Chapter Summaries

Ling studied ancient records about the Nether Purification Stone and discovered a philosophy that advanced his water-based senjutsu. After demonstrating a new technique, he sensed Zetsu spying nearby and prepared to respond.

• Mifune explained that the Nether Purification Stone's Sea-Calming seal regulated its natural energy, and that its corruption could unleash destructive Weak Water.
• Mifune shared an ancient water clan's Mirror Sea philosophy, inspiring Ling to develop his Water Mirror Seal further.
• Ling created Sage Art: Water Mirror Reflection and used it to reveal and gently dissolve an ink stain.
• Ling sensed a sinister fluctuation outside the study and warned Mifune that Zetsu was spying on them.

Ling detected Zetsu spying on the Castle and helped advance the Allied Shinobi Forces negotiations. While practicing the Water Mirror Technique, he caught Zetsu again but only managed to trap and purify part of him, confirming that the enemy was targeting his new power.

• Ling sensed Zetsu near the corridor, prompting Mifune to tighten security, but the search found no trace of him.
• The Five Kage established the basic framework for the Allied Shinobi Forces, including joint command, intelligence sharing, troop deployments, and protection for Naruto and Gaara.
• Naruto celebrated the alliance with Ling, who warned him that the Akatsuki and the Sacred Lord remained formidable threats.
• Ling practiced the Water Mirror Technique in the Castle courtyard and detected a writhing shadow hiding near a tree.
• Ling used Sage Art: Water Mirror Imprisonment with Kakashi and the samurai to capture part of Zetsu, while most of him escaped into the ground.
• Ling and Kakashi concluded that Zetsu was returning to investigate Ling's new power as the alliance prepared to be formally established.

The Five Great Nations formed the Allied Shinobi Forces and chose to investigate the northwest, while Sasuke headed to the Valley of Annihilation for a dangerous stage of training. Ling traced Zetsu’s lingering energy to the same region, prompting the alliance to make the valley its top reconnaissance target.

• Tsunade, A, Ōnoki, Mei Terumi, and Gaara signed the alliance agreement, then approved a plan to search the northwest for Akatsuki bases and the Nether Purification Stone.
• Obito told Sasuke that the Sacred Lord had prepared a painful training stage for him at the Valley of Annihilation, and Sasuke left with Zetsu.
• Ling used his Water Mirror Reflecting the Heart technique to trace Zetsu’s energy northwest before dark energy disrupted the mirror.
• Ling reported his findings to Tsunade and Kakashi, who identified the Valley of Annihilation as a likely hiding place and urged the alliance to prioritize it.

Ling and the Allied Forces reconnaissance squad infiltrated Annihilation Valley and discovered Obito using the distorted Nether Purification Stone in a ritual that was corrupting Sasuke. The squad found Sasuke in agony and faced the choice of retreating or intervening.

• Ling sensed chaotic natural energy and dark power near Annihilation Valley, while Shino detected hostile chakra signatures and puppet activity at its entrance.
• Kankuro scouted with his puppets and found corrupted monsters guarding the valley, so Ling warned that the squad could not force its way in.
• Deep inside the valley, Sasuke struggled as the distorted Nether Purification Stone and the Sacred Lord's will corrupted him, while Zetsu urged him to accept the power and Obito watched.
• A faint mental imprint Ling had previously sent helped Sasuke resist being swallowed by the darkness.
• The reconnaissance squad used Shino's insects and Kankuro's puppets to slip into the valley, where Ling spotted Sasuke, Obito, and the dangerous ritual.
• Ling told the squad what he had found, leaving them to decide whether to retreat and report or intervene.

Ling and the Allied Forces squad tried to stop Obito’s ritual on Sasuke by disrupting the Nether Purification Stone, but Ling’s intervention provoked a devastating backlash. Sasuke vanished among the rocks after using Amenotejikara to save Ling, and the injured squad withdrew with the corrupted stone’s fate unresolved.

