Recaps

Zou Hyuga settled the Ley Line Consciousness at an earth vein node near the Land of Fire Capital, then met Utada to review the Tailed Beast Merchant Association’s expansion. As Zou Hyuga prepared to return to his village, he sensed that his temporary base had been attacked by an unknown assailant.

• Zou Hyuga searched for an earth vein node, abandoned a sealed node beneath the ocean near the Land of Whirlpools, and chose a mountain forest near the Land of Fire Capital.
• Zou Hyuga released the Ley Line Consciousness underground, where it took over the node and began absorbing natural energy.
• Zou Hyuga stayed for several days to monitor the Ley Line Consciousness and practice Sage Mode.
• Zou Hyuga met Utada in the Land of Fire Capital and heard that the Tailed Beast Merchant Association was expanding abroad, with slow progress in several major nations and obstacles in the Land of Rain.
• Zou Hyuga told Utada to intensify ordinary business expansion in the Land of Rain without sending guards with ninja abilities.
• Zou Hyuga sensed that an unknown attacker had struck his temporary base and hurried back.

Zou Hyuga found Kisame Hoshigaki injured after Hiruko attacked the Kekkei Genkai Orphans, then tracked Hiruko to his lair. There, Zou discovered Orochimaru and Sasori were also pursuing Hiruko and chose to watch from hiding.

• Zou Hyuga reached the temporary base, found Kisame Hoshigaki and the children alive, and healed Kisame while listening to his account of the attack.
• Kisame described the attacker’s Konoha-style fighting and stitched-together summoning beasts, leading Zou Hyuga to identify him as Hiruko.
• Zou Hyuga learned Hiruko’s escape direction, left Kisame to protect the Kekkei Genkai Orphans, and pursued Hiruko through the forest.
• Zou Hyuga tracked Hiruko to a remote town and waited for him to return to his lair, hoping to find his research records.
• Zou Hyuga noticed Orochimaru and Sasori approaching Hiruko’s location and hid to observe them.

Orochimaru and Sasori tried to recruit Hiruko into the Akatsuki, but Hiruko refused and the meeting erupted into a battle. As Sasori and Hiruko fought, Zou Hyuga watched from hiding and exchanged a glance with Orochimaru.

• Orochimaru and Sasori found Hiruko at his cave and Orochimaru invited him to join the Akatsuki.
• Hiruko mocked Orochimaru and refused the offer, then secretly summoned his modified ninja beasts.
• Sasori attacked Hiruko with his poisoned scorpion tail, and one of Hiruko’s enhanced summoning beasts took the blow.
• Hiruko summoned more modified beasts while Sasori brought out human puppets, and Orochimaru watched without intervening.
• Zou Hyuga observed the battle with his Byakugan and considered the potential and dangers of Hiruko’s Chimera Technique.
• Zou Hyuga looked back at Orochimaru, who glanced toward his hiding place.

Zou Hyuga confronted Orochimaru, Sasori, and Hiruko while pursuing his mission, revealing overwhelming skill as Hiruko fled and begged to join their organization. The chapter left Zou fighting Orochimaru and Sasori, with Sasori launching an iron spike at him.

• Orochimaru, Sasori, and Hiruko sensed a watcher and moved to investigate, but Zou Hyuga destroyed Orochimaru's scouting snake and Sasori's puppet.
• Zou Hyuga recognized Orochimaru and Sasori as Kakuzu's associates, then cut Hiruko's exhausted modified summoning beast in two.
• Hiruko fled toward his secret base, triggering Zou's traps, and shouted that he would join the organization.
• Orochimaru and Sasori used the Body Flicker Technique to block Zou, but Zou attacked with Earth Release and lightning, damaging Sasori's puppets and Hiruko's summoning beasts.
• Orochimaru questioned why Zou was carrying out his mission for payment, while Sasori sent an iron spike at him with the Kazekage Human Puppet.

