Chapter Summaries

Nan comforted Nagato as he worried over matters he said would soon be resolved. In a rain-soaked ambush, Sasuke’s group intercepted Mei Terumi and her attendants; Mei agreed to stay away from Kirigakure, while Zabuza defeated Chojuro and judged him fit to receive further instruction.

• Nan found Nagato awake in the middle of the night and reassured him as he said his troubles would soon be over.
• Mei Terumi and her attendants were intercepted by Sasuke, Zabuza, Haku, and another pursuer in the rainy night.
• Zabuza challenged Chojuro over his right to wield Hiramekarei and led him into the forest to fight.
• Sasuke asked Mei to remain away from Kirigakure for a while, and Mei agreed while suggesting Ao could return in her place.
• Zabuza defeated Chojuro after he chose to rely on ninjutsu, then gave him a barely passing assessment.

Mei Terumi used the staged disappearance to investigate Hidden Mist’s factions, while Haku delivered Sasuke’s message and warned her about Konoha. In Konoha, Sora Kurai persuaded her team to hire Guy Team for protection, identified Hyuga Yuun as the world’s greatest anomaly, and Otsuka was left stranded without money as he prepared to pursue the Caged Bird Curse Mark.

• Mei Terumi ordered her subordinate to uncover the other nations’ arrangements and sent him to seek help from the First Elder.
• Haku told Mei Terumi that Zabuza had left with Sasuke, refused offers to return to Hidden Mist, and passed on Sasuke’s warning about Konoha and an organization tied to Akatsuki.
• Sora Kurai convinced Miyata Kuraki and old Jingong to hire Guy Team, arguing that Might Guy could help them survive their coming battle with the West Sea Team.
• Sora Kurai revealed that she had identified Hyuga Yuun as the point where the Naruto world’s abnormalities began.
• Otsuka decided to pursue greater strength through the Caged Bird Curse Mark but discovered he had no story-world money and could not find Sora Kurai’s group.

Otsuka, disguised as Naruto, found shelter and food in Naruto’s apartment and decided to risk meeting Tsunade to secure his cover. Meanwhile, Sora Kurai’s team hired Guy Team for protection, and Sora sought an introduction to Yuun, hoping to use her Naruto manga as a way to approach him.

• Sakura found Otsuka unconscious, brought him to Naruto’s apartment, fed him, and told him Tsunade wanted to see him.
• Otsuka searched Naruto’s room for beginner ninja notes but found only advanced material, then bathed, changed clothes, and decided to visit Tsunade despite the risk.
• Sora Kurai submitted a mission application for the East Sea Team, and the mission office approved it and assigned it to Guy Team.
• Might Guy accepted the mission for the three million ryo reward and took one-third as preparation funds.
• Sora Kurai asked Neji to introduce her to Yuun, explaining that she wanted to consult him, while Neji asked what she wanted to discuss.

Sora Kurai persuaded Neji Hyuga to deliver a sealed pouch to Yuun, while Danzo ordered Root to avoid provoking the Hyuga Clan and other emerging forces. Otsuka reached Tsunade, who had summoned him to ask where Jiraiya was, as she prepared for the Tailed Beasts’ arrival.

• Sora Kurai refused to explain her request to Neji Hyuga, but gave him a sealed pouch to deliver to Lord White Gale and a hemostatic spray as thanks.
• Neji Hyuga told Sora Kurai that Yuun had been his father’s disciple and had cared for him after his father died.
• Danzo reviewed Root’s reports about the Hyuga Clan, Naruto Uzumaki’s return without Jiraiya, and the Miyata Team, then ordered Root to observe quietly and prioritize its survival.
• Neji Hyuga brought the pouch home to consider how to handle Sora Kurai’s request without endangering Yuun or the Hyuga Clan.
• Otsuka walked to the Hokage Building, where Tsunade asked him about Jiraiya’s whereabouts as she prepared to receive the Tailed Beasts.

Reinhardt and Yulian’s West Sea Team arrived in Amegakure and were summoned by Kisame Hoshigaki, while Yuun’s cooperation with the East Sea Team drew Hiashi’s suspicion. Tanaka Shigure separately secured the Daimyo of the Land of Fire’s support and began discussing how to eliminate the Hokage.

