Exhausted, Sakura drops to her knees as the group realizes they haven’t moved any closer to the tower. Kabuto points to the large bug Naruto killed several hours previously. They realize they’re caught in an illusory technique and the enemy may attack soon. Sure enough, several rain nin clones appear.
Naruto attacks, taking out a clone. It liquefies and divides itself to create a new head & body from the waist up. When the double headed clone attacks Naruto, Sasuke counters with a kunai. The clone retaliates by throwing one back at him, and Sasuke suddenly is paralyzed. Kabuto rescues him just in time. Soon, Sasuke’s seal becomes active and he cringes in pain.
The group is puzzled by Kabuto’s injury. Does that mean clones might actually be real? Sasuke and Kabuto are certain it’s just an illusion technique and the real enemies are hiding somewhere in the forest with a real kunai. According to Kabuto’s data, those who are weak in close combat prefer to attack like this. The real enemy won’t appear until they are too weak to move.
The clones attack with kunais as Naruto and co. dodge their attacks. Naruto decides he wants a go at taking out the clones. The enemy won’t be able to attack during the time it takes for them to return to normal. Kabuto warns him against using his chakra, but Naruto ignores him and does Shadow Replication. The other three soon join the attack. After a period of fighting, they tire and rain nin, Mubi, stops his illusory technique. The three rain nins appear, one still pissed that Sasuke wounded his shoulder, and vows revenge.
Naruto and co. then appear behind the nins. Naruto explains that he used his shadow replication technique to pretend to be his teammates. When Naruto undid his replications, the three others hid. Naruto then uses the last of his chakra to take the three out. Everyone is impressed with Naruto’s chakra stamina.
The rain nins get up and prepare Ninpou, Oboro Bunshin no Jutsu! (Hazy Replication) to create a clone army. Naruto is certain that if they’re just replications, he can take them out by hitting the clones. Sasuke tries to use his Sharingan, but pain shoots down his neck. He wonders what’s wrong. He decides to use the last of his chakra to see through the clone technique, but as he does, his seal activates and he drops to his knees in pain. As Naruto looks over, a clone attacks, and Kabuto saves him. Sasuke then explains that the real one isn’t in the group of replicas.
The rain nins then realize that Naruto’s out of chakra and attack. Sasuke uses Sharingan again to see that the real ones conceal themselves using an earth element technique and attack from beneath the replicas. They then attack Kabuto, who drops to the ground. Naruto does a side kick to take the three down and save Kabuto.
After the battle, Naruto ties up the rain nin team and finds a Scroll of Heaven. They then make it to the tower just in time. Sasuke is certain there is more to Kabuto than what he seems. Meanwhile, Kabuto hands over his card with all Naruto’s data from the Second Exam to Orichimaru, when it is revealed that Kabuto is a spy from Hidden Sound Village.
Once inside the tower, Sakura points to a scroll on the wall: “If you do not possess Heaven, gain knowledge and be prepared. If you do not possess Earth, run through the fields and seek strength. If you open both Heaven and Earth scrolls, dangerous paths turn into safe paths. This is the secret of something… it should lead you on your way.” Sakura decides the wall scroll is referring to the two they’ve found and she and Naruto open each of theirs cautiously.