Episodes List 3

53 "Long Time No See: Jiraiya Returns!"

After Jiraiya knocks out Ebisu, Naruto is left without a tutor. Naruto manages to convince Jiraiya to tutor him by using The Sexy Technique. While Jiraiya oversees Naruto's training, he quickly realizes that Naruto is the container of the demon fox. Jiraiya unlocks the seal that Orochimaru had placed on Naruto in the forest, and Naruto quickly grasps the concept of walking on water. Afterwards, Jiraiya speaks with Naruto about his two kinds of chakra.

54 "Summoning Jutsu: Wisdom of the Toad Sage!"

That night, Dosu Kinuta, a finalist for the Chunin Exams, attempts to assassinate Gaara, but Gaara quickly kills him. Observing from a distance, Baki and Kabuto Yakushi confer about the planned invasion of Konohagakure by Sunagakure and Otogakure; their conversation is overheard by Hayate Gekko. Despite the latter's swordsmanship and skills, he is quickly dispatched by Baki. The next day, Naruto resumes his training with Jiraiya. He signs a scroll that will allow him to summon toads. Upon trying to summon a toad, Naruto only manages to summon a tadpole.

55 "A Feeling of Yearning, a Flower Full of Hope"

Sakura visits the hospital to see Sasuke, but finds that Sasuke has left. While there, Sakura checks on Rock Lee. Despite the injuries that have taken away his hopes of becoming a ninja, Lee trains to regain his strength. The training causes him too much pain, and he passes out. Elsewhere, the many finalists continue their training, with Naruto finally managing to summon a tadpole with hind-legs. Sasuke, himself, is off training with Kakashi.

56 "Live or Die! Risk It All to Win It All!"

Jiraiya realizes that Naruto's training is taking too long, and decides to use drastic measures. Knowing that Naruto can only tap into the demon fox's chakra during life-or-death situations, Jiraiya takes Naruto to a local chasm and throws him in. Unable to stop himself from falling, Naruto enters his subconsciousness and converses with the demon fox, asking for a donation of its strength. The demon fox complies, and Naruto manages to summon Gamabunta to stop his descent.

57 "He Flies! He Jumps! He Lurks! Chief Toad Appears!"

Gamabunta is angry that he has been summoned in a pit and even angrier that Naruto is sitting on top of his head. Although Naruto informs Gamabunta that he summoned him, Gamabunta does not believe him. Determined to prove himself, Naruto rides atop Gamabunta's head until sunset, while Gamabunta tries to shake him off. Naruto falls shortly before sunset, but he earns Gamabunta's respect in the process. Gamabunta then takes Naruto to the hospital to rest.

58 "Hospital Besieged: The Evil Hand Revealed!"

When Naruto awakens, he finds Shikamaru Nara sitting by his bed, bringing him a basket of fruit. The two locate Gaara elsewhere in the hospital and halt his attempt to assassinate Rock Lee. Gaara explains that his reason for existing is to kill everyone, and reveals that he, like Naruto, was alone for much of his childhood, hated and feared by others for being a host of a tailed beast. Gaara prepares to kill Naruto and Shikamaru as well, but is stopped by the arrival of Might Guy, Lee's sensei, and leaves.

59 "The Final Rounds: Rush to the Battle Arena!"

On the day of the finals, Naruto makes his way to the arena. Along the way, he encounters and converses with Hinata Hyuga. Hinata reassures him of his talents, removing any doubts he had about the finals. Naruto thanks Hinata and goes on his way. As he gets closer to the arena, Naruto meets Konohamaru, who tries to use a number of shortcuts to help Naruto get to the arena faster. The shortcuts end up being ineffective and time consuming, Naruto makes it to the stadium late but can still enter.

60 "Byakugan vs. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Naruto begins his match with Neji Hyuga, who Naruto promised to defeat a month earlier during the preliminaries. Since taijutsu proves ineffective, Naruto creates a large number of shadow clones. Though Neji is able to destroy them all, Naruto creates more.

61 "Ultimate Defense: Zero Blind Spot!"

Naruto creates more shadow clones, and this time manages to sneak up on Neji. Before he can land a blow, Neji uses a powerful defensive technique, then follows up with another technique to block Naruto's chakra. Even though he can no longer fight, Naruto refuses to give up, and berates Neji over how he treated Hinata. Neji then reveals the history of the Hyuga clan and how his father was killed to save the life of his uncle. He reaffirms his belief in the unchanging nature of one's destiny.

