Recaps

Uchiha Yū left Konoha after securing the village’s promise not to interfere with Akatsuki’s plans against Kumogakure, while Hiruzen Sarutobi weighed the threat posed by Akatsuki and other villages. Uchiha Obito then returned to the Hokage’s office in disguise to propose cooperation, leaving Konoha’s leaders facing a new offer.

• Mitokado Homura and Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to postpone Konoha’s decision until negotiations in the Land of Iron, and Uchiha Yū revealed that Sunagakure had already agreed to cooperate.
• Uchiha Yū and Uchiha Obito left the Hokage’s office, and Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Minato to learn from the Hokage faction while Konoha reduced its surveillance of Akatsuki.
• At a stream, Uchiha Obito made an excuse to part from Uchiha Yū, who let him go and planned to meet his Shadow Clone for its gathered intelligence.
• Uchiha Obito emerged beneath the Hokage’s office after the meeting resumed, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other shinobi recognized him as Uchiha Madara.
• Uchiha Obito told the assembled Konoha leaders that he had come to discuss cooperation.

Uchiha Obito offered Konoha information about the Akatsuki in exchange for an alliance against Qi, while Uchiha Yū secretly allowed the betrayal to proceed. After the negotiations, Yū returned to Konoha and encountered a discouraged Nawaki.

• Uchiha Obito told Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo that a hidden Akatsuki powerhouse might possess six pairs of Rinnegan, then demanded an alliance against Qi.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to Obito’s proposed alliance, and the meeting ended with the ninjas dismissed.
• Uchiha Yū dispelled his Shadow Clone and learned what had happened, deciding to teach Obito a lesson while using the intelligence to encourage Konoha’s cooperation.
• Uchiha Yū considered speeding up Minato Namikaze and Kushina’s relationship because their child’s birth was tied to his plans for the Nine-Tails’ Attack.
• Nawaki walked into Uchiha Yū and complained about the exhausting meeting, and Yū told him that his Hokage advisor position was mostly symbolic.

Hyuga Reiko explained that becoming a celebrity and clan head had brought her constant attention, but Uchiha Yū reminded her that her position could help ease tensions in the Hyuga Clan. Nawaki misread their conversation as a budding romance and left them alone, believing he had uncovered a secret date.

• Uchiha Yū and Nawaki encountered Hyuga Reiko in disguise as she tried to avoid her many admirers.
• Hyuga Reiko told them that her celebrity status had brought swarms of suitors and fangirls, forcing her to hide her face in public.
• Uchiha Yū said her position as clan head could ease the Hyuga Clan's internal conflict and potentially help end the branch family system.
• Hyuga Reiko accepted responsibility for her clan and Konoha, while Uchiha Yū considered when to reveal his plans to her.
• Nawaki teased Uchiha Yū and Hyuga Reiko about their relationship, then left after Uchiha Yū told him to go.

Uchiha Yū revealed to Hyuga Reiko that he secretly owned Dawn Weapons Store and had cultivated Akatsuki, then explained that he wanted her to lead the Hyuga Clan and help him change Konoha and the shinobi world. Reiko agreed to cooperate while he prepared to make Akatsuki an official village, and the chapter ended with Nawaki mistaking their meeting for a romantic confession.

• Uchiha Yū told Hyuga Reiko that he owned Dawn Weapons Store and had cultivated Akatsuki.
• Uchiha Yū explained that he had helped make Reiko clan head so they could change Konoha and bring peace to the shinobi world.
• Hyuga Reiko accepted her role and agreed to cooperate with Uchiha Yū, though she warned him not to scheme against her again.
• Uchiha Yū told Reiko not to act rashly while Akatsuki focused its plans on Kumogakure and sought official status as a Great Shinobi Village.
• Nawaki assumed Uchiha Yū and Reiko had made romantic progress, and Reiko punched him before leaving.

Uchiha Yū visited Orochimaru’s laboratory and recommended the orphan Kabuto Yakushi as a research assistant. He warned Orochimaru to restrain his experiments and revealed that they planned to leave Konoha during the Nine-Tails’ Attack, beginning with arranging Minato Namikaze and Kushina’s marriage.

• After Hyuga Reiko rejected Uchiha Yū, Nawaki tried to comfort him and believed he would continue pursuing her.
• Uchiha Yū left the tavern and entered Orochimaru’s hidden laboratory, where Orochimaru was conducting Impure World Reincarnation experiments on living people.
• Uchiha Yū recommended Kabuto Yakushi from the orphanage as an assistant, and Orochimaru agreed to meet him.
• Orochimaru criticized Hiruzen Sarutobi for favoring Minato Namikaze, and Uchiha Yū said they would leave Konoha during the Nine-Tails’ Attack.
• Uchiha Yū explained that the plan required Minato Namikaze and Kushina to marry soon, then warned Orochimaru to curb his experiments to avoid prison or early expulsion.

