Chapter Summaries

The Five Kage and their guards gathered in Konohagakure for the summit, where Retsuo provoked the visitors by correcting them about the traitor Shimura Danzō. The meeting had barely begun when Raikage A challenged Retsuo to another fight.

• Jiraiya chose Kakashi as his second guard, while Shisui and Itachi were ruled out because they were Uchiha.
• Retsuo questioned Kurotsuchi about Deidara and learned that Ōnoki had locked him up for refusing to obey.
• The Kage and their representatives arrived at the mansion, and Jiraiya led them to the formal meeting room.
• Rasa raised Danzo's letter to Sunagakure's elder Chiyo, and Retsuo insisted that Shimura Danzō was a traitor, not a lord.
• Ōnoki, Raikage A, and Suikazan Fuguki challenged Konoha's account of Danzō, but Retsuo rebuked Fuguki for speaking without being a Kage.
• Raikage A demanded another match with Retsuo, and the two stared each other down across the table.

At the Five Kage Summit, Retsuo revealed the White Zetsu threat and warned that hundreds could infiltrate villages underground, but Black Zetsu interrupted the meeting with an attack. The Kage fought back as Nue remained on the scene and Black Zetsu unleashed its ability.

• Jiraiya defended Konoha against Ōnoki's mockery and handed the floor to Retsuo to explain the secret intelligence.
• Retsuo summoned a White Zetsu, which Suikazan Fuguki recognized as the supposedly dead Koshikaku Hoshigaki.
• Retsuo and Jiraiya warned that White Zetsu could move underground, infiltrate the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and exist in numbers too great to count.
• A sapling emerged from the table, and Black Zetsu revealed himself before summoning Nue and smashing through the meeting hall's ceiling.
• Raikage A attacked Black Zetsu while Kazekage Rasa launched Gold Dust Imperial Burial, but Black Zetsu escaped into the table and Ōnoki attacked Nue with Dust Release.
• Black Zetsu spoke through Nue and unleashed its Secret Technique, Fish Sense Killing Fish.

Black Zetsu used Nue and Dark Chakra to drive the summit attendees into violent madness, forcing Retsuo to free several allies and rush outside after the Raikage. Obito appeared after Retsuo left, and Ōnoki mistook him for Uchiha Madara.

• Nue unleashed a swarm of Black Sharks that trapped Ōnoki, while Ōnoki destroyed Nue with Dust Release and Jiraiya was infected by the Dark Chakra.
• Black Zetsu spread his Night Prison Technique across the summit, sending Rasa, Fuguki, Kakashi, and others into violent madness.
• Retsuo used his Yin Release Barrier and Light Chakra to free Kurotsuchi, Ōnoki, Jiraiya, and Kakashi from the technique's effects.
• Retsuo flew outside through the Raikage's breach to stop him from attacking Konoha's guards.
• Obito emerged in a tadpole mask, spoke with White Zetsu, and left Ōnoki wondering whether he was really Uchiha Madara.

Retsuo freed Raikage A from Black Zetsu’s dark erosion and went searching for the Sealing Team as chaos spread. At the summit, Obito failed to capture Jiraiya, who escaped to Mount Myōboku with Kakashi, but Obito recorded the destination’s spatial coordinates before withdrawing.

• Retsuo kicked Raikage A, and the humiliation freed him from Black Zetsu’s dark erosion.
• Retsuo spotted Shinji caught in the battle and rushed to save her as Dust Release erupted at the summit.
• Obito pushed Black Zetsu out of Ōnoki’s Dust Release cube and used warped space to approach Jiraiya.
• Black Zetsu trapped Jiraiya in spores that drained his chakra, while Kakashi’s attack passed harmlessly through Obito.
• Jiraiya used Reverse Summoning to escape to Mount Myōboku with Kakashi, and Obito recorded its spatial coordinates.
• Raikage A charged into the battlefield, but Obito ignored him and closed his space portal.

After Black Zetsu’s attack on the Five Kage Summit, the villages demanded information about Dark Chakra, while Sarutobi Hiruzen concealed Konoha’s secrets by claiming the enemy had stolen the Gozu Tennō Project. Jiraiya then ordered the project sealed, leaving Retsuo silent about his own methods as the dispute over the project continued.

• Zetsu taunted the Fourth Raikage, A, before escaping through the wall, and Retsuo found the injured summit attendees with no fatalities.
• Kurotsuchi told Retsuo what had happened, and Jiraiya and Kakashi returned by Reverse Summoning with White Zetsu remains still clinging to them.
• Kakashi blamed Retsuo for abandoning his post, while Ōnoki and Rasa pressed Retsuo to explain Dark Chakra and share Konoha’s intelligence.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived and fended off the villages’ questions, revealing only that Konoha had developed the Gozu Tennō Project and that the enemy had stolen it.
• Jiraiya ordered Kakashi to hand over all Gozu Tennō Project documents and restricted further development, while Retsuo stayed silent about his own chakra techniques.

