Though Kakashi is left bedridden upon his return to Konoha from his battle with Deidara, he makes plans for Naruto and Sakura to meet with Sasori's spy in the hopes that they will be able to retrieve the final member of the original Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha. Danzo Shimura of Konoha's council, fearing the Akatsuki might try to capture Naruto for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him, assigns Sai to join Team Kakashi with Tsunade responding to it by assigning Yamato as the group's temporary leader. But Yamato has trouble with Naruto's refusal to get along with the emotionally dead Sai. Eventually arriving to their destination, Yamato goes to meet the spy alone with the rest of Team Kakashi remain in the shadows as backup. But as Yamato begins to question the spy, Kabuto Yakushi, about Orochimaru's base of operations, Orochimaru himself shows up to end their discussion.