Chapter Summaries

Shin learned that Otsutsuki Hufu’s corpse had extraordinary cell vitality and retained life force, suggesting the Ōtsutsuki Clan could remain revivable long after death. He left a pair of dim Tenseigan with Elder Shui for research and asked him to test them in the corpse.

• Shin asked Elder Shui about the results of studying Otsutsuki Hufu’s corpse, and Elder Shui explained that the corpse’s cell vitality had measured 20,000 despite declining after death.
• Elder Shui said Otsutsuki Hufu’s cells had stopped losing activity and that his remaining life force could last another hundred years, potentially allowing him to return without his original consciousness.
• Shin connected the findings to Hamura Otsutsuki’s return and concluded that the Ōtsutsuki Clan retained life force after death.
• Shin gave Elder Shui a pair of dim Tenseigan and told him to investigate restoring their vitality and test them in Otsutsuki Hufu’s body.

Shin reviewed the research into Hashirama Senju's cells and ordered Elder Shui to pursue experiments using Senju Clan subjects. After returning to Konoha, Shin received reports locating five Tailed Beasts and joined a high-level meeting with Senju Hashirama and Madara.

• Elder Shui told Shin that experiments with Hashirama Senju's cells had caused every subject to be consumed by Wood Style, and Shin ordered him to seek Senju Clan subjects.
• Shin stayed at the Feudal Lord's Mansion for a few days, then returned to Konoha.
• An Anbu Ninja gave Shin a report confirming locations for the One-Tail, Three-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, and Eight-Tails, while the Four-Tails and Seven-Tails remained unfound and the Nine-Tails had not re-formed.
• Shin went to the Hokage Office Building for a high-level meeting and found Madara already there.
• Senju Hashirama told Shin that the Feudal Lord was pleased with their discussions and would increase Konoha's funding by twenty percent.

At a High Command meeting, Hashirama ordered Konoha to capture the Tailed Beasts and assigned Shin to pursue Shukaku in the Land of Wind. The meeting ended with the other capture teams still to be announced.

• Madara attended Konoha's High Command meeting for the first time in nearly two years, and Shin noticed his damaged left eye was slowly recovering.
• Hashirama announced that Konoha would capture all the Tailed Beasts and distributed reports on their locations.
• The Nara Clan Head warned that pursuing Tailed Beasts in other countries could provoke resistance from the emerging powers.
• Madara dismissed the Nara Clan Head's concerns, and Hashirama argued that the other countries would focus on their own affairs.
• Hashirama assigned Shin to capture the One-Tail, Shukaku, in the Land of Wind.

Senju Hashirama assigned teams to capture the Tailed Beasts, and Shin headed to the Land of Wind to pursue the One-Tail. As Shin crossed the desert searching for an oasis, he noticed something in the sky.

• Senju Hashirama assigned the Three-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, and Eight-Tails missions, and said he had not decided what to do with the Tailed Beasts after capturing them.
• Hashirama set out to capture the Five-Tails, while the other teams departed and Uchiha Madara headed for the Land of Lightning to pursue the Eight-Tails.
• Shin worried that Madara's enthusiasm might mean he intended to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, then decided to keep an eye on him.
• Shin traveled through the Land of Wind, consulting a map that marked the nearby Hanhai Beach oasis as he searched for the One-Tail.
• Shin looked up after noticing something in the sky.

Shin followed a wooden bird’s flight to an oasis, hoping to find someone who could help him locate the One-Tail. There, he learned that puppet oxen helped the people farm and heard them praise Hanhai’s Guardian God.

• Shin spotted a wooden bird carrying chakra but no visible chakra threads, then followed the direction it flew.
• Shin reached a large oasis and saw a shinobi using puppet oxen to plow fields while an old man scattered seeds.
• The old man and the shinobi welcomed Shin after he claimed he was a merchant whose caravan had been scattered by a sandstorm.
• The shinobi controlled the puppet oxen with chakra threads, and the old man said they were the work of Hanhai’s Guardian God.

