Chapter Summaries

Sasori marched with the Holy Light Clerics and began to feel curious about the people’s trust in them, then became captivated by their mecha. Meanwhile, Ye Cang took charge of Sunagakure as the Holy Church surrounded the village and deployed two Holy Mecha against its defenders.

• Tai'a spoke with Sasori about family, death, and the Holy Light, while Sasori rejected his beliefs.
• Villagers welcomed the Holy Light Clerics with food, and Sasori wondered why they were not afraid of the troops.
• Chiyo and the elders debated who should become Kazekage before a Sand shinobi reported that the cult had taken control of the Land of Wind and surrounded Sunagakure.
• Chiyo urged Ye Cang, appointed Fourth Kazekage in the crisis, to protect the village as the Sand shinobi prepared to fight the Holy Church.
• Shishu ordered Holy Mecha Fourteen and Fifteen into battle, and the two mecha struck the village’s puppet forces.
• Sasori admired the mecha and told Tai'a he would pilot one someday, even if he had to give up chakra.

The Holy Light Mecha devastated the Sand puppet unit and overpowered Pakura, prompting Chiyo to release Karura as Shukaku. The Holy Knight Corps sealed Shukaku with the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, leaving Karura unconscious and in custody as Shishu challenged the Sand shinobi to keep fighting.

• The Holy Light Mecha blocked the puppet unit's attacks and destroyed its puppets, forcing the commander to order a retreat.
• Pakura attacked the mecha with Scorch Release and Lava Release, but its shields repelled her techniques and its laser cannons grievously injured her.
• At Pakura's request, Chiyo called on Karura, who released Shukaku to fight the mecha.
• The mecha's laser blasts damaged the village wall, and Shishu ordered the mecha to withdraw and the Holy Knight Corps to activate the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation.
• Shukaku's attacks vanished near the formation, and its eight gates drained his chakra and restored Karura to human form.
• Shishu ordered the Holy Knight Corps to take the unconscious Karura into custody and challenged Chiyo and the Sand shinobi to continue fighting.

Shishu demanded Sunagakure’s submission after Holy Light took control of the Land of Wind, and Ye Cang agreed to the Church’s oversight after reading its principles. The village accepted the arrangement, though the chapter left its new order still to be established.

• Shishu showed Chiyo a scroll revealing that the Daimyo had handed the Land of Wind to outsiders and urged Sunagakure to stop resisting.
• Ye Cang rebuked Elder Shaye for demanding a hopeless fight, and Chiyo killed Shaye when he refused to surrender.
• Shishu ordered Chiba to heal Ye Cang with the Greater Healing Technique, astonishing the wounded Kazekage-designate and Chiyo.
• Shishu explained that ninja would keep governing their village but lose legal privileges and submit to the Holy Church’s oversight and Judgment Hall.
• Ye Cang read Holy Lightism and agreed to accept Holy Light’s full oversight, while Hexia welcomed his decision.

Axel led the Holy Light Clerics toward the Three Nations battlefield and ordered them to protect civilians and punish ninja who committed atrocities. Rich’s forces rescued a woman and her children from Land of Lightning ninja, but they could not save her murdered husband.

• Axel briefed the legion commanders and sent the army toward the war zone, ordering them to prioritize civilian safety and rescue.
• An intelligence officer spotted Land of Lightning ninja threatening a woman and her children, and Rich dispatched the Fifteenth Legion to intervene.
• The Holy Light Clerics shielded the family, killed the attackers, and burned away their bodies.
• The legion commander defeated Leizhe, the ninja leader, and learned that the woman's husband could not be resurrected.
• The commander promised the woman that the Holy Church would stay and make life better, while the Holy Light Clerics regretted arriving too late.

The Holy Light Church entered the war between the Lands of Fire and Lightning, prompting the nations to reassess their plans. Rich demanded that the Land of Lightning withdraw from the Land of Fields, while Minato pulled Konoha's forces back and left the Raikage facing the church.

• Raikage A learned that Holy Light Church forces had entered the Land of Fields and ordered Blue B to prepare for battle, while Jiraiya and Minato discussed the growing threat.
• After receiving reports of the church's enormous army, the leaders of the Lands of Lightning, Fire, and Earth held meetings and adopted different plans for dealing with it.
• Minato led five thousand Konoha ninja against Raikage A and Blue B, fighting them until the Holy Light Clerics arrived and stopped the battlefield's combatants.
• Rich accused Raikage A's forces of atrocities and demanded that the Land of Lightning leave the Land of Fields, while Minato offered peace talks and agreed to withdraw Konoha's ninja.
• Raikage A refused to retreat, and Minato's forces left the battlefield as Rich prepared to confront the Land of Lightning.

