Naruto: Shippūden

As Sakura cures Ino and Aoba while Sai takes everyone else to the hospital, Naruto becomes aware of the hatred that's taking root in the shinobi. Back at the Land of Hot Water, Sasuke goes with Chino, Nowaki, and Iou to search for the Dark Thunder Group and Sasuke learns that Chino is actually older than him despite appearing as a ten-year-old. Sasuke thinks about his brother and his clan; how Shisui Uchiha gave his life to protect the village, only for Itachi to be blamed, and how Sasuke once dreamed of joining the Konoha Military Police Force as a child. Itachi's sacrifice for the village had been the only thing on Sasuke's mind until he met with a reanimated Itachi, who said he would always love Sasuke before returning to the afterlife. Chino asks Sasuke if he plans to return to Konoha, which Sasuke doesn't reply because he is unsure about it due to the guilt he feels for betraying his friends. She also asks him about his goal of restoring the Uchiha Clan, which he again refuses to answer. They come across the village where Iou's daughter lived in and find it completely destroyed. Sasuke asks why the neighbouring villages aren't helping to support the residents, and Nowaki replies that the other villages are afraid of the Dark Thunder Group. As Iou describes the group's activities, Sasuke notes how similar they are to his old self; someone who turned to hatred and darkness after losing someone he loved dearly. Sasuke admits he still feels some darkness in him, but the purpose of him travelling alone is to repair the damage he caused to himself and prevent another mistake. Chino senses movement underground and suspect it is due to the Dark Thunder Group. They rush back to the village and find that the group is already setting off explosions in the village. Sasuke engages them in battle and saves many of the villagers. Sasuke uses his Sharingan and deduces that many of the enemies are under genjutsu. One of them realises who Sasuke is but is stabbed by Sasuke with his lightning blade but not fatally. Karyū appears and Iou tries to attack him but is defeated. Karyū reveals that he has always wanted to meet Sasuke but he wants to kill him in order to surpass him. The two fight with Karyū using Lava Release, and Sasuke wins by stabbing him with Chidori. While being interrogated, Karyū explains that he was born in a small village outside of Kumogakure to a clan that had an affinity for Lava Release but when his clan was destroyed, Karyū escaped and was found by the Lightning Group, which was operated and worked as a criminal for Kumogakure until the group dissolved after being betrayed by Kirigakure. When he heard about Sasuke attacking the Kage Summit, Karyū started to admire him and formed the Dark Thunder Group to get revenge on those who wronged him, much to Sasuke's dismay, and Sasuke sends a message of the events to Kakashi.

Kakashi quickly responds to Sasuke's message and informs Sasuke of the attack on Konoha. Sasuke remains in the village to continue interrogating Karyū and then turn him over to Konoha. Sasuke thinks about Karyū's story about gathering other rogue ninjas to get revenge on those they despise and forcing a genjutsu on other shinobi to fulfil his goals. He spots a fire breaking out in the house where Karyū is being kept and learns from Chino and Nowaki that Iou set the house on fire to kill Karyū. When Sasuke confronts him, Iou says he did it to avenge his daughter's murder and he doesn't trust Konoha to punish Karyū because of the village's reputation of forgiving criminals. Iou's words make Sasuke remember the vengeful person he once was.