Naruto Manga Summary

Naruto Manga Chapter 464 - The Power of Darkness

2009-09-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

Raikage has broken through Sasuke’s Susanoo armor and leaps into the air to finish him off with a drop kick called Guillotine Drop. Sasuke tries to create more Amaterasu flames to protect himself, but he has overused his left eye and can’t open it. Sasuke’s only option is to use a new jutsu called Enton: Kagutsuchi (Enton = flame element) to manipulated the remaining Amaterasu around him into a small shield to protect him against the Raikage. But just before the Raikage’s attack makes contact, a cloud of sand appears between them to stop the fighting.

Gaara of the Desert has appeared with Temari and Kankuro. Using a wind jutsu, Temari blows off the Amaterasu covered armor of the samurai that was consumed by the flames and Kankuro uses chakra threads to pull them away, saving the man inside. The Raikage is mad that Gaara interrupted, but Gaara tells him that he needs to speak to Sasuke and had the Raikage continued his attack his injuries from the black flames would have even worsened. Frustrated, the Raikage cuts off his own left arm to separate the Amaterasu and asks Shi to stop the bleeding quickly so he can attack once again.

Gaara begins his talk with Sasuke. He sees that those hate filled eyes of the young Uchiha have not changed since their last encounter. Gaara advises Sasuke that it is not too late to turn back, from personal experience Gaara knows that living for revenged solves nothing. But Sasuke knows well that after his actions here, there is no turning back for him. He tells Gaara that he has closed his eyes long ago to the light and his only object lies in the darkness. Gaara now knows what he must do, he sheds a single tear and prepares for the attack on Sasuke.

With the lapse during the battle, Karin is able to locate Danzo. However, one of Danzo’s guards is also a sensor-type ninja and notices that someone is tracking them. He advises Danzo who says it is better to remain where they are and take advantage of the confusion when their attackers arrive to leave the scene. But Ao, the Mizukage guard with the Byakugan, is also a sensor-type and warns Danzo’s party that he knows what they’re planning to do.

Meanwhile, the battle between Gaara’s group and Sasuke has already begun. Sasuke’s Amaterasu is completely blocked by Gaara’s sand barriers. Durai joins Gaara, Temari and Kankuro to launch a joint attack on Sasuke. Durai uses a Ranton (Storm element) jutsu called Laser Circus, Temari uses Whirlwind Slice, Kankuro activate’s his new puppet’s Red Hidden Technique: Machine Triangle, and Gaara prepares his Sand Shower Combination attack. The four attacks strike Sasuke together, but out from the dust a towering ark shape appears. Sasuke has summoned a near complete Susanoo to protect him, but it is much more sinister in appearance than the one Itachi used. Karin senses that the chakra Sasuke is emitting is complete different now. Sasuke announces that he will show Gaara the power only those with two awakened Mangekyou Sharingan can achive - the power of Susanoo.

Naruto Manga Chapter 463 - Sasuke vs Raikage

2009-09-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

The Raikage and Sasuke’s attacks are about to collide. However, Sasuke uses his Sharingan to evade the Raikage’s strike at the last moment by ducking. Sasuke thrusts his Chidori into the Raikage’s chest but cannot penetrate more than a few inches of the Raikage’s tough muscles mass. The Raikage tells Sasuke he is surprised that he was about to actually penetrate his Lightning armor. He then picks up Sasuke above his head and executes a devastating piledriver move on Sasuke.

But Sasuke is able to save himself by summoning Susanoo to absorb the damage. Recognizing that Sasuke is using the Mangekyou Sharingan, the Raikage releases even more Lightning chakra to boost his power and speed.

Back at the inn, Madara continues his talk about using Sasuke to prove the existence of the Uchiha clan to the world and insists that Naruto will fight him one day whether he likes it or not. Madara is surprised that Naruto was able to reform Nagato so easily, but tells him that Sasuke won’t be the same. Kakashi doesn’t buy what Madara is saying because there’s no need for him to gather all the Bijuu if his only objective is revenge on Konoha and reviving the Uchiha name. Madara admits that his real objective is to obtain a perfect body (Kanzentai), but then disappears before revealing anything else.

Having awakened his Mangekyou Sharigan, Sasuke activiates his Amatersu and targets the Raikage. But even though Sasuke can control the Amaterasu with his eyes alone, the Raikage’s body flicker ability allows him to easily evade it and the black flames instead consume a samurai who came as reinforcement. Raikage uses his speed to appear behind Sasuke and attempts to attack using a move called Raigyaku Suihei (Lightning Reverse Horizon) but Sasuke’s Amaterasu immediately erupts around him as a shield.

But astoundingly, the Raikage ignores the black flames and attacks through the Amaterasu to crack Sasuke’s Susanoo armor with a mighty strike. Now with his left arm covered in black flames, the Raikage continues his attack to finish off the stunned Sasuke.

Naruto Manga Chapter 462 - Sasuke's Way of the Ninja

2009-09-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

The Raikage has no patience for the newly transformed Jugo and charges in at such a speed that Jugo barely has time to put up a defence. Shi is watching from a distance and is caught by surprise when Suigetsu sneaks up from behind. However, Durai catches up with Suigetsu and block his sword with his own.

Meanwhile, the Raikage has punched through Jugo’s arm and made a large hole into his chest. Sasuke is concentrating with his Sharingan, but the Raikage tells him his dojutsu is no match for someone like him. Just then, Jugo launches a surprise attack by forming several cannons from his body and fires chakra blasts at the Raikage at point blank. Distracted by the explosion, Shi lets his guard down and succumbs to Sasuke’s genjutsu attack. Shi realizes that Sasuke was targeting him all along, but it is too late and he collapses. Jugo believes he has killed his opponent and starts taunting, but is immediately body slammed by an unscathed Raikage. Undeterred, Sasuke attacks the Raikage by himself with his Chidori.

At the inn, Madara has finished telling the story of Sasuke and explaining the truth behind Itachi Uchiha. Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato are naturally sceptical, especially on why Sasuke wants revenge on Konoha when it is against his brother’s dying wishes. Madara’s explanation is simple, Sasuke is a true avenger, he chose this path, he lives for vengeance.

Naruto cannot come to terms with Madara’s portrayal of Sasuke. Madara explains that it is the curse of the Uchiha bloodline. He tells the tale of two brothers who inherited the powers from the Sage of the Six Paths (Rikudo Sage), the founder of ninjutsu. They were tasked with continuing the Sage’s goal of bringing peace to the world. The older brother believed that strength was the answer while the younger believed that love was the answer. When the Sage chose the younger brother to

be his successor, the older brother became angry and fought the younger brother. They grew apart and each would found his own clan. The older brother was the founder of the Uchiha clan while the younger brother founded the Sanju clan. Throughout the generations, even though the original bloodline was diluted, the hostility between the two clans remained, even to this day. Madara states that the battle between himself and Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage, was fated. And so is the conflict between Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto Manga Chapter 461 - Kumogakure vs. Taka

2009-09-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

Without any backup, Sasuke makes a solo charge directly at the Raikage and his bodyguards. He draws his sword, but before he can get close enough, the Raikage’s guard named Durai uses Suiton: Water Encampment Barrier to halt Sasuke in his tracks. He than follows up with a Lightning technique to try to electrocute Sasuke. Sasuke is forced to back off and only survived relatively unharmed because of his own affinity for the lightning element.

The second bodyguard, Shi, warns that Sasuke may be using fire techniques soon and uses a raiton jutsu called Lightning Illusion to blind Sasuke and Jugo with a burst of light. Jugo and Sasuke barely have time to react when the Raikage closes in and batters Sasuke into the ground with a single punch. However, it is only an illusion carried out by Shi. Sasuke has seen through it, but he is not fast enough to realize that the real Raikage accompanied by Durai are already on top of him. Jugo and Suigetsu rush in to block their attacks and narrowly save Sasuke. Suigetsu’s sword is broken in the process, but Sasuke only tells his teammates not to interfere.

Back in the kage meeting room. Everyone is on guard and are especially wary of Danzo after his secret Sharingan was discovered. Since the Fourth Mizukage was also influenced by a Sharingan, the current Mizukage suspects a connection to Danzo. Mifune tells Danzo that he would have nominated him anyways had he not used his Sharing an to influence him, but Danzo responds that he used the Sharigan to ensure that his nomination was absolutely certain. Danzo wants to unite the villages and bring change to the shinobi world at any cost. Gaara voices his opinion that acting in such a way with no regard for the ethical consequences would be the same as giving up on their ideals as honourable shinobi. The Tsuchikage tells Gaara he is too young to understand what it is to be a real kage, but Gaara responds by asking him when it was that he threw out his ideals and became so complacent to the world.

The conversation then switches to Sasuke’s intrusion. Kurotsuchi, one of the Tsuchikage’s guards asks to be allowed to see Sasuke fight because he was the one that defeated his senpai, Deidara. Danzo’s two guards also want to go below in order to collect Sasuke’s sharingan should be killed by the Raikage. However, Ao insists that they all stay in the room so he can keep an eye on them with his Byakugan.

Meanwhile, Shi is beginning to scan the surroundings to attempt to detect the fourth member of Sasuke’s team. Karin has no choice but to stop searching for Danzo and suppress her chakra. Suigetsu points out that they need to take out the detection ninja in Raikage’s group first. Jugo volunteers for the job and undergoes a full transformation to unleash his full murderous impulse.

Naruto Manga Chapter 460 - Sasuke Under Siege

2009-09-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Zetsu’s interruption of the kage meeting catches everyone by surprise. The Raikage is in no mood for game and catches Zetsu by surprise when he moves onto the Akatsuki member in the blink of an eye, grabbing him by the throat. He demands to know Sasuke’s location, but when Zetsu is too slow to respond he incapacitates Zetsu with just one hand.

Mifune orders his guards Okisuke and Urakake to find Sasuke at all cost and ready the second battalion of samurai. The Raikage tells Ao to keep an eye on Danzo with his Byakugan anf immediately leaves with his bodyguards to hunt down Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Naruto is resting in his room at an inn in the Land of Iron when Madara suddenly appears inside. Although Madara says he only wants to talk, Naruto immediately attacks him with a Rasengan. The attack proves futile, but alerts Kakashi and Yamato who arrive to support Naruto. Kakashi and Yamato know they cannot harm Madara but point out that Madara can’t ;lay a finger on Naruto either if he doesn’t have a physical body. Madara states his intention to only to talk because he is interested in how Naruto managed to convince Nagato to betray him. Naruto isn’t interested and wants to know what Madara wants with Sasuke. Madara agrees and begins to tell the story of hate and betrayal that is Sasuke Uchiha.

With the samurai on alert, Karin senses their shift in chakra and warns the rest of the team that their presence has been revealed. However, while the rest of the team hides, Sasuke remains in plain sight and waits for the samurai to find him. The samurai have gone through chakra training similar to the shin obi and can channel their chakra through their swords. But their attacks are easily repelled by Sasuke.

Karin suddenly feels a change in Sasuke’s chakra- something more potent than even his cursed seal - something dark and cold. Sasuke’s eyes seem to be filled with anger and hate., a dark and monstrous shadow looms over him. Despite what he said in the past about avoiding unnecessary bloodshed, Sasuke mercilessly slaughters all the samurai who dare attack him.

Then, a large explosion breaks down a stone wall nearby. From out of the dust, the Raikage steps out, surging with lightning chakra and ready to teach Sasuke a lesson.

Naruto Manga Chapter 459 - Sakura's Decision

2009-08-10T21:41:00.001-07:00

Mifune has nominated Danzo to be the leader of the alliance of the five great countries, but the Raikage will not accept it. Mifune justifies his choice by stating the faults in the other kages; the raikage is too hotheaded and impulsive, Gaara is too young for the others to accept his leadership, the Tsuchikage is too old and has been known to deal with Akatsuki in the past, and since Kirigakure was Akatsuki’s founding place the Mizukage can’t be trusted either. Since Konoha has the nine-tails, the last Bijuu Akatsuki hasn’t captured yet, Mifune believes it would be fitting for the kage of Konoha to lead.

In Konoha, most of the Konoha 11 have gathered to discuss the situation with Sasuke. Ino is crying after hearing about the order for Sasuke’s assassination. Shikamaru feels responsible for not stopping Sasuke three years earlier and goes to speak to Naruto and Sakura on behalf of the others.

Sai continues his talk with Sakura. He believes that they have been relying on Naruto too much and can feel his sadness; Sai thinks they need to do something about Sasuke without relying on Naruto. Shikamaru has been listening to the conversation and walks in. He offers his agreement and tells Sakura that for the sake of Konoha and the Ninja World, they will stop Sasuke. If they don’t, war may break out between Konohagakure and Kumogakure. If Kumo ninja kill Sasuke and Sakura gets herself killed seeking revenge, then her friends and parents will want revenge for her death. It can soon escalate out of control in a cycle of hatred that will turn into an all-out war. Shikamaru came here to get Sakura’s permission for them to deal with Sasuke themselves, but a teary Sakura tells him not to say anymore. Shikamaru also wants to speak to Naruto on this, but Sakura responds that she will go talk to him because she is the one who has caused him the most pain.

In the Land of Iron, Sasuke and his team are ready to strike when Zetsu suddenly vanishes. Madara has given Zetsu the order to begin their mission. Inside the meeting hall, Ao, one of the Mizukage’s bodyguards, feels that something is wrong and uses his Byakugan on Danzo. Ao had obtained his Byakugan from a Hyuga he defeated in the past. He immediately recognizes the chakra resonating from Danzo’s right arm and eye to be that of Shisui Uchiha. Ao had fought Shisui before and remembers well that Shisui had the power to enter an opponent’s mind and control them without them even noticing. Ao had used his Byakugan to see through a similar illusion placed over the Fourth Mizukage and believes Danzo is using the same trick to control Mifune. But before the accusations can continue, Zetsu suddenly emerges from the floor in the center of the room. He tells them that Uchihc Sasuke is somewhere near.

