Kakashi desperately tries to reach out to Obito, but his words fall on deaf ears. Obito instead accuses Kakashi of being trash, which angers Naruto, forcing him to step in and defend his Sensei.

Naruto returns to Konoha after a two-and-a-half-year training journey with Jiraiya and is reunited with Sakura.

The barrier is shattered, and Ten Tails appears! With unfathomable power in its attack, it sends shock waves through the air! Kurama takes the lead and tries to go on the offensive, but is helpless against Ten Tails' immense strength. Soon both Kurama and Gyuki exhaust their chakra and fade away. Written by Anonymous

Kakashi gives Naruto and Sakura a test to see how far they had improved. Meanwhile, two Akatsuki members, Deidara and Sasori, arrive at the entrance of the Sunagakure to capture the One-Tailed Shukaku's host, Gaara.

The Allied Shinobi Forces begin their onslaught against Obito and Madara. But Ten Tails suddenly transforms and hurls powerful Tailed Beast Bombs toward distant towns. One after the other, the Tailed Beast Bombs find their targets. The shinobi wonder why Ten Tails is aiming so far away as one of the bombs heads toward HQ!. Written by Anonymous

Sakura and Naruto both demonstrate their newly acquired skills. Meanwhile, Deidara commences his attack on Sunagakure and is confronted by Gaara.

Naruto is overcome with grief over Neji's death, but Hinata's words restore his fighting spirit. Shikaku outlines his final strategy before he dies, in which Nine Tails will send its chakra to increase everyone's strength. United in their cause, Naruto and the shinobi set out to take on Ten Tails, determined that Neji and their comrades will not have died in vain! Written by Anonymous

Gaara is quick to detect Deidara's presence, and an aerial battle ensues with Deidara on his giant bird and Gaara atop sand.

Sasuke returns to the Hidden Leaf Village seeking answers, and standing before him are First Hokage Hashirama, Second Hokage Tobirama, Third Hokage Hiruzen, and Fourth Hokage Minato, all reanimated. Sasuke asks Hiruzen for the truth about Itachi, and he questions Tobirama about the secret of the Uchiha Clan. Then Hashirama begins his story, which goes back to the feudal age, to a period before the village even existed. Written by Anonymous

Naruto and Sakura defeat Kakashi in the survival challenge. Tsunade assigns them to a three-man squad led by Kakashi, who tells them they are now his equals.

Villages did not exist when Hashirama was a child. It was during this strife-filled time that he met Madara Uchiha. The two youths talk about their hopes for the future, without revealing their true identities, and find they share the same vision...to create a ninja world where children do not have to die. Written by Anonymous

In order to protect his village from Deidara's explosive clay, Gaara uses his chakra to create a giant sand shield.

Madara and Hashirama eventually become the leaders of their respective clans. As the fighting rages on between the Senju and Uchiha, Hashirama approaches Madara about an alliance. But Madara refuses to listen and releases Susano'o instead!

Gaara, his strength completely exhausted, is whisked away by Deidara. Kankuro ignores Baki's efforts to stop him and immediately sets out in pursuit with a platoon to rescue Gaara.

The Senju and Uchiha clans join together to build a shinobi village and fulfill their dreams. Standing on the cliff where they confided their youthful aspirations to each other, Hashirama and Madara gaze over the forest at their burgeoning village. Hashirama decides that Madara should be the Hokage, but his younger brother Tobirama objects, warning that the Uchiha are dangerous. Written by Anonymous

On her way to the Sand Village, Temari encounters Kakashi and his team. Kakashi admonishes Naruto when he tries to rush ahead...

After listening to what Hashirama and the rest of the former Hokage have to say, Sasuke finally understands how the Leaf Village and its shinobi came to be. He then decides on the path he will ultimately take!

An urgent message from the Sand Village detailing the Akatsuki's kidnapping of the Kazekage reaches the Hidden Leaf Village. Tsunade wastes no time in ordering Team Kakashi to the Sand Village.

The fighting rages between Naruto, who stands at the vanguard of the Allied Shinobi Forces, and the team of Madara and Obito. Ten Tails' relentless attack is wearing down Naruto, and his chakra begins to dissipate. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Obito face each other in a different Kamui dimension. Written by Anonymous

The Sand ninja fight against time to treat Kankuro. Even the Sand's poison expert, Granny Chiyo, is baffled. The only hope lies with the reinforcements sent by Tsunade.

Ten Tails is on the brink of its final transformation and begins to form a massive Tailed Beast Bomb. The shinobi no longer have the strength or energy left to stop it, but Sakura, Shikamaru and the others refuse to give up. Shikamaru formulates a plan to combine the strength of the shinobi to block the Tailed Beast Bomb, but it proves too powerful. Right at that moment, Minato, who was revived with the Reanimation Jutsu, comes to the rescue! Written by Anonymous

Sakura treats a critically ill Kankuro. After extensive training she's now a full-fledged Medic Ninja, and Sakura amazes everyone with her sure, steady hands.

Pakkun finds the hideout of the Akatsuki. Team Kakashi and Temari prepare to set out to get Gaara back, but Temari is ordered to stay behind and help guard the village.

Team Kakashi encounter Itachi Uchiha, who had dealt them a bitter defeat in the past. Kakashi warns everyone not to look into Itachi's Sharingan Eyes.

