Chapter Summaries

After Sakura saved Kankuro, Uzumaki Hane and the others set out to rescue Gaara from Sasori of the Red Sand. They joined forces with Might Guy’s team, but Uchiha Itachi and Kisame blocked their path.

• Pain summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and the Akatsuki began extracting Shukaku from Gaara.
• Chiyo mistook Kakashi for Konoha’s White Fang and attacked him, but Ebizo stopped her and corrected her mistake.
• Sakura treated Kankuro and drew the poison from his body, saving his life.
• Kankuro told Uzumaki Hane and Naruto that Sasori of the Red Sand had taken Gaara, and identified the puppet Hiruko as Sasori’s disguise.
• Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Uzumaki Hane, and Chiyo set off after Sasori, then met and joined Might Guy’s team on the way.
• Kisame sent a huge wave toward the pursuing group, and Uchiha Itachi and Kisame confronted them as Kisame greeted Uzumaki Hane.

Uzumaki Hane drew Kisame away from the others and killed him after a fierce battle that showcased Hane’s increased strength. Meanwhile, Naruto, Might Guy, and Kakashi confronted Uchiha Itachi, and Kakashi attacked him after Naruto escaped Itachi’s Genjutsu.

• Kisame recognized Uzumaki Hane and pursued him after Hane drew him away from the group.
• Kisame flooded the battlefield and attacked with water sharks, but Uzumaki Hane countered with powerful lava techniques.
• Uzumaki Hane evaporated the lake and struck Kisame with a final Great Eruption, reducing him to ashes.
• Kakashi warned the group about Uchiha Itachi’s Genjutsu, and Naruto charged in before realizing he had fallen under its effects.
• Naruto broke free of the Genjutsu, then Might Guy and Kakashi attacked Uchiha Itachi while a Shadow Clone engaged Might Guy.
• Kakashi deflected Itachi’s Shuriken and charged, but Itachi dodged his Kunai and launched a Great Fireball Technique.

Kakashi and the others defeated the enemy posing as Uchiha Itachi and discovered he was Yura using the Shapeshifting Technique. After realizing their opponents had only been delaying them, the group hurried toward Gaara, whose One-Tail was being extracted.

• Kakashi used a shadow clone to resist Uchiha Itachi’s genjutsu while Naruto struck Itachi with a Big Ball Rasengan.
• Might Guy defeated Uchiha Itachi’s shadow clone, and the group examined the body left in the crater.
• Chiyo recognized the corpse as Yura, a Sunagakure ninja who had disappeared after Gaara went missing.
• Kakashi explained that Yura had used the Shapeshifting Technique to appear as Uchiha Itachi.
• Uzumaki Hane arrived, and Kakashi urged everyone to hurry to Gaara before it was too late.
• Naruto rushed ahead toward Gaara, and the others followed.

Uzumaki Hane and the others reached the cave where the Akatsuki had extracted Shukaku from Gaara, and confronted Sasori and Deidara. Deidara fled with Gaara as Hane, Naruto, and Kakashi pursued, while Chiyo and Sakura stayed to fight Sasori.

• Itachi and Kisame returned to the Akatsuki after delaying their pursuers, and the group completed the extraction of Shukaku from Gaara.
• Neji located the Five-Seal Barrier talismans, and the teams removed them so Sakura could smash the boulder blocking the cave entrance.
• Hane confronted Sasori and Deidara, while Chiyo revealed that Sasori was hiding inside a rebuilt, strengthened Hiruko puppet.
• Deidara escaped on his giant bird with Gaara, and Hane and Naruto pursued him; Kakashi also left to help recover the Kazekage.
• Chiyo and Sakura remained behind to face Sasori, and Chiyo explained that Sakura should use her Chakra Enhanced Strength to break Hiruko.

Uzumaki Hane, Naruto, and Kakashi pursued Deidara as he carried Gaara away, evading his clay explosives and attacks. Deidara’s strengthened bird bomb failed to harm them, and the chase continued with the three emerging unharmed from the smoke.

• Uzumaki Hane destroyed Deidara’s giant bird with a lava fist, but Deidara formed another bird and kept flying with Gaara.
• Naruto attacked Deidara with his Shadow Clones, but Deidara exploded a clay bird; Kakashi caught Naruto as he fell.
• Uzumaki Hane and Naruto continued pursuing Deidara while Kakashi destroyed Deidara’s Clay Spiders with lightning needles.
• Kakashi contacted Might Guy, who said he and his team had fallen into a trap and was beating his impostor.
• Deidara dived, leaped from his bird with Gaara, and sent an explosive bird at the pursuers, but Uzumaki Hane, Naruto, and Kakashi emerged from the blast unharmed.

