Recaps

Uchiha Chuan explained that Nagato’s Rinnegan might have evolved from an Uchiha’s Sharingan, pointing to Madara Uchiha as the likely source. He suggested that Jiraiya and the others verify whether Madara was truly dead by finding where the Second Hokage buried his body.

• Jiraiya questioned when his business with Uchiha Chuan had been settled, and Chuan told him to persuade the Third Hokage instead of the Uchiha Clan.
• Kushina asked Chuan to identify the person behind Nagato’s Rinnegan, and Chuan said he already knew the mastermind.
• Chuan reasoned that the Rinnegan was likely an evolved eye technique and that it may have come from the Uchiha Clan’s Sharingan.
• Minato realized that the Rinnegan could have evolved from an Uchiha’s Sharingan, and Chuan confirmed the possibility.
• Jiraiya guessed that Madara Uchiha was responsible, and Chuan urged them to check whether Madara was dead by locating the body buried by the Second Hokage.

Madara Uchiha became interested in Uchiha Chuan and Obito Uchiha after watching Uchiha Naruto Chronicle, while Jiraiya returned to the Hokage's Office and was assigned to help counter the film's influence. The chapter left Jiraiya agreeing to play the Fourth Hokage in a Konoha remake.

• Madara Uchiha ordered White Zetsu to investigate Uchiha Chuan and Obito Uchiha, then assessed their potential and considered Obito easier to control.
• Jiraiya left the Uchiha Clan Territory to ask the Third Hokage to take him to Madara Uchiha's grave, while Minato and Kushina took Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan to Ichiraku Ramen.
• Uchiha Chuan asked Fugaku Uchiha to arrange for the clan to raise pigs and gather materials, including Chakra Metal.
• Jiraiya met with the Third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Danzo, who proposed remaking Uchiha Naruto Chronicle as Sarutobi Boruto Chronicle to weaken the original film's influence.
• Jiraiya agreed to stay in the village and play the Fourth Hokage in the remake, despite objecting that the plan would confuse him with Minato.

Jiraiya warned Konoha's leaders that Madara Uchiha might still be alive, while Danzo proposed finding surviving Uzumaki as backup Jinchuriki. After the leaders received a call for a Five Kage Summit, White Zetsu infiltrated Konoha, and Uchiha Chuan captured one of them.

• Danzo proposed using Kushina to attract surviving Uzumaki Clan members and keep them as backup Jinchuriki, appalling Jiraiya.
• Jiraiya told the Third Hokage and the elders that he had seen a Sharingan user referred to as Lord Madara, and they agreed to verify Madara Uchiha's grave without informing the Uchiha.
• A dispatch ninja delivered messages from the other four Kage requesting a Five Kage Summit, and the Third Hokage set out to inspect Madara's grave.
• Several White Zetsu infiltrated Konoha and gathered intelligence while Uchiha Chuan watched them through the clouds.
• Uchiha Chuan used his Flying Thunder God mark to appear behind a White Zetsu, knock him unconscious, seal him in a scroll, and return to fishing.

Jiraiya, Danzo, and Konoha’s leadership unearthed Madara Uchiha’s empty coffin and agreed to investigate while keeping the news from the Uchiha. After the Five Kage Dispatches went out, Hiruzen asked Danzo for Hashirama Cells, accepting that protecting Konoha might require crossing moral lines.

• Black Zetsu realized a White Zetsu had lost contact and decided to be more cautious in Konoha.
• Danzo, Jiraiya, and the Third Hokage opened Madara Uchiha’s coffin and found it empty.
• Jiraiya urged the leaders to investigate Madara’s plans, but Hiruzen ordered them to conceal the matter from the Uchiha and their allies.
• The Third Hokage decided to involve the other villages through a Five Kage Dispatch, while the Four Kage waited for Konoha’s reply.
• Hiruzen asked Danzo to send him some Hashirama Cells, and Danzo left pleased by Hiruzen’s decision.

Uchiha Chuan reassured Fugaku that he would handle clan affairs while Fugaku prepared to marry Mikoto. In the Hokage’s Office, the Konoha leadership revised Ikeda Kishimoto’s script, turning Uchiha Chuan into the Nine-Tails’ mastermind and assigning roles before the Third Hokage left for the Five Kage Summit.

