Chapter Summaries

Sasuke Uchiha left Konoha and continued to embrace the dark power that was eroding his emotions as he traveled through the borderlands. Konoha prepared to track and contain him, while Orochimaru sought a new person to tempt and Pain dismissed Zetsu’s report.

• Sasuke traveled alone through the Land of Fire, felt the dark power numbing his emotions, and resolved to master it and seek answers on his own.
• Gray Fang reported that Sasuke was adapting quickly to the dark power, and Tsunade authorized forcible containment if he became fully controlled or threatened others.
• Tsunade ordered increased monitoring and treatment for Itachi, hoping he could explain how to stop the power once he woke.
• Orochimaru sensed Sasuke using the dark power and began sending a more targeted message toward a potential new vessel.
• Zetsu told Pain that Sasuke had defected and was using the Sacred Lord’s power, but Pain ordered him to focus on the tailed beasts and the Eye of the Moon plan.
• Sasuke sheltered in a rock hollow and trained to control the dark chakra, gaining power as his inner coldness and emptiness deepened.

Obito, posing as Madara, offered Sasuke a place in the Akatsuki, promising power, answers about the Uchiha, and help controlling his dark chakra. Sasuke accepted and vanished with him through a space-time distortion.

• Sasuke struggled to control the dark chakra surging through him in a cave.
• Obito appeared and taunted Sasuke about his flight from Konoha and his struggle with the power.
• Obito claimed to know the truth about the Uchiha Clan and introduced himself as Madara Uchiha.
• Obito invited Sasuke to join the Akatsuki and promised to help him control his chakra and gain power.
• Sasuke accepted the offer, and Obito transported them away.

Sasuke trained under Tobi at an Akatsuki hideout, learning to control his dark chakra while becoming colder and more withdrawn. Tobi then assigned him to capture Yugito, the Two-Tails’ jinchūriki, with Zetsu and Kisame assisting.

• Tobi brought Sasuke to a temporary Akatsuki hideout in the Land of Rain and showed him a bare room.
• Tobi assessed Sasuke’s dark chakra and used his own chakra to calm it, then taught him control and meditation techniques.
• Sasuke trained for several days, improving his control and developing stronger Dark Lightning as his demeanor grew colder.
• Zetsu reported that Konoha was searching for Sasuke and that Itachi remained in a deep coma.
• Tobi assigned Sasuke to capture Yugito near the Land of Lightning, with Zetsu and Kisame assisting.
• Sasuke accepted the mission and asked when they would leave.

Sasuke and Kisame confronted Yugito at the Land of Lightning’s border, where Sasuke used his dark power to defeat her and destabilize the Two-Tails’ seal. The distant clash stirred the darkness sealed within Itachi at Konoha Hospital, and Ling sensed a faint disturbance.

• Sasuke located Yugito with Kisame and Zetsu and attacked her with dark lightning.
• Sasuke’s dark chakra eroded Yugito’s attacks and tailed beast chakra, leaving her on the defensive.
• As Yugito prepared to fully transform, Sasuke struck her seal with Dark Release: Soul-Devouring Seal and left her unconscious.
• Kisame praised Sasuke’s power while Zetsu began preparing to seal Yugito, and Sasuke left the valley.
• At Konoha Hospital, Itachi’s fingers twitched as the sealed darkness sent out a faint ripple, which Ling sensed.

Ling and Ino discovered that the Sacred Lord’s dark power had an internal network that senjutsu chakra could disrupt. Their experiment triggered a resonance with Itachi’s seal, and Ling sensed Sasuke using dark power intensely in the northwest.

• Ling warned Tsunade that Sasuke’s use of dark power resonated with the source sealed inside Itachi, and Tsunade assigned him to monitor and research the seal.
• Ling tested the dark residue from Deidara’s self-detonation and found that senjutsu chakra could purify it, though the residue resisted and adapted to repeated methods.
• Ino joined Ling’s research, and her mental probing revealed that the dark power contained energy nodes and pathways resembling a primitive network.
• Ling precisely struck several nodes with senjutsu chakra, weakening the residue and causing a brief disturbance in Itachi’s sealed source.
• Ling sensed Sasuke using dark power on an unprecedented scale and detected a general direction to its source in the northwest.

Ling’s detection led a Konoha squad northwest to Sasuke’s trail, where they discovered his recent battle and followed him into a trap. Obito trapped them in a barrier with waves of dark-energy monsters and prepared to test Ling.

