The Successor's Wish

Back in the Tsuchigumo village, Hotaru feels the cold, hostile looks of the residents and wonders aloud to her uncle, the clan chief, whether returning was a mistake. He assures her the village is her home and leads her to a small room to wait, but four bandits soon ambush her there. Worse, her uncle listens from outside and bars the door, deaf to her pleas and cutting off her escape. One raider, Nangō, seizes her and wrenches the forbidden scroll out of her bag, though it detonates the instant it is opened, wrecking the house as Hotaru flees.

The bandits run her down in the forest, only for Utakata to appear and spirit her away. Their leader Shiranami, who bears the Tsuchigumo crest on his back, stops the pursuit by pointing out that Utakata is a wanted man in Kirigakure with a bounty of fifty million ryō.

Arriving at the village, Naruto is enraged to learn that Hotaru was attacked and driven off while her uncle and the villagers, aware she might be hurt, made no effort to find her. Yamato and Sai catch up, and the captain presses on Naruto that protecting Hotaru, not judging the villagers, is what the assignment demands. Yamato explains the job stems from a secret accord that En no Gyōja once struck with the Third Hokage: if her clan cannot protect her, they must, and Sai sends out ink mice to track her.

Utakata carries them both to safety with his bubble drift, and when Hotaru sees through his bluff about wanting the jutsu, she reveals her grandfather was her master and that she means to honor his wish by guarding the technique and reviving the Tsuchigumo. Having been betrayed by his own teacher, Utakata cannot grasp such loyalty. Hotaru bares her scarred back to show she keeps no secrets from the man she calls master, but the title angers him and he leaves. A Kiri hunter-nin then negates his soap bubble ninjutsu with a mist rain and takes Hotaru hostage, forcing Utakata to surrender before two more hunter-nin bind him. As the captor calls Utakata a killer who slew his own master, Naruto's Rasengan strikes one of them, and he arrives with Yamato and Sai, apologizing to Hotaru for the delay.

The episode launches the anime-original Six-Tails Unleashed arc and introduces Hotaru and Utakata. It aired in Japan on February 4, 2010, and in English on October 9, 2012, using Sign as its opening theme and For You as its ending.