Recaps

As Julian fought Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and Orochimaru, Naruto Uzumaki used a risky plan to summon an unknown assassin from the shadows. The chapter left the summoned figure questioning Naruto about contacting the Assassin Court on an unregistered feudal world.

• Orochimaru, Hashirama Senju, and Tobirama Senju overwhelmed Julian with attacks and Wood Release vines, while Hiruzen Sarutobi briefly helped him escape.
• Naruto Uzumaki decided to target the puppeteer and ordered Julian to hold off the attackers for thirty seconds.
• Julian released Enma, overloaded his power pack, broke free of the vines, and fought the three attackers with renewed force.
• Naruto cut his palm and drew a complex black mark in blood on the rooftop.
• A black-clad figure rose from the shadows and questioned Naruto about summoning the Assassin Court on an unregistered feudal world.

Naruto persuaded Nightingale to treat Orochimaru as a threat to the Imperium and authorize one strike, while Julian’s power pack failed and Hashirama Senju restrained him. Nightingale intercepted Orochimaru’s attempt to kill Naruto and pierced his chest with her Phase Sword.

• Nightingale challenged Naruto’s authority to summon her and warned that he had violated protocol.
• Julian destroyed Hashirama Senju’s Wood Clone, but his power pack overloaded and Hashirama Senju bound him with Wood Release vines.
• Naruto declared Orochimaru’s corpse-manipulating sorcery a blasphemy against the Golden Throne, and Nightingale agreed to strike once.
• Orochimaru charged at Naruto with the Kusanagi Sword, hoping to kill the summoner and dismiss his allies.
• Nightingale appeared in Orochimaru’s path and pierced his chest with her Phase Sword, which passed through the Kusanagi Sword.

Naruto and Julian drove Orochimaru into retreat with the soul-burning Phase Sword, ending the battle and freeing Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju from the Impure World Reincarnation. As Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to question Naruto, Julian aimed his Bolter at the Third Hokage under a new command.

• Orochimaru shed his burning body with the Substitution Technique, but the soul fire followed him, so he summoned snakes to create an escape and fled with the Sound Ninja Four.
• Nightingale vanished after warning Naruto that his unauthorized actions had been recorded for the Assassin Court's judgment.
• Orochimaru's retreat caused the Four Violet Flames Formation to collapse, and Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju returned to the Pure Land.
• Naruto praised Julian for completing his mission, and Julian replied that the battle did not rank among his ten most dangerous.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared to question Naruto, but Julian raised his Bolter and aimed it at the Third Hokage.

Naruto confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi over Shimura Danzō’s failure to defend Konoha and forced him to agree to lure Danzō out by publicly recommending him as the Fifth Hokage. After leaving the rooftop, Naruto went to the Memorial Stone and gave Kakashi a scroll containing information about Konoha’s White Fang and the truth behind the incident.

• Naruto accused Shimura Danzō of withholding Root from the defense of Konoha so he could seize power after Hiruzen Sarutobi’s death.
• Naruto challenged Hiruzen for tolerating Danzō’s ambitions and demanded that he announce his retirement and recommend Danzō as the Fifth Hokage.
• Hiruzen agreed to Naruto’s plan, and Naruto sent the damaged Julian home after the steel giant circled the rooftop and saluted him.
• Naruto returned through the devastated village as his Shadow Clones organized rescue, firefighting, and recovery work.
• Naruto found Kakashi Hatake at the Memorial Stone and handed him a scroll containing information about Konoha’s White Fang and the truth behind the incident.

Kakashi learned that Shimura Danzo orchestrated the campaign that destroyed Hatake Sakumo, driving Kakashi to hunt him down. He confronted Sarutobi Hiruzen and demanded Danzo’s whereabouts.

• Kakashi read Zero’s intelligence detailing how Danzo targeted Sakumo’s former comrades and spread rumors to turn the village against him.
• Kakashi learned Root had coerced Toji Makoto into accusing Sakumo by threatening his son.
• Furious, Kakashi summoned Pakkun and the other ninja hounds and ordered them to find Danzo.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen argued with Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura that the village could not safely confront Naruto’s summoned powers.
• Kakashi blasted through the Hokage’s office door, entered with his hounds, and demanded that Hiruzen tell him where Danzo was.

Kakashi confronted Hiruzen with evidence that Danzo and Konoha’s higher-ups had framed his father, Hatake Sakumo, and demanded results by the following sunset. Hiruzen called Naruto in, and Naruto threatened to expose the higher-ups’ role in the Uchiha Massacre before offering to take over Root himself.

