Episode 26: Sasori keeps on attacking Sakura using fire moves, later Sakura pulls his wire and smashes him to pieces. Sasori reforms his body and unleashes a hundred elite puppets. Chiyo counterattacks using ten best puppets from her collection, the Chikamatsu. The great battle of puppets begins and they soon nullify each other. Sakura takes a dog-puppet and smashes it into Sasori, paralyzing his body, but he transfers his heart into another puppet's body and drives a poisonous blade through Sakura's side which was meant for Chiyo.
Episode 27: Chiyo injects the antidote into the injured Sakura and Sasori's parental puppets stabs him through his heart, apparently killing him. Chiyo informs Sasori that she has her own soul transfer technique (One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique) that can be used to revive a dead person in exchange for the technique user's own life. Before he dies, Sasori praises Sakura and tells her, as a reward, that he has a spy (Kabuto Yakushi) within Orochimaru's ranks, whom he was supposed to meet at the Tenchi Bridge of the Hidden Grass Village ten days later. Kakashi activates his Mangekyo Sharingan and along with Naruto sets the plan against Deidara. Sasori dies while saying that he wouldn't have hesitated killing his own grandmother as he has already killed hundreds and thousands of people.
Episode 28: Might Guy, Neji, Lee and Tenten continue to fight their clones. Neji uses his Byakugan and informs Team Guy that Sasori has been killed and Sakura and Chiyo are alive. Team Guy faces difficulty in defeating their opponents. Guy tells them that they have grown weaker in the battle because they are made of flesh and get exhausted after using chakra but the clones can fight as long as possible. Lee tells everybody that the key to defeat the clones is to be more powerful than they were when they released the scroll. Memorizing the training with Guy, the team innovates new moves which are unknown to their clones and successfully takes their clones out. Elsewhere, Naruto tells Kakashi that if their plans go wrong he will not give up and find another way to defeat Deidara. Sakura, realizing that Chiyo has been poisoned tells her to go back to the Hidden Sand for treatment but Chiyo refuses, instead replying that she has yet to complete the most important task.
Episode 29: Kakashi destroys Deidara's arm with Mangekyo Sharingan: Kamui. After Naruto beheads the clay bird with his Rasengan, he sees the dead and lifeless body of Gaara. This causes Naruto to angrily attack Deidara and accidentally uses his Nine-Tails chakra, causing him to transform into the beast with two tails.
Episode 30: Kakashi suppresses the Nine-Tails chakra inside Naruto with the tag that Jiraiya gave him. Team Guy attacks Deidara who apparently self-detonates by ingesting his own clay. Kakashi counters with Kamui and teleports himself and the others to safety. Naruto and friends seemingly mourns for Gaara. However, Chiyo uses her One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique on Gaara.
Episode 31: Just before Chiyo dies, she tells Naruto that the Hidden Leaf's and the Hidden Sand's villagers learns from the past and the wisdom of future. A revived Gaara awakens and sees all of the surrounding ninjas rejoicing his revival. Kankuro tells Naruto that Chiyo died saving Gaara and the Hidden Sand villagers mourn for Chiyo.
Episode 32: The real Deidara survives to recover his arm and meets with Zetsu and the masked Tobi who keeps Sasori's ring and joins the Akatsuki. Meanwhile, as the Hidden Sand's villagers pay their final respects to Chiyo, Team Kakashi and Team Guy return home to the Hidden Leaf, where an elderly ninja asks Sai to join up with Team Kakashi.
Episode 33: In Konoha, Kakashi Hatake rests in a hospital, while Sakura Haruno tells Tsunade that the deceased Akatsuki member Sasori told her that he was supposed to meet a spy within Orochimaru's ranks at the Tenchi Bridge in ten days' time. As four days had already passed, Naruto Uzumaki realizes the need of another teammate and so, starting searching Konoha for a willing recruit. He runs into Team 8, but they are unable to help, as they are assigned a mission of their own. Later, just as Choji agrees to help Naruto, the two and Shikamaru are attacked by Sai.
Episode 34: Unable to identify Sai, Naruto, Choji and Shikamaru attempt to capture him, but Sai withdraws. Concerned that Akatsuki might soon come to Konoha looking for the Nine-Tailed Fox, the village elders confront Tsunade. They propose to Tsunade to keep Naruto in Konoha and not send him to missions outside the village. Tsunade declines, and promises to protect Konoha with her own life if Naruto is captured. But she is still forced to compromise with the Foundation's leader Danzo Shimura in having Sai made a member to Team Kakashi. With Kakashi in the hospital, Tsunade temporarily replaces him with ANBU member. Code-named Yamato, the ANBU operative is given the task to keep an eye on Sai. Later, Naruto and Sakura meet their new team members, and Naruto is immediately angered upon Sai's appearance.
