Recaps

Shimura Danzō oversaw a brutal selection at Root’s temporary branch in the Land of Rice Fields, where thirty children were chosen as future recruits. As he considered how depleted his forces had become, he recalled that the Uchiha corpses—and the Sharingan he had planned to seize—had vanished.

• Root shinobi guarded the hidden base while children fought to survive a deadly selection in its underground arena.
• Bing reported to Shimura Danzō that thirty candidates had been selected from five hundred children for future Root training.
• Shimura Danzō recognized that his remaining Root members were too few for him to discard even aging, injured subordinates like Bing.
• Shimura Danzō reflected on his diminished forces and the failure of his plan to collect the Uchiha’s Sharingan.
• Shimura Danzō recalled that all the Uchiha clan members’ corpses had vanished just as he was preparing to retrieve them.

Danzo investigated the disappearance of the Uchiha corpses and suspected Uchiha Kou was involved. Orochimaru arrived at Danzo’s base, where Danzo recognized him as a puppet controlled by an Uchiha Mangekyō Sharingan wielder.

• Danzo recalled surviving Itachi’s Amaterasu and wondered whether Uchiha Kou had made the Uchiha corpses disappear.
• A Root ninja reported that Orochimaru had arrived, and Orochimaru appeared from the shadows before Danzo could send for him.
• Danzo ordered the Root shinobi to surround Orochimaru, who accused Danzo of mistreating his benefactor.
• Danzo told Orochimaru he was only a controlled puppet and addressed the hidden Mangekyō Sharingan wielder as a Uchiha remnant.

Danzo exposed signs that Orochimaru was being controlled by a Mangekyō Sharingan and identified Kuro as the one behind it. Kuro emerged from the shadows, and Danzo revealed his surprise that Kuro had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Danzo explained how the Mangekyō Sharingan worked and described subtle signs that someone was under its control.
• Danzo confronted Orochimaru, saying that his decades of knowing him had helped him recognize the abnormalities, and demanded to know who he was.
• Kuro applauded from the shadows and emerged, mocking Danzo for noticing the clues.
• The Root ninjas shifted their attention toward Kuro, but Danzo ordered them to keep Orochimaru surrounded because they could not handle Kuro.
• Danzo recognized Kuro and said he was surprised that Kuro had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, since he had always hidden behind a mask.

Eight years earlier, Danzo confronted Hiruzen over appointing Uchiha Kuro to the Jonin Corps, arguing that Kuro was a manipulative danger who could rise to power. Hiruzen defended giving Kuro a chance to serve in the village, but ended the argument by asking whether it mattered if Danzo’s suspicions were true or false.

• Danzo angrily challenged Hiruzen for allowing Uchiha Kuro to enter the Jonin Corps.
• Hiruzen said Kuro needed time away from battlefield missions and could adjust through clerical work in the village.
• Danzo accused Hiruzen of grooming Kuro to succeed as head of the Jonin Corps and support Hiruzen’s disciple as Hokage.
• Hiruzen rebuked Danzo for overstepping and urged him to recognize the younger Uchiha’s efforts to integrate into Konoha.
• Danzo insisted Kuro hid his cold nature behind a harmless mask and asked whether Hiruzen could truly approve of him.
• Hiruzen remained silent, then asked whether it mattered if Danzo’s suspicions were true or false.

Danzo recalled his old conflict with Hiruzen and recognized that Hiruzen had been right about Kuro’s deep bonds, but resolved to eliminate Kuro as a threat to Konoha. Kuro confronted Danzo at Root’s temporary base, revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan, and began forming Susanoo.

• Hiruzen told Danzo that Kuro had developed sincere bonds and would become an outstanding Hokage, but Danzo rejected his judgment and left in anger.
• Eight years later at Root’s temporary base in the Land of Rice Fields, Danzo remembered Hiruzen’s words and resolved to kill Kuro for Konoha’s sake.
• Kuro admitted that Danzo had seen through his mask and said that gave him another reason to kill Danzo.
• Danzo began removing the bandages covering his body as Kuro revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan and declared that he would make Danzo experience despair.
• Kuro manifested an azure skeletal Susanoo, and Danzo recognized the technique.

