Chapter Summaries

Naruto shattered Gaara’s sand defense with a powerful punch, but Gaara survived and transformed into a monstrous form. As Gaara attacked and seized Naruto, Hiruzen Sarutobi said he believed in Naruto, having prepared for this transformation in advance.

• Naruto struck Gaara with a Monster Strength punch, breaking his Absolute Defense and sending him crashing across the arena.
• Gaara rose with half his face deformed, and sand from his gourd covered part of his body as he transformed.
• Gaara accused Naruto of being a monster who would be abandoned by his companions, but Naruto insisted his true companions would never leave him.
• Gaara charged Naruto with increased strength and sand control, caught Naruto’s right leg, and seized him in a massive hand.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped the Konoha spectators from intervening and told Rasa that he believed in Naruto.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi recalled that he had foreseen Gaara’s transformation and prepared for it the day before.

Gaara tried to make Naruto embrace the Nine-Tails’ hatred, but Sasuke’s support helped Naruto resist and break free. Naruto charged back at Gaara with a sealing scroll, announcing the Hokage’s Instant Kill Technique.

• Gaara held Naruto and urged him to become a monster like himself, while the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto with its power and negative emotions.
• Naruto began leaking Nine-Tails Chakra, alarming the arena, and Jiraiya prepared to intervene if a third tail appeared.
• Tsunade asked Jiraiya to give Naruto more time as Naruto feared losing his companions if he became a monster.
• Sasuke angrily urged Naruto not to lose to Gaara, reminding Naruto that his companions would stand by him.
• Naruto forced Gaara’s palm open, broke free, and charged at him with a scroll, declaring his Great Sealing Technique.

Naruto used a sealing scroll to stop Gaara’s transformation and defeat him, prompting Rasa to apologize and promise to explain their past. As the crowd celebrated Naruto’s victory, five masked Anbu suddenly surrounded Rasa and Gaara.

• Naruto used a scroll containing a sealing technique to suppress Gaara’s transformation and seal away the One-Tail’s power.
• Gaara attacked Naruto, but Rasa entered the arena, stopped them, and conceded the match.
• Rasa apologized to Gaara for his past treatment and promised to tell him what had happened.
• Hiruzen accepted Gaara’s defeat, and the crowd cheered Naruto’s victory.
• Five masked Anbu leaped from the stands and surrounded Rasa and Gaara.

Shimura Danzō publicly accused Hiruzen Sarutobi of concealing vital intelligence and allowing Sunagakure and Orochimaru to plot the Konoha Crush Plan. The chapter ended with Rasa silent as Konoha’s leaders and shinobi confronted the alleged threat.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered the masked Root ninja to stand down, but they ignored him and drew their blades against Rasa.
• Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu arrived and halted the ninja moving to apprehend Root.
• Shimura Danzō accused Hiruzen Sarutobi of hiding important intelligence and failing to stop a crisis threatening Konoha.
• Shimura Danzō revealed that Sunagakure and Orochimaru had planned the Konoha Crush during the Chunin Exams.
• Konoha’s ninja armed themselves while Sunagakure’s shinobi gathered around Rasa, who remained silent when Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded to know whether the plan was real.
• Shimura Danzō condemned Hiruzen Sarutobi for trusting Rasa and described the Fourth Kazekage as cruel and unworthy of alliance.

Shimura Danzō used alleged Sunagakure spies to press for a confrontation with Rasa and Hiruzen Sarutobi, turning their conflicting goals into a public crisis. He declared that they had no choice but to begin the Stage of Fate.

• Shimura Danzō accused Rasa of plotting against Konoha and presented bloodied Sunagakure shinobi as captured spies.
• Mitokado Homura claimed he and Utatane Koharu had backed Danzō’s investigation, while Shen Mo watched and considered Danzō’s preparations.
• Rasa denied seeking war, arguing that he had brought no army and that Konoha had attacked his people without cause.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi urged everyone to discuss the matter, but Danzō warned that Rasa could destroy Konoha alone as a Chest Opener.
• Shimura Danzō raised his Badge and declared that they had to begin the Stage of Fate.

Shimura Danzō spent Points to activate the Destiny Stage, transforming the Arena and trapping its spectators as Konoha and Sunagakure prepared to fight. Rasa struck Danzō with a powerful lightning attack, and a countdown began as the stage announced the final spending time.

