Chapter Summaries

Naruto exposed Shinno as a former Land of Sky ninja and defeated Zero-Tails after Shinno used Amaru to unleash it. Shinno activated the Sky Fortress Ancor Vantian and transformed himself with Dark Chakra, leaving Naruto ready to fight him.

• Naruto identified Shinno as the Sky Ninja who had stolen the Tailed Beast Sorcerer technique and revealed that the nearby ruins belonged to the Land of Sky.
• Shinno used Amaru to bring forth Zero-Tails, but Naruto bound it with golden chains and destroyed it with Multi Ice Release Rasengan attacks.
• Naruto left the unconscious Amaru with Sakura and teleported to Shinno as the Sky Fortress Ancor Vantian rose from the ruins.
• Shinno explained his plan to use Dark Chakra and world war to restore the Land of Sky, then transformed into his younger, muscular form.
• Naruto challenged Shinno, determined to defeat him and fulfill his goal.

Naruto defeated Shinno, obtained the Body Revival Technique, and gave Sasuke evidence about the truth behind the Uchiha Clan’s extermination. Sasuke began reading the information, shaken by what he learned.

• Naruto used Ice Release Senbon to disrupt Shinno’s control over his acupoints, then copied Shinno’s memories with Kurama’s Projection Technique.
• Naruto destroyed Shinno with a Mini Rasenshuriken and confirmed that he had obtained the Body Revival Technique.
• Sasuke arrived at the Sky City, and Naruto gave him a scroll about Shinno’s power for Orochimaru.
• Naruto handed Sasuke a scroll detailing the truth behind the Uchiha Clan’s extermination and sent a Shadow Clone to rescue the captured villagers.
• Sasuke examined the scroll with his Sharingan and, visibly shaken, asked Naruto whether everything in it was true.

Naruto revealed that Itachi had massacred the Uchiha Clan to prevent war, leaving Sasuke to reconsider his revenge and choose his own path. Sasuke awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and joined Naruto in confronting Zero-Tails beneath Sky City.

• Naruto explained how the Uchiha Clan's conflict with Konoha led Itachi to massacre the clan and infiltrate Akatsuki.
• Naruto urged Sasuke not to let others control him or involve innocent people in his hatred, and Sasuke thanked him.
• Sasuke resolved to confront Itachi face-to-face and control his own destiny, awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Naruto revealed that Tsunade had assigned Sasuke a classified S-rank mission to infiltrate Orochimaru's side, then went with him toward Sky City's lower levels.
• Sasuke tested his power on the sleeping Zero-Tails by using Amaterasu.

Naruto and Sasuke defeated Zero-Tails and destroyed the Sky City after Naruto searched it for the Land of Sky’s plans. The group returned to Konoha, while Sasuke went back to Orochimaru’s base and continued training as he prepared to eventually turn against him.

• Sasuke used Kagutsuchi to shape Amaterasu into blades that tore Zero-Tails apart, then Naruto and Sasuke searched the Sky City for its blueprints and other hidden items.
• The Sky City exploded, and Naruto and Sasuke returned to the ground, where Sasuke left to continue his plans against Orochimaru.
• Sakura, Amaru, Hinata, Neji, Kakashi, Sai, and the others found Naruto, who told them Sasuke had already left and reassured Sakura about his strength.
• Amaru returned to her village with the other villagers and privately thanked Naruto, keeping her feelings for him to herself.
• Sasuke gave Orochimaru a scroll from the Sky City, ignored Kabuto’s questions, and left the underground base.
• At a waterfall, Sasuke trained with his Chidori Light Sword and Mangekyō Sharingan while waiting for the right opportunity to defeat Orochimaru.

Pain, Konan, and Tobi blamed Li Feiyu for disrupting the Akatsuki’s Tailed Beast operations, while Naruto returned to Konoha and discovered he possessed all seven chakra attributes. The Nine-Tails proposed using Li Feiyu’s identity to stir up trouble.

• Tobi told Pain and Konan that the Akatsuki had captured the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, but the One-Tail and Two-Tails operations had failed and four Tailed Beasts remained.
• Pain and Konan vowed to deal with Li Feiyu, whom they blamed for interfering with the Akatsuki’s plans.
• On the road to Konoha, Naruto and his companions discussed Jiraiya’s investigation of Li Feiyu and the bounty that had risen to 210 million ryo.
• Kakashi explained hidden chakra attributes, and Naruto’s chakra paper revealed that he possessed all seven attributes, with wind and water most prominent.
• The Nine-Tails told Naruto that his hidden yin attribute came from Awen and suggested using Li Feiyu’s identity to cause trouble.

