When Did Naruto With Akatsuki Ally With Tobi In Canon?

I’ve gone through the timeline a few times and the short, clear takeaway I keep telling people is this: in canon there’s never an occasion where 'Naruto' officially allies with the 'Akatsuki' under 'Tobi'. The Akatsuki was largely being steered by Tobi/Obito behind the scenes, and for most of the series they are antagonists. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, events get messy because of Edo Tensei and the Ten-Tails, and a few former Akatsuki figures end up out of the fight or briefly aiding Konoha under very specific circumstances (for example, Itachi turning on Kabuto while reanimated).

What causes confusion is Obito’s later change of heart: after being confronted by Naruto and others, he abandons Madara’s plan and helps the Allied Shinobi Forces. That moment is Obito’s personal redemption and cooperation, not a formal alliance between Naruto and the Akatsuki organization. So canonically, Naruto never signs on as an Akatsuki ally — he convinces an enemy to switch sides near the end, and that’s the closest thing to teamwork with a former Akatsuki leader. I still think that twist — enemy becomes sacrificial ally — is one of the more satisfying emotional beats in the war arc.

Whenever I rewind the Fourth Shinobi War arc I still get tripped up by how messy loyalties look on paper — so here’s the clean, canon-only version from my point of view. There is no point in the official storyline where 'Naruto' formally joins the 'Akatsuki' as a faction or signs an alliance with 'Tobi' while Tobi is acting as the Akatsuki leader. Tobi (who is later revealed to be Obito) was the hidden force behind much of Akatsuki’s direction, and for most of the series he’s working against Naruto and the Allied Shinobi Forces, not side-by-side with them.

What does happen, and why people get confused, is that allegiances shift during the war. Several members of Akatsuki had already died earlier or were reanimated with Edo Tensei by Kabuto, and a handful — most notably Itachi while under Edo control — end up turning the tide by breaking Kabuto’s control, which allows many reanimated shinobi to return to the afterlife rather than fighting for Madara/Tobi. That’s not Naruto joining Akatsuki; it’s more like individual former-Akatsuki souls being taken out of the conflict or briefly working against their original group under different circumstances.

The closest thing to an actual cooperation between Naruto and Tobi is late in the war when Obito (no longer the anonymous masked Tobi puppet) undergoes a redemption arc. After Naruto’s relentless attempts to reach him and Kakashi’s involvement, Obito rejects Madara’s plan and begins to help the Allied forces. He fights alongside them against the Ten-Tails and later against the threat that follows, but that’s Obito the individual switching sides, not an institutional alliance between Naruto and the Akatsuki organization. It’s an emotional, personal turn of events — one enemy becomes a repentant ally in the final battles, sacrifices and all — and it’s portrayed as Obito’s redemption rather than a negotiated pact.

So if you want a one-liner to tell friends: there’s no canonical moment where 'Naruto' and the entire 'Akatsuki' ally with 'Tobi' as a bloc. What you see is fractured: some former Akatsuki members are neutralized or helped to stop fighting, and Obito/Tobi ultimately defects and aids Naruto near the climax. To me that ambiguity is part of why the war arc feels so charged — loyalties are personal and messy, which makes the payoffs hit harder.