Episode 226: Naruto and the crew emerge from a storm while on their way to the Land of Lightning, finding themselves under fire by a makeshift battleship cannons built on a pirate-owned island controlled by Captain Gataro who appears to have the sunk group's boat with his crew harvesting the remains. Losing his headband during a brief scuffle with Gataro, Naruto is rescued by Yamato who used his Wood Style to encase their ship in a submarine-like encasing to escape underwater and reach an underwater cavern underneath the island before the casing broke apart. While Yamato recuperates after he and Naruto found a hot spring, the others find a mass graveyard which Aoba deduced from a parchment to be the original island residents who spend the rest of their lives in the caves after the pirates took their home and slaughtered their friends. Naruto takes a ribbon from a grave to use as a temporary headband while promising to avenge the islanders. With a clever plan of using the underground hot spring, sending his clones to disable the cannons, Naruto and his group rocket their ship from island's dormant volcano back into the sea while wiping out the pirate fleet. Leaving Gataro and his men tied up while regaining his headband, Naruto plays his final respects to the islanders.
Episode 227: When Guy is abducted by a giant bird during a storm, the crew find themselves on the shore of an island home to numerous summoning animals. While Naruto and Yamato search for Guy, Aoba's pursuit of a young woman brings him to an abandoned house where he finds a journal detailing a research group developing an ultimate summoning animal to meet their client's demands. Naruto and Yamato find Guy as Aoba is then led to a research lab in a volcanic crater where he is shown the ultimate animal in its pupa state, learning that it is anti-ninja weapon able to assimilate its prey's abilities yet its overwhelming need to devour caused it to slaughter the researchers. By then, the giant bird that abducted Guy brings him, Naruto, and Yamato to the crater with numerous animals gathered before they enter the lab. But the ultimate summoning animal awakens, devouring two of the animals that followed the ninja while emerging its imago form before displaying its genjutsu and lightning style attacks. The group attempt to knock the ultimate summoning animal into the magma, but it grows wings and was about to fly off when attacked by the animals wanting to avenge their kin. The young woman Honoka, revealed to be a lingering spirit of a researcher who attempted to seal it before her death, subdues the ultimate summoning animal long enough for Naruto to bifurcate it with a Rasen-Shuriken as it falls into the magma. As the ship later leaves, Aoba hears Honoka thanking him.
Episode 228: Might Guy tells Naruto of the time he gave Lee "visualization" training following an incident he didn't clearly didn't remember involving him apologizing to a restaurant owner for damaging the establishment. Lee, follows Might Guy's orders using a list of circled items on a menu he took from the restaurant with the last entry being alcohol. Guy tries to avoid having Lee learn the Drunken Fist fighting style by having them training on a boat that ends up in rough waters. Like Guy, Lee also suffers from seasickness, but he uses to balance himself on the boat, a feat which resembles Drunken Fist. During an emotional soul-baring moment from Lee, Guy remembers that Lee devastated the restaurant in an accidental drunken state when protecting Guy from a drunk trying to dine and ditch. After he and Lee make amends, Guy decides to help Lee develop the Sea-Sick Fist. While Guy is confident that Lee will one day overcome his seasickness to master the technique, Naruto pokes holes into the practical use of the Sea-Sick Fist.
Episode 229: Naruto's ship stops at a port to resupply in preparation of heading into the Sea of Silence, a stretch of ocean with no wind or fish which takes two weeks to traverse. While buying supplies, Naruto purchases a mushroom called a Moldshrom a merchant which supposedly helps sailors avoid starvation. But once on the Sea of Silence, the Moldshrom multiplies into colorful mushrooms, destroying all food and water with Yamato in a coma due to the fungi eating away at his Wood Style chakra. Naruto and Guy eventually try the Moldshroms after enduring a painfully long time without food, only to end being poisoned and acting violently. Out of options for food, having intended to eat the toad, Naruto has Gamatatsu bring back Shima's meal of insects for the crew eats, enabling them to survive as merchant and his two associates attempted to rob them. Once out of the Sea of Silence, sending the criminals back along it with a Moldshrom, Naruto ends up being forced to choose the now inert Moldshroms or Shima's cooking.
