Chapter 2 (Sasuke Retsuden)

With the prisoners still watching Menō consume an escapee, Zansūru orders them back to work. At the digsite Sasuke is joined by his cellmate Jiji, who dodges real effort and only lifts a shovel when guards pass. Jiji still manages to hurt himself, which he welcomes, since an infirmary visit means seeing its lovely new doctor, whom he claims is single because she wears no wedding ring, a custom Sasuke does not recognise.

After dark, another cellmate, Penjira, invites Sasuke to a game of Cee-lo. Sasuke agrees and shapes a gemstone as his stake, but rather than the cigarettes Penjira offers, he asks that the loser owe him an unspecified favour. Penjira accepts, and Sasuke uses Wind Release to nudge the dice into an instant win. Certain he was cheated yet unable to prove it, Penjira concedes under Jiji's prodding. For his favour, Sasuke has Penjira cover his absence, and despite pleas and warnings that leaving the cell at night means death, he slips out anyway.

Suspecting Menō to be a summon Zansūru keeps under control, and puzzled by how that control lasts so long, Sasuke seeks the dragon out and tries a genjutsu on it. The technique fails and Menō attacks. Rather than leave signs of a struggle, Sasuke attempts to flee, but the beast is too swift, so he forms an icy dagger and shears off several of its claws. Menō withdraws, and Sasuke frets over the wounds he dealt, only to find the dragon whole again the next morning with its claw regrown.

Zansūru then confronts Sasuke, already aware of the nighttime clash. His cover gone, Sasuke turns a genjutsu on the director, which also fails, and he realises the reason is Zansūru's glass eye. Zansūru praises Sasuke's clear talent as a shinobi but warns that he will never pry Menō from his grasp.

Sasuke rigs a dice game to win a favour that lets him sneak out at night. He wounds Menō with an ice blade, then discovers the dragon heals completely by morning. Zansūru reveals his genjutsu immunity comes from a glass eye and warns Sasuke he cannot seize control of Menō.

This second chapter of the Sasuke Retsuden manga continues the Heavenly Stardust storyline in volume one. It launched on Shonen Jump Plus on November 6, 2022.