Chapter Summaries

Xuandou arranged Rasa’s return to Sunagakure with a hidden army of reincarnated ninja to help him regain power, then began using the Ōtsutsuki Bloodline Purification Card. As the card’s energy entered his body, the purification started awakening the Ōtsutsuki memories within his bloodline.

• Xuandou told Rasa he could return to Sunagakure and brought him to Orochimaru’s laboratory to show him the prepared Impure World Reincarnation army.
• Orochimaru revealed thousands of reincarnated ninja, and Xuandou arranged for Rasa to receive five hundred sealed bodies as a surprise force.
• Xuandou instructed Rasa to stage a prison break and conceal their cooperation; Rasa agreed to send Temari to Hidden Xuan Village and asked to bring Baki back.
• Xuandou gave Rasa the cell keys and told him to escape after nightfall, then returned to the Imperial Palace’s training room.
• Xuandou pressed the Ōtsutsuki Bloodline Purification Card to his chest, and its energy entered his body as his ancient Ōtsutsuki memories began to awaken.

Rasa and Baki escaped from the underground prison with help from Xuandou’s allies, but Neji spotted them hiding as Team 7 passed nearby. The escapees remained concealed while Neji challenged whoever was in the bushes.

• An Uchiha ninja left a Seal Scroll outside Rasa’s cell, and Rasa took it and freed Baki.
• Rasa and Baki slipped through the prison, while a patrol ninja passed them without raising an alarm.
• Rasa and Baki escaped the village prison and hid when Rasa sensed people approaching.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji returned from a mission and argued about being genin as they walked past the bushes.
• Neji activated his Byakugan, spotted Rasa and Baki, and demanded to know who was there.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji confronted escaped prisoners Rasa and Baki, unaware at first that Rasa was the Kazekage. After overpowering them, the three learned that Xuandou had secretly authorized Rasa’s release and let the pair leave.

• Neji spotted Rasa and Baki hiding in the bushes and identified them as escaped prisoners.
• Rasa and Baki attacked the three boys, but Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto countered with their abilities and drove them back.
• Rasa used a Gold Dust Barrier to cover their retreat, but Neji tracked them and the fight resumed.
• Naruto struck Baki with a Rasengan and the shadow clones tied him up while Neji kept Rasa at bay.
• Rasa revealed his identity and said Xuandou had arranged his release, then an Uchiha patrol ninja confirmed the order.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji let Rasa and Baki go, and Naruto realized they had just fought the Kazekage.

Rasa and Baki escaped to the Land of Wind, where Rasa revealed his plan to cooperate with the Uchiha and use the reincarnated dead to secure control of Sunagakure. He returned to the village and faced Ebizo and Gaara, whose relationship with him grew colder.

• Neji concluded that the Kazekage had not fought at full strength and had seemed eager to leave.
• Rasa explained his cooperation with Xuandou to Baki and suspected Ebizo had tried to prevent his return.
• Rasa summoned five hundred Impure World Reincarnation figures, including the Third Kazekage, and bound his former teacher to his control.
• Rasa sealed the reincarnated figures into a scroll and set out with Baki to return to Sunagakure.
• Ebizo and Gaara met Rasa at the village gates, and Rasa's disappointed look at Gaara made Gaara withdraw further from his father.

Rasa confronted Sunagakure’s officials for abandoning him, while Ebizo accused him of possibly betraying the village after escaping the Hidden Xuan Village. Ebizo offered his life to rally the Sand shinobi against their enemy, but Rasa refused to let him die and upheld their plan.

• Rasa berated Sunagakure’s senior officials for choosing to sacrifice him after the defeat in the Land of Iron.
• Ebizo questioned how Rasa and Baki had escaped the Hidden Xuan Village and demanded to know whether Rasa had betrayed Sunagakure.
• Rasa denied betraying the village and said Pakura had spared them, then angrily defended his loyalty as Kazekage.
• Ebizo apologized for the defeat and Rasa’s capture, offering his life and his body as a puppet to restore unity and push Rasa to oppose the Hidden Xuan Village.
• Rasa hauled Ebizo up and refused to let him die, while reflecting on how Sunagakure’s harsh culture had made sacrifice and suffering seem like forms of service.

Rasa beat Ebizo into abandoning his plan to die, then proposed marrying Temari to Uchiha Xuantou as part of Sunagakure’s submission to the Hidden Xuan Village. Ebizo condemned the proposal as a betrayal of the Sand Shinobi’s spirit and demanded that Rasa die instead.

