As Akatsuki seals yet another tailed beast, Itachi and Kisame are warned that Sasuke and his group are after them. Both Konoha and Team Hebi prepare to move out for their quests to find Itachi, but Sasuke makes a little trip to an old Uchiha storage house first.

Kakashi splits the two teams into five separate groups, each aided by a couple of his ninja dogs, in order to locate clues about Itachi and Sasuke's whereabouts. Unbeknownst to everyone, familiar foes have set their eyes upon both Naruto's group and Sasuke.

Upon encountering one another, Sasuke and Deidara engage in battle. After exchanging a few blows to test Sasuke’s strength, Deidara conjures up his specialty clay dragon and wages long-range attacks against Sasuke from high above. With Tobi’s backup support, the battle seems to be going to Deidara.

Sasuke's Sharingan proves to be superior against Deidara's explosives. Deidara creates one of his finest works, the C4 Karura, in order to take him down. What will Sasuke do now?

By using himself as an explosive, Deidara creates an explosion ten kilometers in diameter, something not even Sasuke will be able to escape from. Is this the end of Sasuke? Elsewhere, someone approaches the Akatsuki leader and gives him orders to catch Naruto himself. Who is this true mastermind of the Akatsuki plot lurking in the shadows?

As Sasuke rests from his battle with Deidara, the Leaf ninja pick up on his trail. Noticing that they're being followed, Karin tries to send them in the wrong direction while the members of Team Hebi head to the nearest Akatsuki hideout in hopes of finding Itachi. What will happen when Naruto and Sasuke have separate encounters with Itachi?