The Akatsuki Makes Its Move

The Akatsuki stop being a rumor and become a campaign. In the Hidden Sand, Gaara — now Kazekage, the village that once feared him now led by him — senses an intruder and meets Deidara, the explosive-clay artist, in the night sky above his own people. The episode intercuts Gaara's lonely defense of his village with Konoha learning the organization is hunting the nine jinchuriki by name. Gaara's sand shields the Sand at terrible cost; the first tailed beast on the Akatsuki's list is one of Naruto's first true friends.