Naruto Manga Chapter 458 - Discord Among of the Five Kages

2009-08-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

The meeting of the kages has began and Gaara is the first to speak. As a former Jinchuuriki who was nearly killed when Akatsuki extracted the Bijuu from him, Gaara feels that the organization is an extremely dangerous threat but thinks the other villages, save Konoha, have refused to help in dealing with them; and now with most of the Bijuu stolen already, it may too late to do anything. But both the Mizukage and Tsuchikage mention that it may not be too late as it takes time and knowledge to control any of the Bijuu.

Danzo mentions that the only four people in history who could truly control the Bijuu were Madara Uchiha, the First Hokage of Konoha, Yagura the Fourth Mizukage, and Raikage’s brother Killerbee. The Raikage erupts in rage at that moment, causing all the bodyguards to jump into action. Mifune tells the Raikage to watch his manners and each of the kages recalls their guards.

The Raikgae is angry at the other countries because Akatsuki is formed from the missing ninja of their villages. He also blames Suna for helping Akatsuki grow by employing them in the past. After the Great Ninja Wars, there was a period of demilitarization, but some countries feared that a sudden outbreak of war will leave them vulnerable, and so hired Akatsuki as mercenaries. For example Gaara’s father, the previous Kazekage, used Orochimaru, a previous member of Akatsuki in order to try to destroy Konoha. The Raikage also blames Kirigakure for isolating itself and because it is rumoured to be the birthplace of Akatsuki. The Mizukage herself reluctantly mentions that there is a possibility that the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was even under the influence of Akatsuki.

The Tsuchikage turns the table on the Raikage by claiming that it was Kumogakure’s continual amassing of military power even during the disarmament period that forced the other countries to resort to using Akatsuki. The two kages begin to argue when Danzo reveals that the leader of Akatsuki is probably Madara Uchiha. Everyone is shocked by the news because no one could believe Madara could even be alive still. Mifune cuts in and suggests that the five villages should form the first ninja alliance in order to deal with Akatsuki. However, this alliance would need a leader to command all the forces, and as the neutral party, Mifune feels that he should suggest which of the kages would be most suitable. To everyone’s surprise, Mifune nominates Danzo for the task because Konoha possesses the only Jinchuuriki who has escaped Akatsuki‘s grasps.

Back in Konoha, Sai confronts Sakura and explains what Naruto has been up to for her and Sasuke‘s sake. Sai admits that although he is new to the team and does not fully understand the bond between Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke, even he can tell that Naruto loves Sakura and is doing all this because of that love. The truth of that statement hits Sakura and she begins to cry. Sai goes on to say that Naruto has been shouldering the burden of his promise to her up to now and will carry it for the rest of his life. He tells Sakura that although it’s true that Sasuke is making Naruto suffer, she is also causing him pain.

Naruto Manga Chapter 457 - The Meeting of the Five Kages Begins

2009-08-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

On the outskirts of the meeting hall in the Land of Iron, Sauske and his team plan their infiltration. Jugo provides information on the best route into the compound using an owl and the team sets out. Sasuke insists that Zetsu also comes along in order to identify Danzo. Karin and Suigetsu start to argue about how to kill their target. Because the samurai security is so tight, it would be easier to kill Danzo before he gets to the meeting or after he leaves. But Sasuke’s plan is still to sneak into the compound and kill Danzo inside.

Samui and her squad have caught up with the Raikage to give their report, but Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato have followed them all the way undetected. After revealing themselves, Kakashi asks the Raikage to hear Naruto’s request. The Raikage is willing to hear Naruto out but is unmoved after he hears Naruto’s plea to forgive Sasuke’s crimes and rescind the execution order on his head. Naruto even gets on his knees and begs the Raikage. He understands that Sasuke is no longer the same ninja he knew, but Naruto does not want Sasuke’s death at the hands of Kumo shinobi to trigger further revenge killings.

Yamato tries to support Naruto’s pleas by mentioning the sacrifice made by the Hyuga clan when Kumogakura demanded the body of the clan leader after one of their ambassadors was killed. However, the Raikage is a stern man and states that ninja should respect action and strength and show no compromise. He cannot forgive Sasuke after all he has done, especially since he is now part of Akatsuki; Sasuke is now part of a criminal organization and there should be no mercy for criminals. Raikage says he intends to kill Sasuke and it is up to Naruto to stop any further bloodshed afterwards. Before leaving, the Raikage tells Naruto to think about what he must do because he won’t get far in the world if he keeps acting so naively.

In Konoha, Sai has thought about a conversation he had with Naruto about his affection for Sakura. Naruto initially tries to denies it, but then admits he can’t tell Sakura his feelings when he can’t even keep a promise to her. Even though Naruto had told Sai to stay out of his affairs, Sai decides to take action and visits Sakura.

Meanwhile, Sasuke’s team has managed to enter the meeting halls undetected. Zetsu identifies Danzo as he passes and Sasuke gets a good look at his target. Soon, the Meeting of the Kages commences with everyone present. Mifune, the leader of the Land of Iron, begins the meetings as the moderator.

Naruto Manga Chapter 456 - Naruto Departs

2009-08-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

Danzo’s group is ambushed by a group of assassins, but the old man is more dangerous than he appears. After forming a quick series of hand seals, Danzo unleashes an unnamed jutsu which strikes all his assailants in one blow. Danzo walks over to one of his victims to finish him off, but senses another attack from the woods and quickly picks up the corpse to block a volley of swords. Moments later, all of the assassins lie dead on the ground. Danzo’s guards recognize their attackers as the remnants of the Hanya assassins from the Land of Wood which Roots had previously dealt with. It seems the survivors bid their time for the right moment to attempt to kill Danzo, but underestimated his skill. Danzo states that he will strengthen Konoha by controlling both the public world and the underground; he plans to use the meeting of the Kages to make the Konoha Jonins to accept him as the permanent Hokage.

Meanwhile, Kakashi discusses with Sai on what to report to Danzo. To Sai's surprise, Kakashi has complete faith in Sai that he will not betray Naruto nor Team Seven. On the outskirts on Konoha, Naruto and Konohamaru are once again competing against each other over whose Oiroke no Jutsu (sexy technique) is more sexy. Two of Danzo’s spies watching from cover are surprised by what they’re seeing, but are caught off guard when Kakashi ambushes them with his Sharingan and puts them to sleep. Naruto is oblivious to the spies and says goodbye to Konohamaru because he is heading off to meet the Raikage. Yamato had planted one of his tracking seeds in the shoe of one of the Lightning ninja as they left Konoha to report back to the Raikage. Now all Kakashi, Naruto and Yamato have to do is follow that signal and they’ll eventually find the Raikage.

The other Kages are also on their way to the meeting place. The Mizukage and her entourage rest for the night at an inn. But once again Ao gets on her bad side by mentioning words relating to marriage and enagagements. The Tsuchikage and his men don’t have such comfy accommodations and make do with a shelter in the wilderness. The Tsuchikage explains that their destination will be the Land of Iron - a neutral country formed from three mountains called the Three Wolves. Unlike other larger countries, the Land of Iron does not use ninja and instead depend on samurai for protection.

At that moment in the Land of Iron, Sasuke and his team have already arrived near the perimeter of the meeting location. Sasuke instructs Jugo to use animals to find the least guarded route to the meeting hall. Meanwhile, the first of the Kages have already arrived. Mifune, the leader of the Land of Iron, greets Gaara and his companions Temari and Kankuro as they arrive.

Naruto Manga Chapter 455 - Bond

2009-08-10T21:35:00.000-07:00

Danzo gathers three of his top Roots members, Fu, Torune and Terai, in his chamber. He orders Terai to deal with Kabuto and commands the other two to accompany him to the Kage meeting as his bodyguards. Danzo tells Fu to take care of what weapons to bring and commands Torune to set some his men to watch over Naruto just in case Sai becomes unreliable. Danzo strictly forbids Naruto from leaving the village.

Meanwhile, Naruto has survived a severe beating at the hands of Karui, but still refuses to divulge any information on Sasuke. Karui readies to deliver another punch, but Sai appears in front of her to stop her attack. Naruto tells Sai not to interfere, but Sai replies there’s no need for Naruto to get beat up for Sasuke’s sake. Karui’s temper flares again and is about to attack Sai when Omoi steps in to halt her. Omoi admits that he has come to respect Naruto because even after enduring all the punishment, he did not sell out his friend. Omoi believes in Naruto’s promise to help them find Killerbee because he does not appear to be the type to go back on their word.

Samui arrives after gathering information in Konoha. She is told by Omoi of their intention to rescued Killerbee, but thinks it is too rash since they don’t know where Killerbee is and no nothing about their enemies. Samui suggests they take what they’ve learned directly to the Raikage. Naruto insists that he wants to help and asks for a chance to speak to the Raikage. Samui has learned of Naruto’s great deeds from talking to the villagers, but out of caution she cannot risk letting him to see the Raikage without a full guard accompanying him.

After the Lightning shinobi leave, Naruto is taken by Sai to see Kakashi and Yamato. Sai had told Kakashi what had happened, but is still confused why Naruto would go so far for Sasuke’s sake. Kakashi admits he knows about Sai’s mission from Danzo, but points out that even though Sai was only to watch Naruto he still acted on his own to help Naruto. He tells Sai that he should already understand why Naruto holds his bond to Sasuke so dearly.

Kakashi tells Naruto to rest for a while, but Naruto insists that he must go and speak with the Raikage and convince him to forgive Sasuke. Yamato is strictly against that plan and notes that Naruto doesn’t have his seal anymore and was dangerously close to transforming completely into the Kyuubi in the last battle. However, Naruto remains confident and reveals that it was his father, the Fourth Hokage, who stopped him from becoming the Nine-Tailed Fox last time. Naruto also tells everyone what Minato had said about Madara and how he is behind everything including the attack on Konoha sixteen years ago. Kakashi realizes the seriousness of this matter and asks Sai to inform the Hokage. Despite Yamato’s protests, Kakashi agrees to allow Naruto to go after the Raikage and offers to go along with him with Yamato.

Meanwhile, as Danzo and his two bodyguards travel to the Kage meeting, they are ambushed by a group of masked shinobi. Danzo decides to take care of this problem himself and uncovers the bandages over his right eye to reveal the Sharingan.

Naruto Manga Chapter 454 - The Five Kages Appear

2009-08-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

The Kages of the five great countries set out from their respective villages, each taking with them two bodyguards. From Iwagakure (Hidden Village in the Rock), the Tsuchkage, a short and ill-tempered old-man, is ready to leave the village for the meeting. His two guards are a very large man named Akatsuchi and a skinnier shinobi named Kurotsuchi. The Tsuchikage is very stubborn about getting help from the youngsters and insists on carrying his own luggage. However, his hip gives upon lifting the load and has to have Akatsuchi carry both him and his luggage anyways.

At Kirigakure (Hidden Village in the Mist), the new Mizukage, a beautiful woman, gets a send off from the previous Kage. The Mizukage, however, has a bit of a personality problem and hates it when people say anything about her age. She takes with her a stern-looking man named Ao and a young boy named Chojiro. Despite his weak appearance and timid personality, Chojiro is one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

In Kumogakure (Hidden Village in the Cloud), the Raikage is anxious to depart with his two guards, Shi and Darui. Instead of just using the door, the Raikage leaps through the window to get a head start. His guards follow but prefer to take the more conventional route to the ground.

Back in Konoha, Kurai has cornered Naruto and demands more information on Sasuke. Naruto is hesitates and says he can’t sell out his friend despite what Sasuke has done. Naruto tries to explain to the enraged Kurai that he understands they want revenge but wants to prevent the cycle of hate from continuing. Naruto can’t offer Kurai anything else at the moment except to let her hit him in an attempt to make up for Sasuke’s actions. Kurai has no qualms about this and pummels Naruto to the ground.

Meanwhile, the ANBU report to Danzo about the status of Anko, who is currently tracking Kabuto. Because Danzo does not want to risk Anko discovering the contacts he had with Orochimaru, Danzo is having her followed and perhaps assassinated if necessary. He tells his ANBU agents that they must find Kabuto before Anko does. Danzo wishes to possess the data on Orochimaru past experiments because they may be useful in restoring his right arm and arm.

Naruto Manga Chapter 453 - Eve of the Kage Summit

2009-08-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Sasuke is leading his team (Team Hawk) towards Konoha when Tobi suddenly emerges out from nowhere, catching even Karin’s chakra sensing abilities by surprise. Sasuke wants out of Akatsuki now that he has delivered the Eight-Tails to Tobi, but Tobi informs him what he captured was a fake. Tobi warns them that he will have to kill them if they betray Akatsuki and demands that they finish their job. He has different task for Sasuke this time, but Sasuke won’t listen.

Kurai and Omoi demand Naruto and Sakura give them more information regarding Sasuke, but Sakura begins crying and refuses to believe Sasuke has joined Akatsuki. Naruto understands the Cloud ninjas’ frustration at having their sensei taken from them. He asks if their master is a Jinchuuriki. Naruto tells them that being a Jinchuuriki himself, he know that Akastuki will want to keep their master alive until they extract the Bijuu out of him. Naruto offers them his help on rescuing their master.