Naruto and Kurama devised a way to use Li Feiyu’s mysterious identity to tell Jiraiya about the Akatsuki and other threats, but Naruto had to wait for a chance to contact him. When Tsunade assigned Naruto’s team a suspicious grave-robbing mission linked to Orochimaru, Naruto began searching his memories for clues.

• Kurama advised Naruto to use Li Feiyu’s identity to reveal information to Jiraiya, and Naruto agreed to seek him out discreetly.
• During the village’s reconstruction, Hinata and Hanabi secretly watched Naruto train, and he chose not to acknowledge them.
• Tsunade summoned Naruto, Yamato, Sakura, and Sai for a mission after strange grave robberies prompted suspicions of Orochimaru’s involvement.
• Naruto met Uzuki Yugao, learned that Jiraiya was in the Land of Rivers, and remembered that Gekko Hayate had died during the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Shizune explained that the robbers had taken neither bodies nor burial goods, and Tsunade told the team to capture them as Naruto searched his memories for relevant information.

Naruto used an Ice Release Shadow Clone and a careful disguise to meet Jiraiya as Li Feiyu in the Land of Rivers, trading Akatsuki intelligence for a future payment from Shadow Garden. After reading the scroll, Jiraiya was stunned by its revelations and realized the price might be his life.

• Naruto recalled the conflict between the Twelve Guardian Ninja and sent an Ice Release Shadow Clone, carrying the Nine-Tails' consciousness, toward the Land of Rivers.
• Naruto disguised himself and found Jiraiya at an inn, then lured him to the Southern Forest with a note claiming to be Li Feiyu.
• Naruto confronted Jiraiya, said he had valuable Akatsuki information, and demanded a trade.
• Naruto gave Jiraiya a scroll of intelligence and warned him not to share its contents, saying Shadow Garden would collect payment later.
• Jiraiya read that Nagato, Konan, and Obito were involved in Akatsuki and wondered whether the promised payment would cost him his life.

After Naruto returned from the mission, his joking with Jiraiya and Ino’s unusual behavior left him and Kurama suspicious and overly sensitive. The team returned to the village, where they found Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the others looking grave, and Tsunade asked Naruto to stay behind.

• Naruto and Team 10 camped in a house Yamato created with Wood Release, and Naruto laughed over the memories of his Ice Release Shadow Clone fooling Jiraiya.
• Naruto made up a ghost story to explain his good mood, while Ino acted strangely and Naruto and Sai wondered what was going on with her.
• Naruto and Kurama discussed the information Naruto had passed to Jiraiya through Li Feiyu and speculated about Ino’s motives.
• Ino dreamed that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai fought over her, while Naruto and Kurama continued to misread her behavior.
• Naruto, Asuma, and the others returned to the village and went to the Hokage Office, where Tsunade told Naruto to stay behind.

Naruto’s secret intelligence about Akatsuki shocked Konoha’s leaders, while he wondered whether Jiraiya would now avoid his death in Amegakure. Meanwhile, Sasuke confronted Orochimaru in his hideout and launched an attack, leaving Orochimaru stunned by his new technique.

• Tsunade showed Naruto the intelligence scroll he had secretly prepared as Li Feiyu, and Jiraiya explained its revelations about Akatsuki, Obito, Madara Uchiha, and Itachi Uchiha.
• Tsunade and the others reacted to the intelligence, while Jiraiya warned them not to expose Li Feiyu or Shadow Garden; Kakashi went to the Memorial Stone, and Naruto stayed outwardly carefree.
• Naruto discussed Jiraiya’s safety and the coming Five Kage Summit with the Nine-Tails, then wondered how Sasuke was faring against Orochimaru.
• Orochimaru prepared to take Sasuke’s body after three years, while Sasuke resolved to discover the truth for himself and prepared to confront him.
• Sasuke pierced Orochimaru’s door with a Chidori Sharp Spear, then cut his way into the room with the Sword of Kusanagi; Orochimaru recognized Sasuke and marveled at his hidden power.

Sasuke Uchiha defeated Orochimaru, resisted his attempt to take over his body, and destroyed him with Mangekyō Sharingan techniques. Sasuke left to begin his operation against Itachi, while Naruto had already stopped Hiruko’s attack on Konoha.

