Chapter Summaries

Hatake Sakumo abandoned a vital ambush mission to rescue Owl, then escaped Ghost Sorrow Gorge with him after Iwagakure forces surrounded them. Back in Konoha, Shimura Danzō fueled public criticism of Sakumo, leaving the hero wounded by the village’s judgment and beginning to doubt his belief in protection.

• Hatake Sakumo rushed to save the exposed Owl, sacrificing the planned attack on the Iwagakure supply convoy.
• Iwagakure ninja sprang their prepared ambush, and Sakumo fought through the encirclement while shielding the wounded Owl.
• Hatake Sakumo escaped Ghost Sorrow Gorge with Owl, but the mission failed and Iwagakure gained grounds to spread the story of his retreat.
• Shimura Danzō encouraged rumors that Sakumo had put personal loyalty above Konoha’s interests, while Hiruzen Sarutobi struggled to defend him publicly.
• Kakashi noticed whispers and strange looks at the Ninja Academy as criticism of his father spread.
• Hatake Sakumo returned to Konoha, faced the village’s disappointment, and began doubting his belief in protection while Shimura Danzō watched from the shadows.

After public opinion and his son’s distance drove Hatake Sakumo to suicide, Uchiha Sou rewrote the instant of his death and pulled Sakumo’s soul to Angkor Fortress. Sakumo’s body remained apparently dead in Konoha while his soul was sealed in a vessel, leaving his future in Sou’s hands.

• Root-guided rumors turned Konoha against Hatake Sakumo after he abandoned a mission to save his comrades, and Hiruzen Sarutobi privately tried to console him.
• Kakashi grew distant and questioned why his father had abandoned the mission, deepening Sakumo’s despair.
• Hatake Sakumo prepared his White Fang tantō and stabbed himself, believing his death might protect Kakashi from his disgrace.
• At Angkor Fortress, Uchiha Sou used a Causality overwrite to make Sakumo’s death appear real while redirecting his soul away from the Pure Land.
• Uchiha Sou received Sakumo’s soul at Angkor Fortress and sealed it in a vessel filled with nurturing energy.

Five-year-old Hatake Kakashi found his father, Hatake Sakumo, dead by suicide after rumors and public pressure drove him to despair. At Sakumo’s funeral, Hiruzen tried to restore his reputation, while Kakashi withdrew into grief and resolved to become stronger and decide for himself what was right.

• Kakashi found Sakumo dead in his bedroom and broke down beside his father’s body.
• News of Sakumo’s suicide spread through Konoha, and Hiruzen visited the Hatake estate to comfort Kakashi, who recoiled from him.
• Hiruzen accused Shimura Danzō of driving Sakumo to his death, but Danzō defended the death as a necessary sacrifice for Konoha.
• At Sakumo’s funeral, Hiruzen praised his loyalty and tried to clear his name while Kakashi stood silently before the Memorial Stone.
• Kakashi sealed away Sakumo’s bloodstained White Fang tantō, wore his father’s lightning talisman, and trained with renewed intensity.
• Kakashi buried his grief and distrust behind a cold resolve to grow stronger and judge right and wrong for himself.

Uchiha Sou revived Hatake Sakumo by transferring his consciousness into a stronger cloned body and showed him how Konoha had exploited his death. Reborn and disillusioned with his old life, Sakumo accepted Sou as his lord and entered his service.

• Hatake Sakumo awakened in a life-support pod at Angkor Fortress and learned from Uchiha Sou that Sou had manipulated Causality to save him.
• Sakumo recalled Sou's earlier interventions in his life and watched scenes of his funeral, Kakashi's grief, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō arguing over his death.
• After seeing how his death had hurt Kakashi and served Danzō's interests, Sakumo asked Sou how he could gain the power to protect and change things.
• Sou used Causality and Sakumo's preserved cells, combined with White Zetsu cells, to transfer Sakumo's soul into a stronger cloned body.
• Sakumo awakened in the new body, called Sou “Lord Sou,” and accepted his place under Sou's command.

After Hatake Sakumo's death, Konoha's public silence concealed growing divisions as Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to limit Danzō's influence and Danzō expanded Root. Kakashi withdrew into training and distrust, while Uchiha Sou recorded the turmoil from Angkor Fortress.

• Villagers and ninja fell silent after Sakumo's funeral, leaving bouquets at the Memorial Stone as signs of guilt and remembrance.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi supported Kakashi and increased scrutiny of Root, but he could not act directly against Danzō without evidence.
• Shimura Danzō covertly reshaped opinion about Sakumo, expanded Root's reach, and watched Kakashi as a potential future asset.
• Kakashi rejected long-term care, trained alone, and decided that strength was the only way to control his fate.
• Minato trained harder after Sakumo's death and thought about balancing mission success with protecting his companions.
• Uchiha Sou recorded Konoha's deepening turmoil in his Causality observation chart from Angkor Fortress.

