Gold Knight's Ten Comments (Naruto 413)

Gold Knight · Aug 22, 2008

Float like Butterflies - Sting like Bees!!!

Yo, guys, what's up? No, no, I'm not kidding here... I wouldn't do that to you, no way! You got it, I'm FINALLY returning to reviewing Naruto on a weekly basis again.

Does anybody even remember me?

I know... it's been more than a year since my last weekly Ten Comments, which was 60 chapters ago! Geez. Hopefully people who used to enjoy my reviews will forgive me for taking such an extended break. I probably would have resumed them at some point, except the impossible happened - noes! - I actually lost interest in Naruto for a while there. I wasn't even thinking about it at all! Well, but good news - lately my interest has been revived again and I have been finding more time for "ninja musings" so, I'm back.

And... I don't know about you guys, but I'm kinda ready and rarin' to get started, so I'm going to end the intro and get this thing going. Oh, and after you're done reading, don't forget to let me know your thoughts, too.

(Disclaimer: I may not have time to reply to every post, but I do read them all and will try my best to get back to ya. Nya~

)

Oh, and this review wouldn't be complete without thanking the ones who got us the chapter this week. So, much gratitude to Sleepy Fans for their early Edited Manga. Thanks guys! Because of the quality of your work, too, I was able to get a speedy review out myself.

* * * Gold Knight's Ten Comments on Naruto Chapter 413: Crash! * * *

YOU READY FOR A WHOOPIN'!?!?

1. Take Your Battle Stances!! We start off where we left off last chapter, still reading about Sasuke's battle with the eccentric host of the Eight-Tails. We had just witnessed the quirky abilities of the jinchuuriki as he demonstrated his his seven-sword-wielding style. A bit of a rip-off of Zoro of One Piece fame and his three-sword style, but then I suppose it's no secret that Kishimoto and Oda are long-time friends, so it may have actually been by design.

We also saw that Hachibi's host was able to control the flow of his chakra into his swords, and so was able to efficiently block even the penetrating strike of Sasuke's Kusanagi blade. The sword that could cut through anything had just hit an impenetrable object for the first time.

Well. That should have pretty much hinted right there and then that the Hachibi's host was able to demonstrate a stunning display of control over his own chakra, and the beast inside himself.

In fact, Kishimoto didn't even keep the suspense up any more. In the second page - immediately following his upbeat, gung-ho war cry and imitation of a popular Japanese musician - we witnessed Hachibi's host taking on a shroud of his own, the same one as Naruto's... except that you can see in the picture above that the "bubbles" of the chakra within his aura was rapidly moving and condensing to more of an energetic, frantic pace, right above his clenched fist.

Even Naruto still hadn't shown that type of chakra manipulation - he simply let his aura shimmer around himself and take its devilish form, instead. Whereas I believe the Kyuubi had more control of Naruto at the time, here we see the jinchuuriki clearly calling the shots.

Sasuke was in for a fight here, make no bones about it.

Lessee.. how did I beat Naruto that one time? Oh yeah... MY GENIUS!
(MS and Curse Seal didn't hurt, either.)

2. Déjà Vu! Ah, But Wait! As we saw Sasuke clearly remembering his battle with Naruto in his one-tailed form, and recalling that this fight with the Hachibi host was the "same thing," and "just like before," I couldn't help but think that he was so wrong, and so clearly underestimating the jinchuuriki.

It was as though he was underestimating Naruto all over again.

After all, since that fight, Naruto himself had developed to the point where within his fox shroud, he was able to grow more tails than just one, and become even more deadly and dangerous. As Jiraiya and Orochimaru both learned to the mutual risk of their own well-doing!

Here we see Hachibi's host immediately growing ALL of his eight tails, and not even allow his personal demon to take control of any of his personality at all (well - I'm assuming.)

Once again, just a display of immense power and discipline that we may one day get to see Naruto invoke himself.

Oh, a brotherly rivalry? Oh hey, where have we heard that one before...? >_>

3. More Thoughts, Please. In some ways, I think we gather more information from the unspoken thoughts of "minor characters" of Naruto than we would from any exchange of words they would with in battle with any of the main characters. We get more intriguing insights into the characters' personalities and their behavior that way.

For example, were we get just a little glimpse at what the Hachibi's host thoughts when Sasuke dodged his attack - that it was the first time anybody had done that since his own brother did it. We get a sense of what his background may have been like, how he was raised, and his possible status within the country, just from that.

We learn that he did have a family of some kind - at least a brother. He seemed to have a clan loyal to him as well, from how difficult it was for Taka to interrogate other local ninjas for information about him. So, was the brother a prominent citizen of the Cloud Country? Was the Hachibi's host a member of a prestigious clan? Maybe the same as even the Kage? After all, Sunagakure decided to seal their bijuu into one of their "princes" - the son of their own Kage, Gaara.

These are just some of the thoughts racing through my mind just from this one panel... I thought I'd just share.

