Chapter Summaries

Shisui and the Sunagakure ninja fought Sasori and Konan until Sasori ran out of Chakra, but a masked blue-haired fighter rescued him from Shisui. Aoki Tsuki restored Sasori’s Chakra, and Root arrived with an order to kill the Akatsuki members, leaving the battle poised to continue.

• Konan’s paper body evaded Shisui’s attack, while Sasori unleashed his puppets against Shisui and the Sunagakure ninja.
• The group destroyed Sasori’s puppets and drove him to exhaust his Chakra, allowing Shisui to seize his puppet body with Susanoo.
• Konan’s Paper Clones fought Shisui, but he captured Sasori before a masked blue-haired man severed Susanoo’s arm and carried Sasori away.
• Baki, Miyui, and Fuki retreated with their fallen comrades, while Aoki Tsuki restored Sasori’s Chakra and asked him to help face Shisui.
• Root surrounded the group, and its leader gave Shisui a genuine Third Hokage order to kill the Akatsuki members.

Aoki Tsuki, Konan, and Sasori fought Shisui and Root's forces as Shisui's Genjutsu and Susanoo pushed them into a dangerous battle. After Shisui activated Kotoamatsukami, Aoki Tsuki escaped with Lightning Body Flicker but was left unsure whether the Genjutsu had affected him.

• Aoki Tsuki restored Sasori's Chakra, then joined Konan in attacking Root's forces while Shisui led their assault.
• Shisui caught Aoki Tsuki in Sharingan Genjutsu, but Aoki Tsuki broke free with Samsara Illusion's End as Sasori helped protect him from Root's attack.
• Shisui summoned Susanoo while Sasori spread poison and Konan attacked Root's members with paper weapons and hidden Explosive Tags.
• Aoki Tsuki struck Shisui's Susanoo with Water Release and Lightning Release, then trapped Shisui in a pit filled with Explosive Tags.
• Shisui activated Kotoamatsukami, and Aoki Tsuki used Lightning Body Flicker to escape before checking whether the Genjutsu had taken hold.

Shisui’s attack left Konan under a mind-altering genjutsu, while Aoki Tsuki survived an ambush by Root with help from Sasori and Ibuse. Danzo reported Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan abilities to Konoha’s elders, leaving Hiruzen concerned that Shisui had concealed them.

• Konan stabbed Aoki Tsuki under Shisui’s genjutsu, but Sasori pulled him aside as Shisui collapsed and vanished.
• Aoki Tsuki sealed Konan, summoned Ibuse to drive back Root, and treated his wound while Sasori guarded him.
• Aoki Tsuki and Sasori met Pain, who later restored Konan’s consciousness and learned how powerful Shisui’s genjutsu was.
• Obito and Zetsu observed the battle, then escaped when Orochimaru arrived to investigate.
• Danzo told Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu that Shisui had used Susanoo and a genjutsu that controlled others.
• Danzo suggested Shisui had hidden his Mangekyō Sharingan, and Hiruzen was left wondering why Shisui had not reported it.

Shisui told the Konoha High Command that the Uchiha planned a coup and promised to use Kotoamatsukami to stop it, trusting Hiruzen’s promise of reconciliation. Danzo betrayed him at the shrine, stole Shisui’s right eye, and sent Root after him as Shisui escaped.

• Shisui told Itachi he intended to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha coup, but Itachi left on a mission before he could help.
• Danzo persuaded Hiruzen to prepare the Anbu, and Shisui confirmed to the High Command that the Uchiha planned a coup.
• Shisui said he would use Kotoamatsukami at the clan meeting and take his own life if the plan was discovered, while Hiruzen promised the village and clan would reconcile.
• Danzo lured Shisui to a shrine, questioned whether the village would change, and declared that he would take Shisui’s Sharingan.
• Shisui placed Danzo in a genjutsu, but Danzo used Izanagi to ambush him and steal his right eye.
• Shisui attacked with a Great Fireball and escaped using the Body Flicker Technique, and Danzo ordered Root to pursue him.

Shisui gave his remaining eye to Itachi and died in the Naka River, awakening Itachi’s Mangekyō Sharingan. After Akatsuki learned of Shisui’s death and decided to operate more secretly, Aoki Tsuki resumed training a water-based version of the Gift of the Sages technique.

