Recaps

The Fourth Raikage and Killer B tried to reach Amegakure but were stopped by Ōnoki and Iwagakure forces, while Deidara attacked the Cloud Ninja. After Konoha reported that the assault on Amegakure had begun and the Akatsuki seemed prepared, Ōnoki considered whether the Akatsuki had captured Yugito.

• The Fourth Raikage learned that Yugito had disappeared and led Kumogakure troops toward the Land of Rain.
• The Fourth Raikage and Killer B entered a trapped valley, where Ōnoki and Iwagakure forces confronted them and a battle broke out.
• Deidara bombed the Cloud Ninja from the sky, was struck down by lightning, then escaped the troops with an explosive clone.
• Killer B broke through the Rock Ninja’s formation and retreated with the Fourth Raikage under cover of ink smoke.
• A scout told the Fourth Raikage that Konoha had already attacked Amegakure, and Konoha Ninja warned that the Akatsuki seemed prepared.
• Ōnoki told Deidara that Iwagakure had only intervened under an agreement and later wondered whether the Akatsuki had captured Yugito.

Zou Hyuga and Hiruko brought Shukaku to Amegakure after Hiruko fought the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation and Konoha's assault force was driven back. At the Akatsuki base, Zou learned the group was turning its attention to the Three-Tails, then arranged to meet the captive Yugito and activated his Byakugan as he faced her.

• Zou Hyuga questioned retreating Konoha ninja about their defeat in Amegakure and directed them along a safer route, while Hiruko fought the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation and was trapped by their techniques.
• Zou Hyuga appeared during the battle, prompting Shikaku Nara to order the exhausted Konoha ninja to retreat; afterward, Zou freed Hiruko in exchange for a promised payment.
• Zou Hyuga and Hiruko reached Amegakure, where they saw the devastated battlefield, reported that they had captured the One-Tail, and learned that Sasori had been missing for days.
• Pain instructed the Akatsuki to focus next on the Three-Tails, and Shinnō later told Zou Hyuga that Konoha had allied with Kumogakure to attack Amegakure before Iwagakure's forces intercepted them.
• Zou Hyuga asked Shinnō to let him meet Yugito, the Two-Tails' jinchūriki; after Orochimaru permitted it, Zou visited her in her cage and activated his Byakugan.

Zou Hyuga secretly absorbed some of Two-Tails Yugito’s chakra after she was captured by the Akatsuki. Meanwhile, the Third and the Raikage regrouped after their defeats, and Kirigakure’s force finally arrived.

• Zou Hyuga knocked Yugito unconscious, then used Karma to absorb about three percent of the tailed beast’s chakra and took a sample of her blood.
• The Third recalled how Pain and the Akatsuki had routed Konoha’s raid, while the Raikage explained that Ōnoki had intercepted Kumogakure’s force and Yugito had been captured.
• The Raikage learned from the Third about Pain’s Sage’s Eye and blamed Orochimaru for capturing Yugito.
• The Third and the Raikage prepared for an apparent threat in the rainforest, then recognized the arriving force as the allied contingent from Kirigakure.

The Third Hokage’s force abandoned its failed raid on Amegakure and withdrew after Kirigakure arrived a day late. On the journey home, Jiraiya revealed his connection to Akatsuki’s leaders, and the battered force eventually reached Konoha.

• Mei Terumi learned that the raid had been scheduled for the previous day, and the Third Hokage decided against attacking Amegakure again.
• The Third Hokage withdrew from the Land of Rain after hearing that the Akatsuki had taken the One-Tail and that Konoha had repelled an attack involving the Masked Man.
• Jiraiya told the Third Hokage that Akatsuki’s leaders might be the children he had once taught, and the Hokage warned him not to approach them.
• The Third Hokage kept Jiraiya’s revelation private as reports from Sunagakure showed the alliance growing weaker.
• After a week of travel, the injured raiding force reached Konoha.

