Chapter Summaries

Sasori and Anyo poisoned the Kazekage with food before the Kazekage discovered their assassination plot. Anyo trapped him in darkness and killed him with a Chakra Scalpel, leaving the two conspirators facing the consequences of the attack.

• For three days, Sasori brought the Kazekage food laced with a flower, and the Kazekage eagerly ate it.
• On the fourth day, the suspicious Kazekage searched for Sasori and overheard him and Anyo discussing their plan to kill him.
• The Kazekage burst into Chiyo's laboratory and accused Sasori of conspiring with an outsider to assassinate him.
• Anyo used the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique to trap the Kazekage, who realized Sasori had poisoned his food.
• The Kazekage's Magnet Release deflected Anyo's Blade-Breaking Technique and attacked him with iron sand needles.
• Anyo awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, used accelerated time to reach the Kazekage, and killed him with a Chakra Scalpel.

Anyo killed the Third Kazekage and concealed the death with Sasori’s help before the two escaped Sunagakure. After rejecting Sasori’s plan to become a puppet, Anyo took him toward another village, and Sasori remembered how Anyo had restored his happiness.

• Anyo carried the Third Kazekage’s body inside, erased the signs of their battle, and sent Sasori to discreetly check whether anyone knew where the Kazekage had gone.
• Sasori reported that no one knew the Kazekage’s whereabouts, then revealed he had accepted a mission so he could leave Sunagakure and follow Anyo.
• Anyo and Sasori left the leaderless village, rested at the Aima Room, and discussed Sasori’s idea of turning himself into a puppet.
• Anyo persuaded Sasori not to become a puppet and said they were going to another village rather than Konoha.
• Anyo summoned the Eagle Puppet and flew with Sasori, who recalled how Anyo had brought warmth and happiness back into his life.

Anyo arrived at Takigakure with Sasori, reassured Genno that the village would remain safe, and declined to become its Kage. He then told Genno he planned to form an organization to recruit people with special abilities, revealing that he wanted to change the ninja-dominated world.

• Anyo stopped Sasori from attacking Takigakure’s barrier and greeted Genno, who opened the barrier and introduced his granddaughter Fū.
• Genno offered Anyo the position of Kage, but Anyo refused because he was still a Konoha ninja and had no interest in managing a village.
• Anyo promised Genno he would not bring war to Takigakure, and Genno agreed to call him Young Master.
• Anyo explained to Genno that he planned to establish an organization in Takigakure to recruit people with special abilities.
• Anyo said he wanted to change the ninja-dominated world, and Sasori suggested building a world of Transformers.

Anyo prepared to build his organization while Genno remained uneasy about his ambitions and Sasori began turning the Third Kazekage’s corpse into a puppet. After developing a coercive poison, Anyo met Kakuzu and repaid the debt for Tsunade’s necklace, leaving him with the necklace back in his possession.

• Genno warned Anyo against starting a war, but Anyo predicted the Third Shinobi World War would begin soon and sent Genno to find Kakuzu at the Bounty Station.
• Anyo gave Sasori the Third Kazekage’s corpse, and Sasori planned to make it into a puppet named Ironhide.
• Anyo considered recruiting outlaws through the Bounty Station and spent about a dozen days developing a poison that required regular antidotes.
• Genno announced Kakuzu’s arrival, and the battered Kakuzu returned the necklace and demanded sixty million.
• Anyo checked the necklace and handed Kakuzu the sixty million he had prepared.

Anyo persuaded Kakuzu to join his planned bounty-hunting organization by promising him access to teammates he could use as cannon fodder and replaceable hearts. After Kakuzu agreed to help recruit members, rumors of a gold mine near Takigakure drew a crowd of desperadoes.

• Kakuzu told Anyo that the necklace had coincided with the loss of five hearts in three years, so Anyo put it away inside the Puppet.
• Anyo convinced Kakuzu to stay and offered to replace his two missing hearts, then pitched his organization as a more efficient way to complete missions.
• Kakuzu agreed to join after Anyo said members could serve as cannon fodder and hearts, and Anyo explained that only three people were currently in the organization.
• Anyo whispered his recruitment plan to Kakuzu, who approved it but warned that he would kill Anyo if anything went wrong.
• A few days later, rumors spread that a gold mine had been spotted in a valley near Takigakure, drawing desperadoes toward the area.