Retsuo revealed that Light Chakra could counter the Night Prison Technique and proposed gathering villagers’ positive emotions to produce it. The Hokage’s Office then learned that the Masked Man had invaded Mount Myōboku, killed Hiroshi, and left the Great Lord asleep, while Retsuo questioned Sage Fukasaku about what the enemy had said.

• Jiraiya asked Retsuo to explain how he had dispelled the Night Prison Technique, and Retsuo said he had used Light Chakra but did not know how to cultivate it.
• Retsuo explained that Light and Dark Chakra shared underlying principles, and Jiraiya proposed collecting positive emotions through a project named Hayagrīva, with its artificial Summoned Beast called Enma.
• Jiraiya told Retsuo that the White Cloth Person had called him a natural enemy, and Retsuo suspected that Light Chakra countered Black Zetsu.
• Sage Fukasaku arrived with the wounded Sage Shima and reported that the Masked Man had invaded Mount Myōboku and killed Hiroshi, while the Great Lord had fallen into a deep sleep.
• Tsunade treated Sage Shima and set Sage Fukasaku’s injured leg as the Hokage’s Office prepared for the threat, and Retsuo asked whether the enemy had said anything.

After the Great Toad Sage drove off the Masked Man, the Five Kage Summit resumed amid concern over Nue and Dark Chakra. Retsuo provoked Tsunade, then Sarutobi Hiruzen asked him to lead Konoha’s Hayagrīva project with researchers from Root.

• Sage Fukasaku told Retsuo that the Great Toad Sage had driven off the Masked Man through an incomprehensible display of power.
• Jiraiya grieved over Toad Hiro and struck the table, while Kakashi reflected on his first visit to Mount Myōboku.
• The Five Kage Summit resumed, and the shinobi gathered there discussed Nue, Dark Chakra, and Shimura Danzō while keeping their distance from Retsuo.
• Tsunade asked Retsuo for two White Cloth People, and he provoked her into losing her temper before fleeing her punch.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen summoned Retsuo and proposed assigning him Root researchers to develop the Hayagrīva project.

Retsuo refused the Third Hokage’s appointment to the Hayagrīva Project and argued that Konoha should focus on sealing the passage to Mount Myōboku. He then publicly condemned Danzo’s Sharingan research and challenged Shisui and Kakashi over the use of Uchiha eyes, leaving the debate unresolved.

• Retsuo declined the Third Hokage’s appointment, saying he lacked research experience and urging the village to prioritize the passage into Mount Myōboku.
• Jiraiya asked Raikage A for help with a space-time technique, and Raikage A revealed that Retsuo had used the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen overheard their conversation and suspected that Retsuo had secretly read the Scroll of Seals.
• Retsuo told Shisui that Danzo’s Sharingan research threatened the Uchiha Clan and declared that Uchiha eyes could not be given to outsiders, even voluntarily.
• Shisui challenged Retsuo by citing Obito’s gift of his eye to Kakashi, while Kakashi defended how he had used it.
• Retsuo questioned whether Kakashi’s ability to use the Sharingan proved that outsiders could use Uchiha eyes through ordinary methods.

Retsuo defended himself against Sarutobi Hiruzen’s accusations, then joined Jiraiya and Kakashi in traveling to Mount Myōboku to help seal the breach used by the Masked Man. As they surveyed the damage, Jiraiya remembered the Masked Man’s claim that a Konoha ninja had stolen the Root of the God Tree.

• Retsuo denied stealing a look at the Scroll of Seals or learning the Flying Thunder God Technique from it, claiming he had studied Teacher Minazuki’s cultivation notes instead.
• Retsuo said he needed to go to Mount Myōboku himself, so Jiraiya took him and Kakashi there using the Reverse Summoning Technique.
• Jiraiya found Toad Hiro dead and saw that Mount Myōboku’s grounds and stone statues had been badly damaged.
• Toad Chū told Jiraiya that Elder Iwayado was searching for the spatial nodes marked by the Masked Man, but progress was slow.
• Jiraiya remembered that the Great Toad Sage had acted because the Masked Man said a Konoha ninja had stolen the Root of the God Tree.

Retsuo and Minato discovered that Obito had left numerous spatial coordinates across Mount Myōboku, making it difficult to seal the area without trapping its residents. Retsuo then questioned Toad Kōsuke about a way to enter and leave Mount Myōboku without teleportation.

