Chapter Summaries

Ling and Naruto destroyed the Aberrant Tumor Core after resisting a glimpse of the Sacred Lord, then escaped as the Allied Fleet watched the corruption dissipate. The chapter ended with Ling warning that the Sacred Lord was their true enemy and far more terrifying than they had imagined.

• Ling and Naruto fought through the tumor’s defenses while Neji guided them toward its core.
• Ling used Sage Art: Pure Water Release: Life Forbidden Zone to protect them, and Naruto struck the core with a Big Ball Rasenshuriken.
• The core revealed the Sacred Lord’s eye, whose terrifying vision briefly froze Naruto until Ling called him back to his senses.
• Naruto’s Rasenshuriken struck the core, and Ling carried the exhausted Naruto out as the tumor collapsed.
• The Allied Fleet celebrated the destruction of the tumor, and Ling told Naruto that the Sacred Lord was their true enemy.

After returning to Konoha, Ling and Naruto were welcomed home and praised for completing their mission. Ino asked to join Ling on future dangerous missions, and Ling agreed to train her in mental linking as the village settled into a peaceful evening.

• The joint fleet reached the Land of Fire, where Ino and Sakura welcomed Ling and Naruto back to Konoha.
• Ino walked beside Ling and asked to accompany him on future missions, offering her clan's mental-linking and perception skills.
• Ling agreed that Ino's abilities would be useful and arranged Link Adaptation Training before their next mission.
• Tsunade praised the Purifying Karma unit and grew serious after hearing about the Sacred Lord's projection.
• Ino arranged to begin training with Ling the next afternoon, and Ling watched her leave before looking out over Konoha at dusk.

Ling and Ino established a mental link and practiced coordinating through it, sharing a moment of trust before Naruto interrupted them. Meanwhile, Tobi watched from the shadows and ordered Zetsu to prepare Sasori and Deidara for an attack on Konoha targeting Ling, while Ling sensed a hostile presence.

• Ino successfully linked her mind with Ling’s, and they practiced sensing each other and coordinating their movements.
• Ino sensed a cold trace in Ling’s consciousness, and Ling gave a vague explanation before she shared a soothing memory of hydrangeas with him.
• Naruto interrupted their training and excitedly told them about his Senjutsu progress on Mount Myōboku.
• Tobi watched Ling and Naruto from a Tower, then ordered Zetsu to notify Sasori and Deidara and prepare an attack on Konoha focused on Ling.
• Ling sensed a concealed, malicious gaze toward the Training Ground but dismissed his unease when Ino asked about it.

Purifying Karma Force entered the pink mist at the Fire–Grass border to identify the chakra-suppressing spores and rescue trapped civilians. Ino’s telepathic link helped the team work together, but she sensed Sasori watching Ling as the mission neared its end.

• Tsunade sent Kakashi, Ling, Naruto, Yamato, Neji, and Ino to investigate the spreading mist and rescue civilians.
• Neji used the Byakugan to locate survivors, while Ino linked the team and shared a map of their positions.
• Ling, Naruto, and Yamato rescued civilians as Ino and Neji guided them from the mist’s edge.
• Ino warned the team about rising spore concentrations, and Neji spotted hidden chakra-guiding nodes that Ling and Naruto’s Shadow Clones destroyed.
• Ino sensed a powerful gaze on Ling, and Ling identified it as Sasori’s chakra and recognized that the mist was bait.

Ling and his companions fought Sasori’s coordinated poison puppet tentacles until Ino shielded Ling with her mental energy, giving him a chance to destroy their underground control core. The mist began to disperse, and Ling caught the exhausted Ino as the team realized Sasori had tested their abilities and discovered their vulnerability.

• Sasori’s tentacles attacked Ling from underground and through the mist, while Neji could only sense their general direction.
• Yamato, Naruto, Kakashi, and Ino struggled to counter the tentacles as they overwhelmed the team with coordinated strikes and poison mist.
• Ling recognized that the tentacles were herding him and deliberately left a gap in his water defense.
• Ino used most of her remaining mental energy to block a tentacle aimed at Ling’s heart, and Ling traced its path to destroy the underground chakra core.
• The tentacles collapsed and the mist weakened, while Ling caught the injured, exhausted Ino as Kakashi noted that Sasori had learned their weakness.

Ling, Kakashi, and Kankuro raided the Valley of a Thousand Puppets after detecting Sasori’s chakra there and fought through his automated defenses. They reached the cavern where Sasori was waiting, with a confrontation imminent.

