Recaps

Aokiji became the Five-Tails’ Jinchuriki amid Uchiha Madara’s schemes and Konoha’s suspicion, while he worked to earn the beast’s cooperation and protect Tsunade. He began training with the Five-Tails under Uzumaki Mito, determined to defy fate and strengthen their bond.

• Sarutobi Hiruzen considered bringing Aokiji into the Anbu, while Uchiha Madara manipulated the Daimyo of the Land of Grass into preparing for war against the Land of Fire.
• Aokiji recruited Kakuzu to help Konoha in exchange for helping him reclaim his place in Takigakure, then joined Uchiha Aka’s team on a mission to destroy enemy supplies.
• Uchiha Madara used Uchiha Aka’s identity to lure Aokiji into danger, and later captured Aokiji and unleashed the Five-Tails in Konoha before sealing it inside him.
• Aokiji and Tsunade revealed their relationship to Jiraiya and Orochimaru, while Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered Aokiji monitored until he could control the Five-Tails.
• Aokiji met the Five-Tails inside his sealed space, opened its gate, and agreed to a seven-year bargain in which he would defeat it in exchange for peaceful cooperation.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen told Aokiji that an impostor had caused the Five-Tails incident to worsen tensions between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, and Aokiji vowed to uncover the saboteur while keeping his Sharingan secret.
• Aokiji went to the Forest of Death to train with Uzumaki Mito, who connected their mental worlds and agreed not to reseal the Five-Tails after hearing of their pact.
• Aokiji persuaded the Five-Tails to guide his training by promising to help free the other Tailed Beasts, then awakened its Chakra and Boil Release with Mito’s help.

Aokiji strengthened his bond with Tsunade while developing his Boil and Ice Release abilities and pursuing control of Kokuō’s power. Their relationship became public, and the Senju elders decided it could not continue because Aokiji was an Uchiha Jinchuriki.

• Aokiji developed Boil Release with Kokuō’s help, left his confinement, and reunited with Tsunade, who had been cleaning his home.
• Aokiji demonstrated Boil Release for Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya, then defeated Tsunade in an arm-wrestling match after distracting her with a confession of love.
• Aokiji challenged Kokuō, froze the beast with Ice Release, and learned that it considered him a suitable Jinchuriki while refusing to end their fight.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen lifted Aokiji’s restrictions, and Aokiji asked to be deployed with Tsunade before moving in with her.
• Aokiji and Tsunade began living together, and their relationship became known among the Uchiha while Danzo unsuccessfully urged Sarutobi Hiruzen to extract the Five-Tails.
• Aokiji pursued his S-rank Ice Release technique and brought Tsunade into his inner world, where she met Kokuō and learned that it willingly shared its power with him.
• Tsunade told Aokiji about Konoha’s secret Wood Release experiment and her possible involvement, and Aokiji warned her against undergoing it.
• The Senju elders debated Tsunade’s relationship with Aokiji, suspected Uchiha motives, and agreed that the relationship could not continue.

Aokiji defeated Asakura in the Senju guard challenge and continued protecting his relationship with Tsunade from both clan politics and Uchiha Madara’s schemes. He later joined Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya on a war mission, where a Sky Ninja assault began and Aokiji faced an oncoming tsunami.

• Aokiji defeated Asakura in a battle for Tsunade’s protection, but Asakura’s Wood Release experiments overwhelmed him and led to his death.
• Uchiha Madara defeated Kakuzu, recruited him to help with a plan involving Aokiji, and later helped Kakuzu acquire the Seven-Tails and Hero’s Water.
• Aokiji and Tsunade’s misunderstandings over intimacy continued, while Aokiji warned her that Madara might target her and endanger her if she became pregnant.
• Aokiji showed Fugaku the sealed ruins at Red Plains and explained his theory that a failed God Tree specimen had helped Hashirama develop Wood Release.
• Sarutobi Hiruzen assigned Orochimaru to lead Aokiji, Tsunade, and Jiraiya on a war mission against the Yaporen Clan’s Super Beasts.
• Aokiji volunteered to fight the Super Beasts, then rushed with Tsunade to defend the camp when Sky Ninjas attacked from the air.
• Aokiji fought the Sky Ninjas with Fire and Ice Release, then returned to the ground as Kameida’s forces sent a huge wave toward the Konoha defenders.

Aokiji helped defeat the Land of Sky and uncovered its connection to the Kara Clan and Zero-Tails, while his Sharingan increased the political danger surrounding him. As Konoha’s leaders faced pressure over the Five-Tails and Kakuzu attacked Sarutobi Hiruzen, Aokiji’s group reached the Land of Demons and agreed to protect the pregnant Priestess Suiren.

• Aokiji helped defeat Kameida’s forces, returned to a damaged Konoha, and later joined Tsunade on a mission to attack the Land of Sky’s mobile fortress.
• Aokiji confronted Ichihime, learned about the Kara Clan and the Tree of Life, and fought Zero-Tails after it absorbed Shinno.
• Aokiji froze Zero-Tails, killed Ichihime, and escaped the collapsing fortress with a secret scroll that Tsunade agreed to conceal from the village.
• Aokiji revealed his Sharingan to the Uchiha Clan, while Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen debated how to handle his growing power and influence.
• Aokiji and his companions fought Hanzō to a draw as Sarutobi Hiruzen rejected demands from Ōnoki and the Third Mizukage to surrender Aokiji.
• Kakuzu ambushed Sarutobi Hiruzen on his return journey, survived attacks that destroyed his bodies, and left Hiruzen incapacitated after using his Tailed Beast Cloak.
• Aokiji’s group reached the Land of Demons, where Jialan asked them to protect the pregnant Priestess Suiren because Moryo threatened to break free of its seal.