Chapter Summaries

Baishi learned that Rasa planned to transfer Shukaku into his newborn son Gaara during the coming sandstorm, while Chiyo retrieved Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets. He ordered Pakura to spread the plan and fuel Sunagakure's internal chaos before the ritual, then sent Nagato final instructions.

• Pakura reported that Rasa planned to transfer Shukaku into Gaara during the storm, hoping to conceal the ritual from Konoha and other enemies.
• Pakura revealed that Chiyo had taken a scroll containing Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets from Sunagakure's puppet vault.
• Baishi ordered Pakura's informant to spread word of Rasa's plan and provoke dissent among the village's radicals before the ritual.
• Baishi sent a paper butterfly carrying his final instructions to Nagato in the Land of Rain.

Baishi sent Konan to eliminate Sunagakure’s sentries and Black Zetsu’s spies before the planned operation. After wiping them out, Konan discovered a disguised agent with crude Wood Release cells and alerted Baishi that Orochimaru was involved.

• Baishi ordered Konan to erase every watcher around Sunagakure, including Black Zetsu’s spies.
• Konan infiltrated the sandstorm and silently killed the Sunagakure ANBU guarding the outer defenses.
• Using her Divine Paper Person Technique, Konan located and destroyed several of Black Zetsu’s hidden spies.
• Konan found a remaining figure disguised as a Sunagakure ANBU and pierced its heart with a paper blade.
• Konan discovered the corpse contained tangled Wooden Fibers and a wooden burl, suggesting Orochimaru’s experiments.
• Konan sent Baishi an urgent message that she had found a trace of Orochimaru.

Baishi learned from Konan that Orochimaru had planted dormant, failed Wood Release experiments throughout Sunagakure. He used his Yang Release Chakra and Puppet Manipulation Technique to connect to more than a hundred of them, preparing to awaken them during Rasa’s Tailed Beast Transfer Ritual.

• Konan alerted Baishi to a Sunagakure ANBU corpse containing Orochimaru’s malformed Wood Release fibers.
• Baishi recognized the creatures as failed experiments made with samples of his diluted Wood Release cells and inferred that Orochimaru had planted them around Sunagakure to cause chaos.
• Baishi devised a plan to reactivate the dormant creatures during Rasa’s ritual and disrupt both Rasa’s and Black Zetsu’s schemes.
• Baishi sensed more than a hundred traces of Orochimaru’s Chakra hidden throughout Sunagakure and the surrounding area.
• Baishi shaped his Yang Release Chakra into fine threads and connected them to the sleeping creatures, ready to awaken them with a command.

Pakura met with her former Sunagakure ANBU subordinates and revealed that Rasa had ordered her assassination to secure an alliance with Kirigakure. After convincing them to join her revenge, she planned to attack during Rasa’s ritual to transfer Shukaku into his newborn son.

• Pakura entered a hidden cave and revealed her identity to Cheng and four other Sunagakure ANBU.
• Pakura recounted Rasa’s order to sacrifice her and silence her after the Chunin Exams, breaking her former subordinates’ faith in their Kazekage.
• Cheng and the others agreed that Rasa deserved to die and joined Pakura’s plan to kill him during the ritual involving his newborn son and Shukaku.
• Cheng gave Pakura a specialized Kunai that could open the altar’s inner barrier, allowing her to attack while the ANBU opened it from within.

Konan and Pakura returned to Baishi with reports from their missions and the dark-gold Kunai that could unlock the altar's core. Baishi rewarded them by restoring and enhancing their power while deepening the marks controlling them, then secretly placed a space-time coordinate on the Kunai as he prepared for the ritual beneath Sunagakure.

• Konan reported clearing Sunagakure's outer sentries and White Zetsu Spores, while Pakura presented the Kunai and reported turning Rasa's lackey.
• Baishi pressed his hands to Konan and Pakura's necks, flooding them with Yang Release Chakra that restored their strength and intensified their soul marks.
• Konan endured the power surge with fear and humiliation, while Pakura's Scorch Release grew stronger and she thanked Baishi with fervent devotion.
• Baishi used his Mangekyō Sharingan to plant a hidden space-time coordinate on the dark-gold Kunai, then returned it to Pakura and ordered her to wait.
• Baishi watched toward Sunagakure's underground depths, where a ritual that would decide the Land of Wind's fate was about to begin.

