Recaps

Hoshino joined representatives from several villages to witness Kumogakure's secret weapon, the Chakra Cannon, while tensions flared between Ōnoki, Konan, and Raikage A. After a difficult test charge, the cannon obliterated a distant mountain range, leaving the assembled leaders stunned by its power.

• Hoshino traveled to the observation platform, where he found Jiraiya, Konan, Pain, and Ōnoki arguing over Deidara and the Akatsuki.
• Raikage A arrived, clashed verbally with Hoshino over Darui, and provoked Ōnoki by mocking him about his disciple.
• At Kumogakure's research institute, Killer B supplied the Chakra Cannon with Eight-Tails Chakra and used his tentacles to steady it as the charge threatened to destabilize.
• After half an hour of waiting and Ōnoki's mockery, the Chakra Cannon fired a massive lightning strike at a mountain range fifty kilometers away.
• The strike vaporized the mountain range and left a crater more than ten kilometers wide, while Raikage A surveyed the stunned witnesses with an arrogant smile.

After the Chakra Cannon demonstration, Raikage A revealed that it had only one-thousandth of its expected power, forcing the gathered leaders to reconsider the balance of power and their plans. They departed with the Four Kage Summit two days away, while Jiraiya sent an urgent warning to the old man.

• Raikage A said the Chakra Cannon was a test version operating at one-thousandth of its expected power, and the leaders realized Kumogakure possessed an overwhelming weapon.
• Hoshino and Raikage A traded barbs about Sunagakure's Mutant Insects and the Chakra Cannon as the leaders weighed their own villages' weapons and capabilities.
• Jiraiya urged the others to establish rules for using such weapons at the Four Kage Summit, scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
• Hoshino, Raikage A, Konan, Pain, and Ōnoki each left the observation platform, with Ōnoki sneering as he flew away.
• Jiraiya summoned a messenger toad and told it to notify the old man that the situation was worse than expected, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Nagato confronted the threat posed by Kumogakure’s Chakra Cannon and agreed with Obito that Akatsuki needed to pursue its own technological research. Obito proposed putting Sasori in charge and suggested Sasori’s feelings for Chiyo could persuade him to join.

• Nagato realized the Chakra Cannon could destroy Amegakure and ordered Black Zetsu to locate it and monitor its movements.
• Obito arrived and argued that Akatsuki had to adapt to the rise of human-made weapons.
• Obito proposed establishing an Akatsuki research institute in Amegakure, with Sasori leading projects on powerful weapons and improved combat abilities.
• Nagato doubted Sasori would accept, since Sasori valued puppet artistry over weapons of mass destruction.
• Obito suggested Sasori’s lingering feelings for Chiyo could convince him.

Obito persuaded Nagato to use Sasori’s artistic pride to secure his cooperation, and Konan prepared to host the Four Kage Summit in the Land of Rain. The leaders arrived and took their places, and Deva Path Pain opened the summit to decide the future of the Shinobi World.

• Obito convinced Nagato to frame Sasori’s role as a chance to create eternal art alongside Hoshino, and Nagato assigned Konan to approach him.
• Konan left to carry out Nagato’s plan, while Obito departed to deal with Sasuke.
• Konan welcomed Hiruzen Sarutobi, Raikage A, Ōnoki, and Hoshino and led their delegations through the guarded town to the conference room.
• The leaders took their seats before Deva Path Pain, with Konan and Sasori standing behind him.
• Deva Path Pain declared the summit open and said it would decide the future of the Shinobi World.

At the Five Kage Summit, the leaders argued over military power and Konoha’s proposed system of oversight before agreeing to withdraw troops from the border region. They then debated the Land of Rain’s neutrality and the Akatsuki’s activities, but Pain rejected Kumogakure’s demands.

• Hoshino demanded Kumogakure hand over the Chakra Cannon specifications, while Raikage A demanded that Sunagakure destroy its mutated insects.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi proposed a tiered management and control mechanism for nations with strategic weapons, but Sunagakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure showed little interest in accepting meaningful restrictions.
• Pain proposed ending the military standoff among Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure, and the three villages agreed to withdraw their troops from the buffer countries within fifteen days.
• Hoshino, Ōnoki, and Hiruzen Sarutobi supported making the Land of Rain permanently neutral, with limits to prevent it from becoming a military springboard.
• Raikage A demanded that Akatsuki members be registered and barred from operating outside the Land of Rain, but Pain rejected the conditions as too harsh.

The nations negotiated agreements on the Akatsuki, black-market regulation, medical cooperation, and resources before debating Sunagakure’s proposed Shinobi World Joint Council. The meeting ended with Raikage A asserting that Kumogakure and Sunagakure now held power, while Hiruzen Sarutobi’s attempt to influence the council was cut off.