Uchiha Yū persuaded Orochimaru to reduce his human experiments and focus on the bigger plan, then brought him to the Konoha Orphanage to meet Yakushi Nonō. The chapter left Uchiha Yū reassuring the frightened Nonō that he had no intention of harming her.

• Orochimaru agreed to reduce human experiments and use his time to organize his notes and train the boy Uchiha Yū had recommended.
• Uchiha Yū and Orochimaru left the laboratory and traveled to the Konoha Orphanage.
• Uchiha Yū reassured the doctors and went with Orochimaru to find Yakushi Nonō.
• Yakushi Nonō panicked at their arrival, recalling the past conflict with Danzo and Uchiha Yū over the orphanage.
• Uchiha Yū sent the children downstairs, then told Nonō she did not need to fear him.

Uchiha Yū arranged for Kabuto Yakushi to leave the orphanage and serve as Orochimaru’s assistant, using the boy and Yakushi Nonō to pressure his teacher. Orochimaru accepted the arrangement and agreed to discuss sharing his research, including the second stage of the Curse Mark and future Impure World Reincarnation results.

• Uchiha Yū told Yakushi Nonō to hand Kabuto Yakushi over to Orochimaru, but she objected to the child being drawn into darkness.
• Uchiha Yū calmed Orochimaru and warned Nonō that the orphanage’s welfare mattered more than her wishes about one child.
• A Root operative brought Kabuto Yakushi into the room, and Orochimaru agreed to let him study by his side as an assistant, not a disciple.
• Uchiha Yū threatened Kabuto with the orphanage’s destruction if he betrayed him, and Kabuto promised to obey.
• Uchiha Yū asked Orochimaru for his second-stage Curse Mark research and future Impure World Reincarnation results, while Orochimaru suspected he had spies in Root.

Uchiha Yū obtained Orochimaru’s Curse Mark research and joined Konoha’s delegation for negotiations with Akatsuki and the other shinobi villages. The Third Hokage put Minato in charge, while Uchiha Yū warned Nawaki to stay silent.

• Orochimaru gave Uchiha Yū detailed Curse Mark research and warned him about the second stage’s risks and potential use for rebirth.
• Sunagakure pledged to help Akatsuki seize the villages, prompting other factions to agree to negotiations.
• The Third Hokage summoned Uchiha Yū and assigned him, Minato Namikaze, and Nawaki to represent Konoha in the negotiations.
• The Third Hokage told Minato Namikaze to lead the talks and urged the delegation to negotiate without fear.
• Uchiha Yū offered to guide Minato Namikaze but told Nawaki not to speak during negotiations, leaving Nawaki dejected.

Uchiha Yū, Minato Namikaze, and Nawaki traveled to the Land of Iron to represent Konoha at negotiations over Kumogakure’s division, where Akatsuki revealed Yahiko’s Rinnegan. The gathering grew tense as influential village representatives arrived, and an elderly figure floated in with a complaint.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi entrusted Uchiha Yū with protecting Konoha’s interests at the negotiations, and Uchiha Yū left with Minato Namikaze and Nawaki for the Land of Iron.
• Representatives of the major shinobi villages gathered at Mifune’s residence, where Akatsuki appeared with Qi, Kakuzu, and Yahiko.
• Minato Namikaze and Nawaki reacted to Yahiko’s Rinnegan, while Uchiha Yū explained that the eyes alone did not determine someone’s overall strength.
• Uchiha Yū warned that some Kage had arrived in person, and Minato Namikaze urged the Konoha group to stand together in the negotiations.
• As the gathering’s atmosphere grew heavier, a tiny old man floated in and complained that no one had come to receive him.

Ōnoki, Mei Terumi, and Ebizo arrived in the Land of Iron for the meeting on dividing Kumogakure, and tensions rose between the village representatives. With every faction assembled, Qi began the negotiations.

• Ōnoki challenged Uchiha Yū and Konoha’s right to attend, and the two sides nearly fought until Mifune intervened.
• Mei Terumi arrived with Kisame Hoshigaki and Chōjūrō, flirted with Uchiha Yū and Minato Namikaze, and learned they were Konoha’s Twin Stars.
• Ebizo arrived on behalf of Sunagakure in place of the Fourth Kazekage.
• Qi turned from admiring the scenery and opened the meeting on how to divide Kumogakure.

