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Plot of Naruto Shippuden (spoilers!!) |
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To prepare for the eventual confrontation with both Akatsuki and Orochimaru, Naruto leaves the village and undergoes intensive training under Jiraiya. At the same time, Sakura becomes Tsunade's apprentice, and Sasuke trains under Orochimaru. Thus, each of the three members of the original Team 7 is now training under one of the Legendary Sannin.
When Naruto returns to the village two and a half years later, he is reacquainted with his friends, who have all risen in rank in his absence. Most of his comrades have since become Chunin; Kankuro, Temari, and Neji Hyuga have become Jonin; Gaara has even become the Fifth Kazekage: Naruto, meanwhile, is now the only Genin left. Jiraiya leaves Naruto with Kakashi Hatake, and along with Sakura, the three of them become a new team. To commemorate, they conduct another bell test, with Naruto and Sakura succeeding this time.
[edit] Rescue Gaara arc
This arc covers chapters 248 to 281 in the manga and episodes 3 to current in the anime
In Sunagakure, the Akatsuki team of Deidara and Sasori makes their way to the village in search of Gaara. Deidara is left to fight Gaara alone while Sasori guards the entrance. Gaara intercepts Deidara during his search and manages to crush one of Deidara's arms using his Desert Coffin. Despite his improved ability, Gaara's newfound desire to defend Sunagakure proves to be his downfall. When Deidara tries to destroy the village with his exploding clay, Gaara absorbs the blast by levitating the sand below. A direct attack by Deidara forces him to recall the sand which crushed Deidara's arm, which contains a small portion of exploding clay within. The clay then detonates, incapacitating Gaara.
After Deidara departs with Gaara, Kankuro attempts to stop the Akatsuki members alone, but his puppets are easily fought off and destroyed by Sasori, who is revealed to be the maker of Kankuro's puppets. Sasori poisons Kankuro in the process, leaving him to die. The Akatsuki duo take Gaara back to their lair, where their leader summons a massive statue to extract and seal Gaara's demon. The sealing ritual takes three days.
Upon hearing of Gaara's kidnapping, Team Kakashi leaves for Sunagakure with Temari, who is in Konoha to help with the most recent Chunin Exam. On the way, Naruto tells Sakura and Temari that he is the host of the nine-tailed demon fox and that Akatsuki is after the demon inside Gaara. This gives Sakura some insight into what Naruto has gone through. After learning this she vows to do everything she can to protect Naruto from being a victim of Akatsuki. Temari is thankful that there is someone who can understand what Gaara has gone through, and she's grateful to Naruto for changing Gaara and attempting to save him.
[edit] At Sunagakure
After arriving at Sunagakure, Team Kakashi learns of the attack on Kankuro. Despite the failed attempt by the medics on-hand, Sakura cures Kankuro, thus demonstrating her skill with medical jutsu. Sakura also develops several portable antidotes rather quickly. Using a piece of Sasori's clothing found on one of Kankuro's destroyed puppets, Team Kakashi is able to track him, thus leading them to Gaara. Temari offers to assist them, but Chiyo, another puppeteer and Sasori's grandmother, goes in her place. Back in Konoha, Tsunade decides to send Team Guy as backup for Team Kakashi.
While Team Kakashi tracks Sasori through a piece of torn clothing, the Akatsuki leader sends Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki to deal with Team Kakashi and the approaching Team Guy, respectively.
In a forest, Kakashi and Naruto are able to defeat Itachi after some effort using one of Kakashi's clones and Naruto's new Great Ball Spiraling Sphere, the clone being used to hold Itachi in place long enough for the jutsu to connect. Meanwhile, Team Guy is largely disabled by Kisame, leaving Guy himself to fight Kisame alone. Guy emerges victorious by opening six of the eight chakra gates to perform his Morning Peacock technique, which allows him to pummel Kisame to death. However, both Akatsuki members are actually entirely different people in disguise. They were made into weaker copies of those they were impersonating through the leader's Shapeshifting Technique.
Despite their victories, the two teams realize their battles were distractions to buy time for Akatsuki to extract the Shukaku from Gaara, which will kill him if completed. At the Akatsuki hideout, a barrier is blocking the entrance. Directed by Kakashi, Team Guy removes the four seals maintaining the barrier, but a failsafe creates clones of them as a further distraction. Ultimately, the many delaying tactics employed by Akatsuki are successful, as Naruto and Kakashi find Deidara and Sasori guarding Gaara's lifeless body. While Chiyo and Sakura fight Sasori, Deidara flies off on a clay bird with Gaara's body, with Naruto and Kakashi in pursuit.
[edit] Fighting Sasori
Although Sasori "wears" his puppets and controls them from inside, this technique of puppeteer fighting soon proves to be futile against Sakura and Chiyo. By controlling Sakura like a puppet, Chiyo is able to get Sakura close enough to demolish the puppet with one punch using her inhuman strength.
With his first puppet destroyed, Sasori is revealed, looking just as young as he did when he left the village. He summons another puppet to continue the battle: the Third Kazekage. It is here that Sasori reveals that he not only killed the Third Kazekage, but actually made his body into a puppet. Likewise, he has done the same to 297 other people. He plans to do the same to Chiyo and Sakura after winning. With its unique Iron Sand ability mixed with Sasori's poison, the Kazekage puppet is exceptionally dangerous. Chiyo summons two more puppets to fight against it. These puppets were Sasori's parents, which he had turned into puppets and left with the village when he deserted it. At first, Sasori's Kazekage puppet proves to be more than a match for both Sakura and Chiyo, using its poisoned Iron Sand to disable both of them. However, the antidotes Sakura had developed earlier allows them to continue fighting. Having been trained by Tsunade to pick up the enemy's patterns in order to avoid their attacks, Sakura is, with the help of Chiyo, able to easily dodge Sasori's subsequent attacks and demolish the Kazekage puppet, as well.
Down another puppet, Sasori reveals the secret of his youth: he made himself into a puppet. In this form, he has numerous weapons to fight with, and can even reassemble himself when destroyed, making him almost impossible to defeat. The only part of him that remains alive, and thus able to use chakra, is his heart. His heart is contained in a talisman labeled 蠍 (Sasori, "Scorpion"), which sits in his right chest. In response, Chiyo uses White Secret Technique: Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu to summon Monzaemon Chikamatsu's ten masterpiece puppets. To mock the display, Sasori uses his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets to summon 100 of his human puppets.
After a spectacular battle between the two puppet groups, Chiyo throws a chakra-sealing orb to Sakura to use on Sasori. Though it appears successful at first, Sasori manages to abandon his body beforehand and take over a spare among the many puppets he had summoned earlier. Using the momentary distraction, Sasori stabs Sakura with a poisoned sword. In doing so, however, he falls into a secondary trap created by four of Chiyo's puppets, which have formed a seal on the ground. Sasori is now immobilized since he needs to use chakra to animate his puppet body, allowing Chiyo to use Sasori's mother and father puppets to stab him through his heart in a manner similar to the hug that he desired as a child. In spite of the victory, Chiyo believes that Sasori allowed himself to be killed — he saw the attack coming and chose not to react, and died in a way similar to how his parent puppets used to embrace him.