Sasuke attempts to attack Tobi but passes right through him like he did the last time they met. Tobi doesn’t retaliate and tells Sasuke that his object, Konoha, has already been destroyed by one of his subordinates. Zetsu appears and explains to everyone what has happened so far, including how strong Naruto has become. He informs Tobi that Danzo is the Hokage now and will be attending the Summit of the Five Kages. Since Danzo was one of the people who drove Sasuke’s brother into killing his clan, Sasuke makes his new object to kill Danzo at the Summit. Tobi orders Zetsu to guide Sasuke’s team to the summit. Zetsu splits in half, one half goes with Sasuke while the other half remains with Tobi.

After Sasuke’s team has left, Tobi speaks to Zetsu about the state of his plans. He didn’t plan on Nagato betraying them, but if Sasuke can become stronger than Nagato then he can be his replacement and sync with the Gedo Mazo (Bijuu-sealing statue). Naruto has thrown his plan off course, so Tobi intends to take more aggressive moves from now on and hurry along his “Moon’s Eye” plan. Meanwhile in the Hidden Village in the Sand, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro set out for the Kage Summit.

Naruto Manga Chapter 452 - Closing in on Danzo

2009-08-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

Both Naruto and Sakura are distraught upon hearing of Danzo becoming the new Hokage of Konoha. Worst of all, Danzo has ordered the elimination of Sasuke as a missing-nin - something Tsunade has avoided due to her leniency. Naruto and Sakura want to go to Danzo and settles things, Kakashi understands their frustration but orders them to keep their calm because rash actions will only result them playing into Danzo’s hands.

Meanwhile, Danzo has called Sai before him for new orders. He tells Sai to keep watch over Naruto and to report anything of note to him in detail. Sai obeys but asks Danzo what he plans to do about Naruto. Danzo seems suspicious of Sai, but tells him that for now he will leave Naruto alone because the villagers view him as a hero and trust him more than the Sixth Hokage. Although Danzo has been appointed Hokage by the Fire Country’s Daimyo, it will not be official until the jonins vote; Danzo does not wish to do anything to worsen people’s opinion of him.

Later, Sai meets with Naruto and Sakura. Sakura asks Sai to tell them everything about Danzo but he replies it is impossible. He extends his tongue to reveal a seal at the base. Sai explains that it is a curse seal placed by Danzo on all members of Roots. If he attempts to reveal any information about Danzo, it will paralyze his entire body; this way even if he is captured and interrogated Sai cannot leak any information regarding Danzo. Sakura is telling Sai about Danzo’s order to eliminate Sasuke when they are engaged by two ninja from Cloud Village, Kurai and Omoi.

Before either Sakura or Sai could take action, Naruto is already in motion. He blocks Kurai’s katana by burrowing Sai’s sword while also preventing Omoi from drawing his katana. Naruto then uses a clone to stop Kurai’s blade with his bare hands. Sakura and Sai join in and after the brief skirmish the two sides separate.

Omoi and Kurai demand information on Sasuke and tells Naruto of his attack on Cloud Village and the abduction of their sensei, Killerbee. Sakura and Naruto can’t believe Sasuke would do such a thing, but are even more shocked when they hear that Sasuke has joined Akatsuki.

Naruto Manga Chapter 451 - Eliminate Sasuke

2009-08-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

The rebuilding of Konoha has began in earnst. Yamato, due to his Moukuton abilities, is leading the construction efforts with his wood element techniques.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sakura are discussing Tsunade's status when two familiar faces come to greet them. It's Inari and Tazuna, two friends Team Kakashi helped out during their first mission in the Land of the Waves. Inari has grown up to become a carpenter and came with his grandfather and fellow villagers to help rebuild Konoha as soon as they heard what had happened.

When Kakashi shows up, Tazuna asks about Sasuke's whereabouts. Neither Sakura or Kakashi are sure how to explain what has happened in the last three years. Naruto, recognizing Sakura's anxiety, tells Tazuna and Inari that he and Sasuke had a fight and he left the village, but they'll work things out soon and bring Sasuke back to the village.

After Tazuna and Inari have left to continue their work, Naruto begins thinking about Sasuke. He tells Sakura that after his encounter with Pein, he now understands what drives Sasuke's thirst for revenge is and the pain inside him. He once thought he understood Sasuke, but realizes now that because he didn't before he could not fight Sasuke with all his might. But next time they fight, it will be different. Unbeknownst to Naruto and the others, Sasuke and his team are heading to Konoha as they speak.

Meanwhile, Samui, Kurai and Omoi have arrived in Konoha and seek out Tsunade to deliver the letter from the Raikage of Kumogakure. They are greeted by Shizune who tells them she will pass on the letter to Tsunade once she awakens. But Danzo interrupts them and takes the letter because he is now the new Hokage.

Soon afterwards, Kiba reaches Naruto and the others with bad news. Not only has Tsunade been dismissed and Danzo has become the new Hokage in her place, his first order is permission for Sasuke to be disposed of as a missing ninja.

Naruto Manga Chapter 450 - Rejoicing Village

2009-08-07T04:04:00.000-07:00

Naruto nearly collapses from exhaustion on his trip back to the village. Kakashi finds Naruto and helps carry him back to Konoha where crowds of villagers are there to welcome back their hero. Tsunade's slug had told everyone of what happened and they rush over to congratulate Naruto.

Sakura also comes forward but gives Naruto a whack to the head for doing so many reckless things before embracing him and thanking him for saving the village. However, as the celebration continues, an ANBU agent arrives to tell Shikaku that an emergency meeting has been called by the elder council already.

Outside the village perimeter, Kakuzu has finished his surveillence of events and returns to report everything to Madara. After hearing everything, Madara decides that they need to find someone else to synchronize with the Gedo Mazo now. He orders Kisame to find the Eight-Tails while he goes to deal with another matter.

Elsewhere, the three ninja from Kumogakure, Samui, Kurai and Omoi, are nearing Konoha. Omoi and Kurai are bickering again causing Kurai to throw a rock at her annoying teammate. They joke about how the rock could lead to an avalanche that could destroy Konoha only to discover the ruins of Konoha upon their arrival.

Inside a tent, Naruto visits an unconscious Tsunade who has exhausted herself protecting the villagers during Pein's attack. Sakura says they don't know when she'll wake up. Meanwhile at the council meeting, the discussions about the reconstruction of Konoha are being carried out. However, Danzo points out that before that can happen they need a new Hokage since Tsunade is still in a coma. Before Danzo can continue, Shikaku nominates Kakashi Hatake for the role. Being the student of the Fourth Hokage as well as well known and respected, the Daimyo of Fire Country seems to agree with the nomination.

But Danzo angrily argues that another student of the Third Hokage's teachings cannot be allowed to lead Konoha again. He points out that the man responsible for the destruction of Konoha was also a pupil of Jiraiya's. Danzo calls the Third's type of thinking weak and primarily responsible for all the tragedies in the village's past.

Against Shikaku's arguments, Danzo's fiery speech convinces the Daimyo to appoint him as the Sixth Hokage.

Naruto Manga Chapter 449 - Hope Blossoms

2009-08-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

Nagato begins to perform a jutsu called Gendo Rinne Tensei. Konan warns Nagato that it will kill him, but Nagato replies that he has been given a new choice, one he had given up on. He who controls the Rinnegan is in control of all six pains' techniques and is outside of life and death. Nagato himself is then the seventh pain and is able to control life and death. Nagato explains that it is not too late to bring back those he has killed since arriving in Konoha through this final technique.

In the center of the crater in what was Konoha, the head of a demon erupts from the ground and unleash a torrent of souls. Instantly, everyone who had perished in Pein's attack are revived including Fukasaku and Shizune.

Back in toad mountain, the elder toad is witnessing everything through a crystal ball. The prophecy is coming true, but the elder never thought that both of Jiraiya's pupils would be the children of prophecy. The book that Jiraiya wrote really did became the key to changing the world.

Sitting around a small camp fire, Kakashi has been telling his father, Sakumo Hatake, the story of his life. After he is finished, Kakashi tells his father that he has come to understand why he broke the rules of the shinobi; it was for the sake of all the future generations of ninja - for them to value friendship and teamwork. Kakashi tells his father he is proud of him, but then is pulled away by a bright beam of light. His father thanks him for forgiving him, he can no finally move on and be with his mother. At that moment, Kakashi is also revived in the real world.

Nagato has performed his final technique and is nearing death. In his final words to Naruto, Nagato explains that there's nothing harder to accept than the deaths of loved ones, especially for those of Naruto's generation who haven't known the horrors of wars; Trying to find meaning in death will only uncover pain and hatred. The pain of war is something Naruto must face and conqueror if he hopes to fulfill Jiraiya's dream.

With Nagato dead, Konan releases the paper tree that had been their hiding spot. Later, accompanied by Naruto, Konan collects the bodies of both Nagato and Yahiko in paper coffins. She tells Naruto that she will leave Akatsuki. Because Nagato

believed in him, she will also believe in Naruto. She tells Naruto that Yahiko and Nagato's dream have been entrusted to him, and that Amegakure will help make that dream come true. Naruto replies that his namesake, his perseverance and his pain are the gifts left to him by his master and fellow pupil. Konan offers Naruto a bouquet of paper flowers and hopes that this time the flowers of hope will never die.

In their hideout, Sasuke gathers the other members of Team Hawk. With his wounds now fully healed, he tells his team they will head for Konoha.

Naruto Manga Chapter 448 - Memento

2009-08-07T04:01:00.000-07:00

Nagato does not acknowledge Naruto's answer, but Naruto remains confident and declares that if there is an answer that will break the cycle of hatred in the world, he will find it. Nagato instantly recognizes those words upon hearing them. Naruto tells him that they are from the book Jiraiya had left him, the book which was inspired by his time with Nagato.

Nagato remembers a conversation he had with Jiraiya long ago where he said those words to Jiraiya. Nagato had been thinking about a way to bring peace to the world and had concluded that faith in this goal was better than any plan he can come up with. His words inspired Jiraiya to write a new book where the main character is based on Nagato; Jiraiya decided to name the character Naruto (this was long before Naruto Uzumaki was born).

Naruto tells Nagato that because his name is a precious memento of Jiraiya, he cannot let him down. He asks Nagato and Konan to believe in him, believe that he will bring peace to the world, including Amegakure. After a moment of reflection, Nagato tells Naruto that he reminds himself of when he was younger. He explains that although he couldn't believe in what Jiraiya believed in, he can see a different future in the path Naruto has chosen. Nagato declares that he will believe in Naruto and begins to execute a technique.

Naruto Manga Chapter 447 - Trust

2009-08-07T03:59:00.000-07:00

With Yahiko dead, Hanzo orders his men to eliminate Nagato as well. A volley of kunai are thrown at Nagato but he deflects them all with just a motion of his hand. Nagato leaps towards where Hanzo has Konan captive. Surprisingly, Hanzo abandons his hostage and leaps to safety. But when Nagato lands, he discovers that Hanzo had laid an explosive trap on the ground.

Nagato is able to escape with Konan but the lower parts of his legs are scorched badly. He tells Konan to stay by Yahiko's side while he takes care of their enemies. The Konoha ninja, believing they were being double-crossed, begin to attack. Nagato quickly uses a summoning technique called Gedo Mazo to summon a large rock monster which resembles the Tailed Beast Sealing Statue Akatsuki has been using. A spindle of black chakra transmitting rods eject from the monster and stab into Nagato's back, allowing him to directly control it. A translucent snake erupts from the creatures mouth and attacks all the shinobi in the area. The souls of whomever the snake touches is snatched away, killing him instantly.

Hanzo is the only one left. After seeing Nagato's Rinnegan, he now acknowledges him as being the one who was responsible for the rise of Yahiko's gang. Nagato then attacks but Hanzo is able to escape. With all his enemies gone, Nagato breaks free of his connection to the stone beast; his face reveals an evil grin.

Nagato tells Naruto that he became the leader of their gang afterwards, but would lose many, many more friends in battle. He says that the peace Konoha crows about is a hypocrisy because it only comes at the cost of smaller countries like Amegakure. He again asks Naruto for the answer to his question. Naruto takes out the last book Jiraiya gave him, 'The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja.' He tells Nagato that he understands him and he may be right about how hopeless the world is, but Naruto still can't bring himself to forgive Nagato. However, Jiraiya had believed in Naruto, so Naruto will believe in what his sensei believed - that is Naruto's answer. He tells Nagato that he will not kill him.

Naruto Manga Chapter 446 - I Just Wanted to Protect Them

2009-08-07T03:56:00.000-07:00

Yahiko, Nagato and Konan trudge through the rain back to their home with Nagato cradling his injured dog Tiny tightly. Yahiko is angry and says that if they want to change the world to stop these wars, they need to become strong themselves - they need to learn to be ninja.

The three orphans eventually found the three Konoha ninjas who they saw fighting Hanzo, namely Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru. Jiraiya felt sympathy for the three children and stayed behind to train them to take care of themselves. But one day while Yahiko and Nagato were out alone, a rogue Rock ninja attacked to steal their food. He nearly killed Yahiko, but in order to protect his friend Nagato unconsciously awoke his Rinnegan powers for again and killed the ninja.

Recognizing Nagato's potential, Jiraiya began training all three orphans in ninjutsu. Jiraiya consoled the distraught Nagato, telling him that "when people get hurt they want to hate, but when people hurt others they become hated and are racked with guilt." Nagato remembered these words well but says that Jiraiya said them as if speaking to himself; he hadn't found his answer either.

