Recaps

Ao mistakenly believed Mei Terumi had died in the battle at the Mizukage Building, then learned she was pursuing Naoki and Tsunade outside Kirigakure. Mei and her Anbu caught up, and Naoki faced Chōjūrō in a deadly clash.

• Ao arrived at the ruined Mizukage Building, wept over Mei’s supposed death, and scolded an Anbu who told him she was alive and pursuing the intruders.
• Ao searched for Mei’s trail with his Byakugan while trying to hide his earlier outburst.
• Naoki and Tsunade fled through the trees and discussed how poorly the other villages’ assassination attempt had been planned.
• Mei attacked Naoki and Tsunade with her Lava Release, but they dodged by kicking off each other’s feet.
• Chōjūrō struck at Naoki with Hiramekarei, and Naoki countered with Water Severing Wave as both attacks threatened to decide their lives.

Naoki Senju faced Mei Terumi while Tsunade rescued Chōjūrō and then used Katsuyu as a diversion to draw Kirigakure's Anbu away. Mei recognized the ruse, but Naoki stood his ground against her as the confrontation began.

• Naoki Senju's Water Severing Wave overwhelmed Chōjūrō, but Mei Terumi pulled her subordinate away from the attack and threw him to safety.
• Mei identified the Water Severing Wave and challenged Tsunade and Naoki, while Naoki warned Tsunade about Mei's Boil Release and Lava Release.
• Tsunade summoned a massive Katsuyu, then ran toward Kirigakure to make Mei believe the village was under attack.
• Mei ordered the Kirigakure Anbu to stop Tsunade, drawing them away and leaving Naoki alone with her.
• Mei realized Tsunade had used the apparent attack as a diversion and offered Naoki a chance to surrender, but he answered by forming hand seals to fight.

Naoki Senju revealed his Wood Release and identity as Tobirama Senju’s grandson while fighting Mei Terumi, who answered with her corrosive Boil Release. The battle continued as Naoki’s advancing forest met Mei’s expanding mist, leaving the outcome undecided.

• Naoki’s Water Gun and Water Dragon Bullet failed against Mei’s Water Release defenses, so he used Wood Release to block her attack.
• Naoki revealed himself as Naoki Senju and confirmed that Tobirama Senju was his grandfather, but Mei still demanded that he stand aside or be defeated.
• Naoki sent branches, vines, and roots after Mei, who countered with Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique and began dissolving the trees.
• Naoki used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to send a sea of trees toward Mei, who dodged through the attacks and returned to the mist.
• Naoki’s trees vanished inside the corrosive mist as the green color within it grew darker.

Naoki Senju tried to force Mei Terumi to surrender, but she used the chance to launch a close-range attack while bound. Naoki’s wood clone took the hit, and Mei caught him from behind with a kunai at his neck.

• Naoki Senju trapped Mei Terumi in a vast forest and demanded that she surrender.
• Mei Terumi emerged from her mist and agreed to surrender, but Naoki insisted she bind her hands.
• Mei Terumi removed a black stocking and used it to tie her wrists, secretly planning to attack Naoki at close range.
• Mei Terumi used Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique, but the scalding mist struck Naoki’s wood clone.
• Naoki Senju’s branches bound Mei Terumi, but she appeared behind him and pressed a kunai to his neck.

Naoki Senju used Wood Release to trap and capture Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, after she tried to ambush him. With Mei bound in vines, he asked whether they could finally talk.

• Mei Terumi held Naoki Senju at kunai-point, searched him for poison and message tools, and explained how she had identified his real body.
• Naoki revealed that Mei had captured a wood clone and that clones filled the area within Deep Forest Emergence.
• Mei dismissed the clones and used Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique to fend off their growing numbers.
• Naoki used vines hidden in Mei's discarded kunai to bind her, then dragged her out of the acidic mist despite her resistance.
• Naoki wrapped Mei in more vines, lifted her chin, and asked to speak with her properly.

Naoki Senju captured Mei Terumi and demanded that Kirigakure hand over the Three-Tails. Mei negotiated trade concessions for Kirigakure, then agreed to the transfer and declared that the village would not object.