At the end of the battle, Chiyo, Sasori, and Sakura are all fatally wounded, but Chiyo uses a jutsu she originally developed for Sasori, meant to "give life to a lifeless puppet", to save Sakura's life. The jutsu uses the user's own life energy, making it fatal to use to animate a puppet, but Chiyo survives since Sakura was still alive. Sasori's last words (as a reward to Sakura for defeating him) are that he has a spy in Orochimaru's ranks, whom he is supposed to meet in Kusagakure in ten days.
[edit] Fighting Deidara
Meanwhile, Naruto and Kakashi chase after Deidara. Kakashi activates his own version of the Mangekyo Sharingan, but it is difficult to aim properly and only manages to remove Deidara's remaining arm (he was aiming at his head). Naruto manages to destroy the clay bird using his Spiraling Sphere and retrieves Gaara's body. Enraged, Naruto sends a demon-fox-powered clone to attack Deidara, who attempts to get away since he no longer has any arms. The clone is able to defeat Deidara by creating more clones, but this Deidara is also a clone. Still enraged, Naruto starts to appear feral as two tails of chakra begin to form, causing his clones to experience a burning sensation in their stomachs. Kakashi recognizes this as a bad sign and uses a special seal he received from Jiraiya to stop the transformation from proceeding any further. Naruto subsequently reverts back to his normal form.
[edit] Epilogue
Stopping in a grassy field near the village, Sakura checks on Gaara and pronounces him dead. Naruto grows very upset, lashing out verbally at Chiyo. As he begins to cry, Chiyo moves towards Gaara and tries to use her resurrection technique, but doesn't have enough life force left. Naruto gladly lends his own chakra, and Chiyo is able to revive Gaara at the cost of her own life while the shinobi of Suna look on.
Back at the battleground, Deidara emerges from the ground, revealing that it was his clone that destroyed itself. He goes off looking for the right arm that he lost. After finding it, he encounters Zetsu and Tobi, a mysterious individual who wishes to take Sasori's place in Akatsuki. Tobi's carefree attitude about Deidara's condition angers Deidara, and he attempts to strangle Tobi with his feet after one-too-many callous remarks.
After paying their respects to Chiyo, and bidding Gaara and his siblings farewell, the Konoha shinobi return home. Kakashi is still exhausted from his overuse of his Mangekyo Sharingan and has to be carried back by Guy. Guy does so piggyback style, disturbing everyone present.
[edit] Exposition
This section covers chapters 282 to 284 in the manga.
When they arrive at Konoha, Kakashi is confined to the hospital and is unable to lead the team until he recovers. Naruto searches the village to find a possible replacement, as well as a third team member. During this time, he meets Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Choji, and Ino again.
Naruto meets his "third man" before actually learning who he is. While talking with Choji and Shikamaru, the ninja, later introduced as Sai, attacks them and is warded off by the trio. Sai was sent by Danzo to replace Sasuke. Sai is a member of the now-defunct independent subdivision of ANBU called Root.
It is also discovered that some of the village elders are worried about the possibility of Naruto being captured by Akatsuki. Tsunade convinces them to let him go by assigning Yamato, an ANBU captain, as the temporary leader of Team Kakashi. They are to travel to the World Bridge in Kusagakure to meet Sasori's spy.
[edit] The Sasuke and Sai arc
This section covers chapters 285 to 310 in the manga.
[edit] Encounter with Orochimaru
Naruto in his four-tailed demon fox-transformation, charging up his mysterious attack in the fight with Orochimaru.Team 7 takes on their new mission, and a great amount of tension begins to build in the team, especially between Naruto and Sai. Naruto dislikes Sai since their interactions are similar to those between himself and Sasuke in the beginning of the series. Making matters worse, Sai nonchalantly mentions Sasuke's treachery, greatly irritating both of his teammates to the point that Sakura punches him in the face.
When they arrive at the World Bridge, Yamato goes to meet the spy inside a replica of Sasori's puppet armor. The spy is revealed to be Kabuto Yakushi, but the jutsu binding him to Sasori had been dispelled long ago. Orochimaru shows up and destroys the puppet replica, revealing Yamato inside. Yamato uses a wood clone to escape harm, revealing his true origins to Orochimaru. Orochimaru reveals that he had performed experiments on Yamato and 59 other children, giving them the First Hokage's DNA in an attempt to replicate his Mokuton kekkei genkai. Yamato was the only survivor. Orochimaru then calls out the rest of Yamato's team. Once they emerge, Orochimaru taunts Naruto by speculating whom is now stronger: Naruto or Sasuke. Naruto, provoked by the mere mention of Sasuke's name, instantly transforms into his three-tailed fox state. Orochimaru continues to taunt Naruto, causing him to grow a fourth tail.
It is revealed that, during the time skip, Jiraiya saw Naruto trigger a four-tailed state, which nearly resulted in Jiraiya's death. The demon fox's chakra becomes so intense that it burns Naruto's skin, causing him to bleed from every pore. This blood and chakra envelopes him in a fiery shield far stronger than anything previously displayed. The chakra also heals Naruto while burning him, decreasing Naruto's overall life span.
In his four-tailed state, Naruto is able to hold his own against Orochimaru. After Orochimaru retreats due to a lack of energy, Naruto is still unable to distinguish friend from foe and cuts Sakura's arm when she moves close to try to calm him down. Yamato finally gets close enough to use Hokage-Style Sixty-year-old Technique: Enclosed Hermitage Return to Society, a demon-controlling technique, to revert Naruto back to human form.
With Naruto's transformation reversed, Sakura and Yamato rush to his side. Sakura uses her medical skills to heal Naruto's severe injuries, but is still suffering from the injury Naruto had given her earlier. Though Sakura is upset at how little she can do, Yamato states that it is the strength of her feelings for Naruto that matters most. Before he can expand on his point, Naruto awakens.
Meanwhile, Sai meets with Orochimaru, saying that he is a messenger from Danzo. After gaining favor with Orochimaru and Kabuto, the three leave to a secret hideout. Yamato watches the encounter with a wood clone, and the team decides to pursue Sai. During their pursuit, they find Sai's body hung from a tree. The body is in fact a fake made by Kabuto using a similarly-aged corpse, which Yamato is able to discern thanks to his ANBU training: he finds stitch marks alongside the corpse's face.
When Naruto realizes that the bridge and a large part of the forest has been leveled, he wonders what happened. Sakura lies about what happened, saying Orochimaru did it, but Yamato calls Naruto aside and explains the truth. He also states that relying on the demon fox's strength, despite enabling Naruto to save Sasuke faster, will ultimately harm Naruto in the long run. Yamato tells Naruto that he is going to seal the demon fox, but that Naruto will still help all of his friends, because his own chakra is his true strength.
