Episode 339: Back at the front lines, the five Kage struggle to hold their own against Madara's Susanoo-clad wood clones. However, Ōnoki rallies them to fight, noting that they need to fulfil a task at which they cannot fail. Madara realises that Ōnoki is the problem and that he must break his will. With that, the Kage go on the offensive against Madara's clones once more. However, the situation soon takes a turn for the worse as Madara in turn responds with his full power by activating his final Susanoo and proceeds to use its sword to attack them. Elsewhere at the cave, Itachi commands Kabuto to put an end to the Reanimation Jutsu. Sasuke resolves that he will destroy the village that made his brother suffer for so long and bids farewell to Itachi forever. As lights begin to descend on the battlefield and the reincarnated shinobi begin to fade into pillars of light, Itachi approaches Sasuke and uses his Sharingan to show Sasuke everything about the Uchiha clan massacre. With the truth revealed to Sasuke at last, Itachi then imparts his final words to his brother, stating that no matter what happens and regardless of what he does from here on out, he will love him always.
Episode 340: Watching Itachi's soul depart back into the afterlife, Sasuke becomes conflicted with his resolve before being found by Suigetsu and Jugo. Elsewhere, across the battlefield, the various ninja that Kabuto reanimated are descending back into the afterlife. The other Kage mystified by the turn of events while Onoki notes whoever is responsible is a true hero among ninja. Using his Ghost Transformation jutsu to take control of his then-ascending soul, Dan reaches Tsunade's location. Speaking to Tsunade within her subconscious, Dan gives her the remainder of his chakra before fading away to restore her Reserve Seal. As Tsunade comes to, she and the other Kage find Madara still among the living as he reveals that he rescinded the summoning contract while advising the Kage to tell the caster not to use a forbidden jutsu so carelessly. Elsewhere, seeing the reanimated Jinchurikis' departure as a sign of Itachi's success, Naruto provokes Tobi as the masked man decides to move on with his plan by bringing forth the Benihisago and Sealing Urn.
Episode 341: Suigetsu proceeds to show Sasuke the scroll that he found at Orochimaru's hideout earlier. After examining its contents, Sasuke's next motive is to meet with Orochimaru and explained to a confused Suigetsu that he is not one to die so easily as he has Jugo's assistance in reviving Orochimaru via the Curse Unsealing ability. Expressing shock that Sasuke would be the one to resurrect him, stating his intent to still take his body if he was in better condition, Orochimaru asserts that he shows no interest in the war. But when Sasuke then shows Orochimaru the scroll he was given earlier and states he wants to get answers from those who know everything, Orochimaru siphons back his stolen chakra from the immobilized Kabuto while agreeing to guide his former apprentice to the answers he seeks. Elsewhere, Naruto and the others watch on as Tobi moves forward with the revival of the Ten-Tails by revealing its actual body: The Gedo Statue. With Kakashi wondering why Tobi would bluff as the Eight and Nine-Tails' chakra are still intact, Gyūki notes that Tobi may have got his chakra from the clone he created to cover Killer Bee's escape from Taka. Kurama also adds that his chakra is present in the treasured tools, which contain the sealed Gold and Silver Brothers, that the Gedo Statue swallowed earlier. Though the allied ninja all agree that its resurrection must be stopped, Tobi declares that even if an incompletely revived Ten Tails would still ensure the achievement of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As the group rally to fight, Naruto enters his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and proceeds to attack the statue.
Episode 342: Bent on stopping Naruto and his allies from interfering with the Gedo Statue as it begins to regenerate back into the Ten-Tails, Tobi engages Naruto and Guy while latter is able to create an opening for the youth to land a blow. As Tobi is distracted, Kakashi attempts to use Kamui on the Gedo Statue before it was suddenly nullified to his confusion. By then, Naruto fails to land his attack as Tobi separates him from the others to get the upper hand. Rushing to Naruto's aid, Kakashi launches his lightning-imbued kunai at Tobi before forced to warp the kunai away when the villain changes its trajectory towards Naruto. However, Tobi finds a slight fissure appearing on his mask that the others notice as he erects a barrier around the Gedo Statue to hinder Gyūki. Analyzing the masked man's abilities, Kakashi asks the group to aid him in testing his theory to confirm that Tobi has been using one technique the entire time in this fight: the exact same Kamui as himself. When asked where he got his Sharingan from, Tobi upsets Kakashi by claiming to obtained it while from battle at the Kannabi Bridge. As Tobi states there is no more hope for the world, Naruto rejects his views and Kurama — who briefly takes over his Jinchuriki's body — declares that Minato sealed him within Naruto to give the youth the power to take him down. With that as he gives the youth back his body, the Nine-Tails tells Naruto to charge Tobi head on.
