Recaps

Orochimaru confronted Kabuto Yakushi, who had embraced a chaotic power from another dimension and transformed the Sound Ninja Four into monsters. Orochimaru escaped the destruction of his laboratory and fled Otogakure, determined to investigate the contamination and learn what Naruto Uzumaki knew about it.

• Orochimaru ordered Kabuto to end contact with Madara and Akatsuki, seal the Impure World Reincarnation specimens, and evacuate Otogakure, but Kabuto refused.
• Kabuto revealed that he had received a Chaos Blessing and sent the mutated Sound Ninja Four to capture Orochimaru as a vessel.
• Orochimaru fought off the Chaos Four Apostles, then triggered a chain of explosive tags and escaped with the Reverse Summoning Technique.
• Kabuto survived behind Jirobo's body and declared that Otogakure would become a breeding ground for Chaos.
• Orochimaru emerged from a hidden snake den, gathered important scrolls, and left to find a safe place to study the contamination and learn what Naruto Uzumaki knew.

Kabuto transformed the Chaos Four Apostles and ordered Otogakure's shinobi to receive the Blessing, while Orochimaru escaped into a new body. In the Land of Grass, Orochimaru witnessed the Resistance Army protect civilians and decided to stay and observe Naruto's New Order.

• Kabuto embraced his new power, declared himself the guide of a new world, and ordered Otogakure's shinobi to receive the Blessing or be killed.
• Orochimaru revealed that he had escaped Kabuto by transferring his soul into a clone enhanced with White Zetsu's cells, then set off for the Land of Grass.
• Orochimaru examined a dead Iwagakure shinobi and recognized the wound as damage from a weapon made by the Konoha Arsenal.
• Orochimaru watched a Resistance Army squad comfort an orphaned girl and rescue trapped civilians instead of looting or harming them.
• Orochimaru decided to head to the Resistance Army headquarters and remain in the Land of Grass to study the New Order.

The Resistance Army captured the capital of the Land of Grass after Iwagakure and Kumogakure withdrew, but Sato and Kakashi realized the city was eerily empty and warned everyone to flee. Deidara dropped a gigantic C3 explosive over the capital, leaving tens of thousands of soldiers facing imminent destruction.

• Liao led the Resistance Army’s assault as Asuma and Kakashi supported the troops against Iwagakure and Kumogakure’s defenders.
• The allied shinobi retreated, and Liao ordered his forces to keep formation as they entered the capital.
• Orochimaru watched the disciplined soldiers march toward the Daimyō’s Palace, where Kakashi, Asuma, Sato, and Liao found the halls abandoned.
• Sato noticed that animals had vanished from the city, and Kakashi received Deer Shadow’s urgent warning to evacuate.
• Deidara dropped a huge C3 explosive over the capital, and Kakashi and Asuma fled with Sato and Liao as the soldiers stared up at it.

Naruto Uzumaki saved the capital of the Land of Grass from Deidara’s C3 bomb, but the victory gave way to a new crisis when the city’s civilians became infected by a deadly pollution. As the Resistance Army fell into chaos, Naruto recognized that force alone could not save them.

• Naruto teleported Deidara’s C3 bomb into the stratosphere, saving the capital, while Deidara escaped after knocking away Naruto’s pursuing Kunai.
• Naruto warned Kakashi that the real trouble had only begun, and Sato and Liao led the military police into Daimyō Kusachiyo’s palace to search for the treasury, archives, and Daimyō.
• Sato and Liao found the treasury untouched, then learned that the city’s residents were emerging with identical, lifeless smiles and calling for Naruto Uzumaki’s death.
• The polluted civilians attacked the Resistance Army, and one infected woman killed a soldier who had mistaken her for his mother.
• Kakashi identified the outbreak as an advanced form of pollution, while Naruto realized that violence would accelerate the victims’ deaths and clenched his fists as the carnage continued.

Orochimaru neutralized the spiritual pollution afflicting the capital’s civilians and negotiated with Naruto for access to the contaminated people and a research site. He explained that Kabuto had become a conduit for an abyssal force spreading through chakra, then Naruto asked why Orochimaru was helping him.

• Orochimaru used white snakes and the Five Elements Reversal to draw pollution out of the Smilers, leaving them unconscious but alive.
• Orochimaru placed a stabilizing Curse Mark on a civilian and demanded the contaminated samples and land in the Land of Grass for an observation post.
• Naruto ordered Sato to isolate the unconscious civilians and sent Kakashi and Asuma to guard the perimeter before speaking with Orochimaru privately.
• Orochimaru explained that chakra connections had let the abyssal consciousness inside Kabuto spread pollution through people linked to him.
• Naruto asked Orochimaru why he was helping him.

