Sai receives a chilling glare from Sasuke's Sharingan that frightens him. Sai gives Orochimaru a bundle with information about Konoha's ANBU. Yamato gives Sakura and Naruto seeds with his chakra that enables him to track them inside the lair, and reveals that he was able to track Sai because he put a seed in Sai's clothing and food during the visit to the hot springs. Kabuto locks Sai in a room, and the boy summons a bingo book from scrolls he carries. Yamato uses a jutsu to open a tunnel into Orochimaru's hideout, and he, Naruto and Sakura travel to Sai's room undetected.

All of Konoha mourns the tragic loss of Asuma Sarutobi. Knowing that Hidan and Kakuzu are bound to return, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino prepare to head off to take revenge upon the duo while Kakashi takes temporary leadership of the team.

After successfully breaking out of Itachi's Tsukiyomi, Sasuke gains the upper hand on his weakened brother. With no other alternative, Itachi activates his second Mangekyo ability, Amaterasu, a black flame said to burn forever.

Naruto, Sai, and Yamato arrive to save Hotaru and Utakata from the attacking ninja who they discover are Anbu from the Hidden Mist Village. Yamato attempts to negotiate alone with the head of the Mist Anbu, Tsurugi, and after their discussion, Tsurugi talks to Utakata alone. Tsurugi attempts to convince Utakata to return to the Hidden Mist Village but the latter refuses and remembers the horrible pain he suffered at the hands of his former master.

After the peformance of the forbidden jutsu, Hotaru is horrified to see the damage the jutsu has done. Shiranami then notices the forbidden jutsu overflowing with chakra and the fact that it would destroy itself along with Hotaru. While Naruto chases the fleeing Shiranami, Utakata tries to save Hotaru using the hidden power within him. Can Utakata save Hotaru?

Naruto succeeds in mastering his Sage Mode, taking it farther than even Jiraiya could. Things aren't looking so great for Konoha, however, as Pain prepares to make his move.

Naruto returns and discovers that the village has been devastated by Pain's Shinra Tensei attack. Naruto requests that everyone stays back as he prepares to take on all six paths of Pain at once.

In a flashback of Naruto and Sakura's, Team 7 is on a mission to take an ostrich called Mr. Ostrich to his home. They arrive at a village where they see a swordsman named Tsukado who has a vendetta to carry on a man named Katazu who killed his distant relative Shikazo. Tsukado fails to defeat him so Naruto decides to teach him unusual revenge lessons. Katazu has then took his brother's identity and attracted Shikazo's pursuers while Kageki and his family went into hiding. Tsukado decides not to kill him and ends their years of fighting though Kanabun wants them to keep fighting. The swordsmen, Team 7 and Mr. Ostrich chase the Kanabun Gang out of town.

During the two-and-a-half-year time period in which Naruto was training under Jiraiya, the latter decided that it was time for Naruto to learn how to repel genjutsu. During this training session, the two traveled to a village which Jiraiya had previously been associated with, but they discovered that something dark was amidst.

Kiba trains hard to catch up to Naruto, who is now hailed as the hero of the Leaf Village, but with little success. Feeling desperate, Kiba asks Kakashi if he could train him.

Darui manages to seal away Ginkaku. Fueled by the rage of losing his brother, Kinkaku transforms into a monster that resembles a jinchuriki’s Tailed Beast State.