Plot of Naruto: Shippuden
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The plot of the second part of the manga and anime series Naruto, titled Naruto: Shippūden (疾風伝? lit. Hurricane Chronicles) in the anime and simply Part II in the manga, is set two and a half years later after the present timeline in Part I, and revolves mainly around Naruto Uzumaki's and Sakura Haruno's new adventures and their search for Sasuke Uchiha after he left Konoha to gain Orochimaru's power. The plot also shows a more active Akatsuki in their quest for obtaining all the tailed beasts.
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[edit] Prelude
After his failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto learns that circumstances have granted him slightly less than three years to prepare for a confrontation with Orochimaru, who has to wait that much time before he can transfer into Sasuke's body. Naruto also must prepare for his eventual confrontation with Akatsuki, who are after the demon sealed within him. To prepare, 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, all three members of the original Team 7 are 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 been training and growing as he has. Where Naruto was once the shortest out of his friends, he's now taller than most of them. He also finds out, much to his dismay, that he (and technically Sasuke) are the only ones who haven't progressed in rank over the timeskip. Most of his comrades have since become Chunin, and a few have even become Jonin. Gaara even became the Fifth Kazekage after the death of his father. After the reintroduction, Jiraiya leaves Naruto with Kakashi Hatake. Team 7 is reformed as a three-man cell with Naruto and Sakura and they commemorate this by having another bell test. Unlike the first bell test, the point of this one is actually to get the bells. Using their new skills and Kakashi's obsession with the Icha Icha novels, Naruto and Sakura are able to take the bells from Kakashi.
[edit] Rescue Gaara arc
Naruto is given little time to reminisce, however. In Sunagakure, the Akatsuki team of Deidara and Sasori attempt to kidnap Gaara. Though Gaara fights well, Deidara uses Gaara's desire to defend the village against him, allowing the former to knock the latter out with a clay bomb. Kankuro attempts to stop them, but his puppets are easily fought off and destroyed by Sasori - revealed to be the maker of Kankuro's puppets. Sasori also poisons Kankuro in the process, leaving him to die. They take Gaara back to their lair, where their leader summons a massive statue to seal Gaara's demon in. The sealing ritual will take three days.
Upon hearing of Gaara's kidnapping, Team 7 leaves for Sunagakure with Temari, who had been in Konoha to help with the most recent Chunin Exam, as she is now a Jonin, and a liason from Suna. 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 information, 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 her brother has gone through, and she's grateful to Naruto for changing her brother and attempting to save him.
[edit] At Sunagakure
After arriving at Sunagakure, Team 7 learns of the attack on Kankuro. Before they can help, they are attacked by Chiyo, Sunagakure's resident poison specialist, who mistakes Kakashi for his father, Sakumo Hatake. After the mistaken identity is cleared up, Sakura is able to cure Kankuro, which the medics on-hand were unable to do, thus demonstrating her skill with medical jutsu. Sakura is also able to develop several portable antidotes rather quickly. Using a piece of Sasori's clothing found on one of Kankuro's destroyed puppets, Team 7 is able to track him, thus leading them to Gaara. Temari offers to assist them, but Chiyo goes in her place since she is Sasori's grandmother, and Temari is left to guard Sunagakure's borders. Back in Konoha, Tsunade decides to send Team Guy as backup for Team 7.
As they approach Akatsuki's hideout, Team Kakashi is confronted by Itachi Uchiha while Team Guy fights Kisame Hoshigaki. Itachi catches Naruto in a genjutsu by merely pointing a finger. The genjutsu manifests as a vision of Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Gaara emerging from Naruto's body and taunting him, playing on his insecurities. Naruto tries to dispel the genjutsu by stopping his chakra flow (something he learned from Jiraiya) but fails. As Naruto breaks down in tears during this emotional assault, Sakura and Chiyo break him out of the genjutsu. Kakashi creates an opening for Naruto to use his Spiraling Sphere, or Great Ball Spiraling Sphere, to take out both Itachi and Kakashi's clone. However, Chiyo recognizes Itachi's body to actually be of Yura, a member of Suna's advisory council. He is revealed to be a double agent under Akatsuki's employ. A similar person is found by Team Guy after they defeat Kisame. Apparently, these two were used as body substitutes for the Akatsuki leader's Shapeshifting Technique.
The group surmises that this was just a delaying tactic to buy Akatsuki enough time to draw the Shukaku out of Gaara. Chiyo tells the group that if Shukaku is fully extracted from Gaara, he will die. Sakura cries, realizing that the same is true for Naruto. However, Naruto misunderstands and tells her not to worry because he'll save Gaara.
