Recaps

Kisame infiltrated the Land of Earth to ambush an Iwagakure transport, but Uchiha Yoru appeared behind him and exposed his identity. Yoru dismissed Kisame’s strength outside the water and prepared to confront him.

• Pain approved Kisame’s request to enter the battlefield while Obito hoped Kisame would test Uchiha Yoru’s strength.
• Kisame hid beside a river in the Land of Earth and planned to capture Iwagakure soldiers for information.
• Yoru appeared behind Kisame without being detected, and Kisame recognized the Uchiha clan emblem on his coat.
• Yoru identified Kisame and mocked him for coming to the Land of Earth on the Akatsuki’s behalf.
• Kisame revealed his identity and unleashed his chakra, challenging Yoru to fight.
• Yoru threw away his fishing rod and warned Kisame that a shark out of water was just a dead fish waiting to be butchered.

Uchiha Yoru defeated Kisame Hoshigaki after Samehada failed to absorb his Sage Art chakra and one punch shattered Kisame’s water prison. Yoru left Kisame unconscious and told the Stone Village transport team to contact Orochimaru about using him as an experimental subject.

• Kisame Hoshigaki flooded the gorge with his Water Release and trapped Yoru inside a massive water prison.
• Kisame merged with the water sphere and attacked Yoru with Samehada, but the sword recoiled from Yoru’s Sage Art chakra.
• Yoru punched through the water prison and sent Kisame crashing onto the riverbank, where he lost consciousness.
• Yoru ordered the Stone Village transport team to contact Orochimaru and report that a new experimental subject had arrived.

Yoru defeated Kisame and revealed that Obito had manipulated the Bloody Mist and Kisame’s actions. Kisame accepted Yoru’s invitation to Iwagakure and swore to serve him.

• Kisame awoke badly wounded and questioned why Yoru had spared him.
• Yoru explained that Obito had controlled Yagura and orchestrated the Bloody Mist as part of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
• Yoru used his Mangekyō Sharingan to make Kisame connect the clues and accept that his loyalty had been built on lies.
• Yoru invited Kisame to Iwagakure and promised him a world governed by true power and order.
• Kisame knelt before Yoru and pledged to die in his service.

Kurotsuchi demanded to become Yoru’s personal guard and proved her strength with her Lava Release. After Yoru accepted, she opened a secret letter from Mei Terumi and questioned his relationship with her.

• Kurotsuchi confronted Yoru about hiring rogue ninjas and said he needed a normal personal guard.
• Kurotsuchi asked to become Yoru’s guard and demonstrated her elite-jōnin strength by melting his tea table with Lava Release.
• Yoru agreed to let Kurotsuchi follow him as long as she did not cause trouble or use ninjutsu in the office.
• Kurotsuchi opened a secret letter revealing that Mei Terumi’s resistance was short on supplies and funds during the Bloody Mist civil war.
• Kurotsuchi demanded that Yoru explain his involvement and investment in Mei Terumi’s cause.

Yoru decided to exploit Mei Terumi’s coup by offering Iwagakure’s money and weapons in exchange for control over Kirigakure’s trade, resources, and affairs. Kisame delivered the aid to Mei’s resistance, leaving her stunned by the scale of the offer.

• Kurotsuchi questioned Yoru about his connection to Mei, and he summoned Kakuzu and Kisame to discuss Kirigakure’s crisis.
• Yoru ordered Kakuzu to prepare one billion ryo in gold and five thousand sets of Chakra Armor and Explosive Repeating Crossbows for Mei’s coup.
• Yoru told Kisame to deliver the aid in exchange for Iwagakure gaining control over Kirigakure’s ports, mineral extraction, and military and diplomatic affairs after the coup.
• Kisame agreed to serve as Iwagakure’s envoy after Yoru reminded him of the Bloody Mist’s cruelty.
• Mei’s resistance, short on supplies and facing Yagura’s power, received Kisame at its hidden base.
• Kisame revealed mountains of gold and advanced weapons, then presented Mei with a contract; she wondered if Yoru was the reincarnation of the God of Wealth.