• Ling rejected retreat and ordered the squad to distract Obito and Zetsu while he interrupted the ritual.
• Shino, Kankuro, Akatsuchi, and C attacked, giving Ling time to use Sage Art: Water Mirror Reflection: Purifying Erosion Spring on the pool and Nether Purification Stone.
• Ling’s technique disrupted the dark energy feeding Sasuke, causing the ritual to falter and Sasuke to collapse, but it enraged the Sacred Lord’s will and unleashed a torrent of darkness.
• Sasuke used Amenotejikara to move Ling out of the torrent’s path, then lost consciousness and was hurled behind a cluster of rocks.
• The torrent subsided, Obito escaped through Kamui, and C ordered the injured squad to withdraw while Sasuke’s fate remained unknown.

After the reconnaissance squad returned from Annihilation Valley, the Allied Forces shifted to defense while Ling recovered and discovered a new way to perceive the structure and principles of energy. The valley remained sealed, Sasuke and the Nether Purification Stone were still missing, and dark-linked attacks began striking towns near the Land of Fire.

• Kakashi reported the squad’s losses and Sasuke’s unknown fate to Tsunade and the Five Kage, who ordered treatment, surveillance of Annihilation Valley, and research into countering the Sacred Lord’s power.
• Tsunade examined Ling and found no lingering dark corruption, though his chakra and mental strength required time to recover.
• Ling used a tiny water droplet to perceive the inner structure and movement of a cloud, then named his new technique Sage Art: Water Mirror Insight into Principle.
• Reconnaissance units reported that a dark barrier still blocked entry to Annihilation Valley and that they had found no sign of Sasuke, Obito, Zetsu, or the Nether Purification Stone.
• Reports revealed that unidentified shinobi had attacked several towns near the Land of Fire, leaving traces of darkness linked to the Sacred Lord’s power.

Ling and the Allied Forces investigated and fought spreading God Tree remnants, discovering that the plants were linked to the Sacred Lord’s will. An overseas report revealed that a Spiral Masked man calling himself Madara Uchiha was directing more advanced remnants, and Obito’s trail resurfaced.

• Ling joined the Allied Forces Research Division to study the Sacred Lord’s power and analyze a dark purple plant recovered from a border forest.
• Ling identified the plant as a proliferating derivative of the Sacred Lord’s power, and Tsunade ordered the remnants destroyed as similar infestations appeared across several lands.
• Ling used Sage Art: Water Mirror Piercing to purify a mature God Tree remnant, then sensed the Sacred Lord watching him through their severed connection.
• Jiraiya sent an encrypted report from overseas saying that larger God Tree remnants were forming tailed-beast-like chakra aggregates under the direction of a Spiral Masked man calling himself Madara Uchiha.

The Allied Forces sent a small team to investigate offshore threats and dispatched Naruto and Killer B to train on Turtle Island. Meanwhile, Ling developed a technique that disrupted dark plants, while Obito continued cultivating a pseudo-tailed beast chakra aggregate and dismissed the resistance as futile.

• The Allied Forces chose Ao, Shino Aburame, Omoi, and Karui to secretly investigate the offshore islands while the main force strengthened its defenses and researched countermeasures.
• Tsunade sent Naruto and Killer B to Turtle Island for secluded training, accompanied by Kakashi and Yamato.
• Ling used Water Mirror Insight into Principle to develop Sage Art: Water Mirror Mimicry: Parasitic Sprout, which disrupted a dark plant and temporarily severed its connection to its main body.
• Obito cultivated a pseudo-tailed beast chakra aggregate from drained humans and summoning beasts, while Zetsu reported that Ling's technique had interfered with some seedlings.
• Obito dismissed the resistance and declared that the pseudo-beasts and Infinite Tsukuyomi would soon overwhelm the world.

Ling continued refining his method for interfering with God Tree Remnants as the advance team discovered false tailed beasts on the offshore islands and narrowly escaped an attack. Naruto passed the Waterfall of Truth trial and reached greater harmony with the Nine-Tails, who warned him that the artificial beasts were drawing near; Shikaku prepared for the coming clash.