Naruto secured Orochimaru's cooperation and watched Liao lead the Land of Grass into a militarized new order. Meanwhile, Kabuto revealed an army of White Zetsu and resurrected Madara Uchiha, setting a demonstration against Konoha for three days later.

• Naruto offered Orochimaru access to Konoha's First Arsenal research in exchange for strategic obedience and a ban on human experimentation, and Orochimaru accepted while hinting at White Zetsu as laboratory subjects.
• Liao addressed the people of the Land of Grass as their head of state, promising to defend their dignity as thousands of armed civilian soldiers cheered.
• Naruto explained to Kakashi that Konoha would hire talented people from the Land of Grass, and a Root shinobi recruited a youth for the Hunter unit.
• Obito confronted Kabuto over the failed plan in the Land of Grass, but Kabuto revealed one hundred thousand White Zetsu and several Impure World Reincarnation coffins.
• Kabuto revealed the real Madara Uchiha and declared that the Fourth Shinobi World War could begin, while Obito ordered preparations for a demonstration to Konoha in three days.

Naruto ordered Konoha’s forces to seize the Land of Rivers, while Sasuke departed for the battlefield and faced an army of White Zetsu led by reanimated shinobi. The chapter ended as Sasuke confronted the Third Raikage after he electrified the flooded battlefield and devastated Konoha’s advance unit.

• Naruto ordered Shikaku Nara to secure the Land of Rivers within three days and told him to increase production of Thunder God heavy artillery.
• Sasuke rejected Sakura Haruno’s talisman and Soldier Pills, then left Konoha in a troop carrier.
• Thousands of White Zetsu attacked Konoha’s advance unit at the Blackwater Mudflats, overwhelming its defenders.
• The Third Raikage, accompanied by Biwa Jūzō and Pakura, unleashed lightning through the floodwater and devastated the unit.
• Sasuke crashed onto the battlefield, destroyed nearby White Zetsu, and challenged the Third Raikage.

Sasuke battled the reanimated Third Raikage in his Power Armor, while Naruto discovered that Kabuto had protected the reanimated souls from the Death God’s power. Sasuke summoned his Complete-Body Susanoo and smashed the Third Raikage into the earth, leaving the fight’s outcome unresolved.

• The Third Raikage attacked Sasuke with Hell Stab, but Sasuke blocked the strike with his Power Sword and was driven backward.
• Sasuke wounded the Third Raikage with a reversed-flow slash, but the reanimated body immediately healed; the Raikage then pierced Sasuke’s brief Susanoo ribs with One-Finger Nukite.
• Sasuke used magnesium powder rounds to blind the Third Raikage and retreated into the sky with a dented armor abdomen.
• Naruto tried to return the reanimated souls to the Pure Land, but a purple substance blocked the Death God Chains, so he told Sasuke they had to cripple and restrain the reanimated bodies first.
• Sasuke summoned his hundred-meter Complete-Body Susanoo and punched the Third Raikage into the earth, cracking his Lightning Release Armor.

Sasuke and Naruto defeated the Third Raikage on the Land of Rivers battlefield, while Sunagakure’s defenses crumbled under an overwhelming invasion. Gaara ordered a retreat to A Line of Sky Canyon and prepared to hold the enemy there himself.

• The Third Raikage broke through Sasuke’s Susanoo, but Sasuke trapped him with Amaterasu and opened a breach for Naruto to pull out his soul.
• Naruto warned Sasuke that greater trouble was unfolding in the Land of Wind.
• Temari and Kankuro fought the White Zetsu as Sunagakure’s defenses buckled under the endless assault.
• Hozuki Gengetsu’s explosive Steam Imp devastated Sunagakure shinobi, while Rasa’s gold dust attacked his own village’s younger fighters.
• After a messenger reported that the western defense line and water supply routes had fallen, Gaara ordered Sunagakure to retreat to A Line of Sky Canyon and vowed to hold the line.

Gaara struggled to protect Sunagakure’s retreating civilians from Rasa and the invading forces until Jiraiya arrived with Konoha’s artillery-equipped army. Konoha’s firepower shattered the attack, and Jiraiya ordered his troops to prepare another volley against Rasa.

• Temari led Sunagakure’s retreat while Gaara shielded the rear guard from the White Zetsu army and Rasa’s Gold Dust attacks.
• A group of elderly Sunagakure shinobi sacrificed themselves to clear a path through the enemy ranks.
• Rasa unleashed a Gold Dust tsunami and rained spikes at Gaara, who refused to abandon the villagers he called his family.
• Konoha’s artillery and cluster shells devastated the White Zetsu army, Iwagakure’s Demolition Corps, and Rasa’s defenses.
• Jiraiya joined Gaara, told him Konoha would take over, and ordered his troops to fire a second volley at Rasa.

