Recaps

Uchiha Minamoto gained the SS-rank Blaze Release and ten million Great Love Points after freeing Matatabi, who became excitedly attached to him. He checked that Yugito Nii was alive but had lost her ability to be a ninja, then introduced Matatabi to Yatagarasu and his summoned cats.

• Uchiha Minamoto discovered that Blaze Release was a kekkei tōta and received ten million Great Love Points for helping Matatabi regain her freedom.
• Matatabi celebrated her freedom by rubbing against Uchiha Minamoto and inhaling his scent until he calmed her down.
• Uchiha Minamoto examined Yugito Nii and found her alive, though she would no longer be a ninja; Matatabi bid her farewell.
• Uchiha Minamoto introduced Matatabi to Yatagarasu, and the two argued over whether Matatabi sounded like a meowing cat.
• Uchiha Minamoto summoned Shamisen, Ruri, and Yukino, and Shamisen asked who the enormous blue cat was.

Uchiha Minamoto welcomed Matatabi to the Empty District and warned her about the powerful enemies she might encounter. Matatabi began her new life with the Ninja Cats but was left shaken by the dangers awaiting her outside the sealing space.

• Uchiha Minamoto introduced Matatabi to Shamisen, Ruri, Yukino, and Yatagarasu, and the cats gradually warmed to her.
• Uchiha Minamoto showed Matatabi the Empty District, where Shamisen offered to guide her and Matatabi said she liked the place.
• Uchiha Minamoto used his Mangekyō Sharingan to show Matatabi Shisui Uchiha and warned her about his dangerous eyes.
• Uchiha Minamoto showed Matatabi the Mysterious Masked Man and explained that he had both the Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Release.
• Uchiha Minamoto warned Matatabi that the Akatsuki, whose members possessed the Rinnegan, would be her greatest danger, leaving her stunned by how perilous the outside world was.

Hiruzen Sarutobi rushed to the Naka River expecting the Two-Tails to be rampaging, but found Uchiha Minamoto calmly partnered with the docile Matatabi. After Yugito Nii was taken into custody, Matatabi carried Minamoto away to patrol the Empty District, leaving Hiruzen and the Anbu bewildered.

• A Sensory Unit ninja warned Hiruzen Sarutobi that an enormous chakra signature had erupted near the Naka River, and Hiruzen led two Anbu squads to investigate.
• Hiruzen and the Anbu found Matatabi resting peacefully beside Uchiha Minamoto, Yatagarasu, and several ninja cats.
• Uchiha Minamoto told Hiruzen that Matatabi was his partner and that Yugito Nii was unconscious nearby after he removed her seal and destroyed her ability to mold chakra.
• Hiruzen ordered the Anbu to take Yugito Nii away, while Matatabi swept Minamoto onto her back and ran into the Empty District with Yatagarasu following.
• Hiruzen watched Matatabi and Minamoto disappear, then told the Anbu to return to Konoha.

Uchiha Minamoto evolved his Mangekyō Sharingan into an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and gained SS-rank mental energy. In Kumogakure, Fourth Raikage A reacted furiously to Minamoto demanding extra payment for Yugito Nii, but news that Kirigakure had deployed troops made him realize Kumogakure might face attacks from three villages.

• Uchiha Minamoto spent ten million Great Love Points to evolve his Mangekyō Sharingan into an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, raising his Mental Energy Strength to SS-rank.
• Fourth Raikage A learned that Uchiha Minamoto had demanded extra payment for Yugito Nii and smashed his desk and office wall in anger.
• A ordered Kumogakure to recall its ninjas and prepare to attack the Land of Fire, but Mabui warned that Iwagakure could exploit their absence.
• A Kumogakure Anbu reported that Kirigakure had deployed troops, leaving A and Mabui stunned by the prospect of Kumogakure facing pressure from three villages.

A learned that Kirigakure was preparing to attack Konoha through the Land of Whirlpools, giving Kumogakure a chance to move against the Land of Woods. In Kirigakure, Mei Terumi was forced to accept command of a unit, then sought Ao at a secret base to ask what he had discovered.

