Recaps

Minato taught Kakashi, Namiashi Raidō, and Aoba Yamashiro that protecting comrades mattered more than completing a mission, citing Akaseki’s words. Meanwhile, Akaseki, Ranwu, and Miroku traveled to meet Jiraiya and join Orochimaru’s planned strike against Iwagakure, leaving Tsunade in Konoha to guard against Danzo.

• Namiashi Raidō said he admired his father and hated the Uchiha, and Minato urged him to judge each Uchiha for himself.
• Minato told Kakashi, Namiashi Raidō, and Aoba Yamashiro that Akaseki had argued a shinobi’s priority was protecting comrades.
• Akaseki explained to Tsunade and Ranwu that Orochimaru was concentrating elite forces for a decisive attack on Iwagakure, while Tsunade would remain in Konoha to watch for Danzo’s schemes.
• Akaseki and Ranwu left Konoha at night, met Miroku at the Valley of the End, and continued toward the Land of Rice Fields.
• Akaseki, Ranwu, and Miroku reached the western border of the Land of Rice Fields, where they planned to meet Jiraiya before entering the Land of Earth.

Akaseki met Jiraiya in Akaseki and set out with him and Ranwu on a mission to strike an Iwagakure communications hub. Jiraiya agreed to help expose Danzō’s crimes while keeping Konoha’s stability in mind, and the squad headed toward the Grayridge Relay Station before a coordinated attack on the Shattered Sand Camp.

• Akaseki met Jiraiya and revealed that Ranwu and Miroku were also present, prompting Jiraiya to question why unrelated people were involved in the mission.
• Akaseki told Jiraiya that he intended to gather evidence against Shimura Danzō, expose Root’s conspiracy, and avenge the children killed in its experiments.
• Jiraiya urged caution and agreed with Akaseki that completing the mission should take priority over actions that could destabilize Konoha.
• Akaseki, Jiraiya, and Ranwu departed as Akaseki Squad, with Akaseki as captain.
• Akaseki explained that the squad would attack the Grayridge Relay Station, then proceed to Kannabi Bridge by April 1 to join the assault on the Shattered Sand Camp.

Miroku sensed someone concealed among the trees, and Akaseki suspected the watcher might be the Wood Release user connected to Black Zetsu. That night, Miroku told Akaseki's clone that Mahashri had sensed a hidden mastermind a thousand years earlier, but the person's identity remained unknown.

• Miroku sensed something near the trees, though Jiraiya and Akaseki could find no trace of it.
• Akaseki warned Jiraiya that the watcher might be the elusive Wood Release user he had encountered in the Land of Rain.
• That night, Miroku secretly met Akaseki's mirror clone while Jiraiya and Ranwu watched.
• Miroku told Akaseki that Mahashri had sensed the same kind of watcher during Moryo's attempt to provoke conflict between Hamura's descendants and the Uchiha Clan.
• Akaseki learned that Mahashri had never identified the ancient mastermind, who had remained hidden for decades.

Akaseki planned to acclimate himself to repetitive Immersion Platform stories before attempting full access and awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan. He entered a lychee-buying dispute as Hong Yan, and the chapter ended with him turning to Beikan Village after Nanshan Village growers terminated their contracts.

• Akaseki decided to build up tolerance to similar immersive stories before risking full access, choosing a category with many short, recognizable plots.
• Hong Yan faced Nanshan Village growers who accused him of exploiting them by buying their lychees for six yuan a jin when another buyer supposedly offered thirteen.
• Hong Yan explained that his price covered every grade and included packaging and transport, challenged the growers’ claims, and offered to terminate their contracts.
• Most growers terminated their contracts, so Hong Yan arranged to return the purchased fruit while assuring the trucking crew they would still be paid.
• Hong Yan asked his assistant to investigate nearby lychee-growing villages and said he would visit Beikan Village despite the growers mocking its produce.

Akaseki and Jiraiya attacked Iwagakure’s Grayridge Relay Station, destroying its defenses and killing Huiyue, but Han emerged as the Five-Tails and helped Dong Shiren escape. Akaseki realized Han had been waiting with foreknowledge of their arrival, yet saw no other powerful Iwagakure ninja and wondered why they had not sent more.