Shin learned that Monzaemon had brought the Puppet Technique to Hanhai Beach and helped turn it into a thriving settlement. Meanwhile, Retto asked Monzaemon to aid the Land of Wind’s unification, and a report about a suspicious Land of Fire ninja interrupted their discussion.

• An old man told Shin how Monzaemon had taught people to refine chakra and use puppets to protect and support Hanhai Beach.
• The old man brought Shin to his home and offered him milk tea and a place to rest while his son went to settle the Puppet Oxen and buy fruit.
• Retto asked Monzaemon to help end the Land of Wind’s fighting and establish a powerful village, but Monzaemon refused to use his Puppet Technique against his countrymen.
• Retto asked about reports that Shukaku had been seen nearby, then a guard reported that a ninja wanted to see Monzaemon about a suspicious ninja from the Land of Fire.

Shin questioned a family near Hanhai Oasis about the monster identified as Shukaku while Monzaemon and Retto planned to capture the One-Tail. After Jingong reported Shin's interest to Monzaemon, Shin set out toward Shukaku, and Monzaemon realized he had come for the One-Tail.

• Jingong told Monzaemon that a suspicious young man from the Land of Fire had arrived at the oasis, and Monzaemon sent him back with a Puppet Mouse to report any troubling signs.
• Retto proposed capturing Shukaku to help establish their village, and Monzaemon agreed to join forces with him.
• Shin asked the old man and Jingong about the monster near Hanhai, and they told him it was supposedly fifty miles south of the oasis.
• Jingong secretly used the Puppet Mouse to tell Monzaemon that a Konoha ninja had asked about Shukaku, while Shin watched from the roof.
• Shin left the house and headed toward Shukaku, and Monzaemon received Jingong's report and realized Shin had come for the One-Tail.

Shin searched the desert for Shukaku and found the One-Tail being captured by Retto, Monzaemon, and their ninja. After Shin admitted he had come to capture Shukaku, the beast broke free in a devastating sand attack, leaving Retto and Shin facing each other in the air.

• Shin searched through the night for Shukaku, then spotted the beast at the center of a sandstorm.
• Retto and Monzaemon arrived with four ninja and trapped Shukaku in a seal-covered net.
• Monzaemon asked Shin whether he was the God of Time and Space, and Shin confirmed that he had come to capture Shukaku.
• Shukaku broke the net with a surge of chakra and unleashed Sand Waterfall Funeral, forcing Monzaemon and Shin into the air.
• Retto rescued the four ninja on a hand of sand, while he and Shin remained poised above the devastated desert.

Retto battled Shukaku and turned the beast’s own spear against it, pinning it down so he could seal it. Just as he was about to finish, Shin intervened and stopped him, claiming Retto had saved him the trouble of dealing with the One-Tail.

• Retto attacked Shukaku with wind techniques while Monzaemon tried to negotiate with Shin, offering his developing puppet in exchange for the Tailed Beast.
• Retto baited Shukaku into using its Spear, slowed it with a wind vortex, then reflected it back and impaled Shukaku.
• Retto’s subordinates produced the Sealing Pot as Retto prepared to seal Shukaku.
• Shin vanished, then attacked Retto with swords of black flame as he approached Shukaku.
• Monzaemon’s wooden eagle scattered the falling swords, allowing Retto to escape their encirclement.
• Shin appeared on Shukaku’s head and told Retto that he had done well by saving him the trouble of dealing with the One-Tail.

Shin controlled Shukaku with his Sharingan after it was badly wounded, then faced Retto and Monzaemon over Konoha’s claim to the One-Tail. Monzaemon offered his Chikamatsu Ten Puppets in exchange, but Shin considered the deal and remained unwilling to give up Shukaku.

• Shin used his Sharingan to place the wounded Shukaku under genjutsu.
• Shukaku pulled the spear from its abdomen, healed, and stood up as Retto signaled his four subordinates to retreat.
• Shin told Retto he had come on the Hokage’s orders to capture the One-Tail for Konoha, and rejected Retto’s claim that Shukaku belonged to the Land of Wind.
• Monzaemon stopped Retto from attacking and offered his Chikamatsu Ten Puppets and their instructions in exchange for Shukaku.
• Shin considered Monzaemon’s offer but knew he needed Shukaku for his plans to revive the Ten-Tails.