While Yamato and Naruto are discussing this, Sakura goes through Sai's belongings and finds his art book. She calls attention to this book and shows it to the rest of the team. The sketchbook contains drawings of Sai and what the team assumes is his older brother growing up and going through a gauntlet of enemies. On each subsequent page, Sai takes the weapons and armor of his previous opponent. The center pages, where the two brothers are supposed to meet, are unfinished. The left page is completely empty, and the right page has an image of Sai in full ANBU attire without a face.
At Orochimaru's hideout, Yamato reveals that he was able to track Sai through a special plant seed hidden in his breakfast, which reacts to chakra usage. He gives Sakura and Naruto similar seeds to make sure they can find each other if separated. Once inside, Yamato leads the team to a room where Sai is being kept hostage. Sai tries to lie about him mission, but an accidental smile allows Naruto to call his bluff. Sai then states that his mission is a failure and confirms that Danzo is indeed planning another strike at Konoha. However, he is also acting as a spy for Danzo, since Danzo knows as soon as Konoha is destroyed, Orochimaru will turn on him. Sai disapproves of rescuing Sasuke, saying that Sasuke doesn't see Naruto as a brother and that Orochimaru is too powerful for them. Naruto replies that he and Sasuke have a special bond, and that he will fight Orochimaru with everything he has to get Sasuke back, even if it means sacrificing his own life.
At this point, Kabuto shows up and frees Sai, but Sai shocks everyone by helping Yamato immobilize Kabuto. Kabuto is forthcoming, providing information on the interior of the lair, but not Sasuke's actual location. Team Kakashi splits up to search for Sasuke, with Naruto teaming with Sai and Sakura with Yamato. Naruto, still tired from his injuries, collapses, and Sai suggests taking a rest; Naruto is notably less hostile towards Sai at this point. Sai begins to talk about his brother, who resembles Naruto. The short chat soon ends as Orochimaru appears. Naruto tells Sai to find Sasuke while he holds off Orochimaru. As Yamato and Sakura arrive to back Naruto up, Orochimaru again mentions that he does not wish to kill them since both parties oppose Akatsuki. Orochimaru then leaves in order to locate Sai. Yamato finds a "Bingo Book" (a list of people who are marked for assassination) in Sai's bag, with Sasuke's name in it. Naruto and Sakura realize that another part of Sai's mission is to kill Sasuke, who had been listed as an enemy of Konoha by Danzo. Naruto is speechless, realizing that Sai has duped him with his "fake smiling" act.
Sai manages to find Sasuke in his room, and wakes him up. Sasuke, angry at Sai's mention of "bonds", blows up the room. Sakura spots Sai in the hallway and runs to him. Though she means to attack Sai, Sasuke quietly says Sakura's name, stopping her in her tracks. Naruto, in his weakened state, finally catches up, coming face to face with Sasuke again.
[edit] Meeting Sasuke again
As Sasuke observes the new Team Kakashi, Sai explains to Naruto and Sakura that his desire to protect the bond between Naruto and Sasuke has overridden the mission that Danzo gave him. Sasuke replies that he has broken his bond of friendship with Naruto and that the only bond he has left is a bond of hatred that he shares with Itachi. When Naruto confronts Sasuke about sparing his life before, Sasuke remarks that he had spared him at a whim, and will now kill Naruto for the same reason. Sasuke shows off his new abilities by moving right next to Naruto with blinding speed. He tells Naruto that he'd been better off training than chasing him and that someone who dreams of becoming Hokage shouldn't risk everything by chasing after one man. Naruto asks how a person who can't even save a friend deserves to be Hokage.
As both Sai and Yamato move to try and protect Naruto, Sasuke uses One Thousand Birds Current, which projects electricity around his body and his new chokuto, to repel them. He manages to stun Naruto and Sai, then wound Yamato. As Sasuke fights Yamato, Naruto undergoes a partial demon fox transformation. In Naruto's mind, he comes face to face with the demon fox, who implores Naruto to remove the seal holding him back. When Naruto refuses, the demon scoffs, saying Naruto has always come to him in times of need and that Naruto is worthless without his power. Suddenly, Sasuke appears in front of the demon fox, stunning both of them. Sasuke marvels at the source of Naruto's power. As Sasuke begins to push the demon fox back into its cage, the demon fox then remembers his past history with the Uchiha clan. He states that Sasuke may possess chakra even more evil than his own, "just like that Madara Uchiha". The fox also warns Sasuke not to kill Naruto, stating that he would regret it.
Outside of Naruto's mind, Yamato pushes the chokuto out of his wound and tries to trap Sasuke in a wooden prison. Sasuke blows a hole through the roof of the prison to escape. Naruto yells out to Sasuke that Orochimaru just wants to use Sasuke as the next container for his soul, but Sasuke doesn't care as long as it helps to kill Itachi. Yamato then tells Naruto and Sakura that he didn't want to hurt Sasuke in front of them, but he has no choice and will finish the confrontation. Sasuke plans to do the same, but Orochimaru returns just in time to stop Sasuke from performing a jutsu. Kabuto tells Sasuke to leave the Konoha shinobi alive so that they might oppose Akatsuki. Sasuke tells Kabuto that's a poor excuse to not kill Naruto, but leaves with them anyway. Naruto is upset by the meeting and by how weak he is in comparison to Sasuke, but Sakura and Sai both assure him that they will help bring Sasuke back.
The team reports back to Konoha, during which Naruto tells Tsunade that they have not given up and will continue. Pleased by this response, Tsunade assigns the team a new mission. Sai reports to Danzo, who is displeased that Sai has failed his mission. Sai asks to remain with Team Kakashi and Danzo warns Sai that developing emotions will only lead to hatred and conflicts. Sai has flashbacks of recent events, ponders his own feelings, and realizes that he now has friends. Sai adds a title ("Friends") to a picture in front of his window, the first picture he has ever given a title. Having reclaimed his emotions, he heads off with Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato to begin their new mission.
[edit] Hidan and Kakuzu arc
This section covers chapters 311 to chapter 342 in the manga.
[edit] Akatsuki activity
Two newly introduced Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, are chasing after the host of the two-tailed cat, Yugito. They corner her, but she allowed herself to be cornered so she could destroy them. Hidan speaks of Jashin (his religion that believes in total annihilation), which annoys Kakuzu. Despite fully transforming into her two-tailed state, Hidan and Kakuzu defeat Yugito, and she is seen hanging from a wall pinned by kunai. Hidan performs a bizarre ritual that involves impaling himself through the chest with a pike. Kakuzu reminds him that they have one host target left, and that they need to head for the Land of Fire. As the two bicker over whether it is Kakuzu's love of money or Hidan's long rituals that are slowing the team down, Zetsu appears and takes charge of Yugito, ordering them to find their next target.
