Recaps

After Naruto returned from three years of training, Goten defeated him with one finger and pointed out his poor control and combat skills. Naruto regained his resolve when Goten offered to train him, then received an extreme first assignment.

• Naruto attacked Goten at the ramen shop but was sent through the wall and left too exhausted to stand.
• Sakura and Hinata helped Naruto while Goten challenged his claims about rescuing Sasuke and protecting Konoha.
• Jiraiya confronted Goten, who criticized Naruto's crude control of his powerful chakra and Jiraiya's gradual training approach.
• Naruto heard Goten offer to teach him and eagerly agreed to endure any training.
• Goten ordered Naruto to haul five hundred tons of Ichiraku Ramen flour barrels every day without breaks, with no food if he failed.

Goten put Naruto through brutal daily training to strengthen his body and teach him to sense and use ki, healing him after each session. Two years later, Naruto had become faster and more composed, and he challenged Goten, certain he could finally win.

• Goten dragged exhausted Naruto to a training ground, weighed him down, and ordered him to stand and run a hundred laps.
• Goten instructed Naruto to rely on ki rather than chakra and pelted him with pebbles until Naruto instinctively dodged one.
• Goten healed Naruto with ki after the day’s training, then fed him grilled meat and told him they would continue the next day.
• For two years, Naruto endured Goten’s punishing training and recovery routine, growing stronger and learning to sense and use ki.
• Naruto faced Goten on the training ground and declared that he could beat him now.

On his eighteenth birthday, Goten celebrated with gifts from Konoha’s women and then sought the present he had wanted from Tsunade for years. After they kissed and spent the night together, they woke in each other’s arms, with Goten declaring he would take care of her.

• Naruto demonstrated his improved Big Ball Rasengan, and Goten told him he was making progress.
• Konoha held a grand birthday banquet for Goten, where Hinata, Sakura, Ino, and others gave him presents.
• After the guests left, Goten went to the Hokage Building and asked Tsunade for the birthday present he had always wanted.
• Tsunade responded to Goten’s kiss, and they spent the night together in her private resting room.
• The next morning, Goten woke beside Tsunade and told her he would take care of her from then on.

After learning that the Akatsuki had captured Gaara, Tsunade sent Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura to rescue him, with Goten joining as a special combat asset. Goten said goodbye to Ayame and Tayuya, and the four-person squad departed for Sunagakure.

• Shizune delivered urgent intelligence that Sasori and Deidara had attacked Sunagakure and captured Gaara.
• Tsunade summoned the Jonin and ordered an immediate rescue mission after Sunagakure requested help.
• Naruto volunteered to save Gaara, and Tsunade assigned Kakashi to lead a pursuit squad with Naruto and Sakura.
• Goten announced he would join the mission, reassuring the Jonin and prompting Tsunade to name him a special combat asset.
• Goten told Ayame he would be away for a few days, asked Tayuya to watch the shop, and met Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura at Konoha's gate.
• Goten and the others set out for Sunagakure.

Son Goten led Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura toward Sunagakure, where they learned that Gaara had been captured by the Akatsuki. Goten rejected Kakashi’s suggestion to coordinate with Sunagakure and charged ahead to rescue Gaara as a powerful battle shook the land ahead.

• Son Goten outpaced Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura as they raced away from Konoha.
• Goten sensed approaching chakra signatures and two unpleasant ki signatures, and Kakashi’s group encountered injured Sunagakure ninja.
• A Sunagakure ninja told Kakashi that the Akatsuki had taken Gaara and that Chiyo had led a pursuit team after them.
• Goten dismissed Kakashi’s plan to join Sunagakure’s forces and declared that they would break the enemies’ bones and take Gaara back.
• Goten, Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura sped toward the enemy, where a violent surge of energy shook the ground ahead.

Goten helped Sakura stabilize Kankuro after Sasori of the Red Sands poisoned him, then replenished her chakra when her antidote research exhausted her. When Sakura found the antidote required an unavailable ingredient, Goten took over and began forcing the poison out of Kankuro.

