Chapter Summaries

After the Third Hokage's funeral, Jiraiya refused the position of Fifth Hokage and recommended Tsunade instead. He left Konoha with Naruto to find her, promising to train him along the way.

• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura rejected Danzō's bid to become Hokage and chose to send Jiraiya to find Tsunade.
• Jiraiya refused to become Hokage, citing his search for the Child of Prophecy and his duty to pursue Orochimaru, then recommended Tsunade as the Fifth Hokage.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura voted to approve Jiraiya's mission, while Danzō warned they would regret their decision.
• Jiraiya told Naruto he would take him along to find Tsunade and train him in real ninjutsu and combat.
• Jiraiya and Naruto left Konoha the next morning, heading west toward Tanzaku Street, where Tsunade had reportedly been seen.

Cang learned that the Third Hokage had died and Konoha was struggling to choose a successor, but he ordered his people to observe rather than interfere as he prepared for the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Meanwhile, Danzo plotted against Naruto, Sasuke vowed to kill Itachi, and Jiraiya and Naruto continued searching for Tsunade beneath an unsettling moon.

• Cang read Zhi Li's report on the Third Hokage's death, Danzo's failed bid to become Fifth Hokage, and Jiraiya's departure with Naruto to find Tsunade.
• Cang told Zhi Li to keep watching Konoha without interfering, since its turmoil would distract it while he prepared for the full moon and the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
• Cang recalled killing Tobirama Senju and reflected that he would soon act when the Infinite Tsukuyomi began.
• Danzo watched Jiraiya and Naruto leave in a crystal ball and ordered Root to wait for Naruto to be alone before making a move.
• Sasuke stood in the abandoned Uchiha compound, vowed to become strong enough to kill Itachi, and returned home.
• Jiraiya and Naruto continued traveling toward Tsunade as Naruto complained about walking and hunger, while Jiraiya felt uneasy beneath the bright moon.

Jiraiya and Naruto found Tsunade in Tanzaku Street and tried to persuade her to return to Konoha as Hokage. Tsunade agreed to consider returning after testing Jiraiya, but Orochimaru arrived and tried to tempt her with the chance to see Nawaki and Dan again; she refused his offer.

• Jiraiya trained Naruto during their five-day journey to Tanzaku Street, teaching him chakra control and how to maintain Shadow Clones.
• Jiraiya found Tsunade gambling at a casino and told her that the Third Hokage had died and asked her to return to Konoha.
• Naruto told Tsunade that he was the future Hokage, and Jiraiya revealed that Naruto was Minato Namikaze's son.
• Tsunade explained that she had left Konoha because she feared facing the memories of those who had died, but Naruto urged her to keep living and protect the village.
• Tsunade agreed to return if Jiraiya proved his strength by defeating her, but Orochimaru interrupted and offered to let her see Nawaki and Dan in exchange for healing his hands.
• Tsunade rejected Orochimaru's offer, saying that those revived by the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu would only be puppets, not the people she had lost.

Orochimaru attacked Tsunade and Jiraiya with reanimated ninja, but Naruto helped Tsunade overcome her hemophobia and drive Orochimaru away. Tsunade agreed to return to Konoha, while Shisui reported the events to Cang, who ordered him to keep observing and let Konoha face its own turmoil.

• Orochimaru summoned three Impure World Reincarnation ninja, and Tsunade and Jiraiya fought them while Naruto watched for an opening to help.
• Naruto used Shadow Clones to distract a reanimated ninja, but Kabuto cut Tsunade and triggered her hemophobia.
• Naruto took Kabuto's Chakra Scalpel wound while protecting Tsunade, and his words helped her rise and defeat a reanimated ninja with one punch.
• Orochimaru withdrew with Kabuto, and Tsunade healed Naruto before agreeing to return to Konoha with Shizune and Jiraiya.
• Shisui reported the battle to Cang, who ordered him to keep watching without intervening as Tsunade returned to Konoha.

Tsunade returned to Konoha, accepted the role of Fifth Hokage, and proposed medical and psychological-care reforms. As Sasuke weighed his hunger for power after Kabuto offered to take him to Orochimaru, Cang chose not to interfere because he was focused on the coming full moon.

• Tsunade discussed Konoha’s problems with Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, then proposed training medical ninja and providing psychological counseling.
• Tsunade told Jiraiya that Naruto’s words had helped her stop running from her memories, and Jiraiya said he would leave to pursue Orochimaru and train the child of prophecy.
• Yakushi Kabuto approached Sasuke at the old Uchiha grounds and offered Orochimaru’s help to make him strong enough to kill Itachi.
• Naruto practiced extending his Shadow Clone Technique while Kakashi and Sakura noticed Sasuke seemed troubled.
• Shisui told Cang that Orochimaru’s people had contacted Sasuke, but Cang ordered him not to intervene because the approaching full moon mattered more.