• Pain refused to reveal all Akatsuki members, and the nations agreed that the Akatsuki would disclose five core members and avoid military activity in the four great nations in exchange for ending their bounties and respecting the Land of Rain’s internal affairs.
• The nations approved a black-market regulation agreement that placed oversight in the Land of Rain and prohibited bounties on senior shinobi and sales of village core technologies.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi proposed medical cooperation, but Hoshino, Raikage A, and Ōnoki limited what their villages would share.
• Ōnoki proposed joint development of border resources, and Raikage A proposed strategic weapons guidelines aimed at limiting the use of Sunagakure’s Mutant Insect Swarm.
• Hoshino presented Sunagakure’s Joint Council proposal, which gave Sunagakure and Kumogakure control of decision-making while assigning other villages lesser roles.
• As Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to expand the Administrative Court’s veto power, Raikage A slammed the table and declared that it was now their turn to call the shots.

Hoshino eased tensions between Raikage A, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Ōnoki by proposing a revised Shinobi World Joint Council that gave Sunagakure and Kumogakure leading authority while keeping Konoha and Iwagakure involved. The Four Great Shinobi Villages agreed on a tiered decision-making system, and smaller villages were left with only the right to propose ideas.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi objected to Raikage A's dismissive stance toward Konoha, and Ōnoki urged the villages to negotiate.
• Hoshino warned that an all-out war would harm every village and proposed a council led by Sunagakure and Kumogakure, with Konoha and Iwagakure participating at a secondary level.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Ōnoki approved Hoshino's proposal, and Raikage A accepted it after considering the risks of conflict.
• The four leaders established three tiers of council decisions, reserving routine authority for Sunagakure and Kumogakure and requiring broader agreement for important and major matters.
• The villages set meeting procedures and created an Akatsuki oversight group, while smaller villages received proposal rights but no power to decide council outcomes.

The Four Kage Summit established the Shinobi World Joint Council, with its headquarters to be set in the Land of Rain. Just as the Kage prepared to leave, a fierce battle erupted outside, and they went to investigate.

• Hoshino, Raikage A, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Ōnoki agreed to establish the Shinobi World Joint Council, while Kirigakure remained absent.
• Pain offered a town in the Land of Rain as the council’s jointly controlled headquarters, with the Akatsuki coordinating and Amegakure providing security.
• Hoshino told Raikage A that Darui had been sent back to Kumogakure, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Ōnoki urged Raikage A to trust him.
• A series of explosions and the sounds of battle broke out outside the conference room, prompting Konan and Sasori to rush toward the fighting.
• As the battle intensified, Hoshino and the other Kage rose to go outside and see what was happening.

Orochimaru arrived at the joint meeting as the leader of Otogakure and revealed an army of reincarnated dead as his village’s strategic weapon. He proposed a plan to restore their memories and personalities and let villages hire them, leaving the Kage torn between outrage and temptation.

• Orochimaru halted the black-robed figures attacking the Rain Ninja and introduced himself as Otogakure’s leader, asking for a seat on the Council.
• Orochimaru summoned hundreds of coffins and revealed powerful reincarnated figures, including Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, the Third Raikage, Mu, and the Third Kazekage.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi recognized the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu and warned Orochimaru that the dead could become uncontrollable.
• Raikage A and Ōnoki condemned Orochimaru for desecrating the dead, while Orochimaru proposed the Pure Land Return Plan and offered to let villages hire the reincarnated.
• Orochimaru told Pain he could restore the dead’s memories and personalities, but their time in the world would depend on the quality of their sacrifices.
• Raikage A and Ōnoki hesitated as they considered the possibility of seeing their fathers and the power of Mu again.

Orochimaru used the reanimated dead to secure Otogakure a place on the council and establish strict rules governing Impure World Reincarnation. After signing the convention, he restored the dead Kage's awareness, leaving them to reunite with their successors and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

• Orochimaru argued that Impure World Reincarnation could strengthen the Shinobi World, and Hoshino proposed Otogakure join the council as a secondary member.
• Raikage A, Ōnoki, and Pain accepted Otogakure's eligibility, leaving Hiruzen Sarutobi unable to stop them.
• The four great ninja villages signed the Impure World Reincarnation Usage Convention, restricting where the dead could stay, how they could be awakened, and how they could be controlled.
• Orochimaru restored the awareness of Mu, the Third Raikage, Tobirama Senju, and the Third Kazekage, then left them with the Kage for a month.
• Tobirama Senju questioned Hiruzen Sarutobi about the present and asked to see Konoha, while the other reanimated dead confronted their former students and successors.

