Regroup!

Reunited with Lee, Naruto can barely contain himself while Sakura and Ino fall back into their old rivalry. At the enemy hideout, Kabuto invites Yūkimaru to come back to Orochimaru, and the boy refuses to go anywhere without Guren. When Yūkimaru bolts at the reminder that he belongs to Orochimaru, Kabuto wrenches him around and strikes him, only for Guren to slash at Kabuto with her crystals and warn him never to touch the boy again. As Kabuto departs, Yūkimaru tells Guren he only wants to stay by her side, and she flees into the mist.

Outside, Gozu voices doubt about Rinji's devotion to Guren, and Rinji swears he needs the pay to help his sick sister. In truth he is Orochimaru's plant, slipped into the prison by Kabuto to watch the inmates and later steered onto Team Guren to keep tabs on their leader. Convinced Guren has grown distracted by the boy's welfare, Rinji asks Kabuto for the honour of reporting to Orochimaru himself, and Kabuto allows it. He then rejoins Guren, who is chewing over Naruto's remark that Orochimaru uses people as disposable tools, and the two start plotting as the fog thins, unaware Yūkimaru is watching.

The Leaf ninja shelter in a wooden house Yamato raises with Wood Release. Once briefed, Shizune relays Tsunade's plan to banish the Three-Tails into another dimension with sealing techniques, taking Hinata, Ino, and Sakura under her wing to seal the beast and guard Yūkimaru. Knowing that squad cannot do both at once, Kakashi divides the rest, assigning Kiba, Akamaru, Lee, and Tenten to Yamato as protectors while he leads Naruto, Shino, and Sai against Guren. The episode continues the anime-original Three-Tails' Appearance arc.