Gaara confronted his reanimated father, Rasa, and defeated him with the sand that carried his mother Karura’s protective will. As Rasa was sealed away, Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and burned through the White Zetsu army.

• Jiraiya arrived with steel battle vehicles and helped the Sand ninja repel Rasa’s attack.
• Gaara confronted Rasa over his cruelty and called him an incompetent fool abandoned by the old era.
• Rasa attacked Gaara with Gold Dust Spears, but sand instinctively protected Gaara and revealed Karura’s lingering will.
• Gaara used Sand Waterfall Funeral to overcome Rasa’s Gold Dust and seal him.
• Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and used Sage Art: Goemon to incinerate thousands of White Zetsu.

Gaara and Jiraiya’s exhausted forces faced another wave of White Zetsu until Sasori arrived with three hundred armed puppets and destroyed the army. Sasori told Gaara he had come to clean up and keep him alive, but his real goal was to collect experimental materials.

• After defeating Rasa, Gaara mourned the Sunagakure shinobi and civilians who died, then rallied the survivors as another White Zetsu army approached.
• Jiraiya, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro fought for three hours, using up their strength while White Zetsu attacked from the canyon and cliffs.
• Jiraiya exhausted his Sage Chakra with a final Great Flame Bullet, leaving the Sunagakure forces exposed to the advancing White Zetsu.
• The White Zetsu halted in fear as a blue-lit force tore through their ranks from behind, wiping out the army.
• Sasori appeared above three hundred armored puppets and explained that their weapons needed improvements before turning his attention to Gaara and Jiraiya.
• Sasori said he had promised Naruto to protect Gaara, but declared that he had come to retrieve the White Zetsu corpses as experimental materials.

Sasori saved Gaara’s battered Sunagakure forces, insisting he served art rather than Konoha, while General Quan tightened his control over the Land of Rivers’ war industry and private army. The Daimyō plotted with Iwagakure against Konoha, and Quan prepared to confront the palace’s interference while building power for himself.

• Sasori told Gaara he had saved the Sand Ninja to test his new cooling valves, disclaimed loyalty to Konoha, and warned that he would collect the survivors if they became worth something.
• Gaara stopped a Sand Ninja from challenging Sasori, then led his surviving companions away after Jiraiya urged them to keep moving.
• The Daimyō of the Land of Rivers discussed Iwagakure’s offer to grant his country independence and territory if he disrupted Konoha’s supplies and logistics.
• General Quan learned that palace orders had cut factory output, threatened the adjutant, and ordered the foreman leading worker complaints sent to the Purification Camp.
• General Quan inspected his One Mind, One Body Society and dismissed the Daimyō’s interference as he prepared to pay and indoctrinate his soldiers.

General Quan paid his soldiers generously, then led them in violently crushing a mob attacking Factory Zone Seven. He ordered the troops toward the Daimyō's Palace, binding them to his command through their participation in the bloodshed.

• General Quan handed out wages and extra money to soldiers, dismissing his adjutant's concerns about the factory accounts.
• A messenger reported that civilians, stirred up by Daimyō's Palace guards and Kabuto Yakushi's purple seeds, were attacking Factory Zone Seven.
• General Quan confronted the rioters and urged his hesitant soldiers to defend the factory and their livelihoods.
• A wounded soldier charged Xiao Hu, prompting the troops to beat the crowd and guards in a brutal crackdown.
• General Quan ordered his soldiers to head for the Daimyō's Palace and told his adjutant to claim the assault was self-defense.

General Quan used his mechanized forces to seize control of the Land of Rivers, killing Captain Zhang and forcing the daimyō to sign over military and political authority. He reported the takeover to Konoha as a temporary measure and declared that the country would bear the Quan name.

• General Quan led his armed convoy across Chuan River Bridge and ordered his troops to massacre Captain Zhang and the samurai defending it.
• General Quan entered the daimyō's palace, claimed Captain Zhang had rebelled, and forced the daimyō to sign the emergency act transferring authority to his committee.
• General Quan ordered the captured Iwagakure liaison buried and sent Konoha a telegram describing the takeover as temporary while promising increased Bolter production.
• General Quan ordered martial law and continued factory operations, declaring that the Land of Rivers would bear the Quan name.

