Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Yū intensified the natural energy around the Three-Tails’ rebirth site, triggering increasingly severe mutations in the lake’s wildlife and nearby villagers. As Konoha struggled to contain the outbreak and treat infected shinobi, Minato Namikaze sent Nawaki to bring Tsunade back to the village.

• Uchiha Yū used Sage Mode to increase the natural energy gathering around the lake where the Three-Tails would be reborn, while Kakuzu watched the environment change.
• Animals and villagers near the lake developed scales and increasingly violent symptoms, and a medical-nin’s team became infected while investigating.
• A Konoha jōnin medical-nin ordered the area sealed off after discovering that the lake’s fish had also mutated, and the worsening outbreak was reported to Minato Namikaze.
• Minato Namikaze ordered emergency measures and decided that Tsunade was needed to treat the infected shinobi.
• Minato Namikaze asked Nawaki to bring Tsunade back to the village as soon as possible.

Nawaki found Tsunade at a gambling den and recruited her to investigate a strange plague in the Land of Fire, though she refused to return to Konoha. As Tsunade and Nawaki headed for the afflicted lake, Uchiha Yū ordered Kakuzu to drive away the approaching Konoha ninjas while he continued restoring the Three-Tails.

• Tsunade unexpectedly won at the gambling den, but immediately went to play the slot machine again as Shizune collected their winnings.
• Nawaki told Tsunade that a strange plague was mutating people and animals in the eastern Land of Fire, and that Konoha's medical personnel could not treat it.
• Tsunade agreed to help investigate and treat the infected, but insisted she would not return to Konoha.
• After reading the documents, Tsunade warned that the lake's infected animals and migrating birds could spread the plague, and she set out with Nawaki and Shizune for the site.
• As Uchiha Yū's natural energy caused the lake's creatures, especially its snakes, to mutate, Kakuzu warned him that Konoha ninjas had arrived to investigate.
• Uchiha Yū ordered Kakuzu to drive the Konoha ninjas away so they would not interfere with the Three-Tails' resurrection.

Tsunade and Nawaki investigated the illness spreading near the lake, then pursued the attackers who had killed Konoha’s investigation unit. They faced Kakuzu and a powerful Akatsuki squad, and Tsunade summoned Katsuyu as the battle escalated.

• Tsunade examined the afflicted ninjas and found she could suppress their symptoms but could not cure advanced mutations.
• A survivor reported that mysterious attackers had ambushed the investigation unit, and Nawaki and Tsunade led Konoha’s forces to the scene.
• Nawaki’s Monstrous Strength Fist exposed ten masked Akatsuki members led by Kakuzu, who recognized that his group was outnumbered.
• The Akatsuki squad used coordinated attacks and razor-sharp chakra ninja blades to kill a Konoha ninja and threaten Tsunade’s group.
• Tsunade summoned Katsuyu for help, and Katsuyu warned that the lake’s violent natural energy made the area dangerous to remain in.

Tsunade and Nawaki’s team clashed with Kakuzu and the Ten Ninja Swordsmen before Uchiha Yū arrived and offered to let them leave. When Nawaki refused to negotiate, Uchiha Yū ordered the swordsmen to surround the Konoha ninjas and fought Tsunade and Nawaki, ending with Tsunade rushing through the mist toward him.

• Katsuyu sensed that violent natural energy was causing the illness, and Tsunade recognized symptoms resembling those caused by senjutsu.
• Katsuyu interrupted the Ten Ninja Swordsmen’s attacks, but Kakuzu used Wind Release to stop Tsunade’s group from escaping the swamp.
• Uchiha Yū arrived, recognized Tsunade and Nawaki, and offered to resolve the illness if the Konoha ninjas left the area.
• Nawaki refused to abandon the mission after accusing Uchiha Yū’s group of killing their scouts, prompting the Ten Ninja Swordsmen and Kakuzu to block the Konoha team’s retreat.
• Uchiha Yū ordered the swordsmen to surround the other Konoha ninjas without killing them, then fought Tsunade and Nawaki as they attacked with Monstrous Strength Fist.
• Nawaki’s Water Formation Wall met Uchiha Yū’s Dragon Flame Song Technique, and Tsunade burst through the resulting mist.

