Recaps

Ōnoki reinjured his back while showing off at Iwagakure’s new factory, and Uchiha Yoru arrived with a Hashirama Cells repair injection. Ōnoki accepted the treatment after Yoru warned that Kitsuchi could succeed him, leaving Yoru administering the shot and insisting the Tsuchikage stay alive and keep working.

• Ōnoki lifted a massive boulder at the factory construction site and injured his back.
• Iwagakure’s medical team diagnosed Ōnoki with a herniated lumbar disc, bone spurs, and nerve compression, and suggested he retire.
• Uchiha Yoru entered Ōnoki’s hospital room with Orochimaru’s Hashirama Cells repair fluid.
• Yoru threatened to have Kitsuchi succeed Ōnoki, so Ōnoki agreed to take the injection.
• Yoru injected the repair fluid between Ōnoki’s fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae and told him to stay alive and keep working.

Yoru’s medicine restored Ōnoki to youthful strength, and Ōnoki demonstrated his enhanced Dust Release by erasing a mountain. As the news spread across the Five Great Nations, Hiruzen Sarutobi realized Konoha had little chance against Iwagakure’s growing power.

• Yoru injected Ōnoki with medicine made from Hashirama Cells, painfully rebuilding his body and restoring his youth.
• Ōnoki regained his strength, broke through the hospital window, and tested his renewed body at an abandoned testing ground.
• Ōnoki used Dust Release to erase a mountain, stunning Kitsuchi, and thanked Yoru for restoring him.
• Reports of Ōnoki’s return to his prime spread across the Five Great Nations, alarming Rasa, Mei Terumi, and A.
• Hiruzen learned Orochimaru had given Ōnoki the medicine and feared Konoha could not stand against Iwagakure’s formidable forces.

Yoru taught Iwagakure taijutsu instructors a safer, modified version of the Eight Gates Released Formation, and Ōnoki made it mandatory training for the village. Months later, three Iwagakure genin used the Body Tempering Art to overpower rogue ninja during a border patrol.

• Yoru told Ōnoki that Iwagakure needed to improve its ordinary ninja’s taijutsu and survival chances.
• Yoru demonstrated the Eight Gates Released Formation by destroying a hundred-ton boulder with one punch.
• Yoru distributed scrolls for the safer Stone Village Body Tempering Art, which could open only the first three gates.
• Ōnoki ordered every Iwagakure ninja to learn the art and begin daily physical training.
• Months later, an Iwagakure patrol of three genin was ambushed by four rogue ninja in a canyon.
• The veteran and two rookies opened their gates, and the veteran killed the rogue ninja leader before they charged the others.

Might Guy and a Leaf Village Anbu team witnessed three Stone Village genin use the Eight Gates Released Formation to defeat four rogue chunin-level ninjas. Guy mistook the technique’s spread in Iwagakure for a sign of kindred youthful spirit, while the Anbu captain realized it posed a military disaster and prepared to report it.

• Might Guy and the Anbu watched three Stone Village genin open the first two gates and defeat four rogue ninjas with one punch each.
• Might Guy wept with joy, believing Iwagakure had inherited his youthful taijutsu ideals.
• Guy tried to rush down and meet the genin, but the Anbu captain and two subordinates restrained him and knocked him unconscious.
• The Anbu captain feared that Iwagakure had made the Leaf’s forbidden technique commonplace and recorded what they had seen.
• The Anbu captain ordered the team to return to the village immediately and called the situation a catastrophe for the Leaf.

Konoha faced a severe budget crisis, and Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted Danzo’s plan to cut shinobi pay and death benefits to preserve Root. An Iwagakure recruiter then offered Konoha ninja lavish incentives to defect, leaving the tavern crowd considering the offer.

• The finance minister told Hiruzen Sarutobi that Konoha’s mission income had collapsed as clients chose Iwagakure’s cheaper, more efficient services.
• Danzo demanded that Root’s funding remain untouched and proposed halving death benefits and cutting ordinary chunin and genin mission pay.
• Hiruzen accepted Danzo’s cuts despite knowing they would worsen the village’s troubles.
• Asuma Sarutobi complained in a tavern that his team’s pay had been reduced and fallen teammates’ death benefits halved, while Kurenai Yūhi warned him to keep quiet.
• A traveling merchant presented Iwagakure’s recruitment offer, including a bonus, a house, doubled mission pay, full death benefits, and possible Gene Enhancement Serum.
• A Konoha chunin asked his companion whether they should defect to Iwagakure.