Look what I found! BOOYAH!

4. Mass Destruction, Baby! As soon as the jinchuuriki re-oriented himself on attacking the wounded Juugo as well as Karin and Suigetsu, and seemed to grin evilly, I suddenly wondered about this guy a bit more.

We all know that jinchuuriki are "created" to be the protectors of their own respective countries - but in some respects, they may be considered WMDs themselves - weapons of mass destruction. That's what Sunagakure had in mind for Gaara. No, it may not be what Minato had intended for Naruto, but he still hoped that his son would be Konohagakure's greatest hero as well, especially being raised under Sandaime's watchful gaze.

Of course, we don't know everything about all the jinchuuriki (which I think is terribly unfortunate) but I'd say not all jinchuuriki probably accepted their fates, and may have even rejected them at times. The old jinchuuriki that Kisame defeated, for example, seemed more an aged hermit than a ninja. Did that old man decide to forfeit civilization altogether and try to live on his own, in peace?

Gaara came very close to being the total opposite of that, as he become increasingly rebellious to his own village in his belief that his existence was the only one that mattered - before, of course, Naruto convinced him otherwise.

Hachibi's host seems very eager to be in battle, though. He was actually looking pleased at the notion that he may be able to crush some vulnerable people who might not be able to fight back. In that sense, he almost seems a monster himself. But by the same token, could it be that he just merely accepted his "fate" to be a walking weapon - and even started to learn how to enjoy it?

HANG TIIIIIIIGHT! Oops... forgot Suigetsu... *cough*

5. Not Out for the Count!? People seemed peeved at the notion that Juugo was able to get up and able to get Karin (if not Suigetsu, lol) and himself to safety. How was he able to get up after taking such a beating from the host of the Hachibi, and he was apparently out for the count?

Well... why so upset? I mean, I've watched enough boxing matches to know that some people are never as down and out of it as they may seem to be sometimes. Even a person with high endurance and stamina can be knocked out briefly. I mean, how times have we seen Rocky where he seemed to be out of it - but kept getting up and kept battling back?

I know it's a funny analogy to make, but all I'm saying is I can see it happening. Especially from somebody who seems to have a very stout ability - Juugo does have the "cursed seal," after all, which seems to be able to protect his body from some of the most vicious attacks. As we saw here.

Juugo may have just been unprepared for Hachibi's speed and strength a few chapters ago - and had been KO'ed by a single punch. Who knows? We didn't get to see it happen.

Whoa? Careful Sasuke... They may think you actually care!

6. Not a Tin Man at Heart after all...!? How about that.

I was momentarily confused by Sasuke's orders to Karin at first, actually. You know, I mean, how does Karin keeping track of the Hachibi's movements exactly help Sasuke himself survive that battle? After all, Sasuke had his own Sharingan to keep himself out of harm's way.

Then I realized... no, it wasn't that. Sasuke was simply telling Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu all to be more careful. That they were in danger themselves, and that they had to be aware of the Hachibi so that they didn't get killed by some sudden strike.

So much for the thought that he didn't care a thing about anybody else but himself. Arrogant he may be, but - sometimes surprisingly - he's still got a heart.

Damn... Owned. >_>

7. Well, Surprise, Surprise...! Well, Kishimoto actually gave us all what we wanted this time.

Even some of the most hardcore Sasuke fans I knew seemed to becoming a bit irritated with the boy's attitude in recent chapters - and also his good luck of always getting out of a rough battle on tops.

Sure, he had been bloodied before plenty of times - his battle with Deidara left him completely exhausted, and his confrontation with Itachi certainly wasn't a piece of cake, either. But in both situations, he came out the survivor. Despite the massacre of his family, was he actually born with a golden spoon in his mouth when it came to winning a fight?

But no! For once... for ONCE... Sasuke was unquestioningly defeated! Knocked out silly!

So much for Tobi's prediction.

It had been that, and how I felt like Kishimoto had seemed to want Sasuke to always come out of every battle winning, that I thought Sasuke would actually be victorious in this battle, despite my hopes that he'd be handed a LITTLE humble pie, at least.

But he just got delivered a huuuuge serving of humble pie instead. Damn!

I'd like to call attention to the wonderful timing of the sequential art too here. And the writing. Remember that people who don't read the spoilers would naturally be expecting Sasuke to get a finishing blow on Hachibi, somehow, here. He had been so successful so far, after all, and nothing seemed to be going to change that. They're reading the chapter, thinking that all along.

Then just as it seemed like Sasuke's won, relying on his old trusty Sharingan again...

BAM!

He's out like a light!

For a "cursed" seal, it sure is useful.

8. Juugo to the Rescue Again. Ugh, I hope this doesn't mean Sasuke is going to get some kind of Cursed Seal back on him again... I mean, Itachi did go to all that trouble of getting rid of it for him! XD

I guess that's all I had to say about that. Other than the fact that it seems that Juugo is actually accompanying Sasuke not for himself but more out of a sense of making sure that Kimimaro didn't just sacrifice himself for nothing.

