Three-Tails' Appearance

Exclusive to the Naruto: Shippūden anime, this arc unfolds over episodes 89 to 112 and stands as the longest anime-only stretch in the series. It follows the competing efforts of Akatsuki, Konoha, and Team Guren to capture the Three-Tails. It comes after the Akatsuki Suppression Mission and leads into the Itachi Pursuit Mission.

On Orochimaru's orders, Kabuto and Team Guren bring a young boy, Yūkimaru, to a lake and force him to pour out his chakra, coaxing the Three-Tails to the surface. Guren helps drag the creature fully into view, but their bid to subdue it fails when the beast sweeps its attackers aside with a massive wave. Tracking down the hideout, Tsunade sends Kakashi to lead Team 8, then follows with Yamato, Sai, Sakura, and Naruto. The Konoha forces realize the target is the tailed beast itself and assemble a larger hunting party.

The gathered ninja divide into three groups: one to seal the creature away in a separate dimension, one to guard, and one to fight. The sealing nearly holds until Guren's interference provokes the Three-Tails into attacking everyone. Yūkimaru briefly soothes it, but once his strength gives out the beast turns on him; Guren and Naruto shield him and are swallowed, escaping only with their comrades' aid. A second attempt at sealing then follows.

Just as that second effort nears completion, a grief-stricken Yūkimaru, believing Guren dead, empowers the beast to burst free. It rampages, crushing several of Guren's subordinates, yet its blows never harm the boy. Only a wind-and-oil flame technique finally drives it off. The remaining Konoha shinobi hand the sealing over to Anbu and head home, unaware that Deidara and Tobi of Akatsuki soon wipe out those Anbu.

In the manga the beast's capture happens far earlier, at the opening of the Akatsuki Suppression Mission, though it plays out much the same way: Tobi lures the Three-Tails while Deidara shapes an explosive clay fish to bring it down, after which it is sealed inside the group's statue. The arc also leaves a lasting mark, since Isobu later recalls this encounter with Naruto when the two meet again during the Fourth Shinobi World War.