Orochimaru successfully mass-produced a serum made from Hashirama’s cells, and Uchiha Yoru ordered its first doses distributed to Iwagakure’s elite. After hearing that Orochimaru might also create an obedient army of Wood Release users from White Zetsu, Yoru headed to the Uchiha meeting hall to test the serum on the clan.

• Orochimaru showed Yoru cloned Hashirama cells and unveiled a serum that most ninjas with chunin-level chakra could safely use to enhance their physical abilities, chakra reserves, and recovery.
• Yoru ordered the first batch issued to the Uchiha Clan’s elite, Kitsuchi’s Demolition Corps, and Iwagakure’s jonin-level leaders, then told Orochimaru to lower the compatibility threshold to genin level.
• Orochimaru reported that White Zetsu cells combined Hashirama’s cells with an older genetic fragment and suggested he could eventually create stronger White Zetsu and an army of obedient Wood Release users.
• Yoru took serum to the Uchiha meeting hall, intending to test it on the three-tomoe Sharingan users gathered there.

Yoru gave Fugaku and the Uchiha elders a serum made from the First's cells, promising it could awaken their Mangekyō Sharingan and prevent blindness. After enduring the painful transformation, the elders awakened Mangekyō, and Fugaku pledged the Uchiha Clan's loyalty to Yoru.

• Yoru told Fugaku and the clan elders that the Basic Sage Body Gene Serum could overcome their bloodline limits and prevent Mangekyō-related blindness.
• The elders and Fugaku injected the serum, suffering intense pain as Yang Release chakra transformed their bodies.
• The first elder awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and more than a dozen elders followed, their ocular power strengthened without losing their sight.
• Fugaku awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and formed a massive orange-red Susanoo.
• Fugaku knelt before Yoru and declared that the Uchiha Clan would be the sharpest blade in his hand.

Sasuke struggled to keep up with Naruto and resented being treated as less talented, until Yoru explained that the Sharingan could awaken through the desire to protect rather than hatred. Yoru tested Sasuke with a Tsukuyomi illusion, and Sasuke awakened his Sharingan after believing he had sacrificed himself for Naruto.

• Sasuke fought Orochimaru's three combat puppets and was saved when Naruto blocked them with Earth Release.
• Naruto showed Sasuke his progress in Wind Release, and Sasuke grew jealous of the praise Naruto received from Yoru.
• Yoru told Sasuke that the Sharingan could awaken through a powerful desire to protect someone, then asked whether Sasuke had anyone he would risk his life for.
• Yoru trapped Sasuke and Naruto in a Tsukuyomi illusion and made Sasuke believe that puppets had killed him after he shielded Naruto.
• Sasuke's fierce protective feelings and competitive spirit awakened his Sharingan, revealing two tomoe in his eyes.

Yoru began teaching Naruto Senjutsu at a waterfall near Iwagakure, guiding him to absorb Natural Energy directly. Naruto achieved a perfect fusion and Sage Markings, leaving Mount Myōboku’s Fukasaku and Shima stunned as they watched.

• Naruto admired Sasuke’s newly awakened Sharingan and demanded a special technique from Yoru.
• Yoru took Naruto to a secluded waterfall and began teaching him Senjutsu.
• Yoru guided Natural Energy into Naruto and helped him blend it with his chakra.
• Fukasaku and Shima detected the immense Natural Energy being absorbed and watched Naruto on their crystal ball.
• Naruto opened his eyes with Perfect Cross-Star Pupils and Sage Markings, shocking Fukasaku and Shima.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima warned Gamamaru that Naruto had mastered Sage Mode under the guidance of an Uchiha. When Gamamaru checked the prophecy, it saw a new future in which an Iwagakure steel army slaughtered the allied shinobi forces under the rule of the black-cloaked man, and it declared that someone had broken fate.

• Sage Fukasaku saw Naruto's Sage Mode markings in the crystal ball and panicked when he realized an Uchiha was guiding him.
• Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima rushed to the Great Toad Sage and told Gamamaru that Naruto had mastered Sage Mode without visiting Mount Myōboku.
• Gamamaru checked the future and first saw the familiar prophecy of Naruto bringing peace to the shinobi world.
• The prophecy shattered, revealing an Iwagakure army using advanced weapons to massacre the allied shinobi forces beneath a black-cloaked ruler.
• Gamamaru vomited blood and cried out that a monster outside the threads of fate had forcibly changed the world's future.