• Rasa publicly beat Ebizo across Sunagakure until Ebizo gave up his plan to sacrifice himself.
• Rasa proposed Temari’s marriage to Uchiha Xuantou, provoking angry objections from Ebizo and the other attendees.
• Rasa declared that Sunagakure should submit to the Hidden Xuan Village, arguing that the changing balance of power left the Sand Shinobi with no viable alternative.
• Rasa defended his decision as a way to preserve the Sand Shinobi, while Ebizo argued that surrendering without a great war would destroy their pride and legacy.
• Ebizo called on the Kazekage to die for the future of the Sand Shinobi.

Ebizo and Rasa fought as Sunagakure’s shinobi split into rival factions, while Temari tried to stop the conflict by offering to marry Uchiha Xuantou. Rasa summoned his former teacher, the Third Kazekage, for help, and Ebizo learned that the missing leader was dead.

• Ebizo attacked Rasa, and Temari offered to enter a marriage alliance with Uchiha Xuantou to end the fighting, but Ebizo rejected her intervention.
• Rasa and Ebizo fought while Sunagakure’s shinobi divided into factions, prompting Gaara and Kankuro to prevent the village from turning on itself.
• Rasa admitted he could not subdue Ebizo quickly and used Uchiha Xuantou’s scroll to summon the Third Kazekage with Impure World Reincarnation.
• The Third Kazekage reprimanded Rasa, then told Ebizo that he was already dead and that the living should not dwell on his death.

The Third Kazekage learned that Sunagakure was in crisis and backed Temari’s proposal to seize the Land of Wind from its daimyō. Rasa led two generations of Kazekage and the Sand Shinobi toward the capital, while Temari prepared to leave for Hidden Xuan Village.

• The Third Kazekage rebuked Ebizo and demanded an explanation for Sunagakure’s internal conflict, and Ebizo described the village’s economic and political collapse.
• Rasa defended his alliance with the Uchiha, while Ebizo urged the Third Kazekage to lead Sunagakure into another war.
• Temari proposed that the Sand Shinobi eliminate the Land of Wind’s daimyō and take control of the country’s resources, and Rasa introduced her as his daughter and marriage-alliance partner.
• The Third Kazekage supported Temari’s plan, and Rasa declared the daimyō unjust before leading the Sand Shinobi toward the Land of Wind.
• Temari said goodbye to Kankuro and Gaara and urged her brothers to get along as she prepared to go to Hidden Xuan Village.

Uchiha Xuantou completed the purification of his Ōtsutsuki bloodline, transforming his body and greatly increasing his power. He tested his new abilities and concluded that he could now surpass the entire Shinobi World, though his enemies had yet to learn what he had become.

• Uchiha Xuantou channeled his evolutionary energy into his Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan as his body underwent nine transformations and his Ōtsutsuki bloodline reached perfection.
• Uchiha Xuantou tested his strength by punching a spatial black hole into existence, then used Tokitsumori to rewind time before the Training Room was destroyed.
• Uchiha Xuantou discovered that Yae-gaki had grown from eight layers of chakra armor to eighty-eight layers.
• Uchiha Xuantou found that Tokitsumori could now rewind time within a range by up to one minute.
• Uchiha Xuantou assessed his purified bloodline as nearly immortal and believed he could break through the entire Shinobi World alone.

Xuandou learned that Rasa had taken control of the Land of Wind and that Temari had arrived to meet him. He summoned Temari to the Desire Hot Springs, where she confronted him, and his system identified her as an S-rank candidate.

• Xuandou used his Susanoo to disperse the rain clouds and water Hidden Xuan Village's farmland.
• Mabui told Xuandou that Rasa had escaped prison, seized control of the Land of Wind, and that the Third Kazekage had reappeared.
• Mabui revealed that Temari had waited in Hidden Xuan Village for seven days to request an audience with Xuandou.
• Xuandou set the meeting with Temari at the Desire Hot Springs, using threats to make her agree to the location.
• Temari leaped from the hot spring in a golden bikini and angrily told Xuandou to shut up; his system rated her an S-rank dual-cultivation candidate.

Xuandou pressured Temari to meet him in a mixed hot spring bath, claiming the setting was needed to protect their villages’ marriage alliance from impostors. Temari agreed to his proposed identity examination, and Xuandou left before returning disguised as Pakura.

