Recaps

Iruka brought his class to watch the Chunin Ninja Exams, where the examinees waited for chief examiner Tobitake Tonbo to arrive. Tonbo made a dramatic entrance, explained the rules, and sent Kabuto out of the arena when he tried to withdraw.

• Iruka announced that his class would attend the final stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams, though the students groaned when he said it was on Sunday.
• Iruka led Naruto and the other students to the arena, where they watched the Genin gather for the individual matches.
• Konohamaru asked Hiruzen Sarutobi whether defeating the examinees would mean he could beat Tenyu and Maki, and Hiruzen said the experienced Genin were stronger than students.
• The examinees complained about the missing examiner until Tobitake Tonbo arrived with an overwhelming aura and introduced the unrestricted one-on-one matches.
• Kabuto asked to withdraw, and Tobitake blew him into the spectator stands with Wind Release before asking whether anyone else wanted to leave.

Tobitake Tonbo demonstrated his Genjutsu and Wind Release before starting the Chunin final exam matches. Fuma Zhikun won the first match, and Tonbo moved on to announce the next one.

• Tobitake Tonbo entered the arena under a Genjutsu that impressed the students, while Sasuke wondered how it had affected him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi confirmed to Konohamaru that Tonbo was the chief examiner, and Konohamaru vowed to surpass him and become Hokage.
• Tobitake Tonbo sent the waiting competitors to the stands and announced Fuma Zhikun versus Damu as the first match.
• Fuma Zhikun used a smoke bomb, a Fuma Shuriken, and a wire-guided returning attack to defeat Damu, whose Earth-Style Wall failed to protect him.
• Tobitake Tonbo declared Fuma Zhikun the winner and announced Beilim versus Aoteteng as the next match.

The students watched the Chunin assessment and saw Izuno Caicai win with Cat God Possession. After the exams ended, Tobitake Tonbo took the contestants away on a giant eagle-like construct, while Iruka and Shino discussed its nature.

• Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino, and the other students watched the examinees' battles as Iruka explained the skills required for the final Chunin assessment.
• Izuno Caicai summoned a gigantic pink maneki-neko with Cat God Possession and defeated his opponent.
• Tobitake Tonbo completed the assessment, recorded candidates for promotion, and announced that he would give the examinees a reward while the Hokage reviewed their eligibility.
• Tobitake Tonbo used hand seals to carry all twenty-two examinees away on a colossal flying eagle-like construct.
• Iruka said the eagle was created with Genjutsu, while Shino reasoned that it involved Yin Release and Naruto resolved to train after watching the battles.

Nine months after the Chunin Ninja Exams, Tobitake Tonbo reflected on his growing abilities and intelligence about the other villages before learning Naruto Uzumaki had stolen the Book of Seals. Tonbo decided to head out, despite believing Hiruzen Sarutobi should simply give Naruto the book.

• Kabuto watched Tobitake Tonbo leave and decided to warn Orochimaru that Tonbo had grown stronger and might need to be lured out of Konoha.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi encouraged Konohamaru by claiming the Monkey Demon King was the strongest Summoning Technique in the Shinobi World.
• After the Chunin Ninja Exams, Naruto admired Tonbo, Kiba praised his teacher, and Sasuke resolved to surpass Tonbo before confronting Itachi.
• Nine months later, Tobitake Tonbo reviewed village intelligence and his progress in taijutsu, chakra, and genjutsu, including his completed Memory Insertion and Five Senses Manipulation techniques.
• A ninja reported that Naruto Uzumaki had stolen the Book of Seals, and Tonbo decided to go out after considering Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan to strengthen Naruto's bond with Konoha.

Tobitake Tonbo watched Iruka confront Mizuki over the stolen Book of Seals, but Mizuki overpowered Iruka and revealed his resentment and betrayal. Naruto arrived to protect Iruka and refused to hand Mizuki the scroll.

• Tobitake Tonbo sensed Naruto's location and followed Iruka and Mizuki to observe their confrontation.
• Iruka disguised himself as Naruto to draw Mizuki away, but Mizuki defeated him and exposed his identity.
• Mizuki confessed that he had killed two teammates, blamed his lack of promotion on unfairness, and planned to follow Orochimaru after taking the Book of Seals.
• Mizuki anticipated Iruka's techniques, wounded him, and threw a giant shuriken at him.
• Naruto arrived, stopped the giant shuriken, and refused Mizuki's demand for the scroll.

Naruto learned that he was the Fourth Hokage’s son and defeated Mizuki with the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique after Mizuki revealed Naruto’s connection to the Demon Fox. Tobitake Tonbo had Naruto and Mizuki taken away, then treated Iruka and reprimanded him.