Uchiha Yū fought Tsunade and the Konoha ninja, using lightning and giant snakes from Ryūchi Cave to overwhelm them. With only three Konoha ninja still standing, Tsunade planned to help Nawaki escape and report the threat to the Fourth Hokage.

• Tsunade's kick sent Uchiha Yū flying, but his Nintaijutsu and enhanced body let him withstand the blow.
• Uchiha Yū spread lightning across the lake, killing one ninja and forcing Tsunade to expose herself while rescuing a companion.
• Uchiha Yū kicked Tsunade into the reeds, but she recovered with the Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred Technique.
• Uchiha Yū summoned giant snakes from Ryūchi Cave, trapping the Konoha ninja and leaving only Tsunade, Nawaki, and one other ninja standing.
• Tsunade told Nawaki she would create an opening for him to escape and report the enemy to the Fourth Hokage.

Tsunade released the power of her Yin Seal to help Nawaki escape the lake, then stayed behind to negotiate with Uchiha Yū. Uchiha Yū assured her safety and allowed Katsuyu to return, leaving Tsunade under his watch as she tried to identify him.

• Tsunade decided to stay behind and told Nawaki to return to Konoha for Minato while she negotiated with Uchiha Yū.
• Tsunade unleashed the power of her Yin Seal, and the ninja beside her used explosive tags and ninjutsu to create an opening.
• Tsunade struck at Kakuzu, creating a path for Nawaki to escape; Kakuzu sent the Ten Ninja Swordsmen after him.
• Uchiha Yū praised Tsunade for protecting her brother and promised to keep her safe if she remained by his side.
• Tsunade released Katsuyu's Summoning Technique, and Uchiha Yū sent the giant snakes back to Ryūchi Cave.

Uchiha Yū treated villagers whose bodies had mutated from excessive natural energy, then ordered the area secured and further victims gathered. Meanwhile, Nawaki returned to Konoha injured and reported that Tsunade had been captured by the mysterious group at the lake.

• Uchiha Yū used a Curse Mark to remove one villager’s mutation, but found her body badly damaged and the other patients frail.
• Uchiha Yū ordered ninja to search for more victims, gather them, and arrange for the area to be secured through the daimyo and local nobles.
• Uchiha Yū returned to the lake and unleashed a surge of natural energy, while Kakuzu relied on the Curse Mark to ease its effects on his body.
• Nawaki escaped the Ten Ninja Swordsmen by hiding his scent in a river and made his way back to Konoha.
• Minato Namikaze questioned Nawaki, who reported that Tsunade had stayed behind to help him escape and had been left with the enemy.

The Third Hokage led Konoha’s elite ninja to rescue Tsunade, while Uchiha Yū stalled them as the Three-Tails gathered at the lake. The Third Hokage accepted an invitation to negotiate, and Uchiha Yū warned Tsunade not to interfere.

• The Fourth Hokage ordered Tsunade’s rescue and appointed the Third Hokage to lead an elite team.
• Kakuzu reported that Akatsuki had bribed nobles to deny Konoha ninja entry, while Uchiha Yū continued gathering the Three-Tails’ chakra.
• Akatsuki scouts spotted Konoha ninja, so Uchiha Yū sent a messenger to invite the Third Hokage to negotiate.
• The Third Hokage suspected a trap but sent a small group to hide while he and the rest proceeded to the designated meeting place.
• Uchiha Yū admitted he was using negotiations to buy time, while Kakuzu mocked the Third Hokage and Uchiha Yū ordered Tsunade to stay quiet.