• Dong Shiren worried about the front line while Huiyue lectured him at the Grayridge Relay Station.
• Akaseki attacked the relay station, defeated Huiyue, and began demolishing the fortress.
• Dong Shiren tried to send an emergency message, but Jiraiya destroyed the transmission seal and confronted him.
• The station collapsed as Jiraiya summoned Gamaken and Han transformed into the Five-Tails.
• Han ordered Dong Shiren to flee, and Akaseki realized Han had been lying in wait with intelligence about their arrival.

Akaseki fought Han and used their exchange inside Han’s consciousness to drive a wedge between him and the Five-Tails. The Five-Tails warned Han about Akaseki’s weapon, then fell silent as Akaseki urged it to choose its own freedom.

• Han used the Five-Tails’ Horn Break to pierce Akaseki’s second-stage Susanoo, but the Amanuma War Fan blocked the strike from reaching Akaseki.
• The Five-Tails warned Han to watch out for Akaseki’s weapon, then stopped answering him.
• Akaseki appeared in Han’s consciousness space and told the Five-Tails that only those it acknowledged could know its name and that it was free to choose.
• Akaseki accused Han of restricting the Five-Tails with the seal, and Han grew agitated while defending himself.
• Han blamed Hashirama Senju for capturing the tailed beasts, but Akaseki said Hashirama was wrong and urged the Five-Tails to choose freely.

Akaseki and Jiraiya fought Han’s Five-Tails form at the Grayridge Relay Station while Jiraiya prepared Mount Myoboku’s Sage Mode. Jiraiya’s Sage Art struck Han after Akaseki disrupted his Tailed Beast Ball, but Jiraiya could maintain Sage Mode for only one attack.

• Han charged Gamabunta, and Akaseki used Susanoo to block the Five-Tails’ advance after Gamabunta was knocked away.
• Jiraiya sent Gamabunta back and asked Akaseki to cover him while he prepared Sage Mode.
• Akaseki trapped the Five-Tails’ hooves with precise Swamp Release, pinned Han briefly, and bought Jiraiya time to transform.
• Jiraiya entered Mount Myoboku’s unstable Sage Mode, and Akaseki noticed that all of Jiraiya’s chakra had become senjutsu chakra.
• Akaseki disrupted Han’s Tailed Beast Ball through his efforts to win over the Five-Tails inside Han’s consciousness space, allowing Jiraiya’s Sage Art: Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet to hit Han.
• Han’s Tailed Beast form was badly burned and began regenerating, while Jiraiya deactivated Sage Mode after his single attack.

After destroying the Grayridge Relay Station, Akaseki’s squad realized their route had likely been exposed and abandoned its original plan to reach Shattered Sand Camp. They chose to attack Rockhold Fortress instead, aiming to pressure Iwagakure and the Earth Capital while avoiding a riskier strike on the capital itself.

• Han fled after Jiraiya struck him, and Akaseki’s squad regrouped after Ranwu reported capturing documents and letting one Jonin escape.
• Akaseki destroyed the Grayridge Relay Station with Swamp Release and concluded that the squad’s movements had probably been exposed.
• Akaseki rejected retreat because the squad was central to the wider operation and carried Minato’s Flying Thunder God kunai for bringing in reinforcements.
• Akaseki proposed attacking the Earth Capital, but Jiraiya redirected the plan toward the less risky Rockhold Fortress.
• Akaseki agreed to attack Rockhold Fortress and told Miroku to keep watch for anyone tracking them.

After the Grayridge Relay Station operation, Akaseki redirected his squad toward Rockhold Fortress and received Orochimaru’s approval to attack. Meanwhile, Hong Yan refused to buy back Nanshan Village’s lychees after the villagers broke their agreement, and Orochimaru said he would prepare Minato and Tsunade for the coming strike.