Zou Hyuga observed Akatsuki seal Shukaku and investigated fragments of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, while Nagato faced growing pressure over Akatsuki’s next moves. In Konoha, the leaders debated how to respond to Akatsuki before turning their attention to the Uchiha, leaving the village’s next decision unresolved.

• Zou Hyuga joined Akatsuki as its members began the ritual to seal Shukaku, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path swallowed the One-Tail.
• Zou Hyuga examined fragments of the statue, found that they absorbed his chakra, and considered how their chakra might relate to Wood Release and kekkei mora.
• Obito asked Nagato whether Akatsuki should target Kirigakure or Iwagakure, while Konan reported Kumogakure’s demand to negotiate over Yugito and a new request from Hiruko and Orochimaru.
• Konan told Nagato that Hiruko and Orochimaru wanted to continue the Chimera Ritual using Sasori’s Puppet Technique, and Nagato agreed to inspect their work.
• At a Konoha meeting, Jiraiya argued that Akatsuki’s leaders might still change their ways, while Danzo coveted Nagato’s Rinnegan.
• The Third Hokage redirected Konoha’s discussion from Akatsuki to the Uchiha and the Military Police Force, raising concern about Oto and Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan.

The Third Hokage established the Fire Squad, appointing Oto Uchiha as its captain to counter the Akatsuki and attend leadership meetings. After Shisui asked about Zou’s infiltration, Oto reassured him and told him about her new command.

• Tsunade and Jiraiya supported the Third Hokage’s plan to give powerful shinobi and clan heads seats at leadership meetings, while Danzo remained mostly silent.
• The Third Hokage established the Fire Squad as a unit of young elite jonin under the Hokage’s direct command, and the meeting named it Oto Uchiha’s squad.
• The Third Hokage appointed Oto Uchiha as captain and ordered her to counter the Akatsuki and attend leadership meetings.
• Oto Uchiha reviewed the squad roster and noted that Zou was still undercover in the Akatsuki.
• Shisui asked Oto whether Zou had infiltrated the Akatsuki after seeing him defeat their group and take the One-Tail in the Land of Wind.
• Oto Uchiha reassured Shisui that Zou had his reasons, then told him about the Fire Squad.

Oto arranged for Shisui to receive senjutsu training before surgery to restore his abilities, while Danzo pursued his ambitions and covert research. After reflecting on his weakness against Akatsuki, Kakashi asked Jiraiya to teach him senjutsu, and Jiraiya agreed to take him to Mount Myōboku.

• Oto told Shisui that surgery involving white zetsu cells required senjutsu support and arranged for Bell Cat to train him.
• Danzo sent a letter to one of Orochimaru's spies and continued researching ways to evolve ninja beasts with natural energy.
• Jiraiya was turned away from the Konoha Bathhouse and encountered Kakashi, who asked about his next novel.
• Jiraiya and Kakashi discussed Akatsuki, and Kakashi admitted he felt too weak to face its members.
• Jiraiya agreed to take Kakashi to Mount Myōboku to meet the sages and test his aptitude for senjutsu.

Jiraiya brought Kakashi to Mount Myōboku to ask whether he could learn senjutsu. After the Great Toad Sage shared a troubling prophecy about an unseen threat and the Shinobi World's obscured future, Kakashi began preparations for the dangerous training.

• Jiraiya used the Reverse Summoning Technique to bring Kakashi to Mount Myōboku, where the Great Toad Sage agreed to let him try senjutsu.
• The Great Toad Sage told Jiraiya of a prophecy involving the blue-eyed Child of Prophecy, strange armored fighters, a dark leader, and traces of natural energy linked to a leyline.
• Jiraiya left the temple troubled and warned Kakashi that the Shinobi World might face serious trouble, though he did not reveal the prophecy.
• Sage Fukasaku led Kakashi and Jiraiya to the Toad Pool and explained that failed senjutsu training could turn Kakashi into stone.
• Kakashi firmly agreed to proceed, and Sage Fukasaku asked whether he had much chakra.