News of Hatake Sakumo's suicide reached the other villages, where leaders and enemies judged what his death meant for Konoha and their own interests. The chapter leaves the other nations weighing new opportunities and threats amid Konoha's internal turmoil.

• In Sunagakure, Chiyo grieved that she had lost the chance to take revenge on Hatake Sakumo, while Ebizo urged her to let the dead rest.
• In his secret base, Sasori heard of Sakumo's death and treated it as further proof of the world's betrayal and fragility.
• In Iwagakure, Ōnoki gloated over Konoha's loss and ordered Kitsuchi to take a tougher stance in negotiations.
• In Kumogakure, the Third Raikage suspected Konoha's turmoil had deeper causes and ordered greater intelligence efforts and continued Jinchuriki training.
• In Kirigakure, the upper ranks recorded the news without much reaction as they remained focused on their own policies.
• In Amegakure, Hanzo reconsidered cooperation with Shimura Danzō as he assessed Konoha's weakened position.

Uchiha Sou and Uchiha Madara compared plans as Madara prepared to cultivate a despair-driven proxy in Konoha and delay Nagato’s Rinnegan transplantation. Sou continued studying the Dragon Vein and planned to strengthen his own forces before Madara’s larger scheme unfolded.

• Madara told Sou that Konoha’s White Fang had died and that the resulting unrest could help produce a suitable proxy.
• Madara described how Konoha might drive a candidate into despair, while Sou recognized the outline of the plan without naming the target.
• Madara asked why Sou had saved Hatake Sakumo, and Sou explained that Sakumo’s rebirth offered both strategic value and a chance to study changes in soul and will.
• Madara said Nagato needed more suffering and loss before he could bear the Rinnegan, and he outlined how Akatsuki would grow amid the Land of Rain’s hardships.
• Sou and Madara agreed to pursue their separate plans without interfering with each other, while Madara warned Sou not to threaten the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• After Madara’s projection vanished, Sou resolved to master the Dragon Vein, perfect All Things in Nature Sage Mode, and build a reliable fighting force with Zhi Li and Sakumo.

Kakashi trained at dawn in the Hatake estate when Might Guy arrived and challenged him to another taijutsu match. Kakashi defeated Guy and returned to training, while Guy remained undeterred and vowed to grow stronger.

• Kakashi practiced with kunai at the training ground as the lightning-shaped amulet around his neck caught the sunlight.
• Might Guy rushed in and challenged Kakashi to their twenty-seventh showdown, but Kakashi tried to dismiss him.
• Guy attacked with Leaf Whirlwind, and Kakashi countered his relentless taijutsu with precise blocks and strikes.
• Kakashi used the Substitution Technique and Body Flicker Technique to appear behind Guy and end the match with his kunai at Guy's back.
• Guy accepted defeat cheerfully and began doing push-ups, while Kakashi returned to his training and pushed away his thoughts of Guy.

Uchiha Xiyue and Uchiha Diena welcomed their son, Shisui, and hoped he would grow up amid greater peace than they had known. Konoha’s leaders learned of his birth and ordered routine observation, leaving Shisui’s family to cherish their brief haven as the village’s political tensions gathered around him.

• Uchiha Xiyue waited anxiously as Uchiha Diena gave birth to a healthy boy, and the couple named him Uchiha Shisui.
• Friendly clansmen and Elder Uchiha Daohuo welcomed Shisui’s birth, while Uchiha Setsuna and other radicals showed little interest.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu discussed Shisui’s ties to Kagami Uchiha and his potential significance.
• Hiruzen ordered routine observation of Shisui and warned Danzō against interfering with him unnecessarily.
• Uchiha Xiyue held his sleeping son and vowed to protect his family and give Shisui a more peaceful future.

Eight-year-old Hatake Kakashi became a Chunin after leading his team to victory, while Uchiha Sou and his allies continued growing stronger in secret and Sasori advanced his pursuit of eternal art. Kakashi looked toward a future defined by gaining enough power to make the rules.

• Hatake Kakashi led his team to defeat three more experienced Genin in the Chunin selection exam.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi approved Kakashi’s exceptional promotion, and Kakashi accepted his Chunin vest.
• Uchiha Sou refined his control of Rōran’s Dragon Vein and trained Uchiha Jiri and Hatake Sakumo at Angkor Fortress.
• Sasori pursued increasingly powerful ninja as puppet materials and moved closer to transforming himself into a puppet.
• Kakashi touched his lightning amulet and looked ahead, resolved to continue pursuing power.

