Recaps

Araki maneuvered to strengthen Kirigakure’s position and assess the villages gathering for the Joint Chunin Exams, while Konoha’s fleet came under a major assault from Kirigakure. The exams were about to begin as Araki trained to improve his swordsmanship and ordered his team to prepare for their opponents.

• Jiraiya secured Hanzo’s agreement to ally with Konoha, while Araki treated Linglan and questioned him about his poisonous cold-flame Kekkei Genkai.
• Araki exposed Oyashiro En’s identity and history, then recruited him into Kirigakure’s Anbu by offering a future for his daughter and a chance to oppose the Uchiha.
• Zabuza and Hua Bing attacked Tiger Shark Jack’s pirate ship, and Zabuza prepared to finish the wounded captain’s summoned shark with an extended ice blade.
• Konoha’s fleet sailed toward the Land of Water as Hozuki Sengetsu’s forces attacked it, and Shikaku’s plans failed to stop the Hozuki from reaching the ships.
• Araki’s team arrived in Kumogakure for the Joint Chunin Exams, where Araki defeated Darui in a test arranged by the Third Raikage and accepted the revised exam schedule.
• Araki reviewed the seeded contestants with Samui and identified Deidara and Hidan as threats, then reprimanded his team for overlooking Iwagakure’s young competitor and ordered them to prepare battle plans.
• Oyashiro En and Kisame led Kirigakure’s assault on Konoha’s fleet with explosive sharks, prompting Jiraiya and Konoha’s elite jōnin to prepare for a direct fight.
• Araki resumed sword training with Sasaki Kojiro, reached the initial stage of [Mind’s Eye], and faced Secret Sword—Swallow Reversal.

Araki navigated the Joint Chunin Exams while Konoha and Kirigakure suffered heavy losses in battle. On Turtle Island, Nagato revealed his Rinnegan, setting the villages and Uchiha Madara in motion to protect or seize him.

• Araki defeated Mahiru and Hikō at the Cloud-Lightning Tower, then let Kumogakure believe he had used the Flying Thunder God Technique.
• Kisame and Kirigakure unleashed a massive wave against Konoha’s fleet, and Jiraiya entered imperfect Sage Mode to stop it with Fukasaku and Shima.
• Jiraiya reported Konoha’s losses, while Orochimaru and Danzō arranged reinforcements and began planning Wood Release experiments with Mebuki and Masaki.
• Araki encouraged Sasori to pursue Human Puppet research in Kirigakure and offered him access to Konoha corpses as materials.
• Killer B began the Turtle Island test, where teams raced to collect lightning and water tokens while Deidara’s clay bird competed with several other flying techniques.
• Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato clashed with Deidara and Iwagakure’s Katsuchi and Da Yan, and Nagato used his unusual powers to turn the fight in their favor.
• Yahiko urged Nagato to reveal his eyes, and Nagato exposed the Rinnegan to the watching shinobi, prompting Araki and Hikō to keep Kumogakure from reaching him.
• White Zetsu informed Uchiha Madara that Nagato’s Rinnegan had been discovered, and Madara sent White Zetsu and Obito to protect Nagato in the Land of Lightning.

Araki uncovered White Zetsu’s impersonation of the Third Mizukage while the Kage negotiated an alliance against Konoha. As the summit pushed the villages toward war, Tsunade led Konoha’s counterattack in the Land of Water.

• Kaguya Black Bone killed Liuxi and Shibu, while Hua Bing froze Hotarubi and Natsuhiboshi’s attacks with her Ice Dragon.
• The Third Raikage confronted Nagato, who refused to leave Amegakure, then fought alongside Araki against Obito’s wooden Buddha and ordered Kumogakure’s forces toward the Land of Fire.
• Ringo Ameyuri defeated Karito, Hanaka, and Shito in the team arena battles, helping the Land of Water’s First Team win.
• The Third Mizukage arrived in Kumogakure claiming his Shadow Guard had died fighting Konoha, but Araki realized he was an impostor and consulted Sasori about developing poison to stop Zetsu’s healing.
• The Third Hoshikage tried to join the Kage meeting but was knocked out by the Third Raikage, and the Kage began their final decisive battle at the Joint Chunin Exams.
• Tsunade joined Jiraiya’s besieged forces in the Land of Water, used Wood Release to heal the wounded, and ordered Konoha’s army to attack Mist Village.
• The Third Mizukage offered captured Byakugan to the first two allied forces to enter the Land of Fire, while the Third Kazekage proposed sending Araki to Sunagakure in exchange for Sasori visiting Kirigakure.
• Tsunade’s Wood Release secured Konoha’s foothold against Mist Village, and she fought Kaguya Steel Bone and five Kaguya jonin as they returned to face her.

Araki helped Karatachi Yagura secure the Mizukage’s seat, built an elite sword unit, and faced Jiraiya and Tsunade as Kirigakure’s war with Konoha intensified. Jiraiya and Tsunade were reverse-summoned away from the battlefield, and Araki pursued Tsunade’s Lightning Stiletto with Yagura and Sasori in tow.

• Araki revealed that he had severed Sarutobi Hiruzen’s and Shimura Danzō’s arms, then gave the drug Sasori developed to the Third Mizukage and helped stage his death as a Konoha attack.
• Araki backed Karatachi Yagura against the elders, and Yagura gained the Three-Tails’ power before being named the Fourth Mizukage.
• Araki received a new chakra sword, mastered his sword skills after dueling Sasaki Kojiro and Yamamoto Takeshi, and turned the Hunter-nin Squad into the Blade of the Bloody Mist.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade infiltrated Kirigakure, but Araki, Sasori, and Yagura trapped them and fought them with human puppets made from fallen Konoha ninja.
• Sasori poisoned Jiraiya, while Tsunade escaped with him and used Katsuyu to suppress the toxin, and Jiraiya shared his plan to lure Kirigakure into a prepared attack.
• Hozuki Sengetsu led a large Mist force against Konoha at Bluefish Island, where the flooded battlefield and Mist commanders inflicted heavy losses.
• Jiraiya entered Sage Mode and confronted Yagura, but Reverse Summoning pulled Jiraiya and Tsunade away, and Araki used Stellar Restoration to pursue Tsunade’s Lightning Stiletto.