Recaps

Ueno Kei joined the mission to rescue Gaara, then returned to Konoha and set out with Naruto’s team to find Sasuke. At Orochimaru’s hideout, he stopped Naruto’s rampage at great cost to himself, and the team entered to pursue Sasuke.

• Ueno Kei left Kyoto for Sunagakure after learning that Akatsuki had kidnapped Gaara, and joined Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Baki, Chiyo, and Ebizo in the rescue effort.
• Ueno Kei and Kakashi fought Akatsuki impostors while Naruto and Chiyo pursued Gaara, and Ueno Kei broke the Five-Seal Barrier so the group could enter the cave.
• Ueno Kei pursued Deidara, grounded him with Lightning Release, and fought him until Tobi rescued the injured Deidara through a space-time vortex.
• Chiyo gave her life to revive Gaara, and Ueno Kei returned to Konoha with the others before agreeing to join Naruto and Kakashi on a mission to find Sasuke.
• Ueno Kei departed with Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, while Kazuma secured the daimyo’s support for a plan against Tsunade and the daimyo considered making him a scapegoat.
• At Earth Bridge, Orochimaru and Kabuto revealed themselves, and Naruto’s anger caused him to transform into a six-tailed miniature Nine-Tails.
• Ueno Kei contained Naruto’s rampage and completed the Five Spirit Seal, but a chakra tail badly wounded him before Naruto collapsed.
• Sai escaped with Danzo’s letter to Orochimaru, and Ueno Kei later reprimanded Naruto before leading the team into Orochimaru’s hideout to find Sasuke.

Ueno Kei killed Shimura Danzō after Tsunade died, then recovered and agreed to help manage Konoha as Hatake Kakashi became Sixth Hokage. As an undead army threatened the Land of Swamps, Kakashi sent Naruto’s group to protect Shion, whose palace came under attack.

• Ueno Kei found Tsunade mortally wounded by Shimura Danzō, and she died after urging him to look after Konoha.
• Ueno Kei fought Danzō, who used Izanagi to survive repeated attacks, until Kei’s final lightning assault killed him and devastated the battlefield.
• The Great Elder saved Ueno Kei, Tsunade, and Zang, and Ueno Kei later awoke restored and resolved to live by his own will.
• Jiraiya explained that Root had stopped the Land of Earth’s daimyō from marching on Kyoto, while Konoha’s advisers pressed Kakashi to become Sixth Hokage.
• Kakashi and the advisers secured the Land of Fire daimyō’s reluctant support, while Akatsuki assigned new missions to its members.
• After Shion requested aid against an advancing undead army, Kakashi sent Neji and Shikamaru to lead Naruto’s group in protecting her.
• Four attackers stormed Shion’s palace, and Taruho agreed to take her away while the remaining guards held off the assault.

Ueno Kei, Naruto, and their allies reached the sealing altar, where they defeated Moryo and confronted the masked man who stole part of his soul. Back in Konoha, Kei warned the leaders about Akatsuki, while new threats emerged at the Fire Temple and around Sora’s Nine-Tails chakra.

• Neji, Naruto, and Sakura drove off the attackers at Shion’s palace, then reunited with Shion after Shikamaru found her and Ueno Kei joined the group.
• As the team traveled toward the sealing altar, Taruho insisted on protecting Shion despite her prophecy that he would die, and Ueno Kei stayed behind to fight Kusuna and the other followers of Yomi.
• Ueno Kei killed Gitai, Setsuna, Shizuku, and Kusuna’s companions, while Naruto’s group struggled through the stone army and Taruho was wounded protecting Shion.
• Darui and the Kumogakure ninja helped hold back the statues as Naruto escorted Shion to the altar, where Moryo disrupted the sealing and dragged her inside himself.
• Ueno Kei arrived and destroyed hundreds of statues, then entered Moryo to rescue Naruto and Shion as Naruto fought from within and Shion broke through Moryo’s barrier.
• After Moryo’s body turned to ashes, Tobi seized his remaining soul, but the Great Elder’s spatial barrier prevented Tobi from escaping until it shattered and he vanished.
• Ueno Kei returned to Konoha with Naruto and Shion, reported Akatsuki’s threat, and proposed a Five Kage Summit, and he later agreed to accompany Jiraiya on an infiltration mission to Amegakure.
• Kakashi sent Asuma to pursue the Akatsuki members who killed Chiriku, while Ueno Kei and Jiraiya investigated Sora’s regenerative Nine-Tails chakra and its possible threat to Naruto’s seal.

As Konoha prepared for Akatsuki and Naruto began learning Sage Arts, Ueno Kei led a mission to bring Sasuke back. Sasuke defeated Itachi but fainted, and Tobi escaped with him while Ueno Kei stayed behind with Itachi’s body.

• Ueno Kei abandoned the plan to mass-produce Nine-Tails jinchuriki and agreed with Jiraiya that Naruto should master Sage Arts before training to control the Nine-Tails’ chakra.
• Asuma’s team fought Hidan and Kakuzu, and Shikamaru’s support group arrived in time to defeat Kakuzu and capture Hidan, though Neji was badly injured.
• Ueno Kei entered Naruto’s mental world, spoke with Minato and the Nine-Tails, and learned how Jiraiya’s key could affect Naruto’s seal.
• Akatsuki learned that Kakuzu was dead and Hidan captured, while Tobi persuaded Pain to let him pursue the Eight-Tails and began preparing to reclaim what he wanted.
• Ueno Kei suppressed the seal inside Hidan long enough for Inoichi to probe his mind, but Hidan yielded little intelligence beyond a clue about a masked Mangekyō Sharingan user.
• Naruto trained at Mount Myoboku as Ueno Kei and Might Guy led a team to retrieve Sasuke, while Itachi entrusted Ueno Kei with Shisui’s eye and asked him to protect Sasuke.
• Ueno Kei’s group encountered Tobi, Deidara, and Kisame as Sasuke and Itachi fought, and Jiraiya left for Amegakure to investigate Akatsuki.
• Sasuke defeated Itachi, awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, and fainted, and Tobi carried him away, while Ueno Kei stopped Naruto from pursuing and guarded Itachi’s body.