The Land of Tea Arc is the first filler arc of the original Naruto anime. It takes place in-between the canon Search for Tsunade and Sasuke Retrieval arcs.
Short Summary
The Wasabi Family of the Land of Tea hires the services of the Konoha ninja, namely Team 7, to aid their racer in a competition with their rivals the Wagarashi Family. The Wagarashi already have ninja from Amegakure assisting their own athlete and will resort to any dirty methods to win. On top of that, the lead Ame ninja, Aoi Rokushō, has a history with the Wasabi representative, Idate Morino, which may spell the end for the latter and Team 7.
Long Summary
An envoy of men from the Land of Tea is attacked by an Amegakure shinobi en route to Konohagakure. The ninja vanishes just after warning the men that their family, the Wasabi, should drop out of an upcoming race. In Konoha itself, Team 7 is summoned to partake in a mission without Kakashi, as he has a different assignment. It is a B-ranked mission that involves escorting an important individual from the Wasabi Family, with the warning that the mission could develop into an A-ranked assignment if there's any trouble. Tsunade doesn't know who the Wasabi representative is, but does explain that they are involved in an important ceremony that occurs every four years at the Great Todoroki Shrine before sending them off. The Ame-nin, Aoi Rokushō, meets with his superior and is chastised for not making the Wasabi forfeit from the earlier-mentioned race. Aoi is confident however that he can crush the opposition in the race itself before departing.Team 7 stops at a teashop for a bite where an older boy approaches the group and insults them for their lifestyle, much to Naruto's annoyance. He play-flirts with Sakura, introducing himself as Idate Morino and saying that he hates everything ninja-related. Sasuke attempts to defuse the situation but the newcomer disappears while Naruto is arguing back, much to the Uchiha's surprise. The group gets had when the shop owner tells them that their "friend" told her that they'd be paying for his meal too. Team 7 immediately pursues and catches Idate (after Sakura pays the bill) before he begs forgiveness, claiming that his money got stolen and he was desperate. A knife falls down and the dasher grabs it before Team 7 can react. He removes his leggings, revealing them to be leg weights, and runs off far faster than before with Team 7 unable to catch up.
In the Land of Tea, Team 7 meets with Jirōchō Wasabi, the leader of the Wasabi Family, who Naruto remembers from a previous outing after tracking down Tsunade. The leader describes what entails the Dedication Ceremony that is held every four years at the Great Todoroki Shrine. Two jewels called the Ryūko Jewels were placed there ages ago to quell a violent storm that had engulfed the land and the ceremony has repeated likewise every four years with it evolving into a festival and a race over time. The winner is regarded as a great hero of the land, but not everything about the event is fun and games. Jirōchō reveals that his family is in conflict with a rival family, the Wagarashi, over control of Degarashi Port. Their skirmishes escalated over the years to the point that even innocent citizens had been injured in the fighting until the Daimyō arranged a meeting between the families, promising that whoever won the race would assume control of Degarashi for the next four years. Team 7 is then introduced to the Wasabi representative...the same boy ran from them at the tea shop; Idate Morino.
The Land of Tea arc has the following tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: Aoi's derision of Sasuke and the Uchiha clan gives Sasuke more incentive to defect from Konohagakure in the following story, even though his loss to Itachi plus Naruto's growth and the latter's defeat of Gaara were already plenty of motive in the manga. Aoi is earlier shown to have given Ibiki some of his scars, thus explaining their origin here.
- A Day in the Limelight: Downplayed in Ibiki's case. His appearances in Idate's flashbacks are used to develop the latter and Ibiki only appears in person at the very end when Idate reunites with him.
- Ascended Extra: Jirōchō briefly appeared in a filler episode after the Search for Tsunade storyline where he was introduced as an old friend of the titular Sannin. He becomes more fleshed out here through his relationship with Idate.
- The Bus Came Back: Oboro's team returns under Aoi's command and comes into conflict with Team 7 again...and they get defeated again after which they never return.
- Call-Back: The Chunin Exams are revisited in a flashback. Unlike Naruto's class, Idate's failed during the "Final Question", with Ibiki accusing them of potentially betraying the village and fellow ninja when the time comes. They are permanently barred from retaking the exam.
- Expy: Aoi is one of Mizuki from the very beginning of the series. He deceives a down-on-his-luck genin to steal a powerful artifact and better his own life's station. The difference is that he succeeded where Mizuki failed and ended up being promoted to jōnin in Amegakure.
- Hated by All: Nobody in town likes the Wagarashi Family due to their dirty tactics and overpricing the port merchandise. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that nobody mourns their dissolution at the end. Just the opposite in fact.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Kyūroku and the minister attempted to dissolve the Wasabi Family by framing them for cheating, only for the Daimyō to put both of them in their place and strip the minister of his position and order Kyūroku to permanently dissolve the Wagarashi, leaving the Wasabi as the de facto rulers of Degarashi Port.
- Obviously Evil: Kyūroku Wagarashi has the word "dishonest" invisibly tattooed to his shady face. The same goes for the unnamed Minister of Tea. His wiki article is even titled "Evil Minister of the Tea Daimyō".
- No Name Given: The Tea Daimyō and his corrupt minister are unnamed.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When his minister was caught taking bribes from the Wagarashi Clan, the Tea Daimyō revokes the unjust disqualification they've tried to enforce on the Wasabi Clan, forces his minister out of office to make him a monk, and has the Wagarashi Clan disbanded for all their misdeeds.
- Scars Are Forever: Aoi carries a scar under his headband that he received from Ibiki.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In the arc's opening episode, Idate trips over a tree root while running because he didn't keep aware of his surroundings.
- Undying Loyalty: Idate towards Jirōchō for believing in him. He even apologizes for his lack of faith in his boss after winning the race.
- Written-In Absence: Kakashi has a different mission as a result of Konoha's lack of manpower, leaving the rest of the team up to their own devices.
