Recaps

Yunqing maneuvered Sunagakure through the war over the Land of Rain while Konoha defeated Hanzo and captured the Seven-Tails. After the fighting, Yunqing rescued Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan and left them the means to learn ninjutsu, as fresh battles erupted between the great villages.

• Hatake Sakumo fought Bunpuku and other border enemies, then confessed his unauthorized battles to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who settled Mito Uzumaki’s grievance and redirected Shimura Danzō to Anbu training.
• Yunqing and Sunagakure’s leaders prepared for war as the hidden villages maneuvered over the Tailed Beasts and the Land of Rain, while Yunqing discussed peace with Madara Uchiha.
• After Hanzo took the Seven-Tails from Takigakure, Yunqing deployed Sunagakure’s forces and tested Sasori’s Iron Golem before sending the new puppets toward the front.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo recognized that Konoha had been drawn into a dangerous war, while Hanzo planned a raid on Konoha and Yunqing agreed to let Amegakure use Sunagakure’s supposed facilities.
• Yunqing trapped Hatake Sakumo’s team in a spatial loop as Hanzo advanced on Konoha, where Hiruzen Sarutobi, Mito Uzumaki, Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu defeated Hanzo and sealed the Seven-Tails.
• Tsunade routed the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and Konoha’s victory over Hanzo broke Amegakure’s resistance as Yunqing and Iwagakure seized land and resources from the Land of Rain.
• Yunqing rescued Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan from starving attackers, left them food, clothes, and ninjutsu scrolls, and departed while new conflicts opened between Iwagakure and Kumogakure.

Yunqing strengthened Sunagakure’s position while the Five Great Hidden Villages fought over territory, and Hiruzen’s campaign against Takigakure drew Konoha into conflict with Iwagakure. Yagura’s profitable island expedition pushed Kirigakure’s clans to demand their own campaigns, as other villages also turned toward expansion and spoils.

• Kakuzu promoted Tuhao after four company managers were murdered, while Hiruzen Sarutobi began building Root and assigned Danzō to exploit Sunagakure’s logistics company.
• Yunqing brought Roran under the Land of Wind, then ordered Ebizo to prepare a defensive fleet against Kirigakure’s expansion across the seas.
• Suke and the Sand Shinobi fought Kirigakure’s forces at Harbor Port, suffering heavy casualties before both sides shifted to probing attacks and restrained clashes.
• Tsunade and Chiyo fought to a draw, prompting Tsunade and Dan Katō to consider reforms and seek Sunagakure’s weapons and material-reinforcement research.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi invaded the Land of Waterfalls, and Konoha’s forces drove Iwagakure back before Rasa’s army blocked Hiruzen’s planned ambush, and the Uchiha and Sarutobi clans arranged Fugaku Uchiha’s marriage.
• As conflicts spread across several fronts, Hiruzen returned to Konoha because Mito Uzumaki was failing, while Madara Uchiha headed there seeking a chance to interfere.
• Yagura’s expedition massacred an island’s inhabitants and returned with treasure, leading him to favor sea conquest and to plan to become the Three-Tails’ Jinchuriki.
• Kirigakure’s clans demanded expedition opportunities, and the Third Mizukage ordered them to report their forces and set a half-and-half division of conquered island spoils.

As the great villages tightened control at home and negotiated wartime trade, Madara Uchiha stirred the daimyos into challenging their ninja allies. After comparing life under ninja rule across the nations, Madara came to Yunqing seeking an explanation and left with Yunqing’s blunt judgment of his and Hashirama’s leadership.

• The Third Raikage divided Kumogakure’s seized gold between the village and its households, while Ōnoki used his recovery to suppress Iwagakure’s rebellion and the hidden villages purged suspected collaborators.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and his advisers studied Sunagakure’s factories and reforms, while Mito Uzumaki transferred the Nine-Tails to Kushina and Madara Uchiha left Konoha without attacking.
• Yunqing improved the Land of Wind with Dragon Vein energy, rejected the Sage of Six Paths’ plan to recruit shinobi against the Otsutsuki, and later agreed to marry Pakura.
• Yunqing arranged Sunagakure’s subordination of Roran, the auction of island development rights, and a police expansion that trained recruits in discipline and loyalty.
• Suke, Hatake Sakumo, and the Kaguya Clan Head negotiated a joint trading market for Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and Konoha, giving the villages a pause in their fighting.
• Madara manipulated the daimyos of the great nations into building samurai forces against the hidden villages, while Yunqing prepared Sunagakure to defend the Land of Wind.
• Madara toured the Lands of Waterfalls, Earth, and Rain, comparing life under ninja rule and wondering whether the world would fare better without daimyos.
• Madara brought the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to Sunagakure and asked Yunqing why people prospered under ninja rule, and Yunqing blamed noble exploitation and dismissed Madara and Hashirama as unfit leaders.

Yunqing and the hidden villages dismantled the daimyos’ challenge, then used the resulting upheaval to establish peace, aid refugees, and expand their influence. As Sunagakure developed, Nagato and his companions trained in the Land of Rain while the hidden villages competed for power and commerce.

• Yunqing killed Madara Uchiha, sealed his body for burial in Konoha, and backed the village’s decision to honor him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi used Madara’s funeral and an expanded Police Force to consolidate Konoha’s power, while the Land of Wind’s daimyo plotted with other rulers to abolish the hidden villages.
• The hidden villages intercepted the daimyos’ plans, attacked their supporters, and drove the rulers to gather in the Land of Iron to raise an army against the ninja.
• The Kage and their allies destroyed Three Wolf Mountain, killing the daimyos, their families, and more than two hundred thousand samurai, then held a summit amid the ruins.
• Yunqing proposed a martial arts tournament to help young ninja settle grudges, and the Kage used the event to demonstrate their fighters’ power and discuss peace.
• After the tournament, the hidden villages aided displaced people with food and paid work, while Yunqing organized Sunagakure’s administration and Rasa freed Takigakure from Kameda’s rule.
• The hidden villages suppressed unrest, crushed the Bounty Hunter's Guild, and encroached on smaller nations, while Madara warned the Guild boss not to take Nagato’s Rinnegan.
• The Bounty Hunter's Guild boss ordered Shadow to care for and train Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, while Sunagakure faced new competition from rival logistics companies.