Uchiha Yū negotiated with Hiruzen Sarutobi over Tsunade and Konoha’s search of the lake, using Tsunade as leverage to prevent a fight. Tsunade chose to remain with Uchiha Yū, while she continued investigating his group and the lake’s secrets.

• Uchiha Yū sensed Konoha’s approaching ninja and prepared his side to meet them.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived, confirmed Tsunade was unharmed, and offered to withdraw from the lake search if Uchiha Yū released her.
• Uchiha Yū refused to release Tsunade, arguing that Konoha had invaded his leased territory and that she was his leverage against another search.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi said Konoha could not trust Uchiha Yū after he had killed Konoha ninja.
• Uchiha Yū gave Tsunade the choice to stay and prevent bloodshed or leave and risk a fight; Tsunade chose to stay.
• Tsunade told Hiruzen Sarutobi she was not worried about being rescued, while keeping her suspicions about Uchiha Yū and the lake to herself.

Uchiha Yū and his allies revived the Three-Tails in the lake while Tsunade realized their plan and resolved to stop it. The Three-Tails resisted capture, emerged from the water in a strange Black Tortoise-like form, and attacked the ninja on shore.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted Tsunade’s decision to stay and withdrew Konoha’s ninja after Uchiha Yū promised to keep her safe.
• Uchiha Yū ordered his ninja to guard the lake as chakra gathered beneath its surface and the creatures there grew violent.
• Tsunade sensed the Three-Tails’ revival and decided she could not allow the plan to succeed.
• Uchiha Yū entered Sage Mode and confronted the Three-Tails with natural energy as its body took shape.
• The Three-Tails attacked with water dragons, but the ninja poured lightning into the lake and forced it to emerge.
• Uchiha Yū recognized the revived beast’s unusual turtle-and-serpent appearance as resembling a Black Tortoise before it leaped ashore and sent waves toward the ninja.

Uchiha Yū subdued the Three-Tails, but Minato Namikaze seized the Amber Purifying Pot and escaped with it, prompting Uchiha Yū to declare war on Konoha. Minato accepted, igniting the Fourth Shinobi World War as Uchiha Yū was left furious at the lake.

• Uchiha Yū restrained the Three-Tails while Uchiha Shisui suppressed its rampage, and Kakuzu prepared to help seal it with the Amber Purifying Pot.
• Minato Namikaze appeared, stole the Amber Purifying Pot, and left with the Three-Tails as Konoha's forces confronted Uchiha Yū.
• Uchiha Yū accused Konoha of breaking its agreement and formally declared war on the village.
• Minato Namikaze accepted the declaration on Konoha's behalf and led his forces away from the lake.
• Uchiha Yū struck the water with the Monster Earth Fist, furious that his plan to capture the Three-Tails had failed.

Uchiha Yū organized preparations for the impending Fourth Shinobi World War and called the Tsuchikage and Kazekage to a conference. As war rumors spread, civilians began fleeing, and Ōnoki reluctantly prepared to travel to Amegakure to discuss the alliance’s role.

• Uchiha Yū warned that an immediate war would cost too much and ordered trade between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water cut off, weapons prepared, forces assembled, and the Tsuchikage and Kazekage notified.
• News of the coming war spread, prompting civilians and wandering shinobi to consider leaving as missions and Dawn’s stores suffered from the population’s departure.
• Uchiha Yū planned to move smaller shinobi organizations to the borders, where they would test opposing forces and act as cannon fodder before the war.
• Ōnoki read Dawn Hidden Village’s invitation to a war meeting in Amegakure and angrily questioned the decision to provoke conflict.
• Ōnoki decided to attend the meeting despite fearing that war would derail Iwagakure’s growing prosperity.

Rasa, Chiyo, and Ebizo discussed a letter and concluded that Sunagakure could not safely resist Uchiha Yū’s control, despite Rasa’s frustration. Chiyo agreed to accompany Rasa to Amegakure to see Sasori, while Uchiha Yū arrived there ahead of the coming leaders’ meeting.