Kakashi trained to enter Sage Mode on Mount Myōboku but failed because he lacked sufficient chakra and senjutsu talent. After three days of training and eating bugs, he returned to the village carrying excess natural energy and met the newly formed Fire Squad.

• Sage Fukasaku guided Kakashi as he attempted Sage Mode, but toadlike features spread across his body until Sage Fukasaku forced him out of the training.
• Sage Fukasaku said Kakashi lacked the chakra and talent for senjutsu, then allowed him and Jiraiya to stay on Mount Myōboku for three days.
• Kakashi and Jiraiya endured three days of eating bugs while continuing their training.
• Kakashi returned to the village with natural energy still inside him and planned to purge it, though he had gained insights that could improve his Lightning Release.
• Oto Uchiha, Guy, Yamato, and Shisui approached Kakashi as the Fire Squad, and Guy asked whether he had been attacked.

Oto Uchiha helped Kakashi remove dangerous natural energy from his body, then took her squad to train for a coming fight with the Akatsuki. During a private session, Bell Cat delivered a letter and equipment from Zou, including Chakra Armor and news of a proposed Chakra Network.

• Guy noticed unfamiliar chakra in Kakashi, and Oto identified it as natural energy from Senjutsu training at Mount Myōboku.
• Oto instructed Yamato to draw the excess natural energy out of Kakashi with Wood Release, making his toad-like features disappear.
• Oto told Kakashi she could use Senjutsu briefly and invited him to join the Fire Squad's special training against the Akatsuki.
• Oto took a disguised Shadow Clone deeper into the forest, replaced it with another clone, and summoned Bell Cat.
• Bell Cat gave Oto a letter and dangerous equipment from Zou, and Oto read about Chakra Armor and the Chakra Network.

Zou Hyuga joined Orochimaru, Hiruko, and Shinnō as they presented their experimental creations to Pain in a rainy mountain area of the Land of Rain. After Hiruko summoned two unstable subjects infused with natural energy, Pain asked Konan to test their combat strength.

• Zou Hyuga read Oto's letter from Konoha, destroyed it, and returned to his experiments.
• Zou Hyuga went to the Akatsuki hall, where Orochimaru, Hiruko, and Shinnō had gathered to review their research.
• Pain and Konan joined the researchers, and the group traveled to a mountainous area in the Land of Rain to examine the results.
• Hiruko summoned two unstable test subjects created through the Chimera Technique and infused with natural energy.
• Pain asked Konan to test the subjects, and she rose into the air before them.

Akatsuki tested two modified prisoners, but Konan defeated them with her Paper Release, leaving the researchers disappointed in their combat value. After Hiruko killed them, the researchers discussed how to improve their experiments while Zou Hyuga began pursuing Shinnō’s Sky Ninja technology.

• Hiruko and Orochimaru removed the seals from two test subjects, who erupted with powerful chakra and attacked Konan.
• Konan destroyed most of the test subjects’ fighting ability with explosive paper, while Zou Hyuga assessed their injuries and strength through his Byakugan.
• Deva Path asked Hiruko for more stable test subjects, then left with Konan after ordering the researchers to continue their work.
• Hiruko killed the incapacitated test subjects after the researchers collected their data, and Orochimaru remarked that Sasori might have improved the experiment.
• Hiruko and Orochimaru exchanged theories about creating better test subjects, while Zou Hyuga listened and accepted Shinnō’s overtures to gain access to Sky Ninja technology.

Obito considered whether to help the Akatsuki experiment but chose not to interfere. Zou Hyuga secretly approached Orochimaru to trade Chakra Armor technology for Cursed Seal technology and access to Senjutsu knowledge and Ryūchi Cave’s White Snake Sage.

