Chapter Summaries

Asuma confronted Nagato on Summoning Island and challenged his plan to impose peace through the Rinnegan, arguing that peace would not last without an enduring guardian. When Nagato warned that he would kill Asuma to protect the Rinnegan’s secrets, Asuma welcomed the challenge and urged him to try.

• After Rin left, Asuma encouraged Uchiha Obito to confess his feelings, while Obito worried that Rin liked Kakashi.
• Asuma learned that Nagato planned to exploit a future Ninja World War to capture the Tailed Beasts, and he considered warning Nagato and stirring up the other villages.
• In Konoha’s fifty-third year, Asuma traveled to Summoning Island and saw Nagato take three more Summoned Beasts for his experiments.
• Asuma and Nagato debated whether Nagato’s plan to use the Rinnegan to frighten the Five Great Shinobi Villages could create lasting peace.
• Nagato warned that he would kill Asuma to keep the Rinnegan’s power secret, but Asuma laughed and invited him to try.

Asuma brought Nagato to the Forbidden Life Zone and fought him to demonstrate the gap between their power. Nagato’s Planetary Devastation failed, leaving him shaken as he asked whether Asuma had seen the Rinnegan’s true power.

• Asuma led Nagato to the Forbidden Life Zone, where Nagato restored his Chakra before their duel.
• Nagato attacked with the Rinnegan’s abilities and summoned Chameleon and Yatagarasu, but Asuma’s Scorch Release overwhelmed his techniques.
• Asuma pursued Nagato through the air and across the battlefield, evading his attacks and striking him with a punch that sent him into a stone wall.
• Nagato used Planetary Devastation to trap Asuma, but Asuma destroyed the Black Sphere with a beam from an enormous Scorch Release Dragon.
• Nagato’s confidence in his strength broke, and he asked Asuma whether he had seen the Rinnegan’s true power.

Asuma explained the origins of Nagato’s Rinnegan and proposed unifying the ninja world to prolong peace. Nagato agreed to join Asuma’s plan, and Asuma began teaching him hidden history before leaving him with a protective mark.

• Asuma told Nagato that the Rinnegan came from Uchiha Madara and explained its connection to the Sharingan, the Uchiha, and the Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines.
• Asuma proposed unifying the ninja world, arguing that even if peace eventually failed, the example he set could encourage future generations to restore it.
• Nagato questioned whether Asuma’s plan would require war and whether it could prevent future conflicts, then decided to join him as a piece who understood the plan.
• Asuma used Genjutsu to teach Nagato some history, then marked Nagato’s shoulder with a Divine Dragon Mark to protect his life.
• Asuma told Nagato to have Konan protect the Kunai he had given her, then vanished.

Asuma rescued Honoka and the Summoning Island researchers from an uncontrollable Summoned Beast, then recruited them to work under his protection. He brought Honoka to his Sage Domain to train her Fūinjutsu, where Kurenai and Shizune noticed her Uzumaki-like hair.

• Asuma received his Shadow Clone’s memories and discovered that his Storm Release Kekkei Genkai had been completed.
• Asuma arrived at Summoning Island and found a giant silkworm-like Summoned Beast rampaging in the laboratory.
• Asuma used Storm Release techniques to cut the beast’s tentacles and pin it down, then put it to sleep with Genjutsu.
• Kawatai, Honoka, and the other researchers agreed to work for Asuma, who promised them funding, materials, and protection.
• Asuma left a Shadow Clone to guard Summoning Island and brought Honoka to his Sage Domain to improve her Fūinjutsu.
• Kurenai and Shizune saw Honoka with Asuma and wondered whether she was another descendant of Kushina’s clan.

Asuma helped establish a large-scale Space-Time Teleportation Array to connect Konoha with the South Sage Continent and support a Sarutobi breeding base. After the first people and supplies arrived safely, Konoha’s leaders agreed to involve other ninja clans in developing the continent, while Asuma proposed encouraging ninjas to have more children.

