Recaps

Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha investigated and partly sealed the weakened Leyline, while their growing closeness drew attention and their actions intersected with Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and the Akatsuki. The Leyline agreed to a contract with Zou, as Obito turned his attention toward recruiting Moryo and cultivating Mangekyō Sharingan.

• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha sealed the earth vein node beneath the Valley of the End, causing tremors and a flood, then escaped the cavern and were made Jonin by the Third.
• Obito Uchiha attacked an Uchiha Jonin for his Sharingan, and Zou identified the Masked Man as Obito after learning he had also attacked Kakashi.
• Zou and Oto traveled to Rōran, where they met Queen Sara, broke the Fourth Hokage’s seal, and found the weakened Leyline’s consciousness.
• Oto sealed half the Leyline in a vessel and anchored the remaining half in the original seal, while a purple phantom entered Zou’s body.
• Zou and Oto encountered Jiraiya fighting Orochimaru and Sasori, helped drive back their attacks, and later learned Jiraiya had gone to Rōran to inspect the seal.
• Jiraiya investigated the Leyline with Fukasaku, while Orochimaru and Sasori collected Leyline-powered puppet remnants and attacked Sunagakure squads.
• Zou followed the Leyline Consciousness to the Valley of the End and made a contract that gave him control of the Leyline in the vessel.
• Danzo reported that Zou and Oto’s public hand-holding might signal an alliance between their clans, while Obito urged Pain to recruit Moryo and planned to cultivate Mangekyō Sharingan.

Zou Hyuga pursued Hiruko, expanded his secret base and Leyline plans, and joined Konoha’s failed ambush against Obito. Obito escaped, Danzo’s suspicions deepened, and the Akatsuki regrouped in the Land of Rain while Zou studied Chakra Threads.

• Zou Hyuga tracked Hiruko to his cave, watched Orochimaru and Sasori confront him, and negotiated Hiruko’s release for payment and his forbidden technique.
• Zou Hyuga established new outposts, returned to Konoha, and continued guiding the Leyline toward an earth vein node while Kisame and the orphans trained.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha told the Third Hokage about Obito, and Konoha prepared an ambush with Jiraiya and Shisui Uchiha.
• Obito attacked Zou Hyuga, but Zou, Oto, Shisui, and Jiraiya trapped him and shattered his Susanoo before Obito revived with Izanagi and escaped.
• Konoha’s forces fought Sasori, Juzo Biwa, and Kakuzu as Danzo questioned the Uchiha and concealed details of his meeting with Orochimaru.
• The Third Hokage let Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha remain with Jiraiya, while Zou gave Shisui chakra to slow his worsening eyesight.
• Zou Hyuga examined Zetsu’s severed arm and studied Puppet Technique books, concluding that Chakra Threads could carry chakra over long distances.
• The Akatsuki gathered in the Land of Rain, where Pain warned Obito to stop provoking Konoha and agreed to support Hiruko’s Chimera research except for the Sharingan.

Zou Hyuga and his companions traveled to Sunagakure to protect the village during Bunpuku’s death and Gaara’s transformation into the One-Tail’s jinchūriki. After Akatsuki’s assault and Shukaku’s escape, Zou defeated and killed the weakened tailed beast as Pain confronted him.

• Obito abandoned his plans against Konoha and headed for Kirigakure, while Orochimaru approached Hiruko about exchanging techniques and targeting the Tailed Beast Merchant Association.
• Zou Hyuga tested chakra transmission through puppet threads, and Oto Uchiha later found the Eye of the Moon Plan on the Memorial Stone and told Zou about it.
• After Sunagakure requested help, Zou assembled a squad with Oto Uchiha, Shisui, and Might Guy, and they learned that Bunpuku was near death and Gaara would become the next jinchūriki.
• As Bunpuku died and the sealing began, Sasori, Orochimaru, Hiruko, and Obito attacked Sunagakure, and Shukaku broke free while the Fourth Kazekage tried to control him.
• Zou and his allies fought the attackers, but Shukaku escaped Obito’s control, and Zou used Sage Mode against Obito and Orochimaru, who reanimated the Third Kazekage before the Kazekage regained his will and returned to the Pure Land.
• Pakura tried to protect Gaara from Hiruko, while Zou pursued Shukaku across the desert and left Bell Cat to guard Gaara until Oto arrived.
• Zou tracked Shukaku to the Rōran oasis, where he fought the tailed beast and absorbed much of its chakra after they exchanged Tailed Beast Bombs.
• When Pain arrived, Zou killed the weakened Shukaku and claimed the beast had attacked him first, then gathered chakra as Pain used Banshō Ten'in.

Zou Hyuga joined the Akatsuki while continuing to investigate its members, the tailed beasts, and the power within his own body. As the organization gathered new recruits, Jiraiya brought Tsunade back toward the village, and Konan ordered Zou to leave Amegakure after bringing him a drenched little girl.

• Zou Hyuga killed Shukaku, accepted Pain’s invitation to join the Akatsuki, and returned to Konoha with a letter from the Fourth Kazekage.
• Zou Hyuga warned Konoha about the Akatsuki, investigated Shukaku’s chakra, and sparred with Oto Uchiha as the village prepared for a Five Kage Summit.
• Zou Hyuga protected Hanabi, studied her unusually pure Byakugan chakra, and secretly left some of his chakra in her for protection.
• Oto Uchiha defeated Hozuki Mangetsu at the summit, and Obito later recruited Mangetsu by offering to help him collect the Ninja Blades and protect Suigetsu.
• Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha confronted Obito in the Hokage Building, then learned Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had survived the Nine-Tails’ Rampage but remained near death.
• Zou Hyuga obtained the Spirit Transformation Technique and Dead Demon Consuming Seal, discovered that the Rhombus Mark pulled his spirit back to his body, and left for an Akatsuki gathering.
• Jiraiya rescued Tsunade from Hiruko and Orochimaru, persuaded her to return to the village, and then Zou Hyuga entered the Land of Rain and met the Akatsuki members.
• Pain gathered the Akatsuki and outlined plans to build strength before the One-Tail revived, while Konan brought Zou a drenched girl and ordered him to leave Amegakure.