Chapter Summaries

Ebizo and the Hidden Sand Village leaders decided to seek more compensation from Konoha before returning home, while Kabuto offered to explain the truth about aliens to Kakashi. Earlier, Obito fused with Moryo in Kamui Space and gained his power and knowledge, then revealed a strange smile.

• Ebizo and the Hidden Sand Village leaders deduced that Konoha was not responsible for Rasa's disappearance and agreed to use it to demand more compensation.
• Kabuto asked Kakashi whether he wanted to hear a story about aliens, and Kakashi agreed.
• Obito placed a Resurrection Coin in his left eye and began fusing with Moryo in Kamui Space.
• Moryo's power and knowledge flooded into Obito as the fusion finished in less than two minutes.
• Obito laughed wildly, then stopped and displayed his Uchiha Clan bloodline talent with an eerie smile.

Moryo took over Obito's body, awakened his Undead Army, and went to the Shrine Maiden Palace to confront Shion. Shion tried to seal him, but Miroku and the souls of past shrine maidens appeared and urged her to flee.

• Moryo absorbed Obito's power and memories, became interested in Ren, and decided to seek a chance to devour him.
• Moryo awakened the Undead Army and sent it marching toward the Allied Shinobi Forces as a declaration that he had returned.
• Moryo arrived at the Shrine Maiden Palace, where Shion recognized him and vowed to seal him.
• Moryo advanced on Shion and challenged her understanding of the shrine maidens' power as her necklace began to glow.
• Miroku and the souls of past shrine maidens emerged from the necklace, and Miroku urged Shion to escape to the sealing site with help from the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Kabuto explained Ren’s revelations about Kaguya, the Sage of Six Paths, chakra, and the coming conflict to Konoha and Hidden Sand representatives. The Hidden Sand learned that the danger was real, while Kabuto held on to the belief that Ren would return and secure victory.

• Kabuto welcomed the Hidden Sand delegation into Yamato’s research facility and reflected on how Ren’s scroll had kept him from concealing the truth or provoking a war.
• Ebizo and the Hidden Sand representatives chose to learn the information, and Kabuto gave research records to two researchers and Chiyo as evidence.
• Kabuto explained the Origin Project materials and Ren’s theories about Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, the Sage of Six Paths, chakra, natural energy, true essence, and tailed beasts.
• The Hidden Sand representatives were stunned and despairing at the prospect of facing figures from myth, while the Konoha ninja remained skeptical.
• Kabuto admitted he lacked confidence in his own strength but trusted that Ren had a plan and would return to win.

Kabuto reassured the shaken Sunagakure shinobi that Ren would defeat the Sage of Six Paths, while Moryo completed his fusion with Shion and seemingly absorbed Obito. Obito’s soul resisted being consumed through his attachment to Rin and emerged within Moryo, declaring himself Uchiha Obito.

• Kabuto told the Sunagakure shinobi that Ren could handle the Sage of Six Paths and that Sunagakure was Konoha’s partner.
• Moryo absorbed the shrine maiden souls and drew Shion into a dark purple cocoon to restore his full power.
• After Moryo suppressed him, Obito awoke in a soul pool and was devoured by countless souls.
• Obito’s soul nearly vanished, but his attachment to Rin endured and spread the conviction that he could not die before creating a world with her.
• Moryo emerged from the shattered cocoon, then lost control as Obito’s will took hold and declared, “I am Uchiha Obito!”

Obito’s fractured mind struggled to define who it was and united around the goal of creating a world with Rin in it. The countless souls established the Obito Conference to settle their disputes, while Obito regained control of his body in the Shrine Maiden Palace.

• Obito’s countless souls argued over their identities, then agreed they wanted to create a world with Rin in it.
• The souls fought over who Rin was and how to create that world, devouring many of their number before the conflict subsided.
• An aged soul proposed forming a conference and deciding matters by vote, and the others agreed.
• The souls argued over the conference’s name until a fading child’s soul proposed the Obito Conference, which they approved.
• Obito regained clarity and tested his body by walking, sitting, and lying down in the Shrine Maiden Palace.