Naruto chose to support Chairman Quan after his coup in the Land of Rivers, prioritizing weapons production over the former daimyō. As Iwagakure prepared to invade, Quan mobilized heavy artillery for war while continuing his brutal purges.

• Shikage reported that Chairman Quan had overthrown the Land of Rivers daimyō, and Naruto ordered Konoha to recognize the committee and support it as long as production continued.
• Ōnoki learned that Quan’s forces had killed an Iwagakure envoy and fortified the border, so he ordered the demolition corps to prepare an assault.
• Quan approved executions of scholars and former officials, then decided to display the Konoha Friendship Medal as cover for his rule.
• Shikage warned Quan by telephone that Iwagakure was preparing to move, and Quan ordered the First Artillery Brigade to send its heavy cannons to the border.

General Quan’s forces used mines, machine guns, and heavy artillery to repel Iwagakure’s attack at Black Mud Ridge. As the Stone Ninja retreated, Sakai Saburo led his squad out of the trenches to pursue them for a bounty.

• Sakai Saburo ordered his squad to fire on Iwagakure’s vanguard, and a Bounding Mine killed the lead Stone Ninja before heavy machine guns tore through their defenses.
• General Quan ordered the artillery brigade to bombard Kitsuchi’s advancing force with 155-millimeter shells.
• Kitsuchi tried to shield his troops with the Mountain Soil Technique, but the bombardment shattered the barriers and drove the Stone Ninja into retreat.
• General Quan told the First Brigade to pursue the retreating Stone Ninja and take no prisoners, promising rewards for their heads.
• Sakai Saburo led his squad out of the trenches, and the rookie followed him into the attack.

Three hours after the Battle of Black Mud Ridge, General Quan faced an invasion by an army of White Zetsu and defended his position with a devastating artillery barrage. With his ammunition running low, he asked Naruto Uzumaki to raise the price and send Sasuke Uchiha to help repel the next attack.

• General Quan ordered the First Brigade's survivors and the dead soldiers' families to receive generous payments, then rejected Zetsu's offer to join Madara and shot Zetsu when he threatened him.
• White Zetsu broke through the defenses at Black Mud Ridge, and General Quan rallied the troops by warning that the invaders meant to take their money.
• General Quan ordered the Thunder God Artillery Brigade to fire hundreds of shells dangerously close to their own front line, destroying the White Zetsu army.
• Zetsu warned General Quan that the next attack would bring more than White Zetsu, and General Quan vowed to keep fighting.
• General Quan told an officer to ask Naruto Uzumaki for more money and to send Sasuke Uchiha, as the artillery stockpile could last less than two days.

Chairman Quan kept Black Mud Ridge from collapsing by promising supplies and sharing Konoha’s settlement money with his troops. Naruto Uzumaki gave him authority over the Land of Rivers’ postwar reconstruction in exchange for turning its resources into weapons against Akatsuki, and Quan embraced his role as Konoha’s vicious dog.

• Chairman Quan reassured his exhausted soldiers that Konoha’s supply convoy was coming, though he knew their last contact with Konoha had failed.
• Konoha’s convoy arrived with ammunition, canned food, and money, and Chairman Quan gave ninety percent of his settlement to the troops and reserved the rest for the dead soldiers’ coffins.
• Naruto Uzumaki visited Chairman Quan, praised the defense of Black Mud Ridge, and offered him control over the Land of Rivers’ mines, factories, land, and taxes for fifty years.
• Naruto Uzumaki required Chairman Quan to devote the Land of Rivers’ resources and lives to the fight against Akatsuki, and Quan signed the authorization without hesitation.
• Naruto Uzumaki said Sasuke would arrive the next morning to work with Quan, then rejected the title of Majesty and called himself a villain serving someone else.
• Chairman Quan accepted his role as Naruto Uzumaki’s vicious dog and strode into the night as dawn broke over the battlefield.

Sasuke Uchiha confronted his reanimated brother Itachi on Hill Three and unleashed years of anger over the clan massacre and Itachi’s choices. Sasuke resolved to free Itachi and defeat Kabuto Yakushi, Madara, and anyone else who threatened him, then prepared to fight his brother.

• Sasuke arrived at Chairman Quan’s camp, ignored Quan’s taunts, and went alone to investigate a threat at Hill Three.
• Sasuke found Itachi, who revealed that Kabuto had reanimated him using DNA gathered during his years with the Akatsuki.
• Itachi attacked Sasuke under the reanimation’s control, and Sasuke fought back while demanding answers about the Uchiha massacre.
• Sasuke told Itachi he knew Danzo had forced him to act, but condemned him for deciding Sasuke’s path without asking what he wanted.
• Sasuke exhausted himself beating Itachi, then vowed to free him and kill Kabuto, Madara, and anyone else who disturbed his rest.
• Itachi rose to face Sasuke, and the brothers prepared to fight as artillery thundered in the distance.