Hidan and Kakuzu stop by a nearby temple before proceeding. The head monk Chiriku, a former bodyguard for the Land of Fire's nobility, is listed in the bingo book with a 30 million ryō bounty. Hidan and Kakuzu kill Chiriku and the other monks, but one monk manages to escape and informs Tsunade of the incident. Alarmed by the news of the slaughter, Tsunade orders Shizune to mobilize a new task force, the Niju Shotai. Asuma's group, consisting of himself, Shikamaru, Kotetsu Hagane, and Izumo Kamizuki, leaves for the temple. As they leave, Kurenai watches from her apartment with a concerned gaze.
Team Asuma arrives at the ruins of the temple, where the survivors have been unable to find Chiriku's body. The team realizes that the Akatsuki pair has taken Chiriku's body to a bounty station to claim his bounty and prepare to head for the closest one, sending messenger birds to teams near the other four. Before Team Asuma can leave, an elder monk prays for them and asks Asuma to be careful. Asuma thanks the monk for his concern but says that he won't be killed that easily; his bounty is 5 million ryō higher than Chiriku's.
Hidan and Kakuzu finally reach the bounty station, where the bounty collector confirms that the body is Chiriku's. Pleased with their "fine catch", the collector hands Kakuzu the reward. Hidan loudly exits the bathroom, leaving his partner to count the money.
Elsewhere, Deidara, having regained his limbs and now paired with Tobi, confronts the three-tailed beast. Tobi is reluctant to attack and asks Deidara to cover him, but Deidara says that Tobi is officially Akatsuki, and will have to fend for his own. Though he seemingly only served as a decoy, Tobi stands atop of the defeated demon after the battle and gloats about how he brought it down in one hit. Deidara reminds Tobi that his exploding clay was the deciding factor and berates him for being a loudmouth. Tobi retorts that it's actually Deidara who is the loudmouth, earning him a thrashing from the latter. Deidara drags the demon to the shore while Tobi lies silently on the demon's back. Deidara reminds Tobi that the demon couldn't use its full powers since it had no host. When Tobi doesn't respond, Deidara realizes that he is sleeping and "wakes" him up with exploding clay.
[edit] Training Naruto
Naruto Uzumaki using his shadow clones to train.After the encounter with Sasuke, Naruto realizes that Sasuke may be getting too strong for him. Kakashi reveals a special training method which takes advantage of Naruto's high chakra. It involves the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Unlike an ordinary clone, a shadow clone passes back any experience it gains to the original. Because he has an inordinate amount of chakra, Naruto can create a comparatively large number of shadow clones, thus allowing him to train hundreds of times faster than a normal shinobi. Yamato also assists in Naruto's training by helping to restrain the demon fox.
Kakashi explains that there are five basic types of elemental chakra — fire, wind, water, lightning and earth. He pulls out special cards which react differently to each person's chakra: it will burn for fire, split for wind, crumple for lightning, turn to dust for earth, and turn wet for water. Naruto flows his chakra into the card and it splits, indicating he has an affinity to wind, a type that is very well suited for combat because of its ability to "blow past anything and slice things to bits."
Meanwhile, Asuma and Shikamaru are playing Shogi. Shikamaru notices that Asuma is playing differently from normal and asks if something is wrong. In describing things, Asuma describes Shikamaru in terms of shogi as a Knight, being weak in terms of power but having a unique style of movement that resembles Shikamaru and his flexibility in his thinking. Shikamaru then asks what piece Asuma resembles. Asuma then answers that he is just a pawn. Shikamaru guesses that the Hokage is the king, but Asuma tells him that it's not, and that someday Shikamaru will understand.
The first phase is for Naruto and his clones to cut a leaf with his chakra. Naruto asks if there's anyone in Konoha that can help him, and Kakashi tells him to find Asuma. Asuma gives Naruto a few pointers using his trench knives as an example. They're made of a metal that absorbs chakra, the effect of which is determined by the user's chakra nature. Asuma explains that wind chakra must be sharpened like a blade by splitting the chakra in two and bringing the parts together to form a tight edge. He demonstrates this by having Naruto toss a knife at a tree with him: Naruto's sticks in the tree while Asuma's goes straight through it and pierces a rock. Had he used his full chakra, the knife would have also gone through the rock. Using this advice, Naruto is able to completely split a leaf, but passes out after dispersing his clones. Kakashi warns him that this training is going to wear him down quickly, and that he needs to rest for the next phase of his training: slicing a waterfall in half.
The next step of Naruto's training progresses slowly. When Naruto complains, Kakashi notes that even Sasuke took several days to learn to manipulate an element, while Naruto did it in a few hours. By nightfall, Naruto hasn't managed to cut the waterfall. Naruto reflects on his fonder memories of Sasuke and decides to train through the rest of the night. By the next day, he and all his clones are able to cut the waterfall. Yamato is surprised by Naruto's progress, but Kakashi is not, since he understands how Naruto feels about Sasuke. Kakashi declares they can finally move into the final stage of Naruto's unique jutsu creation. However, the constant training has exhausted Naruto once more. Kakashi immediately rushes to his side concerned that he may have pushed Naruto too far this time. However, when Naruto moans that he's hungry, Kakashi relaxes.
After enjoying a meal at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto is anxious to go on with his training. Kakashi and Yamato explain "nature manipulation" and "form manipulation" to Naruto again. Kakashi reminds Naruto that all the training till now has been nature manipulation and that the Spiraling Sphere is an example of extremely advanced form manipulation. By adding nature manipulation together with form manipulation, a ninja's power can grow by leaps and bounds. However, this is an extremely difficult task; even the Fourth Hokage was unable to complete the Spiraling Sphere by combining nature and form manipulation. Kakashi believes that Naruto is the one who will finally surpass the Fourth Hokage. As the two Jonin leave, Yamato commends Kakashi for his smooth talk. Kakashi corrects him, saying that he sincerely believes in Naruto.
[edit] Akatsuki vs. Niju Shotai
As Kakuzu leaves the bounty station, the collector advises him to get another partner, since he feels that Hidan won't bring any luck with money. Though Kakuzu agrees, he explains the necessity of being paired with Hidan. Thanks to his uncontrollable temper, Kakuzu has killed all of his former partners in his fits of rage. Hidan can't be killed, hence their partnership.
As Asuma's group moves toward the bounty station, Shikamaru asks him how he knew Chiriku. He notices that Asuma hasn't smoked recently, a sign that something is going on with him. Asuma explains that he and Chiriku both belonged to the 12 Guardian Ninja of Konoha, and that their relationship was akin to Shikamaru's relationship with Choji. Asuma stopped smoking because he needs no distractions if he is to fight Chiriku's killers.
Naruto is again training with his clones while Yamato uses his sealing jutsu to control the demon fox's chakra. Naruto and his clones try to infuse the Spiraling Sphere with wind chakra; however, the jutsu consistently explodes, frustrating them to such degrees that a clone will start drawing upon demon fox's chakra at random intervals. Yamato reverses the transformations, but tells Kakashi that he won't always be able to stop the demon fox's surges. Kakashi reminds him that they have no other choice, and that success or failure rests on Yamato's ability to control the demon fox.
