Chapter Summaries

Yuan rescued Kabuto from Sunagakure forces, learned of Sunagakure’s puppet-army plans, and investigated the Karel Mineral Veins. He left the mine with Pakura and Kakuzu captured, while Sunagakure prepared to turn the ore into powerful puppets.

• Yuan found Kabuto trapped by Baki’s Hidden Sand forces and rescued him before the Exploding Tag detonated.
• Kabuto told Yuan that Sunagakure and Akatsuki were developing a puppet army powered by the Gelel Ore Vein and the Dragon Vein, and Yuan sent him to the Land of Grass base after learning Yakushi Nonō was alive in the Hidden Stone Village.
• Chiyo and Ebizo examined a captured Leaf spy for their human-puppet experiments, while Rasa ordered the Four Symbols Puppet prepared and watched over the Karel Mineral Veins.
• Yuan arrived at the Karel mine and confronted Scorch Release Yōkura, freezing Pakura after her attack failed.
• Kakuzu attacked Yuan but was trapped by Wood Release, and Yuan learned that the Karel Ore had been sent to Sunagakure for the production of Super Kage Puppets.

Uchiha Yuan infiltrated Sunagakure with Kakuzu and Pakura to seize its Karel Ore and investigate its weapons program. Pakura killed Rasa’s decoy and pursued the One-Tail Jinchuriki, while Yuan defeated the real Rasa and took the village’s ore reserves.

• Yuan forced Kakuzu and Pakura to pledge loyalty, then entered Sunagakure with them under the cover of an ore shipment.
• Rasa investigated the attacked Karel Mine, recognized the infiltration, and sent a clone back to Sunagakure as Shisui and Long escaped after fighting him.
• Pakura confronted Rasa in the Kazekage’s office, killed the Chunin serving as his decoy, and rushed toward the Kazekage Residence to capture the One-Tail Jinchuriki.
• Yuan defeated Chiyo and Ebizo at the Puppet Research Institute, learned that Rasa held half the Karel Ore as a reserve, and went after him.
• The real Rasa attacked Yuan with gold dust and puppet cannons, but Yuan countered with Wood Release and Magnet Release, killed him, and absorbed the gold dust and ore into Kamui.

Pakura helped Yuan take Gaara from Sunagakure after Rasa’s death, while the other hidden villages learned that Yuan had claimed the One-Tail. Yuan then found the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, Kaede, in Takigakure and brought her to Konoha, where Kurama Shion received Gaara and Yashamaru.

• Pakura arrived at Rasa’s home and asked Yashamaru to let Gaara leave Sunagakure; Yuan appeared and stopped Shukaku’s rampage, persuading Yashamaru to come with them.
• Chiyo told the leaders of Stone, Sand, and Mist that Rasa had died and Yuan had taken the One-Tail Jinchuriki; Black Zetsu offered Akatsuki’s assistance.
• Yuan, Kakuzu, and Pakura traveled to Waterfall Country to find the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, and Yuan encountered Kaede being bullied by children in Takigakure.
• Yuan took Kaede with him after she accepted his offer of friendship; Kakuzu clashed with Takigakure ninja and returned with a bundle before they headed to Konoha.
• Shisui and Long delivered Gaara, Yashamaru, and other Hidden Sand ninja to Kurama Shion at Konoha’s Jinchuriki Testing Grounds.

Uchiha Yuan gained Chakra from Shukaku and Chomei after Kurama persuaded the Tailed Beasts to support his plan for a peaceful ninja world, then investigated Sunagakure’s unusual puppets. As preparations for war began, Yuan and Kakuzu set their sights on controlling the Bounty Station, and Yuan disguised himself as Lord Hades to examine the bounty organization’s intelligence on him.

• Yashamaru brought Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro to Konoha, where the villagers welcomed Gaara and Yugito met him.
• Yuan brought Yugito, Gaara, and Kaede into his Mental Space, where Matatabi and Kurama convinced Shukaku and Chomei to lend him Chakra.
• Yuan inspected Sunagakure’s Father and Mother and Four Symbols Puppet, then gave all six puppets to Kabuto for research.
• Yuan told Kakuzu that Konoha and Kumogakure would prepare for war, and Kakuzu suggested taking control of the Bounty Station to raise funds.
• Yuan and Kakuzu met Lai Ren at a public toilet, where Yuan posed as Lord Hades and reviewed detailed intelligence about himself before claiming he would bring Uchiha Yuan’s corpse.