At the grotto where Gaara is being held, the group figures out that a barrier jutsu has sealed off the entrance. Team Guy decides to remove the four seals protecting the cave, while Team Kakashi deals with Akatsuki. However, removing the seals triggers another delaying trap, causing Team Guy to confront clones of themselves. Inside the cave, Naruto and Kakashi find Deidara and Sasori guarding Gaara's lifeless body. While Chiyo and Sakura face Sasori, Deidara flies off on a clay bird with Gaara's body, with Naruto and Kakashi in pursuit.
[edit] Fighting Sasori
Though Sasori "wears" his puppets and controls them from inside, thus eliminating the puppeteer's weakness of being a separate and exposed target, this proves to be futile against Sakura and Chiyo. Chiyo, controlling Sakura like a puppet, is able to get Sakura close enough to demolish the puppet with one punch using her inhuman strength.
With his puppet armor 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, giving him a collection of 298. He plans to do the same to Chiyo and Sakura after winning. With its unique Iron Sand ability mixed with Sasori's poison, this puppet is exceptionally dangerous. Chiyo summons two more puppets to fight against it. These puppets are 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 allow them to continue fighting. Having been trained by Tsunade to pick up the enemy's patterns in order to avoid their attacks, Sakura is 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, which can take down an entire castle in the right hands. To mock the puppets, Sasori uses his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets to summon 100 of his human puppets which he states allowed him to once take down an entire country.
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. What he doesn't realize, however, is that he is also in a trap. Having used four of her puppets to make a seal on the ground, Sasori is immobilized since he needs to use chakra to animate his puppet body. Chiyo then uses Sasori's mother and father puppets to stab him through this location in a manner similar to the hug that he desired as a child. Interestingly, Chiyo seems to believe that in the end, 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, "to give life to a lifeless puppet," to save Sakura's life. The jutsu supposedly takes the user's life, but does not kill Chiyo (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, with 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 during the battle, using it to remove Deidara's remaining arm, and Naruto manages to destroy the clay bird using his Spiraling Sphere. Naruto's shadow clones catch the head and find a dead Gaara inside. Enraged, Naruto sends a demon-fox-powered clone to attack Deidara, who attempts to get away since he no longer has any arms to perform jutsu with. The clone then performs another Shadow Clone Technique, forming four more shadow clones to further pummel Deidara, slamming him into the ground, beating him, and finishing him off with another Spiraling Sphere. However, this Deidara turns out to be a clay clone. Still enraged, Naruto starts to appear feral as two tails of chakra begin to form, causing his demon-fox-powered clones to experience a burning sensation in thier 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.
As the rest of Team Kakashi and Guy catch up with Naruto and Kakashi, Neji spots Deidara attempting to escape. Deidara, narrowly avoiding Tenten's projectiles, moves to the remains of his bird and swallows some of the clay, creating a Suicide Bombing Clone. Neji realizes the nature of the clone and quickly directs the group to leave, fearing that not everyone will get away in time. But as the dust settles, Kakashi collapses from exhaustion, explaining that he used his Mangekyo Sharingan to send the clone to another dimension. With Naruto carrying Gaara's body, the two teams head back to Suna.
[edit] Epilogue
Stopping in a grassy field, 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 chakra. Naruto gladly lends his own chakra, and Chiyo is able to revive Gaara at the cost of her own life, as most of Suna looks on.
Back at the battleground, Deidara emerges from the ground, revealing his clone to be a diversion for him to escape. 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. After a short banter about his condition, Deidara attempts to strangle Tobi with his feet.
After paying their respects to Chiyo's grave and bidding Gaara farewell, Naruto returns to Konoha after this mission, along with his comrades. Unfortunately, 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
When they arrive at Konoha, Kakashi is confined to the hospital and is unable to lead Naruto and Sakura until he recovers from his injuries. Naruto searches his village to find a possible replacement. During this time, he meets Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Choji, and Ino again. He is also introduced to Sai, who is 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] Sasuke and Sai arc
[edit] Encounter with Orochimaru
Team Kakashi 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 Naruto 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, Hiruko, which Sasori had casually worn. The spy is revealed to be Kabuto Yakushi, but the jutsu binding him to Sasori had been dispelled long ago. He is apparently still loyal to Orochimaru. Orochimaru then 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 is so provoked by the mere mention of Sasuke's name that he instantly transforms into a three-tailed demon-fox. Orochimaru continues to taunt Naruto by saying Sasuke belongs to him, causing Naruto to grow a fourth tail.