• Tsunade received intelligence that Sasori’s chakra had been detected at his abandoned workshop in the Valley of a Thousand Puppets.
• Ling, Kakashi, and Kankuro were assigned to raid the valley, while Naruto and the recovering Ino remained ready to provide support.
• Kankuro sent Crow and Black Ant to scout as the team entered the valley and warned that its puppet wreckage could hide traps.
• Sasori’s puppet defenses activated and swarmed the team, but Ling’s Sage Art corroded them as the three advanced toward the strongest chakra source.
• Ling, Kakashi, and Kankuro reached the cavern’s depths and entered, sensing Sasori ahead.

Ling, Kakashi, and Kankuro fought Sasori in his underground workshop, where he used a new puppet and his collection of masterpieces to attack them. Ling destroyed Sasori’s regenerative core, ending his life, but the threat from the Sacred Lord remained.

• Sasori revealed his regenerative core and a new puppet, then unleashed his puppets against Ling, Kakashi, and Kankuro.
• Kakashi battled the Third Kazekage Puppet while Kankuro defended himself against Sasori’s other puppets, and Ling fought the new puppet.
• Ling sensed a disruption in the chakra conduits and coordinated with Kakashi and Kankuro to create an opening.
• Ling pierced Sasori’s regenerative core with Sage Art: Pure Water Release: Upstream Piercing: Extreme, causing Sasori’s puppets to collapse.
• Sasori recalled his parents and the warmth he had once felt before his core went dark and he died.
• Kankuro bowed to the Third Kazekage Puppet, while Kakashi and Ling recognized that their conflict with the Sacred Lord was not over.

Sasuke defeated and killed Orochimaru, then agreed to lead a new team assembled by Tobi and Kisame as he pursued Itachi. Tobi pointed him toward the Land of Rain, and Sasuke ordered his new subordinates to prepare to leave.

• Sasuke used Chidori Stream and Chidori Sharp Spear to stop Orochimaru's final attack and kill him.
• Sasuke declared that Orochimaru's power was not enough and reaffirmed his goal of killing Itachi.
• Kisame and Tobi approached Sasuke and offered information about Itachi and potential teammates.
• Tobi introduced Karin, Guren, and Jugo as Sasuke's new subordinates, and Sasuke agreed to form a team with them.
• Tobi said Itachi had recently been active near the Land of Rain, and Sasuke ordered his team to prepare to move out.

Sasuke led Karin, Guren, and Jugo toward the Land of Rain, where they fought off a group of wandering ninja and questioned their leader for information about the Akatsuki. Tobi warned Sasuke that other forces, including people from Konoha, were watching the region, but Sasuke set out with Team Hawk focused on finding Uchiha Itachi.

• Sasuke led Karin, Guren, and Jugo through the Land of Grass toward the Land of Rain.
• A group of wandering ninja attacked Team Hawk at an abandoned way station, and Sasuke, Guren, and Jugo defeated them while Karin sensed the attackers.
• Sasuke stopped Jugo from losing control, then used genjutsu on the surviving leader to learn of routes into the Land of Rain, intelligence dealers, and unusual chakra-related incidents.
• Tobi appeared and warned Sasuke that other forces were active in the Land of Rain, including people from Konoha.
• Sasuke dismissed the warning, declared that Uchiha Itachi remained his target, and led Team Hawk onward.

Team Hawk encountered Deidara, whose C0 explosion forced Sasuke to use a forbidden spatial technique powered by the Sacred Lord. Sasuke saved his team but was left with the dark power inside him, opposed by Indra’s chakra.

• Deidara attacked Team Hawk with clay explosives, targeting Sasuke over his resentment toward Uchiha Itachi.
• Sasuke defeated Deidara’s attacks with his Sharingan and Lightning Release, gravely wounding him.
• Deidara activated C0, preparing to destroy the valley and everyone in it.
• Sasuke drew on the Sacred Lord’s power and used a forbidden spatial technique to transport himself, Karin, Guren, and Jugo away.
• Deidara’s explosion leveled the valley while Team Hawk reappeared several kilometers away.
• Sasuke collapsed in pain as Indra’s chakra held the corrupting dark power in a stalemate inside him.

After using the Sacred Lord’s power, Sasuke suppressed its corrupting influence and continued his search for Uchiha Itachi. In Konoha and the Akatsuki’s hideout, others sensed the immense explosion and the dark spatial energy tied to the Sacred Lord, leaving the source of that power unresolved.

