Chapter Summaries

Sasuke fought the deformed man who had come to rescue the Daimyō of the Land of Salt, and wounded himself with Chidori to force the enemy to let go. As Sasuke collapsed from his injuries, a figure appeared and used Reverse Cursed Technique-Healing.

• The Daimyō of the Land of Salt persuaded the deformed man to kill Sasuke and take him away.
• The deformed man attacked Sasuke from the shadows, but Sasuke avoided the first grab with the Substitution Technique and countered with a Great Fireball Technique.
• The deformed man tricked Sasuke with a shadow cast by his clothes, seized him from behind, and began sinking into a shadow with him.
• Sasuke drove Chidori through his own abdomen and pierced the deformed man, forcing him to release Sasuke and flee with the Daimyō of the Land of Salt.
• Sasuke collapsed while trying to stop their escape, and a figure caught him and used Reverse Cursed Technique-Healing.

Shinji rescued Sasuke, captured the deformed man and the Land of Salt's Daimyō in his domain, and tortured the man for information about his abilities. After learning that cursed spirits had transformed him and others through experiments, Shinji left with Sasuke and Tamamo Hotaru while Tobi dragged away Hidan.

• Shinji healed Sasuke and trapped the deformed man and the Land of Salt's Daimyō inside his Blood-Red Doomsday domain.
• Shinji forced the deformed man to reveal that his shadow ability and monstrous appearance had come from an ordeal inflicted by cursed spirits.
• The deformed man explained that cursed spirits had experimented on captives, transforming some into monsters and granting survivors abilities with a gradual loss of humanity.
• Tobi and Hidan arrived after Shinji had finished, and Shinji set off with Sasuke and Tamamo Hotaru.
• Hidan tried to stay behind and sacrifice the people inside, but Tobi dragged him away.

Shinji and his companions encountered a caravan under attack by Cursed Spirits near the Land of Vegetables, and Shinji slaughtered the monsters. After saving the survivors, he killed an injured man whose resentment he had sensed, prompting the princess to challenge him.

• Kumogakure arrived in the Land of Salt and announced that it would investigate the assassination of the Daimyō.
• Shinji and his companions heard fighting ahead and found more than a dozen Cursed Spirits attacking a caravan.
• The caravan’s guard prepared to flee with the disguised princess as the defense collapsed, but Shinji warned everyone to stay still and attacked the Cursed Spirits with Blood Bullets.
• Shinji killed all the Cursed Spirits, while Tobi wondered why he was so eager to hunt them and Hidan blamed Lord Jashin.
• Shinji sensed resentment from an injured man, killed him with the Kubikiribōchō, and faced the princess’s angry protest as her guard tried to pull her back.

Shinji agreed to take Princess Haruna to the Land of Vegetables but refused to fight the Three Evil Ninja without a valuable reward. The Three Evil Ninja ambushed the group on the road, and Hidan faced Ruiya as the battle began.

• Princess Haruna revealed her identity and said a rebellion threatened her claim to the Land of Vegetables.
• Shinji agreed to escort Haruna but demanded a special item before he would help defeat the Three Evil Ninja.
• Haruna chose to travel with Shinji and his companions, reasoning that the approaching Three Evil Ninja posed a greater danger than the group.
• A beam of energy struck the road, and one of Haruna's guards died while pushing her out of its path.
• Jiya and Ruiya appeared and attacked; Jiya targeted Shinji, while Ruiya struck Hidan, who caught his staff and drew a Black Spear.

Shinji and his companions defeated the Three Evil Ninja, who had been hunting Princess Haruna. Haruna asked Shinji to help her become Daimyō of the Land of Vegetables, but he refused her offer of marriage and left the terms of his help open.

• Leiya left himself open while forming hand seals, and Hidan stabbed him through the heart; Jiya celebrated his brother's death because he would no longer have to share the money.
• Jiya attacked Shinji with rock fragments, but Shinji blocked them with a Blood Crystal Wall and burst Jiya's head with Blood Manipulation.
• Renya activated his transparent Ice Release technique, but Shinji used Cursed Speech to kill him and end the fight.
• Princess Haruna thanked Shinji and asked him to help quell unrest in the Land of Vegetables, promising a reward if he helped her become Daimyō.
• Haruna offered to marry Shinji, but he declined, said he had no interest in ruling a country, and revealed that he had just killed the Daimyō of the Land of Salt.
• Haruna maintained that her offer would stand and resolved to return to the Land of Vegetables and dress herself up before trying again.

