Chapter Summaries

Akatsuki captured and sealed the Two-Tails through Five-Tails, while Haku froze Hidan and sent him to the Land of Wind after foiling his attack on the headquarters. Pain then summoned Aoki Tsuki and proposed a spar to assess his strength before deciding how to capture the Six-Tails.

• Kakuzu and Hidan captured Yugito, and Sasori and Deidara captured the Three-Tails; Pain and the others sealed both beasts.
• Three months later, Kisame captured Roshi and Itachi captured Han, and Akatsuki sealed the Four-Tails and Five-Tails before Pain dismissed the gathering.
• Hidan charged into the headquarters, but Haku trapped him with Ice Release and froze him inside an ice egg; Izumi and Haku then sent him to the Land of Wind.
• Pain summoned Aoki Tsuki to discuss capturing the Six-Tails and proposed they spar to assess Tsuki's abilities.
• Aoki Tsuki agreed to fight Pain, and the three left Amegakure for an open area in the Land of Rain.

Aoki Tsuki fought Pain’s Six Paths to a draw, revealing abilities that overwhelmed much of Pain’s defenses. After the spar, Konan reconsidered how she treated Tsuki, and Tsuki offered a corpse to replace the destroyed Preta Path.

• Aoki Tsuki attacked Deva Path Pain with water techniques, then countered Shinra Tensei with a powerful ability of his own.
• Pain deployed the Six Paths and summoned beasts, but Aoki Tsuki used lightning and a golden barrier to withstand their coordinated assault.
• Aoki Tsuki destroyed several Paths with Air Realm: Greedy Wolf and Angel’s Kiss, turning the Preta Path into stone and disrupting Nagato’s control.
• Aoki Tsuki used a giant golden hand to drive Deva Path Pain into the earth, then stopped when his Chakra ran low; Pain agreed to call the spar a draw.
• Konan resolved to win Aoki Tsuki’s favor and accepted his offered corpse as a replacement for the Preta Path.

Aoki Tsuki warned Konan and Pain that the Ten-Tails might be sealed inside a host, while Pain and Konan worried about Madara’s plans. Later, Konan tried to draw closer to Tsuki, but he saw through her workplace tactics and won her over with his professed love for the Land of Rain.

• Aoki Tsuki explained the God Tree’s origins and guessed that the Sage of Six Paths had become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, leading Pain to conclude that Madara intended to do the same.
• Konan and Pain discussed Madara’s space-time techniques and decided to continue collecting the Tailed Beasts despite their inability to stop him.
• Aoki Tsuki continued transforming his body with senjutsu, but worried that completing the next stage would take too long.
• Konan sought advice on grooming and dressing from the bubble house proprietress, then changed her appearance in hopes of attracting Tsuki’s attention.
• Konan tested Tsuki with praise and emotional appeals, but he recognized her tactics and presented himself as a devoted supporter of the village.
• Konan was moved when Tsuki said he loved the Land of Rain despite its hardships, and they went to practice their Tailed Beast capture tactics.

Neji Hyuga completed the Front Lotus at the Jashin Cult, but Black and White Zetsu discovered his hiding place and fled after he attacked them. Aoki Tsuki’s threat alarmed Zetsu, which decided to leak Neji’s whereabouts to Konoha; Tsunade received the intelligence and ordered Team Guy and Hinata summoned while keeping the Hyuga Main Family uninformed.

• Neji mastered the Front Lotus, while Izumi and Kikuno Momo discussed Momo’s pregnancy and the cult’s income.
• Obito sent Black and White Zetsu to investigate the Jashin Cult, where they spotted Neji and escaped after he struck the wall with Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
• Aoki Tsuki asked Konan to pass a message to Zetsu, and Zetsu panicked when it learned he was looking for it.
• Black Zetsu told White Zetsu to leak Neji’s location to Konoha, and White Zetsu agreed.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade discussed Naruto’s training and the Akatsuki’s possible leader before an Anbu reported that Konoha had found Neji.
• Tsunade ordered Team Guy and Hinata to come to her and told the Anbu to keep Neji’s discovery from the Hyuga Main Family.