After three years of training, Nagato and the others grew up strong in both mind and body. Jiraiya saw potential in Nagato's Rinngean as a possible answer to bringing peace to the world. He told Nagato about the Sage of the Six Paths who founded the Ninja Arts as a religion to bring harmony to the world, not to become an art of war it is today. Jiraiya told Nagato that perhaps the Sage has been reborn in him so that he may carry on his dream.

After Jiraiya left them, the orphans formed their own gang with Yahiko as their leader. Their belief was to bring peace without relying on brute force. They quickly grew famous and gained the attention of Hanzo. Hanzo approached them in order to help him begin peace negotiations with the other countries.

But it was a trap, when Nagato and Yahiko arrived at the meeting place, Hanzo and his men were waiting for them along with Konoha's Danzo and his ANBU. Danzo wanted Hanzo's help to become Hokage and Hanzo wanted Danzo's help to maintain his power over Amegakure. Hanzo had captured Konan and commanded Nagato to kill Yahiko if he wanted Konan to live. Yahiko tells Nagato to do it, when Nagato refuses Yahiko charges at him and forces Nagato to kill him with a kunai.

Naruto Manga Chapter 445 - Top of the World

2009-06-06T22:53:00.000-07:00

Nagato continues the story from his childhood. When young Nagato awoke, the two leaf shinobi lay dead before him. It wasn’t much later that he would realize that he had been the one who killed them. After burying his parents, Nagato set out with the few provisions left in his home. He befriended a stray dog whom he named Tiny. Together they went house to house in Amegakure begging for food, but no one had any to spare.

Exhausted and starving, Nagato collapses in the rain. A kind girl finds him and offers him a loaf of bread. Her name is Konan. Konan brings Nagato and his dog back to her make shift home with a boy named Yahiko. They were all war orphans and stole food just to survive. Yahiko was the leader of their group and had big dreams - his wish was to rule the world and put an end to the wars.

When the three of them were walking outside one day, a stray explosive kunai lands near them and explodes. Tiny is seriously hurt in the blast. The three children peek over a cliff to see what was going on and witness the Legendary Sanin of Konoha (Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru), then still young, fighting the Kage of Amegakure, Hanzo.

Nagato is worried because Tiny had stopped breathing. The three manage to get away from the fighting, but Tiny is dead. Yahiko strikes a wall in frustration. He proclaims that in order to stop this war, he would become the god of the world. And it was that day that Yahiko’s dream became Nagato’s as well.

Naruto Manga Chapter 444 - Answer

2009-06-06T22:52:00.000-07:00

Finally, Naruto is facing Nagato face to face and already is sage mode. Nagato asks if he hates him and both Pein’s actions and those words of his father ring through his head. When Naruto remains silent, Nagato launches a single chakra receptor projectile from his machine at Naruto.

Naruto does not dodge and allows the projectile to impale his chest. At this distance, Nagato is certain he will be able to fully control Naruto’s body at will. However, when Naruto raises his head, Nagato sees that mix of Kyuubi and Sage Mode in his pupils. Nagato feels Kyuubi’s chakra resisting him and realizes Naruto let himself get hit on purpose.

Naruto removes the chakra rod from him and reiterates that he is here to talk. He tells Nagato that he still cannot forgive him and is filled with rage at the moment. Naruto makes a charge at Nagato and Konan rushes to intercept him. However it is Naruto who stops himself. He still remembers Jiraiya’s teachings and wants to understand how someone who was Jiraiya’s pupil in the past can end up like Nagato.

Nagato is willing to talk and explains that Jiraiya’s dreams were too idealistic and detached from reality; Nagato says that he himself is proof of what the hatred of war can create. Naruto still wants to learn how Nagato and his friends became this way and asks him to tell his story.

Nagato agrees and begins telling the stories of two great pains in his life that shaped him into what he is today. The first happened when he was very young. At the time Amegakure was embroiled in war by its neighbouring countries. One night when he and his parents were huddled inside their house trying to hide, two leaf shinobi wandered into their house searching for food. His parents decide to sneak away, but are noticed by the leaf shinobi who mistake them for enemy soldiers. In scuffle, Nagato’s parents are murdered by the leaf shinobi. Realizing their mistake, one of the leaf shinobi attempts to apologize to Nagato, but Nagato suddenly looses control of himself and triggers his Rinnegan for the first time.

Naruto Manga Chapter 443 - The Meeting

2009-06-06T22:50:00.000-07:00

Naruto has defeated God Realm Pein. To make sure his enemy would not rise again, Naruto removes many of the chakra receptor rods from his body. Naruto stabs himself with one of them to feel Nagato’s thoughts before he goes to confront him. Tsunade’s slug recommends bringing reinforcements, but Naruto wishes to go alone.

Back in Konoha, Team Gai, Sakura and Hinata receive word that Naruto has won. Hinata has been revived and is relieved at the news. Upon hearing Naruto is going to face Nagato alone, Neji insists on Tsunade’s slug on bringing them to his location.

Meanwhile, Naruto runs into Shikaku, Inoichi and Hinata’s bodyguard while en route to Nagato’s location through the forest. Inoichi argues with Naruto about how to handle Nagato once they find him, but Naruto insists that just killing him will not be the answer. Shikaku senses that Naruto has his own mind set on how to handle this already and persuades Inoichi to let Naruto go alone.

Naruto arrives at the location to discover Nagato and Konan concealed within the trunk of a large tree that has been camouflaged with paper. Nagato asks Konan to stand back as he greets Naruto.

Naruto Manga Chapter 442 - The Last Gamble

2009-06-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

In the ruins of Konoha, Sakura has arrived to heal Hinata’s wounds. Shima is also conscious and mourns the death of Fukasaku. One of Tsunade’s slugs tells everyone that Naruto has suppressed the Kyuubi himself and is fighting Pein. Team Gai wants to go assist but is told Naruto has a plan and wants to fight Pein alone.

Back at the scene of the battle, Pein prepares to dodge Naruto’s second Rasen Shuriken. But suddenly two of Naruto’s clones who were disguised as rocks reveal themselves in an attempt to hold him down. But Pein is too fast and dispatches the clones before leaping out of the way of the Rasen Shuriken. Naruto knows he still has three seconds before Pein can use his Shinra Tensei again. He unleashes all his shadow clones who were concealed as rocks in the rubble to attack Pein all at once.

It’s a close call but Pein is able to unleash his Shinra Tensei again before the clones can reach him. But Naruto is ready for the blast and has created many more clones to brace himself against the shockwave. He is able to stay in one place and within range of Pein to attack in the next 5 seconds.

No longer in sage mode, Naruto creates a regular Rasengan with the help of one clone. A second clone launches Naruto into the air and straight at Pein to deliver the Rasen Shuriken directly into him.

Naruto Manga Chapter 441 - Rasen Shuriken vs Shinra Tensei

2009-06-06T22:47:00.000-07:00

Naruto has reverted back to his original body. Back in Nagato’s hideout, his body is failing him due to the stress he has exerted in fighting the Kyuubi so far. Pein can no longer maintain the floating sphere of rock and it collapses to the ground. Naruto makes it to the ground safely and comes to realize he no longer has his clones back at toad mountain.

Naruto sees smoke rising from Konoha but can’t remember what he did during his Kyuubi transformation. Tsunade’s slug who is still with Naruto informs him he was lucky no one was harmed. Back in Konoha, Team Gai arrives to find Hinata badly hurt and calls for a healer.

Pein confronts Naruto to finish their battle, but Naruto surprises him by asking to see the real person behind all this. Pein refuses and attacks. He knows that Naruto can only use two Rasen Shurikens before running out of sage chakra and attacks. But Naruto has a battle plan; he intercepts Pein, breaks off his chakra blade and stabs himself in the arm with it. Using his sage mode ability, Naruto is instantly able to track down Nagato’s position by tracing back the chakra signal.

Naruto now begins his attack on God Realm Pein. He summons two clones and immediately produces a Rasen Shuriken. Once again he uses smoke bombs to conceal his next move. Out of the smoke, the Rasen Shuikrne comes flying at Pein. He disperses it with his Shinra Tensei jutsu only to discover a second one hidden in the shadow of the first. Naruto knows Pein cannot disperse this second one because he needs another 5-seconds before he can using his jutsu again.

Naruto Manga Chapter 440 - A Conversation with the Fourth

2009-06-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

On the outside world, God Realm Pein is having difficultly containing the Eight-Tails Kyuubi. Inside Naruto’s consciousness, the appearance of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, has left him unsure of how to react. Tears come to his eyes when he learns Minato is actually his father.

Minato instantly moves them elsewhere because of the ruckus the Kyuubi was making. Minato begins to talk to Naruto, but before that Naruto suprises him with a hard jab to his abdomen. Naruto vents his anger to his father about why he sealed the demon fox inside his own son. Minato calms down and explains that he sealed the Kyuubi inside him because he believed Naruto could use it since he was his son. He tells Naruto about how he believes one of the Akatsuki, Tobi, was responsible for controlling the Kyuubi when he attacked Konoha sixteen years ago. Minato believes Tobi isn’t a normal shinobi and felt it necessary to give Naruto Kyuubi’s power to fight him in the future.

Minato mentions that Pein is probably being used by Tobi, but Naruto refuses to forgive Pein just because of that. Minato explains to Naruto that as longs as the ninja system exists, there can be no peace and people like Pein will be created as a result of the wars and hate. Minato knows Pein killed Jiraiya, but believes that true cause was really the hatred created from wars.

Regardless, Naruto can’t allow himself to forgive Pein and asks his father for directions. Minato tells Naruto he will find his own answer and says he believes in his son. As his chakra is fading away, Minato restores Naruto’s seal for the last time and disappears. In the real world, the Eight-Tails Kyuubi has disappeared and Naruto, already in sage mode, appears in its place.

Naruto Manga Chapter 439 - Chibaku Tensei

2009-03-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Nagato is breathing heavily as he gives God Realm Pein the order to perform the forbidden jutsu: Chibaku Tensei. Konan pleads for him not to go this far in his condition, but Nagato ignores her warnings. Back in the forest, God Realm Pein creates a miniature black hole between his hands and releases it high into the air. The black hole immediately begins pulling in everything from the surrounding area into itself.

The Six-Tails is caught in the sudden upheaval of the ground and has to cease its pursuit of Pein. It attempts to destroy Pein’s jutsu by firing a black chakra ball into the mass of rock and earth being gathered around the black hole. It is not effective and the Six-Tails winds up being pulled into center of the mass of earth surrounding the black hole.

Nagato’s jutsu has created a giant sphere of earth and rock hovering in mid-air. It has exhausted him but he believes he has finally captured the Nine-Tailed Fox. Konan reiterates that there was no need to go this far, but Nagato reminds her that what he did was nothing compared to what the Sage of the Six Paths did when he created the Moon.

Naruto finds himself surrounded by darkness. He is in a state of shock and confusion, and calls out for someone to help him and tell him what he should do. A demonic voice answers back to him and tells Naruto to simply destroy everything that hurts him. It is the voice of the Kyuubi and Naruto realizes he is next to the demon fox’s cage inside his consciousness. The Kyuubi tells Naruto to give his heart to him so he can save him from the pain. Naruto’s jacket is suddenly ripped open revealing the seal on his stomach. The seal begins to hollow out in the middle and blood gushes out from Naruto’s abdomen and spills on to the bubbling liquid on the floor.

At that moment, the number on Yamato’s hand changes again, this time reading eight. At Pein’s location, a sudden rupture occurs on the surface of the floating rock. Eight tails emerge to shatter the rock’s surface, revealing the hideous visage of a demonic fox on the verge of being fully transformed into the Nine-Tails Kyuubi.

Back inside Naruto’s consciousness, the Kyuubi commands Naruto to remove the seal from his cage.

At that same moment, Yamato is staring in disbelief as the number on his palm changes to nine. Naruto goes to pull off the seal, but suddenly a hand stops him. A familiar figure appears and pulls Naruto away from Kyuubi’s cage; it is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Minato tells Naruto that the seal was set so that if ever eight tails are released, he would appear in Naruto’s consciousness. He tells the Kyuubi that he hoped to never see him again, but calls it even because he gets the opportunity to see how his son has grown up.

Naruto Manga Chapter 438 - Breaking the Seal

2009-03-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

Naruto has undergone a rapid transformation all the way to a Six-Tails Kyuubi form, but suddenly multiple tendrils of light sprout from his chest and begin entangling him in an attempt to reseal the Kyuubi. However, this Kyuubi is more cunning than before and is able to plunge his claw into his own chest and extract the source of the tendrils - the First Hokage’s necklace. The Six-Tails crushes the necklace and immediately is filled with more power as nothing else is holding him back.

The Six-Tails makes a charge at God Pein from his right side. Pein is able to react in time to use Shinra Tensei, but the Six-Tails is able to reflect the force of the attack back at Pein by anchor himself to the ground with his tails. Pein is the one who is thrown back from his very own justu. A barely conscious Hinata can do nothing but watch as the savage fight unfolds.

The Six-Tails wastes no time and readies a dark chakra ball to fire at Pein, but before he is ready Pein uses Bansho Tenin to pull a gigantic boulder onto him. The densely packed chakra ball loses containment and explodes, taking out much of the surrounding area, including the Hokage Mountain.

Everyone is alerted by the sudden giant explosion nearby. Sakura realizes that Naruto might be on the verge of a full transformation, and calls on Katsuyu to alert all the survivors to get out of the area and seek shelter. At Shikamaru’s group, they too are made aware of what happened to Hinata and of Naruto’s transformation. Inoichi wonders where Yamato could be at since they need him the most right now.

