Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke find out their newest mission will be without Kakashi who has responsibilities elsewhere. Tsunade sends them to the Tea Country to protect someone, but the details are vague at best. Along the way they meet Idate Morino who causes the group a lot of trouble, especially when they discover who they have to protect!

As their rivalry reaches a fever pitch, Kakashi-sensei breaks up the battle and sends Naruto and Sasuke to their corners. Meanwhile, Four Sound ninja enter the Hidden Leaf Village with only one thing on their mind... Sasuke!

Hot on Sasuke's trail, Shikamaru and his squad get caught up in a web of unparalled chakra when they tangle with the six-armed Kidomaru!

With the Sasuke retrieval squad now split into individual battles, it's up to Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru to stop the sound ninja. But little do they realize that there's more to their opponents than their basic techniques.

Finally catching up to Sasuke, Naruto does all he can to keep him from going to Orochimaru. Does he have enough strength to stop him or is Sasuke gone for good?