• Reinhardt and Yulian negotiated how to divide the West Sea Team’s rewards, agreeing to keep their current split and change to a four-six division in future scenarios.
• Yulian controlled the ten newcomers, and Kisame Hoshigaki identified the group as elites from Takigakure and ordered them to meet their leader.
• Hiashi warned Miyata Kuraki, Jingu Yamato, and Sora Kurai not to scheme against the Hyuga Clan, while Sora defended the East Sea Team’s cooperation with Yuun.
• Yuun had exchanged manga and supplies with the East Sea Team for the Hyuga Clan’s protection, while hinting that he favored Sora Kurai.
• Tanaka Shigure gained the Land of Fire Daimyo’s support after escaping Quan Zhenxiong, and the Daimyo asked him how to eliminate the Hokage.

Tanaka Shigure persuaded the Land of Fire's daimyo to wait for news while the West Sea Team met Nagato in Amegakure. As military movements heightened tensions across the ninja world, Tsunade called an urgent Jonin meeting and investigated suspicious Konoha records, but the purpose of the fabricated identities remained unknown.

• Tanaka Shigure warned the daimyo that removing the Hokage without quickly controlling Konoha could let a stronger successor take power, and promised news within ten days.
• Reinhardt offered the West Sea Team's service to Nagato, while Yulian's awkward attempt to ingratiate himself irritated Nagato, who sent them away.
• Shizune reported repeated Hidden Cloud warnings and troop movements by Hidden Cloud, Iwagakure, and Hidden Mist, along with signs of Hidden Waterfall and Hidden Grass ninjas in Amegakure.
• Tsunade ordered Shizune to convene every active Jonin the following day, despite Shizune's concerns that the demand would provoke resistance.
• Yugao told Tsunade that several ninjas' official graduation records had no supporting evidence and that their supposed classmates did not remember them.

Tsunade’s investigation into the Hyuga Clan and other threats yielded little, while Yulian and Reinhardt struggled to understand how events had diverged from their expected Naruto plot. Reinhardt followed Orochimaru into a hidden laboratory to pursue Jūgo’s blood, but Orochimaru trapped him in a Tailed Beast containment cage.

• Tsunade heard that her agents could not uncover the Hyuga Clan’s plans and decided she needed to speak honestly with Yuun.
• Yulian studied the Five Kage Summit resolution and wondered why Nagato remained alive and Obito had not appeared.
• Reinhardt secretly entered Orochimaru’s laboratory, where Orochimaru examined the Six-Tails’ Jinchuriki, Jūgo.
• Reinhardt followed Orochimaru and Jūgo into a hidden passage, hoping to drink Jūgo’s blood and gain strength.
• Orochimaru sealed Reinhardt inside a cage built to contain Tailed Beasts, and Reinhardt discovered that his Blood Flame could not damage its walls.

Reinhardt escaped Orochimaru’s Tailed Beast prison by using explosives and liquid nitrogen, while the resulting disturbance reached Nagato and Orochimaru. They then learned that Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud had declared war over two of the Seven Ninja Swords, setting events toward the Fourth Shinobi World War.

• Reinhardt used hundreds of kilograms of explosives to deform the prison wall, then shattered it with liquid nitrogen and escaped Orochimaru’s laboratory.
• Nagato and Orochimaru felt the shockwaves, and an Amegakure shinobi reported that Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud had declared war.
• Orochimaru and Nagato were stunned by the sudden conflict, which disrupted their plans to exploit instability among the great nations.
• A Hidden Mist leader had offered Exploding Blade Shibuki and Nuibari as collateral to persuade the Fourth Raikage to send troops into the Land of Water.
• After Mei Terumi returned and unified Hidden Mist, she demanded the swords back, but Hidden Cloud refused and planned to reforge them.
• Mei Terumi declared war on Hidden Cloud to reclaim the swords, unknowingly triggering the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Orochimaru examined the potions and gold left after Jūgo was nearly drained, while Reinhardt argued with Yulian over the failed attempt and the West Sea Team’s mission. Yulian persuaded Reinhardt to avoid antagonizing their faction and focus on the three-month scenario, though Reinhardt also turned his attention to the women in the world.

