Chapter Summaries

Baishi descended onto the battlefield through a Kamui rift, revealing that he had orchestrated the hunt and controlled the Waning Moon Curse Mark. Sasori submitted to him, leaving Black Zetsu terrified by the revelation that he had been a pawn.

• Baishi emerged from a Kamui vortex above the Underground Altar, and his presence halted the battle.
• Black Zetsu recognized Baishi and realized that the hunt had been a trap arranged by someone else.
• Konan and Pakura appeared behind Baishi, shocking the surviving Sunagakure ninja.
• Baishi fixed his gaze on Sasori, and the Waning Moon Curse Mark compelled the puppeteer to submit.
• Sasori dropped his puppets, walked to Baishi, and knelt before him as Black Zetsu watched in disbelief.

Baishi forced Sasori to prove his loyalty by turning his poisoned stinger on Chiyo, then ordered Konan to destroy the White Zetsu army with a vast sea of explosive paper. With Sunagakure’s survivors left in despair, Baishi approached the cauldron sealing Shukaku and raised a glowing hand of Yang Release.

• Sasori knelt before Baishi and accepted his command, then stopped his poisoned stinger just short of Chiyo’s throat to renounce his bond with her and Sunagakure.
• Chiyo collapsed after Sasori’s betrayal, and Baishi ordered Konan to eliminate the remaining White Zetsu.
• Konan unleashed a flood of paper carrying countless Explosive Tags, erasing the White Zetsu army and leaving a vast crater.
• Baishi ignored the shaken Sunagakure survivors and walked to the iron cauldron sealing Shukaku.
• Baishi raised his hand, which glowed with Yang Release.

Baishi tore through Sunagakure’s seal with his bare hand and dragged the One-Tail Shukaku out of the Iron Cauldron. He subdued Shukaku with his Mangekyō Sharingan, leaving the watching ninjas stunned.

• Baishi pressed his Yang Release-lit hand against the Iron Cauldron and endured the seal’s destructive backlash as he forced his arm through its alloy shell.
• Baishi reached into the cauldron, seized Shukaku’s Chakra Origin, and pulled the complete One-Tail out of the shattered container.
• Shukaku attacked Baishi’s mind and threatened to kill him, but Baishi’s spiritual sea resisted its influence.
• Baishi revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan, and Shukaku’s rage gave way to fear and trembling.

Baishi suppressed Shukaku with his Mangekyō Sharingan and devoured its chakra, gaining immense power and the secrets of Wind Release and Magnetic Release. After the Sunagakure shinobi watched in terror, Baishi turned his attention to an unseen observer and challenged them to stop hiding.

• Baishi used his Mangekyō Sharingan to terrify and subdue Shukaku in the spiritual world.
• Baishi activated his Hashirama Cells and used Wood Release vines to drain Shukaku's chakra despite the pain.
• Baki, Rasa, and Chiyo watched as Baishi devoured Shukaku, leaving the Sunagakure shinobi stunned.
• Baishi absorbed and assimilated Shukaku's chakra, healed his wounds, and gained Wind Release and Magnetic Release knowledge.
• Baishi spotted an unseen observer on a charred patch of ground and demanded to know where the rat planned to run.

After devouring One-Tail Shukaku, Baishi discovered Black Zetsu hiding in the altar and trapped him with Kamui: Spatial Lockdown. As Baishi reached into the cage to uncover Black Zetsu’s secrets, Wood Release vines burst from underground and targeted the imprisoned Black Zetsu.

• Baishi absorbed One-Tail Shukaku’s power and recovered from his battle injuries as the surviving Sunagakure shinobi watched.
• Baishi spotted Black Zetsu hiding in scorched ground and called him out.
• Black Zetsu tried to escape with the Mayfly Technique, but Baishi used Kamui: Spatial Lockdown to imprison him.
• Baishi told Black Zetsu that he had been bait to lure out a bigger target and prepared to examine his mind.
• Wood Release vines wrapped in black lightning erupted from the ground and struck toward Black Zetsu inside the cage.

Baishi used Black Lightning-infused Wood Release Vines to subdue Black Zetsu and extract his memories, while destroying Kaguya's remnant will. As Baishi reached for the secret of Black Zetsu's birth, a pair of emotionless white eyes appeared and fixed their gaze on him.

