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Encounter with Orochimaru

Naruto in his four-tailed demon fox-transformation, charging up his mysterious attack in the fight with Orochimaru.Team 7 takes on their new mission, and a great amount of tension begins to build in the team, especially between Naruto and Sai. Naruto dislikes Sai since their interactions are similar to those between Naruto and Sasuke in the beginning of the series. Making matters worse, Sai nonchalantly mentions Sasuke's treachery, greatly irritating both of his teammates to the point that Sakura punches him in the face.

When they arrive at the World Bridge, Yamato goes to meet the spy inside a replica of Sasori's puppet, Hiruko. The spy is revealed to be Kabuto Yakushi, but the jutsu binding him to Sasori had been dispelled long ago. Orochimaru shows up and destroys the puppet replica, revealing Yamato inside. Yamato uses a wood clone to escape harm, revealing his true origins to Orochimaru. Orochimaru reveals that he had performed experiments on Yamato and 59 other children, giving them the First Hokage's DNA in an attempt to replicate his Mokuton kekkei genkai. Yamato was the only survivor. Orochimaru then calls out the rest of Yamato's team. Once they emerge, Orochimaru taunts Naruto by speculating whom is now stronger: Naruto or Sasuke. Naruto provoked by the mere mention of Sasuke's name and instantly transforms into his three-tailed fox state. Orochimaru continues to taunt Naruto, causing Naruto to grow a fourth tail.

It is revealed that, during the time skip, Jiraiya saw Naruto trigger a four-tailed state, which nearly resulted in Jiraiya's death. The demon fox's chakra becomes so intense that it burns Naruto's skin, causing him to bleed from every pore. This blood and chakra envelopes him in a fiery shield far stronger than anything previously displayed. The chakra also heals Naruto while burning him, decreasing Naruto's overall life span.

In his four-tailed state, Naruto is able to hold his own against Orochimaru. After Orochimaru retreats due to a lack of energy, Naruto is still unable to distinguish friend from foe and cuts Sakura's arm when she moves close to try to calm him down. Kabuto willingly heals her. Yamato finally gets close enough to use Hokage-Style Sixty-year-old Technique: Enclosed Hermitage Return to Society, a demon-controlling technique, to revert Naruto back to human form.

With Naruto's transformation reversed, Sakura and Yamato rush to his side. Sakura uses her medical skills to heal Naruto's severe injuries, but is still suffering from the injury Naruto had given her earlier. Though Sakura is upset at how little she can do, Yamato states that it is the strength of her feelings for Naruto that matters most. Before he can expand on his point, Naruto awakens.

Meanwhile, Sai meets with Orochimaru, saying that he is a messenger from Danzo. After gaining favor with Orochimaru and Kabuto, the three leave to a secret hideout. Yamato watches the encounter with a wood clone, and the team decides to pursue Sai. During their pursuit, they find Sai's body hung from a tree. The body is in fact a fake made by Kabuto using a similarly-aged corpse, which Yamato is able to discern thanks to his ANBU training: he finds stitch marks alongside the corpse's face.

When Naruto realizes that the bridge and a large part of the forest has been leveled, he wonders what happened. Sakura lies about what happened as well as her injury, saying Orochimaru did it, but Yamato calls Naruto aside and explains the truth. He also states that relying on the demon fox's strength, despite enabling Naruto to save Sasuke faster, will ultimately harm Naruto in the long run. Yamato tells Naruto that he is going to seal the demon fox, but that Naruto will still help all of his friends, because his own chakra is his true strength.

While Yamato and Naruto are discussing this, Sakura goes through Sai's belongings and finds his art book. She calls attention to this book and shows it to the rest of the team. The sketchbook contains drawings of Sai and what the team assumes is his older brother growing up and going through a gauntlet of enemies. On each subsequent page, Sai takes the weapons and armor of his previous opponent. The center pages, where the two brothers are supposed to meet, are unfinished. The left page is completely empty, and the right page has an image of Sai in full ANBU attire without a face.

At Orochimaru's hideout, Yamato reveals that he was able to track Sai through a special plant seed hidden in his breakfast, which reacts to chakra usage. He gives Sakura and Naruto similar seeds to make sure they can find each other if lost. Yamato breaks open an entrance for the team. Once inside, Yamato leads the team to a room where Sai is being kept hostage. Creating a wooden skeleton key, Yamato unlocks the room and they enter. Sai tries to lie, but an accidental smile allows Naruto to call his bluff. Sai then states that his mission is a failure and confirms that Danzo is indeed planning another strike at Konoha. However, he is also acting as a spy for Danzo, since Danzo knows as soon as Konoha is destroyed, Orochimaru will turn on him. Sai disapproves of rescuing Sasuke, saying that Sasuke doesn't see Naruto as a brother and that Orochimaru is too powerful for them. Naruto replies that he had formed a special bond between Sasuke and himself, and that he will fight Orochimaru with everything he has to get Sasuke back, even if it means sacrificing his life.

At this point, Kabuto shows up and frees Sai, but Sai shocks everyone by helping Yamato immobilize Kabuto. Kabuto is forthcoming, providing information on the interior of the lair, but not Sasuke's actual location. Team Kakashi splits up to search for Sasuke, with Naruto teaming with Sai and Sakura with Yamato. Naruto, still tired from his injuries, collapses, and Sai suggests taking a rest; Naruto is notably less hostile towards Sai at this point. Sai begins to talk about his brother, who resembles Naruto. The short chat soon ends as Orochimaru appears. Naruto tells Sai to find Sasuke while he holds off Orochimaru. As Yamato and Sakura arrive to back Naruto up, Orochimaru again mentions that he does not wish to kill them since both parties oppose Akatsuki. Orochimaru then leaves in order to locate Sai. Yamato finds a "Bingo Book" (a list of people who are marked for assassination) in Sai's bag, with Sasuke's name in it. Thus Naruto and Sakura realize that another part of Sai's original mission was to kill Sasuke, who had been listed as an enemy of Konoha by Danzo. Naruto is speechless, realizing that Sai has duped him with his "fake smiling" act.

Sai manages to find Sasuke in his room, and wakes him up. Sasuke, angry at Sai's mention of "bonds", blows up the room. Sakura spots Sai in the hallway and runs to him. Though she means to attack Sai, Sasuke quietly says Sakura's name, stopping her in her tracks. Naruto, in his weakened state, finally catches up, coming face to face with Sasuke again.