Chapter Summaries

Jiraiya hosted the visiting villages and nobles in Konoha, where tensions surfaced over absent leaders and the Chunin Exams. After the banquet, the Wind Kage revealed himself to be an impostor, leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade stunned by his identity.

• Jiraiya recognized Konan, then questioned the Wind Kage about the absent Land of Wind Daimyo, and the Wind Kage blamed a Sand Gold Mine discovery.
• Jiraiya challenged the Hidden Cloud representatives over their Lightning Kage's absence, and Darui and Mabui replied that the Eight-Tails needed guarding and demanded Konoha sealing techniques.
• Jiraiya invited the guests to choose opponents for Konoha's contestants at the Chunin Exams and ended the banquet.
• Hizashi Hyuga watched Ao closely and left with a solemn expression, intending to report to Neji that the Hyuga Clan's eyes had been exposed before the visiting nations.
• The Wind Kage stayed behind, removed his hat, and peeled away his disguise, shocking Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Orochimaru revealed his plans to Jiraiya and Tsunade and proposed an alliance against a threat to the Parallel Ninja World. Later, Jiraiya visited Naruto to train him for the Chunin Exams, while Sasuke listened from inside the room and grew anxious.

• Orochimaru told Jiraiya and Tsunade he had killed the Kazekage and intended to destroy the Hidden Leaf Village, then proposed cooperating against a greater danger.
• Orochimaru summoned two wooden coffins, convincing Jiraiya that they might be able to resolve the Parallel Ninja World crisis, but he refused to awaken their occupants yet.
• Neji heard Hizashi Hyuga's report, mocked the Caged Bird Seal, and left as Hizashi hoped Neji would restore the Hyuga clan's glory.
• Jiraiya knocked on Naruto's door, introduced himself, and learned that Naruto knew him as the Pervy Sage from Kakashi.
• Jiraiya told Naruto he needed more strength before the Chunin Exams and offered to train him during the two days before the final exam, while Sasuke listened nearby.

Jiraiya taught Naruto the Summoning Technique and expected him to summon a toad from Mount Myōboku, but Naruto instead summoned Sage Fukasaku. Fukasaku demanded an explanation from Jiraiya, while the Great Toad Sage foresaw great changes and ordered Mount Myōboku’s clan members gathered.

• Jiraiya watched Naruto stand on the river and decided to teach him the Summoning Technique and Rasengan.
• Jiraiya had Naruto sign the Mount Myōboku summoning scroll, then summoned Toad Bunta to demonstrate.
• Naruto performed the Summoning Technique, and the force pulled at the Great Toad Sage in Mount Myōboku.
• Fukasaku chose to answer Naruto’s summon, while the Great Toad Sage sensed that the Shinobi World was about to undergo great changes.
• Jiraiya expected Naruto to summon a small toad, but Fukasaku appeared and demanded to know what was going on.

Jiraiya taught Naruto the Summoning Technique, but Naruto’s instinctive pull nearly summoned the Great Toad Sage from Mount Myōboku. After mistaking Naruto’s ability to sense chakra for a special Uzumaki trait, Jiraiya had him summon Gamabunta and prepared to teach him the Rasengan.

• Jiraiya asked Naruto to try the Summoning Technique again after learning that Fukasaku had deliberately answered the first summoning.
• Naruto performed the technique again, and the Great Toad Sage sensed the summoning force while Shima intervened to prevent him from being pulled away.
• Shima scolded Jiraiya and Fukasaku before the toads dispelled the summoning and returned to Mount Myōboku.
• Naruto told Jiraiya that he had instinctively chosen the being with the strongest natural power, and Jiraiya assumed Naruto could sense chakra because of his Uzumaki heritage.
• Jiraiya instructed Naruto to summon Gamabunta instead, then praised him and began teaching him the Rasengan.

Jiraiya tried to teach Naruto the Rasengan, only to discover that Naruto could already produce multiple advanced variations with ease. Meanwhile, Itachi and Kisame entered Konoha disguised in Akatsuki robes and decided to stay and watch the Chunin Exams, where Itachi planned to judge Sasuke's strength.

