Chapter Summaries

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.

Kisame infiltrated the Land of Earth to ambush an Iwagakure transport, but Uchiha Yoru appeared behind him and exposed his identity. Yoru dismissed Kisame’s strength outside the water and prepared to confront him.

• Pain approved Kisame’s request to enter the battlefield while Obito hoped Kisame would test Uchiha Yoru’s strength.
• Kisame hid beside a river in the Land of Earth and planned to capture Iwagakure soldiers for information.
• Yoru appeared behind Kisame without being detected, and Kisame recognized the Uchiha clan emblem on his coat.
• Yoru identified Kisame and mocked him for coming to the Land of Earth on the Akatsuki’s behalf.
• Kisame revealed his identity and unleashed his chakra, challenging Yoru to fight.
• Yoru threw away his fishing rod and warned Kisame that a shark out of water was just a dead fish waiting to be butchered.

Uchiha Yoru defeated Kisame Hoshigaki after Samehada failed to absorb his Sage Art chakra and one punch shattered Kisame’s water prison. Yoru left Kisame unconscious and told the Stone Village transport team to contact Orochimaru about using him as an experimental subject.

• Kisame Hoshigaki flooded the gorge with his Water Release and trapped Yoru inside a massive water prison.
• Kisame merged with the water sphere and attacked Yoru with Samehada, but the sword recoiled from Yoru’s Sage Art chakra.
• Yoru punched through the water prison and sent Kisame crashing onto the riverbank, where he lost consciousness.
• Yoru ordered the Stone Village transport team to contact Orochimaru and report that a new experimental subject had arrived.

Yoru defeated Kisame and revealed that Obito had manipulated the Bloody Mist and Kisame’s actions. Kisame accepted Yoru’s invitation to Iwagakure and swore to serve him.

• Kisame awoke badly wounded and questioned why Yoru had spared him.
• Yoru explained that Obito had controlled Yagura and orchestrated the Bloody Mist as part of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• Yoru used his Mangekyō Sharingan to make Kisame connect the clues and accept that his loyalty had been built on lies.
• Yoru invited Kisame to Iwagakure and promised him a world governed by true power and order.
• Kisame knelt before Yoru and pledged to die in his service.

Kurotsuchi demanded to become Yoru’s personal guard and proved her strength with her Lava Release. After Yoru accepted, she opened a secret letter from Mei Terumi and questioned his relationship with her.

• Kurotsuchi confronted Yoru about hiring rogue ninjas and said he needed a normal personal guard.
• Kurotsuchi asked to become Yoru’s guard and demonstrated her elite-jōnin strength by melting his tea table with Lava Release.
• Yoru agreed to let Kurotsuchi follow him as long as she did not cause trouble or use ninjutsu in the office.
• Kurotsuchi opened a secret letter revealing that Mei Terumi’s resistance was short on supplies and funds during the Bloody Mist civil war.
• Kurotsuchi demanded that Yoru explain his involvement and investment in Mei Terumi’s cause.

Yoru decided to exploit Mei Terumi’s coup by offering Iwagakure’s money and weapons in exchange for control over Kirigakure’s trade, resources, and affairs. Kisame delivered the aid to Mei’s resistance, leaving her stunned by the scale of the offer.

• Kurotsuchi questioned Yoru about his connection to Mei, and he summoned Kakuzu and Kisame to discuss Kirigakure’s crisis.
• Yoru ordered Kakuzu to prepare one billion ryo in gold and five thousand sets of Chakra Armor and Explosive Repeating Crossbows for Mei’s coup.
• Yoru told Kisame to deliver the aid in exchange for Iwagakure gaining control over Kirigakure’s ports, mineral extraction, and military and diplomatic affairs after the coup.
• Kisame agreed to serve as Iwagakure’s envoy after Yoru reminded him of the Bloody Mist’s cruelty.
• Mei’s resistance, short on supplies and facing Yagura’s power, received Kisame at its hidden base.
• Kisame revealed mountains of gold and advanced weapons, then presented Mei with a contract; she wondered if Yoru was the reincarnation of the God of Wealth.