Recaps

Senju Chen brought Kakuzu to Orochimaru and Amado’s laboratory, where they became fascinated by his Earth Grudge Fear and unusual body. Kakuzu was left facing the prospect of being studied and receiving replacement hearts, with little confidence that he could refuse.

• Senju Chen met Xuanyuan Gari and Aying in the laboratory and told them to return for equipment upgrades after they got used to their new tails.
• Senju Chen introduced Kakuzu to Orochimaru and Amado, explaining that Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear let him use multiple hearts and chakra natures.
• Orochimaru and Amado examined Kakuzu’s black threads and discussed combining their properties with tailed beast cell culture fluid.
• Senju Chen told Kakuzu that Orochimaru and Amado could replenish his missing hearts while studying his secret technique.
• Kakuzu asked if he could refuse, and Senju Chen answered with a smile that suggested he could not.

Senju Chen left Kakuzu with Orochimaru and Amado for heart transplants, while the two scientists considered experimenting on him with tailed beast cells. Kakuzu resigned himself to the operation, hoping they would leave him a few intact hearts.

• Senju Chen told Orochimaru and Amado to give Kakuzu several hearts so he could keep working for him.
• Orochimaru showed Kakuzu preserved elite jonin with different chakra natures, and Senju Chen ordered all five hearts transplanted into him.
• Amado and Orochimaru examined Kakuzu’s black threads and discussed combining them with tailed beast cells despite a success rate of only thirty percent.
• Senju Chen postponed the tailed beast cell experiment until Kakuzu recovered and told Orochimaru to begin the heart transplants.
• Kakuzu asked whether they were an organ-trafficking organization, then reluctantly walked to the laboratory table.

Senju Chen learned that Orochimaru and Amado had devised a three-step method to remove Rin Nohara’s curse tag, then left Kakuzu in their care for heart transplants and research. Three days later, he reviewed Food Is Heaven’s profits and told Maruboshi Kosuke he planned to open four branches in other nations.

• Orochimaru and Amado explained that they had found a method to remove Rin Nohara’s curse tag, with a seventy percent success rate, and Senju Chen planned to bring her in a week.
• Senju Chen ordered Kakuzu to cooperate with Orochimaru and Amado, who began preparing to replace his hearts.
• Senju Chen left the laboratory, confident Kakuzu would survive because of Orochimaru’s skill and Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear.
• Three days later, Maruboshi Kosuke reported that Food Is Heaven had earned eight million ryo in net profit that month.
• Senju Chen told Maruboshi Kosuke he planned to open four branches in the capitals or cities of the Lands of Lightning, Water, Wind, and Earth.

Senju Chen ordered Maruboshi Kosuke to prepare branches of Food Is Heaven in the capitals of the four great nations within three months, while arranging to take Rin Nohara to Orochimaru the next morning to remove her curse tag. He ended the day planning to use the Land of Birds restaurant as a test site and expand his influence across the Shinobi World.

• Senju Chen instructed Maruboshi Kosuke to open four branches within three months, recruit staff, and hire guards, while assuring him that his life mattered more than the restaurants.
• Senju Chen visited Rin Nohara and told her that Orochimaru had found a way to remove her curse tag, then arranged to leave with her the next morning.
• Maruboshi Kosuke presented five candidates for branch manager, and Senju Chen approved them to scout locations in the four great nations.
• Senju Chen learned that the Land of Birds restaurant would be ready in half a month and designated it as a test site for the other branches.
• Senju Chen pictured Food Is Heaven spreading across the Five Great Nations and considered how its intelligence, money, and connections could influence Konoha's Hokage struggle and future war.

Senju Chen told the Xuanyuan Group their Scientific Ninja Tool modifications had become safer and assigned Azi to oversee security and intelligence gathering in the Land of Birds. He then brought Rin Nohara to Orochimaru's hidden laboratory to remove her curse jutsu, though the sight of the test subjects frightened her.

• Senju Chen told the Xuanyuan Group that Xuanyuan Gari and Aying's modifications had succeeded and promised the others their upgrades in turn.
• Senju Chen ordered Azi to protect the Land of Birds shop and establish an intelligence network there, including contacts in the black market.
• Senju Chen left the Capital of Fire with a disguised Rin Nohara and reassured her that Orochimaru's attempt to remove her curse jutsu would succeed.
• Three days later, Senju Chen led Rin into Orochimaru's concealed laboratory, where she saw test subjects immersed in culture fluid.

