The Labyrinth of Distorted Reflection

"The Labyrinth of Distorted Reflection"edit
乱反射の迷宮­ (Ranhansha no Meikyū)
Episode data
Previous	"The Unseeing Enemy"
Episode	Naruto: Shippūden #97 (Watch Online)
Next	"The Target Appears"
Arc	Three-Tails' Appearance
Music
Opening	"Closer"
Ending	"Bacchikoi"
Air dates
Japanese	February 19, 2009
English	October 08, 2011
Debut
Jutsu
Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Blade Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Labyrinth Technique Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Mirror Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Prison Technique Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms Jade Crystal Clone Technique Wind Release: Toad Gun

"The Labyrinth of Distorted Reflection" (乱反射の迷宮, Ranhansha no Meikyū) is episode 97 of the Naruto: Shippūden anime.

Synopsis

In Konoha, the crystallised bug is analysed and Tsunade confirms her suspicion to Shizune about Orochimaru's follower using Crystal Release, an ability thought to be non-existent. Team Yamato finds themselves lost as Kakashi had not left any trails or signs for them to follow; Sai creates an ink bird to fly above the perimeter to scout for any signs while Naruto excuses himself from the group on the pretense of relieving himself. However, once he finds himself secluded, he attempts to continue his training in secret until he notices a light mist settling in and spots Yūkimaru, the young boy he had met at the hot springs. Yūkimaru is cryptic, but after Naruto reaffirms that the people who are thinking about you is where your home is, Yūkimaru disappears, along with the mist. Sakura arrives, and believing that Naruto is lying about having encountered someone, ushers him off as Yamato had found one of Shino's bugs.

In the meantime, Guren berates her team for failing to dispose of their pursuers and launches her own plan. She proceeds to create a jade crystal dome that traps Team 8. Guren then produces a crystal mirror in order to create six jade crystal clones. Team 8, meanwhile, finds themselves lost in the woods as Shino's bugs are unable to locate the enemy, having lost their movement; to make matter worse, Hinata finds herself unable to effectively use her Byakugan to find their foes, as she can only see the images of her team refracted over and over again. Guren and her clones arrive to deal with Team 8, generating jade crystal blades from her forearms. Kakashi uncovers his Sharingan to give him an edge, but Guren reveals that her Crystal Release cannot be copied. Elsewhere, Hinata manages to defeat one of the clones with her Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms, though she is encased within a jade crystal prison by another crystal clone. The other crystal clones stop their fight with their respective opponents in order to lure them into a clearing, where Guren warns them that should they interfere any further, the confined Hinata would disintegrate into shards.

On the outside, Team Yamato finds themselves unable to break through the crystal labyrinth. Using his ink bird, Sai notifies them that the dome is a kilometer in length with the top covered, and does not have any weak spots. Using his Wood Release: Great Forest Technique, Yamato attempts to penetrate through the labyrinth, only for the crystal to not respond; he attempts to create a tunnel, but finds out that the crystal is embedded underground as well. Confident that his new technique would do the trick, Naruto summons Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, surprising Sakura and Sai, with the latter asking when he had learned such an impressive technique. Infusing his wind chakra with Gamatatsu's Water Release: Water Gun, the duo manage to create Wind Release: Toad Gun, which manages to puncture the crystal.

Credits

Role	Seiyū			English Voice Actor
	English	Japanese	Rōmaji
Naruto Uzumaki	Junko Takeuchi	竹内 順子	Takeuchi Junko	Maile Flanagan
Sakura Haruno	Chie Nakamura	中村 千絵	Nakamura Chie	Kate Higgins
Kakashi Hatake	Kazuhiko Inoue	井上 和彦	Inoue Kazuhiko	Dave Wittenberg
Yamato	Rikiya Koyama	小山 力也	Koyama Rikiya	Troy Baker
Sai	Satoshi Hino	日野 聡	Hino Satoshi	Benjamin Diskin
Kiba Inuzuka	Kosuke Toriumi	鳥海 浩輔	Toriumi Kōsuke	Kyle Hebert
Hinata Hyūga	Nana Mizuki	水樹 奈々	Mizuki Nana	Stephanie Sheh
Shino Aburame	Shinji Kawada	川田 紳司	Kawada Shinji	Derek Stephen Prince
Fifth Hokage: Tsunade	Masako Katsuki	勝生 真沙子	Katsuki Masako	Debi Mae West
Shizune	Keiko Nemoto	根本 圭子	Nemoto Keiko	Megan Hollingshead
Guren	Eri Miyajima	宮島 依里	Miyajima Eri	Erin Fitzgerald
Yūkimaru	Mika Kanai	かない みか	Kanai Mika	Laura Bailey
Rinji	Yuya Uchida	内田 夕夜	Uchida Yūya	Sam Riegel
Konoha researcher	Kenichiro Matsuda	松田 健一郎	Matsuda Ken'ichirō
Gamakichi	Yoji Ueda	上田 燿司	Ueda Yōji	Dave Wittenberg
Gamatatsu	Tomo Shigematsu	重松 朋	Shigematsu Tomo	Dave Wittenberg