• Mabui reported that Kisame Hoshigaki had led Kirigakure forces to the Land of Waves, and A concluded Kirigakure was targeting Konoha.
• A ordered elite Kumogakure troops assembled and Killer B recalled, with the Land of Woods as their target.
• Obito Uchiha revealed himself to Karatachi Yagura and ordered him to make Konoha pay, while Yagura directed Kisame Hoshigaki to use the Land of Whirlpools as a base for an attack on the eastern Land of Fire.
• Mei Terumi confronted Karatachi Yagura over his plan to wage war on Konoha, but he appointed her commander of the Third Unit and forced her to accept.
• Mei Terumi went to a secret base and asked Ao whether he had discovered anything.

Mei Terumi and Ao discovered that the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, was under genjutsu control and decided to seek Uchiha Minamoto’s help. Meanwhile, Uchiha Minamoto confronted the imprisoned Mitokado Homura and offered him a chance to confess, leaving Homura facing the threat of his clan’s destruction.

• Ao used his Byakugan to confirm that Karatachi Yagura’s chaotic chakra flow showed he was being controlled by genjutsu.
• Mei Terumi and Ao wondered whether the Third Mizukage had also been controlled and resolved to find Uchiha Minamoto for help against Yagura.
• Uchiha Minamoto visited Mitokado Homura in the Konoha Military Police Force prison and presented a dossier of his alleged crimes.
• Uchiha Minamoto told Mitokado Homura that Hiruzen Sarutobi had abandoned him and urged him to confess to avoid his clan becoming the next Shimura Clan.

Uchiha Minamoto persuaded Mitokado Homura to expose Hiruzen Sarutobi and then recruited Shimura Nozomi to support a new Konoha Military Police Force squad. The Shimura Clan agreed to donate all its revenue for the year to establish it.

• Uchiha Minamoto stopped Mitokado Homura from signing his confession and urged him to hold Hiruzen Sarutobi responsible.
• Mitokado Homura agreed to cooperate and revealed that Hiruzen Sarutobi had rebuilt Root, among other secrets.
• Uchiha Minamoto told Mitokado Homura that Lord Third had appointed him as the new advisor and ordered that Homura be treated with dignity.
• Shimura Nozomi visited Uchiha Minamoto, who proposed forming a Ninja Clan Commander Squad with the Shimura Clan providing its first core members.
• Shimura Nozomi pledged the Shimura Clan’s full support and offered all of its revenue for the year to fund the squad.

Shimura Nozomi joined the Konoha Military Police Force as a detachment leader, and Uchiha Minamoto encouraged him to have Shimura children join the Campus Great Love Group. At the Hokage’s office, Minamoto accepted Hiruzen Sarutobi’s peace proposal for returning Yugito Nii, then appointed Uchiha Setsuna to wield his advisor authority when he was absent, leaving Hiruzen and Utatane Koharu uneasy.

• Uchiha Minamoto welcomed Shimura Nozomi as leader of the Ninja Clan Commander Squad in the Konoha Military Police Force.
• Minamoto urged Nozomi to have Shimura children join Naruto’s Campus Great Love Group to protect them from bullying and improve the clan’s reputation.
• Minamoto reviewed Hiruzen Sarutobi’s proposal to return Yugito Nii to Kumogakure in exchange for reparations and a nonaggression treaty, and said his vote did not matter.
• Minamoto told Hiruzen and Utatane Koharu that Uchiha Setsuna would exercise his Hokage Advisor authority whenever Minamoto was absent.
• Hiruzen and Koharu reacted with concern as Setsuna met Hiruzen’s gaze without hesitation.

Kisame Hoshigaki led Kirigakure’s forces in a surprise attack that overwhelmed Konoha’s eastern coastal defenses, while Kumogakure also regrouped on the northern front. Hiruzen Sarutobi faced the new crisis in the Hokage Building as Uchiha Setsuna challenged Utatane Koharu to propose a response.

