Recaps

Kuro, Mei Terumi, and Cook followed Cook’s scent-tracking through the jungle and reached an ancient osmanthus forest. At its center, they discovered ruins and an altar bearing faint Uzumaki Clan patterns.

• Kuro urged Cook onward by threatening to withhold catnip, while Mei Terumi followed behind and covered their tracks.
• Kuro stopped when they reached a faint osmanthus fragrance, and Mei Terumi recognized the scent.
• Kuro cut through the jungle growth and revealed an ancient forest filled with golden osmanthus blossoms.
• Kuro, Mei Terumi, and Cook surveyed the desolate ruins at the forest’s center and saw Uzumaki Clan patterns on the altar.

Kuro investigated the suspicious Osmanthus Forest at the Uzumaki Clan altar and concluded that it was real, though something about it remained inexplicable. As Mei Terumi urged them to leave, Kuro asked whether she trusted him.

• Mei Terumi wondered why the Osmanthus Forest remained intact despite the ruined altar, while Kuro approached the grove and asked Cook about its scent.
• Kuro examined an enormous osmanthus tree with his Sharingan, cut off a branch, and confirmed that its wood and fragrance seemed real.
• Kuro told Mei Terumi that his observations suggested the forest was not a genjutsu, though he sensed it was unusually real.
• Mei Terumi urged Kuro and Cook to leave the forest and use the altar to find the ruins, but Cook pointed out that Kuro did not want to go.
• Mei Terumi admitted that she and Kuro were not close, then privately sensed something strangely familiar about him.
• Kuro turned to Mei Terumi with a serious expression and asked whether she trusted him.

Kuro awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan while Mei Terumi kept her eyes closed, then used its new vision to investigate the Osmanthus Forest. He discovered that the forest was made of chakra bearing the ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Mei Terumi trusted Kuro enough to close her eyes while he investigated the forest.
• Kuro awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and concealed its surge of ocular power from Mei.
• Kuro used his new X-ray vision to see that the trees' roots stretched together toward a distant source.
• Kuro saw that the Osmanthus Forest consisted of red chakra and recognized it as Mangekyō Sharingan ocular power.

Kuro absorbed the ocular power sustaining the Osmanthus Forest and discovered it left behind a memory from a thousand years ago. In the memory, he saw an Uchiha elder accompanied by Indra’s chakra and realized the man was Indra’s reincarnation.

• Kuro recognized the Osmanthus Forest as a creation of Mangekyō Sharingan ocular power and used Inari God to absorb it.
• Kuro found that most of the forest’s power was ordinary chakra mixed with a small amount of ocular power supplied by the distant ruins.
• Kuro turned to find Mei Terumi and Cook gone, then realized he was experiencing a memory left in the absorbed ocular power.
• Kuro watched a gathering of white-robed people and noticed an old Uchiha man in black samurai clothes.
• Kuro saw Indra’s chakra behind the old man and realized he was Indra’s reincarnation from a thousand years ago.

Kuro witnessed a memory in which the last leader of the Ninja Sect admitted its ideals had failed and asked Otsutsuki Kou to lead them in killing Otsutsuki Ori. After waking, Kuro found Osmanthus Forest gone and told Mei Terumi he needed time to sort through what he had learned.

• In Kuro's vision, Otsutsuki Kou condemned the Ninja Sect and argued that absolute power would dominate the coming age of war.
• The Ninja Sect's middle-aged leader admitted his predecessors had betrayed their ideals and asked Otsutsuki Kou to help kill his father, Otsutsuki Ori.
• Mei Terumi called to Kuro as he regained consciousness in the cleared ground where Osmanthus Forest had stood.
• Cook noticed Kuro's grave expression and vanished in a puff of white smoke.
• Kuro asked Mei Terumi to quiet down while he sorted through what he had learned.

Kuro pieced together the forgotten history of the late Era of Ninshu and realized that the Uzumaki ancestors had cooperated with Indra’s reincarnation to create the ruins. Excited by the prospect of finding more ocular power and Indra’s chakra there, he located the fastest route and dragged Mei Terumi toward the ruins.

