Recaps

After leaving the Demon Slayer World, Shinji pursued a path to greater strength and developed Blue Spider Lily No. 1, testing it on Ryūsetsuna and Chiyo. Meanwhile, Konoha’s final exam became a hunt for rogue ninja, ending with Shinji’s team far ahead and Sasuke and Kimimaro both injured in their rivalry.

• Shinji sent Karin, Haku, and the others back to the Shinobi World, warned the Demon Slayer Corps to use their remaining time, and returned to Konoha to consider awakening his Rinnegan.
• Iruka announced a team-based combat exam, while Shinji delayed his First Hokage cell transplant and studied Breathing Techniques and demon biology to devise a way to combine their strengths.
• Shinji used Izanagi and a Blue Spider Lily to develop a potion that strengthened animals without changing their forms or causing bloodlust, then tested it on Ryūsetsuna and Chiyo.
• Iruka revealed that the final exam required teams to capture rogue ninja in the Land of Hot Water, while Danzo ordered Root to capture or kill the students.
• Shinji, Haku, and Karin raced through the Land of Hot Water and captured nine rogue ninja, earning more than six hundred points, while Sasuke’s team and Yakumo’s team clashed over Ganjuro.
• Orochimaru arranged bait to pursue a child in the Land of Hot Water, while Kimimaro attacked Sasuke and Shion challenged Naruto after Ganjuro escaped.
• Kimimaro and Sasuke wounded each other in their fight, and Yakumo stopped Sasuke’s bleeding before he left with Naruto and Sakura, conceding Ganjuro to Yakumo.

Shinji’s squad survived a Root assassination attempt, and Shinji was named the Academy’s Chief after his team won the assessment. As Shinji developed the Twelve Palaces and faced growing scrutiny from the village, Sasuke sought to challenge him.

• Orochimaru attacked the injured Sasuke in the mine, poisoned him, and left him unconscious, but Sasuke recovered and insisted on continuing the exam.
• Sasuke’s team joined several other squads in confronting Suigetsu, while Shinji’s squad’s unusually large haul of captured rogue ninja drew the village’s attention.
• Danzo sent Root shinobi to assassinate Shinji, but Shinji, Haku, and Karin defeated the attackers, and the responding ninja found them safe beside a heap of unconscious foes.
• The Third stripped Danzo of his council position and disbanded Root, then appointed Tsunade and Jiraiya as councilors, and Shinji’s 2,108 points earned him the title of Academy Chief.
• Shinji examined Chiyo and Ryūsetsuna, brought them together at his hideout, and had them train with Blue Spider Lily No. 1 while keeping their membership in Breaking Dawn conditional.
• Shinji developed the Twelve Palaces, tested it successfully, and began teaching it to Chiyo and Ryūsetsuna before leaving a Shadow Clone to guide their training.
• Jiraiya and Kakashi used student competitions to investigate Shinji’s squad, but Haku and Karin defeated repeated challengers without revealing the abilities the village sought.
• After learning Orochimaru’s pursuit of Sasuke had failed, Shinji resolved to protect Sasuke from the Cursed Seal, and Rock Lee then fought Haku until Sasuke stopped them and turned toward Shinji, eager to fight.

After defeating Sasuke, Shinji joined a mission to rescue Iwagakure’s captured Jinchuriki, where he fought Shinnō and confronted Hiruko. The arc ended with Shinji and Hiruko locked in genjutsu as Shinji vowed to take back the Sharingan.

• Shinji defeated Sasuke’s Susanoo and Cursed Seal-enhanced attacks, while Tsunade investigated the Natural Energy behind the seal.
• Akatsuki captured Iwagakure’s Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki, prompting Kakashi to lead Shinji, Yakumo, Kimimaro, Neji, Haku, and Karin on a rescue mission.
• Sasuke left Konoha with Sakura and Shion to pursue Itachi, while Kakashi’s team joined Iwagakure in searching for the abducted Han.
• Shinnō revealed that he was the Zero-Tails’ Jinchuriki and opened the Eight Gates, but Shinji struck him with a Rasenshuriken and disrupted his chakra pathways.
• Shinnō escaped with the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, then Hiruko and Raiga Kurosuki arrived and rescued him from the pursuing shinobi.
• Hiruko overwhelmed the allied forces with his absorbed abilities, and Shinji identified several of the Kekkei Genkai he had acquired.
• Hiruko unleashed Storm Release and revealed a Sharingan with dark circular patterns, then he and Shinji trapped each other in genjutsu as Shinji vowed to take the Sharingan back.

Shinji helped the allied villages confront the Akatsuki Organization as it captured the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki, while secretly preparing to use the Ten-Tails against the Overlord. The arc ended with the allied forces occupying Amegakure and Jiraiya revealing that Nagato was his former disciple.

• Hiruko escaped with Shinnō and the unconscious Five-Tails Jinchuriki aboard the Chimera after Shinji defeated Shinnō and trapped Hiruko in genjutsu.
• Sasuke secretly confronted Itachi in Bird Country but was defeated, while allied forces pursued the Akatsuki and found Itachi, Juzo Biwa, Sasori, and Deidara attacking Sunagakure.
• Shinji broke through Sasori’s puppet ambush, rescued the Fourth Kazekage, and prepared Kirin, prompting the Akatsuki members to retreat with the Four-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Shinji met Deidara through a Shadow Clone and sought information about Hiruko’s ritual and Chimera Technique as the village leaders organized an all-out campaign against the Akatsuki.
• Shinji told Yakumo that the Overlord was devouring the Demon Slayer World and that he intended to use the Ten-Tails against it, then replaced her Red Dragon Eye with Ketsuryūgan before beginning a First Hokage cell transplant.
• Shinji’s transplant succeeded, granting him Wood Release and access to Ashura’s Yang Release Chakra while restarting his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan’s growth toward the Rinnegan.
• The allied shinobi invaded Amegakure and learned that the Akatsuki had left after abducting the Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
• Jiraiya revealed to the gathered village leaders that Nagato, the Akatsuki Organization’s leader, had been his disciple.