Sasuke left the Hidden Leaf Village with the Sound Four, seeking the power to defeat Itachi, and began awakening the Cursed Seal to Stage Two. Tsunade sent Shikamaru and a team of Genin after him, and Naruto promised Sakura he would bring Sasuke back.

• Sasuke remembered his defeats by Naruto, Itachi, and Sakon, then agreed to leave with the Sound Four.
• Sakura tried to comfort Sasuke at home, but he rejected her and departed; at the village gate, he called her annoying and too weak, then asked her to thank Naruto.
• Sakon gave Sasuke a Mind Awakening Pill, and the Sound Four used the Four Black Fog Formation to awaken his Cursed Seal to Stage Two.
• Tsunade ordered Shikamaru to lead Naruto, Neji, Choji, and Kiba on a mission to bring Sasuke back.
• Sakura asked Naruto to return Sasuke, and Naruto vowed to bring him back as the promise of his lifetime.

Shikamaru’s pursuit of Sasuke was blocked by the Sound Four, forcing the Konoha team to split up and fight them. Naruto continued toward Sasuke after Lee intercepted Kimimaro, while the other battles remained unresolved.

• Kiba and Akamaru tracked Sasuke’s scent, and Neji spotted five Chakra signatures ahead before the Sound Four raised an earthen wall to stop the team.
• Shikamaru recognized the Sound Four’s plan, and the group escaped Jirobo’s Chakra-draining barrier after Neji found its weak point and Choji smashed through it.
• Choji stayed behind to face Jirobo while Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, and Naruto continued; Neji fought Kidomaru, and Kiba pursued Sakon and Ukon before Ukon seized him.
• Tayuya trapped Shikamaru with her flute genjutsu, but Temari arrived and took over the fight, allowing Shikamaru to run onward.
• Kimimaro stopped Naruto and destroyed his Shadow Clones, but Lee arrived and told Naruto to continue toward Sasuke as he faced Kimimaro.

Naruto reached Sasuke at the Valley of the End and tried to convince him to return to Konoha, but Sasuke insisted that he needed power to kill Itachi and would sever their bond. The two prepared to fight, with Naruto determined to defeat Sasuke and take him home.

• Naruto pursued Sasuke to the Valley of the End and climbed to the top of Madara's statue to confront him.
• Naruto demanded to know why Sasuke had joined Orochimaru, and Sasuke said he sought the power to kill Itachi.
• Sasuke explained that his fear of being left behind and his memories of his family's murder had driven him to choose hatred and abandon his comrades.
• Naruto told Sasuke that he understood loneliness and urged him to return, but Sasuke said Naruto was his best friend and that was why he had to sever their bond.
• Sasuke jumped from the statue and warned Naruto to go back or die, while Naruto followed and prepared to fight so he could take Sasuke home.

Naruto and Sasuke fought at the Valley of the End, escalating from their signature techniques to the Nine-Tails’ Chakra and Sasuke’s Cursed Seal. Sasuke won but acknowledged Naruto as his best friend, then left to pursue Itachi while Naruto collapsed, unable to stop him.

• Naruto and Sasuke exchanged taijutsu, ninjutsu, and repeated clashes as Naruto urged Sasuke to remember their bond.
• Sasuke activated the Cursed Seal and overwhelmed Naruto, then transformed into Cursed Seal State Two.
• Naruto awakened the Nine-Tails’ One-Tail state, and he and Sasuke unleashed a final Rasengan and Chidori that created a vast crater.
• Sasuke remained standing while Naruto lay badly wounded, and they realized neither had intended to kill the other with their final blows.
• Sasuke called Naruto his best friend but said he still had to leave, then walked into the forest despite Naruto’s pleas.

Tsunade reluctantly declared Sasuke a rogue ninja as Danzō sent Root after him, while Naruto recovered and left with Jiraiya to train so he could bring Sasuke home. At Angkor Fortress, Cang chose not to interfere with Sasuke and Naruto, believing their separation would delay the awakening of Indra and Asura’s Chakra.

• Tsunade resisted Danzō and the elders’ demand to label Sasuke a rogue ninja, but agreed to an S-rank warrant after Danzō sent Root to pursue him.
• Naruto awoke in the hospital, vowed to become strong enough to bring Sasuke back, and agreed to train with Jiraiya; Sakura began training in medical ninjutsu under Tsunade.
• Tsunade told Jiraiya that Root was targeting Sasuke, and Jiraiya departed with Naruto after entrusting the village to her.
• Naruto left the Hidden Leaf Village with Jiraiya, promising Sakura and Kakashi that he would bring Sasuke home.
• Cang learned that Sasuke had reached the Hidden Sound Village and that Root was pursuing him, but told Shisui they must not interfere because Indra and Asura’s Chakra needed time to awaken.