• Fugaku told Uchiha Chuan that the requested materials and pigs were ready and asked about his planned New Year wedding to Mikoto.
• Uchiha Chuan congratulated Fugaku and promised to watch over the clan’s affairs while he prepared for the wedding.
• Danzo, the Third Hokage, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura ordered Ikeda Kishimoto to revise the script’s Nine-Tails attack, character deaths, and team assignments.
• Danzo proposed making Uchiha Chuan the mastermind behind the Nine-Tails’ Rampage and Uchiha Shanhuo his principal opponent, and the Third Hokage approved the changes.
• The Third Hokage assigned Asuma to play Sarutobi Boruto and Utatane Sakura to play Sakura, then left for the Five Kage Summit with Danzo.

Madara Uchiha assessed Uchiha Chuan’s influence and considered finding another agent, while planning around the coming Five Kage Summit. Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan left Konoha to return to the Land of Rain, and Uchiha Chuan watched them go, convinced Yahiko would regret his choices.

• Madara Uchiha reviewed Uchiha Chuan’s and Obito Uchiha’s records, recognized Chuan as a formidable rival, and worried that Chuan might know Madara was alive.
• Madara Uchiha decided to seek another agent and hoped the Five Kage Summit would help him determine how much others knew about his survival.
• Yahiko chose to return to the Land of Rain with Nagato and Konan after hearing that Akatsuki needed help, despite Kushina and Minato’s attempts to advise them.
• Kushina warned Nagato to protect himself, and Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan said goodbye before leaving Konoha.
• Uchiha Chuan watched their departure from the clouds, judged Yahiko’s decision as petty selfishness, and preserved the scene.

Rumors of the Hokage remaking Sarutobi Boruto Chronicle damaged Uchiha Naruto Chronicle’s box office, while talk of a Shimura Kirito Chronicle spread. At the Five Kage Summit, the other Kage suggested that Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted their help against the Uchiha, and he and Jiraiya angrily denied it.

• Rumors that Hiruzen Sarutobi would remake Sarutobi Boruto Chronicle spread through the Land of Fire and beyond, prompting some people to boycott Uchiha Naruto Chronicle.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura celebrated the backlash, while Uchiha Chuan restrained the angry Uchiha and told Zheng Buyan Yi to recover their funds as the film’s projected box office fell below 3.5 billion.
• A second rumor claimed that Shimura Danzō would make a sequel called Shimura Kirito Chronicle, amusing Orochimaru.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya met the Third Kazekage, Rasa, and Karura on their way to the Five Kage Summit.
• The Third Mizukage, the Third Raikage, and Ōnoki gathered at the summit, where the Third Raikage said he had come to help Hiruzen Sarutobi.
• The Third Mizukage suggested that Hiruzen Sarutobi should ask the other Kage to help deal with the Uchiha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya vehemently denied that he would do so.

The Third Mizukage used a boy named Zabuza Momochi, whose appearance matched the character from Uchiha Naruto Chronicle, to convince the gathered Kage that the film foretold the future and that Konoha needed help dealing with the Uchiha. Jiraiya left the conference after refusing to support the Third Hokage, while the Kage agreed to mutual guarantees before discussing the Uchiha problem.

• The Third Mizukage introduced a young Kirigakure ninja named Zabuza Momochi, whose real appearance matched the character in Uchiha Naruto Chronicle.
• Ōnoki argued that the film was a prophecy, and the Third Hokage pressed Jiraiya to accept that Uchiha Chuan might threaten Konoha.
• Jiraiya refused to make a decisive choice, suggested bringing Tsunade back as Hokage, and left after warning the Third Hokage not to regret his decision.
• The Third Hokage agreed to discuss the Uchiha problem after the Kage arranged mutual guarantees involving Jonin from their clans.
• Outside the conference hall, Jiraiya wondered whether he still needed to rely on the Child of Prophecy and whether he could ask Uchiha Chuan for answers.

Uchiha Chuan gave Fugaku Uchiha plans for a teleportation phone and ordered him to establish three research laboratories, while Madara Uchiha reconsidered his strategy after learning Chuan could foresee the future. Meanwhile, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura began assembling clan Jonin for the Third Hokage's urgent mission to the Five Kage Summit.

