Chapter Summaries

Shihōin Naraku learned that Chiriku had concealed the boy’s Nine-Tails Chakra and ordered a mission against Kazuma, who had collected the chakra and opposed Konoha. Asuma Sarutobi and Chiriku were tasked with eliminating Kazuma’s group, with Naraku demanding that no one survive.

• Chiriku confessed that he had kept the boy’s Nine-Tails Chakra secret because the boy was his former comrade Kazuma’s son.
• Naraku and Kakashi concluded that Kazuma had gathered Nine-Tails Chakra during the Nine-Tails’ Attack, and Naraku ordered Kakashi to request intelligence on Kazuma from the Daimyo.
• Chiriku and Asuma explained that Kazuma opposed Konoha and believed the Land of Fire should have no Hokage.
• Naraku assigned Asuma to eliminate Kazuma’s group and ordered Chiriku to assist him.
• Naraku told Asuma to leave no one alive, especially Kazuma, and Asuma accepted the mission.

Asuma Sarutobi returned to Konoha after completing his mission, and Shihōin Naraku warned Chiriku not to let the Fire Temple incident happen again. Naraku surveyed the nearly finished village reconstruction before checking on Tsunade’s experiments to make Hashirama-cell arms for Jiraiya, which were still failing because of rejection.

• Asuma Sarutobi returned with Team 10 and Chiriku, and Naraku sent the exhausted team to rest after receiving their report.
• Naraku told Chiriku that the Fire Temple monks had recovered and warned him that he did not want a similar incident to happen again.
• Naraku surveyed Konoha’s reconstruction and noted that the expanded village was nearing completion, while he had postponed carving his face into the Hokage Monument.
• Naraku visited Tsunade’s laboratory, where she explained that Jiraiya’s body still rejected the Hashirama-cell arms and that she needed more experiments to find a suitable cell proportion.

Shihōin Naraku visited Konoha’s chaotic reconstruction site and learned that rushed deliveries and prisoner disturbances had caused problems. He ordered troublesome prisoners sent to Tsunade’s laboratory as test subjects, then heard from Kakashi that nobles in the Land of Fire’s capital opposed Konoha’s elimination of Kazuma and his group.

• Shihōin Naraku left Tsunade’s laboratory and considered how her lack of test subjects might slow her experiments.
• Naraku arrived at Konoha’s reconstruction site, where a traffic jam and disorganized deliveries disrupted the work.
• Shikaku Nara explained that rushed staffing and materials had caused congestion while he watched prisoners who had been causing trouble.
• Naraku told Shikaku to send troublesome prisoners to the laboratory and to protect villagers when they returned to Konoha.
• Kakashi Hatake reported that nobles in the Land of Fire’s capital objected to Konoha’s elimination of Kazuma and his group, though the Daimyo had voiced no opposition.

Naraku dismissed complaints from the Land of Fire's nobles and ordered more guards for the prisoners while Konoha was rebuilt. Near Iwagakure, Kabuto Yakushi performed the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, and Black Zetsu approached him with an offer to join a new Akatsuki led by Madara Uchiha.

• Naraku said the nobles' complaints did not concern Konoha and told his people to increase the prisoners' guard detail.
• Kabuto Yakushi dug up remains near Iwagakure and used them to perform the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
• Black Zetsu and White Zetsu watched Kabuto summon and restrain several dead ninja before Black Zetsu decided to approach him.
• Black Zetsu invited Kabuto to join a new Akatsuki led by Madara Uchiha.
• Kabuto mocked the claim that Madara was alive and asked what the Akatsuki could offer him.

Kabuto Yakushi challenged Black Zetsu and Obito Uchiha to recruit him on his own terms, revealing that he had resurrected several former Akatsuki members and found Madara Uchiha's corpse. Obito and Black Zetsu were left stunned as Kabuto vanished the coffin and demanded to hear the Akatsuki's offer.

• Kabuto Yakushi told Black Zetsu that Madara should invite him personally if they wanted him to join.
• Obito Uchiha appeared and grabbed Kabuto by the neck, demanding that he join or refuse.
• Kabuto's apparent body turned out to be a shed snakeskin, and he emerged from the woods with resurrected Sasori of the Red Sands, Deidara, and Kakuzu.
• Kabuto revealed Madara Uchiha's corpse in a coffin, shocking Obito and Black Zetsu.
• Kabuto closed the coffin and made it vanish, then asked what terms the Akatsuki would offer to recruit him.

Kabuto Yakushi used his knowledge of Madara Uchiha’s remains to bargain with Obito and Black Zetsu for a place as their ally and access to Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Obito agreed to his demands in principle, then asked him to revive Kinkaku and Ginkaku, and Black Zetsu supplied their remains.

