My Friend

is episode 71 of the Naruto: Shippūden anime.

Synopsis
The struggle between Naruto and Sora continues. Asuma and Kazuma fight. Sai arrives, having snuck out of hospital, and binds Kazuma with an ink snake. Kazuma breaks out of Sai's technique and charges Asuma, but is killed. Naruto eventually reaches Sora, who manages to release the Nine-Tails' chakra. However the Nine-Tails' chakra that is released begins to become a miniature Nine-Tails. This provokes Tsunade to head out to engage the beast. It soon became clear that the miniature Nine-Tails could not form without a human host so it dissipated. Sora then leaves the village to travel the world. Asuma and Shikamaru play shogi and discuss who the king of Konoha is. Elsewhere, two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, appear chasing the Two-Tails' jinchūriki.