• Root members poisoned and pursued Shisui, who used Susanoo and Senbon Rain to kill many before collapsing.
• An unknown Uchiha used Fire Release to kill two Root members and rescued Shisui from the remaining attackers.
• Shisui gave his left eye to Itachi, asked him to protect the village and the Uchiha name, and leaped into the Naka River.
• Itachi awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan after witnessing Shisui’s death.
• Pain told Akatsuki that Shisui had died, restored access to the organization’s intelligence, and ordered its members to avoid drawing attention from the Five Great Nations.
• Aoki Tsuki returned to training in Amegakure and shaped water into a lotus pedestal and a thousand-armed figure as he developed his technique.

Konan, shaken by being controlled and captured twice, decided to strengthen herself and sought Aoki Tsuki’s help in refining her mental energy. After months of indirect hints, Aoki Tsuki realized she wanted protection against future Sharingan techniques and wrote down a method for her.

• Konan regretted being controlled by Kotoamatsukami and began training with a pull-up bar to improve her physical strength.
• Konan visited Aoki Tsuki at the training ground, brought him food, and said she wanted to learn from him while hiding her true request.
• Aoki Tsuki explained that he was developing Wind Release so he could try summoning a five-element barrier.
• Konan continued visiting Aoki Tsuki for over two months and hinted that she feared facing the Sharingan again.
• Aoki Tsuki concluded that Konan needed to build mental defenses and wrote the Single-Point Gazing Method on a scroll.

Konan learned Aoki Tsuki’s secret mental technique while he developed a way to instantly summon his Thousand-Armed Kannon, which he successfully tested above a lake. After his leave ended, Konan assigned him to intelligence work, and he accepted the secret mission with a dramatic gesture that inspired her to create a new Akatsuki pledge.

• Konan practiced Aoki Tsuki’s mental technique and lit a candle within a week, then tested her progress by sending a Paper Clone to Nagato.
• While organizing the technique, Aoki Tsuki realized he could prebuild the Thousand-Armed Kannon in his mental space and project it into the real world.
• Aoki Tsuki summoned a hundred-meter-tall Thousand-Armed Kannon above the lake, but using it drained him after two minutes.
• After his leave ended, Konan assigned Aoki Tsuki to intelligence work, and he reluctantly accepted the secret mission.
• Aoki Tsuki shouted “Pain!!” while striking a dramatic pose, prompting Konan to decide that new peripheral Akatsuki members should use the gesture when pledging loyalty.

Aoki Tsuki sent the Jashin Cult to establish a public presence in the Land of Fire while Akatsuki secretly built an intelligence network there. The cult began its first attack in the capital by abducting weapons merchant Kido Kōsuke and his guards, leaving them hanging at Shinmei Shrine.

• Pain shifted Akatsuki's intelligence efforts toward the Land of Fire and assigned Aoki Tsuki to lead operations there with Butsushura and Jashin Cult members.
• Aoki Tsuki ordered the cult to operate publicly as the Left Hand of God and to mark assassinations with bloody left handprints, while Akatsuki recruited and gathered intelligence in secret.
• Aoki Tsuki rallied the cult to announce its arrival with an attack, and Butsushura led the believers in pledging their hearts to Lord Jashin.
• Jashin Cult missionaries distributed leaflets in the capital, where residents mocked and rejected them; Doru and Tatsuya decided the locals deserved to be sacrificed.
• That night, explosions and fighting broke out at Kido Kōsuke's residence, and poisonous smoke knocked him unconscious before the attackers abducted him and his guards.
• Kido Kōsuke woke hanging beneath a torii gate at Shinmei Shrine, where he saw his guards suspended from the other gates and scythe-wielding figures nearby.

The Jashin Cult killed Kido Kōsuke in a bloody ritual, while Aoki Tsuki placed a thirty-million-ryo bounty for information about Shisui Uchiha’s death. The attack heightened tensions in the Land of Fire and Konoha, and Danzo promised to find the person behind it as Root sought new recruits.

