Recaps

Yakumo trained to strengthen her Taijutsu while preparing to face the academy prodigies, then obeyed Shinji’s order to help Jiraiya train Naruto despite worrying that Shinji might target him. Shinji confirmed Naruto was not his target and continued planning how Karin and Haku would conceal Karin’s Mangekyō Sharingan recovery until its fusion was complete.

• Shizune stopped Yakumo’s Taijutsu practice and told her that the academy prodigies had teamed up to challenge her.
• Yakumo decided to keep training and vowed to defeat Shinji and the others fairly.
• Shinji ordered Yakumo to agree to help Jiraiya train Naruto, and Yakumo reluctantly promised to obey.
• Shinji assured Yakumo that Naruto was not his target and told her to await further instructions.
• Shinji planned for Karin and Haku to act normally while Karin’s damaged Mangekyō Sharingan recovered, and decided to cover for Karin at Konoha Hospital.

Yakumo saw Karin injured at the Academy and wondered why her eye seemed strange, while Shinji treated Karin’s deliberately unhealing wound and concealed its true nature from the Medical Team. Shinji persuaded Karin to stay away from the Academy until the wound healed, keeping her out of sight for now.

• Yakumo arrived at the Academy, where Shion invited her to train and Yakumo declined, looking forward to the upcoming team combat test.
• Karin screamed after Haku injured her eye during a spar, and Shinji examined her before taking her to Konoha Hospital with Haku and Iruka.
• Shinji treated Karin’s wound, knowing she had used poison to prevent it from healing and watching for signs that the Medical Team would notice.
• Tsunade visited the infirmary but left after hearing Karin had only a superficial injury, and Shinji finished treating her without raising suspicion.
• Shinji recommended that Karin stay away from the Academy until her wound healed, and Iruka agreed to arrange her leave.

Shinji’s plan let Karin leave the hospital unnoticed, and she hid her healed injury from Jiraiya while trying to restore the damaged Mangekyō Sharingan. Meanwhile, Yakumo agreed to help Jiraiya train Naruto to control the Nine-Tails, with Tsunade joining them.

• With Haku’s support, Karin left the hospital without drawing suspicion, and Shinji thought he could now move forward with his plan for Yakumo.
• Jiraiya visited Karin, checked her bandaged head, left her money, and hurried away; Karin felt disappointed that he was focused on Naruto.
• After Jiraiya left, Karin decided that serving the leader gave her life meaning and began pouring Yang Release Chakra into her damaged Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Jiraiya met Tsunade and Yakumo at Konoha Hospital and learned Yakumo would help train Naruto, provided the training did not interfere with her combat assessment.
• Yakumo agreed to suppress Naruto if he went berserk, and Tsunade offered to help Jiraiya train him to gain the Nine-Tails’ power.

Shinji watched Naruto’s training and then spent a week trying to reproduce Tsunade’s Fusion Agent and inhibitor formulas. Karin announced that her damaged Mangekyō Sharingan had recovered, and Shinji discovered she could open them herself.

• Shinji watched Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Yakumo suppress Naruto’s Nine-Tails rampage with Wood Release.
• Shinji returned to the village and worked in the laboratory to master Tsunade’s formulas for the Fusion Agent and inhibitor.
• Shinji observed Sasuke, Neji, Kimimaro, and Yakumo intensify their special training while he studied medicinal herbs and Medical Ninjutsu.
• Karin told Shinji that her Mangekyō Sharingan had recovered, so he went to her apartment to examine them.
• Shinji saw Karin open her Mangekyō Sharingan by her own will without his help.

Karin restored the damaged Mangekyō Sharingan and mastered their Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi abilities, convincing Shinji that she had become their true owner. Shinji began surgery to fuse them with another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan and try to create Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Karin told Shinji that her restored Mangekyō Sharingan contained Amaterasu in the left eye and Kagutsuchi in the right.
• Shinji speculated that the eyes might have belonged to an ancestor of Sasuke's line, possibly Izuna Uchiha or one of his descendants.
• Shinji concluded that Karin had become the eyes' owner because she could control them and had mastered their Dojutsu.
• Shinji brought out the Mangekyō Sharingan containing Susanoo and prepared Karin for fusion surgery.
• Shinji used a low-grade Fusion Agent to reduce rejection between the two pairs of eyes, then began the surgery.