At the bounty station, Hidan turns around to see Asuma's team attacking him. Shikamaru immobilizes Hidan with a Shadow Bind, leaving him open to Izumo and Kotetsu. The two stab him in the chest with their large kunai; however, Hidan is merely annoyed by the attack. Asuma's team quickly realizes that Hidan cannot be killed by normal means. Kakuzu appears and prepares to join the fight, breaking Shikamaru's concentration, but Hidan tells him to stay out of it, to which Kakuzu complies. Asuma proceeds to fight Hidan alone. Hidan manages to cut Asuma's cheek and licks the blood off his scythe just as the latter uses a fire jutsu. Hidan draws a seal beneath him just as the jutsu hits. It burns Hidan's robe, but he emerges unscathed. Instead, Asuma's right arm is badly burned; the damage meant for Hidan has somehow been turned back upon himself. Hidan has also transformed; his skin is black with white accents, giving him the appearance of a Grim Reaper. Hidan tells Asuma that any pain Hidan feels is transferred to Asuma. Since he's immortal, Hidan needs only to inflict a fatal wound on himself to kill Asuma.
Luckily, Shikamaru catches Hidan in another Shadow Bind before he can do so. Kakuzu offers to help, but Hidan waves him off, claiming he can beat all four by himself. Going over every motion Hidan made to start the ritual, Shikamaru figures out Hidan's ability: Hidan first needs to consume his opponent's blood and then stand within his ceremonial circle. Shikamaru explains that in order to save Asuma, all he needs to do is move Hidan out of his circle.
After Shikamaru tests his theory, he traps Hidan with Shadow Sewing. Hidan asks Kakuzu to help him, but Kakuzu nonchalantly replies that he told Hidan to be careful. Asuma slices Hidan's head off with his chakra blades, and it falls next to Kakuzu. Rather than killing Hidan as expected, the head starts talking, calling Kakuzu a b*****d for allowing him to be decapitated. Hidan asks Kakuzu to bring him his body, but Kakuzu grabs his head instead, saying that it is lighter.
Shikamaru falls from exhaustion as Hidan complains about the pain of being decapitated. Asuma, Kotetsu, and Izumo stand in amazement and plot their next move. Kakuzu suddenly attacks Asuma, then grabs Hidan's body. He reattaches Hidan's head using threads from his arms. Kotetsu and Izumo attempt to strike Kakuzu, whose forearms extend, grabbing both of them by the throat. Meanwhile, Hidan jumps back into the circle, linking himself back to Asuma, and deals himself a fatal blow to kill Asuma.
Asuma collapses as his team looks on helplessly. Hidan reverts to his normal form as Kakuzu prepares to finish off the others. A flock of crows suddenly appear, distracting the Akatsuki pair. Ino and Choji appear to assist in moving Shikamaru and Asuma to a safer location as Aoba Yamashiro and Raido back them up. Shikamaru senses Asuma's pulse, and tells Ino and Choji to take him back to Konoha. Kakuzu isn't willing to let a bounty like Asuma go, and Hidan is similarly unwilling to let his enemies live, but the Akatsuki leader contacts them telepathically and forces the pair to retreat, wanting to seal the three-tailed beast Tobi and Deidara recently captured.
Despite the timely rescue, Asuma's wounds are fatal. Asuma dies, but not before smoking his last cigarette and sharing some final words with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji. Shikamaru lights another of his cigarettes, which he begins to smoke himself. He tearfully mumbles that he hates cigarettes as they make his eyes water — a reference to when Team 10 first met their sensei.
As Akatsuki commences with sealing the three-tailed beast, the leader explains their goals to Hidan and Tobi. Akatsuki's overall goal is world domination. To achieve that goal, the leader has set up a three-step process to work their way to it. First, they plan to obtain a large amount of money to support their organization. Second, they plan to set up a mercenary group loyal to no village. Because there haven't been any wars in some time, they can convince the smaller countries to hire them over the larger asking prices of the five main villages. By using the tailed beasts, they can start wars and then immediately quell them, convincing every country to depend on them and monopolizing the shinobi market. Finally, after they're the only major force of shinobi in existence, they can easily conquer the world.
Team 10 returns to Konoha and informs Tsunade of what had happened. Tsunade sends out the message for the funeral to everyone, but Shikamaru has a message for Kurenai from Asuma and will tell her what has happened himself. Naruto has nearly created the jutsu when they are informed of Asuma's death and rush back to the village. Shikamaru tells Kurenai the message and she collapses from grief. At the funeral, Konohamaru cries for his uncle while Naruto comforts him. Shikamaru doesn't attend the funeral and spends his time seemingly formulating a strategy and learning how to use Asuma's trench knives. He also picks up Asuma's smoking habit.
[edit] Akatsuki vs. Team 10
The new three-man Team 10 (Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji) finishes their preparations and leaves to continue Asuma's mission. Tsunade stops them at the last second, reprimanding Shikamaru for his rash actions. She refuses to let Team 10 go; they lack a captain, among other things. From the shadows, Kakashi volunteers, and the four-man team heads off. Later in the woods, Shikamaru explains his strategy to Team 10. Once Shikamaru is finished explaining, he gives Kakashi a small object, and tells him to use it if he has a chance. Kakashi is impressed by Shikamaru's quick adaptation of his strategy to include a new person.
The bounty collector has been detained at Konoha, where Ibiki Morino interrogates him on information about Kakuzu. He refuses to budge, forcing Ibiki to threaten him with torture. Meanwhile, Sakura has a meeting with Tsunade and Shizune about Team 7 being backup for Team 10. Sakura says that Naruto has learned his new jutsu, but also has to perfect it. Shizune disagrees about sending them, saying that it'll be useless without Naruto's jutsu completed. Tsunade gives Yamato 24 hours to have Naruto's jutsu completed, or else she'll send someone else.
After Akatsuki finishes sealing the three-tailed beast and the two-tailed beast, Kakuzu and Hidan are allowed to leave. Hidan wants to go back to the bounty house, but Kakuzu is smart enough to avoid the obvious ambush that would be waiting for them. Ino uses a nearby bird to spy on them and discover their route, and Team 10 moves to ambush them.
Shikamaru sneaks his shadow near Hidan and Kakuzu, who both manage to jump out of the way. At that moment, two kunai with explosive tags are thrown from above. The pair successfully defends, but Shikamaru throws two more objects with exploding tags, which the duo barely manage to dodge. Hidan realizes the tags didn't explode, and Kakuzu comments that Shikamaru caught them: Hidan and Kakuzu are now unable to move. Shikamaru explains that what he threw was a chakra knife, which gives different effects based on the chakra they absorb, which in Shikamaru's case affects shadows. Kakuzu realizes Shikamaru's plans, and thinks that he is "quite sharp".
Using his shadow, Shikamaru takes control of Hidan and uses him to attack Kakuzu. However, Kakuzu has thought a step ahead and uses his detachable limbs to grab the knife pinning his shadow from underground, allowing him to dodge the attack. Choji's follow-up attack also proves to be useless, since Kakuzu can harden his body like iron. Despite this ability, Kakashi is still able to punch a hole through Kakuzu's chest using his Lightning Blade.
