Recaps

Obito learned that Kirisame Ryo had vanished and entered Kirigakure in disguise to investigate Rin Nohara, the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, whose face seemed familiar to him. Rin sensed someone watching her and grew increasingly uneasy as she worked alongside Mei Terumi.

• Black Zetsu told Obito that Kirisame Ryo had disappeared after leaving Kirigakure and had entrusted the village’s affairs to Mei Terumi and Minazuki Yuki.
• Obito decided to investigate the Three-Tails Jinchūriki and entered Kirigakure disguised as a merchant.
• Obito saw Mei Terumi meet Rin Nohara outside the High Tower and recognized Rin as the woman whose gaze had seemed familiar at the docks.
• Rin glanced toward Obito, then told Mei Terumi that she felt someone watching her.
• Mei Terumi urged Rin to rest and warned her to be careful because more outside merchants had entered the village.

Obito, disguised as the merchant Ichiro Tanaka, met Rin Nohara, who was disguised as Minazuki Yuki, to discuss trade proposals in Kirigakure. Rin grew suspicious of him, and Obito ended the meeting by questioning whether she was a Kirigakure native.

• Obito met Rin in the Mizukage Building while posing as Ichiro Tanaka of the Kawakita Chamber of Commerce.
• Obito proposed buying medicinal ingredients, opening a seafood processing plant, and securing an exclusive shipping route to the Land of Fire.
• Rin set conditions for the proposals and questioned Obito's vague funding and his claim that pirates had raided one of his ships.
• The Three-Tails warned Rin that Obito had strong chakra, while Rin sensed that he was not really a merchant.
• Obito asked whether Rin was a Kirigakure native after noting that her demeanor seemed more like someone from the Land of Fire.

Obito met with Rin Nohara, disguised as the merchant Ichiro Tanaka, and became convinced that her habits and chakra resembled the Rin he believed had died. After Rin questioned his motives, Obito left determined to test her again that night.

• Obito noticed Rin Nohara setting down her teacup in the same distinctive way as the girl from his memories and asked whether she knew medical ninjutsu.
• Rin admitted she had learned basic medical ninjutsu, and Obito sensed both her familiar healing chakra and the Three-Tails when they shook hands.
• Rin asked whether they had met before, and Obito said she reminded him of a good friend who had died; Rin apologized and watched him leave.
• Rin asked the Three-Tails whether Obito had posed a danger, and it confirmed that it had sensed a threat from him.
• At his inn, Obito dispelled his disguise, smashed a mirror, and resolved to test Rin that night to discover who she really was.

Obito Uchiha waited for Mei Terumi to leave Minazuki Yuki alone, then followed Yuki to a free clinic and ambushed her on the seawall. After exchanging attacks, he concluded that the deadly fighter was not Rin Nohara.

• Obito Uchiha watched Minazuki Yuki and Mei Terumi remain together for three days, then followed Yuki when she went alone to the old fishing village.
• Obito Uchiha watched Yuki treat fishermen at her free clinic and later waited for her on the foggy seawall in his orange spiral mask.
• The Three-Tails warned Rin Nohara of an incoming chain, allowing her to dodge Obito Uchiha's attack.
• Rin Nohara used the Hydrification Technique to evade Obito Uchiha's grab and nearly pierced his liver with a precise strike.
• Obito Uchiha made himself intangible to escape and decided that the woman was not Rin Nohara because she fought without hesitation or restraint.

Obito attacked Rin Nohara, but her bond with Isobu let her resist his genjutsu and transform into a partial tailed beast form. As Obito retreated using Kamui, one last look at Rin left him frozen in shock.

• Obito attacked Rin with Majestic Destroyer Flame and used the resulting steam to trap her in Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu.
• Rin resisted the genjutsu when Isobu broke its chains from within, revealing their bond to Obito.
• Rin asked Isobu for power and transformed, manifesting armor and three barbed tails.
• Rin attacked Obito and identified the brief opening in his Kamui, striking his shoulder with one of her tails.
• Obito decided to retreat as Kirigakure approached and began leaving through Kamui, but froze after looking back at Rin.

Rin’s disguise fell away during her fight with Obito, and he recognized her as Rin Nohara before escaping through Kamui. Rin ordered the encounter classified as an S-rank secret and set out to report it to Senju Chen, while Obito removed his shattered mask outside Kirigakure.

