Chapter Summaries

Minato and Kushina welcomed their son Naruto, but Obito attacked during the birth, extracted the Nine-Tails from Kushina, and unleashed it. After rescuing Kushina and returning her to Naruto, Minato prepared to confront Obito, his face marked by Sage Mode.

• Kushina gave birth to Naruto with Minato, Biwako Sarutobi, and a medical ninja assisting her.
• Obito seized newborn Naruto and threatened to kill him unless Minato moved away from Kushina.
• Minato saved Naruto from Obito's explosive tags, while Obito transported Kushina to a waterfall and extracted the Nine-Tails.
• Obito ordered the Nine-Tails to strike Kushina, but Minato arrived in time to rescue her and take her back to Naruto.
• Minato put on his Hokage Cloak and prepared to return to Konoha, revealing Sage Mode markings as he concealed his killing intent from Kushina.

Obito brought the Nine-Tails to Konoha and attacked Namikaze Minato, while the Third Hokage led the village’s defense. Minato saved Kage Rock from a Tailed Beast Bomb and confronted Obito, whose motives remained unknown as their fight began.

• Obito transported the Nine-Tails into Konoha, and the Third Hokage led Anbu to help fight it.
• The Nine-Tails fired a Tailed Beast Bomb toward Kage Rock, but Namikaze Minato redirected it to a distant lake with Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Namikaze Minato confronted Obito, whose attacks could pass through him and whose Kamui nearly pulled Minato into another dimension.
• Namikaze Minato escaped with the Flying Thunder God Technique and analyzed Obito’s abilities as Obito pursued him.
• Obito fastened an iron chain with cuffs around his wrists and angrily rejected Minato’s question about his purpose.

Minato outmaneuvered Obito by exploiting the timing of his Kamui intangibility and using the Flying Thunder God Technique. The chapter ended with Minato landing a devastating attack on Obito’s back.

• Obito charged Minato with a chained trap, but Minato escaped its Kamui pull after marking the chain with a Flying Thunder God Mark.
• Minato used a Flying Thunder God Kunai to draw Obito into ending his intangibility, then teleported away when Obito tried to pull him into the Kamui Dimension.
• Minato reappeared above Obito with a Rasengan, and Obito countered with Kamui Shuriken.
• Minato teleported clear of both shuriken and struck Obito in the back with the Rasengan, pushing his regenerative body close to its limit.

Minato outmaneuvered Obito, broke his control over the Nine-Tails, and forced him to flee to the Kamui Dimension. There, Minato’s attack detonated and blasted Obito’s body apart.

• Minato struck Obito from behind with a Senjutsu Rasengan, but Obito quickly regenerated and escaped to a nearby mound.
• Minato revealed that he had secretly placed another Flying Thunder God Mark on Obito’s cloak and pressured him into summoning the Nine-Tails.
• As the Nine-Tails emerged, Minato used Flying Thunder God to stab Obito and apply the Contract Seal, severing Obito’s control over the beast.
• Obito tore off his marked cloak and escaped to the Kamui Dimension, where his chest swelled and a violent explosion blasted his body to pieces.

Obito recovered in the Kamui Dimension after Minato defeated him, while Minato returned to Konoha to confront the rampaging Nine-Tails. The chapter ended as Minato began a summoning technique to stop the Nine-Tails from firing a devastating Tailed Beast Bomb.

• Obito lay injured in the Kamui Dimension and realized Minato's explosive attack had overwhelmed him, so he decided to wait for the Akatsuki's plan to unfold.
• Minato considered speaking with Uchiha Fugaku about the mysterious attacker, whom he suspected was an Uchiha, but prioritized the Nine-Tails and Kushina.
• Minato returned to Konoha and saw the destruction in the eastern district before joining the Third Hokage and the shinobi fighting the Nine-Tails outside the village.
• The Third Hokage handed command to Minato, and the Nine-Tails recognized him and prepared a powerful Tailed Beast Bomb.
• Minato began forming hand seals and called out, "Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique!"

Namikaze Minato, Kushina, and Gamabunta restrained the Nine-Tails and began resealing it, while Konoha's ninjas hailed Minato as the Fourth Hokage. As Kushina weakened and struggled to pull the Nine-Tails into herself, Minato decided to split its Yin and Yang chakra and seal one half inside himself.

