Recaps

Orochimaru defeated the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, helped end the Third Ninja War, and was thrown into the future by the Dragon Vein before returning to his own time. As Fugaku backed his bid for Hokage, Danzō moved to undermine him, and Kakashi’s investigation exposed Root’s experiments.

• Orochimaru and Jiraiya captured White Zetsu after Ōnoki’s forces retreated, and Orochimaru warned Hiruzen that Madara was using Obito as a successor.
• Might Duy and Fugaku fought the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, with Duy killing several and Fugaku awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan before they faced the Third Mizukage.
• Orochimaru defeated Fugaku in a challenge, earning the Uchiha Clan’s pledge, while Nagato summoned the Demonic Statue after Yahiko’s death and Obito resolved to begin his plan.
• After the war, Orochimaru and Tsunade split the Four-Tails and traveled to Rōran, where they helped Sarah free the citizens from Anrokuzan’s puppets.
• The Space Gem destabilized the Dragon Vein and sent Orochimaru to future Rōran, where he battled Sasori and Deidara before Pain’s Six Paths confronted him.
• Orochimaru returned through the Dragon Vein as Kakashi’s team defeated Mukade, and Orochimaru revealed Naruto’s future origin and promoted Anko, Asuma, and Kurenai Yūhi to Special Jōnin.
• Fugaku urged the Uchiha Clan to support Orochimaru for Hokage, while Danzō ordered Root to spread rumors against Orochimaru and Kakashi began investigating Root.
• Kakashi and Kinoe fought Root’s forces until Might Guy and Tsunade intervened, and the Third Hokage arrived as Tsunade accused Danzō of experimenting on villagers and infants.

Orochimaru became Hokage, survived the Nine-Tails attack, and dismantled Danzō’s Root while Akatsuki gathered new members and prepared to oppose him. The story left Shisui’s team fighting Dōtō and his Snow Ninjas in the burning Snow Capital.

• Orochimaru became Hokage, secured postwar funding, and accepted Kinoe as Yamato, while Danzō secretly began experiments with First Hokage cells.
• Pain killed Hanzō and took control of Amegakure, while Orochimaru used J.A.R.V.I.S. to ease Konoha’s administrative work.
• Obito and Pain attacked Naruto’s guarded birth, but Orochimaru and Minato drove them back before Obito unleashed the Nine-Tails in Konoha.
• Orochimaru and Minato helped seal half of the Nine-Tails into Kushina and half into Naruto, while Tsunade gave birth to Yu and Kyu.
• Orochimaru exposed Danzō’s crimes and disbanded Root, but Danzō escaped the village after surviving Hiruzen’s attack with Izanagi and joined Akatsuki as Kōchin.
• Orochimaru told Minato that Obito was the Masked Man, then helped prepare Kakashi for the strain of his Mangekyō Sharingan with Yamato’s cells.
• Pain restored Nagato’s ability to walk and recruited Kakuzu and Sasori into Akatsuki, while Orochimaru tested a conscious clone and Kakashi defeated Shisui in a spar.
• Shisui, Kurenai, Asuma, and Anko arrived in the Snow Capital to protect Koyuki and stop Dōtō, then fought his forces after he killed Sōsetsu and ordered Koyuki captured.

Konoha secured new allies and technologies as Orochimaru advanced his research, while Fugaku’s reforms sparked an Uchiha rebellion that Shisui and Itachi crushed. Three years later, the other great villages formed an alliance against Konoha, and Itachi prepared for a mission as Sasuke began his own path as a ninja.

• Asuma and Shisui captured Kazahana Dōtō, and Kazahana Koyuki took the throne with Konoha’s support.
• Orochimaru warned Shisui to reserve Kotoamatsukami for an invincible enemy, while Tsunade mastered Shikkotsu Forest’s Sage Mode and sparred with him.
• Fugaku opened the Uchiha Security Force to non-Uchiha ninja, prompting Setsuna and other clan leaders to resist his reforms and join Obito Uchiha’s rebellion.
• Shisui and Itachi defeated the rebel Uchiha, while Fugaku and Shisui drove Obito away after he escaped their attack.
• Shiba and Kitsuchi attacked Konoha’s railway workers, but Shisui, Asuma, Kurenai Yūhi, Anko, and Manda survived the assault.
• Orochimaru showed Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders his rocket, reactor, and agricultural advances, then developed a Sage Seal as Tsunade questioned his research.
• Yu and Qiong awakened Wood Release at the Ninja Academy, while Obito brought the Fourth Mizukage, Rasa, Ōnoki, and the Fourth Raikage together to discuss opposing Konoha.
• Itachi prepared to infiltrate Hozuki Castle with Izumi and Kabuto Yakushi, while Sasuke graduated and joined Kakashi’s team with Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Sai, A, and Qiong.

A joint Chunin Exam became the setting for an alliance’s assault on Konohagakure, where Konoha’s shinobi fought to protect the village and its tailed beasts. The attack ended with Hiruzen and Danzō dead, Pain and the attackers driven back, and the surviving villages facing renewed conflict over captured tailed beasts.

• Itachi and Izumi defeated Mui, but Muku emerged from the Box of Paradise as Satori and critically wounded Izumi before Itachi sealed the monster and offered Izumi a place in the clan head’s residence.
• Orochimaru proposed a joint Chunin Exam, and the Kage gathered in Kumogakure as Konoha’s leaders recognized the risk of war and prepared for an attack.
• Sasuke wounded Gaara during the exam, causing Gaara to transform into Shukaku as the allied forces revealed themselves and the battle spread across Konohagakure.
• Konoha’s fighters battled the allied forces and tailed beasts, while Hiruzen and Danzō killed each other with the Reaper Death Seal and Pain invaded the village.
• Minato, Fugaku, and Itachi fought Pain, and Fugaku survived Pain’s attack with Izanagi before sealing him as Orochimaru and others helped defeat Nagato’s Chibaku Tensei.
• Black Zetsu and Obito disclosed their tailed-beast captures and planned to provoke the other villages, while Naruto began seeking Kushina’s instruction and learned he needed to master the Sage Seal.
• Konoha mourned Hiruzen and Danzō, and Biwako told Orochimaru that Hiruzen had been proudest of choosing him as his successor.