Chapter Summaries

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.

Hiruzen accepted the end of the old leadership’s control and withdrew the motion against the Medical Department, while Tsunade reflected on Senju Chen’s hidden urgency. In the Land of Rain, Obito confronted Nagato’s disguise and offered to help protect the country.

• Shikaku backed Senju Chen and Tsunade, and Hiruzen ordered Koharu and Homura to withdraw the impeachment motion.
• Hiruzen left Tsunade a message warning that Chen’s fire might destroy Konoha’s roots.
• Tsunade watched Konoha and wondered how long Chen had been away, sensing that he was racing against a grave threat.
• Obito arrived at Hanzō’s former residence and accused Nagato of controlling Yahiko’s corpse with a secret technique.
• Nagato admitted only that Obito had seen through the disguise and challenged him for daring to come.
• Obito offered Nagato help, arguing that he could not defend the entire Land of Rain against the great nations alone.

Obito urged Nagato and Konan to pursue a plan to capture the Nine Tailed Beasts, revive the Ten-Tails, and force peace upon the Shinobi World. Nagato rejected his demand to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and Obito left Akatsuki with a list of S-rank missing-nin to recruit.

• Obito argued that the great nations would never allow the Land of Rain to become a paradise and proposed capturing all Nine Tailed Beasts as the path to peace.
• Obito explained that sealing the Nine Tailed Beasts into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path would revive the Ten-Tails and give them power to end war.
• Nagato, pretending to be Yahiko, questioned Obito’s claims and asked where the Demonic Statue was.
• Obito said Nagato could summon the statue with the Rinnegan, but Nagato claimed he had tried before and lacked the chakra to do so.
• Black Zetsu insisted Nagato could summon the statue by expending chakra and life force, but Nagato refused to risk his life for it.
• Obito backed off and gave Nagato a list of S-rank missing-nin, telling Akatsuki to recruit them.

Nagato and Senju Chen agreed to stall Obito until he found the Demonic Statue, while Obito planned to force Akatsuki into collecting the Tailed Beasts. At the underground base, Fū and Utakata settled into their new lives and learned how much the base had improved their strength and control.

• After Obito left, Senju Chen told Nagato and Konan to delay him and insist that Akatsuki would not capture Tailed Beasts without the Demonic Statue.
• Obito dismissed Black Zetsu's doubts about Nagato and said Nagato had compromised because Amegakure was vulnerable to other nations.
• Obito warned Black Zetsu not to mention Minazuki Yuki or the events in the Land of Water again.
• Obito ordered Black Zetsu to send the missing-nin roster to Amegakure in batches to draw the Shinobi World's attention to Akatsuki.
• Fū wondered whether Senju Chen would make her fight, while Chōmei reassured her that the base was safe and Senju Chen did not need to use them as weapons.
• Utakata told Fū that her medicine was a routine base supply and reflected that the base's training and potions had strengthened him and improved his control over his Tailed Beast.

Senju Chen planned how the Akatsuki would stall Madara, keep control of the missing-nin he wanted to recruit, and delay the summoning of the Demonic Statue. After Yahiko and Nagato left the control room, Konan remained alone with Chen.

• Yahiko condemned Madara for massacring Shimoyodo, and Senju Chen said Madara used peace as a veneer for his selfish desires.
• Nagato reported that Madara wanted him to summon the Demonic Statue, and Chen told him to claim the Rinnegan would kill him if he tried.
• Chen ordered the Akatsuki to accept Madara's list of missing-nin and use White Zetsu Puppets to keep them under control.
• Chen tasked Yahiko with securing the Land of Rain and told Nagato to stall Madara while the Akatsuki rebuilt its strength.
• Yahiko noticed Konan's attention to Chen, then dragged Nagato out and shut the soundproof door, leaving Konan and Chen alone.

Senju Chen planned to take Shukaku from Sunagakure to complete his collection of tailed beasts, then shared a quiet, affectionate moment with Konan at the base. He thanked her for the paper flower she had made for him and tucked it over his heart.

• Senju Chen reviewed his system and decided Sunagakure was the easiest target for acquiring Shukaku.
• Senju Chen planned to head to Sunagakure, where Gaara had been sealed with Shukaku.
• Konan brought Senju Chen tea and received his praise for confronting Obito over the people of Shimoyodo Village.
• Konan gave Senju Chen a handmade blue paper flower containing mint juice to refresh his mind and help him sleep.
• Senju Chen teased Konan about adding a personal blessing, then thanked her and put the flower in his inner pocket.