Recaps

Konoha’s Fifth Hokage, Hane, attacked Nagato, Konan, and Obito in Amegakure, overwhelming Nagato’s Six Paths with his sword and elemental incarnations. He left Nagato with a choice: submit to him or watch Konan suffer.

• Hane split Amegakure’s central tower and the clouded sky with a gigantic sword, then confronted Nagato, Konan, and Obito.
• Hane invited Nagato to join Konoha, but Nagato rejected him and defended his plan to become a god and impose peace.
• Hane attacked Konan and forced Nagato to send the Six Paths to defend her.
• Hane summoned four magical swords and created five elemental incarnations, which destroyed four of Nagato’s Six Paths.
• Hane lifted the injured Konan and threatened her, offering to spare her if Nagato submitted.

Hane defeated Nagato’s massive Shinra Tensei, protected Amegakure’s civilians, and captured Konan while Obito escaped with Nagato. He promised the survivors new lives under a new nation and flew away with Konan as relief supplies were prepared.

• Nagato used an immense Shinra Tensei that devastated Amegakure, but Hane shielded the civilians inside bubbles and contained the force with his Golden Body Dharma Form.
• Hane overwhelmed Nagato, then reached into the Kamui Dimension and attacked Obito and Nagato, forcing Obito to flee with Nagato as the dimension shattered.
• Nagato blamed Obito for abandoning Konan, while Obito warned that neither of them could defeat Hane.
• Hane reassured Konan that he would not harm her and told Amegakure’s civilians that they would receive new identities and homes in a powerful nation.
• Hane receded the flood, ordered the civilians to wait for relief supplies, and flew away with Konan.

Hane annexed the Land of Rain after defeating Sunagakure’s invasion and imposed Konoha’s military and political control while pursuing assimilation through education. In Konoha, he explained to Konan that he believed peace could be built by teaching children to reject war and hatred.

• Hane ordered Konoha’s departments to supply Amegakure’s reconstruction, while Ōnoki chose to wait and see how Konoha would respond to challenges.
• Rasa sent Sunagakure forces into the Land of Rain, but Konoha’s divisions and two Uchiha Twelfth Division captains defeated them, forcing Sunagakure to surrender.
• The daimyo of the Land of Rain surrendered to the Land of Fire, and Hane sent the Southern Army to impose military control and suppress resistance.
• Hane used conciliatory policies, resource redistribution, and education reforms to assimilate the Land of Rain and extend his authority there.
• Konan questioned Hane’s plans to shape the Rain citizens’ thoughts, and Hane argued that peace education could prevent future hatred and war.

Konan accepted Hane’s plan to erase hatred through conciliatory policies and education, while the Raikage, Ōnoki, and Rasa formed an alliance to contain Konoha. Five years later, Konoha had become an industrial power, and Hane prepared to claim the Land of Fire outright to advance his cultivation.

• Hane persuaded Konan that his approach could achieve lasting peace, and she returned to work under him.
• The Raikage, Ōnoki, and Rasa met in the Land of Iron and agreed to a military alliance against Konoha, along with an economic blockade that exempted Recovery Pills.
• Hane focused on consolidating his strength while Konoha and the annexed Land of Rain developed under his Five-Year Plan.
• Five years later, a train traveled from Konoha to the capital of New Rain Province as the region’s technology and industry rapidly advanced.
• Hane’s cultivation reached forty-nine percent of the Dao-Integration Stage, and he decided to establish himself as the true ruler of the Land of Fire.

After five years of reforms, Hane had built Konoha into a powerful military and political force and called a meeting to announce that he would replace the Land of Fire’s daimyo. The chapter ended with Konoha preparing Hane’s coronation and a Chunin Ninja Exams to display its strength to the other villages.

• Hane’s reforms had expanded Konoha’s forces, strengthened the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, and turned the village into a major power.
• Hane had accepted Hinata as his second disciple, while Naruto and Third Pillar ranked among the Ninja Academy’s top students.
• Hane told Konan to summon department heads for a meeting, dismissing the Land of Water as a minor concern.
• At the meeting, Hane proposed that the daimyo abdicate and that he become king of the Land of Fire, winning the officials’ support.
• Hane ordered an abdication edict and invitations to the other major ninja villages for his coronation and a Chunin Ninja Exams.

Naruto and Sasuke formed a team with Hinata to enter the Chunin Ninja Exams and prove their strength to Hane. The chapter ended with the trio celebrating as Konoha’s education system continued to connect academic credentials with ninja careers.