Sasori used the black storm to approach the altar, intending to seize One-Tail and Zetsu for himself. He stepped into a strange zone where the storm and sand were frozen, leaving him trapped as an unknown presence approached.

• Rasa watched the black storm engulf the Land of Wind and believed it would conceal Sunagakure's rebirth.
• Sasori decided to betray the plan and take One-Tail for himself, then set out inside Hiruko through the storm.
• Sasori reached ruins near the altar and spotted Sunagakure ANBU maintaining a sealing Barrier around it.
• Sasori stepped into an area where the storm's sound vanished and the sand froze in midair.
• Sasori found his foot immobilized and heard an approaching footstep in the darkness.

Sasori tried to escape the silent ruins by controlling the Third Kazekage puppet, but his Chakra Threads disintegrated at an invisible boundary. A masked figure in a white Hokage Haori emerged from the void, leaving Sasori to realize he had entered a deity’s hunting ground.

• Sasori drove his Chakra to its limit and sent Chakra Threads toward the Third Kazekage puppet.
• His threads vanished before reaching the puppet, and his attempt to lift rubble failed when the threads disintegrated after extending about ten meters.
• Sasori stared at his trembling fingers as helplessness overwhelmed him.
• A figure wearing a white Hokage Haori and Bronze Mask stepped through the air toward Sasori.
• Sasori realized he had not entered a trap but had barged into a deity’s hunting ground.

Owl confronted Sasori and dismissed his puppetry as crude, then used his silver-white Chakra Threads to seize control of the Third Kazekage Puppet. He unleashed its Iron Sand against Sasori, leaving Sasori trapped beneath the attack and facing defeat.

• Owl approached the immobilized Sasori and mocked his claim that turning the Third Kazekage into a puppet was eternal art.
• Sasori tried to break free and attack Owl, but Owl’s silver-white Chakra Threads bypassed the Third Kazekage Puppet’s defenses.
• Owl tore away Sasori’s control of the puppet, causing Sasori to spit black blood and lose his strongest weapon.
• The Third Kazekage Puppet moved under Owl’s control, and Owl called it a true work of art.
• Owl made the puppet unleash Magnetic Release: Iron Sand World Method, forming a massive iron claw that slammed toward Sasori.

Baishi used overwhelming Iron Sand to destroy Hiruko and pin Sasori’s Hundred Puppets scrolls before he could summon them. As Sasori broke down and became fixated on turning Baishi into a collectible, Baishi revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, leaving Sasori terrified.

• Baishi crushed and dismantled Sasori’s Hiruko shell with a giant hand of Iron Sand.
• Sasori escaped Hiruko and reached for the scrolls containing Performance of a Hundred Puppets, but Baishi pinned them and Sasori’s arm beneath another Iron Sand palm.
• Sasori lost hope, asked why Baishi’s Puppet Technique and Magnetic Release were stronger, then embraced the idea of collecting someone with Baishi’s power.
• Baishi lifted one corner of his Bronze Mask and revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, freezing Sasori in terror.

Baishi revealed that Akatsuki had used Sasori as expendable bait, then planted a Cursed Seal in his heart core and made him obey. He ordered Sasori to continue working with Zetsu as a double agent while the attack on Sunagakure continued.

• Baishi revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, and Sasori recognized the eye's power and surrendered.
• Baishi told Sasori that Zetsu had sent him to die as a diversion while it used the chaos to seize the One-Tail with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Fragment.
• Sasori's faith in Akatsuki collapsed, and Baishi pierced his puppet chest and planted a Cursed Seal in his heart core.
• Baishi used the seal to make Sasori rise and obey him.
• Baishi ordered Sasori to continue the plan with Zetsu and act as a double agent.

Sasori accepted Baishi’s command to continue posing as Zetsu’s ally, while Rasa began a ritual to transfer the One-Tail to his infant son. As the ritual started, a vast army of White Zetsu gathered beneath Sunagakure, poised to attack.