• Asuma secured Sarutobi Shinya’s support for a Summoned Beast breeding base and worked with Minato, Hiruzen, Kushina, and the sealing team to develop a long-distance teleportation array.
• Kushina became pregnant again, and the array was completed in October of Year 53, earning Asuma experience and raising his Flying Thunder God Technique to Level 9.
• Asuma used the Immortal Tree to send Sarutobi Amayo, twenty-nine other ninjas, and supplies safely to the South Sage Continent, where they built a second altar and received one hundred ordinary clan members.
• Asuma, Minato, Tsunade, Hiruzen, and Shinya agreed that Konoha should enlist the major ninja clans to develop the South Sage Continent and gather resources for the village’s future.
• Asuma suggested that Konoha encourage ninjas to have more children, prompting Shinya to tease him about having more children himself and Tsunade to silently plan to beat him up.

Asuma and Konoha’s leaders planned to broaden recruitment across the village, the Land of Fire, and eventually the South Sage Continent, while building new teleportation infrastructure. On the continent, Yūhi Kurenai tested her Dream Space genjutsu on a village, where she and Shizune rescued the villagers from wild boars and presented themselves as immortals.

• Asuma proposed recruiting talent beyond Konoha, and the leaders agreed to begin with the village, then aid orphans and poor people in the Land of Fire before reaching the South Sage Continent.
• Asuma planted an Immortal Tree and built teleportation altars on Summoning Island and near the Hokage Building as Konoha’s development advanced.
• Asuma, Yūhi Kurenai, Shizune, and Kurama Yakumo entered the village-wide dream created by Kurenai’s Sage Art—Genjutsu—Dream Space, where Kurenai explained how the villagers’ subconscious minds shaped its realism.
• When villagers discovered wild boars ravaging their fields, Kurenai and Shizune defeated the herd with Monster Strength and treated the injured.
• Kurenai told the villagers that she and Shizune were immortals from the Konoha Sage Domain, and the villagers fell to their knees as the two women rose into the air.

Asuma and his allies used a shared dream and a staged rescue to introduce the Sage Domain to the Land of Origins, then learned that the sick Daimyo’s succession crisis could serve their plans. Asuma sent Uchiha Shisui’s team to protect the Daimyo and waited for him to seek treatment at the Immortal Tree.

• Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune appeared during a wild-boar attack, saved the villagers, healed several people, and directed them to the Immortal Tree for help.
• Daisuke and his hunters confronted the sages at the Immortal Tree, but Yūhi Kurenai’s Genjutsu knocked them out and Shizune warned them not to act disrespectfully.
• Stories of the sages spread through Tenbara City, prompting the gravely ill Daimyo Tianhara to send a retainer while Big Prince Shin ordered surveillance of the Uehara Clan.
• Asuma asked his allies whom they should support, and Kakashi rejected helping Shin seize power because it would contradict Asuma’s goals.
• Asuma ordered Uchiha Shisui’s team and Sen to protect Tianhara, while Yūhi Kurenai reported that Shizune had cured Yuanshang Zhong’s pulmonary fibrosis.

First Prince Xin weakened the Miko’s seal, forcing Ziling to flee as the demon threatened to break free. Kakashi’s team discovered the Miko had vanished and tracked the danger toward the Daimyo’s camp, where a massive horde of frenzied beasts attacked after dark.

• Xin used black, white, and purple wolf blood to provoke the demon inside the Miko, who expelled him and sent Ziling to seek help before the seal failed.
• Asuma sensed an evil force in Tenbara City and sent Kakashi to investigate with Yamato, Hyuga Iroha, and Tokaaro.
• Kakashi’s team found Ziling, broke into Miko Palace, and discovered the Miko was gone and the demon had likely escaped; Kakashi then set off with Ziling and Tokaaro while Yamato and Iroha tracked toward the Immortal Tree.
• At the riverside camp, the Daimyo told Aki that Shin had allied with monsters and ordered him to return to Tenbara City as the next Tianhara.
• Shisui’s team spotted danger as crocodiles emerged from the river and a huge horde of wolves and other beasts surrounded the camp.

First Prince Shin and the Miko unleashed a horde of blood-spreading beasts on the Daimyo’s party, but Uchiha Shisui, Rin Nohara, and their allies fought back with powerful techniques. The Miko revealed herself as a Demon Wolf, and Kakashi’s attack split it into two energy creatures as Hyuga Iroha warned that it had no physical body.

