Naruto Anime Analysis

Season 2: Episode 71

Source: Wikipedia,
"An Unrivaled Match: Hokage Battle Royale!"

"The Hokage battle begins, with Hashirama's Wood Style giving him and his brother the advantage over Hiruzen as he summons Enma to help him in the uneven fight as Orochimaru brings out his Kusanagi sword. During the fight, Hiruzen learns that ninjas brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu are immune to any normal form of attack and regenerate from any injury dealt to them. At that time, explaining his desire to become immortal and know every form of ninjutsu, Orochimaru decides to reveal the fruits of his labour by peeling away his face, revealing the face of a girl whose body he now occupies."

Analysis

The Hokage battle begins, with Hashirama's Wood Style giving him and his brother the advantage over Hiruzen as he summons Enma to help him in the uneven fight as Orochimaru brings out his Kusanagi sword. In Season 2, episode 69, we learned that the Reanimation Jutsu was created by the second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. Therefore, the episode reveals more about Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, in terms of his jutsu, which is Wood Style. This is why the match is Kage-level since all three Hokage used their different strengths in the battle. The first and second Hokage are stronger than the third Hokage, hence why this match is uneven. As a result, the Third Hokage summons Monkey King: Enma and has him transform into a staff. Enma also plays an important part in this episode in the sense that the match makes things easier for Hiruzen.
In response, Orochimaru brings out his Kusanagi sword to fight against his former sensei, Hiruzen. The episode is epic because it's a fight between a former student and a former teacher, which shows that they have a strained relationship.

During the fight, Hiruzen learns that ninjas brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu are immune to any normal form of attack and regenerate from any injury dealt to them. This reveals more about the Reanimation Jutsu. Any form of attack doesn't work, hence why Orochimaru decided to use this jutsu.

At that time, explaining his desire to become immortal and know every form of ninjutsu, Orochimaru decides to reveal the fruits of his labour by peeling away his face, revealing the face of a girl whose body he now occupies. This is one of the reasons why Orochimaru left Hidden Leaf Village. He wanted to master every form of ninjutsu, even the forbidden ones. He was searching for immortality and power; hence, he is greedy. It explains why he is after Sasuke. Having Sasuke as his vessel would prove to be beneficial because Sasuke's Sharingan could make him powerful and help him further in achieving his goal of becoming immortal. Due to Orochimaru revealing his desires, there is now a resolution. Every mystery concerning Orochimaru's plans is unravelled in this episode. 

Towards the end of the episode, we are left in suspense since Orochimaru peels his face off to reveal the face of a girl. We want to know more about Orochimaru's change; hence, it influences us to watch the next episode. Moreover, there is an unfolding of events since the next episode will be a continuation of the Kage-level match.