• News of Hane’s planned overthrow of the daimyo and the coming Chunin Ninja Exams unsettled Konoha.
• Naruto told Sasuke about the exams, then discovered he had been scammed out of a thousand ryō by a white-haired man.
• Naruto invited Sasuke to enter the exams with him, and Sasuke agreed after Naruto explained that Hane would allow it.
• Naruto revealed Hinata as their third teammate, forming a team with Sasuke and celebrating at the Four Seasons Restaurant.
• The chapter described how Konoha’s academy separated ninja rank from education and how ninjas used their skills in careers throughout the village.

Hane returned home and discovered Itachi had grown close to Yumiko, whom he invited to dinner with the family. Meanwhile, Konoha’s announcement that its Kage would become the Land of Fire’s daimyo alarmed the other nations, whose leaders headed to Konoha for the Chunin Ninja Exams intending to pressure it.

• Hane came home to find Nine-Tails and Matatabi fiercely competing in a video game.
• Hane spotted Itachi walking with Yumiko, teased his brother, and invited them both home for dinner.
• The Kage of the other four great nations received Konoha’s invitation to the Chunin Ninja Exams and news of Hane’s coming ascension as daimyo.
• The other nations’ daimyo and Kage grew wary of one another, and the four villages sent elders to negotiate with their rulers.
• The major villages’ Kage led promising Genin and Elite Jonin to Konoha, planning to unite and pressure it, while three of Konoha’s old acquaintances arrived.

Tsunade returned to Konoha and was stunned by how much the village had changed. Meanwhile, Jiraiya encountered Naruto, learned he was the Fourth Hokage’s son, and was left facing the anger of the gathered civilians.

• Tsunade and Shizune arrived in Konoha and saw its towering buildings and bustling streets.
• A local guide took Tsunade and Shizune to the Hokage Building on his Chakra Motorcycle for eight hundred ryo.
• Jiraiya returned to Konoha after hearing that the Child of Prophecy’s circumstances had changed, then spotted Naruto walking with Sasuke and Hinata.
• Naruto recognized Jiraiya as the man who had cheated him and demanded ten thousand ryo to avoid reporting him.
• Sasuke told Jiraiya that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage’s son, and Jiraiya apologized while rubbing Naruto’s hair.
• Naruto protested that Jiraiya had ruined his copied hairstyle, prompting the surrounding civilians to threaten to call the police.

After learning that Jiraiya had been his father’s teacher and had never visited him, Naruto confronted him over his abandonment. Naruto agreed to let Jiraiya teach him Ninjutsu, while leaving forgiveness to his father.

• Inoichi Yamanaka arrived with the Military Police Force and revealed that Jiraiya had been the Fourth Hokage’s teacher.
• Sasuke and Hinata challenged Jiraiya for failing to visit or protect Naruto, and Jiraiya tearfully begged Naruto for a chance to make amends.
• Naruto told Jiraiya that his father was the one Jiraiya had truly wronged and that forgiveness depended on his father.
• Jiraiya pleaded to teach Naruto everything he knew, and Naruto agreed to learn his Ninjutsu.
• Jiraiya resolved to train Naruto into the finest ninja.

Kurama and Matatabi brought Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata home for dinner, where Jiraiya saw how united and content Konoha had become under Hane. At the Uchiha home, Sasuke found everyone paired off and resolved not to remain the only one suffering through their affectionate behavior.

• Kurama and Matatabi told Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata that Mikoto had called them home to meet important guests.
• Kurama teased Naruto about Hinata, while Hinata took his words as proof that Naruto liked her.
• Jiraiya asked Inoichi whether Konoha was good now, and Inoichi praised Hane and urged Jiraiya to reconsider opposing his succession as Daimyo.
• Sasuke returned home and found his brothers chatting with Yumiko, who greeted him and Hinata.
• Sasuke sat beside Yumiko, watched his family welcome Naruto and Hinata, and swore he would end his lonely predicament.

Orochimaru entered Konoha with Kabuto and Otogakure’s ninja for the Chunin Ninja Exams, hoping to exploit the upheaval and pursue his own plans. Chika Uchiha defeated him with soul-based Genjutsu, left his right arm unusable, and had the Sound ninja confined to the exam reception area; Orochimaru ended the chapter coveting the Uchiha’s eyes.

