Chapter Summaries

Aoki Tsuki gave Konan intelligence to support Akatsuki’s planned coup against Hanzō and was accepted as a trainee member. After Konan reported back to Nagato, he set the move for two days later, while Aoki Tsuki quietly prepared his squad for possible orders.

• Aoki Tsuki told Konan that Danzo and Jiraiya had asked about the Rinnegan, but he had concealed Akatsuki’s whereabouts from them.
• Aoki Tsuki declared his support for Akatsuki, handed Konan intelligence on Amegakure’s personnel and defenses, and asked to join; Konan accepted him as a trainee.
• Konan returned to Nagato and reported what had happened, and Nagato decided they would move the day after tomorrow.
• Aoki Tsuki adjusted his squad’s shifts to keep some members away from the operation and told the others to follow his instructions if temporary night assignments arose.

Aoki Tsuki helped the Akatsuki infiltrate Hanzō’s tower, while Satō Ichirō refused to betray Hanzō and was killed by Deva Path Pain. The Six Paths of Pain then broke into Hanzō’s bedchamber and began their attack.

• Satō Ichirō told Aoki Tsuki he could not decide in advance whether he would betray Hanzō if the Akatsuki came for revenge.
• Aoki Tsuki and Tsunodahara agreed to aid the Akatsuki, and Aoki Tsuki sent Shioame, Ryōta, and Shinichi away from the tower.
• Konan joined the Six Paths of Pain after clearing the upper floors, and Aoki Tsuki led them toward Hanzō’s room.
• Tsunodahara submitted to Pain, but Satō Ichirō charged at Deva Path Pain and was killed with a black iron rod.
• Deva Path Pain killed two more Jonin, and Tsunodahara told the awakened Hanzō that a guest had arrived.
• The Six Paths of Pain burst into Hanzō’s bedchamber and began the attack while he was unprepared.

Pain killed Hanzō and led a purge of his allies and relatives, while Aoki Tsuki guided the new regime and tried to protect innocent villagers. By dawn, Pain had seized control of Amegakure, and the village’s ninjas gathered in the mission hall under the new leadership.

• Pain absorbed Hanzō’s Water Release, wounded him, and killed him with a black iron rod after revealing himself as Yahiko.
• Aoki Tsuki joined Konan and Pain as their guide, helping them target Hanzō’s supporters while trying to limit harm to uninvolved villagers.
• Konan questioned Aoki Tsuki about Kikuno Momo, and he agreed to vouch for Satō Ichirō’s widow so she would be spared for the time being.
• Pain’s Six Paths purged Hanzō’s loyalists and took over Amegakure’s departments and secret vault, while the Asura Path slaughtered Hanzō’s clan.
• By dawn, Konan began reorganizing the village, Aoki Tsuki served as an adviser, and Tsunodahara took over the mission office.
• The village’s ninjas assembled in the mission hall, where Hanzō’s six guards appeared, still unsure what had happened.

After Pain killed Hanzō, Konan took charge of Amegakure, appointed Aoki Tsuki as advisor, and began reviewing the village’s records. She learned that Aoki Tsuki had secretly liaised between Hanzō and Danzo, while the identity of the Root spy remained hidden from him.

• Tsunodahara announced that Pain had killed Hanzō and presented his corpse to the gathered Amegakure ninja.
• Tsunodahara portrayed Pain as the village’s new god, and Konan appeared before the crowd and ordered them to obey Pain and hunt down Hanzō’s supporters.
• Konan assigned Aoki Tsuki to handle advisory and diplomatic affairs, Tsunodahara to oversee missions, and Hoshiya Fumi to remain head of the medical department.
• Konan reviewed Amegakure’s archives and found Aoki Tsuki’s excellent record, along with his early report on Yahiko’s Akatsuki.
• Konan told Nagato that Aoki Tsuki had served as a secret liaison between Hanzō and Danzo, passing intelligence through a Root spy codenamed Shadow Cat.