Yuan traced the bounty on his life to Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, Danzo, and Hiruzen Sarutobi, then used Danzo’s White Zetsu incarnation to test Hiruzen’s attitude toward the Uchiha. The chapter ended with Yuan ordering Kakashi to recruit members for the External Special Operations Force, including Asuma Sarutobi.

• After the attack on the Uchiha compound, Kakuzu delivered Yuan’s severed arm to the Bounty Station and collected a bounty of five hundred million ryo.
• Yuan tracked the arm to the Daimyo’s Residence, infiltrated the Military Minister’s residence, and learned that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was involved in the bounty.
• Yuan searched a temple and found evidence that Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi were also among the bounty’s buyers.
• Possessing Danzo’s White Zetsu incarnation, Yuan asked Hiruzen whether the Hokage position could pass to the Uchiha, but Hiruzen rejected the idea.
• Yuan, still disguised as Danzo, gave Kakashi a recruitment list for the External Special Operations Force, with Asuma Sarutobi at the top.

Asuma infiltrated the Guardian Ninja Twelve and learned they sought to eliminate threats to the Land of Fire’s daimyo, then discovered evidence that his father, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had endangered Konoha through his political actions. Kakuzu offered Asuma Hashirama Cells Inner Armor and a choice between standing by Hiruzen or acting against him, and Asuma accepted the armor.

• Yuan assigned Kakashi to recruit ninjas for the External Special Operations Force while continuing to plan a covert way to eliminate the Old Hokage.
• Kakuzu tasked Asuma with infiltrating the Guardian Ninja Twelve, and Asuma joined the group after preparing for half a month.
• After three months, Asuma heard Kazuma argue that the daimyo should be the Land of Fire’s sole ruler and that the Guardian Ninja Twelve existed to erase other potential rulers.
• Asuma reported the group’s purpose to Kakuzu, who questioned whether he would let Konoha grow beyond the daimyo’s control or stop his father.
• Kakuzu showed Asuma evidence of Hiruzen’s actions against the Uchiha and revealed that Yuan had sent him to guide Asuma.
• Asuma accepted the Hashirama Cells Inner Armor and chose to take the power Kakuzu offered.

Yuan manipulated Asuma Sarutobi into joining a plot against Hiruzen Sarutobi, while Hiruzen prepared for an assassination attempt at the Hokage Building. Asuma ultimately stabbed his father after the attack began, leaving Hiruzen dying and blaming Danzo.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Yuan, posing as Danzo, sparred in the Training Chamber while Kakuzu, Kakashi Hatake, and Asuma watched and gathered intelligence.
• Kakuzu pressured Asuma to act against his father, and Yuan used the Great Demon's Predestined Fate Mangekyo dojutsu to deepen Asuma's resolve.
• Asuma gave Kazuma intelligence about Hiruzen, then visited Kurenai Yuhi before reporting to his father that an attack was planned.
• The Guardian Ninja Twelve attacked the Hokage Building with a powerful Lightning Release technique, but Hiruzen defeated four attackers with the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
• Asuma stabbed Hiruzen from behind, and Hiruzen discovered that his eldest son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, had also been killed before he died cursing Danzo.

After the Third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, and Shimura Danzō died, Konoha’s leaders debated who should become the next Hokage while Yuan advanced his own plans. Yuan used the Crimson Moon Technique to send Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Fugaku, Shisui, Kakashi, and Itachi to a strange version of the Hokage world, where they began searching for answers.

