Recaps

Naruto brought Tsunade back to Konoha as Fifth Hokage and then led a mission to Kirigakure, where he helped Zabuza’s faction destabilize Genji’s rule and free South Water Fort’s prisoners. The arc ended with Naruto recruiting Kana and Nowaki by offering them safety, freedom, and revenge for their clan.

• Naruto helped Hiashi remove Neji’s Caged Bird seal, then coordinated Konoha’s defense when Itachi and Kisame arrived and wounded both with Neji’s long-range rifle.
• Naruto began training Sasuke with weighted gear and a prototype Bolter, then accompanied Jiraiya to find Tsunade and used her debts to make her accept a Rasengan wager.
• Naruto mastered the Rasengan under pressure, helped Tsunade overcome her fear of blood, and secured her agreement to return as Fifth Hokage.
• Tsunade approved Naruto’s Kirigakure mission, and he departed with Neji, Sasuke, Torune, and Root Jonin to work with Zabuza and Haku against Genji’s faction.
• Naruto ordered a campaign of rumors and attacks that destabilized Kirigakure, while Neji and Haku’s team destroyed Genji’s gold mine.
• Naruto assigned his team to Operation Opening the Coffin, and they attacked South Water Fort to free its Kekkei Genkai prisoners.
• The team opened the prison cells, and Naruto subdued rioting prisoners while assessing them for recruitment.
• Naruto offered Kana and Nowaki protection, freedom, and revenge for their clan, and they asked what he wanted them to do.

Naruto overthrew Kirigakure’s Bloody Mist rule, freed Yagura from Obito’s control, and brought the Artisan Clan back to Konoha. He began building the First Arsenal, secured funding and materials from the Land of Iron, and left the trainees’ next stage of discipline unresolved.

• Naruto sent Shadow Clones across the Land of Water to stop Kirigakure’s massacre orders, while Zabuza led the liberation of the Artisan Clan.
• Zabuza persuaded Ancient Iron and the craftsmen to leave Kirigakure by showing them Naruto’s weapon designs and promising safety and a place in the New Order.
• Hozuki Mangetsu attacked Genji, but Obito intervened and revealed he had controlled Yagura and manipulated Kirigakure, and Neji killed Genji with a rifle shot.
• Naruto and his allies fought Obito and Yagura, forcing Obito to escape through Kamui, then Naruto severed the genjutsu chakra controlling Yagura.
• Naruto stopped Yagura from taking his own life and urged him to help his village, and Mei Terumi joined the effort to guide the Land of Water toward redemption.
• Naruto returned to Konoha with the Artisan Clan and Suigetsu, gave Hinata a coral cat and shell wind chimes, and reported Kirigakure’s transformation to Tsunade.
• Naruto began clearing land beside the Forest of Death for the First Arsenal, then secured Mifune’s interest in weapons in exchange for startup funds and Starfall Iron ore.
• After Tsunade confronted Naruto over the forest damage, he offered compensation to affected clans and a share of Arsenal profits to Konoha, and Tsunade assigned Yamato to help build it as Naruto considered harsher training for Kei and Ken.

Naruto led a campaign to purge the Chaos Cult and uncover the Land of Hot Water’s exploitation of the Chinoike clan. He killed the daimyo, installed Jingwan as a puppet ruler, and left the country under Konoha’s influence while Kakuzu reported Naruto’s strength to Pain and Konan.

• Naruto recruited Guy and Lee to train a special unit, while Sasuke tested the First Arsenal’s Chakra Metal Bolter and received a promise of a custom weapon.
• Naruto sent Sasuke and his team to make the Land of Hot Water a Konoha dependency, where they confronted Hidan and Kakuzu during a purge of Chaos Cultists.
• Naruto’s team infiltrated the Blissful Pure Land Church and uncovered Minister Fujita’s scheme to poison the sick, exploit the Chinoike, and defraud investors with the Moon Beauty Fund.
• Naruto rescued more than a hundred Blood Pool clanspeople from the Valley of Hell and organized them under the Schola Progenium’s Special Operations Team and the Konoha First Arsenal.
• After the daimyo declared the rescued clanspeople a demonic cult and placed bounties on them, Naruto led them toward the capital and infiltrated the palace with Sasuke, Neji, and Suigetsu.
• Naruto paid Kakuzu to leave the palace, then found and killed the true daimyo after resisting his Heavenweave-fueled illusion.
• Naruto forced Jingwan to serve as a puppet ruler, and Jingwan outlawed the Blissful Pure Land and confiscated its property.
• Kakuzu told Pain and Konan that capturing Naruto exceeded his capabilities, while Naruto explained to Sasuke that Jingwan’s rule would preserve order and spare Konoha a burden.

Naruto reshaped the Land of Hot Water, expanded Konoha’s weapons program, and entered three years of seclusion as his allies took charge. After Sasuke defended the Second Arsenal from Deidara and a masked attacker, Naruto connected the man’s abilities to Kakashi’s Sharingan and concluded that he was Obito Uchiha.

• Naruto used Jingwan, Kana, Zabuza, and the Eye of Order to defeat the Noble Alliance, seize its supplies, and force the nobles to surrender their wealth and power.
• Naruto established reforms and a Schola Progenium in the Land of Hot Water, then defended the arrangement to the Fourth Raikage and sold Kumogakure Thunderclap bolters.
• Naruto delegated his authority to the Core Committee and began three years of seclusion, while Hinata joined Schola Progenium and Sasuke trained under Kakashi.
• Konoha’s weapons trade drew interest from Ōnoki and Gaara, while Deidara and Obito attacked the Second Arsenal and Sasuke defeated Deidara’s clay weapons.
• Obito used Kamui to save Deidara from his own C0 explosion, escaped Sasuke, and returned with Deidara to Amegakure.
• Sasuke told Kakashi that the masked man’s eye resembled Kakashi’s, leading Kakashi to suspect that Obito had survived.
• At the Lantern Festival, Sasuke reported the Arsenal attack to Naruto, who connected the masked man’s Kamui, the Nine-Tails Rebellion, and the paired Sharingan to identify him as Obito Uchiha.