Recaps

After seeing the casualties from an air raid, Lin Qing joined Konoha’s preparations for an attack by the Sky Ninja Legion, due in three days. As the meeting ended, he left with the surrender poster and vanished from a breakfast stall, leaving thunder in the sky.

• Lin Qing saw photographs of children killed in an air raid and decided to accompany Jiraiya to Konoha.
• At a strategy meeting, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu objected to Lin Qing’s presence, but Jiraiya offered him his seat and Tsunade welcomed him.
• Konoha’s ninjas debated defenses against the Sky Ninja Legion and planned to prepare during the three days before its attack.
• Lin Qing questioned why the ninjas intended to wait for the enemy and asked Jiraiya for the surrender poster.
• Lin Qing ordered breakfast, said he would return in twenty minutes, and disappeared from the stall amid distant thunder.

Shinnō planned to use the Sky Ninja Legion’s attack on Konoha to win support from powerful unseen sponsors, even if General Hummingbird had to die for the cause. Their preparations ended when Lin Qing arrived at the Sky Fortress.

• Shinnō told General Hummingbird that the Sky Ninja Legion would attack Konoha in two days to restore the Land of Sky and gain the approval of unseen forces.
• General Hummingbird worried about Lin Qing, but Shinnō insisted that attacking Konoha and wounding him was their best chance to secure supplies, wealth, and weapons.
• Shinnō made clear that General Hummingbird was expected to attack, bomb Konoha, and die publicly as a hero of the Sky Ninja Legion.
• A radar alarm announced an unidentified flying object approaching the Sky Fortress, and the Sky Ninja initially laughed at the tiny craft.
• Shinnō and General Hummingbird recognized Lin Qing as he emerged from the clouds and hovered before the Sky Fortress.

Lin Qing found and destroyed the Sky Fortress, then escaped its self-destruct trap and returned to Konoha with General Hummingbird’s Memory Disc. He told the meeting that no one would die in the coming battle and presented the Disc as evidence.

• Lin Qing tracked a Sky Ninja to a village and used the information he gained to locate the Sky Fortress among the clouds.
• Lin Qing and Whitesnake fought the Sky Ninja Legion; Lin Qing destroyed their attackers and confronted General Hummingbird aboard the fortress.
• Whitesnake took General Hummingbird’s Memory Disc and Ninjutsu Disc, but the Sky Fortress’s self-destruct sequence killed the remaining legion members.
• Lin Qing escaped a barrier designed to trap him in the exploding fortress and returned to Konoha with General Hummingbird’s Memory Disc.
• At the meeting in the Hokage building, Lin Qing told the assembled shinobi that no one would die and tossed the Disc onto the table.

After Lin Qing showed the conference room that he had already defeated the Sky Ninja Legion, he and Tsunade decided to strike back and find the forces backing them. Kakashi identified a desert beetle in Lin Qing’s photograph as a clue pointing to the Land of Wind, where Shinnō might be.

• Lin Qing showed the Memory Disc footage of himself defeating the Sky Ninja Legion, leaving Tsunade, Jiraiya, the clan leaders, and the advisors stunned.
• Lin Qing and Tsunade agreed to take the initiative by attacking the Sky Ninja Legion and tracing its backers.
• Lin Qing used Hermit Purple to photograph Shinnō giving a staged presentation of the battle and then tried to capture the audience behind it.
• Lin Qing’s second photograph showed cameras and a desert beetle instead of any audience, suggesting the financiers had avoided appearing in person.
• Kakashi recognized the beetle as a desert species and concluded that Shinnō was likely in the Land of Wind.

Lin Qing prepared to travel to the Land of Wind to investigate Shinnō’s connections, meet the Kazekage, and visit Iwao Genyako. Before leaving with Kakashi, he invited Tsunade to study Hidan’s ashes, and she agreed while deciding to address past divisions in the village.

• Lin Qing told Tsunade he would leave for the Land of Wind that day, reasoning that Shinnō might have more resources and weapons hidden away.
• Tsunade agreed to provide support from Konoha’s intelligence shinobi if needed.
• Lin Qing showed Tsunade Hidan’s ashes and explained his theory that the being left behind was a monster created by Jashin; Tsunade joined the research project.
• Tsunade said she wanted to address past sacrifices and divisions in the village, and Lin Qing understood which shinobi she meant to send with him.
• Lin Qing met Kakashi at the Hokage Building elevator, and they set off for the Land of Wind.