Zou Hyuga fought Sasori with Ice Release and demanded compensation from Orochimaru for Hiruko’s attack on his employer’s warehouse. Orochimaru agreed to pay ten million ryo, then admitted he needed to put the payment on credit.

• Zou Hyuga used Ice Release and Water Release to damage Sasori’s puppets, forcing Sasori to retreat beside Orochimaru.
• Zou Hyuga faced Orochimaru and explained that Hiruko had attacked his employer’s warehouse and injured its hired men.
• Orochimaru offered to pay Zou Hyuga to let Hiruko go, and Zou Hyuga demanded ten million ryo for the warehouse robbery and Sasori’s attack.
• Hiruko said he could not afford the payment, and Sasori showed no willingness to pay.
• Orochimaru realized he had no ten million ryo on hand and asked Zou Hyuga if he could put it on credit.

Zou Hyuga collected payment from Orochimaru and Sasori for Hiruko’s release, then refused Orochimaru’s offer to join his organization while leaving the door open to temporary contracts. He returned to the Training Ground, planning to relocate the base and make clear that he wanted to avoid conflict with the Akatsuki.

• Hiruko offered his forbidden summoning-beast modification technique as payment, and Orochimaru provided chakra metal worth seven million for his release.
• Sasori paid the remaining three million, and Zou Hyuga allowed Orochimaru to take Hiruko away.
• Orochimaru invited Zou Hyuga to join his organization, but Zou refused because he owned a twenty-percent stake in his employer.
• Orochimaru told Hiruko the organization would reimburse the payment, then claimed he had spent twenty-seven million to save him.
• Zou Hyuga returned to the Training Ground, deciding the Akatsuki might expose the base and that it would need to relocate.

Zou Hyuga relocated his bases to protect the kekkei genkai orphans and returned to Konoha, where Danzo’s Root had begun recruiting and monitoring the Uchiha. At the Uchiha training ground, he reunited with Oto and watched her coach Itachi, whose early graduation was near.

• Zou Hyuga established several outposts and chose a main base near the buried Leyline, hoping to train the orphans into capable ninja and cultivate users of senjutsu.
• Zou Hyuga returned to Konoha and learned from the Moryo Clone’s memories that Oto had visited and Danzo’s Root was recruiting under the ANBU’s name.
• Zou Hyuga spotted Root ninja surveilling the Uchiha Clan Compound and noted that Oto’s conduct had helped keep Shisui from becoming an ANBU directly under the Third.
• Zou Hyuga found Oto coaching Itachi, who was ready to graduate from the Ninja Academy and already showed impressive taijutsu.
• Oto teased Zou Hyuga about his interest in Itachi, while Itachi quietly resumed training and thought that Zou and Oto were acting lovey-dovey again.

Zou Hyuga warned Oto Uchiha that Itachi’s talent might attract the Masked Man’s attention, then learned that Oto had become vice captain of the Military Police Force in exchange for learning Izanagi and Izanami. At home, Zou sensed that his distant Leyline seed had grown into a towering tree and wondered if it could let him build a chakra network.

• Oto asked Zou whether Itachi should accept the village’s choice of jonin team leader, and Zou advised Itachi to decide for himself while warning that the Masked Man might notice his talent.
• Oto suggested Zou lead Itachi’s team, but Zou refused because his rank as a special jōnin did not qualify him.
• Itachi told Zou amusing stories about Sasuke and said his younger brother would soon start school.
• Oto revealed that she had accepted Fugaku’s condition to become vice captain of the Military Police Force in return for learning Izanagi and Izanami.
• After returning home, Zou sensed natural energy and discovered that the Leyline seed he had planted had grown into a towering tree.
• Zou wondered whether the fast-growing Leyline could spread across the earth and carry chakra through a network of his own.