Episode 230: The ship is caught in a storm, and Naruto uses four shadow clones to protect the ship for a prolonged duration of time to the clones' dismay. After the storm, being knocked out when a pulley, Naruto wakes up to find his clones acting differently as they demand better treatment. But Naruto's refusal forces the clones to mutiny, taking him hostage while forcing Yamato and others to land on a nearby island so their demands can be met. After a series of botched rescue schemes, Guy attempts to have Naruto understand the four clones by seeing them as embodiments of his own personality. But Naruto still refuses and resorts to summoning more shadow clones to defeat them, only to restrained by his reinforcements as the four clones decide to replace him after killing him. But this would all be revealed to be a dream from one of the Naruto clones that transmitted to the real Naruto when he sacrificed himself to save the original from being hit by the pulley. This makes Naruto realizes the worth of his clones and he releases the remaining three.
Episode 231: Shikamaru is worried that he will not be good enough to lead his comrades in war. His father sends him to see Naruto, meeting him at a peaceful yet creepy isle with a natural harbour. When Naruto and Shikamaru and fellows try to leave, they are forced through an obstacle field of reefs and a big whirlpool. Although Yamato, Might Guy, and Naruto can counter with their respective jutsu, they soon run out of chakra. However, as Shikamaru tries to take over with his shadow technique, Naruto tells him to let him do the work so that Shikamaru can think of an escape plan. Using one of Tenten's scrolls to hide and store the ship, the group then catches the villagers red-handed as they come to collect the loot from the "shipwreck".
Episode 232: As they make preparations for the upcoming war, the Hyuga clan discuss their roles in the battlefield. Neji is assigned by Hinata's father, Hiashi, to lead the entire clan's participation in the war. Tenten tells Hinata that Tsunade is looking for her. Tenten holds a girls only get-together and reminisces about their Chuunin exam, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto becoming a village hero. On the other side of the Barbe-Q, Kiba and the rest of the guys also hold a boys get-together and reminisce about their previous mission of retrieving Sasuke. Tsunade goes out drinking after being infuriated the Land of Fire's Feudal Lord, ending up at the Barbe-Q and joining the girls.
Episode 233: Naruto finds an imposter that has been building his reputation by attempting to steal from other people while his friend is also attempting to gain a reputation by "beating" the imposter up so he builds his reputation even further and become a ninja. Later, mercenaries capture the fake Naruto. The real Naruto then comes and saves the day.
Episode 234: Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi are training to prepare for the upcoming war. After heading to the hospital to find out if there's anything they can do to help prepare, Sakura drafts them into carrying and stocking boxes. Konohamaru, wanting something more important to do, demands a more "worthy" task from Sakura. Sakura berates them for taking the war and its preparations so lightly. Angry at being looked down on for being only a Genin, Konohamaru is overheard by Shikamaru, who asks Konohamaru who the "King" he's meant to be protecting is. When Konohamaru is unable to answer, Shikamaru writes the kanji for King on a stone shaped like a shōgi piece and gives it to him. Konohamaru then goes to see Tsunade, who outright says no. Frustrated, Konohamaru later challenges Temari while she is on her way home after delivering a scroll to Tsunade. The two have an intense spar, with Konohamaru unable to land a hit while Temari taunts him over the Sarutobi clan not having a good heir and that Naruto had chosen a poor student. Luckily, Shikamaru learned of the match from Udon and Moegi and stopped it before it got too serious. After hearing Moegi's story, Konohamaru realizes that the "King" he wants to protect are the civilians of the village who are unable to defend themselves. Shikamaru smiles at him and Temari compliments him for mastering such a high-level technique and Team Ebisu for being such promising young shinobi and then leaves. Shikamaru reports to Tsunade about Konohamaru's words of protecting the village and one day becoming Hokage. Tsunade smiles as she remembers when both her kid brother and Naruto said they wish to one day become Hokage.
Episode 235: A man named Kokuyō wants Shizuka as his wife to gain control of her village, a proposition which she repeatedly rejects. Tokiwa, Shizuka's attendant, sees Naruto and tells him he should marry Shizuka if he defeats her, as Jiraiya had previously promised to Shizuka's mother. Naruto declines the offer, but Tokiwa tracks him down and explains Shizuka's past and gets him to reconsider. He fools Aoba, Guy, and Yamato to buy some time. He defeats Shizuka right before Kokuyō attacks her, only to be defeated by Naruto's Rasengan. Naruto convinces Shizuka that she can change her destiny by talking to her about his unrequited love for Sakura Haruno.