• White Zetsu told Madara Uchiha that Uchiha Chuan seemed able to foresee the future, and Madara decided to watch events unfold while protecting Obito Uchiha, Uchiha Shota, and newborn Shisui Uchiha.
• Uchiha Chuan gave Fugaku Uchiha a Teleportation Phone and its production blueprints, explaining that it enabled communication and teleportation within the Big Loudspeaker Signal Tower's range.
• Uchiha Chuan told Fugaku Uchiha to establish the Ninjutsu Laboratory, Science Laboratory, and Ninjutsu and Science Laboratory, with industrial chakra production as their first project.
• The system deducted one hundred days of idling, so Uchiha Chuan grumbled and returned to resting in his rocking chair.
• Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura received the Third Hokage's order to send forty clan Jonin to the Five Kage Summit and began selecting and notifying them.

The Five Kage secretly agreed to exchange elite Jonin as hostages and join forces against the Uchiha, whom Hiruzen feared Uchiha Chuan could outmaneuver with prophetic knowledge. They planned to ambush the Uchiha Clan and have the four other Kage infiltrate Konoha to kill Chuan.

• Hiruzen told the Kage's Jonin that a six-year-old Zabuza Momochi resembled the character in Uchiha Naruto Chronicle, raising fears that the film foretold the future.
• The five Kage persuaded forty Jonin from each village to volunteer as hostages, then sealed them in scrolls and exchanged them.
• Hiruzen proposed that the four other Kage publicly pressure Konoha over the Uchiha's business, then ambush the Uchiha Clan when Konoha sent them to the Kirigakure front.
• After learning that Uchiha Chuan was only six years old, the four Kage agreed to infiltrate Konoha and assassinate him personally.

The Third Hokage and the other Kage secretly planned to turn the Uchiha against Konoha, while Madara Uchiha decided to let the conflict unfold and target Uchiha Chuan. Days later, Fugaku Uchiha went to a sudden combat meeting at Uchiha Chuan’s request, intending to call him in so he could listen.

• The Third Hokage concealed the Uchiha plan from Jiraiya, and Danzo warned him to stay out of it.
• The Third Mizukage, Third Kazekage, Ōnoki, and A agreed to target Uchiha Chuan and use the Uchiha as their vanguard against Konoha.
• Mifune watched the Kage depart and vowed to make the Land of Iron a future host of the Five Kage Conference.
• Madara Uchiha refused to interfere with the Kage’s plans but ordered Black Zetsu to monitor events and said Uchiha Chuan must die.
• Fugaku Uchiha told Uchiha Chuan that the clan had made Teleportation Phones, then left to attend a combat meeting and agreed to call Chuan from it.

Hiruzen Sarutobi’s war council assigned the Uchiha responsibility for the Kirigakure front while Danzo blamed them for provoking the other villages. The Uchiha became targets of rumors in Konoha, and Kushina and Minato left with a drunken Jiraiya as ANBU surveillance resumed.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi announced that Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure were preparing for war against Konoha, and Danzo blamed the Uchiha’s film business.
• Uchiha Chuan told Fugaku that the Uchiha could leave Konoha, and Fugaku offered to accept expulsion and make their independence public.
• Hiruzen insisted the Uchiha were part of Konoha but assigned them the Kirigakure front, which Fugaku accepted after consulting Uchiha Chuan.
• Hiruzen assigned Jiraiya to the Sunagakure front, Orochimaru to the Iwagakure front, and Danzo to the Kumogakure front.
• Rumors spread that the Uchiha had caused the impending war, while Jiraiya drank himself into a stupor.
• Kushina realized the council had been a move against the Uchiha, but Minato said Uchiha Chuan already knew and took her to bring Jiraiya home as ANBU surveillance resumed.

Uchiha Chuan used Flesh Clones to replace the Uchiha clan members and prepare them to leave Konoha, while the clones remained behind for the coming war. As the Uchiha force marched out, they endured hostility and poor equipment, and Fugaku ordered them to remember the quartermaster who mistreated them.

• Uchiha Chuan told the clan that Flesh Clones would take their places and had each member use blood to transform matching livestock into a clone.
• Obito agreed to leave with Uchiha Chuan after Chuan promised he could save Rin Nohara if he came along.
• The Uchiha clan withdrew from Konoha, leaving Flesh Clones behind; Chuan and Fugaku later slipped out through a private passage.
• Three days later, the Uchiha force of three hundred Jonin and five hundred Chunin departed for the battlefield amid villagers' insults and Danzo's incitement.
• Orochimaru stopped the crowd from insulting the Uchiha, while the Third Hokage ordered the forces to move out.
• After the Sarutobi Clan quartermaster issued the Uchiha damaged weapons and armor, Fugaku ordered his soldiers to kill the man if they encountered him outside the village.

