Dawn

Shikamaru gives chase to Gengo through Fushū Castle as Ino, Chōji, and Temari struggle against the mind-controlled Sai, Rō, and Hinoko, whose enthrallment ebbs the longer they fight. Gengo tempts him into a pitch-black chamber, both to deny him his shadows and to heighten his hearing so the persuasion jutsu can dig deeper. Recounting his history with Zabuza and the convictions it bred, Gengo works on him, while Ino slips into Sai's mind to loosen the grip and relays a caution that Shikamaru must never turn to meet the man's gaze during conversion.

Gengo boasts that his agents have already seeded the hidden villages, poised to touch off unrest at his command, and his jutsu hauls Shikamaru's inner darkness to the surface. Anchoring his mind on Naruto, Shikamaru throws off the effect and lays bare the truth: Gengo spent and abandoned his own comrades. As Temari's group breaks in, Shikamaru signals Rō and Hinoko to see the mission through. Hinoko's needles punch openings in the walls to spill daylight inside, and when Gengo conjures a massive blade, Shikamaru holds him fast long enough for a needle to the tongue to silence his jutsu for good.

Once the fight ends, Leaf Anbu take Gengo away into custody. In lighter closing beats, Shikamaru asks Temari on a date and Sai does likewise with Ino. The episode caps the Shikamaru Hiden arc, opening with Empty Heart and closing on Absolutely, and premiered in Japan on February 9, 2017.