62 "A Failure's True Power"

Determined to prove Neji wrong, Naruto draws on the demon fox's strength, surprising many of the older ninja present with his ability to use the fox's chakra. Following an explosive clash between the two, Naruto manages to defeat Neji through the use of a shadow clone as a decoy. After telling Neji to stop putting so much faith in fate, Naruto is declared the winner.

63 "Hit It or Quit It: The Final Rounds Get Complicated!"

When Neji is taken away to recover, his uncle tries to tell Neji the truth of his father's death, saying that he had given up his life to save his brother, not a member of the main house. Neji is unbelieving, but his reading his father's final letter and seeing his uncle bowing for forgiveness causes him to realize the truth. Meanwhile, the match between Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara is postponed due to Sasuke's absence, and the match between Shino Aburame and Kankuro is set to start. Kankuro forfeits, and the next combatants, Shikamaru and Temari, go down to the stadium.

64 "Zero Motivation: The Guy with Cloud Envy!"

Though initially unwilling, Shikamaru fights Temari because he refuses to lose to a girl (and was pushed off the waiting room by Naruto). Shikamaru quickly studies the arena and its elements and comes up with a plan. Despite this, Temari has seen Shikamaru's primary attack in action and knows how it works. However, Shikamaru's strategies enable him to capture Temari with his jutsu, but he forfeits due to his lack of chakra and unwillingness to hit a girl.

65 "Dancing Leaf, Squirming Sand"

With Sasuke and Gaara's match needing to start, the Third Hokage sets a time limit for Sasuke to arrive. Sasuke arrives at the last minute with Kakashi Hatake. Meanwhile, Gaara kills a pair of ninjas who are attempting to fix the match on his way to enter the arena.

66 "Bushy Brow's Jutsu: Sasuke Style!"

Sasuke's enhanced speed and taijutsu skills enable him to bypass Gaara's sand-based defenses with ease, as Rock Lee did previously. Determined to kill Sasuke, Gaara retreats inside a sphere of sand and begins to transform.

67 "Late for the Show, but Ready to Go! The Ultimate Secret Technique is Born!"

To break through Gaara's defense, Sasuke uses his new jutsu, Chidori. With it, Sasuke is able to pierce Gaara's shield, stopping his transformation. At that moment, Kabuto Yakushi uses a genjutsu to put the audience to sleep, signaling the start of the invasion of Konoha.

68 "Zero Hour! The Destruction of the Hidden Leaf Village Begins!"

Revealing himself, Orochimaru takes the Third Hokage hostage as the Sound Four creates a barrier to allow them to fight without interruption. Meanwhile, invading Sound and Sand ninja infiltrate Konoha, and battles begin breaking out across the village. Kankuro and Temari carry Gaara from the village so that he can recover, and Sasuke in pursuit of them. Preoccupied with fending off the invading forces, Kakashi instructs Sakura, who had managed to repel the sleep-inducing genjutsu, to wake Naruto and Shikamaru.

69 "Village in Distress: A New A-Ranked Mission!"

Once Naruto and Shikamaru awaken (the later actually faked sleep), Kakashi summons Pakkun to assist them in tracking down Sasuke. Meanwhile, Orochimaru begins his battle with his former sensei, the Third Hokage. Both display powerful techniques in what the observing ANBU describe as a Kage-level battle. Orochimaru resurrects the First and Second Hokage to fight the Third. The risen Hokage apologize to their former student as Orochimaru prepares them for combat.

70 "A Shirker's Call to Action: Layabout No More!"

As Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun pursue Sasuke, it soon becomes apparent that they're being followed by a group of nine Sound ninja. Shikamaru volunteers to stall them to buy the others time and falls back. Once the Sound ninja get close enough, Shikamaru traps them with his shadow, though he finds that he has only captured eight. Attempting to kill the eight, Shikamaru discovers the ninth's location, but lacks the chakra to trap him. As his shadow recedes and the eight freed ninja prepare to kill Shikamaru, Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru's sensei, arrives and defeats all the Sound ninja, saving Shikamaru.

71 "An Unrivaled Match: Hokage Battle Royale!"

The Hokage battle begins, and all three Kages exchange varying elemental attacks. To help him in the uneven fight, the Third Hokage summons Enma and has him transform into a staff. In response, Orochimaru brings out his Kusanagi sword. The Third is repelled by the First and Second, and he discovers that they cannot be damaged in their present state. Orochimaru then shows the Third the fruits of his quest to gain immortality. Peeling away his face, Orochimaru reveals the face of a girl whose body he has taken; Orochimaru's key to living forever is to take the bodies of others to extend his lifespan.

