Chapter Summaries

Araki, Karatachi Yagura, and Hozuki Sengetsu examined Konoha’s request for an alliance and doubted the prophecy about threats to the Shinobi World. They decided Konoha had to prove the prophecy was genuine, and Jiraiya arrived to explain it.

• Araki read Konoha’s alliance request and the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy about world-ending monsters.
• Araki dismissed the Great Toad Sage’s earlier predictions as guesses or vague statements and questioned whether it could truly see the future.
• Araki and Hozuki Sengetsu agreed with Yagura that Konoha needed to provide evidence before Kirigakure believed the prophecy.
• Yagura summoned Jiraiya to explain the prophecy while Araki and Sengetsu joked about eating Mount Myōboku’s toads.
• Yagura said Kirigakure should treat Mount Myōboku as a potential enemy and account for its full strength.
• An Anbu shinobi announced that Jiraiya had arrived.

Jiraiya explained Mount Myōboku and Sage Mode to Araki and the Mist Village leaders while seeking support for an alliance against the world-ending threat. Araki obtained information about Sage Mode, and Jiraiya left believing he had made progress toward winning Kirigakure over.

• Araki noticed Jiraiya's severed fingers had healed and learned that a sage from Mount Myōboku had treated him.
• Araki questioned why Mount Myōboku had never chosen a Kirigakure shinobi, and Jiraiya explained that its toads avoided the sea and favored the Land of Fire.
• Jiraiya described Mount Myōboku's leaders and summoned toads, including the Great Toad Sage, Fukasaku, Shima, Iwayado Toad, and Gamabunta.
• Jiraiya explained that Sage Mode combined Natural Energy with chakra to create powerful Sage Chakra, and he offered to share knowledge after an alliance was formed.
• Araki learned the Sage Chakra mixing ratio, and Hozuki Sengetsu ended the discussion by asking Jiraiya to return to the inn while the Mist Village considered the information.

Araki used the Sage Mode principles he learned from Jiraiya to create Breathing of the Sage, giving Kirigakure a way to produce Sage Chakra through each breath. Karatachi Yagura then revealed Sunagakure’s proposal for reinforcements and a marriage alliance, leaving Araki and Hozuki Sengetsu eager to learn who was involved.

• After Jiraiya left, Hozuki Sengetsu suggested taking Sage Mode from him by force, but Araki clarified that he meant researching it themselves.
• Araki explained that he had learned the chakra-to-Natural-Energy ratio from Jiraiya and used a Shadow Clone to demonstrate Sage Mode.
• Araki combined Natural Energy absorption with the Breathing Technique and successfully created Sage Chakra, naming the method Breathing of the Sage.
• Karatachi Yagura agreed to keep Jiraiya around to ask about Mount Myōboku, demons, and the Six Paths, then told Araki that Sunagakure wanted reinforcements in exchange for Sasori of the Red Sands.
• Karatachi Yagura revealed that Sunagakure’s message also proposed a marriage alliance, prompting Araki and Hozuki Sengetsu to ask what kind.

Araki persuaded Kirigakure not to trade Sasori for a political marriage and instead arranged for Sasori to return to Sunagakure, expecting him to become disillusioned and come back. Sasori left after Kirigakure gave him a heartfelt farewell, but he admitted that he had begun to like the village.

• Araki read Sunagakure’s proposal to exchange Sasori for a Kirigakure ninja who would marry into Sunagakure, with Araki as its preferred candidate.
• Araki convinced Karatachi Yagura and Hozuki Sengetsu to wait for Sasori to become frustrated with Sunagakure rather than send another ninja in exchange.
• Araki told Sasori that Sunagakure wanted him back because of the war with Konoha, and Sasori agreed to return.
• Karatachi Yagura, Araki, and many Kirigakure ninja held a farewell banquet to honor and thank Sasori.
• Sasori told Araki that he had started to like Kirigakure, and Araki promised that he would always be welcome back.

Araki tested his strength against Tanjiro in the Consciousness Space and repeatedly overwhelmed him with Sage Mode and his golden sword. Tanjiro transformed into the Ghost King, but Araki cut through his attacks and engulfed him in a final slash.

• Araki summoned Tanjiro and defeated his Water Breathing attacks with superior strength and swordsmanship.
• Tanjiro transformed his Nichirin Sword and attacked with Sun Breathing, but Araki extended Yachiru and pierced Tanjiro and Nezuko's box.
• Nezuko emerged fully demonized and attacked Araki, who dodged her and kicked her back toward Tanjiro.
• Tanjiro became the Ghost King after Nezuko was hurt, and Araki severed his spinal whips with Slash Wave: Ring Cut.
• Tanjiro grew seventeen whip tubes and attacked from all directions, but Araki dodged and cut through them before reaching him.
• Araki unleashed a cascading golden sword strike that engulfed Tanjiro.