Meanwhile, though not concurrent with the events of the fight, Naruto's new jutsu is shown to be powerful enough to produce a massive crater beneath him. Impressed with how far Naruto's come, Yamato decides to explain elemental strengths and weaknesses to Naruto. After much dumbing down, he illustrates that each element is both stronger and weaker than another and form a loop in the order of fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water. This loop is the reason Kakashi's Lightning Blade pierced Kakuzu's earth-hardened body. This also means that Naruto's jutsu is useless against Sasuke's fire-based attacks, but perfect against his lightning-based ones. Naruto reasons that his new jutsu will be able to break through Sasuke's lightning without putting out his fire, a metaphor for bringing him back alive successfully.
Back with Hidan and Kakuzu, Kakashi withdraws his hand and Kakuzu collapses. Kakashi attempts to do the same to Hidan, but is kicked away by Kakuzu, who doesn't seem injured from the supposedly fatal blow. Kakuzu takes off his cloak, revealing four animal masks on his back, one of which is now broken. The masks separate and form four separate entities, but the broken one dissolves after forming. At the same time, Shikamaru's shadow wears off and Hidan is freed.
With the creatures separated, the two Akatsuki go on the attack. Hidan attacks Kakashi and as Kakashi blocks, the bird mask appears behind Hidan and fires a massive wind shockwave at Kakashi, not bothering to avoid Hidan. Ino notes that since Hidan is immortal, it doesn't matter if the creature fires through him. The ox mask then attacks Shikamaru and Choji with a massive lightning blast, which Kakashi blocks by using two lightning blades. The Akatsuki duo compliment Kakashi on being able to avoid the attacks using his Sharingan, since no one had managed to do so before. Kakashi and Team 10 all manage to dodge a follow-up attack by Kakuzu's fire mask.
While analyzing Kakuzu, Shikamaru figures that Kakuzu has five hearts in total; one in each of the animals linked to him and also one in his own body. Kakuzu confirms this, noting that his extra hearts are from previous shinobi that he killed. He is able to use their elements in battle because he attached their hearts to his body. Shikamaru determines that they need to kill Kakuzu four more times, but first they need to separate the duo, as Hidan and Kakuzu are quite difficult to defeat as a team.
Shikamaru pursues the evasive Hidan with his Shadow Imitation Jutsu, which Hidan avoids by keeping a close eye on his shadow. However, Hidan is so focused on his shadow that he carelessly allows Shikamaru to punch him in the face, thus connecting their shadows and completing the technique. After completing the technique, Shikamaru drags Hidan off to an isolated location and prevents any escape by littering the area with exploding tags on strings. Hidan attacks once Shikamaru releases him and activates his ritual using Shikamaru's blood.
Meanwhile, Kakuzu mocks Team 10's strategy, claiming that they have underestimated Hidan. He also gives a hint as to how long he has lived, mentioning that the first Konoha ninja he fought was the First Hokage. Every time one of his five hearts is destroyed or naturally wears out, Kakuzu replaces it with the heart of another ninja. Following a brief attack, Kakashi is caught by Kakuzu's threads. As Kakuzu prepares to tear out Kakashi's heart, he instead clutches his own. This is due to Hidan stabbing himself as part of his curse ritual: the blood he consumed was actually Kakuzu's, collected by Kakashi during his first attack.
[edit] Team 7's Arrival
Hidan does not immediately realize what has happened, but Shikamaru attacks him to illustrate the point. However, Shikamaru is weakened from the extended use of his shadow jutsu and cannot hold down Hidan for long — left almost devoid of chakra, he watches Hidan advance to strike the single blow needed for his ritual.
Kakuzu manages to recover by using his remaining masks as a distraction: two of them attack while the third returns to Kakuzu, sacrificing its heart to replace the one Kakuzu has lost. Using his threads, Kakuzu ensnares all three members of Team 10 and prepares to obliterate them with his fire and wind masks. As he attacks, Naruto's and Yamato's Drowning Maelstrom Technique surrounds Team 10 and blocks the blast. Team 7 appears and apologizes for being late.
Kakashi, Ino, and Choji are relieved at Team 7's timely arrival. Yamato orders Sai and Sakura to back Shikamaru up, and Kakashi summons Pakkun to lead them. Naruto resolves to defeat Kakuzu on his own and receives words of encouragement from Sakura. Yamato explains that Naruto is only halfway done with his new jutsu, but assures Kakashi that Naruto is a completely new ninja.
Hidan's attempt to kill Shikamaru fails, as Shikamaru catches Hidan with his shadow once more. Having prepared the area in advance, Shikamaru uses his shadows to pull the explosive tags onto Hidan, and opens a deep pit beneath him. Hidan insists that he'll survive the attempt, even if only his head remains intact, and kill Shikamaru in turn. Shikamaru calmly explains that they are on his clan's land, and that his clan will keep Hidan buried for eternity. Lighting a cigarette, Shikamaru sees a vision of Asuma, who congratulates him before disappearing. Saying his last goodbye, Shikamaru tosses the lit cigarette at Hidan, igniting the explosive tags and causing a massive explosion. Hidan survives the explosion, albeit dismembered, and insists that he will "bite" Shikamaru to death, all the while proclaiming that his god Jashin will punish Shikamaru. Shikamaru ignores the threats and tosses a kunai with exploding tags into the hole, saying that he is the one taking vengeance. The explosion causes the hole to cave in, burying Hidan in rubble.
Naruto's Wind Release: Spiraling ShurikenBack at the site of Naruto and Kakuzu's battle, Yamato has Kakashi go over the current situation and Kakuzu's abilities. Naruto overhears the conversation and launches a preliminary attack with his clones. Afterwards, Naruto and his clones begin forming a jutsu, the force of which is tangible to everyone in the vicinity. Kakashi flashes back to their training, when he tests Naruto's technique by using his own Spiraling Sphere against it. Naruto comes out victorious, and Kakashi sees the Fourth Hokage in Naruto as he falls. In the present, Naruto's technique reshapes into a giant shuriken with a Spiraling Sphere at its core, which Naruto dubs the Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken. Kakuzu is visibly concerned by the attack, remarking that being hit by it would mean his end.
Using his shadow clones as a distraction, Naruto tries to attack Kakuzu with his jutsu, only to have it dissipate just before connecting, who counter attacks and attempts to take Naruto's heart. Kakashi and Yamato interfere and save Naruto. Choji wonders why Naruto did not simply throw the shuriken, to which Yamato explains that, despite its shape, the Spiraling Shuriken is a close-range technique and requires a direct hit. While Choji and Ino insist on working as a team, Naruto asks to fight by himself, reminding Kakashi of his earlier statement that Naruto could become greater than the Fourth Hokage. Naruto insists that he will not be able to do so if he cannot defeat Kakuzu on his own.
