Five Kage Summit (Arc)

The Five Kage Summit arc spans from chapters 450 to current of the manga. Pain's destruction of Konoha and Killer Bee's supposed capture by Taka enticed the five countries to unite against the threat of Akatsuki.

New Orders
Kakashi Hatake found Naruto Uzumaki and carried him back to Konoha, where he was hailed as a hero after his victory over Pain. Tsunade was left in a comatose state after using all of her chakra to protect the villagers. During the council meeting after the invasion, Danzo was able to persuade the Fire Daimyo to make him the acting Sixth Hokage. Having finally acquired the title, he labeled Sasuke Uchiha a missing-nin and ordered his assassination.

Team Samui of Kumogakure arrived in Konoha with news that Sasuke's team had kidnapped Killer Bee, and was looking for whatever information Konoha had on Sasuke. When Karui revealed her intention of killing Sasuke to avenge her fallen master, Killer Bee, Naruto offered to be beaten in order to relieve Karui of her pain. Karui brutally beat Naruto until Sai stepped in to protect his teammate. Omoi remarked that Naruto would never betray Sasuke. Though unsatisfied with what they gathered, Team Samui had to leave Konoha to report to the Raikage.

After receiving medical care, Naruto recounted his conversation with his late father, the Fourth Hokage, when he was on the verge of fully transforming into the Nine-Tails. He convinced Kakashi and Yamato to accompany him to the Land of Iron to ask the Raikage's pardon for Sasuke's actions.

On their way to Konoha, Taka, having abandoned Akatsuki after capturing the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox, was stopped by Madara Uchiha. Madara, angered that Taka had failed to actually capture the Eight-Tails, assigned Taka a new mission: to kill Danzo, the new Hokage, at the summit. Zetsu's white half left to lead the way. Madara told Zetsu's black half that Pain's defeat was a major hindrance to his plans and that Sasuke would be of no use to him if he couldn't be controlled properly. Madara decided to finally step out of the shadows and commence with his Moon's Eye Plan.

The 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.

Before leaving for the Land of Iron, Danzo ordered Root members Dajimu and Terai to find Kabuto before Anko did, believing Kabuto's information might be useful for restoring his right arm and eye. On their way to the summit, Danzo and his bodyguards, Fu and Torune were attacked by assassins. Danzo uncovered the bandages over his right eye, revealing a bloodshot Sharingan, and quickly dispatched the attackers.

Kakashi put two Root members watching Naruto under genjutsu and told Sai to report to Danzo that Naruto had not left Konoha. Yamato planted tracking devices on Team Samui and followed them to the Raikage in the Land of Iron. 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 Five Kage Summit with each Kage's bodyguards looking on. The Kages quickly began to argue due to ideological differences. Danzo mentioned Killer Bee, sending the Raikage into a rage and prompting all of the Kages' bodyguards to assume a ready stance. The Raikage claimed that each of the other Kages was in some way responsible for Akatsuki's rise to power: the Fourth Kazekage may have used Akatsuki to facilitate the Invasion of Konoha, the Tsuchikage hired Akatsuki to avoid sending inexperienced ninjas of his village into battle, and the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura was probably manipulated by Akatsuki.

When Danzo stated that Akatsuki's leader is almost certainly Madara Uchiha, Mifune proposed that the five countries unite to eliminate Akatsuki, and that Danzo lead the alliance. Ao, the Fifth Mizukage's bodyguard, with his Byakugan discovered Danzo's secret use of Shisui Uchiha's Sharingan to manipulate Mifune's decision. Suddenly, Zetsu's white half appeared before the Kages, announcing that Sasuke Uchiha was near.

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 in inn after speaking to the Raikage, Naruto was greeted by Madara Uchiha, who proceeded to tell the Konoha-nins about how Itachi Uchiha had sacrificed for Konoha and for his little brother, Sasuke. Madara stated that while Naruto inherited the Senju clan's Will of Fire, Sasuke had embraced the Uchiha clan's hatred, and the battle between the two would be inevitable.

The Kages vs. Taka
Enraged, the Raikage choked Zetsu into unconsciousness before storming out of the meeting room with his guards. Outside, Sasuke had already defeated all of the Land of Iron's guards.

