Recaps

After Cat Granny discovered a vast amount of Moryo’s evil chakra inside Zou Hyuga, Oto Uchiha grew anxious about what might happen to him. Back in the Shinobi Village, Zou joined Kakashi and Guy’s gathering, checked Anko for a Cursed Seal, and remained distant from Oto.

• Cat Granny revealed to Oto Uchiha that a great deal of Moryo’s evil chakra was inside Zou Hyuga, and Oto left determined to find a way to deal with it.
• Cat Granny admitted that Zou’s immense chakra and natural energy had been the decisive reason she agreed to cooperate with him.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha left the Cat Village, but their distance from each other grew on the journey back to the Shinobi Village.
• Zou Hyuga accepted Guy’s invitation to join Kakashi and other ninja at an izakaya, where he saw Anko looking dispirited over Orochimaru’s departure.
• Zou Hyuga inspected Anko’s neck for a Cursed Seal, found no sign of one, and returned to his seat while the others wondered why he and Oto were acting distant.

After a tavern gathering, Oto Uchiha hid her doubts about Zou Hyuga and demonstrated her formidable throwing skills to Itachi and Sasuke. Zou returned home, considered the dangers ahead, and received a letter about recent events in the organization.

• Oto Uchiha took the Three-Color Dango from Zou Hyuga, and the gathering resumed as the Ninja shared memories of war and their fallen peers.
• Oto approached Zou while pretending to be drunk, but Zou left using the Body Flicker Technique, hoping her unstable state might eventually awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.
• Oto walked home alone, revealing to herself that she had stayed lucid and had nearly asked Zou whether he was deceiving her about Moryo's influence.
• Oto met Itachi and Sasuke practicing, then pierced tree trunks with her kunai to hit every hidden bullseye, astonishing them both.
• Zou returned home, reflected on threats to come, and received a letter describing recent events in the organization before writing a reply.

Zou Hyuga sensed vast currents of natural energy beneath the earth and considered investigating the Leyline under Rōran after dealing with Oto’s situation. Meanwhile, Obito secretly entered the Uchiha compound to find clan members he could cultivate, and watched Oto and Shisui spar.

• Kisame warned Zou Hyuga that rogue ninja and unusually active bounty hunters were targeting the Tailed Beast Merchant Association, and Zou told him not to stir up trouble.
• Zou Hyuga sensed powerful underground currents of natural energy and identified one leading toward the desert and the buried Leyline beneath Rōran.
• Obito used his space-time abilities to enter Konoha and watched Itachi and Sasuke, deciding that the brothers were worth cultivating.
• Obito observed Oto and Shisui sparring and considered exploiting Oto’s connection to a Hyuga ninja, but decided he would first need to draw Shisui away.
• Shisui struggled through Oto’s sparring session after recently being released from confinement by the clan head.

Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha set out on a mission to eliminate rogue ninja, but Obito ambushed them and sent Zou into a mysterious space. Oto recognized Obito as the masked man who attacked the village and prepared to fight him to rescue Zou.

• Zou Hyuga invited Oto Uchiha on a C-Rank mission, and they gradually regained their former closeness as they traveled.
• Obito watched the pair and told Zetsu that he intended to make Oto lose faith in the village and join his side.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha found the rogue ninja camp, defeated the bandits, and discovered that their supposed robbery had yielded little money.
• Obito appeared behind Zou Hyuga and pulled him into a mysterious space before Oto could warn him in time.
• Oto Uchiha recognized Obito as the man who had controlled the Nine-Tails and attacked the village, then demanded that he release Zou.
• Obito challenged Oto over the gulf between their Sharingan powers, and Oto prepared to fight him.

Oto Uchiha fought Obito at the rogue ninja camp while Zou Hyuga waited inside the Kamui Dimension. Shisui Uchiha arrived with Susanoo to save Oto, leaving Obito facing both Uchiha fighters.

• Zou Hyuga waited in the Kamui Dimension for Obito, then sensed a battle nearby and went to investigate.
• Oto Uchiha attacked Obito with powerful Fire Release, but he avoided her attacks and waited for her chakra to weaken.
• Obito tried to trap Oto with genjutsu, but Samehada helped her break free, and she countered with an explosive tag.
• Obito used Wood Release and Kamui to attack Oto, but Shisui Uchiha appeared with Susanoo and pulled her to safety.
• Oto thanked Shisui for arriving in time and told Obito she had been waiting for Shisui while he had been waiting for an opening.

