Recaps

Minato confronted the badly injured Obito and challenged his claim that he had abandoned his former self and all bonds. Obito escaped with Tobi’s help, leaving Minato to hurry off and Nagato to reflect on what he had witnessed.

• Obito revealed his identity to Minato after the Golden Spiral left him gravely wounded.
• Minato questioned Obito about his betrayal of Konoha and his past dreams, but Obito insisted that Uchiha Obito was dead and that he acted as the world’s hope.
• Minato sensed Tobi approaching and lowered his kunai instead of killing Obito.
• Tobi wrapped Obito in his body, helped restore Obito’s Mangekyō Sharingan, and Obito escaped using his right eye after the Nine-Tails’ summoning contract expired.
• Minato reflected on the danger he had left behind, vanished to attend to other matters, and Nagato put away his crystal ball, thinking that Minato had taken his line.

Shisui and Fugaku helped suppress the Nine-Tails while Danzo and his companion considered how Kushina’s death might affect Minato. After Minato brought the nearly dead Kushina and Naruto to safety, Nagato arrived and restrained the Nine-Tails with powerful Adamantine Sealing Chains.

• Shisui used Susanoo to bombard the Nine-Tails into the Yomi Swamp, and he and Fugaku realized their strength could only suppress it temporarily.
• Danzo and his companion discussed the possibility that Minato would die if Kushina did, unless a third party intervened.
• Minato returned the Nine-Tails’ Tailed Beast Ball to its mouth and teleported it away with himself.
• Minato brought the near-death Kushina and Naruto out of the forest, and Kushina said she regretted not seeing Naruto grow up.
• As Minato prepared to fulfill Kushina’s wish, Nagato appeared and bound the Nine-Tails with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Minato recognized Nagato as his junior brother and a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan.

Nagato used his life energy to save Kushina and challenged Minato to consider the burden Naruto would face as the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki. He proposed that Kaede become the Jinchuriki instead, leaving Minato and Kushina to decide whether to raise her as their adopted daughter and Naruto’s older sister.

• Nagato admitted that he had verbally agreed to help Obito but denied involvement in the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha.
• Nagato revealed that Minato had intended to die with Kushina and seal the Nine-Tails into their son, Naruto.
• Minato trusted Nagato to save Kushina, and Nagato began transferring his life energy to her using a technique he had learned from Granny Chiyo.
• Nagato questioned whether Naruto would be hated as the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki after the deaths in Konoha, and Minato admitted he had not considered the consequences.
• Konan arrived with Kaede, and Nagato proposed making Kaede the Nine-Tails’ Jinchuriki and raising her as Naruto’s older sister.

Nagato persuaded Minato to seal the Nine-Tails inside Feng, whom Nagato and Konan presented as their child, so Naruto would grow up with his parents. The seal succeeded, and Nagato hoped Feng and Naruto would become brothers.

• Kushina recovered after Nagato used the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, and she reunited with Minato and Naruto.
• Nagato argued that children were equally deserving of fair treatment and asked Minato to seal the Nine-Tails inside Feng; Minato agreed.
• When Minato asked what Feng meant to him, Konan declared that Feng was her and Nagato's child, and Nagato went along with her claim.
• Kushina promised to raise Feng as part of their family, and Minato performed the Eight Trigrams Seal with the aid of Senjutsu.
• The Nine-Tails was sealed inside Feng, while Nagato reflected that Naruto could now have a happy childhood with his family and Feng as his brother.

Minato and Kushina accepted Kaede as their child after she became the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, while Minato suspected Nagato had a deeper plan involving the Nine-Tails. After exchanging tokens, Nagato and Konan left Konoha, and Nagato met Orochimaru outside the village to perform Impure World Reincarnation.

• Minato explained that he would raise Kaede as Naruto's twin sister and ask those who knew the truth to keep her identity secret.
• Minato suspected Nagato could use the Rinnegan to summon Kaede and the Nine-Tails, but chose to let Kaede remain with his family for now.
• Minato gave Nagato an official Sword of Shinobi Love, and Nagato gave Minato a marked kunai called Yoroshiku.
• Nagato warned Minato not to reveal his disciple's identity, then he and Konan vanished in a summoning.
• Nagato met Orochimaru on a mountain outside Konoha, where Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation to raise two coffins.

