The Land Where a Hero Once Lived

Synopsis
While Naruto and Sasuke try to outdo each other in their Tree Climbing Practice, a worker of Tazuna's named Giichi quits, and tries to convince Tazuna to give up building the bridge. Later on their way home from a food market, Sakura is astonished by the poverty in the Land of Waves (and how many people want to steal her bag, which she initially thinks is a way to grab her butt), and Tazuna points out that their country would be much better off if the bridge were completed and Gatō removed from power. Following dinner (in which Naruto and Sasuke are constantly eating and puking in an attempt to get stronger), Sakura asks why Inari often stares at the family photo on the wall, which is torn so that a person's face and upper body are gone. Angered suddenly, Inari leaves the table, making Tsunami chase after him. Tazuna then explains that the man torn from the picture, named Kaiza, was once a hero in the Land of Waves and Inari's stepfather. A travelling fisherman, he initially met Inari after saving him from drowning, and Inari came to rely on him heavily to the point where he wouldn't stand up for himself. He became revered as a hero when he single-handedly saved a large portion of the village from a flood. However, when Gatō arrived, he had Kaiza killed in an attempt to destroy the hope of the land, a strategy that sadly succeeded and traumatised Inari. Moved by the story, Naruto decides to show Inari that there are still heroes in the world.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode to be rated TV-14-V on television broadcast. On Cartoon Network, it was edited as TV-PG-V, but on Adult Swim the episode aired in uncut format.

Страна, в которой был герой