• Orochimaru inspected the compensation left beside Jūgo, and Honglian offered to capture the intruder while Kabuto warned her not to underestimate them.
• Orochimaru stopped Honglian and said the intruder had taken his belongings too freely.
• Reinhardt demanded to know why Yulian had stopped him from draining Jūgo’s blood and advancing toward Prince rank.
• Yulian warned Reinhardt that antagonizing Orochimaru and the West Sea Team’s own faction could leave them facing a hostile alliance.
• Yulian reminded Reinhardt that the mission lasted three months and offered Tailed Beasts, ninjutsu, and Kekkei Genkai as potential rewards.
• Reinhardt added that he was interested in the women in the scenario world.

Yulian tried to contain the fallout from Reinhardt’s offense against Orochimaru by offering him a virus that he claimed could grant immortality. Orochimaru accepted the vial and grew interested in Yulian’s promise of a safer finished product, leaving their cooperation unresolved.

• Yulian calmed Reinhardt, then took the middle-aged man to meet Orochimaru and negotiate a truce.
• Nagato reviewed Amegakure’s old intelligence on Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud while Nan sat beside him.
• Orochimaru demanded to know where Reinhardt was, so Yulian offered him a vial of virus and raised the prospect of immortality.
• Kabuto Yakushi caught the vial and secured it, foiling Yulian’s plan to attach a psychic seed to Orochimaru.
• Yulian claimed the virus removed the limit on cellular division but harmed the brain and nerves, then suggested he could obtain a finished product.

Yulian and Orochimaru ended their negotiation with a temporary promise, while Orochimaru reserved judgment about Reinhardt. In Konoha, Tsunade prepared for a widening war and learned that Anbu doubted Naruto’s identity.

• Orochimaru agreed not to trouble Yulian for the time being but said his matter with Reinhardt was not over.
• Tsunade reviewed reports of repeated clashes between Konoha ninja and Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist forces, then asked Shizune to prepare more reinforcements.
• Shizune reported that Iwagakure and Hidden Sand showed signs of activity, the Land of Earth was increasingly active, and the Land of Wind had gone suspiciously quiet.
• Shizune said Konoha could mobilize about two hundred medical ninja quickly, but political opposition would likely cut that number in half.
• Shizune told Tsunade that Anbu had been unable to find Jiraiya and now considered Naruto Uzumaki’s identity highly questionable.

Tsunade learned that Naruto had gone weeks without using chakra and ordered Konoha’s Jonin to gather, suspecting Orochimaru was behind the anomaly. Meanwhile, Otsuka struggled to refine chakra while impersonating Naruto, and feared the coming team battle and his rejection by the East Sea Team.

• Shizune told Tsunade that Anbu surveillance found Naruto physically weak and unable to use chakra, with no signs of Transformation Technique or Genjutsu.
• Tsunade ordered Shizune to summon Kakashi, Might Guy, Asuma, and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, then suspected Orochimaru was responsible.
• Otsuka destroyed the Ninja Academy textbooks after failing to refine chakra despite following their instructions.
• Otsuka reflected on his failed attempt to reach Hinata Hyuga, his dwindling Reward Points, and his lack of combat ability or a workable plan.
• Otsuka realized he had also jeopardized his chances of returning to the East Sea Team by taking the Reward Points meant to explain matters to the newcomers and offending Jingong.

Mei Terumi’s efforts to provoke conflict between Konoha and Hidden Cloud culminated in the killing of Konoha’s frontline commander and a retaliatory raid, prompting Tsunade to declare war. As the village mobilized, Hanabi Hyuga faced the clan’s conscription order while Sora Kurai pointed out the Hyuga Clan’s economic influence as leverage.