Senju Chen brought Rin Nohara to Orochimaru and Amado for an examination of the curse tag near her heart, while learning that Kakuzu was recovering from experimental modifications. Rin’s examination revealed a way to suppress the Three-Tails’ reaction during surgery, and the chapter left Kakuzu describing how Orochimaru and Amado had replaced all five of his hearts.

• Senju Chen introduced Rin Nohara to Orochimaru, who ordered Amado to prepare a comprehensive examination of her curse tag.
• Orochimaru told Senju Chen that Kakuzu had completed the first stage of his modifications and was adapting to his new hearts.
• Amado found that Rin’s curse tag resonated with the Three-Tails’ chakra and proposed using an inverse-frequency signal to prevent the beast from going berserk during surgery.
• Orochimaru and Amado planned to sever the curse tag’s connection to Rin’s heart after three days of preparation, with the operation expected to take two hours.
• Senju Chen found Kakuzu outside the laboratory, where Kakuzu said Orochimaru and Amado had replaced all five of his hearts, including his original one.

Senju Chen learned that Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear had gained regenerative properties from tailed beast cells and claimed Kakuzu’s bounty as repayment for his modifications. Three days later, Orochimaru and Amado successfully removed the curse seal from Rin Nohara’s heart, leaving her stable as they began repairing the damage with diluted Hashirama cells.

• Kakuzu showed Senju Chen how tailed beast cells had strengthened his threads, given them regeneration, and improved his chakra recovery.
• Senju Chen told Kakuzu he had collected Kakuzu’s black-market bounty, and Kakuzu walked away in anger.
• Orochimaru and Amado began surgery on Rin Nohara, severing the curse seal’s connections to her heart while using a false signal to calm the Three-Tails’ chakra.
• Orochimaru removed the curse seal’s runic crystal, and Amado contained it as Rin’s condition stabilized.
• Amado injected diluted Hashirama cells into Rin’s heart tissue to repair the damage.

Senju Chen watched Kakuzu test his upgraded abilities, obtained Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear research data, and waited for Rin Nohara to recover after her successful surgery. As Chen left the laboratory with Rin and Kakuzu, Madara Uchiha watched Obito Uchiha train in a hidden cavern.

• Orochimaru tested Kakuzu against combat puppets, and Kakuzu destroyed them using three chakra natures at once.
• Senju Chen asked Orochimaru for Kakuzu’s data and deducted thirty million ryo from Kakuzu’s bounty payment, then assigned him to search for Sasori of the Red Sand.
• Rin Nohara woke three days after surgery, and Senju Chen told her that the curse tag had been removed and the Three-Tails was stable.
• Orochimaru gave Senju Chen Kakuzu’s physical data and Earth Grudge Fear research report, and Chen left with Rin and Kakuzu.
• Madara Uchiha watched Obito Uchiha train taijutsu in a hidden cavern.

Madara learned that Rin Nohara was alive and that someone had broken her Cursed Seal, threatening his plan to make Obito carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan. He decided to prolong his life, conceal the truth from Obito, and investigate who had interfered.

• Madara ordered Black Zetsu to find who broke Rin Nohara's Cursed Seal and discover where she was and who she was with.
• Obito finished training and reaffirmed that he would grow stronger to bring Rin back and create a world without war or pain.
• Madara concealed from Obito that Rin was alive and ordered White Zetsu to watch him and fabricate convincing evidence of Rin's death.
• Madara suspected someone was manipulating events but, unable to leave his failing body, considered drawing more life force from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Senju Chen brought Rin Nohara and Kakuzu to the Capital of Fire, where he assigned Kakuzu to manage the finances of his restaurant, Food Is Heaven. Kakuzu reluctantly accepted the job after Senju Chen offered him a salary and a share of future profits.

• Senju Chen led Rin Nohara and Kakuzu back to the Capital of Fire, where Rin went to rest after her surgery.
• Senju Chen brought Kakuzu to Food Is Heaven and introduced him to Maruboshi Kosuke as the restaurant’s new bookkeeper.
• Senju Chen explained that Kakuzu would handle the restaurant’s finances while Maruboshi Kosuke focused on expanding its branches.
• Senju Chen warned Kakuzu to remain loyal and offered him a fixed salary plus one percent of Food Is Heaven’s future profits.
• Kakuzu accepted the job and became more interested when Senju Chen told him that five new branches were being renovated.

