Episodes 95-96 After witnessing Naruto’s mastery of the Rasengan, Orochimaru

decides that Naruto might be a potential threat after all, and abandons his fight with
Jiraiya to finish off the unconscious genin. Jiraiya tries to stop him, but Orochimaru
takes advantage of the distraction to grab Jiraiya’s leg with his tongue and slam him
into the ground, taking him out of the fight for a while. Orochimaru then uses his
tongue to launch himself through the air towards Naruto, his sword Kusanagi
extended from his mouth. Although her body is still shaking uncontrollably from her
hemophobia, Tsunade manages to shield Naruto, taking the sword through her chest.
Orochimaru retracts the sword and says that he needs to kill Naruto, not her, but
Tsunade refuses to budge, even as Orochimaru continues to slash and stab with his
sword. The need to protect the boy who reminds her so much of her deceased loved
ones and whom she believes to be the future of Konoha gives Tsunade the strength to
finally overcome her hemophobia, allowing her to stand up and kick an astonished
Orochimaru a fair distance away. Orochimaru regains his composure, knowing that
even if Tsunade has overcome her fear, the many wounds she has accumulated will
keep her from fighting. However, the medical ninja uses a jutsu of her own invention,
Ninpo Souzo Saisei (Divine Restoration) which releases the diamond-shaped reserve
of chakra on her forehead to force the cells of her body to divide and form new cells.
Although doing so shortens her life span, it causes her wounds to quickly heal.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya manages to get back on his feet. Resolving to defend Konoha with
her life, Tsunade begins to cast Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique). Facing
both Tsunade and Jiraiya as his opponents, Orochimaru takes a risk and retreats to
Kabuto’s position to use his subordinate’s blood and hand seals to summon the
rebellious Manda, a giant snake. Tsunade summons Katsyuu the colossal slug, and
Jiraiya, who has finally gotten over Tsunade’s poison, summons Bunta the boss frog.
Shizune finishes healing the wounds she received from Kabuto and prepares to re-
enter the battle, but Katsyuu separates a small part of herself to form a smaller slug at
Tsunade’s request. The detachment then carries the unconscious Naruto to Shizune
and tells her to stay out of the battle for now. Shizune complies and remains a
spectator to the epic three-way clash between the Sannin who are mounted atop their
summoned partners. Katsyuu starts things off with Zesshi Nensan (Sticky Mouth
Acid), spitting a giant glob of acid at Manda. The giant snake dodges behind a rock
and quickly charges up to Katsyuu, coiling around the slug to hold her in place for a
poisonous bite to the head. Bunta intercepts the bite by stabbing at Manda’s head with
his sword, but the evil snake dodges the sword and grabs the flat of the blade with his
mouth, keeping Bunta at a deadlock. Meanwhile, Manda snake tightens his coils
around Katsyuu, trying to crush her to death. Katsyuu breaks free by splitting her
entire body into a thousand smaller slugs, moving a fair distance away to reform. His
lower coils free, Manda manages to wrest the sword out of Bunta’s hands, who jumps
away. Manda flings the sword at Bunta who jumps away again, but the sword
continues on toward Katsyuu, whom had just finished reforming. Luckily, the sword
falls short just in front of the slug’s face. “Bunta, give me oil!” Jiraiya shouts as he
forms the hand seals for Katon Goukakyu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball Technique). “All
right!” Bunta replies just before he spits up a giant spray of oil, which Jiraiya ignites
with flame to form the Katon Gamayu Endan (Frog Oil Fireball). The giant blaze
catches Manda, whose serpentine form can be seen to melt in the flames. Once the
smoke clears, however, it is revealed to be only a cast-off skin. Manda, who had
burrowed underground to avoid the fireball, tunnels towards Bunta and launches up
out of the ground at him. Bunta catches Manda before getting hit, but it turns out that
he has only caught the snake’s tail end. Manda bursts out of the ground behind Bunta
to bite him, but Tsunade comes flying out of the air using her monstrous strength to
wield Bunta’s giant sword, stabbing Manda through the mouth and pinning him to the
ground. Orochimaru realizes that he cannot depend on Manda alone to win, and
launches his tongue at Tsunade where she stands atop the hilt of Bunta’s sword. The
tongue wraps around Tsunade’s neck as Orochimaru attempts to separate her head
from her shoulders. However, Tsunade manages to wrest free of the stranglehold,
seizing the tongue and pulling Orochimaru up towards her. Orochimaru meets
Tsunade’s fist at the top and gets sent flying back down, but Tsunade keeps her hold
upon his tongue and swings him up into the air. She then jumps after him to deliver a
series of blows, finally kicking Orochimaru back down towards the ground.
Unrelenting, Tsunade lands back on the sword hilt and catches Orochimaru’s tongue
once again to pull him up for yet another punch. However, the side effects of her
regeneration jutsu are starting to weaken her, and her punch falls short. Both Sannin
pause for a moment, out of breath. Orochimaru taunts Tsunade for letting her
advantage slip away, but Tsunade starts getting her second wind and punches
Orochimaru down to the ground. She then chases after him, punching him over and
over again. Orochimaru, his arms paralyzed, cannot do much besides run and try to
stay on his feet as Tsunade pummels him. Finally, Orochimaru spies an opening and
manages to grab Tsunade with his tongue, holding her arms to her sides. He then
unsheathes Kusanagi and leaps at Tsunade, but Tsunade catches the flat of the blade
between her feet and pushes Orochimaru away, breaking free of his tongue. The
medical ninja continues to land blow after blow, but Orochimaru somehow continues
to stay on his feet. Both shinobi on the brink of exhaustion, Tsunade uses a jutsu that
accumulates chakra to her fist, granting her use of her monstrous strength again for a
short moment. Orochimaru, barely able to stand, is unable to dodge the punch that
sends him flying up and crashing into Bunta’s sword to land stunned on Manda’s
back. Manda decides that he’s had enough and disappears, leaving Kabuto and
Orochimaru behind. To Tsunade and Jiraiya’s surprise, Orochimaru gets back up on
his feet; his youthful body has much more stamina than the other Sannin expected of
the fifty-year old ninja. Orochimaru decides that he is unable to win this battle and
retreats by using a jutsu to merge into the ground, proclaiming that he will recover the
use of his arms in another way and return to crush Konoha. Tsunade, exhausted, and
Jiraiya, his legs and ribs broken from when Orochimaru had thrown him into the
ground earlier, are unable to stop him and are forced to let Orochimaru and Kabuto
escape, ending the battle.