• Mei Terumi sent Hidden Mist shinobi to stir up clashes between Konoha and Hidden Cloud while leading her own operations along their border.
• A thick fog covered the Konoha camp, where Uzuki Ruiwa was killed and left with signs of Lightning Release.
• After Konoha shinobi seeking justice were killed and their heads displayed, the camp’s neutral faction joined the demand for retaliation, and more than three hundred Konoha shinobi raided Hidden Cloud’s rear camp.
• Tsunade declared war on Hidden Cloud and ordered Konoha onto wartime footing, while the village’s clans watched for the Hyuga Clan’s response to conscription.
• Hanabi Hyuga worried over the order, and Sora Kurai told her that the Hyuga Clan’s economic influence gave it leverage over Konoha’s upper ranks.

Sora Kurai decided Hanabi Hyuga knew little of the Hyuga Clan’s strategy and began considering how to exploit her access to clan resources. Meanwhile, Hidden Cloud declared war on Konoha and mobilized a large army, while Konoha’s reinforcements grew to five thousand after the Hyuga Clan and other clans agreed to contribute.

• Sora Kurai concluded that Hanabi was unaware of the Hyuga Clan’s true plans and used talk of White Gale to confirm Hanabi’s feelings for him.
• Sora Kurai resolved to use Hanabi’s position as acting clan head to obtain resources for the East Sea Team.
• After Konoha attacked, the Fourth Raikage declared war on Konoha and sent envoys to seek allies among the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and Amegakure.
• Mei Terumi’s Hidden Mist forces overran much of the Land of Hot Water before Hidden Cloud reinforcements drove them back toward the coast.
• The Fourth Raikage assembled nearly three thousand ninja and marched toward the Land of Hot Water while Konoha’s main force was still preparing to depart.
• The Hyuga Clan agreed to join Konoha’s war effort and provide supplies, prompting other clans to contribute until Konoha’s main force reached five thousand troops.

With Jiraiya still missing, Tsunade considered who could command Konoha’s large force, while Danzo saw the opportunity as a path to political influence. The chapter traced the village’s factional history and the Third Hokage’s plan for Minato Namikaze, ending with the revelation that Hiruzen had contained the conflicts after Kushina’s death and blocked Danzo and the clans from advancing further.

• The Anbu failed to find Jiraiya, leaving Tsunade without an obvious commander for the five-thousand-shinobi force; she was reluctant to entrust it to Hyuga Hiashi.
• Danzo viewed the force as a chance to earn military achievements and eventually contend for the Hokage’s seat, believing he had to guide Konoha after Hiruzen Sarutobi’s death.
• The chapter explained how wandering shinobi, the Ninja Academy, and the village’s major clans shaped the civilian and clan shinobi factions.
• Hiruzen chose Minato Namikaze as his successor, hoping Minato would represent civilian shinobi while Kushina Uzumaki reassured the clans, and sacrificed Orochimaru’s prospects to make the plan work.
• The plan failed to unite either faction, and the chapter argued that Danzo and the clans had been involved in the circumstances surrounding Kushina’s death.
• Hiruzen continued suppressing the clans after retiring, leaving Danzo unable to reemerge after the Third Shinobi World War.

Tsunade left the urgent front-line crisis to Shikaku and Kakashi while she went to investigate the imprisoned impostor claiming to be Naruto. Meanwhile, Yuun offered Nagato a path to power and showed him manga revealing their world’s events, leaving Nagato willing to hear him out as Yuun explained his desire to enter Main God's Space and grow stronger.

• Hidden Cloud overwhelmed Konoha’s undermanned front line, capturing six strongholds and thirteen outposts and killing more than two hundred ninja.
• Tsunade rejected Shizune’s suggestion to consult the advisors and chose to visit the imprisoned Naruto impostor, trusting Shikaku and Kakashi to manage the front.
• Shizune told Tsunade that neither medical examination nor the Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan had exposed the impostor, who knew Naruto’s private memories and behaved like the real Naruto.
• Yuun met Nagato in Amegakure and offered to make the Hyuga Clan pledge allegiance to him in exchange for joining forces to unify the Shinobi World.
• Yuun used his space-time ability to produce manga depicting Nagato’s past and future, including Yahiko’s death, and Nagato agreed to talk after reading them.
• Yuun told Nagato that learning about Main God's Space had driven him to seek greater power beyond the Shinobi World.