Rich and the Holy Light Clerics annihilated the Cloud shinobi force, killing Raikage A and capturing Blue B. Minato watched the overwhelming victory and wondered whether the age of shinobi was ending.

• Rich offered Raikage A a chance to withdraw, but A ordered the Cloud shinobi to attack.
• Rich’s forces bombarded the advancing Cloud shinobi with cannon fire, killing most of them and leaving A with only a few survivors.
• Rich blocked A’s Four-Fingered Thrust with his Invincible Holy Shield, then used Holy Sword Judgment to pin and behead him.
• Blue B transformed and attacked the Holy Knights, but their captains knocked him down while the Priests bound him with Chains of Light and restored him to human form.
• The Holy Light Clerics killed or captured eight thousand Cloud shinobi, including their Kage and jinchūriki, while Minato watched in stunned silence.

After the Holy Church destroyed the Land of Lightning’s forces and captured Blue B, Axel’s army arrived at the Earth-Fire battlefield to negotiate with the Land of Earth and Konoha. The chapter left the leaders gathered for talks, wary of the Holy Church’s strength.

• Ōnoki learned that the Holy Church had killed the Third Raikage, captured Blue B, and wiped out eight thousand Cloud shinobi, and he prepared to welcome its forces.
• Axel and Mina discussed using the victory to make the Land of Lightning open its borders to Holy Light Clerics rather than occupying it outright.
• Minato told Jiraiya and Orochimaru that the Holy Church had overwhelmed the Land of Lightning, prompting them to hurry to meet its army.
• Axel halted the Holy Light Clerics before the Earth and Fire forces and led twenty Legion Commanders forward to negotiate.
• Ōnoki and Minato greeted Axel, and the leaders agreed to wait while the Holy Church set up a temporary meeting room.

Axel defended the Holy Church’s intervention in the war by showing evidence of the Three Nations’ harm to civilians and the Clerics’ aid to refugees. The Land of Earth agreed to withdraw, the Land of Fire agreed in principle pending the Hokage’s approval, and Axel announced that the Church would confront the Land of Lightning.

• Axel explained that the Holy Church had intervened to protect civilians, then showed footage of villages destroyed and people brutalized by Ninja.
• Axel played footage of Holy Light Clerics helping civilians, repairing homes, and feeding and sheltering refugees, moving Minato and silencing Ōnoki.
• Ōnoki agreed that the Land of Earth would withdraw unconditionally, and Minato said the Land of Fire would end the war under the Church’s mediation.
• Axel proposed that the three nations establish embassies in one another’s countries, and the Land of Earth accepted while Minato said he needed the Hokage’s approval.
• Minato asked about the Land of Lightning, and Axel said the Holy Church would visit and punish it for its actions in the war.

After the Land of Lightning’s forces were devastated, A became the Fourth Raikage and prepared Kumogakure for an approaching army led by Axel and Rich. The Holy Light Clerics stopped outside the village and used their cannons to blast away the surrounding mountains, leaving the Cloud shinobi stunned.

• Ōnoki worried that the Holy Church’s growing influence could make the Land of Earth a target, while Minato, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru discussed opening embassies with the Land of Rain.
• Axel and Rich joined their forces and marched toward the Land of Lightning as A learned that the Third Raikage had died and Kumogakure’s forces had been nearly wiped out.
• A and Killer B vowed to avenge their father, but the elders appointed A as the Fourth Raikage, and he promised to protect the village.
• After receiving the Daimyo’s warning that an army was advancing, A ordered every available shinobi, including academy students, to prepare Kumogakure’s defenses.
• Axel ordered the Holy Light Clerics to fire their cannons at the mountains around Kumogakure, and their bombardment reduced them to vast craters.

After bombarding Kumogakure, Axel confronted Raikage A with evidence of Cloud shinobi atrocities and demanded terms to prevent another war. A accepted the Holy Church’s conditions under Axel’s overwhelming pressure.

• A gathered Kumogakure’s remaining elite and led negotiations with Axel, while Killer B insisted on accompanying him.
• Axel showed A and Killer B photographs of Cloud shinobi looting, assaulting civilians, and torturing them, leaving both brothers shaken.
• Axel challenged A to consider the families of the civilians killed by Cloud shinobi, and A stopped defending their actions.
• Axel announced that the war was over and demanded that the Land of Lightning accept Holy Church monitors and allow affiliated churches to preach.
• Axel threatened to designate the Land of Lightning an evil nation and pressed the Cloud delegation with his power until A agreed to the terms.

Axel and Rich celebrated their return while Kumogakure and Konoha reckoned with the end of the Third Shinobi World War and the Holy Church’s growing influence. As Konoha prepared to accept an embassy, Madara ordered Black Zetsu to move ahead with their plans in Kirigakure and told Obito his time to repay him had come.