Aoki Tsuki explained his many covert jobs to Konan after she confronted him with evidence that he had hidden money and information. Konan let him study Medical Ninjutsu, but the village's corruption left her questioning whether Yahiko's or Nagato's vision could save the Land of Rain.

• Nagato and Konan discovered that Amegakure was deeply in debt and decided to use some of Kakuzu's earnings to keep it running.
• Konan told Aoki Tsuki that the captive woman was a Konoha Root spy who had used a Ninja Cat to pass information.
• Konan showed Aoki Tsuki a mission record revealing that Takenaka Osamu had paid him five million ryō, not the 3.5 million he had claimed.
• Aoki Tsuki admitted to working for Akatsuki, serving as a contact and informant between Hanzō and Danzo, delivering supplies, and trading Ninjutsu.
• Aoki Tsuki asked to study Medical Ninjutsu because losing his guard position might force him to leave the village for missions, and Konan agreed.
• Konan reflected on Amegakure's decay and wondered which path, Yahiko's or Nagato's, could lead the country forward.

Aoki Tsuki learned basic Medical Ninjutsu and helped develop his detoxification technique while using the Silver Fish Pavilion to sell Konan-themed ornaments. He donated the proceeds to Konan as village funds, and she accepted them without treating the money as a loan.

• Aoki Tsuki asked Hoshiya Fumi and Mieko to teach him Medical Ninjutsu and showed them his unfinished detoxification technique, which Hoshiya Fumi agreed to test and help develop.
• Aoki Tsuki studied medical fundamentals and practiced healing fish for half a month while checking on the Silver Fish Pavilion, which he had taken over after Satō Ichirō died and Kikuno Momo was imprisoned.
• Aoki Tsuki had the Silver Fish Pavilion employees make angel ornaments modeled on Konan and arranged for them to be sold as protective charms around the village.
• Residents bought the ornaments, and Aoki Tsuki shared some of the proceeds with his subordinates before giving most of the remainder to Konan as a donation.
• Konan recognized that Aoki Tsuki had sold the ornaments to raise money for the village, warned him not to repeat the scheme, and accepted his insistence that the funds were a gift rather than a loan.

Aoki Tsuki led a squad to the border outpost to investigate disappearing patrols and persuade Jonin Tomohisa to support Pain. Tomohisa accepted the new leadership and hoped to return home after another couple of years, while Aoki Tsuki prepared to hunt the enemy targeting the border guards.

• Aoki Tsuki took Shioame, Ryōta, and Shinichi to the border outpost after Jonin Tomohisa requested help over missing patrols.
• Tomohisa told Aoki Tsuki that guards had disappeared on both Amegakure's and Sunagakure's sides, and Aoki Tsuki agreed to patrol the border with his squad.
• Aoki Tsuki gave Tomohisa a letter from his daughter and revealed that Hanzō had died and Pain now led the village.
• Aoki Tsuki argued that loyalty belonged to Amegakure rather than its former leader, and Tomohisa acknowledged that he would support Pain.
• Aoki Tsuki promised to help Tomohisa return home in a couple of years and said he would deal with the border threat.

Aoki Tsuki's squad tracked Sasori of the Red Sands and fought him, but fled when he revealed the Third Kazekage puppet. Konan then arrived at the border with Aoki Tsuki to assess Sasori as a possible Akatsuki recruit.

• Aoki Tsuki's squad followed a faint Chakra trail into the Land of Wind and found Sasori, whom they identified as the S-rank rogue ninja responsible for attacking Amegakure patrols.
• Sasori attacked the squad with poisoned Senbon and puppets made from Amegakure ninja, while Aoki Tsuki and his teammates fought back and destroyed several puppets.
• Sasori revealed the Third Kazekage puppet, prompting Aoki Tsuki and his squad to retreat; Aoki Tsuki stayed behind to watch Sasori while the others reported to Konan.
• Konan and Pain decided to approach Sasori about joining Akatsuki, and Konan left the village to meet him with Aoki Tsuki's assistance.
• Konan arrived at the Land of Wind border, where Aoki Tsuki introduced her to Sasori.