• Jiraiya demonstrated the Rasengan and prepared to have Naruto practice stabilizing it with a balloon.
• Naruto revealed that he could expand and shrink the Rasengan and create dozens of tiny Rasengan at once, leaving Jiraiya stunned.
• Jiraiya told Naruto to practice the techniques and fled, believing Naruto's talent exceeded what he could teach him.
• Itachi and Kisame entered the Delicious Dango Shop, where Itachi used his Sharingan to take seats without drawing attention.
• Kisame suggested watching the Chunin Exams because Sasuke was competing, and Itachi agreed so he could see how strong his younger brother had become.

The Chunin Exams began with matches drawn by the visiting countries, but Naruto Uzumaki advanced after Nara Shikamaru forfeited. Kankuro and Shino Aburame started the next match, leaving the crowd stunned as Kankuro unleashed thirteen powerful puppets.

• The Daimyo and Kage drew the matchups, pairing Naruto Uzumaki with Nara Shikamaru, Kankuro with Shino Aburame, Gaara with Sasuke, and Neji with Rock Lee.
• The first match began, but Shikamaru immediately forfeited, making Naruto the winner and angering spectators and Asuma.
• Kankuro and Shino entered the arena and exchanged confident remarks about their abilities and past opponents.
• Kankuro released thirteen puppets at once, each radiating an aura comparable to a Jonin, and the spectators stared in fear.

Kankuro unleashed his puppet arsenal against Aburame Shino, whose advanced insects devoured the puppets’ poisoned needles and multiplied. Kankuro then prepared his strongest technique, revealing that his clothing and tattoos were inscribed with spatial storage seals, and began summoning a massive puppet tide.

• Kankuro controlled thirteen puppets and launched a barrage of poisoned needles at Shino.
• Shino used Insect Armor, and his Nanomaterial Kikaichū devoured the needles and reproduced.
• Kankuro realized that Shino’s growing swarm could overwhelm him if he prolonged the fight, so he began forming more than fifty hand seals.
• Kankuro’s robe and purple tattoos were revealed to contain spatial storage seals, astonishing the spectators.
• Kankuro completed the technique’s final seal and activated Ninja Art: Thousand Machine Surge: Puppet Tide Technique.

Kankuro overwhelmed the battlefield with his Thousand Machine Cloud Surge, then fused his puppets into a Titan to attack Aburame Shino. Shino remained calm as his bugs quietly attached themselves to Kankuro’s puppets.

• Kankuro summoned thousands of powerful puppets, stunning the Kage, spectators, and Baki, while Deva Path Pain ordered Konan to recruit him at any cost.
• Aburame Shino released Kikaichū Sage Bugs and Nanomaterial Kikaichū, using bug armor to withstand Kankuro’s coordinated puppet attacks.
• Shino secretly spread his bugs and attached them to Kankuro’s puppets as the Sage Bugs vanished.
• Kankuro fused his puppets into a gigantic Titan, alarming the spectators and leaving Kurenai Yuhi worried for Shino.
• Shino watched the Titan with a faint smile, while Itachi Uchiha and Kisame worried that Sasuke might not survive a fight against Kankuro.

Sasuke defeated Gaara in a battle of overwhelming gravity and cosmic flames, though he said neither of them had truly lost. The arena remained dangerous as Jiraiya tried to announce the winner of the third match.

• Sasuke endured Gaara's immense Magnet Release gravity and realized Gaara had concealed power beyond Rasa's.
• Sasuke unleashed Blaze Release: Cosmic Genesis Flame, and Gaara answered with Magnet Sand Release: Particle Defense.
• The clash scorched the battlefield, and Gaara conceded that Sasuke's power had exceeded his expectations.
• The spectators realized the fighters' techniques had distorted space and created tremendous gravity, prompting Darui to seek help from the Raikage.
• Jiraiya fell into the compressed ground under the lingering gravity, and Gaara withdrew his elemental sand before Jiraiya began announcing the winner.

Rock Lee fought Neji Hyuga in the fourth match, opening the Seventh Gate before Neji revealed a bone-manipulating technique and defeated him. The match ended with the other villages eyeing Neji and his Shikotsumyaku as a potential prize.

• Rock Lee removed his gravity rods and opened the Seventh Gate, shocking Guy and the visiting village leaders.
• Rock Lee used Morning Peacock to strike Neji, who rose and said he had researched Shikotsumyaku because he could not awaken the Tenseigan.
• Neji transformed into a three-headed, six-armed bone form and countered Rock Lee with Eight Trigrams: Eight Trigrams One Thousand Twenty-Four Palms.
• Neji bound Rock Lee with four bone arms, and Rock Lee lost the match as the Seventh Gate drained his stamina.
• Ōnoki recognized Neji’s power as the Kaguya Clan’s Shikotsumyaku, while Ōnoki, Mei Terumi, and Pain considered ways to obtain or recruit him.

