Chapter Summaries

Hiruko fought Sasori, whose Crow, Salamander, and Black Ant puppets failed to overcome Hiruko’s speed and defenses. Hiruko destroyed all three puppets and appeared before the stunned Sasori.

• Hiruko deflected Sasori’s needle and revealed that his forehead could harden like iron.
• Sasori summoned Crow and attacked Hiruko with poisoned blades and senbon, but Hiruko emerged unharmed.
• Hiruko caught Sasori’s kunai and threw them back, while Sasori summoned Salamander to block them.
• Sasori revealed Black Ant and used it alongside Crow and Salamander to attack Hiruko.
• Hiruko used Swift Release and iron armor to smash all three puppets, then appeared before a bewildered Sasori.

Hiruko defeated Sasori and prepared to kill him, but Sasori’s hatred of the Hidden Sand Village and his tragic past caught Hiruko’s interest. Sasori explained how his parents’ deaths, his grandmother’s lie, and his failed attempt to assassinate a Sand elder led him to follow that man to the cave.

• Hiruko overpowered Sasori’s puppets and threatened to kill him, but Sasori rejected the idea of dying as a hero for the Hidden Sand Village.
• Sasori revealed that he considered the village a betrayer and said he would die on his own path of revenge.
• Sasori’s parents died in the Second Shinobi World War, and Chiyo concealed their deaths while teaching him Puppet Technique.
• After discovering the truth, Sasori grew consumed by hatred, turned corpses into puppets, and sought revenge against the Third Kazekage and a Sand elder.
• Sasori killed the elder in his bathtub, then saw him alive at a meeting the next day and followed him out of the village to the mountain cave.

Sasori learned that Hiruko had used White Zetsu to impersonate Takakura Gen and witnessed the power of Hiruko’s steel warriors and poison resistance. Hiruko agreed to reveal the Third Kazekage’s location if Sasori told him everything about himself, but insisted they wait for his junior apprentice to arrive.

• Hiruko explained that the Takakura Gen Sasori had encountered was White Zetsu in disguise, then showed how White Zetsu could transform into exact copies.
• Hiruko summoned an Iron Terra Cotta Warrior and boasted that he commanded an army of steel warriors.
• Sasori attacked Hiruko with a youth puppet and Black Poison, but Hiruko’s body and blood resisted both attacks.
• Hiruko revealed that his relationship with the Third Kazekage was that of hunter and prey, and Sasori admitted that the Kazekage was his first revenge target.
• Sasori asked for the Kazekage’s location and said he would pay any price, while also naming Hatake Sakumo as another target.
• Hiruko agreed to share the location if Sasori told him everything about himself, but said they would wait for his junior apprentice, whose eyes could expose lies.

Nagato arrived with the legendary Yatagarasu and used the King of Hell to verify Sasori’s story. After Sasori proved truthful, Hiruko warned him that their next destination might be dangerous, but Sasori insisted on joining them to seek revenge on the Third Kazekage.

• Nagato arrived at Hiruko’s cave on Yatagarasu and met Sasori.
• Nagato summoned the King of Hell and threatened Sasori to make him answer truthfully.
• Sasori recounted his origins, his parents’ deaths, and his pursuit of the Third Kazekage.
• Nagato confirmed that Sasori had not lied, and Hiruko agreed to tell him about the Third Kazekage.
• Hiruko and Nagato warned Sasori about the dangers of their next destination, but Sasori demanded to go with them.

Naruto woke in a dungeon beneath Loulan after being caught in the Dragon Vein’s space-time surge. He escaped and realized he was still in Loulan, where Mukade’s puppets were nearby.

• Naruto recalled how Mukade absorbed the Fourth Hokage’s seal, released the Dragon Vein, and vanished in a spatial vortex that Naruto entered after being kicked away by a familiar figure.
• Naruto heard a red-haired girl singing in the dungeon and asked where he was, but she fled through a Stone Gate.
• Two puppet guards attacked Naruto, but the gate’s purple barrier drained the kunai’s force and dismantled the puppets as they crossed it.
• Naruto recognized Mukade’s face on a puppet mask, crushed it, and decided to escape the dungeon.
• Naruto smashed through the ceiling and discovered he was still in Loulan, with Team 7’s comrades likely nearby.