72 "A Mistake from the Past: A Face Revealed!"

Sasuke finally manages to catch up to Gaara, but Temari stalls him so that Kankuro and Gaara can escape. He easily dispatches her and resumes his chase. At the Hokage battle, Orochimaru reveals his intentions of stealing the body of Sasuke Uchiha. The Third regrets not killing Orochimaru at a prior occasion. Determined to rectify this error, the Hokage musters up his chakra and summons shadow clones, in preparation for a final attack.

73 "Forbidden Secret Technique: Reaper Death Seal!"

As the battles across Konoha rage on, the Third's clones use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal away the souls of the First and Second Hokage. Turning his attention to Orochimaru, the Third begins to seal his soul as well, but is hindered as Orochimaru's Kusanagi stabs him in the back. Meanwhile, Sasuke again catches up with Gaara, and Kankuro prepares to hold Sasuke off while Gaara escapes with his sister. Before they can begin, Shino Aburame arrives to fight Kankuro, allowing Sasuke to proceed.

74 "Astonishing Truth: Gaara's Identity Emerges!"

Leaving Shino to deal with Kankuro, Sasuke continues his pursuit of Gaara. Kankuro attacks Shino with his puppet, using its many hidden weapons to catch Shino by surprise. Shino is able to dodge the attacks through the use of his destruction bugs, but eventually makes the mistake of inhaling some of the puppet's poison gas. As the battle goes on, Shino directs his bugs to Kankuro's location. They consume his chakra once they get there, causing Kankuro to collapse. The battle won, Shino also collapses due to Kankuro's poison. Sasuke catches up with Gaara as Shino's battle ends, and the two resume their match.

75 "Sasuke's Decision: Pushed to the Edge!"

Gaara begins transforming into Shukaku, dramatically increasing his strength and speed. Sasuke uses his Chidori to slice Gaara's arm off, but the pain only makes Gaara more determined and excited to kill Sasuke. Unable to use the Chidori a third time, Sasuke is forced to use his cursed seal so that he can attack Gaara again. This fails to defeat him, and Sasuke collapses due to the use of the cursed seal. As Gaara prepares to inflict the finishing blow, Naruto repels the attack with a kick. Naruto, Sakura, and Pakkun arrive ready to help Sasuke.

76 "An Assassin of the Moonlit Night"

Gaara tries to attack Sasuke again but is covered by Sakura who got in the way, Gaara pushes Sakura out of the way while Naruto grabs Sasuke's body and saves him. Gaara remembers his childhood with his uncle Yashamaru. While Yashamaru had for many years been the only person who seemed to care for Gaara, Yashamaru in reality hated him. Yashamaru then attacked him, forcing Gaara to fight the only person who ever loved him.

77 "Light vs. Dark: The Two Faces of Gaara!"

As Gaara continues to reminisce about Yashamaru, he remembers Yashamaru's statement and the suicide bombing. Though Gaara survived the blast - thanks to the sand shield - he lost the only person who ever cared for him. From that point on, Gaara came to love only himself and started living off of killing others. Returning to the present, Gaara keeps his grip on Sakura with his sand claw choking her to death. Gaara, feeling deranged, asks Naruto to play a game with him saying that if he can beat him, Sakura will be set free. Determined to save Sakura at all costs and win her affection, an enraged Naruto violently attacks Gaara and they engage in battle.

78 "Naruto's Ninja Handbook"

Naruto has been afraid of Gaara ever since he met him. But now, Naruto's determination is awakened truly along with the will of fire. Rejuvenated, Naruto uses techniques from his Ninja Handbook scroll. Naruto unleases new and improved Naruto Uzumaki Barrage consisting of 2,000 shadow clones. About 11-20 of them kick Gaara into the air and punch Gaara on every inch of his body before 2 shadow clones deliver a finishing blow to the barrage. Naruto attempts a 2nd attack twice as powerful, with kicks. To fend off the attack, Gaara completes his Shukaku transformation. Gaara tries to crush Naruto with his sand. Thinking of Sakura and his friends, Naruto uses his own chakra to summon Gamabunta. Gaara forces himself to sleep and allows the spirit of the Shukaku to take over his body. Needing to get close to Shukaku to wake Gaara up, Naruto and Gamabunta transform into a giant nine-tailed fox to fight.