• Kakashi presented Hiruzen, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura with a scroll documenting buried crimes tied to Hatake Sakumo’s death.
• Hiruzen promised to apprehend Danzo and clear Sakumo’s name, while Kakashi gave him until sunset the next day to act.
• After Kakashi left, Hiruzen admitted he had lied to buy time and ordered an ANBU guard to bring Naruto to him.
• Naruto knocked out the ANBU guard and told Hiruzen that Danzo had placed a spy in his office.
• Naruto threatened to reveal the truth about the Uchiha Massacre to Sasuke if Hiruzen continued to hesitate.
• When Hiruzen argued that Konoha needed Root’s covert operations, Naruto declared that he would take over Root.

Hiruzen Sarutobi lured Shimura Danzō to a meeting with the promise of the Fifth Hokage position, while Naruto prepared to expose Root’s crimes. After Danzō used Kotoamatsukami on Hiruzen, the Hokage denounced the evidence and declared Danzō his successor.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed to recommend Shimura Danzō for Hokage and called a meeting of Konoha’s clan heads and ANBU captains.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura that Danzo was not loyal, then ordered the meeting arranged.
• Danzo accepted the chance to become Hokage and went to the Hokage Building with Root elites, while Jiraiya heard villagers praise Naruto for saving them during the invasion.
• Naruto, disguised as an ANBU, watched as guards distributed a report detailing Root’s crimes, prompting the meeting attendees to confront Danzo.
• Danzo used Kotoamatsukami to implant an order in Hiruzen’s mind, and Hiruzen dismissed the report as slander and declared Danzo the Fifth Hokage.

Danzo used Kotoamatsukami to control Hiruzen and seize power, but Naruto revealed the scheme and began an execution attempt. Danzo escaped toward Root's base, and Naruto ordered Kakashi and K Squad to track him down.

• Danzo used Kotoamatsukami to make Hiruzen defend him and endorse his leadership, while Naruto signaled Karsten to prepare a shot.
• Naruto revealed himself in the conference room and declared Danzo a traitor who would be executed.
• A Jonin who admired Hatake Sakumo disrupted Danzo's attack, allowing Karsten's bullet to wound Danzo's shoulder; Danzo escaped underground with Earth Release.
• Hyuga Hiashi released Hiruzen from the Genjutsu, and Hiruzen remembered how Danzo had controlled him.
• Kakashi and Pakkun identified Danzo's scent leading toward Root's base, and Naruto summoned K Squad to pursue him.

Danzo tested the loyalty of his Root subordinates, killed Kazuma Satou for hesitating, and ordered Zero to destroy evidence of his dealings with Orochimaru and his arm. Zero revealed that he had been Naruto’s spy all along and trapped Danzo and his followers inside the Iron Coffin Seal, announcing that he would carry out Root’s final disinfection.

• Danzo asked Kazuma Satou whether he would follow him if he defected, and Zero declared loyalty to Danzo before Danzo killed Kazuma for hesitating.
• Danzo promised Zero he would return his protected family to him, then gave him a key and ordered him to destroy the forbidden records and scrolls.
• Zero accepted the mission, but Danzo’s sensory ninja detected his chakra building a barrier outside the chamber.
• Danzo realized Zero had been Naruto’s spy and had misled him about Naruto and the Curse Mark test.
• Zero sealed the chamber with the Iron Coffin Seal, entered, and told Danzo he would carry out Root’s final disinfection.

Naruto and Zero trapped Shimura Danzō in the Iron Coffin Seal and led an assault on Root, overwhelming him with coordinated attacks. Danzō repeatedly used the Sharingan in his arm to escape death, but after seven revivals he was left with only two eyes and fled in despair.

• Zero revealed that he had spent a year preparing the Iron Coffin Seal to avenge his family, while Naruto's Shadow Clones staged an assault on Root's defenses.
• Naruto and Kakashi reached the sealed chamber, where Zero released the door and Danzō attacked them with Wind Release.
• Naruto's Shadow Clones, Zero, Kakashi, and the Karsten Squad attacked Danzō and his remaining subordinates, killing the subordinates and forcing Danzō to use Izanagi.
• Danzō survived repeated fatal attacks by consuming Sharingan in his arm, while Naruto counted his remaining revivals and Kakashi asked to handle the last one.
• After his seventh revival, Danzō panicked and fled through the Iron Coffin, insisting that he was the Fifth Hokage, Shimura Danzō.

