Sakura continues to nurse Sasuke and Naruto while they’re passed out. Sakura tells her herself that she cannot fall sleep because she must protect them. Naruto and Sasuke then wake up and tell Sakura thanks for taking care of them. Sakura notices Orochimaru in the bushes and he tells her now she will know what it’s like to run away from a predator. Orochimaru stretches his neck out and his head turns into a snake. Sakura tries to tell Sasuke and Naruto but all their voices are gone. Sakura then wakes up and realizes that it was a dream. She hears something in the bushes and draws her kunai. When she turns around she sees that it is a squirrel. The squirrel runs towards her and then she throws her kunai at it.
One of the sound ninja tells his teammates he thought that would’ve worked. He then asks if Sakura had noticed the paper bomb he placed on the squirrel. The leader says no and that they need to move closer.

Elsewhere Lee continues scouting. Lee notices twenty leaves falling and he decides that if he is able to catch all twenty before they hit the ground then Sakura will fall in love with him. Lee is able to catch nineteen but then he notices the squirrel with a paper bomb that is about to explode. Lee takes the paper bomb off the squirrel and wonders who would do such a thing.

Neji notices Shikamaru’s team hiding in the bushes and tells them to come out. Ino tells her team that their hiding strategy may have failed but strategy number two will work. Chouji, Ino, and Shikamaru come out and then start sucking up to Neji, telling him how great he is. Neji tells them to get lost and Ino gets mad that Neji wasn’t won over by her beauty and she raises her first. Neji starts to walk away but then notices her raise her fist and then asks if they want to fight. Ino says no way and then Neji says to go away because people would make fun of him for stealing a scroll from people like them. Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru then disappear into the bushes. Ino tells her team they need to find some weaklings.

The three sound ninja appear before Sakura and tell her to wake Sasuke up so they can fight him. Sakura slowly goes for her kunai and asks them what they want and then tells them she knows Orochimaru is calling the shots. She then asks what the strange mark on Sasuke is. One of the sound ninjas named Zaku says he is going to kill Sakura and then Sasuke. The leader tells him to wait and points out that a trap has been laid. The leader tells Sakura that she did a poor job because she covered it with grass that doesn’t grow with the grass surrounding the trap. Zaku calls her a joke and realizes that she must’ve thrown the kunai at the squirrel earlier so he wouldn’t set off the trap. The three rush her and Sakura activates a second trap. A log falls towards the three ninja but the leader easily destroys it and the three continue at her. Lee appears and uses leap hurricane to knock all three away from Sakura. He lands in front of Sakura with the squirrel on his shoulder. The sound ninja ask Lee who he is and he introduces himself. Sakura asks Lee what he is doing there. Lee says he will always appear to protect Sakura. Lee then lets the squirrel go. Sakura tells Lee that during the exam he is her enemy. Lee responds that he has already said that he would protect her until she dies. Sakura thanks him and Lee starts crying with happiness. The sound leader throws the earth scroll to Zaku and tells him he can have Sasuke. The leader says he’ll take Lee and Sakura. Lee notices that Sakura isn’t in any shape to fight. The sound leader rushes them and Lee pulls a branch out of the ground to block him. Lee decides he will take each ninja on one at a time.

Ino complains to her team because they can’t find anyone weaker than them. Shikamaru says he thinks Naruto’s team is weaker than theirs. Ino says it isn’t because Sasuke is on it. Shikamaru tells Ino Sasuke is probably weaker than she thinks. Ino defends tells Shikamaru off for insulting “her” Sasuke. Chouji tells Ino and Shikamaru that Sasuke has collapsed and Sakura is fighting. Ino and Shikamaru join Chouji on his branch and look off into the distance to see what is going on.

Neji and Tenten have arrived at their meeting spot to see that Lee isn’t back yet. Tenten finds this odd because Lee is fanatical about being on time. Neji tells Tenten he thinks Lee is probably alright but they should still find him. The two take off to find him and Neji thinks about their training with Lee. We see Lee celebrating about having just learned a jutsu. Gai punches him because he won’t shut up and then tells him to listen to his awesome message. Gai tells Lee that this new jutsu (called the lotus) is now forbidden because it puts a huge strain on the human body. Gai explains that humans usually use at most 20% of their muscle’s strength or else the muscles would break. The brain regulates this but with this jutsu, chakra forces the brain to go past its limits which allows continuous high speed taijutsu. Gai says the jutsu can only be used when a particular condition is met, and that condition is…