Chapter Summaries

Naruto tried to bring Satsuki out of her lovestruck embarrassment by challenging her to a fight and showing her that she had been holding back. As Satsuki’s fighting spirit returned, Naruto used Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu to raise the pressure and make her unleash her full strength.

• Satsuki froze in embarrassment when Naruto called to her, unable to speak or respond normally.
• Naruto pointed out that Satsuki had been holding back during their recent sparring and challenged her to fight.
• Naruto provoked Satsuki by calling her timid and weak, reigniting her pride and fighting spirit.
• Naruto and Satsuki exchanged a fast, evenly matched taijutsu battle, but Naruto noticed that she still restrained her attacks.
• Naruto formed hand seals and used Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu to pressure Satsuki into fighting without holding back.

Naruto pushed Satsuki out of her anxious state by fighting her, and she awakened her Three Tomoe Sharingan before losing to him. Afterward, Naruto carried her away from the training ground, determined to talk through their relationship.

• Naruto surrounded Satsuki with Shadow Clones and taunted her as she struggled to disperse them.
• Naruto said he did not like weak women, prompting Satsuki to awaken her Three Tomoe Sharingan and destroy the clones with powerful strikes and a Great Fireball Technique.
• Satsuki exhausted herself and ultimately lost to Naruto's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Satsuki realized Naruto had used the battle to reignite her instincts as a ninja, but she felt hurt that he had made them fight.
• Naruto offered to take Satsuki somewhere else to talk, but when she asked to be left alone, he carried her away anyway.
• Satsuki stopped resisting and rested against Naruto, finding comfort and security in his closeness.

Naruto carried Satsuki home and realized how deeply he cared for her, imagining how far he would go to keep her from falling into hatred or leaving him. Satsuki’s dream was far more absolute than Naruto understood: to be with him forever.

• Naruto carried Satsuki through the quiet streets, and she told him she only wanted to eat the food he made.
• Naruto tried to calm his flustered feelings by remembering his bond with Sasuke, but the memories made him recognize Satsuki as irreplaceable.
• Naruto imagined bringing Satsuki back if she defected, revealing the truth about the massacre if she sought revenge, or standing against her if she wanted to destroy Konoha.
• Naruto suspected Satsuki wanted a romantic relationship with him, but he underestimated her all-encompassing dream of being with Uzumaki Naruto forever.

Naruto and Satsuki stopped at the Uchiha Clan Compound gates to discuss their feelings. Naruto asked Satsuki to keep their feelings safe until they had both grown into dependable Jonin, and to let him become her only one in the future.

• Naruto carried Satsuki to the Uchiha Clan Compound gates, where both prepared to confess their feelings.
• Naruto apologized for making Satsuki spar with him and explained that her unusual behavior had worried him.
• Satsuki denied that Naruto had upset her and tried to tell him the real reason she had changed, but Naruto gently interrupted her.
• Naruto said he wanted them to wait until they were grown-up Jonin before speaking seriously about their feelings.
• Naruto asked Satsuki to let him become her only one on the road toward their future.

Naruto asked Satsuki to reserve their future together until they were older and could make a lifelong commitment responsibly, and she accepted his promise. She made him agree that when the promised day arrived, he would accept whatever she demanded without hesitation.

• Naruto explained that he wanted to become Satsuki’s irreplaceable person and spend his life with her, but asked her to wait a few years before making their relationship official.
• Satsuki understood that Naruto valued her feelings and was serious about their future, and she agreed to wait.
• Satsuki told Naruto that she would count every moment until their promised day arrived.
• Satsuki demanded that Naruto accept whatever she wanted from him when that day came, and warned that otherwise she would show him the consequences immediately.

Naruto and Satsuki reaffirmed their trust and promised to accept each other fully when the time came. After agreeing that they were special, temporary friends, they decided to visit Satsuki’s parents so she could tell them about their promise.

• Naruto eagerly accepted Satsuki’s future demands, calling them a reward rather than a price.
• Naruto promised to give himself to Satsuki without hesitation when the promised day came.
• Satsuki asked Naruto to define their relationship, and he called them unique, special, temporary friends.
• Satsuki invited Naruto to her home to tell her parents about their promise, and Naruto agreed to go with her.

Shisui, Deidara, Zabuza, and Haku flew across the Land of Wind in search of an elusive puppet master. After hours of fruitless searching, they spotted smoke and fire rising from what appeared to be a recent attack.

• Deidara flew the group over the desert on his C2 Clay Dragon and recalled seeing the Great Rasenshuriken there.
• Shisui explained that their target was a long-missing puppet specialist whose appearance was unknown, so they would need to identify the person carefully.
• Haku offered Zabuza, Shisui, and Deidara sand masks, and all three accepted them.
• After hours of searching, Deidara noticed thick black smoke on the horizon.
• Shisui activated his Sharingan and judged that the distant location had suffered an intense, large-scale battle or attack.

Konan fought Sasori of the Red Sand after finding him with the Third Kazekage Human Puppet in the desert. She countered his attacks with paper and Explosive Tags, but Sasori survived and escalated the battle, leaving Konan preparing a powerful technique.

