu back while Akaseki did so.
• Akaseki accepted Zong Xuan’s proposal and led the Konoha personnel to retreat under Sunagakure’s cover, leaving Kakuzu furious and uncertain.

Akaseki entered the Jashin Cult’s cavern and used Rashomon and the Hell Yama King to test the believers, driving most of them to flee while killing those who truly welcomed death. He questioned Gou Zang about the Sage of Six Paths and the altered mural, and Gou Zang’s recognition of the Hell Yama King suggested someone had explained the mural to him.

• Zong Xuan stayed behind to hold Kakuzu off while Kakuzu sent masked clones after the puppeteers, and Akaseki led the Konoha ninja into the cavern.
• Akaseki summoned Rashomon to block Jashin’s power and used the Hell Yama King to expose believers who lied about being willing to die; he let those who feared death escape and killed those who genuinely embraced death.
• As the believers crowded toward the narrow exit, Akaseki questioned Gou Zang about how he found the sealed demon god and whether he had altered the mural in another cavern.
• Gou Zang denounced the Sage of Six Paths and recognized the Hell Yama King as a figure from the mural, leading Akaseki to suspect someone had explained the mural to him.

Akaseki tested Gou Zang’s immortality, learned that Jashin’s followers could be killed by fire or starvation, and sealed Gou Zang’s surviving head for study. While searching for Dan Katō, Akaseki discovered a hidden sealing place behind a mountain wall and found Dan’s unconscious spirit body before a gate.

• Akaseki cut off Gou Zang’s head and burned his body, then sealed the still-living head to take back for interrogation and research.
• Akaseki asked Hell Yama King about the Sage of Six Paths’ mother, but Hell Yama King avoided answering.
• Akaseki searched nearby for Dan Katō with Tanuki Treasure and found discarded puppet fragments from the battlefield.
• Tanuki Treasure detected a damaged, concealed seal and transformed into Sky Serpent form to carry Akaseki through a hidden mountain wall.
• Akaseki found Dan Katō unconscious before a gate resembling the Gate of the Great God, and Hell Yama King warned him not to approach before pulling Dan’s spirit body away with its tongues.

Akaseki summoned Rashomon to repair the Gate of the Great God’s Sealing and silence Jashin, then met the Sage of Six Paths. The Sage revealed he was only a lingering Chakra remnant and offered Akaseki a reward, while leaving his surname unanswered.

• Akaseki learned from the Hell Yama King and Tanuki Treasure that Rashomon could repair the Gate of the Great God’s Sealing.
• Akaseki summoned five Rashomon gates, and Jashin tried to tempt and curse him before its voice was cut off.
• The Sage of Six Paths appeared and introduced himself as Hagoromo, but did not answer whether his surname was Uchiha.
• Akaseki learned that the Sage was only a lingering Chakra remnant and asked whether he sensed any unusual Chakra or curse on him.
• The Sage said he sensed nothing, then offered Akaseki a reward for repairing the Sealing and putting the Demon God of Chaos back to sleep.

Akaseki met the Sage of Six Paths and chose a bloodline enhancement instead of help evolving his Sharingan into a Rinnegan. The Sage strengthened Akaseki’s eyes and marked his Uchiha Gunbai with the Ame-no-Hoko’s pattern before vanishing, leaving Akaseki and the others outside the mountain.

• Akaseki asked the Sage of Six Paths to evolve his Sharingan into a Rinnegan, but the Sage explained that the Rinnegan came from the power of the Six Paths and could not be granted.
• The Sage offered to enhance Akaseki’s bloodline or give him a Six Paths Tool, and Akaseki chose the enhancement while asking for the Ame-no-Hoko as a gift.
• The Sage marked Akaseki’s replica Uchiha Gunbai with the Ame-no-Hoko’s pattern and used his remaining Chakra to strengthen Akaseki’s bloodline, concentrating the effects in his eyes.
• The Sage of Six Paths vanished, and Akaseki discovered that he, Hell Yama King, Tanuki Treasure, and Dan Katō’s spirit body were outside the mountain.
• As Dan Katō began to wake, Akaseki wondered whether to tell the others that the Sage of Six Paths had been an Uchiha.