Araki defeated Demon King Tanjiro and Nezuko with his Infinite Moon sword technique, then absorbed their power and underwent a demon-fueled transformation that greatly strengthened his body and life force. As his transformation continued, he wondered whether Muzan Kibutsuji could possess every Blood Demon Art, including abilities that controlled space.

• Araki struck Tanjiro's head and destroyed his whip-like tubes, then cut off his toothed arm while kicking Nezuko away.
• Araki gathered Natural Energy and unleashed Slash Wave: Infinite Moon, shredding Tanjiro and Nezuko until they turned to ash.
• Golden feathers of light entered Araki, and a strange energy transformed his blood, bones, muscles, skin, and cells.
• Araki realized the transformation had given him abundant life energy and solved his weakness of having only an average amount of Chakra.
• While resting through the transformation, Araki wondered whether Muzan Kibutsuji could wield the Blood Demon Arts of demons such as Doma and Nakime.

After gaining the Ghost King Body, Araki tested his new demonic abilities and recreated several Blood Demon Arts, including one that could strengthen the Blood Blade Unit’s weapons. When Jiraiya pressed Kirigakure for an alliance against ancient monsters, Araki refused, leaving the Land of Water to handle its own affairs.

• Araki discovered his Demon Eyes, bone-spike abilities, and improved capacity for creating Shadow Clones.
• Araki recreated Blood Demon Arts based on Kokushibo, Nakime, and Rui, including a way to coat weapons in Demon Blood.
• Araki decided to transform the Blood Blade Unit so its members could strengthen ordinary swords with Demon Blood.
• An Anbu summoned Araki to the Mizukage’s office, where Jiraiya asked Kirigakure for a definite answer about an alliance.
• Araki told Jiraiya that Kirigakure refused to ally with Konoha, and Karatachi Yagura ordered Anbu to escort Jiraiya out.

After Jiraiya left Kirigakure, Araki revealed his newly awakened Kekkei Genkai, named it Demon Eye, and gave the Mizukage a vial of his blood for research. Karatachi Yagura promised to keep the research secure, until an urgent message arrived from the Land of Demons.

• Jiraiya left Kirigakure after failing to secure an alliance with the village.
• Araki told Karatachi Yagura and Hozuki Sengetsu that he had awakened an ocular Kekkei Genkai that enhanced his physical abilities and recovery.
• Araki demonstrated how quickly his wound healed and named his ability Demon Eye.
• Araki gave Karatachi Yagura a vial of his blood so the village hospital could study the Kekkei Genkai.
• Karatachi Yagura promised to restrict access to the research and keep its results confidential.
• A messenger delivered an urgent report from the Land of Demons.

Shrine Maiden Miroku learned that Moryo had escaped his seal early and asked the Five Great Nations for aid. Mist Village assigned Kisame Hoshigaki to protect her, and Araki gave him an eyeball that would let him observe the mission.

• Miroku sensed Moryo and two ominous figures, then ordered Taruho to request aid under the ancient oath with the Five Great Nations.
• Karatachi Yagura explained Mist Village’s obligation to help the Land of Demons and asked Araki and Hozuki Sengetsu to choose a team.
• Araki proposed Kisame Hoshigaki and Kaguya Black Bone, but Hozuki Sengetsu said Black Bone was being kept by the Kaguya Clan to improve their bloodline.
• Karatachi Yagura appointed Kisame captain and ordered him to choose two teammates for the mission.
• Araki told Kisame to protect Miroku by killing threats, and Kisame chose Kaguya Mangotsu and Kaguya Yingotsu.
• Araki removed his left eyeball, gave it to Kisame, and said it would let him watch the mission.

Araki created a powerful flesh clone named Alucard and sent him to the Land of Hot Water to investigate Jashin. In Yugakure, a mysterious cultist lured Hidan into an underground cave, while Alucard arrived on the coast and set out to find the village.

• Araki formed a flesh clone, named him Alucard, and gave him a new appearance so he could investigate Jashin without revealing Araki's identity.
• In Yugakure, Hidan threatened Izumi after hearing him insult him, and a jonin sent Hidan to the confinement room.
• During Hidan's three-day confinement, a mysterious voice repeatedly urged him to follow it and discover the meaning of life.
• After leaving confinement, Hidan met a robed figure bearing a red triangle-and-circle symbol, who led him to an underground cave and told him he would find what he desired inside.
• Alucard emerged from the sea along the Land of Hot Water's coast and went to look for Yugakure.