Shinji completed the eye-fusion surgery on Karin and considered which Dojutsu her new Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan should retain. He left her to recover and planned the next steps toward awakening the Rinnegan, while accepting that the outcome was uncertain.

• Shinji implanted the second pair of Mangekyō Sharingan in Karin and injected the Fusion Agent, completing the surgery in minutes.
• Karin reported only slight swelling, and Shinji took her mild reaction as a promising sign that the eyes were barely rejecting each other.
• Shinji decided that Amaterasu and the ability to increase Susanoo's power were the best Dojutsu for Karin to retain, but postponed discussing it until she had recovered.
• Shinji left Karin's apartment and planned to transplant First Hokage cells into her to meet the other basic requirement for awakening the Rinnegan.
• Shinji worried that meeting both requirements might not awaken the Rinnegan quickly, then resolved to proceed carefully with his plan.

Kirigakure and Sunagakure delegations arrived in Konoha, where they learned that a Ninja Academy sparring test would feature the young Wood Release user. The chapter left Mei Terumi eager to investigate the power and Gaara headed toward the event as Sunagakure’s unstable One-Tail Jinchuriki.

• Mei Terumi led Chojuro, Suigetsu, and Kirigakure volunteers into Konoha to investigate Wood Release and attend transplantation surgery.
• Chojuro and Suigetsu heard Konoha residents discuss an upcoming Ninja Academy sparring test featuring a Kurama Clan girl with Wood Release and Shinji Uchiha.
• Mei Terumi saw the sparring test as an opportunity to investigate Konoha’s Wood Release.
• Kankuro told Temari and Gaara that Konoha’s young Wood Release user would take part in the upcoming test.
• The Fourth Kazekage sent Gaara to Konoha after Gaara lost control during an assassination attempt, hoping Konoha would keep the One-Tail safe from the Akatsuki.

Shinobi prodigies from other villages visited the Ninja Academy and clashed with Kiba before Sasuke intervened. Sasuke’s speed impressed the visitors, and Gaara left after Temari reminded him they were in Konoha.

• Darui, Omoi, and Kurotsuchi watched the academy students as shinobi from Kirigakure and Sunagakure arrived.
• Kiba confronted the visiting shinobi, and Omoi, Kurotsuchi, and Kankuro provoked him until he challenged them to fight.
• Sasuke appeared behind Omoi, restrained him, and challenged the visitors to face him.
• Iruka stopped the confrontation by reminding Sasuke that the visitors were guests, and Sasuke walked away.
• Gaara watched Sasuke before leaving with Kankuro and Temari, while the other visitors reacted to the Uchiha.

Shinji Uchiha received medical ninjas from the other great villages as they inspected Konoha’s plans and tested the Fusion Agent and inhibitor. He secretly learned their preparation methods and left to request permission for them to watch the Ninja Academy combat assessment.

• Medical ninjas from the other villages reviewed Tsunade’s surgical plan, and Chiyo asked Konoha to provide ingredients to test the medicines.
• Shinji submitted their request, and Tsunade approved supplying the ingredients despite her irritation at the demand.
• Shinji used his Sharingan and Byakugan to discover that Konoha had provided watered-down formulas, then watched Chiyo and the others prepare and test them.
• After the medical ninjas confirmed the medicines worked, Chiyo asked Shinji to request permission for them to observe the combat assessment involving the Kurama clan girl.
• Once Shinji left, the visiting medical ninjas discussed the Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha’s confrontation with a Kumogakure ninja at the Ninja Academy.

After Sasuke subdued Omoi, the visiting villages discussed Konoha’s young fighters and prepared for the Academy’s team combat test. The test was set for the next day, with Shinji, Sasuke, Neji, Yakumo, and Kimimaro expected to face off alongside visiting geniuses, including Gaara and Omoi.

• The Iwagakure Medical Ninja told the Kumogakure representative that Sasuke had subdued Omoi with one move, and Chiyo noted that Shinji was considered the top of Konoha’s four Academy prodigies.
• At the guesthouse, Omoi admitted Sasuke had outmaneuvered him, while Darui said Omoi was probably no match for Sasuke and that Darui himself could win only with difficulty.
• Kankuro and Temari grew wary when Gaara said he wanted to fight Sasuke, since Gaara might kill anyone who faced him.
• Shinji told Sasuke and Neji that Karin could not join the test because her eye injury had not healed, and Neji said the test would likely take place in the Forest of Death.
• Neji warned Shinji and Sasuke that visiting village geniuses might join the test; Omoi looked forward to facing Sasuke, Gaara threatened Temari and Kankuro, and Chojuro lamented that Kimimaro had once been a Kirigakure ninja.

