Chapter Summaries

The Sage of Six Paths escaped with Nagato after Kakashi arrived too late, and Nagato later woke in Amegakure with his wounds healed. Believing the Rinnegan had saved him and shown him its memories, Nagato resolved to grow stronger with it.

• Kakashi reached the battlefield as the Sage of Six Paths used Kamui to escape, then returned Nagato to Konan with Animal Path: Reverse Summoning.
• Konan carried Nagato away while Deva Path Pain collapsed again.
• Konoha held a secret funeral for more than ten ninja, and Fugaku blamed himself for their deaths.
• Nagato woke in Amegakure and replayed the scenes recorded in his Rinnegan, mistaking the Sage of Six Paths' actions for the eyes' power.
• Nagato thanked the Rinnegan in his thoughts and vowed to make it stronger.

Nagato began Akatsuki’s Tailed Beast capture plan and assigned Biwa Jūzō and Hidan to capture the One-Tail, with Black Zetsu providing intelligence. Konoha received several reports about the operation, and the warning reached Rasa that night.

• Nagato summoned Akatsuki’s nine members and asked who would take the One-Tail capture mission.
• Biwa Jūzō and Hidan volunteered, while Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakuzu disclaimed involvement.
• Pain ordered Biwa Jūzō and Hidan to capture the One-Tail within a week and assigned Black Zetsu to provide intelligence.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Black Zetsu, and Itachi Uchiha each sent reports about the mission to Konoha.
• Fugaku received the reports and realized that both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi Uchiha were undercover in Akatsuki.
• Konoha sent Rasa intelligence about Akatsuki’s planned attack and its operatives, Biwa Jūzō and Hidan.

Rasa prepared Hidden Sand Village for Akatsuki after learning its leader Pain possessed the Rinnegan, while Biwa Jūzō and Hidan were captured almost immediately on their mission. After hearing Black Zetsu’s report, Nagato decided to lead Akatsuki’s core members to rescue the prisoners and attack Hidden Sand Village.

• Rasa thanked Konoha for its intelligence, declined its offer of assistance, and placed Hidden Sand Village on high alert.
• Biwa Jūzō and Hidan entered the Land of Wind but were surrounded and captured by Hidden Sand Village ninja.
• Black Zetsu’s White Zetsu clones were detected and killed, so he fled underground and reported the encounter to Nagato.
• Nagato considered Akatsuki’s failed operation and decided to personally lead the core members in a rescue mission against Hidden Sand Village.

Nagato revealed that he and Deva Path Pain both represented Pain, then faced Akatsuki members who were tempted to challenge him for his Rinnegan. As Kakuzu, Kisame, Sasori, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Itachi Uchiha gathered against him, Nagato told them to attack together, and Kakuzu opened with a lightning technique.

• Nagato showed his Rinnegan and explained that he and Deva Path Pain were both Pain, while Deva Path Pain departed.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi suggested that someone with the Rinnegan might become Pain and secretly encouraged the others to test Nagato.
• Kakuzu challenged Nagato, Kisame joined him, and Itachi Uchiha stayed put after Kisame called him out.
• Konan stood beside Nagato, Sasori joined the challengers, and Zetsu burrowed away to scout the area.
• Nagato asked Konan to step back and invited the five challengers to attack him together.
• Kakuzu rejected Nagato's confidence and launched Lightning Release: False Darkness as Nagato used Modified Shinra Tensei.

Nagato established himself as Akatsuki’s leader and led the group toward Sunagakure, where Rasa confronted them. Rasa’s lightning destroyed Nagato’s Limbo clone, and his next attack pierced Nagato’s body.

• Nagato defeated Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other challengers, and Zetsu acknowledged him as Akatsuki’s leader.
• Nagato led Akatsuki toward Sunagakure, while Rasa prepared the Hidden Sand Village forces after learning their target.
• Rasa and Nagato ordered their forces to attack, then charged at each other.
• Nagato’s Limbo clone attacked Rasa, but Rasa struck it with lightning and temporarily prevented Nagato from using it.
• Rasa launched a dense metal sphere that pierced Nagato’s body.

Rasa defeated Nagato in battle, but Black Zetsu intervened to save him when the Rinnegan’s revival technique failed. Black Zetsu took the injured Nagato to the White Zetsu Army to rebuild his body and make him a vessel for Mother.

