We take a turn to see Orochimaru who is in immense pain and bleeding profusely Kabuto tells Orochimaru that he will die unless he takes over someone else's body, even offering his own, but Orochimaru claims that Sasuke is the only vessel he will take. But laments on not having Lincoln's body as it seemed to be even better than Sasuke's, probably or even better than Itachi but he can't have him due to his unwillingness to join him and he knew how strong he was he had no choice but to settle for the "backup". Kabuto, however, tells Orochimaru that it doesn't look like The Sound Four Will bring Sasuke to Oto in time, and that he must take a new vessel quickly before he dies. Kabuto then releases all of the prisoners who he and Orochimaru experimented on, and promises to release only one of them. The prisoners then fight each other to the death so that the sole survivor may be granted freedom. Kabuto then goes to check on Kimimaro, a loyal follower of Orochimaru who is terminally ill and thus bed-ridden. It is revealed that Kimimaro was the leader of what used to be known as the Sound Five, and that he was to be the vessel for Orochimaru, until he was afflicted with his disease. As he no longer has any purpose for Orochimaru as his vessel, Kimimaro believes his existence has lost all meaning; however, he finds himself a chance to redeem his existence when he decides to devote his remaining lifespan to ensure that Sasuke, Orochimaru's future vessel, is brought to Otogakure.

Back with the Sasuke Recovery Team they had managed to catch up to the last two members of the Sound Four Sakon/Ukon and Tayuya. While stopping Kiba and Akamaru state that they should wait till it's dark and then ambush them. Lincoln says "While a sound plan it is too risky. You all have no sense of direction in the dark even with your heightened senses and Akamaru we'd just be fumbling in the dark while catching their attention could work it would give away our positions and give them the advantage and I have a plan that involves Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique."

Lincoln would begin to explain his plan but Kiba would try to protest his plan, making Naruto and Shikamaru tell his to quiet down and that Lincoln gave a sound order and has a plan as he is the Leader and they have to trust him.

Back with Orochimaru all prisoners had fought to the death the winner was decided,Gen'yūmaru, the sole surviving prisoner, is chosen to be Orochimaru's new vessel. Orochimaru promises to grant him one wish before taking his body, and Gen'yūmaru asks if Orochimaru could stop performing experiments on the members of his clan. Orochimaru gives his word to Gen'yūmaru before using his Living Corpse Reanimation technique to take over Gen'yūmaru body. At the same time, Kimimaro leaves Otogakure to retrieve Sasuke in hopes of bringing him back to Lord Orochimaru as a parting Gift.

Back with the two remaining members Tayuya, Sakon and Ukon run through the forests, they wonder what is taking Jirōbō and Kidōmaru so long to catch up. They stop after Tayuya notices a kick from within the container Sasuke is in. Before she can check on it, she spots Naruto and Lincoln watching them from a tree branch. As she guards the container, Sakon and Ukon try to take down Naruto, only to be ambushed by Kiba and Shikamaru. As Sakon and Ukon deal with those two, they both prepare Rasengans.

As Sakon "kills" Shikamaru and Kiba it is revealed that they were only transformed clones as he sees the Rasengans he grabs their hands ready to dispel the Jutsu Lincoln takes out his blade and cuts off his arms as the Rasengan slams into them sending flying as Tayuya comes and strikes both of them with kunais but reveals them both to be a Shadow Clone and Wind Clone respectively as the wind blows her back giving her scars in the process she this leaves the barrel with Sasuke unguarded so they go to grab it only for Tayuya to try and run after them but gets trapped in the real Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Technique. Sakon and Ukon launches at them but is unable to change his trajectory which makes him crash into Tayuya as Shikamaru undoes his Shadow Possession in order to not get hurt.

They try to go after them again but the real Kiba sends them back with a Passing Fang as Naruto and Lincoln grab the barrel and begin to leave with the Recovery Team. Having enough Sakon and Ukon begin to pursue them with their curse seal activated as their arms regenerate. They begin to pursue them trying to reach both Lincoln and Naruto as they are the ones carrying Sasuke. While they are being pursued Shikamaru makes up a plan to begin setting up traps with Kiba and Akamaru using Explosive Tags. After getting hit by one, Sakon retaliates by trapping Akamaru, who is standing next to an explosive tag. Kiba jumps down to save Akamaru and Sakon heads after Kiba. As the tag explodes, Sakon,Ukon, Kiba and Akamaru all plummet off the end of a cliff. The remaining Recovery members try to assess the situation but are stopped when Tayuya comes after them. She stops however noticing a figure appears behind them, Lincoln senses him and goes to slash him but is countered by a bone as he attempts to hold him off more bones shoot out of his body causing the whole Team to move a he does a spinning motion kicking the barrel away then grabbing it landing next to Tayuya.

She is surprised that Kimimaro is here she thought he was sick but her thoughts are stopped with him telling her that she has disappointed Orochimaru, he wishes to kill her; however, he tells her he will refrain from doing so as she has a duty to perform. Taking Sasuke with him, Kimimaro instructs Tayuya to eliminate Lincoln, Naruto and Shikamaru.

Seeing as they cannot let Sasuke get far Shikamaru offers to stay while both of them go Lincoln and Naruto would be against it but Shikamaru counters that they are probably the only ones who have a chance at bringing Sasuke back.They have no choice but to go along as they rush at Tayuya as both Lincoln and Naruto jump over her landing behind her and running in the same direction as Kimimaro as Shikamaru stays to fight her. Shikamaru attempts to trap her using his Shadow Imitation Technique, but Tayuya manages to avoid being caught just in time, with the two they are rushing through the trees catching up to Kimimaro as their anger begins to boil towards the Sound Four and Kimimaro as The Nine Tails Chakra would begin to release as Wood would slowly begin to for around Lincoln.

As they manage to catch up with Kimimaro in a clearing the latter is surprised at them but keeps a neutral expression. They demand why Orochimaru wants Sasuke and Kimimaro explains that Orochimaru wishes to live forever; while his soul can live forever, his body cannot, therefore Orochimaru must need new host bodies to use as vessels. Angered that Orochimaru is planning to take over Sasuke's body Naruto with the use of the Nine Tails Chakra creates a thousand shadow clones while Lincoln gets into his moon stance his Sharingan active as he gives off this dark expression as they are ready to fight.

Back in the forest, Tayuya mocks Lincoln's leadership, believing he has sacrificed a member of his team every time they engage one of the Sound Four one-on-one. Shikamaru states that he does not believe any of his team members are dead, and tells Tayuya not to insult him or any of them stating that Lincoln already thinks poorly of himself for letting that happen but knows to not quit and he will do the same. Tayuya is angered and responds by summoning three giants, whom she controls with her Demonic Flute causing Shikamaru to become nervous but stands tall ready to fight just like his comrades. At the same time, Kiba is fighting Sakon and Ukon who pushes Kiba and Akamaru away telling them they should give up but they just stand up as they get into their fighting style and say they don't know the meaning of it as they rush to the brothers.

All the battles are underway but who will prevail the Recovery Team or The Sound.

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TO BE CONTINUED...