Kuro confronted Danzo beneath Susanoo as Danzo unleashed the Hashirama Cells implanted in his body, despite knowing they would soon kill him. Danzo attacked Kuro and blocked Susanoo’s counterstrike with Wood Release, leaving their battle underway.

• Kuro summoned Susanoo, whose power rapidly drained his ocular strength and caused his eyes to bleed.
• Danzo removed his bandages and revealed a body transformed by Shin’s transplanted tissue and Hashirama Cells.
• Kuro explained that Danzo’s borrowed power was unstable and predicted he would die within an hour, but Danzo declared he would erase Kuro to protect Konoha.
• Danzo rushed Susanoo and stabbed at its frame with a kunai, which snapped without leaving a mark.
• Kuro sent Susanoo’s skeletal hand at Danzo, who used Wood Release—Tree World Wall to block it.

Danzo’s Wind Release attacks failed against Kuro’s Susanoo, which absorbed them through Inari God. Kuro transformed the Susanoo into its second form and hurled its massive bladed wheel at Danzo.

• Danzo shattered the wooden barrier with a Vacuum Great Sphere and leapt backward to escape the Susanoo’s grasp.
• Danzo fired a barrage of Vacuum Serial Waves at Kuro, expecting the attacks to crack the Susanoo’s defenses.
• Kuro absorbed the Wind Release attacks with his right-eye technique, Inari God, and replenished his chakra.
• Kuro evolved the Susanoo into its second form and formed a massive bladed wheel in its left hand.
• Kuro hurled the wheel at Danzo and called it Futsu—Heavenly Wheel of the Void.

Danzo unleashed Deep Forest Emergence to stop Kuro’s Susanoo blade wheel, but the wheel cut through his defenses and left him mortally wounded. Kuro dismissed Susanoo and stood over Danzo’s mangled upper body.

• Danzo used Deep Forest Emergence to bind the blade wheel, exhausting his chakra and allowing the Hashirama Cells to consume his body faster.
• Kuro commanded the blade wheel to spin, and it severed the trees and broke free.
• Danzo ordered the Root ninja to protect him, but Orochimaru and the blade wheel killed them all.
• Danzo unleashed Deep Forest Emergence again and then mutated his body to attack the wheel, but both efforts failed.
• The wheel sliced Danzo in half and returned to Susanoo’s hand; Kuro checked his Mangekyō Sharingan, dismissed Susanoo, and appeared beside the dying Danzo.

Kuro revealed the Futsu Sky Wheel’s ability to adapt and grow without limit, then blamed Danzo for the suffering and tragedies he had caused before crushing his head. As Danzo activated the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, Kuro used his Mangekyō technique, Magatsuhi God, and cracks spread across Danzo and the surrounding space.

• Danzo asked how Kuro had cut through Deep Forest Emergence, and Kuro explained the Futsu Sky Wheel’s regenerative and adaptive abilities.
• Kuro stomped Danzo’s head and accused him of causing years of suffering, the deaths of Minato and Kushina, and the Uchiha clan’s destruction.
• Danzo activated the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing as a final attempt to seal Kuro and everything else in the underground base.
• Kuro admitted he could not escape the sealing range but revealed he could break the technique, then aimed his left Mangekyō at Danzo.
• Kuro invoked Magatsuhi God, and black blood froze as cracks spread across Danzo’s body and the space around him.

Kuro killed Danzo by collapsing the space around him, absorbed the Hashirama Cells’ chakra, and vowed to seek justice for the Uchiha clan. He then freed the surviving children from the slaughter and watched as they finally broke down in tears.

• Kuro used Inari God to drain the Hashirama Cells’ chakra from Danzo, then shattered Danzo and part of the underground base with Space Collapse.
• As he died, Danzo remembered Hiruzen and spoke his name before vanishing in the collapse.
• Kuro vowed to eliminate everyone involved in the Uchiha clan’s extermination, even the boy who had become a masked figure in a Black Cloak with Red Clouds.
• Kuro felt the cost of using his Mangekyō Sharingan and considered pursuing his archaeological plan in the Land of Lightning to gain more ocular power.
• Kuro reassured the six surviving children that they were safe and no longer had to kill one another, and they dropped their weapons and wept.