The Four Shadows mobilized elite forces to kill Uchiha Chuan, bringing the Shinobi World to the brink of war. Chuan and Fugaku traveled to Amegakure, where Chuan contacted Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan and summoned them to meet him.

• The Third Kazekage, Third Raikage, Ōnoki, and Third Mizukage each ordered Uchiha Chuan's death, and their forces gathered as the great villages prepared for war.
• Fugaku led Chuan toward Amegakure while the Five Great Ninja Villages' mobilization triggered panic and violence in smaller countries.
• Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan called an emergency Akatsuki meeting and organized defenses across the Land of Rain.
• Hanzo grew furious that Akatsuki had taken over the defenses of villages where he had stationed no one, and he considered confronting them.
• Yahiko and Konan learned Jiraiya was leading the front toward the Land of Wind and hoped to encourage peace talks with Sunagakure.
• Chuan contacted Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan and invited them to a river gorge, where they found him and Fugaku fishing; Yahiko asked why Chuan had come and how he had reached them.

The Allied Forces of the Four Great Shinobi Villages battled the Uchiha at the Kirigakure front while the Third Hokage manipulated reports to keep Konoha from sending reinforcements. As the Four Kage flew toward Konoha to kill Uchiha Chuan, Madara Uchiha withdrew White Zetsu from monitoring Nagato and remained unaware of Chuan’s Flesh Clones.

• The Uchiha initially used sealing techniques and Sharingan Genjutsu to gain the advantage, but the larger allied force adapted and the battle settled into a costly stalemate.
• The Third Hokage told Fugaku Uchiha to hold the front without reinforcements, using fabricated reports about allied forces elsewhere to justify his decision.
• Fugaku Uchiha's Flesh Clone requested supplies, while the Four Kage learned of the Third Hokage's scheme and set out for Konoha to kill Uchiha Chuan.
• The Third Mizukage said they would target Chuan to provoke the Uchiha into turning against Konoha after the clan's destruction.
• Madara Uchiha learned that the Uchiha had suffered heavy casualties, ordered White Zetsu to keep the war plan on course, and stopped monitoring Nagato.

Uchiha Chuan offered Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato a way to strengthen the Land of Rain by lending Sharingan eye power to its people in exchange for adopting the Uchiha surname. Yahiko agreed to the plan, and Uchiha Chuan hinted that he would help them stop the rain once they controlled the land.

• Konan demanded that Uchiha Chuan explain himself briefly, and he offered to make the Land of Rain the strongest ninja village if its ninjas adopted the Uchiha surname.
• Nagato questioned the proposal, and Uchiha Chuan claimed he could awaken Sharingan abilities in anyone through a Chakra Infection Technique and an Eye-Power Lending Contract.
• Uchiha Chuan explained that people could borrow his eye power and that the contract would end automatically if the strain threatened their lives.
• Yahiko agreed to have the people of the Land of Rain take the Uchiha surname and argued that strengthening this generation would give the next generation a chance to choose its future.
• Uchiha Chuan warned the three to be wary of Hanzo, then sent Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato away while he returned to fishing with Fugaku Uchiha.
• Uchiha Chuan told Fugaku Uchiha that he would stop the rain once they controlled the Land of Rain.

The Four Kage attacked the Uchiha Clan Territory after Danzo led them to its exclusive passage, but the barrier broadcast their assault and called Konoha for reinforcements. The Third Hokage blocked aid, prompting Kushina and Minato to break with him and head to Uchiha Chuan.

• Danzo led the Third Kazekage, Third Raikage, Third Tsuchikage, and Third Mizukage to the Uchiha's exclusive passage, where they killed the guards and triggered the barrier alarm.
• The Third Hokage ordered ANBU to seal off the Uchiha Clan Territory instead of sending support, and publicly forbade Konoha ninja from entering.
• Kushina condemned the Third Hokage and called on the Police Force to rescue the Uchiha, while Minato chose to join her and abandon Konoha.
• The Four Kage attacked Uchiha civilians, who fought back with Explosive Tags, while Uchiha students including Obito rushed toward the clan territory.
• Most Police Force members refused to follow Kushina, but she and Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to reach Uchiha Chuan's courtyard and then found him at his fishing spot.