Lin Qing’s group traveled through the Land of Wind, where Kakashi reflected on his father’s past and Tsunade’s reason for assigning him the mission. Meanwhile, Shinnō learned Lin Qing had reached Sunagakure and decided to toy with him before making a move.

• Lin Qing’s group camped in the desert, and he explained that they would meet Rasa in Sunagakure before gathering information for a surprise attack on Shinnō.
• Kakashi’s memories of Hatake Sakumo resurfaced in the Land of Wind, and Lin Qing said Tsunade wanted him to hear the truth about his father from the enemy’s perspective.
• Kakashi accepted that he needed to let his memories come into the open and examine them.
• Shinnō admired the nearly completed Sky Fortress and its Zero-Tails Core, vowing to crush Lin Qing and Konoha once Unit 2 was finished.
• Shinnō’s adjutant reported that Lin Qing had arrived in Sunagakure, and Shinnō decided to toy with him rather than act immediately.

Lin Qing accepted Rasa’s request to join a rebellion against the Land of Wind’s Daimyo and conglomerates, but insisted they wait and first deal with Shinnō. The chapter left Lin Qing reading Iwao Genyako’s letters from Gelin City, where something in them began to trouble him.

• Rasa asked Lin Qing to help overthrow the Daimyo and break the conglomerates’ control, offering Sunagakure as his spear, and Lin Qing agreed to work with him.
• Lin Qing said they would first deal with Shinnō and asked whether Sunagakure’s shinobi would follow Rasa’s plan; Rasa admitted he could only try to persuade them.
• Rasa told Lin Qing that Iwao Genyako had gone to Gelin City to teach and gave him her weekly letters.
• Lin Qing read Iwao Genyako’s letters, smiled at first, then gradually furrowed his brows.

Lin Qing discovered that Iwao Genyako’s letters concealed a possible dungeon and rushed to Gelin City to find her. At the church, he saw a woman who looked like Iwao and identified her as Whitesnake.

• Lin Qing used Hermit Purple’s Spirit Photography on Iwao Genyako’s letter and saw a dark image that suggested she was being held in an underground cell.
• Lin Qing learned Gelin City’s location from Rasa and set off at full speed, carrying Kakashi, Sasuke, and Xiao Tao in the Ghost Room.
• Rasa saw Gaara’s despairing expression and felt a flicker of guilt before returning to the Kazekage building.
• Lin Qing reached Gelin City and went to the church where Iwao Genyako taught Awakening Ideology classes.
• The priest said Teacher Iwao had arrived, then led Lin Qing to a woman who turned around and smiled.
• Lin Qing recognized the woman as Whitesnake.

Lin Qing discovered that Arima Yukito had tried to abduct Iwao Genyako and killed him and his accomplices after uncovering their crimes. As his search for Iwao stalled, she prepared a group of devoted followers to act against Gelin City.

• Lin Qing learned that Nakagawa Rei had been hired to impersonate Iwao Genyako and traced the scheme to Arima Yukito.
• Lin Qing confronted Arima Yukito, whose memories revealed he had plotted to abduct Iwao and had searched for her after she escaped.
• Lin Qing left Arima Yukito alive at first, but Killer Queen’s Sheer Heart Attack exploded and killed him and the others in the room.
• Lin Qing and Kakashi found that the trail had gone cold, while Lin Qing’s photograph revealed only darkness.
• Iwao Genyako lit a candle in an underground warehouse and called on more than fifty followers to save Gelin City.

Hiding among Gelin City’s exploited factory workers, Iwao Genyako discovered that a genjutsu-like barrier was intensifying the city’s despair. With violence and suicides looming, she led a group of more than fifty people into the underground passages to begin their attack on the barrier.

• Iwao Genyako learned that surveillance and guarded exits trapped her in Gelin City, so she hid in the slums and worked in nearby factories.
• As she investigated the city’s growing despair, Iwao Genyako gathered workers, students, and others determined to act.
• Iwao Genyako told the group that companions had found a citywide barrier beneath Gelin City that used genjutsu-like effects to worsen people’s negative emotions.
• The blind old man warned that the barrier’s energy had surged, making suicide and violence imminent.
• Iwao Genyako rallied the group to attack that night, and more than fifty hooded members entered the underground passages to begin the Rat Operation.

Iwao Genyako and Blind City Official infiltrated Gelin City’s barrier, discovered it was gathering and extracting the city’s negative emotions, and destroyed its core. As the released emotions engulfed Iwao, Lin Qing arrived and reached out to take her home.

