Chapter Summaries

Black Zetsu persuaded He Wu and the Second Raikage to cooperate against the Land of Flame by revealing Uchiha Izuna’s occupation of Thunderwind City and offering a way to move Kumogakure forces underground. He Wu accepted a plan to seize Thundercloud City and attack the enemy army from behind, while Black Zetsu secretly hoped the battle would help him manipulate Uchiha Madara.

• The Second Raikage attacked Black Zetsu in Thunderlight City’s conference hall, but Black Zetsu evaded him by slipping underground.
• He Wu stopped the Second Raikage and heard Black Zetsu’s offer to help Kumogakure fight the Uchiha Clan and the Land of Flame.
• Black Zetsu revealed that Uchiha Izuna had captured Thunderwind City and blocked the reinforcement route to Thundercloud City.
• Black Zetsu demonstrated that White Zetsu could carry people quickly underground and proposed sending five thousand Kumogakure ninja to capture Thundercloud City.
• He Wu accepted Black Zetsu’s plan to use Thundercloud City as a base for a surprise attack and pincer movement against the Land of Flame’s army.
• Black Zetsu privately hoped Uchiha Izuna or Uchiha Enkō would die so he could steer Uchiha Madara toward the Moon’s Eye Plan.

The Second Raikage led Kumogakure’s forces in a surprise attack on Thundercloud City, but Uzuki Riten’s defenders stopped their advance with a powerful barrier and arrow volleys. As the attackers retreated under heavy losses, the Second Raikage unleashed his Blue Demonic Flame, leaving Uzuki Riten facing an ominous threat.

• Black Zetsu delivered the Kumogakure ninja near Thundercloud City, and the Second Raikage ordered them to attack.
• Uzuki Riten spotted the approaching enemy and raised the alarm, then activated the city’s barrier.
• The Second Raikage’s Lightning Release: Ten Thousand Lightning failed to break the barrier, and the defenders’ arrow volleys killed hundreds of attackers.
• The Second Raikage ordered his forces to retreat while he stayed behind, then unleashed the Blue Demonic Flame.
• Uzuki Riten watched the flames spread toward him and realized he was in danger.

The Second Raikage used Matatabi’s power to destroy much of Thundercloud City’s wall, but Uzuki Riten fired an Uchiha Cannon that blasted him away. The Second Raikage survived, defeated Uzuki Riten in close combat, and turned to face a charging member of the Taketori Clan.

• The Second Raikage transformed into Matatabi and fired a Tailed Beast Ball that demolished nearly half of Thundercloud City’s wall.
• Uzuki Riten fired an Uchiha Cannon from the ruins, blasting the Second Raikage hundreds of meters away before the Dragon Vein Chakra exploded.
• The Second Raikage emerged from the smoke, survived the blast, and charged at Uzuki Riten after assessing the Uchiha Cannon.
• Uzuki Riten’s sword strikes failed to penetrate the Second Raikage’s Lightning Armor, and the Raikage struck him hard enough to send him flying and spitting blood.
• The Kumogakure ninja stormed the wall and overwhelmed the defenders as the Second Raikage advanced toward Uzuki Riten.
• A member of the Taketori Clan shoulder-checked the Second Raikage in midair, and the two landed facing each other.

Chikuma fought the Second Raikage to let Uzuki Riten escape, then appeared to die after a desperate battle. He briefly revived, killed several Kumogakure ninja, and triggered the overheated Uchiha Cannon, whose explosion engulfed the battlefield as he thanked Enkō.

• The Second Raikage overpowered Chikuma, but Uzuki Riten wounded him with a sword strike and was thrown back alongside Chikuma.
• Chikuma swallowed a Hero's Pill, pinned the Second Raikage against a wall, and urged Uzuki Riten to flee with a message for Enkō.
• After Uzuki Riten escaped, the Second Raikage fatally battered Chikuma and ordered his body buried while Kumogakure secured the battlefield.
• Chikuma recalled how Enkō and the Flame Hidden Village had accepted the Taketori Clan as people rather than mere weapons.
• Chikuma revived and killed several Kumogakure ninja before collapsing onto the Uchiha Cannon, which exploded as he thanked Enkō.

The Fire Daimyo warned the Lightning Daimyo about the Uchiha while offering costly assistance, but the Lightning Daimyo refused. As Lightning Country’s forces overwhelmed the Land of Flame army, Enkō assigned troops to hold the front and rear before vowing to kill the Raikage’s son, who wielded a Tailed Beast’s power.

