Asuma’s fire jutsu strikes Hidan, but much to the team's surprise, Asuma is also burned. Hidan reveals his ability: By ingesting an opponent’s blood and standing in a ritual circle drawn with blood, the "curse" links him to his opponent and all damage inflicted on him is also inflicted on the opponent. Asuma rushes at Hidan but collapses after Hidan stabs himself in the leg. Shikamaru realizes Hidan needs to be in the circle for the curse to take effect, and uses his shadow possession jutsu to force Hidan to step out of it. Asuma forces himself to stand up and beheads the restrained Hidan.

As Naruto recovers from his injury, Kakashi prepares to tell him the grim news about his new technique. Meanwhile, Sasuke secretly trains and has an encounter with a strange young girl.

The sealing unit prepares the sealing barrier and the other two teams go into battle with Guren and her henchmen. Kakashi, Naruto and Sai stall Guren and Gozu while Shino prepares to go against Guren's crystal style. Meanwhile, Lee goes against Guren's other henchmen and gets trapped in their smokescreen. Can Lee find a way to defeat them?

The second member of Sasuke's team is revealed to be a woman named Karin. After Sasuke and Suigetsu arrive at the Southern Hideout, Sasuke requests that Karin comes with them. Despite her hesitations and quarrels with Suigetsu, Karin ultimately accepts after remembering her very first encounter with Sasuke. Sasuke orders Suigetsu to release the prisoners, and after that, they set off to recruit the final member of the team - Jugo.

Naruto had once lived a lonely existence, ostracized by everyone. But Iruka's words and his very presence have supported Naruto to this day. As Naruto's wedding nears, Iruka begins to lose sight of what he was to Naruto, and is unsure of what to say for his message.