• Shimura Danzō spent Points to purchase the Destiny Stage, which expanded and divided the Arena into separate stands, trapping everyone inside.
• The stage displayed the key figures to the spectators as Danzō justified defeating Sunagakure on the stage to avoid casualties in a war.
• Rasa accused Konoha of intending to wage war, and Danzō accused Sunagakure of conspiring with Orochimaru to attack Konoha.
• Rasa used a staff to call down lightning on Danzō, who survived through a Forbidden Jutsu but was left seriously injured.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to fight Rasa, who flashed away as a countdown appeared announcing the final spending time.

As Senior Members appeared to approach, Tsunade kept Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji out of the coming confrontation. Itachi Uchiha realized the person behind the upheaval had arrived when Shen Mo appeared, and the Hokage and Kazekage bowed to him.

• Tsunade ordered Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji to stay out of the battle, and they left the stage area.
• Itachi Uchiha recognized that Danzo had held a Member Badge and concluded that the person they were seeking had caused the upheaval.
• Shen Mo and an elegantly dressed companion appeared in the sky above the arena.
• Shen Mo calmed the panicking spectators with his words, and Itachi Uchiha felt his own emotions settle.
• The Hokage and Kazekage bowed to Shen Mo and addressed him as Lord Shen Mo.

As the countdown to the end of the chest-opening period continued, Rasa and Hiruzen Sarutobi urged their allies to spend whatever money they could on jars. Jiraiya asked Shen Mo to let him buy jars, and their discussion of the Child of Destiny left Jiraiya reconsidering whether he should shape the future himself.

• Rasa regretted revealing his strength and decided to spend his personal savings on jars.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told the others to use their remaining money, while Hyuga Hiashi could not access most of the Hyuga Clan's assets and Hiruzen offered his wife's savings.
• Jiraiya asked Shen Mo if he could buy jars so he could help his comrades face Rasa.
• Shen Mo asked whether Jiraiya wanted to serve Konoha or obtain Tsunade, but Jiraiya insisted he did not need jars to win over women.
• Jiraiya asked about the Child of Destiny, and Shen Mo said he had torn apart the old fate and urged Jiraiya to guide events toward the outcome he hoped for.

Shen Mo showed Jiraiya how the world’s single fixed fate had branched into countless possibilities since his arrival, including futures where the world was destroyed. He recommended the Prophecy Series so Jiraiya could struggle against and guide fate.

• Shen Mo transported Jiraiya into a dark space and showed him the Destiny Tree as a representation of the world’s original, single fate.
• Shen Mo revealed a prophecy in which Jiraiya died before the prophesied answer came, and Jiraiya recognized that the Toad Sage’s predictions had been accurate because fate had once followed one fixed outcome.
• Shen Mo showed Jiraiya that the Destiny Tree began branching after Shen Mo first met Tsunade, creating countless possible futures.
• Jiraiya noticed that some branches had stopped growing, and Shen Mo explained that the worlds along those paths had been destroyed.
• Shen Mo recommended the Prophecy Series to help Jiraiya struggle against and guide fate.

Jiraiya bought the Prophecy Series to seek ways to change the future, then joined the chest-opening contest. Tsunade obtained a Blue Rare Grand Prize, leaving the arena startled.

• Shen Mo explained that the Prophecy Series could reveal information about the future and offered it to Jiraiya.
• Jiraiya bought the series, received chests and a badge, and joined Tsunade’s faction in the arena.
• Tsunade glared at Jiraiya after spending her remaining money on more than one hundred and thirty chests without getting a Grand Prize.
• Jiraiya opened his chests, gained a Sixth Sense skill, and borrowed Tsunade enough money for twenty Level 3 Chests.
• Tsunade opened the twenty Level 3 Chests and obtained a Blue Rare Grand Prize.

Tsunade finally won a Blue Rare treasure after opening more than a hundred and fifty Level 3 Chests and gained the powerful Paladin skill Pearl of Revelation. As the chest-opening deadline approached, the Konoha group prepared for battle against Rasa, while Jiraiya reported that he had found no Job Change Item.