• Mizuki told Naruto that he was the Demon Fox and that Iruka hated him, but Iruka defended Naruto and revealed that Naruto’s father was the Fourth Hokage.
• Naruto cheered at learning his father’s identity and challenged Mizuki, who attacked with Shuriken.
• Naruto used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to surround and beat Mizuki despite Mizuki’s Kunai and Explosive Tags.
• Tobitake Tonbo arrived, scolded Naruto and Iruka, and ordered the other ninja to take Naruto and Mizuki away.
• Tobitake Tonbo gave Iruka secret medicine and used Genjutsu: Self-Repair to restore him.

Orochimaru asked Danzo to help him isolate Tobitake Tonbo during next year's Chunin Ninja Exams in exchange for technology to suppress the Sharingan and Hashirama Cells. In Konoha, Naruto accepted Konohamaru as his little brother after revealing that he was the Fourth Hokage's son, and he looked forward to receiving a mysterious Academy reward.

• Orochimaru offered Danzo suppression technology in exchange for luring Tobitake Tonbo away during the Chunin Ninja Exams so Orochimaru could kill him publicly.
• Danzo said he would consider the deal and left Orochimaru's hideout with his guards.
• Danzo's masked guard asked whether Orochimaru could be trusted, and Danzo said he would handle it himself.
• Konohamaru followed Naruto, hoping to learn the technique Naruto had used to defeat the Third Hokage.
• Naruto told Konohamaru that he was the Fourth Hokage's son, then agreed to be his big brother.
• Naruto looked forward to the Ninja Academy's mysterious reward, which he expected would make him stronger.

Tobitake Tonbo began a large-scale battlefield Genjutsu for the graduating students, placing them in realistic combat simulations. Sakura was killed twice by a simulated Amegakure ninja and remained unable to fight back.

• Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji discussed graduating and worried about their team assignments.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha’s Jōnin gathered as Tobitake Tonbo prepared his training Genjutsu.
• Tobitake Tonbo activated the Battlefield Simulation and transported the graduates into individual scenarios.
• Sakura appeared in a gloomy valley, mistook the simulation for reality, and died to a kunai attack.
• Sakura reappeared and was killed again after fear left her unable to defend herself.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the instructors observed graduates undergoing Tobitake Tonbo’s combat-training Genjutsu, which exposed their strengths and weaknesses. Hiruzen decided the costly technique should become a secret Konoha program, while Hinata continued to struggle against enemies disguised as people she trusted.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Kakashi that Sakura Haruno’s mental state needed guidance, and Kakashi said his three troublesome students still had to pass his test.
• Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru tracked and defeated an enemy, then were killed by another foe after the Genjutsu shifted to a desert.
• Shino recognized the forest scenario as training, used insects and traps against successive enemy squads, and continued until his chakra ran out and he was killed.
• Hinata mistook an enemy disguised as Naruto for the real Naruto, then used her Byakugan to expose and defeat him before an enemy disguised as Neji killed her.
• Kurenai Yuhi praised Shino and Kiba but noted Hinata’s vulnerability to disguises, while Hiruzen Sarutobi resolved to establish a secret Konoha program around Tobitake Tonbo’s resource-intensive Genjutsu.

Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino fought through a lethal Genjutsu that Tobitake Tonbo had prepared as training for graduates. While they struggled inside the illusion, Tonbo absorbed Naruto’s physical data to strengthen his own bodily chakra talent.

• Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino defeated several attackers in the Genjutsu, but Shikamaru recognized that the battle felt dangerously real.
• The three were crushed by rising slabs and reappeared in a new setting, where Shikamaru warned that the training would continue until they endured enough.
• Ino and Shikamaru planned to complain to Tonbo’s wife, Ayame, while Choji agreed to support them.
• Tobitake Tonbo absorbed Naruto’s bodily information through his Heart of Steel technique and imprinted the useful traits into his body.
• Tonbo anticipated seeking the bodily information of the Ten-Tails, Hashirama, Madara, Obito, and possibly Kaguya to prepare for future threats.

Sasuke and Naruto fought through Tobitake Tonbo’s realistic battlefield genjutsu, which repeatedly reset after their deaths. Naruto realized the deaths around him were illusions and blamed Tonbo, while his brief Nine-Tails chakra flare alarmed the observers before it subsided.