Episode 343: Naruto enters Tailed Beast Mode and attacks Tobi, causing both Kakashi and Guy to look on, stunned but Tobi later emerges from the blast, unharmed. Meanwhile, a hesitant Kakashi is in disbelief of the masked man's identity but Guy snaps him out of it. As the battle rages on, Kakashi is finally motivated to fight and prepares to join the fray. Tobi unleashes a shower of gigantic chakra receivers, paralyzing B and Gyūki. Naruto creates a shadow clone and it charges forward with Rasengan while the original prepares a Tailed Beast Ball with B and Gyūki acting as a shield. As Naruto launches his technique, Tobi simply phases through and with that, fully enters the other dimension. There, he witnesses the clone earlier and realizes that Kakashi did not just teleport the Rasengan but the clone itself. With little time to react, Tobi curses Kakashi before he is hit by Naruto's Rasengan; his mask shattered into pieces. Watching on, Kakashi and Guy are shocked to see that the masked man is their former comrade, Obito Uchiha, who as a child had dreams of becoming the Hokage but who would never beat Kakashi or Guy. During his time at the Academy, Obito was later placed into a team consisting of himself, Kakashi and a young girl named Rin Nohara with the team being led by Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze. Obito had romantic feelings for Rin who actually loved Kakashi which in turn fueled Obito's desire to defeat Kakashi. However, Obito was left badly injured following a mission in which a boulder crushed the right side of his body. Believing himself to be on the verge of death, Obito gave Kakashi the Sharingan from Obito's own left eye which served as a replacement for Kakashi's left eye which had been left permanently scarred and damaged during a fight against a lone rogue ninja. When more ninja assaulted the cave, Kakashi and Rin were able to escape with Obito being engulfed by the landslide. In the present, rendered speechless, Kakashi is shocked that Obito survived. Naruto questions who the individual is, to which Guy responds that he is their former comrade who was supposedly killed in action during the previous war. In response to Kakashi's question, Obito explains that the reason why he hadn't revealed himself up until this point was because he let Rin die. Naruto motivates a devastated Kakashi as Obito's plan to conquer the world needs to be stopped. Obito attacks the group with his Fire Style: Bomb Blast Dance but Naruto intercepts with Kurama's tails. Just then, Madara appears alongside Obito, much to the others' surprise.
Episode 344: When Obito is joined by Madara, Naruto and allies shocked to see the legendary ninja who they assumed to still be battling the five Kage. This leads Naruto to immediately question Madara of their condition. Madara nonchalantly reveals that he dispatched them. From there, ignoring Naruto and expressing disappointment towards Obito for deviating from their plan, Madara learns that his intended resurrection through the Samsara of Life was ruined by Nagato using it on the Hidden Leaf ninja. Upon learning of Nagato was nothing more but a sacrificial pawn, Naruto attacks Madara with a Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball which the Uchiha dispatches as he moves to capture the jinchuriki while Obito deals with Kakashi and Guy. When Kakashi used this opportunity to question his old friend about what had happened to him, Obito gets a flashback of being heavily bandaged and stitched together by an elderly figure he learns to be Madara who explains of his physical condition after saving him. As Madara tells the younger Uchiha of his goals to unify the world, an uninterested Obito attempts to escape, eager to meet his team-mates once again.
Episode 345: Obito is tended to by two Zetsu clones, who help in his rehabilitation, while also telling him about Madara's goal and annoying Obito with potty humor. Obito recovers and gets used to his new artificial body parts, undergoing possible months of training to get used to them. One day, Zetsu arrives with news of Obito's team-mates being in danger, surrounded by Mist ninjas. When Obito fails to break through the rock blocking the exist, Tobi Zetsu offers himself as an armour for Obito. Obito draws power from the Gedo Statue to break the rock. Madara tells Obito he will properly thank him in the future, and that Obito will come back to him. On his way to the battle site, Obito has a vision of Rin through his empty eye-socket but ignores it. He arrives just in time to realize that Kakashi has run his Chidori through Rin's chest although Rin manages to say Kakashi's name before hitting the ground, dead. As Kakashi studies Rin's body, both he and Obito unknowingly awaken both their Mangekyō Sharingan. Kakashi passes out from exhaustion while Obito, enraged and grief-stricken over witnessing Rin's death proceeds to massacre the Mist ninjas while managing to avoid their attacks. Obito first kills some ninja before slaughtering the rest using Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs. Having slaughtered the Mist ninja force, standing in a pool of blood and watching Rin's dead body, Obito concludes he is in hell as he mourns the death of the girl he loved.
Episode 346: Still in disbelief over what has happened, Obito walks over towards Rin's body, having slaughtered the Hidden Mist ninja while ignoring the unconscious Kakashi. Obito then cradles Rin's body in his arms and remembers Madara and White Zetsu's words while vowing to change the world into one where she and the Ten-Tails. After teaching Obito the means to summon the Gedo Statue along with imparting all his skill and knowledge, Madara uses a Yin-Yang Style ability on White Zetsu to infuse the clone with his will, completing Zetsu with the birth of Black Zetsu. After disconnecting himself from the Gedo Statue, Madara dies telling Obito that he will be Madara until the day he is to be resurrected by the one he transplanted his eyes into: Nagato. Soon after, now going by the name Madara Uchiha with Zetsu accompanying him, Obito arrives to the Hidden Rain Village where he meets Nagato and his friends. Though Obito tempts Nagato with his knowledge and offer to aid him in achieving peace, Yahiko gets his friend and Konan away. Despite being warned by Yahiko to stay away, Obito tells Nagato that he would reappear at the same time and place everyday until he accepts the truth of words. Soon after saving orphans and gaining new member of their growing group, Yahiko decides to name their group the Akatsuki.