• Naruto and Sakura found Kankuro and several Sunagakure ninja badly wounded, and Sakura began treating Kankuro's severe poisoning.
• Goten used a faint golden light to suppress the poison temporarily while a surviving Sunagakure ninja identified Sasori of the Red Sands as the attacker.
• Sakura analyzed Kankuro's complex poison while Goten restored her depleted chakra, but the key ingredient for her antidote was only available in Konoha's medicinal garden.
• Goten pushed past Kakashi and Naruto, placed his hand on Kankuro's abdomen, and used brilliant golden light to drive blackish-purple poison gas from Kankuro's body.

Goten forced Sasori’s poison out of Kankuro and healed Sakura’s hands, then found a strange blue chip in Sasori’s puppet wreckage. After Might Guy and Team Guy arrived, Goten set off ahead of the others, uneasy about the chip’s unfamiliar energy.

• Goten used his ki to force the poison from Kankuro, who regained consciousness as the Sunagakure ninja watched in shock.
• Goten healed Sakura’s injured hands and teased her, while Kakashi ordered her to examine Sasori’s discarded puppet arm.
• Goten found a faintly glowing blue chip in the wreckage, claimed it, and told Sakura he would make her an earring with it.
• Kankuro thanked Goten, who called him his future brother-in-law because Temari would be one of his future wives.
• Might Guy arrived in an exaggerated leap toward Sakura, but Goten kicked him away; Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee then greeted Goten.
• Goten sensed cold, mechanical energy and a twisted will within the chip, then left ahead of Kakashi’s group to pursue the enemy.

Goten and Sakura were ambushed by Scorpion’s puppets, and Sakura took a poisoned needle meant for Goten. After destroying the attackers, Goten carried her into a cave and prepared to use a drastic method to save her.

• Goten carried Sakura ahead of the group and stopped in a canyon after sensing an ambush.
• More than a hundred poisoned puppets emerged and surrounded Goten and Sakura.
• Scorpion’s blue chip disrupted Goten’s Ki, letting a hidden puppet shoot a poisoned needle at him.
• Sakura shoved Goten aside and took the Crimson Prison Poison needle, which rapidly poisoned her.
• Goten unleashed a golden Ki wave that destroyed the puppets, then carried Sakura into a cave.
• Goten said he would not let the King of Hell take Sakura and reached for the fastenings of her outfit to try to save her.

Goten purifies the poison in Sakura’s body and saves her life. After Sakura wakes and kisses him, they embrace and head deeper into the cave together.

• Goten uses his Ki to destroy the poison spreading through Sakura and notices a stubborn energy fluctuation resembling the one from his blue crystal chip.
• Goten heals the damage to Sakura’s body and confirms that the poison has been completely expelled.
• Sakura wakes, realizes she is unclothed with Goten beside her, and breaks down in tears from relief and gratitude.
• Sakura embraces and kisses Goten, and he deepens the kiss before carrying her farther into the cave.

After recovering from the ambush, Sakura learned that Goten considered her his wife, and the two grew closer before rejoining their allies. Goten sensed the chakra-disrupting chip’s significance and located the hideout of the scorpion and his partner.

• Sakura asked what she and Goten were, and Goten declared that she was the wife he had chosen.
• Sakura discovered that her injuries had healed and her chakra had increased, while Goten kept his identity and ki secret.
• Goten examined the dim blue chip and reassured Sakura after she recalled fearing she would never see him again.
• Sakura resolved to grow stronger and asked whether eating papaya would improve her figure; Goten promised she would eat it daily.
• After hearing Kakashi and the others call from outside, Goten sensed two ki signatures and found the scorpion and his partner’s hideout.

Goten emerged from the cave with Sakura after destroying the puppets, and their intimate behavior revealed that they were now together. He then identified the Akatsuki's location and flew there with Sakura, leaving Kakashi to follow with the others.