• Hizashi Hyuga presented investigation findings linking the attackers to the Guardian Ninja Twelve, and Orochimaru said officials at the Daimyo’s Residence had hostile attitudes toward Konoha.
• Torifu Akimichi proposed holding a jonin confidence vote for the next Hokage, while Jiraiya and Orochimaru later questioned Yuan about Asuma’s role in the Third Hokage’s death.
• Yuan gave Kakuzu a list of ninja whose Chakra signatures he wanted, then used the Crimson Moon Technique to travel to a parallel Hokage world.
• Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Fugaku, Shisui, Kakashi, and Itachi awoke beneath a blood-red moon in the unfamiliar village and found a different Fourth Hokage statue.
• Kakashi discovered that Minato’s grave had been replaced by Haruno Kizashi’s, while Fugaku and Itachi found Yuan’s name on a gravestone.

Yuan sent Fugaku, Itachi, Kakashi, Orochimaru, and others to a parallel Konoha shortly before the Uchiha Clan Massacre, where their counterparts and the village’s history were radically different. After learning that the parallel Uchiha were being weakened by the Hokage’s policies, Yuan told Fugaku that the visitors might help resolve the clan’s conflict with Konoha’s higher-ups.

• Fugaku, Itachi, and Kakashi investigated the parallel Konoha cemetery and concluded that its higher-ups were still alive and the world differed greatly from their own.
• Shisui hid in an abandoned house, where Orochimaru found him and asked him to contact Yuan about ending the transfer ninjutsu.
• Yuan watched the displaced ninja through a Crystal Ball and ordered Kakuzu to bring their parallel-world counterparts to him.
• Yuan visited his laboratory, observed the growth of a humanoid plant cultivated from a Demonic Statue Fragment, and assigned Kabuto research on Mangekyo tissue.
• Kakuzu brought Yuan the parallel-world counterparts, and Fugaku and Itachi explained that the Uchiha were being weakened by the Hokage and forced to focus on increasing their population.
• Yuan told Fugaku that the people sent to the parallel world might help the Uchiha resolve their conflict with Konoha’s higher-ups.

Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi thwarted the planned attack on the Uchiha by secretly wiping out the Sarutobi and Shimura Clans, forcing Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo to tolerate the Uchiha. Yuan rejected the three as Hokage candidates, while Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, and Kakashi found Uchiha Madara beneath the Mountain Graveyard as they searched for Obito.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo pretended to accept Fugaku’s promise to postpone the Uchiha population expansion, then ordered Orochimaru to lead ANBU in wiping out the Uchiha.
• Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi agreed that a coup would fail and decided to eliminate the Sarutobi and Shimura Clans instead.
• Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi secretly destroyed both clans before midnight, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo held back from attacking the Uchiha amid threats from other villages.
• Yuan decided that Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi were not suitable Hokage candidates because Fugaku favored the Uchiha Clan.
• Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, and Kakashi entered the underground base beneath the Mountain Graveyard to search for Obito and encountered Uchiha Madara.

Yuan fought Uchiha Madara of this Different World, who captured Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze of this Different World before battling Yuan to a standstill. After they stopped fighting, Yuan learned that Madara still cared about Konoha Hidden Village and suggested he return as Hokage.

• Uchiha Madara of this Different World captured Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze of this Different World with Wood Release and poison gas.
• Yuan confronted Madara, and the two clashed with Susanoo, Mangekyo abilities, and powerful ninjutsu.
• Yuan used Sage Art and environmental attacks to counter Madara's Kamui, leading Madara to abandon his chance of victory.
• Madara asked Yuan about Konoha Hidden Village, and Yuan explained that the Uchiha Clan remained distrusted while Sarutobi and the Shimura Clan had been destroyed.
• Yuan suggested Madara return to Konoha Hidden Village and serve as Hokage, but Madara denied that he wanted the position.

Yuan persuaded Madara of the Different World to give up his life so Yuan could erase his memories and bind his soul to a Demonic Statue Fragment, creating a girl resembling Kaguya whom he intended to train as Hokage. After learning that Nagato of the Different World had vanished, Yuan acquired Fugaku’s Mangekyo ability and returned to the Rain Country to search for him.

• Yuan explained his plan to make Madara’s purified soul the mind of a new life-form and a potential Hokage, and Madara cut off the Demonic Statue Fragment’s life-force supply before dying.
• Yuan erased Madara’s memories and emotions and sealed the soul into a humanoid plant body, which transformed into a young girl resembling Otsutsuki Kaguya.
• Yuan found Yahiko and Konan of the Different World and used genjutsu to learn that Nagato had vanished after being gravely wounded alongside Salamander Hanzo about seven years earlier.
• Yuan returned to the original world and confirmed to Fugaku that he, Shisui, and Itachi had failed the Hokage assessment; Fugaku provided tissue so Yuan could acquire his Mangekyo ability.
• Yuan used Fugaku’s Mangekyo ability to return to the Rain Country, where he searched the place Nagato had disappeared.