• Xuandou approached Temari in the hot spring and defended the meeting as necessary for the alliance, though he mistakenly called her Tsunade.
• Temari challenged Xuandou over threatening her father Rasa and accused him of using village cooperation as an excuse to humiliate her.
• Xuandou claimed he could not identify a Transformation Technique impostor without Hidden Xuan Village’s special “Massage” examination.
• Temari agreed to undergo the examination to help secure an alliance between Sunagakure and the Uchiha.
• Xuandou left the hot spring and transformed himself into Pakura before reappearing.

Xuandou disguised himself as Pakura to approach Temari at the Desire Hot Springs, then claimed an S-rank reward and obtained a Rinne Rebirth Card. The chapter ended when Rin Nohara alerted him that Yunyou-Yunyou had gone missing.

• Xuandou, disguised as Pakura, met Temari at the hot spring and used the Desire Hot Springs to arouse her.
• Xuandou revealed his identity, and he and Temari became intimate in the hot spring.
• Xuandou received an S-Rank Clan Treasure Chest for completing the objective and claimed a Rinne Rebirth Card along with a large increase in chakra.
• Xuandou considered how the card could resurrect his followers, then heard Rin Nohara report that Yunyou-Yunyou had gone missing.

Xuandou learned that Uchiha Yunyou and Shiwa had vanished during a sandstorm while escorting a merchant in the Land of Wind, and rushed to a Hidden Xuan Village stronghold with Rin Nohara and Temari. At the stronghold, Tekka suspected Sunagakure had caused the storm, and Temari angrily confronted him.

• Rin Nohara told Xuandou that Yunyou had gone missing during a border escort mission after a chakra-charged sandstorm cut off communication.
• Temari reassured Rin that Yunyou could survive the storm, though she privately feared his silence was a bad sign.
• Xuandou took Rin and Temari to the Land of Wind stronghold, where Hashirama, Madara, and Tekka were investigating the disappearance of Yunyou and Shiwa.
• Tekka said the two boys had vanished while carrying out the same combined escort mission and suspected another ninja village had orchestrated the sandstorm.
• Temari accused Tekka of unfairly blaming Sunagakure and challenged him over how the boys had been protected.

Hashirama explained that strange spacetime energy had taken Yunyou and Shiwa, and Xuandou identified the Ancient Kingdom of Roran as their likely destination. Madara located Roran on a map while the brothers woke in its prison, where a woman asked where they came from.

• Hashirama said chaotic spacetime energy had carried Yunyou away and taken Shiwa when he tried to grab him.
• Xuandou recognized the energy as connected to the dragon vein in the Ancient Kingdom of Roran and asked for a map of the Land of Wind.
• Temari recalled seeing Rōran in an ancient book, and Madara pointed out its location in northeastern Land of Wind.
• Shiwa woke in a prison cell beside Yunyou and realized he could still use his chakra.
• Yunyou woke and asked Shiwa where they were, as a woman in the neighboring cell questioned where the brothers had come from.

Shiwa and Yunyou met Sara, a prisoner in Rōran, and learned that its ruler, Anrokuzan, barred information about the country from reaching the outside world. Meanwhile, Temari’s group traveled toward the Ancient Kingdom of Roran and discussed how the future Sunagakure rogue Mukade had taken control of it.

• Sara introduced Rōran to Shiwa and Yunyou, who had never heard of the country.
• Yunyou promised to feature Rōran in his book, while Shiwa introduced them both to Sara.
• Shiwa and Yunyou said they came from Hidden Xuan and had been captured after a sandstorm separated them from their family.
• Sara explained that Anrokuzan ruled Rōran and prevented information about it from reaching the Shinobi World.
• Temari questioned the account that Mukade, a future Sunagakure rogue, had traveled through time and seized the Dragon Vein.

Xuandou explained Mukade’s plans for the Dragon Vein and became determined to save Sara and obtain Rōran’s future technology. In a Rōran prison cell, Sara revealed her resolve to reclaim her country, and Yunyou offered a way for the three prisoners to escape.