Chiyo and Sakura fought Sasori, whose modified Hiruko unleashed increasingly dangerous poison attacks. Chiyo’s control helped Sakura evade them, but Sasori discovered her Chakra Threads and launched another attack as the battle continued.

• Itachi and Kisame left the mountain after Kisame complained that Uzumaki Hane had defeated him again.
• Chiyo warned Sakura to stand back, then attacked Sasori with Kunai and explained that his puppet was a Human Puppet.
• Chiyo told Sakura to close in and smash Hiruko while she guided her movements, and Sakura agreed to the plan.
• Sasori fired poison needles and jets of poison liquid, but Chiyo controlled Sakura as they dodged every attack.
• Sasori’s scorpion tail nearly struck Sakura, but Chiyo pulled her clear before it could hit her.
• Sasori realized Chiyo was controlling Sakura with Chakra Threads and sent his scorpion tail toward them again.

Might Guy, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten struggled against doubles who matched their abilities while Deidara lured Naruto, Kakashi, and Uzumaki Hane away with Gaara. Naruto rescued Gaara, and Hane pursued Deidara alone, surviving an explosive attack as their fight continued.

• Might Guy, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten were gradually suppressed by their matching doubles and could only hold on.
• Deidara flew away with Gaara to draw Naruto, Kakashi, and Uzumaki Hane after him, dodging Hane’s lava attack to protect his advantage.
• Kakashi struck the giant bird with lightning, and Naruto cut off its head with a giant shuriken, forcing Deidara to release Gaara.
• Kakashi sent Naruto toward Gaara, and Naruto used a Shadow Clone to catch him before landing on a tree trunk; Gaara remained unresponsive.
• Uzumaki Hane pursued Deidara alone and pierced his giant bird with a lava javelin, but Deidara’s C3 explosion engulfed Hane.
• Hane emerged transformed into magma and continued attacking, while Deidara dodged his lava fists and threw down an exploding white doll.

Sakura and Granny Chiyo fought Sasori of the Red Sand, using Chiyo’s Chakra Threads to help Sakura destroy Hiruko. Sasori revealed his youthful face and summoned his puppet made from the Third Kazekage, leaving Chiyo and Sakura shocked.

• Chiyo restrained Sasori’s scorpion tail and guided Sakura as she dodged his poisoned needles and attacks.
• Sakura charged Sasori while Chiyo restrained the tail, then shattered Hiruko with a Chakra Enhanced Strength punch.
• Sasori’s detached arm fired poisoned needles at Sakura, but Chiyo controlled her movements and helped her evade them.
• Chiyo asked Sasori to reveal himself, and he turned around to show that he still had a youthful face.
• Sasori summoned his restored puppet made from the Third Kazekage, and Chiyo identified it for Sakura.

Naruto and Kakashi headed back to find Sakura and treat Gaara while Chiyo confronted Sasori over his crimes against the Kazekage. Sasori began fighting Sakura and Chiyo, then sent a mass of puppet arms toward Sakura.

• Naruto found Gaara still had a heartbeat, and Kakashi urged him to seek Sakura’s medical help.
• Naruto carried Gaara as he and Kakashi headed to the cave to find Sakura, while Kakashi said Uzumaki Hane could handle himself.
• Chiyo recognized that Sasori had killed the Third Kazekage and resolved to end her grandson’s betrayal herself.
• Sasori admitted his past involvement with Orochimaru, prompting Sakura to question him about Sasuke.
• Sasori attacked Sakura with a poisoned puppet, but Chiyo pulled her clear and blocked its blades with Hiruko’s tail, which snapped.
• Sasori dismissed the damaged puppet and unleashed countless arms from its right arm toward Sakura.

Tenten, Rock Lee, Might Guy, and Neji continued fighting their impostors while Chiyo and Sakura battled Sasori of the Red Sand. Chiyo summoned Father and Mother to confront Sasori’s puppet, leaving Sakura waiting for a chance to strike.

• Tenten struggled to keep fighting her tireless impostor, while Rock Lee and Might Guy clashed with their own copies and Neji used his Byakugan to search for openings and report to the others.
• Chiyo pulled Sakura away from Sasori of the Red Sand’s attacks, but Sakura was trapped among his arms and narrowly escaped unharmed.
• Sasori of the Red Sand sprayed poisonous mist and then poisonous liquid at Sakura, and Chiyo pulled her clear of the corrosive poison.
• Chiyo summoned Father and Mother, the puppets Sasori had made, and they severed the many arms of his mechanism with steel wires.
• Chiyo told Sakura to wait for a chance to use Chakra Enhanced Strength, as Father and Mother clashed with Sasori’s Third Kazekage Puppet.

