Chapter Summaries

Mingye considered whether the Eight Extraordinary Meridians could allow people to open the Eight Inner Gates without limit, and decided to experiment on his new body. He then visited Hashirama and Tobirama at the Senju compound, where he began to discuss an unspecified matter after Uzumaki Mito gave birth to a son.

• Mingye told Ara that the Buddha had said his secret could not be spoken, then left without explaining further.
• Mingye assured Tobirama that he intended to let the Senju Clan go and argued that Konoha’s establishment had made their old feud impossible to revive.
• Mingye studied the human meridians with Ara and theorized that many acupoints were sealed, while opening the Eight Inner Gates permanently might grant extraordinary strength.
• Mingye decided to conduct an experiment using his own new body to investigate opening the Eight Gates without limit.
• Mingye brought a fruit basket to the Senju compound to congratulate Hashirama and Uzumaki Mito on their son’s birth, then told Hashirama he wanted to discuss something.

Mingye forced Uzumaki Mito to hand over the Reaper curse mark scroll, then returned to Ryūchi Cave to perform the soul-seizing technique on himself. He summoned the Reaper and ordered it to extract his soul, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Mingye told Hashirama and Tobirama that Hashirama must compete for First Hokage while the Uchiha would not seek the office for the first five generations.
• Mingye threatened Uzumaki Mito's newborn child unless she gave him the Reaper curse mark scroll, and she handed it over.
• Hashirama demanded to know Tobirama's deal with Mingye, and Tobirama admitted he had stained his hands with blood to enter their political game.
• Mingye returned to Ryūchi Cave and explained to Ara that the Reaper technique could seize both the user's and an enemy's souls.
• Mingye summoned the Reaper and commanded it to extract his soul.

Mingye sealed a fragment of his soul from the Reaper and later traveled to Rōran to prepare to leave his body at a chakra convergence point. Meanwhile, A met with Byakuren, Ishikawa, and Zhanye to discuss joining forces against Konoha, and the chapter ended as Ara warned Mingye that the site’s chakra could destroy him.

• Mingye bound the Reaper with a blood formation, and Ara sealed the soul on its blade with a scroll before the Reaper vanished.
• Mingye explained to Ara that he had used sealing techniques to trap the Reaper, then accepted that his actions were laying the foundation for his trip to hell.
• Byakuren and Ishikawa approached A in the ruined Moon Night Clan village and proposed that their nations unite against Konoha.
• Zhanye revealed himself as the one who had gathered them and proposed attacking Konoha from within while striking its living strength, promising a major move within a year.
• Mingye entered Rōran alone and reached an underground chakra convergence point, where he planned to leave his body inside a barrier coffin made from tailed-beast fur and scales.

Mingye planned to use a curse-mark barrier to travel to the Dragon Eye and inject its blood, while Madara considered Black Zetsu’s advice about combining Uchiha and Senju power. Madara agreed to obtain Senju Hashirama’s genes and sent Black Zetsu to find the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path; elsewhere, Reto rescued a merchant caravan from a sandstorm.

• Mingye pressed the iron sheet, undid its warning seal, and asked Ara about using a curse-mark barrier to reach the Dragon Eye and inject its blood.
• Black Zetsu explained to Madara that combining Yin and Yang Release and obtaining Senju Hashirama’s genes could help him surpass the Mangekyō Sharingan’s limits.
• Madara asked whether the Sage of Six Paths could be lured out so he could capture him, but dropped the idea after considering the danger to Konoha.
• Madara told Black Zetsu to find the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and agreed to have Senju Hashirama’s genes injected into his body.
• Reto stopped a sandstorm from swallowing a merchant caravan, then directed the travelers toward a guarded station to the north.

Mingye reunited with his Konoha team in the Land of Wind and planned to divert the searchers’ attention while Reto struggled to protect his country and its tailed beasts. The chapter ended with Reto reluctantly agreeing that the newborn Bunpuku would become the host needed for the Land of Wind’s plans.