• Naoki Senju told Mei Terumi he would take her to Konoha unless she cooperated, and asked what she and Tsunade had sought in Kirigakure.
• Naoki Senju demanded to borrow the Three-Tails, and Mei said Kirigakure would require compensation and an internal vote.
• Mei proposed restarting trade between Kirigakure and Konoha by exchanging seafood and ninja blades for Konoha's ninja tools.
• Naoki Senju set aside the trade discussion and demanded that Mei take him to the Three-Tails.
• Naoki Senju sent Katsuyu back to Shikkotsu Forest, and Mei agreed that Kirigakure would not object to the Three-Tails' transfer.

Naoki Senju subdued Mei Terumi and forced her to take a poison that only Tsunade could cure, then brought her to the Three-Tails sealing site. He planned to claim the beast’s chakra while Utakata fought Isobu, leaving Mei to fulfill her promise as Mizukage.

• Naoki Senju made Mei Terumi swallow Tsunade’s nonlethal poison and warned that only Tsunade could prepare its antidote.
• Naoki Senju released Mei Terumi, built a wooden house for her to clean up, and revealed he could perform one-handed seals.
• Mei Terumi changed clothes and followed Naoki Senju toward the Three-Tails, suspecting he intended to become its Jinchūriki.
• Naoki Senju and Mei Terumi reached the sealing site without encountering Kirigakure ninja and saw Utakata battling the rampaging Isobu.
• Naoki Senju judged that absorbing the Three-Tails was about the limit of what he could manage as Mei Terumi watched the fight with distress.

Mei Terumi used a Water Dragon Bullet to flip the Three-Tails, then sent the Kirigakure forces away while she and Naoki Senju argued over his demands. The enraged Three-Tails targeted Mei, who had no strength left to suppress him.

• Mei Terumi used a compressed Water Dragon Bullet Technique to strike the Three-Tails and drain the chakra she had recovered.
• The Three-Tails' attack on Utakata weakened his Tailed Beast Cloak, allowing him to escape and catch his breath.
• Mei Terumi's Water Dragon Bullet flipped the Three-Tails and sent a huge wave crashing over the shore.
• Mei Terumi ordered Utakata and the Sealing Squad to return to Kirigakure while she took over suppressing the Three-Tails.
• After the Kirigakure ninja left, Mei Terumi confronted Naoki Senju about eyeing the Six-Tails, and he demanded payment for keeping her secret.
• The Three-Tails recovered, recognized Mei Terumi as the Mizukage, and fixed his furious gaze on her as she realized she could no longer suppress him.

Naoki Senju used Wood Release to lift the Three-Tails out of the lake, then subdued it with the Wood Dragon Technique. Mei Terumi decided Kirigakure should form an alliance with Konoha and began considering how to use Naoki’s existence in negotiations.

• Mei Terumi taunted Naoki Senju and retreated, leaving him to face the Three-Tails.
• Naoki used Wood Release: Giant Wood Pillar Technique to lift the Three-Tails out of the lake and limit its mobility.
• Naoki threw a sharpened wooden spike at the Three-Tails’ exposed forelimb, wounding it but failing to end the fight.
• Naoki summoned a wooden dragon that restrained the Three-Tails and absorbed its chakra until it could barely resist.
• Mei Terumi resolved to pursue an alliance with Konoha and considered keeping Naoki’s strength secret from the other villages.

Naoki Senju subdued Isobu and entered the Three-Tails’ mental space, where he impersonated the Sage of Six Paths and persuaded Isobu to give him its chakra so he could take it out of Kirigakure. As Isobu’s body turned ethereal, Tsunade stopped Mei Terumi from attacking Naoki and restrained her.

• Naoki Senju held Isobu down with Wood Release and entered the Three-Tails’ mental space.
• Naoki Senju pretended to be the Sage of Six Paths, and Isobu complained about the tailed beasts being used as weapons.
• Naoki Senju promised to rescue the tailed beasts and convinced Isobu to hide inside his body so he could leave Kirigakure.
• Isobu transferred a vast amount of chakra to Naoki Senju as Mei Terumi began forming hand seals to kill him.
• Tsunade caught Mei Terumi, warned her against using ninjutsu, and bound her hands.

Naoki Senju sealed the Three-Tails inside himself after misleading Isobu into suspecting the other Tailed Beasts of betrayal. He and Tsunade escaped Kirigakure, leaving Mei Terumi furious and determined to hunt down spies.

