"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 | Japanese | Rōmaji | English | Japanese | Rōmaji |
| Naruto Uzumaki | うずまきナルト | Uzumaki Naruto | Junko Takeuchi | 竹内順子 | Takeuchi Junko |
| Sakura Haruno | 春野サクラ | Haruno Sakura | Chie Nakamura | 中村千絵 | Nakamura Chie |
| Kakashi Hatake | はたけカカシ | Hatake Kakashi | Kazuhiko Inoue | 井上和彦 | Inoue Kazuhiko |
| Yamato | ヤマト | Yamato | Rikiya Koyama | 小山力也 | Koyama Rikiya |
| Sai | サイ | Sai | Satoshi Hino | 日野聡 | Hino Satoshi |
| Kiba Inuzuka | 犬塚キバ | Inuzuka Kiba | Kōsuke Toriumi | 鳥海浩輔 | Toriumi Kōsuke |
| Hinata Hyūga | 日向ヒナタ | Hyūga Hinata | Nana Mizuki | 水樹奈々 | Mizuki Nana |
| Shino Aburame | 油女シノ | Aburame Shino | Shinji Kawada | 川田紳司 | Kawada Shinji |
| Fifth Hokage: Tsunade | 五代目火影・綱手 | Godaime Hokage: Tsunade | Masako Katsuki | 勝生真沙子 | Katsuki Masako |
| Shizune | シズネ | Shizune | Keiko Nemoto | 根本圭子 | Nemoto Keiko |
| Guren | 紅蓮 | Guren | Eri Miyajima | 宮島依里 | Miyajima Eri |
| Yūkimaru | 幽鬼丸 | Yūkimaru | Mika Kanai | かないみか | Kanai Mika |
| Rinji | 麟児 | Rinji | Yūya Uchida | 内田夕夜 | Uchida Yūya |
| Konoha researcher | 木ノ葉の研究員 | Konoha no kenkyūin | Ken'ichirō Matsuda | 松田健一郎 | Matsuda Ken'ichirō |
| Gamakichi | ガマ吉 | Gamakichi | Yōji Ueda | 上田燿司 | Ueda Yōji |
| Gamatatsu | ガマ竜 | Gamatatsu | Tomo Shigematsu | 重松朋 | Shigematsu Tomo |