• Rasa asked whether Sunagakure could use the opportunity to break free of Uchiha Yū’s control, but Chiyo warned that resistance could destroy the village’s prosperity and lead to the deaths of those involved.
• Ebizo noted that Sunagakure’s improving living conditions and access to resources had weakened support for resisting Uchiha Yū.
• Rasa accepted that Sunagakure would follow Uchiha Yū’s plan, then welcomed Kankurō, Gaara, and another child into his office.
• Chiyo asked to accompany Rasa to Amegakure so she could see her grandson Sasori, and Rasa agreed.
• Uchiha Yū arrived early in Amegakure with a blond-haired man as the village prepared to host a meeting about the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Uchiha Yū and Nagato detected shinobi infiltrating Amegakure as leaders gathered to discuss the Fourth Shinobi World War. Jiraiya slipped into the village and then the meeting venue, but Deva Path Pain identified him before the meeting began.

• Nagato used the Rain Tiger at Will Technique to detect more than fifty infiltrators, including Jiraiya, while Uchiha Yū chose to let them enter so he could catch them together.
• Jiraiya emerged from a frog near Amegakure, concealed his identity, and gathered intelligence at a tavern as the Sunagakure and Iwagakure delegations arrived.
• Jiraiya saw Deva Path Pain and recognized Yahiko's face and the Rinnegan, leaving him confused about what had happened to his former student.
• Uchiha Yū ordered Nagato to arrest the infiltrators, and Jiraiya secretly took another shinobi's identity to enter the meeting venue.
• Deva Path Pain confronted Jiraiya in the shadows and revealed that he had seen through the disguise.

Jiraiya was exposed while investigating Yahiko’s Rinnegan and fought against the Six Paths of Pain in Amegakure. Uchiha Yū, Ōnoki, and the Fourth Kazekage joined the battle to capture him, but Jiraiya continued resisting as Uchiha Yū ordered Uchiha Shisui to use genjutsu.

• Jiraiya confronted Deva Path Pain and demanded to know why Yahiko had the Rinnegan.
• Uchiha Yū told Ōnoki that Dawn Hidden Village had sought the unsealed Three-Tails, while Ōnoki objected to starting a world war over tailed beasts.
• An explosion revealed Jiraiya fighting six Rinnegan-wielding enemies, and he summoned the two great toad sages.
• Ōnoki carried Uchiha Yū down to the battlefield, and the Fourth Kazekage used Gold Dust to block Jiraiya’s escape.
• Jiraiya and the toad sages unleashed a powerful Toad Oil Flame Bullet that began melting the Gold Dust.
• Uchiha Yū told Uchiha Shisui to use genjutsu to control Jiraiya.

Shisui captured Jiraiya with his Mangekyō genjutsu as Uchiha Yū and the Fourth Kazekage maneuvered Ōnoki into agreeing to Dawn Hidden Village’s war terms. The three sides settled their division of benefits and an offensive-defensive alliance, while Ōnoki remained unaware that the meeting had been staged to deceive him.

• Shisui trapped Jiraiya in an inescapable genjutsu, made him release his Summoning Technique, and reported his capture to Uchiha Yū.
• Ōnoki recognized the danger posed by Dawn Hidden Village and looked to the Fourth Kazekage for guidance.
• The Fourth Kazekage proposed that Dawn Hidden Village fight Konoha while Sunagakure and Iwagakure dealt with Kirigakure.
• Ōnoki added that Sunagakure and Iwagakure should receive a share of Konoha’s benefits and that the three sides should aid one another if any suffered heavy losses.
• Uchiha Yū negotiated limits on their share and demanded support against Kirigakure, and the three sides agreed on the war’s division of benefits.

