Recaps

Hua Yu and Zhong Kui displayed their powers near Konoha, drawing Tsunade’s support and the attention of the village and visiting shinobi. As foreign teams arrived for the Chunin Exams and Gaara reunited with Xuanyu, Sarutobi Hiruzen secretly revived Sarutobi clan members to strengthen his plans against the Uchiha.

• Hua Yu defeated Tsunade’s full-force punch, and Tsunade learned how the Sarutobi Police Force had harmed Hua Yu and Hashira.
• Zhong Kui demonstrated his tenfold Gravity Domain by summoning a meteorite, which Hua Yu caught with a giant Wood Release hand before it struck near Konoha.
• Hiruzen and Danzo discussed capturing Wood Bull, while villagers, shinobi, and foreign visitors reacted to the meteorite and the Wood Release display.
• Xuanyu’s group captured Jiraiya after catching him peeping at the women’s bathhouse, and Zhong Kui told Jiraiya how Konoha’s leaders had mistreated him.
• Darui’s Kumogakure team clashed with Gaara atop the Wood Release hand, but Gaara apologized after Temari warned him that fighting could trouble Xuanyu.
• Gaara arrived at the Uchiha Merchant Guild and reunited with Xuanyu, while Hiruzen interpreted the foreign teams’ arrival and Gaara’s visit as signs of growing opposition.
• Hiruzen and Danzo prepared an Impure World Reincarnation ritual using Sarutobi clan members as sacrifices, then revived Ashenma and other Sarutobi shinobi.
• Hiruzen told the revived Sarutobi that the Uchiha and Akatsuki threatened their clan, forbade them from acting independently, and promised they would eventually conquer the Shinobi World.

Tsunade investigated Konoha’s disappearances and discovered that Root was using Impure World Reincarnation on abducted civilians. She and Jiraiya traced the missing bodies to disturbed graves and vowed to expose Sarutobi Hiruzen, while Orochimaru entered Konoha to aid the Uchiha Clan.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen planned to raise more Konoha experts with Impure World Reincarnation, then confronted Shimura Danzō over the technique’s Chakra cost.
• Tsunade learned that the old sushi shop owner’s family and other villagers had disappeared, while Xuanyu rescued the owner’s family from Root’s experiments.
• Tsunade broke into Root’s abandoned base and fought twelve reincarnated Root ninja, until Xuanyu’s Black Flames stopped their regeneration and Tsunade destroyed them.
• Xuanyu confronted Shimura Danzō about the fallen reincarnated soldiers, while Sarutobi Hiruzen and his elders investigated the destroyed bodies and suspected a soul attack.
• Tsunade recruited Jiraiya to investigate, showed him the stark contrast between the Sarutobi- and Uchiha-controlled districts, and explained Sarutobi Hiruzen’s use of Impure World Reincarnation.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade found graves, including those of Nawaki, Dan Katō, and Hatake Sakumo, disturbed at Martyrs' Memorial Park, and agreed to bring down Sarutobi Hiruzen.
• Orochimaru entered Konoha disguised as an examinee to help the Uchiha Clan destroy the Sarutobi Clan, while Shimura Danzō proposed using more dead civilians as summons and a wisp of Black Flames marked the air near Orochimaru’s room.

As Xuanyu’s schemes pushed Sarutobi Hiruzen closer to exposure, Itachi returned to Konoha and discovered the village’s corruption and the truth about Danzo’s experiments. The arc left the Chunin Exams underway, with Akatsuki’s plans and the village’s rivalries poised to collide.

• Xuanyu warned Orochimaru that his unstable body could not fully use its mixed bloodlines, then told him to follow a plan that would drive Sarutobi Hiruzen further into madness.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Naruto that Minato Namikaze was his father and blamed the Uchiha Clan for his parents’ deaths, but Naruto later rejected Hiruzen’s account after speaking with Kurama.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade traced Root’s kidnapped civilians to the Utatane Clan grounds and agreed to expose Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō during the Chunin Exams.
• Yahiko announced that Akatsuki would capture the Tailed Beasts and fuse them into a weapon to force peace on the Shinobi World.
• Itachi returned to Konoha with Kisame, toured its contrasting districts, and learned through genjutsu that Danzō was experimenting on missing residents with Sarutobi Hiruzen’s involvement.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen refused Danzō’s demand to kill Itachi, postponed the next Impure World Reincarnation until after the exams, and kept Sasuke under Root’s control.
• The Chunin Exams began with a written test, and Samui and Gaara advised their teammates to cheat discreetly.

As the Chunin Exams began, Xuanyu’s group confronted Sasuke’s threats and challenged the exam’s unfair rules. The written test ended with Gaara and Darui joining Xuanyu in openly condemning Ibiki’s conduct.

• Xuanyu entered the exam venue as Itachi watched Sasuke and resolved to confront Sarutobi Hiruzen over the Anbu targeting his brother.
• Kakashi drove off the Anbu watching Sasuke, then told him Itachi had returned and that the Hokage might use Sasuke to control him.
• Shisui trapped Sasuke in a Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu, visited Naruto’s Spiritual World, and urged Sasuke to become stronger and serve the Uchiha Clan.
• Hua Yu nearly killed Sakura after she insulted Xuanyu, but Sasuke apologized, promised to grow stronger, and made Sakura apologize as well.
• Xuanyu helped arrange for Gaara to give Naruto answers during the written exam, while the other candidates used their own methods to cheat.
• Xuanyu answered the test correctly, including Ibiki’s newly introduced questions, and Ibiki declared the candidates who remained had passed.
• Xuanyu challenged Ibiki for making serious candidates withdraw, then Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, and Darui joined him in criticizing the exam.