Madara, who has taken an interest in Naruto, makes a sudden appearance before Naruto and reveals the truth behind Itachi’s actions. Meanwhile, the samurai learn of Sasuke and his team Taka’s entry into the Land of Iron, and battle ensues between the two groups. Sasuke searches for his target Danzo as he takes out the samurai one after another, when an enraged Raikage and his men stand in the way.

The truth behind Itachi’s actions leaves Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamato in shock. Madara then goes on to reveal the eternal hate stemming from as far back as the rivalry between the two sons of the legendary Sage of the Sixth Paths and its relation to the Uchiha clan. Meanwhile in the Land of Iron, Sasuke and the Raikage are fighting a battle to the death when Gaara, the Kazekage, intervenes

Having blocked the combined attacks of Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, and Darui with his Susano’o, Sasuke goes after Danzo. However, Danzo has fled the scene, and Sasuke finds himself confronted by the Mizukage and Tsuchikage.

The four Kage are startled by the sudden appearance of Madara Uchiha. Having sent Sasuke away to safety using the Transportation Technique, Madara unveils to the Kage his “Project Tsuki no Me.” By resurrecting the monster Ten Tails and becoming its Jinchuriki Host, Madara plots to bring the entire world under his Genjutsu control. When the four Kage refuse to hand over the two remaining Tailed Beasts, Madara declares war, and the Fourth Great Ninja War begins.

The Kage respond to Madara’s declaration of war by forming the Allied Shinobi Forces, with the Raikage as their leader. Meanwhile, Sakura arrives in the Land of Iron to speak with Naruto, but her confession surprises him. Elsewhere, Kisame appears before Killer Bee and his master as an unwelcome guest.

Killer Bee engages in a deadly battle against Kisame, who has come to capture the Eight-Tails. Kisame reveals to Killer Bee that his weapon, Samehada, possesses the ability to rob and convert enemy chakra into the wielder’s own strength. Now infused with more strength, Kisame shows his true power as the Tailless Tailed Beast. Elsewhere, while in pursuit of Danzo, Ao falls into Foo’s deadly trap.

Naruto learns from Sai that Sakura intends to kill Sasuke with her own hands. The Sand arrives to brief the Leaf ninja about what happened at the Five Kage Summit. Gaara then tells Naruto his own decision and asks what action Naruto will take as Sasuke’s friend. Meanwhile, Madara appears before Danzo.

Kakashi decides to go after Sakura to stop her, while Yamato and Naruto are ordered to return to the Leaf Village. But Naruto, tormented by the recent string of events, collapses from hyperventilation. Meanwhile, Sasuke confronts Danzo and, after seeing the many Sharingan embedded in his enemy’s right arm, angrily questions if Danzo is truly the one who ordered Itachi to kill the Uchiha clan.

Danzo’s uncanny jutsu prevents Sasuke from landing a clean hit on his enemy. As Karin attempts to analyze Danzo’s jutsu, Madara recognizes it as Izanagi, the Uchiha’s forbidden visual jutsu and ultimate Genjutsu technique that enables the user to control the space between fantasy and reality.

Danzo believes he’s won the battle against Sasuke. Little does he realize, Sasuke placed him under genjutsu before they last exchanged blows. Not knowing his Izanagi has already expired, Danzo finds himself severely wounded and beginning to lose control over the First Hokage’s cells inside of him. Still determined to survive and achieve his goal, Danzo decides to take Karin as a hostage.

Having tracked down Sasuke’s whereabouts with Kiba’s nose, Sakura attempts to put her allies to sleep and carry out the task of killing Sasuke herself. As Sakura heads toward Sasuke, she begins to recollect her fond memories of Team 7.

Memories from his childhood course through Naruto’s mind as he rests to recover from his hyperventilation. Now realizing what it means to gain something dear and then lose it, Naruto sneaks out of the inn to follow behind Sakura and Kakashi to find Sasuke.

Sakura tells Sasuke that she wishes to desert the village and join him. A skeptical Sasuke tells Sakura he will believe her if she can finish off Karin. When Sakura hesitates to do so, Sasuke attacks her with Chidori but is stopped by Kakashi, who has arrived in the nick of time.

Naruto reproaches Sasuke for attempting to kill Sakura. Then Sasuke reveals that he killed Danzo with his own hands. He goes on to declare his intent to purify the Uchiha clan’s name by annihilating the Hidden Leaf, whom he holds responsible for dishonoring the Uchiha clan. Naruto, ignoring Kakashi’s order to leave with Sakura, charges toward Sasuke with his Rasengan.

Years ago at the Final Valley, Sasuke told Naruto about high-level shinobi being able to understand one another just by trading blows. Having become a high-level shinobi, Naruto is now able to understand Sasuke’s heart, and he tells Sasuke to direct all of his hatred towards him.

Killer Bee returns to the Hidden Cloud Village to the delight of Omoi and Karui. He has brought Kisame’s sword, Samehada, with him. Bee believes the sword has taken a liking to him but is unaware that this is all just part of the Akatsuki’s plan. Meanwhile, Sai informs the Leaf shinobi of Danzo’s fate.

The formation of the Allied Shinobi Forces is ratified by the Feudal Lords of the Five Great Nations. Each Kage returns to their village to prepare for the coming war. Meanwhile, Naruto has returned to the Leaf Village and asks Shikamaru to gather up his friends.

Naruto gathers his friends and tells them that he will defeat Sasuke alone. Meanwhile, the Elders of the Leaf officially nominate Kakashi to become the next Hokage, as they cannot allow the seat of Hokage to remain vacant any longer. As Kakashi prepares to take on this huge responsibility, Guy challenges him to a match, which Kakashi accepts.

