| Summary
| - To bring the battle to a swift end Sasuke conjures up a bolt of lightning to strike Itachi down. Itachi survives the attack, though, after removing Orochimaru from Sasuke's body and saying goodbye to his little brother, he smiles before falling to the ground. Tobi collects Sasuke to attend to his injuries and Naruto, having lost Sasuke's trail, is forced to return home. Once Sasuke regains consciousness Tobi tells him of the Uchiha's history: that after he, Madara Uchiha, helped to found Konoha, a mistrust between Konoha's leadership and the Uchiha was created. When years later the Uchiha began planning to overthrow this leadership, Itachi was ordered by Konoha to eliminate his own clan to prevent the Uchiha's rebellion. While Itachi did as instructed, he chose to spare Sasuke and lived as a criminal, and told lies of hatred to Sasuke so that he could someday die by Sasuke's hands, effectively avenging the Uchiha. Realizing that Itachi was as much of a victim as he was, Sasuke heads out to destroy Konoha.
- Although he is able to defeat one of the six paths, Kakashi is unable to land a blow on the Deva Path and is left on the brink of death. Across the village, Konoha's other ninja have similar difficulties with the remaining bodies, all the while struggling to find out as much as they can about Pain. Pain eventually discovers Naruto's whereabouts and destroys Konoha to teach the villagers the pain of fighting. Naruto returns from his training immediately following Pain's attack, and takes it upon himself to avenge the damage done to the village and its inhabitants. Using his new senjutsu abilities, Naruto reduces the Six Paths of Pain to two.
- After Naruto gains proper control over the wind element, Kakashi tells him that creating his own unique attack will require mixing wind with his Rasengan. As Naruto struggles to accomplish this task, a Niju Shotai team consisting of Shikamaru Nara and Asuma Sarutobi finds Hidan and Kakuzu. Although they are quickly able to deliver a fatal blow to Hidan, it becomes apparent that Hidan cannot be killed by normal means. Hidan is soon able to "link" himself to Asuma, causing any damage he receives to be transferred to Asuma. As such, Hidan tries to stab himself in the heart, which would kill Asuma yet leave himself unfazed. Shikamaru does his best to prevent this, though Hidan ultimately proves successful. As reinforcements arrive the Akatsuki duo is driven off, and the Niju Shotai members return home to bury Asuma.
- After gathering some intelligence on Pain, Jiraiya goes to confront him. Before he can do so, however, he is found by Pain's partner, Konan, a former student of his. During a brief battle Jiraiya begins to suspect that Pain is also a former student, Nagato, a belief that is confirmed upon the Akatsuki leader's arrival. Konan falls back while Pain battles with Jiraiya, and the two exchange blows with their summons. Once Jiraiya's toads begin to gain the upperhand, Pain summons two additional Pains to fight alongside him. Though caught off guard by this turn of events and left outnumbered, Jiraiya is able to finish off the three bodies. Believing the battle to be won, Jiraiya continues on his way, only to be badly injured by the appearance of three more Pains in addition to the three he just killed.
- With some reluctance, Jugo agrees to join Sasuke and the others. His team assembled, Sasuke calls them "the Hebi", and they split up to search for clues about Itachi's whereabouts. Once word of Orochimaru's defeat by Sasuke reaches Konoha, Naruto decides that this would be a good opportunity to try and retrieve Sasuke again. Realizing that Sasuke is looking for Itachi, Naruto sets out with Sakura, Sai, Kakashi, Yamato, and the members of Team 8 to find either of the Uchiha brothers. Akatsuki also learns of Orochimaru's defeat, and mobilizes Deidara and his new teammate Tobi to deal with Sasuke. The two soon find Sasuke, and Deidara meets him in battle, though Sasuke's abilities soon prove to be more than a match for Deidara's bombs.
- With the full power of the eight-tailed beast, Killer Bee is able to decimate Taka. Fearing the deaths of his teammates, Sasuke unleashes his newly acquired Mangekyo Sharingan to suppress the beast's influence and capture Killer Bee. When the Raikage, the leader of Kumogakure and Killer Bee's brother, learns of this, he decides to convene the five Kage to discuss how to deal with the growing threat that is Akatsuki. As word of the meeting is sent out, Akatsuki attempts to extract the eight-tailed beast from Killer Bee's body, only to discover that the body is a fake and that Killer Bee still roams free. Elsewhere, Naruto masters senjutsu and begins to apply its teachings to some of his old techniques. While he does so, Pain's six bodies arrive in Konoha and attack the village in search of him. Taken by surprise, Konoha mobilizes its forces, Kakashi even engaging two of Pain's bodies at once.
