Plot of Naruto: Shippūden

The plot of the second part of the manga and anime series Naruto, titled Naruto: in the anime and simply Part II in the manga, was set two and a half years after the present timeline in Part I. The new setting for the series began with volume 28 (chapter 245) of the manga. The anime adaptation of the manga started airing on February 15 2007, premiering with the first two episodes debuting in a one-hour special. Viz is working on a North American DVD series of Naruto Shippūden, which is planned for release on September 29, 2009. The US publication of the manga began in January 2008, in the US issue of Shonen Jump.

The new story revolved mainly around Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno's new adventures, and their search for Sasuke Uchiha after he defected from Konoha in order to gain Orochimaru's power. The plot laters involves new major characters, such as Sai and Yamato. The plot also showed a more active Akatsuki in their quest to obtain all the tailed beasts.

Five Kage Summit arc

 * Chapter 450 to current.

New Orders
Kakashi found Naruto and returned him to Konoha, where all the villagers and ninja had gathered to congratulate Naruto on his victory. Team Samui had finally reached Konoha. Tsunade was left in a comatose state and a new Hokage was to be elected. In the meeting to decide who the next Hokage should be, Shikaku nominated Kakashi, much to Danzo's annoyance. Danzo argued that all the previous Hokages had, in some way, destroyed the village. The Fire Daimyo then elected Danzo as the acting Sixth Hokage. Danzo labeled Sasuke a wanted criminal, ordered Sai to keep an eye on Naruto and keep Naruto from leaving Konoha. Upon hearing the news, Naruto attempted to meet and reason with Danzo, but was stopped by Kakashi. Sai was unable to reveal Danzo's intentions because of the cursed seal given to him as well as all Root members.

Overhearing information about Sasuke, the two members of Team Samui, Omoi and Karui, approached Naruto for information regarding Sasuke and Akatsuki. Naruto, due to the lessons he had learned from Pain, offered to be beaten to relieve Karui of the pain she felt over the loss of her master, Killer Bee. Naruto had endured a thorough beating before Sai stepped in to protect him. Omoi noted that no matter what Karui did to Naruto, he would not betray Sasuke. Samui found Team Samui and informed them that they would have to report to the Raikage.

After receiving medical care, Naruto told Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai his intentions of leaving the village and meeting the Raikage to ask a pardon for Sasuke. Yamato reminded him, however, that, without the First Hokage's Necklace, the already weak seal shouldn't be strained, and, as he had been assigned to help rebuild the village, he couldn't be there to seal the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox if something happened. Naruto recounted the conversation with Minato Namikaze, his father, the Fourth Hokage. Minato told Naruto about the Akatsuki member in the mask, who was the de facto leader of Akatsuki, who was responsible for the Demon Fox's attack on Konoha, and who was so strong that not even Minato could defeat. When pressed for anything else the Fourth had told him, Naruto told everyone how his father believed in him, which was enough to convince Kakashi that he and Yamato should accompany Naruto to the Land of Iron.

On its way to Konoha, Taka, having abandoned Akatsuki after completing the mission to capture the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox, was stopped by Madara Uchiha, who was angered at Taka's failure to catch the Eight-Tails and its betrayal of Akatsuki. When Sasuke tried to fight his way through, Madara calmly informed him that Konoha had already been destroyed by Pain. He gave Taka a new assignment: to kill the new Hokage, Danzo. Zetsu's white half led Taka to the Kages Summit.

Madara told the black half of Zetsu that Pain's defeat was a hindrance to his plans, and that the resurrecting technique was supposed to be used on him. Sasuke would be of no use to him if Sasuke couldn't be controlled properly. Madara decided to step out of the shadows and commence with the.

The Kage Summit
Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure, Onoki the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, and the Fifth Mizukage of Kirigakure departed from their villages with two guards each, as requested by the Raikage, to the location of the Summit, the Land of Iron.

Danzo ordered Root members Dajimu and Terai to find Kabuto before Anko did. Danzo believed that Kabuto might be able to restore his right arm and eye. On his way to the meeting, Danzo was attacked by two assailants, prompting him to remove the bandages over his eye, revealing a bloodshot Sharingan. Danzo quickly dispatched the seventeen Hanya assassins from the Land of Wood.

In Konoha, Yamato planted tracking devices on Team Samui. Kakashi put two Root members under genjutsu and told Sai to report to Danzo that Naruto had not left Konoha. Naruto, Kakashi and Yamato headed for the Land of Iron to meet the Raikage. Despite Naruto's desperate pleas, the Raikage refused to call off the hunt for Sasuke Uchiha and scolded Naruto for being weak and defending a criminal.

Mifune, the leader of the Land of Iron, started the meeting while each Kage's bodyguards looked on. The five Kages began to argue due to the differences in their ideologies. Danzo mentioned Killer Bee, sending the Raikage into a fury. The Raikage quickly had to be protected by his bodyguards, as all of the other Kages' bodyguards were ready to intervene. This brief scuffle revealed Kankuro's new puppet, which mysteriously resembled Sasori. Temari now summoned her fan with a scroll instead of always carrying it around with her.