Obito's united souls formed a conference that learned to control his body and new powers, then chose to ignore Black Zetsu for now. Black Zetsu waited for Obito to investigate the Land of Wind, but Obito never arrived.

• The Obito Conference struggled to control the fused body and gradually learned to move smoothly while exploring its powers.
• White Zetsu found Obito, who recognized him and told him to call him Lord Obito.
• After White Zetsu left, the Obito Conference decided to focus on mastering the body and sorting through its memories instead of meeting Black Zetsu.
• White Zetsu told Black Zetsu that Obito knew, and Black Zetsu prepared to ask him to scout the Land of Wind after sensing the Sage of Six Paths and losing access to White Zetsus there.
• Black Zetsu waited for Obito to arrive, then realized that Obito was nowhere to be found.

Obito trained in Kamui Space while the undead army he had recalled continued to delay the Allied Shinobi Forces. In Rōran, Konoha and Hidden Sand Village formed an alliance, concealed their Kage’s disappearances, and began excavating the Dragon Vein, while Kabuto worried about what might happen before Ren returned.

• Black Zetsu sent White Zetsu to contact Obito, but White Zetsu reported that Obito had disappeared into Kamui Space to train.
• Obito recalled Moryo’s undead army, which had bought time for Moryo and for Obito despite being sealed by the Allied Shinobi Forces.
• Konoha and Hidden Sand Village’s leaders agreed to conceal Ren and Rasa’s disappearances, suspend the chakra-to-true-essence operation, and jointly excavate the Dragon Vein.
• Konoha and Hidden Sand Village sent sealed shinobi home under the identities of Ren and Rasa, leaving about two thousand shinobi in Rōran.
• Chiyo tried to reassure Kabuto as they oversaw the Dragon Vein excavation, but Kabuto privately considered using Ren’s Impure World Reincarnation formulas if Konoha faced an unstoppable crisis.

Black Zetsu failed to learn what had happened to Obito and grew too wary of Ren to approach him. Meanwhile, Konoha and the Hidden Sand Village maintained impostors in place of their absent leaders as Kabuto and Chiyo calculated when the clan head would return, but their first result suggested a wait of one to one and a half years.

• Black Zetsu sent White Zetsu to question Ren, but Konoha's alert team killed them, leaving Black Zetsu afraid to investigate further.
• Fugaku impersonated Ren in Konoha and received true essence from Ryusuke after the villages shared the truth about the situation.
• Xuanyue told Fugaku that Kabuto and Chiyo had found preliminary patterns in the Dragon Vein's space-time power and expected to determine the clan head's return time within ten hours.
• Gaara and the Hidden Sand Village maintained the appearance that Rasa was present by having Gaara control a huge mass of sand covered in gold dust.
• At the Dragon Vein site, Chiyo and Kabuto saw the researchers' first calculation, which indicated that the return would take one to one and a half years.

Orochimaru and Rasa discovered they had traveled into the past, where dense natural energy filled a primordial wilderness. After learning they could eventually return to the Shinobi World, they saw a strange object fall from the sky, and Orochimaru identified their era as two thousand years ago.

• Kabuto and Chiyo relayed the Dragon Vein travel estimates to Konoha and Hidden Sand Village, leaving Fugaku and the others worried about their absent Kage.
• Orochimaru and Rasa awakened in a primordial jungle, and Orochimaru explained that they had traveled into the past.
• Orochimaru revealed his identity to Rasa, and the two explored the wilderness together for several days.
• After they reached a human settlement, Orochimaru told Rasa that they would return once the spacetime energy around them ran out.
• Orochimaru and Rasa saw a strange, radiant object fall from the sky, and Orochimaru declared that they were two thousand years in the past.

Orochimaru and Rasa traveled toward the place where the God Tree’s seed had fallen, drawn by curiosity and the growing flow of natural energy. After nearly a week, they reached the over-hundred-meter sapling and approached it stealthily among countless humans and animals.

