Recaps

Tsunade and the Kage learned that the allied forces had not reached Konoha, while several groups converged on Kikyo Mountain to discover what had happened. Inside the Earth Prison, Manda fled after being wounded, but fighting among the trapped ninja continued.

• The Third Hokage told Tsunade Anyo’s battle plan had stopped the allied forces and set out for Kikyo Mountain with Jiraiya, leaving Tsunade to treat Minato.
• The Tsuchikage and Raikage, alarmed by the lack of reports from their forces, led Anbu toward Kikyo Mountain.
• Genji caught Mei Terumi returning to Kirigakure, learned that Ōbu had saved her, and took her with him toward Kikyo Mountain.
• Manda canceled his Summoning Technique and escaped the Earth Prison after a lightning-wielding ninja wounded him in the mouth.
• The trapped allied ninja continued fighting amid the chaos and venomous bites inside the Earth Prison.

Anyo and Tobirama killed the isolated ninja inside the barrier while the allied forces fought poisonous creatures. The Third Kazekage revealed his plan to sacrifice the trapped forces, and Anyo’s puppet explosions unleashed an even worse poison that engulfed the survivors.

• The allied ninja escaped the earthen prison and used ninjutsu to contain the poisonous mist and fight the creatures pursuing them.
• The Third Kazekage told Rasa he had helped maintain the barrier to weaken the other nations and intended to kill everyone inside; Rasa refused to attack his own people and agreed to return to the village.
• Anyo analyzed how to combine his eight sword arts while he and Tobirama killed the 103 isolated ninja.
• Anyo used a command to make a Sunagakure puppeteer detonate thousands of hidden puppets, killing the Sand Ninja and devastating nearby defensive formations.
• The puppet explosions released purple poison that transformed the poisonous creatures, while purple and black mist closed in on the surviving allied ninja.

Anyo unleashed poison-enhanced creatures and Iron Sand Drizzle against the Allied Forces at Kikyo Mountain Base, turning their escape into a massacre. As the mutated crows threatened to spread the danger further, he trapped Tobirama Senju in an advanced Bringer-of-Darkness Technique and disappeared with him.

• Anyo explained that his purple poison enhanced venomous creatures, and Tobirama Senju warned that they could become a threat to the entire world.
• The Four Red Yang Formation vanished, and Anyo used Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle to attack the fleeing Allied Forces.
• The iron sand and venomous creatures killed the Allied Forces, leaving Kikyo Mountain Base poisoned and strewn with corpses.
• Crows exposed to the poison began mutating, and Tobirama Senju tried to stop them from spreading the catastrophe.
• Anyo trapped Tobirama Senju in a powerful Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, sealed him with a Sealing Talisman, and vanished with him.

The Five Great Nations’ leaders found the Allied Forces nearly wiped out by poison around Kikyo Mountain and joined efforts to contain the spreading danger. After the area was sealed, the Third Kazekage proposed a second Five Kage Summit, while Anyo asked Tobirama Senju how to resolve the Mangekyō Sharingan’s flaw.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya found Kikyo Mountain engulfed in poison and venomous insects, then began setting up a barrier to protect Konoha.
• Ōnoki and Raikage A discovered the devastation, and Ōnoki warned the Raikage to retreat before the poison overcame his Lightning Armor.
• Genji, Ōnoki, Raikage A, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and their forces joined in sealing off the contaminated area.
• Anyo freed Tobirama Senju and asked him how to resolve the Mangekyō Sharingan’s flaw; Tobirama recognized Anyo’s danger and listened.
• Sasori joined the sealing effort through the Third Kazekage, who revealed himself to the gathered leaders and proposed a second Five Kage Summit.

The Kage of the Five Great Villages began a summit to discuss the Third Shinobi World War and the mysterious wasteland where their forces had vanished. As accusations threatened to turn the meeting into a fight, the Third Kazekage warned that the newly completed barrier could not withstand a major battle.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi, Ōnoki, A, and Genji agreed to hold a summit, and Genji introduced Karatachi Yagura as Kirigakure’s newly appointed Fourth Mizukage.
• Ōnoki used Earth Release: Ultra-Light Rock Technique to raise the five Kage into the air for their talks.
• Tobirama Senju warned Anyo that his Mangekyō Sharingan was damaging his eyesight and explained that Madara Uchiha had overcome its side effects by transplanting his younger brother’s eyes.
• Anyo asked whether any alternative could cure the Sharingan’s backlash, while Sasori proposed capturing the Uchiha Clan and testing their eyes.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the Third Kazekage told the summit that Konoha’s Kikyo Mountain Base and the surrounding area had become a wasteland, with the Fourth Kazekage presumed dead and no survivors found.
• A accused Konoha of causing the disappearance of an army of twenty thousand, but the Third Kazekage, Ōnoki, and Yagura prevented the Kage from fighting because the barrier was unstable.