Kuro prepared to erase the surviving children’s memories of the night, but one boy refused because he could not bear to forget the family who sacrificed themselves for him. The boy instead swore loyalty to Kuro, leaving Kuro surprised by his offer.

• Kuro told the surviving children he would erase their memories of the night before letting them go.
• One boy refused, explaining that his parents and brother had died so he could survive and that he would not forget them.
• Kuro warned the boy that refusing could cost him his life, while the other children accepted the memory erasure.
• The boy picked up a kunai, then drove it into the ground and declared that he would swear loyalty to Kuro.

Kuro questioned Fuma Naoto after the boy asked to follow him, and learned that Naoto’s family descended from the Fuma Clan but had never become ninja. Naoto insisted he wanted to follow Kuro for himself, while rejecting the idea of restoring a clan that had chosen banditry over peace.

• Fuma Naoto asked to follow Kuro, saying Kuro was a good person because he had tried to erase their memories instead of killing them.
• Kuro suspected Naoto knew too much to be an ordinary civilian and asked about his identity.
• Fuma Naoto revealed that he came from a branch of the Fuma Clan whose members had left the clan and settled near the Land of Rice Fields border.
• Naoto explained that his grandfather had been a Fuma Clan chunin who fought in the Second Ninja World War, but Naoto and his family were not ninja.
• Kuro guessed that Naoto wanted to become a ninja and restore the Fuma Clan, but Naoto denied it and said he did not think the clan was worth restoring.

After the children begged him for a place to belong, Kuro agreed to take them in, though he warned they would have to prove their worth. He sent them with Shadow Clones to a new place to recover and train, leaving him alone with Orochimaru and another clone in the ruins.

• Kuro warned the children that being a ninja meant living with constant danger and suggested they leave that life behind.
• Fuma Naoto pleaded with Kuro to take the children in because they had lost their families and had nowhere else to feel safe.
• Kuro decided the children could become useful subordinates and agreed to let them stay if they proved their worth.
• Kuro warned the children that anyone unable to endure the path could have their memories erased and leave.
• Orochimaru and Kuro created Shadow Clones to escort the children to a new place, where they would recover before training.
• Naoto was the last to leave and looked back at Kuro with gratitude and trust before disappearing into the night.

Kuro ordered Orochimaru’s Shadow Clone to mislead Akatsuki’s intelligence network while planning to investigate two suspected Indra reincarnation tombs and seek clues to the Totsuka Blade. Meanwhile, Itachi learned that Danzo had defected, worried about the consequences for Konoha and Sasuke, and received a communication from Pain.

• Kuro sent Orochimaru’s Shadow Clone to the Land of Lightning to stage minor incidents that would attract Akatsuki’s attention.
• Kuro considered investigating two Uchiha tombs and focused on the Warring States elder whose Susanoo had wielded the Totsuka Blade.
• Kuro decided that working alongside Itachi might reveal information about the Totsuka Blade, but rejected the idea of killing Itachi because the risks of exposing his strength were too great.
• Orochimaru cleared the battlefield of the remaining corpses and left the ruins beneath the moonlight.
• Itachi read a letter reporting that Danzo had defected, worried about Konoha’s changing power structure and Sasuke, and resolved to find a chance to return to Konoha.
• Itachi received a chakra signal from his Vermilion ring and recognized the communication as coming from Pain.

Pain ordered Itachi to travel to the Land of Lightning and join Scorpion and Kuro in hunting Orochimaru, whose partnership with Danzo might reveal what had happened to the former Konoha ninja. Itachi accepted the mission but remained wary of Kuro, resolving to learn his motives and kill him if he proved a threat to Konoha or Sasuke.

• Pain told Itachi that Orochimaru had been sighted near the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range and ordered him to join Scorpion in eliminating the traitor.
• Itachi reconsidered his earlier assumptions about Danzo and decided Orochimaru might know what had happened to him and where he was.
• Pain informed Itachi that Kuro would join the mission, and Itachi questioned whether Kuro knew they would be working together.
• Itachi agreed to rendezvous with Kuro and Scorpion in the Land of Lightning, suspecting Kuro had a personal reason for accepting the mission.
• Itachi resolved to uncover Kuro's motives and learn whether he possessed Shisui's other Sharingan, while vowing to kill Kuro if he threatened Konoha or Sasuke.

