Chapter Summaries

Uchiha Yushu realized he and Orochimaru had arrived in an unfamiliar place and submitted to its unseen inhabitants. The inhabitants brought them aboard and restrained Yushu’s abilities, while Yushu asked Orochimaru to cooperate.

• Yushu canceled the Surtur template, raised his hands, and used Shinato to search for the unseen presence.
• Yushu detected a small snake and recognized it as an Orochimaru who was not from his world.
• Yushu told the unseen beings that he and Orochimaru came from the Shinobi World, and they confirmed he was telling the truth.
• The unseen captain sent two people to bring Yushu and Orochimaru aboard.
• One of the two gave Yushu a bracelet that suppressed his true essence and protected him from cosmic radiation.
• Yushu told Orochimaru in Chinese and Japanese to undo his Transformation Jutsu and put on a bracelet.

Ren and Orochimaru arrived in a strange, technologically advanced world and cautiously assessed their surroundings. While Ren waited in an interrogation room, a group of people watched recordings of their arrival and debated whether they were connected to a captured cosmic anomaly.

• Orochimaru accepted Ren's bracelet, then bowed and declared that the mission was complete; Ren bowed back and pledged to follow Orochimaru's will.
• A blue light swept over Ren, Orochimaru, and the others, transporting them away.
• Ren found himself alone in a cramped sci-fi room and sat cautiously in a chair.
• A group of observers reviewed footage of Ren and Orochimaru, noting their behavior, intelligence, and apparent familiarity with each other.
• The captain ordered the group to determine whether Ren and Orochimaru were connected to the cosmic anomaly, which had been captured shortly before they appeared.

Uchiha Yushu told his story to a glowing interrogator while Orochimaru underwent a brutal interrogation, and their accounts later baffled a conference of officials. The captain verified Yushu’s identity and found that he was a major historical figure whose records dated back to 5022 years before the Star Era.

• Uchiha Yushu told the interrogator how he crossed worlds and described becoming Konoha’s village chief and founding the Shinobi Village Alliance.
• Orochimaru gave his account in an adjacent room while his body was subjected to a violent interrogation.
• Officials compared the two interrogation reports and argued over how Yushu had fooled their lie-detection system.
• One official urged the captain to verify the shared details in the accounts, and the captain searched the records.
• The captain found a historical file naming Uchiha Yushu as a Fifth Hokage, the creator of Chinese, and a key figure in the Star Trace Era.

The mission vessel's crew argued over whether Ren and Orochimaru were genuine ancient figures or impostors, then deferred the decision to the Five Pillars Council. Ren was moved to a spacious, technologically advanced room, where he discovered an orchard and considered picking peaches.

• The crew examined Ren's and Orochimaru's files and argued over whether their identities were real or fabricated.
• The captain told the crew he had reported the case to the Five Pillars Council and ordered them to wait for instructions.
• The captain ordered Ren and Orochimaru moved to the best rooms, treated Orochimaru, and kept their true essence suppressors in place.
• Ren explored his new room and discovered its mountains, rivers, palace, and natural energy were real, though its sun was artificial.
• Ren entered an orchard, spotted a peach, and wondered whether he could pick a pile of them.

Ren explored the orchard aboard the ship and met one of the Star Alliance’s Five Pillars, an ancient powerhouse who recognized him and invited him to hear humanity’s story. The chapter left Ren accepting the invitation as their conversation began.

• Orochimaru investigated the orchard’s soil and discovered that it produced natural energy, but he could not understand how it worked.
• The captain received a special investigation team sent by the Five Pillars Council, including one of the Star Alliance’s Five Pillars, who decided to meet Ren personally.
• Ren picked fruit from the orchard and began eating apples after the white-haired old man accepted one from him.
• Ren sensed the old man’s immense power and realized that even the Sage of Six Paths could not compare.
• The old man addressed Ren by name and invited him to listen to a story about humanity, and Ren agreed.

