Kazekage Rescue Mission, Vols. 28–32

Two and a half years later, Naruto comes home stronger and finds Sakura trained by Tsunade. Gaara is now Kazekage, and the Akatsuki strike the Sand: Deidara captures him, and Sasori helps haul him off to extract Shukaku. Team Kakashi, joined by the elderly Chiyo, and Team Guy give chase. Sakura and Chiyo bring down Sasori, Chiyo's own puppeteer grandson, while Naruto and Kakashi pursue Deidara. They're too late: the beast has been extracted and Gaara is dead. Chiyo uses a forbidden technique and gives her life to revive him. Gaara wakes up surrounded by his people, and Naruto sees his friend is now loved by his village.

1. Behind the scenesTwo and a half years later

   Part II starts with chapter 245 in volume 28, two and a half years later in story time. Kishimoto simplified his panel layouts and moved toward a more realistic style.

   source ↗
2. Behind the scenesNew outfit

   For Part II, Naruto got an orange-and-black outfit, a wider forehead protector and rolled-up pants to look older.

   source ↗
3. Behind the scenesAntiheroes

   Kishimoto called the Akatsuki members antiheroes and wanted their backstories as fleshed out as the heroes'. They barely show up in Part I; here they start hunting the tailed beasts.

   source ↗