Recaps

Uchiha Minamoto healed Neji Hyuga after he failed to become the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki and hinted that the Hyuga Clan’s branch family could be freed from its Caged Bird Seal. He decided to begin a gentler reform of the clan, with Hizashi Hyuga as its vanguard.

• Uchiha Minamoto accepted Shino Aburame as his student, leaving Shibi Aburame convinced that Shino had become the Fifth Hokage’s personal disciple.
• Uchiha Minamoto healed Neji Hyuga’s injuries and dispelled his despair with Light Release, then told him that some birds were never meant to be caged.
• Uchiha Minamoto reflected on how the Hyuga Clan’s Caged Bird Seal protected the Byakugan but had become a tool for the main family to control the branch family.
• Uchiha Minamoto resolved to reform the Hyuga Clan through gentler means and identified Hizashi Hyuga as the vanguard of the plan.

Uchiha Minamoto trained Shino Aburame to draw on the Seven-Tails’ chakra, helping him master Chōmei Mode. After testing Shino’s speed, strength, and taijutsu, Uchiha Minamoto declared the training complete, leaving Shino pleased to match Naruto but disappointed that his time with Chōmei was ending.

• Uchiha Minamoto summoned Chōmei the Seven-Tails and told him to familiarize Shino Aburame with a jinchūriki’s abilities.
• Chōmei taught Shino to recognize the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and become familiar with the Seven-Tails’ chakra before Uchiha Minamoto took over his training.
• Uchiha Minamoto taught Shino how to open the seal and draw out the Seven-Tails’ chakra without mastering the sealing jutsu itself.
• Shino Aburame activated Chōmei Mode and charged at Uchiha Minamoto, who tested his speed, strength, and taijutsu.
• Uchiha Minamoto ended the test and congratulated Shino on mastering Chōmei Mode, while Shino realized their short training program was over.

Uchiha Minamoto sent Shino Aburame back to the Ninja Academy and urged him to join Naruto Uzumaki’s Campus Great Love Group, while planning to guide Konoha’s jinchūriki toward the Great Love Group. Shino went to school eager to visit Chōmei, and the chapter ended with Konoha adjusting to its newly appointed Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

• Uchiha Minamoto told Shino Aburame to return to the Ninja Academy and join Naruto Uzumaki’s Campus Great Love Group.
• Uchiha Minamoto planned for Shino and future Konoha jinchūriki to eventually serve the Great Love Group, and considered checking on Sasuke Uchiha’s development.
• Uchiha Minamoto brought Shino back to Konoha, where Shino asked if he could still visit Chōmei the Seven-Tails.
• Uchiha Minamoto agreed, explaining that Shino would need Chōmei’s chakra once the supply sealed inside him ran low.
• Shino headed for the Ninja Academy, while Uchiha Minamoto worried that his impulsive use of Chōmei Mode might quickly drain his chakra.
• Uchiha Minamoto returned to the Hokage’s Office and noted that Konoha had four jinchūriki, though Shino remained unfamiliar to most villagers.

Uchiha Minamoto considered the rapid expansion of the Shinobi World Great Love Alliance and the strain of establishing branches across its new member nations. As its branches and members brought in more great love points, he reached another major daily total.

• Uchiha Minamoto reviewed the growing list of small nations that had joined the Great Love Alliance, including the Land of Woods and the Land of Grass.
• He recalled that Kusagakure had sent Ryūzetsu, a bearer of the [Dragon Life Reincarnation] Kekkei Genkai, to Konoha as a gift.
• Uchiha Minamoto accepted the new nations into the alliance and received great love points and other rewards for their membership.
• Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Minato Namikaze, and the other resurrected Hokage established Great Love Group Branches in major ninja villages, earning points through their good deeds.
• Kumogakure's branch provided more great love points than Sunagakure, while Uchiha Minamoto's daily total reached seven million.

Uchiha Minamoto considered whether resolving the Hyuga Clan’s Main Family and Branch Family conflict could earn him a major Great Love Points reward. Meanwhile, Hizashi Hyuga returned to the Hyuga Clan Compound and revealed himself to Hyuga Kamon, leaving the clan’s reaction to come.

• Uchiha Minamoto calculated his growing Great Love Points income and decided that resolving the Hyuga Clan’s internal division might earn him a hundred million points.
• Uchiha Minamoto focused on the Hyuga Clan Compound and hoped Hizashi Hyuga would become involved in its conflict.
• Hizashi Hyuga entered the Hyuga Clan Compound, where its members mistook him for Hyuga Hiashi.
• Hizashi Hyuga told Hyuga Kamon to inform Hyuga Hiashi that he had returned, and Kamon recognized him as the brother believed to have died years earlier.