Konan defeated Sasori’s puppet attacks and forced him to join Akatsuki with a trap of Explosive Tags. As they traveled, Aoki Tsuki asked Sasori how much a person’s soul weighed, a question that also caught Konan’s attention.

• Konan invited Sasori to join Akatsuki, but he refused and sent the Third Kazekage Puppet to attack her.
• Konan evaded Sasori’s attacks, destroyed his mechanical arms with Explosive Tags, and severed his control of the Third Kazekage Puppet.
• Konan revealed Explosive Tags covering the ground, and Sasori agreed to join Akatsuki rather than risk being killed.
• Aoki Tsuki joked with Sasori about being turned into a Human Puppet as the group traveled with Konan.
• Aoki Tsuki asked Sasori how much a person’s soul weighed, making Sasori and Konan consider the question.

Aoki Tsuki talked Sasori through forbidden techniques, Konoha’s secrets, and Akatsuki’s ambitions, then brought him to meet Pain and Kakuzu. Sasori accepted Akatsuki’s challenge to the Five Great Nations and officially joined the organization.

• Aoki Tsuki told Sasori that Konoha’s Yamanaka techniques could control people and that a forbidden technique could summon the dead from the Pure Land.
• Aoki Tsuki revealed that Kakashi was White Fang’s son and described how Konoha’s politics had driven White Fang to suicide, prompting Sasori and Konan to reconsider events in the Land of Rain.
• Aoki Tsuki and Konan brought Sasori to Akatsuki’s secret base, where Pain and Kakuzu were waiting.
• Pain explained that Akatsuki gathered talented members and funds before pursuing its final goal, and Aoki Tsuki clarified that the organization planned to challenge the Five Great Nations.
• Sasori agreed to join Akatsuki, and Pain gave him the Jewel Ring while Konan handed him a black cloak with red clouds.

Aoki Tsuki helped secure Tomohisa’s loyalty and Sasori’s recruitment, then visited the imprisoned Kikuno Momo and tried to persuade her to cooperate. He left after asking about her connection to the Uchiha Clan’s Ninja Cats, while Kikuno Momo stayed silent.

• Sasori accepted Konan’s offer to join the Akatsuki, and Aoki Tsuki unsuccessfully tried to recruit Kakuzu for bounty-hunting jobs.
• Black and White Zetsu discussed Sasori’s resemblance to a Sunagakure puppeteer and decided not to inform Obito yet.
• Aoki Tsuki delivered Tomohisa’s loyalty letter to Konan, who recorded both missions as S-rank but offered him only B-rank pay for now.
• Aoki Tsuki asked Konan for permission to visit Kikuno Momo, and she allowed him to bring food and clothes to the imprisoned spy.
• Aoki Tsuki urged Kikuno Momo to leave Root’s service and asked whether she had ties to the Uchiha Clan, but she did not answer.

After a failed assassination attempt prompted Konan to reestablish Amegakure’s guard, Aoki Tsuki organized the force and helped stabilize the village. The chapter ended with Konoha’s leaders discussing a renewed threat from the Land of Forests and Ōnoki.

• Aoki Tsuki arrived after former subordinates of Hanzō attacked Amegakure, and Konan announced that the village would restore its guard.
• Konan appointed Aoki Tsuki captain of the guard and ordered him to create a patrol plan within a tight budget.
• Aoki Tsuki designed the guard’s Wings of Freedom emblem, assigned his subordinates to squads, and gave Takuno Jin a Wind Cutter Technique scroll.
• The new guards began patrolling Amegakure, reassuring villagers and helping stabilize the government.
• Konoha’s leaders learned that the Land of Forests had rebelled again, the Hannya Corps had killed their contact, and Ōnoki was behind the unrest.

