The Land of Birds Arc is the seventh filler arc in the original Naruto anime and the eighth of the Post-Sasuke Retrieval filler arcs.
Short Summary
The Land of Birds is being plagued by the ghost of a cursed warrior and they enlist the help of Konohagakure. Naruto, Neji, and Tenten are sent to hunt the ghost and eventually uncover a conspiracy within the land's government.
Long Summary
Konohagakure receives a mission from the far off Land of Birds, specifically to hunt down and expel a Cursed Warrior that has been giving rise to unsettling rumors regarding the nation's daimyō. The man sent to deliver the request, Chishima, finds and befriends Naruto at Ichiraku Ramen who hears out his plight and goes to tell off Tsunade for allegedly denying the assignment due to lack of pay. Tsunade quickly snaps that she has already accepted the mission and that Naruto will be grouped with Neji and Tenten to go investigate with Neji as team leader, as Lee and Guy are already out on an assignment of their own. When Tsunade mentions that there may be a ghost involved, Naruto becomes scared and asks if ninjutsu would work on a spirit, to which the Hokage responds that he'll be the first to find out, much to his horror. The newly formed team heads out to the Land of Birds with Chishima who along the way explains the circumstances of his country. The past Bird daimyō, Ōwashi, suddenly and unexpectedly died some time ago, leaving the succession to either his son and Chishima's best friend, Sagi, or the land's strategist, Kōmei. Ultimately Sagi was chosen as the new daimyō at the insistence of high priest Mōsō, much to Kōmei and most of the royal court's objection as they thought that Sagi was too young for the role. Half a year later, Sagi's younger twin sister, Toki, died as unexpectedly as her father, leaving the surviving Sagi distraught. He grew distant from Chishima and now hides away in his palace, governing the Land of Birds from out of the public eye. Sometime after Toki's passing was when the Cursed Warrior started appearing and gave rise to panic and rumor, mainly that the deaths of Ōwashi and Toki weren't natural and that the specter is, in fact, Ōwashi's spirit seeking out who killed them. While Naruto is unnerved by the story, Neji and Tenten aren't so superstitious and suspect that it was either Kōmei or Mōsō who gained the most from the recent deaths. Chishima vouches that Mōsō could never be involved on the count of the man being a virtuous individual who saved him from poverty by making him a page, but he does admit that Kōmei's constant grumbling about Sagi's rise to becoming daimyō might be motive for the latter. Later that evening, upon Team Neji's arrival in the Land of Birds, Kōmei is visited by the Cursed Warrior who glares at him menacingly. The land's soldiers come to intercept the warrior who floats hauntingly over them and away to a ruined temple, leaving Kōmei unharmed. The Konoha ninjas spot the apparition and give chase to the building with Neji's Byakugan not detecting any living presence inside the armor. As the Cursed Warrior approaches the trio, Naruto throws kunai and Tenten throws a chain staff at it, knocking the warrior's helmet off. Eerie energy emits from where the helmet came off but before Neji can stop him, Naruto uses his Uzumaki Barrage to shatter the being's armor, leaving the energy to escape and leaving the empty suit behind. Seeing the armor with no one inside is enough to convince him that the Cursed Warrior truly is a ghost.