It is revealed that, during the time skip, Jiraiya apparently saw Naruto trigger a four-tailed state, which nearly resulted in Jiraiya's death. With three tails, Naruto was still able to retain his own identity, but after gaining a fourth tail, Naruto no longer distinguishes friend from foe, and the demon fox takes over. 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. In addition to the constant damage, the demon fox's chakra also regenerates Naruto's damaged tissue. This repeated cycle of damage and repair severely weakens Naruto's cellular structure, shortening his overall lifespan in a manner similar to Tsunade's Creation Rebirth Jutsu.
In his four-tailed state, Naruto is able to hold his own against Orochimaru, even withstanding the latter's over-extended Kusanagi sword. After Orochimaru retreats due to a lack of energy, Naruto is still unable distinguish friend from foe and cuts Sakura's arm when she moves close to try to calm him down. Kabuto, seeing Sakura as another opposing force to Akatsuki, willingly heals her arm. 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. She asks Yamato if he can teach her the technique used to control Naruto, but Yamato explains that the technique is derived from the First Hokage's genes and thus unique to him. 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, 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.
When Naruto realizes that the bridge and a large part of the forest has been leveled, he wonders what happened. Apparently, he does not remember anything while in the four-tailed state. Sakura lies to Naruto about what happened as well as her injury, 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 his demon-fox chakra, but that Naruto will still help all of his friends, because his own chakra is his true strength. Naruto quickly agrees.
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 lost. Yamato breaks open an entrance for the team. Once inside, Yamato leads the team to a room where Sai is being kept hostage. Creating a wooden skeleton key from his finger, Yamato unlocks the room and they enter. Sai tries to lie, 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 had formed a special bond between Sasuke and himself, and that he will fight Orochimaru with everything he has to get Sasuke back, even if it means sacrificing his 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 split up to search for Sasuke, with Naruto teaming with Sai and Sakura with Yamato. Naruto, still tired from being in demon fox form, 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 tabbed for assassination) in Sai's bag, with Sasuke's name in it. Thus Naruto and Sakura realize that another part of Sai's original mission was 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", fights him briefly. Sasuke wins, and the fight causes the room's walls and ceiling to explode. 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, breathing heavily, 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 have 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 remarked that he had spared him at a whim, and now he would kill him at a whim. Sasuke shows off his new powers by moving right next to Naruto with blinding speed. He tells Naruto that someone who dreams of becoming Hokage shouldn't risk everything by chasing after one man.
As both Sai and Yamato move to try and protect Naruto, Sasuke uses a new technique: Chidori Nagashi, or One Thousand Birds Current, which projects electricity around his body and his new Kusanagi sword. 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 use his power. 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 Uchiha Madara". The fox also warns Sasuke not to kill Naruto, stating that he would regret it.
Outside of Naruto's mind, Yamato pushes the Kusanagi 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 is just using Sasuke for his body, to which Sasuke replies that as long as it helps to kill Itachi he doesn't care. 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 and begins to form hand seals. Orochimaru returns just in time to stop Sasuke from performing his 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 Orochimaru and Kabuto anyway. Naruto is upset by the meeting, and Sakura consoles him. 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. Later 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") in front of his window, the first title he has ever given a picture. Having reclaimed his emotions, he heads off with Naruto, Sakura, and Yamato to begin their new mission.
[edit] Current arc
[edit] Akatsuki activity
Two newly introduced Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, are chasing after the Two-Tails container. They corner Yugito, the host of the Two-Tails, who states that 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. Hidan then proceeds to ask Yugito to hold still so he can knock her out. Enraged by his comment, Yugito transforms into her full demon form, a large flaming cat, and attacks, much to Kakuzu's annoyance that Hidan provoked her and made things more difficult.
Hidan and Kakuzu defeat Yugito, and she is seen hanging from a wall, pinned there by a kunai through her hands. Hidan performs a bizarre ritual that involve 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 Fire Country. 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 the Two-Tails, ordering them to find their next target.
Hidan and Kakuzu take a detour towards a Fire Country Temple. The head monk Chiriku, former bodyguard for the Fire Country's nobility, is listed in the bingo book with a 3 million ryō bounty.
