Recaps

Xuan Yu helped the Uchiha survive Itachi’s assault, drove off Itachi and Konoha’s forces, and steered Sasuke toward revenge. As the clan rebuilt and Shisui began recovering his sight, Xuan Yu sent Senju Hashirama on missions beyond Konoha.

• Sasuke found Itachi amid the devastated Uchiha grounds, while Xuan Yu saved wounded clansmen and fought Itachi, revealing his identity before Obito took Itachi away.
• Xuan Yu fought Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, escaped after injuring Danzō, and learned that Fugaku and his wife had died and 134 Uchiha had been killed.
• Itachi returned to speak with Hiruzen and Sasuke, admitted killing their family, and left Sasuke determined to avenge the Uchiha.
• Uchiha Hanjō became Clan Head, mourned the dead, and announced a training school as Xuan Yu urged Sasuke to grow strong enough to defeat Itachi.
• Xuan Yu told Shisui that Root, Hiruzen, and Danzō had been involved in the massacre, then watched as Hanayu transplanted Fugaku’s eyes into Shisui.
• Hanayu reported that Shisui could see again after the operation, though he needed ongoing treatment, and Shisui resolved to recover and confront Itachi.
• Xuan Yu tested Senju Hashirama, gave him an Akatsuki mask, and sent him to the Phantom Gold Exchange, Orochimaru, and Jugo.
• Senju Hashirama left Konoha wearing the Wooden Ox Mask, while Xuan Yu continued body training with Might Guy, Zhong Kui, Neji, and Rock Lee.

Xuanyu protected Hashira from Konoha’s pursuit, then traveled to Iwagakure and recruited Deidara while secretly learning the village’s Earth Release techniques and Dust Release. He left Iwagakure under suspicion, while Ōnoki began connecting him to the black-robed fighter.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen sent Yamanaka and three other ninja to capture Hashira, who defeated them, learned Hiruzen had ordered the mission, and killed them.
• Kakashi found the dead ninja but concealed Hashira’s Wood Release from Sarutobi Hiruzen, while Xuanyu arranged to join Uchiha Hanjō’s trip to Iwagakure with Uchiha Xia and Hua Yu.
• Kakashi confronted Xuanyu and Hua Yu on the road, then let them continue after Xuanyu secured Wood Release training methods and Hua Yu rejected Konoha’s invitation.
• Xuanyu met Deidara in Iwagakure, praised his explosive art, and offered him a laboratory and research assistants if he would leave the village.
• Xuanyu secretly entered Iwagakure’s Ninja Archive and memorized five Earth Release techniques, then fought Kitsuchi and Ōnoki after Kitsuchi discovered him.
• Xuanyu battled Ōnoki and Kitsuchi with stolen Earth Release techniques, learned Dust Release during their fight, and created a Dust Release cube of his own before escaping with Flying Thunder God.
• Ōnoki ordered Deidara to live outside Iwagakure, and Deidara flew away after reminding Xuanyu to visit him.
• Ōnoki told Xuanyu to leave Iwagakure, then wondered whether Xuanyu resembled the black-robed fighter and asked Kitsuchi where he had been the previous night.

Xuan Yu defeated Deidara and brought him to Konoha, where he set him up to research explosive clay. As Konoha’s leaders moved to capture Hashira, Kakashi’s team tracked him to the Bounty Exchange and watched him fight off Kumogakure pursuers before an unseen group attacked.

• Xuan Yu defeated Deidara in several fights, survived his C4 Garuda technique, and persuaded him to join the Akatsuki and improve his explosive clay.
• Xuan Yu brought Deidara to Konoha, settled him in an underground laboratory outside the village, and proposed combining Chakra attributes in his clay.
• Kakashi learned that the black-clothed assassin’s scent matched Xuan Yu’s, while Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō discussed capturing the Wood Release Ninja.
• Kakashi, Might Guy, and Yuhi Kurenai left to find Hashira, and Xuan Yu warned Kakashi that a masked ninja with Wood Release and a Sharingan had appeared on the night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre.
• Kakashi’s team waited near the Bounty Exchange for three months before spotting Hashira wearing a Wooden Ox Mask and dragging the nearly dead Saque.
• Hashira turned Saque in at the Bounty Exchange for eight million ryo, then fought off Kumogakure ninjas who tried to capture him.
• Hashira questioned the captured ninjas, killed them with his Wood Release vines, and buried them before an unseen attacker turned the ground beneath him into a swamp.

Hashira escaped Konoha’s capture attempt and wagered with Orochimaru for the freedom of Kimimaro and Jugo. As Xuanyu recruited allies and pursued Hidan, Hashira faced Kisame after defeating Kimimaro, leaving the fight inside Kisame’s enormous water sphere.

• Hashira survived the Four Red Yang Formation with his Yin Seal and Wood Release, then killed several attackers and refused Kakashi’s offer to return to Konoha.
• Kakashi’s team reported Hashira’s strength to Sarutobi Hiruzen, while Lightning Ei and Ōnoki issued wanted notices and Orochimaru took an interest in him.
• Xuanyu asked Itachi to find Hidan, then Hashira challenged Kimimaro and Jugo at Orochimaru’s base and accepted a wager to defeat Kimimaro in a month.
• Xuanyu and Deidara experimented with Dust Release in explosive clay, while Shisui joined the Akatsuki Organization as Phantom Tiger and Izumi entered the Military Police Force.
• After a crow reported Hidan’s location in Yugakure Village, Xuanyu and Shisui followed Hashira to Orochimaru’s base to watch the wager’s fight.
• Kimimaro’s Cursed Seal forms and Jugo’s transformation pushed Hashira into a difficult battle, but Hashira sealed Kimimaro before Kisame intervened and trapped him in a Water Prison.
• Hashira activated his healing techniques, broke out of the Water Prison, and overwhelmed Kisame, but Kisame surrounded him with a vast sphere of water and sent five sharks after him.