Recaps

Natsuki helped Mist Village defeat Cloud Village, restored Nagato’s vitality, and brought Yahiko away while Nagato began fusing with Hashirama Cells. As Konoha prepared to choose a Fifth Hokage, Obito recruited Kakuzu and killed Chiriku during an assault on the Temple of Fire.

• Pain devastated Cloud Village’s fleet with Shinra Tensei, but Mist Village forces and Natsuki’s Shadow Clones later defeated the surviving Cloud troops and forced the Raikage to retreat.
• Natsuki learned that Obito was recruiting Akatsuki members and arranged for Nagato to receive life force in the Land of Whirlpools.
• Natsuki restored Nagato’s strength, and Nagato used the Reanimation Jutsu to revive Yahiko, who reunited with Konan.
• Obito searched for Nagato and the Rinnegan, so Natsuki took Yahiko away and explained that the Akatsuki Organization had fallen apart.
• Konoha nominated Uchiha Natsuki, Orochimaru, and Tsunade for Fifth Hokage, while the Raikage chose to focus on rebuilding Cloud Village.
• Nagato began fusing with Hashirama Cells, while Obito investigated Nine-Tails chakra at the Temple of Fire and found Sora and Kazuma.
• Natsuki recruited Yahiko and brought him to the Uchiha Clan Compound, then solicited support for his Hokage candidacy and persuaded Tsunade to help him.
• Obito enlisted Kakuzu to attack the Temple of Fire, and Obito killed Chiriku as Kakuzu and his Earth Grudge Fears slaughtered the monks and burned the temple.

Natsuki built Uchiha influence through combat training, exposed the Sarutobi Clan’s role in the Hokage election, and helped Orochimaru take office. As Konoha prepared for leadership changes, Natsuki continued advancing the Uchiha’s independence and promised Naruto a chance to meet Minato.

• Natsuki organized free combat training at the Uchiha Compound, where Uchiha members sparred with visitors and taught Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten.
• Natsuki received Kakuzu’s intelligence about Obito’s alliance with Kazuma and sent Orochimaru a warning about the threat to Konoha.
• Natsuki and Itachi used Tsukuyomi to give Yōya and Shisui prolonged combat training, while Orochimaru gained support ahead of the Fifth Hokage election.
• Natsuki challenged the election count, and a public inspection revealed that Sarutobi Clan members had cast 129 votes for Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru became Fifth Hokage, while Natsuki explained to Tsunade that he had exposed the Sarutobi votes to reveal political fraud and asked her to leave with the Uchiha.
• Orochimaru appointed Minato, disguised as Shingo, to teach Naruto and worked with the Third Hokage to replace the elders’ authorities.
• Natsuki told Naruto that he and Orochimaru were secretly developing a way to resurrect Minato and urged him to train until they could meet in a few months.
• Ōnoki and Mei Terumi suspected Natsuki’s Hokage campaign had concealed a plan for Uchiha independence, while the Raikage’s advisers decided Cloud would stop funding Orochimaru’s cloning research.

Naruto learned that Shingo Ikeda was his father Minato, while Natsuki prepared the Uchiha Clan to leave Konoha and founded a new country. Obito’s attempt to control Nagato ended with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path seized by the Descendants of Hamura, while Jiraiya remained uncertain about Minato’s return.

• Iruka assigned Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata to Team Seven, and Minato, disguised as Shingo Ikeda, became their instructor.
• The Sun Nine-Tails revealed to Naruto that Shingo Ikeda was Minato and that they carried the Yin and Yang halves of the Nine-Tails.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata passed Minato’s bell test through teamwork, and Minato later told Naruto that Natsuki had paid a great price to revive him.
• Natsuki impeached Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, then announced that the Uchiha Clan would leave Konoha and establish a country on four islands west of Mist Village.
• Natsuki traveled to Iwagakure, obtained the Ultra-Light-Weight Rock Technique from Ōnoki, and secured an alliance agreement.
• Nagato and Konan tried to remove Obito’s curse mark, but Obito attacked them, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path drained Nagato’s Chakra before Nagato severed his connection to it by removing his Rinnegan.
• Jiraiya and the Two Sages fought Obito while Konan covered the Demonic Statue with multiplying Explosive Tags, but the Hyuga First Elder used the Giant Tenseigan to summon the damaged statue away to the Moon.
• Minato brought Nagato and Konan to Orochimaru’s laboratory, where Jiraiya and Gamatora wondered how Minato could have returned from the dead.

Natsuki led the Uchiha Clan out of Konoha as Obito’s plans unraveled and Orochimaru exposed White Zetsu hidden throughout the village. The White Zetsu operation triggered a bloody attack on the Hyuga Clan, ending with Kaito dead but the Branch Family still in danger from the Caged Bird seal.

• Karin healed Nagato, who told Jiraiya that Danzo had killed Yahiko and turned his body into a puppet, then Nagato and Konan joined Natsuki’s faction and reunited with Yahiko.
• Natsuki announced that the Uchiha Clan would leave Konoha, secured approval for its departure, and revealed to Hizashi that the clan had bought four islands from Mist Village to found a country.
• Hiashi and Hizashi discussed the danger from the moon’s Hyuga branch and Obito, while White Zetsu overheard them and carried the information away.
• Natsuki spread news of Obito’s theft of the Rinnegan, and the Uchiha Clan departed Konoha with Nagato detecting White Zetsu among the travelers.
• Obito confronted the convoy, but Natsuki and Kakashi met him, and Rin appeared to condemn Obito before releasing the Impure World Reincarnation and asking Kakashi to stop him.
• Obito escaped after removing his Rinnegan, while Orochimaru used Natural Energy medicine to expose White Zetsu hidden in Konoha and traced the operation to Hyuga Kaito.
• Kaito killed the First Elder, stole a book about reaching the moon and the Elder’s Byakugan, then trapped the Hyuga compound behind a barrier as Danzo joined his attack.
• Kaito and Danzo attacked the Hyuga Clan, killing Hizashi and other Branch Family members, until Tsunade struck Kaito in the chest, but Kaito activated the Caged Bird Secret Seal once more before dying.