• Reto saved a merchant caravan, while Mingye recognized him and realized the journey was bringing together the people he expected to encounter.
• Reto suspected Konoha ninjas were hiding among the merchants and ordered his subordinates to keep searching for them and help travelers lost in the desert.
• Mingye met Sarutobi Zhanwo, Uchiha Feng, and the other Konoha ninjas, then proposed playing hide-and-seek after revealing he had located the tailed beast.
• Shamon persuaded Reto that the Land of Wind could resist Konoha because it had little left to lose, and Reto ordered the village ninjas to search the frontier and kill any Konoha ninja they found.
• Reto learned that the newborn Bunpuku was the only suitable host, and he bitterly accepted the old monk’s judgment despite his sorrow over using such a young child.

Mingye attacked the temple to seize the newborn Bunpuku and Shukaku, but the old monk sacrificed himself to seal Shukaku inside the child and teleport Bunpuku away. Reto drove Mingye from the Land of Wind, while Bunpuku’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• Mingye and Manda attacked Reto and the temple, and Mingye wounded Reto with a Sage Art before searching for the old monk.
• The old monk took Bunpuku and began sealing Shukaku into him as warrior monks tried to delay Mingye.
• Mingye broke through the barrier too late to stop the Feigning Sleep Technique, and the old monk used his remaining strength to seal Mingye’s chakra pathways.
• The old monk teleported Bunpuku away, then died after Mingye struck him through the heart.
• Reto attacked the weakened Mingye, who escaped by summoning a python and vowed to return.

Mingye returned to Konoha after failing to obtain Shukaku, then worried that Madara was being led down a dangerous path while reflecting on Izuna’s weariness. Ara reassured Mingye that he could stop Madara once his new body was ready, and Mingye set out to investigate the Two-Tails’ hiding place.

• Mingye returned to Konoha with Sarutobi Zhanwo’s group after two months in the Land of Wind, leaving Shukaku as the last tailed beast to pursue.
• Izuna met Mingye in Konoha, reminded him it was his birthday, and told him he was twenty-three, prompting Mingye to fear Izuna would die the following year.
• Mingye considered Madara’s troubling behavior and Izuna’s war-weariness, then spoke with Ara, who revealed information about the Three Sacred Treasures and urged Mingye to rely on his future strength to stop Madara.
• Ara reminded Mingye that his blood supply was running low, and Mingye said he was arranging more blood essence for the process shaping his new body.
• Mingye traveled to the northern edge of the Land of Iron to investigate the Two-Tails’ hiding place, while telling Ara that four tailed beasts had already been captured.

Mingye captured the Two-Tails after sensing an unseen observer who escaped, then discussed the growing threat of war with Konoha’s leaders. He later encountered Sarutobi Sasuke’s young son, who had skipped academy lessons by hiding from the patrolling ninja.

• Mingye used Sage Mode to defeat and seal the Two-Tails in a jar, but a faint chakra presence escaped his pursuit.
• Mingye and Ara confirmed that someone had watched the battle, and Mingye wondered if the observer was a familiar figure.
• Mingye told Madara, Izuna, Tobirama, and Hashirama that the Land of Earth was mobilizing at least five thousand ninja and discussed Konoha’s readiness for war.
• Mingye warned Hashirama not to betray Konoha again and said Konoha would retaliate decisively against anyone who provoked it.
• Sarutobi Sasuke’s young son proudly told Mingye that he had avoided detection again, and Sasuke reprimanded him for skipping academy lessons.

Mingye separated Sarutobi Hiruzen from his influence to prepare a balance between clan and civilian powers, then learned that the coming war had begun. Madara left Konoha to pursue a way to solve the Sharingan problem and seek revenge on Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, leaving Mingye with his Gunbai.