• Iwao Genyako and Blind City Official used explosions to damage the barrier and slipped past the samurai guarding it.
• Blind City Official identified their attackers as members of the Sky Ninja Village, and the group lost their comrades as they fought toward the barrier’s core.
• Iwao Genyako photographed the core and discovered that the barrier collected residents’ negative emotions and carried them away through underground pipelines.
• When the Sky Ninja Legion surrounded them, Iwao Genyako sent Blind City Official away with the camera and sacrificed herself to destroy the core with Explosive Tags.
• Lin Qing arrived after the barrier shattered, knocked aside the incoming kunai, and tried to save Iwao as the released emotions swallowed her.
• Lin Qing thrust his hand into the murky emotions, burned them away with golden flames, and told Iwao he had come to take her home.

Lin Qing rescued Iwao Genyako from the shattered barrier and used golden flames and Star Platinum to destroy the rampaging dark tide. After subduing the Sky Ninja Legion survivors, he decided to search the city lord’s memories for clues about who was funding the Legion.

• Lin Qing pulled Iwao Genyako from the dark tide and held her as it surged toward them.
• The Sky Ninja Legion recognized Lin Qing, and he summoned Star Platinum to smash the ghostly faces with flaming punches.
• The squad captain ignited the Explosive Tags on his body and charged Lin Qing, but Whitesnake extracted his Memory Discs and knocked him into the pit, where he exploded.
• The remaining Sky Ninja Legion members surrendered, and Lin Qing and Iwao Genyako descended to meet Blind City Official.
• Iwao Genyako told Lin Qing the Legion had partnered with Gelin City and based itself in the desert between two oases.
• Lin Qing chose to find the city lord and obtain his memories for clues about the Legion’s backer.

As Lin Qing’s forces tore through Gelin City’s defenses, Arima Hikaru tried to flee and begged Shinnō for rescue, but Shinnō abandoned him. Shinnō activated Sky Fortress Unit Two and sent it toward Gelin City, where its cannons opened fire on the city.

• Arima Hikaru gathered valuables and tried to escape through a hidden passage as Gelin City officials and assassins hunted him.
• The passage collapsed amid the destruction below the city, and Arima Hikaru called Shinnō to beg for help.
• Shinnō refused to rescue Arima Hikaru and explained that he had lost his value after the barrier’s exposure.
• Shinnō ordered Sky Fortress Unit Two to launch, intending to punish Lin Qing.
• Sky Fortress Unit Two rose into the air, flew toward Gelin City, and fired its cannons at the city.

Shinnō ordered Sky Fortress Unit 2 to fire on Gelin City to force Lin Qing into a deadly choice. Lin Qing took the destruction beam head-on to protect the residents and, despite the attack overwhelming his defenses, challenged Shinnō to do more.

• Shinnō announced that Lin Qing had infiltrated Gelin City, then ordered Sky Fortress Unit 2 to target residential districts.
• Workers in a Gelin City workshop faced the incoming attack as their supervisor ordered them back to work, until a young man spotted someone in the sky.
• Lin Qing caught a massive blade and used it to delay the destruction beam while Killer Queen and Aero Smith intercepted other artillery fire.
• Shinnō increased the beam's power to 150 percent after Lin Qing refused to dodge it.
• Lin Qing endured the beam as it tore through his clothes and skin, then looked up at Sky Fortress Unit 2 and asked, "That's all?"

Lin Qing broke through Unit No. 2’s defenses, destroyed its main cannon, and fought his way inside while the city below fell into chaos. He reached the central control room and found Shinnō.

• Lin Qing used the Blade of Ruin to shatter the Sky Fortress’s destructive ray, then broke through its defensive barrier with Killer Queen’s help.
• Lin Qing severed the main cannon, inspiring a young factory worker and other laborers to leave work and rush home to protect their families.
• Iwao Genyako and the rats rescued civilians as shells ignited parts of Gelin City, and she declared her faith that Lin Qing would win.
• Lin Qing entered Unit No. 2 and advanced through the fortress, while the Sky Ninja Legion tracked him by the sound of his blows.
• Lin Qing broke through the central control room ceiling, looked at Shinnō, and said he had found him.

Lin Qing killed Shinnō’s disguised substitute, but Shinnō activated the Zero-Tails Core and confronted him on the falling Sky Fortress. Shinnō opened the Eight Inner Gates and charged at Lin Qing above Gelin City.

