Recaps

Hiko passed Konoha’s final assessment by defeating Male Duck and awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan under pressure. He and his friends refused Anbu service after learning that an Uchiha could not rise to its leadership, while the Third Hokage worried about the growing political tensions and the possibility of war.

• Hiko passed the forest assessment and began mentoring Uchiha Fugaku, while he also helped return Mikoto Uchiha to her father.
• The final assessment began before the daimyo, and Tsunade quickly defeated her examiner with a single punch.
• Hiko faced Male Duck, exchanged severe wounds with him, and revealed his rapid healing as Male Duck flooded the arena and gained the advantage.
• Hiko awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan in the fight and used Susanoo to overpower Male Duck, securing his victory.
• After all four Sarutobi Squad members passed, Hiko refused Anbu service when the Third Hokage confirmed that an Uchiha could not become Head of Anbu.
• Hiko’s friends also refused Anbu, and the squad celebrated as Hiko became Jonin while Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru became Special Jonin.

Hiko became captain of Anbu’s Sixth Squad and navigated pressure from Konoha’s leaders and the Uchiha clan while building trust with his teammates. During their first extended assignment guarding the prison, Danzo’s agents incited a riot, leaving Hiko facing hundreds of escaping prisoners as the Third Hokage rushed to the scene.

• The Third Hokage appointed Hiko captain of Anbu’s Sixth Squad, trusting him to help repair relations between Konoha and the Uchiha.
• Hiko and his teammates formed the squad, while Danzo and the elders tried and failed to make the Third Hokage reverse the appointments.
• Hiko negotiated with Uchiha Shuu to become the clan’s Ninth Elder once he became Head of Anbu, then advised Orochimaru on managing Danzo’s suspicions and acquiring Hashirama’s cells.
• After months of patrol and guard duty, Hiko accepted a prison assignment and learned that the Third Hokage expected Sixth Squad to monitor the Uchiha as well.
• Hiko led Sixth Squad to guard the prison during its half-month assignment, and Danzo ordered Root to infiltrate the prison and engineer an escape.
• Danzo’s agents killed a guard and incited prisoners to riot, so Hiko sent Hatake Sakumo to alert the Third Hokage while the rest of the squad guarded the exit.
• When hundreds of prisoners charged, Hiko summoned his red Susanoo and killed dozens with one slash before warning the survivors to return to their cells.
• The Third Hokage hurried to the prison, telling Hatake Sakumo that he had withheld reinforcements because he feared Hiko had begun a massacre.

After Hiko stopped a prison riot, the Daimyo rewarded him with a rapid Anbu promotion, but the village’s leaders soon tried to push him into capturing Takigakure’s escaped Seven-Tails. Hiko refused their terms while Konoha’s search teams tracked Chōmei to an underground lair, where the beast emerged and attacked.

• Hiko killed more than a hundred prisoners to stop their escape, and the Third Hokage defended his actions against the Elder Council’s accusations.
• The Daimyo praised Hiko, secured his reward and promotion to Third Division Captain, and warned Konoha to strengthen the prison.
• Hiko and Sixth Squad completed a surveillance assignment monitoring the Uchiha Clan, and Hiko admitted he hoped to become Head of Anbu so he could end the surveillance.
• After the Seven-Tails rampaged through Takigakure, Konoha’s leaders tried to make Hiko capture it, but Hiko refused to accept the mission on their terms.
• Hiko told the Third Hokage that only he could control a Tailed Beast in the Uchiha Clan, but he insisted that becoming Head of Anbu was the only reward he wanted.
• Konoha’s two squads joined Uzumaki Kirisame and Takigakure shinobi to search for Chōmei, following its Scale Powder with Ninja Hounds.
• The searchers found Chōmei beneath a sinkhole, and Kirisame warned them of its powerful Chakra as it burst from underground.
• Captain Hyuga ordered the Sealing Team to withdraw while he and the Takigakure Jonin led their combat teams toward Chōmei, which roared that the humans deserved to die.

Hiko captured the Seven-Tails alone and returned to Konoha, where the Third Hokage prepared to use the capture to demand compensation from Takigakure and appoint Hiko Head of Anbu. As Takigakure’s envoy headed to Konoha, news arrived that Jiraiya had disappeared during a battle.

• After Konoha’s mission team was nearly wiped out, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Hiko to capture the Seven-Tails in exchange for appointing him Head of Anbu.
• Hiko recruited Shirono Mashiro to track the Seven-Tails, then sent him back to Konoha while he confronted the beast alone in the Land of Earth.
• Hiko defeated and controlled the Seven-Tails, then escaped toward the Land of Fire after leaving traps that killed most of an Iwagakure patrol.
• Hiko returned to Konoha and told the Third Hokage that the mission had succeeded, urging him to demand compensation from Takigakure before returning the beast.
• The Third Hokage arranged for Konoha to claim heavy losses and demand payment, while Hiko asked him to reward Shirono Mashiro.
• Konoha announced Hiko’s capture of the Seven-Tails, prompting public support for compensation and alarm among Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Uchiha Shuu over Hiko’s growing influence.
• Takigakure sent an envoy to Konoha to collect the Seven-Tails and negotiate compensation, while Hiko reassured the Third Hokage that Jiraiya was probably only delayed after disappearing during a battle.