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This week I found myself with the determination of not writing a review, maybe just taking break for a time, but this chapter changed my opinion. Generally I try to keep my personal thoughts till the end of the review, but this times will be one of those exceptions where my thoughts will be read in "ITALIC" sty
MASASHI KISHOMOTO, never established a character as evil or a character with the attributes of being a villain, till today they all were: Broken men, people with goals opposing the main characters, from Zabusa the hired Shinobi, to pain who was seeking justice for the deaths of the people he cherished, not a single one of them were truly evil as this Masked Man.
Minato, the fourth Hokage
Chapter the Kyuubi strikes, starts with the man we all know as Tobi or Uchiha Madara putting between the sword and the wall, the man known being the strongest Shinobi alive, known by others as genius without equal in his generation, those of born just once every 100 years, by a man who is the simplest, but at the same time the most complex definition of a villain that we have ever seen in this manga.
Minato was prepared for a situation when he would have to escape as fast as possible and even if that's true, he wasn't prepared at all of this particular situation, Minato hurries to take his son away from danger to find out multiple explosive tags under the blanket surrounding his son, as he teleports Naruto out from the danger Kushina is left vulnerable and taken away by Tobi.
Minato re-appears making sure that his son is alright before going out to rescue his wife from the hands of Tobi, just as any good father of a newborn would.
Tobi, Kyuubi and the Sharingan
In my introduction I said that you have never seen a villain as clearly delineated as Tobi in the story of the manga. We have seen so far hired Shinobi like Zabusa, we have seen broken people Shinobi like Gaara and Orochimaru, then we got Itachi who also had a purpose for everything he did, that wasn't merely evil. At the beginning of the manga Kishomoto was interviewed and said that he didn't have villains in his manga, that he just had people with opposite goals that collide, and it was true just until now that we see someone who clearly brings revenge, destruction and despair, to the point that you not longer can't feel bad for the character, even knowing about the sacrifice done by his brother, there's just not way to feel any pity.
With this turn around of events Kishimoto clearly tells us, I'm gotta end this the best way I can, and my friends if this continues as this goes, Kishimoto can retire from writing manga and teach his pairs that even if this a shounen manga, you can use elements from other genres like seinen or shoujo to make a great story. I don't care if One Piece is "finally" selling more than Naruto... the true is that Naruto evolved from a children/young manga to a Young / young adult manga, with a more compelling story for those who were 15 when started to read the manga and now we are 25.
Tobi (Uchiha Madara), is merciless, smart and powerful, an architect of evil. Patiently preparing the scenario, he have bee shown capable of manipulating people with an audacity and unlike he said towards Naruto about Sasuke's decision, he doesn't leave anything to gamble, is kind of villain that is there to be hated and despised, Kishimoto is known for making a bitter situation sweet and sweet situation bitter, leaving us with a bittersweet sensation, like he did in the last chapter.
A lot of us at this point wants to see Minato kicking Madara's ass all around Konoha, but that's unlikely to happen as we have in advance several details. However it seems that Kishimoto is about ready to reveal the face behind Tobi's mask, the man who the author says is Madara, but as you all know, Japaneses way of thinking, is way to deep most of the time, to take it as if 2+2= 4, which sadly most of the people, or like me 5 years ago, would ignore and accept everything written as is read, we'll see if Tobi is Madara in the full sense of the word or if he is someone who... (spoiler)... just like that.
The most interesting part in relation to Madara in this chapter, was the use of his Sharingan to tame the nine tails, destroying everything said about the Magenkyo Sharingan in relation to the Kyuubi, during the battle between Itachi and Sasuke in chapter "Secret of the Mangekyo"
Sasuke: So Tha's the price you pay for gaining control over the Kyuubi?
Tobi exercising control over the Kyuubi with his regular Sharingan eyes, basically reaffirms what Itachi says in "Secret of the Mangekyo",
The true is that I never believed that obtaining Magenkyo Sharingan was equally to controlling the beast, in fact I believed that only Madara perfect Magenkyo Sharinga was capable of controlling it, and with Tobi using the regular sharingan it means, that controlling the Kyuubi is actually something that not many, even being a Uchiha with the Sharingan could do. In fact I'm going from now and forward that only Sharingan' eyes like Uchiha Madara are capable of controlling the Bijuu, this means that Sasuke have a good chance here. We don't know if the new technique obtained by Madara's perfect sharingan is the key to this, or if just regular genjutsu like the one used by Sasuke on Manda could do it.
Everything he did back then, led to the conclusion of his magnus opus
Uzumaki Kushina
A few weeks ago I got into a heat discussion with a member of the community about whether or not Kushina was strong as Kunoichi in general or if she was weak compared to others like my intellectual adversary said. I'm glad to say that after three weeks of supporting Kushina as someone strong, I keep on faithfully with the same argument.
Granted, I'm the first to say we don't know if Minato was stronger than many of the characters he beats in the weekly Yondaime vs {enter loser's name here} polls around the web, I don't say that she was actually stronger than some of the characters we have seen before, but saying that she was weak at this point would be like trying to break a wall with an egg. Kushina have proven something that not even Gaara who is one of our favorites, couldn't, she didn't die intermediately after the extraction of the Bijuu like Gaara, adding to the cause that she was already weakened due giving birth and even then fought to control the Kyuubi.
Is interesting how Minato re appears to save Kushina from getting Killed by the Kyuubi, poetic as he takes her away from the Kyuubi in the same fashion he took her from the shinobi of Kumogakure, is poetic tragedy in action. Even after watching Minato's heroic entrance, the situation have changed, she ask:
Kushina: Minato... is Naruto... Is Naruto okay?
The human side of Minato is quite something we have to talk about, we didn't really knew much about him, everything we received so far was bits and bits of information. It seems that he weights more the safety of his family over village's, a great difference between him and his pair, Yondaime Kazekage.
At this point in seems that not even Konoha could be trusted, as he take her to a safe location where his son is hidden, at least is seems that he was ready for a situation where he would need to put his family somewhere out of reach from his enemies.
Masashi Kishimoto is just a genius or at least he and his team is working the manga carefully, as they history moves towards its conclusion, each panel, each expression very well thought, very well written (I read raw script) and very well drawn, showing skills on how easily he can make bitter moment sweet and a sweet moment bitter.
Kushina embraces her son with love, crying I think relieved to know that his son is all fine, while probably enduring pain like not one ever felt before.
MASASHI KISHOMOTO, never established a character as evil or a character with the attributes of being a villain, till today they all were: Broken men, people with goals opposing the main characters, from Zabusa the hired Shinobi, to pain who was seeking justice for the deaths of the people he cherished, not a single one of them were truly evil as this Masked Man.
Minato, the fourth Hokage
Chapter the Kyuubi strikes, starts with the man we all know as Tobi or Uchiha Madara putting between the sword and the wall, the man known being the strongest Shinobi alive, known by others as genius without equal in his generation, those of born just once every 100 years, by a man who is the simplest, but at the same time the most complex definition of a villain that we have ever seen in this manga.
Minato: He saw trough everything I did.
During the manga the Uchiha were called a clan of genius, I consider being a genius of those born just once in a century, the highest praise Minato ever received, now I have to ask myself how smart or well informed could Tobi ("Uchiha Madara") be, the man knew the exact moment when and how to attack. It wasn't only about the moment Kushina's seal would be weaker, but also the moment when both Minato and Kushina would be more vulnerable.
Minato re-appears making sure that his son is alright before going out to rescue his wife from the hands of Tobi, just as any good father of a newborn would.
Tobi, Kyuubi and the Sharingan
In my introduction I said that you have never seen a villain as clearly delineated as Tobi in the story of the manga. We have seen so far hired Shinobi like Zabusa, we have seen broken people Shinobi like Gaara and Orochimaru, then we got Itachi who also had a purpose for everything he did, that wasn't merely evil. At the beginning of the manga Kishomoto was interviewed and said that he didn't have villains in his manga, that he just had people with opposite goals that collide, and it was true just until now that we see someone who clearly brings revenge, destruction and despair, to the point that you not longer can't feel bad for the character, even knowing about the sacrifice done by his brother, there's just not way to feel any pity.
With this turn around of events Kishimoto clearly tells us, I'm gotta end this the best way I can, and my friends if this continues as this goes, Kishimoto can retire from writing manga and teach his pairs that even if this a shounen manga, you can use elements from other genres like seinen or shoujo to make a great story. I don't care if One Piece is "finally" selling more than Naruto... the true is that Naruto evolved from a children/young manga to a Young / young adult manga, with a more compelling story for those who were 15 when started to read the manga and now we are 25.
Tobi (Uchiha Madara), is merciless, smart and powerful, an architect of evil. Patiently preparing the scenario, he have bee shown capable of manipulating people with an audacity and unlike he said towards Naruto about Sasuke's decision, he doesn't leave anything to gamble, is kind of villain that is there to be hated and despised, Kishimoto is known for making a bitter situation sweet and sweet situation bitter, leaving us with a bittersweet sensation, like he did in the last chapter.
The most interesting part in relation to Madara in this chapter, was the use of his Sharingan to tame the nine tails, destroying everything said about the Magenkyo Sharingan in relation to the Kyuubi, during the battle between Itachi and Sasuke in chapter "Secret of the Mangekyo"
Sasuke: So Tha's the price you pay for gaining control over the Kyuubi?
Tobi exercising control over the Kyuubi with his regular Sharingan eyes, basically reaffirms what Itachi says in "Secret of the Mangekyo",
Itachi: A man whose eyes tamed the Kyuubi and controlled it like a pet.
The true is that I never believed that obtaining Magenkyo Sharingan was equally to controlling the beast, in fact I believed that only Madara perfect Magenkyo Sharinga was capable of controlling it, and with Tobi using the regular sharingan it means, that controlling the Kyuubi is actually something that not many, even being a Uchiha with the Sharingan could do. In fact I'm going from now and forward that only Sharingan' eyes like Uchiha Madara are capable of controlling the Bijuu, this means that Sasuke have a good chance here. We don't know if the new technique obtained by Madara's perfect sharingan is the key to this, or if just regular genjutsu like the one used by Sasuke on Manda could do it.
Everything he did back then, led to the conclusion of his magnus opus
Uzumaki Kushina
Even in danger herself, she only cares about the security of her son...
A few weeks ago I got into a heat discussion with a member of the community about whether or not Kushina was strong as Kunoichi in general or if she was weak compared to others like my intellectual adversary said. I'm glad to say that after three weeks of supporting Kushina as someone strong, I keep on faithfully with the same argument.
Granted, I'm the first to say we don't know if Minato was stronger than many of the characters he beats in the weekly Yondaime vs {enter loser's name here} polls around the web, I don't say that she was actually stronger than some of the characters we have seen before, but saying that she was weak at this point would be like trying to break a wall with an egg. Kushina have proven something that not even Gaara who is one of our favorites, couldn't, she didn't die intermediately after the extraction of the Bijuu like Gaara, adding to the cause that she was already weakened due giving birth and even then fought to control the Kyuubi.
Is interesting how Minato re appears to save Kushina from getting Killed by the Kyuubi, poetic as he takes her away from the Kyuubi in the same fashion he took her from the shinobi of Kumogakure, is poetic tragedy in action. Even after watching Minato's heroic entrance, the situation have changed, she ask:
Kushina: Minato... is Naruto... Is Naruto okay?
The human side of Minato is quite something we have to talk about, we didn't really knew much about him, everything we received so far was bits and bits of information. It seems that he weights more the safety of his family over village's, a great difference between him and his pair, Yondaime Kazekage.
At this point in seems that not even Konoha could be trusted, as he take her to a safe location where his son is hidden, at least is seems that he was ready for a situation where he would need to put his family somewhere out of reach from his enemies.
Masashi Kishimoto is just a genius or at least he and his team is working the manga carefully, as they history moves towards its conclusion, each panel, each expression very well thought, very well written (I read raw script) and very well drawn, showing skills on how easily he can make bitter moment sweet and a sweet moment bitter.
Kushina embraces her son with love, crying I think relieved to know that his son is all fine, while probably enduring pain like not one ever felt before.
The chapter ends with Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze departing to his last battle.
Thoughts...
This is a manga, the true is while the comics we read from Marvel and DC, have shown arcs and interesting storyline (sometimes), the true is that by end of the year or month you end reading a whole new arc based on the same main character, Thanks to Kamizama that manga creators exist... we can't read a chapter of a manga thinking about it as definitive conclusion, while in comics you can easily in one chapter figure out everything, including who is going to become evil, who is going to betray who, in manga is not that easy.
Naruto is a book in progress, is a story moving each week towards it's conclusion and we are lucky to get spoilers each week of this book in progress as weekly releases in shounen jump and in volumes each month and a half. Kishimoto is cleary trying to gain a lot of his feminine audience, you might ask me wth, this a shounen why he would like to do that?, because back in time 3 years ago this manga was the shounen manga with highest shounen audience ever. I think trying to add certain elements from shoujo or seinen, instead of hurting the story, it adds.
The first strong seinen element was shown when pain pierces trough Jiraiya's neck and we found it really hard to see, but a time after this, we really accepted Jiraiya's death and his will as one of the epic momentum. This manga is going to be filled with tragedies, it makes sense if we want to see a happy ending that make senses an ending good enough to convince the audience that everything we saw in the manga, reading trough ten years of story... led to a conclusion that would be at least satisfactory, to most of the audience.
Kushina an extraordinary mother for Naruto, being simple as mother, acting exactly like a mother would when a son is in dangerous situation, simplicity in an extraordinary situation is what makes Kushina extraordinary in the ordinary. I Believe that Kishimoto have done this change once again the attitude of Naruto towards life, Naruto said that he would die with Sasuke if they fight again, I think things are going to be a little different from this time and forward.
As I read more and more of the current arc, I'm getting attached to the idea, that Maybe Kishimot changed of opinion about Sasuke vs Naruto being the last fight, I think it would be real nice if the fight between Sasuke and Naruto leads torwards the fight of Tobi vs Tsunade and Naruto... why add Tsunade here?
Because if Tobi is really Madara, Tsunade should be there fighting a more powerful than ever Madara, to conclude the cycle started between Madara and Hashirama, but also to close the story of Minato and Kushina, it would be the best clousure for the manga from my perspective.
Storywise, for the sake of the story itself, I don't want to see the fight between the fourth and Minato if is not later explained that her thoughts are connected to Minato's due the seal, because there wouldn't be information that she could get to known, if it wasn't because Minato told her before she passed away or if there's not any kind of connection between their thoughts, even saying that they were soulmates would be a romantic, but valid point of view for me.
As for the sharingan it seems that we are going to know the ultimate secret of the sharingan from Tobi himself and it might be by the end of the manga. As for tobi, I believe this is leading to unmasking Tobi very soon in the manga.
Prediction...Minato returns to Kushina, finding her barely alive, his only alternative is to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto... Kushina uses her remaining chakra for the sealing, just to make sure she can aid naruto to handle the Kyuubi when needed.
Thoughts...
This is a manga, the true is while the comics we read from Marvel and DC, have shown arcs and interesting storyline (sometimes), the true is that by end of the year or month you end reading a whole new arc based on the same main character, Thanks to Kamizama that manga creators exist... we can't read a chapter of a manga thinking about it as definitive conclusion, while in comics you can easily in one chapter figure out everything, including who is going to become evil, who is going to betray who, in manga is not that easy.
Naruto is a book in progress, is a story moving each week towards it's conclusion and we are lucky to get spoilers each week of this book in progress as weekly releases in shounen jump and in volumes each month and a half. Kishimoto is cleary trying to gain a lot of his feminine audience, you might ask me wth, this a shounen why he would like to do that?, because back in time 3 years ago this manga was the shounen manga with highest shounen audience ever. I think trying to add certain elements from shoujo or seinen, instead of hurting the story, it adds.
The first strong seinen element was shown when pain pierces trough Jiraiya's neck and we found it really hard to see, but a time after this, we really accepted Jiraiya's death and his will as one of the epic momentum. This manga is going to be filled with tragedies, it makes sense if we want to see a happy ending that make senses an ending good enough to convince the audience that everything we saw in the manga, reading trough ten years of story... led to a conclusion that would be at least satisfactory, to most of the audience.
Kushina an extraordinary mother for Naruto, being simple as mother, acting exactly like a mother would when a son is in dangerous situation, simplicity in an extraordinary situation is what makes Kushina extraordinary in the ordinary. I Believe that Kishimoto have done this change once again the attitude of Naruto towards life, Naruto said that he would die with Sasuke if they fight again, I think things are going to be a little different from this time and forward.
As I read more and more of the current arc, I'm getting attached to the idea, that Maybe Kishimot changed of opinion about Sasuke vs Naruto being the last fight, I think it would be real nice if the fight between Sasuke and Naruto leads torwards the fight of Tobi vs Tsunade and Naruto... why add Tsunade here?
Because if Tobi is really Madara, Tsunade should be there fighting a more powerful than ever Madara, to conclude the cycle started between Madara and Hashirama, but also to close the story of Minato and Kushina, it would be the best clousure for the manga from my perspective.
Storywise, for the sake of the story itself, I don't want to see the fight between the fourth and Minato if is not later explained that her thoughts are connected to Minato's due the seal, because there wouldn't be information that she could get to known, if it wasn't because Minato told her before she passed away or if there's not any kind of connection between their thoughts, even saying that they were soulmates would be a romantic, but valid point of view for me.
As for the sharingan it seems that we are going to know the ultimate secret of the sharingan from Tobi himself and it might be by the end of the manga. As for tobi, I believe this is leading to unmasking Tobi very soon in the manga.
Prediction...Minato returns to Kushina, finding her barely alive, his only alternative is to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto... Kushina uses her remaining chakra for the sealing, just to make sure she can aid naruto to handle the Kyuubi when needed.
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