• The Jashin Cult sacrificed Kido Kōsuke and his guards at a shrine, then left the priests unharmed as Konoha Ninja discovered the bodies.
• Aoki Tsuki posted a thirty-million-ryo request at the underground exchange for leads on Shisui Uchiha’s mysterious death.
• The daimyo ordered officials to calm the public, hunt down the killers, and give Konoha half a month to capture them.
• Asuma and Chiriku discussed Kazuma’s effort to recruit Guardian Ninja to his faction, while Kazuma sent Hoshisame to investigate the attack and the bounty.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders confronted Danzo, who pledged that Root would find and secretly execute the culprit within a week.
• Danzo asked the clans to provide one recruit apiece for Root, and Hiruzen told him not to force them.

Danzo sent Raidō and Tatsumi Yon to investigate the attacks and the rumors about Shisui, while Fugaku planned a secret Uchiha investigation in Kyoto. Meanwhile, Aoki Tsuki expanded the Jashin Cult’s intelligence network and business ventures, and the chapter ended with Kojima Sakae being recruited by the cult.

• Danzo ordered Raidō to investigate the false information about Konoha and hunt Jashin Cult attackers, assigning Tatsumi Yon to handle any captured Uchiha.
• Fugaku approved Tekka’s plan to secretly travel to Kyoto and investigate Shisui’s death while Inabi distracted the Anbu.
• Butsushura reported that the Jashin Cult had established fifteen bases, forty-nine safe houses, and partnerships to gather intelligence, while Aoki Tsuki directed its expansion and secrecy measures.
• Aoki Tsuki had the Violet Corporation registered and ordered it to acquire the rights to Icha Icha Paradise for coded messages and public influence.
• After Kojima Sakae was rejected for a job, a Jashin Cult member offered him a paid role spreading the cult’s teachings.

Hoshisame infiltrated a Jashin Cult initiation and discovered its members were being pushed to murder captives, while Aoki Tsuki recruited the shaken Kojima Sakae for a new task. Hoshisame reported back to Kazuma, who ordered surveillance near the bounty exchange as Konoha’s investigation and tensions among the Twelve Guardian Ninja continued.

• Doru recruited the unemployed Kojima Sakae into the Jashin Cult, while Hoshisame secretly watched them and followed them to their temporary headquarters.
• Aoki Tsuki presented captured intelligence agents as sacrifices, and the cult pressured new members to kill them; Kojima Sakae broke down and refused.
• Aoki Tsuki made Kojima Sakae an outer member and assigned him to collect and organize clues about Shisui Uchiha’s death.
• Hoshisame reported the cult’s activities to Kazuma, who ordered him to watch the bounty exchange because Konoha would likely pursue the source of the false Shisui rumors.
• Asuma and Chiriku discussed Hoshisame’s disappearance, Konoha’s arrival under Hayama Shirakumo, and their readiness to stop Kazuma if he acted against them.

Kojima Sakae entered the Exchange to buy intelligence about Shisui, drawing the Uchiha and Anbu into a violent clash over the information. Tekka’s group escaped with Kojima and the Exchange manager’s ledger, while Tekka stayed behind to delay the pursuing Anbu.

• Kojima Sakae found the Exchange, bought intelligence about Shisui for five hundred thousand ryō, and panicked after learning who Shisui was.
• An Uchiha rescued Kojima from an attacker outside the Exchange, and Tekka’s group fought off the surrounding Anbu and other observers.
• Tekka seized the Exchange manager’s ledger, which recorded Kojima as a suspected Jashin Cult member, and left with Kojima and the others as the Anbu attacked again.
• Tekka sent Naoto and Yo ahead with Kojima and the injured Yoka, then used a Shadow Clone, Explosive Tags, and a Great Dragon Fire Technique to strike the pursuing Anbu.

Uchiha Naoto rescued Tekka from Raidō and Tatsumi Yon, and another masked fighter forced the Anbu to retreat. In the capital, Konoha prepared to move against the Jashin Cult, but Hayama Shirakumo discovered its veteran members had already left, raising suspicion that someone had leaked the operation.