• Tsunade won a Grand Prize from a Level 3 Chest and absorbed the Pearl of Revelation, which could strengthen nearby allies or fire a damaging beam at enemies.
• Rasa watched Tsunade and the Konoha elites with jealousy and resolved to eliminate some of their strength and take the Badge.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi warned the group that Rasa wielded Gold Dust Magnet Release and urged them not to underestimate him.
• Tsunade celebrated her new skill while the others returned to opening their chests before time ran out.
• Jiraiya finished opening his five hundred Level 2 Chests and told Hiruzen Sarutobi he had not found a Job Change Item.

The countdown ended, and Hiruzen Sarutobi led Konoha’s elites into battle against Rasa. Tsunade’s opening buff and the group’s overwhelming attacks engulfed Rasa in a devastating blast, leaving his fate unknown.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi divided the Konoha shinobi into groups and accepted Shimura Danzō’s plan to make this the final battle against Rasa.
• Tsunade activated the Pearl of Revelation, boosting her allies as they unleashed their strongest attacks.
• Rasa transformed into a towering flaming Shadow Bear and braced himself against the assault.
• Konoha’s attacks struck Rasa and triggered a massive explosion that filled the arena with flames and sandstorms.
• Shen Mo stopped the shock waves from reaching the stands, while the spectators worried about Rasa’s fate.

Konoha’s fighters attacked Rasa with overwhelming force, but he survived by transforming into a Treant. Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to kill him and promised to revive him afterward.

• Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki watched the battle and feared the unknown man whose power had enhanced the fighters.
• The smoke cleared to reveal a devastated battlefield and a growing tree, while Sunagakure’s ninjas desperately tried to reach Rasa.
• Gaara saw how deeply the Sunagakure ninjas cared about his father, and Tsunade wondered whether Rasa had survived the assault.
• Jiraiya realized the tree was Rasa, and Asuma Sarutobi attacked it with Buddha’s Palm Style 2: Golden Summit Buddha Lamp.
• Rasa uprooted himself to evade the attack and revealed that he had transformed into a Treant to recover from his severe injuries.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi faced Rasa with an ink stick and told him to go in peace, promising that Konoha would revive him.

Rasa unleashed his Storm Arrival technique against Konoha’s fighters inside the Stage of Fate, while the people outside learned that the Hokage and others had vanished. Shen Mo anticipated that Orochimaru would soon arrive as Rasa’s ally, and Naruto, Sasuke, and their companions faced questions from the village’s Jonin.

• Rasa transformed into a quail to amplify his spellcasting and unleashed Storm Arrival, engulfing the arena in a violent tempest.
• Tsunade, Hiruzen, and the others tried to withstand Rasa’s storm and Gold Dust, while onlookers feared the power contained by the Stage of Fate.
• Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha realized the arena protected the village from the destruction of the battle.
• Shen Mo reflected that Rasa would likely lose and anticipated Orochimaru arriving as his ally.
• Outside the Stage of Fate, Naruto and Sasuke used the Hokage’s writ to put the village on alert and carry information back inside.
• The village’s Jonin surrounded Naruto and the others, demanding to know why the Hokage had vanished and why they could enter and leave the Stage of Fate.

Orochimaru appeared among the gathered ninjas and admitted he had come for Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. After Hiraki stabbed him through the heart, Orochimaru revealed his unnatural power by killing Hiraki and turning him into a rotting corpse that could still fight.

• Orochimaru arrived and was recognized by the ninjas as an S-Class traitor and member.
• Orochimaru identified Naruto and Sasuke as interesting targets and admitted he had come for the Jinchuriki.
• Hiraki attacked Orochimaru and appeared to stab him through the heart, but Sasuke warned the others not to lower their guard.
• Orochimaru seized Hiraki, killed him, and caused his body to rapidly decay.
• Hiraki rose as a rotting corpse and blocked a Jonin's attack, leaving the gathered ninjas shocked.

Orochimaru demonstrated his terrifying power by turning dead ninja into controlled corpses and overwhelming Konoha’s forces with fear. He revealed plans to kill the Hokage and Konoha’s leaders, but Naruto challenged him to settle things in the Stage of Fate.