Nagato used Orochimaru’s Impure World Reincarnation to revive Kinkaku and Ginkaku, absorb their Nine-Tails chakra, and restore the life force he had spent saving Kushina. After taking their Six Paths Ninja Tools and eliminating them, Nagato returned to Amegakure with his allies and summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

• Ten days earlier, Nagato told Orochimaru that Tailed Beast chakra could replenish life force and asked him to revive Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
• Orochimaru used two captured White Zetsu as sacrifices to reincarnate the brothers, whose bodies manifested Nine-Tails chakra.
• Nagato used the Preta Path to absorb the brothers’ chakra, restoring his life force and gaining a six-tailed Demon Fox Cloak.
• Nagato retrieved four Six Paths Ninja Tools from Kinkaku and Ginkaku, then extracted their souls and ended their reincarnations.
• Nagato brought Orochimaru, Kabuto, Pain Rin, and Konan back to Amegakure and summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and realized it would return to Obito’s hideout when the summoning ended, leaving Obito able to sever Nagato’s connection to it. Nagato and Orochimaru suspected Obito was transplanting the statue’s Hashirama artificial body onto himself, so Nagato chose to keep the statue summoned for three days while Orochimaru studied it.

• Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and Konan recalled the first time she had seen it save her and Yahiko.
• Nagato realized the statue’s summoning reference point was Obito’s hideout and that Obito could use Kamui to take the statue and cut off Nagato’s access to it.
• Orochimaru and Nagato concluded that Obito had removed the Hashirama artificial body from the statue to transplant it onto himself.
• Nagato said Obito would survive the transplant because of his relentless will, and decided to keep the statue summoned rather than let it return to Obito’s hideout.
• Nagato told Orochimaru to analyze the statue and gather intelligence during the roughly three days his chakra could sustain the summoning.

Uchiha Obito struggled to survive after transplanting all of Madara’s remaining Hashirama Artificial Bodies, while Hashirama Cells consumed his body. After Tobi revealed Nagato’s betrayal, Obito renewed his resolve and fought back against the cells, leaving his survival uncertain.

• Uchiha Obito’s Hashirama Cells multiplied uncontrollably, trapping him inside a flesh tumor and threatening to suffocate him.
• Obito recalled Minato Namikaze’s words about his former dream and comrades, and his hesitation let the Hashirama faces engulf him further.
• Tobi told Obito that Orochimaru had helped Nagato, Nagato had summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and the two had plotted against him.
• Obito realized Nagato had likely planned to let him die and then use Impure World Reincarnation to turn him into a pawn.
• Tobi’s vines wrapped Obito’s face, and Obito’s Sharingan flared as his will tore apart the Hashirama Senju faces.

Konan told Nagato she feared Obito’s growing power and worried that her weakened condition would keep her from helping him. Nagato reassured her that Obito would need time to adapt to Hashirama’s body, while Obito unexpectedly succeeded in acquiring immense power and vowed to defeat Nagato.

• Konan confessed that she feared Obito might attack before her Night Netherworld Spider Lily training was complete and hated being unable to support Nagato.
• Nagato reasoned that Obito would act cautiously after his past failures and would need time to adapt to Hashirama’s body before challenging him.
• Nagato suggested Konan might complete her training before Obito came for them, and Konan hinted that she wanted to become useful sooner as their hands intertwined.
• Obito’s will tore apart Hashirama’s face, causing the flesh to merge into his mutilated body.
• Obito celebrated his newfound power and vowed to set things right by defeating Nagato.

Obito adapted to his Hashirama Artificial Body, implanted Madara’s Sharingan, and devised a plan to kill Nagato and use Naruto as a new Rinnegan host. He left to deal with his body’s newly restored human needs while Tobi asked to take Konan for himself.

• Obito noticed that his Hashirama body had grown taller and stronger, but Hashirama’s face remained fused to his chest and could become a dangerous weakness.
• Obito implanted Madara’s Sharingan into his empty left eye socket, then chose an orange spiral mask and branded a heavy, eyeless metal mask over the face on his chest.
• Obito planned to kill Nagato, take control of the Rinnegan, and later kill Minato Namikaze so Naruto Namikaze could become its new host.
• Obito told Tobi he considered him his only friend, then put on a black robe and headed down the corridor.
• Tobi explained that Obito’s animal-type Hashirama body restored normal metabolism, and Obito admitted he needed to defecate.
• Tobi agreed to Obito’s plan against Nagato but asked to have Konan so he could watch her defecate.