Yuan uncovered Black Zetsu’s cross-world Rinnegan scheme, then turned to teaching Kaguya while events at Rōran’s Dragon Vein spiraled out of control. Black Zetsu emerged from the seal and ordered Tobi and Sasori to keep it safe, but the Dragon Vein erupted in a pillar of green light.

• Yuan used Toyoashihara to discover that Black Zetsu had traveled between worlds, taken the Different World Nagato’s Rinnegan, and may have been gathering Rinnegan power for Madara’s eyes.
• Yuan returned to the Land of Grass and assigned Kabuto to teach Kaguya basic knowledge of the shinobi world.
• Sarah traveled to Rōran’s ruins to check the Fourth Hokage’s seal, but Gurken followed her and Sasori killed him while demanding the seal key.
• Sasori took Sarah’s pendant, but the seal repaired itself; Obito arrived and explained that Minato had replaced the key and reinforced the seal.
• Black Zetsu emerged from the seal and ordered Tobi to accompany him to Kirigakure while Sasori watched the Dragon Vein, but green light erupted from the ruins and Black Zetsu demanded to know what they had done.

As Konoha prepared to choose a successor to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Kakashi discussed the Hokage candidates while Orochimaru gathered support for his own bid. Yuan urged the Uchiha to back Kaguya, who demonstrated her knowledge and strength before arriving at the jonin meeting to enter the race herself.

• Jiraiya and Kakashi discussed the Hokage succession, and Kakashi received a summons from Torifu Akimichi for the confidence vote.
• Orochimaru met with his supporters and declared that he would nominate himself as the Fifth Hokage.
• Yuan asked the Uchiha to vote for Kaguya, and Kaguya argued that she understood Konoha's conflicts and could prove her qualifications through strength.
• Fugaku and Yuan led the Uchiha to the jonin meeting, where Torifu Akimichi opened the nominations and Orochimaru registered as a candidate.
• Kaguya arrived late at the meeting and announced that she would also become Hokage.

Kaguya appeared at the Hidden Leaf's Fifth Hokage confidence vote, used genjutsu to silence Orochimaru's supporters, and was accepted as a candidate alongside Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Kakashi. After Orochimaru led the vote count, Kaguya called him her Grandmaster and challenged him to consider whether one village or the entire ninja world mattered more.

• Kaguya declared her intention to become Hokage, and Torifu Akimichi considered her candidacy after suspecting she had defeated the injured Uchiha jonin.
• Kaguya used genjutsu without Hand Seals on Orochimaru's supporters, and Yuan said her abilities were a secret shared by the Uchiha and Senju Clan.
• Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Kakashi supported Kaguya's candidacy, and Torifu Akimichi added all four of them to the Hokage election.
• The jonin voted publicly, with Orochimaru receiving the most votes and Kaguya the fewest.
• Orochimaru asked Yuan to explain Kaguya and his strange dream, but Kaguya called him Grandmaster and questioned whether the village or the whole ninja world mattered more.

Kaguya challenged Orochimaru for the Fifth Hokage candidacy and defeated him with her Mangekyō Sharingan, driving him to abandon politics and return to research. Yuan and Kaguya investigated the Dragon Vein at Rōran and found signs that Black Zetsu had altered the past, while the Third Mizukage prepared to create a Three-Tails Jinchuriki using bloodline-ninja remains.

• Kaguya challenged Orochimaru to a duel, then used her Mangekyō Sharingan to ensnare him with Great Demon's Predestined Fate.
• Orochimaru abandoned his Hokage bid and returned to his laboratory in Sea Country, while the Uchiha Clan agreed to support Kaguya's candidacy.
• Yuan and Kaguya investigated the Dragon Vein at Rōran, found its seal reinforced, and Yuan suspected Black Zetsu had used it to travel into the past.
• Kaguya asked Yuan about her origin, and he told her she had been created accidentally through an experiment.
• The Third Mizukage examined preserved bloodline-ninja remains and announced that the Three-Tails Jinchuriki was nearly ready.