Zou Hyuga speculated about the Leyline’s origins and pursued his plan to build a chakra network, despite the time and conflicts it would require. A month later, he assessed Kisame and the kekkei genkai orphans at the Merchant Association’s training base, considering their potential and the future risks surrounding the Leyline.

• Zou Hyuga considered whether the Leyline came from the God Tree, natural energy, or an ancient artificial creation, and resolved to gather chakra to strengthen himself and investigate his black markings.
• Zou Hyuga repeatedly visited the Valley of the End and successfully began guiding the Leyline toward an earth vein node near the Daimyō’s seat, estimating the connection would take at least three months.
• Zou Hyuga recognized that expanding the chakra network across the shinobi world could bring him into conflict with the Three Great Sage Lands, whose territories contained crucial earth vein nodes.
• A month later, Zou Hyuga visited the secret training base near the Daimyō’s seat and considered Kisame and the kekkei genkai orphans’ prospects, especially Kisame’s natural-energy affinity and Haku’s early strength.
• Zou Hyuga approached Kisame and the children, who grew tense because they knew his methods and felt they had no choice.

Zou Hyuga assessed Kisame and the others’ progress toward Sage Mode before attending Hinata’s Ninja Academy entrance ceremony. After the ceremony, he found a mysterious letter summoning him to meet outside the Forest of Death about Moryo.

• Zou Hyuga observed that Kisame and Haku adapted best to his Sage Mode experiment, though Kisame still showed no sign of entering Sage Mode.
• Zou Hyuga joined Hizashi, Neji, Hiashi, and Hinata outside the Academy as Hinata prepared to enroll.
• Neji welcomed Hinata and described the Academy to her, while Hinata watched Naruto from a distance.
• The Third delivered the entrance ceremony speech, and Zou Hyuga exchanged knowing smiles with Oto Uchiha.
• When Hiashi asked which students had the greatest potential, Zou Hyuga named Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.
• Zou Hyuga found a letter ordering him to meet outside the Forest of Death about Moryo.

Zou Hyuga met Obito in the Forest of Death, where Obito invited him to meet Pain and revealed his desire to make Oto Uchiha awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. Suspecting Obito was scheming against him, Zou returned to Konoha to prepare for their next encounter, then ran into Oto outside his home.

• Zou Hyuga crushed Obito's note and went to the Forest of Death to meet him.
• Obito questioned Zou about meeting Jiraiya and invited him to meet Pain, but Zou privately decided that meeting Nagato was too dangerous.
• After Zou left, Obito told Zetsu that he wanted Oto Uchiha to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and said not to underestimate an Uchiha who had lost everything.
• Zou returned to Konoha and suspected Obito was planning to turn against him at their next meeting.
• As Zou left home to prepare, Oto Uchiha arrived carrying a basket of groceries.

Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha discussed the Masked Man’s threat and agreed that Zou would seek the Third’s help. At the Hokage Building, Zou revealed the Masked Man’s connection to Moryo and disclosed that Moryo’s chakra was inside him, leaving the Third deeply concerned.

• Oto Uchiha scolded Zou Hyuga for meeting the Masked Man alone, and Zou told her he planned to break with Obito and try to kill him.
• Oto warned that the Masked Man knew Izanagi, and she and Zou considered asking the Third and Jiraiya for help.
• Oto stayed the night at Zou’s home, and they woke up in the same bed before heading to the Hokage Building.
• Zou told the Third about the Masked Man, altering some details, and revealed information about Moryo’s sealing and the chakra inside him.
• The Third listened in silence, troubled to learn that Zou had contacted the Masked Man and concealed Moryo’s chakra from him.

The Third and the village’s leaders planned an ambush against the Masked Man after hearing Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha’s intelligence. Danzo secretly pursued his own ambitions and investigated Orochimaru’s organization, while Oto returned to her clan to meet Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Fugaku.