Minato Namikaze debated how to respond to the Land of Forests’ betrayal while Danzo secretly arranged an assassination operation through Amegakure. In Kyoto, Aoki Tsuki’s forces attacked Ran’on’s loyalists, and Aoki defeated Ran’on in battle before offering him a chance to surrender.

• Minato Namikaze rejected Danzo’s call for an immediate decapitation operation and decided to send Kakashi’s Anbu squad to investigate, while Hiruzen Sarutobi urged him to seek help from Clan Head Fugaku.
• Danzo told his Root members to contact Hanzō and arrange an assassination through Amegakure rather than act directly.
• Aoki Tsuki learned that Ran’on and Hanzō’s former subordinates opposed the village, secured a letter from Pain for the daimyō, and led five elite squads to Kyoto.
• Aoki Tsuki’s forces attacked the daimyō’s residence, where Ran’on confronted Aoki and defended his loyalty to Hanzō.
• Ran’on used poison, oily rain, and multiple Ninjutsu against Aoki, but Aoki countered his attacks and beat him in a blade fight.
• Aoki Tsuki pointed out that Ran’on’s men were suffering heavy casualties and offered to spare them if Ran’on swore loyalty to the new leader.

Aoki Tsuki killed Ran'on’s rebels, secured the daimyo’s support for Pain’s rule, and returned to the village with an agreement to end the internal conflict within three years. Nagato planned to meet that condition within one year, while Akatsuki’s larger plans remained on hold.

• Aoki Tsuki granted Ran'on a quick death, and the rebel forces were wiped out.
• Aoki Tsuki told the daimyo that Pain had taken charge of Amegakure and delivered Pain’s letter.
• The daimyo agreed to forgive the village’s debts and provide ongoing funds if Pain ended the internal conflict within three years, and he agreed to keep Pain’s leadership quiet.
• Aoki Tsuki returned to the village, reported the victory and funding agreement to Konan, and treated the wounded on the way back.
• Konan told Nagato about the daimyo’s demand, and Nagato said he could settle the conflict within one year.
• Nagato and Konan decided to focus on the village before involving Aoki Tsuki in Akatsuki, and Aoki Tsuki went home to sleep.

Aoki Tsuki led an Amegakure squad to assassinate Oniki, the leader of the Hannya Corps, for a twenty-million-ryō contract arranged by Konoha's Root. After the ambush killed Oniki's escorts, Aoki Tsuki confronted him on a mountaintop, where their fight continued under cover of mist.

• Konan told Aoki Tsuki that Danzo's people had hired Hanzō to assassinate Oniki, and Aoki Tsuki accepted the mission after learning the payment was twenty million ryō.
• Aoki Tsuki traveled to the Land of Forests with Shioame, Ryōta, and Shinichi, where Pupa revealed that Oniki would be ambushed while traveling to finalize an alliance with Iwagakure.
• An Uchiha boy used his Sharingan to incapacitate Pupa, then tracked Oniki's party the next morning as they entered a canyon.
• Aoki Tsuki's squad attacked Oniki's escorts with senbon, explosives, and water techniques, killing them and driving Oniki toward the canyon summit.
• Oniki identified Aoki Tsuki as an Amegakure ninja and fought him with Earth Release, but Aoki Tsuki countered with a lightning blade and then covered the mountaintop in mist.

Shisui Uchiha intervened to protect Oniki and fought Aoki Tsuki, who resisted Shisui’s genjutsu and powerful attacks. Aoki Tsuki escaped after a whistle signaled that his companion had succeeded, leaving Shisui to abandon the failed mission and return to the Land of Fire.

• Aoki Tsuki broke free of Oniki’s mudslide attack and paralyzed him with Lightning Release, but Shisui Uchiha arrived and stopped Aoki Tsuki from finishing him.
• Shisui Uchiha used his Sharingan to incapacitate Oniki, who had claimed allegiance to Konoha while secretly backing away to escape.
• Aoki Tsuki refused to retreat because of his mission, and he and Shisui Uchiha fought from the canyon’s mountaintop to the river.
• Aoki Tsuki broke Shisui Uchiha’s Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique and countered his attacks, while both fighters began running low on chakra.
• A whistle sounded, and Aoki Tsuki escaped during the mist created by his water dragon attack; Shisui Uchiha realized the companion had likely succeeded and returned to the Land of Fire.

