Naruto - Season 3 / Year 2004

Sasuke finally catches up to Gara and faces him only to witness Gara's true monstrous form.

Sasuke and Gara face off each other, and while Sasuke manages to hurt Gara, his chakra is not strong enough to keep using the special lightning attack for more than once or twice per day. At the end of his strength, the curse caused by earlier Orochimaru's bite on his neck kicks in, and Gara sees the opening to finish him, only to be thwarted by Naruto's sudden appearance.

When Naruto sees Gara he decides to flee, but Gara is too fast and tries to kill Sasuke. Sakura protects him which stops Gara as he finds himself tormented again by seeing someone risking their life to protect another. Through flashback we see more of Gara as a child and how meanness of others turned him toward the path of darkness and hatred.

Naruto wins the fight against Gara by a thread. 3rd hokage doesn't manage to win battle against Orochimaru, but instead opts to take his power to use hands, and thus make jutsu signs, rendering him harmless and putting an end to his ambitions of power and conquests.

Jiraya and Naruto look on as Sasuke takes on Itachi alone. However, when the young ninja is severely outclassed, Jiraya is forced to step in. Itachi and Kisame try to flee, but Jiraya isn't about to let them get away so easily.

Jiraiya gives Naruto the task of rotating the water in a balloon until it pops. Naruto is confident that he will accomplish this stage of the training by night, but soon learns it's not as easy as expected.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura decide to find out what Kakashi looks under the mask and devise all sorts of plans to accomplish that.