• Sasuke forced the dark power inside him back into dormancy with Indra’s chakra, then told Karin, Guren, and Jugo that they had to leave before others arrived.
• Tsunade and Ling sensed a distant eruption and dark spatial fluctuation, and Tsunade sent an investigation squad to the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain.
• Shizune reported that patrols had seen a huge explosion near the border, while Ling identified the dark energy as a purer trace of the Sacred Lord’s source power.
• Pain learned that Deidara’s chakra had vanished, and Zetsu reported that someone else had tried to invoke the Sacred Lord’s power.
• Sasuke’s squad took shelter in a cave, where Sasuke reinforced his seal and declared that they had to find Uchiha Itachi while he could still control the power.

Sasuke struggled to contain the Sacred Lord’s power and led Team Hawk toward the Land of Rain to find Itachi. At the border, Tobi offered to guide Sasuke to his brother and advise him about the power, leaving Sasuke to decide whether to trust him.

• Sasuke used Indra’s chakra to suppress the Sacred Lord’s power, then set out with Team Hawk to find Itachi and learn how to control or remove it.
• Kakashi reported that Deidara had self-detonated and that an unidentified person had escaped using Space-Time Ninjutsu linked to the Sacred Lord’s power.
• Tsunade ordered Kakashi and Ling to investigate the blast site for further clues.
• Team Hawk reached the Land of Rain, where Sasuke recognized Pain’s Rain Tiger at Will Technique surveilling the border.
• Tobi appeared and offered Sasuke information about Itachi and advice about the dangerous power inside him, while hinting at his own plan.
• Sasuke weighed whether to accept Tobi’s offer or find Itachi without his help.

Sasuke accepted Tobi’s help to find Itachi in the Land of Rain, while Kakashi’s investigation team discovered traces of the Sacred Lord’s power at Deidara’s explosion site. Sasuke’s team headed toward an eastern temple as Konoha prepared to increase surveillance of the Land of Rain.

• Sasuke agreed to follow Tobi after Amegakure’s reconnaissance unit arrived, and Team Hawk escaped through the rain and abandoned pipelines.
• Kakashi, Ling, Neji, and Yamato examined Deidara’s crater, where Neji and Ling found traces of the Sacred Lord’s power and a spatial escape toward the Land of Rain.
• Kakashi ordered the team to bring their data and energy samples back and notify Tsunade about increasing surveillance toward the Land of Rain.
• Tobi told Sasuke that Itachi had been seen near an abandoned temple by the Inland Sea and suggested an anchor could help Sasuke control the power within him.
• Sasuke ordered Team Hawk to head for the eastern temple, while Konoha focused more attention on the Land of Rain.

Ling, Kakashi, Tsunade, and Tobirama linked the unstable dark energy used to escape Deidara’s explosion to Orochimaru’s forbidden research and suspected Sasuke Uchiha had used it. Tsunade sent the Purifying Karma unit to the Land of Rain to track the user, investigate Orochimaru’s research, and monitor the Akatsuki, especially Uchiha Itachi.

• Ling and Kakashi analyzed the dark energy and found it came from the Sacred Lord and had been used to tear space open by force.
• Tobirama connected the energy to Orochimaru’s forbidden research into otherworldly power, soul offerings, and bloodline vessels.
• Tsunade ordered Anbu to retrieve Orochimaru’s sealed files, and Tobirama concluded that someone had taken over his research.
• A border report described a team matching Sasuke Uchiha, Karin, Guren, and Jugo, leading Kakashi and Tsunade to suspect Sasuke had invoked the dark power.
• Tobirama said Ling could track the spatial scars by combining his Senjutsu perception with Tobirama’s soul imprint.
• Tsunade assigned the Purifying Karma unit to the Land of Rain to identify the power’s user, investigate Orochimaru’s techniques, and watch the Akatsuki, especially Uchiha Itachi.

Team Hawk and Konoha’s team entered the Land of Rain and moved toward the Abandoned Temple area while Pain and Tobi watched their progress. Sasuke sensed Itachi nearby and sent his teammates to search the ruins as his inner darkness grew more restless.

• Sasuke led Team Hawk through the Land of Rain, where Karin spotted a tightly controlled Amegakure patrol.
• Kakashi’s team entered by another route, and Ling sensed faint spatial scars and traces of dark power leading southeast.
• Pain and Konan learned that both groups had entered the village, while Tobi and Zetsu planned to observe Sasuke’s reunion with Itachi.
• Team Hawk reached the Abandoned Temple area, where Sasuke sensed Itachi’s chakra and felt the dark power within him stir.
• Sasuke ordered Karin, Guren, and Jugo to search separately while he advanced toward the strongest trace of Itachi.

Sasuke confronted Itachi in the Abandoned Temple, but Ino’s warning and Ling’s senjutsu chakra stopped him from attacking or pursuing. Sasuke left to meet Karin and the others while Kakashi’s team followed, concerned about the dark power destabilizing him.

