Departure

Naruto's flat refusal to yield to Seimei gives Gaara the opening he needs, and by holding Shukaku back from surfacing completely, the young Kazekage finishes the enemy with a crushing sand technique. The mission behind them, the shinobi make their way home to the Leaf, where Ino approaches Tsunade to ask that she too be taken on as a pupil. Tenten, meanwhile, fumes over having been left off the assignment entirely.

Gaara ends the threat with his Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral once Shukaku is prevented from fully emerging. Back in Konoha, attention turns to what comes next. Naruto readies himself for a training journey that will span two and a half years alongside Jiraiya, who has come back carrying fresh intelligence on the schemes of the Akatsuki.

The rest of the group talks over what lies ahead and pledges to sharpen their own skills so they will not fall behind. As Naruto sets out at Jiraiya's side, Hinata quietly looks on while he walks away toward his long absence.

Numbered episode 220, this is the closing entry of the first Naruto anime and adapts chapter 238 of the manga. It falls under the Sunagakure Support Mission storyline. The Japanese broadcast took place on February 8, 2007, and the English airing followed on December 6, 2009. The opening theme is Swaying and the ending theme is Scenario.