Senju Chen showed Kakuzu a detailed plan to expand Food Is Heaven into a worldwide intelligence network, shocking him with its ambition and cost. Kakuzu questioned whether the Senju Clan could fund it, then realized his promised one-percent profit share could make him fabulously wealthy.

• Maruboshi Kosuke brought Senju Chen a thick scroll, which Chen tossed to Kakuzu and told him to inspect.
• Kakuzu read Food Is Heaven’s financial results and expansion plans, and his disdain gave way to respect for Chen’s preparation.
• Kakuzu discovered that the restaurant chain was intended to become an intelligence network spanning the Shinobi World and was stunned by the scale of the plan.
• Senju Chen calmly said he wanted to build the network and make some money, while Kakuzu warned that the investment would be astronomical.
• Kakuzu remembered Chen’s offer of one percent of Food Is Heaven’s profits and grew eager at the prospect of immense wealth.

Senju Chen persuaded Kakuzu to consider joining his intelligence network by offering him one percent of the profits, training resources, and a central role in the project. Kakuzu began studying the plan, while Senju Chen prepared to send him to recruit Sasori of the Red Sands.

• Senju Chen told Kakuzu that his underworld experience and financial skills made him the ideal partner for building an intelligence empire.
• Kakuzu asked for time to consider the offer, then pressed Senju Chen to guarantee his one-percent profit share and training resources.
• Senju Chen gave Kakuzu three days to decide and said Grandpa Kosuke would provide him a private office and financial report.
• After Senju Chen left, Kakuzu studied the scroll and concluded that he could not refuse the lucrative opportunity.
• Senju Chen planned to send Kakuzu to the Land of Earth to recruit Sasori of the Red Sands.

Kakuzu reviewed Food Is Heaven’s finances and operations, realizing its expanding profits could earn him millions of ryo each year from his one-percent share. After seeking confirmation about the restaurant’s influence at the black market, he returned to Food Is Heaven unable to refuse Senju Chen’s offer.

• Kakuzu examined the flagship restaurant’s accounts and estimated that its annual net profit could reach fifty-four million ryo.
• Kakuzu inspected the kitchen and storeroom with Maruboshi Kosuke, checking ingredient supplies and costs.
• Kakuzu calculated that Food Is Heaven’s planned branches could generate 324 million ryo in annual profit, giving him 3.24 million ryo from his one-percent share.
• Kakuzu went to the black market and paid one million ryo to learn that Food Is Heaven was popular with nobles and had powerful backing.
• Kakuzu realized the black market had told him little he did not already know and returned to Food Is Heaven.

Kakuzu traveled to the Land of Earth to recruit Sasori of the Red Sands for Senju Chen’s organization, Food Is Heaven. After meeting Sasori in his hidden mine and explaining the invitation, Kakuzu was refused.

• Senju Chen tasked Kakuzu with finding Sasori of the Red Sands and recruiting him alive, giving him intelligence and new puppet materials as a greeting gift.
• Kakuzu followed black-market intelligence to an abandoned mine on the Land of Earth border and defeated Sasori’s puppet guards to gain entry.
• Kakuzu met Sasori, who explained that he turned people into puppets to preserve their forms and achieve eternity.
• Kakuzu invited Sasori to join Food Is Heaven, describing it as a restaurant that secretly built an intelligence network across the Shinobi World.
• Sasori rejected the invitation and said he was not interested.

Senju Chen recruited Sasori by offering resources and access to advanced research for his Puppet Technique. Sasori agreed to join Chen’s organization and collaborate with Amado, while Chen retained control of everything Sasori created.

• Kakuzu showed Sasori a proposal for upgrading Human Puppets with tailed beast cells, and Sasori agreed to meet its author.
• Senju Chen explained that he wanted to unite the Shinobi World’s advanced technologies and proposed that Sasori work with Amado on biological modifications.
• Chen offered Sasori research resources and corpses, including Kekkei Genkai possessors, in exchange for control over all his creations.
• Sasori accepted Chen’s terms and asked to meet Amado so they could work together.
• Senju Chen and Sasori shook hands and formed a partnership.