Students from Konoha and the other four villages gathered at the Forest of Death for the Ninja Academy combat test, with several foreign teams hoping to assess Kurama Yakumo's abilities. Iruka announced the start, and the students charged into the forest.

• Teams from Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure joined the Konoha students for the test.
• The Kumogakure and Iwagakure Jonin argued about their teams, while Chiyo told Baki to warn Gaara not to kill anyone.
• Mei Terumi watched Yakumo, Kimimaro, Neji, Sasuke, Shinji, and Haku, recognizing Haku's strength and Kirigakure ties.
• Darui targeted Yakumo, Suigetsu picked Neji, Kurotsuchi picked Kimimaro, and Gaara glared at Sasuke with murderous intent.
• Iruka announced the combat test, and the students rushed into the Forest of Death.

The squad combat test began as Konoha teams and squads from four other villages entered the Forest of Death, with the foreign teams forming an alliance and choosing targets. Shinji’s squad gathered inside the forest while Shinji focused on using the test as a distraction and on helping Sasuke awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

• The Konoha squads rushed into the Forest of Death while the squads from the other four villages waited behind.
• Gaara, Kurotsuchi, Suigetsu, and Omoi named their targets, and the foreign squads formed an implicit alliance.
• Tsunade told Shizune to ready the Medical Team, assigned Jiraiya to watch Gaara, and heard Kakashi promise to have ANBU monitor the other contestants.
• Shinji’s squad met beneath a towering tree, where Neji warned that the foreign squads seemed hostile and Sasuke said they could fight back if necessary.
• Shinji agreed to follow the plan and considered how Sasuke’s Mangekyō Sharingan might help him pursue his plans for Karin’s Rinnegan.

Yakumo separated from Shion and Kimimaro to face the other villages’ challengers, while Shinji’s group set up its plan to confront her. As teams clashed across the Forest of Death, a distant explosion signaled that Yakumo and her rivals had begun fighting.

• Yakumo sent Shion and Kimimaro away, explaining that she expected to be the target of the other villages because of her Wood Release.
• Neji spotted Yakumo waiting ahead, and Sasuke assigned himself and Shinji to fight her while Neji watched for Kimimaro and the others guarded against interference.
• Kurotsuchi’s Iwagakure team was ambushed; one teammate fell, and Kurotsuchi was caught by a shadow technique as a rumbling attack approached.
• Kiba and Akamaru attacked the Kirigakure team with Fang Over Fang, and Shino trapped another Kirigakure ninja under a swarm of insects.
• A huge roar shook the forest, and Shino realized that Yakumo and her rivals had clashed.

Kimimaro swiftly defeated a Cloud ninja while Omoi and Darui tried to assess his strength. Gaara was drawn toward a fierce battle and began to lose control, but Naruto intervened with a Shadow Clone and surrounded the Sand ninja with countless clones.

• Kimimaro knocked out a Cloud ninja in an instant, leaving Omoi and Darui stunned by his speed.
• Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro followed the distant rumbling and saw a battlefield filled with Wood Release and wind-and-fire ninjutsu.
• Gaara became excited by the destruction and began heading toward the battlefield as Shukaku's influence stirred.
• Naruto Uzumaki blocked Gaara's path, but Gaara trapped and crushed what he thought was Naruto.
• Naruto's Shadow Clone vanished in a puff of smoke, and hundreds or thousands of Naruto clones appeared around the Sand ninja.

The village teams and their leaders watched as Kurama Yakumo battled Shinji, Sasuke, and Neji while Naruto faced Gaara. Sasuke prepared to use Chidori against Yakumo, but Shion unexpectedly appeared beside him.

• Temari and Kankuro fled from the genjutsu-like scene as Gaara grew increasingly savage.
• The Jonin leaders from the four villages watched the students’ battles and marveled at their strength, including Naruto’s use of Multiple Shadow Clones against Gaara.
• Tsunade and Shizune chose to let Yakumo’s fight continue, while Jiraiya and Kakashi also decided to keep watching Naruto and Gaara.
• Sasuke concluded that his team could not defeat Yakumo without a decisive Chidori strike, and he hid to wait for an opening while Shinji distracted her.
• Shion emerged from the grass beside Sasuke, and the two stared at each other in surprise.