• Akaseki changed course for Rockhold Fortress, sent Orochimaru a report by white snake, and resumed his nightly immersion while the squad traveled north.
• Hong Yan bought lychees in Beikan Village, then refused to accept Nanshan Village’s fruit after its villagers had broken their purchasing contracts and left the fruit unrefrigerated.
• Hong Yan arranged to retrieve his equipment from Nanshan Village’s cold storage and warned his crew to bring recorders and notify the police.
• Orochimaru possessed the summoned white snake to speak with Akaseki, confirmed that no other squads had sent emergency messages, and approved the Rockhold Fortress plan with orders to withdraw within three hours.
• Akaseki said the squad would strike before dawn in two days, and Orochimaru said he would have Minato and Tsunade prepare.

Hong Yan secured the removal of his company’s cold-storage equipment from Nanshan Village after villagers tried to block the road, while Akaseki’s squad reached Rockhold Fortress and prepared to draw Iwagakure forces toward the Earth Capital. Akaseki planned to strike before dawn on March 28, leaving the operation poised to begin.

• Hong Yan explained that his company owned the cold-storage equipment, but Aunt Zhao led villagers in blocking the road and demanding rent.
• Hong Yan’s legal representative showed the police the contract and footage, and the police ordered the villagers to clear the road as rain began to threaten the lychee shipments.
• The drivers and merchants behind Hong Yan pushed forward to move the trees, while the police stopped Aunt Zhao and the other villagers who tried to resist.
• Akaseki reported to Orochimaru that his squad had reached Rockhold Fortress, and Orochimaru described the other squads’ progress and Iwagakure’s interception attempts.
• Akaseki decided to strike near the Earth Capital in the early hours of March 28, and Orochimaru arranged for Minato and Tsunade to be ready to move.
• Akaseki used his rest period to prepare six stocked Mirror Clones, then showed Jiraiya the recharged White Snake Sage’s Scale.

Akaseki led an assault on Rockhold Fortress, overwhelming its defenses with summoned serpents, Mirror Clones, and powerful techniques. As the fortress’s Guardian Ninja fought back, Akaseki reached its sealing hub and unleashed Swamp Release, causing the plateau to shake.

• Enormous serpents broke through Rockhold Fortress’s walls, while Akaseki’s Mirror Clones disrupted the Rampart Guards’ Earth Style defenses and attacked them with Susanoo.
• Jiraiya and Gamabunta blocked the fortress’s exit as practitioners fled and the Rampart Guards struggled to contain the attackers.
• Rock Seat, Gray Rock, and Dihō attacked Mirror Akaseki with a three-headed stone dragon, but his Lightning Storm: Sky Core destroyed it and cut through buildings behind it.
• Akaseki infiltrated the central hub of the fortress’s defensive seals and used Swamp Release to shake the plateau beneath Rockhold Fortress.

Akaseki’s assault on Rockhold Fortress was disrupted when Ōnoki arrived and used Dust Release to destroy Mirror Clones and the fortress’s central sealing hub. Akaseki confronted the Third Tsuchikage directly, and the chapter ended as Ōnoki’s Dust Release halted against Akaseki’s crimson Susanoo.

• Akaseki’s squad pressed its attack as snakes overwhelmed the Rampart Guards and the fortress began collapsing.
• Ōnoki arrived and used Dust Release to pierce and permanently destroy Akaseki’s Mirror Clones.
• Akaseki identified Ōnoki and directed his remaining clones toward crowds to limit the Tsuchikage’s sweeping attacks.
• Ōnoki targeted Jiraiya, who dodged and sent Gamabunta away, then destroyed Rockhold Fortress’s central sealing hub with Dust Release.
• Akaseki emerged from underground in his crimson Susanoo to test Ōnoki’s attack, and the Dust Release stopped when it struck him.

Akaseki discovered that the Amanuma War Fan blocked Ōnoki’s Dust Release, then engaged him in an aerial battle while waiting for an opening. As Jiraiya, Ranwu, and Minato fought the arriving Stone Ninja, Akaseki hoped to force Ōnoki to land and copy his Light-Weight Rock Technique.