• Lin Qing attacked Shinnō in the central control room, but discovered he had killed a transformed substitute while ink-black arms emerged from below.
• The Sky Fortress began falling after its flight engines lost power, leaving both Lin Qing and the Sky Ninja Legion soldiers unsure why it was happening.
• Shinnō activated the Zero-Tails Core, transformed into his youthful Zero-Tails form, and forced his way onto the deck.
• The backup fuel power stopped the Sky Fortress’s fall, and Shinnō told Lin Qing that his arrival had helped him gain everything he possessed.
• Lin Qing challenged Shinnō, who unleashed hundreds of black hands, opened the Eight Inner Gates, and charged at him.

Lin Qing tested Shinnō’s Eight Inner Gates and Zero-Tails power, then used the Golden Spin: Rasengan to overcome his defenses and regeneration. He left Shinnō defeated and exposed, with Lin Qing smashing him into the deck.

• Shinnō activated the Gate of Wonder and charged Lin Qing, but Star Platinum shattered his arm with a single exchange.
• Shinnō regenerated and fought Star Platinum in a rapid barrage, claiming the Zero-Tails gave him nearly limitless chakra and recovery.
• Lin Qing prepared a Golden Spin: Rasengan inside the Ghost Room while Star Platinum kept Shinnō occupied.
• Lin Qing stopped time and battered Shinnō until his Zero-Tails armor cracked, then struck him with the Golden Spin to disrupt his chakra control and regeneration.
• Lin Qing seized Shinnō by the head, pulled him out of the Zero-Tails chakra, and smashed him into the steel deck.

Shinnō detonated the Zero-Tails Core to escape, sending the Sky Fortress crashing apart over Gelin City. Lin Qing chose to save the city rather than pursue him, then stopped the falling debris and captured and killed Shinnō.

• Shinnō detonated the Sky Fortress and broke free by smashing part of his own skull, escaping with the remaining Sky Ninja Legion soldiers.
• Lin Qing abandoned his pursuit of Shinnō and used the Dragon Snake Treasure Orb and his earth power to raise golden sand that melted and pierced the falling wreckage before it could destroy Gelin City.
• After saving the city, Lin Qing used Hermit Purple to drag Shinnō back, and Star Platinum defeated him when he tried to attack.
• Shinnō's forbidden technique made him rapidly age, and he begged Lin Qing for his life while his adjutant, seeing his surrender, detonated himself in the air.
• Whitesnake pierced Shinnō and removed his discs, and Lin Qing killed him.

After Lin Qing defeated Shinnō and saved Gelin City, the Conglomerate watched the footage and resolved to kill Arima Hikaru. Arima escaped into the crowd but was killed by a woman corrupted by the city’s leaking negative emotions.

• The survivors of Gelin City watched Lin Qing with gratitude, while Sasuke stopped a woman from kneeling before him.
• The Conglomerate’s six members watched Lin Qing crush Shinnō and discussed his growing strength and the need to kill Arima Hikaru.
• Arima Hikaru fled through the crowd with his valuables, regretting that he had misjudged Shinnō and crediting him with buying his escape.
• A textile worker tainted by negative emotions demanded Arima’s suitcase, and Arima kicked her down before she stabbed him with scissors.
• The woman took Arima’s empty bag and left, while Arima died alone as his money and documents blew away.

After defeating Shinnō, Lin Qing examined his memories and discovered the Sky Fortress technology, then decided to seize Gelin City and break its ties with the Land of Wind. The chapter left Kakashi realizing he was witnessing a turning point in history.

• Lin Qing counted his gains from the battle and reviewed Shinnō's Memory Disc, concluding that the Zero-Tails Technique and the other forbidden techniques were dangerous and impractical.
• Lin Qing found the Sky Fortress and flying ninja tool manufacturing technology in Shinnō's memories and hoped the Research Institute could use it to prepare for threats from the moon.
• Lin Qing asked Iwao Genyako whether Gelin City could support its millions of residents without funding from the Land of Wind, and Iwao said it could if the rules of distribution changed.
• Lin Qing announced that Gelin City would sever ties with the Land of Wind that night and that the Extermination Army would arrive in a week.
• Kakashi understood that Lin Qing's decision to take the city made him a witness to history.

Rasa led Sunagakure to break away from the Land of Wind and join Lin Qing’s faction after arguing that the Land of Wind had exploited the village. Four days later, Rasa arrived in Gelin City with support forces and found Lin Qing at a factory, where an arrogant official from the Land of Wind was waiting.

