Recaps

Naruto helped Gaara befriend Shukaku and replace his seal, while the Sunagakure siblings grew closer to their Konoha counterparts. The official Chunin Exam matches began, culminating in a destructive clash between Neji and Rock Lee that Naruto contained with a barrier.

• Naruto and his team passed the Forest of Death, and the preliminary matches began after Tsunade explained the exams’ political purpose.
• Sasuke, Choji, Shino, Naruto, Sakura, and Tenten won their preliminary matches, while Hinata forfeited to Neji after Naruto saved her from a dangerous attack.
• Rock Lee fought Gaara, who released Shukaku, but Lee defeated the tailed beast and Gaara surrendered.
• Naruto welcomed Gaara and his siblings, helped Gaara recognize their bond as family, and encouraged him to befriend Shukaku.
• Naruto trained Gaara to communicate with Shukaku and replaced Gaara’s seal with an Eight Trigrams Seal that Gaara could choose to open.
• Rasa arrived in Konoha and warned his children that Sunagakure might one day fight their new friends, while the official matches began.
• Shikamaru defeated Kakumoku, Sakura defeated Tenten, and Choji defeated Shino in the official matches.
• Neji and Rock Lee fought with powerful techniques, and Naruto raised the Four Red Yang Formation to contain the shockwave from their clash.

Naruto won the Chunin Exams, brought Minato and Kushina back to life, and welcomed Adult Sasuke and Boruto from another world. As Urashiki Otsutsuki’s threat loomed, Naruto strengthened Adult Sasuke and began training Boruto.

• Naruto defeated Sasuke with nine Sage Art: Great Ball Rasengan, won the Chunin Exams, and secured Rasa’s agreement to send Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro to study in Konoha.
• Naruto and Shisui turned Kisame into a Konoha agent, and the Akatsuki Organization decided to lie low while Naruto spent two and a half years studying Six Paths Power.
• Orochimaru revived Minato and Kushina for Naruto’s sixteenth birthday, and Naruto used the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to restore them to life.
• Adult Sasuke and Boruto arrived from another world, met Naruto and his family, and warned him that Urashiki Otsutsuki was targeting the Nine-Tails.
• Adult Sasuke reunited with the Uchiha Clan, while Boruto told Minato and Kushina about the future and his family.
• Orochimaru treated Adult Sasuke with Naruto Cells, restoring his Six Tomoe Rinnegan, and Naruto regenerated his severed arm with Six Paths Power.
• Orochimaru injected Boruto with Naruto Cells, and Naruto sealed some of Kurama’s Chakra and consciousness inside him.
• Naruto trained Boruto in the Flying Thunder God Technique, and Boruto adapted to its spatial jumps before they headed back to eat.

Naruto and his allies defeated Urashiki, then returned to their own time as Sunagakure faced an Akatsuki attack on Gaara. Konoha’s team helped repel the assault, and Scorpion chose to return to Sunagakure and make amends while Sasuke and Gaara continued fighting Deidara.

• Naruto gathered his family and allies to confront Urashiki, who transformed after eating his Rinnegan and fought them with overwhelming power.
• Naruto drained Urashiki’s Chakra, and Boruto killed him with a Flying Thunder God Kunai before Naruto took the corpse to Orochimaru for study.
• Boruto and Adult Sasuke returned home, while Rasa trained Gaara in Magnet Release and Deidara and Sasori attacked Sunagakure to capture him.
• Naruto led Kakashi, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Sakura to Sunagakure, where Gaara agreed to draw out the Akatsuki with Naruto’s Flying Thunder God Kunai ready to summon help.
• Gaara activated the kunai as Deidara, Sasori, and Tobi lured him toward buried Clay Bombs, and Naruto’s reinforcements arrived to split the fight among the attackers.
• Sakura and Chiyo fought Sasori, who revealed that he had killed the Third Kazekage and turned him into a puppet before Sakura smashed Sasori’s mechanical body.
• Naruto reincarnated Scorpion’s parents in living bodies, and Scorpion chose to carry forward his Puppet Technique in Sunagakure as Sasuke and Gaara prepared to face Deidara.

Naruto helped defeat Deidara, reconcile Sunagakure, and bring new allies into Konoha as the Akatsuki captured Yugito and continued hunting Jinchuriki. The stretch ended with Fuu under Konoha’s protection and the Chunin Exams underway.

• Sasuke and Gaara defeated Deidara, while Tobi escaped Kakashi and Rasa by using Kamui and Sasori chose to remain in Sunagakure.
• Naruto helped Sunagakure build an oasis, and Sasori agreed to assist its puppet masters as Naruto encouraged Sasuke to develop his Rinnegan.
• Hidan and Kakuzu captured Yugito and extracted Matatabi, then killed Jirōbō while Naruto shared Akatsuki intelligence with the villages.
• Kabuto sent Suigetsu, Jugo, and Kimimaro to Konoha, where Minato tested them and Naruto welcomed them into the village as Hawk Team.
• Naruto improved the trio’s abilities with Naruto Cells and learned that Fuu had come to Konoha to escape the Akatsuki.
• Naruto arranged for Konoha to protect Fuu after the Chunin Exams and asked Tsunade to enter Hawk Team in the exams.
• Shikamaru organized the Chunin Exams, and Kimimaro won his first match by defeating an Amegakure ninja.