• Shisui and his group arrived at a burning battlefield and saw Sasori confronting Konan.
• Sasori attacked Konan with the Third Kazekage puppet’s poisoned blades and Iron Sand Rain, but she evaded both by dispersing into paper.
• Konan mixed Explosive Tags into her paper and used Sasori’s flames to trigger a chain of explosions.
• Sasori survived behind a defensive barrier of iron sand and began treating Konan as a serious threat.
• Sasori unleashed Iron Sand World Order, and Konan formed paper wings and hardened paper weapons before invoking Dance of the Shikigami: Angel's Judgment.

Shisui’s group interrupted Konan and Sasori’s battle, and Shisui recognized Sasori’s puppet as the missing Third Kazekage. He realized Sasori had murdered the Kazekage and turned him into a Human Puppet.

• Deidara’s clay dragon exploded between Konan’s paper lances and Sasori’s Iron Sand World Order, halting both attacks.
• Shisui’s group arrived, and Deidara told Konan that Sasori was a target the Ember Organization had claimed first.
• Konan considered withdrawing rather than provoking the Ember Organization over Sasori.
• Shisui recognized the puppet’s face and Magnet Release as belonging to the missing Third Kazekage.
• Shisui concluded that Sasori had killed the Third Kazekage and transformed him into a Human Puppet.

Konan abandoned Akatsuki’s attempt to recruit Sasori when she encountered Shisui and the Ember Organization, leaving Sasori to face them. Sasori attacked, and Deidara opened the battle with a barrage of explosive clay spiders.

• Konan recognized Shisui and Deidara, then chose to retreat, while Zetsu watched from a rock pillar and vanished to report the situation.
• Deidara complained that Konan had fled and urged Sasori to join the Ember Organization, but Sasori refused and declared that he would add them to his collection.
• Sasori attacked Shisui, Zabuza, Haku, and Deidara with iron-sand needles, and Shisui warned Zabuza and Haku about the poison used by Puppet Masters.
• Shisui, Zabuza, and Haku dodged the needles with Body Flicker, while Deidara took to the air on his Clay Dragon.
• Deidara sent explosive clay spiders toward Sasori and the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, then detonated them in a series of blasts.

Sasori revealed that his true body was hidden inside Scorpion’s puppet body and fought Shisui, Zabuza, Haku, and Deidara with poisoned weapons and the Third Kazekage puppet. Deidara detonated his C2 Clay Dragon near Sasori, while Haku used Ice Style to get himself, Zabuza, and Shisui clear of the blast.

• Sasori’s sand clone crumbled, and he emerged from beneath the sand to counter Deidara’s tracking clay birds with an explosive puppet hand.
• Sasori revealed his hoarse, hunched true form inside Scorpion’s puppet body and attacked Shisui, Zabuza, and Haku with poisoned senbon while the Third Kazekage puppet fired Sand Iron at Deidara.
• Zabuza used Great Waterfall Technique to sweep aside Sasori’s poisonous senbon and send a torrent toward him.
• Deidara abandoned the C2 Clay Dragon, escaped on an Explosive Clay Owl, and detonated the falling dragon near Sasori.
• Haku formed Ice Style: Ice Mirror Technique and pulled Zabuza and Shisui through to a distant mirror, escaping the explosion’s core.

Shisui revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan and used Amaterasu to destroy Sasori’s Third Kazekage puppet. After explaining his choice to wield Uchiha Yū’s eyes, Shisui asked Sasori whether he could still turn back.

• Deidara worried that his explosion had killed Sasori, but Shisui said Sasori was too formidable to have died so easily.
• The blast destroyed Sasori’s combat puppet and exposed his mechanical Human Puppet body.
• Shisui stepped forward to confront Sasori, and his Sharingan transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Shisui used Amaterasu to set the Third Kazekage puppet ablaze, and Sasori severed his Chakra threads before the flames could reach him.
• Shisui told Sasori he could not win and asked whether there was still any chance for him to turn back.

Shisui offered Sasori a chance to abandon making human puppets, but Sasori rejected him and unleashed his Hundred Puppets Performance. Shisui, Deidara, Zabuza, and Haku charged into battle against Sasori’s puppet army.

• Shisui told Sasori he would spare him if he stopped turning living people into puppets, but would kill him if he refused.
• Sasori rejected Shisui’s terms, declaring that transforming lives into eternal art was an act of mercy.
• Sasori summoned more than a hundred human puppets with his Secret Red Technique: Hundred Puppets Performance.
• Deidara recognized that Sasori’s chest core was the key to defeating him and formed two clay dolls with his Explosive Clay: Spirit Manipulation Technique.
• Shisui created dozens of Shadow Clones, and they rushed the puppet army with their blades.
• Zabuza and Haku charged into the battle together as Haku spread freezing cold across the battlefield.

Shisui, Deidara, Zabuza, and Haku fought back against Sasori’s puppet army with increasingly powerful attacks. Shisui summoned Susanoo and devastated the puppets, leaving Sasori to realize he might not be able to defeat them.