Shinji and his companions were ambushed by Kumogakure ninja who had learned their location from the caravan leader. Shinji broke their lightning attack and prepared to face Autai, while Hidan rushed into the fight and was overwhelmed by several opponents.

• The caravan leader revealed Shinji and his companions’ whereabouts to the pursuing Kumogakure ninja and blamed Shinji for killing the Land of Salt’s daimyō.
• Princess Haruna questioned Sasuke about Shinji, but Sasuke ignored her, while Tamamo Hotaru befriended the princess to build a relationship with the Land of Vegetables’ future daimyō.
• Kumogakure ninja ambushed the group with an earthen wall, targeting Shinji’s party and moving to capture Tamamo Hotaru; Tobi fled, leaving Sasuke near the two women.
• More than a dozen Kumogakure ninja unleashed a lightning net, but Shinji cut through it with Ratio Technique: Collapse and escaped the current below.
• Autai activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode and challenged Shinji, but Hidan charged at him and was thrown through the earthen wall before other Kumogakure ninja surrounded him.
• Shinji opened the Thirsty One’s Stomach and sent a large quantity of blood flowing around himself.

Shinji tested himself against Autai and held off the Kumogakure fighter’s lightning-powered attacks while Sasuke, Hidan, Tamamo Hotaru, and the others fought the rest of the squad. Hidan completed his ritual and prepared to turn the fight around.

• Autai used Lightning Body Flicker and struck Shinji, but Shinji blocked the punch with Kubikiribōchō and judged his strength.
• Autai attacked with Lariat, but Shinji stopped the blow with the Snakeskin Sword and its force-reducing ability.
• Autai launched Lightning Release: Twin Axes Murder, and Shinji defended against the lightning and axes with Blood Crystal Wall and his swords.
• Sasuke, Tamamo Hotaru, and the white fox fought off Kumogakure ninja while Hidan faced two Elite Ninja and Tobi drew several enemies away.
• Princess Haruna agreed to withdraw with her guards, and Hidan collected an opponent’s blood, completed his ritual pattern, and activated Death Controlling Possessed Blood.

Hidan used his immortality and Jashin ritual to kill one Kumogakure Elite Ninja and fight another, while Shinji battled Autai and broke the Kubikiribōchō again. Shinji’s blood weapons killed several Kumogakure ninja, driving Autai to charge him with his Lightning Release Armor pushed to its limit.

• Hidan stabbed himself in the heart and killed the Kumogakure Elite Ninja circling from the left through his ritual.
• Hidan stopped the other Elite Ninja from cutting off his head and taunted him as their fight continued.
• Shinji and Autai clashed with their weapons until both the Kubikiribōchō and one of Autai’s Double-Bladed Battle Axes broke.
• Shinji switched to the Snakeskin Sword, then unleashed Blood Blades and blood spears at Autai and the other Kumogakure Ninja.
• The blood spears killed several Kumogakure Chunin and Genin, prompting Autai to charge Shinji with his Lightning Release Armor at maximum power.

Shinji defeated Autai and the remaining enemy ninja, then restored his broken Kubikiribōchō and healed Tamamo Hotaru’s injured fox, Bright Moon. With the battle over, the survivors were left to regroup after a devastating fight.

• Autai used Lightning Release: Thunder Rhino One-Horn, but Shinji stopped him with Cursed Speech and evaded his charge.
• Shinji trapped Autai among blood spears, then let the poisoned and exhausted warrior approach before cutting him down.
• Hidan killed the remaining enemy ninja and sacrificed them to the Evil God.
• Shinji repaired the Kubikiribōchō by pouring stored blood over it and decided not to take Sasuke’s Kusanagi Sword.
• Shinji healed Bright Moon’s wounds with Reverse Cursed Technique-Healing while Tamamo Hotaru embraced the fox.

After Kumogakure’s attack, Princess Haruna tried to recruit Tamamo Hotaru by promising to help restore her clan and conceal her identity. Shinji refused to help Haruna seize power in the Land of Vegetables, leaving the women awkwardly facing his departure.

• Tamamo Hotaru thanked Shinji for helping her and healing Bright Moon, while Shinji said he had only dealt with the trouble because she paid him.
• Princess Haruna returned and questioned how Kumogakure had been persuaded to target her, and Tamamo Hotaru explained that the attackers had actually been after her.
• Haruna promised to protect Hotaru and help restore the Tamamo Clan, hoping to make her a loyal subordinate, and the two women began calling each other sisters.
• Shinji pointed out that Haruna had no real power to end the rebellion in the Land of Vegetables, prompting Hotaru to ask him to help her.
• Shinji told Hotaru she could help Haruna if she wished, but that he and his companions would leave once they had collected their belongings.