• Orochimaru arrived in Konoha with Kabuto and Otogakure’s ninja, planning to watch for chaos and possibly rescue and kill his imprisoned teacher.
• Chika Uchiha and his squad confronted Orochimaru, who mocked Konoha and used a Kunai to threaten Chika.
• Chika escaped by transforming into crows and trapped Orochimaru in a soul-based Genjutsu that damaged his soul’s right arm.
• Chika ordered the Military Police Force to escort Orochimaru and the Sound ninja to the designated reception area and keep them there without the Hokage’s written order.
• Kabuto found Orochimaru’s arm physically intact, and Orochimaru realized the soul damage persisted and became determined to obtain the Uchiha’s eyes.

The four visiting Kage saw how far Konoha had outgrown their villages and plotted to disrupt Hane’s enthronement ceremony by uniting the smaller ninja villages. Hane learned of their plan through wiretaps and ordered preparations to keep the guests contained, while Konan worried that Nagato might be caught in the coming clash.

• Ōnoki, Raikage A, Rasa, and Karatachi Yagura discussed Konoha’s overwhelming growth and the restrictions placed on their movements.
• Raikage A proposed uniting the smaller ninja villages to oppose Hane’s enthronement, and the other Kage agreed.
• Yamanaka Inoichi reported the Kage’s plan to Hane, who ordered the 12th Division stationed around them and summoned Hizashi.
• Hane reassured Konan that he would spare Nagato if Nagato stayed out of the raid, and Konan promised to persuade him.
• Hane assigned Hizashi and the Hyuga Clan to secure Konoha’s perimeter, barring outsiders from leaving and enemies from entering without his orders.

Jiraiya taught Naruto the Summoning Technique, and Naruto summoned Gamabunta, whose insults provoked Kurama into a fight. Kurama began beating Gamabunta at the Ninja Academy training ground while Naruto and the students watched.

• Jiraiya had Naruto sign the toad summoning contract and taught him the Summoning Technique.
• Naruto summoned Gamabunta, criticized his appearance, and challenged his strength.
• Naruto summoned Kurama, who lost a game to Two-Tails after Gamabunta startled her and called her weak.
• Kurama grew larger, threatened Gamabunta, and confronted him while Jiraiya fled.
• Naruto told Kurama she had gotten fat, so Kurama declared she would lose weight and punched Gamabunta.

Tsunade sensed the Nine-Tails near the Ninja Academy and went there with a group of motorcycle enthusiasts, discovering that Konoha now accepted the beast as Naruto’s partner. She watched the Nine-Tails defeat Gamabunta, then heard Naruto and Kurama bargain over the Chunin Tournament prize money.

• Tsunade sensed the Nine-Tails at the Ninja Academy and prepared to investigate, but a motorcycle enthusiast explained that it was a trusted member of Konoha.
• Tsunade rode with the man and his friends to the Academy, where his younger brother used his student ID to bring them inside.
• The Nine-Tails pinned down Gamabunta and beat him in front of cheering students until he returned to the Summoning Realm.
• The Nine-Tails shrank and rested on Naruto’s head, then demanded that Naruto buy it new game cards and food.
• Naruto said he was broke but promised they could spend freely if they won the Chunin Tournament, and Kurama demanded half the prize money.

Jiraiya and Tsunade returned to Konoha and questioned Hane’s rule, while learning that the Land of Rain had been incorporated into the Land of Fire. The chapter left Jiraiya confronting Hane’s claim that a powerful nation could protect civilians and preserve peace.

• Jiraiya reunited with Tsunade, and they decided to ask Hane what path he intended for Konoha.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade saw how much Konoha had grown and entered the Hokage Building to meet Hane.
• Jiraiya recognized Konan working beside Hane and learned that Yahiko was gone and the Land of Rain had joined the Land of Fire.
• Jiraiya accused Hane of taking the Land of Rain, but Konan said it had become prosperous and safer under Hane’s policies.
• Hane argued that the Land of Rain had lacked the strength to protect its peace and that a powerful nation could provide civilians with stability.

Hane persuaded Tsunade that unifying the world was necessary to end war, and she joined his cause after seeing the peaceful Konoha he had built. The chapter ended with Konan secretly photographing their agreement.

• Hane argued with Tsunade and Jiraiya that the one-country, one-village system perpetuated war and that world unification could bring lasting peace.
• Hane challenged Tsunade to face the suffering caused by war, bringing her to tears as she remembered her lost loved ones.
• Hane declared that he would shoulder the pain of creating peace and showed them Konoha's peaceful streets as proof of what he hoped to achieve.
• Hane asked Tsunade to unite the Senju and Uchiha in his mission, and she took his hand and acknowledged him as Hokage.
• Konan secretly took a photograph of Hane and Tsunade shaking hands, then claimed she had recently taken up photography.