Preparing his jutsu, Naruto once again creates three clones. As a countermeasure, Kakuzu opts for a long-range strategy and releases a large amount of thread from every seam on his body. Having seen Naruto's previous attack, Kakuzu ignores the clones and aims for the original, only to discover that it is a clone. The real Naruto disguised himself as one of the three clones and is now behind Kakuzu with a fully-formed Spiraling Shuriken. Naruto hits Kakuzu in the back, trapping him in a dome of whirling energy, which obliterates his two remaining masks. Kakuzu falls and lands motionless in the crater made by the jutsu. Kakashi notes that even his Sharingan was unable to track the number of hits Kakuzu sustained during the attack.
Elsewhere, Sai and Sakura arrive to aid Shikamaru, but are shocked to find that he has already defeated Hidan. Back with the rest of the team, Choji and Ino marvel at Naruto's development. Yamato comments on how Naruto was able to use his Spiraling Shuriken three times, while his limit in training was two. Kakashi thinks about Naruto's potential to surpass the Fourth, and mentions that Naruto's abilities have already surpassed his own. Kakashi walks into the crater where Kakuzu lies, still breathing. He finishes Kakuzu off with a Lighting Blade.
Back in Konoha, Team 7 and Team 10 are congratulated by Tsunade. Shikamaru visits Asuma's grave and finds Kurenai waiting there. He explains to her the life lessons he learned from Asuma, and it is revealed that Kurenai is pregnant with Asuma's child, which Shikamaru promises to protect the way Asuma protected him. Later, Shikamaru plays shogi with his father, Shikaku, who is evidently much better at it than Asuma was. Shikamaru reveals that the "king" Asuma spoke of before his death refers to the next generation, which the current generation exists to protect. His father then congratulates him on understanding but proceeds to beat Shikamaru, saying that he is not strong enough yet.
[edit] Hunt For Itachi arc
This section covers chapters 343 to current.
[edit] Sasuke vs. Orochimaru
Elsewhere, Sasuke and Orochimaru are standing in a field among piles of ninja defeated by Sasuke. Orochimaru notes that Sasuke did not kill any of them, claiming that he is not heartless enough to kill Itachi. Sasuke responds that they are not the ones he wants to kill, and that he would be heartless against Itachi. Orochimaru thinks to himself that Sasuke's abilities, which have greatly surpassed his own at that age, will soon be his.
Back in Konoha, Naruto and Sakura are eating ramen at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. Naruto complains about not being able to use his right hand due to an injury from the battle against Kakuzu. Sakura's memory flashes back to the hospital, where she attempts to heal Naruto's hand and warns him against using the Spiraling Shuriken too often. Despite his injuries, Naruto tells Sakura that he feels great because they will soon be able to pursue Sasuke again. Recollecting this moment, Sakura offers to feed Naruto. The tender moment is ruined when Sai jumps in and offers to feed Naruto instead. Kakashi makes a surprise appearance and thanks Naruto for ending the last battle before he had to use the Mangekyo Sharingan. Kakashi comments that if they had not shown up in time, he would be in the hospital again. Kakashi praises Naruto on becoming his equal, if not stronger, but reminds him of the serious harm that accompanies all powerful jutsu.
At Orochimaru's lair, Orochimaru is confined to his bed. Kabuto tells him that his body cannot handle the medicine that is sustaining it. As Kabuto exits to get more medicine, a blade made of lightning chakra shoots towards Orochimaru through the door. Orochimaru quickly blocks it with his arms and thinks to himself that he does not recognize the shape manipulation, though the chakra itself seems familiar. Sasuke, with his curse seal already spreading, shatters the door and tells Orochimaru that he has nothing more to learn from him. Sasuke goes on to mock Orochimaru's ambitions, as well as his genius, stating that any ninja seems petty before an Uchiha. He also draws a parallel between Orochimaru's intentions to take over other's bodies and Itachi killing the Uchiha clan to measure his abilities, disgusted by the similarity.
Orochimaru's true form, made of many white snakes.Sasuke then pins Orochimaru's arms to the wall and attempts to deliver a finishing blow. This forces Orochimaru to ditch his body, thus revealing his true form: a composite serpent-like entity made up of countless white snakes. Sasuke manages to block simultaneous attacks from Orochimaru's composite snakes from all directions using his Level 2 cursed seal. Sasuke compares Orochimaru's ambitions to how a snake dreams of flying and tells him that he will get that chance in the talons of a hawk, as he sprouts his curse seal wings.
Having severed Orochimaru's head from his body, Sasuke believes he has won and reverts to normal form. However, he is suddenly paralyzed by the white snake's toxins which, as Orochimaru's head explains, can even taint the air. He then lunges at Sasuke, swallowing him whole. Inside Orochimaru is a different dimension; he states that this is where he carries out the body transfer jutsu. The scene flashbacks to a moment when Itachi uses his Sharingan on Orochimaru, entrapping him in a paralyzing genjutsu. Itachi then cuts off Orochimaru's left hand, which holds his Akatsuki ring. He finds Sasuke's eyes to be similar to those of Itachi's on that day and anticipates taking possession of those eyes. As Kabuto returns to the room he sees blood by the door. Glancing inside, he sees Sasuke standing next to Orochimaru's molted skin on the floor. As he walks out of the room, Kabuto asks him which one he is. Sasuke shows Kabuto what happened with his Sharingan and reveals that he came out victorious, merely stating that he's taken over.
In Konoha, Team 7 continues to eat at Ichiraku. Kakashi remembers Tsunade looking over Kakuzu's autopsy. She surmises that the Spiraling Shuriken severed the chakra channels in Kakuzu's body at a cellular level, making it resemble poison more than an outright attack. Tsunade tells them Naruto is forbidden from using it, as he suffered similar damage to his arm. If he uses it more he won't be able to use chakra, as reattaching so many severed channels is impossible, even for her. Kakashi begins to tell him the order but Naruto cuts him off, stating he knows his body and limits. Sai and Sakura smile and Naruto tells the waiter to give the bill to Kakashi.
[edit] Team "Snake"
Back in Orochimaru's base, Sasuke speaks to a person in a glass tank. As the mysterious person mentions Sasuke's win over Orochimaru, Sasuke tells him to forget about it and slices the glass with his sword, spilling its contents to the floor. From the pool of liquid rises a figure, whom Sasuke calls Suigetsu. As Suigetsu thanks him, Sasuke tells Suigetsu to come with him so he can be taken care of first. Suigetsu asks what Sasuke means by 'first', to which Sasuke replies by saying that he will also be taking two other people named Jugo and Karin from the north and south bases, respectively. Though thankful, Suigetsu does not think Sasuke should be giving orders just because he killed Orochimaru, as someone would have done it eventually. He then appears behind Sasuke, holding his finger at Sasuke's temple like a pistol to test his resolve. Sasuke doesn't even flinch at the threat, making it clear that Sasuke's victory was not a fluke. Convinced, Suigetsu sets off with Sasuke to recruit their allies.