• Rin’s disguise faded as the Tailed Beast Chakra receded, revealing her true face to Obito.
• Obito recognized Rin, called her name, and froze before escaping when his instincts triggered Kamui; a piece of his mask fell onto the rocks.
• Rin picked up the mask fragment, ordered Anyue’s ninja to notify Mei Terumi, and told them to classify the encounter as an S-rank top secret.
• Rin and Isobu concluded that the masked man had a genuine Sharingan and an unusual space-time technique, and Rin headed to deliver the news to Senju Chen.
• Obito emerged outside Kirigakure with a badly injured shoulder and tore off the remaining half of his mask.

After discovering that Rin Nohara was alive, Obito Uchiha realized the Eye of the Moon Plan had been built on a lie and confronted Black Zetsu. The chapter left Black Zetsu fleeing Obito’s attack as the plan’s key enforcer turned against him.

• Obito Uchiha recalled recognizing Rin Nohara as a living Tailed Beast host and broke down over the crimes he had committed believing she was dead.
• Obito blamed Madara Uchiha for deceiving him about Rin and attacked Black Zetsu when it emerged in the Kamui Dimension.
• Obito accused Black Zetsu of fabricating Rin’s death and demanded to know why she was alive.
• Obito used Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance to engulf Black Zetsu’s position in flames.
• Black Zetsu evaded the fire and realized Obito was abandoning the Eye of the Moon Plan and turning against him.

Obito learned that Rin was alive and serving Kirigakure, leaving him unable to decide whether to continue the Eye of the Moon Plan. Senju Chen received Rin’s report of the encounter and laughed after learning Obito had recognized her.

• Black Zetsu persuaded Obito that an unknown third party had rescued Rin and concealed her survival, rather than Madara having lied to him.
• Obito realized the Eye of the Moon Plan would require him to fight Rin, told Black Zetsu to leave, and wept while holding an old fragment of his Forehead Protector.
• Rin sent Senju Chen an urgent report describing her battle with a masked attacker who used Space-Time Ninjutsu and possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Rin reported that the attacker recognized her as Rin after her Transformation Technique broke and enclosed a fragment of his shattered mask.
• Senju Chen reread the report, realized Obito had discovered Rin’s identity, and laughed with delight.

Senju Chen realized Obito’s discovery that Rin Nohara was alive had thrown Black Zetsu’s Eye of the Moon Plan into crisis. Black Zetsu, burned and hiding underground, concluded that Obito would never extract the Three-Tails from Rin, leaving the plan at an impasse.

• Senju Chen reflected that Obito had found Rin Nohara alive and in the Land of Water, and considered how the revelation could turn Obito against Black Zetsu.
• Senju Chen reasoned that Black Zetsu might kill Rin or abandon Obito, but saw few other viable pawns for the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• Black Zetsu emerged in a cavern beneath an unnamed deserted island after escaping Obito’s Mangekyō-powered attack, and cursed Obito for acting recklessly.
• Black Zetsu recalled how it had spent over a thousand years preparing the Eye of the Moon Plan and had relied on Obito’s grief over Rin’s death.
• Black Zetsu concluded that Obito would never extract the Three-Tails from Rin, making the plan’s executor and its target irreconcilable.

Black Zetsu planned to keep Obito Uchiha committed to the Eye of the Moon Plan by making him confront the bloodshed he had caused, while preparing Nagato as a backup. Meanwhile, Senju Chen considered Obito’s likely retreat into the Kamui Dimension and reflected on how Rin Nohara’s survival could undo Madara Uchiha’s scheme.

• Black Zetsu decided not to kill Rin Nohara, since doing so could drive Obito Uchiha to turn against him and derail the plan.
• Black Zetsu planned to expose Obito’s role in the Nine-Tails’ Attack and the Bloody Mist Village to make him believe Rin would never forgive him.
• Black Zetsu prepared Nagato as a backup candidate to collect the Tailed Beasts, though he worried Nagato’s frail body might not survive the task.
• Black Zetsu resolved to find Obito and persuade him to continue the Eye of the Moon Plan, while keeping him as the preferred vessel for the Ten-Tails.
• In the Land of Waterfalls, Senju Chen examined the mask fragment Obito had left behind and guessed Obito was hiding in his Kamui Dimension.
• Senju Chen reflected that Rin Nohara’s survival could dismantle the obsession Madara Uchiha had built around Obito’s despair.

Senju Chen expected Black Zetsu to exploit Obito’s guilt over Minato and Kushina, while Kakashi learned that Rin had confronted a masked intruder in the Land of Water. In the Kamui Dimension, Obito broke down over his crimes and Rin’s survival, and Black Zetsu tried to turn his shame against him.