The Five Kage agreed on measures to contain the poisoned creatures and formally withdrew from the Third Shinobi World War. After learning of the decision, Anyo prepared to return to Konoha, and Tobirama Senju pointed him toward a possible way to break the Mangekyō Sharingan’s curse before Anyo released his Impure World Reincarnation.

• Tobirama Senju told Anyo that the Sharingan could not evolve into the Rinnegan without Six Paths power, and Anyo realized Nagato’s Rinnegan likely belonged to Madara Uchiha.
• The Five Kage agreed to reinforce the dead zone’s barrier every six months and have each village send elite jonin to eliminate poisonous creatures, with the Land of Iron overseeing quotas.
• Yagura, the Kazekage, Ōnoki, A, and Hiruzen Sarutobi each declared their villages’ withdrawal or refusal to start a major war, ending the Third Shinobi World War.
• Anyo learned the summit’s outcome from Sasori and said he was ready to return and rest.
• Tobirama Senju directed Anyo to the Naka Shrine’s stone tablet, which might reveal how to break the Mangekyō Sharingan’s curse, and reminded him to remember he was a Konoha ninja.
• Anyo released the Impure World Reincarnation, and Tobirama Senju’s soul rose from his body as Anyo joked that they might meet again in a Fourth Shinobi World War.

After the war ended, Anyo rejected Hiruzen Sarutobi’s decision to wait for him and left with Sasori, while Mabui questioned his methods and considered her own future. Hiruzen read Anyo’s declaration that his debt to Konoha was settled and wondered whether he would return as an ally or a threat.

• After the Second Five Kage Summit, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Jiraiya to Konoha with a scroll recording the battle’s outcome and stayed behind to wait for Anyo.
• Sasori wanted to kill Hiruzen for sending Anyo to hold Kikyo Mountain, but Anyo refused, saying Hiruzen would die at someone else’s hands in the future.
• Mabui challenged Anyo over the deaths of the allied troops, and Anyo said he fought to protect the people he cared about before leaving with Sasori.
• Anyo told Sasori that Mabui could leave the Zero Organization after having her memories erased, then said he wanted to keep playing with the great nations.
• Kakuzu borrowed one of Mabui’s summoned motorbikes to return to the village and crashed shortly after setting off.
• After waiting half a day, Hiruzen read Anyo’s message that his debt to Konoha was settled and wondered whether he would return, then placed Konoha’s future in Minato’s hands.

Tsunade left Konoha with Shizune, while Anyo and Sasori returned to the village to arrange production of Anyo’s Five Nations Kill card game. After a shopkeeper refused because the game could provoke conflict between nations, Sasori threatened his daughter, and Anyo left the shopkeeper to Sasori’s supervision.

• Tsunade told Jiraiya she was leaving Konoha, removed her forehead protector, and departed with Shizune.
• Anyo returned to Konoha with Sasori and asked the card shopkeeper to use his profits to produce Five Nations Kill.
• The shopkeeper refused because the game’s portrayal of the Kage and villages could cause outrage and conflict.
• Sasori revealed that the shopkeeper was Niannian and threatened his daughter, Tenten, until Niannian agreed to cooperate.
• Anyo left money and the game scroll with Niannian, then told Sasori not to harm the child as Sasori took charge of the arrangement.

After Tsunade left Konoha without a message, Anyo returned home and slept for two days while recovering from his injuries. Mikoto cared for him, and after they spoke about the war and the Uchiha, he went with her to visit the clan, intending to see its legendary stone tablet.

• Anyo learned from Jiraiya that Tsunade had left Konoha, then went home and collapsed into a deep sleep.
• Sarutobi visited Anyo while he slept, and Anyo woke two days later after Konoha held a memorial for the war dead.
• Mikoto cared for Anyo as he recovered, while Little Chili Pepper brought him breakfast and argued with him.
• Anyo asked Mikoto about Fugaku and Shisui, then urged her to think about her own life as well as others.
• Anyo washed and eased his pain with Medical Ninjutsu, then left with Mikoto to visit the Uchiha clan and see its legendary stone tablet.

Anyo entered Naka Shrine to decipher the Uchiha stone tablet, learning its account of chakra’s origins before stopping to recover his eye power. Shisui discovered him inside the clan’s most guarded shrine and confronted him, while Anyo’s blades blocked Shisui from entering.