• The Third summoned the elder advisors and Jiraiya, then shared Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha’s intelligence about the Masked Man.
• Danzo questioned whether Zou and Oto had been compromised, but Jiraiya defended them and the leaders began planning an ambush with help from Shisui and ANBU trained against Space-Time Ninjutsu.
• Danzo went to Root’s underground base and reflected on his plans to become Hokage and use the Masked Man operation to obtain Sharingan for transplantation.
• A Root operative delivered a letter from Orochimaru proposing a partnership involving a special black liquid, and Danzo replied by asking about Orochimaru’s bounty hunters.
• Oto Uchiha returned to her clan and sought out Shisui Uchiha and Uchiha Fugaku.

Oto Uchiha tested Fugaku's willingness to act against the Masked Man, then joined Zou Hyuga in a Konoha operation to capture him. At the meeting, Obito revealed he intended to take Zou's body and attacked him.

• Oto Uchiha told Fugaku about the Masked Man and Zou Hyuga's planned meeting, then asked whether Fugaku had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan; Fugaku denied it and offered support.
• Oto Uchiha left disappointed by Fugaku's continued inaction, while Shisui questioned her suspicion that Fugaku possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• The Third Hokage summoned Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha, and Konoha's ninja prepared an ambush plan with Jiraiya among those at the training drill.
• Zou Hyuga met Obito in a valley, where Obito said Zou's presence had weakened and demanded that he enter a box.
• Obito revealed he planned to take Zou Hyuga's body, then lunged at him with a chain-wrapped scythe.

Zou Hyuga fought Obito while Oto Uchiha and Shisui waited in ambush as part of a large Konoha operation to stop the Masked Man. After Moryo's chakra ran out, Zou pretended to regain consciousness, then used a decoy and explosive tags to catch Obito off guard.

• Zou Hyuga used Moryo chakra to extend his Gentle Fist against Obito, who spotted the hidden Konoha reinforcements and attacked him with Kamui.
• Oto Uchiha and Shisui stayed hidden with a severed arm from the defeated Zetsu and followed the plan while Oto contacted the ANBU sealing squads.
• Zou Hyuga's Moryo chakra ran out, and he pretended to awaken confused and unaware of Obito's identity.
• Zou used a Storage Scroll to produce weapons and explosive tags, then replaced himself with a tagged wooden stake as Obito lunged at him.

Zou Hyuga stalled Obito with Explosive Tag traps until Oto and Shisui arrived, and the three attacked Obito together. Obito evaded their strikes with Kamui but found himself surrounded by a web of Steel Wire that threatened him if he became tangible.

• Obito survived the Explosive Tag blasts, then realized Zou Hyuga had tricked him again with a second trap.
• Obito advanced on the wounded-looking Zou while Zou waited for reinforcements and worried about his damaged clothes.
• Oto and Shisui arrived, and Zou dropped his feeble act before joining them against Obito.
• Shisui used his Body Flicker Technique while Zou and Oto attacked Obito from different directions, but Obito evaded them with Kamui: Intangibility.
• Obito discovered that Steel Wire filled the valley, leaving him few safe places to become tangible.

Obito fought Zou Hyuga, Oto Uchiha, and Shisui Uchiha, but Jiraiya’s sound genjutsu left him vulnerable to their combined attack. Zou Hyuga believed the flames had killed Obito, though Izanagi might let him survive, and Jiraiya agreed to wait for the Masked Man or the dark figure to appear.

• Obito resisted the trio’s ambush with Susanoo, then trapped them in the valley and attacked with Susanoo shuriken.
• Oto Uchiha urged Zou Hyuga to escape while she and Shisui Uchiha covered him, but Obito’s attack stopped Zou’s flight.
• Obito dismissed Oto’s attacks and considered recruiting her and Shisui before a toad’s rhythmic croaking placed him under Jiraiya’s sound genjutsu.
• Jiraiya joined the fight, and he, Shisui Uchiha, Zou Hyuga, and Oto Uchiha combined their attacks until Obito’s Susanoo shattered and flames engulfed him.
• Zou Hyuga told Jiraiya that Obito was dead but might survive through Izanagi, so Jiraiya chose to wait for Obito or the dark figure to appear.