Team Neji convenes at Mōsō's home with Chishima the next morning and is introduced to the high priest, with him humbly begging the shinobi to bring peace back to the land. Naruto and Tenten are surprised to find that the old man lives in such frugality despite his high position, to which Chishima answers that Mōsō has no interest in such things. Later at a yakitori restaurant, the genin and Chishima revisit the possibility of Kōmei being the culprit behind Ōwashi's death with the latter admitting that it's looking increasingly like that's the case. Neji hypothesizes that the last night's attack on his bedroom might have been a way to deflect suspicion and that's all Naruto needs to hear to go arrest the tactician, but Neji calms him down by saying they need evidence. The Hyūga then asks to see Sagi, only to be told that the young daimyō won't be seeing anyone. Instead, the quartet goes down to a lake that Sagi and Chishima played at as children in hope that the former will stop by to reminisce of happier times. Surely enough, a despondent Sagi arrives with an escort to mourn the deaths of his family, his only comfort being the memories of the days when he played with Chishima and Toki by the lake. At that moment, Neji senses something amiss and just in time for a trio of unidentified shinobi to attack Sagi. Naruto counters their shuriken, one of which almost hitting Sagi, and he and his teammates are able to fight them off. The attackers suddenly retreat and kill themselves with paper bombs, almost taking a pursuing Naruto with them. Everyone settles down with Chishima introducing the Konoha genin to Sagi, only for the daimyō to coldly refute their help, saying that it wasn't necessary and that they're all annoying. Naruto gets angry and admonishes him for not respecting how far Chishima has gone for him in the name of their friendship, remembering his own devotion to getting Sasuke back, but Sagi holds firm by saying their friendship is a thing of the past with their difference in status meaning they can no longer see each other. This only angers Naruto further and he has to be restrained by Neji and Tenten as Sagi's escort departs, but not before the young man sadly laments the shuriken not killing him after all and discarding it. Examining the shuriken, Chishima recognizes it as a new weapon that the Land of Bird's guard is being trained in, despite the land not having actual shinobi. The idea was presented by Kōmei, who controls the land's military, which puts the tactician squarely on Konoha-nin's radar.
Evening sets in as Team Neji spies on Kōmei's residence, seeing him leave wearing a hood and without an entourage. His destination turns out to be the same ruined temple that the Cursed Warrior was fought the previous night, with the haunting specter making another appearance. This time Neji can make out a human presence within the armor at which Naruto immediately charges in to confront Kōmei, accusing him of orchestrating it. Before he can be interrogated further, the Cursed Warrior attacks with the tactician fleeing the scene. It then creates a tornado that surrounds it so the genin can't get close enough and uses Shuriken Shadow Clones to pick away at them. Neji is able to deflect the shuriken and confirm that the wearer of the armor is a wily ninja using Wind Style. Resolving to capture him alive, Tenten distracts the fake ghost with Neji and Naruto working to dispel the wind jutsu. They succeed with Naruto attacking from below, stopping the tornado and Neji using his Eight Trigrams 64 Palms to disable the ninja, knocking him against a tree. Before he can be unmasked, the pseudo-Cursed Warrior uses hydrophilic acid to dissolve himself so he won't be questioned, much to Team Neji's shock. An hour later, with Mōsō being informed and Kōmei being arrested for having a second set of Cursed Warrior armor and shuriken stored in his residence, Chishima thanks the team for their work, but Neji notes that the warrior they fought tonight was markedly different from the one they first encountered, meaning that there's still more to the mystery.
The following day, Mōsō gives his thanks for Team Neji settling the incident and explains that the second Cursed Warrior was a soldier pretending to be a ninja and that Kōmei has confessed to being responsible for everything. When Naruto tries to explain that there's another Cursed Warrior, Neji shushes him. As the team packs up for Konoha, Naruto complains that there's still much to the mystery that hasn't been solved and that it demands further investigation. Neji agrees that things are moving along much too conveniently and gives the Uzumaki boy permission to continue investigating while he and Tenten work on things from another angle. Returning to the old temple, Naruto summons Gamakichi and Gamatatsu to help him along with the latter accidentally discovering some giant black-colored festival kites. This makes the genin realize that the Cursed Warrior could give off the illusion of flight if they used the kites to soar under the cover of night and enters the temple for more clues. The toads help him find a secret underground passage that leads to the daimyō's palace and they peek through a hole in the wall. A young woman is seen bathing which excites Gamakichi but Gamatatsu ends up alerting the guards to the trio's presence which gets Naruto arrested. The guards bring him to Sagi who denies having met him and orders him imprisoned to which the guards obey. Incarcerated and bound in a straightjacket, Naruto chastises the toads who followed him into his cell for getting him caught before telling them to help out