• The Fire Daimyo warned the Lightning Daimyo not to underestimate the Uchiha and offered help, but the Lightning Daimyo refused and lost their Go game.
• Lightning Country sent another 250,000 soldiers, leaving the Land of Flame army severely outnumbered as Kumogakure retook Thundercloud City.
• Enkō ordered his second brother to guard Thunderwind City and sent Uzuki Kaze and General Bai Ling with 100,000 men to capture Lightning City and hold off the southern army for seven days.
• Enkō told the recovering Uzuki Riten that he would handle the Kumogakure ninja in Thundercloud City.
• Uzuki Riten warned Enkō that the enemy leader was the Raikage’s son and had mastered the power of the Tailed Beasts, and Enkō vowed to kill him if he returned to Kumogakure alive.

The Second Raikage resented the Lightning Daimyo’s order for Kumogakure to support the army, but agreed to delay his attack until the main force engaged. As he led more than three thousand ninja toward Thunderwind City, a lone swordsman blocked their path on Long Pavilion Street.

• The Second Raikage rejected Darui’s objections and ordered Kumogakure to follow the Daimyo’s command while waiting for the Lightning Country army to draw the Land of Flame’s fire.
• Black Zetsu warned the Second Raikage that Uchiha Enkō might assassinate him and advised him to detour toward Thunderwind City and target Uchiha Izuna, but the Second Raikage drove him away.
• Four days later, the Second Raikage led more than three thousand ninja toward Thunderwind City along Long Pavilion Street.
• The Second Raikage ordered the formation to halt when he spotted a lone figure standing ahead, holding the pass alone.

Enkō confronted the Second Raikage alone and overwhelmed him with a brutal sequence of sword strikes, a kick, and a Rasengan. The Second Raikage survived by transforming into Tailed Beast Chakra Stage Two, while Enkō began forming a black skeletal Susanoo-like defense for the next clash.

• Enkō blocked the Kumogakure army on Long Pavilion Street, and the Second Raikage put on specially forged bracers before ordering Othello and the other ninja to stand back.
• Enkō struck the Second Raikage’s bracers with Cold Edge and sent him flying, then caught up and kicked him through the roadside forest.
• Enkō threw Cold Edge at the Second Raikage and used Flying Thunder God to appear before him with a Rasengan.
• The Second Raikage’s Lightning Armor vanished under Dojutsu: Kagami no Mitama, and Enkō’s Rasengan blasted him across the ground.
• The Second Raikage erupted from the dust in Tailed Beast Chakra Stage Two and challenged Enkō, who sheathed Cold Edge and began manifesting black bones amid blue Lightning Armor and flames.

Enkō overwhelmed the Second Raikage in battle, but the unconscious Raikage let the Two-Tails Matatabi take control. After Matatabi crushed Enkō beneath her paw, a black-scaled serpent rose from the storm of natural energy and hurled her aside.

• The Second Raikage attacked Enkō with his Tailed Beast transformation, but Enkō's Susanoo and Lightning Armor blocked his blows and countered with a barrage of strikes.
• The Second Raikage fired a Tailed Beast Ball, but Enkō caught it and threw it back, then continued pummeling him through the air.
• The Second Raikage lashed Enkō with his tail, but Enkō grabbed it and smashed him into a crater, leaving him unconscious.
• The Two-Tails Matatabi took control of the unconscious Second Raikage, emerged in a berserk state, and crushed Enkō beneath her paw.
• A surge of natural energy lifted Matatabi and threw her aside as a black-scaled serpent rose at the center of the storm.

Enkō and Mad Fang fought the Two-Tails, combining Sage Art and Susanoo to unleash a devastating attack that obliterated Long Pavilion Street. The Second Raikage emerged as the apparent sole survivor, only to hear someone approaching behind him.

• Mad Fang used Sage Art to stop the Two-Tails’ charge and struck it with his tail while Enkō joined the attack with a Great Fireball.
• The Two-Tails prepared a Tailed Beast Ball, and Enkō covered Mad Fang in black Susanoo armor.
• Mad Fang and Enkō launched Sage Art: False Beast's Calamity, colliding with the Two-Tails’ Tailed Beast Ball and leveling the surrounding land.
• The blast destroyed Long Pavilion Street and killed the shinobi caught in its path.
• The Second Raikage crawled from the rubble, believed himself the sole survivor, and heard slow footsteps approaching behind him.

Enkō defeated the Second Raikage, extracted the Two-Tails, and learned that Black Zetsu had helped the Lightning Country reach Thundercloud City. He returned to Lightning City during its desperate siege and summoned the Two-Tails, leaving the Lightning Country's army facing a devastating threat.

• Enkō gave the dying Second Raikage a pill to keep him alive, pinned him to the ground, and prepared to extract the Two-Tails.
• The Second Raikage revealed that a hidden man with a grudge against Enkō's clan had helped the Lightning Country; Enkō recognized him as Black Zetsu and extracted the Two-Tails.
• The Lightning Country's army continued its four-day assault on Lightning City, while General Bai Ling and Uzuki Kaze led the exhausted defenders.
• Enkō returned to the city wall, caught an arrow aimed at General Bai Ling, and leaped into the battlefield.
• Enkō summoned the Two-Tails before the Lightning Country's army, and its commander realized the Lightning Country was finished.