• Sasuke Uchiha confronted Orochimaru and mocked him for pursuing the Uchiha’s power and treating people as experimental subjects.
• Orochimaru shed his body and attacked Sasuke as the White Phosphorus Serpent, but Sasuke cut down its smaller snakes and sliced the serpent in two.
• Orochimaru’s paralyzing gas weakened Sasuke, and the White Phosphorus Serpent swallowed him to begin the reincarnation ritual.
• Sasuke awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan inside Orochimaru’s mental space and burned Orochimaru’s Yamata no Orochi form with Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi.
• Sasuke returned to the real world, felt pain from the Mangekyō’s side effects, and left to prepare to face Itachi.
• Naruto stopped Hiruko’s attack on Konoha and destroyed him after secretly plotting with the Nine-Tails over Hiruko’s Chimera Technique.

Naruto learned Hiruko’s Chimera Technique and considered how it could help him gain the other Tailed Beasts’ chakra. Tsunade then sent him to contact Sasuke about Itachi Uchiha’s secret mission, and Naruto prepared to leave the village before spotting Hanabi Hyuga near the entrance.

• Naruto and Kurama discussed how the Chimera Technique could let Naruto fuse with other Tailed Beasts, and Naruto told Minato Namikaze and Kushina he had learned the technique.
• Minato Namikaze said he wanted to use a forbidden technique to help Naruto fight, and Kurama watched as he resolved to act for his son.
• Naruto mastered the Chimera Technique after two days of practice.
• Tsunade told Naruto that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and was heading with his companions toward Orochimaru’s former base in the Land of Fields.
• Tsunade gave Naruto a classified mission to tell Sasuke that Itachi Uchiha’s S-rank undercover mission remained open.
• Naruto prepared to leave the village and saw Hanabi Hyuga wearing a forehead protector near the entrance.

Naruto tried to stop Hanabi from taking the Chunin Exams, but she got angry and left. As Naruto traveled to the Land of Fields to find Sasuke, he sensed Sasuke’s chakra along with three other people nearby.

• Hanabi told Naruto she had graduated early and planned to take the Chunin Exams in Sunagakure, but Naruto warned her not to participate because it was dangerous.
• Hanabi stormed off after Naruto insisted she wait, while the Nine-Tails reassured him that she would likely remain away from the front lines during the coming war.
• Hanabi saw Konohamaru demonstrate the Rasengan Naruto had taught him and confronted him jealously about his relationship with Naruto.
• Naruto left for the Land of Fields with Tsunade’s scroll, entered Sage Mode, and heard Kushina and Minato Namikaze tease him about Hanabi.
• Naruto sensed Sasuke’s chakra in a patch of woods and detected three others nearby before using Flying Thunder God Movement to enter the forest.

Naruto met Sasuke and received evidence linking Orochimaru’s experiments and dealings with Danzo, while Sasuke prepared to kill Danzo himself. Naruto left to deliver the scrolls to Tsunade, believing Sasuke’s conflict with Konoha had been resolved.

• Karin sensed Naruto approaching and recoiled in terror after detecting a deep darkness in his otherwise warm chakra.
• Naruto and Sasuke left the others to talk, and Naruto congratulated Sasuke on defeating Orochimaru.
• Sasuke burned Tsunade’s mission scroll and told Naruto his Mangekyō Sharingan vision was fine.
• Sasuke gave Naruto scrolls detailing Orochimaru’s research and his transactions with Danzo, and said he would kill Danzo himself.
• Naruto took the evidence to give to Tsunade, then left after jokingly insisting Sasuke keep wearing his white outfit.

Naruto returned to Konoha after delivering Sasuke’s scrolls and discussed facing the darkness of shinobi politics with Tsunade. He hurried home to read a letter from Killer B, while Hanabi and Hinata set off to visit him.

• Kurama teased Naruto with a song lyric, and Naruto panicked when Kushina reminded him he had forgotten to bring Hanabi a gift.
• Naruto gave Tsunade Sasuke’s scrolls and insisted he was ready to confront the dark side of becoming Hokage.
• Tsunade agreed that Sasuke’s evidence could help remove Danzo and handed Naruto letters from Hanabi and Killer B.
• Naruto rushed home to read Killer B’s letter, which he and Kurama suspected concerned the Waterfall of Truth.
• Hanabi pulled a blushing Hinata along to follow Naruto and visit his home.

Naruto received a secret message from Killer B directing him to Turtle Island so he could confront himself and gain control of Kurama’s chakra. After Hinata and Hanabi visited, Naruto devised a plan to leave the village using an Ice Release Shadow Clone, though it involved using Hanabi.