• Sasuke and Neji recognized that Orochimaru’s victims were corpses, while Orochimaru revived them and sent them attacking their former comrades.
• Sasuke and Neji suspected Orochimaru had gained his abilities through Jars, prompting the other ninja to ask what they knew.
• Orochimaru used Eye of Fear to paralyze the assembled ninja with visions of their deaths, then released them after warning he would first kill his teacher and Konoha’s higher-ups.
• Orochimaru singled out a Jonin who upheld the Will of Fire as a potential experiment.
• Naruto confronted Orochimaru and challenged him to settle their conflict in the Stage of Fate.

Orochimaru activated a Stage of Fate over all of Konoha, trapping its people in the air while Rasa’s expanding sandstorm devastated the village. After Orochimaru stopped the storm and renewed his alliance with Rasa, Konoha’s fighters realized a golden Badge marked someone’s death and Hyuga Hiashi identified the deceased as Shimura Danzō.

• Orochimaru used his Badge to overwrite the nearby Stage and turn all of Konoha into a Stage of Fate.
• Konoha’s residents and ninjas were lifted into the sky as Rasa’s sandstorm broke free of the Arena and tore through the village.
• A black snake from Orochimaru’s sleeve caught Naruto and held him above the storm.
• Orochimaru told Rasa that his skill could not kill anyone, and the sandstorm dispersed as Rasa returned to human form.
• Rasa confirmed that his agreement with Orochimaru still stood and looked for casualties among the Konoha group.
• Tsunade and Hiruzen Sarutobi searched for the dead person, and Hyuga Hiashi identified Shimura Danzō as the one represented by the golden Badge.

After Shimura Danzō died during the battle, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others faced Orochimaru and Rasa, while Shen Mo revealed that the fighters could pursue their desires by paying a price. Orochimaru took Naruto hostage and began using a bubbling mass of evil on him, leaving Tsunade and the others helpless to intervene.

• Rasa's indiscriminate Storm Arrival tore Shimura Danzō apart, and Hiruzen Sarutobi took his badge, saying he would keep it safe until Danzō could be revived.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi flew up to confront Orochimaru and Rasa, and Orochimaru revealed that Shen Mo had granted him eternal life and a new pursuit.
• Shen Mo explained that he offered people the opportunity to fulfill their desires, while the outcome depended on their efforts and the price they paid.
• Itachi Uchiha suspected that people paid Shen Mo with wealth, and he wondered why an existence so powerful would need it.
• Orochimaru restrained Naruto as Hiruzen Sarutobi warned him that deaths in the Destiny Stage could be followed by easy resurrection.
• Orochimaru said he would give Tsunade and Jiraiya some fun, then pressed a bubbling black mass of evil against Naruto's stomach.

Orochimaru used Evil God Corrosion to unleash the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, whose rampaging Chakra transformed him into a terrifying six-tailed beast. As Jiraiya prepared to seal Naruto, Orochimaru attacked Sasuke’s group and Tsunade chose to help their teacher.

• Orochimaru dropped the unconscious Naruto and unleashed the Nine-Tails with Evil God Corrosion.
• Naruto’s Chakra formed a fox-like shape and grew five tails, horrifying the villagers and the people from Sunagakure.
• Jiraiya ordered Sasuke and the others to retreat, while Orochimaru sent two Death Knights after them with Skeleton Enhancement.
• Tsunade chose to help their teacher fight Orochimaru instead of joining Jiraiya against the Nine-Tails.
• Jiraiya summoned Gamabunta and asked for help sealing Naruto, and Choza, Shikaku, and Inoichi joined him as Naruto grew a sixth tail.

Orochimaru confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi while the Nine-Tails and Rasa kept other Konoha fighters occupied. He summoned a gigantic Two-Headed Bone Dragon, and Tsunade charged it with her holy cross.

• Jiraiya led the Ino-Shika-Cho combination in an attempt to restrain Naruto, while Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others watched Orochimaru and Rasa.
• Orochimaru asked Rasa to handle the remaining fighters so he could face Hiruzen Sarutobi alone, and Rasa went to battle the Shadow Bear.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to fight Orochimaru, and Tsunade arrived with her Apocalypse power to support him.
• Orochimaru summoned his Blue Rare Two-Headed Bone Dragon, which emerged as a gigantic skeleton and breathed blue flames at Tsunade.
• Tsunade dodged the flames and struck the Bone Dragon’s skull with her holy cross, smashing it into the ground.