Zou Hyuga and his allies ambushed Obito when he revived, but he escaped after the ANBU Sealing Squad came under attack. Zou and Oto then headed toward the squad, intending to confront the Akatsuki threat.

• Zou Hyuga and the others waited in the lava valley for Obito to revive while remaining alert for Zetsu.
• An explosion near the ANBU Sealing Squad prompted Zou to keep the group focused on Obito, and Obito soon reappeared and began forming a Kamui vortex.
• Oto Uchiha used Amenominaka to disrupt Obito's Kamui, but Obito fooled the attackers with a Wood Clone and escaped.
• Jiraiya comforted Zou after the failed ambush, then went with Shisui to reinforce the Sealing Squad.
• Oto told Zou that Shisui had likely noticed her Mangekyo Sharingan, and she and Zou headed toward the Sealing Squad.

Kakashi’s ANBU squad fought Kakuzu while Juzo Biwa kept the Sealing Squad occupied outside the barrier. At the battle site, Danzo inspected the destruction left by the Susanoo and met Orochimaru, who warned him against interfering with the fight over the Land of Wind.

• Juzo Biwa fought the Sealing Squad and explained that he was a missing-nin working as a bounty hunter.
• Kakashi and his ANBU squad attacked Kakuzu, but struggled against his mastery of the five elemental releases.
• Danzo received reports of the battle’s destruction and entered the defunct barrier to inspect the Susanoo’s damage.
• Danzo grew wary of the Mangekyo Sharingan and considered the danger the Uchiha Clan could pose to the village.
• Danzo confronted Orochimaru in the woods, and Orochimaru asked to discuss the Land of Wind and made clear that he did not want Danzo interfering in the battle.

Zou Hyuga and Jiraiya fought Akatsuki members in the Forest of Death, but Sasori and the other enemies withdrew before they could be captured. After assessing the ANBU’s losses and wondering why Akatsuki had appeared, Zou learned that Orochimaru and Danzo had also concluded a secret meeting.

• Zou Hyuga and Oto joined Jiraiya’s battle against Sasori, whose weakened puppets forced him to retreat by flying away on the Third Kazekage Human Puppet.
• Jiraiya and Zou reached the Sealing Squad and learned that Juzo Biwa had withdrawn before they arrived.
• Kakashi reported that his squad’s enemy, who could use all five nature transformations, had also retreated, and Jiraiya later found other ANBU squads with casualties.
• Zou confirmed that Nagato and Konan had not caused the attack and wondered why Akatsuki members had appeared alongside Obito.
• Orochimaru left his secret meeting with Danzo, who then learned from Root reports that several Elite Jonin-level missing-nin had been deployed.

Obito escaped a Konoha ambush after using Izanagi, then regrouped with the Akatsuki, where Orochimaru grew suspicious of his identity. Back near the barrier, Jiraiya questioned Danzo’s late arrival, and the failed operation ended with the forces returning to the village amid distrust toward Danzo.

• Obito used Izanagi to escape the ambush and recovered beside a tree as Black Zetsu rebuked him for failing and revealed he had contacted the other Akatsuki members.
• The Akatsuki gathered around Obito, and Orochimaru suspected that Tobi was behind the Nine-Tails’ Rampage and became curious about his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Jiraiya completed his operation report, noting the ANBU casualties and asking why Danzo and Root had not appeared.
• Danzo claimed Root had been delayed fighting Orochimaru, but Jiraiya doubted his story because Danzo and his subordinates showed no signs of battle.
• Jiraiya defended Shisui against Danzo’s insinuations, while Oto and Shisui sensed Danzo’s malice toward the Uchiha.
• The forces returned to the village after the encirclement failed and the Masked Man escaped.