In a forested area, Yamato, Sai and Anko are in the middle of a mission to track down Kabuto. Sai has been able to locate Kabuto using his inked beasts jutsu. Yamato feels something burning and realizes it is coming from his hand. The letter six appears on his palm, which means that Naruto’s seal has been broken again and that he has already advanced to six tails already. Yamato realizes it is an emergency and immediately heads back to the village.

God Realm Pein barely managed to survive the last blast. He begins a retreat away from the village and is pursued by the Six-Tails. On the sidelines, Sakura realizes this is their chance to get to Hinata; they’re other priority is to find Yamato. Meanwhile, Pein and the Six-Tails have already moved a long distance from the village. But Pein’s retreat has a purpose, he needed to get closer to Nagato in order to perform a secret technique: Chibaku Tensei.

Naruto Manga Chapter 437 - Confession

2009-03-20T22:39:00.000-07:00

Pein tells Naruto that his idea of a peace where people can truly understand each other is nothing but a fantasy. Naruto refutes Pein’s claims because Jiraiya had believed in this ideal with all his heart. Pein is out of patience, he tells Naruto that his words are useless when he has nothing to prove them with. Pein draws out another of his black blades and tells Naruto that all he can do is to hand over the power of the Kyuubi. Hinata has been watching the entire scene and knows what she must do.

At another location in the ruins of Konoha, Shikaku and Shikamaru are organizing a plan to locate the real Pein. Shikaku asks Katsuyu to relay their information to any survivors who can still move, but wants at least teams of two and warns everyone not to do anything rash if they do locate him. A few kilometers outside the village, Team Gai is hurrying back to Konoha when they encounter the wounded body of Gamabunta.

Meanwhile, Pein has struck six more of his black transmitters into Naruto’s body. He tells Naruto that the wounds are not deep and are only there to prevent him from moving. Suddenly, Shima starts shouting at Naruto to not give up and not to listen to Pein. She believes that Naruto is the child of prophecy and that Jiraiya and Fukasaku gave up their lives because they believed in Naruto as well. But Pein then uses his powers to violently push Shima away to silence her. He then prepares to leave with Naruto, but Hinata suddenly appears to attack him from behind.

Pein backs off and Hinata warns him not to lay another finger on Naruto. Naruto tells Hinata to get away because she’s no match for Pein. Hinata responds that she knows this but is here on her own free will. She tells Naruto that it is he who showed her the right way and changed her. Naruto’s smile saved Hinata and is the reason why she became the confident and strong woman she is today. Hinata openly confesses that she loves Naruto and is not afraid to die protecting him.

And with that she charges Pein and prepares to use a new jutsu called Juho Soshiken. However, before Hinata can finish, Pein unleashes his powerful Shinra Tensei technique and smashes Hinata into the ground. Naruto shouts at Pein to stop as he prepares to finish off Hinata with one of his black blades. Pein does not listen and Naruto is stunned to hear the sound of metal penetrating flesh. Pein says that this is just like how his own parents were killed before his eyes by Konoha shinobi. He tells Naruto that love breeds sacrifice, which breeds hatred, andonly then can he know true pain.

Naruto loses control of himself and releases his Kyuubi chakra in a burst of black energy. He first appears in his four-tails state but then immediately transforms to a six-tails form whereupon a skeletal carapace begins to form over his black body. Pein seems unfazed by the turn of events and asks Naruto whether he hates him, and if he truly believes that people can understand each other when they are filled with hatred like he is right now. Six-Tails Naruto’s only response is a beastly howl. Pein acknowledges Naruto’s pain but says that his own pain is even greater.

Naruto Manga Chapter 436 - Peace

2009-03-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Inoichi has realized something significant after thinking back to what he saw in the memories of the Rain ninja he mind probed. The ninja’s job was the transport corpses to Pein who was rumoured to be in the tallest tower in Amegakure. The corpse of the woman Inoichi saw during the mind probe was the same as the one who appeared as Animal Realm Pein in Konoha. Inoichi believes that the tower must be a laboratory where Pein inserts the black chakra transmitters into the corpses brought to him. Naturally, the best location to transmit chakra signals over long distances is to use the tallest tower. So the current location of the real Pein must be in the highest location near Konoha.

Pein leans close to Naruto and agrees to talk, but adds that his answer won’t change anything. Pein claims that his goal is something even Jiraiya could not achieve; he will bring peace through justice. Naruto is enraged by Pein’s claims because it is unbelievable to hear him call the killings of his friends, teachers, and destruction of his village as a means to reach peace.

Pein asks Naruto what he wants to do, to which Naruto responds he wants to defeat Pein and bring peace to the world of the shinobi. Pein acknowledges Naruto’s desires as another form of justice, however he also tells Naruto that his own friend, family and village were also destroyed. Pein tells Naruto about how the other more powerful nations have waged war in the past to protect their interests and for national gain, but because of its location, Amegakura has always been the site of the battleground. Even after the wars ended, Amegakura and its people were left to bear the scars from years of war.

Naruto doesn’t know how to respond so Pein tells him that they are no different because they both desire the same peace Jiraiya spoke of. Each of them are working for their own sense of justice to achieve that goal. However, if it is revenge which drives their desire for justice, then it will only breed more revenge and lead to a chain of hatred. Looking back on the history of the world of shinobi, Pein states that it is the unfortunate truth that people can never understand each other and that is why this world is ruled by hatred. Remembering back to Jiraiya’s words during their training, Naruto realizes that Jiraiya had mentioned the same thing because he too was seeking for a way to break the hatred spreading around world. Pein then asks Naruto how he would rid the world of this hatred, but Naruto does not know.

Pein explains that he created Akatsuki in order to break that chain of hatred. With the power of all the tailed beasts, he will create a weapon capable of destroying an entire country in an instant. Pein believes that only then will the world know true pain and it will lead to stability and peace. Naruto refuses to believe what Pein is saying, but Pein explains that it is the only way. Eventually time will pass and people will forget the pain, they will starting fighting again and this time use the ultimate weapon themselves and once more know true pain. A short time of peace will then come again and the cycle will repeat itself. The scene then switches to a hidden location where Konan is looking over an emaciated adult Nagato confined to a mechanical structure; protruding from his back are several black chakra transmitting rods. Nagato, speaking through God Realm Pein, proclaims that it is his wish to create the short periods of peace within the periods of warfare - it is what he sees as the closest thing to true peace.

Naruto Manga Chapter 435 - Bansho Tenin

2009-03-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Naruto tries to get free from Hungry Ghost’s hold, but can’t find the strength because all of his sage chakra is being drained away. Meanwhile Fukasaku and Shima are still gathering chakra for their genjutsu and cannot help. Naruto then gets a clever idea. Since he can’t move anyways, he begins concentrating to gather even more nature’s energy to feed Hungry Ghost.

His plan works when Hungry Ghost, who does know how to properly control sage chakra, begins transforming into a frog. Seconds later, his body begins to turn into stone, giving Naruto the opportunity to break free by literally shattering his stone arms.

Naruto believes God Realm is the only one left, but Pein comments that that’s not quite right. Tsunade’s slug informs Naruto that the Peins appear to be only puppets and that someone else is controlling them from the shadows. Fukasaku and Shima are ready to begin their genjutsu, but suddenly Pein uses his technique to pull Fukasaku towards him. Naruto attempts to save him, but is not able to prevent Pein from skewering him with his black blade.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru’s group is met by Ino’s group and they learn what has happened to Shizune. Shikamaru announces that they can’t let her death be in vain and must figure out Pein’s secret. Inoichi suggests that the only thing they can do now is find the real Pein. Inoichi already tried tracing Pein’s chakra back to him, but has had no success because Pein constantly changes his chakra’s frequency.

Naruto is gripped with rage after seeing Fukasaku get killed. He charges Pein, but is stopped when Pein throws the toad’s limp body at him. Naruto catches Fukasku’s body, but is immediately caught by Pein jutsu and pulled in. Pein grabs Naruto violently by the neck and slams him into the ground. He then puts both of Naruto’s hands together and plunges his black blade through them. Naruto suddenly experiences the feeling of having the

Rinnegan starring into him. Pein asks Naruto if he is ready to come quietly. Naruto demands for Pein to tell him who he is and why he is doing all this. Pein pauses for a second and agrees to talk to Naruto for a bit.

Back in the ruins of the village, Shikamaru and his dad are forming a plan to try to gather as much information as possible from anyone who has had contact with Pein. Shikaku mentions that they should even look through the corpses to be thorough; upon hearing this, Inoichi suddenly realizes something he has missed.

Naruto Manga Chapter 434 - Naruto vs God Realm

2009-03-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Using a clever diversionary strategy, Naruto has surprised Pein by taking out Hell Realm from above. As his clone is about to finish off Hungry Ghost Realm, Naruto himself prepares to charge God Realm Pein. But he was not fast enough, Pein’s powers have recharged again and he uses his Shinra Tensei jutsu to violently repulse both Naruto’s away, destroying the clone version on impact.

Naruto is unhurt, Tsunade’s slug crawls to his shoulder and tells about God Realm’s powers. Most likely, the more power he uses, the longer he needs to wait before he can use it again. But as Choji had reported, there is a short five second interval before Pein can use his technique again; Naruto must try to take down Pein during that time. Fukasaku suggests that he and Shima use genjutsu to trap Pein like they did before.

Gamabunta and the two other toad warriors take the chance to charge in at God Realm Pein, but both Peins manage to evade their attacks. God Realm leaps into the air between the toads and unleashes a strong blast using Shinra Tensei. The force is strong enough to launch them out of the crater and into the area surrounding Konoha.

The large explosion catch the attention of many Leaf ninjas still in the rubble of the village. Hinata uses her Byakugan and sees that Naruto is fighting alone. She desperately wants to go down and help him, but her bodyguard insists that she will only be a burden to Naruto if she does.

Fukasaku tells Naruto to keep Pein busy and try to aim for the five second interval while he and Shima gather enough sage chakra for their genjutsu technique. Fukasaku reminds Naruto that since he has only one clone left, he only has enough nature energy to stay in sage mode for another five minutes at most. Shima asks why didn’t they leave more clones behind at toad mountain in the first place, to which Naruto explains that making anymore than three clones during sage mode will interfere with his ability to focus the nature energy.

God Realm Pein interrupts their conversion and admits that Naruto is very strong because no one else has caused him this much trouble before. Before Naruto can react, he uses his Bansho Tenin technique to rapidly pull Naruto into the awaiting fist of Hungry Ghost, who then puts Naruto in a hold. God Realm assures Naruto that he won’t kill him as he is one the jinchuuriki they are after. Naruto tells him not to underestimate him while in sage mode and tries to break free but suddenly feels his energy being drained - Hungry Ghost is using his ability to absorb Naruto’s sage charka. Naruto soon reverts back to normal; Pein announces that the Kyuubi’s host has been captured.

Naruto Manga Chapter 433 - Sage Technique Failure?

2009-03-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

Naruto’s sage mode time has expired. He reasons that since he can only perform two Rasen Shurikens in sage mode, it means he only has four left. God Realm Pein believes it is now his opportunity and charges Naruto. Shima tells Fukasaku that they should fuse with Naruto now, but is told about the rejection by the Nine-Tailed Fox inside Naruto. However, Fukasaku mentions that they did manage to find something that will work for Naruto.

Gamabunta thrusts down his blade at Pein but his target manages to evade and continues chasing after Naruto. Naruto readies to use the scroll he was carrying but Pein catches up to him. Fukasaku rushes by and tells Naruto to let him do it. Naruto tosses him the scroll and is forced to engage Pein in hand-to-hand combat. Gamabunta tells Naruto to let him handle Pein, but Naruto insists that he will use sage mode again and doesn’t want them to be caught by the Rasen Shuriken.

Fukasaku unfurls the scroll revealing a large summoning circle meant to summon humans. Back at Myobokuzan, two of Naruto’s clones are meditating in silence. Fukasaku uses the scroll to reverse summon one of them to their location and tells Naruto to release the shadow clone. Naruto does so and immediately returns back to sage mode. Pein is caught by surprise and is thrown several yards away by one of Naruto sage powered kicks. Fukasaku explains that before they left for Konoha, Naruto left behind two of his clones and infused them with sage chakra. They can summon them at anytime with the scroll and after Naruto releases that shadow clone, the nature’s energy stored with it is all transfer back to the original Naruto.

Naruto creates another Rasen Shuriken with the help of two clones. He launches it at God Realm Pein who is still dazed from the last kick. But suddenly, Hungry Ghost Realm Pein intercepts his technique and absorbs it. Naruto had believed he had killed this Pein already, but then sees Hell Realm Pein and his summoned demon head nearby. Naruto realizes that this Pein must have the ability to revive the others and makes taking him out his first priority. Using a combination of smoke bombs and Rasengan, Naruto creates a giant cloud of smoke around himself.

Bursting out from the smoke, another Rasen Shuriken comes flying straight at the remaining three Peins. Hungry Ghost again attempts to absorb the jutsu, but this one is a fake because Naruto used transformation jutsu to turn into the Rasen Shuriken. Naruto reverts back to his real form and tackles Ghost Realm Pein to the ground to make way for the second Rasen Shuriken coming immediately after him. This one is real but unfortunately God Realm Pein has finally recovered his powers and repels it.

But God Realm Pein wasn’t Naruto’s primary target. The Naruto tackling Hungry Ghost uses his arm to block his opponent's vision in order to prevent him from seeing a third Naruto zeroing in on Hell Realm Pein from above. Pein is caught completely by surprise when Naruto ploughs into Hell Realm with double Rasengans of death from above.