• Sasuke used his combat awareness and a Substitution Technique to defeat a Kirigakure enemy, but the exhausting genjutsu battlefield eventually overwhelmed him and reset after his death.
• Sasuke reasoned that the training tested his ability to defeat enemies with little chakra and wondered whether it could help him defeat Itachi.
• Naruto used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to kill an enemy, then discovered his classmates, the Third Grandpa, Captain Tonbo, and Iruka-sensei appeared dead around him.
• Naruto repeatedly fought the enemy and tried to save Iruka-sensei, but he was killed again and again as the illusion reset.
• Naruto realized the deaths were part of Tonbo’s genjutsu, vowed to beat him after becoming Hokage, and returned his attention to the enemy.
• Naruto’s Nine-Tails aura briefly leaked out, alarming the Third and the others until it calmed down.

Tobitake Tonbo ended a daylong battlefield simulation after the graduates endured intense mental training, then used the session to study Naruto’s Nine-Tails chakra and Sasuke’s Sharingan. He left the students exhausted and told them to return to the academy the next day for team assignments.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Kakashi questioned the danger of training Naruto, but Tobitake Tonbo insisted he could suppress a Nine-Tails eruption and criticized the other adults for not training hard enough.
• Tobitake Tonbo recorded information from Naruto’s chakra eruption and studied Sasuke’s physical traits and Sharingan during the simulation.
• As the day passed, most graduates could no longer endure the Genjutsu and fell asleep, so Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Tobitake Tonbo to end the exercise.
• After the Genjutsu ended, Hinata realized the danger had passed and fainted, while Naruto mistook the scene for another simulation and attacked Tobitake Tonbo with shadow clones.
• Tobitake Tonbo used Mind Reading Technique: Pain to incapacitate Naruto’s clones and original body, and Sasuke told Naruto that the Genjutsu was over.
• Tobitake Tonbo ended the reward and told the graduates to come to the academy the next day to receive their team leaders.

Naruto arrived at school unfazed by the previous day's brutal training, while his exhausted classmates beat him up for boasting. Tenyu and Maki were bruised after Konohamaru ambushed them with a new technique, and Konohamaru later bragged to Asuma that he had finally beaten them, though their teammate Xiao Du had beaten him.

• Naruto teased Kiba and his classmates for being shaken by the training, so they ganged up and beat him.
• Tobitake Tonbo handled Ichiraku Ramen's business matters and learned that Tenyu and Maki had been beaten by Konohamaru's new technique.
• Tenyu and Maki said Xiao Du had beaten Konohamaru too, and vowed to prepare a counter for next time.
• Konohamaru arrived home bruised and told Asuma he had beaten Tenyu and Maki, then admitted Xiao Du had beaten him.

Naruto and his team continued low-level missions while Konohamaru boasted that he would use Naruto’s ninjutsu to become Hokage. Months later, Tenyu defeated Konohamaru with a disgusting genjutsu, and Iruka banned him from using it at school.

• Naruto complained about low-level missions, and Kakashi explained that they trained skills beyond combat.
• Konohamaru told Naruto he had defeated his archenemy and planned to use Naruto’s ninjutsu to become Hokage.
• Tenyu and Maki put a bookstore owner to sleep with genjutsu and studied bizarre people to develop a frightening illusion.
• Tobitake Tonbo continued researching Neural Projection as the next stage of his Yin Release ninjutsu.
• Tenyu used Genjutsu: Black Rope Heavenly Retribution King to frighten Konohamaru and win their match.
• Iruka ordered Tenyu not to use the disgusting genjutsu at school, and Tenyu protested that he had worked hard to create it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned Tobitake Tonbo a secret mission to find Itachi Uchiha in the Land of Hot Water and learn Akatsuki’s objectives. Tonbo left Konoha, weighing how to approach Itachi while keeping the mission hidden from his partner.

• After Team Kakashi departed, Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned Tobitake Tonbo to the Hokage Tower.
• Hiruzen told Tonbo that Akatsuki had spread through the Shinobi World and that his spy Itachi had appeared in the Land of Hot Water.
• Tonbo accepted the mission and received code phrases and precautions from Hiruzen.
• Hiruzen considered choosing a Fifth Hokage after the Chunin Exams and hoped Itachi would bring back useful intelligence.
• Tonbo decided that fighting Itachi might be the best way to approach him and gather information about his body.
• Tonbo told his family he would be away on a mission, and Tobitake Tosei assured him he would manage things at home.

Tobitake Tonbo searched the Land of Hot Water for information about Itachi and the Evil God Cult, then met Nadeshiko Shizuka, who challenged him according to her village’s marriage tradition. Meanwhile, Team 7 fought and subdued the Demon Brothers on the road to the Land of Waves.