- Kakashi, hoping to help Naruto be a better match for Sasuke during their next meeting, begins to train him in creating a new attack. Once finding that Naruto has a natural affinity for wind-based attacks, Kakashi helps him hone the ability to control wind. To expedite this process Kakashi has Naruto train with hundreds of copies of himself, allowing their collective knowledge to complete a year's worth of training in a few days. Meanwhile, two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, head towards Konoha to further their organization's goal of obtaining all the tailed beasts. Tsunade, determined to either capture or eliminate the pair, mobilizes the Niju Shotai, a group of twenty squads of four ninja assigned to accomplish this very task, to find the two.
- Naruto arrives and stops the original members of Team 7 from killing each other. Recognizing that there is nothing he can do to change Sasuke, Naruto points out that they will inevitably meet on the battlefield. Though Naruto says they will both die when that happens, Sasuke promises to be stronger than Naruto by then. They go their separate ways, Sasuke joining Madara and Naruto returning to Konoha with Sakura and Kakashi. The warring factions prepare for the future and Tsunade, having awoken from her coma, agrees with the other Kage to send Naruto and Bee into hiding to keep them safe from Akatsuki. Naruto decides to use his time to finally learn to control the demon fox. He asks for Bee to help him, but Bee can do nothing for him until he overcomes the evilness a life of loneliness has created in his heart.
- Having advanced his training enough to form a usable attack, Naruto forms his new jutsu. Although Kakuzu is able to avoid the attack for a while, Naruto is ultimately able to strike him with it, destroying his remaining hearts and ending the battle. As the Konoha ninja return home, Sasuke, elsewhere, decides he has learned all he can from Orochimaru. Uninterested in giving Orochimaru his body, Sasuke tries to kill him, though Orochimaru is still able to initiate the body-stealing process. Through the use of his Sharingan, Sasuke is able to turn the process around and absorbs Orochimaru into his own body. Freed from Orochimaru's control, Sasuke at long last begins recruiting ninja he has deemed essential in his plan to kill his brother: Akatsuki member Itachi Uchiha. After recruiting Suigetsu Hozuki and Karin, he begins searching for the final member of his team, Jugo.
- The five Kage gather to decide how best to keep the remaining tailed beasts away from Akatsuki. Naruto also attends in secret, hoping to convince the Kage to forgive Sasuke for his crimes. Sasuke, however, takes Taka to the Kage meeting to kill Danzo, a conspirator in the Uchiha clan's assassination. Their presence is soon discovered and the Kage mobilize to deal with them. The Raikage, believing that Killer Bee is still in Akatsuki's possession, takes a special interest in the matter and fights Sasuke one-on-one.
- Though able to capture one of the six, Jiraiya is unable to defeat Pain's other five bodies. Knowing this will be the only chance to learn the truth behind Pain, he sends the captured body to Tsunade and goes to investigate the Akatsuki leader's secret. Jiraiya succeeds and sends his discovery to Naruto and the rest of Konoha, but dies of the wounds he sustains. Elsewhere, Sasuke meets with Itachi, leaving Hebi behind to deal with his partner, Kisame. As Naruto and company near their location, Tobi steps in to stall them so that the two brothers can fight uninhibited. The battle between Sasuke and Itachi commences, and Sasuke is able to use his years of hatred to push Itachi to his limits.
- Kabuto, having always been loyal to Orochimaru, turns against Yamato, forcing him to call in Naruto, Sakura, and Sai for help. Naruto is drawn into battle with Orochimaru, and all the while his rage grows, allowing the demon fox within him to turn Naruto into a four-tailed manifestation of itself. This new Naruto attacks Orochimaru, who is only barely able to repel him. To stop Naruto from continuing his attack, Yamato uses his unique abilities to suppress the demon fox's influence, returning Naruto to his normal state. Meanwhile, Sai joins sides with Orochimaru on behalf of his organization, The Foundation, and they take him back to their hideout. Once learning of this Yamato, Naruto, and Sakura follow him, hoping that he can lead them to Sasuke.
