Chapter Summaries

Black Zetsu possessed Nagato and attacked Hyuga Wuye, but Konan and Yahiko helped Wuye escape with Konan badly wounded. After recovering in hiding, Wuye woke to find himself without food or water and discovered many shinobi nearby.

• Black Zetsu used Nagato's Rinnegan powers to attack Wuye, and Konan took a black rod through her arm and shoulder while saving him.
• Yahiko interrupted Nagato's second strike, allowing Wuye to escape with Konan and heal her injuries.
• Wuye suspected Black Zetsu had possessed Nagato and wondered why it was determined to kill him.
• After sleeping for a day and night, Wuye found he had no food or water and saw many shinobi nearby with his Byakugan.

Hyuga Wuye discovered that Rain ninja were preparing to ambush the Konoha and Iwagakure forces, then infiltrated the Iwagakure hideout to take its supplies. He let the last Iwagakure survivor escape with news of the Rain ninja attack and returned laden with supplies.

• Hyuga Wuye used his Byakugan to identify the local clash between Konoha and Iwagakure ninja and locate a group of Rain ninja hidden in the mist.
• Hyuga Wuye left traps beside the unconscious Konan and traveled underground toward the Iwagakure hideout.
• Hyuga Wuye found the basement sealed with steel plates, transformed into a Rain ninja, and approached the Iwagakure guards through an underground passage.
• Hyuga Wuye killed two Iwagakure ninja after a Water Clone trick and a Paper Shuriken Technique, while a third escaped using the Rock Hiding Technique.
• Hyuga Wuye took the supplies from the Iwagakure basement and returned with them.

Hyuga Wuye rescued Konan from a Konoha ninja and escaped with her into an underground passage. After Konan woke while he was giving her water, their teasing turned into an intimate moment in the darkness.

• A Konoha ninja approached Konan and tried to kill her, but she dodged his attack and controlled a paper shuriken to pierce his neck.
• Hyuga Wuye burst out of the ground and knocked the wounded ninja away before he could strike Konan.
• Konan clung to Wuye and sobbed, then fainted as other Konoha ninja approached.
• Wuye carried Konan through an underground passage and hid with her in a safer location.
• Wuye gave the unconscious Konan water, and she woke and bit his tongue.
• Konan teased Wuye about his tongue, then gently touched it as they sat together in the darkness.

Wuye comforted Konan after she killed a Konoha ninja, and the two became trapped underground by a mist barrier created by Rain ninja. As they planned how to escape, Wuye found a scroll and proposed that they learn the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

• Wuye fed Konan, then reassured her that he did not blame her for killing a Konoha ninja who had attacked her.
• Konan cried in Wuye's arms and fainted, then later woke to find them trapped underground beneath a mist barrier.
• Wuye explained that Rain ninja were maintaining the mist and that his Subterranean Voyage could not carry another person.
• Konan told Wuye she did not consider the Rain ninja her people because they had never protected her or changed the Land of Rain.
• Wuye found Orochimaru's scroll and suggested that he and Konan learn the A-rank Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique to strengthen her Paper Shuriken Technique.

Hyuga Wuye helped Konan train her paper techniques, then devised a plan to exploit them against the Rain ninja and Iwagakure ninja. He and Konan confronted a Rain ninja squad, with Wuye revealing himself on a rooftop.

• Hyuga Wuye stopped Konan from overtraining and demonstrated how the Paper Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique multiplied shuriken.
• Konan discovered she could transform objects into paper, though changing them back and transforming her body remained difficult.
• Wuye transformed his sleeve into paper and proposed using the technique to escape and attack the Rain ninja and Iwagakure ninja.
• Rain ninja discussed their stalled efforts to provoke the great villages into fighting and questioned whether Hanzo would return.
• Wuye and Konan attacked the Rain ninja with more than a hundred shuriken, and Wuye appeared on a rooftop opposite them.
• The Rain ninja leader recognized the figure as Hyuga Wuye.

Hyuga Wuye drew Rain and Iwagakure ninja together by exposing the Rain ninja's scheme, but the two groups joined forces to claim his bounty. He left six attackers dead after turning his straw raincoat into a devastating shower of paper shuriken.