After the failed operation against the Masked Man, the Third Hokage learned that several S-Rank Missing-nin belonged to one powerful organization and asked Zou Hyuga and Oto to return to the ANBU, but they refused. As Zou gave Shisui chakra to slow his deteriorating eyesight, he asked how Itachi had been doing.

• Jiraiya and Danzo confirmed to the Third Hokage that Orochimaru, Sasori, Juzo Biwa, and Kakuzu belonged to the same organization as the Masked Man.
• The Third offered Zou Hyuga and Oto the chance to return to the ANBU, but Zou declined, so the Third told them to stay with Jiraiya for now.
• Danzo described his encounter with Orochimaru to the senior officials, concealing some details.
• Zou, Oto, and Shisui discussed the failed operation and learned from Kakashi that Yamato had withdrawn after falling ill and getting injured.
• Shisui revealed that his eyesight was worsening, and Zou gave him a vial of chakra that could slow its deterioration.
• Zou asked Shisui how Itachi had been doing after hearing that he had become a ninja.

Zou Hyuga warned Shisui that the Masked Man might target Itachi and urged him to limit Itachi’s missions outside the village. At home, Zou and Oto discussed Danzo’s hostility toward the Uchiha and whether an Uchiha could become Hokage, with Zou arguing that only the village’s strongest could hold the position.

• Shisui agreed that Itachi could be in danger and considered forming a team with him to protect him.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha returned to Zou’s home, where Oto noted that Zou had trusted Shisui with his secret.
• Oto said Danzo’s hostility toward her and his clean appearance during the operation made her suspect he was colluding with Orochimaru.
• Zou suggested Danzo’s hatred of the Uchiha might stem from the Second Hokage’s view of the clan, and Oto condemned the Second for labeling them evil.
• Oto said an Uchiha becoming Hokage was the only way to resolve the clan’s conflict with the village, while Zou argued that only the strongest could become Hokage.

Zou Hyuga examined Oto Uchiha’s chakra and considered why he couldn’t obtain the Mangekyō Sharingan’s chakra, then received a severed White Zetsu arm containing Hashirama cells. He shifted his focus to developing a chakra transmission system, with Sunagakure’s Chakra Threads as his practical option.

• Zou Hyuga examined Oto Uchiha and found that he could draw her nature-transformed chakra but still could not obtain her Mangekyō Sharingan’s chakra.
• Zou Hyuga decided not to risk experimenting further on Oto because she was crucial to dealing with Obito.
• Oto Uchiha produced a severed arm she had cut from Zetsu, and Zou Hyuga identified it as White Zetsu tissue containing Hashirama cells.
• Zou Hyuga began experiments on the arm while Oto left to return to her duties and training.
• Zou Hyuga asked Oto about Uchiha books on the Puppet Technique and concluded that Chakra Threads were his best option for transmitting chakra over long distances.

Oto brought Zou Hyuga books and puppets so he could study the Puppet Technique, while the Akatsuki regrouped in the Land of Rain after their failed mission. Pain warned Obito to stop provoking Konoha, then discussed Hiruko’s research and the Akatsuki’s worsening shortage of money; Obito later appeared before Zetsu in Amegakure.

• Oto brought Zou Hyuga Puppet Technique books and puppets, and he spent the next few days studying how to transmit chakra through Chakra Threads.
• Sasori and the other Akatsuki members arrived in the Land of Rain and reported to Pain and Konan in a cave outside Amegakure.
• Pain warned Obito that his exposure had disrupted their plans and ordered him to stop provoking Konoha until the time was right.
• Konan told Pain that Hiruko wanted ninja with several kekkei genkai for his Chimera Technique research, and Pain agreed to help him except with the Sharingan.
• Konan explained that the Akatsuki’s support for the Land of Rain’s people had strained their finances, and Pain reluctantly acknowledged the need for money.
• Obito opened a vortex on the other side of Amegakure and looked toward Zetsu.