Recaps

Kuro returned to Kirigakure under the identity Shiina Sora, balancing the village’s reforms with his secret plans and growing Mangekyō powers. After Akatsuki began testing him, Mei Terumi hired the organization to investigate the Uzumaki ruins, and Kuro accepted the mission.

• Kuro met Obito after surviving the Uchiha massacre, then accepted Obito’s request to partner with Itachi and monitor him.
• Kuro returned to Kirigakure as Shiina Sora, where he continued supporting the reforms and saw Zabuza and Haku.
• Mei Terumi brought Kuro information about the Mist Anbu’s Three-Tails plan and a map to the Uzumaki ruins, but Kuro kept the map and delayed her expedition.
• Kuro secretly obtained Uchiha Izuna’s swordsmanship scroll from Kisame, then returned to his hidden cave and reunited with Karin.
• Kuro mourned Shisui and awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, discovering that his eyes could collapse space and absorb chakra and ocular power.
• Kuro joined Pain’s Akatsuki meeting, where Pain discussed expansion, offered him a mission, and asked him to become a member.
• Pain and Konan decided to observe Kuro at Mist Harbor and test his strength through an old acquaintance.
• Kuro visited Mei, who hired Akatsuki to investigate the Uzumaki ruins, explaining that her trust in him came from his past efforts to protect fallen comrades and civilians.

Kuro accompanied Mei Terumi on a covert mission to investigate the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, but an unexpected reunion with Jiraiya led to a clash over Konoha and Kuro’s refusal to return. After escaping with Pain’s intervention, Kuro and Mei reached the ruins and recruited the reluctant ninja cat Cook to help them navigate.

• Mei Terumi persuaded Kuro to let her take the mission, and Kuro encouraged her before she departed for Mist Harbor with him.
• Kuro and Mei set out for the Land of Whirlpools, where Mei revealed that Mist squads sent to investigate the ruins had disappeared.
• Jiraiya recognized Kuro at the harbor, and Kuro confronted him over ignoring his warnings before the Nine-Tails Incident and Konoha’s role in the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
• Jiraiya promised to investigate Konoha’s corruption and become Fifth Hokage, but Kuro refused to return and told him Naruto had been mistreated.
• Kuro and Jiraiya fought on a mountain, where Jiraiya used the Blazing Flame Rasengan and Kuro called for help from Pain.
• Pain attacked Jiraiya, allowing Kuro to return to Mei, who sailed with him toward the Land of Whirlpools while Kuro left a Shadow Clone behind to watch the confrontation.
• Kuro and Mei arrived in the Land of Whirlpools and searched for the ruins, but the old map’s landmarks were obscured by dense forest.
• Kuro summoned Cook, a black ninja cat, and offered him catnip to persuade him to help locate the way to the ruins.

Kuro explored the Uzumaki ruins, absorbed the ocular power sealed there, and relived the history of Indra, Asura, Ori, and the origins of the Uzumaki Clan. Back in the present, he confronted Orochimaru after the rogue attacked Jūzō Biwa and Kimimaro, then used his Mangekyō Sharingan to bring Orochimaru under control as a masked man appeared.

• Kuro uncovered the ancient Uzumaki ruins with Mei Terumi, absorbed the ocular power concealed behind a mural, and learned the Eternal World technique while receiving visions of the past.
• Kuro witnessed the rise and fall of the Ninjutsu School and Ninja Sect, then saw Ori become a crimson monster and devastate their forces.
• Kuro watched the Demon Slayer Corps forge Kagutsuchi and seal Ori beneath the Land of Whirlpools, where Kuro died guarding the seal and the Uzumaki Clan’s ancestors remained behind.
• Back in the present, Kuro considered seeking Orochimaru’s help before Obito told him Orochimaru had left Akatsuki and was heading toward Kimimaro’s mission.
• Orochimaru attacked Jūzō Biwa, but Kimimaro protected him until Kuro arrived and sent Orochimaru flying with Hiramekarei.
• Kuro fought Orochimaru with Hiramekarei, mist, and bone techniques, then revealed his Mangekyō Sharingan after Orochimaru restrained him.
• Kuro used his Mangekyō Sharingan to strip Orochimaru of self-awareness and ordered him to wait outside Mist Village, while a masked man emerged from a spatial vortex behind Kuro.

Kuro watched Jiraiya return to Konoha, where Minato and Kushina revealed the truth about their survival and Konoha’s recent turmoil. As Kakashi’s delegation met with Kuro and the controlled Fourth Mizukage, Mist Village and Konoha moved toward an alliance against Akatsuki.

• Kuro reassured Mei Terumi after his fight with Orochimaru, promised Kimimaro a possible cure for his bloodline disease, and learned that Jiraiya was returning to Konoha.
• Jiraiya returned to Konoha, witnessed Naruto violently confront a villager who had insulted the Uchiha, and reunited with Minato and Kushina inside Naruto.
• Minato and Kushina explained how Kuro helped them survive as souls within Naruto, revealed the Soul-Sealing Dharma Seal, and identified a masked Uchiha as the likely mastermind behind the Nine-Tails Incident.
• Jiraiya accepted the role of Fifth Hokage, learned that Danzō had escaped after using Izanagi, and approved Kakashi’s mission to contact Mist Village.
• Kuro observed Kakashi’s delegation arrive in Mist Village, then met with Kakashi, Might Guy, and Kabuto as the village’s Mizukage Aide.
• Obito controlled Yagura during the negotiations, and Kakashi recognized the Fourth Mizukage as the jinchuriki connected to Rin’s death.
• Kuro supported cooperation against Akatsuki, and Yagura proposed an alliance with Konoha while raising concerns about a prolonged Konoha investigation in the Land of Water.