Naruto stopped Danzo from swaying Kakashi with accusations against Hiruzen, then faced Danzo’s attempt to destroy the Root base with the Reverse Four Symbols Seal. As Danzo prepared to detonate, Naruto ordered his team to delay the seal and teleport him to a lake outside Konoha.

• Danzo claimed Hiruzen had used him to ruin Kakashi’s father, and Kakashi’s lightning briefly faltered as the words revived his doubts.
• Naruto shot Danzo, dismissed his justification, and declared he would take over Root and remake it.
• Naruto ordered Danzo executed; after his Sharingan arm’s nine eyes went dark, Danzo activated the Reverse Four Symbols Seal.
• Zero warned that the technique could consume the Root base, and the Flying Thunder God Genma Squad arrived under Naruto’s prior arrangement with the Third Hokage.
• Naruto ordered the Iron Coffin Seal’s third stage activated to delay the detonation and commanded the squad to teleport Danzo to a lake outside Konoha.

Naruto and his allies destroyed Danzo by sealing and teleporting his self-destructive technique to a distant lake. Hiruzen gave Naruto full authority over Root, and Naruto began taking control of the organization.

• Zero activated the Iron Coffin Seal, and Genma Shiranui, Namiashi Raidō, and Tatami Iwashi used the Flying Thunder Formation to teleport Danzo and the sealed technique away.
• Kakashi asked Naruto whether Danzo's accusations about Hiruzen Sarutobi were true, and Naruto blamed the system that had allowed Root to exist.
• Naruto confronted Hiruzen and demanded that he either place Root under Naruto's control or disband it.
• Hiruzen declared that Naruto Uzumaki would have full authority over all Root affairs.
• Naruto ordered Zero to seal Root's base and inventory its assets, files, and personnel by the following day.

Naruto took control of Root and offered its members freedom from Danzo’s coercion, a new Code of Duty, and a choice between service and retirement. Most chose to remain, and Naruto assigned Kenta Kobayashi to the Technology and Logistics Department so he could pursue his dream of forging blades.

• Naruto entered Root’s conference room with Zero and had Zero reveal the members’ real names and personal histories.
• Kenta Kobayashi attacked Naruto after accusing him of manipulating the members, but Naruto disarmed him and promised protection for his family.
• Naruto announced that Root members could voluntarily remove their Curse Marks and introduced the Code of Duty, reorganizing Root into three departments.
• Naruto offered the members a choice between joining the new Root or receiving new identities and retiring as ordinary villagers.
• Kenta Kobayashi and many other members swore loyalty to the Code of Duty, and Naruto assigned Kenta to the Technology and Logistics Department.

Naruto gave Kenta Kobayashi a Bolter design and removed concerns about his sister’s treatment so he could focus on producing the weapon. He threatened Konoha’s advisers into accepting retirement, then reviewed Root’s orphan records and decided Sai needed guidance before he could pledge loyalty.

• Naruto gave Kenta Kobayashi the Bolter design and tasked him with analyzing it and reproducing it for mass production.
• Naruto arranged Moonlight Grass medicine and treatment for Kenta Kobayashi’s sister, prompting Kenta to swear he would complete the task.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura planned to infiltrate the new Root, but Zero delivered their matching list and warned them about the Imperial Sniper Rifle while promising their pensions if they retired quietly.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi burned the list and told the advisers he would go play with Konohamaru.
• Naruto examined Sai’s file and painting at Root’s orphanage, concluded that Sai’s emotional erasure needed to be addressed, and said he must learn what he was living for before offering absolute loyalty.

Naruto sent Sai from Root to sketch Konoha as a mission, hoping to help him recover the emotions and imagination that Root had suppressed. Sai met Ino at her flower shop, but despite being captivated by her genuine smile, he could not capture it in his drawing and felt frustration for the first time.

• Naruto ordered Sai to leave Root’s training and sketch whatever caught his interest in the village, giving him money for the mission.
• Naruto reflected that Sai’s emotionless training had buried a vulnerability tied to his dead friend Shin and weakened the potential of his Super Beast Imitation Drawing.
• Sai wandered through Konoha, noticed children playing, and stopped outside Yamanaka Flower Shop to draw an iris.
• Ino Yamanaka questioned Sai’s fake smile and explained the meanings of flowers and the importance of genuine expression.
• Sai tried to draw Ino’s vibrant smile but failed, leaving him frustrated and doubtful of his artistic ability.

Ino Yamanaka tried to teach Sai how to express genuine happiness, and her joy at a blooming orchid helped bring a spark of life into his portrait of her. Naruto judged Sai’s mission a success in progress and sent him to continue.