Shinji and his companions reached the devastated Land of Vegetables and learned that monsters had invaded, killing civilians and abducting many people. Shinji agreed to look for a way to track them after obtaining their objective, while Princess Haruna began to regain her resolve to save her country.

• Shinji and his companions found the Land of Vegetables ravaged by burned fields, corpses, and bloodstains, and Princess Haruna ran ahead to learn what had happened.
• Shinji used Cursed Speech to calm a frightened boy, who told them that powerful monsters had invaded during the civil unrest and taken many people away.
• Tamamo Hotaru asked Shinji to rescue the abducted people, and he said he would first obtain their objective and then try to track the monsters.
• Shinji told Tamamo Hotaru that calling him a nice guy was an insult, while Sasuke mistakenly took his words as a lesson about power.
• Princess Haruna lost hope and rejected her title, but her guards and the boy urged her to lead the country, and she felt her resolve begin to return.

Princess Haruna hired Akagi Shinji to rescue villagers taken by monsters, and the group traveled with Tamamo Hotaru to retrieve her hidden Fox Immortal Order. They found her refuge burned down, but Bright Moon’s moonlight art pointed toward the tablet’s distant location, suggesting someone had taken it.

• Princess Haruna recovered from her despair and asked Akagi Shinji to rescue the kidnapped villagers, offering her 850 ryō as payment.
• Akagi Shinji accepted the money and warned Princess Haruna not to call him a good person.
• Tamamo Hotaru, Akagi Shinji, Princess Haruna, and their companions reached Tamamo Hotaru’s refuge and found it reduced to scorched earth.
• Tamamo Hotaru and Bright Moon searched the ruins but failed to find the Fox Immortal Order.
• Bright Moon used its secret art under the moon and pointed toward the tablet’s distant location, leading Akagi Shinji to suspect someone had taken it.

After leaving Princess Haruna to rebuild the Land of Vegetables, Shinji searched for information about the people who had been taken away. He found a hidden Underground Bounty Station inside an isolated public toilet, though Tamamo Hotaru entered too late to see where the others went.

• Princess Haruna said goodbye to Shinji and the others, taking responsibility for the Land of Vegetables and asking them to find the people who had been taken away.
• Shinji traveled with Tamamo Hotaru, Hidan, Tobi, Sasuke, and Bright Moon, while warning Hotaru that he might sell her to Kumogakure to settle her debt.
• Shinji followed markers to locate a nearby Underground Bounty Station so he could buy information about the missing people.
• Shinji led the group into a public toilet in a deserted gorge, leaving Tamamo Hotaru confused about why they had stopped there.
• Tamamo Hotaru entered the toilet and discovered that Shinji and the others had vanished, realizing the building hid a secret room.

Shinji bought intelligence at an Underground Bounty Station about the Cursed Spirits who attacked the Land of Vegetables, including their retreat route and final stopping point. He learned that Kumogakure had issued a bounty for him, then left with Tobi and encountered an embarrassed Tamamo Hotaru near the restroom.

• Shinji paid for reports detailing the Cursed Spirit attack on the Land of Vegetables and the monsters' route and final stopping point.
• Shinji told the Bounty Station agent that he planned to kill the monsters, and the agent asked him to bring back the strongest one's corpse.
• The agent revealed that Kumogakure had exposed Shinji's actions and issued wanted notices with high bounties for him.
• Shinji warned the Bounty Station to handle future intelligence about him carefully and left with his companions.
• On the way out, Shinji found Tamamo Hotaru testing the restroom's soundproofing, and she became extremely embarrassed.

After sealing the entrance to the Underground Bounty Station, Shinji left with Tamamo Hotaru. Elsewhere, Mr. Enemy and his allies failed to capture Kongni, and he planned to seek another chance to recruit her while preparing to approach Darkness and Volcano.

• Shinji explained the trip to Tamamo Hotaru, then destroyed the restroom entrance to the Underground Bounty Station with Black Flash.
• Kongni sensed Mr. Enemy, Mahito, Saibote, and Hanami approaching and attacked them with powerful lightning techniques.
• Kongni overwhelmed the four Cursed Spirits and escaped into the clouds, leaving the mountain peak nearly leveled.
• Mr. Enemy admitted the group had failed to capture Kongni and said they needed Moqian's power, even if they had to use Moqian as a Cursed Object.
• Mr. Enemy led the group in a strategic retreat and planned to pursue Kongni again before inviting Darkness and Volcano to join the Cursed Spirit Alliance.