• Sasuke entered the Abandoned Temple and found Itachi waiting in the main hall.
• Itachi warned Sasuke about the dangerous power he had obtained from Orochimaru, and Sasuke demanded to know why he had massacred the Uchiha Clan.
• Ino urged Sasuke through their lingering mental link to calm down, while Ling’s senjutsu chakra helped restrain him.
• Itachi said he had acted for Konoha’s peace and Sasuke’s survival, then retreated into the hall and told Sasuke to return when he had eyes like his.
• Ino warned Sasuke not to follow, and Ling detected dangerous chakra signatures indicating traps, so Sasuke turned away and headed for his rendezvous with Karin and the others.
• Kakashi decided to follow Sasuke, have the situation reported to Lady Tsunade, and seek a chance to explain the danger of the power inside him.

Sasuke nearly lost control as the dark power inside him overwhelmed Indra's chakra, but Kakashi and Ling helped him regain his senses. He left with Karin, Guren, and Jugo, still committed to his own path and warning that he and Kakashi would be enemies when they met again.

• Sasuke's dark power intensified after his confrontation with Itachi, and Karin, Guren, and Jugo found him struggling to control it.
• Ino reached Sasuke through a mental link and urged him to remember the people and bonds he cared about, briefly strengthening Indra's chakra.
• Kakashi created a diversion by restraining Karin, drawing Sasuke's attention away from his inner struggle.
• Ling used Purification: Requiem to reinforce Indra's chakra, suppress the dark power, and restore some clarity to Sasuke.
• Sasuke refused Karin's treatment, declared that he would follow his own path, and left with Karin, Guren, and Jugo.
• Ling warned Kakashi that Sasuke's balance remained fragile and that the dark power was adapting.

After Sasuke’s dark power nearly resurfaces, he leaves with Hawk while Kakashi’s team investigates Itachi’s intentions and the source of the power. Tsunade orders more covert support in the Land of Rain as the Akatsuki and hidden forces continue maneuvering around Sasuke.

• Sasuke rejected Karin’s explanation for why she stopped him from killing Kakashi and Ling, then resolved to seek greater power and find Itachi.
• Kakashi’s team concluded that Sasuke’s powers remained in a fragile balance and suspected Itachi was deliberately guiding Sasuke.
• Kakashi ordered Yamato and Neji to observe Hawk while Ling and Ino investigated Itachi and the Temple Ruins.
• Konan reported Sasuke’s condition to Pain, while Zetsu instructed Tobi to ensure Sasuke ultimately served their plans.
• Tsunade classified Sasuke as a high-risk target and ordered an elite Anbu squad into the Land of Rain along with expanded intelligence gathering.

Sasuke recuperated in the Abandoned Temple while struggling to control the Sacred Lord’s darkness and questioning Itachi’s words. Kakashi, Ling, and Ino discovered a sealed chamber containing Uchiha forbidden scrolls and a ritual formation connected to the Sacred Lord, leaving them to wonder how deeply the clan had been involved with the dark power.

• Sasuke tried to study the Sacred Lord’s power as Karin watched over him, while Jugo and Guren stood guard.
• Yamato and Neji tracked Hawk and reported that Sasuke had stopped to recover.
• Ling sensed an old spatial trace in the main hall, and Ino detected a sealed presence behind a mural.
• Kakashi opened a hidden stairway behind the mural, and the team found an altar, an Uchiha fan emblem marked “Kite,” and ominous scrolls.
• Ling identified the formation as a repeatedly activated ritual that communicated with a plane connected to the Sacred Lord, while Kakashi recognized the scrolls as advanced forbidden techniques.

Kakashi, Ling, and Ino uncovered ancient Uchiha records linking a figure called Kite to the Sacred Lord, but Tobi arrived and revealed his own connection to the dark power. After Tobi triggered the formation and hinted at a staged confrontation between Sasuke and Itachi, the three rushed to find the brothers.

• Kakashi, Ling, and Ino examined the forbidden scrolls and formation, finding evidence of an old Uchiha connection to the Sacred Lord and recent use of the formation.
• Tobi appeared in the chamber and dismissed Kite as a failure and coward.
• Tobi described the Sacred Lord as a partner and claimed to be Madara Uchiha's successor, while hinting that he had helped shape the Akatsuki and the world's conflicts.
• Tobi triggered a change in the altar's formation, vanished, and said Sasuke and Itachi needed the stage to themselves.
• Kakashi, Ling, and Ino hurried upstairs to find Sasuke and Itachi and stop the impending tragedy.