Chapter Summaries

Hiruzen Sarutobi confronted Orochimaru while Sasuke pursued Gaara and Temari, leaving Shino Aburame to hold off Kankuro. Temari and Gaara fled ahead, but Gaara sensed their pursuer had caught up.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi trapped Orochimaru in a swamp, but Orochimaru revealed that he had escaped the attack and promised to show his true methods.
• Sasuke raced after Gaara while Shino Aburame intercepted Kankuro's attempts to follow, provoking Kankuro into preparing to fight.
• Temari carried the badly injured Gaara onward, but their progress slowed as she grew exhausted.
• Gaara spat up blood, sensed their pursuer approaching, and told Temari to leave without him.
• Temari feared Kankuro had been defeated and felt a stabbing pain at the thought that he might be dead.

Sasuke confronted Gaara after Temari refused to leave him and was forced away from the fight. Sasuke opened with the Great Fireball Technique, but Gaara’s unsettling aura intensified, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Temari insisted that she and Gaara leave together, but Gaara struck her away to protect her from the attack.
• Sasuke arrived and threw kunai and shuriken at Gaara, while Temari recognized the danger and fled with an injured shoulder.
• Sasuke and Gaara focused on each other as Temari left, and Sasuke began their fight with the Great Fireball Technique.
• Gaara took the fireball head-on, and Sasuke sensed that Gaara’s ominous aura had grown stronger rather than vanished.

Gaara partially transformed into a tailed beast and attacked Sasuke, whose fear gave way to resolve as he decided to claim Gaara’s power. Sasuke barely dodged Gaara’s devastating second assault.

• Gaara’s appearance changed as a tailed-beast transformation filled him with malice and destructive urges.
• Gaara declared that he would kill Sasuke, and Sasuke fought through his fear by biting his tongue.
• Sasuke decided he wanted Gaara’s power to defeat the man he sought revenge against.
• Gaara charged and tore through a tree with a massive claw, sending a shockwave through the forest.
• Sasuke activated his Sharingan to track Gaara’s faster second attack and could only dodge.

Sasuke tested Gaara’s remaining awareness and devised a plan to counter his frenzied attacks. The chapter ended with Sasuke trapping the half-transformed Gaara in threads.

• Sasuke used the Substitution Technique to escape Gaara’s blow and watched how Gaara reacted.
• Gaara wrecked the trees, briefly regained clarity, and discovered Sasuke hiding behind one.
• Sasuke stepped out and faced Gaara, who charged at him again.
• Sasuke used his Sharingan and chakra-controlled kunai and shuriken to bind Gaara in tough threads.

Gaara charged at the badly injured Sasuke, but Sakura stepped between them, bringing back memories of Gaara’s mother. Gaara hesitated even as his momentum carried him toward Sakura, leaving Sasuke unable to stop what seemed to be an impending impact.

• Gaara broke free of Sasuke’s threads, and Sasuke struck him with Chidori, wounding him but failing to stop his rampage.
• Gaara regained some control and charged at the helpless Sasuke with his transformed claws.
• Sakura appeared in front of Sasuke and refused to move, prompting Gaara to remember his mother, Karura.
• Sasuke warned Sakura to get out of the way as Gaara’s charge continued toward her.

Gaara knocked Sakura away before losing consciousness and transforming as Shukaku began emerging. Hinata moved Sakura and Sasuke to safety and prepared to face Shukaku, confident he would not reveal her strength to Gaara.

• Gaara struck Sakura aside, then crashed through trees as his consciousness vanished and his body transformed into a miniature Tailed Beast.
• Shukaku emerged and gathered wind and sand around himself until he was enclosed in a huge mound.
• Sakura and Sasuke fainted from their injuries while Hinata watched and decided to take on Shukaku.
• Hinata created a Shadow Clone, moved Sakura and Sasuke somewhere safe, and waited for Shukaku to complete his transformation.
• Hinata dismissed the possibility that Shukaku might expose her secret to Gaara.

Hinata faced the newly transformed One-Tail Shukaku, who erupted in fury and threatened to kill her. After Shukaku roared at her again, Hinata awakened brilliant blue eyes, leaving their confrontation poised to begin.

• Shukaku transformed into his full form and roared, shaking the surrounding forest.
• Shukaku noticed Hinata and initially dismissed her as too weak to threaten him.
• Shukaku sensed a dangerous aura from Hinata, stepped back, then roared at her while deciding to kill her.
• Hinata ignored Shukaku's roars and opened her eyes, revealing dazzling blue pupils.