• Naoki Senju used the Four Symbols Seal to trap the Three-Tails, and Isobu demanded to know who he really was.
• Naoki suggested that one of the other Tailed Beasts had betrayed Isobu, then returned to his body while Isobu struggled to identify the culprit.
• Naoki finished absorbing the Three-Tails' chakra and found Mei Terumi captured again as Tsunade watched.
• Mei Terumi demanded her antidote, but Naoki claimed there was none and escaped with Tsunade after teasing her about Tsunade's body-tempering medicine.
• Mei Terumi called off pursuit, ordered Kirigakure to search for spies, and put Naoki Senju in her little black book.

Naoki Senju let Tsunade and Shizune examine his Three-Tails Jinchūriki body, then teased Tsunade until she chased him through the base. When Orochimaru arrived and revealed that his Living Corpse Reincarnation had given him a feminine appearance, Naoki and Tsunade struggled to recognize their longtime teammate.

• Tsunade and Shizune examined Naoki Senju and recorded data on his body as a Jinchūriki.
• Naoki Senju teased Tsunade, who broke his water restraints with her Superhuman Strength and chased him out of the room.
• Shizune finished storing the samples and records, then let Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi into the laboratory.
• Shizune fired a signal flare, bringing Naoki Senju and Tsunade back to the base.
• Orochimaru explained that his new feminine appearance resulted from his Living Corpse Reincarnation technique.

Orochimaru revealed that Madara Uchiha ambushed him and used both space-time ninjutsu and Wood Release, prompting Tsunade to consider rallying Konoha and the other villages against him. As Tsunade prepared to return to Konoha early, Orochimaru advised her to wait for a better opportunity.

• Tsunade questioned Orochimaru about his new body and the forbidden techniques he used to survive, and Orochimaru said he saw death as useful if it served a purpose.
• Orochimaru explained that he had followed Kisame Hoshigaki out of Kirigakure, fought him, and been caught off guard by another enemy.
• Kabuto Yakushi gave Tsunade and Naoki Senju Kisame's file, identifying him as an S-rank missing-nin with an eighty-million bounty.
• Orochimaru revealed that Kisame knew a man calling himself Madara Uchiha, who had attacked Orochimaru and injured him.
• Orochimaru said Madara's right-eye Mangekyō allowed him to become intangible and that he had used Wood Release, which Orochimaru believed came from Hashirama cells.
• Tsunade decided to return to Konoha early to use its resources and potentially the Five Great Shinobi Villages against Madara, but Orochimaru told her to wait for a better opportunity.

Orochimaru revealed that he planned to establish the Sound Ninja Village and sought Konoha’s protection and alliance, while Naoki uncovered his secret collaboration with Danzo. Danzo’s letter outlined a plot involving the Third Hokage, the Hokage position, Sunagakure, and the One-Tail, pointing to the Konoha Crush Plan.

• Orochimaru pretended to suffer from the aftereffects of Living Corpse Reincarnation, then ordered Kabuto Yakushi to tell Danzo he accepted their plan and demanded earlier timing and additional compensation.
• Naoki Senju confronted Orochimaru about his contact with Danzo and asked to review their secret arrangement on Tsunade’s behalf.
• Orochimaru had Kabuto Yakushi bring in Danzo’s latest letter and offered to reveal the plan if Naoki agreed to a condition.
• Orochimaru said he intended to found the Sound Ninja Village and wanted Konoha to refrain from attacking it and enter an alliance with it.
• Naoki read Danzo’s letter, which mentioned the Third Hokage, the Hokage position, Sunagakure, and the One-Tail, and recognized the outline of the Konoha Crush Plan.

Naoki Senju confronted Orochimaru about his plan to use Hiruzen Sarutobi’s final moments and Danzo’s support to establish the Sound Ninja Village, then secured Orochimaru’s agreement not to let the plan obstruct Tsunade’s succession. The next morning, Orochimaru left with Kabuto Yakushi and the rescued children, and Naoki persuaded Guren that she had an important mission connecting Orochimaru with Konoha and the wider Shinobi World.

• Naoki Senju challenged Orochimaru’s reasons for carrying out his plan, and Orochimaru admitted that Danzo’s offer of funding and research opportunities was too valuable to refuse.
• Naoki Senju left, but a Wood Clone appeared and warned Orochimaru not to let anything interfere with Tsunade succeeding to the Hokage position.
• Orochimaru told Kabuto Yakushi to proceed with the plan as usual, then reflected on his disagreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi about what followed death.
• Guren anxiously told Naoki Senju that Orochimaru had left with Kabuto Yakushi and the rescued children, leaving instructions for her to stay with Naoki.
• Naoki Senju reassured Guren and assigned her to maintain contact between Orochimaru, Konoha, and the wider Shinobi World.