• Rasa struck Nagato with a metal sphere, severing his body and forcing the Akatsuki members to flee.
• Konan rushed to Nagato, but Black Zetsu emerged and took control of half his body as they used summoning and the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
• Rasa began healing his damaged meridians while the Hidden Sand pursued the retreating Akatsuki members.
• Uchiha ninja detected an abnormal change in a seal at the Uchiha Clan Grounds, reinforced it, and planned to report the incident to Kabuto.
• Black Zetsu realized the revival technique had been interrupted because Madara’s soul was likely sealed, and decided to save Nagato rather than take his Rinnegan.
• Black Zetsu used White Zetsu to stop Nagato’s bleeding and secretly brought him to the White Zetsu Army, where Nagato’s unconscious body was rebuilt with Hashirama cells.

Nagato returned to Amegakure after disappearing for a month, but Black Zetsu had taken control of him. Konan backed away after Nagato urged her to find their Sensei, leaving Black Zetsu in control.

• Konan spent a month searching Amegakure for Nagato and White Zetsu after recovering from her injuries.
• Nagato arrived at Amegakure alive, and Konan greeted him with joy.
• Nagato briefly warned Konan to run before Black Zetsu took control and used a weak Shinra Tensei to push her back.
• Black Zetsu told Konan that he had saved Nagato and warned her not to interfere.
• Nagato urged Konan to leave and find Sensei, so she flew away while keeping her eyes on him.
• Black Zetsu declared that he had finally resolved the situation.

Over the course of a year, Black Zetsu and Obito investigated Konoha and prepared a campaign against it, while rumors spread that Hokage Uchiha Yushu had disappeared. Their alliance with the Undead Army plunged the Shinobi World into conflict, and the chapter ended with Obito killing Rasa after reviving from his attack.

• After Konan left, Black Zetsu took control of Nagato's body and ordered a search for Obito's hideout.
• Konan told Jiraiya what had happened to Nagato, and Jiraiya went to Konoha, where he met Fugaku posing as Yushu but left suspicious.
• Black Zetsu and Obito captured shinobi and a Dragon Vein researcher, learned about true essence, and concluded that Yushu might have disappeared.
• Black Zetsu spread rumors that Konoha's Hokage was missing, then declared Hidden Rain Village responsible for the massacre of Konoha's border troops.
• Obito revived the Undead Army in the Land of Demons, drove out the Allied Shinobi Forces, and joined Black Zetsu in forming the Fire-Extinguishing Alliance.
• Black Zetsu and Obito seized Gaara and captured Akatsuki members; Rasa turned Obito into a bloody mist, but Obito revived, killed the unconscious Rasa, and left with the others.

Obito turned the captured Kirigakure shinobi into members of the Undead Army and began sealing Shukaku, the One-Tail, into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path while Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi Uchiha prepared to send intelligence. In Sunagakure, Rasa revived through Chiyo's One's Own Life Reincarnation, then gave her true essence and asked what had happened.

• Obito killed the Kirigakure shinobi who refused to cooperate, and they became members of the Undead Army.
• Obito overruled Black Zetsu's concerns and summoned Akatsuki to seal the One-Tail.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi Uchiha secretly formed hand seals to transmit information as Black Zetsu began the Illusory Nine Dragon Seal.
• The One-Tail was gradually stripped from Gaara and merged into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Rasa woke in Sunagakure and realized Chiyo had used One's Own Life Reincarnation to revive him.
• Rasa infused the unconscious Chiyo with true essence and asked her to explain what had happened and what came next.

Rasa found the cave where the One-Tail was being sealed and arrived too late to stop its completion, but escaped with Gaara as the cave collapsed. Rasa then used the method Konoha had developed to try to save his son, leaving Gaara’s survival uncertain.

• Black Zetsu learned that Rasa had found the cave and ordered the sealing to be completed quickly.
• Rasa attacked Black Zetsu and Obito, but the sealing finished and the two escaped with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Rasa and his subordinates carried Gaara out before the cave collapsed.
• Rasa channeled true essence into Gaara and formed the seal-like pattern Konoha had researched to safely extract a tailed beast.

Rasa revived Gaara by drawing natural energy to him and decided that his family mattered more than the village. Meanwhile, Obito and Black Zetsu advanced their plans through the Fire-Extinguishing Alliance, and Yugito Nii charged at them after Obito attacked the Hidden Grass and Kumogakure forces.

