After their meeting with Chairman Durandal, the Minerva pilots are treated to a day of vacation and given rooms in one of Diocuia's hotels, and Athrun receives an unexpected guest. The pilots also make the acquaintance of Heine Westenfluss, a FAITH member who has been assigned to the Minerva as an additional pilot.

This episode recounts Shinn's personal history. During the previous war, Shinn and his family lived peacefully in the neutral nation of Orb, but eventually even Orb was drawn into the conflict.

With Armory One under attack, Athrun commandeers a ZAFT mobile suit to get Cagalli to safety. The three captured Gundams engage Athrun's ZAKU in combat, but he is rescued by the sudden appearance of the young ZAFT pilot Shinn Asuka and his Impulse Gundam.

The Minerva continues on to the shore of the Black Sea and docks at the city of Diocuia. Recently liberated from the control of the Earth Forces, Diocuia is now the latest stop on Meer Campbell's morale-building concert tour.

As the Minerva approaches the Lohengrin Gate, Athrun explains the battle plan to the other pilots. While the Minerva and the soldiers of the Mahamul base draw the attention of the Earth Forces, one pilot will attack the positron cannon via a hidden tunnel.

The fugitive Archangel is now hiding underwater in the neutral Kingdom of Scandinavia. Aboard the ship, Kira and his friends ponder their future plans.

As the Minerva makes its way through the Indian Ocean, it draws the attention of an old enemy, Neo Roanoke of the elite Phantom Pain taskforce. Neo calls in support from the nearby Earth Forces and launches an aerial assault on the Minerva.

Aboard the Archangel, Cagalli berates the crew for abducting her in the middle of her wedding ceremony. Kira gives Athrun's ring back to her, and gently asks Cagalli to join them in seeking a better answer to the world's problems.

In the wake of the assassination attempt on Lacus, Kira and his friends realize that they have been targeted by the government of the PLANTs. Kira then receives a letter from his sister Cagalli, in which she tells him of her intention to marry Yuna and asks him to return Athrun's ring on her behalf.

Thanks to Shinn's fighting prowess, the Minerva has overcome the Earth Forces fleet. As the ship continues on to Carpentaria, the Orb government concludes its alliance with the Atlantic Federation.

The Minerva crew find an Earth Forces fleet waiting for them outside Orb's territorial waters, leaving them no choice but to somehow break through the enemy lines. While Rey and Lunamaria guard the ship, Shinn fights an aerial battle against the Earth Forces mobile suits, but the tide turns against them as the enemy deploys a huge mobile armor whose positron deflector shield can withstand even the Minerva's Tannhauser cannon.

The conflict continues to escalate as Earth Forces fleets encircle the ZAFT bases at Gibraltar and Carpentaria, and the PLANT Supreme Council decides to strike back in the name of self-defense. Despite her best intentions, Cagalli yields to her ministers' demands that Orb ally itself with the Atlantic Federation.

Chairman Durandal tells the horrified Athrun the details of the Earth Forces' latest attack on the PLANTs. Giving up his Alex Dino alias, Athrun admits his true identity and begs Durandal not to let this conflict escalate into another war.

In year 72 of the Cosmic Era, the Junius Treaty brought the hostilities between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance to a formal conclusion. The treaty banned all military use of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and placed strict limits on the size of the ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces. However, there are still tensions between the genetically enhanced Coordinators and the unmodified Naturals, and the peace between them remains fragile.

Yoshino and the Ministers struggle to find the right dish for their new C-Rank Gourmet plan. Meanwhile, Shiori finds that her sister has a mysterious relationship with an old classmate.

The shadowy, warped chakra that only Boruto can see takes over more people, causing them to rampage. It only affected people within the Academy at first, but now it’s extending its reach into the village. Can it be stopped? And later, a Visual Jutsu places Boruto within a dream—and afterward, Boruto declares the dream has awakened his Byakugan, the Kekkei Genkai unique to his mother’s Hyuga Clan. Naruto does not believe him, so Boruto seeks advice from his grandfather, Hiashi Hyuga.