The Hunt

Kakashi divides the Eight Man Squad into pairs, most of them backed by two ninken, while he keeps Pakkun and Kiba works alongside Akamaru. Their goal is to pinpoint Sasuke or Itachi and send word. Because Naruto is a jinchuriki and thus an Akatsuki target, he is guarded by Yamato and Hinata and given Bull, the largest hound in the pack. Meanwhile Sasuke hands out separate assignments to each of Hebi, hoping one will lead him to Itachi. Overhead, Deidara and Tobi begin hunting for Naruto, Kakashi, or Sasuke, and Deidara claims to have sighted a target while riding a clay bird, hiding whom from his partner.

Suigetsu tracks down Kakuzu's accountant and banker, Kyoya and Ginji, while Karin scouts a village for leads. Sakura happens to be in that same village, and the hounds Bisuke and Shiba catch Sasuke's scent trailing off Karin, but the two women pass each other and the trail is lost. Naruto, Yamato, and Hinata are then ambushed by Kabuto, who hands over Orochimaru's collected intelligence on the Akatsuki. Asked why, Kabuto explains his gratitude toward Naruto: after Orochimaru's death he felt purposeless, until he saw how Naruto had built his own identity despite the village once treating him as little more than the Nine-Tailed Fox in human form.

Kabuto bares the left half of his body, now resembling Orochimaru, admitting he grafted pieces of his master's corpse onto himself and intends to avenge him by killing Sasuke, then slips away. In a clearing, Sasuke senses Tobi and spots Deidara dropping two C1 bombs. Thinking him dead, the pair find that Sasuke summoned a snake as a shield, and his activated Sharingan locks eyes with Deidara.

The episode adapts manga chapters 355, 356, and 357 and belongs to the Itachi Pursuit Mission arc. It aired in Japan on 13 August 2009 and in English on 10 April 2012. The opening theme is Light of a Firefly and the ending theme is My Answer.