Uchiha Yoru sought a more capable financial officer to handle Iwagakure’s mounting expenses and tracked down Kakuzu at an underground bounty station. After overpowering Kakuzu, Yoru ordered him to become Iwagakure’s Finance Minister or die.

• Yoru reviewed Iwagakure’s growing deficit and decided to recruit Kakuzu to manage its finances.
• White Zetsu located Kakuzu at No. 13 Underground Bounty Station, where he was collecting the bounty for Chiriku.
• Yoru arrived at the bounty station and confronted Kakuzu after Kakuzu collected his reward.
• Kakuzu attacked Yoru with Earth Grudge Fear, but Yoru pinned the tentacles down with sage chakra and knocked Kakuzu over with a gold brick.
• Yoru demanded that Kakuzu come to Iwagakure as his Finance Minister or die.

Uchiha Yoru recruited Kakuzu to run Iwagakure’s finances by promising him an enormous salary and a share of its planned commercial empire. After Kakuzu joined and received access to the treasury, he and Yoru discussed exploiting Konoha’s bounty notice, and Yoru planned a more devastating gift for its leadership.

• Yoru threatened Kakuzu at the Black Market Exchange and brought him to Iwagakure’s command center to present plans for monopolizing ninja tools, controlling underground banking, and selling Explosive Tags worldwide.
• Yoru offered Kakuzu an annual salary of five hundred million and five percent of the ventures’ net profits, prompting Kakuzu to abandon the Akatsuki Organization and join Iwagakure.
• Yoru gave Kakuzu the underground treasury’s master key and instructed him to approve one billion for Orochimaru’s laboratory equipment.
• Kakuzu told Yoru that Konoha’s ninjas had offered thirty million ryo for information about their Fourth Hokage and suggested swindling them.
• Yoru dismissed the bounty as too small and announced that he would send Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s leadership a more devastating gift.

Yoru used Iwagakure’s new wealth to equip its forces with Chakra Armor, explosive-tag crossbows, and communication earpieces, then confirmed the gear’s effectiveness in combat. With more than ten thousand soldiers assembled, he prepared to target Leaf Village during the upcoming Chunin Exams.

• Kakuzu’s financial schemes greatly expanded Iwagakure’s treasury, allowing Yoru to launch the Full-Staff Super-Gear Plan.
• Orochimaru demonstrated Chakra Armor that blocked a C-rank ninjutsu and explosive-tag crossbows that devastated a stone target.
• Yoru ordered ten thousand gear sets and sent squads to the border to test them in real combat.
• Three Iwagakure genin survived an ambush by three Kusagakure rogue ninja and killed them with their armor and crossbows without suffering casualties.
• Iwagakure’s leaders celebrated the new army’s strength as Yoru learned Leaf Village’s finances were near collapse and ordered Deidara to bring Nuclear Peace Clay to the Chunin Exams.

Deidara completed a compact explosive clay weapon with enough power to erase a mountain, and Yoru prepared to take it on a mission. After learning that Sasori of the Red Sands had infiltrated Iwagakure's border defenses, Yoru set out with Deidara to confront him.

• Deidara burst into Yoru's office and announced that he had developed his nuclear peace concept using Orochimaru's chakra compression technology.
• Yoru accompanied Deidara to a restricted testing range, where Deidara unveiled a clay bird containing highly compressed explosive chakra.
• Deidara detonated the bird above a mountain, destroying it and creating a vast crater while Yoru shielded them with Susanoo.
• Yoru praised the weapon's power and told Deidara to pack for a mission against Sasori of the Red Sands, who had slipped through Iwagakure's border defenses.

Sasori tracked the massive explosion to Deidara and arrived to recruit him for the Akatsuki Organization, but their opposing views on art sparked an immediate confrontation. Deidara insisted on fighting Sasori alone, and Sasori summoned the Third Kazekage puppet to battle him.

• Sasori followed the explosion’s chakra to a vast crater and found Yoru and Deidara there.
• Deidara claimed responsibility for the blast, and he and Sasori argued over whether art was a fleeting explosion or eternal beauty.
• Yoru revealed he was not an Akatsuki member and let Deidara handle Sasori alone.
• Sasori shed Hiruko’s shell, revealed his red-haired body, and summoned the Third Kazekage puppet, whose iron sand spread toward Deidara.