• Mingye told Sarutobi Sasuke he would no longer take Sarutobi Hiruzen as his disciple, explained his plans to balance clan and civilian power, and ordered Sasuke to retire.
• A ninja reported that Land of Earth and Land of Wind forces had entered the Land of Rain to establish Ninja Rock despite the Rain Daimyo’s refusal.
• Madara told Mingye he intended to leave Konoha to find his own heart and investigate the Sharingan problem, refusing to reveal his plans.
• Madara declared that he would seek revenge on Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, left his Gunbai with Mingye, and departed after his Shadow Clone vanished.

Mingye led Konoha’s forces into a planned ambush in the Land of Rain, where Black Zetsu betrayed him and dragged him into another dimension. Stranded without natural energy and with little chakra available, Mingye faced Black Zetsu and Zhanye as they prepared to kill him.

• Mingye departed Konoha with roughly eight hundred ninja, leaving Sarutobi Sasuke and Hyuga Tianren to guard the village while he worried about Madara and the Senju brothers.
• Zhanye met with Reto, Ishikawa, Byakuren, and A, who planned to exploit Konoha’s weakness and prevent it from rising again.
• At the Land of Rain border, Izuna tried to reassure Mingye, but an attack by A and enemy forces interrupted them.
• Senju Tobirama reported that enemy ninja from several countries had concealed themselves around the mountain pass, and Mingye suspected a traitor had revealed Konoha’s route.
• Black Zetsu seized Mingye and transported him to another dimension, where Zhanye recounted the slaughter of the Hagoromo Clan and Black Zetsu admitted he had incited Madara to leave Konoha.
• Mingye tried to enter Sage Mode but found no natural energy in the dimension, as Black Zetsu declared that he would die there.

Mingye fought Black Zetsu and his allies while Hashirama and Tobirama battled the ninja alliance outside the barrier. Mingye escaped the desert space, entered another alternate world, and struck Byakuren, but his enemies were still pursuing him.

• Mingye entered Sage Mode, attacked Black Zetsu and Zhanye, and was wounded by Black Zetsu's spikes before Zhanye summoned Byakuren and Ishikawa.
• Hashirama broke through the alliance's encirclement with Wood Release while Tobirama fought Wu and evaded his Dust Release.
• Mingye battled Ishikawa, Byakuren, and Black Zetsu inside the desert world, then escaped through a spatial fluctuation as the others pursued him.
• Mingye told Ara that outside shocks could break the barrier formation's markings, but Ara warned that Mingye had little Sage Mode time left.
• Mingye entered a world filled with natural energy, evaded Byakuren's water cannons, and pierced Byakuren's shoulder with a counterattack.

Mingye escaped Byakuren and Ishikawa after Zhanye sacrificed himself, but Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo struck him down and tried to seal him. Ara's sacrifice let Mingye kill himself before the sealing, leaving his fate uncertain, while Byakuren and Ishikawa later attacked Senju Hashirama on the battlefield.

• Mingye killed Zhanye with a fatal strike, then escaped Byakuren and Ishikawa using the Reaper-like figure to deter them.
• Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo impaled Mingye with Amenonuhoko and condemned his brutal actions before preparing to seal him.
• Ara self-destructed to give Mingye a chance to escape sealing, and Mingye shattered his own meridians and died before Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo could seize his soul.
• A faint thread of Mingye's soul drifted away from his corpse as plants and trees covered it in stone.
• Byakuren and Ishikawa returned to the battlefield and attacked Senju Hashirama, whose Wood Golem destroyed Ishikawa's stone statue and whose body healed from Byakuren's shots.

After the battlefield massacre brought a halt to war, Izuna surrendered the Uchiha Clan’s claim to the Hokage position and secretly went to see Mingye. Mingye betrayed and killed Izuna, then used his blood in a mysterious experiment.

