Target: Locked On

Synopsis
Sakura is notified by Tsunade that Kakashi has temporarily taken over as leader of Team Asuma while they attempt to apprehend the Akatsuki. Sakura offers Team 7 as the most suitable backup for Team 10, but is told that they will only be deployed if Naruto can master his Wind Release: Rasengan technique in the next 24 hours, lest she choose another squad as backup. Heading to the clearing, Sakura conveys Tsunade's message to Naruto and Yamato, and the former decides to begin right away.

Elsewhere, Shikamaru makes amends to his battle plan to accommodate Kakashi, who is impressed by Shikamaru's ability to quickly make revisions. Using her Mind Body Switch Technique, Ino takes over the body of a nearby bird and manages to locate Hidan and Kakuzu about ten minutes away from them. Kakuzu is able to sense that he is being spied and launches an attack towards the bird, prompting Ino to cancel the technique. Ino alerts them of the two Akatsuki member's position and they decide to begin their vengeance.

Using his Shadow Imitation Technique, Shikamaru attempts to sneak up from behind them to ensnare them. Hidan and Kakuzu manage to notice it and dodge at the exact time. As they evade the shadow, Shikamaru throws two kunai equipped with explosive tags at them. Hidan and Kakuzu are caught by the blast but manage to survive. As Hidan and Kakuzu move out of the path of the Shadow Imitation, Shikamaru throws Asuma's chakra blades at their shadows, freezing them in place. Hidan is unable to comprehend how they were trapped by their shadows when Shikamaru's shadow did not touch them. Shikamaru explains that he had imbued his chakra within Asuma's chakra blades and added explosive tags to them to throw Hidan and Kakuzu off their true nature. Since the blades carried Shikamaru's chakra, by extension they are given the abilities of Shikamaru's shadow techniques and thus by piercing their shadows, he was able to trap them in place.

Using his Shadow Gathering Technique, Shikamaru uses his shadows to remove the chakra blade piercing Hidan's shadow while connecting his own Shadow Imitation to it. Now in control of Hidan, Shikamaru has Hidan pick up his Triple-Bladed Scythe and rush towards Kakuzu, in an attempt to kill him. Kakuzu, who had an arm underground, manages to remove the chakra blade and thus is free to move around, evading Hidan's attack. Shikamaru admits that he was not prepared to Kakuzu to be able to operate his limbs independently but nonetheless tells Chōji, who is observing the fight from a tree along with Ino and Kakashi, to strike Kakuzu from above with his Spiked Human Bullet Tank technique.

Trivia

 * This episode has one animation and one dubbing error:
 * When Shikamaru snares Hidan and Kakuzu in the trap, when it shows Kakuzu looking down, the crossed-out Takigakure symbol on his forehead protector isn't there.
 * In the English dub, while Shikamaru is discussing the plan to Team Asuma, he states Hidan and Kakuzu are going after "the jinchūriki within Naruto", instead of "the tailed beast within Naruto".
 * After Matatabi was extracted, Nagato stated there were four more tailed beasts left since Isobu was not yet captured due to the anime-only arc regarding it that aired shortly after this episode whereas in the manga, Isobu was sealed immediately before Matatabi.
 * This implies the anime-only arc featuring Utakata was not yet planned since Saiken was not part of the tailed beasts that were unaccounted for.

Credits
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