Deidara overwhelmed Sasori with an escalating barrage of explosive clay, destroying his puppets and puppet body. Sasori’s engraved core remained in the crater as he stared up at Deidara in disbelief.

• Sasori attacked Deidara with Iron Sand World Method, but Deidara’s clay moths disrupted his control and scattered the iron sand.
• Deidara rode a C2 Clay Dragon into the sky and destroyed Sasori’s Performance of a Hundred Puppets with a rain of clay birds.
• Deidara’s miniature tracking bombs struck and destroyed the Third Kazekage puppet.
• Deidara used C3 Number 18 and C4 Garuda to obliterate Sasori’s remaining prized puppets.
• Deidara’s Nuclear Peace Clay reduced Sasori’s puppet body and its final guards to ash, leaving only his engraved core in the crater.

Uchiha Yoru stopped Deidara from destroying Sasori and brought the puppeteer to Iwagakure’s research institute, where a blueprint for an advanced biological weapon convinced Sasori to join the research department. The chapter ended with Yoru assigning Deidara to confront the Fourth Kazekage, who was approaching to reclaim Sasori.

• Yoru blocked Deidara’s bomb and used Kamui to take Sasori’s core and the remains of the Third Kazekage puppet.
• At Iwagakure’s Supreme Scientific Research Institute, Orochimaru revived Sasori and Yoru showed him the ultimate biological weapon blueprint.
• Sasori agreed to join Yoru’s scientific research department in exchange for access to the technology and the chance to build himself a perfect body.
• Yoru told Orochimaru to give Sasori a temporary body and extract the Third Kazekage’s Magnet Release genes.
• Yoru gave Deidara an intelligence report about the Fourth Kazekage approaching to reclaim Sasori and ordered him to deliver a warning.

After learning that Sasori of the Red Sands had joined Iwagakure, Rasa and Granny Chiyo decided to confront Ōnoki and demand Sasori's return and compensation. Rasa led a large Hidden Sand force to the Land of Earth's border, where he challenged Iwagakure's defenders and called for Ōnoki and Uchiha Yoru.

• An Anbu reported that Sasori of the Red Sands had joined Iwagakure, shocking Rasa and the Hidden Sand leadership.
• Granny Chiyo blamed Rasa for failing to bring Sasori back and insisted they retrieve her grandson.
• Rasa and Chiyo agreed to use Sasori's defection to demand compensation from Ōnoki.
• Rasa ordered Baki, Temari, Kankurō, and hundreds of Hidden Sand elites to march toward the Land of Earth's border.
• At the border canyon, Rasa confronted Iwagakure's defensive line and demanded Sasori's return, calling for Ōnoki and Uchiha Yoru.

Uchiha Yoru confronted Rasa and Sunagakure’s elites after Rasa demanded a fight. Yoru crushed Rasa and his gold-dust attack with a single gravity-enhanced blow, then asked the stunned survivors whether anyone else wanted to discuss compensation.

• Rasa brought several hundred Sunagakure elites to the canyon and challenged the opposing side, expecting to face Ōnoki.
• Yoru left Deidara and the others on the watchtower and landed alone between the armies.
• Rasa attacked Yoru with Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral, but Yoru vanished and appeared above him in Sage Mode.
• Yoru combined Sage Art chakra with Earth Release: Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique, flattening the gold dust and crushing Rasa into a deep sand pit.
• Yoru landed on the flattened gold dust and asked the terrified Sunagakure elites if anyone else wanted to discuss compensation.

Yoru defeated Rasa and forced Sunagakure to sign a treaty making it Iwagakure’s subordinate village, surrendering its mineral rights and half its annual revenue. With Sunagakure subdued, Yoru ordered Deidara to tell Kakuzu to activate their agents in Kirigakure as he planned to isolate Leaf Village.

• Yoru dragged the badly injured Rasa from the sand pit and gave Sunagakure’s leaders a choice between death and submission.
• Yoru threatened to kill Sunagakure’s leadership and install Gaara as Kazekage if Rasa refused the treaty.
• Rasa agreed to make Sunagakure Iwagakure’s subordinate village and pressed his bloody handprint onto the treaty.
• Yoru sent Rasa and the defeated Sunagakure elites away, demanding that they deliver the next month’s protection money in full.
• Yoru told Deidara to have Kakuzu activate their planted agents in Kirigakure so he could isolate Leaf Village.