Hizashi Hyuga returned to the Hyuga Clan compound alive and revealed that he had escaped the [Caged Bird Seal], stirring hope among the Branch Family and alarm among the Main Family. As the Main Family moved to restore its control, a Hyuga elder activated the seals and left Branch Family members writhing in pain.

• Hyuga Kamon recognized Hizashi Hyuga's resurrection and hurried to tell Hyuga Hiashi, while news spread through the clan compound.
• Hyuga Hiashi arrived and faced his resurrected younger brother, who removed his forehead protector to reveal an unmarked forehead.
• Hyuga Branch Family members celebrated the apparent escape from the [Caged Bird Seal], while Main Family members demanded that Hizashi be branded again.
• A Hyuga elder activated the [Caged Bird Seal] on nearby Branch Family members, causing them to collapse and scream in agony.

Hizashi Hyuga attacked the Hyuga Main Family after its elder used the Caged Bird Seal to punish Branch Family members, and he overwhelmed the Main Family members who confronted him. The clan leader, Hyuga Hiashi, remained the Branch Family’s last hope of stopping him.

• Hizashi Hyuga struck the elder with Gentle Fist and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, interrupting the Caged Bird Seal and leaving the elder severely injured.
• The Hyuga Branch Family members rose and watched Hizashi Hyuga in awe as the Hyuga Main Family members shouted at him.
• Hyuga Hiashi recognized the damage Hizashi Hyuga had inflicted but believed the Branch Family should never attack the Main Family.
• Hizashi Hyuga used Rotation to send the Hyuga Main Family members surrounding him flying.
• The Main Family members called on Hyuga Hiashi to stop Hizashi Hyuga, and Hyuga Hiashi told his younger brother to stop.

Hizashi Hyuga rejected Hyuga Hiashi’s offer to join the Main Family, declaring that he had returned to end the Hyuga Branch Family system. The Main Family members erupted in outrage at his demand.

• Hyuga Hiashi stopped Hizashi Hyuga from attacking the Main Family and offered to let him join the Main Family without receiving another Caged Bird Seal.
• The Main Family members opposed Hyuga Hiashi’s offer, while the Branch Family members urged Hizashi Hyuga not to trust it.
• Hizashi Hyuga rejected the offer, saying he had returned to end the Branch Family system.
• The Main Family members shouted insults at Hizashi Hyuga’s declaration.

Hizashi Hyuga demanded an end to the Hyuga Branch Family system and revealed that the Fifth Hokage supported his call. The Main Family fell silent as Hizashi asked whether they would let him abolish it or force Uchiha Minamoto to intervene personally.

• A Hyuga elder threatened the Branch Family with the Caged Bird Seal, but some Branch Family members defied him and rallied others to protest.
• Hyuga Hiashi stopped the elder from attacking and asked Hizashi whether abolishing the system was his own idea or the Fifth Hokage’s.
• Hizashi said the decision was his, but told the clan that Uchiha Minamoto had called the Branch Family system a violation of Konoha’s Will of Fire.
• Hizashi asked whether the clan wanted him to end the system or wanted the Fifth Hokage to do it himself.
• Hyuga Hiashi and the Main Family fell silent, fearing they could not withstand Uchiha Minamoto.

Hizashi Hyuga argued that Konoha could intervene in the Hyuga Clan’s treatment of its Branch Family, then proposed splitting the clan into two. He followed Uchiha Minamoto’s plan to establish a separate Hyuga division, while the alternative was for Minamoto to crush the clan and rebuild it from resurrected ninja.

• Hizashi Hyuga argued that the Branch Family’s mistreatment was a village matter, so the Fifth Hokage could intervene in the Hyuga Clan’s affairs.
• Hyuga Hiashi abandoned his defense of the ancestral system and asked Hizashi Hyuga what he wanted to do.
• Hizashi Hyuga proposed dividing the entire Hyuga Clan into two separate groups and establishing a new branch family.
• Hizashi Hyuga recalled that Uchiha Minamoto had given him two plans: resolve the conflict himself or let Minamoto intervene.
• Uchiha Minamoto’s alternative plan was to destroy the Hyuga Clan with forces under his command, resurrect some of its ninja, and have them form a new Hyuga Clan.

Hizashi Hyuga formed the Little Hyuga Clan from Branch Family members willing to leave the Hyuga Clan and escape the Caged Bird Seal. He presented Uchiha Minamoto with the new clan’s roster, which contained nearly as many ninja as the entire Hyuga Clan, and Minamoto questioned whether Hizashi had hollowed out the original clan.