Obito absorbed the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and prepared to train before his agreed confrontation with Nagato. Nagato began using the Mirror Attacker Technique to train against copies of himself, determined to surpass Obito over the next two months.

• Obito agreed to keep Konan alive for Tobi and dismissed Black Zetsu's praise of his increased strength.
• Obito told Black Zetsu he could use Naruto instead of Nagato to revive Madara, then absorbed the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path into his right eye.
• Obito announced he would train to master his new body before settling things with Nagato on their agreed date.
• Number 67 relayed news of Obito's plans to Amegakure, where Nagato used the Mirror Attacker Technique to create a copy of himself for training.
• Nagato vowed to surpass himself repeatedly during the sixty days before his confrontation with Obito.

Nagato planned to defeat Obito alone and force him to become Akatsuki’s public leader, keeping Amegakure out of the Five Great Nations’ crosshairs. At the appointed shrine, Obito appeared before Nagato, who greeted him as Mr. Madara.

• Obito trained relentlessly in Arakawa, combining taijutsu with Wood Release as Black Zetsu and Haku Zetsu discussed his growing power and the risk he posed to Nagato.
• Nagato relaxed in Amegakure’s bath with Konan, who urged him to gather their forces and kill Obito.
• Nagato decided to face Obito alone without the Six Paths of Pain and explained that he wanted to rebuild Akatsuki with Obito as its false public leader.
• Nagato met Obito at the appointed shrine and greeted him, “Mr. Madara, how have you been...”

Nagato revealed how he discovered that Obito was impersonating Madara, and Obito disclosed that Madara had given Nagato his Rinnegan before attacking him. Nagato awakened an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, destroyed Obito’s Wood Release Clone, and countered his forest assault with a powerful Wind Release.

• Nagato told Obito that Orochimaru’s failed Impure World Reincarnation of Obito proved he was still alive, and that Obito’s careless remarks confirmed his identity.
• Nagato explained that he and Konan had rejected Obito’s plan after learning he had lied about being Madara, and Obito admitted he had acted according to Madara’s will.
• Obito claimed that Madara had bestowed the Rinnegan on Nagato and lunged to take it, but Nagato’s right eye transformed into an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
• Nagato pierced Obito’s Wood Release Clone with lightning, then cut it in half after his ocular technique saw through the disguise.
• Obito unleashed Deep Forest Emergence and tried to trap Nagato, but Nagato used Ofutone and the Banana Palm Fan to sweep away the trees with Wind Release: Wind Spirit’s Wicked Play.

Nagato and Obito fought as Nagato used the Banana Palm Fan and his insight to counter Obito’s Wood Release and Kamui. Obito escalated by combining the two powers into Hell’s Wild Dance and sent a twisting mass of trees toward Nagato.

• Nagato amplified a sweeping Wind Release with the Banana Palm Fan, uprooting Obito’s Deep Forest Emergence and forcing Obito to rely on Kamui intangibility.
• Obito charged through Nagato’s gale with Ferocious Cutting Sprigs, but Nagato evaded the spear at close range and nearly reached through Obito’s mask to gouge out his right eye.
• Obito avoided Nagato’s eye attack by turning intangible, then struck at Nagato with a sweeping kick and Earth-Piercing Nails while his wounds rapidly healed.
• Obito declared that his fusion of Senju and Uchiha power had surpassed Madara, then combined Kamui with Wood Release to launch Hell’s Wild Dance at Nagato.

Obito and Nagato fought with Wood Release, Kamui, and Susanoo, while Nagato concealed a counterattack. Nagato left Obito with a permanently crippled right leg, then revealed his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

• Obito unleashed Hell's Wild Dance, forcing Nagato's Crow Tengu Susanoo to the verge of collapse.
• Nagato used Susanoo: Water Body Flicker Technique to escape, then tried to attack Obito from underground.
• Obito exposed Nagato with a Wood Release trap and impaled him, believing he had killed him.
• A delayed explosive tag damaged Obito's right leg, and he discovered that the head he had protected was a wooden decoy.
• Nagato appeared with an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and used Amatsu Ukemikoto to amplify Obito's leg pain and leave him crippled.

