Recaps

Xuanyu forced Tsunade to confront the Senju Clan’s plight, won the First Hokage’s Pendant from her, and helped reveal more about Itachi’s past. On the way to the Chunin Exams, Xuanyu’s group took Dazner’s bridge mission and faced Zabuza and Haku in the Land of Waves.

• Tsunade confronted Xuanyu, who accused Konoha’s leaders of neglecting the Senju Clan, and Yuhi Kurenai confirmed that he had taken in two Senju siblings.
• Xuanyu beat Tsunade at dice, cards, and arm wrestling, winning the First Hokage’s Pendant, which he planned to give to a Senju descendant.
• Itachi asked Tsunade to treat his illness and told her that Konoha’s leaders had ordered the Uchiha Clan massacre, though Tsunade struggled to believe him.
• Xuanyu urged Itachi to attend the Chunin Exams to learn the truth, then led his companions toward the Land of Waves.
• Hinata and Shino defeated assassins sent after Dazner, and Xuanyu killed them with Wood Release after Dazner revealed Gato’s threat to the bridge project.
• Zabuza attacked the group in the mist, but Hinata tracked and immobilized him, allowing Xuanyu to take his sword and the group to capture him.
• Haku emerged from the mist, freed Zabuza, and prepared to fight Hinata while Zabuza turned toward Yuhi Kurenai and the others.

Xuanyu defeated Gato’s forces and helped the Uchiha Merchant Guild begin rebuilding the Land of Waves before returning to Konoha for the Chunin Exams. After learning that many residents had disappeared, Xuanyu investigated the missing-persons cases while preparing Shino Aburame with evolved insects, and the arc ended with Sarutobi Hiruzen confronting the clerks who accepted the mission.

• Xuanyu defeated Zabuza and Haku, then challenged Gato’s rule and helped the Uchiha Clan seize control of his forces in the Land of Waves.
• Xuanyu handed Gato over to the villagers, used his seized assets to fund Dazner’s bridge, and left the Uchiha Merchant Guild to oversee its construction.
• Back in Konoha, Xuanyu registered for the Chunin Exams and learned from Uchiha Izumi that more than a hundred people had gone missing, many in areas controlled by the Sarutobi Police Force.
• Xuanyu ordered Izumi to register the missing residents’ families and post search missions, while telling Uchiha Hanjō to keep the clan alert during the exams.
• Xuanyu brought Shino Aburame to Hua Yu’s laboratory, where she revealed evolved insects with regenerative, armored, devouring, spirit-strengthening, and Chakra-transferring abilities.
• Shino learned to control and house the insects, while Xuanyu gave Hua Yu Tsunade’s necklace and told her to demand a condition if Tsunade asked for it back.
• Xuanyu paid to register the missing-persons mission and accepted it with Yuhi Kurenai and Hinata, telling the families they would keep searching until everyone was found.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen saw that Xuanyu and his companions had accepted the Senju Clan’s missing-persons mission and questioned the Sarutobi Clan members who had processed it.

Xuanyu and his allies investigated the disappearances and uncovered Root’s human experiments and research into Impure World Reincarnation. Hiruzen and Danzō agreed to use the forbidden technique and restart the Uchiha Extermination Plan, while Xuanyu returned to meet Shino and Shibi Aburame.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Kurenai kept away from the investigation, but she joined Xuanyu after learning that more than a hundred civilians, including Senju clansmen, had disappeared.
• Xuanyu led Kurenai and his companions into Sarutobi territory, where they found Root’s base and Shino challenged Shibi for the right to lead the Aburame Clan.
• Shino defeated Shibi, secured his agreement to side with the Uchiha, and demonstrated the special insects developed through Sister Hua Yu’s research.
• Xuanyu and Kakashi entered Root’s base, killed the Root guards and researchers who opposed them, and found missing villagers held in Culture Vessels.
• Xuanyu escaped with Kakashi and twenty-five captives, while Hiruzen and Danzō concealed Root’s activities and discussed using Impure World Reincarnation against their enemies.
• Xuanyu brought the rescued people to the lakeside laboratory and warned his allies that Konoha might come after them with resurrected dead.
• Danzō demonstrated Impure World Reincarnation to Hiruzen and the elders, who agreed to supply remains and cover Root’s work in exchange for reviving their ancestors.
• Hiruzen and Danzō agreed to restart the Uchiha Extermination Plan, and Xuanyu met Shino and Shibi at the Uchiha Merchant Guild the next day.

As Xuanyu drew the great villages toward Konoha’s Chunin Exams, Tsunade returned and uncovered signs of disappearances and abuse under Sarutobi Hiruzen’s rule. She challenged Hua Yu over the Pendant, and their fight revealed Hua Yu’s Wood Release.

• Shino persuaded Shibi to support the Uchiha, and Xuanyu allowed the Aburame Clan to distribute most of the improved insects.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered preparations to seal Konoha and secretly exterminate the Uchiha after the Chunin Exams, while the Nara and other clans weighed their positions.
• Deidara delivered the Akatsuki Organization’s invitation to Ōnoki, then showed him Dust Release and persuaded him to send Iwagakure participants to the exams.
• Shisui and Hashira invited Kirigakure, while Raikage Ai and Rasa also chose teams to attend after considering Xuanyu’s power and aims.
• Tsunade returned to Konoha and saw that the Uchiha Police Force had earned civilian respect, but later learned that residents and Senju clansmen had disappeared under the Sarutobi Police Force’s jurisdiction.
• At Uchiha Hospital, Tsunade recognized her Pendant on Hua Yu, who refused to return it unless Tsunade defeated her.
• Hua Yu and Tsunade fought outside Konoha, and Hua Yu revealed her Wood Release after Tsunade activated the Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred Sealings.