Tobirama and Konoha's leaders debated aiding Lightning Country as the Uchiha Clan's invasion advanced, and a report of Uchiha shinobi attacking the Land of Fire's border defenses pushed Hashirama to place Konoha on war readiness. Tobirama then revealed he had arranged the attack to force Hashirama's hand, and the Land of Fire formally declared war on the Land of Flame.

• Tobirama completed a jutsu with Uzumaki Ashina, who warned it could only deal with one of the three Uchiha brothers and would lose its usefulness once exposed.
• Tobirama read a report describing Uchiha Enkō and Uchiha Izuna's victories in Lightning Country and urged Hashirama to act.
• Tobirama, Ise Uzumaki, and Hyuga Yuto supported aiding Lightning Country, while Hashirama hesitated over joining the war.
• Toka Senju delivered news that Uchiha Clan shinobi had attacked the Land of Fire's border defenses, and Hashirama ordered Konoha to enter a state of war readiness.
• Tobirama learned that his Anbu operative had carried out the attack without being identified, then admitted he had pushed Hashirama to act.
• In the autumn of Flame Hidden Village Year Five, the Land of Fire formally declared war on the Land of Flame.

The Lightning Daimyo and the First Raikage rallied the demoralized Lightning Country army, but admitted they needed reinforcements to withstand the Land of Flame. As several other nations declared war, the First World War erupted, while a shadowy figure ordered someone to retrieve a traitor.

• The Lightning Daimyo addressed Thunderclap City’s frightened army and promised to fight alongside them.
• The First Raikage spoke of his son’s death, declared he would never surrender, and summoned lightning to restore the troops’ confidence.
• The First Raikage told the Lightning Daimyo they could not hold off Uchiha Enkō without reinforcements, and the Daimyo revealed he had sought aid beyond the Land of Fire.
• The Water Country declared war on the Land of Flame, and Izuna and Enkō welcomed the escalation.
• The Land of Earth and the Land of Wind also declared war, bringing about the First World War.
• In a cave, an unseen figure ordered Granny to bring back a traitor.

Hashirama recovered his resolve to lead the war after Mito comforted him, while Tobirama planned to divide the Senju forces across three fronts. At sea, Hozuki Gengetsu’s fleet was intercepted by the Funato Clan, which moved to delay Kirigakure’s reinforcements.

• Mito reassured Hashirama that his failures did not erase what he had built, and Hashirama vowed to end the war.
• Tobirama proposed splitting the Senju forces, with Toka and himself leading attacks against the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth while Hashirama led the main force against the Land of Flame.
• Tobirama hinted that a powerful ninjutsu would make up for the Senju forces’ lack of numbers, then left to prepare for war.
• Hozuki Gengetsu led Kirigakure’s fleet toward the Lightning Country to avenge Byakuren and rescue Shuiwu.
• Funato Tenzui ordered his fleet to surround and harass Kirigakure’s ships, aiming to delay them at sea for half a month.

Konoha's Surprise Attack Unit captured Iwagakure's Demolition Corps with a genjutsu, while the Hyuga Clan devastated Sunagakure's Puppet Corps. As Reto chose to wait for the other fronts to weaken Konoha, Uchiha Madara set out toward the village gates with Uchiha forces behind him.

• Zhen led Iwagakure's Demolition Corps into an apparent ambush, but the Kurama Clan trapped all eight members in a genjutsu, and Konoha's captain ordered the prisoners captured alive.
• The Hyuga Clan countered Sunagakure's Puppet Corps with the Byakugan, captured several puppeteers, and forced Monzaemon to use Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets to protect the remaining force.
• Reto lamented the loss of more than ten puppets and several puppeteers, then decided Sunagakure should wait for its allies rather than launch a costly full-scale assault.
• Madara read a letter from his younger brothers, took the Uchiha Clan head's war fan, and walked toward the village gates as figures with Sharingan followed him.

Inuzuka Lang joined Senju Jingzhen’s S-rank mission to harass the Land of Flame’s supply lines, expecting to avoid the Uchiha Clan’s elite fighters. As the group advanced, they encountered eight approaching Uchiha, leaving Senju Jingzhen alarmed and the team facing an unexpected battle.

• Inuzuka Lang set out with Bluetooth to join Senju Jingzhen’s mission team, which included several well-connected newcomers.
• Senju Jingzhen warned the group to follow his orders and explained the dangers of fighting Uchiha with the Sharingan.
• The team rested, then resumed its journey toward the Land of Flame’s supply line with greater caution.
• Bluetooth sensed eight people approaching, and Inuzuka Lang realized they were moving too fast to be ordinary opponents.
• Senju Jingzhen recognized the eight figures as Uchiha Clan members and wondered why so many were away from the front lines.