Might Guy’s team found Neji at the Jashin Cult’s headquarters and tried to persuade him to return to Konoha, but he defeated Rock Lee and refused to leave. Aoki Tsuki allowed the team to speak with Neji, and they departed to report his decision while Neji remained free to pursue his dream.

• Hinata used her Byakugan to locate Neji training at the Jashin Cult’s headquarters, and Rock Lee and Tenten approached him while Might Guy and Hinata stayed hidden.
• Neji told Rock Lee and Tenten that he would return to Konoha someday but would not come back yet, and Rock Lee challenged him to a fight.
• Neji blocked Rock Lee’s attacks, opened two of the Eight Gates, and defeated him with Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Chopping Palm.
• Aoki Tsuki found Might Guy and Hinata, called Hinata Mrs. Ōtsutsuki, and said he would not stop Neji if Neji chose to return.
• Tenten told Might Guy that Neji intended to return on his own in the future, so Might Guy led the team back to report to the Fifth.
• Might Guy encouraged Rock Lee to keep training despite the gap between them and Neji, and Rock Lee eagerly rushed back to make a new training plan.

Aoki Tsuki and Konan tracked down Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, with Neji’s help and fought him across an island in the Land of Water. They defeated him through coordinated attacks, while Neji watched and resolved to pursue more destructive Taijutsu.

• Nagato sensed that Pain’s final plan had begun as Aoki Tsuki and Konan flew to the Land of Water with Neji to search for the Six-Tails Jinchūriki.
• After a week of searching, Neji spotted Utakata traveling inside a bubble and sent word to Aoki Tsuki and Konan.
• Konan and Aoki Tsuki attacked Utakata, but he transformed into Saiken, broke free of Aoki Tsuki’s sealing technique, and countered their attacks with corrosive acid and Tailed Beast Bombs.
• Aoki Tsuki used Sage Art: Lightning Hunt to overwhelm Utakata, but Utakata escaped Konan’s paper trap by transforming into bubbles and sprayed her with acid.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan used a paper clone and a water sphere to trick and incapacitate Utakata, then left to meet Kakuzu and Hidan.
• Neji watched the battle with his Byakugan and decided to spend less time on pressure-point strikes and focus on Taijutsu with greater destructive power.

Akatsuki captured the Six-Tails and Seven-Tails, while Konoha and Orochimaru considered how to respond to the growing threat. Kikuno Momo discovered that she could absorb and control Natural Energy, and Aoki Tsuki left with Konan to prepare for the hunt for the Eight-Tails.

• Pain began extracting Chakra from the Six-Tails and Seven-Tails, while Aoki Tsuki and Sasori discussed the Jinchūriki and their corpses.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya discussed the Akatsuki’s growing threat, and Jiraiya arranged for Naruto to train at Mount Myōboku.
• Orochimaru decided to wait for an opportunity after the Akatsuki gathered the Tailed Beasts, while Kabuto privately considered his own backup plan.
• Kikuno Momo discovered that she was absorbing Natural Energy and believed she had taken the first step toward mastering Senjutsu Chakra.
• After a week, the Seven-Tails’ Chakra was extracted, and Aoki Tsuki packed away the corpses before leaving with Konan to prepare for the Eight-Tails.

Aoki Tsuki and Konan combined their powers to make the Thousand-Armed Kannon fly, then prepared a detailed plan to capture the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Konan struggled with the feelings their Chakra link had revealed as the mission drew near.

• Aoki Tsuki and Konan joined the Thousand-Armed Kannon with Konan’s Paper Release and used Senjutsu Chakra to lift it into the sky, where it split a mountain peak with the Futsunomitama.
• Aoki Tsuki teased Konan during their flight, and she left for the western district in anger when they reached the Land of Rain.
• Konan tried to avoid Aoki Tsuki for three days but dreamed of fighting the Eight-Tails alongside him; after he stayed away for a week, she wondered if she had overreacted.
• Aoki Tsuki brought Konan his capture plan and told her to use continuous detonations to drain the Eight-Tails, while warning that the Fourth Raikage and the A-B Combo might intervene.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan spent half a month rehearsing contingencies, while Konan endured his repeated attempts to provoke her through their Chakra connection.