Episode 35: Yamato takes leadership of Team Kakashi, while Sai, devoid of any human feelings or emotions, insults both Naruto and Sakura. While preparing to set off, Sai receives an envelope from an ANBU Root shinobi containing secret orders from Danzo. Jiraiya then meets with Tsunade and Yamato in Kakashi's hospital room to brief Yamato on the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within Naruto, detailing the "demon fox's cloak", and revealing a huge scar on his chest he got from Naruto when the boy lost control after he ascended to a Four-Tailed form. Finally, the new Team Kakashi sets off on their new mission to capture and intercept the spy in Orochimaru's subordinates, and gather information about Sasuke Uchiha.
Episode 36: Team Kakashi heads out for the Tenchi Bridge. Sakura and Naruto come down hard at Sai for making fun of their former teammate, Sasuke. Seeing the tension in the team, Yamato decides they need to improve on teamwork and uses the Wood Style Jutsu to create a wooden cage, threatening to lock the trio up unless they behave. Sakura is shocked to see Yamato using the secret techniques that only the First Hokage was said to possess. Given an ultimatum between being locked up or spending the night at a hot springs by Yamato, the team chooses to visit the springs to improve team cohesion. Despite this fact, Naruto still despises Sai.
Episode 37: Sakura sees Sai drawing by a river and finds out that he has artistic talent, but has never given titles to anything he ever drew. Naruto and Sakura begin to realize the reason behind Sai's repulsive personality. After the hot springs, the team heads off to the Tenchi Bridge to meet with Sasori's spy. Yamato, being suspicious of traps, suggests to the team to alter their route and go through a forest. Camping for the night, Yamato then creates a two story house by again using his Wood Style Jutsu. Inside the house, the team formulates their plan of capturing the spy.
Episode 38: Yamato decides to have a mock test for his team to see how everyone coordinates with each other. Naruto is paired with Sai despite his objections, and Sakura is assigned to support Yamato. Yamato conducts a simulation of the meeting, with himself as "the spy", to gauge Naruto and Sai's abilities and teamwork. After Naruto makes a mistake, Sai immobilizes him and goes off alone. Naruto is angered with Sai for not acting as a comrade would, but resolves to work together with him to get Sasuke back. Sai then reveals to Sakura that he has no emotions, and little understanding of them, as a part of his training in ANBU Root.
Episode 39: Yamato disguises himself as Sasori within Hiruko, and goes to meet "the spy" at the Tenchi Bridge. The spy is revealed to be Kabuto, who spills out the location of Orochimaru's current hideout. Before the meeting could finish, Orochimaru appears and interrupts the two. While Kabuto initially seems frightened by Orochimaru's appearance, it turned out to be a ruse as he attacks the disguised Yamato. After telling Kabuto that the figure is not Sasori, Orochimaru recognizes Yamato as one of the test subjects in his experiments to replicate Hashirama's power through blood transfusion of the First Hokage's DNA. Orochimaru also knows that Yamato is not alone as he tells him to call out Naruto, Sakura and Sai from their hiding places.
Episode 40: Yamato signals Naruto, Sakura and Sai to appear on the bridge. On seeing Naruto, Orochimaru begins mocking him and compares him to Sasuke, which causes the Nine-Tails's chakra to leak from an enraged Naruto's body and ascends him to a Three-Tailed form. Meanwhile, Yamato remembers Jiraiya speaking of the appearance of number of tails on Naruto during their training, and had specifically warned of Naruto's Four-Tailed transformation.
Episode 41: Naruto gets more enraged in his three-tailed state, and throws Kabuto away, who inadvertedly knocks Sakura out too. Naruto's anger eventually escalates to him destroying the Tenchi Bridge and he takes to a forest to battle Orochimaru. Sai creates an ink bird and flies beneath the collapsing bridge to the site of Naruto and Orochimaru's battle, instead of catching a falling Sakura. Yamato saves her using his Wood Style Jutsu, and creates a wood clone to follow Sai. In the forest, Naruto's ever-increasing aggression causes his blood to mix with the Nine-Tails's chakra as his chakra cloak envelops him in the form of a four-tailed miniature fox.
Episode 42: Naruto, in his Four-Tailed form, attacks Orochimaru, and devastates the surrounding landscape, also preventing Sai and Yamato's wood clone from approaching him. The majority of Orochimaru's attacks prove to be ineffective against Naruto, but he still manages to keep up with Naruto with his Regeneration Jutsu. Meanwhile, Kabuto advances toward Sakura and Yamato, deducing that Sasori has died. Orochimaru finally manages to strike Naruto with his Kusanagi Sword, even though he fails to pierce the sword through him. Seeing Naruto in his Four-Tailed state, Sakura is awestruck and terrified.