The Raikage claimed that Akatsuki was made up of missing-nins from every village but his, and the other villages had used Akatsuki for their own purposes: the Fourth Kazekage attempted to use Akatsuki to destroy Konoha, the Tsuchikage hired Akatsuki to prevent inexperienced Iwagakure ninjas from being sent into battle themselves. The Fifth Mizukage admitted that the Fourth Mizukage and the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle's jinchūriki, Yagura, might have been manipulated by Akatsuki.

When Danzo stated that Akatsuki's leader was almost certainly Madara Uchiha, Mifune suggested that a five-country alliance be formed to eliminate the threat of Akatsuki. Since the only country which still possessed a tailed beast was the Land of Fire, Mifune appointed the Hokage, Danzo, to be the leader of the alliance. Ao, however, found something unusual in the midst of the summit and revealed a Byakugan under his eye patch. He immediately discovered Danzo's two different chakra colors, one belonging to him, and the other belonging to Shisui Uchiha, who had the ability to control other people's minds. The furious Raikage accused Danzo of influencing Mifune's decision. Suddenly, Zetsu's white-half appeared in the middle of the meeting room and informed the Kages that Sasuke was near.

Meanwhile, in Konoha, the Konoha 11 discussed the turns of events and came to the conclusion that they had to hunt down Sasuke before his actions sparked off an all-out war between the countries. Shikamaru asked Team 7 for consent. Sakura decided to find Naruto in the Land of Iron and talked to him herself. She left Konoha with Kiba, Lee and Sai.

While resting at an inn, Naruto is greeted by Tobi, who revealed himself as Madara Uchiha. Naruto attacked Madara with a Rasengan but missed. Even though he was quickly bound by Yamato's Wood Release and threatened with Kakashi's Lightning Blade, Madara remained calm and proceeded to tell Naruto about how Itachi had sacrificed his life to protect Sasuke and Konoha, how Sasuke resolved to seek revenge on Konoha for the tragic life Itachi was forced to endure. He stated that Naruto had inherited the Senju clan's Will of Fire while Sasuke had embraced the Uchiha clan's hatred, and the battle between the two would be inevitable.

The Kages vs. Sasuke
The enraged Raikage choked Zetsu to unconsciousness before storming out of the meeting room. Outside, Sasuke had already began battling the samurais and quickly disposed of them.

Sasuke and Taka faced the Raikage and his bodyguards. The Raikage's immense physical strength allowed him to snap Suigetsu's sword and ward off a fully-transformed Jugo. Against the Raikage's superior lightning-based jutsu, which is capable of nullifying even the Chidori, Sasuke was forced to activate the Mangekyo Sharingan, using an incomplete Susanoo wrapped in Amaterasu to defend himself. The Raikage punched through Sasuke's defense at the cost of his right arm, which caught the black flame. Before the Raikage could injure himself further, the Kazekage, Gaara, intervened, wishing to talk to Sasuke. Gaara persuaded Sasuke to abandon his path in darkness and revenge, but failed. Gaara, Kankuro, Temari and Darui attacked Sasuke at the same time, but none of their attempts was able to harm the Susanoo, Sasuke's ultimate defense.

Sasuke broke the pillars of the meeting room with the Susanoo, hoping to collapse the roof. Karin noted Sasuke's chakra was darker and colder than ever before. When Sasuke entered the meeting room, Danzo fled, with Ao in pursuit. Sasuke was about to give chase but the Mizukage stopped him, sealing the exit with her acidic globs. The Mizukage could control three elements and had two Kekkai Genkai. Her acidic mist began to eat through his Susanoo, and had it not been for Zetsu's technique, which drained the chakra of everyone in the room and transferred it to Sasuke, Sasuke would have been killed.

Keeping Susanoo activated the whole time had considerably weakened Sasuke, and though he escaped from the Mizukage, he fell victim to the Tsuchikage's Dust Release. The Tsuchikage, who had broken out of Zetsu's grasp, pulverized the Susanoo. An unconscious Sasuke was saved by the timely intervention of Madara Uchiha.

Declaration Of War
Raikage was enraged at the sight of Madara Uchiha and attacked the masked man, but he failed to even lay a finger on Madara. Madara teleported an unconscious Sasuke and Karin to an unknown location, ordering Karin to heal Sasuke. Madara had wanted to push Sasuke to improve his Mangekyo Sharingan by sending him to the summit, and to weaken the Kages, but admitted he had overestimated Sasuke's strength.

According to Madara, the Sage of the Six Paths was worshipped as a god throughout the old ninja world because he managed to subdue the strongest tailed beast that ever lived, the Ten-Tailed Beast, by sealing it in himself, becoming the very first jinchūriki. The Sage knew once he died, the seal would be broken and the Ten-Tails would once again lay waste to the world, so on his deathbed, he summoned the last of his strength to split the Ten-Tails into nine parts (which would become the nine tailed beasts) and used a massive Chibaku Tensei to send the Ten-Tails' physical remainings into space, creating the moon.

