Naruto and Sakura learn that Danzo has been made Hokage and that his first order is to eliminate Sasuke. The two go to Sai and inquire about Danzo, but Sai reveals that a curse mark given to all members of the Foundation prevent him from revealing anything about the new Hokage. Soon afterward, Karui and Darui attack them, demanding information about Sasuke.

Karui decides to get information about Sasuke from Naruto by any means necessary. When Naruto refuses to sell Sasuke out, Karui takes out her frustration upon the former. Meanwhile, Danzo prepares for the Kage Summit, and determines to keep Naruto confined to the Leaf Village.

The time has come for each Kage to leave for the Kage Summit in the Land of Iron. On his way to the meeting, Danzo gets attacked by shinobi from the Wood Country who want to take his head. Meanwhile, Naruto, with Kakashi and Yamato by his side, heads off to find the Raikage to convince him to spare Sasuke.

Naruto stands before the Raikage and begs him to forgive Sasuke. Will the Raikage listen to what he has to say? Later, the Five Kage Summit gets underway. Mifune suggests that the Five Great Nations should form the first alliance of its kind; but also nominates Danzo to be the leader. How will the other Kages react to the latter proposal?

As chaos breaks out at the Five Kage Summit regarding Mifune's proposal to make Danzo leader of the alliance, Ao discovers something unsettling about the new Hokage. Meanwhile, Shikamaru goes to Sakura and asks permission to take decisive action against Sasuke. How will Sakura react, and what is Danzo's secret?

Without any warning, Zetsu bursts through the floor in the middle of the Five Kage Summit and announces that Sasuke is somewhere in the vicinity. The Summit is immediately put on hold, and the Kages and samurai begin searching for him. Meanwhile, Naruto receives an unexpected visit from Madara, who says that he needs to talk to him. How will Sasuke respond to being discovered, and what are Madara's intentions?

With Team Hawk exposed, Sasuke begins to ruthlessly take down all opposing samurai. Raikage, along with Darui and Shii, track down Sasuke. The two sides engage in battle, and Suigetsu and Juugo join the fray. Which side will win this battle of overwhelming power?

Sasuke uses Susano'o to slip past Gaara and the Raikage and heads towards Danzo. Just as the latter is within Sasuke's grasp, however, the Mizukage stands in his way.

After saving Sasuke, Madara sends him and Karin away and decides to talk to the remaining Kage. After telling them about Project Moon's Eye, Madara demands that Naruto and Killer Bee be handed over to Akatsuki, which the Kage refuse to do. What will Madara's reaction be? Meanwhile, Sakura, Kiba, Sai, and Lee depart from the Hidden Leaf Village and head to the Land Of Iron, with Sakura determined to face Naruto regarding a certain matter. What sort of exchange will take place between the two?

Sakura, not wanting to cause Naruto any more pain, tells him that he can let go of his promise about bringing Sasuke back, and claims that she doesn't feel anything more for Sasuke. To top it off, Sakura confesses her feelings for Naruto, taking everyone by surprise. How will Naruto respond? Meanwhile, Kisame tracks down Killer Bee and the battle for the Eight-Tails begins.

As Killer Bee's battle with Kisame rages on, the latter reveals a hidden trump card ability connected with Samehada. Meanwhile, Ao chases down Danzo, Fuu, and Torune, but they anticipate this and set a trap for him. Can Killer Bee and Ao make it through their individual clashes in one piece?

One of Sai's clones tells Naruto the truth surrounding Sasuke, something that Sakura couldn't bring herself to do. Before Naruto can even comprehend what Sai just said, they are interrupted by Gaara. What additional bad news concerning Sasuke does Gaara bring for Naruto?

Madara brings Sasuke out of his dimension to battle Danzo. When Sasuke demands answers concerning Itachi, things turn ugly, and Danzo reveals a few tricks he has up his sleeves (literally). What is Danzo's true strength, and can Sasuke summon enough power to suppress it?

Danzo brings forth a forbidden genjutsu known as Izanagi, which has the astounding power to turn dreams into reality and vice versa. Izanagi's great power comes with a time limit, but Sasuke's strength is rapidly dwindling as well. Can Sasuke resist long enough, or will Danzo completely overpower him?

As the fight between Sasuke and Danzo comes to a close, the latter will do whatever it takes to finish off the former. Meanwhile, Sakura and her team close in on Sasuke.

Sakura ditches her team and goes alone to Sasuke's location. Meanwhile, Madara advises Sasuke to finish off Karin, but at the last second Sakura intervenes. After so long, what interaction will take place between Sasuke and Sakura?

As he is resting, Naruto starts dreaming his past experiences with Sasuke that made the two friends closer. When he tries to follow Kakashi, who is in pursuit of Sakura, he is stopped by Yamato, saying that he has orders from Kakashi to return Naruto to Konoha. Naruto devises a plan to sneak out and leaving a shadow clone to fool Yamato. He goes into Sage Mode to locate Kakashi. He then starts remembering the experiences that brought Sasuke pain in his life. Naruto decides what he can do for Sasuke if they come face to face.