Sasuke tried to eliminate Shion so he could ambush Yakumo, but his attacks were blocked by her bell artifact. After Sasuke knocked it away, Shion’s sealed Miko power erupted and immobilized him, leaving Shinji to face Yakumo alone.

• Sasuke attacked Shion, but her bell artifact automatically shielded her and repelled him.
• Sasuke tricked Shion into counterattacking, tripped her with a wire, and knocked the bell artifact away.
• Sasuke lunged at Shion while planning to ambush Yakumo, but Shion’s unleashed Miko power bound him and stopped his Chakra.
• Yakumo turned her attack on Shinji, who retreated, while Shion retrieved her artifact and asked the helpless Sasuke to speak.

Shion subdued Sasuke with the Land of Demons Miko’s sealing power, leaving Shinji alone to evade Yakumo’s Wood Release. As Kirigakure and Iwagakure teams tried to intercept them, Yakumo captured Kurotsuchi and continued pursuing Shinji.

• Shion used a sealing technique to defeat Sasuke, and Tsunade suspected it came from the Land of Demons Miko’s power.
• Shinji fled through the Forest of Death as Yakumo pursued him with Wood Release, while Fuki urged him to stop running.
• Kurotsuchi spotted Shinji and Yakumo after her teammates were injured in a fight with Shikamaru’s team.
• Suigetsu and Chojuro blocked Shinji’s path, but Shinji struck them and escaped past them.
• Kurotsuchi ambushed Yakumo, who ensnared her with vines and carried on chasing Shinji.

Shinji Uchiha and Kurama Yakumo overwhelmed their pursuers, while the village leaders discussed Shinji’s lack of a mentor. As Yakumo and Shinji continued fighting, Shinji exploited her hesitation and sent her flying.

• Shinji Uchiha and Kurama Yakumo easily defeated Chojuro, Suigetsu, and Kurotsuchi’s attacks, while Kimimaro fought off Kumogakure’s squad.
• Tsunade praised Yakumo and recognized Shinji’s exceptional battle instincts, while Jiraiya and Kakashi noted that no Jonin had taken Shinji as a student.
• Kakashi worried Shinji might resent the village for overlooking him and decided to report the matter to the Hokage.
• Shinji sent Fuki running in the opposite direction to distract Yakumo, then charged at her as her Chakra ran low.
• Yakumo cast genjutsu and prepared a Superhuman Strength Punch, but Shinji feigned being trapped, then struck her and sent her flying.

Shinji defeated Yakumo by wearing down her Chakra and exploiting her lowered guard, while observers praised his composure and renewed their interest in the First Hokage cell transplants. After Yakumo left, Shinji assessed her Wood Release and concluded that its reputation owed much to the First Hokage’s exceptional strength.

• Shinji revealed that he had deliberately avoided Yakumo’s genjutsu and worn her down until he could exploit an opening to defeat her.
• Fuki celebrated the win, while Yakumo accepted her loss and Ido urged her to let it take over next time.
• Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the visiting Jonin discussed Shinji’s victory and Yakumo’s Wood Release.
• Chiyo, Mei Terumi, and the other visiting Jonin agreed that their villages should cooperate on the upcoming First Hokage cell surgeries.
• Shinji offered Yakumo a hand, but she stood up herself, promised to win next time, and left.
• Shinji judged that Yakumo’s Wood Release was formidable but below the First Hokage’s, whose strength had set an exceptional standard.

Naruto fought Gaara in the Forest of Death and landed a direct Rasengan that made Gaara feel pain for the first time. Jiraiya and Chiyo intervened before Gaara could kill Naruto, leaving Gaara jealous of the concern Naruto received.

• Naruto sent Shadow Clones at Gaara, who used his sand to destroy most of them and withstand the Rasengan attacks.
• Naruto emerged from underground and struck Gaara directly in the abdomen with a Rasengan, sending him flying and causing him pain.
• Gaara recovered and trapped the real Naruto in sand, preparing to crush him.
• Jiraiya freed Naruto while Chiyo stopped Gaara and told him to regain control because he was in Konoha.
• Gaara saw Shizune and the others caring for Naruto and wondered why Naruto received their concern.