of the jacket. Just then, a Cursed Warrior enters the cell and attempts to kill Naruto who can't fight back properly. The masked specter's sōjutsu does damage to the straightjacket before he manages to pin Naruto to a wall and draws his katana. Naruto manages to tear what's left of the jacket off by himself and punches the Cursed Warrior in the face and shatters his mask. The warrior's identity turns out to be Sagi, whose grief at losing his family has caused him to become obsessed with gaining revenge on those who killed them. He explains that the watch he carries was meant to be passed down by Ōwashi to him when the time had come, but his father's premature death ruined that and the watch stopped ticking, leaving Sagi's time frozen and unable to move on. Once his revenge is obtained, Sagi plans on ending his life of which he has been ashamed of living ever since. Naruto chastises the young daimyō for his choices since as the Land of Birds' leader, he is held to a higher standard and that living only for vengeance's sake is no life worth living, as the boy can attest to with Sasuke. Despite his saying that Kōmei's arrest should leave Sagi with no further desire for revenge, the troubled daimyō coldly retorts that Naruto has no right to interfere in his affairs and that he can't let the genin live now that he knows everything, vowing to have the boy executed for trespassing on his property. Suddenly, Chishima appears before the two badly injured, begging Sagi to stop Kōmei's execution. When the page had heard that Team Neji was going to continue investigating the Cursed Warrior, he planned on telling Mōsō when he discovered something horrible. Namely, that Mōsō was conversing with the same group of shinobi that had earlier made an attempt of Sagi's life. Upon realizing his eavesdropping, the ninjas threw shuriken which injured him but he managed to get away by jumping into a canal. Mōsō is the true culprit behind the murders of Sagi's family and he used the confusion made by the Cursed Warrior to frame Kōmei for orchestrating all the disturbances so he could have an excuse to put the tactician to death. Naruto wants to go stop the execution, but Sagi is reluctant since that would mean tipping his hand to Mōsō and he wouldn't be able to achieve vengeance. Not to mention, without evidence of what Mōsō has done, it could lead to a civil war that the Land of Birds would not survive. A frustrated Naruto resolves to go save Kōmei himself while Sagi tends to Chishima's injuries, to which the daimyō allows begrudgingly.
Neji and Tenten, in the meantime, arrive at the tomb of the former Bird daimyō examine Ōwashi's dead body. There is a poisonous substance within the late daimyō but before he can speculate, the guard of the Land of Birds surrounds the gravesite and orders the Konoha-nin to leave their land or else they will be put to death alongside Naruto, who has been sentenced to such for trespassing on royal property. They are able to evade the soldiers and escape into the woods with Neji planning a rescue mission for Naruto, but they're blocked off by an unexpected visitor. It is Kakashi who tells them that they will not be saving Naruto due to their mission having been concluded and Naruto having broken the laws of the land. Reluctantly, the genin accompany Kakashi back to Konoha with the jōnin telling them that a shinobi must be prepared to make sacrifices at any time. As they begin the trek back, two of the ninjas who were conversing with Mōsō, Nagare and Hokushin, appear from a rock without their noticing. Expressing doubts about the Konoha-nin's intentions, Hokushin tells Nagare to go report to their leader while he trails the Konoha-nin. However, his targets give him the slip by using monkeys with a Substitution Jutsu. Mōsō, meanwhile, seems all but assured that his plan will go off without fail when he hears Nagare's report. As it comes time for Kōmei's execution, the corrupt high priest begins reading a list of false charges to the fallen tactician including the murders of Ōwashi and Toki, and concludes with the verdict that Kōmei is to commit seppuku. As a trio of suspicious guards looks on, Kōmei laughs mirthlessly at finally having discovered Mōsō's end game too late. Unimpressed, Mōsō orders the captain of the guard and executioner to get on with the ritual. All seems lost for Kōmei until an oddly colored mist covers the execution grounds with none other than the Cursed Warrior appearing to spirit the condemned man to safety. The three guards reveal themselves to be Kakashi, Neji, and Tenten who earlier faked their departure in order to throw off the pursuing ninja. With the trio following the kite-gliding Cursed Warrior, Kakashi takes note of yet another tail and goes on ahead while the genin keep on the chase. Arriving back at the temple, Neji and Tenten corner Kōmei and the warrior believing them to be co-conspirators, but Kakashi stops a fight from breaking out and orders them to go with the tactician and false specter while he handles the earlier mentioned tail. They go along with the order as Kakashi summons Pakkun to sniff out a hidden Nagare. The two start fighting with the reveal that Nagare belongs to the Watari ninja, a group of nomadic shinobi that observe and copy other lands' ninjutsu to adapt it for their own use. In Nagare's case, he's able to utilize his Earth Release to copy Chōji's Human Boulder and Gaara's Sand Coffin to some degree, but Kakashi notes that the jutsu in question is far inferior to that of the originals. After some difficulty, he is able to pinpoint Nagare via Sharingan and defeats him with a Lightning Blade.