Hane was crowned King of the Land of Fire in a ceremony designed to display Konoha’s military strength and his authority. The foreign village leaders left the event alarmed as Hane openly declared a mandate extending across all lands.

• Konoha invited foreign village representatives to attend Hane’s coronation before the Chunin Ninja Exams, unsettling leaders who opposed its political changes.
• Konoha assembled fifteen thousand elite troops, more than a hundred Uchiha with Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and the Nine-Tails and Two-Tails to present its strength.
• Hyuga Hiashi announced the end of the one-village, one-nation system and welcomed Hane as King of the Land of Fire.
• Hane arrived in a carriage guarded by the Twelve Golden Guards, whose Mangekyō Sharingan shocked the foreign leaders and Orochimaru.
• The Nine-Tails and Two-Tails bowed to Hane, who climbed the pyramid altar and proclaimed his mandate to rule all lands and subjects.
• Konoha’s people acclaimed Hane, while foreign village representatives feared that Konoha intended to annex the entire Ninja World.

Hane used overwhelming force at his coronation ceremony to demand that the other nations submit to the Land of Fire, while the Mist ninjas and Akatsuki launched an attack on Konoha. The battle spread through the village, and Retsuyō confronted the Wind Shadow, Earth Shadow, and Raikage as they moved to fight.

• Hane summoned twelve Susanoo and the Nine-Tails and Two-Tails, then told the gathered Kage that they must submit or perish and that the Land of Fire would have a king instead of a Kage.
• Nagato and the Akatsuki prepared to rescue White Tiger, while Obito sent Mei Terumi and the Mist ninjas to attack Konoha.
• Mei led the Mist ninjas toward Konoha, where Hizashi raised barriers and Deidara attacked them with clay spiders.
• The Mizukage transformed using the Three-Tails' power, and Hane sent the Nine-Tails and Two-Tails to fight him as the viewing platform collapsed.
• Hane ordered Retsuyō to confront the Kage and Wada to intercept the Akatsuki, while Konoha's troops crushed enemy forces attempting to loot the village.
• Six figures of Uchiha Retsuyō blocked the Wind Shadow, Earth Shadow, and Raikage, who exchanged glances and began to move against him.

Uchiha Retsuyō swiftly defeated Ōnoki and the Raikage, intimidating the gathered villages as the battle in Konoha continued. Orochimaru and Kabuto reached Konoha Prison, where Tsunade and Jiraiya stood guard, and Orochimaru sent a small snake inside to infiltrate it.

• Uchiha Retsuyō stabbed Ōnoki from two directions, leaving him unconscious and badly wounded.
• Uchiha Retsuyō severed both of the Raikage’s arms and warned him against attacking Konoha again.
• Wind Shadow Rasa backed down, and the remaining ninja from the three villages stayed still as Retsuyō’s clones disappeared.
• The Fourth Mizukage and the Kirigakure ninja were killed, while Orochimaru fled with Kabuto toward Konoha Prison.
• Orochimaru and Kabuto found Tsunade and Jiraiya guarding the prison, so Orochimaru sent a small snake through a gap to enter alone.

Orochimaru killed Sarutobi in prison, then escaped after summoning Hashirama and Tobirama with Impure World Reincarnation. Tsunade and Jiraiya faced the two revived Hokage, and Tobirama demanded to know why an Uchiha had become Hokage amid the fighting in Konoha.

• Orochimaru transformed from a small snake and entered Sarutobi’s cell, where he killed his former teacher at Sarutobi’s request.
• Jiraiya and Tsunade confronted Orochimaru, but he attacked them with snakes and fled the prison as they pursued him.
• Orochimaru summoned Hashirama and Tobirama with Impure World Reincarnation, then escaped while Tsunade and Jiraiya turned toward the emerging coffins.
• Hashirama and Tobirama recognized Tsunade and learned they had been dead for more than thirty years.
• Tsunade told Tobirama that an Uchiha was now Hokage, and Tobirama demanded to know what had happened to Konoha.

Tsunade explained to Hashirama and Tobirama that Konoha’s war had erupted over the Hokage’s plan to abolish the daimyo and unify the Ninja World, and she defended the change as a response to decades of devastating wars. At Konoha’s edge, the Twelve Golden Guards fought the Akatsuki, while Sosuke’s Eye of Instant Death struck down several attackers and left Kisame fleeing underwater.

