Recaps

Hiashi uncovered the Hyuga elders’ role in Hizashi’s death and confronted them while Naruto protected Hinata and Hanabi. Naruto welcomed Karin to Konoha, but Kurama sensed Shukaku’s unstable chakra nearby.

• Obito reaffirmed his commitment to the Eye of the Moon Plan, while Black Zetsu privately celebrated his influence over Obito and Madara.
• Hiashi’s mission to Kirigakure exposed Genji’s concealed takeover, and Hiashi’s team fought Kirigakure forces before securing a trade for Ao’s Byakugan and medical equipment.
• Naruto and Sakura encountered Jiraiya after he behaved improperly, while Inoichi urged Naruto to prepare for the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams.
• Naruto created a controlled opening in Kurama’s seal, and Hiashi privately confessed to Neji that Hizashi had willingly died in his place after the Kumogakure envoy incident.
• Hiashi and Neji found the Hyuga elders’ compound attacked, then Hiashi disguised himself as Hizashi to draw out the elders’ confessions and killed the Third Elder.
• Naruto refused the elders’ summons for Hinata and Hanabi, and Hiashi declared Neji the Hyuga Clan’s heir and led him to confront the elders.
• Naruto rescued Karin from two Kusagakure boys, welcomed her to Konoha, and continued with her as Kurama sensed Shukaku’s enraged chakra nearby.

Naruto brought Karin to Konoha, where Hiruzen promised to protect her, while Naruto and his friends prepared for and began the Chunin Ninja Exams. In the Forest of Death, Naruto’s teams fought rival genin, encountered Orochimaru and Gaara, and reached the Tower with a plan to obtain the scrolls they still needed.

• Naruto brought Karin before Hiruzen, who heard how Kusagakure had abused her and declared her a Konoha villager under his protection.
• Naruto took Karin home, introduced her to Inoichi and his friends, and supported Neji as he accepted his role as Hyuga Clan Heir.
• Naruto organized the Konoha teams for the Chunin Ninja Exams, and he and his teammates passed Ibiki’s written test before Anko sent them into the Forest of Death.
• Naruto welcomed Kazahana Koyuki to his home and gave her a marked kunai and paper crane before she left to pursue an alliance between the Land of Snow and Konoha.
• Team 7 entered the forest, attacked the Kusagakure team, and Naruto led his allies to help Team 10 defeat Amegakure ninja and secure an Earth Scroll.
• Naruto used a shadow clone to fight Orochimaru, who escaped after the clone exposed his tactics, then reunited with the other Konoha teams to search for the scrolls.
• The Konoha teams attacked Sunagakure genin, but Naruto ordered a retreat after Gaara killed the fleeing Sand ninja with his sand.
• Naruto’s group reached the Tower with two Heaven Scrolls and waited to ambush teams carrying the scroll they needed, while Anko warned him to limit casualties.

Naruto pursued Danzo while Orochimaru launched an invasion of Konoha during the Chunin Exams. As the village fought back, Naruto faced Orochimaru’s reanimations and Gaara’s rampage, and the arc left Naruto moving to stop Baki after asking Kushina to protect Karin.

• Naruto defeated Gaara outside the Tower, while his group fought Temari and Kankuro, and later discovered that Hanabi had been disguised as Karin.
• Naruto rejected Jiraiya’s offer to become his disciple, while Hana Inuzuka recruited Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sasuke to help Kiba meet Kohan.
• Hinata fought Neji in the preliminaries but lost, and Naruto healed her after carrying both Hyuga fighters back to the viewing area.
• Naruto infiltrated the Root Base, stole Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan from Danzo, and repeatedly fought Danzo’s Izanagi as Orochimaru began his invasion of Konoha.
• Orochimaru and the Sound Four trapped Hiruzen inside the Four Violet Flames Formation while Sound and Sand forces attacked Konoha, and Gaara lost control of Shukaku’s chakra.
• Naruto escaped Danzo’s Reverse Four Symbols Seal, while Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro restrained the Three-Headed Giant Snake and Jiraiya arrived to rally Konoha’s defenders.
• Orochimaru revealed that he knew Naruto’s parents and offered to resurrect Naruto’s mother, but Naruto refused and raised a Wood Golem to break the barrier and fight the reanimated Hokage.
• Naruto sealed Hashirama, helped Kushina release herself from Impure World Reincarnation, and then went to stop Baki after he freed Gaara, asking Kushina to protect Karin.

Naruto defeated the invaders, erased and rebuilt Konoha, and confronted the legacies of Asura and Indra as the village recovered. He then left to find Tsunade and freed Uchiha Hikari, who awoke uncertain whether her clan still existed.

• Naruto sealed Rasa and Orochimaru, while Kankuro escaped with Gaara, who carried Naruto’s Flying Thunder God mark.
• Naruto prepared Konoha’s residents and wounded for evacuation, then erased the ruined village and rebuilt it with Wood Release and the chakra, memories, and hopes of its people.
• Naruto arranged for Orochimaru to research the Sharingan and spoke with Tobirama, while Indra persuaded Sasuke to accept his offer of power.
• Konoha’s leaders invited Tsunade back as an advisory elder and promoted Naruto to Jonin, along with several others to Chunin.
• Naruto left a wood clone in Konoha, found Uchiha Hikari’s seal, and released her from it.
• Hikari trapped Naruto in her Tsukuyomi and questioned him about the destruction of the clans, but Naruto stopped her from using Yachihoko.
• Naruto removed Hikari’s Mangekyō Sharingan, restrained her, and told her she had been sealed for a hundred or two hundred years.