Kimimaro seems to have the upper hand, but realizes that his time is growing short. Knowing he has to end it soon, he pulls out his spinal column and grabs hold of Gaara. Gaara protects himself and forms a giant Shukaku-like shield. Kimimaro uses the thickest bone in his body like a spear and attacks. [...]

Naruto has finally caught up with Sasuke, but Sasuke refuses to go back. No matter how much Naruto tries to persuade him, Sasuke refuses. Sasuke decides to leave, and Naruto realizes the only way to stop him is by force.

While Aoi, the shinobi that is working for Wasarabi, begins to beat up Idate, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura finally get to the island Idate is located on. As they are about to go look for Idate they are attacked by their old Rain ninja friends from the Chunin exam. Naruto gets rid of them using [...]

Fukusuki continues to celebrate with women and food when Aoi warns him that he might be celebrating prematurely. Meanwhile, at the bottom of Modoroki Shrine, Naruto begins his ascent up the long flight of stairs to the top of the shrine while carrying Idate.

With Sakura and Sasuke defeated, it is up to Naruto to defeat Aoi so Idate can continue the race. After a few failed attacks, Naruto is finally able to defeat Aoi, which means Idate can continue the race. The only problem is…Fukusuke is already near the finish line. Can Idate catch up and win the [...]

Why was Sasuke unable to defeat an enemy Naruto could? Why was Itachi after Naruto and not him? These are thoughts that race through Sasuke’s mind as he remembers Itachi’s words. In order to prove who is stronger, Sasuke has one request for Naruto: he wants to fight with him in a one-on-one battle.

Kakashi intervenes with the fight and stops it, but Sasuke isn’t too happy about it. He sees that Naruto’s attack was stronger than his, and he’s beginning to question his own growth. Also, a mysterious group of sound ninja have infiltrated Konoha, their target: Sasuke! Meanwhile, Sakura agrees to go on a date with Naruto, [...]

While Sakura tells Naruto about the Cursed Seal, Sasuke continues his fight with the four Sound ninja. All is going well until he is struck by an unseen combo. After taking a few hits, Sasuke finally gets a few of his own off. He hits one of the Sound ninja with his Lion combo but [...]

Genma and Raido fight the four Sound ninja that have Sasuke, but after an intense battle, they are defeated. On their way to rescue Sasuke, Shikamaru’s group makes a tough decision to proceed past the area where the fight occurred. Shikamaru informs the group they need to be on their guard. Because of the fight, [...]

Shikamaru’s group tries to sneak up on the four Sound ninja, but are caught off-guard and trapped by Jirobo’s dome made of stone. Not only do the walls of this dome regenerate after every hit, making it very difficult to escape from, but it is slowly eating away at the group’s chakra. Shikamaru tries to [...]

After escaping from the dome, Shikamaru’s group notices that Sasuke and the other Sound ninja, other than Jirobo, are no longer around. After many failed attempts by the group to get past Jirobo, Choji takes a mysterious pill and begins to fight Jirobo on his own, letting the others go after the Sound ninja and [...]

After eating the Curry pill it seems as if Choji will win the battle, but Jirobo changes all this by unleashing his Cursed Seal Level 2. Now the tide has turned and it looks like it is the end of the line for Choji. Now he has only one option, take the red pill, which [...]

Shikamaru tries to trick the three Sound ninja by transforming into Jirobo and taking the barrel Sasuke is in. He is found out because he did not act like Jirobo. Kidomaru passes the barrel onto the other two and takes on Shikamaru. Kiba, Naruto, and Neji try to attack him while he is focused on [...]

Neji and Kidomaru continue their battle with each ninja throwing their best attacks at each other. After finding some of his techniques don’t work on Neji, Kidomaru decides he needs to attack him from far away. When Kidomaru does, his attacks are thrown off over and over again. This drives him to find the weak [...]

With Neji deflecting all of his attacks, Kidomaru decides it is time for a change in his strategy against Neji. Kidomaru then creates a bow and arrow from the stuff inside his mouth and fires the arrow at Neji’s weak spot, but Neji throws it off course at the last possible second. After barely surviving [...]

Shikamaru devises a plan to ambush Tayuya and Sakon and steal the barrel. All goes well, but Orochimaru grows impatient and switches bodies early to prevent himself from dying. Kimimaro, a former member of what was once the Sound Five, promises to grant his master one final wish by bringing Sasuke to him.

Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba race back to Konoha with the barrel. Akamaru follows them while setting up traps, to slow down Sakon and Tayuya, but is caught. Kiba goes back to help him while Naruto and Shikamaru continue on. Tayuya catches up with the two and Shikamaru tells Naruto to keep going. But before Naruto [...]

While Shikamaru deals with Tayuya, and Naruto handles Kimimaro, Kiba and Akamaru are stuck fighting not one, but two enemies. Sakon has a brother named Ukon, who is fused with his body. Kiba and Akamaru decide to use their new technique, but Kiba is hesitant to use it without any back-up. With persuasion from Akamaru, [...]

Ukon separates from Kiba’s body before he can strike the finishing blow. Kiba manages to set a trap and run away, but it won’t take long with his injury for them to find him. Meanwhile, Naruto has his trouble with Kimimaro, who is able to use his own bones as a weapon. And to make [...]

Naruto is battling Kimimaro with everything he’s got, but he can’t land a hit on him. Meanwhile, Kiba is busy hiding from Sakon and Ukon in the river. Shikamaru is on his own and has difficulty stopping Tayuya, especially when her Dokis release ghosts that eat physical energy. With nine properly timed attacks, he manages [...]

Shikamaru and Tayuya struggle to take control of their match, while Kiba tries to heal himself and Akamaru while avoiding Sakon. Sasuke’s process is finally completed and he runs off, leaving Naruto alone with Kimimaro. While Naruto is distracted, Kimimaro tries to finish him off, but Naruto is saved by an unexpected source. Rock Lee [...]

After accidentally drinking a bottle of Sake, Rock Lee becomes drunk and seems to be more than Kimimaro can handle. Gai reveals exactly what happened last time he was drunk to Tsunade and says it took both Neji and him to hold Lee down, and that Lee is a master of the Drunken Fist. Lee [...]