Naruto Manga Chapter 432 - The Return of the Rasen Shuriken

2009-03-20T22:25:00.000-07:00

Pein tells Naruto that he recognizes the sage technique because Jiraiya was also his sensei at one time. And because they share this link, Pein reasons that Naruto should be able to understand his actions since Jiraiya also longed for peace. Upon hearing this, Naruto immediately unleashes his Rasen Shuriken. Standing in the middle of the ruins of Konoha, he asks Pein how he can call what he has done ‘peace’. Pein’s response is that Naruto simply cannot see the greater purpose and tells him to come quietly because his death will bring peace.

Naruto hurls the Rasen Shuriken at Pein, much to the surprise of Fukasaku because Naruto hid this jutsu from him during their training; he is amazed that Naruto is capable of throwing such a dense and quick-spinning chakra. Pein’s bodies scatter to avoid the chakra disk flying at them, but as it gets in range it suddenly expands in size. Ghost Realm Pein is caught in its rift but manages to toss Animal Realm to safety who quickly summons a monstrous bird to counter attack Naruto. God Realm Pein reaches to safety and comments that Deidara was right when he said Naruto cannot be reasoned with.

Shiho, Shikamaru and his father watch the fight from their position overlooking the large crater. Shikamaru wants to go down and help Naruto but his leg is broken. His father advises him not to interfere because if Naruto has mastered the sage technique, he is now on a completely different level so they’d only get in his way.

Gamabunta is caught by surprise when the hellhound he was subduing suddenly splits into two and attacks the other toads. After using his Rasen Shuriken, Naruto knows he is almost out of sage mode power and Pein is aware of this as well. Fukasaku knows they must stop the Rinnegan’s connection in order to take out the bothersome animal summons. He orders Gamabunta to follow his directions while Shima unleashes a dust cloud technique to blind Pein’s vision.

Animal Realm Pein suddenly finds himself in complete darkness. Suddenly a pair of frog eyes appear in front of him. Outside, God Realm and Hell Realm Pein manage to evade Gamabunta’s sword attack through the cover of the dust cloud. The dust clears, but God Realm cannot see Animal Realm anywhere. Naruto is in the darkness with Animal Realm and blasts him with a double Rasengan technique. At that moment, an explosion of smoke comes from Gamabunta’s mouth and God Realm realizes that Animal Realm and Naruto were being held in the toad’s mouth.

Gamabunta releases Naruto and the corpse of Animal Realm Pein from his mouth. With Animal Realm dead, the hellhounds battling the giant toads vanish as well. But as Naruto recovers himself, Pein sees that his sage mode has expired.

Naruto Manga Chapter 431 - Naruto Erupts

2009-03-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Within an instant, Naruto had already defeated one of Pein’s bodies. Because God Realm Pein’s powers will take some more time to regenerate, he employs his other bodies to defend himself. Naruto calls Gamakichi over to take Tsunade to safety, he asks her to tell the villagers not to interfere because it will make it harder for him to fight while protecting others. Tsunade agrees but insists that Naruto takes one of Katsuyu’s clones with him because she can provide information on Pein’s abilities.

Fukasaku and Shima join Naruto as he prepares to fight. Because he is in tune with nature’s energy right now, Naruto can feel the chakra signature of everyone in the village. He asks Tsunade whether Kakashi is on a mission away from the village, when Tsunade fails to reply, Naruto confirms what he has feared. Gamakichi takes Tsunade to safety and lands near Sakura. Having nearly exhausted her chakra reserve, Tsunde can no longer maintain her youthful form and reverts to her older self.

Animal Realm Pein initiates the battle by summoning a rhino to charge at Naruto. Naruto doesn’t move an inch as the beast bears down on him. But as the rhino slams into Naruto, he is stopped dead in his tracks and with his bear hands Naruto tosses the beast high into the air. Animal Realm continues the attack with a duel summoning of a bull and a hellhound. This time it’s the elder toads’ turn, they leap into the air and use Sage Jutsu: Frog Song to unleash a paralyzing assault of sound waves to halt the beasts. Naruto rushes forward and creates two clones and effortlessly form Sage Mode Giant Rasengans with each of them. The clones slam them into the bellies of Pein’s summoned beasts and launch them into the air to join the rhino. Now it’s Gamabunta and the other two giant toads’ turn for some action. They draw their weapons and leap into the air to attack their targets. Both the bull and rhino are eliminated, but Gamabunta only subdues the hellhound because he likely already knows about its ability to become stronger after each attack.

Naruto continues charging towards God Realm Pein, but Hungry Realm moves into position to intercept. Katsuyu crawls onto Naruto’s shoulder and tells him about this Pein’s ability to absorb ninjutsu. Naruto acknowledges and uses his Frog Katas fighting style instead. Hungry Realm makes a stab at Naruto with one of Pein’s black rods while Naruto throws a punch. Both of them seem to have dodged the other’s attack, but Hungry Realm is thrown backwards spinning through the air even though Naruto did not physically make contact with him. God Realm Pein observed that Hungry Realm had deflected the blow, but he did not realize that Frog Katas makes use of nature’s energy to attack as part of the user’s body; in Sage Mode, Naruto’s attacks are far more dangerous and have greater reach than usual. Naruto doesn’t plan on wasting anymore time on this fight, he prepares to finish Pein with his new technique.

Naruto Manga Chapter 430 - Naruto's Return

2009-03-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

Out of the smokes emerges Naruto, already in sage mode and wearing a fire emblazoned jacket and carrying a scroll case similar to the one Jiraiya had. Accompanying him is Fukasaku along with Gamakichi, his father Gamabunta, and two other summoned toads. Pein lands back to the ground and careful observes the new comers.

Naruto looks about him but does not recognize the landscape. Shima arrives to greet the party and tells them that the ruins before them is actually Konoha. As more of the smoke clears, Naruto gets a good look at the battered remains of his village and becomes enraged.

Around the village, the survivors of Pein’s blast crawl out of the debris. Thanks to Tsunade’s slugs, many people were saved because Katsuyu shielded them with her own body when the explosion hit. Iruka,Shikamaru and his father, Shiho, Hinata, Kiba and his mother are all injured in various degrees but still alright. At Choji’s location, he was able to reach his father in time with a medical team, but there’s still no signs of life from Kakashi.

Tsunade and one of her ANBU bodyguards managed to survive the blast. She cannot believe her eyes as she surveys the damage Pein has wrought to Konoha. Her guard notices that the mark on Tsunade’s forehead has disappeared - that means she has already released her Souzou Saisei technique to pour all her stored chakra into Katsuyu in order to protect the villagers.

Naruto comes face to face with Pein who comments that Naruto has saved him the trouble of finding him. On the outskirts of Konoha, the other bodies of Pein are reanimated. Hell Realm approaches the broken body of Demon Realm and feeds it to his demon head. Within moments, a perfectly healed Demon Pein emerges from its mouth. Animal Realm prepares to summon everyone back into Konoha to take on Naruto. Konan questions Pein on why he must go so far to achieve his aims. Pein says it is his form of justice. Konan has noticed that the recovery of Pein’s other bodies has slowed down because Pein focussed all his energy into his God Realm body and tells Pein that she will accompany them in her paper clone form.

Demon Realm launches Animal Realm to God Pein’s location whereupon he summons the four remaining bodies into the area. Naruto and the toads are preparing to take on all six Peins when suddenly Tsunade enters the area. She threatens Pein that she will put an end to him for what he has done to Konoha. Pein acknowledges that Tsunade has finally understood a little of his pain, but adds that he has no use for her now that Naruto has been found. In an instant Demon Realm rushes Tsunade catching her completely by surprise. But before he could sink his claws into her, Naruto pounces on him from above and obliterates his body with a Rasengan.

Naruto Manga Chapter 429 - Pain

2009-03-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Now that Pein knows that Naruto is with the toads at Myobokuzan, he has no need to be in Konoha anymore. Tsunade wants to go after Pein but his ANBU guards advise to let Pein go for now in order to buy time to strengthen their defences. Pein turns to leaves but tells Tsunade that he knows they’ve channelled chakra to their feet as a counter to his gravity powers, however he points out that it is a futile attempt in the face of overwhelming power such as his own. Peins says that Konoha had waged war in the past without considering the consequences because when you have power you believe you are the only ones that matter. He reminds Tsunade that war always brings injury and death to both sides, but Tsunade argues that the great nations have all suffered through war too. Pein thinks Tsunade to be naïve and states that those who don’t know true Pein will never know true peace. With that, he leaps into the sky above Konoha.

Human Realm Pein has acquired the information he needed from Shizune. To everyone’s shock, he rips her soul from her body and Shizune’s lifeless body falls to the ground. At Konoha hospital, Sakura and the other medical ninja are working their hardest to heal the hundreds of wounded but there just too many. And at Myobokuzan, Fukasaku and Naruto finally receive word that the messenger frog, Kosuke, who was posted at Konoha had been killed. Fuksaku realizes that something bad must be occurring in Konoha. Fortunately, Shima, Fukasaku’s wife, was gathering ingredients near Konoha. Fukasaku tells Naruto that with his wife’s help, they can summon something very strong to aid Konoha. A messenger frog gets word to Shima and she immediately knows what Fukasaku has in mind

Meanwhile, Konan and the rest of the Pein bodies have broken off their individual battles and are summoned to a location outside the village by Animal Realm Pein. Konan pleads for Pein not to go through with the technique he is about to use because it will shorten his life; she refer to Pein by the name Nagato. But Pein is determined to punish Konoha and abandons all his body save God Realm Pein to concentrate all his chakra. From several miles above the village, God Realm Pein unleashes his most powerful version of his Shinra Tensei technique upon Konoha. An enormous blast originating from the center of Konoha sends devastating shockwaves throughout the village. Buildings on the edges are quickly demolished while those at the epicentre were instantly pulverized into dust.

At the shattered ruins of the Konoha hospital, Sakura managed to survive thanks to Tsunade’s slug sheltering her body from the full impact of the explosion. Dazed and confused at how this could have happened, Sakura cries and desperately calls out for Naruto to please return to Konoha. At that moment, a large summoning cloud appears at the center of the village, now ground zero after Pein’s ruthless attack. Pein looks down from above to see who has arrived to challenge his power.

Naruto Manga Chapter 428 - Conversation

2009-03-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hell Realm Pein charges Konohamaru and engages him in melee combat. Konohamaru quickly ducks out of his range because after witnessing what happened to the two other Leaf ninja, he knows he will be dead too if Pein catches him. Yet Konohamaru backs himself into a wall and is quickly caught by Pein. Ebisu attempts to come to his pupil’s rescue but is easily dispatched by Pein with a swift kick to the neck. Hell Pein’s demon becomes visible to Konohamaru. Pein asks for the location of Naruto but Konohamaru is catching on to how Pein’s technique works. He tells Pein that he does not know and, as had happened to the previous Leaf ninja, a slimy ooze emerges from his mouth.

Konohamaru has a flashback to the day (this occurred prior to the time skip) when Naruto first introduced to him a new technique he had learned. Because Naruto had only taught him perverted techniques like Sexy no Jutsu in the past, it was natural for Konohamaru to think that Naruto was going to teach him a even more risqué technique. But Naruto tells him that he is going to teach him a very difficult A-rank technique this time.

It is time for Konohamaru to demonstrate how much he has progressed with Naruto’s technique. Pein realizes too late that the Konohamaru he caught was only a shadow clone. The real Konohamaru and another clone charge Pein from behind. Supported in the palms of their hands is the Rasengan. Konohamaru lands a direct hit on Pein.

God Realm Pein stands before Tsunade and her guards, however he claims to want to talk first. Tsunade immediately recognizes the enemy’s face as that of one of the children she, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had saved in the Rain country back when they were still teammates. Pein asks for the location of Naruto; he tells Tsunade that he has already captured almost all of the tail beasts. He claims that wars will break out soon, and it would be in Konoha’s best interest to cooperate with him or pay a terrible price. Tsunade snaps at Pein for underestimating her and rejects his offer because his group is the one responsible for terrorizing all the countries. Pein responds by starring back with the power of his Rinnegan. He tells Tsunade not to act so haughty because Konoha’s actions in the past have led to war and violence in his home village. Pein again demands for Naruto’s location and asks Tsunade if she thinks her ninjas can protect Naruto forever; Tsunade’s response is that Naruto is strong enough to defend himself now.

Shizune, Ino, Inoichi and their ANBU bodyguard take cover inside the cryptology compound to share information on what they’ve learned about Pein. They come to the conclusion that Pein has the ability to revive the dead by controlling their bodies with the black chakra receivers. If all the bodies of Pein are simply receivers, then there must be a transmitter out there. Shizune believes that Jiraiya’s code “the real one is not there” means that the one sending out the signals is not one of the six Pein bodies. Inoichi believes that this ability is similar to the Yamanaka clan’s mind control powers, but this ability is far stronger because it can control multiple bodies even from a longer distance. Shizune decides that they must relay this information to Tsunade so they can send out teams to search for the controller or controllers. But before they can act, Human Realm Pein lands in their midst and drops a smoke bomb. When the smoke clears, Shizune has been captured by Pein who threatens to kill his hostage if the others move. He then directly reads Shizune’s mind and learns that Naruto is located in Myoboku Mountain. That information is instantly relayed to God Realm Pein who shocks Tsunade by revealing that he has learned of Naruto’s whereabouts.

Naruto Manga Chapter 427 - Reunion

2009-03-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ebisu can’t believe Konohamaru hasn’t ran away yet. He pleads for him not to throw his life away because he could become the Hokage someday. Konohamaru declares that he has made a promise to Naruto - that someday the two of them will fight it out for the title of Hokage. And until their day comes, Konohamaru will not let himself run away or else he won’t be good enough to face Naruto.