Uchiha Chuan revealed that the Uchiha Clan had secretly relocated and that those remaining in Konoha were Flesh Clones, while Kushina, Minato, and Hatake Sakumo helped others escape the village’s blockade. As the four Kage finally reached Chuan, Obito, Kakashi, and Might Guy had already clashed with ANBU outside the clan territory.

• Uchiha Chuan told Kushina and Minato that he was a Flesh Clone and gave them a Teleportation Phone to reach his real body in the Land of Rain.
• Uchiha Chuan revealed that the Uchiha Clan had relocated into the shadows and that its members still in Konoha and on the battlefield were Flesh Clones.
• Kushina and Minato teleported away as ANBU sealed off the Uchiha Clan Territory, and Obito killed an ANBU who tried to stop him.
• Kakashi and Might Guy fought ANBU until Hatake Sakumo arrived, then took them away and explained that the Uchiha they had seen were puppets.
• The four Kage finally found Uchiha Chuan while he was still fishing.

Minato and Kushina joined Fugaku and Uchiha Chuan in the Land of Rain after the Third Hokage allied with the Four Kage, while Chuan sent them to meet Nagato and gave Minato an improved Flying Thunder God formula. In Konoha, the Four Kage slaughtered the Uchiha who tried to defend Chuan, then apparently killed his Flesh Clone, though Ōnoki suspected the attack had been too easy.

• Kushina told Fugaku that the Four Kage had invaded the Uchiha Clan Territory and that the Third Hokage had ordered Konoha to provide no support, leaving her and Minato as rogue ninja.
• Uchiha Chuan told Fugaku to take Minato and Kushina to Nagato, then gave Minato a scroll containing the Improved Flying Thunder God Formula.
• The Third Raikage, Third Mizukage, Third Kazekage, and Ōnoki confronted Uchiha Chuan's Flesh Clone at the pond in Konoha and questioned whether he could foresee the future.
• Uchiha clansmen rushed to defend Chuan, but the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand killed many of them, and Obito's Flesh Clone was blasted away by the Third Mizukage.
• The surviving Uchiha charged the Four Kage with Explosive Tags and detonated them, destroying the clan territory while the Four Kage survived in a battered state.
• The Third Mizukage pierced Chuan's forehead with a Water Gun Jutsu, and the Four Kage left after declaring their mission complete, though Ōnoki suspected the victory had come too easily.

A village-wide broadcast announced that the Uchiha Clan had been annihilated, leaving Konoha in shock and Hiruzen Sarutobi scrambling to respond. Madara Uchiha learned that Obito Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, and Uchiha Chuan were dead, then ordered White Zetsu to keep observing and prevent the Third Shinobi World War until he found a new candidate.

• The Four Kage heard the broadcast announcing the Uchiha Clan’s destruction and left to prepare for a hostage exchange and a possible Uchiha counterattack against Konoha.
• Danzo celebrated the Uchiha Clan’s reported annihilation, while Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered ANBU to enter the clan territory and rescue any survivors.
• ANBU searched the scorched territory, found no survivors, and confirmed Uchiha Chuan’s death.
• Madara Uchiha learned that the Uchiha Clan, including Obito Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha, had been wiped out and erupted in anger.
• White Zetsu told Madara about Uchiha survivors in Root and Uchiha Shota, but Madara dismissed them and ordered his followers to prevent the Third Shinobi World War until they found a suitable candidate.

After the Uchiha were declared wiped out, Konoha’s leaders and clans reacted to the upheaval while Kakashi decided to leave the Academy and train under Sakumo. The village fell into fearful silence as the truth about the Uchiha remained concealed from Rin.

• The Third Hokage examined Uchiha Chuan’s body, ordered ANBU to find the barrier core, and Danzo sought Koharu and Homura’s support to replace him as Hokage.
• Hyuga Hiashi and the other clan leaders approved the Seed Plan, deciding to withdraw their talented children from the Ninja Academy.
• Kakashi told Sakumo that Konoha had rotted and asked to graduate early so he could train under his father and take missions outside the village; Sakumo agreed.
• Asuma angrily confronted his father’s predicament, while Rin mourned Obito without knowing Kakashi and Might Guy had been ordered to keep the Uchiha’s survival secret.
• Konoha’s villagers gathered in uneasy silence as night fell and the news of the Uchiha’s destruction spread.