• Obito asked Zetsu whether the experiment could succeed and discussed providing White Zetsu, but he decided not to hand Zetsu over to Nagato.
• After the experiment, Zou Hyuga followed Orochimaru to his base and asked to trade for his Senjutsu knowledge and meet the White Snake Sage.
• Orochimaru challenged Zou Hyuga over how he knew about the White Snake Sage, and Zou Hyuga pointed out Orochimaru’s ties to Danzo as leverage.
• Orochimaru threatened Zou Hyuga, but Zou Hyuga warned him about Pain and revealed he might be a Shadow Clone.
• Zou Hyuga offered Chakra Armor technology in exchange for Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal technology, and Orochimaru recognized it as Land of Snow technology.

Zou Hyuga negotiated with Orochimaru for the Cursed Seal techniques and a chance to visit Ryūchi Cave. Orochimaru led him through a passage saturated with natural energy, and Zou followed him through the cave entrance, hoping to meet its sages.

• Orochimaru agreed to give Zou Hyuga basic Cursed Seal techniques in exchange for help gathering information on kekkei genkai, especially Konoha's Byakugan and Sharingan bloodlines.
• Zou Hyuga asked to visit Ryūchi Cave, and Orochimaru agreed before leading him out of the Land of Rain and into an underground passage.
• Orochimaru and Zou Hyuga crossed a doorway and traveled through a region where natural energy grew denser and the great snakes had driven away other creatures.
• Orochimaru showed Zou Hyuga the entrance marked Ryūchi Cave and warned that its sages might refuse to meet him.
• Orochimaru vanished through the entrance, and Zou Hyuga followed, wondering whether a sealing barrier or Space-Time Ninjutsu had transported him.

Zou Hyuga entered Ryūchi Cave and met the White Snake Sage, who recognized his unusual abilities and allowed him to study Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu. The White Snake Sage then revealed that she had tasked Orochimaru with finding the person who tampered with the Leyline, and Orochimaru identified Zou Hyuga as the culprit.

• Ryūchi Cave’s power sent Zou Hyuga away when he entered, but he forced his way through spatial turbulence and returned injured beside Orochimaru.
• Zou Hyuga and Orochimaru met the snake sages Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagitsuhime, who escorted them to the White Snake Sage.
• The White Snake Sage questioned Zou Hyuga’s purpose, and he asked to see Ryūchi Cave and learn its senjutsu.
• The White Snake Sage ordered Tagorihime to teach Zou Hyuga Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu.
• After Zou Hyuga left, the White Snake Sage asked Orochimaru who had tampered with the Leyline, and Orochimaru named Zou Hyuga.

Zou Hyuga entered Ryūchi Cave to learn Senjutsu and began the snake princesses’ trials. He quickly overcame their first two tests, leaving the chakra-draining castle as the final trial.

• The White Snake Sage recalled Ryūchi Cave’s history and sensed a power unlike chakra or Senjutsu in Zou Hyuga.
• Tagorihime warned Zou Hyuga that he had to survive three dangerous trials before he could learn Senjutsu.
• Zou Hyuga entered the castle, where the snake princesses discussed how long he might last.
• Tagitsuhime’s Genjutsu and Tagorihime’s traps failed to weaken Zou Hyuga, and he passed the first two trials quickly.
• Zou Hyuga used his Byakugan to identify the castle’s Senjutsu traps and continued onward while testing how much chakra he could endure losing.

Zou Hyuga endured Ryūchi Cave’s living castle long enough to study its Senjutsu before confronting the giant serpent Garaga. After Garaga tried to petrify him, Zou revealed that he had taken the serpent’s reverse scale, leaving Garaga stunned and Zou wondering why Ryūchi Cave had failed to control him.

• Zou Hyuga realized the castle was created by Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation and continued through it to observe the technique.
• The Three Snake Princesses struggled to maintain the castle as Zou sped through it and drained their senjutsu chakra.
• Zou broke through the castle and encountered the giant crimson serpent Garaga, who attacked him.
• Garaga spat an oil-like liquid that seemed to petrify Zou, but Zou appeared safely nearby holding Garaga’s reverse scale.
• Zou wondered why Ryūchi Cave had let a serpent with such an important reverse scale remain uncontrolled.