A month after the Four Kage Summit, the Shinobi World Joint Conference took shape as Konoha announced major changes and Sunagakure’s Reform Society consolidated power and began sweeping reforms. The Reform Society Network built by Hoshino had spread throughout Sunagakure, supporting the rapid changes.

• The Four Great Shinobi Villages announced the Shinobi World Joint Conference, leaving small villages to decide whether to join or risk being marginalized.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi retired, Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage, and Konoha revealed that Naruto Uzumaki was Minato Namikaze’s son.
• Konoha established the Konoha Research Institute and announced the Dawn Project, a village-wide sealing defense system with a secret offensive function.
• The conference site was named Deliberation City, where the Four Great Shinobi Villages and the Akatsuki oversaw construction and imposed strict rules.
• The Reform Society eliminated the Council of Elders’ remaining forces, secured eighty percent of Sunagakure’s resources, and introduced broad changes to payments, cooperation, education, and law.
• Hoshino’s Reform Society Network had penetrated every part of Sunagakure and helped the Reform Society carry out its reforms.

The Reform Society faced resource shortages and coordinated sabotage that the Information Hub traced to the Daimyo of the Land of Wind’s residence. Hoshino proposed trade countermeasures and Gold Dust Notes to weaken the daimyo’s economic power, and the leaders finalized a plan to put those measures into action.

• Rasa reported that Sunagakure’s expansion was constrained by dwindling metal reserves, while Temari and Kankuro described sabotage of water channels, attacks on caravans, and a boycott of puppet products.
• Hoshino said the Information Hub had linked the incidents to political activity at the daimyo’s residence, and the leaders recognized the risk of provoking nobles across the Shinobi World.
• Hoshino proposed embargoes, exclusive trade agreements, and a Sunagakure Bank that would issue Gold Dust Notes backed by resources and future tax revenue.
• Rasa warned that the new currency would provoke a backlash and insisted that Sunagakure secure a stable supply of goods for its people.
• Hoshino suggested trade and settlement arrangements with Otogakure and Amegakure, and the leaders refined and finalized their plan after a day of discussion.

Hoshino arranged a three-day full-body cybernetic conversion for Kankuro as Sunagakure continued its postwar reconstruction and the Reform Society organized its departments. Kankuro reached the conversion room eager to begin, with Hoshino's clones and the equipment ready.

• Hoshino told Kankuro that his tailored cybernetic conversion would take about three days, and Kankuro confirmed he had cleared his schedule.
• Gaara and Hoshino watched Kankuro head to the underground laboratory, then inspected Sunagakure's construction and patrols together.
• Hoshino explained that the Reform Society's departments coordinated reconstruction while distributing authority and planning to hand some tasks back to private citizens as conditions stabilized.
• Kankuro saw researchers moving equipment to the new research headquarters, where Shinnō studied biology and the other Sky Ninja worked on prosthetics, modules, and Ancor Vantian.
• Hoshino's clones welcomed Kankuro to the conversion room, and Kankuro asked them to begin immediately.

Kankuro underwent a painful full-body prosthetic modification while Gaara prepared to have Shukaku extracted, determined to free him without dying. Hoshino introduced a life support system and recruited Orochimaru to help make the extraction survivable.

• Kankuro began a prosthetic body modification that replaced much of his skeleton with reinforced Shikotsumyaku and gave him Swift Release, firearms, and missile launchers.
• A runic core module was implanted in Kankuro's chest before the procedure overwhelmed his consciousness.
• Gaara told Hoshino he had decided to free Shukaku, and Shukaku appeared to tell him he did not need to rush.
• Orochimaru arrived as Hoshino prepared to extract Shukaku and agreed to examine the plan.
• Hoshino revealed a life support system designed to maintain Gaara's vital signs during extraction and asked Orochimaru to correct its flaws.

Orochimaru improved Hoshino’s life support system to better handle Tailed Beast Chakra, and Gaara entered it so Shukaku could be extracted. The extraction began, but Shukaku’s Chakra erupted and disrupted the system.

• Hoshino asked Orochimaru to help improve the life support system, and Orochimaru agreed.
• Orochimaru spent a day and night adapting the system with his biological research, improving its ability to handle Tailed Beast Chakra and protect the body.
• Gaara entered the chamber, and Hoshino and Orochimaru began monitoring the system as it extracted Shukaku.
• Shukaku resisted as the seal weakened, and Hoshino adjusted the energy supply to sustain Gaara’s life force.
• Shukaku’s Chakra erupted, making the chamber’s runes flicker and disrupting the flow of Zero-Tails Chakra.

