Formation! The Sasuke Retrieval Squad

Dawn, and Tsunade has minutes to act on a betrayal. With every jonin deployed, the rescue falls to children: Shikamaru, freshly minted chunin, drafts a five-man squad from the rookies — Naruto, Choji, Kiba, Neji — and briefs them like the strategist he was born to be. The episode is all formation and foreboding: each member's role mapped, the Sound Four's curse-mark threat assessed, Sakura's tearful handoff of the mission to Naruto. A promise of a lifetime is made at the gate. Five genin chase four monsters.