• First Prince Shin watched as the Miko’s howl sent beasts attacking the Daimyo’s guards, and blood from slain wolves transformed guards into wolves.
• Uchiha Shisui revealed his squad as Konoha’s Sage Domain, used his Sharingan and fire techniques against the beasts, and warned everyone to avoid their blood.
• Rin Nohara used Samehada and Water Style to control the river, protect the guards from blood, and sweep the beasts into the water dragons.
• The Miko transformed into a gigantic Demon Wolf and caused the remaining contaminated beasts to explode, but Rin’s water dragons contained them.
• Yamato pulled Shin away from the Demon Wolf as Kakashi arrived and split it with a Storm Release blade, after which it divided into two creatures and fired beams at him.
• Hyuga Iroha warned Kakashi that the Demon Wolf was a mass of energy without a physical body.

Kakashi and his allies battled the Demon Wolf, while Uchiha Shisui used Kotoamatsukami to control it. Rather than seal the creature inside the young shrine maiden Ziling, the group called on Asuma, who subdued it from afar and won the Land of Origins’ awe.

• Kakashi’s group fought the Demon Wolf, and Yamato’s Wood Release failed to restrain its energy-based body.
• Uchiha Shisui controlled both halves of the Demon Wolf with Kotoamatsukami and reunited them.
• Rin Nohara explained that the Demon Wolf needed to be sealed and told the Daimyo that Asuma could handle it if the shrine maiden could not.
• Kakashi and his allies rejected sealing the Demon Wolf inside Ziling because she was too young and the seal might eventually fail.
• Asuma’s roots trapped the Demon Wolf and drained it until it shrank to a palm-sized wolf, leaving the Daimyo and his son in awe.

Asuma planned to turn the Demon Wolf into an energy source and used Shizune and Konoha’s warriors to expand their influence in the Land of Origins. Trade between Konoha and Tenbara City boomed, setting off a quiet social transformation that left the Daimyo’s authority increasingly at risk.

• Asuma restrained the Demon Wolf and planned to give it a physical body, seal it in a gourd, and use it as a rechargeable power source.
• Shizune and Yūhi Kurenai examined the Daimyo, but Shizune could not treat his metastatic cancer alone, so Asuma sent a Shadow Clone to destroy the cancer cells with gamma rays.
• After the Daimyo’s recovery, Shizune became the Land of Origins’ resident immortal and took Ziling as her disciple, while Uchiha Shisui and his group left to provide military protection.
• Asuma told Kakashi and the others to cultivate the Land of Origins’ warriors and recruit disciples, aiming to spread Chakra and bind the country’s people to Konoha.
• Kakashi and the others traveled to Tenbara City as merchants and ninja clans from Konoha arrived with goods, which nobles and ministers bought in less than a day.
• The rush for Konoha’s goods drove investment in Sealing Scrolls, shipping, and trade, enriching Konoha and Tenbara City while weakening the Daimyo’s control.

Asuma guided thirty people on the South Sage Continent in learning to extract Chakra, then returned to Konoha with Yūhi Kurenai. Five years of gene analysis finally revealed the Uchiha’s Sharingan information, and Asuma decided to customize multiple Mangekyo abilities.

• Kakashi brought thirty people, including the swordmaster Zhi Yin, to the South Sage Continent, where Asuma used the Immortal Tree to guide them in learning Chakra.
• After three days, all thirty people could extract Chakra, and Asuma left some of his Senjutsu Chakra in their bodies before returning to Konoha with Yūhi Kurenai.
• In April of Konoha’s fifty-fourth year, Asuma learned that the Uchiha gene analysis was complete and examined the scroll containing information about Uchiha techniques and ocular abilities.
• Asuma explained that the Uchiha could not simply learn Mangekyo ocular techniques, and he expected several Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyo.
• Asuma rejected the original plan and decided to customize Mangekyo abilities, arguing that his analyzed genetic information could let him obtain multiple powers.