Obito fought Oto Uchiha and Shisui, but Zou Hyuga disrupted his intangibility from inside the Kamui Dimension and forced him to retreat there. Obito found Zou surrounded by strange, sinister chakra, leaving him uncertain what the Hyuga was capable of.

• Obito realized Oto Uchiha had stalled him until Shisui arrived, and Oto warned Shisui that Obito possessed Wood Release and had abducted Zou Hyuga.
• Oto Uchiha and Shisui attacked Obito together, and he used Wood Release to send thorn-covered trees spreading through the woods.
• Shisui used Susanoo to hurl burning wooden thorns at Obito, but Zou struck him from within the Kamui Dimension and forced him to become tangible.
• Oto Uchiha deduced that Zou was inside the other dimension, and she and Shisui waited outside for Obito to reveal an opening.
• Inside the Kamui Dimension, Obito found that Zou had injured him and noticed a strange, sinister chakra swirling around him.

Obito mistook Zou Hyuga for a creature possessing him and proposed an alliance against Oto Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha. They reached a tentative agreement to deceive Oto, and a vortex appeared to take them back outside.

• Obito realized Zou Hyuga was immune to his genjutsu and suspected a powerful being controlled him.
• Zou Hyuga claimed he wanted Oto Uchiha's body and eyes, and Obito suggested they work together against her and Shisui Uchiha.
• Obito offered Zou Hyuga a more suitable body and told him to pretend to fight Obito before luring Oto out alone.
• Zou Hyuga agreed cautiously, while both men kept their suspicions to themselves.
• After five minutes, a distorted vortex appeared before Obito and Zou Hyuga.

Zou Hyuga’s clone fought alongside Obito Uchiha while Oto Uchiha and Shisui tried to stop them, then dissolved after being struck. The real Zou continued his deception and returned to the ruined camp after Obito retreated, where Oto asked whether he was Moryo or Zou.

• Oto Uchiha warned Shisui that Moryo might be controlling Zou Hyuga and asked him to use his technique if necessary.
• Zou Hyuga’s clone and Obito Uchiha fought, and Oto Uchiha and Shisui joined in but could not overcome Obito’s intangibility.
• After the clone dissolved, the real Zou Hyuga learned its memories and decided to maintain the deception to gather information on the Akatsuki.
• Zou Hyuga returned to the camp and helped Oto Uchiha and Shisui pressure Obito, who eventually escaped through a vortex.
• Oto Uchiha asked Zou Hyuga whether he was Moryo or Zou.

Zou Hyuga explained the Masked Man’s connection to the Nine-Tails attack while Shisui and Oto questioned him about the encounter and his condition. He then led Oto away from the cave to settle what had happened between them, with Moryo’s chakra covering him.

• Shisui suffered severe eye pain, and Zou Hyuga warned him that overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan could lead to blindness.
• Zou Hyuga, Oto Uchiha, and Shisui spent the night in a cave and discussed the Masked Man’s attack on the village.
• Zou Hyuga said the Masked Man had caused the Night of the Nine-Tails, but he doubted the attacker was Madara Uchiha.
• Oto agreed that Shisui could report the encounter to the Third, provided she was present.
• Zou Hyuga led Oto away from the cave to explain what had happened between them, and Moryo’s chakra enveloped him.

Moryo possessed Zou Hyuga and tried to force Oto Uchiha to awaken her Mangekyō Sharingan by provoking her and threatening Zou’s life. When Oto offered herself in exchange for Zou’s freedom, the real Zou moved to stop the deception, but Oto’s Sharingan began transforming.

• Oto Uchiha and Moryo-possessed Zou Hyuga fought, and Zou knocked Samehada from her hand before she used Earth Release, Earth Spear.
• Moryo revealed that he was consuming Zou Hyuga’s consciousness and wanted Oto’s body and Sharingan.
• Moryo taunted Oto and attacked her chakra points in an effort to make her awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Moryo claimed he might spare Zou if Oto surrendered her body, and Oto agreed to trade herself for his life.
• Zou Hyuga approached Oto to end the deception, but noticed her chakra turning violent as her Three-Tomoe Sharingan began forming a six-pointed star.

Oto Uchiha awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan and mistook Zou Hyuga for Moryo, forcing him to fight her while trying to explain the truth. After Oto disrupted his Tailed Beast Bomb with her new dojutsu, she realized details that suggested both Zou and Moryo had been telling the truth.