Akaseki arranged for Gou Zang’s recovered wealth to fund relief for victims of the Jashin Cult, while securing Yugakure’s agreement to let Konoha supervise how the money was spent. Dan Katō was sent back to Konoha to recover, and Akaseki continued coordinating Konoha’s forces in Yugakure.

• Dan Katō woke on Tanuki Treasure’s back, then entered Akaseki’s body and learned that Akaseki had resealed Jashin.
• Akaseki concealed Dan Katō’s spiritual injuries and arranged for a Konoha support squad to escort him back to recover.
• Akaseki told Gumu that Konoha had found Gou Zang’s hidden fortune and proposed using it to aid people harmed by the Jashin Cult.
• Akaseki persuaded Gumu to have Yugakure manage a relief fund under Konoha supervision, creating a long-term mission for Konoha ninja.
• Akaseki reported Jashin’s resealing and the relief fund arrangement to Konoha, while leaving out the Sage of Six Paths.

Danzo failed to block Akaseki’s appointment to Yugakure, where Akaseki’s team helped Konoha gain influence before moving to a medical branch in the Wetlands. After three months away, the team was sent home to rest as Konoha prepared another jonin promotion conference.

• Danzo urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to replace Akaseki with Root, but Hiruzen kept Akaseki in charge of Konoha’s mission in Yugakure.
• Akaseki’s team stayed in Yugakure through May, then met Zong Xuan as Sunagakure withdrew and three Uchiha chunin remained under a long-term cooperative mission.
• Akaseki’s team went to the Wetlands, where Akaseki commanded a medical branch and the trio treated wounded Konoha ninja while surviving attacks from Suna and Ame forces.
• After two months, the command center disbanded the branch and sent Akaseki’s team back to Konoha for rest.
• Akaseki expected to have a strong chance at promotion during the upcoming jonin promotion conference.

After returning to Konoha, Akaseki reported his mission and told Clan Leader Jiancheng that the Sage of Six Paths had strengthened his bloodline and granted him the Ame-no-Hoko's mark. Jiancheng learned that Akaseki's dojutsu power had risen to a level comparable to or greater than that of fully awakened Three-Tomoe Sharingan users, though Akaseki still had not awakened three tomoe in both eyes.

• Akaseki and Ranwu returned to Konoha and reported their mission to Hiruzen Sarutobi, while Danzo watched unhappily.
• Akaseki presented Hiruzen Sarutobi with a large piece of jade and a wooden carving depicting him victorious in battle, then offered to donate the finished sculpture to the Konoha Museum.
• Akaseki visited Clan Leader Jiancheng, who praised his work arranging the Land of Hot Water's long-term mission agreement with the Konoha Military Police Force.
• Akaseki told Jiancheng that he had met a chakra remnant of the Sage of Six Paths and received a bloodline enhancement and the Ame-no-Hoko's mark.
• Jiancheng examined Akaseki's marked Uchiha Gunbai and learned that Akaseki's dojutsu power could support at least twenty large-scale A-rank techniques, despite his not having awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan in both eyes.

Akaseki discussed his likely Jonin promotion with Jiancheng, who also entrusted him with handling reports of damaged Demon God seals. At Naka Shrine, Setsuna revealed he was dying and asked Akaseki to have his remaining eye transplanted so it could save Akaseki’s life once with Izanagi.

• Jiancheng reassured Akaseki that his combat record and abilities made his Jonin promotion likely despite the Uchiha Clan’s history of rejected candidates.
• Akaseki told Jiancheng he had only shared the Demon God seal discovery with him, and Jiancheng ordered the clan to keep it secret while reporting related legends and damaged seals.
• Jiancheng told Akaseki to visit Setsuna, and Akaseki entered the dungeon beneath Naka Shrine to meet him.
• Setsuna teased Akaseki about his promotion and asked how the war was going before admitting that he was not going to live much longer.
• Setsuna asked Akaseki to find a skilled Medical Ninja to transplant his remaining eye, so its Izanagi could save Akaseki’s life once and protect the clan’s young talent.