Shin tried to take Shukaku back to Konoha, but Retto and Monzaemon blocked his way and demanded the One-Tail. Shin refused and prepared to fight both men, defending himself as their attacks converged.

• Shin recognized Monzaemon and refused to negotiate over Shukaku, directing the beast toward Konoha.
• Retto appeared in Shukaku’s path and used Wind Style: Dance of Sand to force the beast backward.
• Shin confronted Retto and Monzaemon, who each demanded that he leave Shukaku behind.
• Retto attacked with Wind Style: Wind God Wave as Monzaemon sent his ten puppets after Shin.
• Shin blocked a puppet’s twin blades with a wind sword as another puppet launched steel cables at him.

Shin used a Shadow Clone to face Monzaemon and Retto, surviving their combined attack while the real Shin appeared atop Shukaku. He offered Retto one chance to survive by withstanding a single move.

• Shin used Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi to burn two of Monzaemon's puppets, then deflected three more as the remaining puppets and Retto attacked in coordination.
• Monzaemon's puppets restricted Shin while Retto's Wind God Wave struck the battlefield, leaving a huge crater where Shin had stood.
• Monzaemon sealed the Amaterasu flames inside a ball of sand, and Retto assumed Shin had been defeated.
• Monzaemon warned Retto that Shukaku's eyes had turned red with three tomoe, and Retto narrowly dodged an explosion beneath his feet.
• Shin appeared atop Shukaku and revealed that the defeated Shin had been his Shadow Clone.
• Shin gave Retto one move to withstand, and Retto began forming Hand Seals under the pressure of Shin's overwhelming chakra.

Shin used the Sarutobi Clan’s ultimate technique to fuse five S-Rank Ninjutsu into a destructive dragon-beast and sent it at Retto and Monzaemon. The two prepared their strongest techniques to meet the attack.

• Shin created a lake in the desert and spread Amaterasu across its surface while rain clouds gathered overhead.
• Monzaemon attacked Shin with his eight chakra-infused puppets, but Shin threw a Sage Art Rasenshuriken that Monzaemon narrowly evaded.
• Shin combined Water, Earth, Wind, Scorch, and Lightning Style techniques into a fire-armored water dragon fused with Kirin.
• Retto unleashed his Ultimate Wind Style Death Tornado, while Monzaemon sent his puppets forward with Eightfold Consecutive Kill.

Shin’s water dragon overwhelmed Retto and Monzaemon’s combined attack, but Monzaemon’s exploding puppets destabilized it and unleashed rampaging energy. Shin escaped with Shukaku into the Kamui Dimension, while Monzaemon rescued Retto and fled by reverse summoning.

• Shin’s water dragon shattered Retto’s Death Tornado and swallowed Monzaemon’s merged puppets.
• Monzaemon detonated the puppets, disrupting the water dragon’s chakra balance and causing a destructive energy eruption.
• Shin pulled Shukaku into the Kamui Dimension and used Intangibility to survive the eruption.
• The energy vaporized Retto’s defenses and began destroying his sand-form body.
• Monzaemon used a wooden dragon horse to draw in Retto’s scattered sand and escaped with him through a prepared reverse summoning array.

Shin captured Shukaku after defeating Retto and Monzaemon, though his unstable Five-Element Fusion let them escape. As Shin headed for Konoha, Uchiha Madara arrived at Cliff of Thunder in the Land of Lightning.

• Monzaemon used a Reverse Summoning Technique to escape with the badly injured Retto, and promised to help him establish a village.
• Shin watched the two escape, then waited for his rampaging chakra to dissipate before summoning Shukaku from his space-time vortex.
• Shin rode Shukaku toward Konoha and reflected on the power and risks of his failed Five-Element Fusion.
• Uchiha Madara reached Cliff of Thunder and tried to see through the clouds, but could make out only lightning.