Rasa returned to Sunagakure and reunited with Gaara, resolving to use his strength to protect his family and village. Meanwhile, Nagato revealed that he had awakened the Rinnegan’s Limbo ability, though it had left him dangerously emaciated and dependent on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

• Rasa saw how much Gaara had grown during the year he had been away and regretted breaking his promise to care for him.
• Gaara dropped his act of maturity and happily responded to Rasa’s thanks.
• Rasa ruffled Gaara’s hair and resolved to use his power to protect his family and Sunagakure.
• Nagato told Konan that he had succeeded in awakening a new Rinnegan ability after training to prepare for a confrontation with Uchiha Yushu.
• Konan worried that the Rinnegan had drained Nagato’s body, leaving him skeletal and tethered to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Nagato named his new power Limbo and believed it could bring peace to the Shinobi World.

Ren learned that he had been captured in the distant future of the Shinobi World, where humanity had become the Star Alliance and defeated the Ōtsutsuki. As the old man recounted humanity’s rise and its Great Emperors, Ren grew more cautious and began to suspect why the old man treated him so warmly.

• Ren asked the old man about the cosmic overlord, learned they were the Ōtsutsuki Starfolk, and realized he was in the future of the Shinobi World.
• The old man confirmed that the Star Alliance had detailed records of Ren’s home planet and identified him as the Lord Hokage of Konoha.
• Ren realized his ancestry explained only part of the old man’s unusually warm attitude, so he continued acting ingratiatingly while remaining wary.
• The old man explained that humanity’s flexible potential allowed it to evolve without limits and that it drained more than a hundred planets to create its first supreme powerhouse.
• Humanity’s first supreme powerhouse destroyed the Ōtsutsuki leadership, and a later second powerhouse unified human civilization into an empire led by Great Emperors.
• Ren began to suspect the reason behind the old man’s strange, ambiguous attitude.

Ren learned the history of humanity’s rise, the Empire’s decline, and the Star Alliance’s emergence from the fourth Great Emperor, now one of the Star Alliance’s Five Pillars. The old man revealed that Ren was humanity’s first Transcendent and offered to return Ren’s cosmic oddity in exchange for his help.

• The old man told Ren how humanity’s Great Emperors expanded across the universe, only for humans to become their own enemies and plunge the Empire into civil war.
• Ren learned that the old man was humanity’s fourth Great Emperor and a member of the Star Alliance’s Five Pillars.
• Ren offered the old man an apple and a peach, then pledged his loyalty to the Star Alliance.
• The old man joked that Ren should persuade the Empire’s Majesty, the second Great Emperor and a descendant of the Uchiha Clan, to surrender.
• The old man said the Star Alliance would return Ren’s cosmic oddity in exchange for his help and revealed the tiny, colorful backpack in his hand.

Ren learned that his pride and system meant little beside the God of Time, Tokotachi, and failed to grasp the old man's time abilities. Tokotachi asked Ren to provide spacetime energy and deliver speeches for the Star Alliance and Empire, revealing that Ren's fabricated identity as the creator of the Chinese language gave him the influence needed to help unite humanity.

• Ren humbled himself before Tokotachi, who explained that Ren lacked the talent to learn his time-based path.
• Tokotachi revealed that he was one of the Five Pillars of the Star Alliance and could manipulate time within limited bounds, but Ren failed to understand his lecture.
• Ren agreed to give up half of his spacetime energy and said Orochimaru would provide half of his as well.
• Tokotachi asked Ren to read speeches prepared by the Star Alliance and the Empire to encourage humanity's unity through ideological guidance.
• Tokotachi told Ren that his influential identity was the creator of the Chinese language, which Ren connected to copying literature from his past life.

The Time Chief God explained that Ren’s creation of Chinese had transformed humanity’s technology and cultivation by giving them a language suited to conveying abstract insights. Ren accepted the task of helping and left wondering about the significance of his former world.

• The Time Chief God explained that humanity had abandoned the Shinobi World Language and the Otsutsuki Language before discovering Chinese.
• Humanity used Chinese to advance scientific research and communicate cultivation insights without imposing harmful limitations on later generations.
• Humanity’s strongest beings became known as Great Emperors and Chief Gods, while Ren was revered as an interpreter of the universe’s will.
• The Time Chief God told Ren that none of the universes conquered by the Empire had possessed Chinese.
• Ren wondered whether his former planet had been extraordinary, then agreed to help the Time Chief God.