• Rasa completed the pattern on Gaara, sensed natural energy gathering in him, and ordered a report to Konoha while vowing to accept its conditions.
• Rasa realized that he would choose family over the village, as Ren had.
• Obito and Black Zetsu saw the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's eye open at the sealing site of Moryo, then returned to the Fire-Extinguishing Alliance headquarters.
• Cheng Liren told Obito that Hidden Cloud Village had agreed to join the alliance and send Yugito Nii, but Obito demanded the Eight-Tails as well.
• Obito deemed the Hidden Grass and Kumogakure forces useless and began turning them into his Undead Army, while Cheng Liren pleaded with him and Yugito charged at Obito.
• Obito ordered Black Zetsu to handle Yugito while he continued converting the army.

Obito and Black Zetsu divided up their hunt for the remaining tailed beasts, with Obito targeting the Five-Tails and Eight-Tails. Obito confronted Han at the former Iwagakure settlement and attacked after Han chose to protect its people.

• Obito spared Cheng Liren and a few Hidden Grass Village ninja, then assigned Black Zetsu to capture the Seven-Tails while he pursued the Five-Tails and Eight-Tails.
• Han and the former Iwagakure residents began building a new settlement after the Shinobi Alliance fell apart.
• Obito offered Han the choice to come quietly or watch him kill the settlement's people and take him by force.
• Han asked why Obito wanted him and explained that he could not leave the people who depended on him.
• Obito said he respected Han's choice, and screams rang out across the settlement.

Obito and Black Zetsu continued gathering tailed-beast chakra while their allied forces marched toward Konoha. Ren and Orochimaru returned to the Shinobi World through the Dragon Vein, and Ren invited Orochimaru to accompany him to Konoha to restore his original body.

• Black Zetsu absorbed the Seven-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails' chakra, strengthening the Rinnegan and changing Nagato's appearance.
• Obito told Black Zetsu to summon the Akatsuki members so they could seal the Two-Tails through Five-Tails, while the allied forces advanced toward Konoha.
• Ren and Orochimaru returned to the Ancient Kingdom of Roran through the Dragon Vein.
• Orochimaru asked Ren how he had made the Star Alliance and the Empire compromise, but Ren refused to explain.
• Ren sensed fewer than a hundred Konoha and Hidden Sand Village ninja near the Dragon Vein, despite structures that could hold ten thousand.
• Ren invited Orochimaru to Konoha to find out whether his original body had returned, and Orochimaru agreed.

Ren and Orochimaru learned that two years had passed since the Dragon Vein sent them into the future, and that the Shinobi World had fallen into chaos. As they headed for the Land of Fire, Ren explained that they had traveled to a parallel world, while privately suspecting that someone had rewritten history.

• A Konoha ninja told Ren and Orochimaru that Obito had taken the One-Tail and Eight-Tails, Black Zetsu had caused major incidents under Nagato's name, and Kabuto and Chiyo had returned to their villages.
• Ren placed a seal in the Konoha ninja's brain to erase his memory of meeting them.
• Orochimaru asked Ren why the current events differed from the history he had seen in the future.
• Ren said they had traveled to a parallel world, and Orochimaru accepted the explanation.
• Ren concluded that the plan to capture and reclaim the tailed beasts was underway and began forming possible plans as he and Orochimaru traveled toward the Land of Fire.

As Konoha prepared for an impending attack, Tsunade challenged Fugaku over the Uchiha Clan’s handling of Ren’s disappearance, then proposed using the enemy’s desire for the tailed beasts as leverage. The meeting ended with Tsunade quietly taking the lead in deciding how Konoha would respond.

• Rasa thanked Fugaku for letting him support Konoha in a personal capacity, then left the Hokage’s Office.
• Tsunade accused Fugaku and the Uchiha Clan of impersonating the missing Ren, but Fugaku argued that concealing Ren’s disappearance had helped preserve order.
• Jiraiya condemned the Allied Shinobi Forces’ actions in the Land of Demons and Land of Earth, but Tsunade told him to focus on helping Konoha.
• Tsunade proposed negotiating with the enemy by using the tailed beasts as leverage, and Fugaku agreed that resisting the coming attack was the priority.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Fugaku agreed to send Utakata to Shikkotsu Forest and considered how to counter the enemy’s immortal forces. Fugaku revealed that Kabuto controlled Konoha’s armed forces and had gone to meet the enemy; the chapter ended with Kabuto and Deidara flying over the Land of Fire on a white creature.

