Battle Formation: Ino-Shika-Cho!

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Battle Formation: Ino-Shika-Cho!
Premiere date:	14 May 2003
Episode Length:	24.5 minutes
Episode Code:	033
Episode Airdate:	14 May 2003 03 November 2006
Manga Arc:	Chūnin Exam

Battle Formation: Ino-Shika-Cho! (Japanese: 無敵のフォーメーション！いのシカチョウ！！, - Muteki no fōmēshon! InoShikaChō!!) is episode 33 of the anime series Naruto. The episode's storyline is from the Chūnin Exam manga arc.

[edit] Plot

Sasuke is still unconscious, but mentally floating around in a gold background. He hears a child crying and wonders who it is. Then the child comes closer and Sasuke realizes that it is himself as a child. Sasuke relives the night his family was murdered and the younger Sasuke accuses him of letting them die and not being strong enough to protect them. Meanwhile, the dark aura around Sasuke's body only grows stronger.

Team 10 starts to take on the Sound Team, though Choji's scared out of his mind. Dosu observes that more Leaf 'insects' have shown up. Choji screams at Shikamaru and Ino to get him out of there and Zaku concurs, calling Choji fat. This ends up being quite the touchy subject with Choji who explodes with fury. He declares a war between Leaf and Sound and Shikamaru and Ino are inwardly relieved he's fired up. Zaku's annoyed by them and Sakura's worried for Sasuke, but Ino tells her to watch out for Sasuke and Naruto.

Choji does his Multi-Size Jutsu and rolls at Zaku, who halts him with his sound waves. But Choji won't be blown away easily so Zaku applies more force. Choji jumps and he's airborne, ready to land on Zaku, who realizes his techniques are useless against a rolling ball. Dosu runs in, but Shikamaru does his Shadow Possession Jutsu and links with Dosu. Ino then does her Mind Transfer Justu and takes over Kin's body. As Kin, she pulls a kunai on herself and tells them to hand over their scroll and leave. But Dosu and Zaku laugh at this, seeing that whatever Kin feels Ino will too. So she's struck not only by a wave from Zaku but also by Choji who doesn't know she did the transfer. Now injured, Ino demands what they're doing but Dosu reveals their only mission is Sasuke, not the scrolls or the exam. Shikamaru's hold on Dosu is gone and they reveal they'd be willing to kill Kin if it meant Ino would be killed too.

But while Dosu and Zaku mock them, someone else makes their appearance...the rest of Team Guy looking for Lee. Neji yells at the Sound Team for beating up weak ninja and feeling proud about it while Tenten notices Lee's state. Neji does his Byakugan, yelling at them for beating up Lee. It seems to frighten Dosu, but Neji stops before he takes action. Dosu claims he's talking tough, but Neji replies that someone else is taking his place. Everyone sees what he's talking about; the dangerous aura around Sasuke.

Back in his mind, the child Sasuke claims that his family died because he wasn't strong enough to stop Itachi. He peels away at his face, revealing Orochimaru underneath. He tells Sasuke that he'll only be able to do anything if he has power, while repeating over and over again that Sasuke let Itachi kill everyone.

Sasuke wakes up, under the full influence of the curse mark and completely surrounded by the dark aura. Sakura's at first relieved to see he's awake, but then notices the appearance of his Sharingan eyes and the curse marks all over the left side of his body. Sasuke takes one look at her and demands to know who did that to her. Instead of answering, Sakura wants to know what happened to him, but Sasuke claims he's all right and knows what to do now; be an avenger and gain as much power by any means necessary. Dosu's amazed Sasuke even survived the curse mark while Sasuke asks Sakura again about her condition, emphasizing who hurt her. Zaku proclaims HE did it and Sasuke turns to him. Shikamaru and Choji run for the bushes while screaming for Ino to return to her body. She does and they observe from there.

The marks on Sasuke spread, covering his whole face and neck. Dosu's horrified, seeing Orochimaru's influence in Sasuke, but Zaku's oblivious to the danger. Ignoring Dosu's warning he engages Sasuke, doing his Ultimate Zankuuha. His move annihilates everything in his path and he confidently proclaims his victory, but Sasuke is standing right behind him. Sasuke swats him in the head, but the power behind the swat sends Zaku flying. Sasuke had managed to move both Sakura and Naruto out of the way of the blast.

But Sasuke's not done. He sends out his Phoenix Immortal Fire jutsu, but Zaku mistaken's it for a simple fire jutsu. He's hit dead-on by the shuriken and Sasuke moves in fast. He snatches both of Zaku's arms behind him and slams his foot into his back. Commenting that Zaku's proud of his arms, Sasuke pulls them out of their sockets. Zaku screams in agony and no one's AT ALL pleased with Sasuke's impending victory, least of all Sakura. Sasuke turns on Dosu, asking for some fun while advancing on the trembling ninja. Sakura starts crying at the thought that this isn't like Sasuke. She screams at him to stop, running up to hug him from behind. He glares at her, but she literally begs him to stop. Surprisingly, he becomes calm. Slowly, the marks recede and he collapses.

Dosu hands over his scroll and asks that they let them go. He picks up Zaku and Kin and swears the next time they meet they won't run and hide again. Sakura demands to know about the mark again but Dosu claims he doesn't know anything about it. To himself, he also wonder what Orochimaru is truly up to since he send them after Sasuke knowing that they will be beaten by the power of the cursed mark. The Sound team departs and Team 10 jumps in to help out. Neji and Tenten still watch from the trees with Neji musing about Sasuke's power. Naruto is STILL unconscious and talking in his sleep. Sasuke seems almost terrified of his power, wondering what happened to him.

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