Asuma absorbed the Shadow Clone’s research and completed his genetic analysis of the Sharingan, enabling him to customize ocular abilities and pass them to his descendants. He then used the Multiple Spiritualization Clone Technique to send seven Spirit Bodies into prepared Clones, beginning the next stage of his plan.

• Asuma dispelled his Shadow Clone and absorbed its memories and Senjutsu Chakra, completing his analysis of Uchiha Sharingan genes.
• Asuma realized he could alter his genes through Chakra to acquire and inherit the Sharingan or Rinnegan, and considered using Impure World Reincarnation on Uchiha Madara.
• Asuma and a Shadow Clone went to the Clone laboratory, where seven Clones awaited, including four without Sharingan that could be used to cultivate Primordial Cells.
• Asuma used the Multiple Spiritualization Clone Technique to create seven Spirit Bodies without affecting his original body.

Asuma’s attempt to create Clones carrying a near-complete Sage of Six Paths genetic makeup failed when their genes began collapsing. He revised the plan, settled on cultivating three stronger Clones, and prepared to alter his own genes with Sharingan and Rinnegan information.

• Asuma’s seven Clones completed their initial gene alterations, but Clone Uka detected that the more complete genetic experiment was causing his genes to collapse.
• Asuma halted the experiment and removed three pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan before the Clones’ bodies deteriorated into sludge.
• Asuma and his Shadow Clone concluded that his cells could not suppress the Sage of Six Paths’ power and planned to use enhanced White Zetsu cells, Uchiha and Ashura genes, and Yang Release to control future Clones.
• Asuma explained that he wanted Clones for the future and planned to use the Spirit Transformation Technique for the Flying Sword Technique, then chose to make three Clones for now.
• Asuma left the Laboratory Base, recalled and replaced his Shadow Clones, announced that he was going into seclusion, and prepared to edit his Sharingan and Rinnegan genetic information.

Uchiha Fugaku revealed that Uchiha Yashiro and he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, hoping to strengthen the clan’s confidence without making them reckless. Uchiha Itachi worried about the clan’s growing pride and its standing in the village, then joined Uchiha Shisui and two new teammates on a mission that began with their transport to the South Sage Continent.

• Uzumaki Kushina gave birth to Uzumaki Kana, while Naruto, Karin, and other young children entered the reformed Ninja Academy.
• Uchiha Fugaku announced that Uchiha Yashiro had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, then revealed his own Mangekyō and praised Itachi for awakening Two Tomoe through his own strength.
• Uchiha Itachi voiced concerns about the clan’s arrogance and possible isolation, and Uchiha Shisui reassured him that Asuma and Fugaku understood the risks.
• Uchiha Shisui selected Uchiha Itachi, Kurama Tenshi, and Sarutobi Sanki for a mission and led them to a guarded facility beside the Hokage Building.
• Uchiha Shisui and the gathered group were enveloped in white light, beginning Uchiha Itachi’s journey to the South Sage Continent.

Uchiha Shisui brought Uchiha Itachi, Kurama Tenshi, and Sarutobi Sanki to the South Sage Continent, where they learned how Konoha ninjas served the Land of Origins. After Kakashi warned them of a samurai coup, the group took up positions in Tenbara City, where a fire at the hospital marked the start of the attack.

• Uchiha Shisui introduced the three rookies to the South Sage Continent and explained its history, people, and connection to the ninja world.
• Uchiha Itachi, Kurama Tenshi, and Sarutobi Sanki completed a wolf-hunting mission and observed how ninjas supported the continent's villagers.
• Uchiha Shisui took the rookies to Tenbara City, where they trained samurai, patrolled, and learned that ninja squads handled many civic duties.
• Uchiha Itachi and Kurama Tenshi suspected ninjas had gained control over the Land of Origins, while Sarutobi Sanki predicted samurai might resist losing their status.
• Kakashi told Uchiha Shisui's group that samurai were planning a coup, and Sarutobi Sanki correctly guessed they would set a diversion at the hospital.
• Uchiha Shisui and Sarutobi Sanki stayed to guard the Sage Palace as a fire broke out at the hospital and someone approached through the darkness.

Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Itachi, Kurama Tenshi, and Sarutobi Sanki fought samurai during a coup in Tenbara City, while Itachi questioned whether the ninjas’ arrival had started the conflict. After Kakashi ordered the captured samurai handed to the Daimyo, Shisui left to report the events to Asuma.

• Uchiha Shisui led Uchiha Itachi, Kurama Tenshi, and Sarutobi Sanki against samurai who attacked and set fires to draw attention during the coup.
• Uchiha Shisui saved Uchiha Itachi from a samurai’s fast Drawing Slash, then helped the rookies defeat more than fifty samurai.
• Uchiha Shisui explained that the ninjas’ rise threatened the benefits and status of ambitious people, and Sarutobi Sanki argued that the samurai had chosen to resist change.
• Uchiha Shisui praised the rookies and told them to meet Kakashi’s group, where Kakashi decided to hand the captured samurai over to the Daimyo.
• Uchiha Shisui left Tenbara City with Uchiha Itachi and the others to tell Asuma what had happened.

Sarutobi Asuma and Namikaze Minato weighed how to respond to the other great ninja villages as Konoha’s expansion made war seem increasingly likely. Asuma decided to create an organization that would provoke Iwa Ninja and Cloud Ninja, buying Konoha time to grow and preparing to infiltrate the Akatsuki Organization.

• Sarutobi Asuma praised Kakashi’s handling of the coup plotters and encouraged Uchiha Itachi, Kurama Tenshi, and Sarutobi Sanki to continue their training.
• Konoha used its control of the Land of Origins to expand across the South Sage Continent, increase ninja training, and invest heavily in research.
• Nara Shikaku warned Namikaze Minato that the major ninja villages might unite and threaten war within a year or two.
• Sarutobi Asuma and Namikaze Minato discussed whether to confront the great ninja villages or prioritize Uchiha Madara and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, while Minato argued for avoiding a large-scale war.
• Sarutobi Asuma proposed creating an organization that collected Kekkei Genkai to distract Iwa Ninja and Cloud Ninja, and Minato agreed the plan could buy Konoha time.
• Sarutobi Asuma ordered his Laboratory Base Shadow Clone to cultivate more Clones so they could cause trouble and potentially infiltrate the Akatsuki Organization.

Asuma completed his Sage Transformation, becoming able to absorb Natural Energy continuously and extending his potential lifespan to three thousand years. The Sage achievement rewarded him with Level 9 Natural Manipulation, which he tested by controlling Natural Energy across a thousand-meter radius.

• On the final day of December in Konoha's fifty-fifth year, Asuma completed Sage Transformation atop the Immortal Tree and declared himself a Sage.
• Asuma discovered his body now processed Natural Energy automatically, contained only Senjutsu Chakra, and had a lifespan limit of three thousand years.
• Asuma concluded that Tsunade and the other women would need at least twenty years to complete Sage Transformation without his help, though the Immortal Trees and his Sage Cursed Seals could assist them.
• Asuma checked his system, gained the Sage achievement, and received the Level 9 Natural Manipulation skill.
• Asuma tested Natural Manipulation on a barren mountain, infecting Natural Energy within a thousand-meter radius and drawing it into the rock beneath him.

Asuma tested his new Natural Manipulation technique and advanced the Spirit Transformation Technique, gaining a Spirit Body that could grow by absorbing Natural Energy. He returned to Konoha for New Year with plans to pursue further power and protect the happiness he shared with Tsunade and the others.

• Asuma animated a mountain into a regenerative Mountain Giant, tested its combat ability, and stopped when its Natural Energy ran out.
• Asuma spent two Skill Points to raise the Spirit Transformation Technique to Level 10 and discovered his Spirit Body could absorb and digest Natural Energy to grow stronger.
• Asuma sensed that he could reach the Pure Land but chose not to go there, then decided to wait for the Rinnegan before improving his space-time abilities.
• Asuma left the Sage Domain, heard Might Guy training, and considered adapting the Sage Cursed Seal for people unsuited to Sage Mode.
• Asuma visited Sarutobi Biwako and Sarutobi Shinya, teased Konohamaru, and returned to the Senju Ancestral Home, where he heard Tsunade and the others plotting in the kitchen.