• Axel and Rich celebrated their comradeship, while the Holy Light Cleric commanders praised Axel and Bishop Ria.
• A and Killer B reflected on Kumogakure’s wrongdoing, and A ordered that Ninja who slaughtered civilians be punished without mercy.
• Minato reported the war’s end to the Third Generation and recommended accepting the Land of Rain’s embassy proposal.
• Danzo, Mitokado Homura, Utatane Koharu, and the Third Generation agreed to place the Holy Church’s embassy in the Newly Allotted Uchiha District and leave the matter to Minato.
• Danzo told Orochimaru he would continue supporting his experiments, while Orochimaru abandoned thoughts of becoming Hokage for the pursuit of immortality.
• Black Zetsu told Madara the war had ended and that Kirigakure was ready; Madara ordered him to proceed and told Obito it was time to repay his debt.

After Rin’s death, Obito embraced Madara’s plan to create a dream world and traveled to the Land of Rain to recruit Nagato. He found a prosperous country where Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato rejected his claims, leaving Obito determined to make Nagato experience pain.

• Obito slaughtered the Mist Ninja after witnessing Rin’s death, then agreed to learn Madara’s plan for the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
• Madara passed the plan and Yin Release Ninjutsu to Obito before dying, and Obito set out with Black Zetsu for the Land of Rain.
• Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato discussed how the Holy Church had transformed the Land of Rain and given Ninja peaceful work.
• Obito and Black Zetsu struggled against the Land of Rain’s security forces, which detected and pursued them as hostile intruders.
• Obito approached Nagato and tried to persuade him that he was destined to bring peace, but Yahiko rejected his claims and led the others away.
• Obito watched them leave and concluded that Nagato’s innocence would persist until he experienced pain.

Obito and Black Zetsu escaped the Holy Light Clerics and headed for Amegakure, while Captain Shiyu learned from Yahiko that one suspect had Uchiha eyes and sought Nagato. The incident reached Konoha, where Hiruzen ordered an inquiry and questioned whether allowing the Holy Church into the village had been wise.

• Obito and Black Zetsu fled the cave with Kamui and decided to wait in Amegakure, while Shiyu’s squad followed their trail.
• Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan encountered Captain Shiyu and told him the suspects had Uchiha eyes and had tried to recruit Nagato.
• Shiyu sent word to Holy Church headquarters and arranged for a Silver Moon Priest to treat the abducted villagers.
• An Anbu Ninja delivered the Holy Church’s diplomatic complaint to Hiruzen, who ordered an investigation into Uchiha who had recently left Konoha.
• Hiruzen asked about the Holy Church’s activities in the village and privately considered having Minato take over soon.

Obito and Black Zetsu framed the Akatsuki for murdering Hanzō’s confidants, worsening tensions between Hanzō and Yahiko’s group. Hanzō summoned Qingyu and asked him to bring Yahiko alone the next morning, while concealing his hostile intentions.

• Obito and Black Zetsu decided to kill Hanzō’s aides and blame the Akatsuki to provoke a conflict.
• Obito killed Kanzō and the other Rain Ninja, then used genjutsu to make Gui Chun believe and claim the Akatsuki were responsible.
• Gui Chun reported the killings to Hanzō, who inspected the bodies and ordered Hakai to summon Qingyu.
• Hanzō asked Qingyu about Yahiko and claimed he wanted to pass the Kage position to him.
• Qingyu agreed to bring Yahiko alone the next morning and left excited, unaware of Hanzō’s growing hostility.

Hanzō lured Yahiko away with a false promise and ambushed Akatsuki, while Obito attacked the group and clashed with the Holy Light Clerics Legion. Obito was severely wounded by their combined techniques but used Kamui to evade the finishing strike.

• Yahiko and Akatsuki celebrated after Qingyu reported that Hanzō would make Yahiko Rain Shadow.
• Yahiko and Qingyu found Hanzō absent from the Rain Shadow Building, while Hanzō ambushed Akatsuki and captured Konan.
• Nagato escaped to warn Yahiko, who sent Qingyu to gather reinforcements and rushed with Nagato to rescue Konan.
• Obito attacked Qingyu and the Akatsuki members, but the Holy Light Clerics Legion shielded them and confronted him.
• The clerics forced Obito out of his subspace and a Holy Knight cut him in two, but Obito used Kamui to evade the next strike.

Phil arrived to aid the Akatsuki and confronted Hanzō as he held Konan hostage, but Nagato fell under a genjutsu that made him see his friends being killed. Obito seized the unconscious Nagato and escaped, while Phil promised the Judgment Hall would hold Hanzō accountable and the Holy Church would help recover Nagato.