• Ino Yamanaka discovered Sai drawing her and saw that his portrait captured her appearance but not the life in her eyes.
• Sai told Ino that he could not reproduce happiness, so she tried to teach him with a joke and exaggerated faces.
• Ino took Sai to the Yamanaka Flower Shop and showed him the blooming Violet Gold Dream orchid, explaining how it made her genuinely happy.
• Sai drew Ino again as she admired the orchid, and his portrait gained a faint glimmer in her eyes.
• A masked Root ninja reported Sai’s emotional changes, and Naruto later noticed the half-wilted iris Ino had given him.
• Naruto told Sai that his dissatisfaction proved the mission had made progress and ordered him to continue until he created a work that satisfied him.

Sai tried to understand happiness with Ino, then clashed with Sakura and Sasuke when they called him a tool, while Ino defended him. Naruto revealed to Jiraiya his plan to build an authoritarian empire against a coming threat and invited him to lead Root’s intelligence department; Jiraiya said he would consider it.

• Ino took Sai to eat dango to make him genuinely smile, and Sai studied her happiness as reference for his drawings.
• Sakura and Sasuke confronted Sai, calling him a tool, and Sai angrily compared Sasuke’s hatred to his own erased emotions.
• Ino defended Sai, and Sai moved in front of her and prepared to fight Sasuke.
• A Root ninja reported the confrontation to Naruto, who judged the stress test successful and said he would calm everyone down personally.
• Naruto told Jiraiya he wanted to forge an Iron Empire to resist the Great Unclean One and invited him to run Root’s External Purification Department.
• Jiraiya, unable to answer Naruto’s arguments, said he would consider the invitation.

Jiraiya accepted Naruto’s challenge to prove that his Order could protect Konoha, while Naruto received an Imperial long-range laser rifle and planned to pair it with Neji’s Byakugan. Naruto brought the weapon to Neji, leaving him stunned as he began recruiting him for the Ghost Hunter plan.

• Jiraiya asked Naruto to eliminate threats to Konoha efficiently and discreetly, promising to support the Eye of Heaven system if Naruto succeeded.
• Karsten gave Naruto an Imperial Long-Range Laser Rifle before returning to his unit for a campaign against the Greenskins.
• Naruto recognized that the rifle’s silent, shield-piercing fire could be paired with the Byakugan and selected Neji as its prospective marksman.
• Naruto reviewed Neji’s files, found him suited to the weapon, and formed the Ghost Hunter plan.
• Naruto interrupted Neji’s training, led him to a secluded pond, and showed him the sealed rifle.

Naruto showed Neji how his Byakugan could pair with a Long-Range Laser Rifle, offering him a way to gain power and choices beyond the Hyuga Clan’s restrictions. After Neji tested the weapon, he accepted this new path and asked who his next target was.

• Naruto criticized Neji’s close-combat techniques and presented the Long-Range Laser Rifle as a chance to choose a different future.
• Neji activated his Byakugan and used the rifle’s scope to see a bird three kilometers away in extraordinary detail.
• Naruto described how Neji could use the weapon and his Byakugan to strike enemies from beyond the battlefield.
• Neji acknowledged that the Caged Bird Curse Mark would remain, but chose to seek new possibilities and gripped the rifle.
• Neji fired at a boulder beyond a waterfall, destroying a large section of it with the laser.
• Neji lowered the rifle, recognized the power Naruto had given him, and asked who the next target was.

Naruto trained Neji for a month in Root’s underground facility, pushing him to master precision shooting and endure extreme physical and mental pressure. Neji passed the final test and received the Root codename Cicada Shell, then Naruto handed him his first mission.

• Naruto brought Neji to Root’s Training Ground Three and assigned him a month of intensive training.
• Neji struggled to hit moving targets at first, while Naruto pointed out his errors without offering encouragement.
• Neji trained relentlessly, and Zero warned Naruto that Neji was near his mental and physical limit; Naruto refused to intervene.
• Neji passed the final test by shooting the Caged Bird Curse Mark on every puppet within ten minutes.
• Naruto named Neji Cicada Shell and gave him his first mission, telling him to clean up and then go hunting.

Neji used his long-range rifle to stop an attack on Yui’s caravan, while Naruto’s Root uncovered an Iwagakure plot and ordered a silent purge of foreign spies in Konoha. By the end, all twelve identified targets had been eliminated, and Naruto was preparing Neji for a wider battlefield.

