Itachi Pursuit Mission

The Hunt for Itachi is a story arc from Part II of the Naruto series that spans from chapters 343 to 402. It is typically further divided into a number of smaller arcs.

Sasuke's Betrayal
As Orochimaru plans to perform his Living Corpse Reincarnation on Sasuke, he decides to turn the tables. After stabbing Orochimaru with a Chidori Sharp Spear, Sasuke informs his master that he can learn nothing else from him and that Orochimaru is unworthy of having his body. Although Orochimaru attempts to take his body by force, Sasuke is able to turn the process against him, later reporting to have simply retained control of his body and absorbing his master. With Orochimaru gone, Sasuke leaves the base to one of his ex-teacher's experimentation labs. Here he frees Suigetsu Hōzuki from imprisonment. After Suigetsu agrees to join Sasuke, the pair head to another of Orochimaru's bases to recruit Karin. Although both find this new recruit annoying, Sasuke concedes that Karin is a necessary addition to his team. Finally, the trio move to Orochimaru's northern base to recruit Jugo, whose original mutation was the basis for Orochimaru's Juinjutsu. After fighting their way through a series of prisoners, all under the effects of the Curse Seal, the trio manage to coerce Jugo into joining them. After naming their group "Hebi", the group sets out to find their target, Sasuke's brother Itachi. Tsunade hears of this and assembles Team Kakashi and Team 8, that together makes the Eight Man Squad. They are set out to capture Itachi and intercept Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Deidara hears of Orochimaru's death, and he and Tobi seek out Sasuke, Deidara having wanted to kill Orochimaru himself. The two do battle alone, but after Sasuke learns that his lightning-oriented techniques can negate Deidara's earth-based bombs, the bomber resorts to detonating his entire body in an enormous explosion. After hypnotizing Orochimaru's former summon Manda, Sasuke hides inside the snake and teleports the two away, although it leads to Manda's death.

After learning of an Akatsuki lair nearby, Hebi moves to investigate. Entering the lair, Sasuke finds Itachi waiting for him. The two do battle, but Itachi is revealed to be a Shadow Clone. After remarking how much Sasuke has grown, he instructs him to meet him at the Uchiha hideout so the two can do battle in earnest After a brief scuffle Itachi remarks how much Sasuke has grown, and then tells Sasuke to meet him at the Uchiha hideout so that they can finish their dispute.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya discusses with one of the Toads on how Naruto may soon need to completely remove the sealing of the fox. Jiraiya states this because he feels he may soon die after fighting Pain. Jiraiya manages to infiltrate Amegakure, first posing as a bar owner, then impersonating an Ame ninja. This ninja informs him that the civil war that was supposedly ongoing in Amegakure had ended years ago, and that Pain's forces had wiped out the village leader Hanzo's army. The man refers to Pain as a god, and Jiraiya is shocked to find that the 'angel' of Pain is Konan, a member of a group of orphans from Amegakure he had trained years ago. When Jiraiya finally meets Pain, he is shocked to see he holds the Rinnegan, just as Konan's teammate Nagato did, but that the appearance is not Nagato's. After doing battle with Pain for a time, several other ninja with Rinnegan appear, all referring to themselves as Pain. Jiraiya deduces several things about Pain, such as the shared vision held by all six. Before long, Jiraiya is forced to summon Shima and Fukasaku, two elder toads, to enter Sage Mode. Sadly, even this is not enough, and Jiraiya is unable to figure out Pain's true identity until he is near death. Scrawling the message in code on the back of Fukasaku, who then leaves quickly.

Afterwards, Sasuke and the rest of Hebi are en route to the Uchiha hideout when Itachi's partner, Kisame, appears in front of them. He insists that Sasuke keeps the deal with his brother and battle Itachi alone, without the aid of his team. Sasuke agrees to the terms and moves on to the hideout. Suigetsu also spars with Kisame for possession of the Samehada After meeting with Itachi, the two engage in an extended Genjutsu battle before Sasuke emerges as the victor. The fight begins in earnest after this, with Sasuke utilizing some of his strongest techniques before resorting to the most powerful attack in his arsenal, the lightning jutsu Kirin. Unfortunately, Itachi counters by activating the third of the Mangekyo Sharingan techniques, Susanoo. Orochimaru's dormant spirit emerges at this point, but is defeated by the Susanoo; however, during the battle, Itachi vomits blood. It is revealed that Itachi has been suferring from an unknown disease and had kept himself alive with medicine to fight Sasuke. At the end of the fight Itachi dies while giving Sasuke a last poke on the forehead. Here Itachi says "Sasuke... there won't be a next time" before collapsing, referring to all the times he has told his little brother that he will spend time with him another time. After learning that Itachi massacred the Uchiha clan on orders from the Konoha elders from Tobi, Sasuke decides that Hebi will change its mission. Renaming the group Taka, Sasuke states that the team's new mission is to destroy Konoha, as his Mangekyo Sharingan awakens.