Qi offered the other villages wealth and a share of Kumogakure’s techniques in exchange for recognizing his organization as legitimate after it conquered Kumogakure. He left the other parties considering an even larger reward if they sent troops to help.

• Ōnoki and Mei Terumi accused Qi’s organization of drawing in rogue ninja and suspected Sunagakure of secretly supporting Akatsuki.
• Qi denied making private agreements with the rogue ninja and argued that an official organization would no longer recruit them as Akatsuki had.
• Minato Namikaze redirected the meeting toward dividing Kumogakure and demanded tangible benefits before the villages recognized Qi’s organization.
• Qi offered to release Kumogakure’s core techniques after the conquest, with Sunagakure choosing its share first, but Minato questioned whether Qi could win.
• Kakuzu presented four scrolls containing vast treasures, and Qi offered an even greater reward to the parties willing to send troops against Kumogakure.

The leaders of Sunagakure, Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure agreed to join Akatsuki in an invasion of Kumogakure after Ebizo and Uchiha Yū supported the plan. Kumogakure learned it was being isolated, and Dodai urged the Fourth Raikage to prepare defenses as the Raikage vowed revenge.

• Ebizo offered Sunagakure's shinobi to support Akatsuki's invasion of Kumogakure.
• Uchiha Yū signaled his approval, and Minato Namikaze committed Konoha to the alliance.
• Ōnoki and Mei Terumi also agreed to send forces, forming an alliance against Kumogakure.
• Qi warned the village leaders not to betray the agreement after accepting the wealth in the scroll, and Ōnoki promised Akatsuki would become a new village.
• Kumogakure's spies revealed that the major villages had met with Akatsuki, and the Fourth Raikage vowed to punish them.
• Dodai urged the Fourth Raikage to calm down and said he would prepare traps to defend Kumogakure.

Uchiha Yū explained to Minato Namikaze how Konoha could use a coalition to attack a weakened Kumogakure, and Minato understood the broader role of a Hokage. Back in Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi announced Minato’s inauguration as Fourth Hokage for the day after tomorrow, along with Uchiha Yū and Nawaki becoming advisors, while Uchiha Yū urged Minato to marry Kushina as well.

• Uchiha Yū explained that Akatsuki and Sunagakure could wear down Kumogakure before the other villages joined the attack, and Minato Namikaze understood how a Hokage could unite the village’s factions.
• Nawaki admitted he preferred focusing on strength and jokingly agreed to Uchiha Yū’s suggestion that he serve as a mascot and play mahjong.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi praised the group’s handling of the Land of Iron talks and summoned Kakashi, the Hokage’s advisors, and Danzo.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi announced that Minato Namikaze would become Fourth Hokage and Uchiha Yū and Nawaki would become advisors, with the inauguration set for the day after tomorrow.
• Uchiha Yū and Nawaki urged Minato Namikaze to marry Kushina after becoming Hokage, leaving Minato embarrassed.

Uchiha Yū and Hiruzen Sarutobi arranged Minato Namikaze and Kushina’s marriage alongside Minato’s inauguration as the Fourth Hokage. As Orochimaru watched the ceremony with simmering resentment, preparations continued for the wedding, with Nawaki unexpectedly assigned to represent Kushina’s family.

• Uchiha Yū and Hiruzen Sarutobi arranged Minato Namikaze and Kushina’s wedding for the third day, and Minato reluctantly agreed.
• Uchiha Yū visited Orochimaru’s laboratory, where Orochimaru failed another attempt at Impure World Reincarnation, then invited him to Minato’s inauguration.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi handed Minato Namikaze the Hokage hat, and Minato formally became the Fourth Hokage as Orochimaru watched with growing killing intent.
• Uchiha Yū reminded Orochimaru that Minato and Kushina would soon marry and have a child, calming Orochimaru’s anger.
• Uchiha Yū gave Nawaki new clothes and told him to represent Kushina’s family when she met Minato’s elders, leaving Nawaki bewildered but willing to take the role.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina married, and Minato took office as the Fourth Hokage with Uchiha Yū and Nawaki in the upper ranks. Uchiha Yū recommended that Nawaki lead a small force to assist Akatsuki against Kumogakure, while he privately recognized that the Third Hokage still withheld real authority from him.