Akaseki attempted to transplant one of Setsuna’s eyes with help from Hell Yama King, but accidentally chose Setsuna’s ruined eye. Back in Konoha, he tested eye-care products on it and found that neither could restore it.

• Setsuna explained that an eye transplant between different bodies caused severe rejection and required Yang Style Chakra to maintain the eye.
• Akaseki summoned Hell Yama King and performed the transplant, placing Setsuna’s ruined right eye in his own hand instead of replacing Setsuna’s good eye.
• Setsuna realized what Akaseki had done, angrily threw him out, and told him to leave.
• Akaseki returned to Konoha with the blind eye and tested an eye-protection device, but it could not treat damage caused by a forbidden technique.
• Akaseki tried refreshing eye drops that restored Dojutsu Power, but they also failed to repair the ruined eye.

Akaseki failed to find a way to treat his blinded eye, but the Immersion Platform offered surgery that cost more points than he had. After returning to village life and learning sealing techniques, he discovered he had been nominated for jonin, while Minato and Ranwu were not.

• Akaseki saw an Immersion Platform advertisement for eye surgery, learned it cost 19,800 points, and resolved to earn enough through dramas.
• Akaseki studied sealing techniques with Kushina, then visited Ruyi, little Obito, and Might Duy's family before sharing grilled meat with his teammates and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
• Akaseki began immersing himself in ultra-short dramas to save points for surgery and planned to buy more sculptures and visit the recommended sculptor.
• Uchiha Jie told Akaseki that he had been nominated for jonin promotion, with the vote results due in five days.
• Akaseki found that he was the only young-generation chunin on the nomination list, while Minato and Ranwu were absent because they lacked command experience.

Akaseki celebrated becoming a Jonin as Konoha prepared for a major shift in the war after Iwagakure entered the conflict. He warned that Hanzō remained a formidable obstacle, then learned that he would be assigned to a rear command branch while Ranwu and Minato headed for the Rain River front.

• On August 10, every candidate passed the Jonin promotion deliberations, and Akaseki received more approval votes than anyone else.
• Akaseki, Ranwu, and Minato discussed Iwagakure’s late entry into the war and the danger Hanzō posed despite Amegakure’s losses.
• Akaseki became a Jonin on August 11, and two days later he, Ranwu, and Minato received deployment missions.
• Ranwu and Minato were sent to the Rain River front, while Akaseki was assigned to a southwest command branch securing logistics and retreat routes.
• Ranwu teased Akaseki about his second-line assignment by reminding him that both the front and the rear contributed to Konoha.

Akaseki, Ranwu, and Minato traveled to Konoha’s rear command division, where Akaseki reported to Hatake Sakumo and learned how lightly the stronghold was staffed. Meanwhile, Chiyo secretly led her clan’s ninja toward Konoha’s rear despite Sunagakure’s agreement to fight alongside Konoha at Lingering Rain Mountain.

• Akaseki, Ranwu, and Minato learned that Hatake Sakumo commanded the rear division and set out together with Akaseki’s chunin squad.
• Akaseki’s squad, including Yakushi Nonō, Kizashi Haruno, and Yoshino Matsumoto, traveled with Ranwu and Minato toward the Land of Rain.
• After six days, Ranwu and Minato parted ways with Akaseki near the command division and urged him to set a good example for his chunin.
• Akaseki reported to Hatake Sakumo at Cloud-Breaking Pass and discovered that the stronghold had only four jonin and twenty chunin.
• Chiyo told Zong Xuan that she had brought her clan’s ninja to attack Konoha’s rear, arguing that the Kazekage’s agreement with Konoha did not forbid it.

At Cloud-Breaking Pass, Akaseki and Hatake Sakumo uncovered Chiyo’s surprise attack and prepared to face her superior Sunagakure force. At the front, the Third Kazekage confronted Hanzō, while both sides at the outpost realized they had been caught off guard by the strength of their opponents.

