Trailer
Plot Summary
During the trip, the caravan stops at a circus. When Hikaru takes a
liking to a rare sabertoothed tiger, Cham, featured there, Michiru ends
up purchasing not only it, but the whole circus as well, placing it
under the team's protection. Hikaru attempts to befriend the tiger, but
finds that it dislikes humans. He loses interest in the circus and
during a sea voyage, when a storm hits, he appears unconcerned about
the animals' well-being, causing Naruto to become disgusted at his lack
of value for them. Upset by Naruto's view of him, Hikaru goes out to
help Cham get to safety, and Naruto saves both of them after they wash
overboard. The next day, Naruto and Hikaru become friends.
After returning to the Land of the Moon, the team finds that the
country has been taken over by Shabadaba, one of the nobles, a former
friend of Michiru. Having hired three powerful ninja to assist him,
Shabadaba has disposed of the king and plans to do the same with
Michiru and Hikaru, the remaining heirs to the throne. He orders the
military forces to kill them all, but the team is able to escape with
the help of some soldiers still loyal to the king.
Escaping to a hidden cave, Michiru finds that his father is still
alive, but Sakura, although able to heal his petrified arm, is only
able to keep him alive for a little while. The king revealed that he
had suspected that something like this would happen, and arranged for
the journey to keep Michiru out of harm's way. Before dying, the king
tells Michiru and Hikaru that people are truly important in life, not
material goods. During an attempt to escape the country by boat, the
three ninja hired by Shabadaba attack, disabling Naruto, Kakashi,
Sakura, and Lee with sense-dulling poison that slows their reactions.
The prince is captured, but the emergence of Naruto's fox chakra allows
him to repel the attacking ninja before the prince's son can be taken.
At the castle, Shabadaba's reasons for taking over the country are
revealed to be purely material, the same things Michiru considers
important, as he intends to use the nation's wealth for himself rather
than the people. Michiru is disgusted by Shadabada's attitude, and
realizes the truth of what his father had said. Shabadaba decides to
put him to death, by a drawn-out hanging: he has Michiru balance on a
board of wood not strong enough to support his weight while wearing a
noose, ensuring that sooner or later he will fall and be hanged.
With the help of the circus Michiru purchased earlier, Kakashi's
team makes a rescue attempt with Hikaru and the rogue soldiers,
infiltrating the palace by disguising as members of the circus. One by
one, Kakashi and his team fight individual battles: Kakashi fights the
many soldiers in the courtyard while each of the Genin fight one of the
ninja. Lee weilds a pair of nun-chuks that have the ability to connect
to other staffs hidden in his leg weights, creating weapons such as a
long staff and a chain whip. He defeats his opponent after some effort.
Sakura is able to dispatch her poison and genjutsu-using opponent by
shattering a chandelier to locate her by watching where she moves and
subsequently defeat her with one punch.
Naruto fights against Ishidate, the leader of the three ninja, while
helping Hikaru reach his father. Hikaru shoots an arrow, severing the
rope around Michiru's neck, and Naruto's shadow clones catch the prince
and his father. Ishidate is enraged and attempts to kill Naruto, but
Shadabada orders him to deal with Michiru. Ishidate then turns on
Shadabada, petrifying him. In the penultimate scene, Naruto, his leg
disabled by his opponent's strange petrification jutsu, rides on
Michiru's back to attack with his Rasengan, which reflects the light of
the moon in such a manner that it grows and takes on a crescent shape.
He hits Ishidate with this attack, sending him flying and destroying
Shadabada's stone remains.
After Ishidate's defeat, Michiru takes the throne of the country and
promises to rule as his father did. As Kakashi is immobilized due to
overuse of the Sharingan, his team decides to take a vacation in the
Moon Country while he recovers.