Nagato battered Obito, but Obito used Izanagi to recover and trap them both inside an Uchiha Flame Formation. Obito unleashed Flower Tree Realm Emergence and its toxic pollen, forcing Nagato to prepare Planetary Devastation.

• Nagato severely injured Obito and mocked him, demanding that he submit.
• Obito activated Izanagi, then raised an Uchiha Flame Formation to keep Nagato from escaping and threatened Amegakure’s civilians.
• Obito used Wood Release: Flower Tree Realm Emergence, filling the sealed battlefield with toxic pollen.
• Nagato put on a gas mask and began using Planetary Devastation to counter Obito’s technique.

Nagato used Planetary Devastation to seal Obito's Flower Tree Realm, then battled Obito's Kamui and Izanagi assault. As Obito regrew the poisonous forest and lunged at him, Nagato activated Super Shinra Tensei, leaving its effects unresolved.

• Nagato cast Planetary Devastation, uprooting the Flower Tree Realm and drawing the earth and pollen into a massive sphere above the battlefield.
• Obito repeatedly used Kamui and Izanagi to evade Nagato's Shinra Tensei and close in for an attack, while Nagato watched the progress of Izanagi's limited duration.
• After ten minutes of fighting, Obito recreated the Flower Tree Realm to fill the air with poisonous pollen and planned to absorb Nagato before he could seal it again.
• Nagato's Asura Path armor restrained Obito long enough for Nagato to interrupt his Kamui absorption by stabbing his right eye with a Black Rod.
• Nagato rose beneath Planetary Devastation and activated both Rinnegan to unleash Super Shinra Tensei as Obito pursued him in midair.

Nagato unleashed Super Shinra Tensei, destroyed the Uchiha Flame Formation, and used his new Asura Sniping weapon to overpower Obito. With Izanagi nearly exhausted and unable to escape Nagato’s range, Obito admitted defeat and asked Nagato to hear his final words.

• Nagato’s Super Shinra Tensei obliterated Obito, crushed Planetary Devastation, and broke the Uchiha Flame Formation, leaving a vast basin near Amegakure.
• Nagato summoned ten creatures to share their vision and revealed his modified Asura Sniping right hand, while Obito revived using Izanagi.
• Nagato repeatedly shot Obito as he revived and tried to escape, using different chakra-attribute bullets to hit him through obstacles and interrupt Kamui.
• Obito lunged at Nagato, but Nagato transformed his right hand into an Asura Shotgun and riddled Obito with bullets before retreating onto the Yata Crow.
• Unable to fly or escape Nagato’s range, Obito admitted defeat and asked Nagato to listen to words from his heart before he died.

Obito tried to regain Nagato’s trust by revealing Madara’s plans and insisting the Eye of the Moon Plan was real. Nagato agreed to work with him but demanded that Obito rebuild the Akatsuki he had destroyed before he would consider forgiving him.

• Nagato angrily denounced Obito for deceiving him, while secretly hoping Obito would make a convincing case for the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• Obito argued that Madara had proposed the plan and used Nagato’s Rinnegan as proof that Madara had secretly arranged matters before his death.
• After Izanagi expired, Obito began explaining Madara’s history and plans, while Konan learned that Nagato had been intended as a pawn in Madara’s resurrection.
• Nagato jumped down from the Yata Crow and told Obito he would not become a pawn for Madara, but Obito claimed he cared only about activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
• Nagato agreed to join Obito but demanded that he rebuild the Akatsuki he had destroyed before Nagato would consider forgiving him.

Nagato forced Obito to rebuild Akatsuki with ten members of Hokage-level strength before they would cooperate on the Eye of the Moon Plan. Obito accepted and invented a new identity, while Nagato kept him in place to shield himself from Black Zetsu; a month later, the author’s note reported the birth of the author’s son.

• Nagato set the standard that Akatsuki must recruit ten ninja with strength above elite Jonin, and Obito agreed to rebuild the organization as an apology for Yahiko and Akatsuki’s fallen members.
• Nagato and Obito each secretly planned to eventually outmaneuver the other, while Nagato concluded he needed Obito to hold off Black Zetsu.
• Obito rejected continuing to pose as Madara and introduced himself as Senju Kashyapa, a supposed son of Hashirama Senju who had created the Blood Mist Village.
• Obito departed through his right eye’s space-time vortex, and Nagato turned his attention to Konan’s Night Netherworld Spider Lily.
• The author reported that a boy was born on July 30 and apologized for the brief interruption to updates.

