The Mysterious Curse of the Haunted Castle

When Kayo, wife of the daimyo of the Land of Honey, disappears, Naruto is sent to track her down with Hinata and Kiba. Her last known whereabouts lead them to a sprawling castle, which they resolve to search despite Naruto's dread of anything supernatural. Almost at once the place turns strange, with figures in paintings shifting and books drifting through the air, making it plain the structure is far from ordinary.

The team eventually learns that half a century earlier the castle's master, Koza Kubisaki, laid a so-called curse meant to devour anyone who set foot inside. Hinata's Byakugan reveals the building itself is alive, and its interior warps into what looks like the inside of a living creature. The truth is a giant chameleon summon that had spent five decades faithfully carrying out a dead master's wishes. Aided unexpectedly by Koza's spirit, the group locates the summon's scroll and destroys it, causing the beast to vanish, and they barely flee with Kayo and her retainers. Afterward they conclude that Koza had simply wanted their help in finally letting the summon return home.

Naruto's team discovers the haunted castle is a living giant chameleon summon bound to a fifty-year-old command. With the spirit of Koza Kubisaki guiding them, they find and destroy the summoning scroll, freeing the creature and escaping with the rescued Kayo.

The episode is also called the Lady Daimyo Search Mission. In the English dub Naruto shouts Zoinks after tripping over a fallen samurai, echoing Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, a series the story closely mirrors. It is also a rare instance of Naruto hurling the Rasengan like a projectile, a feat only Boruto would later replicate, and the summon's scroll is said to carry several signatures, including that of Masashi Kishimoto.