Kakashi rescues Sakura from certain death at Sasuke's hands and takes over the fight. After healing Karin, Sakura again decides to take on Sasuke, but her resolve fails her. Just as she comes close to death a second time, Naruto intervenes and saves her. After so long, the original Team 7 is reunited.

Naruto confronts Sasuke and berates him for attacking a member of his team. Sasuke scoffs in return, stating he is no longer a part of Team 7, and then states his ultimate goal is to destroy the Leaf Village which, by doing so, would purify the Uchiha of all the wrongdoings that had befallen them. Kakashi realizes that the repeated hatred coursing through the Uchiha's history has made Sasuke what he is now. He resolves to take care of Sasuke on his own, but is restrained by Naruto, who runs at Sasuke with his Rasengan. The two clash in a manner similar to what occurred at the Final Valley. Naruto reveals to Sasuke that, while he used to be alone, he and Iruka pulled him from the brink. He was hesitant to approach Sasuke because he was jealous of his superior abilities, but he bonded with him all the same.

As Naruto and Sasuke clash, their Rasengan and Chidori explode, sending them both flying. When Zetsu and Madara appear to aid Sasuke, they decide to retreat to the Akastuki headquarters. Before they leave, however, Naruto has one last thing to say to Sasuke; something that will have an impact on both of their lives.

Naruto returns to the Leaf Village, and his teammates demand to know why he didn't finish Sasuke off when the latter was in such a weak state. Naruto tells them that when the time is right, he will deal with Sasuke personally. Meanwhile, a supposedly deceased member of Akastuki has infiltrated the Hidden Cloud Village.

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.

As the stone carver begins to carve Danzō's face in the Hokage Monument, he was told that Danzō is dead. Meanwhile, Kakashi takes Karin to the Konohagakure Intelligence Division to be questioned. Naruto gathers the Konoha 11 and tells them his decision to fight Sasuke alone, much to their frustration. After talking with the village's elders, Kakashi wanders around Konoha, thinking about his future as a Hokage when Might Guy appears and challenges him to race. Kakashi ultimately wins the race and Guy congratulates him on becoming Hokage, claiming that from now on Kakashi will be too busy for their matches. However, Kakashi tells him that they will always be "eternal rivals" and that he is happy he is there, leaving Guy in tears. Later, as the Fire Daimyō is about to appoint Kakashi as the new Hokage, Guy interrupts him and informs them that Tsunade has awoken from her coma. As the stone carver begins to carve Kakashi's head, he is once again stopped and informed that Tsunade will remain

At Mount Myōboku, Gerotora remembers Jiraiya's words and asks the Great Toad Sage if he should do as he said. The sage says to bring Naruto to him. At the Akatsuki hideout, Sasuke begins to recover from his transplant. In Konoha Tsunade recovers by eating food and tells Shizune to call a war meeting after she is finished. Shikamaru attends the war meeting and says to his father that he will remember every last detail. Fukasaku reverse summons Naruto to Mount Myōboku and takes him to see the Great Toad Sage so he could tell him his future. The great sage gives Naruto two predictions, the first being that he will meet an octopus, and the second that he will fight a young man with powerful eyes. The sage tells Gerotora to give Naruto the key to the Nine-Tails' seal. Gerotora asks Naruto to put his hand on the release square, Naruto hesitates.

Naruto recalls all the times the Nine-Tails' hatred had taken control of him. He decides to accept the key and the Great Toad Sage tells Naruto where he can find the octopus from his vision. Fukasaku sends him back to Konoha. Kabuto kills several Takigakure shinobi and leaves a trail of bodies leading Anko Mitarashi's team to Akatsuki's hideout. Kabuto confronts Madara and summons back the dead Akatsuki members. He tells Madara that he wants to join forces with him and that he can increase Akatsuki military power with his summons. Madara initially seems to decline his offer but Kabuto attempts to bargain with the revived Akatsuki members and finally blackmailing with another coffin, he agreed to co-operate. In return Kabuto wants Madara to give him Sasuke Uchiha. Madara agrees and they leave to prepare a strategy.

Tsunade talks to a council and informs about the Fourth Shinobi World War and warns others not to underestimate Akatsuki. Whereas in Land of Lightning a council is held about war, as Kisame spies on them. B paying no attention was bought in writing raps in his rhyme book. Later, Shizune informs Tsunade about Naruto's disappearance for which she ordered some shinobi to search for him. Naruto returns to Ramen Ichiraku. Two Konoha shinobi ask for his autograph, but he doesn't know how to respond. Three days later the Kage meet again to discuss how they should start pooling their resources. As the first matter of business, Naruto and Killer B are to be given constant protection. Tsunade objects since they would both be invaluable in the war with Akatsuki, but is forced to agree. Tsunade meets with A alone and asks him for a favour to let B teach Naruto how to control Nine-Tails. A says that the place where he is sending B and Naruto isn't just a hideout but a training ground. Tsunade retur