Sasori of the Red Sand revealed his puppet body and attacked Chiyo and Sakura with powerful flame and water weapons. Sakura was weakened by his poison but injected an antidote she had made, and began to recover.

• Chiyo and her puppets fought Sasori's imitation of the Third Kazekage, destroying it as Sasori revealed his own puppet body.
• Sasori attacked Chiyo and Sakura with flames from his palm, while Chiyo's puppets dodged his attacks and pressed him.
• Sasori used a water blade to drive Sakura and Chiyo back, then pursued Sakura with it until his water cannon ran out.
• Sasori's poison dart left Sakura weak, and Chiyo pulled her out of its path.
• Sakura injected the antidote she had made from Kankuro's poison, quickly feeling better and surprising Sasori.

Uzumaki Hane defeated Deidara with a massive eruption of lava. At the cave, Kakashi and Naruto arrived as Chiyo treated Sakura, and Naruto fought Sasori’s puppets while Sakura recovered and Chiyo prepared to act.

• Uzumaki Hane engulfed Deidara and his giant bird with the Great Eruption, sending lava fragments raining down.
• Sasori of the Red Sand attacked Chiyo and Sakura, but Kakashi arrived and blocked his blade while Naruto brought Gaara back to the cave.
• Sasori summoned a swarm of puppets and sent them against the group, and Naruto used Multiple Shadow Clones to fight them.
• Sakura recovered after Chiyo treated her poison, and Chiyo stepped forward after confirming they had brought back the Fifth Generation Kazekage.
• Neji told Might Guy, Rock Lee, and Tenten that Kakashi and Naruto had reached the cave and rescued Gaara, and the team pressed their fights to finish quickly.

Chiyo restored Sakura and unleashed the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets against Sasori of the Red Sand’s puppets. Naruto and Kakashi fought their way through the swarm, and Sakura joined Naruto after Chiyo asked for her help, while Gaara remained in need of treatment.

• Neji used his Byakugan to tell Might Guy, Rock Lee, and Tenten that Sakura was treating Gaara while Naruto and the others fought puppets.
• After restoring Sakura with One's Own Life Reincarnation, Chiyo summoned the Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets and sent them against Sasori of the Red Sand’s forces.
• Kakashi charged into the puppet swarm, using the Great Fireball Technique and Chidori to destroy several puppets before Sasori sent more after him.
• Naruto used Shadow Clones and a Big Ball Rasengan to clear a path through the puppets and confront Sasori of the Red Sand, who revealed his plan to capture Naruto and seek revenge on Uzumaki Hane.
• Sakura realized she could not treat Gaara yet, so Chiyo whispered a plan to her and sent her to help Naruto; Sakura blocked Sasori’s dart with a Kunai.

Uzumaki Hane endured Deidara’s attacks until Deidara used his ultimate art, a ten-kilometer self-destruction that engulfed Hane and devastated the surrounding land. The blast left Hane’s fate uncertain as his allies and the others in the cave reacted to the explosion.

• Uzumaki Hane emerged unharmed from Deidara’s repeated explosions and defeated several of his clay clones.
• Deidara revealed the mouth on his chest, consumed clay, and prepared to self-destruct with a ten-kilometer blast radius.
• Uzumaki Hane used Great Eruption, but Deidara’s explosion overwhelmed his magma fists and swallowed him.
• Neji reported that Uzumaki Hane had seemed unharmed and had the upper hand before Deidara’s enormous blast shook the battlefield.
• Might Guy, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji witnessed the distant pillar of fire, while Kakashi identified Deidara’s chakra in the cave.
• Sasori of the Red Sand murmured about the art Deidara had chosen.

Sasori of the Red Sand fought Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and Chiyo in the cave until Sakura pinned him with a seal that stopped his puppets. Uzumaki Hane survived Deidara’s massive explosion, but he was badly weakened as he headed back toward the cave.

• Sasori of the Red Sand attacked the group with his puppets while Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Chiyo fought back.
• Naruto and Kakashi struck Sasori of the Red Sand, and Sakura smashed him apart, but his puppets kept attacking.
• Sasori of the Red Sand reassembled himself, and Sakura used Chiyo’s seal to pin him and stop his puppets.
• Chiyo explained that the seal had blocked Sasori of the Red Sand’s Chakra Threads, then collapsed from exhaustion.
• Uzumaki Hane emerged from the crater left by Deidara’s explosion and, badly weakened, made his way back toward the cave.