- Naruto is able to finish off one of the two remaining bodies, but is defeated and knocked down by the Deva Path. Pain explains his motivations and asks what Naruto would do to bring about peace, but Naruto is unable to answer. Hinata intervenes to defend Naruto, declaring her love for him, but is defeated and nearly killed. In his anger, Naruto almost releases the demon fox from his body, but is stopped by the spirit of his father, Minato Namikaze. Minato brings Naruto back to his senses and, during a brief conversation, voices his suspicions that Pain is only being manipulated by Madara Uchiha. Before disappearing he suppresses the fox's influence and trusts Naruto to find a way to bring about peace. Revitalized, Naruto faces off with the Deva Path, eventually defeating it to avenge his fallen masters.
- During a brief pitstop in Sunagakure, Team 7 is joined by Chiyo, Sasori's grandmother. The group follows the Akatsuki members' trail from Sunagakure while Konoha sends Team Guy to assist Team 7. Akatsuki, meanwhile, is in the process of extracting the One-Tailed Shukaku from Gaara's body, a task that will take three days. To stall the approaching Teams 7 and Guy, Akatsuki members Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki are sent to distract them, and succeed in buying the needed time. Team 7 and Team Guy eventually converge outside the Akatsuki hideout just as the Shukaku's extraction reaches completion.
- Shikamaru sets out with the remaining members of Team 10 to find Hidan and avenge Asuma. To help them in their quest Kakashi joins them as leader, leaving Yamato in charge of overseeing Naruto's training. Once they find the Akatsuki pair, Shikamaru restrains them with his shadow while Kakashi pierces Kakuzu's chest. Kakuzu, having multiple extra hearts, survives the attack and frees Hidan, allowing the two to join forces against the Konoha ninja. Needing to separate the two, Shikamaru captures Hidan again and leads him away, where he avenges Asuma by blowing Hidan up and burying his still speaking remains. Kakashi and the others have a considerably more difficult time with Kakuzu who is able to use his extra hearts to a great advantage. Just as they are about to be killed, Naruto arrives with Yamato, Sakura, and Sai to save them.
- Unable to defeat the Raikage and his allies, Sasuke flees. He tries to focus his efforts on Danzo, but the other Kage intervene and defeat him. Before he can be killed he is saved by Madara Uchiha, who asks the Kage to give him Killer Bee and Naruto so that he can use the tailed beasts to bring the world under his control. The Kage refuse, so he declares war against them. Madara disappears with Sasuke and the Kage decide to join forces against Akatsuki. As they begin preparing for the battles to come, Kisame Hoshigaki elsewhere locates Killer Bee and attempts to capture him. He almost succeeds, but when the Raikage arrives to punish Bee for earlier pretending to be captured, Kisame is seemingly killed by the two brothers.
- In order for Team 7 to gain entry to the Akatsuki lair, Team Guy is forced to split up in order to take down a barrier over the entrance. Though they accomplish this task, the members of Team Guy are forced to deal with a number of booby traps left for them. Team 7, meanwhile, finds Sasori and Deidara to be the only Akatsuki members remaining. Deidara flies off with Gaara's body, leading Naruto and Kakashi away and leaving Sakura and Chiyo to deal with Sasori. Sasori, a master of puppetry, uses a number of different puppets to attack the two. Sakura's immense strength and Chiyo's own skills with puppetry, however, are more than capable of dealing with his puppets.
- After two-and-a-half years of training abroad, Naruto Uzumaki returns to his hometown of Konohagakure. To coincide with his return, the criminal organization Akatsuki becomes more active in its quest to capture all of the tailed beasts. For this task, Akatsuki sends members Sasori and Deidara to capture Gaara of Sunagakure. They succeed in their task and flee the village with Gaara. Upon hearing of this, Naruto reforms his old Team 7 by recruiting Kakashi Hatake and Sakura Haruno to the cause of going to save Gaara.
- As Danzo is returning to Konoha he is confronted by a recuperated Sasuke. Sasuke, fueled by hatred, does all that he can to kill Danzo. Danzo is briefly able to avoid any serious injury, but he is ultimately killed. Kakashi and Sakura, having heard of Sasuke's actions during the Kage meeting, arrive afterwards. With Konoha's decision to kill Sasuke before he can commit anymore crimes, they try to eliminate him by themselves so that Naruto will not need to become involved.