• Ling worked with the Research Division to test and refine Water Mirror Mimicry: Parasitic Bud while pursuing a deeper understanding of dark energy.
• Ao and the advance team found islands overrun by dark vegetation and detected several chakra sources approaching the strength of real tailed beasts.
• A newly born false tailed beast attacked the team with a dark-energy chakra cannon, but Ao, Omoi, Karui, and Shino escaped by boat.
• Naruto overcame his inner darkness at the Waterfall of Truth and achieved unprecedented harmony with the Nine-Tails.
• The Nine-Tails warned Naruto that several artificial chakra presences carrying the Ten-Tails' aura were approaching.
• Shikaku reviewed the reports at Allied Forces headquarters and anticipated a true clash between the enemy's weapons and the forces' newly sharpened defenses.

The Five Kage approved an overseas strike against the pseudo-Tailed Beasts and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and the Allied Shinobi Forces prepared to attack. As the fleet and surprise team approached the islands, Ling identified vulnerabilities in the enemy’s energy structures while Obito readied the island’s defenses.

• The Five Kage approved Shikaku Nara’s plan to draw the enemy’s attention with a frontal assault while a surprise team struck the island’s heart.
• Ling showed Naruto a sample of dark energy for Naruto and Kurama to recognize, and Naruto vowed to bring Sasuke back and defeat the pseudo-Tailed Beasts.
• Three days later, Tsunade gave Ling preliminary sealing formulas as the Allied fleet and Gaara’s Sand Wings carried their teams toward the target island.
• Ling used Water Mirror Insight into Principle to locate unstable nodes in the pseudo-Tailed Beasts and key links between the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the island’s leylines.
• Obito sensed the approaching Allied forces and awakened the island’s God Tree remnants and pseudo-Tailed Beasts for battle.

The Allied Forces launched an assault on the island while Gaara, Killer B, Naruto, and Ling attacked a pseudo-tailed beast’s breeding site from the rear. Just as they gained the advantage, Zetsu revealed two more pseudo-tailed beasts and trapped the team in the valley.

• The Allied Forces’ fleet was ambushed by Fallen and vines, and Darui, Tsunade, and the Raikage led the defense as A carved a path onto the beach with Liger Bomb.
• Gaara guided Killer B, Naruto, and Ling to the valley, where Ling identified weaknesses in the pseudo-tailed beast’s energy structure.
• Gaara’s sand swept through the valley’s guards, Naruto met the beast’s dark beam, and Ling slowed it with Mire of Corruption.
• Killer B shattered the beast’s left forelimb joint with Lariat, while Gaara blocked its counterattack and Naruto prepared a finishing blow.
• Zetsu appeared and opened two more caves, unleashing a giant ape-like pseudo-tailed beast and a ghostly one that surrounded the four attackers.

Ling used his Water Mirror techniques to disrupt the God Tree Remnants and help the Surprise Attack Squad wound the Spirit Phantom Beast, but the Sacred Lord’s will strengthened the remaining enemies and pushed the team toward defeat. As the battle worsened, Ling sensed a faint pulse of resistance deep in the island’s corrupted earth veins.

• Ling identified the God Tree Remnants as the network supplying and coordinating the three pseudo-Tailed Beasts, then used Thousand Entangling Roots to disrupt them.
• Gaara restrained the Crystal-Armored Lizard Beast and the Acid Giant Ape while Naruto and Killer B attacked the Spirit Phantom Beast, whose Mental Shock halted them.
• Gaara used Feigning Sleep Technique: Seal to suppress the Spirit Phantom Beast, allowing Naruto to strike its core with a Tailed Beast Bomb Rasenshuriken.
• The Acid Giant Ape and Crystal-Armored Lizard Beast broke free and attacked as Killer B and Gaara struggled to defend the squad.
• The Sacred Lord’s will empowered the pseudo-Tailed Beasts, but Ling sensed a faint pulse of resistance beneath the island.