• Raidō and Tatsumi Yon weakened Tekka with poison gas and poisoned senbon, but Naoto ambushed an Anbu and helped Tekka escape.
• Naoto and Tekka joined Yo to repel the pursuing Anbu, while a masked fighter attacked Raidō's squad and killed another subordinate; Raidō ordered a retreat to report to Danzo.
• Hoshisame woke near the bounty exchange and returned to Kazuma, who told his followers to prepare for a fight that night.
• Hayama Shirakumo told Asuma that the Third had ordered a swift response to the suspected plot, and Asuma agreed to meet Kazuma that night.
• Hayama led Konoha's sweep of the capital and captured the Jashin Cult members who remained there, but learned its veteran members had left the previous day.
• Hayama suspected the Jashin Cult had learned of the operation in advance and wondered whether a Guardian Ninja had leaked the plan.

Uchiha Tekka and Naoto met Aoki Tsuki, the Akatsuki's Azure Dragon, to learn how Shisui died and struck a deal for information. After Aoki Tsuki revealed Shisui's powerful genjutsu and its connection to Root, he fought the Uchiha pair, spared them, and gave them a way to contact him.

• Tekka and Naoto brought Kojima Sakae to Aoki Tsuki's cavern hideout, where Aoki Tsuki asked them to release him before discussing a deal.
• Aoki Tsuki revealed that he was Azure Dragon of the Akatsuki and asked for Kūku's location so he could negotiate long-term weapon purchases with the Ninja Cat Clan.
• Tekka gave Aoki Tsuki Kūku's location, and Aoki Tsuki explained that Shisui had used a powerful mind-altering genjutsu during an ambush involving Root.
• Tekka and Naoto attacked Aoki Tsuki after getting the information, but he defeated them in a brief fight and explained that he spared them because they could help keep Root in check and because he had promised someone.
• Aoki Tsuki gave Tekka and Naoto a way to contact him, and the injured pair left the cavern together.

Asuma and Chiriku confronted Kazuma over his coup, and their clash escalated into a battle that destroyed the Twelve Guardian Ninja. After Kazuma and the Lightning Release Four-Man Squad died, Asuma decided to return to Konoha while Chiriku headed back to his temple.

• Aoki Tsuki promoted Kojima Sakae and sent him to Ancient Tanzaku Castle to join the Jashin Cult there.
• Asuma and Chiriku urged Kazuma to abandon his plan, but Kazuma attacked them with Hoshisame’s support.
• Asuma wounded Kazuma, who escaped by using an Earth Clone, and then joined his remaining supporters against the Lightning Release Four-Man Squad.
• The Lightning Release Four-Man Squad unleashed its Four Pillar Bind technique, killing Kazuma and his supporters before Nauma, Tōu, Seito, and Kitane died from the attack’s toll.
• Hayama Shirakumo took the surviving Hoshisame for interrogation, while Asuma chose to return to the village and Chiriku decided to return to his temple.

Hayama Shirakumo’s squad confronted Aoki Tsuki in an underground cavern, where Aoki killed Yusuke and escaped the collapse before fighting the squad again near a river. Hayama’s strongest attack failed to finish Aoki, and the chapter left the two sides locked in battle as Aoki anticipated Konoha’s hidden tactics.

• Hayama Shirakumo led Tokuma Hyuga and Yusuke into Aoki Tsuki’s cavern, where Aoki attacked with water and lightning, killing Yusuke as the others retreated.
• Hayama and Tokuma escaped after their allies collapsed the cavern entrance, then Tokuma located Aoki near Crescent Moon Valley.
• Hayama exchanged powerful Wind Release attacks with Aoki, who countered them with swordsmanship and Water Release.
• Hayama used Great Void: Storm Pressure Blast, but Aoki escaped with Water Body Flicker and ambushed him with Cloud Piercer.
• Hayama regrouped with his squad and coordinated attacks against Aoki, who dodged while staying near the river and recognized Konoha’s tactics.

Aoki Tsuki fought Konoha’s Anbu and allied ninja, revealing a Thousand-Armed Kannon technique before entering Sage Mode and overwhelming their formation. As the battle left Nara Suzaku exhausted, Hayama Shirakumo intercepted Aoki Tsuki’s attack to protect him.