Traveling through the tunnel, Kōmei reveals that the passageway was built by Ōwashi long ago in order to keep a watch on the daily lives of his people. The group emerges at the daimyō's palace and the Cursed Warrior reveals himself to be Naruto, much to Tenten and Kōmei's surprise. When the original Cursed Warrior appeared before him on the first night, he assumed that it had been Sagi and asked the so-called ghost if it was him. The individual gave no reply and the tactician went along with his guess. Tenten angrily chides Naruto for going behind their backs while they were worried about his safety and she then snaps at Neji for knowing Naruto's identity and not speaking up. While Kakashi was "leading" the others back to Konoha, he noticed Hokushin and was able to shake him off only for Nagare to continue the pursuit once Naruto made his rescue attempt. Tenten was the only one who didn't catch on, much to her annoyance. Inside Sagi's chamber, the daimyō and Naruto explain how they caught on to Mōsō's plan and how he took advantage of Sagi's Cursed Warrior actions to frame Kōmei. Sagi also points out that the warrior from the second night wasn't him and was likely a Watari ninja that Mōsō found disposable. With all this knowledge in mind, and Chishima safely recovering beneath the palace, Sagi declares that he will proceed against Mōsō alone and until he kills the treacherous advisor, his time will never move forward. Naruto refuses to let Sagi take that path, remembering how Sasuke fell into the darkness due to his own obsessions with revenge, but the Bird daimyō will not be deterred and escapes via a hidden panel in the wall, even going so far as to collapse the palace on top of his saviors. The ninjas and Kōmei survive by taking Ōwashi's tunnel and meet up with Kakashi, Naruto none too happy with Sagi's actions. Kōmei begs forgiveness by revealing that Sagi is not himself due to being possessed by the spirit of his father who desires his death avenged which once again disturbs Naruto, who is snapped out of it by Tenten. While they may not know where the daimyō slipped off to, they will definitely return for a showdown with Mōsō, so they must bide their time for now. Beneath the ruins of the palace, in another old pathway, the daimyō of the Land of Birds opens a compartment to reveal another set of Cursed Warrior armor. It is then revealed that Kōmei's theory was not as far off the mark as Naruto thought; the "Sagi" that has been seen throughout this entire ordeal is actually Toki, his sister thought to have been long dead. The real Sagi was the one who had passed away from Mōsō's poisoning instead of the other way around. When her brother succumbed Toki was devastated to have lost him as well as her father in so short a time, to the point that she was going to kill herself in order to be with her family again. Before she could end her life, however, Sagi's soul stopped her and handed his sister his pocket watch, stilled by the cold touch of death as had been explained to Naruto in the present. From that moment on, Toki vowed to avenge her fallen brother, taking on the guise of Sagi and living as him until she could move his time forward. Donning her armor, Toki becomes the Cursed Warrior again and goes to confront her family's executioner.
