The Unseeing Enemy

Naruto's toad training with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu ends early when Sakura hauls him off, since Team Yamato is ready to move out. Deep in the woods, Hinata's Byakugan picks out four chakra signatures ahead of the group and a fifth closing from behind. Her warning comes just as Gozu swings an enlarged fist at Kakashi, who barely blocks the blow, and the two fighters go crashing off through the treetops.

That leaves Hinata, Kiba, and Akamaru against Rinji, Kihō, Nurari, and Kigiri. Reluctant to tangle with the masked Kigiri, Kiba has Akamaru take his shape and lunges at Nurari, who dodges the assault. Kigiri answers by flooding the area with a foul smoke that strips the pair of both vision and smell.

Blinded, Kiba is nearly cut down before Hinata steps in, urging him to handle the others while she faces Nurari. Her opponent panics that she can still see him, then relaxes once her Gentle Fist strikes fail to land any real harm thanks to his slime coating. Meanwhile Kakashi tries fooling Gozu with a shadow clone, only for the brute's sudden burst of speed to carry him behind the copy ninja and land a kick powerful enough to splinter a tree. Forced to the edge, Kakashi calls on his Sharingan to slip one attack and readies a Lightning Cutter, yet finds no gap to exploit.

As Nurari presses Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru rescue her with a spinning fang assault that whips up a gust and clears the smoke. His senses back, Kiba boasts too soon and eats a dose of poison gas from Kihō's wrist launcher, cursing himself for ignoring the other attackers.

Before Guren's group can finish the three off, Rinji senses a threat closing around them and orders a retreat. The source proves to be Shino, who had quietly laid a trap that Rinji's keen senses detected in time. Kakashi rejoins them, admitting he could not defeat Gozu but did leave a deep wound on the brute's arm with his Lightning Cutter, and he warns that the enemy is still nearby. Unseen, Guren observes the whole skirmish through a crystal ball, startled that the famed copy ninja has been sent after her, while elsewhere Yūkimaru dwells on memories of his mother. The episode is part of the Three-Tails' Appearance arc.