Aoki Tsuki and Konan attacked Killer B in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning while Neji left with a syringe and a warning about the Main Family. After a fierce battle against Gyuki’s power, Killer B escaped with the Severed Tail Substitution Technique, leaving Aoki Tsuki and Konan unable to confirm his defeat.

• Aoki Tsuki gave Neji the promised syringe, warned that the Main Family might be watching him, and sent him away from the Valley of Clouds and Lightning.
• Konan destroyed the training facility with Explosive Tags while Killer B worked on his rap, then Killer B fought Aoki Tsuki with his seven-sword style.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan countered Killer B’s Partial Tailed Beast Transformation, but Killer B crushed Konan into scraps of paper and blasted her Paper Clones apart.
• Killer B transformed completely into Gyuki and used Tailed Beast attacks against Aoki Tsuki and Konan, while Aoki Tsuki struck him with a specially made Explosive Tag.
• Konan detonated the tag in a sustained bombardment, but Aoki Tsuki realized Gyuki had escaped using the Severed Tail Substitution Technique.

Aoki Tsuki and Konan defeated the A-B Combo and captured Killer B after a destructive battle in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning. Obito then broke with Zetsu and declared that he would make the Five Kage serve him.

• Aoki Tsuki and Konan joined forces to repel A and Killer B’s attacks, then used their Thousand-Armed Kannon to target Gyuki.
• Aoki Tsuki’s Sage Art lightning barrage devastated the valley, and A and Gyuki worked together to launch a counterattack.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan struck back with Buddha’s Divine Palm, leaving Killer B unconscious while Gyuki escaped by severing another tail.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan retrieved Killer B and fled, while Obito and Zetsu discussed the capture and the next battle.
• Obito announced that he would make the Five Kage serve him and left Zetsu, who decided not to help him.

Neji was captured and apparently killed by the Hyuga enforcement squad, but he revived with purple eyes, defeated them, and took their Byakugan. Meanwhile, the Akatsuki extracted the Eight-Tails and prepared to capture the Nine-Tails as the Five Great Nations organized against them, while Itachi openly challenged Aoki Tsuki’s views.

• Neji injected himself with a mysterious liquid, but the Cursed Seal’s power still left him vulnerable to Elder Sogen and the Branch Family squad.
• Hyuga Tetsu and the others tortured Neji, and Elder Sogen used the killing Caged Bird Seal to destroy Neji’s Byakugan and kill him.
• Neji revived with purple eyes, killed Hyuga Tetsu and Elder Sogen, defeated the other Branch Family members, and took their Byakugan and secret techniques.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan brought Killer B to the Akatsuki base, where Pain and the others sealed the Eight-Tails over three days.
• The Five Great Nations agreed to hold a summit in the Land of Iron, while the Akatsuki prepared to capture the Nine-Tails and face their combined forces.
• Itachi openly condemned the great nations’ claims to peace and land, argued with Aoki Tsuki, and left the meeting before Pain dismissed the others.

Aoki Tsuki gave Konan the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu so she could speak with Yahiko again. After Yahiko reunited with Konan and Nagato, he supported Nagato’s choices and departed back to the Pure Land.

• Aoki Tsuki transferred Gyuki’s remaining tentacle chakra to Killer B and told Konan he wanted to leave the village a way to survive the coming war.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan returned to the Land of Rain, where he later gave her a scroll describing the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu and prepared a sacrifice.
• Konan brought the scroll to Nagato, and they agreed to summon Yahiko at their old Akatsuki hideout.
• Aoki Tsuki performed the jutsu, and Yahiko appeared; Konan embraced him while Nagato explained what had happened since his death.
• Yahiko told Nagato he supported him as Akatsuki’s leader, then said goodbye to Konan and Nagato before his soul returned to the Pure Land.