• Uchiha Yū gave Minato Namikaze and Kushina a large blue crystal as a wedding gift and joked with Hyuga Reiko and Nawaki.
• Minato Namikaze and Kushina entered the hall and became husband and wife.
• Minato Namikaze formally took office, and Hiruzen Sarutobi handed over the Hokage's duties while remaining to advise him on major decisions.
• Uchiha Yū advised Minato Namikaze to send a small force to support Akatsuki against Kumogakure and proposed that Nawaki lead it.
• Nawaki eagerly accepted the assignment, while Uchiha Yū noted that Hiruzen Sarutobi had kept ANBU command from him and given Nawaki command of a unit instead.

Uchiha Yū left Konoha after realizing its leaders intended to suppress him, then joined Akatsuki’s preparations for an alliance against Kumogakure. At the rendezvous, he assessed the forces sent by the four villages as their young fighters gathered amid hostility between former enemies.

• Uchiha Yū decided to leave Konoha and send Nawaki to Kumogakure while a Shadow Clone handled routine work.
• News spread that four great shinobi villages had joined Akatsuki to attack Kumogakure, while Uchiha Yū was back in Konoha for Minato Namikaze’s inauguration and wedding.
• Uchiha Yū returned to Akatsuki, dismissed Kakuzu’s complaints, and ordered him to gather the other ninjas and count each village’s forces.
• Ninjas from the allied villages argued and clashed at the rendezvous, while Uchiha Yū watched from a mountain with Akatsuki’s powerhouses.
• Kakuzu noted that Konoha had sent Nawaki, and Uchiha Yū praised Nawaki’s strength as he surveyed the young fighters led by Baki, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Kitsuchi.

Uchiha Yū led Akatsuki and the allied forces toward their assault on Kumogakure, demonstrating his immense physical strength and assigning the forces their roles. The army advanced toward Kumogakure, whose defenders waited under Dodai’s orders.

• Uchiha Yū leapt from the cliff and landed hard enough to crack the ground, displaying his extraordinary physical strength to the gathered ninja.
• Sasori reconsidered modifying his body and wondered how he could attain physical strength comparable to Uchiha Yū’s.
• Uchiha Yū warned the allied forces not to hold back or scheme during the attack, then announced that he would confront the Fourth Raikage while Akatsuki handled Kumogakure’s upper ranks, including Killer B.
• Uchiha Yū organized the allied army into assigned positions, while the village ninja wore matching clothes and masks to conceal their identities.
• The allied army advanced toward Kumogakure, which had learned of the attack and prepared to meet it under Dodai’s orders.

Uchiha Yū launched a massive explosive-tag assault to collapse the mountain passes protecting Kumogakure and open a path toward the village. As the allied forces advanced through the shattered terrain, the Akatsuki led the attack and slaughtered the defenders.

• Dodai realized Kumogakure would suffer severe losses in the war and planned to use the village’s terrain to wage a mobile defense.
• Uchiha Yū ordered the allied forces to detonate explosive tags across distant peaks, collapsing mountains and destroying Kumogakure’s natural defenses.
• Kumogakure’s ambushed ninja watched landslides bury their positions and fill the narrow pass with debris.
• The commander at the narrow pass ordered his ninja to gather and protect the village as Kumogakure’s forces charged toward the attackers.
• The Akatsuki led the advance and killed nearby Kumogakure ninja as the battle intensified.

Uchiha Yū’s forces advanced on Kumogakure, while Dodai ordered an evacuation plan and called for the Fourth Raikage to meet the enemy. When the Fourth Raikage charged at the attackers, he and Uchiha Yū fought at close range, but Uchiha Yū realized taijutsu alone would not be enough to defeat him.

• Dodai heard the explosions and ordered a message sent to the Fourth Raikage while assigning ninja to evacuate the children.
• Uchiha Yū’s demolition squads blasted mountain structures and caused landslides as they advanced toward Kumogakure.
• Kakuzu celebrated the prospect of taking control of a fifth of the shinobi world, but Uchiha Yū said defeating the enemy came first.
• The Fourth Raikage arrived in Lightning Release Chakra Mode and accused Akatsuki and the other villages of attacking Kumogakure together.
• Uchiha Yū and the Fourth Raikage exchanged rapid taijutsu blows, and Uchiha Yū concluded that taijutsu alone could not defeat him.

Uchiha Yū revealed his identity to the Fourth Raikage and declared that he would kill him to conceal his scheme against the shinobi villages. The two prepared to fight at full strength on an isolated mountain peak.