Episode 347: Being informed by Kakashi that the orphans he trained are now attempting to bring about change in the Hidden Rain Village through dialogue, Jiraiya expresses his satisfaction with his students' progress. At the Hidden Rain Village, Kyūsuke brings letters of requests for the Akatsuki's aid to Yahiko, who intends to surpass Hanzo one day. Having learned of the Akatsuki's existence from one of his men, Hanzo expresses his approval for an organisation that shares his ideals. Meanwhile, Yahiko, Konan and Nagato head to a small village that was earlier attacked and meet a group of people who want to attack the Hidden Stone Village. Though the Akatsuki insists solving the issue through peace talks, it ended with the three leading members being attacked by Hidden Stone ninja with an enraged Nagato unconsciously summoning the Gedo Statue in response to seeing Yahiko and Konan injured. Luckily, the two manage to stop Nagato in time and leave with Danzo and his ANBU finding the corpses of the Hidden Stone ninja. As Yahiko and his friends depart with the remainder of their group following, Danzo proceeds to disguise some of the Hidden Stone ninja as Hidden Rain ninja to convince Hanzo that the Akatsuki are a threat to his authority.
Episode 348: Yahiko and Nagato attend a meeting with the Rain's leader, Hanzō. Other members of Akatsuki discover that Leaf's ANBU shinobi are also meeting with Hanzō, and suspect a possible betrayal. They attempt to catch up with Yahiko and Nagato, only to die at the hands of Zetsu and Obito who wanted Nagato to witness tragic reality just like Obito had when he'd witnessed Rin die at Kakashi's hand. Leaf's Root Division and their leader Danzō are revealed to have plotted with Hanzō to end the Akatsuki's rebellion, capturing Konan and giving Nagato an ultimatum: kill Yahiko or they will kill Konan. Choosing for him, Yahiko runs himself into Nagato's kunai, killing himself, leaving Nagato and Konan devastated. Enraged, Nagato uses his Rinnegan to slaughter the Leaf and Rain shinobi by summoning the Gedo Statue, although Hanzō manages to escape. After this turn of events, Nagato finally turns to Obito, who witnessed the entire meeting. The final scene shows Nagato looking at Yahiko, whose body is now the Deva Path of his Six Paths of Pain, and saying that Yahiko will always be the true leader of the Akatsuki.
Episode 349: Since Rin's death, Kakashi Hatake suffered nightmares from the ordeal and became withdrawn and sullen. With the end of the Third Great Ninja War, the Ino-Shika-Chō trio are sent on a mission to deliver a treaty to the Hidden Stone. However, the exchange almost turns into an altercation until the Fourth Kazekage intervenes. The treaty is brought before Onoki and his council who discuss the future now that the war is over. Back in Konoha, Hiruzen discusses the village's future to the Leaf Council and his decision to step down as Hokage so his successor can usher in a new era for their village. Rejecting the nomination of his student Orochimaru issued by Danzo, Hiruzen tells the Lord of the Land of Fire that Minato Namikaze will be the next Hokage for his deeds during the war. As Danzo and Orochimaru plot their next move, Minato ultimately accepts the post and is installed as Fourth Hokage much to his wife Kushina's joy. As his first duty, Minato assigns Kakashi the task of transporting a scroll. However, Kakashi's trauma hinders him when he is attacked by an enemy ninja that Guy quickly dispatched. As he sent Guy to secretly aid Kakashi, Minato visits his student in the hospital and informs him to enlist in the ANBU under his personal control as his right-hand-man. Heading to the equipment stores for his gear, Kakashi dons his ANBU attire along with his mask, thus beginning his tenure as an ANBU operative.
Episode 350: After killing off enemy ninja posing as Hidden Stone ninja to attack Hidden Leaf ninja posted on the village outskirts, Kakashi learns from Minato that he would like him to assist in guarding Kushina while she in the time of her labor where the seal holding Kurama is at its weakest. Dutifully taking the mission, Kakashi goes to Rin's grave to tell her of the new development. However, Kakashi is unaware that Obito had heard the entire thing, leading to the masked man releasing the Nine-Tails on the village before it was sealed within the newborn Naruto Uzumaki at the cost of the lives of Minato and Kushina. Promising the dying Kushina that he will protect his successor's son, Hiruzen resumes his duties as Third Hokage until another successor is groomed for the post. Soon after, Kakashi is inveigled by Danzo to join Root while meeting another ANBU member named Kinoe who possesses the Wood Style.
Rating: 9/10(Average)
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