In Mount Myoboku, Gerotora, Fukasaku, and the Great Lord Elder are debating whether to give Naruto the key to the Tetragram Seal left behind by Jiraiya, an act that could unleash the Nine Tails. Unable to come to a decision, they decide to summon Naruto. Meanwhile, Tsunade recovers from her coma, and having grasped the current situation, issues orders to prepare for war.

At Mount Myoboku, Naruto prepares to store Gerotora within himself, but hesitates as it also holds the potential risk of unleashing the Nine Tails on the world. Elsewhere, Kabuto makes contact with Madara.

The denizens of the Leaf Village ready themselves for the coming of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Meanwhile, the Five Kage assemble in the Hidden Cloud Village to discuss where to hide the remaining two Jinchuriki.

Tsunade sends out Naruto under the guise of a top-secret mission to keep him hidden away from the Akatsuki. Unfortunately, Naruto, Yamato, Gai, and Aoba are stuck at the pier due to a report of a monster attacking ships. Wanting to set sail immediately, Naruto decides to take on the monster.

During their voyage, Naruto, Yamato, Gai, and Aoba stop at an island to recover from severe seasickness. There, they unexpectedly meet up with Sakura, Ino, and Choji, who are on an assignment to gather medical herbs for Tsunade. But to the group’s surprise, most of the medical herbs have already been harvested by ninja from a nation called Benisu.

Naruto’s ship is stranded at sea due to heavy fog, when another ship suddenly appears. Believing it to be a ghost ship, Naruto panics until he finds Hishaku, a boy sailor, on board the ship.

Pirates living on an island resembling a battleship open fire on Naruto’s ship. Using Yamato’s Wood Style Jutsu, Naruto and the others escape into an undersea cave for cover, where they witness the evil done by the pirates.

Going after Guy, who was whisked away by a giant bird, Naruto, Yamato, and Aoba arrive on an island where they spot a young woman. While trying to gather information from the woman, Aoba learns of a horrible secret hidden on the island.

Guy recalls the time when he and Lee celebrated Lee learning the Hidden Lotus technique. Having partied too much, neither Guy nor Lee recalls what happened the day before, but Guy soon comes to the conclusion that he went wild and caused trouble. Not wanting to disillusion his beloved student, Guy makes every effort to prevent Lee from recalling what really happened.

Making a stop at a nearby port to stock up on supplies, Naruto buys a rare mushroom from a vegetable merchant. But soon after they set sail for their next destination, Naruto and the other crewmembers find their ship infested with poisonous mushrooms. To make matters worse, the mushrooms have destroyed all of their food and supplies, making their voyage into one for survival.

Naruto’s Shadow Clones turn against their master after feeling mistreated and overworked. Unable to undo his jutsu, Naruto is taken captive by the Shadow Clones that demand to be treated better. Now a reluctant Yamato, Aoba, and Gai must try to save Naruto from the Shadow Clones.

As he prepares for the coming war, Shikamaru begins to feel the pressure of shouldering the lives of his friends. To help ease his mind, Shikaku sends his son on a mission to Mokuzu Island where Shikamaru meets up with Naruto. Having completed the mission, the group sets out only to discover that their ship cannot get through the waters surrounding the islands.

Hinata’s father Hiashi summons the Hyuga clan to discuss the role they will be playing in the upcoming Fourth Great Ninja War. Following the meeting, Hinata goes out to pay Kurenai a visit.

Naruto and the others encounter a thief who claims that he is Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf. The real Naruto easily takes care of the imposter and hands him over to a ninja who was after the thief. Unbeknownst to Naruto, the thief and the ninja are actually partners working to make a name for themselves.

Konohamaru is eager to fight alongside his senior ninja in the coming war, but his young age prevents him from being assigned to the battlefield. Feeling that he is not taken seriously, Konohamaru goes asking people such as Sakura and Shikamaru for advice, but their answers are not enough to satisfy him.

Naruto meets two kunoichi ninja named Shizuka and Tokiwa from the Nadeshiko village who are seeking the student of Jiraiya. According to them, Jiraiya had made an agreement long ago with the previous leader of Nadeshiko village to have their students, Naruto and Shizuka, fight in battle. Much to Naruto’s surprise and anger, should Shizuka win the battle, he must become her husband and marry into the Nadeshiko village.

At the Ninja Academy, Shino recounts the time when he failed to capture a wanted thief. Although Kiba and Hinata try to cheer him up, Shino still finds himself responsible for failing the mission and begins to question his place within the team.

Tenten is helping out Lee’s training to enhance his Eight Inner Gates. As Tenten watches over her friend, she recalls the days when she also worked hard to pursue her dreams of becoming a great kunoichi like the legendary Tsunade.

While taking a walk through the Leaf Village, Sai comes across some kids who remind him of Sakura and Naruto. As he talks with one of the kids, Sai is amused when he is asked what the difference between a comrade and a friend is—an answer he himself is not sure of.

Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru run into Kosuke, an elderly genin who they saved in a previous mission. Praising their teamwork, Kosuke reveals that in the past their fathers, the previous Ino-Shika-Cho Trio, also saved him.

Kiba trains hard to catch up to Naruto, who is now hailed as the hero of the Leaf Village, but with little success. Feeling desperate, Kiba asks Kakashi if he could train him. Although busy with his own mission, Kakashi respects Kiba’s wish and summons his Ninja Hounds as a training partner.