• Oto Uchiha awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan after realizing Moryo could not be trusted, then attacked Zou Hyuga as if he were still Moryo.
• Zou Hyuga tried to explain that he had provoked Oto to awaken her eyes, but she dismissed his words and continued attacking.
• Zou used Rotation and ninjutsu to defend himself, then began forming a small Tailed Beast Bomb when his other attack failed.
• Oto activated her dojutsu, causing the Tailed Beast Bomb to vanish and briefly disrupting Zou's chakra, then punched him.
• Oto noticed details about her dojutsu and concluded that, in a sense, both Zou and Moryo had told the truth.

Oto Uchiha defeated Zou Hyuga, whom she believed was possessed by Moryo, and brought him back to the Cave after the battle. The next morning, Zou woke injured and continued pretending Moryo had controlled him while Oto tended to him with painful rehabilitation exercises.

• Zou Hyuga fought Oto Uchiha and her Shadow Clones, then entered Sage Mode after being struck by a venom-coated kunai.
• Oto and her clones overwhelmed Zou, who pretended to lose consciousness after his Moryo chakra ran out.
• Oto bound Zou and carried him back to the Cave, where she told Shisui Uchiha that her newly awakened Mangekyō Sharingan had dealt with Moryo.
• Zou woke the next morning with several broken bones and apologized to Oto, keeping up the pretense that Moryo's chakra had caused the trouble.
• Oto fed Zou chicken soup and began setting his bones and massaging him with excessive force, while Zou silently accepted her revenge.

Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha discussed concealing Moryo’s chakra and Oto’s Mangekyō Sharingan while considering ways to prevent her eyes from going blind. After Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy visited, Zou and Oto went with them to report the Masked Man’s return to the Third Hokage.

• Oto Uchiha asked Zou Hyuga whether he liked her, and Zou warned her not to trust Moryo’s words.
• Oto said she had instructed Shisui about what to tell the village, and Zou agreed that the Masked Man should be reported while Moryo’s chakra and her Mangekyō remained secret.
• Zou explained that Oto’s Mangekyō could be saved from blindness by transplanting a blood relative’s Mangekyō or Hashirama cells, and Oto revealed that her dojutsu was Amenominaka, a Sealing Jutsu.
• Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy visited Zou and Oto, asked whether the Third Hokage knew about the Masked Man, and learned that Shisui had driven him off.
• Zou and Oto left with Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy to report the Masked Man’s reappearance to the Third Hokage.

After the Masked Man’s attack was confirmed, the Third and Danzo discussed the village’s threats and the bounty organization linked to Orochimaru. Back home, Zou learned about Oto’s Mangekyo Sharingan abilities, including her right eye’s costly power to seal an enemy’s Mangekyo temporarily.

• The Third sent ANBU to investigate the battle site and ordered the injured Zou to stay in the village and recover.
• ANBU found traces of Shisui, an unfamiliar powerful shinobi, and Wood Release, confirming the Masked Man had attacked.
• Danzo asked whether another Uchiha might possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, but the Third warned him not to stir up conflict.
• Danzo told the Third that Orochimaru worked with Sasori and belonged to a bounty organization filled with missing-nin, then asked whether Sunagakure should be informed about Sasori.
• Zou returned home and learned that Oto’s left eye could seal chakra buildup in a small area, interrupting ninjutsu.
• After Zou pressed her, Oto revealed that her right eye could seal an enemy’s Mangekyo Sharingan for one minute at the cost of a year of blindness.

Zou Hyuga left the village to investigate an important matter Kisame reported and found the Kekkei Genkai orphans Kisame had gathered and trained. Among them, Zou recognized Haku as a child with Ice Release, though Kisame doubted he was suited to be a ninja.

• Zou considered whether Oto Uchiha’s sealing Dojutsu could contain a tailed beast and strengthen her.
• After receiving an important message from Kisame, Zou asked Oto to cover for him and left the village using a clone to hide his absence.
• Zou traveled to the Tailed Beast Organization’s mountain base and watched Kisame train the children with harsh sparring that left some injured.
• Kisame introduced the children as orphans from Kirigakure’s Kekkei Genkai clans, who carried confusion and hatred toward the village.
• Zou asked about a pretty boy among the children, and Kisame identified him as Haku, an Ice Release user he had found fighting stray cats for food.

Zou Hyuga learned that the Akatsuki had placed a bounty on Utada and prepared to protect the merchant company’s valuable business manager. He also took an interest in Haku’s unstable Ice Release and decided to bring the boy along under Kisame’s guard.