Hoshino and Orochimaru successfully extracted Shukaku from Gaara, who woke three days later to find Shukaku alive and miniature. Hoshino set out with a delegation for the Land of Demons, where masked guards stopped them at the border to inspect their documents.

• Hoshino and Orochimaru stabilized Gaara's life-support system and completed Shukaku's extraction.
• Gaara woke in the hospital three days later, and Shukaku appeared as a tiny figure at his bedside.
• Hoshino persuaded Shukaku to try becoming the Reform Society's mascot and the boss of a new department.
• Hoshino told Gaara that Shadow Clones would manage the department while he traveled to the Land of Demons.
• Hoshino and twenty prosthetic ninjas entered the Land of Demons, where masked guards demanded to see their documents.

Hoshino arrived in the Land of Demons and met its young shrine maiden, Shion, at her residence. As they shared tea and discussed Sunagakure’s prosthetic technology, Hoshino began to connect it with the Land of Demons’ Sealing Jutsu.

• Hoshino’s party passed the border inspection and traveled to the capital of the Land of Demons.
• Hoshino entered the shrine maiden’s residence and met Shion, who welcomed him as Lord Hoshino of Sunagakure.
• Shion dropped her formal manner and invited Hoshino to share refreshments while they talked about the outside world.
• Hoshino learned that Shion knew about Sunagakure’s Reform Society, prosthetics, and the Shinobi Alliance.
• Shion asked whether Sunagakure’s prosthetics could regenerate lost limbs, and Hoshino explained that the technology relied on compatible Chakra pathways and had been inspired by Sealing Jutsu.

Hoshino learned from Shion that Moryo and the priestess were two sides of the same being, and that Moryo could awaken within three years. Shion also revealed that she had foreseen Hoshino’s death, though its details remained obscured.

• Shion explained that the first priestess split Moryo’s body and soul and that generations of priestesses had maintained the seal with their lives.
• Hoshino told Shion he wanted to find a way to balance the priestess and Moryo rather than destroy Moryo.
• Shion showed Hoshino the Sphere of Prophecy, which revealed Moryo’s seal was weakening and could fail within three years.
• Shion told Hoshino she had seen him die with her standing unharmed behind him, but she could not discern when or how it would happen.
• Hoshino said a prophecy showed only a possible future, and Shion warned that his death still had a high probability of occurring.

Hoshino left Shion to prepare for a nightly ritual at the shrine, reflecting on the burden she carried. In Deliberation City, the Shinobi Alliance accused Kusagakure of secretly developing the Box of Ultimate Bliss and called for a vote to seize it.

• Shion ended her conversation with Hoshino and had a guest room prepared for him as she prepared to begin a ritual.
• Hoshino followed a priestess from the hall and saw Shion readying herself under an older priestess’s guidance.
• At the Shinobi Alliance meeting, Maki accused the Land of Grass of developing a weapon of mass destruction at Hozuki Castle.
• Mitokado Homura and Maki cited Chakra-drained prisoners and a recording of Kusagakure shinobi near the Box of Ultimate Bliss as evidence.
• Mitokado Homura invoked the treaty and called for a vote on whether the Land of Grass must surrender the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

The Shinobi Alliance voted to seize the Box of Ultimate Bliss, and Maki used Aoki’s withdrawal threat to justify an invasion of Kusagakure. After announcing Operation Dawn, the alliance turned to plans to challenge the Land of Iron’s neutrality and gain access to its mineral resources.

• Kurotsuchi, Mabui, and Sunagakure voted to place the Box of Ultimate Bliss under the Shinobi Alliance’s control, and the proposal passed despite Aoki’s protests.
• Aoki tore off his representative badge and declared that Kusagakure could withdraw from the alliance, so Maki cited the charter’s rule that unilateral withdrawal counted as a declaration of war.
• Maki announced accusations against Kusagakure and Operation Dawn, while Mabui, Kabuto Yakushi, and Mitokado Homura outlined the invasion plan and Aoki was detained.
• After a break, Mabui proposed reassessing the Land of Iron’s neutral status, and Kurotsuchi argued that its mineral reserves were being wasted.
• The great nations’ arms race and resource shortages made the Land of Iron’s Chakra Metal deposits a target, putting its neutrality at risk.

Mifune accepted the Shinobi Alliance’s resource-sharing resolution to protect the Land of Iron, then departed to prepare for its consequences. Meanwhile, Alliance forces launched a coordinated assault on Kusagakure, with its fall appearing imminent.