• Baishi bound Sasori with the Waning Moon Curse Mark and ordered him to continue the plan with Zetsu as a double agent.
• After Baishi vanished, Sasori collected his Scrolls, rebuilt Hiruko’s shell, and set out toward Sunagakure.
• At Sunagakure’s underground altar, Rasa prepared to transfer the One-Tail from the dying Bunpuku to his infant son.
• Rasa ordered the barrier, medical, and guard teams to secure the altar, then began the ritual.
• Above the altar, the sand dunes shifted as hundreds or thousands of White Zetsu gathered underground and opened their scarlet eyes.

Rasa began extracting Shukaku from Bunpuku inside a sealed underground altar, while Chiyo discovered that white monsters were emerging beneath the dunes. The creatures overwhelmed Sunagakure’s outer guards and surged toward the altar as Black Zetsu’s attack began.

• Rasa ordered the Four Violet Flames Formation activated and began extracting Shukaku’s Chakra from Bunpuku, while Gaara cried in Karura’s arms.
• Chiyo sensed synchronized pulses beneath the sand and warned Baki that an enemy was approaching from underground.
• A white, featureless creature emerged near Chiyo’s position and charged Sunagakure’s perimeter squad.
• The creature ignored the squad’s attacks and exploded, killing all five shinobi.
• Hundreds and then thousands of white creatures burst from the dunes and headed for the underground altar.

White Zetsu launched a mass suicide assault on Sunagakure, overwhelming its defenses while Fourth Kazekage Rasa remained trapped in the underground altar to protect the Tailed Beast extraction ritual. As the outer line collapsed, Rasa unleashed his Magnetic Release and prepared to retaliate.

• A White Zetsu explosion erased a patrol squad, then thousands of White Zetsu emerged from the desert and charged Sunagakure's forces.
• Baki directed Sunagakure's Wind Release attacks, but White Zetsu sacrificed themselves to exhaust the defenders and break through their earth walls.
• White Zetsu detonated themselves among the defenders, tearing apart Sunagakure's line as Granny Chiyo and Baki struggled to hold it.
• An ANBU reported to Rasa that the outer line had collapsed and Chiyo and Baki's second line was close to failing.
• Unable to leave the extraction ritual without endangering Bunpuku, Shukaku, and Gaara, Rasa flooded the altar with golden Chakra and gathered sand through Magnetic Release.

Rasa unleashed his Magnetic Release and turned the battlefield with a massive Gold Dust attack, but an Iron Sand Spear pierced his defenses and threatened him in the Underground Altar. The chapter ended with the spear closing in on Rasa.

• Pinned underground with Karura and their baby, Rasa gathered his rage and released a vast torrent of Gold Dust.
• Baki and Granny Chiyo struggled to hold back the White Zetsu as Rasa’s golden surge erupted through the battlefield.
• Rasa’s Gold Dust tsunami annihilated nearly a thousand White Zetsu and renewed hope among the surviving Sunagakure shinobi.
• Rasa weakened from the Chakra cost but prepared to trap the remaining White Zetsu in a Gold Dust vortex.
• An Iron Sand Spear pierced through Rasa’s golden defenses and shot toward the Underground Altar.

Sasori of the Red Sands attacked Rasa with the Third Kazekage’s Iron Sand, sparking a duel between the two Sunagakure shinobi. As they fought, Black Zetsu secretly moved toward the Underground Altar while the Tailed Beast Transfer Ritual continued.

• Sasori’s Iron Sand Spear pierced Rasa’s Gold Dust storm and struck at the Underground Altar.
• Rasa recognized the Iron Sand as the Third Kazekage’s technique, and Granny Chiyo realized Sasori had turned her grandson into a Rogue Ninja who used the Third Kazekage’s remains as a puppet.
• Sasori revealed himself inside Hiruko and declared that he had given the Third Kazekage an eternal life as a Human Puppet.
• Rasa and Sasori clashed with Gold Dust and Iron Sand while Baki and the other Sunagakure ninja watched, and Granny Chiyo grieved over Sasori.
• Black Zetsu watched the duel, confirmed that Bunpuku’s Chakra was draining and Shukaku’s seal was unstable, then slipped toward the Underground Altar.

Rasa fought Sasori’s poisoned Iron Sand with his Gold Dust, but the poison spread through his body and left him unable to defend himself. As the Iron Sand tsunami descended, Chikamatsu’s Ten Puppets landed between Rasa and the attack, blocking it with their bodies.

