Recaps

Hagoromo trained Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata while Konoha prepared to host the Chunin Ninja Exams and gathered the Kage against the Akatsuki. Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata passed the written test and entered the Forest of Death, where the exam’s true political stakes emerged.

• Hagoromo moved the altar’s power to the Sacred Land, handed Kenzaburo over to Hiruzen, and warned Konoha about the unusual ninja organization.
• Hagoromo opened two Realms of Reality, where Naruto accepted his dark self and Sasuke defeated his mirror after awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
• Hagoromo put Naruto and Sasuke through Sage Mode training and encouraged Hinata to learn from her mirror self and try again.
• Hagoromo helped Tenzo build the Chunin Exam venue, then brought Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata to register as foreign candidates arrived in Konoha.
• Hiruzen warned the visiting Kage about the Akatsuki, and Hagoromo defended Konoha as Kitsuchi accused it of capturing Iwagakure’s Four-Tails and detaining its Five-Tails Jinchūriki.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata passed the written exam, and Kakashi explained the Forest of Death’s five-day scroll challenge.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata entered the exam grounds by a different gate as Temari stopped Gaara from pursuing them, and Kakashi revealed that the Five Great Nations had wagered control of the Akatsuki operation on the exam.

Naruto’s team survived the Forest of Death, faced Orochimaru, and reached the Highland Tower, where Naruto received treatment and the second stage ended. After the preliminary fights, the third exam was set for a month later, while Gaara rejected Sunagakure’s operation and questioned the story of the Fourth Kazekage’s death.

• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata defeated Suigetsu’s team and continued toward the Central Tower, while Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji defeated Kumogakure Genin and Gaara’s team clashed with Rock Lee and Neji.
• Neji defeated Gaara and left him unconscious, but Hagoromo treated Gaara, strengthened Shukaku’s seal, and heard Gaara refuse to take part in Sunagakure’s plan.
• Naruto’s group joined Shikamaru’s team, exchanged Heaven and Earth Scrolls, and fought Orochimaru, who escaped after Naruto badly injured himself with an unfinished Rasenshuriken.
• Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji held off Tayuya, Jirobo, and Kidomaru so Sasuke and Hinata could take Naruto to the Highland Tower, where Tsunade and Hagoromo treated Naruto’s damaged hands.
• Hagoromo reassured Sasuke that Naruto had protected him as a friend, then tracked down Orochimaru, defeated him, and brought him and Kabuto to Konoha.
• Hagoromo ended the second stage and held a preliminary exam, where Choji, Suigetsu, Sasuke, and Naruto won their fights, and Gaara advanced by a bye.
• Hagoromo set the third exam for a month later and assigned the contestants training, while Gaara told Baki that he and his siblings would oppose Sunagakure’s operation and questioned whether the Fourth Kazekage had truly been killed.

The Chunin Exams were interrupted by Pain’s attack, and Hagoromo helped bring down Nagato while the Kage faced growing uncertainty about the Akatsuki. Gaara began preparing to lead Sunagakure, and Hagoromo set plans in motion to study the Rinnegan as tensions rose ahead of a Five Kage Summit.

• Gaara and Naruto fought in the Chunin Exams, but Pain and the Akatsuki attacked the gathering, forcing the Kage and their allies to defend the crowd and confront the invasion.
• Hagoromo battled the Six Paths of Pain, found Nagato with Jiraiya, and watched Nagato die after Jiraiya reconciled with his former student.
• Hagoromo presented Pain’s body to the Kage and urged them to verify claims about Madara Uchiha, while the exam ended with eleven candidates promoted to Chunin.
• Hagoromo advised Gaara about Shukaku and leadership, and Naruto encouraged Gaara to seek help from Temari and Kankuro as he considered reforming Sunagakure.
• Obito and Black Zetsu planned to use White Zetsu spies and the Three-Tails to sow distrust among the nations, while Hagoromo assigned Kakashi to lead Naruto’s team and stayed behind to draw out the enemy.
• Hagoromo showed Hiruzen Nagato’s Rinnegan and questioned Orochimaru, who revealed his research into the eye and offered to help analyze it in exchange for limited access.
• Hagoromo, Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shisui began preparing a sealing trap for the Rinnegan while Orochimaru remained in custody.
• As Raikage A accepted a Five Kage Summit in the Land of Iron, Konoha ordered patrols amid rising discord, and Orochimaru told Hagoromo that he had learned what he needed.

Hagoromo helped expose Obito’s war plans and unite the Five Great Nations, then prepared Naruto, Sasuke, and his other disciples for battle. As the war spread across several fronts, Naruto and Sasuke gained new powers and joined Neji against the reincarnated Kage.

• Hagoromo arranged Orochimaru’s escape so Black Zetsu and Obito would enlist him, then Obito used Impure World Reincarnation to declare war at the Five Kage Summit and steal the Rinnegan.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi united the nations into the Allied Shinobi Forces and took command, while Obito began extracting Tailed Beast chakra and prepared a vast White Zetsu army.
• Hagoromo helped redirect the White Zetsu forces, then trained Naruto to cooperate with Kurama and drew out Indra’s Chakra within Sasuke, awakening Sasuke’s stronger Sharingan and Susanoo.
• Naruto became a Perfect Jinchūriki, and Hagoromo sent his disciples and the freed Jinchūriki to reinforce the allied divisions as reincarnated shinobi attacked across the battlefields.
• Hagoromo’s disciples joined the fighting, with Roshi and Killer B supporting allied forces while Jiraiya and Ōnoki led an assault against enemy fighters.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji confronted the reincarnated Kage at the Third Division, where Naruto stopped the Third Raikage’s strike, Sasuke countered Rasa, and Neji brought down Mu.