(KONOHA TONIGHT title card appears and then fades out to show a clip montage of the civil war that broke out within Konoha a year ago after the exposure of Taka. Accompanying the montage is narration by the host, MOTOKO KATSURAGI.)

MOTOKO: One year ago, this was the sight of Konohagakure. The most powerful and influential of all the five great hidden villages, now ground zero of a sudden surprise civil war within the Allied Shinobi Forces. It was on this day, when the village was playing host to a surprise Kage Summit, that the existence of the mysterious secret society known as Taka was exposed and the world became aware that they had infiltrated their ranks, corrupting dozens upon dozens of Leaf ninja, as well as forces from other villages in the Alliance. There were plenty of leaders of each undercover Taka cell, but one man in particular was the leader and face of one of the darkest days in the history of the Hidden Leaf Village. That man is none other than former village elder and interim Hokage Uragi Rimonō.

(Cut to MOTOKO herself, standing in front of a green screen projecting an aerial view of the village behind her.)

MOTOKO: Hi everyone, I'm Motoko Katsuragi, and tonight we profile one of Konoha's most famous war criminals. We all know the monster, but who is the man? Tonight, we will take a closer look at his past, to try to figure out what is was that turned one of Konoha's prestigious leaders into one of the greatest traitors it has ever known.

(Cut to title card: "Descent Into Darkness: Uragi Rimonō", produced by Takuya Shinigami)

(Cut to narration by MOTOKO as we begin the clip segment.)

MOTOKO: Born to the relatively small Rimonō clan years before the Third Shinobi War, Uragi's parents were both accomplished Jōnin in their own right. However, tragedy struck the boy early on in his life, when both of his parents were murdered on a mission outside of the village. To make matters worse, the murderer was none other than the boy's own uncle! Despite the murderer being caught and brought to justice by later shinobi patrols, the now orphaned Uragi had now had his first taste of the dark side of the ninja world. His first taste of the brutal and often times lethal cycle of hatred that existed at the core of the ninja way. It wasn't made any easier on that dark night long ago when the Nine Tailed Fox attacked the village, killing several of Uragi's friends in the process. Even the betrayal of the Legendary Sannin Orochimaru served to delude his understanding and faith in the ninja way of life. It would be a world view that he would struggle with for the rest of his life.

(Cut to a new series of stills with MOTOKO still narrating.)

MOTOKO: Despite all of this, Uragi graduated from the Academy with high honors before being assigned to his Genin team under his sensei. But despite his impressive grades and rate of completion of his missions, the young ninja named Uragi was known for being very quiet and reserved, preferring to keep most of his opinions to himself and to speak only when spoken to, and preferring to keep his mind on his missions and training at all times. Because of this, he ended up gaining a nickname during his early career, "Silent Uragi."

(Cut to an interview with GEN FUKISAKI, Uragi's former sensei, now retired.)

GEN: I'll tell you this much: he was always about business rather than about fun. Time and again his teammates and I invited him to join us for lunch after training or after a mission, but he would keep turning us down each time. He always said he had training to do instead. (Thinking) I suppose that should have set off some early warning signs.

(Cut back to more clips narrated by MOTOKO.)

MOTOKO: Although Uragi's social life left something to be desired, his ninja career flourished, and so he quickly climbed the ranks and became known for his ability to get results. Alas, Uragi's distant and decidedly unsocial lifestyle left early clues to a dark and dangerous character flaw. You see, Uragi was a young man who felt that he was missing something. He wanted answers to the why the shinobi world he himself was a part of was the way it was. As he grew up and rose in rank, he did find himself making at least one casual friend, none other than the future toad sage, Master Jiraiya.

(Cut to an interview with the recently resurrected JIRAIYA.)

JIRAIYA: When I knew him, Uragi was a brilliant ninja...but even back then, I could tell that there was something missing about him. I remember he used to talk to me about how messed up he thought the world was... I-I'm sorry, its still hard for me to talk about it.

(Cut to more clips and narration from MOTOKO.)

MOTOKO: Jiraiya got to be the one to see his friend off when he had finally decided that the time had come to leave the village on a personal quest for enlightenment, a quest to seek the answers to the questions plaguing his mind. The timing of his departure was before Orochimaru's manipulation of the Sand Village into attacking Konoha during that year's Chūnin Exams, the same day that tragically saw the death of the Third Hokage. It was mere months after his leaving that village prodigy, Sasuke Uchiha, accepted Orochimaru's offer to betray his village and go to him in search of the power he needed in order to get revenge against his criminal brother Itachi. Undoubtedly, Uragi would have discovered this along the road during his travels.

(Cut back to inside the studio, with MOTOKO standing in front of the green screen projecting the aerial view of the village behind her.)