• Shisui spotted Sharingan implanted in a puppet and destroyed it, then evaded the surrounding attacks with his Body Flicker Technique.
• Deidara’s clay dolls and buried clay centipedes repeatedly exploded, destroying Sasori’s puppets and thwarting their attempts to reach him.
• Zabuza and Haku combined Water Style and Ice Release to create an ice dragon that smashed and froze its way through the puppet horde.
• Shisui unleashed Susanoo and formed its second stage, shocking Sasori with the towering red giant.
• Susanoo fired Yasaka Beads into the densest group of puppets, destroying countless puppets and making Sasori doubt he could win.

Shisui and Deidara defeated Sasori’s puppet army and captured his core for the Ember Organization. As they departed, Zetsu and Obito discussed new targets and worried about the Ember Organization’s power and Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Shisui destroyed Sasori’s puppets with Susanoo and collapsed from exhaustion after the battle.
• Deidara spotted Sasori’s core trying to escape, captured it, and sealed it inside Explosive Clay.
• Deidara created a C2 Clay Dragon, and he, Shisui, Haku, and Zabuza prepared to return to the Ember Organization’s base.
• Zetsu and Obito watched from afar and discussed the captured target, the Sky Ninja Village’s remnants, and Orochimaru’s investigation of Akatsuki.
• Obito questioned how Shisui had endured Susanoo with relatively little exhaustion, then vanished using his space-time technique.

Naruto and Satsuki shared lunch with her parents, where Fugaku awkwardly showed his resentment by piling food into Naruto’s bowl. After the young couple left for their mission, Mikoto reflected on their relationship and the old promise she had made with Kushina, while Fugaku hinted at deeper guilt behind his bitterness.

• Fugaku piled food into Naruto’s bowl while Mikoto intervened and helped him eat comfortably.
• Satsuki left with Naruto for Team 7’s missions, pointedly ignoring Fugaku as she said goodbye.
• Mikoto reassured Fugaku that Naruto and Satsuki’s relationship was good for their family and urged him not to tease Naruto again.
• Mikoto recalled the promise she and Kushina had made about their children becoming close, and saw Naruto and Satsuki’s bond as its continuation.
• Fugaku denied that his bitterness was because of Naruto, leaving its deeper source in his helplessness and guilt.

Fugaku struggled with regret and jealousy over the time he had missed with Satsuki and Naruto’s place in her future, but Mikoto helped him accept his role as a supportive father. The couple found comfort in their life after the clan’s burdens and considered having another child.

• Fugaku reflected on how his duties as Clan Head had kept him from being present for Satsuki and felt gratitude, regret, loss, and jealousy toward Naruto.
• Mikoto asked Fugaku why he feared becoming unnecessary in Satsuki’s future and reminded him that Satsuki needed his support in the present.
• Mikoto said Naruto would become part of their family and that they should be happy for Satsuki’s future.
• Fugaku loosened his clenched fist, clasped Mikoto’s hand, and thanked her.
• Mikoto said she preferred their life after Fugaku left his Clan Head responsibilities and suggested they have another child.

Naruto looked after Konohamaru during a mission and sparred with him as the boy pursued his dream of becoming Hokage. After Naruto suggested a surprising technique, Konohamaru unveiled it against him, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Konohamaru repeatedly challenged Naruto, who easily defeated him and earned a Bond with him.
• Naruto trained with Konohamaru at the Sarutobi residence while Udon, Moegi, and Ebisu watched, and Kakashi, Sakura, and Satsuki stood by during the mission.
• Naruto learned that Konohamaru had practiced the Sexy Jutsu after Naruto suggested it as a way to surprise the Third Hokage.
• Konohamaru charged Naruto and performed the Sexy Jutsu, filling the training ground with white smoke.

Konohamaru used a suggestive Transformation Jutsu to make Naruto step back, celebrating his first small victory. Satsuki struck Konohamaru and, after he flirted with Naruto, volunteered to spar with him while Naruto took a break.

• Konohamaru transformed into a beautiful woman, and Naruto reflexively stepped back from the illusion.
• Konohamaru and his teammates celebrated, but Satsuki struck him for using the shameless jutsu.
• Satsuki questioned Ebisu about who taught Konohamaru the technique, while Naruto realized he had mentioned it before.
• Satsuki grabbed Naruto's wrist, then released him and challenged Konohamaru to spar.
• Ebisu encouraged Konohamaru to treat the match as a training opportunity, and Naruto reluctantly urged him to endure it.

Naruto reassured Satsuki after she reacted jealously to Konohamaru’s Transformation Jutsu, and the two grew closer. Kakashi then told Team 7 that he had recommended them for the Chunin Exams and gave them applications to consider.

• Satsuki asked Naruto if her jealousy was strange, then insisted that no one else could have his attention.
• Naruto apologized and promised that his attention would only ever be on Satsuki, who clasped his hand and leaned closer.
• Kakashi overheard their conversation as Team 7 walked home and then began dismissing them.
• Kakashi told Naruto, Satsuki, and Sakura that he had recommended them for the Chunin Exams and handed each an application.
• Kakashi instructed anyone who chose to take the exam to sign the application and report to Classroom 301 in five days by three in the afternoon.