Hidan and Kakuzu kill Chiriku and the other monks, but one monk manages to escape and informs Tsunade of the incident. While Hidan completes another ceremony, Kakuzu picks up the monk's corpse to collect the bounty and says that they need to proceed slowly since the Fire Country is so big. Alarmed, Tsunade orders Shizune to mobilize the new task force, the Niju Shotai. She briefs the Niju Shotai to capture the Akatsuki pair, or failing that, kill them. Asuma's group, consisting of himself, Shikamaru, Kotetsu Hagane, and Izumo Kamizuki, leaves for the Fire Temple. As they leave, Kurenai watches from her apartment with a concerned gaze.
Team Asuma arrives at the Fire Temple ruins, where the survivors have been unable to find Chiriku's body. The team realize that the Akatsuki have taken Chiriku's body to a bounty station to claim his bounty. They prepare to head for the closest one, sending messenger birds to teams near the other four. Before Team Asuma could leave, an elder monk prays for them. After he finished his prayers, the monk notices that Asuma wears the same sash as Chiriku's. He asks Asuma to be careful since all the 12 guardian ninja have large bounties. 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 - a public toilet. They meet the bounty collector, who leads the pair to a secret room. He confirms that the body is Chiriku's. Pleased with their "fine catch", the collector hands Kakuzu the reward. Hidan loudly exits the bathroom, as he couldn't stand the stench - leaving his partner to count the money.
Elsewhere, Deidara, now paired with Tobi, confront the Three-Tails. Tobi is reluctant to attack and asks Deidara to cover for him, but Deidara says that Tobi is officially Akatsuki, and will have to fend for his own. The Three-Tails attacks and Tobi flees, drawing the demon's attention. Deidara follows them and creates a clay fish that swims down near the demon's head before exploding.
After the battle, Tobi stands atop of the defeated Three-Tails and gloats about how he brought down the demon. An unamused Deidara reminds Tobi that his exploding clay was the deciding factor. Deidara tells Tobi that an Akatsuki should be more reserved and not such a loudmouth. Tobi retorts that it's actually Deidara who is the loudmouth; earning him a thrashing from the latter. Deidara drags the Three-Tails to the shore, while reminding Tobi that the demon couldn't use its full powers since it had no host. Tobi lies silently on the demon's back and when he doesn't respond Deidara says he doesn't need to act 'that' restrained. However, when a snore escapes Tobi's mask, an angered Deidara "wakes" him up with exploding clay.
[edit] Training Naruto
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 Multiple Shadow Clone Technique. Unlike an ordinary clone, (which is just an illusion), a shadow clone is an actual clone, and any experience it gains is passed back to the original. Thanks to the demon fox, Naruto has a very large amount of chakra, and can train hundreds of times faster using shadow clones. Yamato also assists in Naruto's training by helping restrain the demon fox.
Kakashi explains that there are five basic types of chakra — fire, wind, water, lightning and earth. He pulls out special cards treated to reveal one's elemental type, which reveal Naruto's chakra element to be wind. Kakashi explains the wind type is very well suited for combat (in essence it is the strongest in battle) because of its ability to "blow past anything and slice things to bits".
The first part of the training is for Naruto and his clones to cut a leaf with his chakra. Kakashi notes that Naruto manages this faster than he expected. Naruto asks if there's anyone in Konoha who also has wind-element chakra, and Kakashi tells him to find Asuma Sarutobi.
Meanwhile, Asuma and Shikamaru are playing Shogi. Asuma makes a move where he plays his silver general. In the face of an advanced player, it won't really even work as a sacrifice to protect his King. 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/hints that he is just a sacrificial pawn. Asuma then asks Shikamaru if he knows who the king represents. Shikamaru guesses the Hokage, but Asuma tells him that it's not, and that someday Shikamaru will understand.
Asuma has just lost another game to Shikamaru when Naruto shows up. Asuma makes a deal with Naruto; he will give Naruto pointers if he pays for Team 10's next barbeque dinner. He then pulls out his trench knives and says they're a special metal that absorbs the user's chakra. and has Naruto flow his chakra into it. Asuma explains that to using wind chakra requires the user to split their chakra in two and then bring the parts together to form a tight edge. The tighter and more compact the edge, the 'sharper' the chakra becomes. Asuma demonstrates the strength of wind chakra by having both of them throw a trench knife at a tree. Naruto's knife sticks in the tree, but Asuma's cuts through the tree and pierces a rock behind it. Had he used his full chakra, the knife would have cut through the rock as well. Naruto thanks Asuma and disperses, revealing that he was a clone. Asuma comments that Naruto should have remembered Choji was on his team before making their deal.