Night has fallen with Chishima having left his treatment room and lying in wait for "Sagi" to come for a fight with Mōsō. The daimyō wastes no time in arriving on a giant kite with Mōsō musing that while killing "Sagi" may be out of the question, killing the Cursed Warrior bears no consequences. It is quickly revealed that the advisor knows ninjutsu with him burning "Sagi's" kite with a Fireball Jutsu, forcing her to remove the mask. The man states that his true name is Hōki, leader of the Watari Ninja. He took on the guise of Mōsō the monk and wormed his way into Ōwashi's confidence by using genjutsu to deceive the unsuspecting man with only Kōmei feeling anything amiss. Thus when the Cursed Warrior came around, it was the perfect opportunity to get the tactician out of the way and go for the prince and princess. An angry Toki hurls her halberd at Hōki who effortlessly deflects it back, knocking off the warrior helmet and compromising her identity. She draws her katana next only to be caught in a "Shadow Possession Jutsu" and controlled to slit her throat. Chishima reveals himself to the fighters and expresses his regret at not seeing his lady's true intentions earlier, though he later admits to have had suspicions. Hōki's attempt to kill him is interceded by a kunai thrown by Naruto, who is equally shocked at the daimyō's real gender before summoning Shadow Clones disguised as Cursed Warriors to defect Hōki's fire jutsu. Naruto also reveals that the so-called Shadow Possession was just near-invisible wires us which are quickly severed. Four of the warriors revert to the four Konoha ninja, with Hōki recognizing Kakashi. With that, the Watari leader uses the Summoning Jutsu to summons dragons of all things. He takes advantage of the distraction to knock away Chishima and abduct Toki, with Naruto in quick pursuit. Kakashi realizes that it's all another deceit and destroys the projector with the dragons in it only for Hokushin and the remaining Watari Ninja to come and attack. Hokushin is downed by Kakashi without using the Sharingan as he's too weak in comparison to Nagare. On Naruto's end, Hōki uses more genjutsu to trick the boy into thinking he's seeing a young Toki, Sagi, and Chishima playing as they did in their childhood. The real Chishima, however, is able to snap Naruto out of it just in time to save himself from being drowned. The lake they're at is the same one where Team Neji met Toki while still in disguise. Hōki takes the time to unveil his true face just as Toki apologizes for deceiving her longtime friend. After which the nomadic shinobi uses a Water Dragon Jutsu to attack the duo, who manages to dodge it only for Hōki to throw some shuriken at Naruto...who is then shielded by Chishima. Now mortally wounded, the page reminisces about how peaceful the Land of Birds once was and tells a heartbroken Toki that she still has the power to restore the land to its former self. He makes Naruto promise that he'll save Toki, inadvertently revealing his romantic feelings for her, and mentions that the ramen at Ichiraku's was delicious before passing. Naruto turns his grief into a rage when Hōki mocks his former servant's sacrifice, declaring he'll never forgive him for what he's done. The Watari Ninja dismisses him with a Giant Vortex Jutsu that washes the Uzumaki away and leaves Toki completely at Hōki's mercy.
As Naruto sinks into the depths of the lake, he hears a voice calling out to him. Opening his eyes reveals the owner of the voice to be the spirit of Sagi, of whom Naruto thinks is a dream. He explains his true intention of giving Toki his watch, in that he intended to pass on the rule of the Land of Birds to his sister, but her desire for revenge left her stuck in the past and unable to move her time forward. Now dead, Sagi cannot change her feelings but believes that Naruto can and entrusts her future to him before vanishing. This strengthens the genin's resolve and he bursts back to the surface just as Toki has given up all hope. Punching Hōki aside, he tells the lady of birds about his meeting with Sagi and how he doesn't want to be avenged and just wants what's best for his sister, and that her life is important. She must live her life not only for her father and brother but for Chishima's sake as well, to which she agrees. Naruto turns his attention to Hōki and declares he'll never be the ruler of the Land of Birds because of his impure heart and that he ruined the country's harmony with his wicked deeds as it was Sagi, Toki, and Chishima's bond that was the foundation for that harmony. Both shinobi utilize Shadow Clones and go in for one last clash and Hōki's are revealed to be ordinary copies mixed with Water Clones. Eventually, Naruto locates the Watari ninja and uses the Uzumaki Barrage to take him out. Toki makes her way to the shore and cradles Chishima's body, begging him not to leave her alone. The sun rises as Naruto secures Hōki and ties him to a tree. All of a sudden, and against all odds, Chishima begins to stir before fully awakening, his injury not being fatal as previously thought. Overjoyed Toki embraces her friend and the latter thanks Naruto for keeping her safe, to which the knucklehead ninja reaffirms his message from Sagi in that Toki's time will start moving forward as long as she continues to look ahead. True to that, the Lady of Birds sees that her watch is indeed ticking again giving her father and brother one last thank you.