MOTOKO: Unfortunately, much like in our profile on Uchiha that we'd aired earlier this month, the majority of Uragi's exploits during his many years outside of the village gates remains a complete mystery. One truth that interrogation of Uragi after his arrest has brought to light is that, while on his journey of self-discovery, Uragi had befriended Pain, the dreaded Akatsuki leader that nearly destroyed the entire village several years ago. Despite his years of experience teaching him not to trust people easily, Uragi felt that this man could be counted as an ally, since he had outlined to him a plan he had to make the world a better place... That faith was soon dashed though, when word reached the older man's lips of Pain's attack, an attack that killed hundreds of villagers and was only defeated by the heroic actions of one Naruto Uzumaki. Even worse, Uragi had heard of his friend Jiraiya's death at Pain's hands. This sent Uragi into a deep depression that only the realization of the one who defeated Pain and of the so called 'Child of Prophecy' that Jiraiya had once spoken to him about, had helped to get him out of.

(Cut to another series of stills with further narration from MOKOTO.)

MOTOKO: When Sasuke Uchiha executed the traitorous elder and former Root leader Danzō Shimura, Uragi saw it as a victory against everything he hated about the ninja world and the cycle of hatred and corruption at the heart of it. Unfortunately, that good news was soon overshadowed by the onset of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, a gigantic step backwards from everything he believed in and wanted to see change in the world. And right at the heart of this conflict was Naruto Uzumaki himself. Disgusted by the young hero's newfound reputation as a war hero, the pardoning of Sasuke Uchiha after his trial, and the growing lifestyle and happiness of the future Seventh Hokage, Uragi developed an intense, deep rooted hatred for the village savior, seeing him a fraud that went against everything that the prophecy said he would accomplish to bring about a new era of peace.

(Cut to an interview with KONOHAMARU SARUTOBI.)

KONOHAMARU: It makes me sick! How can anybody think that way about Nii-chan!

(Cut to another interview with TEUCHI, manager of Ramen Ichiraku.)

TEUCHI: Any bastard that can think or say anything like that about Naruto is no leader or customer of mine, and you can quote me on that!

(Cut back to another series of clips with narration from MOTOKO.)

MOTOKO: After the war, Uragi explored the world even further and allegedly got a first hand view of the worst aspects of human nature. Concluding in his own delusional mind that Naruto had failed to fulfill the prophecy, everything finally became too much. He was poised to commit suicide...until, according to interrogation made upon his arrest, he was stopped by an emissary from the secret society known as Taka, a society dedicated to changing the world by bringing the old order down so they can remake it the way they want it. He learned that their plan for doing this was to uncover the seven chakra gems, ancient relics that each possessed a godlike power. And so, Uragi soon found allies and entered into Taka's fold.

(Cut to a couple of clips with further narration.)

MOTOKO: A year after the end of the war, Uragi finally returned to Konoha and received the Sixth Hokage's authorization to resume his old life within the village. This was also where Uragi first met Naruto Uzumaki, who sensed no ulterior motives or resentment of any kind beneath the old man's polite and well mannered facade. When asked about his early history with reporters, Lord Seventh told reporters:

(Cut to an interview with NARUTO outside of his office.)

NARUTO: Look, the Uragi Rimonō used to know was a perfect gentlemen, my greatest ally on the council if I'm being completely honest... Y'know, I remember back when I first began my Hokage training, he gave me some advice. He told me: "The winds of change are ever flapping, and change is needed to bring order to the chaos. You can never predict from where chaos can emerge, and sometimes a leader needs to do what is necessary to bring order to a chaotic world." I had no idea what he was talking about back then. Now, after everything that's happened...well, I think that's all I have time to discuss today, thank you. No further questions please.

(Cut back to a clip montage as MOTOKO continues her narration.)

MOTOKO: After his return to Konoha, Uragi spent the next four years climbing the ranks until he ultimately found himself positioned as one of the village elders, replacing Danzō. After the Sixth Hokage announced his retirement and named Naruto as his pending replacement, Uragi presumably caught the ear of several Leaf ninja and coerced them into Taka's cause. He also came into possession of a number of the fabled chakra gems, including the Soul Gem, which gives one the power to resurrect the dead, and the Mind Gem, which allows one to mentally control the minds of others. Testimony from sources close to the Hokage explained to Konoha Tonight that these two gems worked well in tandem with one another as those newly brought back to life have a extra level of vulnerability to the effects of the Mind Gem. This is how Uragi and his forces were able to turn newly resurrected ninja into their living puppets to use during the invasion, including Neji Hyūga, Uragi's own friend Master Jiraiya, and perhaps most monstrously of all, Lord Seventh's own parents, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki. As Naruto's reign over Konoha played out over twelve years, Uragi bided his time, particularly after a Taka assassin at Naruto's wedding failed to murder him, his bride, and their then unborn son. When the assassin committed suicide before he could reveal his Taka allegiances, it was undoubtedly a relief for Uragi and his secret allies.

(Cut to a new set of clips with further narration.)