Naruto was stranded in a changed Loulan and fought flying puppets empowered by the Dragon Vein. Two Hidden Leaf ninjas rescued him, and one of them revealed his village headband while asking if Naruto was hurt.

• Naruto realized Mukade’s absorption of the seal had caused the Dragon Vein to scatter them across Loulan.
• Naruto encountered Mukade’s flying puppets and struggled to evade their claws, chains, and cannon fire.
• Naruto destroyed two puppets with Spiral Barrage but was blasted through a suspension bridge by another attack.
• A broad, fat man used Partial Multi-Size Technique to smash two puppets while a curly-haired man destroyed two more with Insect Sphere.
• The golden-haired masked man told Naruto the Dragon Vein had strengthened the puppets and revealed that he and his companions were from Hidden Leaf Village.

Minato Namikaze and his Anbu teammates rescued Naruto from puppet attackers in Loulan, then told him to leave without explaining their mission. The chapter revealed that they had been sent to protect Princess Sara and stop Anrokuzan, who planned to use the Dragon Vein and his puppet army to invade neighboring lands.

• Minato, Akimichi Choza, and Aburame Shibi led Naruto to a secluded alley after driving off the puppets, then refused to identify themselves or explain their mission.
• Minato told Naruto to leave Loulan, and the three Anbu vanished before Naruto could get answers.
• Naruto realized he had been separated from Team 7 and began searching the unfamiliar city.
• Minato dismissed his teammates' suspicions about Naruto and prioritized completing their mission for the Third Hokage.
• The mission briefing revealed that Princess Sara had accused Anrokuzan of killing her father, harming her mother, and building a massive puppet army with the Dragon Vein's power.
• Sara had asked the Hidden Leaf to protect her during her succession ceremony, eliminate Anrokuzan, and seal the Dragon Vein.

Minato Namikaze and his team discovered that Loulan was nearly empty and that puppets controlled by chakra threads filled its central plaza for Sara’s coronation. When someone pushed Sara from the high platform, Naruto Namikaze caught her and introduced himself.

• Akimichi Choza and Shibi Aburame found that patrol puppets roamed Loulan and that almost all its residents had vanished.
• Minato Namikaze sensed a powerful barrier beneath the city and a faint living presence near the central plaza.
• Minato, Choza, and Shibi went to the plaza and saw Sara appear before a crowd of puppets controlled by chakra threads.
• Someone shoved Sara from the high platform, and she fell as part of the platform crumbled.
• Naruto Namikaze caught Sara, landed safely with her, and introduced himself.

Naruto learned that he had traveled six years into the past after the Dragon Vein’s power distorted time and space, and that Mukade was the same person as Loulan’s Minister Anrokuzan. The chapter ended when Naruto recognized Minato as his father.

• Naruto rescued Sara from the tower and learned she was Loulan’s new queen, while Sara said she had never heard of Mukade.
• Minato and his comrades arrived, and Naruto attacked Minato after suspecting the masked ninja had pushed Sara from the tower.
• Naruto and the others shared their accounts, and Naruto explained how the Dragon Vein’s power had sent him into a changed Loulan.
• Minato deduced that Naruto had traveled from the future and that Mukade and Anrokuzan were the same person.
• Minato and his comrades removed their masks, and Naruto recognized Minato as his father.

Naruto reunited with Minato in the past and learned that Mukade was using the Dragon Vein, while another powerful time traveler had also arrived in Loulan. Sara asked the Leaf ninja to seal the Dragon Vein, but an explosion interrupted them.

• Naruto realized that the young man before him was his father, Minato, and Minato warned him not to interfere with the past.
• Minato explained that defeating Mukade and destroying the jutsu could send Naruto back to his own time.
• Naruto revealed that a third person had traveled through time: a former comrade who had become a powerful rogue ninja.
• Minato asked Sara whether she knew the third traveler, but Sara denied knowing anything about him.
• Sara asked Minato and the others to seal the Dragon Vein, saying it had brought war and killed her parents.
• A massive explosion shook the building, and Minato caught Sara as she stumbled.

Naruto intervened in the battle between Pakura’s Hidden Sand team and the steel puppets, revealing powerful techniques that surprised Minato and the other Hidden Leaf ninjas. He introduced himself to Pakura as a Hidden Leaf ninja and declared that the Leaf and Sand were unbreakable allies.