After learning that Iwagakure had defeated Rasa and recruited Sasori, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo sent an Anbu team to infiltrate the Land of Earth. Yoru’s forces ambushed and killed the team, and he ordered their bodies taken to fertilize Orochimaru’s second-generation God Tree sapling.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that Iwagakure had beaten Rasa and recruited Sasori, while Danzo urged him to uncover Iwagakure’s secrets.
• Danzo sent Aoba Yamashiro and twelve Konoha Anbu into the Land of Earth to investigate Iwagakure’s defenses.
• Itachi Uchiha told Yoru that the White Zetsu spore network had detected the infiltrators, and Yoru ordered patrols to let them advance before springing the trap.
• Iwagakure’s Chakra Armor troops opened fire on Aoba Yamashiro’s team with scientific ninja tools, killing two Anbu in the initial barrage.
• Yoru used Wood Release to pierce Aoba Yamashiro’s heart, and Iwagakure forces slaughtered the remaining Anbu.
• Yoru ordered the bodies taken to the laboratory as fertilizer for Orochimaru’s second-generation God Tree sapling.

Hiruzen Sarutobi faced mounting disappearances, rumors of Iwagakure’s overwhelming technology, Hidden Sand Village’s defection, and another cut to Leaf Village’s budget. With the village near collapse, he agreed to Danzo’s plan to rally Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Mist Village against Iwagakure by offering the Nine-Tails’ power for joint research.

• An Anbu captain reported that Aoba Yamashiro’s team had vanished near No-Return Gorge and that villagers were spreading rumors about Iwagakure’s advanced weapons and flying ships.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Leaf Village’s worsening poverty and learned that Hidden Sand Village had severed ties and demanded repayment of its debts.
• Mitokado Homura told Hiruzen Sarutobi that the Land of Fire Daimyo might cut the village’s military budget by another thirty percent.
• Danzo urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to unite Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Mist Village against Iwagakure.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to invite the two villages to a summit and offer them a share in researching the Nine-Tails’ power if they helped reclaim its jinchuriki.

In Iwagakure, Itachi embraced his new life and chose to lead Uchiha Yoru’s intelligence unit rather than join Orochimaru’s research department. Yoru named the unit Amaterasu and sent Itachi to investigate Konoha, where he suspected Hiruzen Sarutobi was plotting something.

• Itachi trained with kunai while Sasuke praised his skill and complained about losing to Naruto.
• Yoru visited the training ground, praised Sasuke’s two-tomoe Sharingan, and summoned Itachi.
• Yoru offered Itachi a choice between assisting Orochimaru with Sharingan research and joining Iwagakure’s Anbu as chief of a new intelligence department.
• Itachi chose to lead the intelligence unit, and Yoru named it Amaterasu and gave him a mask and a new Iwagakure forehead protector.
• Yoru ordered Itachi to uncover Konoha’s current situation, and Itachi swore to clear obstacles to Yoru’s unification of the shinobi world.

Yoru revealed that Shisui had survived Danzo’s attack and brought Itachi to reunite with him. Shisui agreed to stay dead and use Kotoamatsukami against Leaf Village’s leaders.

• Yoru led Itachi through a hidden passage to a chamber where Shisui was recovering.
• Itachi recognized Shisui, and the two friends embraced in disbelief and relief.
• Yoru explained that he had rescued Shisui from the river, cured his poisoning, and restored his eye with Hashirama Cells.
• Yoru told Shisui to remain presumed dead and said he would use Kotoamatsukami as a weapon against Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.
• Shisui accepted Yoru’s plan and vowed to make Leaf Village’s leaders confess their sins through Kotoamatsukami.

Pain convened an Akatsuki meeting and learned that Stone Village had recruited or killed several of the organization’s members, while Uchiha Yoru and Minato Namikaze had defeated Tobi. Pain declared Stone Village a serious threat and considered attacking its weak points, while Kisame volunteered to confront Yoru.

• Pain began the Akatsuki meeting and learned that Kakuzu, Sasori, and Deidara had joined Stone Village, while Hidan had been killed by Kakuzu and sent to a laboratory.
• Obito told Pain that Minato Namikaze was alive and had teamed up with Uchiha Yoru to defeat him.
• Pain said Uchiha Yoru threatened the Eye of the Moon Plan and declared that Stone Village had to be punished.
• Zetsu warned that Stone Village and its allies were too strong for a direct attack, so Pain proposed targeting its economic lifeline and allies.
• Kisame volunteered to go to the Land of Earth and test Uchiha Yoru’s strength.