Naoki persuaded Guren to join Tsunade by helping her offer Tsunade control of Orochimaru’s casinos, while he tricked Shizune into calling him “master.” Tsunade decided the group would leave for the Land of Fire the next day, despite Naoki’s suggestion that they wait to hear from Orochimaru.

• Tsunade doubted that Orochimaru had entrusted Guren to Naoki, but Guren presented Orochimaru’s letter and pledged to serve Tsunade.
• Guren offered Tsunade control of several casinos in the Land of Fire, and Tsunade agreed to let her stay.
• Tsunade eagerly asked where the casinos were, and Guren offered to mark their locations on a map.
• Naoki took Shizune’s hand and falsely told her that “master” was a dialect word meaning “Lord,” persuading her to call him that.
• Tsunade returned with Guren, questioned Naoki’s explanation of the word, and ordered everyone to pack for their departure to the Land of Fire the next day.
• Naoki asked Tsunade to wait for news from Orochimaru, knowing Orochimaru planned to take part in an attack on Konoha.

Naoki Senju, Tsunade, Shizune, and Guren left the Land of Water and arrived in the Land of Fire, while Mei Terumi rested after their escape. Tsunade chose the daimyo's capital as their first stop, and the group continued toward their revenge.

• Tsunade hurried Naoki Senju and the others to a port before dawn to catch a ship to the Land of Fire.
• Mei Terumi refused Ao's request to seal the port and ordered him to finish her paperwork as punishment.
• Ao persuaded the exhausted Chōjūrō to help him handle the Mizukage's paperwork.
• After five days at sea, Tsunade and Shizune set foot in the Land of Fire for the first time in thirteen years.
• Tsunade chose the daimyo's capital as the group's first stop and clasped hands with Naoki Senju.
• Guren searched for information about nearby hideouts while the group prepared to continue its journey of revenge.

Naoki Senju returned to the Land of Fire capital with Tsunade, Shizune, and Guren and revealed his Soga surname at the city gates. At the Soga Clan ruins, he used Wood Release to attack the daimyo’s palace, drawing the attention of its defenders, including Asuma Sarutobi.

• Naoki Senju told Tsunade that those responsible for the Soga Clan’s destruction would answer for their crimes.
• Naoki Senju gave the samurai captain the surname Soga, and the captain let the group enter the capital.
• Naoki Senju and Tsunade visited the Soga Clan ruins and saw traces of the ninjutsu used in the attack that destroyed them.
• Naoki Senju used Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence to grow towering trees from the ruins, with roots spreading toward the daimyo’s palace.
• Ninja at the palace countered the attack with Fire, Lightning, and Wind Release, and Asuma Sarutobi recognized the Wood Release as that of the Senju Clan.

Asuma and Kitane were attacked by Kazuma and several Twelve Guardian Ninja, who accused Konoha of using Wood Release against the daimyo's residence. After the Twelve Guardian Ninja regrouped to investigate the strange trees, Naoki Senju prepared to strike back for the Senju Clan.

• Kazuma accused Asuma of involvement in the attack on the daimyo's residence and led four ninja in an attempt to surround him and Kitane.
• Asuma and Kitane fought back, but Kazuma's Earth Release and Water Release put them under pressure until Chiriku arrived and drove off their attackers with Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder.
• Chiriku demanded that Kazuma explain his attack, and Asuma denied Konoha's involvement and said no Senju Clan member had awakened Wood Release since the First Hokage.
• Nauma, Seito, Tou, and a newly joined member arrived, and the Twelve Guardian Ninja began examining the trees and forest attacking the daimyo's residence.
• Naoki Senju buried the nobles' discarded clothes in Deep Forest Emergence and vowed that those responsible would repay the Senju Clan's blood debt.

The Twelve Guardian Ninja entered the forest threatening the daimyo’s residence to confront its caster, while Asuma warned that the enemy might be unusually powerful. After their coordinated attack struck the target with suspicious ease, Asuma remained uneasy.

• Chiriku recalled the mysterious Soga Clan massacre as the Twelve Guardian Ninja discussed how to handle the forest.
• Asuma rejected Kazuma’s plan to split up, and Chiriku ordered the group to enter the forest together.
• The Twelve Guardian Ninja advanced through the forest, and their sensory ninja located a lone caster 110 meters to the southeast.
• Naoki Senju’s Wood Clone watched the group from behind before dispelling itself.
• Chiriku directed three teams in a coordinated Lightning and Water Release attack, and the group relaxed when it appeared to land cleanly.
• Asuma sensed that the encounter had gone too smoothly and remained wary.