• Hashirama’s wood techniques and Izuna’s fire attack devastated the allied army, while Byakuren and Ishikawa helped the survivors escape; Izuna’s jade pendant shattered, and he broke into hysterical laughter.
• After the battle left Konoha with no casualties, Izuna told Angel that he supported Hashirama for First Hokage and that the Uchiha would not participate in the election.
• Izuna named Uchiha Feng the new clan head, ordered the clan to develop quietly and wait, and said they must prioritize helping Konoha if Mingye returned.
• Izuna traveled to a cavern and found Mingye transformed into a small white snake; he brought the child Mingye had requested, but Mingye attacked him and pierced his heart.
• Mingye drained Izuna’s remaining chakra, broke open the coffin, and used Izuna’s blood to alter the child’s body.

Mingye escaped the Sage of Six Paths and vowed to avenge his family by destroying Hagoromo’s family and his peaceful world. He began a plan to obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in Ryūchi Cave, while Tobirama confronted Uchiha Feng about Izuna and Mingye’s whereabouts.

• The White Snake Sage saved Izuna’s body and let Mingye hide in Ryūchi Cave after he declared his intent to spend sixty years bringing the battle to an end.
• Mingye mourned Izuna, swore to revive him and take revenge on Hagoromo’s family, and took Izuna’s eyes and blood for his plan.
• Mingye combined his and Izuna’s blood, used their eyes in a child’s body as a medium, and began the process he believed would grant him the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Mingye gave up his status as Ryūchi Cave’s successor and promised to guide a suitable successor there within twenty years.
• Tobirama visited the Uchiha Clan and questioned Uchiha Feng, who revealed that Izuna and Mingye had both left and insisted Tobirama respect them.

Hashirama and Tobirama grappled with the apparent deaths of Mingye and Izuna as Konoha faced a leadership vacuum. Meanwhile, Mingye secretly hired Kakuzu to kill Hashirama and awakened a new eye pattern; the chapter ended with Tobirama warning Hashirama that the great nations were invading smaller countries.

• Hashirama told Feng he would wait three days for news before becoming Hokage, and Feng lamented that Konoha needed the strongest rather than merely a Hokage.
• Hashirama told Tobirama that Mingye had died and suggested Izuna might have died too, then resolved to hold Konoha together.
• Kakuzu returned to his village, supported its residents with his earnings, and accepted a secret mission to kill Senju Hashirama for thirty million ryo.
• Mingye revealed that he had arranged Kakuzu's mission, then awakened an eight-pointed eye pattern with a rotating central pupil in Ryūchi Cave.
• Tobirama brought Hashirama reports of border conflicts and invasions of smaller nations and urged him to intervene.

Hashirama rejected Tobirama and Mito’s push to restrain the Uchiha Clan, insisting that he would follow his own convictions and try to end the cycle of hatred. After an ambush on Konoha’s streets, he ordered the Anbu to capture the attackers, but the pursuit led into a dangerous clash involving Kakuzu.

• Tobirama urged Hashirama to rebuild the Anbu, relocate the Uchiha Clan, and continue developing Konoha’s medical system and Ninja Academy, while Hashirama approved a statue honoring Mingye.
• Hashirama told Mito he would not forcibly drive the Uchiha Clan from the village, arguing that Konoha would not exist as it did without them.
• Mito warned Hashirama that Madara was dangerous and urged him to support Tobirama’s plans, but Hashirama insisted he would not let others sway him from opposing hatred.
• Hashirama walked through Konoha at night and evaded a surprise attack, then ordered the Anbu to capture the fleeing attackers.
• The Anbu pursued the attacker toward the Forest of Death, where Kakuzu emerged and killed one Anbu ninja with Earth Release: Earth Spear.

Kakuzu’s assassination attempt on Hashirama failed, and Tobirama used evidence linking him to Takigakure to pressure the Land of Waterfalls. After Mingye rescued Kakuzu, his own village branded him a traitor and imprisoned him, leaving him facing a bleak future.

