Orochimaru is forced to flee the Hidden Leaf after Third Hokage Hiruzen exposes his illegal experiments. Danzo, fearing that Orochimaru's capture would lead to the exposure of his own involvement in the experiments, sends out one of his men to help the rogue ninja.

Yukimi leaves the village to see the outside world, taking "Tenzo" with her. Kakashi tries to convince the two to return so that he can set a trap to capture Orochimaru, who is after Yukimi's blood. But Yamato, who has grown attached to Yukimi, abandons his original mission to protect his friend.