• Zou Hyuga inspected Haku and the other kekkei genkai orphans, considering them potential members of his future organization.
• Kisame told Zou Hyuga that the Akatsuki was targeting Utada after a bounty appeared on the Black Market, and Zou asked where Utada was hiding.
• Kisame revealed that he had moved Utada and sent out a stand-in, while Zou recognized the danger posed by the Akatsuki’s missing-nin members.
• Zou Hyuga asked Kisame whether Haku could use Ice Release, and Kisame explained that the boy’s ability was unstable and dangerous to the other children.
• Zou Hyuga asked to take Haku out to see the world and told Kisame to guard the children and stop teaching them the Bloody Mist’s methods.
• Zou Hyuga gave Haku chakra that the boy found warm and told him it might save his life someday.

Zou Hyuga gave Kisame natural chakra, then tested Haku’s Ice Release and trained him during their journey. After reaching the Land of Fire Capital, Zou met the distressed Taro Utada and questioned him about the Akatsuki members pursuing the bounty.

• Zou Hyuga offered Kisame natural chakra, which Kisame swallowed so he could better protect the children in his care.
• Zou Hyuga left the remote village with Haku and had him demonstrate Ice Release, then helped him freeze part of a river using natural chakra.
• Zou Hyuga trained Haku in tree climbing and water walking as they traveled toward the Land of Fire Capital.
• Zou Hyuga met Taro Utada, who explained that powerful bounty hunters had attacked him and that the Black Market would not cancel the lucrative bounty.
• Zou Hyuga lifted Utada from his knees and asked which Akatsuki members had accepted the bounty mission.

Zou Hyuga escorted Utada into the Land of Fire Capital, then confronted two Akatsuki members who ambushed the merchant’s caravan. After overpowering their attack, Zou sensed a much larger chakra source approaching, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Zou Hyuga disguised himself as one of Utada’s guards and accompanied him through business meetings in the Land of Fire Capital.
• Zou Hyuga learned that the merchant association’s expansion into other nations’ markets had made it a target for a fifty-million bounty.
• Zou Hyuga halted Utada’s caravan when he sensed two approaching chakra sources, and two Kirigakure missing-nin in Akatsuki robes blocked the road.
• Zou Hyuga offered to pay the attackers double, but they refused to change employers and attacked using the Hidden Mist Killing Technique.
• Zou Hyuga intercepted a sword strike and dodged a Water Prison Technique, forcing the two Akatsuki members to reconsider whether they should retreat.
• Zou Hyuga sensed an enormous chakra source approaching and wondered whether a full Akatsuki member was coming.

Zou Hyuga fought Kakuzu after the Akatsuki missing-nin attacked Taro Utada’s party. As Kakuzu unleashed his full power, Zou absorbed a chakra cluster from a dead guard and prepared to face him without entering Sage Mode.

• Kakuzu arrived and attacked Utada, but Zou caught his fist and tore through the threads connecting it to his body.
• Zou sent Utada away, then engaged the two Mist Ninja while Kakuzu’s threads killed several guards.
• Kakuzu combined Wind and Fire Release against Zou and the Mist Ninja, burning them; Zou then used explosive tags to leave the Mist Ninja gravely wounded.
• Kakuzu defended against Zou’s explosives with Earth and Wind Release, but Zou shattered his wall and struck him hard enough to knock him back.
• Kakuzu brought out all his masks and attacked with all five elements, forcing Zou to dodge through the woods.
• Zou absorbed a chakra cluster from a dead guard and turned back toward Kakuzu, thinking he might not need Sage Mode.

Zou Hyuga used Fire and Lightning Release to destroy one of Kakuzu’s hearts, while Utada and the guards fled the battle. Haku revealed his Ice Release kekkei genkai to save Utada from Mist Ninja clones, leaving the weakened Mist Ninja unable to resist the approaching attacks.

• Zou Hyuga countered Kakuzu’s attacks with a Great Fireball, then used Lightning Release through the water to paralyze them both and shatter Kakuzu’s water-nature heart.
• Kakuzu realized he had lost one of his five lives and prepared to face Zou Hyuga’s next attack.
• Utada led the guards and Haku away from the battle, but two weakened Mist Ninja clones blocked their path and attacked.
• Haku unleashed his Ice Release kekkei genkai, freezing the water and trapping the Mist Ninja clones.
• Utada destroyed the trapped clones with Explosive Tags, while the weakened Mist Ninja received news of their loss and could not resist the approaching attackers.