Sasori pursued eternal beauty by turning shinobi and eventually his parents into human puppets, then began replacing parts of his own body. At Angkor Fortress, Uchiha Sou observed Sasori’s transformation and received Hatake Sakumo’s report about the exiled Hiruko’s experiments near the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost.

• Sasori increasingly used shinobi as materials for human puppets, treating their bodies and Chakra as components of his art.
• Sasori created puppets modeled after his parents, named them Father and Mother, and decided his own flesh was an obstacle to eternity.
• Sasori expanded his self-modification, replacing vulnerable body parts and internal organs with puppet substitutes.
• Uchiha Sou monitored Sasori’s altered thread of Causality and recorded his transformation as an object of study.
• Hatake Sakumo reported that Hiruko was conducting Chimera Technique experiments near the border of the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost and seeking Storm Release.
• Uchiha Sou ordered Sakumo to keep monitoring Hiruko without alerting him.

Uchiha Sou observed Akatsuki’s struggles in the Land of Rain as Uchiha Madara explained how he planned to use Yahiko’s death to make Nagato an ideal Rinnegan vessel. Madara expected the crisis to begin soon, while Sou considered how he might protect his interests and influence the coming events.

• Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan grew into teenagers and formed Akatsuki to help the people of the Land of Rain, but setbacks and pressure from Amegakure deepened their doubts and hardships.
• Uchiha Madara monitored Akatsuki through the White Zetsu network and waited for Nagato’s despair to make him a suitable vessel for the Rinnegan.
• Uchiha Madara’s Chakra projection appeared before Uchiha Sou in Angkor Fortress and said Nagato needed more time before a catalyst could break his convictions.
• Uchiha Madara identified Yahiko’s death as the intended catalyst and suggested Hanzo and Danzo could help bring about Akatsuki’s destruction.
• Uchiha Sou concluded that Madara planned to exploit Hanzo and Danzo, then considered how to observe and possibly intervene in the coming crisis.

As the Third Ninja World War approached, Uchiha Sou ordered Hatake Sakumo and Kagami Uchiha to capture Hiruko and obtain his Chimera Technique research. Sou planned to use that research, Hashirama Cells, Madara’s cells, and the Dragon Vein to prepare for awakening his Rinnegan while keeping his Sage Art hidden.

• Uchiha Sou and Omoikane no Mikoto assessed the rising likelihood of war and noted that Madara was monitoring Nagato through the White Zetsu network.
• Sou learned that Hiruko had fused Steel Release and Swift Release through the Chimera Technique and ordered Sakumo and Kagami to secure Hiruko and his research within three days.
• Sakumo and Kagami accepted orders to preserve Hiruko and his techniques, using force if needed while keeping their contact secret.
• Sou reviewed his sealed Dragon Vein-based Sage Art and concluded that fully awakening his Rinnegan required stronger Hashirama Cells, Madara’s cells, and a safer method of preventing rejection.
• Sou identified Hiruko’s compatibility research as the missing step in his plan and intended to use the Dragon Vein as both an energy source and protection during his eventual awakening.

Hatake Sakumo and Kagami Uchiha captured Hiruko and took his research on the Chimera Technique for Uchiha Sou. Sou ordered Omoikane no Mikoto to accelerate its analysis as he continued preparing for the awakening of his ocular powers.

• Hatake Sakumo and Kagami Uchiha infiltrated Hiruko’s laboratory and caught him off guard.
• Kagami Uchiha trapped Hiruko with a genjutsu, while Hatake Sakumo held a blade to his throat.
• Kagami Uchiha offered Hiruko power and help with his research in exchange for loyalty and his research results.
• Hiruko surrendered, and Kagami Uchiha ordered him to gather the core data and samples.
• Uchiha Sou received confirmation that Hiruko and his materials had been secured, then ordered Omoikane no Mikoto to accelerate its analysis.

Uchiha Sou reviewed Hiruko’s Chimera Technique and planned how to fuse Indra and Asura’s powers while concealing the process from the Sage of Six Paths. He left the story preparing a dangerous Rinnegan-awakening ritual at Rōran’s Dragon Vein, timed to coincide with the turmoil of war.

• Uchiha Sou explained Omoikane no Mikoto’s optimized compatibility methods to Hiruko, who agreed to cooperate with supervised experiments.
• Uchiha Sou examined the sealed cells of Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju and identified awakening their Indra and Asura Chakra without alerting the Sage of Six Paths as the main challenge.
• Uchiha Sou and Omoikane no Mikoto devised a temporary All Things Barrier using the Dragon Vein, Miroku’s light, and Mōryō’s darkness to conceal the fusion.
• Uchiha Sou planned to test Hiruko’s technique, prepare the barrier at Rōran, and perform the fusion during a major battle in the Third Shinobi World War.