Gaara’s violent instability alarmed the Konoha shinobi, while Kimimaro defeated Kumogakure’s Darui after overpowering Omoi. The visiting villages left the assessment shaken by Konoha’s powerful young generation.

• Gaara erupted in rage, and Naruto said he believed Gaara only wanted to make friends.
• Chiyo restrained Gaara and suppressed her hatred of Konoha to preserve Sunagakure’s alliance.
• Kimimaro knocked Omoi unconscious, then defeated Darui in a fight in the forest.
• Kakashi offered medical treatment to the visiting teams, but Mei Terumi and the other village leaders refused Konoha’s help.
• The visiting leaders recognized that Konoha’s young shinobi were exceptionally strong and could make the village dominant again.

After the village teams recovered their defeated shinobi, the rival genin clashed again in Konoha Hospital’s hallway. Shinji defused the confrontation, and the visitors left without a fight.

• Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure medical teams treated Suigetsu, Chojuro, Kurotsuchi, Darui, and Omoi after their battles.
• Suigetsu, Kurotsuchi, and Omoi traded insults at Konoha Hospital, then stopped when they noticed patients and nurses watching.
• Gaara arrived with Temari and Kankuro, and Suigetsu, Kurotsuchi, and Omoi mocked him for losing to Naruto Uzumaki.
• Kaoru Kusa asked the hostile shinobi to lower their voices, but they glared at her.
• Shinji stepped in, and the visiting shinobi backed down and left with their companions.

Tsunade organized surgeries for volunteers from the four allied villages to receive First Hokage cell transplants, arguing that cooperation would preserve the alliance and prevent war. Shinji joined Kaoru Kusa’s surgical group as public debate and the other villages’ hopes for Wood Release grew.

• Tsunade told the Medical Team that the four villages had requested surgery and argued that refusing them could threaten the alliance and benefit the Akatsuki Organization.
• Tsunade assigned seventeen surgical groups for the volunteers and ordered the group leaders and Yakumo to stay behind for further instructions.
• Kaoru Kusa invited Shinji to join her group, and he agreed to take part in a First Hokage cell transplantation surgery.
• Kaoru explained that the other villages’ Medical Ninjas would observe the surgeries and that the team had to prevent First Hokage cells from leaking out.
• Konoha villagers debated whether to share the surgery, while the other villages sought to add volunteers and Konoha rejected their requests.
• As attention focused on the surgeries, Karin quietly began merging the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in her apartment.

Shinji tried to keep Karin’s Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan fusion hidden while the village focused on Tsunade’s surgery project. The seventeenth operation was still underway after the others failed, and its Sunagakure volunteer repeatedly stabilized despite the rampaging First Hokage cells.

• Shinji found Karin’s fusion progressing slowly and realized she would need four to six weeks, so he planned to keep Konoha distracted after the surgery.
• Tsunade announced the surgical plan, and two weeks later Kaoru Kusa began the operation on a nine-year-old Sunagakure volunteer with Shinji and Chiyo present.
• The volunteer’s blood pressure and cell activity reached dangerous levels, and he began convulsing as Kaoru ordered more inhibitor injected.
• Tsunade and Jiraiya received reports that multiple operations had failed and their volunteers had died, including Shizune’s surgery.
• Tsunade learned that the seventeenth operation was still ongoing, while Kaoru and the other Medical Ninjas watched its volunteer repeatedly stabilize and deteriorate.

Tsunade took over a failed First Hokage cell transplant, but the Sunagakure volunteer survived in a coma, leaving the villages unsure whether the procedure had worked. Shinji revealed that he had secretly suppressed the cells’ backlash, though the volunteer could still die at any moment.

• Tsunade examined the Sunagakure volunteer and concluded that the cells had failed to fuse, then ordered Kaoru to increase the suppressant dose.
• The volunteer’s vital signs stabilized, but he fell into a deep coma and was transferred to intensive care; Tsunade said his survival left a chance of fusion.
• Mei Terumi, Iwagakure’s delegation, and Kumogakure sought answers after hearing that the Sunagakure volunteer was the only one transferred to intensive care.
• Chiyo ordered Baki to guard intensive care and keep everyone but Konoha’s Medical Ninjas away.
• Danzo urged the Third to take control of the situation, but the Third chose to wait because the other villages were watching.
• Shinji rested in his apartment and revealed that he had used Naobi and Magatsu to suppress the cells’ backlash, though the volunteer remained close to death.