Akatsuki’s Infection Technique spread across the Land of Rain, giving tens of thousands of people ninja abilities and transforming the organization. After Nagato and the other core members awakened Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Nagato sensed the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, alerting Madara Uchiha and disrupting his plans.

• People across the Land of Rain used the Infection Technique to gain chakra and Sharingan, joined Akatsuki, and helped overturn oppressive local rulers.
• Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki organized Akatsuki’s rapidly growing membership and built its mission, logistics, training, and disciplinary systems.
• Kushina suggested that the core members try the Infection Technique, and Kushina, Yahiko, Konan, Minato, and Nagato each awakened Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
• Nagato sensed a connection to an enormous summoned creature as his Rinnegan and Sharingan resonated.
• The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path shook in Madara Uchiha’s cave, and Madara ordered White Zetsu to investigate Nagato.

Hiruzen Sarutobi arranged a secret hostage exchange with the Four Kage while planning to eliminate the remaining Uchiha in Kirigakure. Madara Uchiha secretly abducted the nine Uchiha in Danzo’s camp and replaced them with White Zetsu copies.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura to suppress news of the Uchiha’s destruction and invite the Four Kage to Kannabi Bridge for a hostage exchange.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi weighed candidates for the Fourth Hokage and decided to try persuading Jiraiya to return.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Uchiha Shanhuo to tell Danzo to prepare to exterminate the remaining Uchiha in Kirigakure after the hostages were retrieved.
• Danzo dismissed Uchiha Shanhuo and privately planned to use the surviving Uchiha and their Sharingan for the Shimura family.
• Madara Uchiha put Uchiha Shanhuo and the other eight Uchiha in the tent under his Sharingan’s control, then had White Zetsu carry them away.
• White Zetsu copies took the nine Uchiha’s appearances and chakra signatures and scattered through the camp.

The Third Hokage admitted that his mistake had led to the Uchiha Clan’s slaughter and rallied Konoha for war, while the Four Kage agreed to a hostage exchange at Kannabi Bridge. Madara Uchiha learned that Uchiha Chuan was behind the Akatsuki’s vast new forces and began studying the Infection Technique as he prepared a backup plan.

• The Four Kage agreed to exchange hostages with the Third Hokage at Kannabi Bridge in two days after realizing he had anticipated their intentions.
• The Third Hokage admitted that the Uchiha elders, women, and children had died, urged Konoha’s clans to unite against the allied forces, and promised to resign after the crisis.
• The clan heads pledged to fight for Konoha while quietly holding back their hidden forces and watching Hatake Sakumo as a possible Fourth Hokage.
• Madara Uchiha learned from White Zetsu that the Akatsuki had grown to more than a hundred thousand shinobi through the Infection Technique.
• Madara Uchiha concluded that Uchiha Chuan was alive and behind the Akatsuki’s growth, rejected returning the captured Uchiha, and began studying the technique for a backup plan.

Hanzo the Salamander learned that Akatsuki had seized much of the Land of Rain with an enormous army of Sharingan-wielding recruits, and he struggled to understand the upheaval in the Shinobi World. He abandoned plans to send an envoy to Konoha and sought the Sharingan-awakening method while the Third and the Four Kage set out for their hostage exchange at Kannabi Bridge.

• An Amegakure ninja told Hanzo that Akatsuki had over a hundred thousand ninjas and that recruits could awaken the Sharingan by changing their surname to Uchiha; he proved it by showing Hanzo his One-Tomoe Sharingan.
• Another ninja reported that the Uchiha Clan had been wiped out by the Four Kage, Kushina Uzumaki had defected with Minato after accusing the Third of refusing to help, and six-year-old Uchiha Chuan had broadcast the incident with his Loudspeaker Technique before dying.
• Hanzo canceled the planned mission to Konoha, summoned the ANBU, and ordered them to contact Danzo and obtain the Sharingan-awakening method, which the ANBU called the Infection Technique.
• The Third departed with four Sarutobi Clan Jonin for the transaction, while Danzo prepared to seize Sharingan and the Four Kage traveled with their guards toward Kannabi Bridge for the hostage exchange.