The Sasuke Retrieval Arc is the seventh story arc in the Naruto series and the conclusion of the first half of it.
Arc Length: Chapters 172-238
Short Summary
Sasuke, feeling he's not getting stronger fast enough, defects from Konoha to join Orochimaru. Naruto along with a team assembled by Shikamaru, set out to stop him but face opposition in the form of Orochimaru's elite guard, The Sound Four.
Long Summary
After succeeding in getting Tsunade to take the Hokage position. Naruto goes to visit Sasuke who is still recovering after the Itachi Incident. Since encountering his brother, Sasuke has become resentful of Naruto's successes and challenges him to a quick match which is interrupted by Kakashi. Kakashi tries to convinces Sasuke to give up on his revenge against his brother. But no sooner then he leaves him to mull it over. Orochimaru's henchmen, the Sound Four, arrive and attack him trouncing him easily. They offer Sasuke the chance to get stronger if agree to go with them to Orochimaru. Sasuke accepts and leaves the village, despite a plea from Sakura to stay. Naruto is soon informed of this and he's put into a team selected by Shikamaru which include Kiba, Choji and Neji to bring Sasuke back. As they prepare to leave. Naruto promises to Sakura he'll bring Sasuke home.
The retrieval team quickly catch up to the Sound Four, forcing one of them to stay behind in order to stall the retrieval team. Likewise Shikamaru's group drop off one by one to combat their respective opponents, though each battle is made difficult since the Sound Four have a Curse Seal which gives them a power boost. Choji battles Jirobo in a battle of strength and manages to win by eating dangerous food pill which expand his power. Neji fights Kidomaru, only barely winning by letting himself get hit by his opponent's arrows in order to locate him and deliver the killing blow. Kiba is separated from the group after getting knocked into a canyon by Sakon who reveals that he shares the body with his twin brother Ukon. Kiba and his dog, Akamaru, fight valiantly but are no match for them and are forced to retreat. While Shikamaru faces Tayuya in a battle of cat and mouse. He manages to get close to use his Shadow Jutsu but as his chakra reserves have been depleted during the battle, her curse seal proves too strong to deliver the killing blow.
Naruto continues chasing after Sasuke whose being escorted by a sudden fifth member, Kimimaro, who is terminally ill and was bed-ridden but headed off to help the Sound Four out of his devotion to Orochimaru. Naruto fights against him but his clone jutsu proves no match against his taijutsu and his kekkei genkai. Just as Naruto is about to be overwhelmed, Rock Lee, who was recovering from surgery after his battle with Gaara, appears to save him. He allows Naruto to go ahead while he fight Kimimaro and indeed, after drinking some liquor (which he mistook for medicine), he manages to bat around Kimimaro for a bit. But Kimimaro regains the advantage thanks to this kekkei genkai. Just as Kiba, Shikamaru and Lee are about to be killed. Rescue comes in the form of the Sand Siblings who Tsunade had called for backup (they also do it out of atonement for the earlier invasion). Kankuro swiftly defeats Sakon and Ukon. Tenmari uses her wind attack to drop the forest they were fighting in on top of Tayuya and Gaara proves to be Kimimaro's equal in battle but Kimimaro dies from his illness before he can preform a fatal sneak attack on Gaara.
Eventually Naruto catches up to Sasuke on the border of the country. Despite pleas for him to turn back, Sasuke refuses and thus the two battle. With each upping the ante by pulling out their respective power from the fox demon and curse seal. Eventually both go One-Winged Angel and strike one another in a final clash. However when the dust settles, Sasuke proves to be the victor albeit heavily injured. As he stands over the unconscious Naruto, he remember Itachi's words of killing his friend to upgrade his kekei genkei. However, despite the opportunity, he refuses to follow Itachi's path and proceeds to leave the village, leaving behind his head band. Kakashi and a few ninjas from the Leaf eventually come across the retrieval team with Kakashi arriving only seconds after the Naruto and Sasuke battle has ended. To which he takes Naruto back to be healed.
Naruto eventually awakens and apologizes to Sakura for his failure, vowing to make good on it someday but knowing he must get stronger. Thus when Jiraya comes to visit, he accepts his offer to travel with him in order to train. Sakura, likewise wanting to be useful, asks Tsunade for training while Sasuke of course comes under the tutelage of Orochimaru.
With that, the first series closes out with Naruto and Jiraya leaving the village with Naruto swearing to return and fulfill his vow of bringing Sasuke home.
The Sasuke Retrival Arc has the following tropes.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Sasuke defeats Naruto and successfully reaches Orochimaru.
- Bad with the Bone: Kimimaro has a very unique kekkai genkai that allows him to manipulate his own bones however he wishes. This includes being able launch bone fragments from the tips of his fingers like bullets and even 'rip out his own spine to use as a sword.
- Big Damn Heroes: Lee pulls one off by saving Naruto and the Sand Siblings coming to the rescue of Lee, Shikamaru and Kiba.
- Bittersweet Ending: Despite all the victories against the Sound Four, the mission ends in utter failure with most of the team heavily injured and Sasuke having exited the Leaf Village of his own violation, becoming a Missing-nin. The only good that came out of it was that they delayed Sasuke long enough that Orochimaru had to switch bodies early before he could arrive. A process that takes three years to do again. On the upside, however, the Retrieval Team did survive and Naruto uses this experience as incentive to grow stronger and go train. With Sakura likewise following suit.
- Body Horror: Comes with being able to manipulate your own bones like with Kimimaro. Especially all the crunching sounds they make and how they exit from his body...
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Sound Four against Sasuke, Kimimaro against thousands of Naruto clones and the Sand Siblings against their opponents.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Akimichi Special Food Pills are this. They grant incredible Chakra and strength, but also increase the user's metabolism. Eating all three is almost always a guaranteed death through starvation.
- Face–Heel Turn: Sasuke decides to defect from Konaha and join Orochimaru believing that it is the only way he will get strong enough to kill Itachi.
- Grand Finale: Of Part I.
- Handicapped Badass: Despite slowly dying and in a state where it's considered even impossible to move his body, Kimimaro shows why he was the leader of the Sound Four by completely dominating Naruto, Lee (except under the influence), and Gaara.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Happens to both Neji and Naruto, courtesy of Kidomaru's spider-silk arrows and Sasuke's Chidori. Both survive the experience, Naruto with his healing factor and Neji thanks to emergency surgery after he's recovered.
- Killed Off for Real: The Sound Four all meet their ends in this arc.
- Page-Turn Surprise: The reader turns the page and find a gloriously awesome full page of Rock Lee roundhouse kicking the bad guy.
- Self-Disposing Villain: Kimimaro. He powers through virtually all of Gaara's attacks including Sand Coffin and Sand Burial. But it's his own illness that ultimately does him in.
- Superpower Lottery: Kimimaro's bone manipulating kekkai genkai is an extremely powerful ability to have. It's more durable than even Gaara's sand and has tons of versatility that Kimimaro puts to good use. Hell, it's even tough to even damage the guy who can make a bone shield inside of his body and even launch off shards of bones for an effective distance. It helps that his power is from his long-dead clan which it rarely manifests in in. There was a reason why Orochimaru originally wanted Kimimaro's powers but his illness prevented that. Kimimaro even had to be killed off by his own illness since it was clear Gaara and Lee couldn't beat him straight on.
- Villainous Valor: Right before Kimimaro was about to impale Lee, Lee stops him only asking if he could take his prescribed medicine. Kimimaro then stands by to let Lee do just that.
- Wham Episode: Sasuke's official Face–Heel Turn by siding with Orochimaru.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: What Temari does when she takes over the fight against Tayuya.