Zou Hyuga passed Ryūchi Cave’s trial, signed an equal contract with Garaga, and quickly mastered its Sage Mode before learning that the White Snake Sage considered him dangerously unpredictable. Back in the Land of Rain, he researched senjutsu and discovered that natural energy was declining, then went to meet Deva Path Pain and Konan at Nagato’s summons.

• Zou Hyuga subdued Garaga, signed an equal summoning contract with him, and learned Ryūchi Cave’s senjutsu from the Three Snake Princesses.
• Zou Hyuga entered Sage Mode within hours, and the White Snake Sage warned that she and Gamamaru could not see through him and feared his strength.
• Zou Hyuga met Orochimaru outside Ryūchi Cave and later returned to the Land of Rain to study senjutsu, Cursed Seals, and Sky Ninja technology.
• Zou Hyuga learned through the Chakra Network that natural energy had declined and connected the loss to tailed-beast chakra being consumed by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
• Nagato summoned Zou Hyuga to Amegakure, where Deva Path Pain and Konan waited for him atop the tower.

Zou Hyuga accepted Pain’s mission to infiltrate Konoha, where he reunited with Oto and reported Akatsuki’s experiments and plans. After Pain approved the Type C test subjects and ordered Hiruko and Orochimaru to target Kirigakure’s jinchūriki, Zou proposed that Konoha’s clans train in natural energy.

• Deva Path recruited Zou Hyuga to infiltrate Konoha and gather intelligence, and Zou accepted while rejecting Akatsuki’s ideology.
• Deva Path learned that the Type C test subjects had reached near-elite-jonin strength, then tested them and ordered Hiruko and Orochimaru to bring back Kirigakure’s jinchūriki.
• Zou entered Konoha disguised as a merchant-association employee, but Oto recognized him when he encountered her and the children at the shop.
• Zou met Oto at the Uchiha clan grounds and told her about Akatsuki’s test subjects and likely plans, prompting concern about the organization’s growing strength.
• Zou suggested that Konoha’s clans train in natural energy after Oto questioned whether Chakra Armor could improve their strength enough.

Zou Hyuga returned to Konoha, arranged for the Uchiha to begin natural-energy training, and checked on Vortex Shizuko's plan to reach the Fourth Hokage Couple. After meeting Kabuto Yakushi and reading Orochimaru's letter, he learned Akatsuki was heading to Kirigakure to seize a jinchūriki and wondered whether Nagato had deliberately sent him away because he had absorbed too much tailed-beast chakra.

• Oto Uchiha agreed to discuss natural-energy training with the Uchiha and reminded Zou Hyuga to join the Fire Squad exercise in three days.
• Zou Hyuga learned that Vortex Shizuko had deciphered most of the sealing jutsu beneath the Hokage Building but could not make the swap alone.
• Zou Hyuga told Vortex Shizuko about Karin's progress and potential.
• Kabuto Yakushi met Zou Hyuga at an izakaya and delivered Orochimaru's letter about Akatsuki's plans and a request for Uchiha cells.
• Zou Hyuga dismissed Orochimaru's request and suspected Nagato had sent him away because he noticed Zou Hyuga siphoning chakra from the tailed beasts.

Zou Hyuga joined a Fire Squad training exercise and tested himself against Kakashi, Yamato, Oto, Shisui, and Guy. As Kakashi and Guy teamed up against him, Zou entered Sage Mode and advanced to meet them.

