The Target Appears

A combined attack from Naruto and Gamatatsu shatters Guren's jade crystal maze just as Team Yamato arrives to reinforce them. Spotting Hinata sealed inside crystal, Naruto is warned by Kakashi that breaking it would kill her, so he has Gamatatsu swallow her whole to rob Guren of that leverage. Guren counters with a crystal dragon while Sai's ink bird distracts her, and with her hostage gone she withdraws until Team Guren appears to cover her retreat. Outside the fight zone, Gamatatsu gingerly brings Hinata back up, and Pakkun reports that Shino's crystallized bug suggests she may share the same fate. Her crystal instead crumbles harmlessly, and Hinata reveals she flooded her chakra points beforehand, proving the technique cannot crystallize chakra itself.

Kakashi divides the squad, leaving Sai and Sakura to guard Hinata while the rest resume the hunt, all of it observed in secret by Kabuto. At their base, Yūkimaru mentions befriending a headband-wearing boy, and Guren realizes he ran into Naruto by chance before Kabuto scolds her for the risk. To find the enemy hideout, the team sends Naruto's shadow clones running so the pursuing bats will lead them home. On the lake, Kabuto feeds Yūkimaru food pills to force out his chakra despite Guren's objection, and reveals the goal is to summon the Three-Tails.

This is Shippūden episode 98 in the Three-Tails' Appearance arc, first broadcast in Japan on February 26, 2009, and in English on November 5, 2011. Its opening is Closer and its ending is Bacchikoi. It was the final English dub episode to debut on Disney XD, which dropped the series over the violence in later installments.