• Minato and the others found Pakura and her Hidden Sand companions fighting steel puppets amid the ruins of Loulan.
• Pakura used Scorch Release to melt several puppets, but the puppets killed two Sand ninjas and put her team in grave danger.
• Naruto rushed into the fight, sending Shadow Clones to attack the puppets with Rasengan and destroying many of them.
• Naruto used Wind Release to deflect incoming shells and an invisible Lightning Release: Rasengan to destroy the last airborne puppet.
• Naruto checked on Pakura, identified himself as a Hidden Leaf ninja, and welcomed the chance to meet her in Loulan.

Minato and Pakura faced off as tensions rose between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand ninja in Loulan, while Naruto followed Sara away from the confrontation. Sara calmed herself by singing her mother’s song and began telling Naruto about the Loulan royal family’s connection to the Dragon Vein.

• Pakura challenged Minato’s presence in Loulan and accused the Hidden Leaf of coercing Sara, bringing both groups to the brink of battle.
• Sara broke away in tears, and Minato gave Naruto a Flying Thunder God kunai and tasked him with protecting her.
• Minato warned Pakura that Hidden Leaf reinforcements were nearby, making her hesitate to start a fight.
• Naruto found Sara by a stairway, listened as she sang her mother’s song, and comforted her.
• Sara told Naruto that the Loulan royal family had always possessed the ability to control the Dragon Vein.

Sara explained how Anrokuzan had seized control of Loulan and its Dragon Vein, and Naruto encouraged her to keep fighting for her people. With Sara’s resolve restored, the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand agreed to work together to free Loulan, and Sara began locating the Dragon Vein’s outlet.

• Sara told Naruto that Anrokuzan had imprisoned Loulan’s citizens in underground factories and used the Dragon Vein to build a puppet army.
• Naruto urged Sara to remember her mother’s lessons and keep moving forward, and Sara took his hand and agreed to continue.
• Sara addressed the gathered shinobi, promised their rewards, and asked them to unite to save Loulan and seal the Dragon Vein.
• Sara revealed that Loulan’s apparent residents were puppets and identified the underground factories as Anrokuzan’s base.
• Sara sensed the Dragon Vein’s flow and found the location of its outlet.

Minato’s group infiltrated Mukade’s underground factory, where Sara discovered Loulan’s missing citizens being forced to build puppets. Sara sealed the Dragon Vein and shut down the factory, but Mukade’s voice challenged her from above.

• Minato led the group through a ventilation shaft into the underground factory while Naruto protected Sara.
• Sara recognized Loulan’s disappeared citizens among the chained workers and asked the group to stop Mukade’s plan.
• Minato said they needed to find and cut off the Dragon Vein’s transmission node, and Sara guided them to its sealing array.
• Sara used the Dragon Vein’s power to seal the array, causing the factory’s machinery and puppets to stop.
• Naruto called for them to rescue Loulan’s citizens, but Mukade’s voice confronted Sara from above.

A mysterious, heavily changed man appeared above the factory and confronted the Queen. Naruto began to recognize him, but the chapter ended before he could identify him.

• A low, threatening voice asked the Queen whether she knew what she was doing.
• A broad, fat man in a tall hat and luxurious silk robes emerged onto the platform above the factory.
• Naruto studied the man's altered appearance and began to recognize him.

Naruto, Choza, and Shibi fought through Mukade’s puppet army, but Mukade survived Naruto’s Wind Release: Rasengan by regenerating with the Dragon Vein’s power. As the group prepared to search for his vulnerable core, Pakura’s Scorch Release suddenly struck Choza and Shibi.

• Naruto sent thousands of Shadow Clones armed with Rasengan into Mukade’s puppet army and broke through its formation.
• Choza used Super Multi-Size Technique and Super Push Hand to smash the factory and drive Mukade into the air, while Shibi revealed that he had planted mayfly eggs in the puppets.
• Shibi used Secret Art: Mayfly Funeral to immobilize Mukade’s puppets and engulf him in acidic mist.
• Naruto hit the falling Mukade with Wind Release: Rasengan, blasting a hole through his chest, but Mukade regenerated with the Dragon Vein’s power.
• Choza and Shibi urged Naruto to keep attacking while they searched for Mukade’s vulnerable core, but Pakura’s Scorch Release: Over Steam Kill struck them from behind.