Uchiha Setsuna led an elite Uchiha guard unit escorting valuable equipment, believing Konoha might send a powerful squad to ambush them. After his unit slaughtered a mostly inexperienced Konoha raiding party, Setsuna resumed the convoy’s journey, unaware that its cargo consisted of nearly twenty Uchiha Cannons.

• Kakuzu warned Setsuna that Enkō had predicted a dangerous Konoha ambush and convinced him that he was the best person to lead the escort.
• When scouts reported enemies ahead, Setsuna took seven of his nine Uchiha guards to confront the Konoha squad while two stayed behind to protect against a diversion.
• Setsuna and his guards discovered that the Konoha attackers were mostly rookies and killed nearly all of them in a one-sided battle.
• Senju Jingzhen used a Great Waterfall Technique to scatter both sides, and Setsuna stopped his squad from pursuing the survivors, Jingzhen and Inuzuka Lang.
• Setsuna returned to the convoy, confirmed its cargo was safe, and urged it onward toward the main camp with nearly twenty Uchiha Cannons in tow.

Senju Jingzhen returned from a failed mission and revealed that an Uchiha unit had destroyed his squad while escorting a powerful weapon. Hashirama and Nara Shikaku identified the threat too late, and Uchiha Madara’s forces launched a devastating cannon attack on Konoha’s camp.

• Senju Jingzhen collapsed at the camp gates and told the guards to inform Hashirama before fainting.
• Nara Shikaku told Hashirama that an elite Uchiha unit had killed eight members of Jingzhen’s squad and likely escorted the Land of Flame’s city-destroying weapon.
• Hashirama and Nara Shikaku planned to search for the weapon, but Hashirama sensed danger as Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Hono prepared the Uchiha Cannons nearby.
• Uchiha Hono fired a cannon shot that tore through Konoha’s camp, destroying dozens of tents and creating a massive trench.
• Hashirama ordered the camp’s ninjas to gather, then saw six more purple beams heading toward them.

Madara used the Uchiha Cannons to break through Hashirama’s defenses and force the Land of Fire army to retreat. As Hashirama stayed behind to cover them, Uchiha clans waited along the army’s only escape route.

• Hashirama summoned Fivefold Rashomon to block the first volley from the Uchiha Cannons, then ordered the shinobi to retreat.
• Madara infused an Uchiha Cannon with Susanoo Power and fired a blue-violet beam that destroyed the gates and killed several shinobi.
• Hashirama identified Madara’s power in the attack and used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to blunt another beam while the army withdrew.
• Hashirama stayed behind to hold off further attacks, and Madara predicted that he would leave his subordinates to face the enemy after he departed.
• Uchiha clans waited along the Land of Fire army’s only retreat route, ready to ambush the fleeing forces.

Enkō planned to finish the Land of Flame’s campaign against the Lightning Country while sending Izuna to strike the Water Country’s homeland. He warned Izuna to await word because Hashirama and Big Brother’s battle might erupt during the war.

• Izuna read a letter reporting that Big Brother had repelled Senju Hashirama and that the Chinoike Clan and Human Bomb corps had inflicted heavy losses on Konoha’s forces.
• Enkō explained that he had been gradually wearing down the Lightning Country’s defenders and proposed that Izuna attack the Water Country while its main forces were occupied at sea.
• Enkō planned to use Lightning Country prisoners in the campaign by promising them military merit and a return home if they fought the Water Country.
• Izuna agreed to go and told Enkō to be careful as Enkō remained to deal with the Lightning Country.
• Enkō told Izuna to await his message, predicting that Hashirama and Big Brother’s battle would erupt during the war.

With Thunderclap City’s defenses broken, the Lightning Daimyo and First Raikage prepared for a final battle against the Land of Flame. Enkō’s forces spread a recruitment offer through the city, sowing distrust between Kumogakure’s ninja and the Lightning Country’s soldiers and leaving the defenders with no way to fight safely.

• The Lightning Daimyo asked the First Raikage about their chances, then ordered that he would personally lead the troops out to fight the Land of Flame the next morning.
• Nearly a hundred Land of Flame figures approached Thunderclap City at night and threw kunai carrying notes into the city before withdrawing.
• The general on duty read a note and realized the enemy had spread a message throughout the city.
• The Lightning Daimyo showed the First Raikage the offer inviting Kumogakure’s ninja to join the Land of Flame in exchange for bringing soldiers’ heads from the battlefield.
• The First Raikage recognized the offer as a scheme that could make soldiers fear their ninja allies, while the Lightning Daimyo had no way to break it.
• Enkō watched Thunderclap City from the Land of Flame’s camp and praised victory through strategy.