• Kuro examined the altar’s damaged mural and reflected on a memory linking Indra’s reincarnation to the forgotten late Era of Ninshu.
• Kuro inferred that the predecessors of the Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki had once shared the Otsutsuki surname, and that the Ninshu factions had declined after a catastrophic mistake.
• Kuro concluded that people who were likely ancestors of the Uzumaki Clan had cooperated with Indra’s reincarnation to create the ruins, which might contain ocular power and Indra’s chakra.
• Kuro calmed himself, recalled the route indicated by the Osmanthus Forest’s roots, and regained his composure as Mei Terumi watched.
• Kuro appeared beside Mei Terumi, told her he had found the fastest route to the ruins, then grabbed her forearm and rushed off with her.

Kuro and Mei Terumi explored the overgrown ruins of Uzushio Village, where Kuro discovered a hidden entrance beneath an ancient altar. They opened a passage leading to the thousand-year-old Uzumaki Clan ruins and prepared to investigate.

• Kuro and Mei Terumi walked through the ruined village, and Kuro reflected on the Uzumaki Clan's destruction while Mei Terumi hurried ahead after he suggested resting by a stream.
• Kuro and Mei Terumi reached a ruined altar at the village's northern edge, and Mei Terumi recognized that the village had been built over older ruins.
• Kuro used his Sharingan to find four weakened sealing techniques concealed beneath the altar.
• Kuro poured chakra into the seals and released them, causing the ground beneath the altar to sink and reveal a passage.
• Kuro announced that they had found the thousand-year-old ruins of the Uzumaki Clan.

Kuro and Mei Terumi discovered that the Uzumaki ruins were actually a cemetery and found a mural concealing a powerful seal. Kuro used his Mangekyō Sharingan to see the ancient Mangekyō Sharingan hidden behind it, which he recognized as the true core of the ruins.

• Kuro and Mei Terumi followed a red glow through the tunnel and emerged into a vast chamber filled with gravestones and artifacts.
• Mei Terumi realized the site was an Uzumaki cemetery, apologized inwardly to the ancestors, and began examining a scroll.
• Kuro inspected a mural depicting a white-haired swordsman battling a red monster while black-haired people performed a ritual.
• Kuro used his Mangekyō Sharingan to see through the mural's loose seal and discovered immense ocular power and an ancient Mangekyō Sharingan behind it.

Kuro and Mei Terumi found sealing techniques in the ruins, but Kuro focused on a sealed mural that might conceal something more. After Mei urged him not to risk opening it, Kuro used Uchiha Shisui’s Kotoamatsukami on her, and her eyes dimmed.

• Mei Terumi returned with a scroll containing a sealing technique and thanked Kuro for helping her complete the mission.
• Kuro asked whether she had found other sealing techniques, and Mei explained that she had chosen not to take more out of respect for the dead.
• Mei revealed that Mist Anbu had investigated the ruins and never returned, then warned Kuro not to open the seal behind the mural.
• Mei said she was asking him to stop as a temporary companion, not as his client, and expressed her wish to maintain a relationship with him.
• Kuro activated Uchiha Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan and used Transcription Seal—Kotoamatsukami on Mei Terumi.

Kuro used Kotoamatsukami to make Mei Terumi accept that he should explore the dangerous ruins alone, though she briefly struggled with the suggestion before leaving. After wondering whether the technique had malfunctioned, Kuro turned his attention to investigating the mural.

• Kuro revealed that he had sealed Kotoamatsukami into his Sharingan and used it to alter Mei Terumi's thoughts about the ruins.
• Kuro told Mei to forget their earlier conversation and believe that letting him explore alone would benefit Mist.
• Mei accepted Kuro's plan and started toward the exit, reasoning that the mission and Mist's interests came first.
• Mei hesitated at the exit, remembered Sora's advice not to abandon companions, and turned back to tell Kuro to keep himself safe.
• Mei left through the tunnel, while Kuro wondered whether Kotoamatsukami had expired before deciding that its objective had been achieved.
• Kuro turned to the mural and prepared to investigate the ruins.

Kuro released the seal on a mural and used his Mangekyō Sharingan to absorb the ocular power hidden within it. As he absorbed it, he discovered information about the source’s Mangekyō technique, Eternal World.

• Kuro activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and released the seal on the mural.
• A crimson hand burst from the mural and struck toward Kuro, but he used Inari God to break it into motes of ocular power.
• Kuro realized the mural and its hidden power came from a Mangekyō ocular technique, and wondered what an Indra reincarnation had done a thousand years earlier.
• Kuro drew the crimson ocular power into his right eye and felt it strengthen his reserves.
• As Kuro absorbed the power, he received fragments revealing the source’s Mangekyō technique, Eternal World.