Ren endured months of controlled public appearances aboard the Star Alliance’s ship before Tokotachi confronted him over an unknown action and ordered him to erase the consciousness he had entrusted to a cosmic artifact. Ren challenged Tokotachi to demonstrate his power, leaving the old god asking how Ren had known.

• Ren spent another month attending scheduled appearances while Captain Dongfang refused to reveal how Ren had defeated Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
• Ren learned that Orochimaru was also confined to a schedule aboard the ship, though he was treated as a lesser figure and allowed to walk around.
• After two more months, Ren returned to his room and found Tokotachi waiting for him.
• Tokotachi warned Ren to stop whatever he had done and demanded that he erase the part of his consciousness entrusted to the cosmic artifact.
• Ren challenged Tokotachi to use his power against him, and Tokotachi asked how Ren had known.

Ren faced an attack from the old man, who intended to kill him and seize his damaged system, as changes to the future unsettled the universe. Just before the strike landed, a mysterious figure with long black hair appeared and saved him.

• Ren reminded himself that he would try to change the future, though he had no attachment to humanity in this universe.
• The old man noticed the universe rejecting Ren and went to confront him.
• At the Five Pillars Council, the members discussed the shifting future and agreed to act against Ren.
• The old man attacked Ren, whose vision showed his body, soul, and system being destroyed.
• A slender hand blocked the attack, and a long-haired figure appeared before Ren and spoke to him.

Ren confronted Tokotachi, God of Time, and reclaimed his belongings after Orochimaru revealed that the past had been changed from an unseen future. In the Land of Water, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Biwa Jūzō fought Kirigakure forces before Konan and Deva Path Pain secured Nagato’s great medicine.

• Tokotachi recognized Orochimaru as someone who had died, but Orochimaru explained that the future had changed beyond Tokotachi’s sight.
• Orochimaru left the choice of what to do to Tokotachi to Ren, and Ren demanded his belongings back.
• Biwa Jūzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi attacked Kirigakure forces in the Land of Water and became pressured as reinforcements arrived.
• Konan’s exploding paper cranes disrupted the battle, allowing Hiruzen Sarutobi and Biwa Jūzō to retreat.
• Konan and Deva Path Pain moved a giant stone sphere in the opposite direction, having successfully captured Nagato’s great medicine.

Nagato extracted the Three-Tails' chakra to restore his body, but realized he needed chakra from other tailed beasts to regain his full strength. He rejected Konan's plea to stop and set out to find the Fourth Tsuchikage.

• Konan knocked out the ordinary people who had followed the descending stone sphere.
• Nagato used Limbo: Border Jail to extract the Three-Tails' chakra and absorb it, restoring part of his body.
• Nagato sealed the recovering Three-Tails again with Planetary Devastation and walked out to meet Konan.
• Konan urged Nagato to stop, but Nagato rebuked her and left, convinced that gathering tailed beast chakra would restore peace and bring Yahiko back.
• Nagato sensed Zetsu nearby and demanded to know where the Fourth Tsuchikage was.

Nagato sought out Rōshi to obtain the Four-Tails’ chakra, and Black Zetsu learned that Nagato’s Rinnegan had grown stronger. Black Zetsu decided to guide Nagato and consider him a possible backup for Madara as they reached Rōshi.

• After recovering some strength by absorbing the Three-Tails’ chakra, Nagato asked White Zetsu to take him to Rōshi.
• White Zetsu reported Nagato’s actions to Black Zetsu, who learned that Nagato had become emaciated and inferred that his Rinnegan had grown stronger.
• Black Zetsu decided to guide Nagato, seeing him as a potential alternative vessel if Madara could not be used.
• Black Zetsu joined Nagato and White Zetsu at Rōshi’s cave, where they arrived before the captive Four-Tails’ jinchūriki.