Yuun secured Nagato’s agreement to cooperate with the Hyuga and pursue a broader plan, while Nagato kept the deal secret and sought a meeting with Reinhardt. Meanwhile, Konoha and the Cloud–Hot Springs Alliance fought a major battle, and as the Hidden Mist forces joined the fray, Kakashi faced Darui while other Konoha Jonin tried to stop the Fourth Raikage.

• Yuun and Nagato agreed to cooperate, but Nagato told Nan to keep the verbal arrangement secret from Kisame and the others and to withdraw border intelligence personnel.
• Nagato asked Nan to arrange a meeting with Reinhardt at the high tower, then stopped her from delivering the message herself as the rain intensified.
• Nearly four thousand Hidden Cloud shinobi and several hundred Hot Springs Ninja attacked Konoha’s forces, prompting Shikaku Nara to issue a series of battlefield orders and deploy Kakashi against the Fourth Raikage.
• Mei Terumi received Konoha’s order to commit the Hidden Mist forces and led them toward the battlefield to avenge their humiliation and seek gains in the Land of Hot Water.
• The Fourth Raikage joined the fighting and overpowered Kakashi’s Lightning Cutter, but Kakashi escaped with a substitution; the Raikage then assigned Darui to fight him and continued forward as Konoha Jonin and Cloud shinobi clashed.

Kakashi and Darui fought to stop each other from pursuing the Raikage, while Mabui used her Return Technique to bring Darui back after Kakashi sent him to another dimension. Their final clash left both men paralyzed, and the Konoha and Cloud forces remained locked in a standoff as Konoha moved to rescue Kakashi.

• The Raikage charged ahead while Samui, Oimo, and Karui held back the Konoha Jonin, leaving Kakashi to face Darui.
• Kakashi used Kamui to send Darui to another dimension, but Mabui brought him back with her Return Technique, badly injured.
• Kakashi and Darui exchanged ninjutsu and clone tactics, each evading the other's attempts to finish the fight.
• Kakashi and Darui clashed with Lightning Cutter and Darui's lightning-wreathed sword, leaving both charred and unable to move.
• The Konoha and Cloud forces halted their fight and watched the paralyzed pair, until a Konoha Jonin stepped forward to intervene.

The Fourth Raikage devastated Konoha’s forces before Might Guy challenged him with the Seventh Gate, and the battle ended with Hidden Cloud retreating after severe losses. Afterward, Yuun traveled to Amegakure with his companions, where Nagato’s invitation brought the East Sea Team and West Sea Team face to face.

• Kakashi and Darui’s sides cautiously rescued their badly injured comrades, while the Fourth Raikage slaughtered hundreds of Konoha ninja.
• Might Guy opened the Sixth and then Seventh Gates, struck the Raikage with the Daytime Tiger, and was escorted away after exhausting himself.
• The Sixth Battalion’s elites sacrificed themselves to restrain the Raikage, and Omoi brought him a Hidden Mist forehead protector before Hidden Cloud retreated.
• Konoha, Hidden Cloud, and Hidden Mist suffered heavy casualties, while the Hot Springs Ninja were nearly wiped out.
• Yuun traveled to Amegakure with the East Sea Team and Second Pillar, and Nagato summoned the West Sea Team to meet them.
• Yulian recognized the East Sea Team when the two teams met.

Yuun forced the East Sea Team and West Sea Team to compete for his entry into Main God's Space, while weighing their offers against his desire for a path to keep advancing. After leaving the teams to draft terms, he spoke with Sasuke about his decision to leave the Shinobi World.

• Yuun revealed that he knew about Main God's Space and asked both teams to persuade him to join, offering to eliminate the opposing team first.
• Yulian proposed the West Sea Team's breeding approach, but Sora Kurai challenged it and argued that the Main God might have a purpose for creating Reincarnation Teams.
• Yuun told both teams to submit their best terms in writing, warning that each side would have only one chance to make its offer.
• Honglian took Reinhardt away as a test subject for Orochimaru, with Yuun arranging for him to be returned alive in half a month.
• The East Sea Team gathered to devise its offer, while Yuun and Sasuke discussed Yuun's plan to leave the Shinobi World.