• Uchiha Minamoto left the Hokage’s office after abstaining from the debate over peace talks with Kumogakure, and Uchiha Setsuna declared his opposition to negotiations.
• Kisame Hoshigaki killed two Konoha sentries with Samehada and led Kirigakure ninja in a nighttime assault on the eastern coastal outposts.
• Kirigakure’s forces captured the coastal defenses and Kisame ordered a report to the Mizukage requesting that the main force advance into the Land of Fire.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi received reports that Kumogakure was regrouping and Kirigakure had breached the eastern defenses, and he wondered whether the villages had formed an alliance.
• Utatane Koharu warned that Kisame Hoshigaki’s forces would soon overwhelm the coastal troops, and Uchiha Setsuna sarcastically asked what solution she proposed.

Uchiha Setsuna opposed peace talks with Kumogakure and urged Hiruzen Sarutobi to respond to Kirigakure’s surprise attack. At the emergency war meeting, Konoha’s jonin learned that Kirigakure had breached the eastern defenses, which were too weak to stop its advance.

• Utatane Koharu proposed concluding peace talks with Kumogakure, but Uchiha Setsuna angrily argued that Konoha should fight Kirigakure instead.
• Uchiha Setsuna declared his opposition to peace talks on behalf of Uchiha Minamoto and called for the Jonin Commander to convene an emergency meeting.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned the jonin in the village and announced Kirigakure’s surprise attack on the eastern front.
• Shikaku Nara reported that Kirigakure’s vanguard had broken through the Eastern Coast Defense Line and that Konoha’s depleted forces there were unlikely to stop it.

At a war council, Hiruzen Sarutobi appointed Kakashi Hatake to command the eastern defense, and Uchiha Minamoto accepted the decision despite seeing it as an attempt to limit his influence. Later, Minamoto reviewed reports from the northern front until Tsunade burst into his office.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi appointed Kakashi Hatake commander of the eastern defense force and ordered him to lead two elite Anbu squads against Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Minamoto objected and offered to go east himself, but Hiruzen Sarutobi insisted he remain in command of the northern front.
• Uchiha Minamoto accepted the Hokage's decision and wished Kakashi Hatake fortune in battle.
• At the Konoha Military Police Force headquarters, Uchiha Minamoto reviewed reports on the new clan commander squad and the northern front, where Kumogakure had re-entered the Land of Woods.
• Tsunade rushed into Uchiha Minamoto's office and interrupted his work.

Uchiha Minamoto reassured Tsunade that Kakashi Hatake could handle Kirigakure’s eastern-front advance, while privately recognizing that Obito Uchiha was directing the invasion. He remained prepared to go to the front if the situation worsened.

• Tsunade confronted Uchiha Minamoto for obeying Hiruzen Sarutobi’s order to stay away from the eastern front and urged him to challenge the Hokage’s decision.
• Uchiha Minamoto told Tsunade he trusted Kakashi Hatake to defeat Kisame Hoshigaki, and she reluctantly accepted his reasoning.
• Before leaving to watch Naruto train, Tsunade asked whether Uchiha Minamoto would go to the front if trouble arose, and he promised he would.
• After Tsunade left, Uchiha Minamoto considered that Obito Uchiha controlled Karatachi Yagura and had orchestrated Kirigakure’s deployment.

Kakashi Hatake led Konoha Anbu against Kisame Hoshigaki’s Kirigakure Vanguard Force on the eastern battlefield. Using ninja dogs to track enemies through the Hidden Mist and coordinating precise counters, Kakashi’s squad inflicted heavy losses without suffering casualties.