MOTOKO: Eventually, however, Lord Seventh came into possession of a scroll that allegedly held secrets behind what the assassin was up to. What he did not know was that the scroll was actually a map to the locations of the remaining chakra gems, one that Taka were not able to open, and passed in along to Naruto in hopes that he might be able to. When that assumption proved wrong, and when Naruto's wife began uncovering the existence of Taka's chakra-deafening serum, Uragi ordered another assassination on both of them, this time assuming command of the village himself and framing them both for withholding sensitive information from village authorities, labeling both Naruto and Sakura as wanted fugitives and even placing a bounty on each of their heads. Now in power over the entire village, Uragi ordered a lockdown of all activity inside and outside of the village gates until the 'crisis' was resolved. He also sent Naruto's brainwashed parent's to find and terminate the couple before things got any further out of hand. But the biggest step in his plan was to call for a new Kage Summit to take place in Konoha, where he planned to use the Mind Gem to brainwash the remaining four kages into serving Taka. That plan was foiled thanks to the intervention of Shinachiku Uzumaki and his allies, who finally revealed the existence of Taka's deep infiltration to the entire village, triggering the terrible civil war that nearly torn the village apart, and has been the thrust of our world's politics ever since.

(Cut to MOTOKO in the studio.)

MOTOKO: The rest of this story is well known to all of our viewers. After the battle began, many tides turned and many Leaf ninja were forced the fight each other, until it finally culminated in Uragi gaining possession of the Power Gem, the same chakra gem that Shinachiku Uzumaki had recovered in the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, and using it to become a gigantic monster composed of pure crimson energy that nearly destroy the entire village. Although both Lord Seventh and Sasuke Uchiha provided a valiant defense against the monster, it was Shinachiku who proved the true hero that day, enacting a plan to face Uragi in a final showdown within the boy's own mind. The risk paid off and at last, the traitorous Uragi Rimonō was defeated.

(Cut to a new montage of still images and more crudely assembled footage as MOTOKO narrates once again.)

MOTOKO: After the battle, Uragi was immediately arrested for his many crimes and sentenced to live out the rest of his life in solitary confinement in a dark, secluded cell within Konoha's Strict Correctional Facility. Unfortunately, most information about the traitorous former elder remains a mystery both to the press and also to the public. What has been confirmed is that significant damage done to Uragi's body during his battle with Shinachiku Uzumaki had left the old man with severe burn marks on his body, and a piercing blow to one of his lungs by the Sixth Hokage has supposedly left him with a breathing problem. The most devastating consequence though is that the young Uzumaki's jutsu had attacked his circulatory system to such an extent that his access to his chakra network has been permanently severed. We at Konoha Tonight requested an in person interview with the criminal from within his prison cell, but our requests were denied by the prison warden.

(Cut to a brief quote from the WARDEN.)

WARDEN: No one is allowed to speak to the prisoner without authorization, except for Lord Seventh Hokage and myself. Besides, this traitor is such a pathetic shell of his former self that he's not worth any of you folk's time anyway.

(Cut back to MOTOKO inside the studio.)

MOTOKO: It should be noted that the current warden is a replacement for the old warden, who was relieved of duty after the battle. The original warden was one of numerous decommissionings to come out of Lord Seventh's string of Internal Affairs investigations, done in an effort to weed out all lingering traces of Taka's influence within the village's ranks. These endeavors have been criticized by some for the significant decrease in manpower and for putting so many shinobi out of work and without a means to support their families. Lord Seventh stands by his actions however, in spite of all of this. As for Uragi himself, while we were denied an interview, anonymous sources have claimed to have heard rumors of relentless interrogations bordering on prison torture in order to extract further information about Taka from the former leader. The most farfetched of these rumors even hint that Lord Hokage himself might be playing a direct role in these interrogations. When questioned about these rumors, Lord Seventh harshly denied any such mistreatment had been done, denying any further comment.

(Cut to a single, still image of Uragi in his prime as MOTOKO narrates.)

MOTOKO: So there you have it, Uragi Rimonō, once one of Konoha's most powerful leaders, now a pathetic shell of his former self, one that will spend the rest of his life paying for his despicable crimes against the village and against humanity. But while Uragi remains in custody, Taka itself, as well as its mysterious master, are still out there. And while no one has the ability to predict the future, the odds that Uragi will play any further role in the forthcoming events seems unlikely.

(Cut back to MOTOKO in the studio.)

MOTOKO: Thanks for watching. Join us again in two weeks for the first televised interview with Lord Seventh Hokage himself, Naruto Uzumaki, since the Taka invasion, where he will answer Daisuke Kishiyama's questions, and yours, about how he plans to defeat Taka and make things safer for all of us. Up next week, though, tune in to what will likely be an explosive debate between the alleged head of Taka's branch in the Hidden Sand Village, Lord Sandosupai, and the Fifth Kazekage himself, Gaara of the Desert. While the Kazekage is fully cooperating with Naruto's mission to stamp out corruption within the Shinobi Union, Sandosupai contends that the Union's case against him is a poor attempt to make him a fall guy for the rampant corruption that still exists. We'll find out which is the truth on Konoha Tonight. I'm Motoko Katsuragi. Good night.

(Fade to black; cut to end title card.)