The Konoha Crush: The Day the Village Almost Fell

Orochimaru's Plot

The invasion arc covers thirteen episodes of the first series, from 68 to 80. Episode 68 aired in Japan on January 28, 2004, and episode 80 on April 21, 2004. The sequence adapts chapters 116 to 138 of the manga and contains no filler episodes. Everything is set off in the middle of the Chunin Exams final, during the match between Sasuke and Gaara, in a stadium packed with civilians and dignitaries.

The plan is Orochimaru's. A former student of the Third Hokage, passed over for the succession and then exposed for his human experiments, he left Konoha and founded Otogakure, the Hidden Sound Village. His target is not only the village, it is his former master. He needs striking power, though: he secures an alliance with Sunagakure, the Hidden Sand Village.

Sunagakure has its own reasons for accepting. The daimyo of the Land of Wind has cut its military budget and hands more and more missions to Konoha, seen as cheaper. The Hidden Sand Village considers itself impoverished and humiliated. The asset it brings to the alliance is named Gaara: host of the One-Tailed beast, he is to unleash Shukaku in the heart of Konoha at the agreed signal.

The trap has closed before the first blow is even struck. Orochimaru killed the Fourth Kazekage on the road to the finals and has worn his face ever since, seated in the official stand next to the Third Hokage. Sunagakure believes it is serving its leader; it is in fact serving a rogue ninja. The signal itself takes the form of a genjutsu: feathers fall over the stands and put the crowd to sleep, while three giant snakes break through the village wall.

The Third Hokage's Duel

The false Kazekage seizes Hiruzen Sarutobi and drags him onto a nearby roof. Four Otogakure ninja, later identified as the Sound Four, take position at the four corners and raise the Four Violet Flames Formation. The barrier burns anyone who touches it: the Anbu who try to get in are reduced to ashes. The duel plays out behind closed doors, before the helpless eyes of the village.

The Third is no longer young, but he is nicknamed the Professor and the God of Shinobi. He summons Enma, the Monkey King, who turns into an adamantine staff. Orochimaru answers with the Edo Tensei, the Reanimation Jutsu: three coffins rise out of the roof. Hiruzen only has time to block one of them, the one marked with the number four, which we later learn held the Fourth Hokage.

Out of the other two step Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, the First and Second Hokage, controlled by seals driven into the back of the neck. The founder of the village turns against his own successor. Episode 71 is built on that image: three Hokage face to face, two of whom no longer belong to themselves. The Third understands very quickly that he cannot win this fight.

Episode 73 is the one with the Reaper Death Seal (Shiki Fujin), a forbidden technique that summons the Death God and costs its user his life. Hiruzen first tears out the souls of the two reanimated Hokage, then turns on Orochimaru. His strength fails him: he takes only his opponent's arms. Orochimaru survives, permanently stripped of ninjutsu. Episode 72 had given the key to this waste in a flashback: years earlier, the Third had caught his student among his test subjects and had not found the resolve to execute him.

Naruto Against Gaara

The second front moves outside the walls. Gaara, wounded by Sasuke's Chidori, flees with Temari and Kankuro, and Sasuke gives chase. Kakashi then assigns Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru an A-rank mission: catch up with the Sand team. He leaves them Pakkun, his summoned dog, to follow the trail.

Episode 74 drops the revelation that changes everything. Gaara is a jinchuriki, exactly like Naruto: Shukaku was sealed inside him before he was even born. Episode 76 goes back to the boy's childhood. Yashamaru, his maternal uncle, had been ordered to assassinate him to test his stability, and blew himself up after telling him that his mother had never loved him. It is that night that Gaara carves the kanji for “love” into his forehead.

The duel turns when Gaara completes his transformation. He becomes Shukaku in full, then puts himself to sleep on purpose to let the Tailed Beast take the controls, the only way to unleash its full power. Naruto answers with a summoning: he brings out Gamabunta, the chief toad, who agrees to fight and slices off one of the sand monster's arms.

The conclusion, however, does not come down to a technique. Gamabunta and Naruto use the Combination Transformation to take on the appearance of the Nine-Tails for the length of a charge, and it is a simple headbutt that wakes Gaara up. Drained, unable to stand, the two boys drag themselves toward each other. Naruto explains that he fights for the people who matter to him. Gaara apologizes, the first word of regret in his entire life.

What the Invasion Changes

The Sand breaks off first. Deprived of its master weapon and without real support from Otogakure, Baki orders the retreat and tasks Temari and Kankuro with carrying Gaara away. Sunagakure discovers the truth shortly after: Baki comes upon the bodies of the Fourth Kazekage and his escort. The village realizes it has waged a war on the orders of a dead man.

Konoha pays a heavy price. Entire districts are destroyed, losses among the jonin and the Anbu are heavy, and the village loses its Hokage. Episode 80, aired on April 21, 2004, is devoted almost entirely to the Third's funeral. Konohamaru refuses to cry in front of the others; Naruto takes up the Will of Fire as his own that the old man had passed on to him.

The seat stays vacant, and a village without a Kage becomes prey. The advisors turn to Jiraiya, who refuses and puts forward another name: Tsunade. The next arc, from episode 81 on, is devoted entirely to finding her. In the same movement, Akatsuki starts taking an open interest in Naruto.

Orochimaru, for his part, comes out alive but crippled. His sealed arms condemn him to look for a new body, and he has already chosen it: Sasuke, marked with the Curse Mark since the Forest of Death. The entire hunt for Sasuke stems from this wound. On the Sand side, the humiliation turns into rapprochement: the Kazekage's three children will come back to lend Konoha a hand, and the alliance born of this betrayal will last.

Summary Table

FAQ

• How many episodes does the Konoha invasion arc have?
  Thirteen, episodes 68 to 80 of the first series, aired in Japan between January 28 and April 21, 2004. The arc adapts chapters 116 to 138 of the manga and contains no filler episodes.
• Why did Sunagakure attack Konoha?
  For two reasons. The daimyo of the Land of Wind had cut Sunagakure's military budget and was handing its missions to Konoha, which fed an economic resentment. Above all, the village was obeying a Kazekage who no longer existed: Orochimaru had killed the Fourth Kazekage and taken on his appearance.
• Did the Third Hokage kill Orochimaru?
  No. The Reaper Death Seal allowed him to seal the souls of the two reanimated Hokage, but his strength failed him before he could take Orochimaru's. He sealed only his arms, which stripped the rogue ninja of all ninjutsu without killing him.
• Who does Orochimaru reanimate with the Edo Tensei?
  Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, the First and Second Hokage. A third coffin had been prepared, but Hiruzen managed to interrupt its summoning; we later learn that it held the Fourth Hokage.
• How does Naruto overcome Gaara?
  Facing Gaara fully transformed into Shukaku, Naruto summons Gamabunta, who slices off one of the creature's arms. The Combination Transformation into the Nine-Tails then allows him to reach Gaara's sleeping body, which Naruto wakes with a headbutt, canceling the transformation.

In summary

The Konoha Invasion is the series' first point of no return. In thirteen episodes, Naruto loses the last adult who protected him, discovers that another child carries exactly the same burden as he does, and sees his village go from backdrop to battlefield. Nothing that follows can be explained without this arc: the search for Tsunade, Sasuke's drift, the rebuilding of an alliance with the Sand. Orochimaru failed to destroy Konoha, but he changed its trajectory for good.