• Senju Chen reasoned that Obito would struggle to face Rin and might hesitate in future plans, even if Black Zetsu persuaded him to continue the Eye of the Moon plan.
• Kakashi reported that all twenty Public Security Department members had arrived, then recognized the orange mask fragment as part of a masked man Rin had encountered.
• Senju Chen told Kakashi to investigate the masked man in the Land of Water after completing his assignment, and Kakashi eagerly left, hoping to see Rin.
• Obito replayed his memories of Rin and agonized over the innocent people he had killed, fearing that she would see him as a monster.
• Black Zetsu found Obito curled up and repeating Rin’s name, then asked whether he wanted to return to her and reminded him that his appearance made him unfit to face her.

Black Zetsu pushed Obito to face the crimes that made him fear Rin’s judgment, then persuaded him that the Eye of the Moon Plan could give them both a new life. Obito embraced the plan for his own reasons and set out to find Nagato and begin collecting the Tailed Beasts.

• Black Zetsu reminded Obito that Rin would reject him if she learned he had caused Minato’s death and committed atrocities across the shinobi world.
• Obito blamed Black Zetsu for his actions, but Black Zetsu insisted that Obito had chosen his own path and urged him to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• Obito questioned how extracting the Three-Tails from Rin could leave her alive, and Black Zetsu claimed they would activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi as the extraction took place.
• Obito decided the dream world would let him start over with Rin and resolved to destroy reality so he could create a perfect life for her.
• Obito told Black Zetsu they would leave for the Land of Rain to find Nagato and begin collecting the Tailed Beasts, while saving the Three-Tails for last.

Senju Chen reviewed the base’s progress as Sasori unveiled a White Zetsu-powered Eight Gates puppet and Orochimaru explained what he had learned about souls and reincarnation. The experiments had advanced, but Orochimaru revealed that repeated body transfers would eventually destroy the soul, leaving a serious flaw to solve.

• Senju Chen reported that Chōza Akimichi had approved the Akimichi Clan’s purchase of a third of the first enhancement-drug batch.
• Sasori presented the finalized core module for the Fifth-Generation Eight Gates Released Formation Puppet, which could sustain combat with White Zetsu pathways and use its final gates in a self-destructive attack.
• Senju Chen proposed that Sasori create modular, self-repairing puppets that could fuse together into larger battlefield weapons, and Sasori eagerly considered the idea.
• Orochimaru said he had fully analyzed the Second Hokage’s Scroll of Seals and discovered that Impure World Reincarnation forcibly retrieves the dead through a system of rules tied to the Pure Land.
• Orochimaru explained that every Living Corpse Reincarnation transfer tears and degrades the soul, and that six or seven transfers could leave him insane or transformed by foreign memories.

Kabuto, Orochimaru, and Sasori presented three research paths to immortality, with Senju Chen learning that their most ambitious plan involved merging consciousness with divine authority. The plan had stalled because the masks’ authorities rejected foreign consciousness, and the group lacked the soul power or will to overcome that resistance.

• Kabuto explained Orochimaru’s plan to extend life by transferring into custom-grown White Zetsu bodies, but said soul damage would prevent true eternity.
• Kabuto described Sasori’s regenerative White Zetsu puppet body, while warning that its biological core could eventually fail from memory and neural overload.
• Kabuto revealed that the Uzumaki masks corresponded to twenty-seven divine authorities tied to the world’s underlying rules.
• Senju Chen asked why the divine-authority plan had stalled, and Orochimaru explained that the masks rejected attempts to implant foreign consciousness.
• Orochimaru concluded that claiming an authority required overwhelming soul power or a will strong enough to resist the world’s rules.

Senju Chen approved research into immortality and divine authority while insisting that Orochimaru, Sasori, and Kabuto pursue all three paths together. He proposed using neural technology, external biological memory, and vast mental-computing arrays to overcome the limits of bodies, souls, and divine rules.

• Kabuto argued that Kurama Yakumo’s growing mental power could help reverse-engineer the God Mask and create an artificial god, while Senju Chen reaffirmed that Yakumo would choose her own future.
• Orochimaru asked Senju Chen to assess the three research paths: an undying body, an immortal soul, and elevated authority.
• Senju Chen told Orochimaru, Sasori, and Kabuto not to limit themselves to one path and explained how neural channels and external biological storage could address their concerns.
• Senju Chen proposed linking Soul Conversion Devices, test subjects, and White Zetsu into a mental array to batter through divine authority’s rules.
• Sasori envisioned puppets with expanding computing power, and Orochimaru became exhilarated by Senju Chen’s plans for pursuing truth and eternal life.

Senju Chen outlined a project to reach the realm of the dead and prepared to test Orochimaru’s adjusted clone at Ryūchi Cave. He brought the rescued Fū food and comfort, then told her he wanted both the Seven-Tails and her.