Cang sensed that Ōtsutsuki Urashiki would soon cross into his world and assigned Zhi Li to prepare to confront him while he continued refining Isshiki’s power. In the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto resolved to grow strong enough to bring Sasuke back, unaware that another disturbance was approaching.

• Cang sensed a causal connection forming between worlds and recognized that Urashiki’s primordial power was awakening.
• Cang told Zhi Li to prepare to fight Urashiki, explaining that she would need sealing techniques and barriers to prevent his escape.
• Cang warned Zhi Li that Sasuke and Boruto might also arrive, and said they could cooperate unless they interfered.
• Cang resumed refining Isshiki’s origin while the two worlds began drawing closer.
• Naruto lay awake thinking of Sasuke, then resolved to become strong enough to bring him back and protect those he cared about.

Cang completed the final stage of refining Isshiki’s power and prepared Zhi Li to confront Urashiki, expected to arrive within half a year. He sent her to prepare a sealing array at an ancient ruin where Urashiki was likely to land, leaving her to lead the coming hunt.

• Cang reviewed Zhi Li’s improved sealing technique and praised its potential to block Urashiki’s space-time travel.
• Zhi Li worried that Sasuke’s Rinnegan might see through her Dojutsu, and Cang assured her that her reality-altering power could resist it.
• Cang identified an ancient Otsutsuki testing ground three hundred li southeast as Urashiki’s likely landing site and told Zhi Li to wait three days before setting the sealing array.
• Cang warned Zhi Li about Urashiki’s timeline-jumping abilities and passed her his knowledge of Urashiki’s combat habits and vulnerabilities.
• Zhi Li vowed to protect the land and left to prepare, while Cang continued refining Isshiki’s power and anticipated the coming confrontation.

Otsutsuki Urashiki arrived in the Land of Fire after a spacetime storm sent him to an era more than ten years earlier than intended. Cang and Zhi Li watched him and decided to let him stir up the era before they acted.

• Urashiki emerged from a spatial fissure in the Land of Fire and realized he had arrived earlier than expected.
• Urashiki sensed young Uzumaki Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra near the Hidden Leaf Village, then noticed a distant gaze before leaving to look for amusement.
• Zhi Li told Cang that Urashiki had landed far from his projected location and had sensed Naruto and an unusual Chakra resembling a Wedge.
• Cang praised Zhi Li for not confronting Urashiki and decided to let him provoke people and disturb the era's Causality Threads.
• Cang ordered Zhi Li to keep watching Urashiki as he planned to make his move after Urashiki had stirred up trouble.

Boruto and Sasuke arrived in the Land of Fire five days after Sasuke’s defection, earlier than expected, while Urashiki and Cang’s forces watched from nearby. As Sasuke and Boruto recovered and Naruto resolved to train to bring Sasuke back, Urashiki moved toward the Hidden Leaf Village, and Cang continued waiting for an opening.

• Boruto and Sasuke emerged from a rift in the Land of Fire and realized they had arrived just after the Chunin Exams and Sasuke’s defection.
• Sasuke sensed that Urashiki had arrived ahead of them, so he and Boruto withdrew to recover their Chakra instead of confronting him immediately.
• Tsunade learned that Anbu had detected brief, unfamiliar Chakra fluctuations near the village and ordered increased patrols.
• Cang and Zhi Li tracked Sasuke, Boruto, and Urashiki, and Cang told Zhi Li to let them fight so he could act once Urashiki was weakened.
• Boruto asked Sasuke whether they could meet the young Naruto, but Sasuke warned that doing so could endanger Naruto and affect the era.
• Jiraiya encouraged Naruto to recover and promised to train him to bring Sasuke back, while Cang learned that Urashiki had moved toward the Hidden Leaf Village.

Boruto and Sasuke arrived in the past shortly after Sasuke's defection, where Boruto briefly met young Naruto before rejoining Sasuke. As they planned to protect Naruto without changing history, Urashiki watched them from the darkness and prepared to hunt.

• Boruto and Sasuke emerged from a rift in the border forest and realized they had arrived five days after Sasuke's defection, with Urashiki nearby.
• Boruto entered Konoha and met young Naruto, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Shikamaru before Sasuke arrived and took him away.
• Boruto promised Naruto that Sasuke would return, and Sasuke later told Boruto his words would stay with Naruto.
• Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune discussed the two suspicious visitors, while Naruto and Sakura separately remembered seeing Sasuke and Boruto.
• After three days of searching, Sasuke explained that Urashiki was waiting for Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra to become vulnerable, and the pair resolved to protect Naruto without leaving a trace.
• Urashiki watched Boruto and Sasuke from the darkness and called their presence an increasingly interesting hunt.