• Akaseki used a shadow clone to test Dust Release and found that the real Amanuma War Fan blocked it because of the Ame-no-Hoko Mark.
• Ōnoki repeatedly attacked Akaseki with Dust Release and realized the fan could counter his technique.
• Akaseki rose into the air with Susanoo and Wings of the Void, but Ōnoki’s superior aerial maneuvering kept him at a disadvantage.
• Akaseki dodged Ōnoki’s attacks and endured damage to Susanoo while seeking an opening to bring him down.
• Stone Ninja Shadow Guard arrived, forcing Jiraiya, Ranwu, and the others to fight while giant snakes disrupted the battlefield.
• Akaseki planned to let Minato and two others ambush Ōnoki if an opening appeared, hoping to force him to land and copy the Light-Weight Rock Technique.

Akaseki used Minato, Orochimaru, and Tsunade to ambush Ōnoki, then copied Ōnoki’s Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique and learned to fly. With Akaseki facing Ōnoki alone in the sky, he taunted the Tsuchikage about passing the secret technique to the Uchiha Clan.

• Akaseki threw a marked kunai past Ōnoki, allowing Minato to teleport himself, Orochimaru, and Tsunade into the air beside the Tsuchikage.
• Minato and Akaseki attacked Ōnoki from opposite sides, forcing him to throw out his back before he crashed to the ground and escaped underground.
• Akaseki sent Orochimaru, Minato, and Tsunade to help Jiraiya and Ranwu fight the elite Stone Ninja while he stayed to face Ōnoki.
• Ōnoki used the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique to take flight, and Akaseki copied the technique with his Sharingan.
• Akaseki mastered the copied technique well enough to fly, entered Sage Mode, and teased Ōnoki about the Uchiha Clan inheriting the secret technique.

Akaseki drove Ōnoki to retreat by overpowering him and turning the battle below in Konoha’s favor. Ōnoki escaped underground with his remaining forces, while Akaseki stayed behind and taunted him.

• Akaseki and Ōnoki fought evenly in the air until Ōnoki tired, while Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Minato shifted the battle below in Konoha’s favor.
• Akaseki provoked Ōnoki by comparing Iwagakure’s losses to Konoha’s, making Ōnoki fear that the war could escalate and consider withdrawing.
• Ōnoki created a Rock Golem to fight Akaseki, but Akaseki briefly seized control of it and injured Ōnoki’s back again.
• Ōnoki brought the surviving Shadow Guard and Huiyue into the Rock Golem and escaped underground; Akaseki chose not to pursue after Minato signaled him.
• Akaseki used Wind Release to shout that the Thunderfire Greatsword of Akashi Uchiha did not cut the old or the young, enraging Ōnoki as he withdrew.

Akaseki’s team withdrew after driving Ōnoki away from Rockhold Fortress, then prepared to support the battle at Kannabi Bridge. Minato transported Akaseki into the fighting, where Akaseki emerged disoriented but immediately killed a Stone Ninja Jonin.

• Akaseki’s team confirmed that Ōnoki had left, reunited with Miroku, and withdrew east toward the Land of Rice Fields.
• Jiraiya told the group that Iwagakure had shifted its defenses toward the Earth Capital, making trouble at Kannabi Bridge less likely.
• Akaseki lightly immersed himself in a drama about Hong Yan buying fish before Minato’s call abruptly woke him.
• Shinnosuke activated Minato’s Flying Thunder God Kunai when two jinchuriki and a dangerous attack threatened a Konoha ninja at Shattered Sand Camp.
• Minato rescued the injured Konoha ninja, while Akaseki arrived retching and touched his lips as he recalled his earlier drowning with Minato.
• A Stone Ninja Jonin attacked Akaseki, and Akaseki killed him with a casual flick despite still feeling dizzy.

Akaseki disrupted the Stone Ninja’s retreat at Shattered Sand Camp, where Konoha captured and began demolishing the outpost. After returning to Ranwu, he argued with Jiraiya about Minato’s Space-Time technique and reminded Ranwu of an old incident involving Water Walking.