• Xuandou explained that Mukade intended to conquer the Shinobi World after building an army of war-puppets with Dragon Vein power.
• Xuandou decided to protect Sara and seize the chance to learn Mukade’s advanced technology.
• Sara told Yunyou and Shiwa that Anrokuzan had usurped Rōran, killed the previous queen, and imprisoned her after draining the Dragon Vein to make weapons.
• Yunyou and Shiwa guessed that Sara was the deposed queen, and Sara declared that she would not give up on saving Rōran and its people.
• Sara offered to help Yunyou and Shiwa escape, but she warned that Anrokuzan’s hidden puppet threads would trigger an attack if she moved.
• Yunyou said he had a way for all three of them to escape.

Shiwa and Yunyou urged Sara to escape Rōran with them, but she revealed that her only plan was to plead with Anrokuzan. Shiwa rejected her proposals and called for a direct strike, leaving Sara to decide whether to join them.

• Yunyou proposed that he, Shiwa, and Sara evade Anrokuzan’s monitoring threads and walk out of the cell, but Sara warned that Dragon Vein chakra energy threads watched all of Rōran.
• Shiwa and Yunyou questioned how Sara planned to help them escape, and Sara admitted she intended to beg Anrokuzan to send them home with their memories sealed.
• Sara said she might persuade Anrokuzan to release them by marrying him, but Shiwa rejected the plan because he feared Anrokuzan could seal their minds and expose their secrets.
• Shiwa and Yunyou decided to strike Anrokuzan first, while Sara warned that his control of the Dragon Vein made him overwhelmingly powerful.
• Yunyou invited Sara to escape with them and challenged her to overcome her fear of Anrokuzan.

Yunyou and Shiwa tried to rescue Sara from her cell, but Anrokuzan caught them and attacked. The chapter ended with Shiwa and Yunyou combining Wood and Water Release to block Anrokuzan’s Dragon Vein Great Fireball while Sara watched helplessly.

• Sara agreed to escape, and Yunyou used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to bring her and Shiwa into her cell.
• Shiwa planned to replace the chakra threads with a wooden figure while Yunyou teleported Sara, but Anrokuzan interrupted them with a Great Fireball.
• Anrokuzan revealed he had been watching the children and ordered them to bind themselves, while Sara pleaded for them to flee.
• Yunyou threatened Anrokuzan with the arrival of the Uchiha, and Anrokuzan responded by attacking with the Dragon Vein Great Fireball Technique.
• Shiwa and Yunyou combined the Hōbi Technique and Water Formation Wall to shield themselves from the fireball as Sara struggled against her restraints.

Yunyou rescued Sara while Shiwa’s Wood Release trapped Anrokuzan, but Rōran’s barrier prevented them from escaping. Sara headed to open it as Yunyou returned to help Shiwa, while Anrokuzan remained caught in the growing wooden spikes.

• Anrokuzan taunted the bound Sara and moved toward her after claiming he had killed Shiwa and Yunyou.
• Shiwa attacked Anrokuzan with Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs, and Anrokuzan wondered how Uchiha Xuantou had changed the Shinobi World’s history.
• Yunyou used the Heavenly Transfer Technique to reach Sara, cut her restraints, and tried to flee with her.
• Sara revealed that a powerful barrier sealed Rōran and that opening it would take at least twelve hours, leaving defeating Anrokuzan as their only way out.
• Yunyou told Sara to find a way to open the barrier and went back to help Shiwa, while Sara ran toward the barrier’s outer edge.
• Anrokuzan remained surrounded by Shiwa’s chakra-absorbing wooden spikes and declared that Shiwa was no Hashirama Senju.

Anrokuzan overwhelmed Shiwa and Yunyou with clay puppets, and Shiwa awakened his Sharingan while trying to protect his brother. As Anrokuzan forced Shiwa to kneel by threatening Yunyou, an unknown person arrived and demanded to know what he was going to do to their son.

• Anrokuzan drained Shiwa's power with the wooden spikes, and Shiwa collapsed when strange purple energy disrupted his chakra.
• Yunyou attacked Anrokuzan with Flash Release: Lightning Fire Bullet, but a clay puppet intercepted it, and Anrokuzan tried to recruit him.
• Yunyou carried the injured Shiwa through Anrokuzan's puppet assault, but the brothers were knocked down and Yunyou was captured.
• Shiwa awakened his Sharingan in anger, but Anrokuzan seized Yunyou and threatened to cut off his left hand unless Shiwa knelt.
• As Shiwa began to kneel, someone placed a hand on his shoulder and challenged Anrokuzan over what he would do to their son.