Kuro discovered that his Mangekyō dojutsu, Inari God, could absorb ocular power and reveal the principles behind other dojutsu, possibly allowing him to learn techniques he did not possess. As he examined the absorbed power from Eternal World, he detected a tiny but immensely potent trace of Otsutsuki Indra’s chakra.

• Kuro understood that Eternal World used ocular power to create tangible objects with special abilities, but consumed it heavily.
• Kuro absorbed more ocular power and learned detailed information about how Eternal World was constructed and controlled.
• Kuro realized Inari God might let him analyze and learn Mangekyō dojutsu without transplanting eyes or stealing powers.
• Kuro noticed a faint trace of chakra within the absorbed ocular power and recognized it as Otsutsuki Indra’s chakra.

Kuro absorbed a trace of Otsutsuki Indra’s chakra and discovered that it could elevate his Mangekyō Sharingan, offering a possible path toward its evolution. As the remaining ocular power continued to flow, he saw a vision of the Ninjutsu School’s headquarters in the Land of Lightning a thousand years ago.

• Kuro carefully guided Otsutsuki Indra’s chakra into his Mangekyō Sharingan and felt its essence begin to elevate.
• Kuro realized that absorbing Indra’s chakra might help evolve his Mangekyō and thought of Uchiha Sasuke as Indra’s reincarnation.
• Kuro turned back to the crimson ocular power, but the chamber vanished and a vision of towering mountains and ancient buildings appeared.
• Kuro recognized the vision as the Land of Lightning a thousand years ago and identified the enormous tower as the headquarters of Otsutsuki Indra’s Ninjutsu School.

The chapter recounts the rise of Otsutsuki Indra’s Ninjutsu School, its early conflict with the Ninja Sect, and the origins of tensions that would divide both organizations. After the Ninjutsu School retreated to recover from defeat, the Ninja Sect’s growing influence began to alarm surrounding rulers.

• Otsutsuki Indra traveled to the northeastern Ninja World, subdued the surrounding nations, founded the Ninjutsu School, and ruled it through strict strength-based hierarchy.
• Otsutsuki Indra expanded the Ninjutsu School but avoided confronting the Ninja Sect, building its laws and High Heaven Pavilion while ignoring Asura’s repeated overtures.
• Otsutsuki Indra and Otsutsuki Asura died in Year 85 of the Ninja World Calendar, and border disputes and competition for talent and ore began the following year.
• The Ninja Sect and Ninjutsu School welcomed the children who would become their fourth and third leaders as conflict spread between the organizations.
• The Ninja Sect defeated the Ninjutsu School, whose second leader retreated into the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range to recover and develop.
• The Ninja Sect’s influence among ordinary people and military strength fueled suspicion among surrounding nations, laying the groundwork for future divisions.

The chapter recounts the centuries-long conflict between the Era of Ninshu and the ninjutsu school, from their first war and the founding of the Alliance to the Alliance’s eventual defeat. It leaves the Ninja Sect diminished and submitting to the ninjutsu school, with descendants sent to High Heaven Pavilion as hostages.

• The ninjutsu school exploited divisions within the Era of Ninshu and invaded, but an overlooked descendant of Otsutsuki Asura united neighboring nations and led them to victory.
• The Era of Ninshu and the neighboring nations formed the Alliance, while the second leader of ninjutsu began reforms and pursued peace with the Era of Ninshu.
• An assassin killed the second leader, and the new third leader stabilized the ninjutsu school while continuing reforms but rejecting diplomatic outreach.
• The two sides fought for nearly twenty years, and both leaders died in their final large-scale battle, deepening their generations-long feud.
• Over centuries, the Alliance weakened through internal disputes and ultimately lost its final war against the ninjutsu school, then dissolved after its nations surrendered.
• The defeated Ninja Sect submitted to the ninjutsu school and sent descendants to High Heaven Pavilion as hostages under the pretense of an exchange for study.

On Cloud Thunder Mountain, Zhi endured abuse from three privileged boys before the frail Kuro came to help him. Watching them leave, the black-haired Kuro realized the boy might be the ancient figure from the memories forced into his mind.