• Orochimaru set out for the fallen star, and Rasa stopped him with a sand wall, warning that he had been bewitched.
• Orochimaru insisted he was clear-headed and invited Rasa to accompany him; Rasa lowered the wall and joined him to keep watch and investigate the God Tree.
• As they traveled, Orochimaru and Rasa sensed natural energy gaining a direction toward the seed, and Orochimaru inferred they had arrived at least two thousand years in the past.
• After nearly a week of traveling at full speed, Orochimaru and Rasa spotted the God Tree, now a sapling over a hundred meters tall, amid natural energy at least a thousand times denser than in the Shinobi World.
• Orochimaru and Rasa concealed their tracks and quietly approached the God Tree as countless humans and animals gathered there.

Orochimaru and Rasa watched the God Tree’s white-light boundary expand and observed humans and animals fall under its genjutsu. Convinced it was a defensive technique and likely the prototype of Infinite Tsukuyomi, Orochimaru entered the light while Rasa covered him.

• Orochimaru and Rasa stopped short of the God Tree’s pale boundary and watched it from a distance.
• Over a week, the white light expanded, and Orochimaru and Rasa saw dozens of humans and more than a hundred animals enter it and walk inward in a satisfied trance.
• Orochimaru concluded that the light was a powerful genjutsu, likely the prototype of Infinite Tsukuyomi and a defense mechanism of the God Tree.
• Orochimaru signaled that he would investigate and asked Rasa to cover him.
• Orochimaru walked into the white light without special preparations, hiding his excited smile from Rasa.

Orochimaru and Rasa resisted the God Tree’s Infinite Tsukuyomi with true essence and approached the sapling, where they witnessed it transform creatures into White Zetsu and consume them. Rasa’s anger drew the God Tree’s attention, and its branches surged toward their hiding place.

• Orochimaru used true essence to resist the Infinite Tsukuyomi and called Rasa into the affected area.
• Orochimaru and Rasa moved closer to the God Tree, where intense natural energy replenished and increased their true essence.
• Orochimaru and Rasa watched the God Tree wrap up more than a hundred creatures and turn them into White Zetsu.
• The God Tree’s roots pierced the White Zetsu, absorbed them, and withdrew underground.
• Rasa grew angry at seeing creatures consumed, leaked a trace of his aura, and drew the God Tree’s branches and pressure toward them.

Rasa and Orochimaru encountered Kaguya near the God Tree and fled after she detected them. After they escaped, Orochimaru began preparing another approach while Rasa strengthened himself, and Orochimaru summoned two White Zetsu.

• Kaguya emerged from the God Tree and sensed the high-quality chakra in Rasa and Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru called for Rasa to retreat, and the two escaped Kaguya's gaze and the God Tree's branches.
• Rasa challenged Orochimaru about fleeing, and Orochimaru rebuked him for exposing them.
• Orochimaru said they would prepare and try again, then sent two genjutsu-controlled humans toward the God Tree.
• Rasa trained by converting natural energy into true essence while Orochimaru absorbed natural energy and summoned two White Zetsu.

Orochimaru and Rasa disguised themselves as White Zetsu and infiltrated the God Tree’s root system, reaching its main root underground. After confirming the roots did not attack them, they began scraping tissue from the tree and studying it.

• Orochimaru used his Vanishing Facial Copy Technique to take on White Zetsu’s appearance, and Rasa agreed to disguise himself as well.
• Orochimaru and Rasa traveled underground toward the God Tree, using true essence to withstand the roots’ attacks without fighting back.
• The pair reached a hollow near the God Tree’s main root and discussed the danger of their plan.
• Orochimaru scraped tissue from the main root with a kunai and began studying it, and Rasa soon did the same.

Orochimaru and Rasa spent six months near the God Tree, with Orochimaru studying its tissue and building a hidden base while Rasa cultivated. Orochimaru then showed Rasa a rice field whose plants absorbed natural energy like the God Tree.

• Orochimaru examined the God Tree tissue with tools while Rasa sensed it, then left a lamp with Rasa and went underground.
• A week later, Orochimaru returned, expanded their cavern, and brought equipment after building a secret base with the help of children.
• Rasa devoted himself to cultivation while Orochimaru worked, and the two barely spoke over the following half year.
• Rasa used electricity generated through his Magnet Release cultivation to power the cavern's lamps.
• Orochimaru packed up his equipment and invited Rasa to see the results of his work; Rasa agreed.
• Orochimaru showed Rasa a paddy field where each rice stalk absorbed natural energy through tiny vortices.

