The Fifth Hokage! A Life on the Line!

Kabuto's attempt to heal himself fails, his wounds from the Rasengan too severe, and he collapses. Before going down, however, he had torn the muscle around Naruto's heart, leaving the boy on the verge of death. Tsunade pours everything into saving him and succeeds, and Naruto rouses just long enough to claim the necklace he wagered and won. Once he drifts to sleep, she fastens it around his neck, quietly hoping he will one day reach the office of Hokage.

Sensing a future threat in the boy, Orochimaru moves to kill him, and Tsunade throws herself in the way as a living shield, conquering her terror of blood to take the strike. Asked why she would gamble her life, she answers that protecting him is her charge as the Fifth Hokage, at last owning the title she had turned down. She then breaks the seal on her forehead and calls on Creation Rebirth to knit her wounds shut, ready to end Orochimaru once and for all.

The episode is part of the Search for Tsunade arc and adapts chapters 168 and 169 of the manga. It first aired in Japan on August 11, 2004. As Tsunade prepares to summon Katsuyu, both Jiraiya and Kabuto recognise the technique and answer in kind, calling forth Gamabunta and Manda to set the stage for a clash of summoned beasts.