• Yui traveled toward Konoha with Hase as disguised Iwagakure ninja prepared to attack her caravan and provoke conflict.
• Neji identified the attackers and killed their leader with a shot from 3,514 meters away, while Root killed the other two and secured Yui’s safety.
• Hase told Yui that Root had rescued them and that Naruto Uzumaki now led the organization.
• Zero interrogated Kuroishi Saburo, who revealed Iwagakure’s plan to impersonate Kumogakure ninja and provoke Konoha.
• Naruto ordered Root to eliminate twelve suspected foreign spies without leaving evidence, and Neji and other Root squads completed the purge within an hour.

Hiruzen approved Naruto’s plan to mass-produce chakra-conductive bolters as Konoha’s advisors worried about Root’s growing power. After Iwagakure halted its espionage against Konoha, Zero told Naruto that Princess Yui had requested a meeting to thank him for saving her life.

• Zero reported that Root’s purge of foreign spies had reduced the intelligence threat in Konoha, and Hiruzen told his advisors to watch quietly.
• Utatane Koharu warned that Naruto might target people inside Konoha, but Zero said the Commissar would not harm anyone loyal.
• Hiruzen approved Naruto’s proposal for structural optimization and mass production of chakra-conductive bolters, leaving budget decisions to Tsunade.
• Ōnoki learned that spy networks from the major villages had been wiped out in Konoha and ordered Iwagakure to suspend infiltration and espionage.
• Kitsuchi suggested a diplomatic delegation to Konoha, and Ōnoki agreed to make tentative contact.
• Zero told Naruto that Princess Yui wished to meet him and thank him for saving her life.

Naruto met Princess Yui and Hase, warned them that someone in the Daimyō's Palace had arranged the attack on her, and negotiated a path to free Neji Hyuga from the Caged Bird. The chapter left Neji's possible transfer to guard the daimyō's family awaiting arrangements between Hase and Zero.

• Naruto changed his mind about meeting Yui and Hase after noticing Neji Hyuga's Caged Bird curse mark and deciding to seek the daimyō's help.
• Naruto met Yui and Hase at the Pine Wind Room and told Yui that he needed Order rather than faith.
• Naruto revealed that someone in the Daimyō's Palace had leaked Yui's itinerary and warned her to watch those around her when she returned.
• Hase asked Naruto to recommend a candidate for the Daimyō's Palace Guard, and Naruto proposed Neji, known in Root as Cicada Shell.
• Naruto and Hase agreed that the daimyō could request Neji's transfer and the removal of his Caged Bird curse mark on the grounds of protecting the daimyō's family.
• Naruto told Hase to discuss arrangements with Zero and warned Yui that her naivety could get her killed.

Yui reflected on Naruto Uzumaki’s burden as Konoha’s protector, while Neji confronted Hyuga Hiashi over his choice to join Root and the Hyuga branch family’s oppression. Hiashi used the Caged Bird curse to punish Neji, but Neji resisted without submitting, and Hiashi eventually released him and left.

• Yui told Hase that Naruto’s devotion to protecting Konoha made him a hero, but Hase warned her to keep her admiration at a distance.
• Neji recalled Hiashi using the Caged Bird curse to punish him after he hurt Hinata during a sparring match.
• Hiashi confronted Neji for joining Root, and Neji defended his right to choose his own path.
• Neji challenged Hiashi for withholding the Hyuga clan’s strongest techniques from the branch family.
• Hiashi activated Neji’s Curse Mark, but Neji endured the pain and met his uncle’s gaze with defiance.
• Hiashi released the curse and left after warning Neji to watch himself.

The Daimyō ordered the Hyuga Clan to remove Neji’s Caged Bird Curse Mark after appointing him as a reserve candidate for the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and Hiashi agreed under pressure. Naruto viewed the order as the first step in weakening the clan’s control over its branch family and reorganizing Konoha.

• Hyuga elders demanded severe punishment for Neji’s absences and his unauthorized entry into Root, while Hiashi resisted their proposal to torture him with the Caged Bird.
• A Daimyō’s Palace envoy arrived and announced that Neji had been appointed a reserve candidate for the Twelve Guardian Ninja, requiring the Hyuga Main House to remove his Curse Mark.
• The envoy rejected the elders’ objections, citing the Daimyō’s order and the Hokage’s support, and gave the Hyuga Clan three days to remove the mark.
• Hiashi agreed to the order but requested time to prepare for the Curse Mark’s removal.
• At Root’s underground base, Naruto told Zero that the order was only the beginning of his plan to weaken the Hyuga system and reorganize Konoha into an efficient war fortress.