Obito abducted Izumi during Momoko’s birth, but Kikuno Momo awakened a Mangekyō ability that disrupted his Kamui and helped Haku and Zabuza drive him off. Aoki Tsuki returned to meet his newborn daughter, while the Five Kage agreed to unite against Akatsuki.

• At the Jashin Cult, Kikuno Momo gave birth to a daughter, and Uchiha Izumi named the baby Momoko.
• Obito attacked, abducted Izumi, and tried to take Momoko, but Kikuno Momo awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan and blocked his Kamui.
• Haku and Zabuza trapped and struck at Obito, while Kikuno Momo briefly immobilized him; Obito escaped after deciding to retreat with Izumi.
• Aoki Tsuki returned the next day, met Momoko, and told Kikuno Momo that Izumi was likely being held as leverage for Akatsuki’s cooperation with Itachi.
• At the Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, the leaders agreed to commit their villages to a united battle against Akatsuki.

Sasuke learned that the Akatsuki planned to target Naruto, while Naruto struggled to master Sage Mode on Mount Myōboku. In Amegakure, Aoki Tsuki told his mother about Momoko, explored a failed way to accelerate his sage-body transformation, and began a romantic relationship with Konan, leaving her to bring food to Nagato the next morning.

• Kabuto told Sasuke that the Akatsuki would attack Konoha to capture Naruto, prompting Sasuke to resume training harder.
• Naruto struggled to calm himself and sense Natural Energy, while Sage Shima urged him to keep training before the Akatsuki came for him.
• Aoki Tsuki returned to Amegakure, told Eiko that she had a granddaughter named Momoko, and failed to advance his sage-body transformation by turning his finger fluid with water-natured Chakra.
• Konan visited Aoki Tsuki at night, and after overcoming her doubts, she joined him in bed while Eiko woke to the noise.
• The next morning, Konan worked efficiently despite little sleep, accepted wontons from Aoki Tsuki, and then remembered Nagato had not eaten and brought the food to him.

Aoki Tsuki prepared for Akatsuki’s coming war by adapting Konan’s paper technique, arranging for Sasori to make Explosive Tags, and checking where Orochimaru stood. After returning to Konan, he resumed training and preparing seals while they waited for the Nine-Tails operation.

• Aoki Tsuki and Konan spent the day drawing seals and Explosive Tags, and Aoki Tsuki planned to use her Dance of the Shikigami to improve his Sage Mode.
• Aoki Tsuki visited Sasori in the Land of Wind, gave him Hanzo of the Salamander’s body and two hundred million ryō, and asked him to make a hundred billion Explosive Tags.
• Aoki Tsuki spoke with Kabuto about Akatsuki’s plan to force peace through power, then saw Sasuke training with Jūgo.
• Aoki Tsuki met Orochimaru, learned he was cultivating White Zetsu Clones, and confirmed that Orochimaru would not interfere in the coming war.
• Aoki Tsuki returned to Konan and told her he had arranged for Sasori to help make Explosive Tags, and they settled into a routine of daytime training and nighttime seal-making.

Aoki Tsuki and Konan fused their Dance of the Shikigami techniques, greatly increasing their Sage Mode capacity and revealing an enormous Thousand-Armed Kannon over Amegakure. After the display convinced the villagers of their leaders’ power, they discussed preparations for Pain’s planned action at the end of the month.

• Aoki Tsuki absorbed Natural Energy through his paper body until the reinforced paper began to crack, then proposed combining his technique with Konan’s to increase their capacity.
• Aoki Tsuki persuaded Konan to let Karin and Ajisai assist with village affairs, and Konan agreed to give them a trial despite her strict standards.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan merged their paper bodies, entered a shared state, and expanded the Thousand-Armed Kannon beyond eight hundred meters above Amegakure.
• The villagers mistook the Buddha statue for a divine sign, while Karin sensed familiar Chakra and Deva Path Pain recognized that Aoki Tsuki and Konan’s combined power surpassed his own.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan ended the technique, then discussed village preparations and Pain’s plan to act at the end of the month, with Aoki Tsuki warning Konan not to let Pain falter.