Sasori struggled with the limits of puppetry and his growing isolation, then resolved to turn the Third Kazekage into a Human Puppet. A subtle influence from Uchiha Sou’s Observation Beacon strengthened his fixation, and Sasori set out to visit the Kazekage.

• Sasori found that his latest puppet still lacked the flexibility and power he wanted, and he recognized a bottleneck in his art.
• He recalled his parents’ deaths on the Third Kazekage’s orders and considered using the Forbidden Jutsu of Human Puppet to preserve the Kazekage’s Magnet Style.
• Sasori grew resentful of Granny Chiyo’s distance and felt abandoned by Sunagakure and those around him.
• Uchiha Sou’s Observation Beacon amplified Sasori’s frustration and desire for the Third Kazekage’s power without directly controlling his will.
• Sasori decided to visit the Third Kazekage and make him the centerpiece of his eternal art.

Sasori prepared an assassination attempt against the Third Kazekage, redesigning his puppets and body to counter Magnet Release and laying plans to lure his target to a remote battlefield. He finished his preparations and waited for the right moment to set the trap in motion.

• Sasori studied the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release and began replacing metal puppet parts with ironwood, stone, and ceramic.
• Sasori developed several poisons and fitted them to his weapons and puppets, while reinforcing the Father and Mother puppets for the attack.
• Sasori installed a concealed mechanism containing his compound poison, Scarlet Flow Eternal Silence, in his human-puppet core.
• Sasori chose remote stone ruins or a canyon as a battlefield and devised forged intelligence to draw the Third Kazekage away from Sunagakure.
• Sasori completed his preparations, stood before his Puppet Corps, and declared that the stage was set for his meeting with the Kazekage.

Sasori learned that the Third Kazekage planned to travel alone to Golden Shard Valley to gather metal for Sunagakure, and prepared a poison-based ambush. He killed the Third Kazekage and sealed his body in a storage scroll, leaving the village unaware of what had happened.

• The Third Kazekage decided to visit Golden Shard Valley alone and use Magnet Style to collect metals for Sunagakure's strained finances.
• Chiyo told Sasori about the Kazekage's plan and his expected departure in three days.
• Sasori prepared Focus Incense containing Chakra-Stagnation Powder and set disguised incense burners and Scarlet Crystal Pollen traps in the valley.
• The Third Kazekage arrived and gathered iron sand, unknowingly inhaling the incense Sasori had planted.
• Sasori attacked with puppets Father and Mother, then released Scarlet Crystal Pollen, which combined with the dormant powder and disrupted the Kazekage's Chakra.
• Sasori killed the Third Kazekage with a poisoned needle, concealed the battle traces, and sealed the body in a storage scroll.

Sasori left Sunagakure after killing the Third Kazekage and established a remote workshop to turn him into a human puppet. As Sunagakure fell into turmoil and the Ninja World moved toward war, Uchiha Sou prepared to use the coming chaos for his Rinnegan ritual.

• Sasori abandoned the damaged Father and Mother puppets in Golden Shard Valley and traveled north to establish a hidden workshop at Boiling Current Lake.
• Sasori began preparing the Third Kazekage's body for transformation into a human puppet.
• An Anbu search party found signs of battle and the abandoned puppets, and Chiyo realized Sasori was responsible for the Third Kazekage's disappearance.
• Sunagakure descended into panic and factional conflict over the missing Kazekage and the succession.
• Uchiha Sou tracked the changes in Causality and continued preparing his Dragon Vein ritual while anticipating the coming war.

After the Third Kazekage disappeared, Ebizo and Rasa pushed Sunagakure to blame Konoha and turn its internal crisis into an external conflict. Their accusation helped ignite the Third Great Ninja War, while Uchiha Sou watched the chaos spread and focused on the Dragon Vein of Rōran.

• After seven days without finding the Third Kazekage, Ebizo told Sunagakure's leaders that he was likely dead and urged them to redirect attention outward.
• Rasa proposed accusing Konoha of abducting or killing the Kazekage, and Sunagakure's leaders agreed to the plan.
• Sunagakure issued an ultimatum accusing Konoha of attacking the Third Kazekage, and Konoha denied the charges as diplomatic relations collapsed.
• Sunagakure mobilized troops toward the Land of Fire as Iwagakure advanced into the Land of Grass and Land of Rain, while Kumogakure and Kirigakure raised their border alerts.
• Border clashes spread among the nations, beginning the Third Great Ninja War.
• Uchiha Sou observed the growing war on his light screen and fixed his attention on the Dragon Vein of Rōran.