Episode 236: While talking with a group of students, Shino talks about how he and his team got together and became closer as friends and teammates. The story switches to a flashback during the first part of Naruto, involving Team 8. They are on a mission assigned by Kurenai to defeat a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall who went rogue and became a bandit, only finding out later that he was a Jounin. Shino is defeated because of weak taijutsu and descends into depression. Kurenai sends the team to a hot spring to draw Shino from the depression; to do this, Hinata and Kiba train Shino in taijutsu. After they receive a message that the rogue is nearby, Kiba and Hinata are shocked when Shino reveals that he was going to abandon the team because he didn't think he was useful to them. But after his friends get in trouble with the rogue, Shino comes back and defeats him.
Episode 237: While helping Lee train, Tenten remembers when she was younger and how she really wanted to become like the legendary Tsunade. She finds out through hard training that she won't be capable of the strength Tsunade has. She also finds out that she won't be suitable to be a medical ninja for her poor chakra control. But at last, she discovers that she has the ability to summon ninja tools, thus creating her own fighting style.
Episode 238: Given the day off, Sai spends it strolling the village and drawing. He encounters three children that he at first finds difficult to interact with, but later realizes that two of them remind him of Naruto and Sakura. He has several flashbacks of their time together and the bonds they share. In the end, he uses the doors of a destroyed house and paints a mural of Team 7 along with Sasuke holding hands.
Episode 239: As Team Asuma considers the impending war, they encounter Kosuke Maruboshi, who reminds them of the time that they rescued him while they were still genin. With this, Kosuke tells them of the time their fathers saved him during the Invasion of Konoha with their Formation Ino–Shika–Chō. Seeing that they're left somewhat rattled by this story, Kosuke reminds them that great shinobi aren't made in a day. As the team contemplates everything, they decide to perfect their own formation, insisting that they'll be fine because they're not alone.
Episode 240: Kiba becomes upset that Naruto, the dead-last in their Academy days, has become such a hero. After being chided by his mother Tsume and partner Shino, he decides to train in order to become stronger. Kakashi Hatake happens upon Kiba and Akamaru training, where Kiba asks him to help him train, as he's the only jounin sensei available. Kakashi, however, simply summons his ninken to aid Kiba and Akamaru in their training. Initially giving up after being defeated by the hounds, Akamaru carries Kiba to a tree in the village, where he sees that Naruto had broken Kiba's record in speed since the time they were children racing for candy. With his determination renewed, he demands a rematch with the hounds and is successfully able to retrieve the scroll. With this, Kiba races to the tree and sets a new record, declaring that he'll never give up.
Episode 241: In the Leaf village, while meeting with Tsunade about the impending war, Kakashi receives an emergency messenger tortoise from Guy with an SOS message, so he heads out to find out what has happened. On board the ship, Guy recalls the time he and Kakashi first became rivals and their numerous battles since then. Back on the ship bound for Lightning, the three jōnin have a meeting, during which Yamato tells them about a rumour of a shinobi capable of not only copying someone's appearance, but also their chakra. Kakashi soon arrives at the ship and calls for Guy. Unaware that he had sent an SOS message, Guy comes to the conclusion that the one before him could be one of those imposters that Yamato spoke of. With this notion, Guy proceeds to attack Kakashi and later Aoba and Yamato when they side with Kakashi. After giving Guy irrefutable proof that he is who he said he is by telling him something from their youth, Kakashi returns to Konoha upon learning that the SOS tortoise was sent by accident.
Episode 242: During his final stop for supplies on an island in the Land of Water, Naruto runs into Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi of the Hidden Stone, who are on an assignment to deliver a letter from Onoki to Mei Terumi. After Akatsuchi is wounded in a run-in with a group of ninja who deserted the Hidden Mist in protest of the Allied Shinobi Forces, Naruto convinces the group's leader to let go of his grudge against the Hidden Stone for a past incident. He promises to carry the world into a time of peace. The episode ends with a boat appearing that has been sent from the Land of Lightning to pick up the group from Konoha.
Episode 243: Upon arrival, Naruto Uzumaki meets Killer Bee and is amazed at his mastery of his tailed beast. Naruto requests training from him, but Bee refuses since he is on "vacation". After hearing that Naruto and Bee had bumped fists, Motoi takes Naruto to the Waterfall of Truth, where Bee had started his training to control the Eight-Tails. In front of the waterfall, Naruto is greeted by another version of himself, who berates Naruto on how quickly the people from Konoha changed their opinions of him. The two versions of Naruto begin to fight, and are evenly matched.