• Mikoto brought Anyo to the Uchiha clan grounds, where he said goodbye to her and secretly located Naka Shrine.
• Anyo opened the hidden entrance and used his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to decipher the tablet’s account of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the God Tree, and the origins of chakra.
• Anyo stopped reading when his eye power ran out and suspected that the tablet’s altered section required the Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Shisui sensed someone inside the shrine, hurried there, and blocked Anyo’s six blades with his ninja sword.
• Shisui recognized Anyo’s weapon and demanded that his captain show himself, conflicted about confronting him inside the shrine.

Anyo deciphered part of the Uchiha Clan's stone tablet and resolved to change the Shinobi World. He asked Minato to join him, but Minato refused because Anyo could not promise that his plans would benefit Konoha.

• Anyo deciphered a passage about yin and yang becoming all creation, but could not uncover the tablet's hidden section with his Mangekyō Sharingan.
• Anyo told Shisui he was no longer his captain and ordered him to leave the Anbu.
• Anyo admitted to Minato that he had used poison to kill twenty thousand Allied Forces troops at Kikyo Mountain.
• Anyo asked Minato whether he still wanted to become Hokage, then proposed that they work together to change the Shinobi World.
• Minato refused to join Anyo because he could not be sure Anyo's changes would be good for Konoha.

Anyo warned Minato that Obito and Kakashi were likely in danger, while Obito rushed to save them after learning Rin was surrounded by Kirigakure Ninja. He arrived too late to stop Kakashi from killing Rin, and Obito awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan before massacring the Mist Ninja.

• Minato told Anyo that Obito had sacrificed himself during the Kannabi Bridge mission, and Anyo realized Obito and Kakashi might still be in danger.
• Obito recovered in Madara's Underground Palace until a White Zetsu told him Rin and Kakashi were surrounded by Kirigakure Ninja.
• A White Zetsu wrapped itself around Obito, enabling him to break through the stone wall and race to save Rin and Kakashi.
• Anyo urged Minato to search near Kirigakure, and Minato left Konoha to find his students.
• Obito arrived just as Kakashi pierced Rin's heart, and his Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyō Sharingan as Kakashi collapsed unconscious.
• Obito attacked the Kirigakure Ninja in a rage and slaughtered them without mercy.

After learning that Rin had died by Kakashi’s Chidori, Anyo met with Hiruzen Sarutobi and received the appointment as Anbu commander. He used his first order to give his Anbu squad members the chance to return to ordinary lives.

• Minato found Kakashi unconscious at the bloody battlefield, with Rin and the Mist Ninja gone, and brought Kakashi back to Konoha.
• Kakashi told Minato and Anyo that Rin had died after impaling herself on his Chidori to prevent the Three-Tails from reaching Konoha.
• Anyo recognized Madara Uchiha’s plan to use Rin’s death to manipulate Obito, while Kakashi fell unconscious from exhaustion.
• Anbu summoned Anyo to meet Hiruzen Sarutobi, who asked about the Battle of Kikyo Pass and then gave him the Anbu commander appointment.
• Anyo ordered his Anbu squad members to leave the Anbu and return to normal lives, and Hiruzen agreed if they consented.

Hiruzen appointed Anyo as Anbu Chief, and Anyo used his new authority to confront Danzo over the supposedly halted Wood Release Experiment. After discovering the hidden trials were killing their child subjects, Anyo began investigating the experiments himself and identified the cause of their deaths.

• Hiruzen told Minato that he had decided to appoint him, leaving Minato stunned.
• Anyo showed Danzo his appointment letter and asserted authority over Root, then forced Danzo to take him to the Wood Release Experiment.
• Danzo led Anyo to a hidden laboratory where dozens of children were submerged in experimental vessels, despite Hiruzen having ordered the research stopped.
• Anyo tested the green liquid on several children, but each subject burst apart and died.
• Anyo determined that the diluted Hashirama cells overwhelmed the children's bodies, while stronger subjects would reject the cells.

As Anyo continued researching underground, Konoha mourned its war dead and prepared to elect a Fourth Hokage. Minato and Fugaku emerged as leading candidates, and Fugaku decided to seek Anyo’s support through Mikoto.

• Konoha announced its war dead, the Third Hokage’s intention to step down, and the approaching Fourth Hokage election.
• Uchiha clansmen demanded Kakashi Hatake’s Sharingan, but Fugaku refused to take it from the village hero.
• Uchiha clansmen urged Fugaku to run for Hokage, and he agreed.
• Minato told Kushina that he had been appointed to succeed as the Fourth Hokage, and she celebrated with him.
• Fugaku worried that Minato’s wartime reputation threatened his chances and asked Mikoto to approach Anyo for support.