• Kakashi Hatake, Tenzo, and Uchiha Itachi approached the eastern coast’s last Border Outpost with two Anbu squads.
• A Yamanaka Clan sensory ninja detected a large enemy force, and Kirigakure covered the battlefield with an enormous Hidden Mist Technique.
• Kakashi Hatake summoned eight ninja dogs, whose sense of smell helped locate the Kirigakure ninja and identify Kisame Hoshigaki.
• Kakashi Hatake used the sensory technique to direct the Anbu through the mist, helping Yamato evade an assassin and kill him.
• The Konoha Anbu counterattacked the Kirigakure Vanguard Force, which suffered heavy losses without causing Konoha casualties.

Kakashi Hatake killed Kisame Hoshigaki with [Chidori], but the Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, arrived as the Konoha Anbu squad celebrated its victory. Kakashi ordered everyone to retreat and charged Yagura, beginning another [Chidori] attack.

• Kisame Hoshigaki overwhelmed Kakashi Hatake with [Samehada], forcing Kakashi to rely on his [Three-Tomoe Sharingan] to read the attacks.
• Kakashi used explosive tags to distract Kisame, then pierced his chest with [Chidori] and killed him.
• Yamato and the others defeated their Kirigakure opponents, giving the Konoha Anbu squad an overwhelming victory.
• Karatachi Yagura arrived, and Kakashi sensed his immense chakra and ordered the squad to retreat.
• Kakashi charged Karatachi Yagura with [Chidori], resolved to face him despite the danger.

Karatachi Yagura overpowered Kakashi Hatake and his Anbu, resisting Kakashi’s final Lightning Blade and leaving him buried in a crater. As Kakashi lost consciousness, Kisame Hoshigaki recovered from his wound and revealed that Kakashi’s attack had nearly killed him.

• Karatachi Yagura’s Tailed Beast Cloak blocked Kakashi Hatake’s Chidori, and Isobu’s tail broke Kakashi’s fingers and shoulder before knocking him down.
• Two Konoha Anbu attacked Karatachi Yagura but were struck down, while Kakashi ordered Yamato, Uchiha Itachi, and the other Anbu to retreat.
• Kakashi invoked the importance of comrades, provoking a furious reaction from Karatachi Yagura, then used smoke and the Headhunter Jutsu to launch a final Lightning Blade.
• Karatachi Yagura’s Tailed Beast Cloak stopped the Lightning Blade, and he bound Kakashi with Coral Palm before smashing him into the ground with Isobu’s tail.
• Kisame Hoshigaki stood up as Samehada helped heal his chest wound and admitted that Kakashi’s attack had nearly killed him.

Karatachi Yagura ordered Kisame Hoshigaki to spare Kakashi Hatake, and Obito Uchiha took Kakashi into the Kamui dimension. Kisame pursued the Konoha Anbu and battled Yamato, who escaped after Kisame destroyed two Wood Clones; Uchiha Itachi continued fleeing through the forest.

• Karatachi Yagura stopped Kisame Hoshigaki from killing Kakashi Hatake for his Sharingan and sent Kisame after the fleeing Konoha Anbu.
• Obito Uchiha appeared on the battlefield, reflected on his history with Kakashi, and drew Kakashi into the Kamui dimension.
• Kisame caught up with Konoha Anbu Tenzo, and Yamato challenged him with Wood Release techniques.
• Kisame used Samehada to cut through Yamato's wooden attacks, then flooded the forest with Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
• Kisame sent a Water Shark Bullet Technique after Yamato, but it tore apart another Wood Clone; Kisame failed to find him and gave up the search.
• Uchiha Itachi raced through the forest along another escape route.

Obito Uchiha confronted Uchiha Itachi and tried to persuade him to leave Konoha, but Itachi refused and sent a message to the Hokage. After news arrived that Kakashi Hatake was missing and the Anbu squads had suffered heavy losses, Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned Uchiha Minamoto for help.