• Namikaze Minato summoned Gamabunta, who landed on the Nine-Tails and interrupted its Tailed Beast Bomb.
• Namikaze Minato brought Kushina and Naruto to the battlefield, and the Third Hokage took Naruto while Minato and Kushina prepared to reseal the beast.
• Namikaze Minato and Kushina used the Four Symbols Seal and Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain the Nine-Tails.
• Konoha's ninjas cheered for Minato as Root and Uchiha Clan scouts watched and sent reports to their leaders.
• Kushina's strength faded as she tried to pull the Nine-Tails into herself, so Minato planned to divide its Yin and Yang chakra and seal one half inside himself.

Namikaze Minato and Kushina divided the Nine-Tails’ Yin and Yang chakra, then sealed one half inside Kushina and the other inside Minato. Minato overcame the Nine-Tails’ resistance and announced that the sealing had succeeded.

• Namikaze Minato undid the Five Elements Seal and used the Yin-Yang Seal with his Shadow Clone to separate the Nine-Tails’ chakra into Yin and Yang halves.
• Kushina used the Adamantine Sealing Chains to pull the Yin Release half from the Nine-Tails and seal it inside herself, restoring her life force.
• Kushina bound the Yang Release half with her Adamantine Sealing Chains to help Namikaze Minato seal it.
• Namikaze Minato used the Four Symbols Seal to create an Eight Trigrams Seal and draw the Yang Release half into himself.
• Namikaze Minato endured the Nine-Tails’ struggle until the seal steadied, then told the Konoha ninjas that the Nine-Tails had been sealed successfully.

After the Nine-Tails attack made Minato’s potential as a Jinchuriki a concern throughout the Shinobi World, Uesugi Shinji demonstrated Hashirama Cells’ dangerous effects to Sasori and invited him to help make them safe for strengthening the body. Sasori accepted, and the author’s note announced a ten-year time skip.

• News of the Nine-Tails attack spread, and the other villages worried that Minato might become even stronger as a Jinchuriki.
• Uesugi Shinji and Dr. Agasa injected diluted Hashirama Cell extract into mice and a plant, which grew rapidly, mutated, and then died.
• Sasori mistook the extract for a potent poison until Dr. Agasa explained that it was diluted a thousandfold and came from Senju Hashirama’s cells.
• Uesugi Shinji invited Sasori to help research how to use Hashirama Cells to strengthen the body without side effects, and Sasori agreed.
• The author announced that the story would move forward ten years and that most major battles would take place in the next period.

Eleven years after the previous events, the Shinobi World had entered a long peace as Konoha and the Ninjutsu Sect Office grew into formidable powers. At the General's Mansion, Uesugi Shinji read a letter from Sunagakure, and Rin wondered whether it invited the Ninjutsu Sect Office to the Chunin Ninja Exams again.

• Namikaze Minato strengthened Konoha, improved relations with the Uchiha Clan, and gradually weakened Root under Danzo.
• Terumi Mei led Kirigakure into prosperity with Karatachi Yagura's support and friendly partnerships with the Land of Birds.
• Uesugi Shinji's Ninjutsu Sect Office repelled pressure from the Land of Lightning and the Land of Wind, earning a reputation nearly equal to the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
• Zabuza won Kubikiribōchō from Biwa Juzo and became known as the Demon Blade, while Haku, Lu, and Yuan gained the titles Azure Pheasant, Crimson Heron, and Yellow Kite.
• Terumi Mei asked Uesugi Shinji to return to Kirigakure, but he refused.
• Uesugi Shinji read a letter from Sunagakure at the General's Mansion as Rin asked whether it concerned the Chunin Ninja Exams.

Uesugi Shinji agreed to send Haku as an instructor to the Chunin Exams while he prepared to join the Akatsuki’s operation against Sunagakure. At the Akatsuki meeting, Pain ordered Shinji to personally recruit Deidara after Kakuzu and Hidan’s attempt failed.

• Uesugi Shinji decided Haku would lead the Ninjutsu Sect Office team to the Chunin Exams, and Rin accepted his choice.
• Uesugi Shinji joined the Akatsuki meeting through the Magic Lantern Body Technique, where the organization’s nine core members assembled.
• Pain explained that Kakuzu and Hidan had failed to recruit Deidara after his explosive traps badly injured them, while Deidara escaped.
• Hidan protested that he deserved another chance, but Pain dismissed his complaint and told Uesugi Shinji to handle Deidara’s recruitment personally.

