Chapter 5 (Sasuke Retsuden)

Sasuke reviews Sakura's notes on Hoshinarabe, which pair the 'Bonfire' card with a constellation seen in the ninth month. That night Jiji correctly predicts Menō's route past their cell and, using a branch from a tree the dragon favours, coaxes it close enough to pet. Only Ganno joins at first, but Penjira tries once he sees how calm Menō is, and as he leans in his foot crosses the cell's edge, technically counting as escape. Sasuke shouts, and Jiji yanks Penjira clear of the dragon's snapping jaws.

A lantern topples in the scramble, setting Menō ablaze and driving it off in pain. As Sasuke relights the flame, he grasps why the cards nagged at him: the ninth image is not a bonfire but the Nine-Tails. The next day he and Sakura use this to name the remaining card subjects. With that settled, Sakura reports that a messenger for Redaku's Prime Minister is about to meet Zansūru, and that posing as him could let them interrogate the director undercover.

Sakura waylays the messenger, Fundaru, offering to escort him to the office. He admits he is only meant to ask about 'progress' without knowing its meaning. Leading him to a secluded room, she knocks him out, then transforms into Fundaru while Sasuke becomes his staff. Inside the office she distracts Zansūru long enough to roll Sasuke into the next room, where he finds a door to a secret basement and starts fashioning a key, buying time with drawn-out talk.

Growing impatient, Zansūru demands the Prime Minister's message. Sakura raises 'progress', and he says they can mobilise within days of an order to proceed, but he offers nothing more and asks about the missing staff. Just then Sasuke's unlocking makes a noise, which Sakura masks by tapping the real staff on the floor. Descending at last, Sasuke uncovers the director's hidden cache: heaps of rocks and dozens of chickens, a sight that leaves him utterly puzzled.

Jiji's dangerous game with Menō nearly costs Penjira his life but sparks Sasuke's realisation that the ninth card depicts the Nine-Tails. Sasuke and Sakura decode the rest of the Hoshinarabe cards. Disguised as the messenger Fundaru and his staff, they infiltrate Zansūru's office and find his secret basement filled with rocks and chickens.

The fifth Sasuke Retsuden chapter carries on the Heavenly Stardust storyline in volume one. It published on Shonen Jump Plus on December 18, 2022.