Guy prepares to use a forbidden secret jutsu. Meanwhile, Naruto falls under Itachi's genjutsu, and all the anti-genjutsu training he underwent with Jiraiya races through Naruto's mind.

Granny Chiyo and Sakura rescue Naruto from Itachi's genjutsu. Without a moment's delay, Kakashi begins a counterattack.

Chiyo and Kakashi realize that the attack was just a diversion, and that the Akatsuki have already begun the process of extracting the Tailed Beast from Gaara. Granny Chiyo explains to Naruto and Sakura the connection between the Tailed Beast and the Jinchûriki... Written by Anonymous

Teams Kakashi and Guy take a short rest. Granny Chiyo watches Naruto dozing off and is reminded of Sasori as a child. The pursuit resumes, and when Chiyo wonders why Naruto puts such effort into rescuing Gaara...

Teams Kakashi and Guy reach the Akatsuki hideout. They hurry to infiltrate but are thwarted by a five-seal barrier. The only way to break the barrier is to remove all five seals at once.

Breaking the five-seal barrier set off a trap, which now has Team Guy battling amazingly accurate copies of themselves. Back at the Akatsuki hideout, Deidara and Sasori struggle to take the Nine-Tail Jinchûriki.

At last, the showdown between the old woman and her grandson begins. Sakura is confused by Sasori's strange appearance, and Granny Chiyo explains that this is Hiruko...

Granny Chiyo and Sakura manage to expose Sasori, who amazingly looks no older than he did twenty years earlier. Chiyo is even more shocked at the second puppet that Sasori produces.

Sakura is caught by Sasori's tactic and surrounded by a poison cloud. But she uses a Paper Bomb to blow herself free from the poisonous fumes.

Sakura and Chiyo continue their battle with Sasori, while Naruto and Kakashi follow Deidara, and Team Guy fights their clones. Sakura remembers her training with Tsunade when she was taught to observe enemies' weaknesses and dodge their attacks. Sasori attacks with an Iron Sand pyramid and prism, but Sakura is able to fend them off, causing a cave in. Sasori then uses a new technique to attack with randomly-growing iron spikes, landing a hit imbued with a poison that quickly paralyzes its victims. With a final attack of the Third Kazekage's puppet, Sasori attempts to kill the seemingly helpless Sakura, only to discover at the last second that it was a ruse. Somehow immune to the effects of the poison, Sakura destroys his puppet with a single punch at the last second. Written by Anonymous

Sakura reveals that she took an antidote against Sasori's poison which will make her immune to it for three minutes, forcing herself and Chiyo to end the battle quickly. Meanwhile, Naruto and Kakashi continue their pursuit of Deidara. Deidara attempts to split up Naruto and Kakashi by creating a swarm of explosive jumping crickets out of his clay and has them pursue Kakashi. Kakashi makes a shadow clone as a decoy and the crickets, mistaking the shadow clone for the real Kakashi, detonate harmlessly. Kakashi then catches back up with Naruto and reveals a plan. Sakura and Chiyo ready themselves for the battle with Sasori, who reveals that he made himself into a human puppet. Written by Anonymous

Naruto and Kakashi continue to pursue Deidara while Sakura and Chiyo continue the battle with Sasori. Sakura manages to shatter Sasori's puppet body, but he reforms. Chiyo summons the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu. Sasori, remarking on Chiyo's ability to control so many puppets, summons one hundred human puppets and the final battle begins. Sakura and Chiyo seem to trap and defeat Sasori but, under cover of the battle, Sasori, who had transferred himself to another puppet, attacks Chiyo from behind. Sakura intercedes, taking the sword thrust meant for Chiyo. Written by Anonymous

Chiyo injects the last remaining antidote into Sakura and manages to stab Sasori in his only living part, his heart, using the Father and Mother puppets. With Sasori immobilized, Chiyo revives the nearly dead Sakura using her Resurrection Technique. As he dies, Sasori rewards Sakura for defeating him, telling her where he planned to meet with one of his spies who had been working undercover as one of Orochimaru's subordinates. Meanwhile as Kakashi and Naruto are pursuing Deidara, Kakashi reveals his plan to activate his version of Mangekyo Sharingan. Written by Anonymous

Team Guy senses the result of the Sakura and Granny Chiyo's desperate struggle while still in battle with his deadly copy. Although Guy's team members are showing fatigue, their copies remain strong!

Sakura hurries to get to Naruto with Granny Chiyo, who is suffering from the poison. The members of Team Guy rush to assist Team Kakashi.

Naruto loses all reason to anger and is gradually taken over by the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit. Having been forewarned by Jiraiya, Kakashi narrowly manages to suppress the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Relying on Naruto's power, Granny Chiyo performs the Transmigration Jutsu on Gaara. Sakura is saddened when she realizes the cost of this jutsu.

Deidara survives his battle and begins to search for his missing arm. Meanwhile, Zetsu and his subordinate, Tobi, who wishes to join Akatsuki, search Sasori's remains for his ring. Deidara later finds the two searching for his own ring. The leaf ninja leave Sunagakure after their victory, and Danzo gives Sai instructions for his new team, Team Kakashi. The leaf and sand ninja pay their respects at Chiyo's grave, and Gaara and Naruto shake hands before departing. Written by Anonymous