• Phil healed the injured priests, then agreed to accompany the Akatsuki to rescue their leader from Hanzō.
• Black Zetsu repaired Obito and told him how to use Madara’s contingency, Izanami, to plunge Nagato into despair.
• Hanzō forced Nagato to choose between killing Yahiko and Konan’s life, but Phil arrived and condemned Hanzō’s actions.
• Phil froze Hanzō and bound him and the Rain Ninja with Chains of Light, while Yahiko rescued Konan.
• Nagato saw the chains as killing Konan and Yahiko, summoned a giant monster, and attacked Phil before losing consciousness.
• Obito abducted Nagato with Kamui, and Phil told Yahiko and Konan that the Holy Church would help retrieve him and that Hanzō would face the Judgment Hall.

Obito used Izanami to make Nagato believe Yahiko and Konan had been killed by the Holy Church, then recruited him to master the Rinnegan and pursue revenge. In Amegakure, Phil promised to lead a search for Nagato and urged Yahiko to take over as the new Rain Shadow.

• Obito summoned Nagato from his dimension and discussed how Izanami had distorted Nagato’s perception of reality with Black Zetsu.
• Obito manipulated Nagato’s memories until Nagato believed the Evil God Organization had killed Yahiko and Konan, then persuaded him to join Akatsuki and seek power through the Rinnegan.
• Obito, Black Zetsu, and Nagato left the cavern using Kamui, while Phil brought Hanzō and the other prisoners to the Judgment Hall.
• Konan worried about Nagato, and Phil told her and Yahiko that the Rinnegan could wield immense power but that the Holy Church would search for Nagato.
• Phil urged Yahiko to become the new Rain Shadow, and Yahiko accepted the position so he could rely on the Holy Church’s support in finding Nagato.

Ria and Meli responded to intelligence about Obito and Nagato by alerting the major nations, while Obito learned his abilities had been exposed. In Konoha, Hexia’s squad watched the village celebrate Minato Namikaze’s appointment as Fourth Hokage as Meizi and Or bickered overhead.

• Ria read Phil’s report about a mysterious ninja with Space-Time Ninjutsu abducting Nagato, and Meli agreed to help her sort through the Church’s documents.
• Ria sent intelligence about the mysterious Uchiha to Holy Church branches, and the Kage of the Wind, Lightning, Earth, and Fire countries received it and issued wanted notices.
• Black Zetsu told Obito that the four countries had issued notices revealing his Space-Time Ninjutsu, and Obito ordered him to gather intelligence on Minato Namikaze, Konoha’s incoming Fourth.
• Hexia led his squad through Konoha as villagers celebrated Minato’s appointment, while Meizi and Or argued and sprayed glowing spit at each other.
• Hexia reflected that Meizi had persuaded him to apply for an Embassy posting, delaying the squad’s plans to board a ship by a year.

Hexia and his team attended Minato’s inauguration, then shared a meal at Minato and Kushina’s home. Minato sought Hexia’s view of Konoha and read the Holy Light Clerics’ political philosophy, leaving him newly aware of the village’s deep divisions and the value of practical reforms.

• Hexia and his team watched Minato become the Fourth Hokage and applauded his speech.
• Minato invited Hexia and the team to his home, where Kushina welcomed them and prepared a meal.
• Hexia described Konoha’s internal conflicts, including the treatment of the Uchiha, divisions between noble families and ordinary people, and a hero driven to suicide.
• Hexia explained that the Holy Light Clerics’ unity and political philosophy gave their movement practical goals, then lent Minato a copy of Thought of the Holy Light.
• Minato read the book, praised its ideas, and admitted that Konoha could learn from its guidance on production and development.
• Kushina called everyone to eat, and Minato urged the guests to enjoy her cooking.

After Minato became Hokage, villagers began disappearing in Konoha, and he urged Fugaku to seek help from the Embassy. Fugaku recognized the Embassy’s influence and arrived with two Uchiha companions to meet Hexia.

• Hexia and his team thanked Minato and Kushina for the meal and returned to the Embassy, while Minato and Kushina prepared to celebrate with Jiraiya.
• Danzo told Orochimaru that Minato had become Hokage, and Orochimaru said his Wood Release experiments would yield results the next day.
• Villagers disappeared in large numbers, complaints flooded the Military Police Force, and Minato suggested Fugaku ask the Embassy for help.
• Fugaku reconsidered the Embassy’s power and hurried there with Tiemu and Maple Leaf, telling them to be polite.
• Fugaku mistook Meizi and Or for attackers before recognizing them as Light Spirits, then Hexia welcomed him and led the visitors inside.