• Konoha’s forces trapped Aoki Tsuki with the Four-Corner Sealing Formation, but Yamanaka Fū’s mental attack failed and Akimichi Shitō’s punch was stopped by Aoki Tsuki’s Thousand-Armed Kannon.
• Aoki Tsuki’s Kannon struck down several fighters, so Raidō ordered B formation and the ninja used Akimichi Shitō’s spinning attack, an earth swamp, lightning, and fire to trap him.
• Aoki Tsuki absorbed Natural Energy in the swamp, entered Sage Mode, and emerged with increased Chakra, then broke the lightning pillars and fought back against the Anbu.
• Akimichi Shitō grew gigantic and attacked the Kannon, but Raidō’s water-and-lightning technique disrupted his transformation, and Nara Suzaku pulled him to safety.
• Aoki Tsuki released the Kannon and used Sage Lightning Burial to kill and paralyze Anbu, while Nara Suzaku’s shadow techniques rescued their allies.
• Aoki Tsuki lunged at Nara Suzaku, but Hayama Shirakumo intercepted the blade with his sword.

Aoki Tsuki escaped a renewed attack by Konoha shinobi after neither side could overcome the other, then persuaded Konan to release Kikuno Momo and planned to make her his secretary. When Kikuno Momo returned to the Silver Fish Pavilion, she did not recognize him.

• Aoki Tsuki fought off Konoha's Anbu and Root members, injured Nara Suzaku and Akimichi Shitō, and escaped after Raidō's lightning attack missed him.
• Aoki Tsuki returned to Amegakure and asked Konan to release Kikuno Momo so he could use her connections with the Ninja Cat Clan; Konan agreed and warned him not to ask again.
• Konan arranged for Kikuno Momo to return to the Silver Fish Pavilion, where Aoki Tsuki announced that the shop belonged to her again.
• Kikuno Momo asked Aoki Tsuki who he was, leaving him stunned and spitting blood.

Aoki Tsuki took Kikuno Momo to Kūku, where he arranged a weapons and medicine supply deal with Cat Granny while Kikuno Momo reunited with her summon cat, Xiaohei. A message Shisui Uchiha had left for her devastated Kikuno Momo, and Aoki Tsuki set off with her for Ancient Tanzaku Castle.

• Aoki Tsuki claimed to be Kikuno Momo’s sworn younger brother, and she accepted the explanation despite having lost her memories of Amegakure and the people connected to it.
• Aoki Tsuki and Kikuno Momo entered Kūku, where Ninja Cats guided them along separate paths to Cat Granny and Xiaohei.
• Kikuno Momo reunited with Xiaohei and received a note Shisui Uchiha had left for her, then collapsed in grief after reading it.
• Aoki Tsuki offered Cat Granny a deposit and weapon designs to secure a long-term supply of custom weapons and medicines for the Akatsuki, and she agreed to work with him.
• Aoki Tsuki left Kūku with the distraught Kikuno Momo and said they would travel to Ancient Tanzaku Castle in the Land of Fire for intelligence work.

Itachi and Fugaku discussed the Uchiha clan’s worsening conflict with Konoha, while Fugaku learned that an Uchiha woman had joined Akatsuki and ordered a secret effort to bring her back. In Tanzaku, Aoki Tsuki directed the Jashin Cult’s recruitment and planned attacks near Konoha, then told Kikuno Momo he would withdraw to study ninjutsu.

• Itachi told Fugaku that the clan’s path toward ruin seemed impossible to stop, and Fugaku later regretted placing so much hope in his young son.
• Uchiha Yashiro reported Akatsuki’s growth and revealed that an Uchiha woman had joined the organization, so Fugaku ordered Tekka and Naoto to negotiate with Azure Dragon and bring her back.
• Aoki Tsuki heard reports that the Jashin Cult had recruited 283 believers and directed its leaders to win support by helping the poor, punishing criminals, and distributing promotional goods.
• Tsuki ordered Doru to arrange a suicide squad’s show of force near Konoha and said he would seek a deal with the Uchiha to help operatives enter the area.
• Tsuki discussed the Nine-Tails’ Disturbance and Shisui’s death with Kikuno Momo, then announced he would go into seclusion to develop ninjutsu.