Recaps

Araki defeated Orochimaru, concealed the underground laboratory, and joined Minato and Kushina under Jiraiya after passing their team test. The story left off with Mikoto accused of killing an Uchiha Clan member as Araki and Kushina entered the tense Uchiha compound.

• Araki used the Wood Locking Wall Jutsu to withstand Orochimaru’s Eight-Headed Serpent, then pinned the serpent with Hotei Technique and demanded to know where the Hashirama Cells were kept.
• Orochimaru escaped Araki’s bindings with his substitution technique and wounded him, but Araki fought him in the spirit world, tore away pieces of his soul, and killed him.
• Araki dragged Orochimaru and the three Anbu into the underground laboratory, concealed the site beneath a forest, and returned to Konoha unnoticed.
• Ibuki-sensei assigned Araki, Minato, and Kushina to the same team, and Jiraiya became their Jonin instructor.
• During Jiraiya’s bell test, Araki, Minato, and Kushina cooperated, and Minato took the bells after Araki disrupted Jiraiya’s body with chakra-infused strikes.
• Araki inspected Orochimaru’s laboratory, destroyed the bodies of failed transplantation subjects, and resumed training before the team began its D-rank missions.
• After Kushina learned that Mikoto was accused of killing an Uchiha Clan member, Araki agreed to help investigate while Minato went to find Jiraiya.
• Araki and Kushina reached the Uchiha compound and found its members gathered in a tense, lifeless atmosphere.

Araki cleared Mikoto of Ueki’s murder, then joined Jiraiya’s team on a supply mission toward the western front. At the Konoha outpost, Sunagakure poisoned the camp and abducted Kushina, and Araki pursued the puppets carrying her.

• Araki examined Ueki’s body and established that he had been suffocated through Genjutsu before someone staged the scene, leading to Mikoto’s release.
• Araki suspected Fugaku had used the Sharingan to kill Ueki and frame Mikoto, but chose not to investigate further and gave Mikoto anesthetic pills for protection.
• Jiraiya assigned Araki, Minato, and Kushina a C-Rank mission to transport supplies toward the western border, and Araki gave Minato and Kushina Purple Blood antidotes.
• Kumogakure ninja ambushed the squad, and Araki killed six attackers before using Red Spirit poison and a staged informant accusation to turn five surviving captives against the sixth.
• The team continued toward the front, escaped a group of red-tailed bamboo pit vipers, and discussed how differences between nations could lead to war.
• At the Konoha outpost, Araki sensed Sunagakure ninja approaching but stayed silent to conceal his sensing ability.
• Sunagakure’s Redbud Poison incapacitated the Konoha ninja, and puppets abducted Kushina while Araki sent a Wood Clone after them.

After Kushina’s Nine-Tails transformation, Araki helped her regain control and the team returned to Konoha amid suspicions of a leak. At the Chunin exams in Kumogakure, Araki fought Little A, then began developing a Nintaijutsu style by exchanging training advice with him.

• Kushina released the Nine-Tails, which emerged and attacked Sunagakure’s ambushers before Araki persuaded it to return to her seal.
• Araki warned the Nine-Tails about Madara Uchiha and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and it returned its chakra to Kushina.
• Jiraiya brought Kushina, Minato, and Araki back to Konoha and reported the attack, while the team suspected that someone in Konoha had leaked their mission details.
• Araki questioned Uchiha Fugaku about the possible leak, then resumed training and research while the team spent several months on D-rank missions.
• Jiraiya registered Araki, Minato, and Kushina for the joint Chunin Ninja Exams in Kumogakure and trained them before their journey.
• Araki disguised himself as Kushina to draw out Kumogakure watchers, captured their attackers, and later gave his teammates antidotes before the team entered Kumogakure.
• Little A challenged Minato, but Araki fought him instead and sparred with him until nightfall, discovering that Little A’s charging momentum strengthened his attacks.
• Araki practiced Nintaijutsu and exchanged training advice with Little A, who considered Araki’s suggestion to focus his Lightning Release chakra more precisely.

Araki, Minato, and Kushina survived Kumogakure’s rigged exam, exposed its attempt to capture Kushina, and escaped back to Konoha with Jiraiya. In Konoha, Araki helped Tsunade develop an Academy reform plan before breaking into the Hokage’s office to absorb Hashirama’s cells, drawing the village’s leaders and Anbu to the building.

• Araki returned from his exchange with Little A and demonstrated his newly learned nintaijutsu to Jiraiya before the exams began.
• Nankain replaced the written test with a lethal seven-day survival trial, and Minato, Araki, and Kushina entered the exam grounds after signing the waivers.
• Nankain led a Kumogakure ambush against Kushina, but Araki used knockout drug and killed the attackers, then told Minato about Kumogakure’s earlier attempts to abduct her.
• The trio fought off further attackers, set traps, and hunted for special kunai until they emerged as the only team to qualify, carrying nine kunai.
• Minato used Flying Thunder God to teleport Araki, Kushina, and Jiraiya out of Kumogakure, and Jiraiya prepared to report the attack to the Third Lord Hokage.
• Araki told Jiraiya about the possible Konoha mole and worked with Tsunade on reforms that would add specialized courses, including medical studies, to the Ninja Academy.
• Araki broke into the Hokage’s office at night and began absorbing Hashirama’s cells, causing a violent tremor that brought the Anbu, the Third, Danzō, Koharu, Homura, and Jiraiya to the building.