• Baishi pierced Black Zetsu with Black Lightning Vines that suppressed his regeneration and began dissecting his essence and memories.
• Black Zetsu cried out to his mother, awakening Kaguya's will to resist the vines.
• Baishi overwhelmed Kaguya's remnant will with power drawn from Shukaku and Yang Release, leaving Black Zetsu helpless.
• Baishi extracted memories revealing Black Zetsu's manipulation of Indra, Uchiha Madara, Nagato, Obito, and the Akatsuki.
• Baishi pushed through Black Zetsu's memories to find his birthplace, where a pair of white eyes appeared and gazed at his consciousness.

Baishi resisted Kaguya’s phantom inside Black Zetsu’s memories and shattered its connection to him with a Susanoo slash. Back at the underground altar, Baishi retained the secrets he had uncovered and produced a metal scroll bearing a Waning Moon insignia.

• Kaguya’s phantom opened its eyes in Black Zetsu’s memories and subjected Baishi to overwhelming pressure.
• Black Zetsu expected Kaguya’s will to destroy Baishi, but Baishi forged a black Susanoo blade and attacked the phantom.
• Baishi’s slash shattered Kaguya’s phantom and severed its connection to Black Zetsu, leaving Black Zetsu’s consciousness and body irreparably damaged.
• At the altar beneath Sunagakure, Baishi returned to the real world as Black Zetsu collapsed into sludge, and Baishi kept a vine pinning him down.
• Baishi withdrew most of his Wood Release Vines and showed Rasa, Chiyo, Konan, and the others a metal scroll marked with a Waning Moon insignia.

Baishi captured Black Zetsu by splitting its consciousness, sealing one half in a scroll, and keeping the other alive as a specimen. After securing his prize, he turned his attention to the terrified Sunagakure leaders, including Fourth Kazekage Rasa.

• Baishi branded Black Zetsu with the Waning Moon Curse Mark, enslaving and dividing it into two halves.
• Baishi sealed the transformed half of Black Zetsu inside a special metal scroll.
• Baishi placed the remaining half in a life-support container, where it formed an eyeball that could see and think but not act.
• Sasori of the Red Sands reacted with crazed admiration to Baishi's treatment of Black Zetsu.
• Baishi stored the scroll and container, then faced the assembled survivors and fixed his gaze on the Sunagakure leadership.

Baishi forced Fourth Kazekage Rasa to choose between Sunagakure’s destruction and surrender, and Rasa knelt to pledge loyalty to the Fifth Hokage. Baishi then revealed that Sunagakure’s true master was someone else.

• Baishi absorbed One-Tail Shukaku, stored Black Zetsu’s sealed core, and confronted the defeated Sunagakure shinobi.
• Baishi pointed out that Rasa’s forces, the Third Kazekage, Shukaku, and Gaara were all under his control.
• Baishi offered Rasa a choice between being erased with his forces or pledging loyalty to Konoha in exchange for Sunagakure’s survival and Gaara’s life.
• Rasa knelt and offered Baishi his absolute loyalty on behalf of Sunagakure.
• Baishi rejected Rasa’s pledge and said Sunagakure’s true master was someone else.

Baishi revealed that Pakura had survived Rasa’s betrayal and appointed her Sunagakure’s first Shadow, placing the village under Konoha’s authority. As Pakura humiliated Rasa and claimed power over Sunagakure, Granny Chiyo prepared a poisoned senbon and waited for a chance to attack Baishi.

• Baishi ordered Pakura to remove her mask, revealing her identity as the supposedly dead hero of Sunagakure and shocking Rasa.
• Pakura told Rasa that she had survived and that her actions had followed her master’s orders, causing Rasa to break down.
• Baishi abolished the Kazekage system and appointed Pakura as Sunagakure’s first Shadow, with authority over the Land of Wind on his behalf.
• Pakura taunted Rasa and declared that Sunagakure, its power, and his possessions now belonged to her.
• Granny Chiyo, enraged by Sunagakure’s humiliation, concealed a poisoned senbon and waited for an opportunity to kill Baishi.

Granny Chiyo attempted to assassinate Baishi, but Sasori of the Red Sands intercepted her and gravely wounded her to protect his master. With Chiyo unconscious and Sunagakure’s defenders broken, Baishi ordered Pakura to purge any remaining dissent before sunrise.

