Summary Edit

Jirōbō dies and Chōji starts walking in the direction that the rest of the Sasuke Retrieval Team went in. Seeing that they have marked their path for him, he collapses, glad to know he has friends that believe in him. Meanwhile, the rest of the team notices that the Sound Four has not set traps for them, meaning they expected Jirōbō to win. Taking advantage of this, Shikamaru transforms into Jirōbō and joins up with the three other Otogakure ninja. However, because he doesn't reprimand Tayuya for her insults like Jirōbō would, his identity is exposed and most of the team is caught in Kidōmaru's webbing. Neji takes advantage of this preoccupation and attacks him from behind.