• Obito Uchiha questioned whether Uchiha Itachi belonged to the Uchiha Clan or Konoha and urged him to seek answers outside the village.
• Uchiha Itachi refused to become a missing-nin and sent a crow to find Lord Hokage with a message.
• Yamato sent Konoha a report that two Anbu squads were nearly wiped out and Kakashi Hatake was missing after losing to Karatachi Yagura.
• Uchiha Setsuna blamed Hiruzen Sarutobi for the losses and demanded that he call for Uchiha Minamoto.
• Uchiha Setsuna went to Uchiha Minamoto's office and began telling him about the crisis on the eastern front.

After the eastern front suffered heavy losses and Kakashi Hatake went missing, Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned Uchiha Minamoto to an emergency war meeting. Minamoto pointedly reminded Hiruzen that he had rejected his earlier offer to deploy, leaving the meeting without the answer Hiruzen wanted.

• Uchiha Setsuna told Uchiha Minamoto that the eastern front had suffered serious losses and that Hiruzen Sarutobi had called an emergency meeting.
• Uchiha Minamoto went with Uchiha Setsuna to the Hokage Building for the meeting.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi reported that two Anbu squads had been nearly wiped out and Kakashi Hatake's fate remained unknown after he faced Karatachi Yagura.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi asked Uchiha Minamoto how he viewed the crisis, and Minamoto asked what Hiruzen wanted him to do.
• Hiruha Minamoto listed other possible fighters, including Utatane Koharu, Tsunade, and Shisui, instead of volunteering for the eastern front.

Uchiha Minamoto accepted Hiruzen Sarutobi’s request to face Kirigakure on the eastern battlefield, while leaving his forces to defend the northern front. After checking in with Matatabi, he traveled to the eastern Land of Fire and sensed a familiar chakra.

• Uchiha Minamoto challenged Hiruzen Sarutobi to admit his earlier decision had been wrong, then agreed to go east alone while the Konoha Military Police Force’s Mobile Combat Team guarded the north.
• Uchiha Minamoto vanished from the Jonin Commander’s meeting room with [Divine Lightning], stunning the gathered jonin, while Uchiha Setsuna led the applause.
• Uchiha Minamoto returned to the Konoha Military Police Force and delegated its affairs and those of the Great Love Group.
• Uchiha Minamoto visited Matatabi in the Empty District, told her he was heading east to repel Kirigakure, and said he would summon her if needed.
• Uchiha Minamoto crossed the Land of Fire using [Divine Lightning], sensed a familiar chakra in the east, and teleported toward it.

Uchiha Minamoto rescued Uchiha Itachi and Yamato, then learned that a powerful Kirigakure kunoichi wanted to discuss a business deal with the Light of Konoha. Mei Terumi waited for Konoha’s response as Kirigakure’s forces advanced into the Land of Fire.

• Uchiha Itachi recovered in the forest after Uchiha Minamoto arrived, treated his injuries, and left him to rest.
• Uchiha Minamoto found Yamato, gave him medical supplies, and heard about the reddish-brown-haired Kirigakure kunoichi who had let him go with a message.
• Yamato told Uchiha Minamoto that the kunoichi wanted to discuss a big business deal with the Light of Konoha.
• Uchiha Minamoto set off to meet the Kirigakure unit and hear the deal for himself.
• Mei Terumi waited with her trusted followers and worried that Konoha had not responded while Karatachi Yagura’s forces advanced into the Land of Fire.

Mei Terumi weighed her desperate options for saving Kirigakure and waited for Uchiha Minamoto to arrive. He appeared in the forest, effortlessly incapacitated her elite guards, and left Mei standing to face him.

• Mei Terumi told Ao she did not know whether Uchiha Minamoto would come and considered staging a coup against Karatachi Yagura if he refused to cooperate.
• Uchiha Minamoto appeared without warning in the clearing, prompting Mei Terumi to shout that the Kirigakure ninja should attack.
• Uchiha Minamoto used [Amenotokotachi] to repel the ninja tools and Water Release attacks aimed at him.
• Uchiha Minamoto used [Sage Art: Body Pathway Lightning Calamity Technique] to incapacitate more than twenty Kirigakure ninja, including Ao, while sparing Mei Terumi.
• Uchiha Minamoto identified Mei Terumi, and she stood stunned as the Light of Konoha announced his arrival.