• Orochimaru and Kabuto praised Senju Chen’s plans for a parallel mental array, expanded memory storage, and cracking an artificial god.
• Senju Chen asked Orochimaru about preparations for Ryūchi Cave, and Orochimaru said he had synchronized the clone but needed to test whether it worked.
• Fū examined her comfortable room and, with Chōmei, realized it had no visible seals, restraints, or surveillance barriers.
• Senju Chen entered with ramen and offered Fū food, but she accused him of tormenting her before extracting the Seven-Tails.
• Senju Chen told Fū he could have killed her and taken the Seven-Tails while she was unconscious, but instead brought her to safety and wanted both her and the beast.

Senju Chen reassured Fū that she was more than a vessel and brought her to meet Utakata, another Jinchūriki living freely at his base. Fū began to feel safe in her new surroundings and wondered if she could see glowing flowers again.

• Fū told Senju Chen that Takigakure had taught her Jinchūriki existed only to serve and die for the village, and he rejected that belief.
• Senju Chen comforted Fū, fed her ramen and chestnut cakes, and took her to meet someone like her.
• Senju Chen introduced Fū to Utakata, and the Seven-Tails Chōmei and Six-Tails Saiken sensed each other through their Jinchūriki.
• Utakata explained that he lived peacefully at the base and that no one would treat Fū as a monster or force her to be a weapon.
• Senju Chen asked Utakata to look after Fū and take her to Kabuto for an examination, and Fū asked whether she could see glowing flowers again.
• Senju Chen told Fū the greenhouse flowers glowed every night, and Chōmei sighed that she had found an extraordinary place to call home.

The Akimichi Clan tested Senju Chen’s Gene Enhancement Solution No. 1, found it dramatically improved strength and Chakra absorption, and paid a fortune to secure doses. As the potion’s success spread and the Medical Department amassed huge revenues, Tsunade faced accusations from Konoha’s elders over the price, profits, and safeguards against reverse-engineering.

• Chōza Akimichi reported that the potion had boosted strength, muscle growth, and Chakra absorption among the Akimichi testers, then ordered the clan to buy sixty doses for one million ryo per set.
• Akimichi shinobi displayed their enhanced strength in training and on a mission, spreading rumors about the potion throughout Konoha.
• The Hyuga, Inuzuka, and other clans sent stewards to request doses as the Medical Department’s sales rapidly grew.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura confronted Tsunade over the potion’s price, the Medical Department’s two hundred million ryo in revenue, and the special protections that made the formula impossible to reverse-engineer.

Tsunade confronted Homura, Koharu, and Hiruzen over their attempt to take control of Little Chen’s enhancement drug and its profits, insisting that the Senju-developed asset remained under her authority as Hokage. The meeting ended with Tsunade challenging Koharu to account for her own rules after cracking the table with a ledger.

• Tsunade cited the elders’ original decision that the Security Department would fund Little Chen’s research itself and bear its profits and losses.
• Koharu argued that the drug was a strategic resource that should not be sold as private merchandise, while Homura demanded centralized oversight of its revenue and finances.
• Hiruzen proposed joint supervision of the drug’s sales, quotas, and research fund by the Hokage’s Office and the Council of Advisors.
• Tsunade rejected the proposal, reminded the elders that she was Hokage, and asserted that their authority was only advisory.
• Tsunade defended Little Chen by declaring that his surname was Senju and invoking the legacy of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.
• When Koharu insisted that Little Chen had to obey Konoha’s rules, Tsunade slammed down a ledger, cracked the table, and demanded a proper discussion of those rules.

Tsunade confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura over their objections to Senju Chen’s enhancement drugs and funding. She exposed Hiruzen’s surveillance of Chen and revealed that the daimyo had approved the Medical Department’s independent fund, while keeping Chen’s whereabouts secret.

• Tsunade accused Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura of profiting from past village corruption and condemned their objections to Senju Chen’s drug program.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned why the drugs had not gone to the Anbu, challenged the Medical Department’s secret fund, and demanded to know where Senju Chen was.
• Tsunade revealed that she had arrested three Anbu sent to watch the Senju residence, and said their leader, Titmouse, had confessed to spying.
• Tsunade presented the daimyo’s decree approving the independent fund and announced that the daimyo had added thirty million ryo to it.
• Tsunade declared Senju Chen’s whereabouts Konoha’s highest secret and said his current work was more important than the elders’ concerns.

Tsunade confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders over the Medical Department’s control of strategic supplies and Senju Chen’s whereabouts. Shikaku Nara arrived with a declaration supporting the reforms, leaving the elders stunned as the Aburame Clan threatened to halt border reconnaissance if its potion supply was cut off.