• After receiving news from Gelin City, Rasa called an emergency meeting and announced that Sunagakure would join Lin Qing’s ranks.
• When the jonin and advisors questioned whether Lin Qing had controlled Rasa, he argued that the Land of Wind had betrayed and impoverished Sunagakure.
• Rasa showed the meeting documents about Lin Qing’s faction and Gelin City, persuading Sunagakure to break away from the Land of Wind three hours later.
• Four days later, Rasa brought Sunagakure’s support forces and supplies to Gelin City, where he saw that relief stations and essential services were already operating.
• A Rat Corps member guided Rasa to a factory, where he found Lin Qing with Sasuke, Xiaotao, Kakashi, and Iwao Genyako facing an arrogant official in the uniform of the Land of Wind.

Lin Qing rejected the Land of Wind envoy’s demand to return Gelin City and announced he would visit the feudal lord in half a month. Rasa revealed that Sunagakure had joined Lin Qing’s faction, and when the Extermination Army arrived in Gelin City, Lin Qing prepared to head to the Land of Wind’s capital with Amber.

• Lin Qing intimidated the Land of Wind envoy into returning immediately with a message that he would visit the feudal lord in half a month.
• Rasa told Lin Qing that Sunagakure had decided to join his faction, and Lin Qing welcomed him and thanked him for the support.
• Two days later, Amber led two hundred members of the Extermination Army into Gelin City.
• Lin Qing gave Amber half his flatbread and said they would set off for the royal capital of the Land of Wind.

Lin Qing prepared to travel to Warsaw City to negotiate with the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and address the trade problems caused by taking Gelin City. Kamikawa Yui recovered from her injuries and learned that Blind City Official planned to join the expedition, which he described as an attack on the royal capital.

• Lin Qing explained that he planned to talk with the Daimyo of the Land of Wind about keeping trade routes open between Gelin City, Sunagakure, and the rest of the country.
• Oda Ieyasu sent Lin Qing a draft unequal treaty, arguing that taking Gelin City had helped turn people against Shinnō and opened the way for the Awakening Ideology.
• Lin Qing welcomed County Magistrate Shirakawa, newly appointed to serve in the Land of Wind, and Shirakawa asked where he could find food.
• Kamikawa Yui woke at the Arima Estate, realized she had lost both legs, and proposed divorcing Blind City Official because she could no longer care for him.
• Blind City Official refused to divorce Kamikawa Yui until he had cared for her for twenty years, then told her he was going to Warsaw City to kill the daimyo, behead the bureaucrats, and break the royal city.

Kakashi struggled with Elder Chiyo’s taunts and the ghosts of his past as Lin Qing prepared to travel to Warsaw City for negotiations. Though Kakashi had planned to return to Konoha, he changed his mind and joined Lin Qing’s convoy.

• Rasa heard a rumor that Lin Qing planned to kill the Land of Wind’s Daimyo and seize the Conglomerate, then hurried off to find him.
• Elder Chiyo taunted Kakashi through a puppet, comparing him unfavorably to his father, and Kakashi stabbed the puppet with a kunai.
• Lin Qing assembled a convoy to Warsaw City with Amber, Rasa, Elder Chiyo, Blind City Official, and Gaara, while Sasuke and Xiaotao left with Shinnō’s discs for the Research Institute.
• Kakashi arrived with his pack just as Lin Qing’s convoy was departing, and Lin Qing invited him to get in.

Sasuke and Xiaotao returned to the Research Institute with Shinnō’s memories and the Ninjutsu Disc, and Samui explained how the technology could support a new aerospace research project. The institute’s researchers were growing soulless Hidan bodies for dangerous work, while a surviving piece of Hidan stirred in an underground cave.

• Sasuke and Xiaotao returned to the Research Institute after surviving three assassination attempts and handed Shinnō’s memories and the Ninjutsu Disc to Samui.
• Samui designated the disc as the basis for a fourth research direction, the aerospace project, and brought Sasuke and Xiaotao to the Hidan Research Lab.
• Samui explained that Hidan’s ashes could grow soulless organs and bodies, which researchers planned to control remotely for space travel and other dangerous work.
• Samui said the researchers could currently extract life force from cockroaches, with tardigrades as a possible future source.
• Sasuke wondered where the missing parts of Hidan were, while an underground fragment of Hidan opened its eye and shouted before a white snake tail struck him quiet.