Recaps

Hyuga Yunchuan emerged from the attack as a leading candidate for Hokage while Konoha investigated the Hyuga massacre and confronted Akatsuki. The nomination ended in a tie, and Naruto and Sasuke returned to training at the Academy, where their experiments with new techniques drew attention.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen suspected Danzo had used Root to help Hyuga Neji massacre the Main Branch, while Yunchuan woke in the hospital and concealed his strength from Aoi.
• Hanzo and the Iwagakure shinobi battled Sasori and the Four-Tails Jinchuriki before Roshi’s corpse became a giant Hollow and Kagokage took it to Hueco Mundo.
• Yunchuan learned that public opinion favored him as Hokage, comforted Aoi while setting limits on their relationship, and resolved to pursue the office.
• Nagato gathered the battered Akatsuki members, but Shadow attacked the group, took Nagato’s eye, and fled when Ōtsutsuki Isshiki intervened and demanded the survivors submit.
• Naruto hid what he knew about the attack from Hiruzen, while Ōtsutsuki Yunshi strengthened the Nine-Tails and said he would forge Naruto a Zanpakuto.
• At the emergency meeting, Yunchuan revealed his Tenseigan and described Neji’s massacre, while Hiruzen disbanded Root, resigned as Hokage, and watched Jiraiya and Tsunade nominate Yunchuan.
• The leaders split their support between Jiraiya and Yunchuan, leaving the nomination tied as Kazuma negotiated aid and a student exchange with Konoha.
• During Academy sparring, Naruto used his golden chains to save Hinata and Second Pillar from an explosion, while Naruto and Sasuke later tested a new Lightning Style technique by the river.

Naruto traveled to the Daimyo’s Mansion, where he discovered the Land of Fire’s poverty and witnessed a Newborn Hollow attack. As the villages prepared to explore the Underground Palace and confront the Ōtsutsuki threat, Hyuga Yunchuan was inaugurated as Konoha’s Fifth Hokage.

• Kazuma persuaded Naruto to join an exchange program at the Daimyo’s Mansion, and Naruto chose to leave Konoha while suspecting the Daimyo wanted to exploit Kurama.
• Hyuga Yunchuan rebuffed Shimura Danzō’s attempt to enforce their old agreement, while Danzō prepared a second-stage surgery using stolen Byakugan and Hashirama Cells.
• Naruto learned that Minato Namikaze had sealed the Nine-Tails into him to preserve the Tailed Beast balance, condemned Minato’s choices, and began training with Yunshi’s Black Rod.
• Ōtsutsuki Isshiki assembled Akatsuki, restored Nagato, transformed Kakuzu and others, and ordered them to take the Tailed Beasts to open the Underground Palace in the Land of Hot Water.
• The Five Kage agreed to cooperate in exploring the Underground Palace after learning it was the tomb of an Ōtsutsuki, while Orochimaru revealed himself and joined forces with Obito.
• Naruto explored the Capital City’s slums, witnessed a Newborn Hollow kill several people, and urged Yuan Liton to create a better world for the living.
• Naruto proposed giving everyone Chakra, while Hyuga Yunchuan prepared for his inauguration as Fifth Hokage.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen inaugurated Hyuga Yunchuan, who saw his powers progressing and resolved to make Konoha’s fire burn brighter.

Hyuga Yunchuan took office as Fifth Hokage, passed sweeping Academy reforms, and sent Jiraiya to the Underground Palace, where the allied villages and Akatsuki clashed with Shadow and Rin. The story then shifted to Naruto and Sasuke confronting a Hollow born in the Capital City.

• Hyuga Yunchuan cleared the storm at his inauguration, claimed the Hokage hat, and promised Konoha’s people that no enemy could stand before them while they trusted him.
• Hyuga Yunchuan persuaded the council to replace the Ninja Academy with a comprehensive system of foundational study and specialized courses, then approved Jiraiya to lead an expedition to the Underground Palace.
• Jiraiya’s team met the other villages at the Underground Palace, where Nagato and Akatsuki prepared to draw the Five Great Nations into a fight.
• The allied shinobi battled Akatsuki, and Nagato used his Karma Object to injure Asuma by redirecting the cost of Jiraiya’s attack.
• Shadow revealed that Rin’s soul had been trapped in Obito’s Kamui dimension, and Rin’s Healer form stopped the fighting by erasing harmful intent and putting pursuers to sleep.
• Shadow entered the Underground Palace’s Second Layer, took a scroll, and fought off the shinobi with Bakudo and Hado techniques as the battle killed Chunin and left Yagura dying.
• Hanzo and Konan escaped with scrolls, Obito fled, and Kakashi’s surviving allies returned to the First Layer while Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, and Ryosuke left the Noble Academy.
• A Hollow born from a courtesan’s death attacked a nobleman, but Sasuke bound it with Adamantine Sealing Chains and Naruto absorbed its spiritual energy before Sasuke left.

Danzō’s experiments unleashed a black forest in Konoha, leading Hyuga Yunchuan to expose his crimes and declare war against Akatsuki and the Otsutsuki threat. Meanwhile, Naruto uncovered Kazuma’s experiments, killed him, and faced a swarm of Artificial Hollows as he resolved to impose his will on the Ninja World.

• Danzō’s experiment with a Byakugan, Hashirama Cells, and Hollow energy exploded into a black forest that spread through Konoha and turned him into a tree-like monster.
• Hyuga Yunchuan fought Danzō, who escaped Yunchuan’s apparent killing blow with Izanagi and attacked the Uchiha Clan Grounds, where Shisui died protecting his clan.
• Yunchuan stripped Sarutobi Hiruzen of his offices after Danzō’s crimes came to light, then warned the leaders of the Otsutsuki threat and declared the Fifth Shinobi World War.
• The Fourth Raikage and Ōnoki joined the Shinobi Allied Forces, while Yunchuan awakened the god technique Takamimusubi by restoring a dying sparrow.
• Naruto killed a rampaging Hollow in the Capital City and discovered that Ryosuke had taken Kazuma’s medicine and transformed, so he absorbed Ryosuke’s Kurama Chakra and Hollow energy.
• Naruto attacked Kazuma’s underground laboratory and killed him after rejecting his claim that the dead were necessary sacrifices for a new order.
• Kazuma’s prepared technique released countless Artificial Hollows, and the Four-Man Lightning Squad’s attack engulfed Naruto and the Hollows as Naruto declared he would impose his will on the Ninja World.