• Utatane Koharu challenged Tsunade’s authority and claimed the major clans would not support her without the elders’ approval.
• Shikaku Nara entered the meeting and stood beside Tsunade rather than taking his seat with the elders.
• Shikaku presented a joint declaration signed by Konoha’s major clans in support of the Medical Department’s reforms and independent supply allocation.
• Shikaku explained that Hyuga Hiashi had ordered sixty sets of special-equipped potions after collecting three months of mission allowances from the Branch Family.
• Shikaku reported that Shibi Aburame’s insects had a forty percent higher mutation survival rate after absorbing diluted potions and that the Aburame Clan would stop border reconnaissance if its supply was cut off.

Shikaku Nara confronted the elders with the clans’ united opposition to their interference in Senju Chen’s enhancement potions, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi questioning why Shikaku had abandoned neutrality. Shikaku then revealed a mysterious purple liquid that immediately affected everyone in the room.

• Utatane Koharu accused Shikaku Nara of rebellion, but Shikaku challenged her claim to represent Konoha’s interests.
• Shikaku defended Senju Chen’s potions as Konoha’s only trump card and described how they strengthened the Akimichi, Inuzuka, and Hyuga clans.
• Shikaku presented the clans’ signed petition and warned that they would buy the potions at market price rather than accept the elders’ interference.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned why Shikaku had tied the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans’ future to Senju Chen, and Shikaku produced a test tube of deep-purple liquid.
• The elders felt their minds clear when Shikaku revealed the liquid, and Mitokado Homura recognized that it was something unusual.

Shikaku Nara presented the Mental Enhancement Potion to Konoha’s leaders, prompting Koharu to condemn it as a forbidden drug. He revealed that he had tested a dose and demonstrated that it had strengthened his Shadow Sewing Technique without harming him.

• Shikaku Nara displayed a potion that Minister Senju had named the Mental Enhancement Potion, explaining that it enhanced the soul and brain’s neural functions.
• Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu reacted with shock, and Koharu accused the potion of being a dangerous forbidden drug like Orochimaru’s experiments.
• Three days earlier, Shizune had secretly delivered three doses and relayed Senju Chen’s claim that the potion increased soul purity and brain capacity with no rejection or lasting side effects.
• Shikaku had considered how doubled soul power could strengthen the Nara and Yamanaka clans’ techniques, then personally injected one dose.
• Shikaku told the elders that his Shadow Sewing Technique’s range had increased from twenty meters to thirty-five, and that he had restrained three veteran Special Jōnin without suffering mental strain.

Shikaku Nara argued that Senju Chen’s capture and sale of tailed beasts had changed the balance of power, making shinobi quality more important than conventional deterrence. He used the Mental Enhancement Potion to suggest that Chen had secretly boosted the abilities of the Public Security Department and Uchiha, leaving Hiruzen and the other elders to confront the scale of Chen’s influence.

• Shikaku Nara acknowledged Hiruzen Sarutobi’s concerns about Senju Chen’s potion business but said Hiruzen’s thinking belonged to an older era.
• Shikaku explained that Senju Chen had shattered the tailed beasts’ deterrent status by capturing the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, selling one and forcing Iwagakure to pay for the other.
• Shikaku argued that future wars would depend on the number and individual quality of conventional shinobi because villages could no longer safely deploy their Jinchūriki.
• Shikaku cited the Uchiha Military Police Force’s high survival rate and proposed that Chen had long used enhancement potions to improve the Public Security Department and Uchiha members.

Shikaku Nara revealed that Senju Chen’s medical advances, Scientific Ninja Tools, and enhancement potions were part of a plan to transform Konoha’s ninja forces and eventually conquer the Shinobi World. Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted that his old authority had collapsed, while Shikaku declared the Nara Clan would support Senju Chen’s path if he sought to rule the world.

• Shikaku Nara argued that Senju Chen’s innovations were reshaping Konoha’s entire ninja system and predicted that within five years its forces could overwhelm every other village.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi realized Senju Chen had never been focused on the Hokage position or the Will of Fire, but had been preparing for the unification of the Shinobi World.
• Shikaku explained that Senju Chen had strengthened his standing through medical techniques, Scientific Ninja Tools, and enhancement potions until the elders could no longer oppose him.
• Hiruzen asked Tsunade and Shikaku whether Senju Chen’s path could bring peace, invoking Hashirama Senju’s decision to distribute the tailed beasts.
• Shikaku answered that the distribution had led to more wars and declared that the Nara Clan would not oppose Senju Chen if he became an emperor who ruled the world.