Namikaze Minato approved Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata’s request to enter the Joint Chunin Exams in Sunagakure, provided they followed their instructor’s orders. After the Genin left, Uchiha Itachi returned to Minato with intelligence he had gathered on the Akatsuki.

• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata asked Namikaze Minato to let them compete in the Joint Chunin Exams in Sunagakure.
• Minato agreed on the condition that the three Genin obey their instructor during the exams.
• Minato sent Ebisu to guide the team’s training and planned for Kakashi to instruct them.
• Uchiha Itachi arrived at the Hokage’s office to report intelligence gathered during his investigation of the Akatsuki.

Uchiha Itachi persuaded Namikaze Minato to let him investigate the Akatsuki’s core members, then returned home briefly before heading toward the Land of Earth. He left Sasuke eager for a promised lesson, escaping with another teasing “next time.”

• Uchiha Itachi warned Namikaze Minato that the Akatsuki seemed poised to make a major move and requested permission to pursue information from its core members.
• Namikaze Minato approved Itachi’s plan but told him to put his safety first.
• Itachi returned to the clan compound, spoke with Uchiha Mikoto, and watched Sasuke training before preparing to leave for the Land of Earth.
• Sasuke greeted Itachi and asked him to teach him better control of the Dragon Fire Technique, then complained about failing to surpass Naruto.
• Itachi encouraged Sasuke to focus on surpassing himself, flicked his forehead, and vanished before teaching him, prompting Sasuke to call him a liar.

Sasuke struggled with resentment after Fugaku failed to praise his progress, while Deidara continued pursuing his art in a remote Land of Earth temple. Kurotsuchi confronted Deidara and tried to bring him back to Iwagakure, but he escaped in a clay decoy as she ordered her team after him.

• Sasuke showed Fugaku his training progress, but Fugaku's indifferent response deepened Sasuke's resentment and made him fear his growing hatred.
• Deidara crafted his new C3 Clay Bomb in an abandoned temple in the Land of Earth and declared that art was an explosion.
• Kurotsuchi arrived with four elite jonin, carrying Deidara's deactivated traps, and urged him to return to Iwagakure.
• Deidara rejected Kurotsuchi's offer, called her and the others philistines, and warned them not to come after him.
• Deidara transformed into a clay doll to escape, and Kurotsuchi ordered her team to pursue him.

Kurotsuchi and four elite Iwagakure jonin trapped Deidara in a temple, but he escaped using a clay decoy. Outside, he found Uesugi Shinji and Sasori waiting to capture him, and prepared to face them while protecting Kurotsuchi.

• Kurotsuchi sealed the temple's exits with earthen walls while her four elite jonin helped corner Deidara.
• The jonin trapped Deidara in a Four-Corner Formation, but he revealed that they had caught a clay doll while his real body hid inside another one.
• Deidara's decoy exploded in a cloud of dust, and he blasted through the temple wall to escape.
• Kurotsuchi pursued Deidara and found the shinobi waiting outside lying motionless, with Uesugi Shinji and Sasori standing before him.
• Shinji and Sasori decided Sasori would capture Deidara, who warned Kurotsuchi to leave and said he would handle them.

Sasori confronted Deidara, Kurotsuchi, and four Iwagakure ninja alongside Uesugi Shinji, revealing his new Core of Rebirth and its advanced puppet-control abilities. The fight began with Sasori’s puppets attacking and Deidara launching spider-shaped Clay Bombs, while the Black Salamander puppet disappeared underground.

• Kurotsuchi refused to let Sasori and Uesugi Shinji escape after they attacked Iwagakure ninja, and Deidara agreed to fight them.
• Sasori revealed that he had developed the Core of Rebirth into Mother and Child Cores, which let him control enhanced Human Puppets without chakra threads.
• Sasori summoned two Human Puppets and a Black Salamander Bio-Puppet, then threatened to turn Kurotsuchi into a Human Puppet.
• Kurotsuchi sent her four subordinates to engage Uesugi Shinji while she and Deidara faced Sasori.
• Deidara launched spider-shaped Clay Bombs at Sasori’s approaching puppets and toward Sasori himself as the Black Salamander burrowed underground.

