Recaps

Hatake Ziyan exposed Hiruzen Sarutobi’s betrayal, then spent years training in seclusion before taking charge of the Konoha 12. After freeing Neji from his Caged Bird Seal and putting the children through harsh training, Ziyan heard Kushina had come to make a different request.

• Hatake Ziyan forced Hanzō to reveal that a Konoha Hokage had helped him attack the Akatsuki, then rescued Yahiko and advised him to visit the Land of Iron.
• Hatake Ziyan confronted Hiruzen Sarutobi in Konoha, presented evidence of his crimes, and killed him after a survivor’s testimony was cut short by jutsu backlash.
• Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya found records of Hiruzen Sarutobi’s misconduct, while Asuma read the scrolls and struggled to accept what they revealed.
• After five years of secluded training, Hatake Ziyan advanced his cultivation and demonstrated a sword slash that split the Third Hokage’s stone likeness.
• Hatake Ziyan took charge of twelve students at the Ninja Academy and secured the Hyuga clan’s agreement to secretly remove Neji’s Caged Bird Seal.
• Hatake Ziyan put the children through severe training, prompting Naruto to endure his killing intent and Sasuke to awaken his One-Tomoe Sharingan, then appointed Shikamaru their captain.
• Naruto complained to Minato Namikaze about the training, and Kushina visited Hatake Ziyan, who guessed she had come because of Naruto and promised to teach him carefully.

Hatake Ziyan divided Kurama between Kushina and Naruto, then set the Second-generation Konoha 12 a succession assessment against Shisui’s predecessors. After Naruto, Sasuke, Hinata, and their teammates fought a series of demanding matches, Ziyan declared them passed and tasked the Hyuga Clan with searching Konoha for the hidden organization.

• Kushina asked Hatake Ziyan to give Naruto the Nine-Tails, and Ziyan instead split Kurama’s yin and yang halves between Kushina and Naruto.
• Three years later, Hatake Ziyan told the Konoha 12 they had to earn their predecessors’ recognition to keep their places and the jutsu he had taught them.
• Shikamaru negotiated an assessment with Shisui, and the younger shinobi arranged individual and team matches against the first-generation Twelve Rookies.
• Shisui defeated Naruto, Itachi defeated Sasuke but judged him worthy, and Hinata defeated Hayate before Ziyan stopped her finishing strike.
• Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji defeated Haku, while Nawaki overcame Kiba, Sakura, and Tenten with Wood Release and poisonous pollen.
• Kimimaro defeated Neji, Rock Lee, and Shino, and Hatake Ziyan declared the Second-generation Konoha 12 had passed.
• Hatake Ziyan asked Hiashi to organize a month of Hyuga surveillance across Konoha to find the hidden organization, and Hiashi agreed.

Hatake Ziyan uncovered Yan’s role in a hidden organization and protected Konoha from its agents while Shisui’s team completed the Land of Waves mission. The Konoha 12 then entered the Joint Chunin Ninja Exams, where Gaara and Rock Lee’s match left Lee charging back into battle.

• Hatake Ziyan organized Konoha’s surveillance, and Shikamaru, Shisui, and Hiashi led efforts to watch the village.
• Hatake Ziyan exposed Yan as Hyuga Yūwa, captured him, and learned about the organization and its leader from him.
• Hatake Ziyan released Yan and brought him to the Hatake Compound, while Shisui later took Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata on an escort mission to the Land of Waves.
• Shisui’s team fought Zabuza and Guren, defeated Gato’s men, and returned to Konoha after Dazna completed the Peace Bridge.
• Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata fought Gaara in Konoha until Hatake Ziyan stopped Shukaku’s transformation, and the Konoha 12 later entered the Chunin Ninja Exams.
• The Konoha 12 passed the written test and Forest of Death, then reached the third exam’s one-on-one matches.
• Rock Lee challenged Gaara, opened the Gate of View and the Gate of Wonder, escaped Gaara’s sand burial with Daytime Tiger, and charged at him.

Hatake Ziyan uncovered a hidden organization’s influence and became the target of rumors that turned the villages against him. As Minato Namikaze gathered the Kage to form a Ten-Tails plan, they approved Deva Path Pain as its jinchūriki and considered Orochimaru’s offer to use Impure World Reincarnation.

• Rock Lee defeated Gaara, while Hinata and Neji were disqualified after Hatake Ziyan stopped their dangerous attacks, and the first stage ended and the second began at the Forest of Death.
• Naruto Uzumaki abducted Minato Namikaze during the invasion, while Rasa’s assault spread across Konoha and Danzo revealed his alliance with the other villages.
• Hatake Ziyan stopped Kushina and Minato from being harmed, defeated the being possessing Danzo, and buried Danzo’s corpse, and Sasuke fought Naruto at the Valley of the End, but Naruto returned to Konoha after their battle.
• Konoha repelled the invasion with help from the rescued children, then demanded reparations and designated Naruto an SS-Rank missing-nin, and Hatake Ziyan left to investigate the hidden organization.
• Hatake Ziyan confronted Nagato in Amegakure, learned that Yahiko had died and that a masked man had misled Nagato, then returned to the Land of Iron to expose Elder Koichi as a spy.
• Hatake Ziyan discovered Takigakure destroyed and was framed for the attack on Stone Ninja Village, but Ōnoki accepted that he had not ordered it, and rumors then spurred a Shinobi World Conference against him.
• Minato Namikaze brought Deva Path Pain to the conference to discuss making him the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, where Pain repelled the Raikage’s attack and the leaders approved his offer.
• Yagura urged the leaders to use Impure World Reincarnation to summon Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and Orochimaru offered to perform the forbidden jutsu.