Hinata entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode and attacked Shukaku with a technique that trapped it and left it wounded. Shukaku’s strength and imposing aura fell, but the fight remained unresolved.

• Hinata rose into the air and surrounded herself with blue Chakra and nine Truth-Seeking Orbs.
• Shukaku ignored Hinata’s demand to stop roaring and attacked again, provoking her anger.
• Hinata used Planet-Devastator to envelop Shukaku in a membrane that blocked its roar.
• Hinata used Burning Silence to engulf Shukaku inside the membrane in white light.
• The light faded, leaving Shukaku covered in superficial wounds and with its aura greatly diminished.

Hinata combined two Truth-Seeking Orbs into a larger Planet-Devastator and hurled it at Shukaku. Shukaku’s Void Bullets failed to stop it, and the orb detonated near him, leaving the extent of the damage unclear.

• Hinata summoned two Truth-Seeking Orbs and expanded them into Planet-Devastators.
• Hinata merged the two Planet-Devastators into a larger orb and tossed it toward Shukaku.
• Shukaku fired repeated Wind Release: Void Bullets at the approaching orb.
• The Planet-Devastator burst near Shukaku, and its white light ground everything in its reach into powder.

Hinata evaded Shukaku’s attacks while realizing that combining more Planet-Devastators would take too long. Temari fled the battlefield but confronted Kurama Mutsu, who continued painting as Temari attacked her with the Three-Star Fan.

• Hinata abandoned the idea of fusing more Planet-Devastators because the attack was too slow.
• Hinata used an invisible force to evade Shukaku’s claw and tail strikes.
• Temari was battered by the battlefield’s shockwaves and tried to escape farther away.
• Temari recognized Kurama Mutsu as the girl who had painted when Gaara’s group entered Konoha and suspected she was connected to Hinata.
• Temari demanded that Kurama Mutsu move aside, then swung the Three-Star Fan at her when she received no answer.
• Kurama Mutsu remained seated and continued painting as Temari’s gust of wind rushed toward her.

Temari’s attacks against the girl in the sunhat were repeatedly thwarted by bizarre natural disasters, while the girl calmly continued painting. The chapter left Temari terrified and unable to explain how the painter stayed safe on floating ground.

• Temari unleashed a gale at Kurama Mutsu, but a sudden hurricane canceled it out.
• A boulder appeared overhead, and Temari dodged it as tremors and dark clouds disrupted her ninjutsu.
• Temari fell after pain struck, and the ground split open to reveal flowing lava.
• Lightning shattered the ground around Temari, sending rocks tumbling into the lava.
• Temari saw the girl in the sunhat still painting calmly on a patch of ground floating in the air.

The girl defeated Temari with crimson lightning, then carried her away. Meanwhile, Hinata continued fighting Shukaku and summoned something enormous to even the odds.

• The girl finished her painting as crimson lightning struck Temari and reduced the ground beneath her to dust.
• The storm and lava faded, and the girl packed her tools before slinging the unconscious Temari over her shoulder and leaving.
• Hinata assessed Shukaku’s size and strength as their battle continued.
• Hinata formed hand seals and used the Summoning Technique, causing an enormous formation rune to spread around her.

Hinata summoned and awakened the Stone Giant, then took her place on a throne made from Truth-Seeking Orbs on its shoulder. The giant turned its attention toward Shukaku as Shukaku prepared a Tailed Beast Bomb.

• Hinata summoned a colossal stone statue and named the technique Summoning: Hamura's Statue.
• Hinata shaped three Truth-Seeking Orbs into a throne and sat on the statue's shoulder while the remaining orbs guarded her.
• Hinata snapped her fingers, awakening the statue and transforming it into the Stone Giant.
• The Stone Giant rose to its feet, roared, and fixed its gaze on Shukaku.
• Shukaku gathered and compressed matter into a deep-purple Tailed Beast Bomb.

Hinata used a fused Planet-Devastator to intercept and annihilate Shukaku’s Tailed Beast Bomb. The clash ended with the attack consumed and a deep crater left behind.

