Recaps

Shinji opened Takamagahara to Konoha’s ninja, turning it into a major training resource while rebuilding the Military Police Force and drawing Akatsuki’s attention. As Shinji negotiated with Orochimaru’s followers for the Fourth Hokage’s half of the Nine-Tails, Obito trapped him in Kamui Space, where Shinji began studying the space-time technique.

• Shinji demonstrated Takamagahara to Kakashi, and Tsunade approved a trial that led Shinji to demand the rebuilding of the Konoha Military Police Force.
• Shinji became captain of the rebuilt force, recruited Sasuke as a squad leader, and opened Takamagahara to Konoha’s ninja for training.
• Konoha’s ninja tested themselves against simulated opponents, while Shinji and Nameless expanded the number of people marked by Takamagahara.
• The Akatsuki learned about Takamagahara and discussed eliminating Shinji, while Tsunade offered limited training access to the other great villages.
• Shinji met Kabuto, Jugo, and Guren and offered to help rescue Orochimaru in exchange for the Nine-Tails half sealed inside the Fourth Hokage.
• Obito mistook Shinji, disguised as A, for an unknown target and used Kamui to pull him into Kamui Space.
• Haku and Karin fought Kabuto, Guren, and Jugo while Karin pursued the fleeing target, and Shinji explored Kamui Space to study its space-time properties.

Shinji arranged Orochimaru’s escape from Konoha so he could investigate the Reaper Death Seal, but Orochimaru betrayed the Akatsuki Organization after summoning three Hokage. The arc left Karin battling Orochimaru and the Hokage, who learned that Akatsuki had captured six Tailed Beasts.

• Shinji approved Kimimaro’s plan to contact Orochimaru, then sent Sasuke and Kimimaro to interrogate him about Sasuke’s Cursed Seal.
• Shinji arranged for Karin, Ryūsetsuna, and Chiyo to help Kabuto, Guren, and Jugo break Orochimaru out of Konoha’s prison.
• Orochimaru escaped with Kabuto and Karin after the prison riot, while Sasuke and Konoha’s forces fought to stop them.
• Orochimaru and Kabuto traveled to Uzushio Village, found a Shinigami mask, and used it to release the Fourth Hokage’s spirit and summon the First and Second Hokage.
• After restoring his body, Orochimaru betrayed the Akatsuki Organization and offered to trade the Nine-Tails for Shinji, prompting Karin to fight him and the Hokage.
• Kabuto disrupted Karin’s senses, but Karin countered the Hokages’ attacks by unleashing Wood Release and collapsing the underground laboratory.
• Orochimaru released the Hokages from his control, and Minato identified himself as the Fourth Hokage while Orochimaru told them Akatsuki had captured six Tailed Beasts.

Karin’s battle with the Hokage led Konoha and the Akatsuki to pursue Orochimaru and the Yin Nine-Tails. Meanwhile, Naruto’s dark side took control as Menma, and the search for him and Orochimaru left Jiraiya’s squad fighting Kabuto’s Impure World summons.

• Karin fought the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage, then escaped with Ryūsetsuna and Chiyo after Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi retreated.
• Karin staged the battlefield to implicate Orochimaru, and Kakashi and Tsunade concluded that the Akatsuki might be targeting the Nine-Tails within the Fourth Hokage.
• At the True Waterfall, Naruto’s dark side defeated him, took control of his body, and named himself Uzumaki Menma.
• Menma subdued the Nine-Tails, absorbed its Chakra, and left Turtle Island to find Orochimaru and claim the Yin Nine-Tails.
• Shinji sent Yakumo and Karin to find Naruto, while Jiraiya led an elite squad that included Sasuke to pursue Orochimaru.
• Scorpion and Deidara attacked Orochimaru in the Land of Rice Fields, where Orochimaru used the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage’s Impure World Bodies to fight them.
• Orochimaru escaped the Akatsuki attack, but Jiraiya’s squad intercepted him and Kabuto Yakushi as they fled south.
• Kabuto summoned familiar Impure World Bodies to hold off the elite squad, and his Spirit Body knocked Might Guy unconscious while the battle continued.

Kabuto’s schemes led the allied shinobi into battles over the Nine-Tails, while Menma lost the Yang half and Naruto received the Yin half from Minato. After the fighting ended, Konoha prepared against the Akatsuki, and Yakumo’s ties to Shinji and her hidden identity as D became increasingly precarious.

• Ringo Ameyuri, Darui, Kurotsuchi, and their allies fought Dan Katō’s Spirit Body, which possessed Kurotsuchi and Tokuma Hyuga before Ido defeated it through Yakumo.
• Kabuto disguised himself as Orochimaru to draw Sasuke and Itachi together, then entered Sage Mode and overwhelmed the forces led by Kurotsuchi and Darui.
• Kakashi’s group pursued Sasuke as he chased Itachi, while Menma fought Sasuke and then resumed his search for the Yin Nine-Tails sealed inside the Fourth Hokage.
• Orochimaru used the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage’s Impure World Bodies against Jiraiya, but Menma sealed the Fourth Hokage and Hiruko and Ranmaru later extracted the Yang Nine-Tails from him.
• Minato freed himself from Orochimaru’s control and transferred the Yin Nine-Tails to Naruto, who recovered as Hiruko and Ranmaru escaped with the Yang half.
• The allied forces withdrew from the Land of Rice Fields, and Tsunade arranged a Kage Summit while Naruto accepted Menma’s presence and began planning for training.
• Shinji and Nameless entered a comatose Kumogakure ninja’s mind, identified Itachi’s Tsukuyomi, and recovered an encrypted scroll after Shinji dispelled the genjutsu.
• Yakumo told Shinji she would defect if her identity as Akatsuki’s D were exposed, and she recognized him as A while recalling how he had once given her hope.