Anyo used Kakuzu’s gold as bait to recruit bounty hunters into his organization, subduing newcomers with poison and selecting the more promising among them. After the gold scheme ended, the group returned to Takigakure, where Genno registered over a hundred recruits and Anyo began screening them.

• Anyo, Kakuzu, and Sasori set a poisoned, guarded gold trap and captured the first three bounty hunters who came looking for the mine.
• Kakuzu killed one captive to take his wind-affinity heart, while Anyo forced the other two to join by tormenting them with poison and then giving them an antidote.
• Anyo and his allies repeated the recruitment scheme, growing their organization to over a hundred people in just over ten days; Anyo killed one recruit who deliberately withheld an antidote and watched a captive suffer.
• After more than half a month, the gold scheme ended and Kakuzu recovered his gold, while Anyo returned to Takigakure with the recruits.
• Genno registered the newcomers, Anyo began screening them for useful abilities, and Sasori’s proposed organization names were rejected.

Anyo established Zero in Takigakure while Tsunade disguised herself as him to leave his prison, where Gekko Hayate attacked and died after using a forbidden drug. The Third Hokage ordered an investigation into the experiments behind the drug as Anyo remained away from Konoha.

• Anyo named the organization Zero and made himself, Kakuzu, and Sasori its founding members while evaluating recruits in Takigakure.
• Tsunade, disguised as Anyo, accepted the order ending his sentence and left the mansion, where Gekko Hayate attacked her with a burning explosive tag and a ninja blade.
• Tsunade defeated Gekko Hayate, whose body rapidly withered from the effects of a forbidden drug, and summoned the Third Hokage after discovering he could not be saved.
• The Third Hokage learned Tsunade had been impersonating Anyo and questioned her about his absence and Gekko Hayate's attack.
• Tsunade and the Third Hokage concluded that someone in Konoha was conducting forbidden experiments, and he ordered her to analyze the drug in Gekko Hayate's body.

Orochimaru defected from Konoha after the Third Hokage let him escape, while Anyo prepared to return from Takigakure and Jiraiya and Tsunade cornered Orochimaru outside the village. The chapter ended with Orochimaru realizing Tsunade had witnessed the child’s revenge and wondering what Anyo had done with the evidence.

• Orochimaru confronted the Third Hokage over his pursuit of eternal life, then fled after the Hokage’s hesitation allowed him to escape.
• Anyo assigned duties within the Zero Organization, entrusted it to Sasori, and rode back toward Konoha on the Eagle Puppet.
• Orochimaru killed at least ten Anbu while escaping Konoha, and Jiraiya pursued him and demanded that he return to face punishment.
• Tsunade blocked Orochimaru’s path with an earthen wall, trapping him between herself and Jiraiya.
• Tsunade accused Orochimaru of forbidden experiments and harming a child, and Orochimaru realized she had witnessed the child’s revenge.

Anyo returned toward Konoha and found Jiraiya and Tsunade fighting Orochimaru, who appeared to have defected early. To prevent Orochimaru from being captured and exposing Anyo’s secrets, Anyo intervened, but Orochimaru seized him as a hostage and escaped.

• Jiraiya and Tsunade attacked Orochimaru, who used his substitution technique to evade their combined strike.
• Anyo approached Konoha by puppet eagle and spotted the Sannin fighting in the forest.
• Anyo decided to help Orochimaru escape so Konoha would not uncover the secrets behind his prison sentence.
• Anyo struck between the fighters with Iaido and stood in Jiraiya and Tsunade’s way.
• Orochimaru bound Anyo with Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, threatened the others with the Kusanagi Sword, and fled with him as a hostage.

Anyo escaped with Orochimaru, refused to defect from Konoha, and agreed to cooperate with him through his own organization. After Tsunade found Anyo pretending to be unconscious, she confronted him about his long absence, then kissed his forehead when he showed her the necklace he had promised to find.

• Orochimaru released Anyo, explained that his gift had exposed him, and invited him to leave with him.
• Anyo refused to leave Konoha but told Orochimaru about his new organization, and they agreed to cooperate.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya followed Orochimaru's trail and found Anyo pretending to be unconscious.
• Tsunade treated Anyo, then punched the ground beside his head when he revealed he had been faking.
• Anyo showed Tsunade the necklace he had found, and she kissed his forehead before telling him not to read into it.