• Three black-robed boys mocked Zhi and burned his arm while using him as a living target.
• Zhi charged at the lead boy, but the boys retreated after hearing he might be protected by a member of the Clan of Gods; the lead boy knocked Zhi to the ground before leaving.
• Kuro hurried over, coughing from exertion, and Zhi helped him recover while scolding him for leaving his room.
• Kuro explained he had come because he heard Zhi was in trouble, and the two boys supported each other as they left the plaza.
• A black-haired Kuro watched them with the Mangekyō Sharingan and wondered whether the frail boy resembled the elderly figure from his memories.

Kuro observed Otsutsuki Ori and Otsutsuki Kou growing close, then realized Black Zetsu was manipulating their bond and using Ori’s blood to treat Kuro’s illness. Kuro used Heaven Manufacturing to fast-forward several years, turning the boys into fourteen-year-olds.

• Ori endured painful wounds while Zhi treated him, and the two boys reaffirmed their friendship and promised to explore together once Kuro recovered.
• Kuro studied the boys’ identities and recognized them as the reincarnations of Asura and Indra, whose lives were entangled by a thousand-year fate.
• Kuro suffered a violent coughing fit, and Zhi gave him ancestral medicine that eased his symptoms.
• Kuro noticed blood on Zhi’s bandages and deduced that Zhi had been adding his life-filled blood to Kuro’s medicine for years.
• Kuro concluded that Black Zetsu had engineered the boys’ circumstances and relationship as part of a long-term experiment.
• Kuro activated Heaven Manufacturing and fast-forwarded several years, causing the boys to become fourteen.

Otsutsuki Ori returned to the Ninja Sect as the Ninjutsu School launched its purge, but the nations betrayed the Sect and Ori became a monstrous weapon in its desperate final battle. After the devastation ended the Ninja Sect, Kou learned how Ori had been transformed and set out on a separate path as the surviving disciples formed the group later known as the Demon Slayer Corps.

• Ori rejected the shadowy figure’s offer to escape and returned to the Ninja Sect, while Kou stayed behind and staged a fight that let Ori appear to have defected after wounding him.
• The Ninjutsu School attacked the Ninja Sect, but Ori rallied its forces and rebuilt the Ninja Sect Alliance until the allied nations betrayed them for the Ninjutsu School’s promises of sovereignty and access to the Sect’s technology.
• As the final encirclement began, Kou found Ori transformed by the God Tree branch into a crimson monster whose attacks devastated the armies and killed nearly every top combatant; Kou awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• After the catastrophe, Kou temporarily led the Ninjutsu School and learned from a surviving Ninja Sect representative that Ori had volunteered to become the first human host of the branch’s power.
• The Ninja Sect dissolved, Kou refused the disciples’ request to help him hunt Ori, and they set out on their own as the group later remembered as the Demon Slayer Corps.

Kuro remembered how he and the Demon Slayer Corps sealed Ori beneath the Land of Whirlpools, where Kuro stayed behind and died beside him. Centuries later, Kuro opened his eyes in the secret realm and saw the stone statue of Ori looming over his own kneeling skeleton.

• During the Dark Age, Kuro pursued Ori for decades while the Demon Slayer Corps developed a sealing technique.
• The Demon Slayer Corps and Ninja Sect forged Kagutsuchi from a God Tree branch, inherited techniques, and Kuro's right Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Kuro and the Demon Slayer Corps confronted Ori on a desolate island in an Osmanthus Forest and sealed him beneath the Land of Whirlpools.
• After entrusting Kagutsuchi to the Demon Slayer Corps, Kuro used his final ocular technique to protect the seal and died beside Ori.
• The descendants who guarded the seal became the Uzumaki Clan, and centuries later they sensed Ori's life pulse cease.
• Kuro opened his eyes in the secret realm and saw Ori's stone statue towering over his kneeling skeleton.

After hearing Mei Terumi's report, Kuro considered how to use the gains from the Land of Whirlpools mission and planned to approach Orochimaru for help finding the graves of past Indra and Asura reincarnations. His memories of Orochimaru's child experimentation made him hesitate, just as a spatial distortion appeared in the room.

• Mei Terumi reported that her Land of Whirlpools mission succeeded with help from Uchiha Kuro and brought back a scroll, while Kuro hid his distraction behind his Sora identity.
• Kuro reassured Mei Terumi that they were comrades and sent her to rest before turning his attention to the scroll and the mission's gains.
• Kuro planned to study the Eternal World ocular technique, find the Great Ori Cutter, absorb chakra from Second Pillar and Uzumaki Naruto, and search for the remains of past Indra and Asura reincarnations.
• Kuro considered partnering with Orochimaru, whom he believed could locate ancient graves, but recalled the child experimentation he had witnessed in Orochimaru's laboratory and recoiled at the idea.
• As Kuro continued to hesitate, a vortex-like spatial distortion appeared in the center of the room.