The daimyo relied on Root to investigate the aggressive forest while the Twelve Guardian Ninja were caught in a trap. After the attacker revealed the Soga Clan had been the Senju Clan, Asuma attacked with Fire Release, but Naoki Senju appeared unharmed beside him.

• The daimyo questioned a Root ninja about the forest and ordered Root to identify it quickly.
• The Twelve Guardian Ninja realized their attack had struck a clone and that their positions had been exposed.
• An unseen voice linked the attack to the Soga Clan massacre and revealed that the Soga Clan had once been the Senju Clan.
• Asuma used Ash Pile Burning across the forest, while Kazuma and the others sheltered behind Earth Style and Water Release defenses.
• Asuma saw that his fire had not damaged the Wood Release forest, and Naoki Senju appeared beside him in a Konoha Anbu uniform.

Asuma confronted Naoki Senju to protect Chiriku, but Naoki overwhelmed him with speed, strength, and rapid healing. Chiriku arrived and blocked Naoki’s attack with Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder, revealing a remarkable use of natural energy.

• Asuma sensed overwhelming danger from Naoki Senju, warned Chiriku to run, and charged at Naoki.
• Naoki struck Asuma and sent him crashing through trees, while Asuma’s Flying Swallow cut Naoki’s arm.
• Naoki rapidly healed the deep wound, leaving Asuma despairing as Naoki approached.
• Asuma concealed his blade’s power and tried to slash Naoki, but missed as his consciousness began to fade.
• Chiriku used Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder to block Naoki’s strike, surprising the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
• Naoki recognized that Chiriku’s technique had used natural energy with exceptional skill.

Naoki Senju trapped the Twelve Guardian Ninja with Wood Release and exposed Kazuma’s secret plan to destroy Konoha. He then announced that he would help Kazuma achieve his dream of a Land of Fire with only one king, leaving the others to realize he intended to attack the Daimyo.

• Chiriku asked Naoki Senju to release the unconscious Asuma, but Naoki refused and said he would spare him for now.
• Chiriku and the Twelve Guardian Ninja attacked Naoki while Kitane carried Asuma away, but Naoki used Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees to overwhelm them.
• Kitane raised a Lightning Release barrier, and Chiriku proposed retreating, but Kazuma urged the group to attack Naoki instead.
• Naoki revealed Kazuma’s past and his secret ambition to destroy Konoha, leaving Kazuma dazed and the others shocked.
• Naoki told Kazuma he would help him achieve his goal, prompting Kazuma to shout that Naoki intended to attack the Daimyo.

Naoki Senju forced Chiriku to kill Kazuma and then slaughtered the other Guardian Ninja, leaving Chiriku and Asuma alive but under his control. Disguised as Kazuma, Naoki entered the daimyo’s residence and killed the daimyo and those with him.

• Naoki Senju broke the Lightning Release barrier, incapacitated the Twelve Guardian Ninja with pollen, and made Chiriku kill Kazuma in exchange for sparing Asuma.
• Naoki killed nine Guardian Ninja and impaled Asuma, then threatened Chiriku into keeping the events secret to protect the Fire Temple.
• Naoki disguised himself as Kazuma and entered the daimyo’s residence, where the pollen had incapacitated its guards and servants.
• Naoki killed a samurai in front of the royal family, rejected the daimyo’s offer to make him leader of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and killed the daimyo.

After the Daimyo’s residence massacre, Hiruzen Sarutobi monitored Chiriku’s interrogation while Konoha’s leadership handled the succession. Hiruzen ordered Inoichi Yamanaka to examine Chiriku’s memories, while an Anbu team set out to find Tsunade.

• Konoha’s ninja brought Chiriku to the Torture and Interrogation Force and Asuma to the medical center after the massacre at the Daimyo’s residence.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi told Kakashi to bring Inoichi Yamanaka to interrogate Chiriku after rendering him unconscious.
• An Anbu operative reported that Tsunade had been seen with a ninja capable of using Wood Release, and Hiruzen ordered the operative to find Tsunade and bring her back gently.
• Kakashi used his Sharingan genjutsu on Chiriku, and Inoichi used the Mind Body Switch Technique to access his memories.