• Kakashi, Naruto, Tenten, and the others found the canyon devastated and saw Goten and Sakura emerge from the cave together.
• Goten announced that Sakura was officially his woman, while Sakura said he had purified the poison from a needle wound.
• Kankuro thanked Goten for saving Sakura, and Tenten questioned Sakura about the mark on her neck.
• Goten interrupted Kakashi's attempt to revise the mission plan and pinpointed the Akatsuki's location northeast of them.
• Goten kissed Sakura's forehead, carried her into the sky toward the Akatsuki, and Kakashi hurried after them with the team.

Goten and Sakura encountered Deidara while traveling, and Goten watched as Deidara fought Kakashi, Naruto, Might Guy, and the others. After Goten destroyed Deidara’s clay owl and caught him, he asked what Deidara had called art.

• Goten and Sakura spotted Deidara flying on a clay owl in the desert, and Deidara sent explosive clay spiders toward them.
• Goten erased the spiders with a wave of Ki, while Kakashi, Naruto, Might Guy, Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee arrived in pursuit of Deidara.
• Naruto attacked Deidara’s clay bird and was thrown back by its explosion, then Kakashi and Might Guy joined the battle.
• Goten and Sakura watched from the sidelines as Goten gave her a rice ball and said they would visit the Akatsuki hideout afterward.
• Deidara prepared to use C3, but Goten destroyed the clay owl with a thin beam of Ki and caught Deidara as he fell.
• Goten held Deidara by the neck and asked him what he had called art.

Goten tortured Deidara into revealing the Akatsuki hideout and met Temari and Granny Chiyo on the way there. He destroyed the Five-Seal Barrier with one punch, opening the cave so the group could go rescue Gaara.

• Goten used painful soul-crushing attacks to make Deidara reveal that Sasori was extracting a Tailed Beast's chakra at a hideout in a northeast valley.
• Goten learned that Sasori was interested in the mysterious Blue Chip, then led Kakashi's group toward the hideout with Deidara captive.
• Goten reunited with Temari and Granny Chiyo, teased Temari by calling her his wife, and assured her that Gaara would survive.
• Kakashi and Granny Chiyo began discussing how to remove the Five-Seal Barrier's charms, but Goten walked up to the entrance instead.
• Goten shattered the enormous boulder and its sealing formulas with one punch, revealing the cave entrance.

Goten joined the rescue party at the cavern where Gaara lay unconscious after his tailed beast was extracted, while Chiyo and Sakura confronted Sasori. As Sasori summoned more puppets and overwhelmed them, Goten stayed with Temari and Naruto, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Naruto, Kakashi, Chiyo, Temari, Sakura, and Goten entered the cavern and found Gaara lying motionless on an altar beside Kisame and Sasori.
• Goten steadied Temari, promised Gaara would survive, and provoked Kisame, whose Samehada reacted excitedly to him.
• Goten asked Sasori whether he had hurt Sakura, while Chiyo recognized Sasori as her grandson and joined Sakura in preparing to fight him.
• Chiyo and Sakura battled Sasori's Third Kazekage puppet as Goten led Temari and Naruto to watch from the side.
• Sasori gained the advantage with iron sand and summoned the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.

Son Goten crushed Sasori’s puppet army, defeated Kisame, and destroyed Sasori’s core after learning Orochimaru was at Tenchi Bridge. When Granny Chiyo prepared to sacrifice her life to revive Gaara, Goten stopped her and implied he had another way to save him.

• Goten compressed Sasori’s hundred puppets into a metal ball and told Tenten to take the scrap for new ninja tools.
• Goten blasted Kisame into a rock wall when he tried to escape, leaving Samehada behind.
• Goten endured Sasori’s poison and flames, tore out his puppet core, and crushed it; Sasori named Orochimaru and Tenchi Bridge before dying.
• Granny Chiyo confirmed Gaara had no heartbeat or breath, and Goten comforted the grieving Temari.
• Granny Chiyo began preparing a forbidden technique to trade her life for Gaara’s, but Goten stopped her and said he did not need her to save him.