Uesugi Shinji used his newly mastered Ice-based Kekkei Tōta, Ghost Burning Flame, to annihilate four Iwagakure jonin who attacked him. Deidara and Kurotsuchi realized they could not win and began preparing to escape while Sasori’s puppets continued their assault.

• Sasori protected himself from Deidara’s spider bombs with an Iron Sand Wall, revealing his ability to use the Third Kazekage’s Magnet Release.
• Kurotsuchi used Lava Release to sweep away the hidden weapons launched by Sasori’s two Human Puppets.
• Four Iwagakure jonin attacked Uesugi Shinji, but his Ghost Burning Flame dissolved them in moments.
• Uesugi Shinji’s display left Deidara and Kurotsuchi shaken, and they decided to retreat.
• Deidara began making a Clay Giant Bird while Kurotsuchi raised a fortress-like shelter and defended them from Sasori’s puppets.

Sasori unleashed the Third Kazekage puppet to stop Deidara and Kurotsuchi from escaping, forcing them to defend against a powerful Iron Sand Shower. Deidara’s seemingly failed clay birds concealed an explosive trap that engulfed the puppet in flames as Uesugi Shinji watched.

• Sasori sent the Black Salamander puppet bursting through Kurotsuchi’s Lava Release fortress, but Deidara pulled her onto a clay bird and escaped its poison.
• Sasori summoned his prized Third Kazekage human puppet, which attacked Deidara and Kurotsuchi with Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower.
• Kurotsuchi shielded Deidara from the iron sand, but its force drove their bird down close to the ground.
• Deidara sent clay birds toward the puppet, and Sasori’s iron sand destroyed most of them while shielding the Third Kazekage puppet from the survivors.
• Deidara detonated the remaining birds, releasing concealed dust that ignited and engulfed the Third Kazekage puppet in explosions.

Deidara and Scorpion argued over the meaning of art while Scorpion’s regenerating Human Puppet kept attacking. Scorpion unleashed a massive Iron Sand Hurricane, leaving Uesugi Shinji watching to see how Deidara would respond.

• Deidara’s dust bomb damaged the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, but its living tissue rapidly regenerated and it continued pursuing him and Kurotsuchi.
• Scorpion called his creations works of art, and Deidara and Scorpion slowed their attacks to debate whether art should be brief or endure.
• Uesugi Shinji warned Deidara and Scorpion to act, reminding them that they were still in danger.
• Scorpion and his Human Puppets used Gasha Resonance to combine their chakra and amplify the Third Kazekage Human Puppet’s Magnet Release.
• The Iron Sand formed a towering, electrically charged hurricane, and Uesugi Shinji watched Deidara to see how he would respond.

Sasori used the Iron Sand tornado to capture Deidara and Kurotsuchi, then trapped them inside his Human Puppets. Deidara refused to join Sasori’s organization, so Sasori threatened to kill him with the puppets’ Iron Maiden mechanism.

• Sasori’s Iron Sand tornado dragged Deidara and Kurotsuchi toward its center, leaving them unable to escape.
• Deidara proposed using his self-destruct bomb, but Kurotsuchi struck him, took the bomb, and let the tornado destroy it.
• Kurotsuchi coated herself and Deidara in Lava Release: Quicklime, but the spinning Iron Sand ground away their defense.
• Sasori sent his Human Puppets into the tornado and enclosed Deidara and Kurotsuchi inside their bodies, keeping them alive with only their heads exposed.
• Deidara refused to join Sasori’s organization, and Sasori threatened to seal him inside a puppet and pierce him with iron needles.

Deidara agreed to join the Akatsuki after Kurotsuchi persuaded him, but Uchiha Itachi suddenly attacked the group. Uesugi Shinji stopped Itachi’s sword, and Itachi activated Tsukuyomi.

• Kurotsuchi persuaded Deidara to agree to join the Akatsuki, while Sasori warned them against betrayal.
• As Sasori prepared to release Deidara and Kurotsuchi, Uchiha Itachi attacked with Amaterasu and appeared behind them to strike.
• Uesugi Shinji caught Itachi’s wrist and stopped his blade just short of Deidara’s neck.
• Itachi recognized Shinji as his opponent and activated Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi.