Gold Knight's Ten Comments (Naruto 421)

Gold Knight · Oct 18, 2008

Don't blink, the comments are coming!

Interesting - I really didn't expect to get a review out on a Friday night again this week. Sorry for misleading anybody yesterday, but I was mistaken in thinking I wouldn't have the time to finish it today.

Never mind. I guess this chapter was rather easy to write about, but for a different reason than last week's - it was a rather simple chapter, wasn't it? Quite a few pages where there's not too much significant stuff going on.

That's not always a bad thing. Sometimes there's a certain kind of beauty in simplicity. And I guess not every one of my reviews has to read like an essay. ^^; Although, I'll have a bonus review coming up that might be interesting... yes, that thing I've been talking about for the last three weeks. It's still in the works, but it should be out this week if everything goes well.

Thanks to Sleepy Fans once again for the Edited Manga and RAW. Also to Fnuckale for cleaning my header, too. And, of course, feel free to comment on anything that you guys see.

Also, just a FYI, I forgot to open a poll last week concerning the new jinchuurikis' designs, so I've gone ahead and started it late - please check back in last week's review and vote whenever you have time. =D

* * * Gold Knight's Ten Comments on Naruto Chapter 421: Call Naruto Back! * * *

Great, let's eat it!!!!

1. Forehead Girl to the Rescue! My, little Sakura has become quite something, hasn't she? Making like Supergirl and taking out a gigantic summoned centipede with just a single airborne punch! Nobody would mistake her for the shrinking violet that she used to be as a kid, that's for sure.

Only thing missing from the scene was a loud "Shannaro!" shout - although Sakura did strongly insult the monster. Still, you get the impression that Sakura has well and fully become her "Inner Sakura" - which would explain why we haven't seen her inner persona at all thus so far in Part 2.

[gk]EDIT: Daniee informed me that Sakura did indeed scream "Shannaro!" and that Sleepy Fans translated it differently. Apologies, I should have double-checked.[/gk]

Sometimes I think it's a shame that she became a healer, too. I think I'd much like to just see her duke it out on the front lines with the enemy. But as a consequence of her other talent, she's also got to stay hidden and safe so that she can continue to heal everybody else and get them back into the heat of the battle. Sure, it's great that she can now take care of herself, but we aren't getting to see that as much as we'd like to.

No use crying over spilled nins...!

2.Woefully Unprepared! Iruka seems to be appearing in chapters more frequently lately. I wonder if Kishimoto finally decided to get Iruka a bit more involved in the story - I guess his seiyuu is going to have to start earning his pay now!

Anyway, the point of interest here is that Sakura never thought that the Akatsuki would be bold enough to attack Konohagakure directly. And I'd think that Tsunade would have clued her apprentice in on her suspicions - if she felt that strongly about them herself. I guess she didn't.

So while Tsunade seemed to have been waiting for a possible invasion, she obviously didn't think it'd really happen either, hence she failed to sufficiently prepare the village. As a result, Konohagakure's sorely pushed back on its heels just trying to defend itself against the "Akatsuki Leader," and they're all unable to really counter-attack... Yet.

I definitely think that Kishimoto is setting up a scenario where all the kids of Naruto's generation - Team 7 (Sai at least), 8 (Team Kurenai), 10 (Team Asuma) and Team Gai, and perhaps even others - will be coming to prove themselves as capable chuunins. If so, not a bad way to finally get them all involved again - it'd be exciting to see them all in action against dangerous opponents. I hope they all get their due.

Hmm.. wonder where Danzou's getting his information...

3. Misguided Guidance! Wow, way to go on revealing who the Konohagakure elders really listen to - Danzou. It's pretty clear that the old farts see the Hokage as nothing more than a figurehead. And trust Danzou more to take care of the village's best interests.

I had my suspicions long ago when Homura and Koharu once tried to get Jiraiya to be the big boss. I know what Jiraiya fans will say - wait, but Jiraiya was more than qualified to be Hokage! Ah, but I'm not sooo sure about that. Yes, he was strong enough. No question. But what about his head? Was he an expert at strategy and teamwork? Politics? I'm not so sure about that, especially if he's like Naruto at all. Plus, he seemed to like being a lone wolf. He liked being a hermit. And wandering around, as he explained once to Tsunade. The elders had to know this, though. So the elders seemed to me like they were trying to appoint a figurehead to the throne - somebody the village could see as their de facto leader - so that the elders could continue conducting the actual village decisions from the relative safety of the shadows.

What about Sandaime? Well, I think Hiruzen (weird to finally know his first name now!) is a big believer in democracy. Probably the reason the warhawk Danzou once called him "conflict-shy" and "indecisive." I don't know if that's true or not, but he definitely lets the elders have their say and even make the ultimate decision as to what to do. Anybody forget the Uchiha massacre fiasco? Didn't think so.

Not saying that Hiruzen was a bad Hokage at all, far from it. He did what he could, and he obviously knew how to inspire his people to rise up against any challenges. And he seemed to listen to them and want the best for all of them. He also obviously still went against Danzou's aggressive policies, so he had some chutzpah, at least. It also probably helped that Hiruzen once defeated Danzou for the Hokage's throne in the first place, so he had more respect.

Yondaime? No idea. He was probably too young when he died - his leadership too brief for him to have any confrontations with the elders. Although I wonder if he might have, concerning the sealing of the Kyuubi into his son. But that's a story to be told later at some point.

Tsunade - well, sometimes I think of her as an airhead at times. So I can see why the elders would, too. But she's definitely not a shrinking violet, either - as we would be reminded of again this chapter. Unlike Sandaime, she isn't about to let them have their way. Her authority is absolute. And the elders don't like it. No wonder they're snivelling to Danzou about every decision she makes that they don't like. XD

Wah! Lemme go or I'll tell Danzou on you!

4. Say What? This is probably one of the more laughable lines I've ever seen in the entire Naruto series.

"We're your advisors! Who do you think you are!??"

Uh, hello? She's the freaking Godaime!

If nothing else, I think this is probably the best evidence we've had yet that the elders really think TOO highly of themselves.

Oops! Were these there?

5. Naruto's New Jutsu! Haha. When I first saw this scene of Naruto staring at these ruined landmarks at Myouboku Mountain, the first thing that came to mind was that "oh geez, I hope toads weren't living in these...!"

Guess I was mistaken in thinking these were the same buildings that Fukasaku and his brethen were sleeping in - I had come to that conclusion a few weeks ago. It didn't help that on that same page Fukasaku was shown sleeping, too. But I guess even Naruto isn't that stupid. He had to know.

Anyway, now we know what Naruto was trying to do back there. We see the results here - complete destruction, even almost on the same scale Pain's currently delivering out to poor Konohagakure.

Seeing what Naruto's doing here, though, is making me wonder if he's now able to throw the RasenShuriken? Or is it something entirely different?

Whatever it is, it's definitely wind-related. There's no way he can be that much of a long-range fighter and make such smooth cuts without some wind being involved. Talk about improving his battle arsenal. Whatever he's doing while being in Sage Mode, looks like his training has been worthwhile!

At least, that seems the case right now. Hopefully there's no health-damaging drawback to this one... as long as the only drawback is Naruto having to stay still for a while first, or getting the assistance of Fukasaku beforehand, I'll be happy.

Pain's ultimate fart-no jutsu, that's what it was!

6. Shouldn't Have Gotten Out of Bed...! When I first saw the spoilers - and this scene in particular - I was pretty darn impressed.

I hadn't expected Pain's "barrier" which had stopped Kakashi's Raikiri last chapter to have been that effective - the area now almost looked like a blast zone! For one second, I thought that was the same place the Mecha Pain had blown up. (Wonder how much destruction his rampage had caused.)

Of course, I was relieved that Kakashi had seemed to get out of it unscathed. Then I suddenly wondered... why? Kakashi was caught in the explosion flat-footed. Reminded me of when Naruto had gone Kyuubified and Kabuto had tried to sneak behind him, and then... BOOM! Remember that? Never laughed so hard at Kabuto in my life.

So, was it just an explosion of chakra? Maybe all the chakra transmitters going off at once?

I had initially thought that it was a wind barrier, but I think if it had been, Kakashi might have been shredded to pieces. At the very least Pain could have designed any type of wind barrier to be like that - spikes flying out, instead of just a force field.

So yeah, I think it's pure chakra. What do you guys think?

Who let the electric dogs out? Bzzt Bzzt Bzzt!

7. From the Frying Pan...! I hope we get to see even more from Kakashi next chapter. I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem seeing that he's now facing two Pains. He can't depend on the Mangekyou Sharingan to get him out of this one, because that'd only take care of one of them and it'd probably leave him too vulnerable to the other. So hopefully he has some nice jutsus handy for this two-on-one battle, as well as a good strategy.

Like that nifty raikon dog. Although it didn't faze Pain in the least, I'm sure it'll look good in a video game. Funny how Kakashi's attacks always seem to be canine-themed. I'm suddenly starting to realize why Kakashi always wears a mask - and likely every member of the Hatake family, too. Remember back in the Gaiden when Kakashi claimed that he had a strong sense of smell? Might be that he's trying to save himself the trouble of smelling every odor that comes his way. After all, there's bound to be plenty of unpleasant ones.

Of course, I'm expecting somebody to come to Kakashi's assistance eventually, but I'm hoping that Kakashi is able to at least take out one by himself before then. Mecha Pain probably.

That's a scary scenario though. These two Pains seem to have the most potential for complete devastation of all the bodies, and Kakashi's caught right in the middle. Good luck, sensei!

[gk]EDIT: This is a later thought that I had this weekend concerning the upcoming battle.

It's highly possible that Kakashi won't have to fight both Pains. The Deva Pain, is after all, there only to search while Asura Realm, Preta Realm, and Animal Realm serve as the diversions.

That means Asura Realm could have come merely to replace Deva Realm as Kakashi's opponent. I'm pretty strongly convinced that'll happen right now.[/gk]

Wanna feel, Tsunade-sama?

8. Report! Well, so Shizune finally gets to report to Tsunade about the chakra transmitters - and we still haven't really learned much other than the suggested possibility that the interrogators could be able to nullify these when they make their own findings.

I still think the Godaime needs to be involved in this battle somehow. We've seen that in the past that she has the anatomy knowledge to be able to numb somebody's arms and legs, and that could really be useful against any of the Pains. Especially the Summoner Pain, for instance - the one guy that seems to depend entirely on making hand seals. Maybe after Inochi makes his own report, Tsunade will feel compelled to finally participate.

Anyway, not much else to say here - I guess we'll have to wait on Inochi and Ibiki for further information. I'm sure that's coming up pretty quickly in a future chapter. As to what they might discover that might help them against Pain - I honestly have no idea. I don't feel particularly inspired to speculate on that right now, so feel free to let me know what you think they'll find out. ^^;

Oh God, I hope I survive this!

9. Go Guard Somebody, Dammit! Again, not much to talk about here, but... notice that the Anbu finally got a mention? I was wondering where they were in the midst of all the tumult. And what else? They're ordered to go protect Shizune and the interrogators. (Yeah, I wouldn't hold my breath, either...)

Seems like the Anbu are almost like high-ranking bodyguards. Remember when Kakashi had a couple protect a sleeping Sasuke in the hospital (and they failed?) The four white-clothed Anbu that raced after Orochimaru and Sandaime at the conclusion of the Chuunin Exams also seemed more like people who were accustomed to protecting and observing than anything else.

I had always thought that the Anbu would be expected to perform all sorts of S-ranked missions outside the village, but it seems like they're as much protectors and scouts of the village as the Barrier Squad are - well, I know that shouldn't be a surprise, but they haven't really been very good guards so far, have they?

Guess that walking cane was useful for something else!

10. Look Who Showed Up! Oh wow, that was such a delicious ending. Danzou!? Killing the poor frog!? Obviously he doesn't adhere to the belief that one shouldn't kill the messenger...! (And ouch, the googles on the frog were an obvious allusion to Naruto - who once wore them as well in the first couple of chapters. Heh, better watch out, kid.)

Well, this pretty much confirms it - the Root, and Danzou at the head, will be antagonists in the near future for Naruto. Not that many of us had any doubt of that happening. Still, I've always been entertained by the idea of there being some sort of internal strife within Konohagakure itself since Sai first appeared, so this is a great story twist that's been long in coming. And this would also seem to imply that Sai will finally have a larger role soon where he'll be forced to make a decision to side either with his new-found friends or with his master.

There are people who believe that Danzou's apparently in cahoots with Madara. Well - you know what I say to that?

Baloney!

There's no way he would have done what he did at the end of this chapter if that had been the case. Heck, he would have invited Naruto himself to come back to the village - right into Pain's hands!

So yeah, I think Danzou is simply trying to protect the village... with wholly different methods than Tsunade's. Don't forget, now, that the Ne, the Root organization, is supposed to be defunct and put out to pasture. They were once accused of similar training exercises as the ones that created Momochi Zabuza in Kirigakure (as hard as that might be to believe.)

So Danzou's definitely not one you'd expect to give mercy to the enemy at all.

And it's clear he considers Naruto more of a threat than any real help. Notice that he didn't even refer to him by name, but as the Nine-Tailed Fox. Who he would probably rather just be dead than alive - or be used as a weapon. The story's heating up...!

RATING: 5 of 5 - Even though it was a simple chapter, you shouldn't be surprised I'm giving it a 5 anyway. It was still an enjoyable transition from the last chapter to the next, with plenty of action. Kakashi, check. Sakura doing something useful, check. Tsunade shaking the elders until their false teeth fall out, check. And of course, Danzou at the end provided a very entertaining story twist.

PREDICTIONS: Well, Naruto ain't coming, that's for sure. We now know what Kishimoto meant by saying, "Naruto will have to wait," in his interview a while ago. I guess I'm going to trust the preview for a change and say that the next chapter will be mostly centered around Kakashi for at least one week. Hey, I'm so there!

421 is officially history. Your go!

Farewell. Unnamed Googles Frog, your bravery will always be remembered.
Any last words, fearless readers?