Chapter Summaries

Senju Chen urged Yahiko to consider striking first against Hanzo of the Salamander, arguing that the Akatsuki's ideals required its members to survive. He then privately explained the Rinnegan’s potential and risks to Nagato, leaving Nagato determined to train.

• Senju Chen told Yahiko that waiting for Hanzo of the Salamander to attack could doom the Akatsuki and its supporters, but Yahiko said he needed time to think.
• Senju Chen took Nagato outside and revealed that he knew Nagato possessed the Rinnegan.
• Nagato admitted that using the Rinnegan drained his chakra and that he did not understand its abilities.
• Senju Chen explained that Nagato needed to master chakra control, understand the Rinnegan’s powers, and strengthen his body to avoid exhausting his life force.
• Senju Chen told Nagato that the Rinnegan could decide the outcome of a future fight with Hanzo of the Salamander, and Nagato vowed to train harder.

Senju Chen warned Konan about Akatsuki’s rapid growth and the danger of provoking Hanzo of the Salamander, then left for the Land of Birds after giving her a specially made kunai. Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan decided to consolidate Akatsuki’s bases, train its core members, and prepare to defend themselves.

• Senju Chen advised Konan to stop expanding Akatsuki, strengthen its fighting force, and prepare for Hanzo of the Salamander to attack.
• Senju Chen promised Konan he would help whenever she needed him.
• Senju Chen gave Konan a black kunai engraved with jutsu formulas and left for the Land of Birds to find someone he called an old monster.
• Yahiko and Nagato teased Konan about her feelings for Senju Chen, while Nagato agreed that Hanzo likely viewed Akatsuki as a threat.
• Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan agreed to pull back, consolidate their bases, train their core members, and prepare to defend themselves.

Senju Chen entered the Land of Birds' black market and found Kakuzu searching for high-value bounties. After Kakuzu bought information about a bounty hunter called Iron Arm, Senju Chen approached the intelligence seller to learn more about him.

• Senju Chen entered the black market after learning its rules and headed to the bounty notice area to look for Kakuzu.
• Senju Chen spotted Kakuzu inspecting the bounty posters, then followed him to an intelligence stall.
• Kakuzu paid the stallholder five hundred thousand ryo for information about Iron Arm, a bounty hunter with a twelve-million-ryo bounty.
• Senju Chen approached the stallholder and asked for information about Kakuzu.

Senju Chen learned that Kakuzu was heading toward the Land of Fire’s border, then spotted a business opportunity in the Land of Birds’ capital. He bought a three-story building for a Food Is Heaven branch and planned its dining areas for customers at different price levels.

• Senju Chen paid a black market proprietor one million ryo to learn that Kakuzu was going to meet a bounty hunter called Iron Arm near the Land of Fire’s border.
• Senju Chen surveyed the Land of Birds’ busy capital and decided it would be a good location for a Food Is Heaven branch.
• Senju Chen found a vacant three-story building and asked its owner to show him the property.
• Senju Chen agreed to buy the building for twenty million ryo and gave the owner a one-million-ryo deposit.
• Senju Chen planned to use the first floor as a main dining hall, the second floor for private rooms, and the third floor as a VIP area.

Senju Chen tracked down the bounty hunter Iron Arm at an abandoned mine and defeated him, capturing him for his modified mechanical arm. He planned to wait for Kakuzu to come after Iron Arm’s twelve-million-ryo bounty.

• Senju Chen used intelligence gathered in the Land of Birds to locate Iron Arm at an abandoned mine near the Land of Fire’s border.
• Senju Chen slipped into the mine and found Iron Arm alone in a deep tunnel.
• Iron Arm attacked Senju Chen with his barbed greatsword and a hidden wrist spike, but Senju Chen easily dodged every strike.
• Senju Chen knocked Iron Arm unconscious, examined his mechanical arm, and tied him up.
• Senju Chen decided to wait for Kakuzu to pursue Iron Arm’s bounty.

Senju Chen waited three days for Kakuzu to arrive at the abandoned mine, then attacked him when Kakuzu demanded Iron Arm. Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear began repairing his wounds, but Senju Chen pressed the assault and vowed to make him pay for the delay.