• Tobitake Tonbo traveled without his famous bandages and flew toward the Land of Hot Water after leaving Konoha.
• Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke coordinated an attack that defeated Meizu and Yetou, whom Kakashi identified as rogue ninja from Kirigakure.
• Tobitake Tonbo searched for Itachi using birds he created with the Eye-Painting Hand, but found no useful information and decided to visit Yugakure.
• Tobitake Tonbo considered investigating the Evil God Cult and its experiments with immortality and Death Controlling Possessed Blood.
• Nadeshiko Shizuka introduced herself as the chief of Nadeshiko Village and challenged Tobitake Tonbo because her village’s tradition required a strong man to marry into it.

Tobitake Tonbo met Nadeshiko Shizuka, who wanted to challenge him and make him marry into her village, but he declined and recommended Kakashi and Might Guy instead. He defeated a lecherous puppet user, learned the Hundred Puppets Soul-Binding Technique from the man’s memories, and left as Shizuka decided to train before seeking stronger men.

• Nadeshiko Shizuka decided to make Tobitake Tonbo marry into her village, but he told her he already had a wife and children and recommended Kakashi and Might Guy.
• A lecherous puppet user arrived and challenged Nadeshiko Shizuka, then attacked Tobitake Tonbo out of jealousy.
• Tobitake Tonbo used a swift Body Flicker Technique and touched the puppet, binding the attacker and absorbing his memories.
• Tobitake Tonbo learned the Hundred Puppets Soul-Binding Technique and crippled the attacker before leaving.
• Nadeshiko Shizuka decided to head for Konoha to seek out Kakashi and Might Guy, but resolved to train for several years first.

Tobitake Tonbo explored the Land of Hot Water while gathering information and studying a puppet technique. In an underground arena, he watched Mad Wolf and Duke fight for a place in Oyashiro En’s guard unit, and recognized their unusual abilities as a likely reason Orochimaru was nearby.

• Tobitake Tonbo sampled local snacks, examined the puppet technique he had acquired, and overheard residents warning about the Evil God Cult near Light Spring Mountain.
• Tobitake Tonbo headed toward Light Spring Mountain, then sensed Orochimaru and several unusual chakra signatures in a nearby town and entered an underground venue.
• Tobitake Tonbo watched Mad Wolf transform into a giant wolf and attack Duke, who used Blood Release to pierce and drain him.
• Tobitake Tonbo learned that the venue hosted fights between hired ninja and that Oyashiro En was recruiting guards with a generous salary.
• Tobitake Tonbo concluded that Mad Wolf’s transformation resembled the Akimichi family’s techniques and that Duke controlled blood, explaining Orochimaru’s interest.

Tobitake Tonbo investigated Orochimaru’s dealings at an arena in the Land of Hot Water, then gathered information from its fighters’ corpses. He headed north toward Kirigakure and the Bounty Station, where Itachi Uchiha and Kisame sensed trouble approaching.

• Tobitake Tonbo watched the arena and learned that Oyashiro En recruited ninjas for influential clients across the countries.
• Tobitake Tonbo confronted Orochimaru, but both Orochimaru and Oyashiro En vanished as clones after Orochimaru said he had come for experiments.
• Tobitake Tonbo returned to the arena and spent five days secretly reading the corpses’ memories and bodily information.
• Tobitake Tonbo set off north toward Kirigakure after learning that two strange individuals had appeared nearby, and he wondered if they were gathering funds for Akatsuki.
• Kisame complained to Itachi Uchiha about Akatsuki’s work as they approached the Bounty Station, and Itachi warned him that trouble might be near.

Tobitake Tonbo confronted Itachi and Kisame outside the Bounty Station, using layered Genjutsu and a surprise blade attack against them. After Itachi exposed the danger and Kisame was wounded, Kisame fused with Samehada to counter Tonbo’s Genjutsu.

• Tobitake Tonbo appeared before Itachi and Kisame, and Itachi warned Kisame that Tonbo was more dangerous than he seemed.
• Itachi dispelled their area-covering Genjutsu, but Kisame’s Water Release: Exploding Water Shock Wave and Itachi’s Great Fireball Technique failed to stop Tonbo.
• Kisame attacked Tonbo repeatedly, but Tonbo’s Genjutsu made him miss until Itachi knocked aside a blade that still cut Kisame’s chest.
• Itachi discovered and dispelled a seed-like foreign chakra in Kisame, then warned him that Tonbo’s Genjutsu could be triggered in several ways.
• Kisame fused with Samehada, intending to absorb foreign chakra and fight Tonbo without falling under his Genjutsu.