Hidan returned to Yugakure intending to offer its people to Jashin, but Alucard intercepted him and persuaded him to lead the way to Jashin Cave. Alucard entered the cult’s sanctuary and unleashed Baskerville against its guards.

• Hidan entered Yugakure, where Alucard spotted him and flew there in bat form.
• Hidan stabbed Alucard, but Alucard healed the wound and subdued him before asking to meet Jashin.
• Hidan mistook Alucard for a god and led him toward Jashin Cave, unaware Alucard killed cultists who tried to stop them.
• Alucard reached the cave’s metal gate, where the guards demanded he kneel and beg Jashin’s forgiveness.
• Alucard summoned Baskerville from his arm and sent the blood-red hound charging at the guards.

Alucard broke into the Jashin Cult’s underground church, drained part of its blood pool, and drew Jashin into conversation. Jashin explained how chakra and Kaguya’s actions transformed the world’s gods, ending with the origins of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

• Alucard used Baskerville to crush the Jashin Cultists’ defenses and knock the metal gate into the church.
• Alucard found a boiling blood pool, drained about a third of it, and provoked Jashin into addressing him as a young god.
• Alucard claimed he had recently become a god and asked Jashin why godhood was difficult in the current age.
• Jashin explained that the Otsutsuki had converted most of the world’s Natural Energy into chakra, forcing natural Gods to seek new ways to survive.
• Jashin described how Gods turned to human faith and negative emotions, fought over followers, and were hunted and sealed by Kaguya.
• Jashin said Kaguya created the Infinite Tsukuyomi to remove humanity’s negative emotions and eventually starve the evil Gods.

Araki learned from Jashin that Chakra consumed spiritual energy that people could not readily replenish, and decided to seek another source of power. He opened the Book of Sword Masters and summoned a new Sword Master, whose identity remained unrevealed.

• Alucard pretended to be frightened as Jashin described Kaguya, Hagoromo, and how spreading Chakra had weakened the old gods.
• Araki watched through his clone and concluded that Chakra's spiritual-energy cost posed a hidden danger, so he planned to seek power from Jashin or the Book of Sword Masters.
• Araki checked his status in the Consciousness Space and turned through the Book of Sword Masters to a page showing a man with a crimson-lit sword and another figure within an ice mausoleum.
• The figures from the book began appearing before Araki as the chapter ended.

Araki fought Demon Eyes Kyo in the frozen darkness, countering Kyo’s blood and water-based sword techniques with his own abilities. Araki badly wounded Kyo, whose control over Mibu Kyoshiro’s body faltered, and Kyo promised to return for another battle.

• Araki recognized the swordsman as Demon Eyes Kyo or Mibu Kyoshiro, and Kyo attacked him with Sirius.
• Kyo used Mumyo Jinpu-ryu techniques to manipulate Araki’s blood and launch water blades, but Araki resisted the illusion and cut through the Flood Dragon.
• Kyo’s Vermilion Bird clashed with Araki’s Blade Storm as the two resumed close combat.
• Araki used Breathing of the Sage to break Kyo’s Black Tortoise defense and slash him across the body.
• Kyoshiro’s body failed to support Kyo, and Kyo vowed to return after Araki agreed to wait for him.

Demon Eyes Kyo awakened and fought Araki, escalating into the Mibu Clan’s Demon God state as their battle stretched over ten days. Araki defeated Kyo and collapsed from mental exhaustion as golden light feathers merged into his body.

• After Mibu Kyoshiro died, Demon Eyes Kyo broke free of the ice coffin and attacked Araki with the Azure Dragon technique.
• Araki shattered Kyo’s water dragons, and Kyo unleashed the Four Gods and Yellow Dragon techniques; Araki met the golden beam with a powerful upward sword strike.
• Araki overwhelmed Kyo in close combat and taunted him until Kyo embraced his bloodline’s madness and awakened as a Demon God.
• Kyo’s strength grew with each clash, allowing him to fight Araki evenly, but Araki’s regeneration and Kyo’s draining stamina shaped the battle’s outcome.
• After ten days of fighting, Araki pulled his sword from Kyo and collapsed to rest as golden light feathers entered his body.