Episode 43: Kabuto states that Naruto's current form is a consequence of his desperation to bring back Sasuke to Konoha. Sakura begins to cry and tries to approach Naruto, but is attacked by him. Yamato erects chakra-suppressing wooden pillars using his Wood Style to bind Naruto before he does any more harm. Kabuto heals Sakura and disappears after reasoning that the Konoha ninja are not Orochimaru's enemies because they are also fighting the Akatsuki. Yamato forcibly returns Naruto to his normal state. Meanwhile, Sai, who was hiding nearby the battlefield the entire time, confronts Orochimaru on behalf of orders from Danzo.
Episode 44: Sakura tries to heal Naruto, but her medical ninjutsu has little effect on his wounds. In the forest, Orochimaru tries to kill Sai, but it is revealed to be an ink clone. The real Sai emerges from the ground and gives Orochimaru a letter from Danzo. Sai, then, leaves with Orochimaru and Kabuto for their hideout, with Yamato's wood clone on their trail. After Naruto comes to his senses, the team reaches the battlefield spot, and picks up Sai's picture book. From what his clone observed, Yamato infers that Danzo seeks to destroy Konoha with Orochimaru's aid.
Episode 45: To confuse and slow down Yamato's wood clone, Kabuto creates a fake corpse, resembling Sai. Naruto, still recovering from the effects of his Four-Tailed state, is told to stay behind by Yamato. However, Naruto tells Yamato he is fine and the trio continue to follow Sai. During their pursuit, the team is forced to take a break when Sakura's own injuries take their toll on her. As she heals herself, Yamato talks to Naruto in solace, and tells him that it was he, in his Four-Tailed form, who hurt Sakura. Naruto is shocked to know this and condemns his own actions.
Episode 46: Yamato tells Naruto not to rely on the Nine-Tails chakra as he is strong enough on his own. The Konoha team decides to browse Sai's book to give them some clue about him, and they notice that its filled with the story of two boys' paths and battles, however, the pages where the two boys would meet are unfinished. Meanwhile, Orochimaru's group reach their hideout, not realizing that Yamato's wood clone had spotted them. There, Sai confronts a shadowed Sasuke, realizing that this is the man whom Naruto and Sakura have been searching for.
Episode 47: Sai is temporarily trapped in a powerful genjutsu from Sasuke's Sharingan, that frightens him. After recovering, Sai tells Sasuke that Naruto sees him as a brother, as told to him by Sakura. Sasuke replies that he has only one brother, the one he is going to kill, and leaves. Orochimaru gives the envelope with information from Danzo about Konoha's ANBU to Kabuto and instructs him to make a bingo book. On reaching near Orochimaru's hideout, Yamato gives Sakura and Naruto wooden seeds to ingest, which are imbued with his chakra, that would enable him to track them down in case they are lost, and reveals that he was able to track Sai with the same seeds that he had secretly fed Sai. In the hideout, Kabuto locks Sai in a room, and the latter summons a bingo book of the same information in the envelope. Outside, Yamato uses a Earth Style Jutsu to open a tunnel into Orochimaru's hideout, and he, Naruto and Sakura travel to Sai's room undetected.
Episode 48: Yamato and his team enter Sai's room and confront him. Sai tells them that not only was he to help in Konoha's destruction, but also act as a spy against Orochimaru. Yamato reveals that in ANBU Root, one must murder his own comrades and sever their emotions, but Sakura returns Sai's picture book to him, remarking that he still has emotions because he treasures it. Afterwards, the team ties up Sai. Once outside, Naruto informs Sai about his bonds of a brother with Sasuke and about how far he would go to bring Sasuke back.
Episode 49: Before Yamato's team departs to find Sasuke in the hideout, Kabuto appears in front of them and attacks them, before freeing Sai. However, Sai, wanting to learn more about his own bonds with his deceased brother through Naruto's bond with Sasuke, betrays Kabuto and aids Yamato in his capture. A tied up Kabuto gives a vague description of Sasuke's location to the team, thinking that Orochimaru would just kill them either way. Leaving Yamato's wood clone to watch over Kabuto, Yamato and his team enter Orochimaru's hideout and they split up to find Sasuke, Naruto and Sai heading one way, with Sakura and Yamato to another.
Episode 50: As the Konoha team continues their search for Sasuke, Naruto suddenly collapses due to exhaustion from his previous battle with Orochimaru. As Naruto wakes up, Sai remembers what he wanted to draw in the middle pages of his picture book: him and his brother smiling; an action which Sai mirrors. As Sai talks about his bonds, Orochimaru suddenly appears and attacks them. Sakura and Yamato come to Naruto's aid, while Sai goes alone to continue the search. Just as Sai finds Sasuke with his ink rats, Yamato finds Sai's bingo book and realizes Sai's actual mission upon finding Sasuke listed as a target for assassination.
Rating: 9/10(Average)
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