Uchiha Minamoto defeated Mei Terumi’s Kirigakure squad, recovered Ao’s Byakugan, and heard Mei’s plea for help against the force controlling Kirigakure. He identified the Mysterious Masked Man as a likely culprit, and Mei concluded that the man and Shimura Danzō were behind the village’s troubles.

• Uchiha Minamoto pulled Ao’s Byakugan from his eye socket, sealed it in a scroll, and said it had been returned to its rightful owner.
• Mei Terumi explained that Kirigakure’s invasion was not the village’s true intention and claimed the Fourth Mizukage was controlled by Genjutsu.
• Mei Terumi begged Uchiha Minamoto to save Karatachi Yagura and free Kirigakure from the mastermind’s control.
• Uchiha Minamoto told Mei Terumi about the Mysterious Masked Man, his abilities, and his suspected role in Konoha’s Nine-Tails’ Attack.
• Mei Terumi connected the Mysterious Masked Man to the control of Karatachi Yagura and suspected Shimura Danzō and the masked man were behind Kirigakure’s suffering.

Mei Terumi asked Uchiha Minamoto to free Kirigakure from Karatachi Yagura and the Mysterious Masked Man, but he demanded a price for sparing her and her subordinates. He revealed that he wanted Mei to become the Fifth Mizukage and ally Kirigakure with Konoha, leaving her embarrassed and asking whether he was serious.

• Mei Terumi begged Uchiha Minamoto to break Karatachi Yagura's Genjutsu and drive the Mysterious Masked Man from Kirigakure.
• Uchiha Minamoto warned Mei Terumi that he could kill her and her subordinates, then asked what Kirigakure would offer in exchange for his help.
• Mei Terumi offered Kirigakure's immediate withdrawal from the war, compensation, and a defensive alliance with Konoha.
• Uchiha Minamoto rejected her terms and said he wanted Mei Terumi, prompting her to start undressing.
• Uchiha Minamoto clarified that he wanted Mei Terumi to become the Fifth Mizukage and lead Kirigakure into an alliance with Konoha.
• Mei Terumi regained her composure and asked Uchiha Minamoto if he was serious.

Uchiha Minamoto challenged Mei Terumi to prove her mettle as a candidate for Fifth Mizukage by fighting him. Mei Terumi opened with Hidden Mist Technique and Boil Release, but Uchiha Minamoto protected himself with Susanoo and said her acidic mist could not hurt him.

• Mei Terumi objected to becoming a puppet Mizukage, and Uchiha Minamoto told her to stand up before they continued talking.
• Uchiha Minamoto demanded that Mei Terumi fight him to prove she was qualified to become Fifth Mizukage.
• Mei Terumi asked to move the fight away from her injured subordinates, and Uchiha Minamoto led her to a clearing.
• Mei Terumi filled the clearing with Hidden Mist Technique and added acidic mist with Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique.
• Uchiha Minamoto formed Susanoo: Rib Cage Version to shield himself from the acid and told Mei Terumi her attack was not strong enough to hurt him.

Uchiha Minamoto defeated Mei Terumi despite her Lava Release attacks and assassination technique, using Susanoo and Lightning Release Transformation to remain unharmed. Mei Terumi lay paralyzed on the ground after her final attack failed.

• Mei Terumi used Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique, but it only partially melted Uchiha Minamoto's Susanoo.
• Mei Terumi attacked from beneath with Lava Release: Turbid Flow Wave, but Uchiha Minamoto transformed into lightning and emerged unharmed.
• Uchiha Minamoto praised Mei Terumi for identifying Susanoo's apparent weakness, but Mei Terumi refused to give up.
• Mei Terumi lunged at Uchiha Minamoto with a kunai, and he turned his body into lightning, shocking and paralyzing her.
• Uchiha Minamoto declared that Mei Terumi had lost as she lay on the ground, unable to get up.