• Hizashi Hyuga proposed that Hyuga members choose between remaining in the clan under the Caged Bird Seal or leaving to establish a new clan.
• Several Branch Family members objected to abandoning the Hyuga surname, while a clearheaded clansman condemned their wish to keep the name and simply remove the seal.
• Hizashi promised that Uchiha Minamoto would remove the seals of those who joined the new clan, then named it the Little Hyuga Clan.
• Hizashi reported to Uchiha Minamoto and handed him the roster of departing clansmen, including himself, Neji, and Hyuga Kamon.
• Uchiha Minamoto noticed that the roster approached the Hyuga Clan’s full membership and asked Hizashi whether he had hollowed out the original clan; Hizashi denied seeking its communal assets.

After Uchiha Minamoto’s support helped Hizashi Hyuga split the clan and abolish the Caged Bird Seal, Minamoto received ten million great love points and the Moon Otsutsuki Clan’s puppet-making techniques. He studied the advanced techniques, including semi-intelligent puppets, and considered how they surpassed the shinobi world’s existing puppet arts.

• Hizashi Hyuga explained that most Branch Family members had joined the Little Hyuga Clan to escape the Caged Bird Seal, even those who had once hesitated over changing the clan name.
• The settlement panel awarded Uchiha Minamoto ten million great love points and the Moon Otsutsuki Clan’s complete puppet-making techniques for helping abolish the seal.
• Uchiha Minamoto compared the Hyuga reward with the much larger reward he had received for resolving the Uchiha Clan’s massacre threat.
• Uchiha Minamoto reviewed Sunagakure’s weakened Puppet Technique legacy and contrasted its chakra-thread controls with Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain.
• Uchiha Minamoto examined the Moon Otsutsuki Clan’s puppet techniques and found semi-intelligent puppets capable of acting freely.

Uchiha Minamoto considered the Ōtsutsuki Clan on the moon as the next force he would need to confront to address the Hyuga clans’ division. He recalled the moon clan’s devastating civil war and identified Otsutsuki Toneri as a potential Six Paths-level opponent.

• Little Hizashi finished reporting to the Fifth Hokage and hurried back to resolve the Hyuga and Little Hyuga clans’ remaining problems.
• Uchiha Minamoto looked at the moon and reasoned that the Ōtsutsuki Clan there shared an ancestor with the Hyuga Clan and would have to be addressed to resolve the Byakugan families’ division.
• Uchiha Minamoto recalled that the moon Ōtsutsuki Main Family and Branch Family had fought a war over whether to preserve or destroy the Shinobi World.
• The Branch Family had won by combining its Byakugan into a Tenseigan and wiping out the Main Family, but suffered near-total losses.
• Uchiha Minamoto thought of Otsutsuki Toneri, whose peak Tenseigan Chakra Mode and moon-cutting Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion made him a formidable potential opponent.

Uchiha Minamoto considered the danger of unsealing Kaguya Otsutsuki and began thinking about reaching the moon to investigate the lunar Ōtsutsuki and their Tenseigan. Meanwhile, news of the Hyuga Clan upheaval spread through Konoha and beyond, alarming the village’s other clans.

• Uchiha Minamoto judged that the child Otsutsuki Toneri posed no immediate threat but recognized Kaguya Otsutsuki as a potential target on the moon.
• Uchiha Minamoto considered the immense reward for unsealing Kaguya Otsutsuki, then decided to postpone it because he could neither break her seal nor confidently control her.
• Uchiha Minamoto contemplated analyzing the moon’s Tenseigan and realized he did not know how to travel to the moon, considering Otsutsuki Toneri as a possible route.
• News spread that the Fifth Hokage had publicly welcomed the Little Hyuga Clan and removed its members’ Caged Bird Seals.
• Konoha’s other Shinobi Clans grew alarmed as they saw the Fifth Hokage had reshaped both the Uchiha and Hyuga Clans.

Orochimaru, Sasori of the Red Sands, and Kakuzu ambushed Fourth Kazekage Rasa in the Land of Wind and divided the spoils. Sasori hired Kakuzu with Rasa’s heart and promised Orochimaru Gaara, setting the former Akatsuki members on a new One-Tail capture operation.

• Sasori of the Red Sands used insider information to lead Orochimaru and Kakuzu to ambush Fourth Kazekage Rasa and his two guards in the desert.
• Sasori removed Rasa’s heart and kept the two Sunagakure guards, while Kakuzu searched them for money.
• Sasori gave Kakuzu Rasa’s heart as payment for joining the operation, and Kakuzu accepted the valuable prize.
• Orochimaru asked Sasori to settle his payment with Gaara, Sunagakure’s One-Tail Jinchuriki.
• The chapter recalled that Kakuzu, Orochimaru, and Sasori had previously been assigned the Akatsuki’s One-Tail capture operation, and noted that all three had since left the organization.