Yuan and Kaguya intervened in Kirigakure as its ANBU hunted Kekkei Genkai clans and Isobu prepared to break free. Kaguya captured the Three-Tails, while Yuan faced Deva Path Yahiko and five unfamiliar Paths of Pain.

• Yuan watched an ANBU agent kill Haku’s mother and tried to save Haku, then left Kaguya to care for the boy.
• Yuan used genjutsu to question Zabuza Momochi and Hozuki Mangetsu without their knowledge, then learned from a Hidden Leaf spy that Kirigakure was collecting intact Kekkei Genkai corpses.
• Isobu broke free during a sealing ritual, grievously wounded Harusame, and killed the Hidden Mist ninja guarding the altar.
• Kaguya pulled Isobu into the Kamui Dimension and went searching for Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Yuan confronted Deva Path Yahiko and five other Paths of Pain on a mountain path and declared that he intended to stop or kill them.

Yuan defeated the Six Paths of Pain, reanimated Yahiko, and confronted Nagato and Konan about Akatsuki’s ideals. Nagato and Konan escaped, and Yuan declared that the conflict between Akatsuki and the Hidden Leaf Village had entered its most intense stage.

• Nagato sent the Six Paths of Pain to test Yuan, but Yuan used Wood, Water, and Ice Release to destroy five of them and overwhelm Deva Path Pain.
• Yuan removed Deva Path Pain’s Black Receivers, sensed Nagato’s location, and used Impure World Reincarnation to bring Yahiko back.
• Yuan and Yahiko reached Nagato and Konan’s Mountain Cave, but the two escaped with the Reverse Summoning Technique before Yuan arrived.
• Yuan questioned Nagato and Konan’s belief that shared pain could lead to mutual understanding, arguing that the shinobi world’s resource system fueled conflict.
• Yuan ended the encounter by dispelling Yahiko and the projections, then declared that the struggle between Akatsuki and the Hidden Leaf Village had begun in earnest.

Yuan subdued Sasori in Kirigakure and discovered that the village’s leaders were preparing a coup against the Third Mizukage. As the coup began, Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza Momochi betrayed the Third Mizukage and struck him under Mei Terumi’s direction.

• Yuan dissected Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain, learned how several had become political pawns, and speculated about Nagato’s growing strength.
• In Kirigakure, Sasori attacked Kaguya with his puppets, but Yuan used invisibility and Wood Release to drain Sasori’s Chakra and capture him.
• Kaguya told Yuan that the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki was under the Third Mizukage’s protection, while Ao tried to keep Yuan from interfering with the coup.
• At the Mizukage Building, the Third Mizukage exposed Mei Terumi’s coup plans and ordered her to fight the intruder.
• Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza Momochi, controlled by Mei Terumi’s genjutsu, stabbed the Third Mizukage and attacked as Mei committed to the coup.

Yuan witnessed Hidden Mist’s coup overthrow the Third Mizukage and expose Genji and Gonbei’s plans to purge the kekkai genkai clans and silence Mei Terumi. After Mei learned she had been used and escaped, Yuan concluded that villages like Hidden Mist and Konoha did not deserve peace.

• Genji and Ao’s forces launched a coup against the Third Mizukage, while Yuan discussed Hidden Mist’s persecution of kekkai genkai ninja with Ao.
• Mei Terumi killed the Third Mizukage, and Ao confirmed the coup was over as Yuan demanded payment for delaying him and threatened to reclaim the Hyuga Clan’s main-family Byakugan.
• Genji and Gonbei planned to eliminate Mei Terumi despite her role in the coup, while Gonbei went to her under the guise of rescuing her.
• Yuan used genjutsu to reveal Gonbei’s betrayal, and Mei questioned him and learned that Genji had treated her and the coup as tools for consolidating power.
• Mei killed Gonbei with Boil Release and vanished using the Body Flicker Technique after Yuan told her Hidden Mist did not deserve her devotion.