• The Third Kazekage Shimi blocked Hanzō’s assault with Magnet Release, and the two leaders withdrew their forces before clashing over the Rain River.
• Akaseki detected concealed Sunagakure ninja approaching Cloud-Breaking Pass and warned Hatake Sakumo that they had puppets with them.
• Hatake ordered the Konoha ninja to hide and replace the sentries with Shadow Clones, then sent a message by ninja hound.
• Chiyo led Ebizo and Zong Xuan in an attack on the outpost, but Zong Xuan’s caution exposed a trap that detonated their underground explosive puppets.
• Hatake and Akaseki faced Chiyo’s elite force with fewer and weaker ninja, leaving both sides startled by the opposing threat.

Chiyo led the Sunagakure forces in an attack on Konoha at Cloud-Breaking Pass, where Akaseki’s Mirror Clones and Hatake Sakumo disrupted the Sand ninja’s puppet formation. The battle descended into chaos, and Konoha began suffering casualties despite their counterattack.

• Chiyo ordered the Sand ninja to attack, and their puppets surged toward Konoha’s forces.
• Akaseki sent nearly twenty Mirror Clones against the puppets, but Chiyo’s Three Treasures Suction Crushing trapped and destroyed many of them.
• Pakura warned the Sand puppet masters that Akaseki could see Chakra threads, while his clones split through the puppet line and charged their handlers.
• Hatake Sakumo revealed himself among the clones, forced Chiyo to escape into a prepared puppet, and killed a puppet master with Hatake Style: Sky Rend.
• Akaseki’s clones destroyed Chiyo’s three suction puppets, but Chiyo reconnected her remaining puppets and struck back as the battlefield became chaotic.
• Konoha’s weaker fighters struggled in the disordered battle, and Konoha began taking casualties.

Akaseki protected Konoha’s fighters with his Mirror Clones while Hatake Sakumo killed Sunagakure’s elite during the battle at Cloud-Breaking Pass. As Akaseki’s clones dwindled and the fight shifted, Hatake exposed and killed Zong Xuan, who had been hiding inside a tree.

• Akaseki deflected Pakura’s Scorch Release back toward the Sunagakure forces and worked out how her Kekkei Genkai caused its damage.
• Akaseki reattached Yoshino Matsumoto’s severed arm and destroyed four attacking puppets with his Great Dragon Fire Technique while protecting Yakushi Nonō.
• Akaseki’s Mirror Clones began exhausting their Chakra, while Hatake Sakumo killed six White Clan puppet masters and two Wind Release ninja.
• Chiyo continued the attack despite the White Clan’s heavy losses, and Hatake’s White Fang formations began to break through her remaining puppets.
• Hatake Sakumo found Zong Xuan hidden inside a tree and tore apart the trunk, killing him.

Hatake Sakumo killed Zong Xuan and Zhen Sha during the battle at Cloud-Breaking Pass, but Ebizo captured Akaseki and led the surviving Sand Ninjas to retreat. As Chiyo’s forces regrouped, Akaseki learned he had been bound by the Five Aggregates Seal and planned to use Immersion to break it.

• Hatake Sakumo killed Zong Xuan, then struck down Zhen Sha when she shielded Chiyo.
• Ebizo trapped Akaseki in a sealing puppet, and Chiyo ordered the surviving Sand Ninjas to retreat after losing many of her clan’s elites.
• Hatake Sakumo stopped his team from pursuing the retreating Sand Ninjas and chose to defend Cloud-Breaking Pass.
• At Falling Rain Bridge, the Third Kazekage learned Chiyo’s message had triggered a confrontation with Konoha and realized the expedition against Lingering Rain Mountain would likely fail.
• Chiyo and Ebizo kept Akaseki alive, sealed his chakra and dojutsu power with the Five Aggregates Seal, and planned to leave his fate to the Third.
• Akaseki recognized the seal’s weakness and resolved to use Immersion to raise his dojutsu power enough to break it.