After Jiraiya was captured in Amegakure, the toad sages warned the Fourth Hokage about the enemy’s power, shaking confidence across the shinobi world. Uchiha Yū arranged for Chiyo to meet Sasori and join Orochimaru’s research, while instructing the Fourth Kazekage to distrust Ōnoki and weaken Iwagakure when possible.

• Sage Fukasaku used Reverse Summoning to bring the Fourth Hokage to Mount Myōboku and told him Jiraiya had been captured in Amegakure.
• The Fourth Hokage promised to seek Jiraiya’s rescue and learned that the Dawn Hidden Village’s Rinnegan and Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu posed a grave threat.
• News of Jiraiya’s capture spread across the shinobi world, unsettling weaker factions and making them question the alliance with Konoha.
• Chiyo asked Uchiha Yū to let her meet Sasori, and he agreed on the condition that she go to the Dawn Hidden Village to help Orochimaru research Life Transfer Reincarnation.
• Chiyo accepted and asked that Sasori remain by her side, while Uchiha Yū told the Fourth Kazekage to coordinate with Ōnoki but undermine Iwagakure when an opportunity arose.

Konoha's leaders argued over whether to rescue Jiraiya, while Nawaki and Hyuga Reiko sought comfort in a tavern. Shan Juhua delivered Reiko a letter from Uchiha Yū, revealing that he was alive and had remembered their promise.

• Rasa agreed to watch Ōnoki and help surround Kirigakure as the villages prepared for war.
• Minato Namikaze's proposal to rescue Jiraiya was blocked by the Third Hokage and the old guard, and the meeting ended in a quarrel.
• Nawaki went to a tavern, where he met Hyuga Reiko, and the two drank while dwelling on Jiraiya and Uchiha Yū.
• Hyuga Reiko found Shan Juhua in the tavern kitchen and accepted a letter she had brought.
• Hyuga Reiko read Uchiha Yū's message and realized he was alive and had not forgotten their promise.

Hyuga Reiko agreed to pass Konoha intelligence to Uchiha Yū through Black and White Zetsu, while the Dawn Hidden Village fought Konoha in the Fourth Shinobi World War. After Shisui reported Jiraiya's prophecy that Uchiha Yū would fail, Uchiha Yū and Shisui rejected it and reaffirmed their resolve.

• Hyuga Reiko read Uchiha Yū's letter, burned it, and agreed to help gather intelligence for him.
• Black and White Zetsu appeared and offered to carry Hyuga Reiko's information out of Konoha.
• Shan Juhua reacted with displeasure to Hyuga Reiko's role in Uchiha Yū's plan.
• Uchiha Shisui reported that Jiraiya had revealed Konoha's defensive strategy and a prophecy that Uchiha Yū would fail.
• Uchiha Yū questioned the prophecy, and Shisui awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan and vowed to remove any obstacle to Uchiha Yū's plan.

Uchiha Yū dismissed the Great Toad Sage’s prophecy as no threat to his plans and headed to Hiruko’s front to help Dawn Hidden Village break through Konoha’s defenses. There, he encountered Haze Hidden Village’s deadly forbidden technique and monsters that drained chakra, then struck one of the monsters down with a single punch.

• Uchiha Yū told Uchiha Shisui that Naruto was the child in the prophecy and that he did not fear what Naruto might become.
• Uchiha Yū ordered a man to remain in the interrogation room and studied a map showing Konoha forces gathered along the Land of Lightning–Land of Fire border.
• Uchiha Yū learned that Hiruko’s advance had stalled against Haze Hidden Village shinobi using a forbidden technique that sacrificed one life to cause devastating attacks.
• Hiruko ordered his troops to gather and fight after learning that enemies had raised a barrier and sent monsters into the eastern region.
• Uchiha Yū entered the dark red barrier and saw an Underworld Guide absorb a shinobi’s chakra and repair its damaged body.
• Uchiha Yū appeared just as an Underworld Guide was about to attack another shinobi and sent it flying with one punch.