• Senju Chen prepared Flying Thunder God marks around the abandoned mine while he waited three days for Kakuzu.
• Kakuzu found the captured Iron Arm inside the mine and confronted Senju Chen, demanding that he hand over the bounty target.
• Senju Chen revealed his Sharingan, dodged Kakuzu’s attack, and struck him with a blow and a Rasengan.
• Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear repaired his chest wound, but Senju Chen used lightning and Flying Thunder God to hit him repeatedly.
• Senju Chen angrily reminded Kakuzu that he had waited three days and charged to attack again.

Senju Chen defeated Kakuzu with his abilities and Wood Release, then confronted him over the three-day delay and an old kunai attack on his great-uncle. Kakuzu begged for his life, and Senju Chen hinted that he might spare him.

• Kakuzu revealed his stitched body and unleashed his masked heart monsters against Senju Chen.
• Senju Chen used the Flying Thunder God Technique and Rasengan to destroy the wind and lightning monsters.
• Kakuzu merged with the remaining fire monster and fired a powerful combined attack, but Senju Chen blocked it with Wood Release.
• Senju Chen bound Kakuzu inside a wooden cage and kicked him while demanding to know why he had made him wait and whether he had thrown a kunai at his great-uncle.
• Kakuzu begged Senju Chen to spare him and offered all his money, and Senju Chen said sparing his life was possible.

Senju Chen exposed Kakuzu's false surrender and demanded compensation, then offered him a bookkeeping job for the Senju Clan. Kakuzu was left reeling after hearing about Tsunade's enormous gambling losses, triggering Senju Chen's system and refreshing the abilities he could steal.

• Kakuzu begged Senju Chen to spare him in exchange for all his money, but Senju Chen realized he was only pretending to be afraid.
• Senju Chen kicked Kakuzu and demanded compensation for making him wait three days and for throwing a kunai at his great-uncle in the Valley of the End.
• Senju Chen offered Kakuzu a bookkeeping job for the Senju Clan as punishment, and Kakuzu cautiously asked how much money he would manage.
• Senju Chen said Tsunade had lost more money gambling than Kakuzu owned, shocking Kakuzu so severely that the system refreshed its list of stealable abilities.
• Senju Chen asked Kakuzu whether he would accept the bookkeeping position.

Senju Chen forced Kakuzu to accept an accountant position and began leading him to Orochimaru's experimental base to restore his strength. Along the way, Chen’s boasts about his sister’s gambling losses and the Senju Clan’s wealth left Kakuzu stunned.

• Senju Chen freed Kakuzu after he agreed to work as an accountant, then warned him not to plot against him and said they would replenish his hearts.
• Kakuzu agreed to follow Senju Chen and revealed that his money was stored in black-market vaults and a cave near Takigakure.
• Senju Chen demanded Kakuzu pay compensation and an onboarding fee, then learned the vault required Kakuzu’s chakra to open.
• During their three-day journey to Orochimaru's experimental base, Senju Chen told Kakuzu that his sister had lost five hundred million ryo in one night and sometimes lost over a billion in a month.
• Senju Chen said his sister earned at least fifty million ryo per S-rank mission and claimed the Senju Clan treasury held more money than he could count, leaving Kakuzu speechless.

Senju Chen wore down Kakuzu’s convictions about money by boasting about the Senju Clan’s wealth, then used Kakuzu’s emotional shock to steal Earth Grudge Fear. Kakuzu agreed to work for Chen as they approached Orochimaru’s hidden experimental base.

• Senju Chen told Kakuzu that three hundred million ryo was insignificant to the Senju Clan, and Kakuzu’s distress refreshed the list of stealable abilities.
• Senju Chen described the clan’s lavish allowances and the enormous costs incurred by Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, further shaking Kakuzu’s worldview.
• Senju Chen offered Kakuzu a monthly salary of one million ryo, and Kakuzu’s reaction made Earth Grudge Fear appear among the stealable abilities.
• Senju Chen selected Earth Grudge Fear and successfully stole it from Kakuzu.
• Kakuzu said he would not kill himself and would work for Senju Chen as they continued toward Orochimaru’s experimental base.

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.