The Raikage's immense physical strength allowed him to snap Suigetsu's sword in half and fend off a fully transformed Jugo. Against the Raikage's superior lightning-based jutsu, which is capable of nullifying even the Chidori, Sasuke activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and used an imcomplete Susanoo wrapped in the inextinguishable black flames of Amaterasu to defend himself. The Raikage smashed through Sasuke's defense at the cost of an arm. Before the Raikage could injure himself further, Gaara, the Kazekage, intervened, wishing to talk to Sasuke.

Gaara tried to persuade Sasuke to abandon the path in darkness, but failed. Using Susanoo, Sasuke stood immune to simultaneous attacks from Gaara, Kankuro, Temari and Darui, the Raikage's bodyguard. After collapsing the structures outside the meeting room, forcing his opponents to recede, Sasuke ordered Karin to lead him to Danzo, abandoning Suigetsu and Jugo to their fate.

Upon seeing Sasuke, Danzo escaped with his bodyguards, with Ao, the Mizukage's bodyguard, in pursuit. Sasuke was about to give chase when the Mizukage sealed off the exit with acidic globs. Even though Zetsu's Spore Technique transferred the chakra of everyone in the building to Sasuke, he suffered from the Mizukage's acidic mist and would have been pulverized by Onoki the Tsuchikage, had it not been for the timely arrival of Madara Uchiha.

Declaration Of War
After teleporting Sasuke and Karin to safety, Madara said he sent Sasuke to the summit to train the Mangekyo Sharingan, and to weaken the Kages for easy capture, but admitted he was pushing his luck.

According to Madara, the Sage of the Six Paths was worshiped as a god throughout the old ninja world because he managed to subdue the Ten-Tailed Beast, sealing it within his own body and becoming the very first jinchuriki. The Sage knew once he died, the Ten-Tails would be unleashed and once again lay waste to the world, so in his final moments, he split its chakra into nine parts, which would become the nine tailed beasts, and sealed its empty body in a massive Chibaku Tensei, which would become the moon. Madara's plan was to use the combined power of the nine tailed beasts to reawaken the Ten-Tails and seal it within himself, attaining god-like power. With that power, he would project an infinite Tsukuyomi onto the moon, effectively conquering the planet. Madara forced the Kages to make a choice between handing over Killer Bee and Naruto, the hosts of the Eight-Tailed Giant Ox and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox respectively, or facing war with Akatsuki and their seven tailed beasts. When they refused, Madara declared the Fourth Great Shinobi World War and departed.

As the threat of Akatsuki had become too great for any one nation to handle, the Kages and the leader of the Land of Iron, for the first time in ninja history, agreed to form a five-country alliance. Because Danzo fled the summit earlier, Gaara offered to relay the information to Konoha through Kakashi Hatake instead. The Kages decided it would be best to hide the two remaining hosts from the front line as both are unpredictable on the battlefield and Madara would expect them to turn up. With his composure regained, the Raikage was voted the leader of the Alliance.

Kisame vs. Killer Bee
Killer Bee had faked his capture at the hands of Taka and taken the chance to escape his duty as a guardian of his village. At an unknown location, while he was practicing singing with the leader of the Enka ninja Sabu, Kisame Hoshigaki arrived. After quickly dispatching Sabu's companion Ponta, a tanuki, Kisame went on to battle both Killer Bee and Sabu, feeding his sword, Samehada, with enough of the Bee's chakra to reveal its true form.

Killer Bee was at a great disadvantage because even though he was low on chakra, he was unwilling to fully release the Eight-Tails out of fear for Sabu and Ponta's safety. The longer the battle went on, the more exhausted Bee became, the more likely Kisame won, as with the help of his chakra-stealing sword Samehada, Kisame could heal himself and stay at his peak condition. Having trapped his opponents in a giant dome of water that moved along with him, Kisame absorbed Samehada into his own body, taking on a grotesque, shark-like, invincible form.

Bee stalled Kisame at the cost of his Eight-Tails chakra cloak, allowing Sabu and Ponta the chance to escape the water dome before drowning. Deprived of chakra and suffocated, Bee was rendered unconscious. Kisame released the jutsu and was about to cut off Bee's legs to make him easier to carry when Samehada turned on him, having grown so attached to Killer Bee's chakra. Kisame kicked away his rebellious blade, which was attempting to heal Bee, picked up one of Bee's swords and proceeded to attack Killer Bee.