• Roshi and Han covered the Stone Ninja’s retreat, while Akaseki used Mirror Clones to enter their consciousness spaces and gain the tailed beasts’ initial trust.
• Akaseki fought Roshi and Han as the Stone Ninja withdrew, and Konoha cheered him as the force that had driven the jinchuriki away.
• Konoha captured Shattered Sand Camp and began destroying its defenses to protect Kannabi Bridge.
• Minato reassured Mitokado and Utatane by downplaying Akaseki’s fight with Ōnoki and portraying Ōnoki’s retreat as strategic.
• Akaseki and Jiraiya returned to Ranwu, where Akaseki criticized Minato’s technique and Ranwu offered to find him a copy of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Akaseki reminded Ranwu of the time he fell into the water during their Water Walking competition.

Akaseki persuaded Jiraiya to help investigate Root’s orphan abductions, then searched the northeastern border of the Land of Earth for children who could serve as bait. The squad found starving refugees and an abandoned boy, whose consciousness revealed a Sunagakure Memory Seal that Akaseki released.

• Akaseki argued that Root’s Wood Release Experiments had likely stalled and proposed using unfamiliar orphans to lure Root into action.
• Jiraiya rejected using Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato as bait, so Akaseki led the squad to search for other orphans near the Land of Earth’s northeastern border.
• Miroku found a band of refugees, most of whom had died, and the squad discovered an abandoned, severely malnourished boy.
• Ranwu treated the boy while Jiraiya went to guide the surviving refugees, and Akaseki entered the boy’s consciousness with his Sharingan.
• Akaseki found a Sunagakure Memory Seal in the boy’s consciousness and released it.

Akaseki removed a Sunagakure seal from a nameless refugee boy and recognized Sasori as its caster. The boy agreed to act as bait for the child-kidnappers, and Akaseki used Genjutsu to block his memories before sending him toward the Land of Fire with new hope of survival.

• Akaseki suppressed the seal’s mental imprint, recognized Sasori as its caster, and removed the seal from the boy.
• The boy remembered little beyond people walking and had no name; Akaseki learned that he had been a refugee since before he could form memories.
• Jiraiya reported that the refugees had fled from the border between the Lands of Wind and Earth, and Miroku confirmed that the other refugees had no seals.
• The boy volunteered to help lure out the child-kidnappers, and Akaseki offered to use Genjutsu to hide the plan from his memories.
• Akaseki stopped Jiraiya from naming the boy, saying his future companions should choose a name when he began a new life.
• Akaseki used his Sharingan to block the boy’s memories, and the boy headed toward the Land of Fire with a renewed desire to survive.

Akaseki and the Akaseki Squad tracked a white-haired boy after Root agents took him to replenish their supply of experimental subjects. They followed the agents to a secret base near the Land of Iron, where Akaseki summoned a white snake and chose to wait before acting.

• Root's Experiment Support Squad found the exhausted white-haired boy, judged him suitable as a test subject, and carried him away.
• Miroku told the Akaseki Squad that masked agents had taken the boy, and Akaseki reflected on Nagato, Madara Uchiha, and the Rinnegan.
• Jiraiya, Akaseki, Ranwu, and Miroku followed the Root agents as they traveled away from Konoha.
• The squad tracked the agents through a day and night to a Root Secret Base near the border of the Land of Iron.
• Miroku saw the agents enter through a seal, and Akaseki summoned a little white snake while telling Jiraiya to wait.

Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza followed Akaseki to a secret laboratory after learning that impostors were abducting children for experiments. As they hid near the entrance, they heard men bring infants and blame the Uchiha and Senju, confirming the suspected involvement of Danzo’s operation.

• Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza questioned their vague border patrol mission before Akaseki appeared and asked them to help rescue children.
• Akaseki said masked operatives posing as Konoha ninja had abducted children for inhumane experiments, and Shikaku, Inoichi, and Choza agreed to investigate.
• Akaseki led the three to the laboratory entrance, where Jiraiya and Ranwu were also watching while Miroku monitored the area from farther away.
• Inoichi detected approaching people, and the group hid as they heard an infant crying.
• Several men arrived with infants and children, complained about the Uchiha and Senju, and said Lord Danzo would settle matters with Konoha’s traitors.