Konan and Aoki Tsuki spent their last evening together before Konan and Nagato began their final plan. The next morning, Aoki Tsuki left on his own important mission after sharing a heartfelt goodbye with his mother, Eiko.

• Konan questioned Aoki Tsuki about his feelings and warned him not to pursue other women, and the two shared a meal and intimate evening together.
• Konan and Aoki Tsuki discussed Tobi's identity and the powers and costs of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Konan confessed that she feared the coming events, and Aoki Tsuki urged her to be careful of Tobi.
• Konan met Nagato at the western tower, and Nagato told her to keep living and entrust her life to Aoki Tsuki.
• After discovering that Konan had left, Aoki Tsuki ate breakfast with Eiko and hugged her before departing on his mission.

The Allied Shinobi Forces battled Deidara and Sasori as Ōnoki and Kurotsuchi pursued the two Akatsuki members. Ōnoki confronted Sasori after Deidara escaped underground, but Sasori poisoned him with Hanzō’s Human Puppet, leaving Ōnoki dizzy and weakened.

• Ōnoki destroyed Deidara’s C4 Karura, and Deidara and Sasori split up as Ōnoki and Kurotsuchi pursued Deidara.
• Deidara evaded their attacks and bombed the Allied Shinobi Forces, killing dozens before Ōnoki brought down his white dove with Earth Release.
• Deidara escaped underground using the Hiding Like a Mole Technique, and Ōnoki went to investigate Sasori in the forest.
• Sasori revealed Hanzō’s Human Puppet and fought Ōnoki with its poisoned weapons and Water and Fire Release attacks.
• Ōnoki avoided Sasori’s attacks but breathed in the puppet’s poisonous smoke and became dizzy.

Ōnoki survived Hanzō’s poison, while Gaara and Kurotsuchi fought Deidara in the second division’s defense zone. Deidara unleashed a ten-kilometer explosion, and only Gaara, Kurotsuchi, and a handful of allies survived by escaping underground; they believed Deidara was dead and wondered how the first division was faring.

• Akatsuchi rescued Ōnoki from Hanzō’s poison and gave him an antidote, then reported that Kurotsuchi was pursuing Deidara in the second division’s zone.
• Deidara attacked Kurotsuchi, but Gaara arrived and joined her in battling him with sand and concrete defenses.
• Deidara unleashed his C5 thermobaric bomb, and Gaara shielded the nearby allied forces while Kurotsuchi reinforced his defenses.
• Deidara consumed his remaining clay and turned his body’s Chakra pathways into a massive bomb; Gaara and Kurotsuchi tried to protect the second division.
• Kurotsuchi used Moving Earth Core to sink herself, Gaara, and nearby allies underground, but the blast destroyed nearly everyone else in the second division.
• Gaara and Kurotsuchi emerged with a dozen or so survivors, mourned their losses, and discussed the first division’s fight against Sasori of the Red Sands.

The Allied Forces learned of severe casualties across several divisions as the daimyo discussed reducing the ninja forces after the war. Kisame attacked Mei Terumi and Chōjūrō, but an ambush forced him to escape underground with Samehada.

• Tsunade and A received reports that Akatsuki members had inflicted heavy losses on several Allied divisions, and that Sasori had turned Hanzo into a Human Puppet.
• Shikaku adjusted the Allied Forces' strategy and dispatched reinforcements while the five daimyo discussed cutting ninja funding after the war.
• Kisame flooded the battlefield and attacked Mei Terumi with a thousand sharks, while Samehada absorbed her chakra.
• Chōjūrō struck Kisame's Great Shark Bullet with Hiramekarei, and Mei used a Water Clone to rescue him from the blast.
• Kisame attacked the surrounding ninja under cover of Mei's Hidden Mist Technique, but Konoha Anbu caught him in a lightning trap.
• Kisame broke free, evaded a Wind Release attack, and escaped underground with Samehada.