• Ling told Tsunade and the Konoha High Command that Sasuke’s dark power had flared far to the northwest, and Tsunade sent Kakashi, Ling, Ino, Shino Aburame, and Tokuma Hyuga to find him.
• Sasuke killed a group of missing-nin while testing his dark lightning, and Zetsu watched without warning him that Konoha was approaching.
• The squad found the battlefield and confirmed Sasuke had recently passed through, then followed his traces deeper into the rocky desert.
• The squad triggered a Composite Barrier that disrupted their perception and communications as dark-energy Shadow Monsters attacked them.
• Obito appeared above the trapped squad and prepared a concentrated burst of dark energy for a test aimed at Ling.

Ling and the Konoha squad fought their way through a barrier that strengthened itself by absorbing their attacks, then Ling located and destroyed its true core. As the exhausted team faced the barrier’s suspected enemy, Sasuke arrived and singled out Ling.

• Kakashi, Shino, Tokuma, Ino, and Ling battled shadow monsters inside the barrier while Ling searched for its energy core.
• Ino marked the monsters to reveal energy flows, and Kakashi struck a suspected node that turned out to be a trap, strengthening the barrier and injuring him.
• Sasuke sensed the fight from the desert and raced toward the barrier, suspecting the dark power was connected to his own.
• Ino and Ling located the barrier’s true core in its dome, and Ling destroyed it with Sage Art: Purifying Erosion Spiral Wave.
• Sasuke appeared before the battered Konoha squad and addressed Ling, while the team remained wary of him.

Ling and the Konoha squad confronted Sasuke in the Gobi, where they thwarted his attacks but could not resolve the standoff. Naruto then arrived and demanded that Sasuke return with him, leaving the confrontation more complicated.

• Sasuke attacked Tokuma with his Kusanagi Sword while Shino tried to stop him with insects.
• Ling protected Tokuma with a Sage Art: Wind Wall, and Ino helped him deflect Sasuke's Sharingan Genjutsu.
• Kakashi demanded that Sasuke return, and Sasuke prepared to attack again.
• Naruto arrived in a red Chakra Cloak and shouted at Sasuke to come back with him.
• Sasuke hesitated instead of attacking as Naruto's arrival heightened the tension.

Naruto and Sasuke fought on the Gobi as Naruto tried to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, but Pain arrived and ended their clash. Pain took Sasuke away and warned the Konoha shinobi that the rules of the game were about to change.

• Naruto confronted Sasuke over joining Akatsuki and urged him to return to Konoha, but Sasuke rejected him and said he wanted power to overturn the world.
• Naruto and Sasuke exchanged attacks with their Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak, dark chakra, Rasengan, and Chidori, while Kakashi and Ling watched as their powers intensified.
• Pain appeared at the battlefield and told Sasuke that his trial was over and it was time to return.
• Pain warned Kakashi and Ling that the rules of the game were about to change, then used a powerful gravitational pull to take Sasuke away.
• Naruto lamented that Sasuke might never return as the Konoha squad remained on the Gobi, troubled by Pain's arrival.

Kakashi and Ling reported Pain’s intervention and Sasuke’s importance to Tsunade, prompting Konoha to prepare for the Akatsuki and seek a Five Kage Summit. Ling then discovered that the Sacred Lord’s will was reaching through Sasuke and connected to the darkness sealed inside Itachi.

• On the journey home, Naruto worried about Sasuke while Kakashi and Ling concluded that Pain and the Akatsuki possessed powers that threatened the Shinobi World.
• Kakashi and Ling reported to Tsunade, who ordered Ling to research Pain’s chakra and the dark power and instructed Kakashi to share the intelligence and arrange a Five Kage Summit.
• In the Land of Rain, Pain told Konan that Sasuke was a key vessel for the Sacred Lord and ordered the Akatsuki to accelerate the capture of the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails.
• At Itachi’s isolation ward, Ling sensed a hidden connection between the darkness sealed inside Itachi and Sasuke, then felt the Sacred Lord’s malicious will reach back through it.

After discovering that the Sacred Lord could observe Konoha through Sasuke, Ling began devising a way to disrupt their connection. C, Kumogakure’s envoy, proposed a Five Kage Summit to coordinate action against the Akatsuki, while Ling attempted to send a warning ripple of senjutsu chakra toward Sasuke.