Uchiha Madara entered the Cliff of Thunder to find the Eight-Tails, prompting the First Raikage, Ai, to mobilize Kumogakure’s forces and confront him. Ai set out with Leinuo, determined to protect the Eight-Tails and test Madara in battle.

• Madara reached the Cliff of Thunder and rushed inside to search for the Eight-Tails.
• A Kumogakure shinobi reported Madara’s arrival to the First Raikage, Ai.
• Ai declared that Kumogakure would not let Konoha take the Eight-Tails and ordered Leinuo to accompany him.
• Ai ordered the Kinkaku and Ginkaku brothers to bring Jonin to seal both entrances to the Cliff of Thunder.
• Ai left Raikage Hall to confront Madara and test the famed Asura of the Ninja World.

Uchiha Madara fought the Eight-Tails in Thunder Valley, but the beast overwhelmed him with its attacks before he struck back with a lightning technique. As the Eight-Tails regrew its severed tentacles, two lightning-armored figures arrived and declared that Madara had no chance.

• Madara found the Eight-Tails beneath the waterfall in Thunder Valley and attacked it with the Dragon Flame Song Technique.
• The Eight-Tails countered with a Tailed Beast Bomb and a barrage of tentacle strikes, forcing Madara to dodge.
• Madara severed one tentacle with Lightning Flash Slash, then used Lightning Flash Electric Speed to electrocute the beast and cut off all eight tentacles.
• The Eight-Tails regrew its tentacles, and Madara claimed it had no chance against him.
• Two figures clad in blue lightning armor arrived and declared that Madara had no chance.

Madara and the First Raikage fought the Eight-Tails, then turned on each other after the Raikage identified himself as Ai. Madara survived Ai’s surprise attack with a substitution and struck back, leaving the two preparing to continue their clash.

• The Eight-Tails unleashed a chakra hurricane, and Madara and the First Raikage dodged its attack.
• Madara weakened the Eight-Tails with a Fire Style technique, and the First Raikage struck it down and hurled it away.
• The First Raikage ordered Leinuo to pursue the Eight-Tails and summon Kinkaku and Ginkaku for support.
• The First Raikage confronted Madara, who threatened to kill him for interfering with the Eight-Tails.
• Ai attacked Madara from behind and cut through a wooden substitute, then blocked Madara’s counterpunch with a hurried strike.
• Madara shook off the blow and vowed again to kill Ai.

Madara fought the First Raikage in the Valley of Thunder, relying on tactics and Fire Style after losing his left eye. Their battle ended with a violent clash that sent both men flying, while the Eight-Tails’ fight raged nearby.

• The First Raikage struck Madara with Lightning Style: Thunderstorm, but Madara escaped the blow with a Shadow Clone.
• Madara trapped the First Raikage in a Flame Cage and attacked with Majestic Demolisher Flame, but the Raikage broke free with Swift Furious Thunder Tiger.
• The First Raikage evaded Madara’s fire spear and appeared above him with Triple Thunderstorm Heavy Strike.
• Madara used Reverse Flame Rain to burn through the Raikage’s Lightning Cloak, then met his charge with a chakra-forged fire blade.
• Madara and the First Raikage clashed with lightning and fire, and the impact sent both of them flying through the smoke.

Uchiha Madara overwhelmed the First Raikage with powerful Fire Style attacks, forcing him to unleash Purple Lightning Heavenly Punishment. The First Raikage’s purple lightning shield resisted Madara’s flames as the battle shook Thunder Valley.

• Madara and the First Raikage recovered from their injuries and resumed their close combat.
• Madara used Five Fire God Gates, but the First Raikage broke through with Thunderstorm.
• Madara filled the sky with fireballs using Great Flame Myriad Flower Break, forcing the First Raikage to dodge.
• Madara covered the ground in flames with Heavenly Prison Fire Hell, leaving the First Raikage with little room to move.
• The First Raikage unleashed Purple Lightning Heavenly Punishment, forming a purple lightning cloak that resisted the fire attacks and sent Thunder Valley into chaos.
• Leinuo saw the purple lightning and realized the First Raikage had used the technique against Uchiha Madara.