• Hinata decided to counter Shukaku’s Tailed Beast Bomb with her Planet-Devastator.
• Hinata fused six Planet-Devastators into a single, more powerful sphere.
• Shukaku fired his completed Tailed Beast Bomb at Hinata.
• Hinata’s Planet-Devastator trapped the bomb in an invisible barrier and slowly devoured its energy.
• The light faded, leaving a deep crater where the attacks had clashed.

Shukaku and the Stone Giant continued their destructive battle, trading blows, grappling, and hurling each other across the forest. The Stone Giant charged at Shukaku again as Shukaku fired Void Bullets, and the chapter ended with the giant enduring several hits.

• The Stone Giant hurled a boulder at Shukaku, who knocked the giant away with his tree-wrapped tail.
• The Stone Giant and Shukaku charged at each other and grappled, with the giant overpowering Shukaku in a test of strength.
• Shukaku lashed the Stone Giant with his tail, but the giant caught it, spun Shukaku around, and threw him across the forest.
• The Stone Giant rushed toward the rising Shukaku, who fired a series of Void Bullets that struck the giant several times.

Hinata prepared to end the battle with Shukaku and claim part of his tail as a trophy. She restrained the tail with Dimensional Distortion and launched a swarm of Truth-Seeking Orb shuriken, leaving the attack in progress.

• Hinata noticed signals that Konoha's people were approaching and decided to end the fight before her condition worsened.
• Hinata chose to cut off part of Shukaku's tail to collect the One-Tails' Chakra.
• Hinata used Dimensional Distortion to restrain Shukaku's tail.
• Hinata transformed a Truth-Seeking Orb into a shuriken and used Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu to send a swarm of haloed shuriken toward Shukaku.

Hinata blasted Shukaku with a barrage of Infinite Truth-Seeking Orb Shuriken, severing his tail, then entered a portal and punched Gaara awake. As Gaara came to, Shukaku weakened and dissolved into quicksand, leaving Gaara to fall toward the ground.

• Hinata struck Shukaku with a dense barrage of Shuriken, engulfing him in explosions.
• Hinata used a portal to reach the sleeping Gaara on Shukaku's nose and punched him to wake him.
• As Gaara woke, Shukaku grew weaker and began turning into quicksand.
• Gaara fell toward the ground, but his Sand Armor protected him from immediately passing out.

Hinata put Gaara to sleep and erased his memories of her, then prepared to guard him from Shukaku. As she weighed what to do next, Kurama Mutsu arrived carrying Temari.

• Hinata ignored Gaara's question about her power, used the Mind Ball to erase his memories of her, and put him to sleep.
• Hinata released the Stone Giant's Summoning Jutsu and sealed the sand containing Shukaku's Chakra in a scroll.
• Hinata wondered whether Shukaku had a physical body and considered what to do with Gaara next.
• A demon in Hinata's mind suggested killing Gaara to fulfill the system's task, and Hinata accepted the suggestion amid the demon and angel wrestling.
• Kurama Mutsu approached Hinata with a wooden box and Temari over her shoulder.

Hinata erased Temari’s memories and sent Kurama Mutsu away with her, then headed toward Sasuke and Sakura. Meanwhile, Konoha shinobi arrived near the devastated forest and feared for the young ninjas who had been pursuing Gaara.

• Hinata altered Temari’s memories so she would forget the battle.
• Hinata asked Kurama Mutsu to take Temari somewhere suitable, notify Snow Bird, and withdraw.
• Kurama Mutsu said he wanted to travel around the ninja world, and Hinata agreed to discuss it later.
• Hinata tidied the area and headed toward Sasuke and Sakura while humming.
• Tai and the other Konoha shinobi reached a hill and were stunned by the ruined forest ahead.
• The Konoha shinobi confirmed they were following reports from Asuma, Shikamaru, and Shibi, and worried about the young ninjas who had chased Gaara.

Konoha’s counterattack began to turn the invasion around while Hiruzen Sarutobi continued fighting Orochimaru and the reanimated First and Second Hokage. Surrounded by Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release, Hiruzen searched for a way to reach Orochimaru despite the reanimated Hokage’s strength.

• A group rushed to aid the genin pursuing Gaara after learning Hinata was among them.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi’s preparations helped Konoha’s clans and returning ninja turn the battle against the Sand Ninja and Sound Ninja.
• Orochimaru summoned Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju with the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, escalating his fight with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• Tobirama Senju forced Hiruzen back with Water Release, and Hashirama Senju trapped him in Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi realized he needed to reach Orochimaru rather than keep fighting Hashirama Senju’s branches.