Episode Summaries

Sasuke and Suigetsu head towards the Southern Hideout, one of Orochimaru's bases, where the prisoners are being guarded by a warden named Karin. Sasuke tells Suigetsu that his plan is to recruit Karin for his team. Suigetsu asks why he is putting together a team and why he would want Karin on it, as he finds her unpleasant and difficult to deal with. Sasuke responds that he had been thinking of forming a team for quite some time now as it would help him further his goals, and tells Suigetsu that Karin has a special ability which makes her unique. At the hideout, Karin manages to sense their chakra before the duo arrive.

Suigetsu uses his Kubikiribōchō to break down the door of the hideout and the pair enter, walking by prisoners, who were discussing whether the rumors of Orochimaru's death were true. After seeing Sasuke walk inside without Orochimaru, they begin to believe in the validity of the rumors, although some refuse to believe it. Sasuke and Suigetsu run into Karin, and they decide to talk in a separate room. Karin refuses Sasuke's offer, claiming that her place is to be the warden of the prison and asks whether Sasuke had truly killed Orochimaru. Sasuke confirms her doubt, and Suigetsu states that word of Orochimaru's death should have already reached the prison and Sasuke reveals that he had noticed freshly dug graves outside as he was walking in; Suigetsu pieces together that Karin had a spy located in the cells and was killing off any prisoners who were discussing Orochimaru's fate. Sasuke then asks Suigetsu to free the prisoners; as Suigetsu leaves, Karin locks herself inside the room with Sasuke.

Suigetsu gets to the cells, where he promises to free all the prisoners so long as they spread the word that Sasuke took down Orochimaru and subsequently freed them, to which the prisoners hastily agree. Inside the room, Karin removes her glasses and changes her tone to a seductive voice, attempting to nuzzle next to Sasuke and agreeing to join his team. She recalls their first encounter, in which Orochimaru had tasked Sasuke to retrieve escaped prisoners and had ordered Karin to use her special chakra sensing ability in order to assist him. Karin had noticed that Sasuke had not killed anyone, and Sasuke had responded that there was only one person whom he wanted to kill. Karin noticed Sasuke's chakra at those words and was excited by it, and ended up distracted. When her distraction leads her to fall off a tree, Sasuke saved her and killed a prisoner who was attempting to use the chance to take out Karin.

As Sasuke tells Karin not to get too close to him, Suigetsu uses his Water Release: Great Water Arm Technique along with his Kubikiribōchō to break down the door. Sasuke alerts Suigetsu that Karin had accepted his proposal, but with the arrival of Suigetsu, Karin puts her glasses back on and reverts to her old, cold tone, telling them that she had never agreed to do such a thing. However, with no prisoners to keep watch over and her growing attraction towards Sasuke, she tells them that she is headed in the same direction as they are and thus would be joining them for part of the way. The three then set off to recruit the final member of the team — Jūgo, who is shackled in the Northern Hideout.