• Jiraiya suspected the Masked Man’s attack was connected to the God Tree’s roots and questioned Retsuo about what the toads had witnessed.
• Minato used a Yin Release Barrier to sense Obito’s spatial markers and found multiple coordinates throughout Mount Myōboku.
• Retsuo confirmed there were five or six coordinates nearby, while Jiraiya warned that sealing the whole mountain could prevent people from entering or leaving.
• Toad Kōsuke arrived, and Retsuo asked whether he knew a non-teleportation route between Konoha and Mount Myōboku.
• Retsuo recalled traveling through a mysterious water passage connected to Mount Myōboku and the moon, though he still did not understand how it worked.

Retsuo discussed ways to protect Mount Myōboku from the Masked Man and found that its Natural Energy could help Minato create Sage Chakra. As Minato began the two-day process, Jiraiya tried to make Retsuo eat Mount Myōboku’s unsettling food.

• Kōsuke explained that Mount Myōboku was an independent alternate dimension whose toads opened doors for ninjas with a sincere desire to enter.
• Retsuo outlined possible ways to defend Mount Myōboku, including a Sealing Barrier and Flying Thunder God teleportation, but said he would discuss his best option with the Great Toad Sage after it woke.
• Minato reported that Mount Myōboku’s Natural Energy worked with Retsuo’s method, and Retsuo agreed to stay there while the process took two days.
• Sage Shima served a meal of salted crayfish and steaming rice worms, prompting Kakashi to flee and vomit.
• Jiraiya ate a crayfish, then urged Retsuo to eat one while singing about Mount Myōboku’s food.

After Suikazan Fuguki was found murdered, Jiraiya sent Retsuo to the Land of Water with the summit’s resolution, while Retsuo disguised himself and traveled toward the Bloody Mist Village. He stopped at the coast for a meal and unexpectedly encountered Konan.

• Jiraiya and the others returned to Konoha and found Suikazan Fuguki dead outside the village, with no witnesses to explain his murder.
• Tsunade examined Fuguki’s wounds and concluded that a powerful enemy had killed him to prevent the Land of Water from learning the Five Kage Summit’s resolution.
• Jiraiya asked Retsuo to transport Fuguki’s body and the summit resolution to the Fourth Mizukage, and Retsuo agreed.
• Retsuo traveled east toward the coast, disguised as Baibian Huashan to avoid trouble in the Bloody Mist Village.
• Retsuo stopped at the seaside to eat mantis shrimp and ran into Konan, who was surprised to see him.

Retsuo met Konan at a seaside barbecue stall, where she learned more about his supposed Land of Hot Water identity while he negotiated for an unusual fish. He reminded Konan that the Akatsuki owed him two hundred million Ryo and threatened to expose information about the moon if they failed to pay.

• Retsuo and Konan ran into each other at a barbecue stall in Taicou Port and discussed their plans to travel to the Land of Water.
• Retsuo corrected the stall owner about the Humphead Wrasse and bargained him down to five thousand Ryo for the fish.
• Konan suggested trading the fish for Explosive Tags, but Retsuo reminded her that the Akatsuki still owed him two hundred million Ryo.
• Retsuo threatened to give Konoha information about the moon if the Akatsuki did not repay him, and Konan begged for more time.
• Retsuo accused Konan of spending all his money after she explained that the Akatsuki had too many recent expenses.

Xiaonan followed Baibian Huashan by ship to the Land of Water, where his seafood cooking and the grim state of the fishing port contrasted sharply. When Ringo Ameyuri and two Kirigakure shinobi confronted him at a tavern, Baibian Huashan refused to leave before finishing his meal and demanded to know why they wanted him dead.

• Retsuo stored the humphead wrasse, while Xiaonan worried that Baibian Huashan might expose Nagato’s plan and decided to follow him to Kirigakure.
• Xiaonan boarded the merchant ship after Baibian Huashan and learned about its seafood as he fished and cooked for her during the voyage.
• Xiaonan ate several seafood dishes on the trip, and Baibian Huashan joked that his soup-making explained why he was a ninja from the Land of Hot Water.
• Baibian Huashan and Xiaonan reached the Land of Water, where Xiaonan noticed the fishing port’s oppressed and malnourished residents.
• Ringo Ameyuri and two Kirigakure shinobi surrounded Baibian Huashan at a seaside tavern and ordered him to come with them.
• Baibian Huashan refused to leave before finishing his fish and challenged the Kirigakure shinobi to explain why he deserved to die.

Ringo Ameyuri confronted Konan and Retsuo in a seafood restaurant, then attacked Konan with her Lightning Blades. Konan countered her techniques, and Ringo escalated the fight by unleashing widespread lightning from the storm clouds.