Later in the day, during Toki's inauguration, Naruto pouts about not receiving any more money due to their client Hōki turning out to be a villain, but Neji tells him to get over it. It is also mentioned that Hōki and the other Watari ninja will be punished severely for their transgressions against the royal house. Toki soon emerges in her full daimyō outfit and instantly wins Kakashi over with her beauty. She begins by apologizing for using Sagi's good name to deceive everyone and taking the position of daimyō. Normally this would result in her stepping down from her position and entrusting it to someone else, she goes on to say that if the people can forgive her for her actions, then she will from now on use her position for nothing less than the restoration of the Land of Birds for the sake of her father, brother, and her dearest friend Chishima. Kōmei and the rest of the court agree and she keeps her title with Toki extending her thanks to them as well as to Naruto who taught her how she should really be using her life. As the Konoha-nin depart the Land of Birds, Toki and Chishima see them off telling the group to have a safe journey. Naruto tells his new friend to look out for Toki and that he'll come back to visit one day. On a cliff overlooking the land, Naruto muses on how gorgeous and nice Toki is with Kakashi declaring how she'll make the Land of Birds a peaceful place again. Tenten asks if Naruto really met Sagi's ghost, but Naruto reiterates that it was just a dream, only for Neji to say that it probably wasn't. Going back to the original Cursed Warrior they met, the Byakugan didn't detect any human presence in the armor, but Neji did see something wearing it. He goes on to say that there was no sign of life inside, leaving Kakashi to state the obvious: there was a real ghost involved, after all, possibly Ōwashi, which freaks the hell out of Naruto.
The Land of Birds arc has the following tropes:
- A Friend in Need: Chishima is loyal towards his friends to the bitter end and wants Sagi, really Toki, to become the kind person she once was. Naruto spells out that the mission they were given didn't pay much but that they accepted it due to Chishima's Undying Loyalty to his friends.
- Ambiguous Situation: The Cursed Warrior that the gang first encounter is first thought to have been Toki in disguise, but at the end of the arc, Neji points out that he couldn't detect any signs of life inside the armor, leaving its true identity unrevealed. Then again, in the opening scene with Hōki being approached by the specter, it speaks in a deep unnerving voice saying "It was you, wasn't it? You killed him!" If that had been Toki masquerading as Sagi, she likely would've used a female pronoun to keep her identity hidden, but the warrior didn't do that. Perhaps it could've been Ōwashi warning the Watari ninja that his days were numbered, but there's no way to know for sure.
- There's also room to speculate if Mōsō was a guise that Hōki made up on his own to infiltrate the Land of Birds or if Mōsō was in fact a poor monk who the Watari leader killed sometime prior and assumed his role.
- Angsty Surviving Twin: Sagi assumed the role of the Cursed Warrior so he could draw out the killer of his family...or so it appeared. It turns out to have been Toki all along and Sagi was the one to meet his end due to poisoning.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: As Mōsō, Hōki presents himself as a kindly old advisor who lives in squalor with an open mind and does not get offended by Naruto's lack of manners. In reality, he has been looking to take control of the Land of Birds since worming his way into the royal court, poisoning Ōwashi and Sagi (unbeknownst to him in the latter case), and manipulating things so that Kōmei ends up taking the fall for his evil.
- Call-Back: Naruto dissuading Toki from her life of revenge is obviously a reference to how he failed to save Sasuke from falling into the darkness.
- Some of Nagare's Earth Release techniques are blatant copies of Chōji's and Gaara's moves.