After extracting the Four-Tails' chakra from Rōshi, Nagato regained his strength and resolved to collect the tailed beasts. He planned to visit Konoha and test himself against Uchiha Yushu before deciding whether to work with him or take control of the Shinobi World himself.

• Nagato extracted the Four-Tails' chakra from Rōshi and absorbed it, restoring his body and greatly increasing his power.
• Nagato decided to begin collecting the tailed beasts to deepen his control of the Rinnegan and pursue his vision of peace.
• Nagato remembered Uchiha Yushu and compared his current strength with the strength Yushu had shown in their past battle.
• Nagato planned to travel to Konoha and fight Yushu, intending to cooperate with him if their strength was close or take control himself if he could overwhelm him.
• Nagato returned to Amegakure after organizing his plans.

Nagato returned to Amegakure, reunited with Konan, and arranged a formal visit to Konoha to meet Fugaku. As Nagato arrived with a Hidden Rain team, Konoha’s observers warned Fugaku that the dōjutsu concealed beneath Nagato’s hair far surpassed his Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Nagato returned to Amegakure and reunited with a delighted Konan, whose smile left him flustered.
• Nagato asked Konan to formally request an audience with Konoha’s Hokage, and Konoha accepted the visit for a week later.
• Nagato traveled to Konoha with a team of Hidden Rain shinobi and entered the village under Xuanyue’s guidance.
• Tong Ren warned Fugaku that Nagato’s hidden eyes contained terrifying power and were countless times stronger than Fugaku’s Mangekyō Sharingan.

Fugaku investigated reports that Nagato possessed overwhelming chakra reserves and a Rinnegan that surpassed his Mangekyō Sharingan, then arranged to meet him away from the Hokage Building. Nagato followed Xuanyue to a wooden house, where he found someone posing as Uchiha Yushu and demanded to know who they were.

• Tong Ren told Fugaku that Nagato's chakra reserves exceeded Utakata's and might be surpassed in Konoha only by Naruto Uzumaki.
• Fugaku learned that Yushu had instructed the intelligence network not to focus on Amegakure and wondered whether Nagato was a hidden ally or a backup plan.
• Fugaku ordered Xuanyue to take Nagato to a second location and told the shinobi there to prepare to detain him if he proved hostile.
• Xuanyue diverted Nagato to an open area, where Nagato felt growing disgust toward him and the Konoha shinobi around them through his Rinnegan.
• Nagato entered a wooden house and asked the smiling figure inside who they were and where Uchiha Yushu was.

Fugaku confronted Nagato at Konoha and tried to learn why he had come, but Nagato declared his intent to defeat Yushu and attack the village. Nagato used the Rinnegan to absorb Fugaku’s first technique, only to be overwhelmed by Konoha’s other attacks and left near death.

• Nagato saw through Fugaku’s disguise, and Fugaku revealed his identity while asking why Nagato had come to see Yushu.
• Nagato said he had come to defeat Yushu, and Fugaku signaled Konoha ninja to surround him.
• Nagato declared that Konoha would be the first to feel pain and decided to begin his tailed-beast capture plan.
• Fugaku ordered the ninja to attack, and he struck first with the Great Fireball Technique.
• Nagato absorbed Fugaku’s fire technique with the Rinnegan, but the following attacks from Konoha ninja left him critically wounded and near death.

The Sage of Six Paths took control of Nagato and turned Konoha’s attack into a deadly counterstrike. Fugaku escaped as ordered, while the Sage broke the Four Red Yang Formation and killed the eight ninja maintaining it.

• The Sage of Six Paths possessed Nagato and used Shinra Tensei to repel the attacks, sending them back at Konoha’s ninja.
• Konan saw Deva Path Pain collapse, while Konoha suffered casualties from the reversed techniques.
• Shikama warned Fugaku to retreat, find Kakashi, and prepare a sealing barrier before dying.
• Fugaku and the surviving ninja fled as eight others raised the Four Red Yang Formation around Nagato.
• The Sage of Six Paths struck the barrier with Asura Attack, overwhelmed its maintainers, and killed all eight with a final combination of Rinnegan techniques.