Ling awakened a surviving fragment of the island’s leyline spirit, disrupting the Sacred Lord’s corruption and allowing Naruto, Gaara, and Killer B to defeat the false tailed beasts. The Sacred Lord then targeted Ling, but Naruto shielded him, and a spatial passage opened as Zetsu announced that the final “fruit” would be harvested.

• Ling found the island’s faint leyline spirit and used his water-nature senjutsu to strengthen it and send a pulse through the leylines.
• The pulse disrupted the God Tree remnants and weakened the false tailed beasts, letting Gaara, Naruto, and Killer B destroy them.
• The Sacred Lord’s furious energy hand struck at Ling, but Naruto entered a deeper Tailed Beast Transformation and blocked it.
• The Sacred Lord focused on Naruto and the Nine-Tails, while Zetsu declared it was time to harvest the final “fruit.”
• An enormous spatial passage opened above the valley, releasing an even more chilling presence.

Obito Uchiha arrived with the Rinnegan and overwhelmed Naruto, Killer B, and Gaara while attempting to seize the Nine-Tails. Ling interrupted Obito’s attack long enough for Naruto to survive, and Sasuke appeared at the valley entrance to challenge him.

• Obito emerged from a spatial passage, declared that the Nine-Tails was the final piece of the Eye of the Moon Plan, and used Banshō Ten'in to drag Naruto toward him.
• Obito blasted Killer B and Gaara into the valley walls with Shinra Tensei, leaving them unable to fight.
• Ling struck Obito’s wrist with Sage Art: Water Mirror Piercing-Source Break and briefly interrupted Banshō Ten'in, allowing Naruto to escape his grasp.
• Naruto launched an Ultra-Massive Rasenshuriken Tailed Beast Bomb, but Obito absorbed it with the Rinnegan’s Absorption Seal.
• Obito approached Naruto again, but Sasuke appeared and used Amaterasu to halt his attack before declaring that Obito was his opponent.

Sasuke confronted Obito over his corrupted Rinnegan and fought to protect Naruto and Ling, while the Sacred Lord’s power surged through the unstable passage from the Kamui Dimension. The Sacred Lord found Ling and targeted him as Ling’s body and mind neared their limits.

• Sasuke arrived and accused Obito of using the Sacred Lord’s power to fuse Nagato’s Rinnegan with his Sharingan and the God Tree’s power.
• Obito dismissed Sasuke’s objections and attacked Sasuke and Ling with Limbo: Border Jail, but Sasuke’s lightning and Ling’s sand shield blocked the invisible blows.
• Sasuke attacked Obito with a dark-powered Chidori and redirected Amaterasu flames into arrows, but Obito absorbed them and pulled Sasuke toward him with Banshō Ten'in.
• The unstable passage to the Kamui Dimension flared with the Sacred Lord’s presence, halting Obito and causing the God Tree remnants to shriek.
• The Sacred Lord’s will ignored Obito, found Ling, and threatened his already strained mind and body.

Tobirama Senju sacrificed his remnant soul to shield Ling from the Sacred Lord’s attack, then sent a signal through a hidden spacetime beacon before the barrier vanished. The Sacred Lord’s will retreated and the Kamui Channel closed, leaving Ling and the others unconscious while Sasuke struggled to his feet.

• The Sacred Lord’s will attacked Ling’s soul through the Kamui Channel, while Naruto, Sasuke, Killer B, and Gaara were pinned down and unable to intervene.
• Tobirama Senju awakened his remaining spacetime power and soul origin to create an Absolute Defense around Ling, warning him that the sacrifice would make him disappear.
• The barrier repelled the Sacred Lord’s tendrils, and a hidden Flying Thunder God Formula seal sent a signal across spacetime as the Sacred Lord launched a stronger attack.
• The Sacred Lord’s strike collided with Tobirama’s barrier, which shattered after protecting Ling, and Tobirama Senju’s remnant soul vanished.
• The blast devastated the battlefield, the Sacred Lord’s will retreated, and the Kamui Channel closed as Ling, Naruto, Killer B, and Gaara lay unconscious.
• Sasuke crawled to his feet amid the ruins and looked toward Ling and the unconscious Naruto.