Asuma visited Hatake Sakumo in the Land of Iron and watched him forge a katana, while Sakumo realized how much Asuma’s strength had grown. Their conversation ended with Sakumo looking toward Konoha.

• Hatake Sakumo forged a high-quality katana in his residence’s forge in the Land of Iron.
• Asuma revealed that he had been standing behind Hatake Sakumo for most of the afternoon, and Sakumo apologized for not noticing him.
• Hatake Sakumo sensed Asuma’s refined strength and said he was likely stronger than Kakashi had been a few years earlier.
• Asuma rejected his nickname, “Defiant Blade,” and complained about whoever had given it to him.
• Hatake Sakumo put the katana on its stand and looked toward Konoha.

Asuma visited Hatake Sakumo in the Land of Iron and revealed that he had vowed with Kurenai and Kakashi not to return to Konoha until he found Kuro. He asked Sakumo for news, and Sakumo confirmed that he had recently learned something about Kuro.

• Hatake Sakumo wondered how Kakashi was doing, and Asuma urged him to visit Konoha or write to his son.
• Hatake Sakumo encouraged Asuma to return to Konoha and see the Third Hokage and Kurenai, but Asuma reacted angrily to the Hokage’s name and blushed when Sakumo mentioned Kurenai waiting for him.
• Asuma told Hatake Sakumo that he, Kurenai, and Kakashi had vowed he would not return to Konoha until he found Kuro and brought him back.
• Asuma explained that Sakumo had also stayed in the Land of Iron to search for news of Kuro, then asked him whether he had heard anything.
• Hatake Sakumo confirmed that he had recently learned something about Kuro.

Hatake Sakumo told Asuma that Sasori had revealed Kuro was heading to the Land of Lightning and had lured Sakumo into a meeting by threatening a blacksmith. Sakumo explained that Sasori sought him because Sakumo had killed Sasori’s parents during the Second Ninja World War.

• Asuma asked Sakumo whether Kuro had been found and where he was.
• Sakumo said reliable intelligence indicated Kuro was headed to the Land of Lightning, based on information from Sasori of the Red Sands.
• Sakumo explained that Sasori had learned about his search for Kuro through blacksmiths and had sent him a secret letter.
• Sasori threatened a blacksmith and used the claim that Kuro would accompany him on a mission to the Land of Lightning to demand that Sakumo meet him at the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range.
• Sakumo revealed that Sasori’s parents had died at his hands during the Second Ninja World War.

Hatake Sakumo decided to go to the Land of Lightning to rescue the blacksmith Kuro from Sasori of the Red Sands, despite Asuma warning that the information could be a trap. Asuma confronted Sakumo over hiding his plans from Kakashi and resolved to accompany him.

• Asuma warned Hatake Sakumo that the report about Kuro might be a trap, but Sakumo insisted on going to rescue the blacksmith from Sasori of the Red Sands.
• Sakumo refused to involve Konoha, saying he had killed Sasori's parents and would face him himself, but would not let Sasori endanger innocent lives.
• Asuma realized Sakumo had told him in case he died, so he could explain what happened to Kakashi and dissuade him from seeking revenge.
• Asuma condemned Sakumo for making decisions that could hurt Kakashi and promised to tell Kakashi everything word for word.
• Asuma announced that he would accompany Hatake Sakumo to the Land of Lightning to help ensure Kuro's and Sakumo's safety.

Asuma confronted Hatake Sakumo over his willingness to throw away his life, and Sakumo resolved to stop running from the past and live for himself and those who cared about him. He joined Asuma to travel to the Land of Lightning, where they planned to rescue a blacksmith and confront the threat to Kuro.

• Asuma told Hatake Sakumo that throwing away his life was irresponsible toward himself and the people who cherished him.
• Hatake Sakumo remembered how Kuro had once urged him to live for himself and his family, then vowed to stop running away.
• Hatake Sakumo took up his newly forged katana and resolved to rescue the blacksmith, settle old grudges, and help Kuro.
• Asuma waited outside, determined to eliminate Sasori of the Red Sands because he had used Kuro's whereabouts as bait and endangered him.
• Hatake Sakumo emerged ready to fight, apologized to Asuma for making him wait, and agreed to head to the Land of Lightning.

