Sai betrays them all …
Sai turns out to be a clone and as the dagger drops to the ground, it transforms into a snake and slithers back to Ochimaru whilst Sai’s clone splatters into a pool of black ink. Orochimaru notes that it’s rude to not present one’s real self in front of a superior, hence Sai reveals himself from beneath the soil. Finally Yamato manages to seal away the nine-tails’ power that is possessing Naruto and as Naruto collapses unconcious, Sakura comes running to him in tears. Sai informs Orochimaru that ever since he failed destroying Konoha, Danzou has been longing to contact him. Sakura begins healing Naruto despite the injury on her shoulder. Since his severe wounds aren’t healing fast enough, she forces more chakra out of her hands, thus Naruto’s skin speedily returns to its normal colour. Yamato watches her determination to rescue Naruto and Sakura asks that he teach her the technique to stop Naruto when he’s in Kyuubi form. Yamato tells her sadly that it is only possible if she has the First Hokage’s DNA, which disappoints her greatly since she believes that she can only ever do small and insiginficant things for Naruto. Yamato reassures her that it’s her feelings towards him that really counts and that in truth she likes him, but he never gets to finish because Naruto awakens from his slumber. He asks to know what’s going on since he can’t remember anything. He wonders why Sakura is crying and comes to think that it’s Sai’s fault. Sakura denies it and tells him off for jumping to conclusions.
Orochimaru tells Sai that it’s interesting, but he truthfully doesn’t know how much of it he should believe. Sai is about to pull something out of his backpack but gets thrown to the floor by Kabuto, who points a kunai at his head. All of Sai’s belongings fall out, including an envelope which he was to give to Orochimaru to prove that he’s telling the truth. Orochimaru reads the letter and shortly afterwards orders Kabuto to let Sai go. Orochimaru reassures Kabuto that they can trust the boy before vanishing along with Sai. Naruto looks back at the broken bridge and Sakura asks Yamato what happened to Sai. Yamato confirms from his clone that Sai is now off with Orochimaru, and the clone Yamato is now tracking them. The real Yamato, Naruto and Sakura arrive at the place where Sai and Orochimaru set off. Naruto asks why he was unconscious and Sakura tells him that Orochimaru had knocked him out. Sakura wanders around a bit more and locates the book which Sai doesn’t let anyone read. She comments that it seems really important to him and muses over why he left it behind. Yamato answers this by saying that Sai must’ve been really tense conversing with Orochimaru. Yamato and Sakura come to a conclusion that Danzou sent Sai here on this mission in order to get closer to Orochimaru and complete his own secret mission. Yamato notes that Danzou disliked the Third Hokage and now Tsunade, and that it’s possible that Danzou wants to destroy Konoha.
Preview:
Thoughts: This episode definitely moved at a more appropiate pace. There were not many draggy moments and it followed the manga exactly. The only downside of this episode was the recaps that we’ve seen over a hundred times already. The part when Sakura was saying that she couldn’t do much for Naruto was actually quite touching, and I did feel sorry for her. I’m not sure if she mentioned this in the manga, but the speech Yamato never got to finish was certainly part of the manga. I believe he was going to say that in truth she likes Naruto, or she feels sorry for him, or she considers him as her brother, or most important friend. Most likely the first one though: in truth she likes Naruto. That would be nice, I think. Sakura isn’t at all that bad, and no, she doesn’t belong with Sasuke — sorry to all those SasukeXSakura fans who dwell out there, lol. Sakura should definitely go with Naruto in my opinion. They’re better off together. Or what would also be nice, no one ends up with someone. Everyone just lives happily ever after as friends, and some of them have to die, of course, or otherwise it won’t be anime. Yes, I believe some characters have to die to be anime/manga, lol. It’s alright if no one dies, but I didn’t say bad characters weren’t main. Too bad I can’t remember what Sai told Orochimaru — oh yeah, we don’t get to find out in this episode. This episode was not a disappointment. Looking forward to next week as well!
