Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission

After recovering from his battle against Sasuke, Naruto joins Sakura in another attempt to save Sasuke. Before crossing Konoha's border, Jiraiya appears. He saves them from becoming labelled rogue ninjas from leaving the village without authorization by allowing them to join him on a mission to gather information on Sasuke and Orochimaru. Their journey takes them to the Land of Rice Fields, the home of the Otogakure. After a couple comedic failures to gather info due to Jiraiya perverted antics, Naruto and Sakura met a young kunoichi named Sasame of the Fūma clan. She revealed her desire to find her cousin Arashi, who along with the majority of their clan went to join the Sound Village. After facing three members of the Fūma clan and managing to escape them, Jiraiya returned with new information he gathered from the remnants of the Fūma clan that saw through Orochimaru's lies.

Jiraiya explained that Orochimaru was gathering as many supporters as he could from various clans simply to gain their secret technique. After facing the three Fūma clan ninja again and defeating them, Sasame led Naruto and his team to Orochimaru's current hideout. Inside the base with no knowledge of where to go, the team took different paths. Eventually, Naruto found Sakura in a long corridor facing off against Kabuto. Naruto was able to hit Kabuto with a Rasengan, but unfortunately fell prey to a devastating technique that attacked his heart. After being saved by Sakura and Sasame, it was discovered that Kabuto was actually another Fūma clan member, Kagerō in disguise.

Soon after, they found Arashi, who became the victim of an unstable technique of Orochimaru's that merged him with his fellow clan members and drove him insane. Naruto, along with Sasame and Sakura, were able to restore his mind. As Orochimaru's hideout began to fall apart, Arashi revealed that Sasuke was safe for now but Orochimaru was doing everything in his power to make Sasuke a perfect host for him in the near future. After sure that the Fūma clan were free from Orochimaru's control, Naruto and his team returned to Konoha.

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