At toad mountain, Naruto continues to push himself to his limits by attempting to gather nature’s energy while running. In his latest attempt, Naruto loses control and begins to turn into a frog. Fukasaku is forced to catch up to him and whack him with his special stick in order to convert Naruto back. Naruto wants to keep going, but Fukasaku reiterates that what he is trying to do has never been done before… it would be like trying to look left and right at the same time. A light bulb lights up in Naruto’s head.

Tsunade is concentrating on using her chakra to heal the wounded of the village when she senses something very disturbing; one of her slugs has discovered the body of Kakashi. Tsunade walks out of the barrier set up by her bodyguards, and with one punch destroys one of the stone structures which adorn the Hokage’s building. She clenches her fist and tells her bodyguards that they should continue. Then, Choji arrives on the rooftop and relays information about the appearance and abilities of the enemy they had just encountered, God Realm Pein. Tsunade thanks Choji and has her slug Katsuyu to spread this information to everyone else. Choji also mentions that the others with him including Kakashi and his father Choza did not survive. Tsunade informs Choji that his father and his team may still have a chance if he hurries and brings them to a hospital quickly. Choji’s eyes swell with tears and he asks if Kakashi is also okay. Tsunade does not answer him and simply tells him to hurry.

Inside the morgue where one of Pein’s bodies was being dissected by Shizune, Hungry Ghost Pein has forcibly entered the facility to retrieved the black rods which were extracted from the body. A flash grenade rolls to his feet and explodes, followed by a powerful Gatsuga attack. Tsume Inuzuka, Kiba’s mother, and her dog Kuromaru were the ones responsible for the attack. Kiba is also close behind with Akamaru, and spots Hungry Ghost Pein hiding near the ceiling. Tsume notes that this Pein does not seem to like physical attacks because he had used the body of the other Pein to shield himself;

At another part of Konoha, a horde of Kikaichu Bugs are eating away at the paper which have been used by Konan to trap Leaf ninja. Standing before her are four members of the Aburame clan, including Shino and his father Shibi Aburame.

Not far from the village, Team Gai takes a short break during their journey back to Konoha after their last mission. Gai notices flocks of birds fleeing away from the direction of Konoha. Neji has a bad feeling about it and everyone, except Tenten, agrees they should hurry back right away.

Tsunade resumes her efforts to channel her chakra on the roof of the Hokage’s building, but an uninvited visitor arrives. From Choji’s description, Tsunade knows it is God Realm Pein, however she did not expect for Pein to call her by name as if they had met before. Pein also declares that Tsunade is the only one left of the original Sannin.

Naruto Manga Chapter 426 - Naruto and Konoha

2009-03-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hell Realm Pein has cornered two Konoha ninja. He raises them off the ground by their throats and demands to know the location of Naruto Uzumaki. He tells them that they will lose their lives unless they talk. A large demon’s head surrounded by a circle of black flames rises out of the ground behind him. He asks one last time for Naruto’s location, but both ninja still adamantly deny that they know where he is. Pein tells them that he will pass judgment on whether they are telling the truth or not.

Suddenly both ninja feel something swell up from their throats and emerge as slithery rods from their mouths. The demon opens its mouth producing two hand-like protrusions which grab hold of the rods. The demon is able to hold on to one of the rods but lets go of the other one from the second ninja. He consumes the rod still in his grasp, at which point the ninja it belonged to goes motionless and dies. Pein comments to the surviving ninja that it appears he was telling the truth.

Watching the whole scene unfold nearby is Konohamaru. He is confused by what has happened because he could not see the demon nor what had actually occurred to the Leaf ninja. Konohamaru decides it is too dangerous to stick around and turns around to run away but hits his face right into the wall behind him. Konohamaru fears he may have been discovered, but Ebisu arrives in front of Pein to confront him. Ebisu was aware that Konohamaru was hiding nearby and only revealed himself so that his pupil can get a chance to run away while he distracts Pein.

Back at the interrogation center, Animal Realm Pein’s summoned beasts have wrecked havoc to a large portion of the building already. Shizune asks Inoichi and Ino to go with her to the cipher department so they can piece together what they know about Pein thus far. As they run away followed by some ANBU bodyguards, Ibiki and the rest of the ANBU block Animal Pein from pursuing. But carefully watching Shizune’s party escaping is Human Realm Pein.

At toad mountain, Naruto is stubbornly trying to continue his Sage mode training by attempting to gather nature’s energy while in motion. He sees this as the only option since the Kyuubi inside him refuses to allow Fukasaku to fuse with him. Fukasaku tells Naruto to stop because what he is trying to achieve is physically impossible to accomplish. Naruto sees Jiraiya’s code still scribed into Fukasaku’s back and says that he sees it as a personal message from Jiraya to him telling him never to give up. He is Jiraiya’s apprentice, and if that message is his master’s “way of the ninja”, then Naruto can’t afford to allow himself to simply give up. Fukasaku recognizes that although Naruto is stubborn, his pure tenacity to never give up is a key quality needed to become a great Sage.

Konohamaru is torn as to what to do. He is still near where Hell Realm Pein is, and watches helplessly as Ebisu is trapped in the same situation that the previous two Leaf ninja were in. Pein asks Ebisu to tell him where Naruto is or else he will kill him. Ebisu remembers back to when he first heard the name Naruto. Back then many of his fellow ninja protested when the Third Hokage allowed Naruto to become a ninja. They doubted Naruto’s role when Team Kakashi successfully returned from their first real mission after defeating Zabuza Momochi. It wasn’t until the Chunin Exam finals when Naruto single handily defeated Neji Hyuuga that everyone truly began to see Naruto in a different light. As Naruto proved himself time and time again, such as defeating Gaara during the Invasion of Konoha and helping to convince Tsunade to become the Fifith Hokage, the villagers began to see Naruto as a rising star of the village and a hero to look up. Even when news of Jiraiya’s death reached Konoha, Naruto proved again that he has the will to keep going forward, carrying on Jiraiya’s will.

Ebisu smiles and tells Pein in his face that he will not betray Naruto because he is a citizen of Konoha. Ebisu resigns himself to his fate as Pein prepares to kill him. But just then, shurikens strike Pein’s arm and force him to drop Ebisu. Konohamaru leaps out from hiding and challenges Pein to fight him.

Naruto Manga Chapter 425 - Kakashi Hatake

2009-03-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

Images from Kakashi’s past flash through his mind. He remembers his teammates Obito and Rin. He remembers the day Obito died and he remembers the Sharingan which Obito offered to him as a final gift to help him protect Rin. With Obito’s Sharingan, Kakashi has seen a new generation of young Konoha shinobi grow up. Kakashi’s only regret is that he was not able to protect Rin as he had promised Obito. He is prepared to go to the afterlife and finally be together with his teammates and sensei, Minato Namikaze.

As Kakashi walks through the darkness he sees a lone figure sitting beside a camp fire. Kakashi immediately recognizes who it is and sits down. The mysterious figure asks Kakashi to tell him his story, Kakashi gladly agrees because the person next to him is his father after all.

In the physical world, Kakashi’s body remains motionless and is trapped in the rubble. Demon Realm Pein is lying on the ground nearby. A panel from its head then falls out, implying that something is emerging from within.

Back at toad mountain, Fukasaku again attempts to merge with Naruto using the Amphibian Sage technique. But as soon as Fukasaku begins to concentrate, Kyuubi’s spirit erupts and violently ejects him off Naruto’s shoulder. Fukasaku realizes that it’s no use because the Kyuubi will not allow him to fuse with Naruto. Naruto is stunned and upset because if they can’t complete this step, then all their training up until now will be wasted.

At the interrogation center, Animal Realm Pein begins a summoning jutsu while Human Realm Pein infiltrates the building. Shizune has just finished explaining to Inoichi and the others what the purpose of Pein’s black rods are. As sudden rumble rocks the building. The ANBU body guards sense an immanent attack and rapidly perform a combination of high level jutsus in retatiation. But it is no use as a giant multi-headed demon hound breaks through their attacks. The ANBU realize it must some type of special summoning and try to search for the ninja who is performing the summonings.

Animal Realm Pein completes another summoning - this time a gigantic rhino beast appears and rams head first into the interrogation chambers. Animal Realm emerges from the mouth of the rhino and sees Shizune holding one of his black rods. Before anyone can act, Animal Realm continues his attack and causes an explosion. Fortunately, Tsuande’s slugs have arrived on the scene and are able to shelter everyone from the force of the attack.

Everyone is alright but now have Animal Realm Pein and two of his powerful summons towering over them. Inoichi recognizes the face of this Pein because he saw it inside the memories of the Rain ninja they were mind probing. However, he is sure that this person has already died. Shizune is trying to make sense of all of this because according to Fukasaku, Jiraya had already killed the Pein whose specialty was summoning - this is the body they brought back for an autopsy. Shizune wants Inoichi to tell her more of what he has learned. Ibiki tells them to evacuate while he and the ANBU deal with their attackers. In the midst of the chaos, nobody notices that Konohamaru is hiding nearby.

Naruto Manga Chapter 424 - Determination

2009-03-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Tsunade’s Katsuyu slugs move about the village to heal the injured shinobi and civilians. At her headquarters, Tsunade is guarded by four ANBU members while she is concentrating hard to use her chakra to heal as many people as possible.

In his hideout, Danzo gathers a group of his own loyal Roots shinobi and orders them to remain hidden and wait until things have calmed down above ground. One shinobi asks whether they should go and help because it would be meaningless to take over Konoha afterwards if everything is destroyed. But Danzo’s plan is to have Tsunade use her powers to heal everyone, though he admits that there will be some casualties. Their loss will be a necessary sacrifice in Danzo’s eyes if he is to become Hokage.

In the interrogation room, Inoichi Yamanaka and his team are carefully digging deeper into the memories of the captured Rain ninja to discover any clues about Pein‘s secrets. One fragment of memory captures Inoichi’s attention, it is when the Rain ninja and a companion (the one who Jiraiya had turned into a frog) are taking yet another corpse to Pein’s tower. The other Rain ninja comments that it’s odd that they always take bodies to the tower, yet the place is off limits to relatives of the deceased. When the arrive at their location, they unzip the body bag to reveal a female face who resembles that of the current Animal Realm Pein. Konan, whom the Rain ninja refers to as “Angel”, arrives and asks them to bring over the next body.

entire day’s worth of memories in 30 seconds. Then Shizune suddenly arrives in the room with an ANBU guard. She is here to help figure out the truth about Pein by combining what they’ve learned so far. But Inoichi continues to delve deeper into the memories, his subordinates are amazed because he is able to sift through an just at that moment, Animal Realm and Human Realm Pein are closing in on their location.

At the site of Kakashi and Pein’s battle, the entire area has been devastated. Believing that everyone is dead, God Realm Pein leaves the area to continue his mission. Choji is still alive but discovers that his father, Choza Akimichi, is dead because he protected him during Pein’s last attack. To his surprise, Kakashi is still alive and he asks Choji to deliver what they’ve learned about Pein’s abilities to Tsunade because he is the only one who can still move. However, Demon Realm Pein is alive as well and has overheard their conversation. He launches a missile at Choji as Kakashi screams for him to run away. Kakashi realizes Choji won’t get away in time and uses his

Mangekyou Sharingan ability to send the missile to another dimension even though he knows the strain will kill him in the state he is in. Pein is surprised by this power and realizes that Kakashi must have used that same ability to erase the nail God Realm Pein had thrown at him. Completely drained of chakra, Kakashi is not longer able to stay conscious. As everything goes black, he calls out to his old teammates Obito and Rin.

Naruto Manga Chapter 423 - The Power of God Realm

2009-03-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Choji and Choza Akimichi have arrived with four other Leaf ninja to back up Kakashi. Pein is on the defensive now and is more cautious about fighting his opponent. Choza is impressed by Kakashi’s carefully laid out skirmish against Pein so far. He had fought together with Kakashi in the past and knows he is full of all kinds of clever tricks. Yet Choza also knows that Kakashi must be low on chakra by now. Kakashi admits he has only half his chakra reserve left but notes that he has figured out the basics of God Realm Pein’s powers.

Before he can say more, Pein makes a surprise dash against them. The four shinobi accompanying Choji and Choza intercept him with their own attacks, but Pein blows them away using a jutsu called Shinra Tensei. As debris scatters everywhere, Choji throws three kunai at Pein. But instead of repelling them away with his ability, Pein moves and dodges them. Kakashi notices this and sees a potential opening. He tosses his own explosive kunai at Pein but this time it is repulsed away.

Kakashi, Choji and Choza regroup behind some cover to form a new plan; everyone else has been knocked out of action. Kakashi reveals that this Pein seems to have the ability to control gravity and repulsion forces - he can pull and push objects or persons to or from his center. Though the one weakness is that he can’t use it in quick succession, leaving a short interval in between where they might be able to attack successfully. Choza notes that the interval is far too short for them to get close enough, but Kakashi has something planned.

While Pein is waiting for the dust to settle to resume his attack, a sudden crack appears in the ground below him. Kakashi has used a Doton (earth element) jutsu to tunnel under Pein and leaps upwards to stab Pein with a kunai. However, he is not fast enough and Pein smashes him into the ground with his gravity power. Pein comments that Kakashi will give him trouble if he doesn’t kill him now, but before he can strike Choji and Choza attack from both sides with Nikudan Sensha (Human Bullet Tank). Pein tells them they are too slow and holds them off with his replusion powers. However, Choji and Choza quickly stop their spinning and pull on a chain which was buried in the ground. Kakashi had laid out the chain below Pein before he made his previous attack, and as the chain in drawn tight it binds Pein’s arms. Kakashi immediately moves in to strike with his Raikiri, but a severely injured Demon Realm Pein jumps in between them and takes the hit instead. Kakashi pushes his Raikiri through Demon Pein hoping to connect with God Realm Pein before their time runs out.