- Death Seeker: Toki makes her intentions to die known while trying to kill Naruto in the prison, saying the death of her father left her time stuck and unable to move forward as represented by the pocket watch left to her by Sagi's spirit. Note that she's disguising herself as her late brother when revealing this.
- Disney Death: Chishima seemingly dies taking shuriken meant for Naruto, begging his newfound friend to save Toki. After Hōki is beaten, Toki cradles her childhood friend's seemingly dead body until it's shown that he
somehow survived. - Expy: Besides the same general feelings of wanting to avenge her dead family, Toki disguised as Sagi and by extension, the real Sagi somewhat resembles Sasuke if he were a young man. It is probably not a coincidence that Naruto is reminded of his former Uchiha comrade upon seeing how obsessed the daimyō is with seeking vengeance.
- Extra-Long Episode: The last two episodes of this story were originally aired as an hour-long New Year's Special to celebrate the Year of the Dog, with a special opening scene of Naruto using hand puppets of Pakkun and Tonton in celebration of the occasion. The scene did not make it onto DVD on either side of the Pacific and just shows the standard opening "Namikaze Satelite".
- Family Honor: Toki's desire for revenge boils down to wanting to make the memory of Ōwashi and Sagi whole, feeling that otherwise, her life has no meaning with her family gone...or at least that's what she interpreted from Sagi's ghost stopping her from ending her life when his own did. Sagi's spirit visits Naruto during the fight with Hōki and tells the knucklehead ninja that this was never the intention and that he wanted his sister to take up reigns as the new Bird daimyō, not seek vengeance. Naruto relays this message to Toki who finally gets it.
- Foreshadowing: Naruto gets a view of Toki bathing long before her deception is revealed. Early on, Neji immediately clocks Mōsō at having the most motive for wanting the royal house dead, only for Chishima to vehemently deny it. The poor guy finds out halfway through the arc that Neji was right on the money.
- He Knows Too Much: Chishima happens upon "Mōsō's" true plot and barely manages to escape his pursuers. Meanwhile, Toki as Sagi decides that Naruto knows too much about her motives and uses the excuse of his trespassing on her property to sentence him to death, but this is thankfully called off when Chishima comes to tell his friend about what he's discovered.
- Meaningful Name: Toki means time, with the young daimyō feeling trapped in the past and unable to move on from her family's death.
- Posthumous Character: Turns out that Sagi is the one who died and the one we saw acting in revenge was really his sister, Toki, in disguise. Outside of flashbacks, the real Sagi's ghost only appears to Naruto during his battle with Hōki with him asking the genin to save his sister and move her time forward.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: According to Nagare, the Watari ninja are mainly comprised of outcasts and those who have been deemed unfit to be shinobi. They never had a permanent home before and are trying to make the Land of Birds their place to settle. They don't succeed.
- Real After All: It turns out that the original Cursed Warrior Team Neji encountered, and likely the one that appeared before Mōsō, was an actual ghost. It's unclear if it was perhaps Ōwashi or some other soul. Either way, Naruto doesn't take it well.
- Red Herring: It is mentioned early on that Kōmei was not on board with "Sagi's" ascension as daimyō and had been complaining about it constantly ever since, feeling that he'd been the better choice, thus inventing the Cursed Warrior to cause unnerve in the public. At the end of the second episode, he's promptly arrested and is mentioned to have confessed by "Mōsō". Turns out that the true culprit violently railroaded Kōmei and planted evidence in his residence to make everyone think he was guilty.