Inoichi infiltrated Root’s secret laboratory and discovered that its researchers were conducting horrific experiments on children. After an infant began transforming into a living tree, Akaseki and the others stormed the base, where Shikaku and Choza began rescuing the captives.

• Inoichi used the Mind Transfer Secret Technique to possess a Root ninja and followed the group into the secret laboratory.
• Inoichi discovered children being delivered as test subjects, including infants transformed into living trees by the experiments.
• Inoichi contacted Shikaku, who alerted Akaseki, and Akaseki summoned the Tanuki Treasures to break open the base entrance.
• Akaseki, Jiraiya, and the others entered the laboratory, defeated Root guards, and tore through the iron door with Susanoo.
• Shikaku and Choza went to rescue the captured children while Akaseki assigned Ranwu to assist them.
• Shikaku immobilized three Root ninja blocking their path and sent them crashing into the wall.

Akaseki and his allies defeated Root’s experimental laboratory, rescued the children, and seized evidence of its human experiments. They alerted the Uchiha Clan, Forest Street, and Ino-Shika-Cho before Shimura Danzō could react, leaving Konoha poised for a confrontation.

• Choza, Shikaku, and Ranwu reached the children and bound the two researchers guarding them.
• Akaseki and Jiraiya subdued the Root ninja, contained the Wood Release, and captured the director while rescuing the baby.
• Akaseki’s group seized the experimental records and rescued more than twenty children and over ten babies.
• Akaseki warned Shikaku and Inoichi that Root members were escaping, prompting the clans to mobilize before Shimura Danzō could strike.
• Ranwu read the records and learned the scale of Root’s experiments, while Akaseki arranged for the children to stay at the Fire Temple.
• Akaseki revealed that Root’s men had massacred a village to take children, and Choza reacted furiously as the scandal threatened to engulf Konoha.

After learning of Shimura Danzō and Root’s crimes, the Ino-Shika-Cho clans and Uchiha prepared to act against them while trying to prevent a wider coup. Orochimaru persuaded Jiancheng to abandon his push for Uchiha rule, and the Uchiha entered Forest Street to coordinate their response.

• Cho-sai, Rokumei, Yamanaka Weiyi, and Nara Lu Ping agreed that the clans had to move against Shimura Danzō before Root could react.
• Lu Ping planned to contact trustworthy clans and gather forces at the Hokage Building, while Weiyi and Cho-sai sought Aburame Shikō and Kurama Izumo.
• Yangyong announced Akaseki’s findings to the Uchiha, whose members called for seizing the Hokage Building and attacking the Sarutobi Clan Compound.
• Orochimaru explained to Jiancheng that an Uchiha takeover would lack the other clans’ support and that only Tsunade might claim enough legitimacy to become Hokage.
• Jiancheng gave up on making Orochimaru Hokage and entered Forest Street with him to coordinate with the other clans.

Shimura Danzō learned that Forest Street, the Uchiha Clan, and allied clans were moving against Root and the Shimura compound to expose his crimes. As Root headquarters came under attack, Danzō rejected a chance to escape and decided to protect Hiruzen.

• Shimura Danzō received word that Konoha's Akaseki, Jiraiya, Forest Street, and Ino-Shika-Cho were connected to the incident at the secret base, and ordered Root to investigate the Uchiha Clan and other groups.
• Luping coordinated thirteen clans and eight civilian Jonin to meet at five, present evidence against Shimura Danzō, and send forces to Root headquarters, the Shimura Clan compound, and the Hokage Building.
• Forest Street and the Uchiha Clan led an assault on Root headquarters, while the other clans moved against the Shimura Clan compound.
• Root operatives reported that their patrols had been subdued and that the attackers had surrounded headquarters and were breaking through its defenses.
• Shimura Danzō learned from his warning pendant that the Shimura Clan compound was likely surrounded, then refused his subordinates' offer to escape through the Space-Time Transfer Technique.
• Shimura Danzō concluded that fleeing would not solve his predicament and decided that he had to protect Hiruzen.