• Jiraiya and Fugaku objected to treating Naruto as expendable, but Tsunade pointed out that Konoha had another jinchuriki and was already caught in the war.
• Tsunade agreed to take Utakata to Shikkotsu Forest, while the group prepared to confront the invading forces and discussed the difficulty of stopping Obito’s Undead Army.
• Fugaku showed Tsunade and Jiraiya information on Impure World Reincarnation and told them that Kabuto controlled the Konoha Military Police Force.
• Tsunade asked to meet Kabuto, but Fugaku said Kabuto had already left for the enemy army’s location.
• Kabuto and Deidara flew above the Land of Fire on a white creature as Deidara asked whether it had originally been intended for use there.

Deidara tested a devastating fission weapon against the Undead Army, only to see the troops reform from strange energy. He prepared to unleash his ultimate art, but an unexpected arrival interrupted the attack and confronted Kabuto.

• Deidara dropped a clay device that exploded with fission, annihilating the Undead Army and leaving a poisonous zone.
• Kabuto sensed strange energy gathering, and the Undead Army reappeared as clay figures despite the blast.
• Deidara summoned a giant clay version of himself and told Kabuto to record his ultimate art.
• Deidara revealed that he had switched places with the clay giant, whose chest began to glow.
• A flash pierced the giant's heart, and a familiar voice rebuked Kabuto for failing to keep an eye on Xiao Di.

Ren stopped Deidara's self-destruction, reunited with Kabuto and Orochimaru, and learned the details of the war. He ordered Kabuto to make Impure World Reincarnation public and prevent Tsunade from taking Utakata to Shikkotsu Forest, while preparing for the threat of Kaguya and the Sage of Six Paths.

• Ren and Orochimaru followed the Undead Army, and Ren stopped Deidara from self-destructing before carrying him to Kabuto.
• Kabuto explained that Tobi had gained Moryo's power, Chenxiang had obtained Rice-Carrying Bro's body, and only the Six-Tails and Nine-Tails remained among the tailed beasts.
• Ren approved of Kabuto's initiative but ordered him to publicly explain Impure World Reincarnation and summon only people who consented.
• Ren told Kabuto to stop Tsunade from taking Utakata to Shikkotsu Forest and to give the Six-Tails and Nine-Tails to them instead.
• Ren reassured Kabuto that he could defeat their enemies, while the system showed that the Eternal Flame Unlock Mission was complete.

Ren confronted Orochimaru’s original self after the Kotoamatsukami’s influence had worn off, then left the two Orochimarus to fuse. After absorbing his clone and boosting his power, Orochimaru hesitated over completing his recovery because Ren’s influence had made him question his plans.

• Ren recognized the Orochimaru who emerged from the woods as his original self and learned that Kotoamatsukami no longer affected him.
• Ren joked that he might have his clansmen restore the two Orochimarus, then left them alone to resolve their situation.
• The original Orochimaru absorbed the soul of the clone that had followed Ren into the future, abandoning young Toneri’s body and the Giant Tenseigan.
• Orochimaru ate three rice balls made from reproduced God Tree rice, causing his aura to surge after the fusion.
• Orochimaru considered recovering the soul fragments in Haku and Anko but hesitated, wondering whether completing his recovery would leave him without a backup and recognizing Ren as a trial he could not avoid.

Ren used Ghost Rider’s dimensional travel to enter the Pure Land, where he discovered that its white light consumed souls and gave them Rinnegan. After touring the Shinobi World’s afterlife and observing its strange inhabitants, he continued exploring with a clearer understanding of its dangers.

• Ren opened a portal to the Pure Land with Hellfire and stepped through.
• Ren returned to human form and found that the Pure Land’s white light rapidly consumed his true essence, so he shielded himself from it.
• Ren grasped a crow’s soul and found a Rinnegan in its eye, confirming that the white light assimilated souls.
• Ren visited Konoha and then toured the Pure Land, seeing Hashirama Senju, former Kage, and souls from across the Shinobi World.
• Ren encountered instinct-driven evil ghosts that hunted fresh souls, including the Reaper summoned by the Reaper Death Seal.