Anyo learned why Orochimaru had defected and watched Jiraiya leave Konoha to search for him. After returning to the village, Anyo found Konan and Haku training and learned that Konan had decided to return to Amegakure as an undercover Konoha ninja.

• Tsunade explained how events involving Anyo had led Orochimaru to defect, and Anyo understood the strange chain of circumstances behind it.
• Jiraiya told Tsunade to inform the Hokage that he was leaving Konoha, then departed to bring Orochimaru back.
• Tsunade returned to Konoha with Anyo and told him to rest before reporting to the Medical Department.
• Anyo found Konan and Haku sparring at the training ground and assessed their growing abilities.
• Konan told Anyo she had chosen to return to Amegakure, and agreed to go undercover and report intelligence to Konoha.
• Konan asked Anyo to protect Yahiko and Nagato from Konoha, and Anyo promised to raise her request with the Hokage.

Anyo accepted a medical-support mission for the upcoming chunin exams and arranged for Konan to receive an Anbu identity so she could work as a Konoha spy. After Konan departed, Anyo and Haku spoke about his manipulative nature and their feelings, while he turned his attention to the exams and the coming war.

• Anyo told the Third that he had spent his absence helping a friend, then accepted a mission to provide medical support during the chunin ninja exams.
• Anyo asked the Third to arrange an Anbu identity and liaison for Konan, and the Third agreed.
• The Third asked whether Anyo resented his prison sentence and offered him a chance to return to the Anbu, but Anyo chose to stay in the Medical Department.
• Anyo visited White Fang's grave, then returned home and told Konan to stay cautious while undercover in Amegakure.
• Konan gave Anyo and Haku folded paper flowers before leaving, and Anyo admitted he had brought her to Konoha partly to use her.
• Haku called Anyo bad and confessed she liked him, while Anyo refused her feelings and looked forward to judging the next generation at the chunin exams.

During the Chunin Ninja Exams, Anyo used his newly developed Soul Division Technique to monitor the participants and reunited with Rin Nohara. Rin demonstrated the Spirit Control Technique she had created, and Anyo eagerly asked her to teach it to him.

• Anyo reviewed the exam participants, including Kakashi, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara, and decided not to interfere with Obito's future.
• Anyo monitored the Forest of Death by attaching fragments of his soul to the participants.
• Rin Nohara recognized Anyo and told him she had practiced the Spirit Transformation Technique in secret for three years.
• Anyo explained his Soul Division Technique, and Rin revealed that she had developed a ninjutsu of her own.
• Rin used the Spirit Control Technique to take control of Anyo's divided soul and explained how she had learned to soothe and guide animals' souls.

Anyo mastered the Spirit Control Technique, helped Rin Nohara reunite with Obito Uchiha and Kakashi, and watched Might Guy defeat Obito twice during the Chunin Ninja Exams. After healing Obito, Anyo examined him and wondered how the ordinary Genin would later become powerful.

• Anyo learned the Spirit Control Technique from Rin Nohara and helped her find Obito Uchiha and Kakashi in the Forest of Death.
• Kakashi and his teammates encountered Might Guy's team, and the two teams fought as they made their way out of the forest.
• Might Guy defeated Obito in the first individual elimination match after Obito choked on candy and failed to use his Fire Release technique.
• Obito challenged Might Guy again, but Rin Nohara distracted him and Guy knocked him down with a Konoha Whirlwind.
• Anyo treated Obito's injured eyes and found that he seemed to have ordinary Genin-level abilities, while Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi watched him closely.

Anyo treated Kurenai Yuhi after her match and persuaded her to return to the Chunin Ninja Exams. Kakashi won the final against Might Guy, and the participants gathered the next morning for a free countryside outing led by Anyo.

• Anyo healed Kurenai Yuhi's wound, but she became angry when he called her Kurenai-sensei and stormed out of the venue.
• Anyo caught up with Kurenai Yuhi, offered her candy, and convinced her to return by telling her about the next day's outing.
• Kakashi defeated Might Guy in the final and took first place in the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• The proctor announced that a sponsor had arranged a free countryside outing for all exam participants the next day.
• Anyo led the participants from the Konoha Gate to a riverside lawn, where the owner of Ichiraku Ramen offered them a free breakfast.