• Kabuto Yakushi revealed that he had found Madara Uchiha’s remains and demanded the Akatsuki’s plans, a position as an ally, and Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.
• Obito rejected handing over Sasuke and Naruto immediately but agreed to give them to Kabuto after the plan was complete.
• Kabuto said he wanted Sasuke and Naruto because he had seen a possibility for the future in them, prompting Black Zetsu to suspect he knew something about their chakra.
• Obito asked Kabuto to revive Kinkaku and Ginkaku, and Kabuto said he needed their remains to perform the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
• Black Zetsu gave Kabuto a scroll containing the remains of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

Kabuto Yakushi joined Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu at the Mountain Graveyard, where he encountered Sasuke Uchiha’s group and then prepared to use Impure World Reincarnation. The chapter ended as Kabuto began the summoning with two unconscious Ninja as vessels.

• Obito Uchiha sent Kabuto Yakushi with Black Zetsu to the base after Kabuto showed him the Impure World Reincarnation Bodies.
• At the Mountain Graveyard, Kabuto Yakushi encountered Sasuke Uchiha, Karin, Suigetsu, and Jūgo, and Black Zetsu told them Kabuto had joined their side.
• Sasuke Uchiha left to train after his battle with Naruto Uzumaki, while Karin followed and Suigetsu departed warily.
• Black Zetsu led Kabuto Yakushi to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, where Obito Uchiha provided two unconscious Ninja as vessels.
• Kabuto Yakushi began performing the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.

Obito and Kabuto used the Gold and Silver Brothers to extract Nine-Tails chakra for the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, while Obito planned to finish sealing it within a day. In Konoha, Shikaku presented the High Command with a proposed layout for the expanded village, which still awaited wider discussion and final approval.

• Kabuto resurrected the Gold and Silver Brothers, and Obito copied the hand seals for Impure World Reincarnation but failed to learn how the jutsu worked.
• Obito ordered Kabuto to make the brothers release their Nine-Tails chakra, then used the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to begin absorbing it.
• Black Zetsu sent Kabuto away after the sealing began, and Obito estimated that it would be complete in less than a day.
• Shikaku showed the Konoha High Command a proposed map designating training grounds, clan areas, the Academy, shops, the new Hokage Building, and village institutions.
• Shikaku said disaster-prevention plans would be developed after the village’s divisions were finalized, before clan heads and jonin were invited to discuss the layout.

Shihōin Naraku finalized Konoha’s reconstruction plans and proposed a Five Kage Summit to settle the growing dispute over Amegakure. Konoha’s leaders debated how to protect their gains there as other villages began to take an interest.

• Shikaku Nara presented Konoha’s reconstruction plans, and the High Command finalized the blueprints.
• Shihōin Naraku proposed convening another Five Kage Summit, prompting debate about its timing and purpose.
• Naraku explained that Amegakure had turned to Konoha after Nagato and Konan died, while other villages were beginning to investigate and infiltrate the Land of Rain.
• Utatane Koharu and other leaders argued that Konoha should keep the benefits it had taken from Amegakure and prevent rival villages from profiting.
• Konoha’s leaders recognized that opposing the other villages over Amegakure could risk another Shinobi World War, and that Konoha’s actions had been conspicuous.

Shihōin Naraku decided to send Konoha ninja to Amegakure to guard against other villages and internal conflict, while urging the Five Kage to unite against the Akatsuki. He proposed holding the reconvened summit in the Land of Fire’s capital and was certain the other Kage would attend.

• Shihōin Naraku asked Kakashi Hatake about Konoha’s security, and Kakashi said the village could spare ninja for a mission to Amegakure.
• Shihōin Naraku ordered a force led by Asuma Sarutobi, Might Guy, and Genma Shiranui to protect Konoha’s interests in Amegakure and repel other villages’ probes.
• Shihōin Naraku warned the officials that Iwagakure retained the strongest fighting force among the Five Great Shinobi Villages and that conflict could erupt inside Amegakure after Nagato and Konan were lost.
• Shihōin Naraku said the Akatsuki still sought tailed-beast chakra after Obito Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha, and others abducted a monk from the Fire Temple, and he called for the shinobi world to unite before war began.
• Shihōin Naraku proposed reconvening the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Fire’s capital, and he insisted the other Kage would come.

Konoha finalized its reconstruction map and invited the other villages to a Five Kage Summit. Ōnoki delayed his reply while plotting to exploit Amegakure’s instability, while Gaara promptly agreed to support the summit.