Aoki Tsuki’s squad completed its mission, and Danzo used the captured Hannya Corps leader and alliance treaty to secure Konoha’s position. Shisui left for the front lines while Pain’s campaign brought order to the Land of Rain, and Aoki Tsuki hosted the daimyō’s finance minister in Amegakure.

• Aoki Tsuki returned to the cave, where Nonō was treating Oniki, and handed over the mission’s evidence and prisoners before his squad departed.
• Nonō reported the mission to Danzo, who presented the alliance treaty to Hiruzen and claimed Oniki had agreed to remain on Konoha’s side.
• Shisui admitted his mission had failed, requested a posting to the Kirigakure front, and later warned Itachi to remain cautious and keep training.
• Pain spent six months eliminating rival forces across the Land of Rain, while Amegakure expanded its intelligence and body-collection operations.
• Aoki Tsuki welcomed Eiji Ishida to a karaoke bar, where the finance minister recalled his first love and requested the song “Love Only One Person in a Lifetime.”

Aoki Tsuki became Akatsuki’s core member Azure Dragon and began preparing for more dangerous missions. A month later, he traveled with Konan to the Land of Artisans, where onlookers mistook him for a swordmaster.

• Konan gave Aoki Tsuki an Akatsuki ring and cloak, naming him a core member with the codename Azure Dragon.
• Aoki Tsuki trained to improve his abilities, focusing on developing his Imperial Lightning Snake technique.
• Konan assigned Aoki Tsuki to accompany her on a mission to the Land of Artisans, though she withheld the details.
• After traveling for half a month, Aoki Tsuki and Konan arrived at the Land of Artisans wearing Akatsuki cloaks.
• People at the docks speculated that Aoki Tsuki was a swordmaster visiting Master Tesshin to have a sword forged.

Aoki Tsuki and Konan visited the Land of Artisans, where Aoki sensed Shisui Uchiha and followed him to the docks. Shisui fought Juzo Biwa while sabotaging a weapons shipment, and Juzo awoke after an unknown blue-haired young man rescued him from drowning.

• Aoki Tsuki and Konan ate at a restaurant, where Konan waited to see Aoki finish the food before eating.
• Aoki sensed Shisui Uchiha and left the restaurant to follow him to the docks.
• Shisui sank one ship carrying supplies for Kirigakure and attacked the second as Juzo Biwa emerged from the mist to stop him.
• Shisui used genjutsu to incapacitate Juzo, who sank unconscious into the sea.
• A blue-haired young man rescued Juzo and revived him, and Juzo asked who he was.

Aoki Tsuki recruited Juzo Biwa into the Akatsuki after Juzo’s mission failed and his ships sank, then traveled with Konan to Takumi Village. There, Konan commissioned Master Tesshin to create a device that would let a black rod receive Chakra from over ten kilometers away, and Tesshin identified a rare metal that might meet her needs.

• Aoki Tsuki told Juzo Biwa about the Akatsuki, and Juzo agreed to defect from Kirigakure and join.
• Konan asked Aoki Tsuki to arrange for the Akatsuki to receive Juzo in the Land of Rain.
• Takumi Village’s leader, Miki, discussed the sunken shipment and the village’s plans for the upcoming Swordsmanship Master Tournament.
• Miki welcomed Aoki Tsuki and Konan as wealthy customers and brought them to meet Master Tesshin.
• Konan showed Tesshin a black rod and asked him to make a Chakra amplification device with a range of at least ten kilometers.
• Tesshin said lightning-patterned black steel from Thunder God Mountain might satisfy Konan’s requirements.