Uchiha Kuro met Sasori in the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range for a mission to hunt Orochimaru, then clashed with the late-arriving Uchiha Itachi. Kuro noticed Sasori had prepared traps for someone else, leaving the target of the ambush unrevealed.

• Sasori waited in the forest for Uchiha Kuro, who arrived late and joked that he had stopped to eat along the way.
• Sasori grew angry at Kuro’s teasing and considered killing him alongside the White Fang of Konoha and Orochimaru.
• Uchiha Itachi arrived, and Kuro berated him for keeping his two seniors waiting before urging Sasori to join him in teaching Itachi a lesson.
• Itachi asked Sasori where Orochimaru was, but Kuro pointed out the traps and puppets Sasori had placed around the forest.
• Kuro asked Sasori who the traps were meant for, and Sasori turned toward him with a grave expression.

Scorpion attacked the forest with his puppets, but Sakumo and Asuma emerged from the trees after destroying them. Asuma recognized Kuro, whom he had finally found after five years.

• Itachi spotted Scorpion's chakra threads and questioned his intentions while Kuro and Itachi prepared to strike.
• Scorpion sent ten puppets to attack the forest, and Kuro and Itachi coordinated to block his escape routes.
• Sakumo severed the puppets' chakra threads with a draw slash, and Asuma followed with a powerful triple wind-blade attack that cleared the forest.
• Sakumo and Asuma emerged from the wreckage and focused on Kuro.
• Asuma recognized Kuro and shouted that he had finally found him.

Kuro reunited with Asuma and Hatake Sakumo while standing beside Sasori, who had lured them into a confrontation over the captive Yoshimura Masao. Itachi suspected Sasori was a Sand Village undercover agent using Akatsuki to eliminate rival villages’ elite ninja, and to frame the organization.

• Kuro greeted Asuma and Hatake Sakumo, but Sakumo urged Asuma to set aside their reunion because Sasori and Itachi remained a threat.
• Hatake Sakumo demanded that Sasori release Yoshimura Masao, whom Sasori said would be freed only after Sakumo and Asuma were dead.
• Sasori mocked Sakumo for bringing Asuma as a helper and confirmed that Masao was being held safely.
• Itachi wondered why Sasori had leaked Akatsuki intelligence and concluded that Sasori might be a Sand Village agent framing Akatsuki for killing other villages’ elite ninja.

Kuro, Itachi, Hatake Sakumo, and Asuma confronted Sasori after learning he had used a blacksmith and information about Kuro to lure Sakumo into a fight. Sasori warned Kuro and Itachi not to interfere, but Kuro rejected the threat and declared he could kill Sasori whenever he chose.

• Itachi considered secretly teaming up with Hatake Sakumo and Asuma to eliminate Sasori, while watching to see whether Kuro would help Konoha.
• Kuro deduced that Sasori had used Yoshimura Masao and information about Kuro to draw Hatake Sakumo into a confrontation for revenge.
• Kuro realized Asuma had followed Sakumo after learning about the situation and worried that both men would complicate matters.
• Sasori claimed Hatake Sakumo and Asuma as his prey and warned Kuro and Itachi that intervening could make Akatsuki’s leader suspect them of being Konoha spies.
• Kuro told Sasori he was furious about the leaked information and threatened to kill him if he felt like it.

Kuro left with Itachi to pursue his plan in the Cloud Thunder Mountain Range, while Hatake Sakumo and Asuma remained facing Scorpion. Asuma tried to stop Kuro, then stunned everyone by revealing why Kuro mattered so much to him.

• Scorpion urged Hatake Sakumo to prioritize the mission to find Orochimaru and offered to hold them off.
• Kuro decided to continue toward the southeast with Itachi, where the tomb of Indra's previous reincarnation was hidden.
• Asuma called out to Kuro, who told him he could no longer return to Konoha and secretly signaled Hatake Sakumo before vanishing.
• Itachi followed Kuro, while Asuma tried to chase after him and Hatake Sakumo held him back.
• Asuma shouted that Kuro was someone who could become his father, leaving Hatake Sakumo and Scorpion bewildered.