- Using the knowledge gathered from Jiraiya and other Konoha ninja, Naruto locates Nagato, the emaciated man who controls Pain. Before deciding what to do with him, Naruto asks how Nagato, a fellow pupil of Jiraiya, could have gone so astray. Nagato explains how the various tragedies he experienced in his life led him to desire peace through war. Naruto rejects his conclusion for differing from Jiraiya's ideals and resolves to find peace some other way. To that end, he spares Nagato, as his death would only produce another war. Amazed, Nagato decides to put faith in Naruto's method and sacrifices his life to revive everyone that died in Konoha's defense. In the aftermath the village starts to rebuild and Tsunade, having expended all of her energy to protect the villagers from Pain, is left in a coma. Danzo Shimura replaces her as Hokage and as his first act orders Sasuke be executed as a traitor to the village.
- Backed into a corner, Sasori begins utilizing 100 puppets simultaneously in an attempt to overwhelm Sakura and Chiyo. As they deal with this puppet army, Sasori attempts to sneak up on Chiyo and kill her, though Sakura blocks the attack as a human shield. With Sasori caught unaware, Chiyo stabs him through the heart, and turns her attention to healing Sakura's injuries. As a reward to Sakura for surviving, Sasori tells her of a spy he has within Orochimaru's ranks with his dying breath. Elsewhere, Naruto and Kakashi succeed in taking Gaara's body from Deidara, though Deidara himself is able to escape. After they regroup with Chiyo, Sakura, and Team Guy, Sakura tries to revive Gaara, though Shukaku's extraction has resulted in his death. As Naruto mourns for Gaara, Chiyo begins transferring her life energy to Gaara's body, restoring him to life at the cost of her own. The group honors Chiyo's memory and then returns home.
- Kakashi is left bedridden upon his return to Konoha, his energy gone after his battle with Deidara. Despite this, he makes plans for Naruto and Sakura to meet with Sasori's spy in the hopes that they will be able to retrieve the final member of the original Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha. Konoha's elders, worried that Akatsuki might try to capture Naruto for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him, assigns Sai to join them as extra protection and Yamato as the group's leader. Naruto and Sakura have difficulties working with Sai and his apparent contempt for Sasuke, which Yamato does his best to reconcile. The group forms a plan, and Yamato goes to meet the spy alone with Naruto, Sakura, and Sai waiting in the shadows as backup. Yamato begins to question the spy, Kabuto Yakushi, about Orochimaru's base of operations, just as Orochimaru himself shows up to end their discussion.
- Upon his return to Konoha, Naruto learns of Jiraiya's death. Knowing that Akatsuki will be coming for him, Naruto decides to learn how to use senjutsu to prepare himself for the inevitable encounter with Pain. He goes to the home of the toads to train, just as Jiraiya had years earlier, and leaves deciphering Pain's identity to his friends in Konoha. Elsewhere, Sasuke agrees to have Hebi, now renamed "Taka", work with Akatsuki in return for their help in destroying Konoha. Taka is sent to capture the eight-tailed beast, and upon finding its host they engage him in battle. Even though Killer Bee proves more than a match for the four of them, he nevertheless decides to release the beast within him.
- Yamato, Naruto, and Sakura find Sai and restrain him for his treachery. As they prepare to go looking for Sasuke, Sai questions Naruto's reasons for wanting to have Sasuke back, to which Naruto responds that the two had formed a bond that he won't allow to be broken. Intrigued by this concept of bonds, Sai rejoins them, even helping in capturing Kabuto. The group splits up, and Sai is the first to find Sasuke. Although he attempts to capture Sasuke on Naruto's behalf, Sasuke proves too strong. Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato soon arrive to help, though their combined efforts are still no match for Sasuke's increase in strength. As Sasuke prepares to kill them all, Orochimaru and a freed Kabuto arrive to stop him, and they disappear to leave the retrieval defeated.
- Sasuke survives Deidara's strongest attacks. Left without options if he is to gain victory, Deidara blows himself up, hoping to take Sasuke with him. Sasuke escapes the blast, though is forced to regroup with the other members of Hebi to rest. After he recuperates, they head to a nearby Akatsuki lair where Sasuke is able to meet with Itachi. Once Sasuke exhibits his increased skills, Itachi consents to meeting with him elsewhere for their last battle. Meanwhile, Tobi, despite seeming to have died during Deidara's explosion, begins to put his plans into motion. After revealing himself as Madara Uchiha, he assigns the Akatsuki leader, Pain, the task of capturing Naruto. Before Pain can set out on this mission, however, Jiraiya infiltrates Amegakure, and Pain is forced to deal with him before he can go after Naruto.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)