Goten revived Gaara by pouring golden life energy into him, astonishing the gathered ninja. After Gaara and the Sunagakure ninja thanked him, Temari embraced and kissed Goten, choosing him as the man she wanted to spend her life with.

• Goten ignored Granny Chiyo's protest and infused Gaara with golden energy, restoring his color and breath.
• Gaara woke, and the Sunagakure ninja erupted in cheers as Temari embraced her brother.
• Gaara bowed to Goten, and the Sunagakure ninja, including Granny Chiyo, knelt in gratitude.
• Goten dismissed the formal thanks, pulled Temari into his arms, and said he had come to find his wife and saved his brother-in-law along the way.
• Temari decided to spend her life with Goten, kissed him in front of everyone, and Goten deepened the kiss while Sakura watched.

After Goten saved Gaara and Sunagakure, the village celebrated him as a hero. Temari thanked him privately that night, and their relationship turned intimate.

• Sunagakure’s ninja welcomed Goten back as a hero, and Gaara thanked him and promised the village’s loyalty.
• Goten teased Temari and told Gaara to call him brother-in-law; Sakura then clung to Goten when she saw them together.
• At the victory banquet, Goten sat between Sakura and Temari, brushed off questions about his power, and declined Granny Chiyo’s offer to stay in Sunagakure.
• Temari escorted Goten to his room and asked him to wait for her that night, while Sakura returned ahead of them.
• Temari later brought Goten sake, thanked him for saving her and Sunagakure, and kissed him before he carried her toward the bed.

Temari chose to leave Sunagakure and return to Konoha with Goten after the two married, and Gaara supported her decision. As the group headed home, Goten noticed evidence that the Akatsuki prisoners had been modified, while Temari and Sakura began adjusting to their new family arrangement.

• Temari woke beside Goten, agreed to return to Konoha with him, and was discovered by Gaara and Kankuro, who learned they were married.
• Goten asked Gaara whether Temari could leave with him, and Gaara said Temari could choose her own happiness and would always have Sunagakure's support.
• The Konoha group discovered that Deidara and Kisame had escaped after Samehada chewed through their Sealing Tag, and Goten sensed energy resembling that in Sasori's core.
• Goten traveled toward Konoha with Sakura and Temari beside him, while Naruto sulked behind them and the two women began accepting each other's presence.

Son Goten brought Temari to Konoha and introduced her to his family at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop as his wife. After settling her in, he left to report to Tsunade and face Sakura's questions.

• Goten entered Konoha with Sakura and Temari, announced Temari was his wife, and had the gate guards arrange her long-term visa.
• Goten brought Temari to Ichiraku, where he introduced her to Teuchi and Ayame as his daughter-in-law.
• Goten showed Temari the ramen shop and its upstairs rooms, introducing her to Haku and Tayuya along the way.
• Goten shared ramen with Temari, then left for the Hokage's office to report to Tsunade.
• Ayame helped Temari settle into her room and asked whether Goten treated her well; Temari said he had saved her and her village.

Kakashi resigned as Team 7's Jonin leader to train after recounting Goten's overwhelming feats in Sunagakure, and Tsunade approved his request. After Goten and Tsunade reunited, they reviewed Team 7's new arrangements before Goten revealed that his chip was reacting intensely to something beneath Konoha.

• Kakashi asked Tsunade to let him step down as Team 7's Jonin leader, citing Goten's destruction of the barrier and puppets, defeat of Kisame and Sasori, and revival of Gaara.
• Tsunade approved Kakashi's resignation and left Team 7's Jonin leader position temporarily vacant so Kakashi could train.
• Goten reassured Tsunade that she was special to him, and the two reunited affectionately before Tsunade asked whether the woman from Sunagakure had been with him.
• Tsunade handed Goten a document naming Yamato and Sai in Team 7's revised arrangements.
• Goten placed his rapidly flashing chip on the desk and asked Tsunade what was hidden beneath Konoha.

Goten reunited with Tsunade, and the two spent the night together before discussing a sealed area beneath Konoha. In the morning, Goten discovered that the crystal chip reacted to a pattern on an old document about the Sage of Six Paths Ruins, leaving him intent on investigating what lay underground.

