Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax

Running from chapter 560 to 639 across volumes 59 through 67, and adapted into episodes 322 to 348 and 362 to 375 of Naruto: Shippuden, this stretch of the conflict follows several fronts at once. The Allied Shinobi Forces press their fight against Kabuto Yakushi, Tobi, and the resurrected Madara Uchiha as the world war grinds on. It arrives from the Confrontation storyline and leads into the Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, though the anime slots in stand-alone detours and a look back at Kakashi's masked past between the two.

Freshly reincarnated and upgraded by Kabuto, Madara devastates the Fourth Division, shrugging off combined assaults before hauling twin meteors down from the sky. The five Kage converge on him through desperate transportation techniques, with Tsunade unveiling her hundred-strength regeneration to trade blows with the legend. Elsewhere Naruto and Killer B battle Tobi's controlled hosts, and Naruto works to free each captive tailed beast in turn, apologising to Son Goku and drawing the others into fellowship. When Kurama finally offers its power freely, Naruto opens the seal, enters a full transformation, and greets each beast by name, refusing at last to treat the fox as a mere weapon.

On a third front, a wandering Sasuke crosses paths with his reincarnated brother, and the two grudgingly ally against Kabuto, who has claimed Orochimaru's mantle and reached the dragon sage state of the Ryuchi Cave. Kabuto assails them with his assembled experiments and his Sound Four constructs, but Itachi springs the destiny-altering Izanami, trapping his opponent in an endless loop until he accepts who he truly is. The tale of Kabuto's orphaned childhood, his manipulation by Root, and his rescue by Orochimaru surfaces amid the clash. Freed to act, Itachi extracts the sealing signs and undoes the Impure World Reincarnation, releasing every summoned soul across the war before bidding Sasuke a loving farewell.

With the reanimated ranks fading, Naruto, Kakashi, and Guy corner Tobi, and Naruto's clone ambushes him inside the shared warp dimension to smash his mask apart. The face beneath belongs to Obito Uchiha, Kakashi's supposedly dead comrade from the Third Shinobi World War. Flashbacks reveal how an aged Madara saved and rebuilt Obito, how witnessing Rin's death broke him, and how he embraced the plan to remake reality. Madara reappears on the field, and after their combined attacks the Demonic Statue matures into the revived Ten-Tails.

Seeking the source of Itachi's counter, Orochimaru resurrects the previous Hokage inside Konoha so Sasuke can question them; Hashirama's account of his bond with Madara and the true nature of a shinobi persuades the young Uchiha to fight for the village his brother died protecting. As the Ten-Tails ravages the battlefield with natural disasters and kills Neji, Hinata rallies Naruto, who shares Kurama's chakra with the entire alliance. Team 7 reunites, the reincarnated Hokage arrive to seal the beast, and the summoned kage summonings join the assault, even as Madara forces Obito to become the Ten-Tails' host and set the stage for the war's final phase.