Konan began the Cocoon Break ritual after a year of cultivating Night Netherworld Spider Lily, despite severe illness and exhaustion. As the ritual’s pain left her unable to move, she kissed Nagato and begged him to stimulate her so she could stay conscious.

• Nagato watched Konan begin the Cocoon Break ritual at the Amegakure lake, where she revealed a new centipede-shaped scar on her back.
• Nagato recalled how the medicine Konan had taken to suppress sleep had left her gravely ill and weak, and how Orochimaru had warned that the ritual’s pain was necessary to keep her conscious.
• Konan’s scar pulsed and tore open, causing her unbearable pain until exhaustion left her unable to move.
• As Nagato urged Konan to hold on, she regained resolve, kissed him, and begged him to do anything that would stimulate her and keep her awake.

Nagato stopped himself from taking advantage of Konan while the Cocoon Break clouded her judgment, then encouraged her to endure the final trial. Konan awakened her Night Demon, Black Butterfly, and fell asleep in Nagato’s arms, resolved to face her feelings for him when she woke.

• Nagato broke away from Konan’s kiss and reminded her that the Cocoon Break was her trial, encouraging her to believe in her own strength.
• Konan told Nagato to turn her into Pain if she died, and Nagato promised not to let her die.
• Konan tore open the scar on her back and completed the Cocoon Break, awakening her Black Butterfly form and gaining Yin Release alongside her Yang Release.
• Konan dismissed Black Butterfly when exhaustion overwhelmed her, and Nagato caught her as she collapsed.
• Konan fell asleep in Nagato’s embrace, remembering what had happened and deciding to face her feelings for him when she woke.

After Konan woke from the Chrysalis-Breaking Ritual, Nagato wondered whether she had developed feelings for him and resolved to wait for her. Half a month later, Konan suggested they have a child together, leaving Nagato facing her unexpected proposal.

• Nagato carried the sleeping Konan to her bedroom and wondered whether she would remember their intimate moment and whether she loved him.
• Nagato recalled Konan’s closeness with him and resolved to wait patiently for her feelings to grow.
• Half a month later, Nagato prepared a meal for Konan, who asked what Feng was doing.
• Konan watched Kushina nurse Feng and Naruto through the Telescope Technique and suspected Nagato was using Feng to soothe his grief over losing his parents.
• Nagato remarked that he wondered when he would have children, and Konan replied that they should have one together.

Konan confronted Nagato about his love for her, and they cleared up his mistaken belief that she and Yahiko had been lovers. They confessed their feelings and became a couple, and the story jumped ahead twelve years to a new era in the Shinobi World.

• Konan revealed that she had heard Nagato declare his desire to marry her and have children a year earlier, and Nagato was mortified.
• Nagato admitted he had held back because he thought Konan and Yahiko had been intimate lovers.
• Konan explained that she and Yahiko had confirmed their feelings but had never gone further, intending to wait until Akatsuki brought peace.
• Konan confessed that she had gradually fallen in love with Nagato and asked whether she could be his wife.
• Nagato accepted Konan’s feelings, and twelve years passed as the Shinobi World entered a new era.

Minato learned that Team 7’s C-rank mission in the Land of Waves had become a near-disastrous fight against Zabuza Momochi and the Ice Princess, though the team completed its escort. He gave Team 7 time to recover before the Chunin Ninja Exams, which were set to become a major gathering of four great ninja villages.

• Minato welcomed Team 7 after its Land of Waves mission, and Naruto complained that the supposedly easy assignment had nearly wiped them out.
• Sasuke urged Minato to read the mission report, which revealed that Zabuza Momochi and the Ice Princess had attacked Team 7.
• Kakashi explained that Sasuke awakened the Sharingan and helped Naruto injure the Ice Princess with a Rasengan, prompting Zabuza to retreat.
• Kakashi said Zabuza and the Ice Princess never returned, and Minato concluded that Team 7 should rest before the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Minato announced that Konoha, Iwa, Suna, and Amegakure would jointly hold the unprecedented exams.