• Tobirama stopped an Anbu prisoner from taking poison, then found Kakuzu attacking Hashirama and helped capture him.
• Hashirama refused Tobirama’s demand to target the Uchiha, while Tobirama removed Kakuzu’s poison pill and questioned him about his origins.
• A hidden attacker rescued Kakuzu during a sudden assault, and Tobirama recovered a Takigakure identification token that he planned to use as grounds for Konoha intervention.
• Mingye treated Kakuzu’s wounds and urged him to nurture his hatred, saying Kakuzu had an important role in his plans.
• When Kakuzu returned to Takigakure, its ninja accused him of betraying the village and threw him into the dungeon.
• The village leader told Kakuzu that Tobirama’s letter had arrived and refused his request to return home, declaring that he would remain imprisoned.

Mingye showed Kakuzu that Takigakure’s leader had betrayed him and helped him take revenge by killing the leader. The story then shifted to a Konoha team in the Land of Rain, where Nara Dogu and Yamanaka Saura followed Akimichi Shan toward a disturbance while a Kaguya Clan teammate carried their mission scroll to safety.

• Mingye used a crystal ball to show Kakuzu the Takigakure leader discussing his betrayal and the destruction of Kakuzu’s village.
• Mingye offered to save Kakuzu in exchange for his life, and Kakuzu agreed to seek revenge on the leader.
• Mingye froze the Takigakure leader with spatial stasis, and Kakuzu killed him with Earth Grudge Fear.
• Mingye told Kakuzu to call him Wu, and Kakuzu left to vent his anger in Takigakure.
• Nara Dogu, Akimichi Shan, Yamanaka Saura, and Kaguya Oboro Sansha encountered a disturbance while returning through the Land of Rain with a map of enemy bases.
• Nara Dogu gave the mission scroll to Kaguya Oboro Sansha, who used Body Flicker to take it toward Konoha, while Nara Dogu and Yamanaka Saura followed Akimichi Shan.

Nara Dogu, Yamanaka Saura, and Akimichi Shan rescued an orphan after killing the bandits who had ravaged villages in the Land of Rain, while Mingye’s role in the massacre and plan to infiltrate Konoha were revealed. A week later, the three visited the traumatized boy at Konoha’s orphanage and left him food without approaching him.

• Yamanaka Saura used the Mind Reading Technique on a bandit and learned that the group had spent a month slaughtering villages, so Akimichi Shan killed the surviving bandits.
• Akimichi Shan found an unconscious child among the rocks, and Yamanaka Saura and Nara Dogu treated him before taking him to safety.
• Kakuzu collected blood from the battlefield for Mingye, who ordered him to dispose of the corpses and gather more blood while keeping his purpose secret.
• A week earlier, Mingye explained to Kakuzu that he was manufacturing an orphan identity to enter Konoha and had orchestrated the bandit attacks to make his plan convincing.
• Akimichi Shan, Yamanaka Saura, and Nara Dogu visited the boy at Konoha’s orphanage, discussed his trauma and their plan to enroll him in the Ninja Academy, then left him extra meat without approaching him.

Mingye began anew as a student in Konoha while secretly vowing to bend the world’s story to his will. Hashirama gathered the five great nations’ leaders to negotiate peace and the distribution of captured tailed beasts, but the meeting grew tense over Reto’s demands.

• Mingye introduced himself to his new class in Konoha, saying he wanted to work hard and live there while privately plotting revenge.
• A, Byakuren, Reto, and Ishikawa received Hashirama’s invitations, and the leaders traveled to a hidden domain for the meeting.
• Hashirama welcomed the leaders, then Tobirama explained that Konoha wanted to end minor conflicts and sell captured tailed beasts to preserve the balance of power.
• Reto rejected the need for more tailed beasts and demanded fertile land from the Land of Fire and thirty percent of their sale proceeds instead.
• The other Kage condemned Reto’s terms, while Reto insisted that the Land of Wind needed resources and threatened to fight rather than accept the peace treaty.
• Hashirama kowtowed again and urged the leaders to consider their duty to protect their people and the purpose of the gathering.