Sasuke battled Itachi while Quan’s command post came under attack by Deidara and White Zetsu. Quan resisted White Zetsu’s mental assault and killed him, then called for Naruto as Deidara remained overhead.

• Sasuke attacked Itachi with his Power Armor and Chidori, but Itachi’s Susanoo knocked him into a crater and urged him to use the power of his eyes.
• Deidara bombed the Black Mud Ridge command post, killing or injuring many defenders and leaving Quan wounded in the rubble.
• White Zetsu disguised himself as a military doctor and stabbed Quan with a bone spike that filled his mind with corrupting whispers.
• Quan resisted the whispers by stabbing his thigh and burning his hand on hot shrapnel, then shot White Zetsu in the head.
• Quan called for his chief of staff to contact Naruto while Deidara continued circling above the command post.

Sasuke defeated and sealed Itachi, who apologized for trying to control his life before disappearing in peace. As Sasuke headed back into battle, Kabuto awakened Madara Uchiha with Chaos-enhanced Impure World Reincarnation, and Madara charged toward the modern battlefield to challenge the new age.

• Sasuke used his Power Armor and Susanoo to overcome Itachi's defenses, then sealed him with a technique Naruto had provided.
• Itachi admitted he had been arrogant and wrong to dictate Sasuke's path, and Sasuke said he would purge Konoha rather than destroy it.
• Itachi praised Sasuke's armor and vanished, leaving Sasuke to report that Hill Three was clear and fly toward his next coordinate.
• Kabuto awakened Madara Uchiha through Impure World Reincarnation and told him he had implanted Chaos Factor and given him a Warp Blessing.
• Madara saw the modern battlefield's steel weapons and armies, learned that Naruto Uzumaki had transformed the shinobi world, and leaped toward the fighting to challenge him.

Madara Uchiha overwhelmed Chairman Quan's modern army, but a massive bounty drove the soldiers to attack him despite their fear. Madara wiped them out with Great Fire Annihilation and faced the terrified Chairman Quan, who remained alive nearby.

• Madara arrived on the battlefield, deflected a hail of bullets, and hurled a tank into the Land of Rivers troops.
• Chairman Quan refused to let his forces retreat and offered a personal bounty of five hundred million ryo for Madara's death or even a piece of his flesh.
• The soldiers rallied for the bounty and charged Madara, who saw their greed and awakened his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
• Madara used Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation to engulf the advancing troops, tanks, and battlefield defenses.
• Madara stood amid the scorched wreckage and looked toward Chairman Quan, who was still alive but too terrified to flee.

General Quan defied Madara Uchiha despite overwhelming odds, and Naruto arrived just before Madara could kill him. Naruto praised Quan’s courage and stepped forward to face Madara as his complete Susanoo rose over Black Mud Ridge.

• Madara Uchiha destroyed the Land of Rivers’ tanks, and General Quan ordered the remaining artillery to bombard his own position along with Madara.
• The bombardment left General Quan badly wounded but did not harm Madara, so Quan crawled toward him, mocked his long hair, and ordered his adjutant to retreat with the surviving men and share his savings with them.
• As Madara reached for Quan, Naruto Uzumaki appeared and knocked Madara’s Black Rod away with a golden shock wave.
• Naruto healed Quan and praised his defiance, while Quan admitted his guns had been powerless against Madara.
• Madara summoned his complete Susanoo and challenged Naruto’s New Order to withstand the old era.

Naruto fought Madara in close combat and then countered his Wood Release with a technique that liquefied the ground, but Kabuto forced Madara to retreat before the battle could continue. At Black Mud Ridge, General Quan survived and gave the promised five hundred million ryō to his soldiers, while Naruto suspected Kabuto had a larger plan.

• Naruto broke into Susanoo and fought Madara at close quarters, trading brutal attacks until they fell from the shattered giant.
• The soldiers mourned General Quan and argued over his five hundred million ryō, but Quan emerged alive, confirmed the money was theirs, and ordered them to share it with the fallen men's families.
• Naruto and Madara resumed their fight with Fire Release, Wind Release, and Wood Release techniques, and Naruto used Crust Liquefaction: Structural Collapse to sink Madara's giant trees.
• Kabuto Yakushi took control of Madara and forced him to use Reverse Summoning, ending the fight and withdrawing the White Zetsu army.
• Naruto told Sasuke he had not pursued Madara because Kabuto's caution suggested he had a larger plan.