• Goten entered Tsunade's room through an unlocked window, and she insisted that she would always come first among his women.
• Goten and Tsunade reconciled intimately, and she admitted she had been unable to sleep soundly while he was away.
• Tsunade showed Goten an old document stating that an ancient sealed area beneath Konoha had been off-limits to every Hokage.
• Goten left Tsunade a note about breakfast, then brought the crystal chip near the document and saw it flash faster.
• Goten noticed that the document's sealing pattern mirrored the pattern on Sasori's core fragment and decided to investigate beneath Konoha.

At a celebratory dinner, Ino watched Sakura and Temari’s closeness with Goten and struggled with jealousy and fear of being left behind. Goten called Ino his wife-to-be and challenged her to come to him willingly, leaving her resolved to pursue him.

• Naruto gathered the teams for a celebration at Yakiniku Q, where Goten sat between Sakura and Temari as they competed to feed him.
• Ino arrived dressed up, learned that Temari was one of Goten’s wives, and grew jealous when she saw Sakura’s intimacy with him.
• Goten beckoned Ino to sit beside him, put an arm around her waist, and called her his meal ticket while Sakura and Temari challenged his behavior.
• Naruto let slip that Goten had treated Sakura, prompting Sakura to frighten him into fleeing from the room.
• After the party, Goten called Ino his little wife-to-be and told her he would wait for her to come to him of her own accord.
• Walking home, Ino recalled Goten’s words and resolved that she could pursue him just as Sakura had.

Ino tried to get closer to Son Goten by bringing flowers to the ramen shop, where she clashed with Sakura over his attention. After Goten complimented and helped her at the flower shop, Ino decided to make her own opportunity and headed to Ichiraku late that night.

• Ino dressed up and went looking for Goten, first waiting at Training Ground Three and then bringing seedlings to Temari at Ichiraku Ramen.
• Goten helped Ino carry the flowerpots, teased her, and brought her downstairs for noodles, where Temari noticed their closeness.
• Sakura arrived and argued with Ino over Goten, then the two women each grabbed one of his arms and tried to claim his help.
• At the Yamanaka Clan flower room, Goten complimented Ino and helped her move heavy pots, leaving her moved by his concern.
• Ino drank some fine liquor, put a purple iris in her hair, and set out for Ichiraku Ramen late at night.

Ino went to Goten’s room in the middle of the night and began a relationship with him. The next morning, Sakura found them together and angrily confronted Ino.

• Jealous of Sakura, Ino entered Goten’s room and climbed onto the bed with him.
• After Goten asked if she was sure, Ino said she had come because he told her to come to him, and they kissed.
• Ino told Goten she was his woman and demanded that he call her prettier than Sakura at least once.
• The next morning, Sakura entered Goten’s room and saw Ino in bed beside him.
• Sakura accused Ino of stealing Goten, and Ino retorted that Sakura should have locked the door.

Tsunade reorganized Team 7 and established an independent Konoha Special Reinforcement Squad led by Goten, who chose Temari as its first member. The chapter ended with Goten receiving the mission scroll for Team 7’s investigation of Orochimaru’s agent at Tenchi Bridge and a possible attempt to bring Sasuke back.

• At the Ramen Shop, Shizune delivered Tsunade’s summons to Goten, and Sakura and Ino learned that Team 7 was being reorganized and a new squad was forming.
• Tsunade assigned Yamato to lead Team 7 with Naruto, Sakura, and Sai, while Goten was appointed captain of the Hokage’s independent Special Reinforcement Squad.
• Goten kissed Tsunade on the forehead, prompting her to punch him, then named Temari as the squad’s first recruit and said the unit would give him cover when he caused trouble.
• After the others left, Tsunade gave Goten the mission scroll for Team 7 to investigate Orochimaru’s agent at Tenchi Bridge and, if possible, bring back Sasuke Uchiha.
• Goten wondered whether Orochimaru might know something about the crystal chip’s origins.