• Ling told Tsunade and Kakashi that the Sacred Lord had its own will and could sense their investigations through Sasuke.
• Tsunade authorized Ling to find a way to disrupt the connection without damaging Itachi’s seal and classified the discovery as top secret.
• C arrived from Kumogakure and questioned Konoha about Sasuke, Yugito’s capture, and its pursuit of the Akatsuki.
• Tsunade accepted the Raikage’s proposal to convene a Five Kage Summit and began preparations with Shikaku Nara and Kakashi.
• Ling tried to send purifying senjutsu chakra backward along the hidden connection to warn Sasuke.

Ling used senjutsu chakra to send Sasuke a warning, briefly stirring a doubt beneath the dark power consuming him. As Konoha prepared for the Five Kage Summit, the Akatsuki’s movements and the White Serpentine Fragment’s search for power pointed toward wider danger.

• Ling sent a faint warning through Sasuke’s dark chakra, then cut off the connection before the Sacred Lord’s will could detect him.
• Sasuke sensed Ling’s familiar senjutsu chakra and a warning, but dismissed it as a trick even as it left a faint doubt in his heart.
• Shikaku and Kakashi coordinated Konoha’s preparations for the Five Kage Summit, and Naruto persuaded Tsunade to let him attend.
• Tsunade learned that Sunagakure and Kirigakure had agreed to attend while Ōnoki remained hesitant, then ordered Kakashi to leak reports of Akatsuki activity near the Land of Earth.
• The weakened White Serpentine Fragment devoured a venomous insect and sought a new vessel or a chance to reclaim its power.

Ling sent Sasuke a senjutsu message warning him about becoming a vessel, then was ambushed by Zetsu and rescued by Naruto. The next morning, Ling joined Konoha’s delegation as it set out for the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, now under heightened security.

• Ling detected that his earlier senjutsu interference had affected Sasuke and developed a Spirit Thread carrying Team 7 memories and a warning about being devoured.
• Ling sent the Spirit Thread to Sasuke, but his senjutsu chakra drew the attention of a presence lurking in Konoha’s shadows.
• Zetsu ambushed Ling with Wood Release vines and a mental assault, but Naruto arrived and destroyed the vines with a Rasengan.
• Zetsu retreated after warning Ling that he would be targeted again, and Ling identified him as an Akatsuki infiltrator.
• Tsunade strengthened Konoha’s security, and the delegation led by Tsunade departed for the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron.

Konoha’s delegation fought off a horde of dark-chakra-controlled missing-nin and mutated puppets on the road to the Land of Iron. Zetsu watched Ling during the ambush, and the group continued onward wary that more dangerous trials awaited.

• Shino detected hostile chakra ahead, and Tsunade led the delegation toward a canyon where they found dozens of corrupted missing-nin and three powerful mutants.
• Tsunade, Kakashi, Tokuma Hyuga, Shino, Naruto, and Ling fought the attackers, with Ling using senjutsu to counter the mutants’ dark chakra.
• Zetsu secretly observed the battle and discussed testing Ling’s abilities before vanishing after Ling sensed his presence.
• The delegation defeated the attackers, but Tsunade and Kakashi realized the ambush had tested their strength and warned that the Sacred Lord could create a much larger army.
• After a brief rest, the delegation resumed its journey to the Land of Iron, expecting greater danger ahead.

The Konoha delegation endured repeated attacks designed to exhaust Ling and reached the Land of Iron, where the Five Kage Summit was about to begin. Obito and Zetsu monitored their progress and prepared to advance the Eye of the Moon Plan during the summit.

• Tsunade ordered the delegation to hurry toward the Land of Iron while Ling continued sensing the darkness connected to Sasuke.
• The delegation survived two more attacks by dark-corrupted beasts, missing-nin, and aquatic mutants, and Kakashi realized their enemies were testing Ling's senjutsu and wearing him down.
• The delegation crossed into the Land of Iron, where the attacks stopped, and Chūsuke escorted them to the castle prepared for the Five Kage Summit.
• Obito and Zetsu discussed Ling's ability to purify dark spawn and interfere with Sasuke's connection, but Obito dismissed further action against him.
• White Zetsu reported that the other Kage delegations had arrived or were on their way, and Obito ordered preparations for the summit.

The Five Kage gathered in the Land of Iron to discuss a united response to the Akatsuki and the mysterious Sacred Lord, but distrust stalled agreement over command of an allied army. As the summit began preliminary talks, Ling sensed a sinister chakra presence outside the hall and feared Akatsuki spies had infiltrated the castle.