Naruto is taking a short break in his training. Fukasaku arrives and tells him they need to practice their fusion technique now. Naruto’s mind is on his friends back at Konoha though, he is worried Akatsuki would attack Konoha looking for him. Fukasaku assures him there are plenty of excellent ninja back in Konoha to take care of things, and besides they would have sent a messenger frog if something did happen. Naruto is reassured and gets back to training.

Kakashi’s plan has failed. Choji and Choza lie unconscious and Kakashi himself is half buried in rubble. Pein notes that this one does not appear to be a clone, but just to be safe he will finish Kakashi off from a distance. He draws out a rusty nail from a wooden plank. Kakashi knows he can’t dodge from such a close range. Pein flicks the nail at Kakashi and it appears to strike him in the head.

Naruto Manga Chapter 422 - Kakashi vs. Pein

2009-03-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

In one of the streets of Konoha, several bodies are covered tightly in pieces of paper, immobilizing them and even preventing them from breathing properly. Konan materializes next to one of her victims, she uncovers his nose and mouth and asks him for the location of Naruto. The Konoha ninja refuses to give in.

At another location, a squad of Leaf ninja surround Hungry Ghost Relam Pein, but their ninjutsu attacks are completely absorbed by their opponent. They have no choice but to attempt to fight him hand-to-hand. Inside a building close by, Hell Realm Pein has summoned a large demon creature with Rinnegan eyes and surrounded by black flames. He is also interrogating a Leaf ninja he had captured about the location of Naruto.

The wounded are piling up around Konoha. At the roof of her headquarters, Tsunade summons her slug Katsuyu to help her heal the wounded. She orders Katsuyu to split her body and attach herself to all the wounded around the village and heal them using her chakra. Tsunade swears by the name of Hokage that she will protect the village no matter what.

An explosion in the distance alerts Choji, his father, and their group of shinobi. They rush to provide reinforcement. At the site, Kakashi appears behind Demon Realm Pein and strikes with a Raikiri at his opponent’s back. However, even though Demon Realm was facing forward, it knew exactly when to duck to avoid the attack. Kakashi sees God Realm Pein staring at him a short distance away and remembers what Fukaku said about the Pein’s bodies being able to share their vision. The key to fighting them is to take them one-on-one and find out what ability each body specializes in. Kakashi knows he needs reinforcements, but before he can act Demon Realm Pein removes his cloak to reveal his true form: a body with six arms, three faces (each with a different expression) and a flat razor sharp tail.

Before Kakashi can react, God Realm Pein raises his hand towards him and suddenly causes Kakashi to be drawn in towards Demon Realm Pein. Kakashi is helpless to stop his body against it, but now understands what God Realm’s power is. Kakashi attempts to use a chain to grapple onto a girder to stop himself, but another tug from Pein forces him to lose his grip. Kakashi is thrown directly into the waiting tail of Demon Realm and is impaled through the chest. However, his body then begins dissipating and turns into electricity. It was a clone of Kakashi which was impaled - more specifically a lightning clone which has shocked and paralyzed the Demon Realm Pein.

God Realm Pein suddenly senses an impending attack and evades just in time to avoid being crushed by two giant fists from above. Demon Realm Pein is not so lucky and is smashed into the ground. To Kakashi’s relief, Choji and his father Choza Akimichi have arrived on the scene and had used their Partial Multi-Size technique on the Peins. Kakashi now has a chance to gather his chakra and launch a counterattack against the remaining Pein.

Naruto Manga Chapter 421 - Call Naruto Back

2009-03-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

The streets of Konoha are in chaos. A group of villagers are running for their lives away from the giant centipede which Animal Realm Pein had summoned. A little girl named Tami trips and is about to be attacked by the creature when suddenly Sakura leaps in and destroys it with one of her power punches. While she treats the girl’s scraped knee, Iruka and a team of Konoha ninja arrive. Iruka explains to her that Akatsuki is behind the attack. Another large explosion occurs in the distance. Iruka tells Sakura to hurry to the hospital where the wounded are filling up.

In Tsunade’s office, a messenger toad is prepared to depart for Myobokuzan Mountain to fetch Naruto under Tsunade’s orders. But the Konoha elders Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane arrive at her door and tell her to stop. They have been informed by Danzo that the leader of Akatsuki is behind the attack and that Nauto is their target. Koharu thinks that Naruto is still a child and cannot hope to defeat someone who was able to kill Jiraiya. Also, the consequences would be dire if the Nine-Tails was to fall into Akatsuki’s hands.

Tsunade won’t have any of this, she rushes over and grabs both elders by their collars. Naruto’s promises of the past flash through her mind: “I won’t die until I become Hokage!” “I’m gonna avenge that pervy sage!” She also remembers Jiraiya’s final wish for Naruto to be the “child of prophecy” and how he risked everything to entrust the future in Naruto. Tsunade snaps at the elders for still treating Naruto like a weak child. He has inherited the spirit of Konoha and will surpass Jiraiya one day. Naruto is not some hidden weapon that they need to shelter away. Tsunade drops the elders on to the floor. She then asks if they knew what Jiraiya, Sarutobi, and Chiyo of the Sand had that they don’t… Faith.

At that moment everyone was struggling to do their best to protect the future of Konoha, even Naruto who was still hard at work competing his new jutsu. Tsunade states that just like her grandfather, the First Hokage, had the faith to entrust the village to their hands, it is now time for them to have faith in the next generation to protect the village. The elders get back to their feet, Koharu begrudgingly tells Tsunade to do as she likes and the two silently leave the room. Just then Shizune arrives.

Kakashi pushes his way out of the rubble after the sudden explosion caused by God Realm Pein. Kakashi is unsure what technique Pein had used because it did not feel like a shockwave, yet everything in a large radius around Pein was blown away. He decides to test out Pein’s defences by attacking with a lightning jutsu in the form of a hound. However, it is easily dissipated before it can get close enough to Pein. Kakashi is impressed that Pein’s ability can repel both physical and ninjutsu attacks. He is thinking about his next move when Demon Realm Pein lands a short distance behind him.

Shizune explains to Tsunade that the black substance they recovered from the body Jiriaya sent back is a receiver for chakra signals. Since all of Pein’s bodies have these implanted in them, it must be how they are able to move and coordinate with each other, perhaps even transmit chakra amongst themselves. Shizune is sure this is the key to solving the secret of Pein’s strength. All they need now is information from the interrogators to solve the mystery. Tsunade agrees and tells the messenger frog to also tell Fukasaku all they’ve learned so far. She then orders Shizune to go inform the interrogators and assigns ANBU teams to protect Shizune and to guard the interrogation chambers. Tsunade herself will go help with the wounded.

Everyone gets to action and leaves the office. The messenger frog is about to depart when he is suddenly killed by Danzo who appears out of nowhere. Danzo coldly says that the Nine-Tailed Fox will be out of the way now.

Naruto Manga Chapter 420 - Battefield Konoha

2009-03-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

While Naruto is perfecting his Frog Katas fighting moves with Fukasaku in a mock battle, the real thing is happening back in Konoha. After arriving at the scene of an explosion, Iruka comes to the rescue of an injured Leaf ninja when suddenly Peinn (Realm of God) appears behind him. Pein coldly threatens to kill Iruka if he does not tell him the location of the Nine Tails. When Iruka refuses, Pein thrusts his black blade at him. Fortunately, Kakashi arrives in time to intercept the blade and save Iruka’s life. He tells Iruka to take the injured ninja to safety while he takes care of Pein.

Pein wastes no time and immediately launches a kick which Kakashi avoids by ducking. Kakashi uses Doton: Doryuheki to summon a wall of rock adorned by four dog heads behind Pein. But Kakashi is unable to evade Pein’s next attack and is pierced in his left shoulder by one of Pein’s black blades. But Kakashi is not fazed and immediately follows up with a Raikiri believing that Pein would not be able to avoid it at such close range. But just as he is about to land the blow, he suddenly senses the power of a set of Rinnegan eyes glaring at him. Kakashi’s attack misses as Pein was able to dodge to the side. Pein tells Kakashi it is a pleasure to meet him, the copy ninja of Konoha, and insists again on knowing the location of the Nine Tails. Kakashi tells him it’s a stupid question to ask and attacks with a second Raikiri. But a sudden burst of force from Pein knocks him backwards and destroys his stone wall.

At toad mountain, Naruto takes a break with Fukasaku while his wife goes to buy ingredients for dinner. Fukasaku is pleased at Naruto’s progress; he can now use sage chakra and has mastered the frog katas and sanjutsu to a degree. However, Fukasaku warns Naruto that using the Sage Arts is still a risk for him. The big danger comes from the lengthy preparation needed to collect enough nature’s energy to transform into sage mode; it takes a long time and requires Naruto to stand absolutely still, but this makes him a defenceless target in actual combat. For Naruto to be able to use sage mode in combat, he must have many allies to buy him some time or else he will need to always retreat to a safe place in order to gather the required chakra. Fortunately, Fukasaku has an alternative for Naruto: fusing their bodies. While Naruto has a grotesque mental image of the result, Fukasaku assures him that he will simply fuse with his shoulder like he did with Jiraiya during his last battle. The advantage is that while Naruto is moving, Fukasaku can remain still on his shoulder and help absorb energy.

Inside the autopsy lab, Shizune has finally found something important about the black substance Pein uses as a weapon. It is a device meant to receive and respond to chakra waves. And since it just started heating up, Shizune knows it must be receiving something right then. She is hurring to inform Tsunade when a powerful explosion is heard in the distance. Shikamaru, Sakura and Shiho hear it too and rush to action. At the same time, Inoichi Yamanaka has reached a breakthrough in disassembling Pein’s mind barriers inside the captured Rain shinobi’s brain. Another huge explosion unleashed by Demon Realm rocks Konoha, and Ino rushes in to tell her dad that Konoha is under attack.

Tsunade can clearly see everything taking place from her office. She immediately tells her ANBU agents to put out an emergency warning. And after remembering Fukasaku’s words about how Jiraiya has entrusted the future to Naruto, “the child of prophecy”, Tsunade orders that Naruto be called back.

Naruto Manga Chapter 419 - Attack

2009-03-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

Pein and his team gather outside the walls of Konoha. He divides the team into two parts for their attack on the village. One group consisting of Demon Realm (spiked headed body), Animal Realm (female body and newest replacement) and Hungry Ghost Realm (chubby body) will provide a diversion. In the mean time, the second group of God Realm (original Pein in Yahiko’s body), Human Realm (lanky body with long hair), Hell Realm (body with chiselled chin) and Konan will conduct reconnaissance to seek out the host of the Kyuubi. Pein uses his Rinnegan to see the spherical barrier which surrounds the entire village, including from above. Anyone who comes into contact with it will immediately be detected.

Itachi and Kisame were able to bypass this barrier in the past due to Itachi’s knowledge from being in Konoha’s ANBU, but Pein’s group will not have that luxury. However, Pein does have an alternative plan and orders Animal Realm to be launched into the city from above. As expected, she is immediately detected as an intruder by the Konoha barrier team as she breaks through. As she lands she summons Konan and the other Pein bodies, and in doing so has tricked the barrier team into believing only one intruder has entered the village.

Pein’s team scatters and begins their mission. As planned, the diversion team immediately begins attacking the surroundings with explosives and summoned beasts. Konoha’s barrier team arrives on the scene and realize that they’ve been fooled, and call for backup. Meanwhile in a deserted alley, Human Realm gathers information from a captured Leaf ninja by directly reading his soul. When it seems he does not know anything about the Nine-Tails, he kills the ninja by extracting his soul.

Raikage’s assistant gives them a letter to deliver to Konoha’s Hokage. They also learn of Killerbee’s (Eight-Tail Jinchuuriki) capture by Akatsuki and are worried, especially In the Cloud village, Samui, Omoi and Kurai have gathered at the Raikage’s office as ordered. The Omoi and Kurai who were students under the Raikage with Killerbee. Their talk about the fate of Killerbee causes the Raikage to tear up. He announces that they will save his brother no matter what.

In an Akatsuki hideout, the extraction of the bijuu from Killerbee has already started. Only Madara, Zetsu and Kisame are present, so the progress has been slow. Suddenly, Killerbee’s body transforms into a tentacle. They realize it was a replacement jutsu where one of the Eight-Tail’s severed limbs was transformed to look like Killerbee’s body. Meanwhile back at the battle ground, the real Killerbee emerges from one of the tentacles which Sasuke had chopped off in battle and subsequently sank to the bottom of the water.

Killerbee is proud of his clever and spur of the moment plan, but his Eight-Tails partner isn’t pleased about losing several limbs just so he could pull it off. The Eight-Tails also points out that summoning him in the battle was unnecessary because he already had the upper hand, not to mention that the transformation sapped him of all his strength. Killerbee replies it was because he was fighting against one of the strongest opponents he has ever faced, so he got carried away a little. The Eight-Tails asks him if it’s alright for him to even deceive his brother, the Raikage, with this move of his. Killerbee responds that it’s not fair that he is always restricted to the village just because he is a Jinchuuriki; he only wanted a chance to be free and do what he wants to do…. like singing enka.