After the battle left Ling, Naruto, Killer B, and Gaara unconscious, Obito tried to draw Sasuke fully into darkness. A strange space-time resonance from Ling interrupted him, and Obito left Sasuke to choose between staying with his companions and following him.

• Sasuke freed himself from the rubble and found Naruto, Killer B, and Gaara unconscious, while Zetsu had vanished.
• Sasuke approached the helpless Ling with his Kusanagi Sword, unsure whether to kill him, as Obito appeared and challenged Sasuke’s independence.
• Obito called Sasuke a defective vessel and urged him to surrender to the darkness, bringing Sasuke close to mental collapse.
• A faint space-time mark appeared above Ling, and Obito recognized it as a resonance tied to a space-time coordinate activated by Tobirama Senju.
• Obito offered Sasuke a choice between staying with his unconscious companions and leaving with him, then vanished before Sasuke answered.
• Sasuke remained torn between his companions and Obito’s offer as faint natural energy gathered beneath the scorched earth.

Sasuke chose to follow Obito in pursuit of power and the truth, leaving the others behind. Ling awoke to find Tobirama dead and Sasuke gone, then began recovering as the Allied Forces' rescue squad arrived.

• Sasuke weighed staying with Naruto and Ling against following Obito, then chose to pursue Obito into the island's depths.
• Ling woke amid the ruins, mourned Tobirama, and found Naruto, Killer B, and Gaara alive but Sasuke missing.
• Ling slowly replenished his strength by drawing on scarce natural energy and a faint, pure vitality rising from the earth.
• Kakashi, Darui, and Kurotsuchi arrived with the Allied Forces' rescue squad and found the survivors in the ruins.
• Ling told the rescuers that Sasuke had left and said the rest of what happened would take a long time to explain.

As Ling recovered aboard the rescue ship, Tobirama Senju’s dormant safeguard awakened, while Sasuke arranged for Orochimaru to summon the Previous Hokage. In the Pure Land, Tobirama sensed the crisis and prepared to return when Impure World Reincarnation was performed.

• Ling mourned the otherworldly Tobirama’s sacrifice and used the awakened soul mark and purified leyline vitality to heal himself.
• Sasuke visited Orochimaru and asked him to use Impure World Reincarnation to summon Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze.
• Sasuke offered Orochimaru his body or Uchiha bloodline samples in exchange, and Orochimaru agreed to prepare the technique.
• Tobirama Senju’s soul mark activated in the Pure Land, and he sensed the otherworldly Tobirama’s final sacrifice and Ling’s crisis.
• Tobirama resolved to return to the living world when Impure World Reincarnation was performed.

Orochimaru summoned all four previous Hokage and broke the Reaper Death Seal to free Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze, allowing Sasuke to confront them about the Uchiha massacre. As Sasuke turned on the Hokage, Tobirama discovered that the White Zetsu Clone contained a hidden coordinate and listening device, and the Sacred Lord’s malicious presence enveloped the base.

• Orochimaru used a White Zetsu Clone to summon Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, then broke the Reaper Death Seal and freed Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze.
• Sasuke demanded that the previous Hokage explain the truth behind the Uchiha Clan massacre and Konoha’s role in it.
• Hashirama denied intending to target the Uchiha, while Hiruzen admitted that Danzo had coerced Itachi and that his own failures had helped cause the massacre.
• Sasuke drew his Kusanagi Sword and accused Konoha, prompting Minato to try to calm him.
• Tobirama warned that the White Zetsu Clone contained a hidden coordinate and listening device, then sensed the Sacred Lord’s presence spreading through the base.