Sasori of the Red Sand survived by transferring his Perpetual Heart between puppet bodies, and Naruto’s Tailed Beast Transformation battered him while Chiyo healed Sakura. Naruto regained control and collapsed, but Sasori sprang up again behind Chiyo.

• Kakashi realized Sasori of the Red Sand was still alive, but Sasori stabbed Sakura while she protected Chiyo.
• Naruto entered Tailed Beast Transformation and repeatedly smashed Sasori’s puppet bodies as Sasori moved his Perpetual Heart into new puppets.
• Chiyo used One's Own Life Reincarnation to heal Sakura despite Sakura’s attempt to stop her.
• Kakashi and Sakura reached Naruto, and Sakura’s voice helped him regain control and collapse.
• Kakashi lifted Naruto onto his back, then Sasori of the Red Sand sprang up behind Chiyo with a blade.

Uzumaki Hane reached the cave as Naruto’s Nine-Tails Chakra erupted, and Neji saw Naruto attacking wildly while Sakura and Chiyo were occupied. Chiyo and Sakura defeated Sasori of the Red Sand, who revealed a meeting with Orochimaru’s spy before dying, though Chiyo believed he had chosen not to dodge her attack.

• Uzumaki Hane sensed Naruto’s violent Nine-Tails Chakra and hurried toward the cave while Neji, Might Guy, Rock Lee, and Tenten continued fighting their impostors.
• Neji spotted Uzumaki Hane alive, but the group then sensed the surge of Nine-Tails Chakra; Neji saw Naruto attacking a puppet in a frenzy while Sakura lay collapsed and Chiyo treated her.
• Chiyo explained that Sasori’s real body was the flesh in the left side of his chest, and that she had used One’s Own Life Reincarnation to share her life force with Sakura.
• Sakura confronted Sasori about Chiyo and family, while Sasori dismissed her and revealed that he had failed to become a puppet completely.
• Sasori told Sakura and Kakashi to go to Tenchi Bridge in Kusakagure in ten days to meet his spy among Orochimaru’s subordinates, then his puppet body fell limp beside Father and Mother.
• Sakura said they had won, but Chiyo said Sasori had seen through her attack and deliberately chosen not to dodge it.

Naruto learned that Gaara had died, but Chiyo said she could save him, and the group left the cave. Meanwhile, Might Guy, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten continued fighting their impostors, whose jutsu remained active even after the Akatsuki members were defeated.

• Naruto woke on Kakashi's back, saw Sakura was unharmed, and learned that Gaara had died.
• Naruto grieved for Gaara and confronted Chiyo, who promised she had a way to save him.
• Naruto carried Gaara out of the cave as Sakura helped Chiyo and Kakashi followed.
• Neji learned over the radio that Sakura and the others had defeated their opponent and left the cave.
• Neji and Tenten realized the jutsu affecting their team would not end just because the Akatsuki members were defeated, so Might Guy, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten kept fighting their impostors.
• After fighting until they were exhausted, the team noticed their impostors seemed to have grown stronger.

Uzumaki Hane hurried toward the others after sensing the Nine-Tails' presence disappear, while Might Guy's team defeated their tireless impostors by pushing beyond their former limits. Chiyo revived Gaara and entrusted him to Naruto before she died.

• Uzumaki Hane worried about Naruto and the others after the Nine-Tails' presence vanished and quickened his pace.
• Neji realized the impostors had copied their abilities and would outlast them, so Rock Lee urged the team to surpass their former limits.
• Rock Lee, Might Guy, Neji, and Tenten drew on their training to defeat their impostors, then headed toward Naruto's group.
• Chiyo treated Gaara while Naruto, Kakashi, and the others guarded them, and Temari and Kankuro arrived with Sand Ninja.
• Chiyo told Naruto that Gaara was all right and left him in Naruto's care before closing her eyes and dying.

Uzumaki Hane and the others returned Gaara to Sunagakure after Chiyo sacrificed her life to save him. Hane and Gaara began a long-awaited fight in the desert, and the chapter ended with Hane’s lava javelin piercing Gaara.

• Zetsu found Sasori dead, while Tobi took Sasori’s ring and clumsily searched for it after dropping it into a crack.
• Uzumaki Hane reunited with Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Might Guy, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten, and saw that Chiyo had died after saving Gaara.
• The group returned to Sunagakure, where the villagers welcomed Gaara and made way for Chiyo’s body.
• Uzumaki Hane and Gaara met in the desert for a fight as their companions watched from a distance.
• Gaara attacked with streams and giant arms of sand while Hane defended himself with lava and hurled a javelin that pierced Gaara’s body.