Shinji and his group reached Black Mountain, broke through its Curtain, and fought their way past swarms of Cursed Spirits. Inside, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit ordered captives prepared for a Transformation Experiment, while Shinji eagerly pressed onward.

• Tamamo Hotaru had Bright Moon sense the Fox Immortal Order again, but the moonlight still pointed in the direction they were traveling and vanished after a few hundred meters.
• Shinji and his group arrived at Black Mountain and found it concealed by a Curtain.
• Hidan's attack bounced off the Curtain, but Shinji used his techniques to reveal its weak point and cut an opening for the group.
• Shinji killed 2,800 Grade 4 mole Cursed Spirits with Cursed Speech, then led the group onward as more Cursed Spirits attacked.
• A goat monster reported the intruders to a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, which ordered them eliminated before the next Transformation Experiment.
• The goat monster selected over a hundred captives and had them herded into a bloodstained space.

An experiment turned most of its human subjects into monsters, while the three who gained powers eventually succumbed to murderous instincts and died. Outside, Shinji and his companions slaughtered the first wave of Cursed Spirits and entered the lair inside the mountain, with Tamamo Hotaru reluctantly following.

• A hundred test subjects transformed in the darkness, and the three who remained mostly human awakened abilities that let them kill the monsters.
• Survivor No. 3's shadow killed Survivors No. 1 and No. 2, then killed No. 3 after he lost himself to murderous instinct.
• The Goat Monster opened the experiment space and began clearing away the remains for the next batch of test subjects.
• Shinji and Hidan slaughtered the first wave of more than a hundred Cursed Spirits while Sasuke and Tamamo Hotaru watched.
• Tobi found an entrance to a hollowed-out mountain, and Shinji, Hidan, Sasuke, and Tobi entered before Tamamo Hotaru hurried after them.

Shinji and his companions encountered the Goat-Headed Monster and learned that the Black Mountain Master had been transforming captured humans into monsters. After the Goat-Headed Monster agreed to lead them to the master, the group prepared to confront the monster and save the thousands of people still held there.

• The Goat-Headed Monster led hundreds of Humanoid Monsters against Shinji and his companions, and Shinji killed them all at once with Cursed Speech.
• Shinji noticed that the Humanoid Monsters had given him no Cursed Soul Points and captured the fleeing Goat-Headed Monster for answers.
• The Goat-Headed Monster revealed that he had once been human and described the Black Mountain Master's experiments, which transformed captives and gradually destroyed their humanity.
• The Goat-Headed Monster demonstrated his ability to turn part of his body into shadow, making it immune to attacks.
• Shinji ordered the Goat-Headed Monster to lead them to the Black Mountain Master, and the Goat-Headed Monster agreed, saying thousands of captives could still be saved.

After the goat-headed monster died and vanished into shadow, Shinji’s group pressed on to rescue the captives, fighting Cursed Spirits and modified monsters along the way. Tamamo Hotaru overcame her hesitation and defended her allies, but the attackers’ shadow-based ambush left the group under threat.

• Shinji decided to prioritize rescuing the people, and his group marked the dark passage with glowing fluorite as they advanced.
• The group fought Cursed Spirits and modified monsters, while Tamamo Hotaru hesitated to attack until one knocked her down and struck Bright Moon, provoking her to transform and tear it apart.
• A shadow attack impaled Hidan and targeted the others; Tobi survived three blades without injury, while Sasuke was blinded and nearly tricked before Tamamo Hotaru and Bright Moon rescued him.
• Tamamo Hotaru fell into a shadow and threw Explosive Tags into it, forcing her opponent to emerge; she knocked him down but had to dodge dark chains aimed at her neck.

Shinji discovered that the Dark Beasts were projections controlled by hidden Transfigured Humans, then helped his group wipe out wave after wave of monsters and Cursed Spirits. After the slaughter, Sasuke caught up with the last enemy, while Shinji’s allies reacted to his terrifying body count.

• Shinji realized the Dark Beasts were connected to thin shadows, then used Cursed Speech and blood spears to expose and kill the Transfigured Humans controlling them.
• Shinji ordered Tobi to scatter glowing Green Fluorite, illuminating the area so he could kill the remaining Transfigured Humans and the monsters fleeing in panic.
• More monsters emerged from a passage, and Shinji charged the Cursed Spirits in anger, killing them in overwhelming numbers.
• Sasuke stabbed the last enemy with a Kunai and collapsed, while Shinji stood amid a mountain of corpses.
• Tamamo Hotaru feared Shinji might turn on her, Hidan grumbled about failing to surpass his kill count, and Tobi loudly praised Shinji.