Madara finally revealed the "Moon's Eye Plan": as he was severely injured from the fight against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, at the Valley of the End, he had to hide in the shadows, letting Akatsuki capture the nine tailed beasts. With the beasts in his possession, he would be able to revive the Ten-Tails and become its jinchūriki, attaining god-like power. Finally, he could project an eternal Tsukuyomi onto the moon, placing everyone on Earth under the illusion of a world without strife and hatred.

Madara needed the Kages to hand over the two remaining beasts: the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox in Killer Bee and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox in Naruto. The Kages immediately opposed him, stating that he only wanted the world for himself, and that an illusion of peace is not true peace but the removal of free will. The Raikage is infuriated that Killer Bee used the opportunity of being "captured" to escape from his village.

As the Kages refused to cooperate with him, Madara declared the Fourth Shinobi War before teleporting away.

Battle Plans
The Kage's and the leader of the Land of Iron, for the first time in ninja history, decided to unite against the power of Madara and the seven beasts in his possession.

However, differences of opinion arise when the Tsuchikage suggests that since the balance of power is heavily skewed in the favor of Madara, they too should utilize the full might of the remaining two Jinchuuriki, Naruto and Killer Bee by placing them on the forefront of the battles to ensue.

Gaara immediately objects stating that the whole purpose of the war is to ensure the safety of the two Jinchuuriki, and that they must be protected instead. The Mizukage and Raikage agree with it as well, stating that Madara will use the war to lure the two out of hiding, and that would be counter-productive to all their plans. Raikage also states that his brother is an extremely unpredictable shinobi who usually ignores orders and commands by following his impulses, and states that he would only bring chaos to the battlefield. Gaara states that Naruto is the same, and therefore, the Mizukage, the Kazekage and the Raikage override the suggestion of theTsuchikage that the Jinchuuriki be used in the war.

The Tsuchikage still in doubt states that the power of seven Bijuu will still be too much to handle, and even if the alliance's main aim is to protect the two remaining Jinchuuriki, its purpose will fail if the alliance itself is annihilated because of the absence of the strength of the two Jinchuuriki.

Mifune counteracts his statements by saying that just as the power of Madara and his faction is an unknown quantity, the power of the alliance is in the same position as well. He further voices his suspicions stating that with very few members left in Akatsuki, Madara is in dire straits because in his powerless form, he cannot afford to lose his few remaining subordinates whom he needs to extract the remaining demons, and therefore, he too is risking much by trying to control seven Bijuu to use them so rashly by employing them directly in battle, something that has never been attempted before.

He also states that perhaps that was why Madara attempted to negotiate with them instead of hunting for Naruto and Killer Bee, by hoping that the Kage's would be intimidated by his threats and hand over the two Jinchuuriki without a fight, but his gamble seemingly failed against the unexpected resistance by all the Kage's. He further declares that even the Samurai will throw their weight behind the alliance as well, and fight on the side of the Villages.

The Tsuchikage grudgingly acquiesces to these decisions.

Then finally, the situation moves to Konoha, and the Raikage states that he will in no terms trust a cowardly and a deceitful man like Danzo, because the rumors surrounding Danzo and his underhanded dealings are too severe to ignore, which are also compounded by the fact that Danzo brazenly tried to control Mifune through his techniques to have himself subtly named as the leader of the alliance in front of the other Kage's.

The other Kage's agree with his statements that Danzo was not trustworthy, but they also recognize the fact that the shinobi of Konoha will be vital in the war effort. After that, the Kage's come to the decision that if the shinobi of Konoha learn of the cowardice and treachery of Danzo, it will undermine his position in the village which is still temporary in nature.

Gaara agrees to relay the information to Kakashi, and even the Raikage and Tsuchikage accept that suggestion as Kakashi is a well known and respected shinobi.

The Kage's then immediately act upon securing the safety of Killer Bee and Naruto. The Raikage states that he encountered Naruto and Kakashi on his way to the summit, and that they might still be in the Land of Iron, and suggests that a search party be sent out immediately. He likewise orders the Shinobi of Kumogakure to conduct a full blown search for his brother and furthermore agrees to share information about his brother with the other villages, and asks them to contact him once his brother is found, because he is the only one who can persuade his brother.

Meanwhile, Naruto who after meeting with Madara has been distraught, is trying to locate Sasuke using the Sage Mode when, Kiba, Rock Lee, Sai and Sakura arrive, much to the surprise of Yamato and Kakashi. Sakura grimly tells Naruto that they need to speak, and he is surprised to see her so grim.

Elsewhere, while Killer Bee was honing his singing voice with Master Sab, the leader of the Enka ninja, Kisame Hoshigaki arrived and challenged him, which Killer Bee instantly accepted telling Master Sab that he would end it in a few minutes and not to worry.