Orochimaru left Sasori and Kakuzu after they refused to help him infiltrate Sunagakure, then abducted Gaara with White Zetsu. Later, hiding in the Land of Swamps, he investigated the legendary demon Moryo and its undead army but was disappointed by what he found.

• Sasori gave Orochimaru intelligence on Gaara and Sunagakure but refused to accompany him inside the village.
• Kakuzu demanded extra payment to join the operation, and Orochimaru ignored him and left with the scrolls.
• Sasori took Rasa's body and used the Subconscious Sand Manipulation Technique to control two Kazekage guards, while Kakuzu left with Rasa's heart.
• Orochimaru sent White Zetsu to infiltrate Sunagakure and abduct Gaara, then later left the village with him as Sasori and Kakuzu disappeared.
• In the Land of Swamps, Orochimaru inspected the statues of Moryo's undead army as Yomi explained their purpose, and Orochimaru felt disappointed.

Orochimaru entered Moryo’s sealed chamber in the Land of Swamps and explained to Yomi that he wanted the demon’s release to draw the Fifth Hokage into the conflict. Seeing Moryo’s body made Orochimaru consider it a substitute for the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as he reflected on Gaara’s potential as a vessel.

• Orochimaru dismissed Yomi’s undying legion as ineffective against Ninja.
• Yomi questioned why Orochimaru had chosen to release Moryo’s body before his chakra, and Orochimaru claimed that news of the release would draw the Fifth Hokage.
• Yomi used ancient sealing jutsu to open the stone door while Orochimaru studied the unfamiliar technique.
• Orochimaru and Yomi entered a vast chamber and found Moryo’s snake-shaped body sealed inside.
• Orochimaru recalled his research on Gaara and concluded that Gaara’s potential as a vessel exceeded Kimimaro Kaguya’s, whose Kekkei Genkai disease worsened as his Shikotsumyaku developed.

Orochimaru planned to extract Shukaku from Gaara and use Gaara as a vessel, while sealing Shukaku inside Moryo's physical body. He captured Yomi as a source of knowledge and experimental material, then reflected on the resources he had lost while fleeing the Land of Fields.

• Orochimaru decided he needed to extract Shukaku from Gaara before transferring his soul into Gaara's body.
• Orochimaru considered sealing Shukaku inside Moryo's physical body after ruling out releasing the tailed beast into the wild.
• Orochimaru restrained Yomi with [Hidden Shadow Snake Hands] and knocked him unconscious with a snake's neurotoxin.
• Orochimaru sealed Yomi inside a specially made wooden barrel using [Ninja Art: Four Black Mist Formation], preserving him in suspended animation.
• Orochimaru noted that Yomi could help unseal Moryo's chakra and serve as experimental material.
• Orochimaru recalled that fleeing the Land of Fields had cost him valuable living ninja resources despite his use of sealing jutsu.

Orochimaru worried that Black Zetsu’s disappearance would leave him without White Zetsu for his experiments and Impure World Reincarnation plans. Meanwhile, Jiraiya arrived in the Land of Swamps to enjoy himself, but an explosion interrupted him and sent him racing toward the disturbance.

• Orochimaru realized his White Zetsu supply was dwindling and wondered whether Uchiha Minamoto had captured Black Zetsu.
• Orochimaru considered summoning Madara Uchiha for more White Zetsu but doubted he could control him, so he decided to wait longer for Black Zetsu.
• Orochimaru sealed away Yomi and decided to capture Yomi’s subordinates as experimental subjects.
• Jiraiya reached the Land of Swamps’ capital after spending nearly a month in the Land of Wind and headed straight for the pleasure district.
• A huge explosion shook the capital while Jiraiya was with two courtesans, and he rushed outside to see a blazing tornado of fire in the distance.

Jiraiya investigated a surge of tailed-beast-like chakra outside the capital and found Gaara, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, fleeing through the Land of Swamps. Gaara attacked Jiraiya, who dodged with Gamachu as their confrontation began.

