The Consequences of Betrayal

Struggling to grasp why anyone would plot Konoha's ruin, Naruto listens as Sakura explains that Danzō resents Tsunade. As the Third Hokage's cherished pupil and the First Hokage's granddaughter, she personifies the Will of Fire, and Yamato adds that she staffed the village's leadership entirely with people who share those ideals. Because Danzō rejects that outlook, the group reasons he may be joining forces with Orochimaru to bring the village down, letting Danzō seize the office once Tsunade is discredited and rebuild Konoha to his own design. Sakura concludes that Orochimaru, having failed on his own before, now has inside help, with Sai serving as the link. Yamato declares that Sai must be removed and resolves to trail Orochimaru, Sai, and Kabuto. When Sakura pleads to wait for the still-impaired Naruto to recover, Yamato refuses to coddle them, insisting he is not Kakashi and that as Konoha shinobi they must exceed their teacher. Naruto forces himself upright, promises to keep pace, and the team departs.

Yamato's wood clone shadows the trio ahead, but Kabuto rigs a decoy corpse shaped like Sai and packed with kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags. The clone trips the trap, severing Yamato's link to it. Racing through the forest, Naruto's blurred vision nearly sends him into a tree, and Sakura, watching him instead of her own path, loses her grip when her wounded arm gives out and falls. Naruto's attempt to catch her fails, so Yamato dives to snatch her safely. Noticing the injury on her arm, Naruto asks about it, and Sakura lies that Orochimaru caused it. Yamato orders her to rest, distinguishing between moving quickly and acting recklessly. He then names Naruto his combat partner and leads him off to plan, but once out of Sakura's hearing he privately admits that he was the one who injured her.

Sakura and Yamato lay out the theory that Danzō intends to collaborate with Orochimaru to unseat Tsunade, using Sai as the intermediary. Yamato commits the team to eliminating Sai and pursuing the trio. His wood clone is destroyed by Kabuto's booby-trapped decoy. During the chase Sakura falls from her weakened arm and Yamato catches her. Sakura conceals the true source of her wound, and Yamato quietly confesses to Naruto that his own actions caused her injury.

This episode is number 45 of Naruto: Shippuden and adapts chapters 298 and 299 within the Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission storyline. It aired in Japan on January 31, 2008, and in English on July 28, 2010. The opening theme is Distance and the ending theme is Awaken! Wild.