• Shikaku Nara presented Konoha’s new map, and the Jonin finalized the plan after discussing their suggestions.
• Ōnoki ordered Iwagakure to investigate factions in the Land of Rain and search Amegakure for tailed beasts or Jinchūriki.
• Ōnoki suspected the Akatsuki had attacked Konoha when Shihōin Naraku was away, then wrote a reply to Konoha and decided to delay sending it.
• Ōnoki’s intervention quelled turmoil in Iwagakure after Fourth Tsuchikage Han’s death, while Gaara struggled to secure his position in Sunagakure.
• Gaara replied to Shihōin Naraku, agreeing to support a new Five Kage Summit.

Shihōin Naraku learned that Ōnoki had ignored his reply about the Five Kage Summit and decided to make Iwagakure pay for probing Amegakure. Meanwhile, Asuma Sarutobi’s squad struggled against the disorder in Amegakure and hostility from both Iwagakure and local ninja.

• Gaara asked Shihōin Naraku to have Amegakure return Kankuro’s remains, but Naraku realized they were likely lost with Sasori of the Red Sands.
• Shihōin Naraku read replies from Mei Terumi and Dodai agreeing to another Five Kage Summit while opposing a meeting in the Land of Fire’s Capital City.
• Shihōin Naraku discovered that Ōnoki had sent no reply and concluded that Iwagakure was deliberately testing Konoha’s strength.
• Amegakure descended into violence and disorder after Nagato and Konan’s protection disappeared.
• Asuma Sarutobi, Might Guy, and Genma Shiranui arrived in Amegakure, where their squad fought for ten days against Iwagakure’s probes and hostility from Amegakure’s ninja.

Asuma Sarutobi and Genma Shiranui discussed Iwagakure’s growing attacks and the turmoil in the Land of Rain while Konoha’s forces rested. Kakashi Hatake arrived with four squads of reinforcements, suggesting Shihōin Naraku planned a forceful response and a warning to rival factions.

• Asuma Sarutobi and Genma Shiranui worried that Iwagakure was stirring up factions in the Land of Rain while Konoha lacked enough people to intervene.
• Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake arrived, and Guy left to resume his patrol after greeting Asuma.
• Kakashi confirmed that Konoha’s team had suffered injuries but no deaths, and he and Asuma exchanged updates on the fighting and the village’s reconstruction.
• Kakashi told Asuma that he had brought four squads of reinforcements.
• Asuma inferred that Shihōin Naraku intended to take drastic action, and Kakashi said the force would also warn factions preparing to make a move.

Kakashi and Asuma led Konoha’s counterattack against Iwagakure forces in the Land of Rain, with Amegakure’s support driving the invaders out. After the victory restored temporary peace, Ōnoki learned of the defeat and decided to send a letter.

• Kakashi explained to Asuma that Iwagakure and other villages were testing Konoha because it held the Nine-Tails and had recently been devastated.
• Kakashi and Asuma led Konoha’s forces in a surprise attack on Iwagakure’s probing troops.
• Amegakure’s ambush from the rear broke Iwagakure’s resistance, and Konoha and Amegakure drove the survivors out of the Land of Rain.
• The Land of Rain’s leadership suppressed opposing factions with help from Konoha, bringing temporary peace.
• Ōnoki learned that Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Might Guy, and the Rain Ninja had routed Iwagakure’s forces, then resolved to send a prepared letter.

Shihōin Naraku pressed the other villages to agree to hold a Five Kage Summit in the Land of Fire's Capital City, warning that war was approaching. After Iwagakure and Kumogakure reluctantly accepted, Naraku ordered Konoha to coordinate the summit with the Land of Fire's Daimyo.

• Shihōin Naraku and Shikaku Nara discussed Iwagakure's reply and the need to resume Konoha's war preparations.
• Shihōin Naraku ordered Shikaku Nara to demand that the Five Kage Summit be held in the Land of Fire's Capital City and to warn Iwagakure and Kumogakure about the Akatsuki's plans.
• Ōnoki agreed to the proposed location after four days, while Dodai secured Kumogakure's agreement after eleven days of persuading its factions.
• Shihōin Naraku told Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura to notify the Daimyo and arrange the summit venue.

Obito Uchiha agreed to launch a war to create an opportunity to capture the Nine-Tails and bring about the Ten-Tails' birth. He and Black Zetsu prepared to rely on Kabuto Yakushi's Impure World Reincarnation army, while leaving Madara Uchiha's remains with Kabuto for now.