Senju Chen brought Sasori to Orochimaru’s research institute, where Sasori and Orochimaru argued over whether true immortality required a living body or a puppet shell. Amado proposed preserving and copying consciousness as data, drawing both men into collaboration before Orochimaru showed them a regenerative subject infused with Tailed Beast cells.

• Senju Chen brought Sasori into Orochimaru’s laboratory, where Sasori admired the experiments and Orochimaru challenged his belief that puppets offered eternal life.
• Sasori and Orochimaru debated whether immortality depended on preserving consciousness or maintaining a living body.
• Amado proposed reading, digitizing, transferring, backing up, and copying consciousness, and he shared his preliminary research with Orochimaru and Sasori.
• Sasori and Orochimaru agreed to join Amado’s research into consciousness and immortality.
• Orochimaru showed Sasori an experimental subject infused with Tailed Beast cells that had exceptional vitality and regenerative powers.

Senju Chen helped Rin Nohara prepare to meet the Three-Tails inside her mental world and encouraged her to understand it rather than fear it. The chapter ended as Chen and Rin approached the sealed beast’s iron gate.

• Sasori, Orochimaru, and Amado discussed combining living creatures with puppet mechanisms and weapons to create powerful, self-repairing beings.
• Senju Chen saw that Sasori had joined the research team, then told Xuanyuan Gari and Aying to return to the Capital of Fire with him.
• Rin Nohara stayed isolated in her room, troubled by the Three-Tails’ hostile voice and the power inside her.
• Senju Chen brought Rin dinner and explained that the Three-Tails might accept her if she tried to understand it.
• Senju Chen used the Spirit Transformation Technique to guide Rin into her mental world, where they walked toward the Three-Tails’ sealed gate.

Senju Chen helped Rin speak with the Three-Tails Isobu in her mental world, urging them to trust each other and proposing that Isobu experience the world as Rin’s partner. As Chen and Rin prepared to leave, Isobu asked what would happen if he refused, and Chen’s smile disappeared.

• Senju Chen and Rin approached the iron gate, where the Three-Tails Isobu threatened to kill Rin.
• Senju Chen told Isobu that Rin had never meant to use or hurt him, and Rin promised she would never treat him as a weapon.
• Senju Chen warned Isobu that escaping would bring pursuit from the villages and offered him a chance to see the world with Rin as a partner.
• Isobu said he needed time to think, and Senju Chen asked him to stop attacking Rin’s mind.
• As Senju Chen and Rin were leaving, Isobu asked if Chen’s promises were true and what would happen if he refused, causing Chen’s smile to vanish.

Senju Chen tried to get the Three-Tails to cooperate with Rin Nohara, but the beast's anger triggered a partial transformation. Chen suppressed it with Wood Release and persuaded it to return to Rin, leaving her to build trust with the Three-Tails over time.

• The Three-Tails erupted in rage inside Rin's mental world, shattering the gate's talismans as Senju Chen and Rin withdrew.
• The Three-Tails' chakra overwhelmed Rin and began transforming her, blasting Senju Chen into a tree.
• Senju Chen used Adamantine Summoning Wood to bind the Three-Tails, drain its chakra, and stop it from forming a Tailed Beast Bomb.
• Senju Chen told the subdued Three-Tails that Rin was not its enemy and warned it that it would remain suppressed unless it cooperated.
• The Three-Tails agreed that it needed time, and Senju Chen released his Wood Release and reassured the exhausted Rin.

Senju Chen returned to Konoha and studied ways to improve Earth Grudge Fear, planning to combine it with Wood Release, Tailed Beast cells, powerful hearts, and sealing techniques. He finished an improved procedure and prepared to test it on a Wood Release Clone.

• Senju Chen told Kakuzu to travel with Azi to stabilize the new branch in the Land of Birds.
• Senju Chen quietly left the Capital of Fire and returned to the Senju residence in Konoha three days later.
• Senju Chen reviewed Orochimaru and Amado's research on Earth Grudge Fear and identified its limits and drawbacks.
• Senju Chen proposed using a Wood Release Clone, improved black tendrils, Tailed Beast cells, high-quality hearts, and Sealing Jutsu to enhance the technique.
• Senju Chen completed his improved Earth Grudge Fear plan and decided to put it into practice.