Using this advice, Naruto is able to completely split a leaf. He is eager to move to the next phase but passes out after dispersing his clones. When Naruto regains consciousness Kakashi warns him that this form of 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 to master large bursts of wind chakra.
The next step of Naruto's training is progressing slowly with only eleven clones attempting to cut the waterfall. When Naruto complains, Kakashi notes that even Sasuke, despite being a genius, took several days to learn to manipulate an element, while Naruto did it in a few hours. This drives Naruto to train harder. Yamato gives in and extends the size of the waterfall, completely exhausting himself in the process. With more room, Naruto makes more shadow clones and continues training. 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. All of the clones disperse and Naruto collapses in a fit of spasms and coughs. 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 and smiles.
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. 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. Kakashi advises Naruto to rest before continuing the training. As the two Jonin leave, Yamato commends Kakashi for his smooth talk. Kakashi corrects him, saying that he sincerely believes in Naruto. This makes Naruto more determined than ever.
[edit] Akatsuki vs. Niju Shotai
As Kakuzu leaves the bounty station, the collector wishes him luck for another bounty. Kakuzu replies that bringing another bounty might take some time; he is preoccupied with capturing the tailed beast host in the Fire Country. 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. On the other hand, Hidan just can't be killed. Hence they are paired. This alone allows Kakuzu to tolerate Hidan's attitude.
As Asuma's group move toward the bounty station, Shikamaru asks him how he knew Chiriku. He noticed that Asuma hasn't smoked recently; a sign that something's 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 needed no distractions if he were to fight Chiriku's killers.
Naruto is again training with his clones while Yamato uses his seal jutsu to control the demon fox's chakra. Naruto tries to infuse the Spiraling Sphere with wind chakra. However the jutsu explodes, sending all the clones around him flying in all directions. Frustrated, Naruto tries another attempt, but he accidentally brings forth the demon fox's chakra instead. He begins transforming into his four-tailed demon fox form. Yamato uses his dragon pillars to reverse the transformation. He tells Kakashi that he won't always be able to stop the demon fox's surges, and that they might have pushed Naruto too far. 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 complains of his reeking clothes as he sits outside. He turns around, only to see Asuma's team attacking him. Shikamaru immobilizes Hidan with a Shadow Bind; leaving him open to Izumo and Kotetsu, who stab him in the chest with their large kunai. However, Hidan is completely unfazed and with a perturbed look on his face asks who they are.
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. Kakuzu complies; warning him to keep his guard up. When Kotetsu suggests a tactical retreat against these apparently superior foes, Asuma replies that they would only be killed. Asuma then commands the rest of his team to watch Kakuzu while he faces off with Hidan and Shikamaru backing him up. Hidan manages to cut Asuma's cheek, and licks the blood off his scythe just as the latter uses a fire jutsu. This burns Hidan's robe, but he emerges unscathed. Surprisingly, Asuma's right arm is badly burned; the damage meant for Hidan being somehow turned back upon himself. Hidan has completed his transformation; his skin turning black with white accents, giving him the appearance of a Grim Reaper. Hidan tells Asuma that his fate is sealed, and that now the two of them can share some exquisite pain together. Hidan means this quite literally, as 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 works out a countermeasure and tells Asuma to get ready.
Shikamaru explains to Kotetsu and Izumo that he understands how Hidan's curse works. Hidan first needs to consume his opponent's blood and then stand within his ceremonial circle. Once these two steps are completed any damage inflicted on Hidan is reflected back to his opponent. Shikamaru explains that in order to save Asuma, all he needs to do is move Hidan out of his circle using his Shadow Imitation Jutsu.
Shikamaru then proceeds to move Hidan out of the circle using his Shadow Imitation Jutsu. In order to find out if Hidan's curse has been broken, Asuma throws a shuriken at Hidan. It cuts Hidan's ear, but causes no harm to Asuma. Shikamaru then 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. Just when Team Asuma believes they have killed Hidan, his head starts talking, calling Kakuzu a bastard 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 that Hidan is alive 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 performs the fatal blow to himself.
Asuma collapses as his team looks on helplessly. Back in Konoha, Kurenai senses that something terrible may have happened. Utterly spent, Hidan reverts to his normal form as Kakuzu prepares to finish off the others. Suddenly a flock of crows appear, distracting the Akatsuki pair. Ino and Choji 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. However Kakuzu isn't going to let them leave with his 'bounty' and Hidan wishes to perform another ceremony on the new arrivals. Before they can attack, the Akatsuki Leader contacts them telepathically, saying that preparations for sealing the Three-Tails are already taking place. They reluctantly retreat, as Kakuzu reminds Hidan that sealing the Three-Tails takes bigger priority.