Boruto returned to the Hidden Leaf Village and bonded with young Naruto, while Sasuke discovered Urashiki’s plan to target Naruto with a mark that would make the Nine-Tails’ Chakra run wild. Three days later, Naruto and the village subdued the outbreak, and Sasuke and Boruto set out to confront Urashiki.

• Shikamaru questioned Boruto at the village gate, but Naruto recognized him and brought him to Ichiraku Ramen, where Boruto told Naruto that his father was his hero.
• Sasuke confronted Urashiki, who marked the village and threatened to make the Nine-Tails’ Chakra run wild in three days.
• Sasuke told Boruto to stay away from the village and trust Naruto, while Naruto and Sai talked about family and the hope of reuniting with people who had left.
• Three days later, Boruto saw the Nine-Tails’ Chakra flare over the village, but Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, and the Hidden Leaf ninja helped subdue it.
• Sasuke and Boruto left the shrine to meet Urashiki.

Boruto and Sasuke confronted Urashiki, who revealed he had planted a trigger in Naruto’s Chakra to make the Nine-Tails go berserk and harvest its power. Urashiki gave them three days until the full moon, leaving Sasuke and Boruto needing both a way to stop him and a way to convince Konoha.

• Sasuke explained that Urashiki had used the Nine-Tails’ Chakra as bait to lure them into a trap, and Boruto worried that Naruto and Konoha were in danger.
• Boruto asked Sasuke whether he regretted leaving Konoha, and Sasuke said his path had been his choice but Naruto had shown him that even a wrong path could be left behind.
• Sasuke and Boruto arrived at a clearing, where Urashiki offered to return them to their own time if they surrendered all of the Nine-Tails’ Chakra.
• Urashiki attacked, and Boruto sensed that his Chakra had grown denser after he absorbed some of the Nine-Tails’ leaked power.
• Urashiki fired a red beam toward Konoha and escaped, announcing that he would come for the Nine-Tails on the full moon in three days.
• Sasuke told Boruto that Urashiki had planted a trigger in Naruto’s Chakra and said they had three days to stop him and make Konoha believe them.

Tsunade and the others suspected Boruto and the one-armed Sasuke had come from the future, while Naruto wondered whether Sasuke could change. After Boruto confirmed Sasuke’s identity and said he had come to protect Naruto, Tsunade arranged for him to stay at Naruto’s house for three days.

• Jiraiya told Tsunade that powerful Chakra signatures had clashed near the village, including one that likely belonged to Sasuke, and Shikamaru reported that Boruto’s Chakra matched Naruto’s.
• Tsunade ordered Shikamaru to let Boruto see Naruto, hoping he could help Naruto and provide information about Sasuke.
• Naruto asked Sakura whether someone who had hurt others could change, and Sakura said Naruto was the one who could bring Sasuke back.
• Boruto watched Naruto and Sakura together at the hospital, then left and met Shikamaru, who took him to Tsunade’s office.
• Boruto confirmed the one-armed man was Sasuke and said he had come to protect Naruto, but refused to explain their relationship or Sasuke’s return.
• Tsunade believed Boruto and told him to stay in the village and live at Naruto’s house for three days; Boruto eagerly agreed.

Boruto stayed with twelve-year-old Naruto while Sasuke watched over them from outside Konoha. At the shrine, Sasuke told Jiraiya about Boruto’s identity and Urashiki’s plan to kill Naruto, leaving Jiraiya to protect Naruto as the full moon approached.

• Tsunade ordered Boruto to stay at Naruto’s home for three days, while Sasuke remained outside the village.
• Naruto welcomed Boruto into his small home, and the two played cards together that evening.
• Sasuke watched the boys from the forest, then returned to the abandoned shrine to rest.
• Jiraiya visited Sasuke and asked whether Boruto had been telling the truth about Naruto respecting him.
• Sasuke revealed that Boruto was Naruto and Hinata’s son, and explained that Urashiki planned to harvest the Wedge inside Naruto on the full moon.
• Jiraiya agreed to protect Naruto while Sasuke and Boruto handled Urashiki, and Sasuke reflected that the fight would be decided in two days.

Boruto joined Naruto and the others at the training grounds, where he fought Kakashi to a draw and helped Naruto learn the Rasengan. Kakashi grew suspicious of Boruto’s connection to Naruto, while Sasuke watched them from afar; one day remained until the full moon.

• Naruto invited Boruto to join him for a hospital follow-up and training with their friends, and Boruto agreed to go to the training grounds.
• Kakashi joined the sparring and challenged Boruto, whose familiar techniques and combat skill surprised the onlookers.
• Boruto and Kakashi clashed with the Rasengan and Lightning Blade, ending their match in a draw.
• Kakashi wondered about Boruto’s relationship to Naruto after noticing their identical Chakra, and Boruto told him Naruto was someone very important to him.
• Boruto helped Naruto stabilize and form a Rasengan, and Sasuke watched them before leaving as the sun set.