Back at Ichiraku Ramen bar, Konohamaru arrives to show off his Shadow Clone Technique, transforming himself and his clone into two nude women. Amusingly, Naruto reacts the same way Jiraiya would. Sakura hits Konohamaru, then scolds both him and Naruto for their perversion. Naruto argues that it could work as a diversion and that it's a serious battle tactic, but Sakura claims that he and Konohamaru are the only ones that would fall for something like that. In response to that claim, Konohamaru transforms into Sasuke and Sai (also nude), to which Sakura gives off the exact same reaction Naruto did. After Naruto knocks Konohamaru upside the head, Sakura tries to play it off to no avail.
In the Land of Waves, Sasuke and Suigetsu make their way to Zabuza Momochi's grave to retrieve his sword. As they make their way there, Sasuke gazes upon the bridge that was being built during his time there, now named The Great Naruto Bridge. Suigetsu picks up the sword at Zabuza's grave and explains that he trained under the Seven Swordsmen (which his senpai, Zabuza, belonged to). With the sword, he claims, he might even be able to beat Sasuke. After collecting it, they head for their next target.
As Sasuke and Suigetsu make their way across water, Suigetsu asks why Sasuke is recruiting people in the first place. Sasuke answers that he has a certain plan that he's been formulating ever since he joined Orochimaru, one that can be carried out more efficiently with a full platoon. He also adds that he picked everyone out a long time ago. Suigetsu understands, somewhat, but still wants to know why Karin, a strong devotee to Orochimaru with a questionable disposition, was picked. Sasuke admits that there are others he could've picked, but chose Karin for her unique abilities.
After arriving at the base, Sasuke and Suigetsu meet Karin, who knew they were coming. Once they enter into a private room, Sasuke tells Karin to join him, which surprises her since she's in charge of the facility. Sasuke replies that since Orochimaru's gone, there's no need for the prisoners to stay and tells Suigetsu to free them. Karin relents, but still refuses to go since she's under no obligation to do so. Sasuke isn't fazed, and says that he'll just find someone else.
Over by the cells, Suigetsu confirms the rumors about Orochimaru's demise and sets the prisoners free, under the promise that they'll spread the word that "Sasuke Uchiha killed Orochimaru and set us free" and that "he's here to bring peace and safety to the whole world."
Back in the room, Karin locks the door and, in a very amorous manner, agrees to come if he really wants her to, removing her glasses as she does so. Sasuke asks why she changed her mind so quickly, and she replies that she was tired of guarding the place. Ignoring Sasuke's protest for space, she gets closer to him, saying that they just need each other and that they don't need Suigetsu, who slices the door open, advising them to leave since Karin clearly doesn't want to come. When Sasuke says she's changed her mind, Karin, who left Sasuke's side the moment the door was destroyed, puts her glasses back on and denies this in a rather embarrassed manner, saying that she's coincidentally going the same way they are, at least for the moment.
Elsewhere, Jugo sits in a cell in the North Hideout, talking to himself in the shadows about whether to kill a girl or a guy first. As he contemplates, a pattern similar to Sasuke's cursed seal spreads along his arms. Concurrently, Karin explains that Jugo is the means behind Orochimaru's development of the cursed seals. His body naturally produces an enzyme that produces the effect, but causes uncontrollable rage in those exposed to it. This is demonstrated by one of the prisoners in the hideout, who goes mad and slaughters most of the residents while transforming into a level 2 cursed seal form. One of the survivors finds his way to Sasuke, but dies from his injuries. The madman follows, and is quickly dispatched by Sasuke. Meanwhile, in Jugo's cell, he plans to kill the next person to open his cell door if it happens to be a girl.
Back in Konoha, Sakura arrives at Naruto's apartment to tell him to wash up and get ready. Naruto gets excited thinking that they´re going on a date, to which Sakura responds that Tsunade is waiting for them. They meet Tsunade, and Jiraiya is also there. Tsunade informs them of Orochimaru's death at Sasuke's hands, which Jiraiya's most trusted sources have confirmed. Both Naruto and Sakura seem very happy to hear the news, expecting that now that Orochimaru is dead, Sasuke will finally return to Konoha. To their disappointment, Jiraiya tells them that Sasuke is not returning.
At the North Hideout, prisoners infected with the cursed seal surround Sasuke's group. After Karin informs them that Jugo is not among the prisoners, Sasuke and Suigetsu dispose of them, but without killing them (something Sasuke suggests). Having found the keys to Jugo's cell, Karin uses her tracking ability to find him, but tricks Suigetsu into going the wrong way while she heads towards Jugo's cell with Sasuke. Not realizing he's alone, Suigetsu ponders about the cursed seal's monstrous side effects and tries to ask Sasuke if he experiences something similar, only to realize that he's been ditched. Upon hearing that they came to recruit Jugo, one of the injured prisoners teases Suigetsu about how Jugo is far stronger than they are. Angered, Suigetsu decides to kill that one prisoner, reasoning that Sasuke won't notice.
At Jugo's cell, Karin unlocks the door and Sasuke goes in first. Jugo, having decided at the last second to kill a guy, is delighted to see Sasuke. Jugo rushes in for the kill as Sasuke readies his weapon. Sasuke's attempts to reason with Jugo fail; in his current state, his rage prevents any reason. As the battle goes on, Jugo uses his natural ability to transform one of his arms, turning it into a giant piston (similar to The Big O's "Sudden Impact"). Sasuke counters by growing one of the hand-wings from his back. Suigetsu then appears to take over the fight, explaining that beating Jugo to a pulp is the only way to calm him. Jugo morphs his piston arm into a massive forearm blade to deal with Suigetsu. After they ignore Sasuke's requests to stop, Sasuke wraps the two in summoned snakes and exudes an enormous amount of murderous intent. Jugo's transformation recedes, and he suddenly rushes back to his cell, demanding they lock it. Karin explains that while the rage-driven Jugo may be violent and bloodthirsty, Jugo himself has no desire to harm anyone.
Despite Jugo's insistence that he remained imprisoned, Sasuke insists on taking him along. Jugo finally agrees after hearing that Kimimaro, who was consistently able to stop Jugo's rage-driven rampages, died to bring Sasuke to Orochimaru. With his team gathered and dubbed "Snake" by Sasuke, Sasuke reveals their goal: to kill his brother Itachi. Suigetsu, who wants to take Kisame's sword for himself, is willing to participate. Karin, being enamored with Sasuke, also agrees to help, though she is unwilling to admit that her admiration is the reason. Suigetsu teases her about it, saying that he knows about something Karin did to Sasuke long ago. Before he can reveal what, she punches him to silence him. Sasuke merely tells them to get along. Finally, Jugo merely wants to see how strong Sasuke is.
In Konoha, Naruto and Sakura come to the same conclusion as Sasuke, reasoning that his desire for revenge will drive him to kill Itachi. Therefore, they decide the simplest path to Sasuke is to find Itachi. As both teams resolve to find Itachi, both he and Kisame sit in on a cliff as it begins raining, with Itachi commenting about an incoming storm.
 Allenia La Fayette · Wed May 02, 2007 @ 03:07pm · 1 Comments |
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