Anyo's experiments with Hashirama Cells suggested that balancing them against the Third Raikage's cells might strengthen his own cells, but the mixture exploded before he could achieve a stable result. Mikoto asked him to support Fugaku's bid for Hokage, and a week later Anyo attended the election meeting, where Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Fugaku were the final candidates.

• Anyo tested Hashirama Cells alongside the Third Raikage's cells and his own blood, but the vessel exploded after the three types of cells clashed.
• Anyo returned home, where Mikoto visited and asked him to support Fugaku's bid for Hokage; he agreed.
• After Mikoto left, Anyo suspected Danzo had leaked his Anbu appointment to manipulate Fugaku and cause friction with Sarutobi.
• A week later, Anyo attended Konoha's Fourth Hokage election meeting as Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Fugaku entered as the final candidates.

Minato Namikaze won the Hokage election and became Konoha’s Fourth Hokage, while Anyo worried about the coming Nine-Tails attack and resolved to keep Minato alive. After Anyo returned to his research, Shinku Yuhi brought a group of young ninja back to Konoha and told Kurenai Yuhi that the Third Shinobi World War had ended.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi praised Fugaku and Minato Namikaze before they gave their campaign speeches, and the senior officials overwhelmingly voted for Minato.
• Fugaku left the ceremony bitter and dejected as Minato was named Fourth Hokage and celebrated by the villagers.
• Anyo thought about the threats posed by Obito and the Nine-Tails, then promised Minato he would help him while keeping his concerns secret.
• Anyo returned to the Wood Release Experiment Laboratory to research how to eliminate his Mangekyō Sharingan’s side effects and decided to ensure Minato survived the Nine-Tails attack.
• Shinku Yuhi returned to Konoha with the young ninja and told Kurenai Yuhi that the Third Shinobi World War was over; Kurenai went to see whether someone had returned.

After the war, Kurenai Yuhi learned that Anyo’s identity and new Anbu position were secret, while Anyo continued experiments in Root and developed his lightning techniques. His research failed to safely use Hashirama cells, but studying the Third Raikage’s cells strengthened his abilities and led him to master Lightning Swordsmanship.

• Kurenai Yuhi found Anyo’s home empty for several days and asked Shinku where he had gone.
• Sarutobi told Shinku that Anyo was now Anbu Chief, that his former identity as Ye had been declared dead, and that Shinku should find spies in Konoha.
• Shinku forbade Kurenai Yuhi from seeking Anyo because his identity and new residence were confidential, prompting an argument between them.
• Anyo’s attempt to introduce Hashirama cells into his body nearly transformed the injection site into wood, so he expelled the cells.
• Anyo studied the Third Raikage’s cells, created the defensive Lightning Domain, and refined his use of lightning chakra.
• Anyo infused the Unintentional Blade with lightning and pierced the laboratory’s reinforced steel door, mastering his Lightning Swordsmanship.

Anyo learned that Konoha had erased his former Anbu identity and arranged a secret residence for him while Shinku investigated spies seeking information about Death Poison Valley. Meanwhile, Minato recruited a grieving Kakashi into the Anbu, where Anyo gave him a new White Light Chakra Sabre and his swordsmanship scroll before agreeing to test Guy for a place in the unit.

• Shinku gave Anyo a list of infiltrators and told him Sarutobi had declared his former Anbu codename dead and arranged a new residence.
• Kurenai played a board game with her friends while thinking about Anyo, and Guy followed Kakashi after seeing his grief.
• Kakashi faltered during a mission when memories of Rin overwhelmed him, and Guy rescued him from enemy ninja.
• Minato ordered Kakashi to join the Anbu as his right-hand man, and Kakashi accepted the assignment.
• Anyo welcomed Kakashi into the Anbu, gave him a forged White Light Chakra Sabre and a swordsmanship scroll, and offered him a chance to leave if needed.
• Guy asked to join the Anbu, and Anyo said he would recommend him to Minato if he answered three questions correctly.

Anyo returned to his former residence and resumed training before Shopkeeper Niannian came to ask him to help recover his missing daughter. Anyo agreed to seek out Sasori, believing Sasori had taken her.

• Anyo tested Guy with questions about handling enemy ninja, then regretted considering him for the Anbu after Guy answered the final question with a spinning kick.
• Anyo returned to his old residence, reflected on his past with Tsunade, and spent the next day training with his swords.
• Anyo accepted a free kunai from a villager, then realized the gift was a way to identify Anbu members when Shopkeeper Niannian arrived at his gate.
• Niannian explained that his daughter had gone missing after he secretly moved her to a safe place, and he suspected Sasori had taken her.
• Anyo reassured Niannian that Sasori would not harm the girl and left the village to find their contact point.