Mei Terumi secured Kirigakure’s coup with Iwagakure’s support, but the village fell under Yoru’s economic control. Yoru then tightened his strategic encirclement of Konoha and ordered its supply lines cut off.

• Mei Terumi signed Iwagakure’s economic alliance treaty after Kisame described Yoru as a monster who could make false reality true.
• Kisame and the rebels defeated Yagura’s loyalists and subdued Yagura and Isobu, allowing Mei Terumi’s coup to succeed.
• Mei Terumi became the Fifth Mizukage, and Kisame delivered Yoru’s welcome to the Iwagakure family and reminded her to pay port dividends to Kakuzu.
• Yoru marked the Land of Water as under control and reviewed how Iwagakure had gained influence over Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Amegakure.
• Kitsuchi reported that Kakuzu’s schemes had driven up grain prices along the Land of Fire’s border, leaving Konoha’s shinobi struggling to afford food.
• Yoru ordered Kakuzu to intensify economic pressure, told Itachi to use Amaterasu, and commanded that Konoha’s supply routes be completely cut off.

As Konoha’s economic crisis left civilian ninja starving and jobless, their protest outside the Hokage Building turned into a massacre when Danzo sent Root to attack them. As Asuma and other jonin fought Root, Kakashi and Hayate questioned whether to leave Konoha, while Hiruzen watched the village descend into chaos and wondered what he had done wrong.

• Tanaka and other civilian ninja blamed Konoha’s lack of missions and unpaid compensation as powerful clans continued to live comfortably.
• Tanaka led hundreds of civilian ninja to the Hokage Building to demand food, missions, and their pay.
• Hiruzen refused Koharu’s call to arrest the protesters, but Danzo ordered Root operatives to attack them.
• Asuma, Kurenai Yūhi, and other jonin confronted Root, and a chaotic battle broke out among the villagers.
• Kakashi and the injured Hayate Gekko watched the fighting and discussed whether Iwagakure was still recruiting.
• Hiruzen watched the bloodshed and tearfully asked his former teachers why Konoha had become so broken.

The Fourth Raikage A led Kumogakure’s elite force toward the Land of Earth to challenge Iwagakure and seize its scientific technology. Yoru went to meet the advancing army himself, and the chapter ended as A prepared to attack the lone man blocking their path.

• A smashed his desk and ordered Darui and Shi to gather Kumogakure’s Cloud Style Assault Force for a supposed technical exchange with Iwagakure.
• Yoru dismissed news of Konoha’s planned anti-Iwagakure alliance and learned that A and Killer B were marching toward the border with about three thousand ninja.
• Yoru told Kurotsuchi to notify Kitsuchi and bring the latest equipment to the border, then left to face A.
• A led his force into a canyon near the Land of Earth, where Yoru appeared alone and blocked the road.
• A challenged the lone figure and promised his troops a demonstration of his speed.

Uchiha Yoru faced the Fourth Raikage and effortlessly dodged his full-speed attack. After activating his Mangekyō Sharingan and Sage Mode, Yoru mocked A’s speed as slower than a snail.

• A challenged Yoru and activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode at maximum output.
• A charged at Yoru with a lightning-fast punch while the Hidden Cloud Village ninja cheered.
• Yoru tilted his head and dodged A’s punch without taking his hands out of his pockets.
• Yoru activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and Sage Mode, seeing A’s movements in slow motion.
• Yoru asked A if he had skipped breakfast and called his speed as slow as a snail.

Uchiha Yoru caught the Fourth Raikage A’s Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop with one hand, crushed his arm, and hurled him into a crater. A lay gravely injured with his fate unclear as Yoru turned to face the stunned Hidden Cloud Village army.

• A lost control after Yoru called him a snail and launched his Heavy Lariat, the Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop.
• Yoru caught A’s descending strike with one hand without moving from his spot.
• Yoru crushed A’s wrist and arm despite A’s attempt to break free.
• Yoru threw A into the ground, leaving him convulsing in a crater as the Hidden Cloud Village forces watched in shock.
• Yoru turned toward the Hidden Cloud Village army and declared that the times had changed.