Episode 244: Motoi confesses to Naruto and Yamato that he had attempted to kill Bee during their childhood because of his father's death during the sealing of the Eight Tails 30 years ago. As the young Bee became the Jinchuriki of Eight-Tails, Motoi realized that Bee received the same maltreatment from his fellow villagers just as he had. Naruto begins to understand what kind of life Bee had in the past. After Motoi's confession, Naruto leaves the Waterfall of Truth and heads to edge of the island, where he thinks about how to overcome his hatred and defeat his dark self. As the squid attacks again and Motoi is caught by its tentacles, Bee appears as the Eight Tails, defeating the squid and saving Motoi. Motoi asks Bee why he saved him despite his attempt to kill him. Bee answers in a rap that it is because they are friends.
Episode 245: Naruto overcomes his dark self by thanking him for being who he really was. He passes the first test and Bee becomes his instructor. They then head to a temple, which is a training ground for Jinchuriki to conquer and fully control their Tailed Beasts. Bee, Yamato, and Naruto enter a chamber where Naruto must fight the Nine Tails, and Bee advises him on how to confront the Nine Tails.
Episode 246: During the battle between Naruto and the Nine Tails, the Nine Tails' hatred overcomes Naruto. Voices from everywhere demoralize Naruto until a female voice puts his hatred transformation into a halt. Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, appears. Kushina tells her story about how she and Minato Namikaze met in the Academy and about her hatred towards her red hair. How she was dubbed as Tomato and then Red-hot Habañero. How the Hidden Cloud ninjas kidnapped her because of her special chakra and Minato come to her aid, being able to find her because of her red hair being used as trail. Minato praises her red hair and, in that moment, Kushina fell in love with Minato. She then entrusts Naruto that he will fulfill their dreams.
Episode 247: Naruto defeats the Nine Tails, managing to extract its chakra and imprison the Nine Tails in a new seal. Kushina reveals to Naruto that she was the previous Nine Tails Jinchuriki. She also reveals her origin from the Hidden Whirlpool Village, which was highly recognized for its powerful sealing techniques and being a close ally of the Hidden Leaf Village. In a flashback of Naruto's birth, Kushina is moved to a secret location along with the Third Hokage's wife, Biwako, a medi-nin named Taji, and a team of ANBU, with Minato present to keep the Nine Tails' seal from breaking. However, the ANBU are all killed by Tobi as he infiltrates the venue.
Episode 248: Kushina successfully delivers Naruto, but their celebration comes short when Tobi suddenly appears, killing both Taji and Biwako and holding the newborn hostage. Though Minato quickly saves Naruto, Tobi succeeds in freeing the Nine Tails and taking control of the Tailed Beast with his Sharingan. Tobi then tries to eliminate Kushina, but she is quickly saved by Minato and left with her son as the Fourth Hokage pursues the masked ninja, who summons the Nine Tails to attack Konoha. As Minato arrives in Konoha and warps away the Nine Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb, Tobi engages Minato in a battle of teleportation until Minato cleverly defeats his opponent with his Rasengan and applies the contract seal to remove control of the Nine Tails.
Episode 249: Though freed from Tobi's control, the vengeful Nine Tails continues to wreak havoc as Hiruzen attempts to force the tailed beast out of the village. Luckily, Minato returns to the city and employs Gamabunta's assistance to restrain the Nine Tails long enough for him to teleport it along with his family to the outskirts of the village. As Kushina is too weak to absorb the tailed beast back into her body as she binds the monster in her chakra chains, Minato uses the Reaper Death Seal to take the yin half of the Nine Tails into himself while the weakened Tailed Beast is sealed within Naruto. When the Nine Tails makes a last ditch attempt to break free, Minato and Kushina sacrifice themselves to take a death blow meant for their son. After imprinting chakra-based manifestations of themselves to aid Naruto in taming the Nine Tails, Minato and Kushina bid their son farewell.
Episode 250: The chakra of Kushina finally departs from Naruto's psyche and Naruto promises himself that he will train hard and surpass all Hokages in pursuit of his dream to become the next Hokage. Naruto wakes up and activates his Nine Tails chakra mode, which allows him to sense negative energy from Samehada. As it turned out, Kisame used a decoy to take his place during the fight again A and Killer Bee while he hid within Samehada until the time is right. While taking Killer Bee's chakra, Kisame escapes with the intent to inform Tobi of the Jinchurikis' location. However, Kisame ends up facing Guy before being hit by the man's Hidora attack.
Rating: 8.5/10(Average)
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