• Tsunade and Konoha’s delegation joined the other four Kage at the summit, where Mifune called for cooperation against the Akatsuki and their unknown allies.
• Raikage A demanded an allied army and singled out Sasuke Uchiha, while Ōnoki and Mei Terumi warned that distrust and inadequate intelligence could doom a reckless response.
• Gaara and Tsunade supported unity, and Ling explained the Sacred Lord’s corruptive power and how Senjutsu might counter it.
• The Kage deadlocked over who would command the allied army until Naruto spoke up, and Gaara defended his right to be heard as a Jinchūriki.
• The Kage began preliminary discussions on intelligence sharing and the army’s structure as Ling detected a fleeting chakra presence that reminded him of Zetsu.

Ling and Kakashi discovered a dark nest beneath the Land of Iron’s castle that was feeding on leyline energy during the Five Kage Summit. Zetsu confronted them and warned that the Sacred Lord’s attack was about to begin.

• After the first day of the summit ended without agreement on command or battle plans, Ling told Kakashi and Shikaku Nara that he sensed Zetsu and abnormal energy beneath the castle.
• Ling and Kakashi sneaked through the castle’s lower levels and found a sealed iron door where natural energy was being obstructed.
• Ling used senjutsu perception through the door and saw a dark nest drawing energy from the leylines, with a mass of dark flesh at its center.
• The dark mass sensed Ling, so he severed the connection and warned Kakashi that the nest was created by the Sacred Lord.
• As Ling and Kakashi prepared to alert the Kage, Zetsu emerged from the shadows and said the nest was the first appetizer in the Sacred Lord’s planned feast before retreating into the wall.

Ling and Kakashi warned the Kage that an Akatsuki device beneath the Land of Iron castle was erupting with corruptive energy, prompting a desperate evacuation and joint effort to reach its core. The Five Kage followed Ling and Kakashi underground to stop it, while Obito watched from outside the castle.

• Ling and Kakashi escaped the lower passage as the device detonated, shaking the castle and triggering its highest-level alarm.
• Tsunade alerted the Konoha forces, and the Kage ordered evacuations and defenses after Ling explained that a dark nest was drawing energy from the earth’s veins.
• Corruptive energy burst through the castle grounds, and Ling, Naruto, Raikage A, Mei Terumi, and Gaara worked to suppress its spread.
• Kakashi proposed a coordinated strike on the core, and the Five Kage agreed to set aside their disputes and join forces.
• Ling pinpointed the core about fifty-five meters underground as Raikage A and Ōnoki opened a passage, while Mei Terumi and Gaara cleared it of dark energy.
• Ling and Kakashi descended toward the core with Tsunade and the other Kage following, while Obito watched the passage from outside the castle.

Ling and the Five Kage destroyed the dark core beneath the Land of Iron’s castle, but the Sacred Lord’s hidden will revealed that a greater threat remained. Obito used the distraction to infiltrate the castle’s secret vault and vanished with his real objective still unclear.

• Ling led Kakashi and the Five Kage through the corrupted passage to the dark tumor and warned them that striking it directly could make it explode.
• Raikage A, Ōnoki, Mei Terumi, and Gaara cleared a path while Kakashi and Tsunade helped protect Ling as he approached the core.
• Ling injected senjutsu chakra into the tumor with Sage Art: Water Severing Wave, purifying its core as the cavern began to collapse.
• Outside the castle, Obito saw the energy disperse and used Kamui to infiltrate the Land of Iron’s secret vault, explaining that the crisis had been meant to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
• After the tumor vanished, the Sacred Lord’s will briefly inspected and marked everyone in the cavern before declaring their struggles amusing.

After the Sacred Lord’s will emerged from the destroyed core, the Five Kage agreed to form the Allied Shinobi Forces, while the theft of the Nether Purification Stone pointed to Akatsuki’s true objective. Ling developed the Sage Art: Water Mirror Seal and was summoned to discuss the stolen stone and ancient records.

• Ling identified the power in the core as a fragment of the Sacred Lord’s will, and the Kage agreed to form an allied army.
• General Mifune told the Kage that the Nether Purification Stone had been stolen from the Land of Iron’s Secret Vault.
• Shikaku Nara concluded that Akatsuki had used the Dark Nest as a diversion, and Ling suspected they planned to corrupt or reverse the stone’s purifying power.
• The Five Kage formally resolved to establish the Allied Shinobi Forces and agreed on a preliminary command structure.
• Ling created the Sage Art: Water Mirror Seal, which purified dark energy by dissolving and returning it to natural energy.
• Kakashi told Ling that General Mifune wanted to discuss the Nether Purification Stone and the ancient texts.