Naruto confronted Mukade and Pakura after they betrayed their allies, but the Third Kazekage appeared to protect Mukade and claim the Dragon Vein. As Naruto faced the surrounding forces, Sasori and two disguised allies ambushed Pakura’s group, bringing the Third Kazekage into Sasori’s sights.

• Pakura and Mukade revealed their alliance after Pakura injured Akimichi Choza and attacked Shibi Aburame, while Naruto prepared to stop Mukade from reaching Sara.
• Naruto hurled a Big Ball Rasengan at Mukade, but the Third Kazekage blocked it with Iron Sand and sided with Mukade.
• The Third Kazekage’s history with Mukade and Pakura’s decision to support him were revealed: he had allied with Mukade to obtain Dragon Vein Chakra and help Hidden Sand Village.
• Mukade and the Third Kazekage surrounded Naruto with Pakura, her Sand Ninja, and puppet soldiers as Naruto vowed to undo the twisted time and space.
• Two of Pakura’s subordinates stabbed their companions, revealed themselves as disguised pale men, and joined Sasori, who emerged from a giant chameleon and fixed his gaze on the Third Kazekage.

Hiruko, Nagato, and Sasori arrived in Loulan, where Sasori revealed his intent to kill the Third Kazekage and Hiruko challenged Pakura. Naruto fought Mukade while Hiruko and Nagato absorbed Pakura’s Scorch Release attacks, leaving her and the Third Kazekage stunned by their abilities.

• Mukade lost his composure when Hiruko, Nagato, and Sasori appeared in Loulan, and the Third Kazekage recognized Hiruko and challenged the newcomers.
• Pakura killed the two White Zetsu with Scorch Release, then recognized Sasori and demanded to know why he was there.
• Sasori declared that he had come to avenge his parents by killing the Third Kazekage, but Pakura burned his puppet before it could attack.
• Hiruko announced that he intended to take Pakura and the Third Kazekage, then told Naruto to handle Mukade.
• Mukade sent his puppet army after Naruto and tried to flee, but Naruto struck at him with Planetary Rasengan and forced him to fight back.
• Hiruko and Nagato absorbed Pakura’s fireballs and fire dragons, leaving Pakura disoriented and the Third Kazekage wary of their strength.

Hiruko and Nagato fought the Third Kazekage and Pakura, revealing abilities that overwhelmed both opponents. The Third Kazekage remained airborne and out of Hiruko’s reach as the chapter ended.

• Hiruko absorbed Pakura’s Scorch Release and charged her, but the Third Kazekage shielded her with Iron Sand.
• Hiruko used Swift Release to attack the Third Kazekage, who trapped him in an Iron Sand formation before Hiruko absorbed its magnetic force and broke free.
• Hiruko burned an Iron Sand clone with Pakura’s Scorch Release, and the Third Kazekage recognized that Hiruko could absorb and reuse Ninjutsu.
• The Third Kazekage attacked Hiruko with Iron Sand Rain, but Hiruko’s Steel Release armor repelled the needles.
• Pakura tried to attack Nagato, but Nagato used Shinra Tensei and Almighty Attraction to defeat her and bind her with golden chains.
• Hiruko landed beside Nagato and admitted that he could not reach the Third Kazekage in the sky.

Naruto, Nagato, and Hiruko fought Mukade and the Third Kazekage, with Nagato shielding them and pulling the enemies toward the ground. Hiruko revealed a powerful composite technique and badly wounded the Third Kazekage with a barrage of arrows, preparing another attack.

• Naruto's Big Ball Rasengan clashed with Mukade's cannon blast, and both Naruto and Hiruko crashed beside Nagato.
• Nagato used Shinra Tensei to repel the enemies' Iron Sand needles and puppet artillery, then used Almighty Attraction to drag Mukade and the Third Kazekage toward the ground.
• Nagato repeatedly blocked the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand attacks while Hiruko completed the Secret Technique: Composite Bloodstain and formed the Bow of the Heavens Magatama.
• Hiruko's Steel Release: Life-Seeking Arrow shattered the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand arm, and his Swift Release arrows pierced the Kazekage's wings and chest.
• Hiruko nocked a special arrow and used Dark Release: Absorption Arrow.