Recaps

Nara Kagetsu developed Blood Armor with Orochimaru and Tsunade, then joined Orochimaru’s team on missions that brought Tenbin Jugo and Uchiha Shisui into his orbit. The stretch ended when a masked ANBU confronted Kagetsu in a dark alley and ordered him to follow.

• Nara Kagetsu developed Blood Armor with Orochimaru and Tsunade, and Anko and Shizune tested its offensive and defensive forms.
• Tsunade left Konoha with Shizune, while Kagetsu shared the Blood Armor scrolls with the Nara Clan and delivered Tsunade’s Eight Gates Release scroll to Might Duy.
• Orochimaru took Kagetsu and Anko on a mission, where they encountered Tenbin Jugo and learned that Natural Energy caused his transformations and loss of control.
• Kagetsu helped Orochimaru study Jugo and suggested a cause for the Cursed Seal subjects’ reactions to Natural Chakra before returning to Konoha with Orochimaru.
• Kagetsu fed Jugo’s Natural Energy-rich flesh to Chong Chong, which evolved into a stable combat form with toxic black needles.
• Kagetsu, Anko, and Uchiha Shisui subdued a Giant Boar on a mission, and Orochimaru revealed that he had watched them with a Shadow Clone.
• Shisui told Fugaku about Kagetsu’s advice to build a relationship with Orochimaru, and Fugaku encouraged him to spend time with Kagetsu and Itachi.
• A masked ANBU stopped Kagetsu in a dark alley and threatened to subdue him, while Kagetsu secretly sent out a small snake and prepared to resist.

Kagetsu advanced his research, awakened a powerful Shadow Release Kekkei Genkai, and led a mission to gather intelligence as Kumogakure prepared to invade. The arc left him facing Yugito and the Cloud Shinobi alone after sending Shisui and Anko to safety.

• Orochimaru confronted Hiruzen over Danzo’s actions and secured approval for the Technology Development Department, while Hiruzen curtailed Root.
• Orochimaru and Kagetsu worked with Fugaku’s clan to test pills that could strengthen the Uchiha’s Sharingan, and Minghuo survived the illusion with increased ocular power.
• Kagetsu and Orochimaru experimented on Kurama Murakumo to awaken his Yin Release, and Kagetsu gained a new ability after a Golden Card reward integrated a fragment of the Soul King’s Left Hand into his bloodline.
• Kagetsu demonstrated his living shadow to Shikaji, Anko, and Shisui, then defeated Shisui in a spar and confirmed that he had awakened a Kekkei Genkai.
• As Kumogakure mobilized against Sunagakure, Kagetsu joined Minato’s team on an intelligence mission and later led Anko and Shisui behind enemy lines.
• Kagetsu’s team defeated a Cloud Ninja squad, learned that Kumogakure was searching for supplies, and encountered Yugito and her unit.
• After Yugito revealed herself as a Jinchuriki and overwhelmed their defenses, Kagetsu controlled the First Hokage’s body with his Shadow Puppet Technique and sent Shisui and Anko away.
• Kagetsu stayed behind to delay Yugito and blocked her pursuit with Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence.

Kagetsu returned from the Cloud battlefield with a portion of Matatabi sealed inside him, then worked with Orochimaru to control its Chakra and develop new techniques and devices. As the war expanded, Konoha prepared for battle, Shisui and Anko advanced their abilities, and Anko awoke after a risky transformation.

• Kagetsu trapped the Two-Tails with Wood Release, extracted a portion of Matatabi’s Chakra, and escaped while Kaisan I stayed to protect the weakened Yugito.
• After returning to Konoha, Kagetsu explained his artificial body technology to the Hokage and resisted Danzō’s demand to take control of it.
• Kagetsu and Orochimaru formed a research partnership, and Kagetsu learned to restrain Matatabi’s Chakra with his Shadow Puppet Technique.
• Shisui awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, while Anko gained control of Matatabi’s Chakra and developed powerful blue flames.
• As Iwagakure and Kirigakure entered the conflict, Konoha mobilized, Kakashi trained with Active Static Blood Armor, and Kagetsu’s Healing Tags entered wartime use.
• Shisui defeated Anko in a sparring match, and she then entered Kagetsu’s Medical Pod for a risky transformation.
• After three days and nights of treatment, Anko woke on the fourth morning and pounded on the pod’s glass, setting off the Laboratory alarms.

Kagetsu strengthened allies and advanced his experiments as Kumogakure’s theft of the Healing Tag method led to a war over the Cursed Seal masks. The Third Raikage disappeared after using a mask, while Kagetsu’s search for him and his work on Might Duy continued.

• Kagetsu confirmed Anko’s enhancements had increased her strength, Chakra reserves, ninjutsu, and healing, though she still had to adjust to her power.
• The Third Hokage accepted Kumogakure’s peace envoy, while Rui and the Cloud delegation used a contest to distract Konoha as Monim and Lai stole Healing Tag materials and triggered a mask’s transformation.
• Konoha’s fighters defeated the Cloud delegation in the contest, and Minato and Rui sealed Monim after he transformed into a regenerating monster.
• The Cloud delegation left with the Healing Tag production method, and Kagetsu explained to the Third Hokage that the stolen mask held an incomplete, dangerous Cursed Seal of Emptiness.
• Rasa and the Third Raikage fought as Iwagakure entered the war, and the Third Raikage stayed behind to face Ōnoki’s forces before using a mask and disappearing.
• Kagetsu sensed the original mask’s connection to the Third Raikage, while Jiraiya recruited Shinnō to teach medical ninjutsu to Konan and Kakuzu began searching the Rain Country for the Raikage’s corpse.
• Kagetsu treated Kakuzu’s Earth Grudge Fear, recruited him to manage Akatsuki’s Healing Tag business, and arranged a Lava Release heart for him.
• Kagetsu tested a body-strengthening drug on Might Duy, whose physique and Chakra reserves nearly doubled and who learned to use the sixth gate without its former backlash.