Tobitake Tonbo struggled against Kisame’s massive water techniques and lost his prepared puppets, but he had secretly gained control of Kisame’s body. The chapter ended with Itachi realizing Tonbo had used an unconventional Puppet Technique to stop Kisame and separate him from Samehada.

• Tobitake Tonbo studied Kisame during his fusion with Samehada while Itachi watched for signs of a hidden technique.
• Kisame unleashed Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave, flooding the battlefield and drawing onlookers from the Bounty Station.
• Tobitake Tonbo sent a painted whale at Kisame, but Kisame knocked it away and followed with Thousand Feeding Sharks.
• Tobitake Tonbo used a hundred prepared puppets to fight the sharks, but Kisame’s water ninjutsu destroyed them.
• Kisame suddenly lost control of his body as Tobitake Tonbo revealed chakra threads connecting his fingers to Kisame.
• Samehada separated from Kisame, and Itachi recognized that Tobitake Tonbo had used a concealed, unconventional Puppet Technique.

Tobitake Tonbo fought Itachi and Kisame, using the confrontation to gather information on Kisame, Samehada, and Itachi’s Susanoo. Itachi escaped with Kisame, while Tonbo left with clues for developing his next ninjutsu.

• Tobitake Tonbo drew Itachi into a mental scene of peaceful Konoha, where Itachi asked him not to tell Sasuke the truth.
• Itachi summoned Susanoo and attacked Tobitake Tonbo, who controlled Kisame to counter with water techniques.
• Tobitake Tonbo struck Susanoo with Iron Fist and sent nerves into its cracked energy structure to collect information.
• Itachi severed Tonbo’s control over Kisame, then escaped with Kisame by turning them into crows.
• Tobitake Tonbo erased the battle’s traces and left after collecting information to aid his research.
• Itachi brought Kisame to an Akatsuki hideout, where Kisame marveled at how far Itachi had gone to save him.

Itachi and Kisame reported Tobitake Tonbo’s powerful abilities to Akatsuki, while Orochimaru considered him an obstacle to his plans. Hiruzen weighed Tonbo’s potential as a future Hokage as the Land of Fire’s daimyo ordered Minister Toyotomi to begin a long-planned scheme involving him.

• Itachi and Kisame told Pain and the other Akatsuki members that Tonbo nearly defeated them and described his Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Puppet Technique.
• Orochimaru discussed Tonbo’s strength with Kabuto and concluded that Tonbo remaining in Konoha would make his plan difficult, though Konoha had someone who coveted the Hokage position.
• Hiruzen instructed his aide to offer the Land of Hot Water compensation for damage while rejecting its broader demands.
• Hiruzen considered Tonbo a possible Hokage because of his abilities, contributions, and apparent preference for peace.
• Minister Toyotomi persuaded the Land of Fire’s daimyo to put a plan involving Tonbo and the daimyo’s grown daughter into action, then privately celebrated completing Danzo-sama’s task.

Zabuza killed Gato and asked to be buried with Haku, while Kakashi explained Gato’s history to Team 7. Elsewhere, Tobitake Tonbo investigated the Evil God Cult, then used Five Senses Manipulation Genjutsu to turn its members against one another.

• Zabuza killed Gato, returned to Haku, and asked to be buried beside him.
• Kakashi explained Gato’s history of hiring ninja and later replacing them with thugs, while praising Team 7’s performance against Haku and Zabuza.
• Tobitake Tonbo observed an Evil God Cult squad and learned that its members had enhanced healing but could be killed by decapitation, and that their ritual required the target to remain in sight.
• Tobitake Tonbo revealed himself to the cultists, who attacked him together.
• Tobitake Tonbo used Five Senses Manipulation Genjutsu to make the cultists mistake their own comrades for him and attack one another.

Tobitake Tonbo returned to Konoha with intelligence about Akatsuki and learned that joint Chunin exams would be held in three months. At home, he found Tenyu and Maki had forgotten their chores and threatened them with his bamboo whip.

• Tobitake Tonbo returned from the Land of Hot Water and handed Hiruzen Sarutobi Itachi Uchiha's intelligence about some Akatsuki members.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Tobitake Tonbo to keep the intelligence secret and announced joint Chunin exams in three months.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi read the scroll, learned Akatsuki planned to gather the Tailed Beasts for the Eye of the Moon, and considered contacting Jiraiya.
• Zhanbu Du defeated Udon with his Dragon-Rising Sword at the school training grounds, then told Tenyu he wanted to show Tobitake Tonbo his new move.
• Tobitake Tonbo returned home, where Ayame scolded Tenyu and Maki for forgetting to hang the laundry, and he threatened them with his bamboo whip.