• Uchiha Yū used the Heavy Lariat's momentum to draw the Fourth Raikage away from the fighting below and onto a mountain peak.
• Uchiha Yū revealed his Sharingan and removed his mask, shocking the Fourth Raikage with his identity.
• The Fourth Raikage blamed Konoha for Akatsuki's rise, but Uchiha Yū told him that he acted independently and had manipulated all five great villages.
• The Fourth Raikage activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, while Uchiha Yū entered his strongest state with Sage Mode.
• Uchiha Yū used Sage Art: Majestic Destroyer Flame to scorch the area around them and prevent the Fourth Raikage from escaping or receiving outside help.

Uchiha Yū defeated and killed the Fourth Raikage, then sealed his corpse for Sasori to use as a puppet. Below, Killer B remained trapped in battle with the Akatsuki as they prepared to capture the Eight-Tails.

• The Fourth Raikage used lightning to suppress Uchiha Yū’s poison, but the effort destroyed his cells and weakened him.
• Uchiha Yū’s radioactive chakra shield blocked the Raikage’s attacks while his chakra blade inflicted nerve-damaging wounds.
• After the Fourth Raikage’s internal organs were damaged, Uchiha Yū pierced his chest and watched him die.
• Uchiha Yū sealed the Raikage’s corpse in a summoning scroll for Sasori to turn into a puppet.
• Killer B fought off the Akatsuki’s coordinated attacks while Sasori held the Amber Purifying Pot, and he worried that his brother had not returned.

Uchiha Yū announced the Fourth Raikage’s death and claimed Kumogakure for Akatsuki, while Killer B escaped the battlefield. Akatsuki crushed the remaining resistance and took control of the village, but the other great villages responded cautiously and isolated the new power.

• Uchiha Yū declared that he had killed the Fourth Raikage and offered Kumogakure’s ninja submission or death.
• Killer B and the Eight-Tails broke through Akatsuki’s blockade and escaped, while Uchiha Yū chose not to pursue them.
• Kakuzu ordered the killing of those who resisted, and Sasori and the other forces slaughtered Kumogakure’s remaining defenders.
• Uchiha Yū announced that Akatsuki would take over Kumogakure and protect its civilians.
• The other great villages recognized Akatsuki’s strength but offered no assistance and barred their merchants from traveling to the Land of Lightning.

Uchiha Yū consolidated Akatsuki’s control of Kumogakure and began a campaign to isolate and impoverish the Land of Lightning’s nobles. After ordering repairs to the damaged village, he renamed Akatsuki Dawn Hidden Village.

• Uchiha Yū ordered Kumogakure’s residents to register their personal details, assigning surrendered ninja to minor roles and treating those who resisted as enemies.
• A messenger ninja from the Daimyo demanded that Akatsuki obtain the Daimyo’s appointment, but Uchiha Yū rejected the old rules and ordered his death.
• Hiruko killed the messenger ninja, and Sasori dismissed the body as useless for making a puppet.
• Uchiha Yū ordered Kakuzu to raise grain prices fivefold, close the ports to trade, and cut off land trade with other nations.
• Uchiha Yū arranged for ninja from the Land of Wind to help repair Kumogakure and announced that Akatsuki would become Dawn Hidden Village.

Uchiha Yū’s isolation and economic pressure pushed the Land of Lightning into famine, revolt, and the collapse of noble authority. As he began easing the crisis and setting up factories, the surviving nobles argued over surrendering, while the daimyo opposed them.

• The Land of Lightning Daimyo ordered an attack on Dawn and offered a fortune to anyone who destroyed Akatsuki.
• A servant told the daimyo that Dawn had restricted grain sales, raised prices, and cut off the country’s trade, leaving its food supplies to last only a week.
• Uchiha Yū reviewed reports of unrest and noble deaths as Kakuzu described the soaring cost of food.
• Uchiha Yū ordered Dawn to release grain and establish soup kitchens, then directed its factories to begin operating.
• The surviving nobles split over whether to surrender to Dawn, and the daimyo glared at those who supported surrender.

Uchiha Yū accepted the surrender of a group of nobles after they presented the severed head of the Land of Lightning’s daimyo. He gave them management roles while continuing to consolidate Akatsuki’s control, and the chapter ended with the Land of Lightning unified and the ninja world recovering from war.

• Konan told Uchiha Yū that a group of nobles had arrived to surrender and bring him a gift.
• The nobles offered to relinquish their lands and presented the severed head of the Land of Lightning’s daimyo.
• Uchiha Yū accepted the gift and appointed the nobles to help manage the factories and govern the country.
• Uchiha Yū’s forces eventually eliminated the remaining nobles, leaving Akatsuki’s will dominant throughout the Land of Lightning.
• Black and White Zetsu marveled at the country’s unity as the ninja world recovered from the war.