Naruto arrived in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and defeated Killer B with one kick after Yoru had crushed the Fourth Raikage. He left the Hidden Cloud forces stunned and asked who would fight next.

• Yoru crushed the Fourth Raikage and left him convulsing in a pit, shocking the Hidden Cloud elites.
• Killer B charged at Yoru with his seven swords, rapping angrily about avenging the Fourth Raikage.
• Naruto landed between Yoru and Killer B in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and volunteered to fight.
• Naruto mocked Killer B's rap, then broke his seven swords with a kick and sent him crashing into a hill.
• Naruto declared the fight over and asked the Hidden Cloud forces who was next.

Naruto and Killer B fought as perfect jinchuriki in a borderland canyon, and Naruto decisively overwhelmed him. Killer B admitted defeat before passing out.

• Killer B unleashed Gyūki’s partial Tailed Beast Transformation, and Naruto revealed the Nine-Tails’ golden chakra cloak.
• Naruto used his speed and taijutsu to batter Killer B while nearby Hidden Cloud ninja fled and Darui watched in fear.
• Killer B fired a Tailed Beast Bomb, but Naruto’s golden bomb overpowered it in their clash.
• Naruto struck Killer B with a Senjutsu: Super Big Ball Rasengan, leaving him unconscious at the bottom of a massive crater.
• Killer B gave Naruto a thumbs-up and declared that he admitted defeat.

Uchiha Yoru and Naruto defeated Hidden Cloud’s forces, forcing the Fourth Raikage to sign harsh terms that enriched Iwagakure. As Iwagakure celebrated its growing wealth, Leaf Village remained under blockade and sank deeper into poverty.

• Yoru and Naruto crushed Hidden Cloud’s elite forces, prompting them to surrender while Kitsuchi and the Iwagakure troops watched in disbelief.
• Yoru and Kakuzu demanded five billion ryō, a century of chakra-metal mining rights, and sharply reduced port tariffs from A.
• After Killer B urged him to yield, A signed the treaty under threat from Yoru.
• Iwagakure celebrated for three days as reparations and trade income flowed in, while shortages left Leaf Village residents struggling to afford food.
• Yoru inspected Iwagakure’s growing treasury and said he would let Leaf Village slowly rot in poverty and hunger.

With Konoha facing a possible loss of funding, Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted Danzō's plan to host Joint Chūnin Exams and invite Iwagakure. Ōnoki received the invitation and showed it to Uchiha Yoru as a challenge from Hiruzen.

• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura told Hiruzen Sarutobi that the daimyo threatened to cut Konoha's military budget unless it showed results.
• Danzō urged Hiruzen to use Konoha's young ninja in the Chūnin Exams to restore the village's reputation and win back support.
• Hiruzen ordered invitations sent to allied and neutral nations, and Danzō persuaded him to include Iwagakure.
• Ōnoki received Konoha's invitation, mocked Hiruzen's motives, and pointed it out to Uchiha Yoru as a challenge.

Yoru accepted Leaf Village’s invitation to the Joint Chūnin Exams, recognizing Hiruzen Sarutobi’s plan to use the event to impress the daimyo and display Leaf’s young talent. He ordered Iwagakure’s powerful genin to attend and crush Leaf’s new generation, leaving the group eager to depart.

• Yoru and Ōnoki discussed Hiruzen Sarutobi’s motives for inviting Iwagakure, and Yoru decided they would attend.
• Yoru sounded Iwagakure’s emergency assembly alarm, summoning Deidara, Kurotsuchi, Second Pillar, and Uzumaki Naruto.
• Yoru told the group the Joint Chūnin Exams would let them fight openly on Leaf Village’s turf, and Naruto and Sasuke grew interested when he mentioned the food.
• Yoru ordered the four young fighters to defeat Leaf’s promising genin and humiliate Leaf Village in front of the gathered leaders.
• The four agreed enthusiastically as Yoru sent them to prepare for the trip to Leaf Village.