Team 10's efforts fail as their sensei succumbs to his wounds (Asuma's vital points have all been punctured). 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.
Naruto continues his training, and one of his Kage Bunshin starts drawing on the Demon Fox's power. Yamato is able to reverse it. Naruto is depressed because he says that the Spiraling Sphere takes a huge amount of control to create and that adding Nature Manipulation is impossible, like trying to look left and right at the same time. Kakashi refutes his argument by using a shadow clone to look in two directions at once. Inspired, Naruto continues his training with a plan in mind.
As Akatsuki commences with sealing the Three-Tails, the leader explains their goals to the newcomers (Hidan & 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 has also picked up Asuma's habit of smoking.
[edit] Akatsuki vs. Team 10
The new three man team (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. From the shadows, Kakashi volunteers, and the four-man team head off. Later in the woods, Shikamaru explains his strategy to Team 10.
Meanwhile, Akatsuki has finished sealing the three-tails. They prepare to extract the two-tails.
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.
Sakura has a meeting with Tsunade and Shizune. Sakura says that Naruto has learned the jutsu, but just has to perfect it. She also says that they should be a backup team for Team 10. Shizune disagrees, saying that it'll be useless without Naruto's jutsu. Tsunade gives Yamato 24 hours to have Naruto's jutsu completed, or else she'll send another backup team.
Once Shikamaru is finished explaining, he gives Kakashi a small object, and tells him to use it if he has a chance. Kakashi thinks to himself what a great strategy Shikamaru has come up with, especially after him just entering the team. Akatsuki finishes sealing the Nibi, and Kakuzu and Hidan are free to go. Later in a barren forest, Kakuzu and Hidan decide to ignore the bounty house--to check in Asuma--and head straight for Konoha--to attack Naruto. 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. Hidan blocks with his rope while Kakuzu hardens his skin and guards with his hand. Hidan's rope is cut through, while Kakuzu is unharmed. Kakuzu tells Hidan to pay attention to the shadows, while Hidan retorts that he won't fall for the same trick again. Kakuzu alerts him to Shikamaru above them as he throws two objects with exploding tags, and Hidan and Kakuzu barely manage to dodge again. Hidan realizes the tags didn't explode, and Kakuzu comments that 'he got us': Hidan and Kakuzu are now unable to move. Shikamaru explains that what he threw was a chakra knife, which absorbs the user's chakra properties, then based on the jutsu it gives off an effect. He tells Hidan and Kakuzu he was not attacking them but their shadows as he thinks about Asuma describing him as a knight. 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 used his detachable limbs to grab the trench knife pinning his shadow from underground, allowing him to dodge the attack. Kakuzu takes the opportunity to berate both his partner and Shikamaru for not thinking things through. He's still outnumbered, however, and Team 10 uses that to their advantage. Unfortunately, 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, 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. The order is fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water, which each being weaker than the previous and stronger than the next. Water loops back into fire. This circle of strength is the reason why Kakashi's Lightning Blade pierced Kakuzu's earth-based 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 the Akatsuki, 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 Kakashi broke. The masks separate and form four separate entites, 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 then prays to his god and attacks Kakashi. 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's immortal, it doesn't matter if the creature fires through him. The ox mask then attacks Shikamaru and Choji with a massive lightning blast, but it's blocked at the last second by Kakashi using two lightning blades (one in each hand), now stripped of his combat vest and headband. The Akatsuki duo compliment Kakashi on being able to decipher and avoid the attacks using his Sharingan, since no one had managed to do so before. Kakuzu then sends the next animal mask, a lion, to see if Kakashi can dodge it as well. It prepares to attack with a fire technique, one called "Intense Pain".
Hatake Kakashi and Team 10 all manage to dodge the fire attack. They discover that Kakuzu has five hearts in total; one in each of the animals linked to him and also one in his own body. It is revealed that Kakuzu acquired his hearts from previous shinobi that he killed. He is able to use their elements in battle because he acupunctured them into his body. Kakuzu remarks that he plans on restocking up with the hearts of Kakashi and company after he kills them. Shikamaru determines that they need to kill Kakuzu four more times (since Kakashi previously destroyed a mask containing a heart), but first they need to separate the duo, since 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 an 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.