I guess Kimimaro and Juugo were closer friends than we thought.

Oh, and one more thing. I used to think Juugo always had some trouble with controlling his cursed seal all the time. But it almost seems like he's in complete control of it 90% of the time.

Must be only an occasional - maybe even infrequent - rage that he's frightened of, when he gets emotionally upset. I'm wondering if Juugo won't end up saving them all from Hachibi, because if things don't improve soon, he's certainly going to get peeved!

Uh-oh... his skin's flying off, that can't be good...

9. Wha!?? Explained So Quickly!? Gosh, didn't expect that. In case you missed it, there was a lot of immediate theories on how exactly Sasuke's Sharingan was defeated by the Hachibi host, when it was revealed in the Spoilers thread this week.

For example... one person initially believed that it was because the Hachibi jinchuuriki was blind, before somebody else reminded him that he had just jogged down his poem on a notepad for future reference. He'd need eyes for that to be useful.

Then one person on the forums thought that it was because the Hachibi had such control over his bijuu, that he would naturally have mental defenses up against any genjutsu. Another person here mentioned that it might have been because the Hachibi host had such inexhaustible chakra, that he was able to break it himself.

Turns out that the host needed its bijuu to help snap him out of it. In this case, it seems the jinchuuriki actually ordered it to break the illusion.

Funny how just how much conversation and speculation can come out of such a question when the answer is waiting right there... in the chapter itself!

I'd thought this was going to be one of the hardest questions to answer, but I guess there's no need to anymore now. But I have to mention that this just gave Naruto an incredible out for any possible confrontation he may have with Sasuke again in the future - as far as the Sharingan is concerned.

As bad as Naruto may be against protecting himself from genjutsu, he does have the means to defeat the Sharingan - whenever he does agree to work with the Kyuubi again. Or control him - either way. (Hopefully the latter, I don't think the Kyuubi is very... benevolent, anyway.)

And plz do a good job of it! 'CAUSE I'M DAMN SCARY SCARY, yo!

10. Big, Bad, and Ugly!? So that's what the Eight-Tails looks like, huh? Ugly. But I wouldn't tell that to his face, of course... though I doubt he'd care!

A wooden, muscular ox with eight octopus tentacles.

I like it. For some reason I've liked how all Kishimoto's bijuus has looked so far. I mean, yes, I know the Kyuubi and the Nibi look very much like their supposed animal counterparts, but all the others seem to have some mix of animal resemblances. The Sanbi, for example, looked more like a mix between a shark and a turtle. And now the Hachibi. It's a good move on Kishimoto's part since we had already seen enough snakes (a la Orochimaru).

Kishimoto's imaginative art really makes me wish we had seen all the others, though.

Anyway, one last thing I wanted to mention here - hang on guys, not done yet, sorry. Ok, so Sasuke was taken down by a jinchuuriki, when it seemed like all the Akatsuki seemed to have no problem with the other bijuus. Keep in mind a few things, though.

1. Although Gaara seemed to be making some improvement with his relationship with the Shukaku, he still only relied on his sand abilities most of the time against Deidara.
2. The Sanbi seemed like a nearly mindless being.
3. Hidan was able to take lethal shots and used it against Yugito without dire consequences for himself.
4. The Five-Tails that Kisame took down seemed old, and probably out of practice. (Though Kisame did mention that it was still a bitch to take him down.)

The Hachibi jinchuuriki (wish we knew his name) seemed the MOST in control of his bijuu, though. Look at him here. Not even Yugito - who was from the same country and seemingly accomplished herself - was able to manifest her bijuu outside of its chakra form.

Ah, but what about Gaara? But no, that wasn't really Gaara... that was Shukaku, taking control mostly. Just like the Kyuubi when Naruto seems to resemble him more.

So keep in mind all that. Sasuke may have just gone up against potentially the dangerous jinchuuriki of them all. One that knows what he's doing - and who's in total control.

Ouch!!!

RATING: 4 of 5 - I was really pleased by the chapter overall, for the surprise twist that I wasn't expecting. That is, Sasuke actually lost. And whenever a chapter makes it easy for me to make ten comments like it, it'll usually get a 4 at least. The only reason it didn't get a 5 was because the chapter felt too short, which has been happening quite a lot lately, unfortunately.

PREDICTIONS: No idea, really. That's something I'm quite pleased by though. I like being curious about what exactly the hell will happen next. But I'm sure we'll probably get a cutscene to what Naruto's been up to... it's been a while now.

Well, that's it, hoped you guys enjoyed.

I'll be back next week... and the week after... promise! For now though let me know what you thought of the chapter!

Comment! Or bite me!

One last quick comment here... that has to be one of the more freaky things I've seen in all the series. >_>

Starzen · Aug 22, 2008