Recaps

Uzumaki Kuming fought Sunagakure forces over the missing Third Kazekage, survived capture and poisoning, and returned to Konoha as a celebrated Jonin. He then began assembling an Anbu squad, with Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Fugaku set to join him.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Kuming to Hatake Sakumo’s mission in the Land of Rivers, where Pakura’s forces ambushed the squad and poisoned Aburame Shibi.
• Kuming and Sakumo fought their way through Sunagakure’s pursuit, but Rasa, Karura, and Chiyo surrounded them, and Kuming’s attempt to capture Shukaku ended with Rasa’s Gold Dust spear piercing him.
• Konoha declared war on Sunagakure, while Kuming recovered at Mount Myoboku and returned in disguise to gather information before Rasa’s forces trapped him in a Gold Dust pyramid.
• Kuming escaped the pyramid and collapsed while fleeing, and Minato Namikaze rescued him, and Sunagakure publicized his exploits as the Thunderclap of Konoha.
• Tsunade treated Kuming in Konoha, while Orochimaru secretly injected him with medicine containing Hashirama Cells, after recovering, Kuming accidentally freed Obito Uchiha from a Cursed Seal.
• Hiruzen promoted Kuming to Jonin and offered him command of an Anbu squad, and Kuming persuaded him to assign the disgraced Sakumo to the team and let him choose its members.
• Kuming recruited Uchiha Fugaku, who agreed to join the squad, and the two went to visit Hiashi at the Hyuga Clan Compound.

Uzumaki Kuming led Konoha’s forces through a costly campaign against Iwagakure, then joined Minato to lure Roshi into a sealing trap. Zetsu’s interference nearly freed the Four-Tails, but Konoha’s reinforcements helped Kuming seal it, while Black and White Zetsu escaped.

• Uzumaki Kuming led Konoha’s Surprise Attack Force into the Land of Earth, took command of its forces, and defeated Han before drawing the Five-Tails out of its seal.
• Kuming fought Roshi while the Five-Tails rampaged, but Kirigakure’s attack on the Land of Wind forced Sunagakure to withdraw and ended the joint advance.
• Kuming kept Iwagakure’s forces occupied with guerrilla attacks, rejected newly graduated Genin for his mission, and sent Fugaku a sealed jutsu and the Sword of the Thunder God.
• Minato Namikaze took Kakashi Hatake, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Nohara through the Land of Birds, where Roshi and Kitsuchi attacked them before Kuming arrived with reinforcements.
• Kuming revealed to Minato, Obito, and Rin that he was Konoha’s Jinchuriki, then arranged for Minato to teleport Roshi to a prepared desert battlefield.
• Minato marked Roshi with the Flying Thunder God formula and transported him to Kuming’s trap, where Kuming restrained the transformed Four-Tails with Adamantine Sealing Chains.
• Black and White Zetsu disrupted the sealing operation, drained Kuming’s Chakra, and used a Kuming lookalike to keep Minato occupied.
• Minato teleported away the Four-Tails’ Tailed Beast Bomb, and Konoha’s reinforcements helped Kuming seal the beast as Black and White Zetsu escaped underground.