Rasa and Orochimaru prepared to leave the distant past after Orochimaru revealed that they could bring back only their bodily power and memories. They returned to their own era, where a crowd welcomed Rasa back as Kazekage.

• Orochimaru explained that his rice could absorb natural energy and increase true essence, while Rasa collected a bundle of stalks.
• Orochimaru destroyed his stored tools and the results of his work, then warned Rasa that nothing from the past could return except their power and memories.
• Rasa worried that his cultivation gains might vanish, and Orochimaru assured him that his power would remain.
• That night, Rasa and Orochimaru were swept into a vast white world as their perceptions of the past faded.
• Rasa and Orochimaru returned to their era, where a familiar voice welcomed Rasa back as Lord Kazekage.

Rasa and Orochimaru returned to the Shinobi World one year after disappearing and learned that Konoha and the Hidden Sand Village had grown closely allied. Chiyo briefed them on Uchiha Obito’s escalating attacks and the power he was gaining from Moryo, leaving the Shinobi Alliance anticipating a major threat.

• Chiyo welcomed Rasa back as Kazekage and led him, Orochimaru, and Kabuto to a meeting room.
• Rasa saw Konoha and Hidden Sand ninja working together and listened as Chiyo and the others explained what had happened during his year away.
• Chiyo explained that Uchiha Obito had attacked Shinobi Alliance bases and evaded the alliance’s attempts to find him.
• The Shinobi Alliance discovered that Obito was using its strongest ninja as training partners and drawing on Moryo’s power.
• The alliance feared that Obito would drastically change the Shinobi World once he mastered Moryo’s power.

Rasa returned to Sunagakure and dismissed the threat posed by Obito, confident after six months of training with the God Tree. Meanwhile, Obito continued training at Moryo’s sealing site, still far from mastering Moryo’s power and planning to lie low for at least two more years.

• Chiyo told Rasa that Obito had resurrected after Darui’s ambush, leaving Darui badly injured and Kumogakure’s Shadow Guard with heavy losses.
• Rasa confidently claimed that Obito and Moryo were no threat to him, and Orochimaru encouraged him.
• Rasa began telling Chiyo about the two thousand years of experiences he and Orochimaru had endured.
• Obito trained in Moryo’s separate sealing space, regaining control of his body and piecing together his fragmented memories.
• Obito realized he had barely begun to master Moryo’s power and decided to avoid Ren while training for at least another two years.

After Rasa demonstrated his overwhelming strength, Orochimaru gave Kabuto his research records on cultivating rice that absorbed natural energy and left him to continue the work. Orochimaru headed to the Land of Rice Paddies to repair the damage he had done to his soul and regain the path to greater strength.

• Rasa revealed an ocean-like aura that convinced the gathered shinobi his strength had surpassed theirs.
• Orochimaru gave Kabuto his experimental records, including research on rice that could absorb natural energy.
• Kabuto recognized the research’s value, and Orochimaru declined to help him continue it because he had more important matters to handle.
• Orochimaru left Rōran alone and hurried toward the Land of Rice Paddies to make himself whole again.
• Orochimaru reflected that his past tampering had left his soul incomplete and blocked his path to a higher level.

Orochimaru planned to recover the buried tissue samples of dead curse-mark holders, while Kabuto considered how long it would take to reproduce a variety of rice. Ren was sent into the Shinobi World's future, where he faced an unseen threat and heard someone speak to him in Mandarin.

• Orochimaru recalled that he had left the tissue samples of dead curse-mark holders at abandoned or destroyed bases and resolved to retrieve them.
• Kabuto finished sorting Orochimaru's research records and estimated that replicating the rice would take a few months.
• Ren emerged in a desolate world exposed to the vacuum of space and suspected he had traveled to the future.
• Ren sensed an overwhelming threat surrounding him, activated the Surtur template, and heard an unseen speaker ask who he was and why they had appeared there.
• Ren recognized the speaker's words as standard Mandarin, his native language before he transmigrated.