• Rain ninja recognized Hyuga Wuye's 50-million-ryo bounty and pursued him after one of their number was killed by a paper shuriken.
• Hyuga Wuye led the Rain ninja toward the Iwagakure outpost, then revealed the Rain ninja as the culprits behind stolen supplies and murdered ninja.
• Hyuga Wuye exposed the Rain ninja's presence to the Iwagakure ninja, but the two groups agreed to unite against him and give the bounty to Iwagakure.
• The Rain and Iwagakure ninja attacked Hyuga Wuye, who blocked their ninjutsu with Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.
• Hyuga Wuye transformed his straw raincoat into paper shuriken and killed six ninja with the all-direction attack.

Hyuga Wuye used explosive tags and paper techniques to turn the Iwagakure and Rain ninja against each other, then revealed that his apparent deaths were tricks. He and Konan entered the blood-soaked battlefield, where he collected the fallen ninja’s forehead protectors.

• Hyuga Wuye charged into the Iwagakure ninja and used paper shuriken and explosive tags to kill or injure several of them.
• The Rain ninja leader stabbed Hyuga Wuye, and the Rain and Iwagakure forces fought over who would claim his head.
• The Rain ninja defeated the remaining Iwagakure ninja, then discovered Hyuga Wuye was still alive when his wound did not bleed.
• Hyuga Wuye turned into paper shuriken at close range and killed the Rain ninja who had survived the battle.
• Hyuga Wuye walked onto the battlefield with Konan and collected the dead ninja’s forehead protectors.

Hyuga Wuye taught Konan how he used deception and information to make Rain and Rock ninja kill each other, then spotted Kakuzu approaching and fled with her. The two escaped before Kakuzu could reach them, while Konoha ninja arrived to find the battlefield and speculate about who had caused the deaths.

• Hyuga Wuye explained that his paper clone, layered disguises, and staged attacks had manipulated Rain and Rock ninja into killing one another, and Konan identified how his tactics worked.
• Hyuga Wuye taught Konan that information was the key to victory, including using his Byakugan and paper clones to learn about enemies before risking a direct fight.
• More than a dozen Konoha ninja arrived at the battlefield, found the bodies and missing forehead protectors, and debated who had killed the two groups.
• Hyuga Wuye detected Kakuzu with his Byakugan and recognized that the bounty hunter posed too great a risk to fight without knowing his abilities.
• Hyuga Wuye scooped Konan up and ran, telling her Kakuzu was likely after his fifty-million-ryo bounty and grumbling that the price was too low.

Orochimaru lost Nawaki to a trap and abandoned bonds, justice, and the village in pursuit of eternal life. In the Land of Rain, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan shared their plans with Hyuga Wuye, who named their organization Akatsuki and urged them to become a light for their country.

• Nawaki rushed toward the fallen Iwagakure ninja and triggered an explosive trap that killed him.
• Orochimaru sealed Nawaki's body in a scroll, swallowed it, and resolved to pursue eternal life without bonds or allegiance to the village.
• Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato returned to Hyuga Wuye, who asked what they would do if he were no longer with them.
• Yahiko said they wanted to gather like-minded companions and change the Land of Rain, while Nagato pledged to follow him and Konan stayed silent.
• Hyuga Wuye named their organization Akatsuki, meaning Dawn, and told them to become the light their country lacked.

Hyuga Wuye warned Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan about the practical and political dangers facing their organization and offered advice on funding and relations with the Rain Ninja Village. Yahiko chose to follow his ideals, while Wuye asked him to protect Konan and Nagato; after the rain stopped, Konan asked Wuye to spend the next day with her, and he agreed.

• Hyuga Wuye explained that the organization needed income and would draw the Rain Ninja Village and other great nations’ attention as it gained influence.
• Hyuga Wuye advised Yahiko to accept paid protection missions and share some rewards with the Rain Ninja Village, but Yahiko rejected the approach and chose to follow his own beliefs.
• Konan asked Hyuga Wuye why he helped the Land of Rain despite Konoha’s interests, and he said he hoped to bring peace to the entire world.
• Hyuga Wuye asked Yahiko to prioritize Konan and Nagato’s safety, and Yahiko agreed.
• Konan asked Hyuga Wuye to spend the next day with her, and he agreed.