• Zou Hyuga recognized Kabuto's loyalty to Orochimaru and considered how he also had Kabuto's life in his hands through Sasori.
• Two days later, Zou followed Oto to a training ground, where the Fire Squad began paired encounter battles in the forest.
• Kakashi ambushed Zou with a lightning technique infused with natural energy, but Zou tracked him with Byakugan and fought back with Gentle Fist.
• Oto confronted Yamato, who used Wood Release clones and vines, then countered his Wood Release with a powerful Fire Release technique.
• Shisui joined the battle against Oto, while Yamato watched and waited for Guy to appear.
• Guy joined Zou and Kakashi's fight, and after they exchanged blows, Zou activated Sage Mode as Kakashi and Guy joined forces against him.

Zou Hyuga fought Kakashi and Guy while Hiruko and Shinnō prepared to attack Kirigakure. Hozuki Mangetsu, Zabuza, and Kisame went to confront the Fourth Mizukage, who feared they had come to assassinate him.

• Zou Hyuga overwhelmed Kakashi with his Sage Mode, then stopped Guy’s Sixth Gate attack as Kakashi recovered and readied his lightning technique.
• Hiruko and Shinnō reached the outskirts of Kirigakure and Hiruko ordered his spies inside the village to assist the attack.
• Kisame, Hozuki Mangetsu, and Zabuza received Hiruko’s order and gathered in a secret room to decide what to do.
• Hozuki Mangetsu chose to speak with the Fourth Mizukage, and Zabuza and Kisame followed him to the Mizukage’s office.
• The Fourth Mizukage asked whether the three men had come to assassinate him and said he would surrender his position if a suitable successor existed.

The Fourth Mizukage learned that Akatsuki was approaching Kirigakure and mobilized the village’s defenses. After a training exercise, Zou Hyuga and Oto sensed village observers, and Oto told Zou she would visit him that night to handle something.

• Hozuki Mangetsu told the Fourth Mizukage that Akatsuki threatened Kirigakure’s survival and located the enemy ten kilometers south of the village.
• The Fourth Mizukage ordered the ANBU assembled and sent Kisame to alert Genji and prepare the defenses while he left with Hozuki Mangetsu and Zabuza.
• Zou Hyuga’s team finished training, and Kakashi and Guy recognized how close Zou was to Kage Level.
• Oto beat Shisui and Yamato, discussed Shisui’s Wood Release and natural energy training, and promised to consult Zou about his next surgery.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto sensed observers as they returned to the village, and Oto told Zou she would visit him that night.

Jiraiya and Tsunade realized that Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha had mastered senjutsu as Konoha prepared for a coming war. At the village wall, Yamato asked Zou for help with a strange problem involving his Wood Release trees, and Zou suspected Danzo’s nearby base might be connected.

• Jiraiya and Tsunade watched the Fire Squad’s exercise and discussed the strength of its members.
• Jiraiya sensed powerful traces of senjutsu and identified Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha as the likely practitioners.
• Tsunade considered the danger of the coming war after Konoha’s failed attack on Amegakure.
• Yamato asked Zou Hyuga to persuade Oto Uchiha to help him replant trees destroyed at the training ground.
• Yamato told Zou that trees he had grown with Wood Release were growing excessively and mentioned Danzo’s base outside the village.
• Zou Hyuga frowned and looked toward the forest, suspecting a connection to Danzo’s base.

Zou Hyuga discussed Danzo’s movements with Oto as Danzo prepared a dangerous natural-energy experiment beneath the Valley of the End. In the Land of Water, the Fourth Mizukage’s forces defeated a group of monsters, but Hiruko and Shinnō then arrived carrying Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.

• Yamato asked Zou Hyuga to help reduce his workload, and Zou agreed to consider his plea.
• Oto refused to help Zou play the villain and said Danzo was keeping Root hidden while guarding against the Uchiha.
• Danzo led Root into the restored underground node and ordered Yamanaka Fū to prepare an experiment using its dense natural energy to fuse his Wood Release and Sharingan.
• The Fourth Mizukage, Hozuki Mangetsu, and Zabuza fought and defeated the Type C Test Subjects, while the Mizukage questioned the scale and purpose of the attack.
• Hiruko and Shinnō appeared carrying Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.