• Black Zetsu persuaded Obito Uchiha that a world-wide war would help them capture the Nine-Tails and advance their plan.
• Obito Uchiha committed to war, driven by his hope of meeting Rin Nohara again, while intending to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki himself.
• Obito Uchiha asked about Kabuto Yakushi's progress, and Black Zetsu reported that Kabuto was gathering remains near Kumogakure and had resurrected former Akatsuki members and elite ninja.
• Black Zetsu said Kabuto could resurrect Second Tsuchikage Mu and Fourth Kazekage Rasa, while White Zetsu searched for remains of Third Raikage and Fourth Raikage.
• Obito Uchiha told Black Zetsu to intensify the search and decided to leave Madara Uchiha's remains with Kabuto until the time came to resurrect him.

Obito and Black Zetsu discussed preparations for the coming war, including the White Zetsu army and Kabuto Yakushi’s revived Jinchūriki. Black Zetsu found that Akame needed fifteen more days to finish strengthening the White Zetsu, longer than the ten days remaining before the war was set to begin.

• Obito told Black Zetsu to urge Kabuto Yakushi to speed up and asked how much of the White Zetsu army Akame had strengthened; Black Zetsu reported that about eighty percent were done.
• Black Zetsu told Obito that Kabuto Yakushi had revived several Tailed Beast Jinchūriki and suggested turning them into Six Paths Puppets, but Obito postponed the plan because he did not want to implant the Rinnegan yet.
• Obito said Nagato could help modify the puppets if time became short, though he and Black Zetsu worried that Kabuto Yakushi might learn about the Rinnegan.
• Black Zetsu went to the underground base and saw the White Zetsu growing stronger under Akame’s work.
• Akame told Black Zetsu that strengthening the remaining White Zetsu would take fifteen days, and he urged her to work faster because the war was expected to begin within ten days.

Akame secretly took control of the White Zetsu for Shihōin Naraku while Obito prepared to declare war at the Five Kage Summit. The Kage gathered in the Land of Fire’s capital, where tensions rose as they waited for host Shihōin Naraku to arrive.

• Akame told Black Zetsu that strengthening the remaining twenty thousand White Zetsu would take fifteen days and passed along news of the Five Kage Summit in seven days.
• Black Zetsu left to inform Obito, unaware that Akame already controlled the eighty thousand strengthened White Zetsu on Shihōin Naraku’s behalf.
• Obito decided to declare war at the summit, planned to implant one Rinnegan, and sent Black Zetsu to hurry Kabuto Yakushi along.
• Gaara, Ōnoki, Dodai, Mei Terumi, and Mifune assembled in the Land of Fire’s capital, but Shihōin Naraku had not yet appeared.
• Ōnoki complained about Naraku’s absence, Mei Terumi made a sarcastic remark about Konoha’s destruction, and an attendant announced that the Hokage had arrived.

At the Five Kage Summit, Shihōin Naraku’s late arrival angered the other Kage, while Ōnoki brought Kurotsuchi hoping she would confront the man who had traumatized her. Naraku distributed Konoha’s intelligence on the Akatsuki, and Ōnoki reacted in shock as he read it.

• Mei Terumi and the other Kage left the lounge to join Shihōin Naraku in the conference room, while Ōnoki deliberately lagged behind.
• Ōnoki brought Kurotsuchi to the summit to help her face her fear of Shihōin Naraku, and she warned him she might flee if Konoha turned hostile.
• Ōnoki entered the conference room last and nearly berated Naraku for offering only a slight nod as an apology, but Kurotsuchi held him back.
• Naraku had Shikaku Nara distribute Konoha’s intelligence on the Akatsuki and said it explained his delay.
• Ōnoki finished reading the documents and exclaimed in disbelief, asking whether the information was true.

Shihōin Naraku shared intelligence that the Akatsuki planned to revive the Ten-Tails, prompting the other Kage to debate the threat and question whether Madara Uchiha was alive. He revealed that the Akatsuki had obtained some Nine-Tails chakra after capturing Void during the attack on the Fire Temple, and the Kage accepted that Konoha had been too devastated to pursue them in time.

• Shihōin Naraku told the other Kage that Madara Uchiha's body had gone missing after the Battle of the Valley of the End, leaving open the possibility that Madara was alive.
• Ōnoki insisted that Madara Uchiha was the greater concern, while Mei Terumi, Gaara, and Dodai focused on the Ten-Tails.
• Shihōin Naraku confirmed that the Akatsuki intended to revive the Ten-Tails by gathering the power of the Tailed Beasts.
• Dodai pointed out that the Nine-Tails remained under Konoha's control, and Shihōin Naraku revealed that the Akatsuki had already obtained some of its chakra.
• Shihōin Naraku explained that the Akatsuki had captured Void after attacking the Fire Temple, and that Konoha's destruction had prevented a timely pursuit.
• Mei Terumi questioned why Konoha had not recovered the chakra, but accepted Shihōin Naraku's explanation that the destroyed village had kept its forces occupied.