Obito told Kuro that Orochimaru had defected from Akatsuki after losing a fight with Itachi. He revealed that Orochimaru had fled toward the route Kimimaro was taking, leaving Kuro alarmed for the returning mission operative.

• Kuro hid the scrolls on his desk and acted casual when Obito appeared through a spatial vortex.
• Obito told Kuro that Orochimaru had left Akatsuki after challenging Itachi and suffering a crushing defeat.
• Kuro concealed his relief that Orochimaru had defected and questioned why Obito had come to tell him in person.
• Obito pointed out that Orochimaru had fled toward the direction Kimimaro had gone on his mission, and Kuro’s expression shifted to killing intent.

Orochimaru attacked Jūzō Biwa and sought to take Kimimaro, but Kimimaro stood between them until Shiina Sora arrived and blasted Orochimaru away with Hiramekarei. The chapter ended with Sora emerging from the mist as Kimimaro called out to him.

• Orochimaru defeated Jūzō Biwa and prepared to kill him with Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.
• Kimimaro returned to protect Jūzō Biwa, restrained Orochimaru’s snakes, and explained that Mist Village reinforcements were on their way.
• Orochimaru praised Kimimaro’s body and vowed to reshape his ideals before an attack interrupted him.
• Shiina Sora struck Orochimaru with Hiramekarei’s released chakra, sending him flying hundreds of meters away.
• Kimimaro recognized Shiina Sora as he emerged from the mist carrying Hiramekarei.

Kuro stabilized Jūzō Biwa’s injuries and sent him away with Kimimaro before confronting Orochimaru. After Kuro displayed a powerful Water Release slash with Hiramekarei, Orochimaru recognized a resemblance between his fighting style and that of someone who had once interested him.

• Kuro used medical ninjutsu to stabilize Jūzō Biwa and asked Kimimaro to take him to the medical ninja.
• Kuro reassured Jūzō Biwa and Kimimaro, then said he would deal with Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru emerged unharmed after shedding an outer skin and questioned how a powerful figure like Kuro had remained unknown.
• Kuro attacked Orochimaru with a massive Water Release chakra slash from Hiramekarei, but Orochimaru dodged it.
• Orochimaru judged Kuro’s strength to be at least Kage-level and noticed his fighting style resembled that of someone who had interested him.

Kuro fought Orochimaru while disguising his true strength as Shiina Sora, then used Orochimaru’s arrogance to lure him close. The chapter ended as Kuro revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and shocked Orochimaru.

• Kuro judged that Orochimaru’s injuries and ignorance of Kuro’s identity gave him a chance to seize control of the battle.
• Orochimaru attacked with Wind Release—Great Breakthrough, and Kuro countered with Hiramekarei before filling the battlefield with the Hidden Mist Technique.
• Orochimaru saw through Kuro’s mist tactics, but Kuro used Bone Extract and Skin Pull to trap and strike an Earth Clone.
• Orochimaru bound Kuro with giant snakes and threatened to trade him for the Kaguya Clan child, believing Kuro was a sheltered novice.
• Kuro pretended to rage at Orochimaru and let him approach, then revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Orochimaru recognized the Mangekyō Sharingan and cried out in disbelief.

Uchiha Kuro used his Mangekyō Sharingan to subdue Orochimaru and make him a mindless puppet. After ordering Orochimaru to wait outside Mist Village, Kuro sensed someone approaching as a masked man emerged from a space-time vortex behind him.

• Orochimaru recognized Kuro and seethed with disbelief and jealousy that the man he had dismissed had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Kuro mocked Orochimaru and declared that he would exploit his knowledge before killing him for good.
• Kuro's Mangekyō Sharingan stripped Orochimaru of his self-awareness, and the snakes restraining Kuro withdrew into Orochimaru's sleeves.
• Kuro ordered Orochimaru to leave Mist Village and wait in the countryside southeast of the village that night.
• A masked man wearing a Black Cloak with Red Clouds emerged from a vortex of warped space behind Kuro.