Recaps

Menma joined Orochimaru and the Sand Ninja in their assault on Konoha, revealing to Naruto that they were brothers before helping Shukaku devastate the village. After killing Shiranui Genma, Menma escaped with Orochimaru as the attack began to wind down.

• Orochimaru recruited Menma into the Konoha Crush Plan, while Sarutobi Hiruzen put Konoha on alert and Jiraiya returned to the village.
• Menma learned to use the Adamantine Sealing Chain, met Jiraiya and Naruto, then warned Kabuto Yakushi and Baki that he would only follow the plan if it suited him.
• Baki killed Gekko Hayate after the Jonin discovered the conspiracy, and Menma joined the finalists at the Main Tournament as Orochimaru posed as the Fourth Kazekage.
• Sasuke defeated Neji, then Naruto fought Gaara as the Sand and Sound forces prepared to attack and Kabuto Yakushi cast the Art of the Nirvana Temple.
• Orochimaru trapped Sarutobi Hiruzen while Sand and Sound Ninja attacked the arena, and Menma stopped Naruto from reaching Gaara before revealing that Naruto was his younger brother.
• Menma accused Konoha of betraying him as Gaara transformed into the One-Tail, and Shukaku attacked the spectators while Menma urged him to make the village suffer.
• Naruto and Shiranui Genma fought Menma, but Menma defeated them, killed Genma, and escaped with Orochimaru and the Sound Four when the purple barrier vanished.

After defecting from Konoha, Menma settled in with Orochimaru, pursued greater strength, and secured a summoning contract with Shitsu. He then began maneuvering around Takigakure as the nations searched for him and Konoha faced the truth about his origins.

• Jiraiya and Might Guy helped repel the invasion, but Sarutobi Hiruzen died, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari were captured, and Menma defected with Orochimaru.
• Jiraiya rejected the Hokage nomination and agreed to find Tsunade, while Danzo sought control of Menma and the Nine-Tails.
• Menma reached Sound Village, reunited with Karin, and explained why he had left Konoha and intended to grow stronger.
• As news of Menma’s defection spread, Obito used the crisis to stoke tensions, while Itachi and Kisame returned toward Konoha to investigate.
• Menma traded information and Nine-Tails-related cooperation to secure Orochimaru’s resources, then began his own experiments with Karin’s help.
• Menma and Karin left Sound Village, and Menma defeated the Head-Sized Lizard before winning Shitsu’s summoning contract by promising to avenge the Land of Head and find Gozō Sakaki’s descendants.
• Menma posed as an envoy to persuade Shibuki to accept a confidential search mission, using it to establish ties with Takigakure and seek targets including Gozō Sakaki’s descendant and Uzumaki descendants.
• The Raikage ordered a renewed search for Menma as other nations weighed their responses, and news that Menma was Namikaze Naruto’s younger brother and the Fourth Hokage’s son spread through Konoha.

Tsunade became Fifth Hokage and tried to stabilize Konoha’s position as Sasuke defected and Naruto pursued him. Menma fought Naruto and Kakashi at the Valley of the End, then escaped with Sasuke to Orochimaru’s base, where he sought research on the Sharingan and Yin Release Chakra.

• Tsunade became Fifth Hokage and negotiated a cautious response to the threats from neighboring villages, while Danzo opposed her decisions and pursued his own ambitions.
• Menma returned to the Sound Village as Orochimaru prepared to evacuate, while Sasuke left Konoha with the Sound Four to seek power.
• Tsunade sent Naruto and Shikamaru after Sasuke, and the pursuit squad caught up with the Sound Four near the Valley of the End.
• Menma met Sasuke and rejected Naruto’s plea to return, then fought Danzō’s Root operatives and Kakashi as Sasuke battled Naruto.
• Menma gravely wounded Kakashi and nearly killed Naruto, but a vision of their mother briefly stopped the brothers before Menma escaped with Sasuke and Tayuya.
• Choza halted the Konoha group from pursuing, and Naruto returned with Kakashi while Menma and Sasuke reached Orochimaru’s base in the Land of Grass.
• Menma insisted on meeting Orochimaru, recognized that he had changed bodies, and asked for his research on the Sharingan and Yin Release Chakra.

Menma secured a flexible alliance with Ōnoki, tested Sasuke in battle, and moved with Orochimaru’s support toward his plans for Takigakure. As Menma’s squad traveled, Shibuki faced the fallout from Suiken’s defection and Fū’s questions about her uncle.

• Menma arranged a meeting with Ōnoki, who offered him a place in Iwagakure, but Menma proposed an alliance against Konoha instead.
• Menma shared intelligence about Akatsuki and Konoha, and Ōnoki agreed to a flexible partnership while planning to use Menma as an advance scout.
• Sasuke challenged Menma to a fight and lost, then vowed to obtain Mangekyō Sharingan and make Itachi repent.
• Orochimaru relocated his base from the Land of Grass to the Land of Tea as Cloud Ninja scouts and other villages’ agents closed in.
• Menma sought Orochimaru’s personnel for his Takigakure plans, and Orochimaru sent Suigetsu, Tayuya, Karin, and others to follow Menma’s orders.
• Orochimaru reviewed experiments combining Cells with the Sharingan and considered using highly active Cells after the Sharingan rejected the preliminary samples.
• Menma led his squad north by ship while a Takigakure Jonin named Suiken remained missing after defecting from the village.
• Fū confronted Shibuki about Suiken, then left the search to him on the condition that he notify her when Suiken was found, and Shibuki ordered Ajun to widen the search.