Recaps

Uka Senju learned the truth behind the Senju’s troubles, received new responsibilities and equipment, and formed a team with Inuzuka Furin and Aburame Kaun. After the team passed Senju Tsukika’s test, they set out for Konoha’s southern front as the village’s forces attacked the Land of Grass.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi defended Shimura Danzō’s actions to Jiraiya and Orochimaru while privately planning to use conflict to strengthen the Sarutobi clan.
• Mito Uzumaki explained the Senju’s troubles to Tsunade, who learned why Uka Senju had acted as he did and was ordered to bring back four Inubashiri heads before dawn.
• Uka Senju attended his wedding ceremony with Tsunade, Senju Maki, and Senju Chiharu, then received a team assignment, Cloud Cutter, the Soratate Branch’s ancestral sword, and a protective charm from Mito Uzumaki.
• Uka Senju reunited with Inuzuka Furin and Aburame Kaun, and Senju Tsukika tested their teamwork before defeating them and giving them tactical advice.
• Uka Senju, Inuzuka Furin, and Aburame Kaun improved their coordination and passed Senju Tsukika’s test, earning permission to begin missions.
• Senju Toka prepared the Senju to locate Sarutobi’s hidden bases, while Shimura Danzō led Konoha forces in an assault on a Grass Ninja village and pursued its escaping leader.
• Uka Senju said goodbye to Senju Chiharu, received his Forehead Protector and mission booklets from Senju Toka, and left with the Wood Release Squad for Konoha’s southern front.

Uka Senju and his team completed one bandit-clearing mission before uncovering suspicious information about their next target. They attacked Asakura Stronghold, where Uka confronted its chief as Furin and Kaun engaged the others.

• Uka Senju, Aburame Kaun, and Inuzuka Furin followed Senju Tsukika’s training and cleared a bandit stronghold, collecting intact proof while Uka discovered that killing people granted him energy.
• The team returned with their proof, and Senju operatives reported that Shimura Danzō had sent attackers after the Wood Release user.
• Uka planned the next mission to eliminate three bandit leaders, then traveled with Furin and Kaun to investigate Fukuyama Village.
• The village chief gave Uka suspiciously incomplete information, and Kaun later discovered the chief abusing a woman he had presented as his granddaughter.
• Uka concluded that both the clan’s intelligence and the client’s account were suspect, and he led the team toward Asakura Stronghold despite the likely trap.
• Uka, Furin, and Kaun killed the first checkpoint’s sentries, then Uka unleashed Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to trap the stronghold’s inhabitants.
• The stronghold’s chief recognized Uka as a valuable target and tried to bargain, but Uka signaled his teammates and attacked while Furin and Kaun engaged the others.

Uka Senju and his team completed missions while the Senju and Sarutobi prepared for a widening conflict. After discovering that their assassination target carried a hidden weapons shipment tied to the Sarutobi side, Uka’s team set an ambush and waited for the pursuing enemy squad.

• Uka Senju and his companions killed the bandit chiefs, completed their cleanup mission, and earned time to rest before their next assignment.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi divided Jiraiya and Orochimaru between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Rain, then gave Orochimaru a copy of the Impure World Reincarnation technique for supervised research.
• Uka Senju led his team toward an assassination target near the Land of Rivers while Senju Toka’s council planned recruitment, bases, Cursed Seals, and alliances against the Sarutobi.
• Senju Chiharu received a transfer to the southern battlefield and prepared to leave, remembering Uka and writing him a letter.
• Uka Senju and his team attacked the target’s residence with Deep Forest Emergence, killed the employer and his protectors, and pursued and killed the fleeing Jonin.
• Uka’s team discovered that recovered scrolls concealed a weapons shipment, while Nobe’s squad pursued them to claim Uka’s bounty.
• Uka Senju, Inuzuka Furin, and Aburame Kaun recognized that the shipment implicated the Sarutobi side and prepared traps and an escape route for the approaching enemy squad.
• Uka Senju and his teammates concealed themselves inside a tree on high ground and took turns keeping watch as they prepared to ambush their pursuers.

Uka Senju and his teammates fought Nobe’s squad, surviving poison, injuries, and a series of battles before the front-line clans debated how to respond to the conflict. Afterward, Uka’s team continued killing and looting enemy groups, and new arrivals approached them.

• Uka Senju’s team ambushed Jonin Nobe’s group, wounded Ima Narimasa, and led Nobe and San Rika through traps toward a direct confrontation.
• Uka Senju drew Nobe away while Inuzuka Furin and Aburame Kaun fought San Rika and the Chunin, and San Rika poisoned Furin and her dogs before dying in a bargain for a grave and no body mutilation.
• Nobe escaped Uka’s attacks underground, but Uka’s team regrouped and cornered him, using their combined techniques to wound him badly.
• Nobe’s earth dragon broke through Uka’s wooden defense, but Furin killed the last enemy and treated Uka’s injuries before the squad rested under Senju Tsukika’s orders.
• The Inuzuka Elder ordered support for the Wood Release Guard Squad, while Hyūga Hiroto and the clan representatives agreed to maintain the status quo pending the Hokage’s orders.
• Uchiha Yukito persuaded the elders to consider an early limited battle with the Hyūga and neutral clans, and the Uchiha rejected the training plan while adopting a new birth policy.
• Uka Senju’s team defeated several groups of missing-nin, collected their equipment, and reflected on the dangers and profits of their month of missions.
• Uka Senju’s team watched another ninja squad withdraw without attacking, then sensed new arrivals approaching and asked Aburame Kaun to identify them.