• Kurotsuchi, Mabui, Kabuto Yakushi, and Shikaku Nara voted in favor of the resolution, while Sunagakure abstained, and Mifune accepted it on behalf of the Land of Iron.
• Mifune left the conference hall and headed home to prepare the Land of Iron for the changes ahead.
• Maki ordered Sunagakure’s Prosthetic Corps to surround Kusagakure and block every escape route.
• Kurotsuchi’s Iwagakure Explosion Corps breached Kusagakure’s defenses from the north while Shikaku Nara’s forces watched the eastern approach.
• Kabuto Yakushi led the Sound Ninja toward Kusagakure, anticipating that the Alliance’s campaign would target other smaller nations next.

The Shinobi Alliance overwhelmed Kusagakure, while Mui tried to power the Box of Ultimate Bliss with prisoners at Hozuki Castle. Kumogakure destroyed the castle with its Chakra Cannon, demonstrating the Alliance’s power to deter other challengers.

• Sunagakure and Iwagakure forces breached Kusagakure’s defenses, and the surviving Grass Ninja fled toward Hozuki Castle for reinforcements.
• Mui ordered the Heavenly Prison Barrier activated and the prisoners fed to the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
• The Sheep Elder and the centipede-faced elder sacrificed prisoners, including Grass Ninja, to charge the box.
• Raikage A fired Kumogakure’s Chakra Cannon at Hozuki Castle, vaporizing the castle, its occupants, and the fleeing Grass Ninja nearby.
• Shikaku Nara and the Shinobi Alliance representatives watched the ruins, using the strike as a warning to any force that might challenge the Alliance.

Hoshino spent a peaceful half-month with Shion in the Land of Demons while studying Moryo and Priestess Power. As the Shinobi Alliance tightened its grip on smaller nations, Hoshino tested Moryo’s sealed soul and considered using its corrosive Chakra to develop a new energy system.

• Hoshino received Maki’s message that Karin had been found and ordered her taken secretly to Sunagakure’s Scientific Research Department.
• Shion showed Hoshino a manuscript stating that Moryo’s power came from the same source as Priestess Power but had been distorted, and Hoshino hoped to find a way to solve the problem.
• Hoshino and Shion spent more than half a month studying together in the Land of Demons as news arrived that the Shinobi Alliance had divided the Land of Grass and taken control of the Land of Iron’s resources.
• Hoshino touched the seal around Moryo’s soul fragment, severed its attempt to invade his mind, and considered studying its corrosive Chakra to develop an energy system beyond Ninjutsu.

Hoshino studied the ancient priestess scroll and concluded that Priestess Power and Moryo’s Chakra came from fundamentally different energy systems, making direct fusion impossible. He began searching for a conversion medium and prepared to analyze Shion’s Priestess Power using Sunagakure’s Chakra sensing devices.

• Shion brought Hoshino an ancient scroll describing the First Priestess’s research into Moryo and her pursuit of an Eternal Jutsu.
• Hoshino inferred that Priestess Power was natural energy while Moryo’s Chakra was corrupted energy, and their union might produce a form beyond Sage Mode.
• Hoshino’s first fusion experiment caused an energy burst that shattered the sealing formulas, and he realized the two powers could not be directly balanced.
• Hoshino found a hidden passage indicating that only a priestess’s body could bear heaven’s power, and he theorized that the priestess and ninja systems converted energy differently.
• Inspired by Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal research, Hoshino proposed using a third variable as a conversion medium and began investigating Priestess Power’s essence.
• Hoshino placed Shion inside an observation array in the shrine courtyard and equipped it with sensing devices requisitioned from Sunagakure.

Hoshino studied Shion’s Priestess Power and found that its natural energy could be analyzed and partly replicated, but his mechanical body violently rejected it. He resolved to redesign his theories of machinery and planned to contact Pain and investigate shrines and Uzumaki sites for clues.

• Hoshino observed Shion perform the Purification Jutsu and learned that Priestess Power drew in Natural Energy and grew stronger with use.
• Shion explained that ancient priestesses could influence the flow of energy between heaven and earth, while Hoshino theorized that their bodies naturally guided Natural Energy.
• After a month of experiments, Hoshino built a device that channeled a small amount of Priestess Power into his mechanical body, though Shion noted that it lacked resonance with nature.
• Shion trained Hoshino to sense Natural Energy, but his mechanical systems and Chakra circuits repeatedly rejected it, nearly causing the Kikaichū and Shikotsumyaku to lose balance.
• Hoshino reconsidered his assumptions about machinery and decided to make it capable of understanding nature, then planned to contact Pain and visit sites connected to the Uzumaki Clan.