Naruto’s determination to save his friends abolishes the fear Gaara instilled in him earlier. Rejuvenated, Naruto summons two thousand shadow clones and performs a large-scale combo attack. To fend off the attack, Gaara completes his Shukaku transformation. Using his sand, Gaara tries to crush Naruto, but Naruto summons Gamabunta. Gaara forces himself to sleep and [...]

As Gaara continues to reminisce about Yashamaru, he remembers Yashamaru’s defeat and attempted suicide bombing. While Gaara was able to survive the blast, he lost the only person who ever cared for him. From that point on, Gaara came to love only himself and starting living off of killing others. Returning to the present, Gaara [...]

Seeing Naruto and Sakura’s determination to protect Sasuke, Gaara remembers his childhood with his uncle Yashamaru. While Yashamaru had for many years been the only person who seemed to care for Gaara, Yashamaru in reality hated him. Yashamaru attacked him as such, forcing Gaara to fight the only person who ever loved him.

Gaara begins transforming into Shukaku, dramatically increasing his strength and speed. Sasuke uses his Chidori to slice Gaara’s arm off, but the pain Gaara feels only becomes more determined and excited to kill Sasuke. Unable to use the Chidori, Sasuke is forced to use his cursed seal so that he can attack Gaara with another [...]

Shino to deal with Kankuro, Sasuke continues his pursuit of Gaara. Kankuro attacks Shino with his puppet, using its many hidden weapons to catch Shino by surprise. Shino is able to dodge the attacks through the use of his destruction bugs, but eventually makes the mistake of inhaling some of the puppet’s poison gas. As [...]

As the battles across Konoha rage on, the Third’s clones use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal away the souls of the First and Second Hokage. Turning his attention to Orochimaru, the Third begins to seal his soul as well, but is hindered as Orochimaru’s Kusanagi stabs him in the back. Meanwhile, Sasuke again [...]

Sasuke finally manages to catch up to Gaara, but Temari stalls him so that Kankuro and Gaara can escape. He easily dispatches her and resumes his chase. At the Hokage battle, Orochimaru reveals his intentions of stealing the body of Sasuke Uchiha. The Third regrets not killing Orochimaru at a prior occasion. Determined to rectify [...]

The Hokage battle begins, and all three Hokages exchange varying elemental attacks. To help him in the uneven fight, the Third Hokage summons Enma and has him transform into a staff. In response, Orochimaru brings out his Kusanagi sword. The Third is repelled by the First and Second, and he discovers that they cannot be [...]

As Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun pursue Sasuke, it soon becomes apparent that they’re being followed by a group of nine Sound ninja. Shikamaru volunteers to stall them to buy the others time and falls back. Once the Sound ninja get close enough, Shikamaru traps them with his shadow, though finds that he has only [...]

Once Naruto and Shikamaru awaken, Kakashi summons Pakkun to assist them in tracking down Sasuke. Meanwhile, Orochimaru begins his battle with his former sensei, the Third Hokage. Both display powerful techniques in what the observing ANBU describe as a Kage-level battle. Orochimaru resurrects the First and Second Hokage to fight the Third. The risen Hokage [...]