• Ringo Ameyuri demanded that Retsuo undergo an inspection, but Konan revealed her identity as the Akatsuki's Paper Angel.
• Konan launched paper shuriken at Ringo, who deflected them and accidentally killed the two Mist Genin beside her.
• Ringo attacked Konan and Retsuo with Lightning Release, but Konan shielded Retsuo and dispersed the lightning.
• Ringo used Exploding Lightning to call down a bolt from the storm clouds, but Konan evaded it by transforming into paper.
• Ringo unleashed Falling Lightning, and Konan repeatedly sent paper blades against the bolts until Ringo activated Lightning Gate and made lightning rain across the area.

Retsuo investigated Suikazan Fuguki’s murder and suspected that someone from the Land of Water had killed him. After trapping Ringo Ameyuri with a Konoha genjutsu, he let Konan leave and prepared to test a new technique on Ringo.

• Retsuo reasoned that Fuguki’s killer might have been from the Land of Water and suspected Obito had planned the murder as bait for Konoha.
• Retsuo used Genjutsu: Tree Binding Kill to make Ringo Ameyuri believe Wood Release was attacking her, and she collapsed without breaking the illusion.
• Retsuo clarified to Konan that he meant to interrogate Ringo, while Konan left after assuring him the Akatsuki Organization would repay its debt.
• After confirming Konan had gone, Retsuo used Genjutsu: Great Bright God Technique of the Abyss on Ringo as a test subject.

Retsuo created the [Abyssal Great Bright God Technique], a genjutsu combining Yin and Yang Release, and used it to influence Ringo Ameyuri. He left her with new techniques and a Flying Thunder God seal, then sent her to investigate the woman from earlier.

• Retsuo used a piece of the God Tree's root to create the [Abyssal Great Bright God Technique].
• Retsuo dispelled Ringo Ameyuri's genjutsu and took her [Lightning Blade—Kiba].
• Retsuo implanted a phantom image of the God Tree in Ringo Ameyuri's mind, letting her use several techniques and Mountain Release.
• Retsuo introduced himself as Baibian Huashan and drew the Flying Thunder God Spell Formula on Ringo Ameyuri's stomach.
• Ringo Ameyuri agreed to cover up the two Hidden Mist Genin's deaths and investigate the woman from earlier.

Konan traveled to Kirigakure to establish a teleportation anchor and confirm whether Madara controlled the village. After discovering Madara’s ambush, she unleashed her Great River Explosive Tag Technique against him and Yagura.

• Konan flew to the Land of Water to reduce the Chakra cost of mass teleportation and investigate Madara’s claim about Kirigakure.
• Konan disguised herself as a merchant and entered Kirigakure, where she met Fourth Mizukage Karatachi Yagura.
• Konan offered to sell Yagura two hundred thousand Explosive Tags for two hundred million Ryo, and he accepted without hesitation.
• Konan suspected Madara was present, and Madara revealed that he had lured her to Kirigakure because he opposed the Moon’s development.
• Konan sent countless Explosive Tags flying and launched her Great River Explosive Tag Technique.

Konan escaped Obito, Black Zetsu, and Yagura after destroying the Mizukage Building, throwing Kirigakure into chaos. Outside the village, Retsuo found Ringo Ameyuri surrounded by rebels and faced Kisame, who attacked him with Samehada in hand.

• Konan used a huge flood of Explosive Tags to destroy the Mizukage Building, then fled as Obito ordered Yagura to pursue her.
• The explosion and rumors of Yagura's death stirred Kirigakure into chaos, while ANBU and rebels rushed through the village.
• Retsuo discovered that Ringo Ameyuri was surrounded by the Rebel Faction and debated whether to help her without returning the Lightning Blade.
• Baibian Huashan and Kisame Hoshigaki began fighting nearby, and Kisame flooded the forest with his Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
• Retsuo focused on Samehada as Kisame challenged him, then Kisame launched four sharks with Water Release: Rain Four Sharks.

Konan tried to escape Uchiha Madara and Yagura while Retsuo fought Kisame, but the two pursuits converged at the artificial lake. Retsuo withdrew his Yin Release Barrier when Konan, Obito, and Yagura arrived, and he looked for a chance to escape.

• Konan kept out of sight while fleeing Uchiha Madara and Yagura, and she realized Madara had not fully taken control of Kirigakure.
• Konan caught Zetsu emerging too close, but White Zetsu split apart to evade her Paper Shuriken while Black Zetsu escaped underground.
• Konan changed direction after a huge surge of water erupted from a forest, while Retsuo and Kisame continued their battle.
• Kisame used Samehada to swallow Retsuo's Great Fireball, but Samehada rejected the fire Chakra and struck Kisame in the chest.
• Konan, Obito, and Yagura arrived at the artificial lake, so Retsuo withdrew his Yin Release Barrier and began seeking a chance to escape with the Flying Thunder God.