Anyo met with Sasori through a puppet and agreed that Boss Niannian’s kidnapped daughter would be returned after a month, while using the incident to pressure Niannian into cooperating. In Sunagakure, Sasori struggled to soothe the crying baby until Grandmother Chiyo arrived to help.

• Anyo opened the barrier-sealed box and summoned a puppet containing part of Sasori’s soul, who explained that Rasa was hidden and the Elder Council was under his control.
• Sasori admitted he had kidnapped Boss Niannian’s daughter and explained that Niannian’s poorly guarded card shipments had failed to spread the game beyond the bandits.
• Anyo told Sasori to care for the girl and return her in a month, then assured Niannian that the separation would happen once a year and urged him to act in good faith.
• Niannian realized Anyo knew about his tricks and reluctantly accepted the arrangement.
• Sasori failed to calm the crying baby with puppets or rice porridge, and Mabui pointed out that she needed milk.
• Grandmother Chiyo arrived, took the baby from Mabui, and promised Sasori she would find out what was wrong.

While Anyo continued his Wood Release Experiment, Minato faced diplomatic pressure over Anyo’s controversial Five Nations Kill cards. Minato chose to halt overseas sales, but Kushina demanded the rare signed deck he had accidentally given away.

• Anyo struggled with his Wood Release Experiment and worried that he was running out of test subjects.
• Minato investigated complaints from other nations about Five Nations Kill and learned from Niannian that an Anbu member had made the cards.
• Minato recognized the card creator as Anyo, summoned him, and heard that he had made the deck to earn money and deliberately annoy the other nations.
• Anyo refused to change the cards and threatened to take on another twenty-thousand-strong Allied Forces if anyone fought over them.
• Minato and Sarutobi agreed to halt sales abroad, but Sarutobi took the deck from the office to play with it.
• Kushina demanded her limited-edition signed deck, and Minato used Flying Thunder God to leave and promised to get her another signed copy.

Anyo made a signed card set for Minato and learned that Minato and Kushina were getting married because Kushina was pregnant. At their small wedding, Anyo reunited with Mikoto and received a message that Yugao wanted to see him.

• Minato used Flying Thunder God to find Anyo and asked him for signed cards for Kushina, so Anyo took him to Niannian's shop and made a set by hand.
• Minato told Anyo that he and Kushina would hold a simple wedding in a week and revealed that Kushina was pregnant; he decided to name their child Naruto after Jiraiya's novel.
• Anyo attended Minato and Kushina's small home wedding, where he learned that Mikoto was over four months pregnant and Fugaku had withdrawn from public life after losing the Hokage election.
• Inoichi, Shikaku, and Chōza toasted Anyo at the wedding, and Inoichi secretly told him that Yugao was looking for him and did not want to leave the Anbu.

At Minato and Kushina’s wedding, Anyo rejected Fugaku’s invitation to return to the Uchiha clan and become its next head. He then reassured Yugao that she could remain in the Anbu and demonstrated his sword techniques for her.

• Anyo told Minato and Mikoto that he was already married, then refused Mikoto’s offer to find him a wife.
• Fugaku invited Anyo to return to the Uchiha clan and become its next head, but Anyo refused and urged him to focus on strength instead of clan status.
• Yugao told Anyo she would stay in the Anbu because she had nowhere else to go, and Anyo agreed to continue training her.
• At their usual training ground, Anyo demonstrated his eight great sword techniques, ending with a strike that shattered a rocky hill and left Yugao stunned.

Anyo traveled to Orochimaru’s hideout under the pretense of hunting the rogue ninja, hoping to join Orochimaru and Danzo’s Wood Release Experiment. Orochimaru agreed to help stage a fight at his abandoned hideouts, then led Anyo toward the experiment and warned him away from a hidden door.

• Anyo gave Minato antidote pills and protective medicine for Death Poison Valley, then claimed he was leaving to investigate a possible sighting of Orochimaru.
• Anyo left Konoha on his War Hawk Puppet and greeted Orochimaru at his hideout as his uncle.
• Orochimaru demanded Anyo fill a bottle with his blood before agreeing to hear his request, and Anyo complied.
• Anyo asked Orochimaru to stage a fight at several abandoned hideouts so he could remain there and join the Wood Release Experiment with Danzo.
• Orochimaru recognized Anyo’s interest in the experiment and led him through the research base, warning him not to enter a hidden door near the Wood Release laboratory.