Recaps

Kazan defeated Uchiha Hikari, sealed Kurama inside himself, and helped Konoha face threats from the other villages. He took Neji as his disciple and gave Hikari a brief chance to experience the future before her story ended, while Jing Uchiha survived and began planning his next moves.

• Kazan opened the Eight Gates and used Night Guy to shatter Uchiha Hikari’s Susanoo, but Minato Namikaze transported them away before either could finish the other.
• Kazan accepted Kurama as a friend and new home, then joined Konoha’s leaders as they planned to deter the other villages and defend their borders.
• Kazan defeated Rasa’s Sand Shinobi forces and removed Uchiha Hikari’s mark from the Ryumyaku, while Sara chose to seal the Ryumyaku and rebuild Rōran without its power.
• As Konoha faced attacks and clan tensions, Kazan helped settle the Uchiha-Hyuga brawl and chose Neji as his disciple, challenging the Hyuga Clan’s restrictions on Branch Family members.
• Kazan urged Neji to grow strong enough to change the Hyuga Clan and its Caged Bird Seal system, while the other great villages withdrew from the conflict.
• Kazan and Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned Uchiha Hikari, who explained the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan and named Jing Uchiha, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu as its backers.
• Kazan showed Hikari life in Konoha, where Kurenai Yuhi, Anko, and Minato Namikaze’s family welcomed her, then helped her spend several happier days before fulfilling her request for burial.
• Black Zetsu learned Jing Uchiha had survived through Kukurihime, and Jing planned to build up the Mist Ninja, contact the Sand Shinobi, and send White Zetsu after Hiruko.

Kazan confronted Nagato and learned that Jing Uchiha had taken the Rinnegan, then prepared Konoha for the threat of Madara Uchiha. As the Five Kage Summit failed to unite the villages, Konoha began selecting wielders for the Ninja Blades, and Obito fought Asuka in the final match.

• Jing Uchiha ordered White Zetsu to locate Hiruko and seek Kekkei Genkai while planning to turn the Kaguya Clan against Konoha, and Hiruzen Sarutobi challenged Kazan over sparing Uchiha Hikari.
• Kazan met the lunar Otsutsuki near Konoha, learned why they had come, and warned them not to threaten Earth.
• Kazan fought Nagato’s Six Paths of Pain in Amegakure, but Jing Uchiha arrived, killed Nagato, and took both Rinnegan before Kazan broke free of Planetary Devastation.
• Kazan and Konan buried Nagato, and Konan joined Kazan and Hikari on their journey to Konoha to avenge Yahiko and Nagato.
• Minato Namikaze warned the Five Kage that Madara Uchiha planned to gather the Tailed Beasts and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but the summit ended without an alliance.
• Kazan mastered the Strength of a Hundred Technique as Minato arranged a selection to place Konoha’s Ninja Blades with new wielders.
• Kakashi, Yuzuki Kurama, Itachi, Asuma, Akimichi Ryuhei, and Might Guy won blades in the selection, while Kazan named his elite unit the Shichibukai.
• Obito fought Asuka, awakened his three-Tomoe Sharingan, and declared that he would someday challenge Kazan for the title of Hokage.

Kazan trained the Shichibukai, sent Hikari to defeat Moryo, and then challenged the Tailed Beasts across the great villages while collecting Kusanagi Swords. After confronting Orochimaru and the resurrected Senju founders, Kazan declared his intention to become Hokage, continued transforming through training, and watched Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry grow into a village spectacle.

• Kazan formed the Shichibukai and sent them to earn recognition from powerful Summoning Beasts, while he trained Yuzuki Kurama in swordsmanship and the Added-Weight Rock Technique.
• Kazan sent Uchiha Hikari to the Land of Demons, where she destroyed Moryo with Susanoo and Miroku’s Priestess Power.
• Two years later, Kazan warned Minato that he would attack the Tailed Beasts, then traveled among the villages and defeated Shukaku, Gyuki, Chōmei, and the Six-Tails.
• Kazan confronted Orochimaru in Otogakure, fought Hashirama and Tobirama after Orochimaru summoned them, and revealed Madara’s survival and plans through Jing Uchiha.
• Kazan announced that he would become the Fifth Hokage and treat Konoha’s clans equally, then let Hashirama and Tobirama secretly visit the village before they returned to the Underworld.
• Kazan completed his transformation, opened all Eight Gates, and healed his injuries almost instantly, while Neji developed Steel Fist and secretly planned a Branch Family revolt.
• Naruto protected Hinata and began a fierce rivalry with Sasuke at the Ninja Academy, while Kazan told their fathers that the boys carried Asura’s and Indra’s reincarnated Chakra.
• As Naruto and Sasuke’s rivalry drew followers and spectators, Kazan filled Konoha’s sky with dark clouds and red lightning and ordered everyone to go home.

Kazan trained Sasuke, Naruto, Yakumo, and Neji while Neji challenged the Hyuga Clan’s Caged Bird Seal. During the Chunin Exams, Sand and Mist forces invaded Konoha, and Kazan’s battle with Jing Uchiha ended with Madara Uchiha’s arrival.

• Sasuke awakened his Sharingan and chose to defeat Kazan, while Naruto began Sage Mode training and later defeated Sasuke at the Academy.
• Itachi took Sasuke on a farm mission, where he learned how Kazan and earlier generations had protected Konoha’s peace.
• Kazan provoked Yakumo’s Ido into emerging, then broke her genjutsu, forgave her, and accepted her as his disciple.
• Kazan killed Kakuzu, then married Hikari and Kurenai after experiencing the life he wanted through Yakumo and Hikari’s illusion.
• Neji challenged the Hyuga Main Family over the Caged Bird Seal, defeated Hiashi in Sage Mode, and agreed to keep the seal temporarily while the clan tested whether he could deter enemies.
• During the Chunin Exams, Shukaku, the Three-Tails, and the Six-Tails rampaged as Sand and Mist forces invaded Konoha, while Hikari exposed a White Zetsu impostor and Kazan’s Nine-Tails fought the beasts.
• Konoha’s forces battled invading troops and reanimated ninja as Kazan spread chakra-filled clones to expose White Zetsu infiltrators and confronted Jing Uchiha.
• Jing summoned beasts against Konoha, but Kazan pressed the attack until Jing used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Madara Uchiha.