• Tsunade told Hashirama and Tobirama about the damage their disciples had caused and explained that the old political order was being challenged as Konoha prepared to abolish the daimyo.
• Tsunade said she supported unification after the Shinobi Wars had killed her younger brother and beloved, and Hashirama and Tobirama agreed to wait before meeting the current Hokage.
• Wada used Genjutsu against the Mist shinobi as four Susanoo attacked them, forcing Mei Terumi to unleash Lava Release and retreat with her remaining forces.
• Nagato sent the new Deva Path to attack, and its Shinra Tensei hurled the Susanoo away and severely injured nearby Konoha shinobi.
• Sosuke used Eye of Instant Death against the Akatsuki, stopping one of Kakuzu’s hearts and causing Sasori to bleed as Deidara and Kisame tried to evade his gaze.
• Kisame’s heart stopped when Sosuke looked at him, but he revived underwater and escaped through his Water Release.

Sosuke and the Twelve Golden Guards drove back the Akatsuki attackers, while Hane restored the wounded and ended the battle. Obito escaped with Nagato and the Akatsuki, Mei Terumi retreated, and Hane ordered his forces to withdraw while warning that the Land of Water would face consequences.

• Sosuke killed two of Kakuzu's hearts with Death Gaze, forcing Kakuzu to flee underground, while Sosuke hurried to help Wada.
• An Yi tormented Hidan and restrained him as Sosuke and Wada arrived; the Akatsuki regrouped after Sasori's death and learned that Sosuke's eyes had five tomoe.
• Hane watched the fighting across Konoha, then flew to the outskirts and used Withered Wood Rejuvenation to regrow the injured ninjas' missing limbs.
• Obito seized Nagato and escaped with the Akatsuki through Kamui as Mei Terumi led her remaining forces in retreat.
• Hane warned that he would deal with the Land of Water later, then ordered Sosuke and the others to withdraw.

After taking the throne, Hane abolished the daimyo system and made Konoha the capital of the Land of Fire. In the realm between life and death, Hamura sent his chakra to stop Hane, while Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata were dragged beneath a lake during the Chunin Tournament’s first trial.

• Hane declared comprehensive reforms, abolished the title of daimyo, and made Konoha the royal capital of the Land of Fire.
• Hagoromo argued that the Ninja World needed change, but Hamura insisted Hane posed an uncontrollable danger and left to oppose him.
• Hamura released a pillar of chakra, weakening himself, and announced that his chakra would stop Hane without violating the boundary between life and death.
• The Chunin Tournament’s first trial sent examinees through a forest of Formation Arts monsters and lethal traps.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata crossed a lake when three enormous tentacles burst from the water and dragged them under.

Naruto and his teammates fought a lake monster during the Chunin Ninja Exams, while their unusual techniques and Kurama’s appearance stunned the foreign ninja observers. Hane left Izumi to meet Tsunade and the resurrected First and Second Hokage, but their conversation turned hostile when someone objected to his teasing.

• Hinata used a beam from her eyes to free Naruto, and Naruto summoned Kurama to attack the lake monster with a Tailed Beast Ball.
• The blast sent Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata flying, and Kurama left to fetch spare clothes for Hinata.
• Foreign ninja leaders watched the exam and speculated about Konoha’s genin, their advanced techniques, and Naruto’s command of a Tailed Beast.
• Konan told Hane that Tsunade wanted to see him, and Hane promised Izumi he would return to watch the match replay with her.
• Hane found Tsunade with the First and Second Hokage and teased her about their Impure World Reincarnation and her age.
• An unidentified voice called Hane an Uchiha brat and demanded to know whether he had had enough.

Hane challenged the resurrected Senju Tobirama over his prejudice against the Uchiha and the harm caused by his forbidden techniques, while Hashirama acknowledged his brother’s mistakes. Hashirama asked whether Hane intended to take control of the Land of Fire and unify the Ninja World, then asked him to apologize to Madara if Hane’s method proved successful.

• At the Ninja Academy, a student argued that Tobirama’s human experiments and prejudice had helped cause later injustices in Konoha, while another student agreed.
• Hashirama admitted Tobirama had been wrong and, after the students mistook them for actors, left the academy with his brother, impressed by how much knowledge it taught.
• Back in Hane’s office, Hane confronted Tobirama about the evil of Impure World Reincarnation and rejected his accusations against the Uchiha.
• Hashirama apologized to Hane for Tobirama’s mistakes, and Tobirama protested that his brother was siding with an outsider.
• Hashirama asked Hane whether he planned to take control of the Land of Fire and unify the Ninja World, then asked him to apologize to Madara if his method proved right.