• Granny Chiyo launched a life-burning attack on Baishi with a poisoned Senbon.
• Sasori of the Red Sands stepped in front of Baishi and pierced Chiyo’s shoulder with Iron Sand.
• Sasori mocked Chiyo, declared his devotion to Baishi, and tore the Iron Sand spike from her shoulder.
• Chiyo collapsed unconscious as Sasori knelt before Baishi and reported that the threat had been cleared.
• Baishi ordered Pakura to begin the purge and leave no disobedient voices by sunrise.

Baishi ordered Pakura to purge Sunagakure’s old order while Konan transformed the ruined altar into a white temple and raised a throne for him. After Maki pledged to help Dark Moon, Baishi’s body reacted violently to the Hashirama Cells and Shukaku’s Chakra, drawing his attention to a cold, ominous fragment in his robes.

• Baishi ordered Pakura to begin purging Sunagakure, and she rushed out to carry out the command.
• Baishi ordered Konan to clean and remake the altar ruins, and she converted them into a magnificent white temple.
• Konan formed a huge throne, and Baishi sat upon it as Pakura returned and reported that Maki and his followers had sworn allegiance to Dark Moon.
• Baishi considered consolidating the Land of Wind and preparing for the Fourth Shinobi World War, but his Hashirama Cells and Shukaku’s Chakra suddenly surged with hunger.
• Baishi reached into his Hokage Haori and touched a cold, ominous fragment as Konan and Pakura cried out in alarm.

Baishi endured the clash between the Hashirama Cells and Shukaku's Chakra after exposing a fragment of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. By analyzing the fragment, he discovered Nagato's hidden Chakra mark and realized he could use it to trace Nagato and potentially exploit the connection in unexpected ways.

• The Hashirama Cells in Baishi's arm reacted violently to Shukaku's Chakra, causing Konan and Pakura to fear he was under attack.
• Baishi pulled out a Demonic Statue Fragment, and Sasori of the Red Sands recognized its ominous aura as belonging to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Baishi used precise Chakra Threads and his Mangekyō Sharingan to analyze the fragment instead of devouring it outright.
• Baishi reached the fragment's core and discovered an encrypted Chakra mark linked to Nagato's Rinnegan.
• Baishi realized Black Zetsu had used Nagato's connection to control the fragment remotely and saw the mark as a way to trace Nagato and exploit their link.

Baishi forced Sasori to accept a false account of his defeat and equipped him to infiltrate the Akatsuki as a spy. After Sasori departed, Pakura reported that Orochimaru's remnants had appeared near the Land of Fire and Land of Wind border.

• Baishi ordered Sasori to claim that a powerful masked man called Owl defeated him in Sunagakure and spared him because he admired Sasori's art.
• Baishi gave Sasori a mindless White Zetsu clone to use for covert communication, escape, and potentially as a living Wood Release puppet.
• Sasori embraced the gift as a path toward his ideal of eternal art and left to return to the Akatsuki.
• Pakura brought Baishi an urgent report that Sunagakure ANBU had spotted Orochimaru's remnants along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

Baishi ordered Pakura to use Sunagakure’s newly loyal shinobi to eliminate Orochimaru’s remnants, then prepared to return to Konoha with Konan. Before leaving, he secretly planted a dormant seed in Gaara that would eventually let him control the boy.

• Pakura reported that Orochimaru’s subordinates were retrieving Wood Release creatures near Withered Bone Hill.
• Baishi ordered Pakura to have her new Sunagakure subordinates destroy the remnants before sunset, establishing her authority as the village’s Shadow.
• Baishi tasked Konan with returning to the Land of Rain, monitoring Nagato and Obito, and searching for information about the other Jinchuriki.
• Baishi planted a hidden Chakra seed in the unconscious Gaara, intending to make him a controllable puppet in the future.
• Baishi and Konan left the paper temple through Kamui, bound for Konoha.

Baishi returned Konan to Amegakure through the Kamui Dimension after restoring her strength and making her an informant against Nagato. Nagato sensed her return and detected Baishi’s Yang Release Chakra within her, leaving him suspicious.

