Kakashi Hatake, the Jōnin in Charge

A crisis council convenes with the Land of Fire because the village needs leadership. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, prompted by Danzō, argue that Tsunade can no longer serve, both because her coma leaves the seat empty and because they blame her for the devastation of Pain's assault. Aware that Danzō is engineering a power grab, Shikaku hurries in and puts Kakashi's name forward as the Sixth Hokage.

The daimyō warms to the idea, noting Kakashi's lineage as a pupil of the Fourth, who trained under Jiraiya, who studied beneath the Third. That endorsement nearly becomes official until Danzō reframes the same pedigree as a liability, claiming it saddles the village with the Third's soft doctrine. He piles on further charges against Tsunade, that she failed to stop the Akatsuki and never branded Sasuke a rogue. Swayed, the daimyō declares Danzō the new Hokage instead.

At Tsunade's bedside, Sakura warns that her mentor may stay unconscious for a long while, worn out from mending the entire village at once. As Naruto and Sakura head off for water, Kakashi drifts into memory, recalling the moment he inherited Team 7.

The flashback follows Kakashi trailing his three new students for a full day: Naruto's accidental kiss with Sasuke, Naruto's scheme to shove Sasuke aside for Sakura's company, and the bad milk that sends Naruto running. Turning his bells over in his hand, Kakashi doubts the trio can work together well enough to clear his upcoming test. In a parallel thread, the two elders scold the Third for pairing the Nine-Tails host with an Uchiha, insisting Naruto belongs behind the village walls. Danzō eavesdrops and concludes the Third made the pairing to leash the Nine-Tails through the Sharingan.

Back in the present, Kakashi watches his students recede down the road and quietly resolves that stopping Sasuke falls to him.

This installment belongs to Shippuden's Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha and adapts material from chapter 450. Much of the retelling of Kakashi's surveillance clashes with how the same events played out in their original episode. Differences include reworked dialogue at Naruto's apartment, a shifted timing for the spoiled-milk discovery, and Kakashi hiding behind a blackboard rather than viewing the class through the Third's crystal ball. The road fight also has Kakashi witnessing Naruto's shadow clones, which contradicts his later surprise during the bell test when Naruto uses that same technique.