• Jiraiya sensed a chakra burst like a tailed beast’s and suspected Orochimaru was in the Land of Swamps.
• Jiraiya headed outside the capital and saw an orange-haired ninja speed past him using Water Release: Water Surface Cutter.
• Jiraiya recognized the red-haired, partly sand-covered boy as Sunagakure’s One-Tail Jinchuriki, Gaara.
• Jiraiya summoned Gamachu and introduced himself as the Toad Sage Jiraiya, but Gaara called him an idiot.
• Gaara attacked Jiraiya with Sand Shuriken, which Jiraiya and Gamachu dodged.
• Gaara followed with Sand Hand, and Gamachu carried Jiraiya out of its reach.

Jiraiya fought Gaara, who summoned Shukaku after losing his temper, but Jiraiya and Gamahiro forced the One-Tail back into Gaara and captured him. Jiraiya declared the fight over while Gaara glared at him from inside Gamahiro's tongue.

• Gaara used the Feigning Sleep Technique and transformed into Shukaku the One-Tail.
• Jiraiya summoned Gamahiro, who stomped on Shukaku and pierced his chakra body with his twin swords.
• The pain broke Gaara's technique, forcing Shukaku to retreat and leaving Gaara exposed.
• Gaara gathered sand to attack again, but Gamahiro wrapped him in his tongue and restrained him.
• Jiraiya approached the tongue prison and told Gaara that the outcome was settled.

Jiraiya questioned Gaara about Orochimaru and protected him from Kimimaro’s attack, then learned Kimimaro had come to rescue his comrade. The two children were revealed to be Orochimaru’s subordinates, while Jiraiya mistakenly suspected Orochimaru of involvement in the Kaguya Clan’s destruction.

• Jiraiya demanded that Gaara reveal Orochimaru’s whereabouts, but Gaara refused and defended his bond with Orochimaru.
• Jiraiya used [Ninja Art: Needle Jizo] to block Kimimaro’s [Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets].
• Jiraiya mistook Kimimaro for a Kaguya Clan child abducted by Orochimaru, while Kimimaro introduced himself without the Kaguya surname.
• Kimimaro told Jiraiya that he had attacked to rescue Gaara and that they were comrades serving Orochimaru.
• Jiraiya learned that the Ice-Skating Ninja he had encountered earlier was one of Yomi’s subordinates.

Orochimaru arrived to confront Jiraiya after Kimimaro and Gaara’s pursuit of Yomi’s subordinates brought them into conflict. Jiraiya faced his former friend and resolved not to let him escape again.

• Kimimaro and Gaara pursued Yomi’s four subordinates, but their Composite Ninjutsu let an orange-haired ninja escape.
• Jiraiya confronted Kimimaro and Gaara, holding Gaara with Gamahiro’s tongue while Kimimaro stalled for Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru arrived, and Kimimaro hurried to his side while Gaara remained trapped.
• Jiraiya and Orochimaru recognized each other and recalled their last meeting, when Orochimaru defected from Konoha.
• Jiraiya fixed his attention on Orochimaru, determined not to let him get away again.

Jiraiya confronted Orochimaru and declared that he would take him back to Konoha, but Orochimaru questioned whether returning would mean certain death under Uchiha Minamoto. As Jiraiya prepared to fight, Orochimaru used a Shadow Clone to stall him while his real body retreated underground to advance an Impure World Reincarnation plan.

• Jiraiya told Orochimaru he intended to take him back to Konoha, and Orochimaru asked what future he could expect there under Uchiha Minamoto.
• Jiraiya considered promising to plead for Orochimaru but decided instead to fight him, while Orochimaru realized Jiraiya was becoming serious.
• Orochimaru recalled that he had stabilized Gaara's seal by placing a Four Symbols Seal over it, preventing Shukaku's chakra from interfering with Gaara.
• When Gaara released Shukaku using the Feigning Sleep Technique, Orochimaru sensed the outbreak and rushed from the Underground Base to protect Gaara and his vessel plan.
• Orochimaru anticipated that Konoha might send its Hokage, so his original body returned underground to begin an Impure World Reincarnation plan while his Shadow Clone faced Jiraiya.

Orochimaru feared that Jiraiya would report his location to Konoha, so he decided to resurrect Madara Uchiha as a counter to the approaching threat. The [Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu] succeeded, leaving Madara restored before Orochimaru.

• Orochimaru returned to his Underground Base after Jiraiya appeared in the Land of Swamps and feared that Jiraiya would send word to Konoha.
• Orochimaru decided he needed a God of Shinobi to face Hashirama Senju and an Uchiha to counter Uchiha Minamoto.
• Orochimaru used a Living White Zetsu as a sacrifice and performed the [Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu] to resurrect Madara Uchiha.
• Madara appeared in long black hair and red armor, and Orochimaru remarked that his appearance resembled Hashirama Senju’s more than the Second Hokage’s.