Zou Hyuga overwhelmed Kakuzu in a battle over a bounty mission, but held back when other Akatsuki members arrived. He rejected Juzo Biwa’s recruitment offer and demanded four million ryō to let the Akatsuki abandon the mission and leave.

• Zou Hyuga kept Kakuzu on the defensive, while Kakuzu’s masks nullified his remaining ninjutsu.
• Kakuzu killed two wounded Mist Ninja teammates and absorbed their hearts to replenish his lives.
• Zou noticed Juzo Biwa and Zetsu approaching and chose to wait rather than risk a fight with the arriving Akatsuki members.
• Juzo Biwa offered to abandon Kakuzu’s mission and asked Zou to join the Akatsuki, but Zou refused and struck him with a punch that bent the Kubikiribōchō.
• Zou demanded four million ryō from the Akatsuki, saying they had to pay double before he would let them go.

Zou Hyuga took four million ryo from Juzo Biwa and Kakuzu after defeating their attack, then found Utada and Haku after they survived an ambush. He discovered that chakra he had bestowed could absorb others’ chakra natures, leaving him to investigate whether he could use it for ninjutsu and study Haku’s Ice Release.

• Juzo Biwa paid Zou Hyuga four million ryo from a Storage Scroll so he and Kakuzu could leave, and Kakuzu said he would not pursue the failed bounty mission again.
• Zou Hyuga searched the Kirigakure corpses and headed to Utada and Haku, sensing that a battle had taken place nearby.
• Utada told Zou Hyuga that a water clone had attacked them, and Zou found several dead guards and nearly dissipated masses of nature-transformed chakra.
• Zou Hyuga realized that chakra returned after spending time in other people could carry their chakra natures and might let him perform nature-based ninjutsu.
• Zou Hyuga checked Haku’s depleted chakra, considered studying his Ice Release, and ordered Utada to clean up the battlefield before leading the survivors toward the Land of Fire Capital.

Juzo Biwa’s intelligence about a powerful ninja and the Tailed Beast Merchant Association reached Pain, who ordered Konan to observe and recruit the ninja if possible. At the organization’s base, Zou Hyuga helped Haku awaken Ice Release, experimented on other children with kekkei genkai, and then set out to return to his village.

• Juzo Biwa reported his findings to Konan, who passed them on to Pain.
• Pain focused on the Tailed Beast Merchant Association and told Konan to watch the powerful ninja and recruit him without force.
• Konan informed Nagato that Tobi appeared connected to unrest in Kirigakure, and Pain privately worried about Tobi’s larger aims.
• During the journey back to the base, Zou Hyuga discovered that natural chakra took days to assimilate but that frequent Ice Release accelerated the process.
• At the base, Zou Hyuga successfully helped Haku perform a small Ice Release ninjutsu and left natural chakra inside other orphaned children with kekkei genkai.
• After completing his experiments, Zou Hyuga left the base to return to his village.

Zou Hyuga returned to the Hyuga compound, updated Oto Uchiha about the Akatsuki, and tested her newly activated Susanoo with a kunai. He then took Oto out to put an old idea into practice, but the chapter ended after they briefly met Kakashi, Yamato, and Might Guy.

• Zou Hyuga returned to the clan compound and told Oto Uchiha about his encounter with Kakuzu and the Akatsuki.
• Oto Uchiha activated her Mangekyō Sharingan and formed a skeletal Susanoo, which Zou tested by striking it with a kunai.
• Zou joked about borrowing Oto's eyes and considered whether he could obtain Byakugan or Sharingan chakra for experiments.
• Zou suggested an outing with Oto to put an idea he'd had months earlier into practice.
• Zou and Oto ran into Kakashi, Yamato, and Might Guy, and Zou asked Kakashi to tell the Hokage that he could not take missions while recovering.

Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha suspected that the Masked Man might be Obito and that Kakashi's Sharingan might be a Mangekyō, but they chose not to tell the village leadership. At the Valley of the End, Zou took Oto's hand and told her to focus on what she was about to feel.

• Zou Hyuga suggested that Obito might have survived, awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan after Rin Nohara's death, and become the Masked Man who caused the Nine-Tails' Rampage.
• Oto Uchiha agreed that the theory was possible and wondered whether Kakashi's eye was also a Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Zou Hyuga advised Oto not to tell Kakashi or the Third because they lacked proof and could not explain their source of information.
• Oto challenged Zou Hyuga to explain how he knew so much, then teased him about bringing her into the forest to make a move on her.
• Zou Hyuga led Oto to the Valley of the End, concealed himself nearby, and firmly took her hand while telling her to pay attention to what she felt.