Ōnoki authorized Yoru to assemble Iwagakure’s young fighters and spend freely to disrupt Konoha’s Chunin Exam. Yoru summoned his trainees, selected a team to leave the next morning, and named Naruto as Iwagakure’s flag-bearer, promising him a chance to confront his “Third Grandpa.”

• Ōnoki laughed at Yoru’s plan to ruin Konoha’s show and gave him authority to recruit Iwagakure ninjas and spend village funds.
• Yoru blew an emergency whistle and summoned over a hundred young trainees to the special-class training ground.
• Yoru announced that Iwagakure would send participants to Konoha’s joint Chunin Exam, prompting the trainees to compete for places.
• Yoru handed Uchiha Itachi a prepared list of selected participants and ordered them to gather at the village entrance at eight the next morning.
• Naruto challenged Yoru over Sasuke’s selection, and Yoru revealed that Naruto would go as Iwagakure’s flag-bearer and confront his “Third Grandpa.”

Yoru finalized Iwagakure’s overpowering rookie tournament team and persuaded Ōnoki to accompany them as a disguised supervising jonin. As the team prepared to depart for the Land of Fire, Yoru declared his intention to show Leaf Village the strength of the ninja world’s true pinnacle.

• Itachi announced the squads: Deidara led Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, while Second Pillar led Naruto and Han.
• Naruto protested Sasuke’s captaincy and argued with him until Yoru threatened to disqualify them.
• Ōnoki assessed the assembled young fighters, and Yoru told him to change into a jonin vest and join the team as their supervisor.
• Yoru persuaded Ōnoki to go by reminding him that he could meet Hiruzen Sarutobi again and show off his restored youth.
• Sasuke polished his Kusanagi Sword while Naruto practiced a one-handed Rasengan, and Yoru announced the Land of Fire as their target.

Yoru led Iwagakure’s delegation to the Chunin Exams in Leaf Village aboard a lavish new Chakra Hover Train, turning the trip into a spectacle. The rested group arrived at Leaf Village’s border, ready to make an entrance.

• Ōnoki and Yoru sent off the delegation before a huge crowd as Iwagakure’s new Chakra Hover Train emerged.
• Orochimaru welcomed Yoru, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others aboard the luxurious train, while Yoru promised they would recoup its cost in Konoha.
• The delegation enjoyed lavish food and entertainment on the journey, while examinees from Kusagakure and Takigakure watched the train pass in disbelief.
• After several days, the train stopped near Leaf Village, and Yoru told the delegation they had arrived.

Uchiha Yoru returned to Konoha with a group of young Iwagakure shinobi to participate in the Chunin Exams, but the village mistook them for attackers. After overwhelming Konoha's Anbu with his Sage Art chakra, Yoru entered the village and declared his return.

• Karin arrived at Konoha's gate from Kusagakure and handed Kotetsu Hagane her identification scroll.
• Uchiha Yoru approached the gate with young Iwagakure shinobi and two white-masked Anbu, then identified himself as a guest invited by Hiruzen Sarutobi for the Chunin Exams.
• Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki recognized the Uchiha Clan crest, and Konoha's alarm sounded as they reported an attack.
• Konoha Anbu surrounded Yoru's group, but Yoru released Sage Art chakra that forced them to their knees.
• Yoru led his group through the gate and declared that he had returned to Konoha.

Uchiha Yoru led the Iwagakure delegation through Konoha with Naruto beside him, and the villagers recognized the boy as the Fourth Hokage's son. The revelation that Naruto was alive and wearing an Iwagakure forehead protector spread through the village, leaving its people shocked and angry.

• Yoru led the Iwagakure delegation down Konoha's main street while villagers watched and whispered about him.
• Konoha villagers saw Naruto's resemblance to Minato and realized he might be the Fourth Hokage's missing son.
• The villagers questioned why Minato's son was an Iwagakure ninja and began connecting his fate to the village's past scandals.
• Naruto hid behind Yoru, who encouraged the villagers' shock without explaining himself.
• News of Naruto's identity spread across Konoha, and the village erupted in disbelief.

Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that Uchiha Yoru had brought a formidable Iwagakure delegation to Konoha for the Chūnin Exam, including Naruto, Deidara, Kurotsuchi, and Ōnoki in disguise. Realizing Konoha could not safely challenge them, he ordered its genin to prioritize survival if they encountered Iwagakure.

• An Anbu rushed into Hiruzen Sarutobi's office with photographs showing Uchiha Yoru and the Iwagakure delegation entering Konoha.
• Hiruzen recognized Naruto's resemblance to Minato Namikaze and examined Iwagakure's exam roster.
• Hiruzen discovered that the teams included Deidara, Kurotsuchi, Naruto, Second Pillar, and Uchiha Yoru as an instructor, while Ōnoki was disguised as another instructor.
• Hiruzen realized Iwagakure's lineup overwhelmed Konoha and that Uchiha Yoru would prevent underhanded schemes.
• Hiruzen ordered Konoha's genin to abandon their missions and prioritize survival if they encountered anyone from Iwagakure.

Shimura Danzō watched Uchiha Yoru escort the Stone Village delegation through Leaf Village and realized his plans to seize Naruto had become too dangerous. He ordered Root to hide underground until Yoru left, then retreated into the darkness, still consumed by hatred and fear.

• Shimura Danzō monitored Uchiha Yoru and the Stone Village delegation on Root's surveillance screens and remembered how Yoru had crushed his arm.
• A Root subordinate reported that Plan B was ready to create chaos during the exams and seize Naruto, but Danzō angrily forbade it because Yoru was present.
• Danzō ordered every Root member into underground silent mode and prohibited them from leaving the base without his permission.
• Danzō watched Uchiha Yoru take Naruto and Sasuke into a dango shop, then limped deeper into the secret chamber rather than risk confronting him.

At the Chūnin Exams’ first written test, the Stone Village examinees ignored Ibiki Morino’s rules and treated the exam like a joke. Deidara smashed his desk and challenged the room to settle the exam with a fight.

• Ibiki Morino announced the exam’s harsh rules to the assembled examinees.
• Deidara, Kurotsuchi, Uchiha Yoru, Uzumaki Naruto, and Second Pillar disregarded the test and behaved casually.
• Ibiki confronted Deidara and Naruto for ignoring their papers and breaking exam rules.
• When Leaf Village proctors moved to intervene, Deidara kicked his desk apart and proposed deciding who passed by fighting.

After Deidara destroyed his table, Sasuke’s killing intent overwhelmed the exam room and forced Ibiki Morino to abandon the written test. Ibiki declared the surviving examinees passed and specifically let everyone from Iwagakure advance.

• Deidara kicked his table apart, prompting Leaf Village proctors to draw their weapons and move against the Iwagakure team.
• Ibiki ordered the proctors to take the team down, but Sasuke opened his Sharingan and unleashed killing intent that dropped two attackers and incapacitated many examinees.
• Uchiha Yoru told Sasuke to stop before he scared away all the “toys,” and Sasuke withdrew his killing intent.
• Ibiki admitted defeat and announced that every examinee still standing had passed.
• Ibiki explicitly declared that everyone from Iwagakure had passed the first written exam.

The second Chūnin Exam began in the Forest of Death, but the Iwagakure team treated the deadly trial like a barbecue outing. After Deidara killed a giant snake that splattered blood over their food, Anko questioned whether the exam was real.

• Anko Mitarashi explained the Heaven and Earth Scroll rules and warned that examinees could die in the Forest of Death.
• The other teams rushed into the forest while Deidara, Kurotsuchi, Second Pillar, and Uzumaki Naruto strolled in at their own pace.
• Anko watched the Iwagakure team set up a grill, cook beef, and use Deidara's clay birds to hunt a giant wild boar.
• A One-Horned King Snake attacked the group, and Deidara destroyed it with a clay spider, scattering its blood and remains over Naruto's barbecue.
• Anko watched the Iwagakure team argue over cleaning their skewers and wondered aloud whether the Forest of Death trial was really an exam.