• Baishi brought Konan through the Kamui Dimension to a portal overlooking Amegakure and criticized her weakened condition.
• Baishi infused Konan with Yang Release Chakra, restoring her body and deepening the Crescent Mark’s hold on her.
• Baishi instructed Konan to blame the failed mission on Owl and Orochimaru, regain Nagato’s trust, and report Akatsuki intelligence through the soul mark.
• Baishi promised Konan she could see Yahiko again if she obeyed, and Konan agreed to serve as his informant.
• Konan transformed into paper butterflies and returned to Amegakure while Nagato sensed her arrival through the Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
• Nagato recognized a trace of Baishi’s Yang Release Chakra in Konan and realized something was wrong.

Konan deceived Nagato about her meeting with Baishi by blaming her injuries and Yang Release Chakra on Orochimaru’s Wood Release experiments, then recognized Nagato’s worsening condition and resolved to spy on him for Baishi. Baishi returned to Konoha, where Kushina sensed another woman’s scent on him and demanded an explanation.

• Konan returned to Amegakure and faced Nagato’s accusation that she had met Baishi again.
• Konan claimed she had tracked Orochimaru’s remnants and fought Wood Release creatures created with Hashirama Cells, using a staged wound as evidence.
• Nagato accepted Konan’s explanation, then revealed that Sasori could not be reached and the One-Tail’s Chakra had vanished from the Land of Wind.
• Konan noticed damage to Pain’s cloak from his fight with Baishi and concluded Nagato was physically and emotionally near his limit.
• Konan resolved to record Nagato’s actions and report them to Baishi as Konoha’s Fifth Hokage.
• Baishi returned to Konoha, where Kushina erupted in jealousy over another woman’s paper scent on him and demanded an explanation.

Baishi returned from the Land of Wind and Kushina confronted him over the scents of sand and another woman, suspecting he had been unfaithful. He pretended to be gravely injured and claimed he had been trying to obtain something that could resolve the danger of the Nine-Tails inside her, leaving Kushina to decide whether to believe him.

• Baishi emerged from the Kamui Dimension at the Hokage Residence and found Kushina unleashing the Nine-Tails' Chakra in their bedroom.
• Kushina grabbed Baishi and accused him of going to the Land of Wind after detecting sand and a woman's paper scent on him.
• Baishi realized the paper scent came from Konan and decided to deceive Kushina rather than explain his mission.
• Baishi pretended to be injured, causing Kushina's anger to give way to concern.
• Baishi asked Kushina whether she would believe he had risked himself to take something from a thousand-year-old monster that could resolve the danger of the Nine-Tails inside her.

Baishi manipulated Kushina’s guilt and concern into making her pour Nine-Tails Chakra into him, secretly strengthening his power. The next morning, Mikoto Uchiha arrived at the Hokage Residence.

• Baishi claimed he had fought Black Zetsu and taken a Demonic Statue fragment to find a way to free Kushina from the Nine-Tails, then pretended his conflicting powers had left him gravely injured.
• Kushina’s jealousy turned to panic and guilt, and she apologized as Baishi claimed he had risked everything for her sake.
• After Baishi pretended to faint, Kushina flooded him with Nine-Tails Chakra to save him, unknowingly helping him absorb Shukaku’s power and strengthen his Wood Release cells.
• Kushina held the apparently recovered Baishi through the night while a black, mudlike observer watched them from outside and slipped underground.
• The next morning, Mikoto Uchiha arrived at the Hokage Residence.

After recovering from the Nine-Tails Chakra’s effects, Baishi found Mikoto at his door and soothed her despite the signs of Kushina’s presence. Mikoto reported that village elders were plotting to curb ANBU’s authority, then revealed new intelligence from the Land of Wind border.

• Baishi woke beside an exhausted Kushina, concealed his renewed strength, and cleared the room of most of her Nine-Tails Chakra scent.
• Mikoto arrived, recognized signs of Kushina in the ruined bedroom, and hid her jealousy and hurt.
• Baishi embraced Mikoto and reassured her without explaining what had happened, and she accepted his comfort.
• Mikoto reported that Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura planned to weaken ANBU’s authority at a high-level meeting.
• Baishi crushed the report and prepared to confront the elders, but Mikoto told him there was new intelligence from the Land of Wind border.