At the Shrine Maiden Shrine in the Land of Demons, Kisame Hoshigaki clashed with Iwagakure’s Kitsuchi and Mahiru after Mahiru provoked him. Kisame’s Samehada overwhelmed both jonin, leaving Mahiru captured and the other delegations stunned by the new Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist.

• Kisame Hoshigaki and the Kaguya brothers arrived at the Shrine Maiden Shrine and encountered teams from Iwagakure, Konoha, and other villages.
• Mahiru mocked Kisame, and Kitsuchi tried to calm the dispute by apologizing and appealing to their mission.
• Kisame rejected Kitsuchi’s appeal and struck at him with Samehada.
• Kisame’s blade rapidly drained the chakra from Kitsuchi’s Rock Fist and forced him to retreat.
• Kisame swung at Mahiru, shattered his defense, drained his chakra, and lifted him onto Samehada’s tip.
• The gathered Konoha and Sunagakure ninjas watched Kisame’s decisive debut with alarm.

Kisame Hoshigaki and Kitsuchi nearly resumed their fight until Shrine Maiden Miroku intervened and explained that Moryo’s soul had escaped its seal. She suspected Moryo had joined forces with the demon that vanished from the Land of Grass, but the enemy’s location remained unknown.

• Kitsuchi formed a stone staff from the shrine floor and used a super-weighted attack against Kisame Hoshigaki, who met it with Samehada.
• Shrine Maiden Miroku emerged and used her sealing power to halt the confrontation, then thanked the visiting ninja for answering her request.
• Sarutobi Shinnosuke asked Miroku about Moryo, and she explained that its soul had escaped but had disappeared instead of marching toward its sealed body in the Land of Swamps.
• Kitsuchi asked whether Moryo was still in the Land of Demons, but Miroku said she could not be certain and noted that its behavior had changed.
• Miroku suspected Moryo had gained a helper, possibly the demon that appeared in the Land of Grass, leaving the assembled ninja wondering where the pair had gone.

Black Zetsu brought Moryo and Evil Spirit to Jashin Cave to recruit Jashin and Alucard into an organization against the Otsutsuki clan. The five Gods agreed to join forces and named their organization Dream.

• Black Zetsu took Moryo and Evil Spirit east to Jashin Cave, promising Moryo an immortal body and seeking new allies.
• Black Zetsu introduced himself to Jashin and invited him to join an organization opposing the Otsutsuki clan and their ninja accomplices.
• Alucard presented himself as Jashin's student, then played along with Black Zetsu's appeal to unite the Gods.
• Jashin agreed to join, and Black Zetsu established the organization with Evil Spirit, Moryo, Jashin, Alucard, and himself as its founding members.
• After rejecting several suggested names, Black Zetsu named the organization Dream.

Black Zetsu organized the Dream Organization’s first meeting, where its members agreed to divide up their work across the Five Great Nations. After Jashin and Evil Spirit fought over the Land of Fire, Black Zetsu intervened and assigned shared access to it; the chapter ended with him asking Alucard to stay behind.

• Black Zetsu proposed that the Dream Organization’s members restore their powers and divide the Five Great Nations among themselves.
• Jashin used a cultist’s body to give Moryo a new vessel, and Moryo transferred his soul into it.
• Jashin and Evil Spirit both claimed the Land of Fire and began fighting, but Black Zetsu possessed Jashin to stop them.
• Black Zetsu made the Land of Fire shared territory and assigned the Land of Earth to Moryo, the Land of Water to Alucard, the Land of Wind to Jashin, and the Land of Lightning to Evil Spirit.
• Black Zetsu gave the members communicator rings and ended the meeting, then asked Alucard to stay behind.

Alucard agreed to help Black Zetsu in exchange for knowledge of ancient gods’ cultivation, while Moryo learned that the Shrine Maiden was pregnant and saw a chance to reclaim his body. Moryo asked Alucard and Black Zetsu for help, setting up a plan to attack when the Shrine Maiden was weakest.

• Alucard negotiated with Black Zetsu and agreed to help rescue its sealed true body in exchange for cultivation methods and knowledge of ancient gods.
• In the Land of Demons, Shrine Maiden Miroku decided to conceive a successor, a process that would weaken her power during pregnancy.
• Alucard joined a [Dream Organization] gathering, where Evil Spirit and Jashin argued over their followers’ conflicts in the Land of Fire.
• Black Zetsu told Moryo that the Shrine Maiden was pregnant, and Moryo realized her power would be weakest when she gave birth.
• Moryo decided to seize the opportunity to reclaim his body and asked Alucard and Black Zetsu for help.