Naruto Shippuden · Confrontation (cont.)

Naruto and Killer Bee join the war and sweep through the White Zetsu. Gaara faces his father, the Fourth Kazekage, and learns through the sand how much his mother loved him. Naruto confronts Itachi and Nagato; Itachi breaks free of Kabuto's control thanks to a crow carrying Shisui's eye that he had planted in Naruto, and seals Nagato with the Totsuka Blade. Gaara's division beats the Third Raikage and the Second Mizukage. Episodes 303 to 320 are filler: the Sound Four trap the old Sasuke Retrieval team in a genjutsu, and other revived ninja bring standalone fights. In the end, Naruto's clones reach every front and expose disguised Zetsu, and Kabuto plays his trump card: Madara Uchiha.

1. ReferenceThe crow Itachi left

   When Itachi met Naruto before his fight with Sasuke, he left him a crow carrying Shisui's Sharingan. In ep. 298, the crow wakes up and frees Itachi from Kabuto's control.

   source ↗
2. ReferenceThe sand was his mother's

   Revived, the Fourth Kazekage learns that the sand that guards Gaara on its own is the will of Karura, his mother. The father who tried to kill his son makes peace before he's sealed.

   source ↗
3. SetupTwo Madaras?

   In the arc's last episode, the show reveals that Kabuto has revived the real Madara Uchiha. So who is the masked man who's been using that name? The answer comes in the next arc.

   source ↗