• Rasa devoted his attention to fighting Sasori, while Sasori turned his Iron Sand into a mist that slipped past Rasa’s defenses and poisoned him.
• The poison made Rasa’s Chakra sluggish and spread from his right arm through his body, weakening his control over the Gold Dust dragons.
• Sasori revealed that his poison, the Mother Goddess’s Mercy, was designed to clog the Chakra pathways of ninja with large reserves.
• Rasa’s Gold Dust defense collapsed, and Sasori sent a black Iron Sand tsunami toward him as Baki and Karura feared for his life.
• Chikamatsu’s Ten Puppets landed in front of Rasa and blocked the Iron Sand tsunami with their bodies.

Rasa lay paralyzed by Sasori’s poison as Chiyo arrived and used Chikamatsu’s Ten Puppets to shield him. While Chiyo confronted her grandson over his betrayal of Sunagakure, Sasori summoned the Performance of a Hundred Puppets, escalating their battle.

• Rasa, poisoned and near death, watched Chikamatsu’s Ten Puppets block Sasori’s iron sand from reaching him.
• Chiyo appeared and mourned what Sasori had become, accusing him of desecrating life and betraying bonds.
• Sasori mocked Chiyo and her puppets, insisting that turning people into puppets was the highest art.
• Chiyo activated Chikamatsu’s Ten Puppets, which formed a coordinated attack against Sasori and Hiruko.
• Sasori summoned the Performance of a Hundred Puppets and prepared to crush Chiyo’s forces with his larger army.

Sasori unleashed a hundred crimson Puppets against Granny Chiyo’s Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, overwhelming her defenses and destroying one of her masterpieces. While the battle drew everyone’s attention, Black Zetsu approached the Iron Cauldron as Shukaku’s Chakra reached its weakest point.

• Sasori summoned a hundred crimson Puppets and declared that numbers would crush Chiyo’s pursuit of quality and bonds.
• Chiyo used the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets to destroy nearly a fifth of Sasori’s army, but the remaining Puppets attacked recklessly with poison, blades, and explosions.
• Sasori’s Puppets overwhelmed Chiyo’s great-shield-wielding Puppet, broke through the defensive line, and tore it apart.
• Chiyo spat blood as the battle spiraled out of control, while Sunagakure’s forces suffered heavy casualties and Rasa lay poisoned on the ground.
• Black Zetsu crept toward the Iron Cauldron after sensing that Shukaku’s Chakra had reached a critical weak point.

Black Zetsu tried to use a Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Fragment to extract Shukaku from the Iron Cauldron, but an unknown Waning Moon Curse Mark stopped the fragment and left him horrified. The source of the mark remained unknown as Black Zetsu wondered who had interfered with his plan.

• Black Zetsu watched the battle above the altar and saw the weakened seal around Shukaku in the Iron Cauldron as an opportunity.
• Black Zetsu pressed a Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Fragment against the Iron Cauldron, causing it to drain power from the sealing runes and pull at Shukaku's Chakra.
• A Waning Moon Curse Mark appeared on the Iron Cauldron and released silver light that erased the fragment's suction force.
• Black Zetsu froze in horror as the fragment went dark and Shukaku's cries stopped, leaving him unable to identify who had placed the mark.

The Waning Moon Curse Mark erupted when Black Zetsu tried to seize the One-Tail, destroying its arm and blasting away the Demonic Statue Fragment. Black Zetsu realized Baishi had likely arranged the trap, then watched the Fifth Hokage emerge from a space-time vortex above the battlefield.

• Black Zetsu tried to withdraw after the Waning Moon Curse Mark on the Iron Cauldron began radiating silver light.
• The Curse Mark burned away Black Zetsu's arm and hurled the Demonic Statue Fragment into a rock wall, where it became an ordinary gray stone.
• Black Zetsu concluded that Pakura had planted the Curse Mark under Baishi's orders and that Baishi had anticipated its attempt to seize the One-Tail.
• The Underground Altar shook as the battlefield's wind, sand, and wreckage converged into a black vortex.
• Baishi emerged from the vortex wearing his Hokage Haori as Black Zetsu stared up at him in shock.