The Vessel Arrives Too Late

In Otogakure, Orochimaru writhes in agony with his arms streaming blood. Kabuto warns that he will not survive unless he claims a new body, even volunteering his own, but Orochimaru insists that Sasuke alone can serve as his host. Told that the Sound Four are unlikely to deliver Sasuke in time, Orochimaru is pressed to seize another vessel at once. Kabuto turns loose every prisoner the two of them experimented on, promising freedom to just one, and the captives set upon each other in a fight to the death for that single reprieve.

Kabuto then looks in on Kimimaro, a devoted servant left bedridden by a fatal illness. Once the head of the group formerly known as the Sound Five, Kimimaro had been groomed as Orochimaru's intended host until his sickness ruined those plans. Feeling his life had lost all worth, he seizes on a way to redeem it by pledging his final days to seeing that Sasuke reaches Otogakure.

Closing in on Tayuya and the Sakon and Ukon pair, the recovery squad debates its approach. Kiba favours waiting for nightfall to strike, but Shikamaru argues the dark would leave them stumbling and exposed while stripping him of his shadow technique, and Naruto urges the group to trust their leader's judgment. In Oto, the lone survivor Gen'yūmaru is chosen as the new body, and Orochimaru grants his dying wish to spare his clan from further experiments before seizing him through the Living Corpse Reincarnation, just as Kimimaro sets out to collect Sasuke.

Running through the trees and wondering what is delaying Jirōbō and Kidōmaru, Tayuya halts when a kick thumps from inside Sasuke's coffin, then spots Naruto perched above. As she guards the container, Sakon and Ukon move on Naruto only to be jumped by figures resembling Kiba and Shikamaru.

The apparent Kiba and Shikamaru turn out to be transformed shadow clones, and Naruto's Rasengan is caught and dispelled by Sakon. The real Kiba then drills his Passing Fang straight through another Naruto clone toward Sakon, who dodges, sending Kiba hurtling at Tayuya, the true target all along. Pinned by Shikamaru's shadow, Tayuya cannot flee with the coffin; Kiba pulls up short, snatches the container, and tosses it to Naruto. The plummeting Sakon is steered toward Tayuya until Shikamaru releases his hold at the last instant to spare himself injury, and the team escapes with the coffin as a furious Sakon activates his cursed seal to pursue. The episode covers chapters 198 through 200 in the Sasuke Recovery Mission arc.