Naruto quickly defeated Shino, then Sasuke faced Neji in the semifinal. Neji revealed a colossal skeletal transformation, and Sasuke answered by awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan and summoning Susanoo, leaving their battle poised to begin.

• Naruto defeated Shino with a Rasengan that overwhelmed his insects, prompting Shino to surrender.
• Itachi suspected that the person inside Naruto was no longer his little brother and resolved to question him later.
• Sasuke told Neji to surrender, but Neji erupted with Chakra and transformed into a gigantic skeletal titan.
• Neji declared he would win glory and benefits for the Empire and the Hyuga Clan, astonishing Hyuga Hiashi and making Sasuke take him seriously.
• Sasuke awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan and summoned a purple Susanoo several dozen meters tall.

Sasuke defeated Neji after their Susanoo and Skeletal Titan clashed in a fierce battle. After the two acknowledged each other, Naruto suggested revealing their identities to the Shinobi World.

• Itachi crushed his chair as he suspected that the Sasuke below was an impostor or possessed.
• Neji used the Skeletal Titan to battle Sasuke's Complete Susanoo, but Sasuke's Amaterasu began burning through its defenses.
• Neji struck Susanoo and used a ground-shaking counterattack to create an opening, but Sasuke anticipated his move and countered with Blaze Release.
• Neji withdrew the Skeletal Titan and conceded, and Sasuke approached him to acknowledge that he had underestimated him.
• Naruto told Sasuke that fighting him again would be dishonorable while Sasuke's Chakra was depleted, and urged him to reveal their identities publicly.

White struggled between his mother and Momochi Zabuza, who left to avoid causing conflict with White’s family. White later learned that Zabuza had volunteered to lead the Water Province’s ninja army to World 64 and capture the Land of Water.

• White’s mother urged him to stop associating with Zabuza, arguing that Zabuza was a frightening, weak outsider who had already repaid his debt.
• Zabuza heard White defending him and, after reflecting on the Empire’s prosperity and his old loyalty to the Hidden Mist, left a letter for White before departing.
• White found Zabuza’s letter explaining that he had left for White’s sake and encouraging him to train and serve the Empire.
• White vowed to become the strongest person in Snow Crystal Village and not disappoint Zabuza.
• The Empire Daily reported that Zabuza had volunteered to lead the Water Province’s ninja army to World 64 and pledged to capture the Land of Water within ten days of the passage opening.

Rasa rewarded Luo Tie for killing the Land of Wind’s daimyo and his entourage, giving him powerful tools and medicine. When Deidara and Sasori arrived seeking the One-Tail Jinchuriki, Luo Tie survived Sasori’s attack with the pills and activated the Homing Nuclear Exploding Tag against him.

• Rasa praised Luo Tie for killing the daimyo and his attendants, then gave him a scroll of rewards.
• Luo Tie discovered a Sand Iron Body Refinement Technique, two Basic Regeneration Pills, a Homing Nuclear Exploding Tag, a Wind Sand Blade, and promised land.
• Deidara and Sasori landed near Luo Tie’s home and asked where the One-Tail Jinchuriki was.
• Sasori struck Luo Tie in the heart with a hidden weapon, but Luo Tie swallowed both pills and recovered.
• Sasori bound Luo Tie with his mechanical scorpion tail and demanded to know what the pills were.
• Luo Tie infused Chakra into the Homing Nuclear Exploding Tag, targeting the hunched figure before him.

Deidara and Sasori escaped the Nuclear Tag’s blast after Sasori took control of Deidara and abandoned Hiruko to absorb the explosion. Deidara mistook Sasori’s exposed red-haired appearance for his true identity and became obsessed with the blast’s power, while Sasori wondered how the Hidden Sand Village had acquired such a weapon.

• Deidara warned Sasori and launched two Clay Clones toward the Nuclear Tag as it flew at them.
• Sasori shed Hiruko and used his puppet technique to control Deidara, while Hiruko swallowed the tag.
• Luo Tie accepted that he had failed the Kazekage as the Nuclear Tag detonated and devastated the area around it.
• Deidara praised the explosion as the ultimate art and admired Sasori, who silenced him with his puppet technique.
• Sasori wondered how the Hidden Sand Village had obtained power comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb.