• Naruto used the Nine-Tails' chakra to reveal Killer B’s coded message and map to Turtle Island.
• Naruto realized he could not leave the village alone for an escort mission and asked Kurama for a way to sneak out.
• Hinata and Hanabi visited Naruto, and he apologized to Hanabi for speaking harshly to her before.
• After Hinata and Hanabi left, Naruto told Kurama he had a plan involving a stable Ice Release Shadow Clone and Hanabi.

Naruto rushed after Hanabi's mission team to deliver the graduation gift he had forgotten to give her. He gave her a Chakra Dagger, leaving Hanabi flustered by his thoughtfulness and words.

• Hanabi left Konoha with Neji, Hyuga Natsu, and their client for a C-Rank mission.
• Naruto arrived at the village gates with Hanabi's gift, learned she had already left, and used Flying Thunder God Movement to catch up with her team.
• Naruto apologized to Hanabi and gave her the gift box he had prepared for her graduation.
• Hanabi opened the box and found a Chakra Dagger colored to her liking, then blushed and grew flustered at Naruto's words.

Naruto sent an Ice Release Shadow Clone back to Konoha and hurried to the Land of Frost, where he reunited with Yugito Nii. Yugito told him they would leave that night for Turtle Island to begin his training.

• Hanabi misunderstood Naruto’s Chakra Dagger gift as a sign he wanted to marry her, while Neji and Hyuga Natsu tried to explain his intentions.
• Naruto and Kurama created an Ice Release Shadow Clone, which returned to Konoha while Naruto disguised himself and headed toward the Land of Frost.
• Naruto sensed Yugito’s chakra near the northern dock and used Flying Thunder God Movement to reach her, accidentally finding her bathing.
• Yugito told Naruto she and Killer B had arranged the mission as cover without Lord Raikage’s knowledge.
• Yugito said she and Naruto would leave that night for Turtle Island and return after his training was complete.

Naruto confronted his dark self at the Waterfall of Truth, where Dark Naruto exposed the resentment and doubts Naruto had buried after inheriting Awen's memories. Naruto admitted that the accusations were true and began facing the pain he had long avoided.

• Yugito brought Naruto to the Waterfall of Truth and explained that he had to face his true self before he could safely wield Kurama's power.
• Naruto entered his inner world and met Dark Naruto, who attacked him and rejected the idea of merging.
• Dark Naruto accused Naruto of resenting the villagers, Iruka, Sakura Haruno, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and the fate imposed by Asura's reincarnation.
• Dark Naruto overwhelmed Naruto and said he would rather die than merge with him.
• Naruto grabbed Dark Naruto's wrist, admitted the truth of his accusations, and confessed that he had wanted to become Hokage so people would notice him.

Naruto accepted his inner darkness, connected with Kurama, and achieved Nine-Tails Mode without eliminating that darkness. As Naruto welcomed a new beginning, Shion awoke from a prophecy of his death and resolved to defy it.

• Outside the Waterfall of Truth, Yugito and the others feared Naruto's intense, chaotic chakra as he remained trapped in his inner world.
• Dark Naruto attacked Naruto, but Naruto embraced him and declared he would stop living according to a predetermined script; they fist-bumped and Naruto's inner world shattered.
• Naruto entered his inner world again and fist-bumped Kurama, successfully connecting with the Nine-Tails and awakening Nine-Tails Mode.
• Yugito and the Two-Tails Nekomata were astonished that Naruto controlled his darkness instead of making it disappear, while Naruto explained how light and darkness existed within everyone.
• In the Land of Demons, Shion awoke from a prophecy showing Naruto's death and vowed to reject the prophecy and prevent the world's destruction.

Shion decided to travel to Konoha to find Naruto, while Pain attacked Kumogakure and captured Killer B. Naruto learned from Minato and Kushina how to free their souls from the Death God and set out to find White Zetsu as the Akatsuki prepared to extract the Eight-Tails.

• Shion told her maids to summon Tōji and said she planned to go to Konoha to find Naruto.
• Pain's forces attacked Kumogakure, captured Killer B, and left after learning that Yugito was away; the wounded Raikage regretted rejecting an alliance with the other villages.
• Minato told Naruto that White Zetsu could serve as a vessel for Impure World Reincarnation, and Kushina revealed that the Uzumaki shrine's Death God's Mask could free souls consumed by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
• Naruto entered Sage Fox Mode and set out to capture White Zetsu so he could revive his parents.
• Pain and Konan summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to begin extracting the Eight-Tails, while Kisame reported that Itachi was fighting Sasuke and Deidara vowed to pursue them.