- The Reveal: It is NOT Sagi who we have been seeing obsessing over revenge, but rather Toki who has been masquerading as her brother ever since his death. Another example is "Mōsō" revealing himself to be a ninja called Hōki who wants to usurp control of the Land of Birds and make a permanent home for his gang of nomads.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Toki has some skill in sōjutsu and kenjutsu as shown in her Cursed Warrior guise. Too bad Hōki has her outclassed which she finds out the hard way.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Both the good and bad guys in the Land of Birds have this going on. Toki took the guise of the Cursed Warrior in order to find her family's killer to which Hōki spun to his advantage, sending a disposable lackey in the same armor and killing them off in order to resolve the issue of Konohagakure's meddling once and for all as well as to make Kōmei seem like the mastermind. There's also that bit about Toki faking her death by using Sagi's corpse and living as him to control the Land of Birds remotely. That said, the very first Cursed Warrior that team encountered, and likely the one that appeared interrogating Hōki in the opening scene may very well have been the real deal, as Neji states in the ending that he couldn't feel any sign of life in the armor, but did see somebody. Ōwashi, maybe?
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Toki has been living as her late brother Sagi since his passing in order to get vengeance on his and their father's killer, claiming the body that was interred was herself. Once the Watari ninja are exposed and Hōki is arrested, she reveals her deception and apologizes to the people, promising to use her position as daimyō for the benefit of her country from now on.
- Taking the Bullet: Naruto is caught off guard by Hōki's Water Release and sees shuriken coming at him, only for Chishima to shield him from it and almost get killed. Thankfully, he survives.
- Tragic Keepsake: The pocket watch that Toki carries is meant to be passed down from father to son in the Land of Bird's royal house, but Ōwashi's untimely death followed by Sagi's put an end to that tradition. Sagi's ghost gave his sister the watch so she could carry on with governing the Land of Birds in his steed, but her grief at losing her family caused her to misinterpret this act as her brother asking to avenge him, causing the watch to stop ticking and turning her into the shadowy version Sagi we meet in the present. It isn't until after Naruto meets with the departed Sagi and relays his true intentions that the watch restarts, signifying Toki moving on with her life.
- Voice Changeling: Toki is able to copy Sagi's voice with uncanny accuracy to the point that no one, not even Hōki, ever suspected it wasn't the latter until it was spelled out.
- Walking the Earth: The Watari ninjas aren't called as such by choice; they spent years wandering from land to land observing other shinobi and shamelessly copying their jutsu and adapting it for their own use i.e. stealing as Kakashi puts it. Hōki, their leader, decides he's had enough of this lifestyle and plans to take the Land of Birds as his people's new home.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: Played for drama with Naruto not letting Toki throw her life away for the sake of revenge. He already saw that happen to Sasuke and he'll be damned to see it happen again.
- "What Do They Fear?" Episode: This arc introduces the idea that Naruto is scared of ghosts and everything otherworldly. This personality trait would pop up in some future filler as well as the first Shippūden movie. Upon finding out that the first Cursed Warrior they encountered was a genuine phantom, he ends the story freaking out.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The arc has some blatant Scooby-Doo references, but with a lot more twists then normal:
- Some have pointed out Chishima being basically a male Velma Dinkley with the appetite of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.
- Toki being a daimyō gives some semblance to Daphne Blake as the rich and somewhat stuck up Uptown Girl, but is still a good person underneath it all. Her being able to fight relatively well may also reference the 2002 movie where Daphne took up martial arts to break out of her Damsel in Distress role.
- The Cursed Warrior is used to stir up unrest and rumor spreading within the public like most Scooby monsters tend to do. The twist is that both Toki and Hōki use the armor to try and outwit each other all the while pretending to be somebody they're not (Toki as her brother Sagi, and Hōki as an elderly high priest called Mōsō). Not to mention, there’s that first warrior who turned out to be an actual ghost, much to Naruto's horror.
- Pakkun's quick appearance is a shout out to the Scoobmeister himself. For an added bonus, the final two episodes of this arc aired as an hour-long TV special to celebrate the Year of the Dog. Yep.
- The Red Herring didn't escape the production's eyes, either. Kōmei is introduced as a glum and somewhat unlikeable person who did not support Sagi's (Toki's) inauguration as daimyō, feeling he was the better choice. He's promptly arrested at the end of part two with Mōsō claiming that he confessed to everything. Of course, he's proven innocent whereas Mōsō is revealed to be guilty as sin.
- Written-In Absence: Rock Lee is out on another mission with Guy and as such does not partake in the Land of Birds assignment.