Konan confessed her feelings to Hyuga Wuye through a dance made from origami bearing a hidden message. Wuye understood her confession but could not bring himself to reject her, leaving their relationship unresolved.

• Konan recalled how Wuye had saved her and asked why he had done so, and he told her it was because she was special to him.
• Konan asked Wuye to watch her Paper Person of God dance and transformed her paper clothing into fluttering origami.
• Wuye used his Sharingan to read the message written across the origami: “Konan likes Wuye.”
• Konan covered Wuye’s mouth before he could say the message aloud, making clear that she had confessed her feelings to him.
• Wuye considered rejecting Konan to protect his survival but could not say the words as he saw the depth of her affection.

Konan confessed her feelings to Hyuga Wuye but said they would pursue peace through different paths, with Konoha likely to stand in their way. Wuye revealed he had deliberately approached her because his Sharingan gained tomoe through sincere love and breakups, and the chapter left him realizing he did not want to gain a tomoe from Konan.

• Konan told Wuye she liked him but did not need an answer, then said they would pursue their dreams in their own ways.
• Konan thanked Wuye for saving and teaching her, explaining that she wanted to follow her own ideals and live up to his care.
• Wuye told Konan he had deliberately approached her because his Sharingan gained a tomoe when he sincerely fell in love and then broke up with someone.
• Konan doubted his explanation at first, then believed him and worried that his care for her had begun as a means to use her.
• Konan reassured herself that Wuye’s feelings and care were real, while Wuye denied that he was telling her in hopes of becoming a couple and breaking up later.

Hyuga Wuye decided to pursue Konan freely, believing he could set aside the breakup requirement, but learned that she planned to leave because her ambitions and feelings about Konoha kept them apart. As Konan ran from him, Wuye's Sharingan gained a second tomoe.

• Hyuga Wuye told Konan he wanted to start over and promised they could keep seeing each other after he returned to Konoha.
• Konan explained that she wanted to change the Land of Rain and feared that staying close to Wuye would bias her judgment of Konoha.
• Konan revealed that she had only allowed herself to be with Wuye for three years and expected them to part because her mother had died at the hands of Konoha ninja.
• Hyuga Wuye realized Konan might be explaining their separation to help him gain ocular power, but he admitted he did not want that outcome.
• Konan thanked Wuye, ran away, and said she would never forget him as rain began to fall and Wuye's Sharingan formed a second tomoe.

After comforting Wuye with a taijutsu fight, Jiraiya told him that Nawaki had died in action and that Tsunade was still fighting on the Sand Village front. Wuye arranged to leave his mission near Hanzo and join the battlefield, while the village promoted him to chunin; he and Jiraiya then prepared to depart, leaving Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato behind.

• Wuye fought Jiraiya over his notebook, copying Jiraiya's taijutsu with his Sharingan until the two were bruised and Wuye's grief had eased.
• Jiraiya told Wuye that Nawaki had been killed and that Tsunade was still leading troops against the Sand Village.
• Wuye asked Jiraiya to report that his mission monitoring Hanzo had ended and to send him to the Sand Village front.
• Jiraiya sent a coded message to Konoha, and the village approved Wuye's request and promoted him to chunin.
• Jiraiya and Wuye returned to the huts, where Konan folded paper and Yahiko and Nagato watched with worried expressions as they prepared to part.

Hyuga Wuye told Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan that he and Jiraiya would leave on a wartime mission, then explained his vision for unifying the shinobi world and bringing lasting peace. As they shared a final dinner, Jiraiya accepted that the younger generation would shape the future, and Yahiko vowed to make the Land of Rain peaceful.

• Hyuga Wuye told Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan that he and Jiraiya would leave the next day on a wartime deployment.
• Hyuga Wuye explained that the great nations were recovering from war and described how their rivalries could lead to renewed fighting.
• Yahiko asked why the Land of Fire did not conquer other nations, and Hyuga Wuye said he would take control from the daimyo, unify the world if possible, and otherwise weaken rivals economically.
• Konan asked what Wuye would do as Hokage, and he argued that a unified country could end internal wars and promote development, even if it might eventually split apart.
• Hyuga Wuye prepared a final grilled-meat dinner, while Jiraiya reflected on the younger generation and chose to trust them with the future.
• Jiraiya urged Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan to pursue their ideals, and Yahiko promised that the Land of Rain would become peaceful.

Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato parted from Jiraiya and Wuye, then took their first steps as Akatsuki. Wuye reached Tsunade’s frontline camp and found her immersed in a proposal, leaving him alarmed by how normal she seemed despite Nawaki’s death.

• Konan told Yahiko and Nagato that Jiraiya and Wuye had left, then led them forward as they declared themselves Akatsuki.
• Wuye watched Konan stop crying in the rain, promised they would meet again, and continued toward Tsunade’s camp.
• Konoha ninja verified Wuye’s identity and discussed his reputation as he entered the relaxed-looking camp.
• Wuye reunited with Tsunade and noticed her pale complexion and bloodshot eyes.
• Tsunade showed Wuye her detailed proposal to assign a medical ninja to every squad, and he worried that her composed behavior concealed her grief.

Tsunade decided to return to the village to propose a new medical-ninja system, leaving Kato Dan and Hyuga Wuye in charge of the frontlines. Before departing, she gave Wuye her grandfather’s chakra-suppressing necklace, which had belonged to Nawaki.

• Hyuga Wuye warned Tsunade that the village would be unlikely to approve major wartime changes, but agreed to stay behind while she pursued her proposal.
• Tsunade assigned Kato Dan to command the frontlines and ordered him to consult Wuye before making decisions, with Wuye’s opinion taking precedence if they disagreed.
• Tsunade prepared to return to the village alone, while Kato Dan and Wuye remained at the battlefield.
• Tsunade gave Wuye her grandfather’s necklace, explaining that its Wood Release chakra could suppress tailed beasts and that it had originally belonged to Nawaki.

Hyuga Wuye found no threats at first, but Sand Village soon launched coordinated clashes against Konoha. After the enemy squads fled from him, he detected four Sand Village jonin and prepared to uncover their real intentions.

• Kato Dan told Hyuga Wuye that Konoha had only fifty squads on the front and that Sand Village had sent envoys to negotiate a ceasefire.
• Hyuga Wuye scanned the area with his Byakugan, found no immediate threat, and later treated genin injured during a nighttime infiltration.
• Kato Dan reported fresh clashes that had killed or injured Konoha genin, and Hyuga Wuye went to reinforce the frontline.
• Sand Village squads repeatedly retreated when they detected Hyuga Wuye, ending the fighting without him having to attack.
• Hyuga Wuye spotted four Sand Village jonin, called Kato Dan and two other jonin to reinforce him, and ordered them to investigate cautiously.

Hyuga Wuye’s traps stalled the Sand Village pursuit until he realized their real target was Tsunade, prompting him to rush toward the ambush alone. The chapter ended with Wuye stabbing himself with a kunai as Kato Dan stood beside him.

• Hyuga Wuye ordered Kato Dan and the Konoha forces to retreat toward the Land of Fire while laying traps along the Sand Village’s likely routes.
• Wuye’s traps inflicted heavy losses on the pursuing Sand Village ninja, and their jonin stopped the pursuit after reporting that he would not fight head-on.
• Wuye detected nearly two hundred Sand Village ninja gathering and concluded they had been delaying his group to set up an ambush for Tsunade.
• Wuye told Kato Dan to hurry to Tsunade while he handled the nearly five hundred Sand Village ninja, and Dan insisted on staying with him.
• Wuye drew a kunai and stabbed himself in front of Kato Dan.

Hyuga Wuye used hundreds of Shadow Clones and explosive tags to devastate a large Sand Village force while leading Konoha reinforcements toward Tsunade. The clone memories left him struggling to stay conscious, but he ordered the group onward, warning that the rescue would be dangerous.

• Hyuga Wuye led more than two hundred Konoha ninja in a direct charge against over five hundred Sand Village ninja.
• Hyuga Wuye's Shadow Clones turned into paper shuriken, killing or injuring many Sand Village ninja and creating an opening for Konoha's attack.
• Konoha's apparent fighters revealed themselves as Shadow Clones carrying explosive tags, and their detonations devastated the Sand Village force.
• Hyuga Wuye told Kato Dan that only a few dozen Sand Village ninja were likely left and explained that elite opponents could withstand similar attacks.
• Hyuga Wuye warned the Konoha ninja that many would die in the coming rescue, then ordered them to move toward Tsunade.