A mining blast at Omi Grand Mine yielded a rich haul of gold, while an explosion near Luo Tie's residence sent Rasa rushing to investigate. As Rasa ordered the Anbu to rescue civilians first, one shinobi saved a mother and her child and felt the impact of being thanked by a villager.

• The chief blasting officer detonated ten Homing Nuclear Exploding Tags at Omi Grand Mine, breaking open gold-rich rock and celebrating the harvest with the workers.
• Rasa heard an explosion near Luo Tie's residence and flew toward the site, fearing his trusted subordinate had been hurt.
• Rasa ordered the Anbu to evacuate civilians and provide disaster relief, rejecting their demand to investigate for enemy shinobi first.
• An Anbu shinobi rescued a child from a collapsing pillar and stopped the injured mother from taking her own life.
• The mother thanked the shinobi and asked him to visit, leaving him moved by her gratitude and thinking of Rasa's call to put people first.

Sasori confronted Chiyo while searching for the One-Tail Jinchuriki, and his puppets and attack left her shaken and nearly killed. Rasa rescued Chiyo and faced Sasori and Deidara, who demanded that he hand over the Jinchuriki.

• Deidara offered to protect Sasori after his puppets were destroyed, while Chiyo arrived to treat the wounded and recognized her grandson.
• Sasori demanded to know where the One-Tail Jinchuriki was, then summoned puppets resembling his parents and the Third Kazekage.
• Chiyo was horrified by Sasori's puppets and the truth of his crimes, and Sasori attacked her with the Third Kazekage's Sand Iron.
• Rasa arrived in time to disrupt Sasori's attack, sent Chiyo away to treat the wounded, and confronted Sasori and Deidara.
• Deidara admitted that he and Sasori were connected to the explosion, and the two demanded that Rasa hand over the One-Tail Jinchuriki.

Deidara and Sasori attacked Rasa, but the Kazekage overwhelmed them with his Magnet Release. Rasa left both captured inside layers of gold sand coffins, with Deidara's mouths sealed to stop him from using his clay.

• Deidara provoked Rasa and attacked him with clay birds, but the explosion left Rasa unharmed.
• Sasori summoned his hundred puppets and used the Third Kazekage puppet's Sand Iron techniques against Rasa.
• Rasa repelled the Sand Iron attacks and knocked down the puppets with a storm of gold sand.
• Rasa used Tenfold Gravity to collapse Deidara and then trapped him and Sasori in gold sand coffins.
• Rasa sealed Deidara's hand, chest, and speaking mouths, leaving him unable to chew clay or use his techniques.

Rasa contained Sasori and Deidara after their failed escape attempts, then displayed them as punishment at the Kazekage Tower. In the Hidden Cloud Village, Nagato arrived and asked A to surrender Killer B’s Eight-Tails to the Empire, leaving A wary and Killer B battered.

• Rasa’s Gold Dust stopped Sasori’s attacks, and Rasa ordered that Sasori and Deidara be kept alive and hung at the Kazekage Tower with signs confessing their guilt and honoring Luo Tie.
• A apologized to Killer B for past wrongs, then worried about the Hidden Leaf’s competition because Darui and the others had not reported back.
• Killer B spotted a giant bird and a falling figure, but A mistook his warning for a delusion and beat him.
• Nagato arrived after descending from the bird, and A learned that he came from the Empire’s Hidden Leaf Village.
• Nagato asked A to surrender the Eight-Tails and offered to extract it without harming its Jinchuriki, along with generous compensation.

Nagato confronted Fourth Raikage A and Killer B in the Hidden Cloud Village while seeking the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and survived their first attack through the King of Hell Rebirth. As Nagato gained the upper hand, Killer B released Gyūki and joined A in preparing their strongest forms.

• Fourth Raikage A and Killer B used Double Lariat to sever Nagato's head, then A explained the Tailed Beast deterrence system and destroyed Nagato's head with a lightning projectile.
• Nagato revived through the King of Hell Rebirth, revealed his Rinnegan, and demanded that A tell him where the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki was.
• Killer B attacked with Wild Crane Slash, but Nagato stopped his blades with Shinra Tensei and then used Almighty Pull to drag Killer B and A toward one another.
• Killer B released Gyūki's Chakra to protect A, then transformed into the Eight-Tails' complete form as A prepared his Lightning Release Chakra Complete Form.