Anyo pulled Kakashi aside to offer support and teach him swordsmanship, but Kakashi rejected his help and his teacher’s path. Kurenai Yuhi confronted Anyo about Haku, Tsunade, and Rin, and the chapter ended with her asking how many other “little sisters” he had.

• Anyo took Kakashi to the river, asked if he had enough money, and offered to teach him swordsmanship, but Kakashi refused.
• Kurenai Yuhi asked Anyo why Haku lived with him and whether he and Tsunade were involved; Anyo explained that Haku was his subordinate and Tsunade had been ordered to guard him.
• Rin Nohara arrived looking for Kakashi, and Anyo asked her to explain that nothing was going on between him and Tsunade.
• Rin Nohara told Kurenai Yuhi that Anyo would choose Tsunade only if he were blind, then fled when Kurenai questioned how they knew each other and why Rin called him big brother.
• Kurenai Yuhi asked Anyo how many more little sisters he had, and Anyo wondered whether there were any others.

Anyo organized games, a bonfire feast, and fireworks for the young ninja, while making peace with Kurenai Yuhi. The evening ended with Kurenai kissing Anyo, leaving him surprised once again.

• Anyo arranged tabletop games, and the young ninja gathered to play, with Werewolf becoming the most popular.
• Anyo lit a bonfire with Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Technique, and everyone began grilling the food prepared for them.
• Anyo sat by the river, where Kurenai Yuhi brought him grilled meat and leaned against his shoulder.
• Anyo revealed that he had bought every firework in Konoha and paid for the outing to apologize to Kurenai Yuhi.
• Kurenai Yuhi kissed Anyo before he could finish explaining, leaving him surprised.

Anyo promised to consider marrying Kurenai Yuhi when she was older, then developed a range of support-focused poisons in Tsunade’s laboratory. Tsunade recognized their potential to advance Konoha’s medical reforms, while reports of the Third Kazekage’s disappearance prompted the Third Raikage to mobilize Kumogakure’s ninja.

• Kurenai Yuhi asked Anyo if he would marry her, and he promised to wait until she was older before deciding.
• Anyo escorted Kurenai Yuhi home, declined Shinku’s invitation to come inside, and then went to Tsunade’s laboratory.
• Anyo developed and classified poisons with effects including paralysis, blindness, dizziness, and weakness while Tsunade slept.
• Tsunade examined the poisons, understood their value for medical-ninja squads, and hurried to tell the Hokage that Konoha’s medical reforms were on the right track.
• The Third Raikage ordered all Kumogakure ninja to assemble after learning that the Third Kazekage had disappeared and was suspected dead.

Kumogakure's attack on Sunagakure ignited the Third Shinobi World War, drawing Konoha into a conflict across multiple fronts. With Konoha running short of capable leaders, the Third Hokage summoned Anyo, who left the Medical Department despite Tsunade's efforts to keep him there.

• A Kumogakure squad attacked Sunagakure ninja in Amegakure and revealed that war was coming.
• Kumogakure attacked Sunagakure, and Konoha agreed to send aid; Kumogakure then declared war on Konoha and Iwagakure as well.
• Anyo walked through Konoha as the war began, expecting that he would soon be called back to fighting.
• The Third Hokage, facing casualties across several fronts and few available leaders, decided to summon Anyo.
• Tsunade tried to prevent Anyo from leaving the Medical Department, but Anyo accepted the Hokage's summons and thanked her before departing.

Anyo was reinstated as an Anbu Captain under the codename Night and prepared to join Minato Namikaze on the Iwagakure front. He defied Danzo to retrieve Yugao from Root, and she left with him as his first team member.

• The Third Hokage ordered Anyo to assist Minato Namikaze at the Iwagakure front, reinstated him as an Anbu Captain, and gave him the codename Night.
• Anyo asked to choose his own team members and received three days to prepare before departing for the battlefield.
• Anyo entered Root to retrieve Yugao and overpowered two Root members who tried to stop him.
• Anyo threatened Danzo and demanded that he remove Yugao's Cursed Seal.
• Danzo removed the seal, and Yugao agreed to leave with Anyo as his first team member.