The Secret of the Battle

Sai passes along a message from his superior Danzo to Orochimaru, who responds by flinging a sword straight through him, revealing an ink clone. Scolded for approaching a higher rank so carelessly, the real Sai emerges from the ground and is tackled by Kabuto as he reaches into his pack. His belongings scatter, among them an envelope Sai says Danzo addressed to the Sannin personally. After reading it, Orochimaru decides Sai will travel with them, and the three set off, never noticing Yamato's wood clone keeping watch.

The real Yamato applies his sealing technique to a four-tailed Naruto, forcing the Nine-Tails chakra back down and returning him to human form through an agonizing process that leaves him unconscious with his skin scorched away. Sakura restores the ruined flesh with her Mystical Palm Technique and asks to be taught the sealing art, but Yamato explains that only he can perform it because he carries the First Hokage's cells. He notes that Naruto's necklace, a gem tied to the First's chakra, can subdue a jinchuriki or tailed beast, and only those bearing the First's cells can approximate that power.

Once Naruto wakes and sees Sakura's tears, he wrongly assumes Sai mocked her, earning a punch for bringing up her monstrous strength. Realizing Sai is gone, the team gathers his scattered things, including the treasured picture book from his late brother that he left behind in his haste. Recalling Tsunade's warning that Sai answers to Danzo, a longtime rival of the Third Hokage, Yamato voices his fear that Danzo may be scheming Konoha's downfall. The episode adapts chapters 297 and 298.