Senju Chen advised Uchiha Fugaku on how to revive the Uchiha Police Force’s stalled effort to earn villagers’ trust. The chapter left Fugaku alarmed after Chen suggested creating major incidents if none occurred naturally.

• Uchiha Fugaku visited Senju Chen and explained that villagers had begun to warm to the Police Force, but still kept their distance.
• Fugaku said young Uchiha members and some elders opposed the effort, and Minato Namikaze’s rise as Fourth Hokage had changed their plans.
• Senju Chen argued that the Police Force’s many small acts of help were not memorable enough to win genuine acceptance.
• Chen told Fugaku that the Uchiha should focus on protecting villagers’ safety, then suggested creating major incidents if necessary.
• Uchiha Fugaku reacted with alarm as he grasped the implication of Chen’s advice.

Senju Chen advised Uchiha Fugaku to send the Police Force after genuine threats outside the village, publicize its success, and report each operation to Minato's office. Fugaku accepted the plan to bolster the Uchiha's standing and resolve clan dissent, then raised concerns about Shisui's growing distance from the clan.

• Senju Chen urged Uchiha Fugaku to have the Police Force eliminate serious bandits or rogue ninja and make the Uchiha's success widely known.
• Senju Chen warned Fugaku to keep operations secret beforehand, ensure they succeeded, and report their plans to the Hokage's Office so Minato would not see them as a challenge to his authority.
• Senju Chen said a major public achievement could restore the clan elders' and young members' confidence in Fugaku's reforms, and Fugaku agreed to act on his advice.
• Uchiha Fugaku told Senju Chen he was worried that Shisui, after joining Root, rarely returned to the clan and seemed too idealistic.
• Uchiha Fugaku thanked Senju Chen and left, promising to follow his advice.

Senju Chen tested ways to combine a Wood Release Clone, Earth Grudge Fear tendrils, and Tailed Beast cells after three attempts went berserk. His fourth experiment succeeded in stabilizing the clone, though its capabilities remained untested.

• Senju Chen’s first three clones went out of control when he added Tailed Beast cells, and he concluded that the fusion method—not simply the amount of cells—was the problem.
• Senju Chen reasoned that Earth Grudge Fear needed a heart as a vessel, so he implanted a sealed heart into a new Wood Release Clone before adding the tendrils.
• Senju Chen introduced treated Five-Tails cells last and used Wood Release chakra to suppress the conflict between the cells and the tendrils.
• The clone stopped trembling and its appearance returned to normal, leaving Senju Chen convinced that the experiment had succeeded.

Senju Chen successfully created a stable Wood Release Clone infused with a heart, Earth Grudge Fear tendrils, and Tailed Beast cells, then considered how to improve it. He left the clone in the training ground to test its endurance and planned a fifth experiment involving multiple hearts.

• Senju Chen tested the clone's enhanced Fire Release, Earth Grudge Fear tendrils, and controlled Tailed Beast Chakra Rasengan.
• Senju Chen returned to his room exhausted and recorded that the fourth experiment had succeeded, giving the clone three times the Chakra reserves of an ordinary Wood Release Clone.
• Senju Chen left the clone in the training ground to see how long it could withstand Tailed Beast cell erosion.
• Senju Chen wondered whether the clone could hold several hearts like Kakuzu and planned to prepare a fifth experiment with five hearts and different Chakra natures.
• Senju Chen went to sleep imagining an army of powerful clones.

Kakuzu oversaw the opening of Food Is Heaven's branch in the Land of Birds, where he and Azi killed a gang of thugs demanding protection money. The violent incident reassured customers that the restaurant had powerful backing, and business increased that evening.

• Kakuzu reviewed the Land of Birds branch's ledgers and reflected that Senju Chen was using Food Is Heaven to build an intelligence network.
• Food Is Heaven's Capital of Birds branch opened and drew merchants, travelers, and shinobi on its first day.
• A bald thug demanded five hundred thousand ryo a month in protection money from the manager.
• Kakuzu killed the bald thug and pulled out his heart, while Azi used his metal tail to kill the other thugs.
• The manager apologized to the customers and offered half-price meals, and rumors spread that the restaurant had powerful backing.
• Business at the branch increased that evening as more customers came to see the restaurant for themselves.