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Heeeeellllooooooooo!
(you'd better catch the reference
)It is good to be back this week, because exams are over and finally there's nothing to worry about. It was a shitty week, and when I saw the spoilers I said to myself that it can't get any worse. Of course spoilers are haphazard, information is all over the place, things cannot be judged properly. But the feeling of disappointment was there, and I can't help it, because I'm not a robot. But what can I say, now that I read the chapter? I can just spam my new favourite smiley:
Let's start out with what happened last week. Kishimoto expanded the weaponry of the shinobi world. We know that there are swords that seal chakra, or swords that seal entire people, weapons that can transform, and weapons that can regenerate. This gives the manga a bit of a fairy tail, legend -ish feeling. This time the weapons that Kinkaku and Ginkaku wield are indeed legendary. They were the property of Rikudou Sennin, who was a legend by himself, so of course he must've wielded legendary weapons as well. These weapons have the property of executing a complicated string of jutsu, very rare in Narutoverse.
Individually they are not really a thread, except for the wielder if he or she doesn't have enough chakra, and maybe the sword that can cut. But used in a deadly combination the weapons can extract, curse and then seal. That is a pretty complex string of jutsu, only seen when someone executed Shiki Fuujin or wielded Totsuka no Tsurugi.
The title of this week's chapter is pretty interesting and it can forecast some important stuff. What we know of Darui? That he is pretty dull so to say, he is very relaxed and has a calm attitude. So more than dull can mean that we will see Darui in tense action, and that we might get some development of his personality and character.
The events of last chapter are continued in a logical fashion this week. Kishimoto decided to focus on one battle and that is very much welcome. The beginning of the chapter answers a few questions, that left us readers a bit puzzled last week.
The first answer clears the mystery of Samui being sealed. Darui shows that he is a very capable shinobi, and he quickly realizes that not talking would be the end of him.
Now I wonder why is that. It seems that there is a timer on the jutsu, more precisely on the gourd that records and seals. So if the victim decides not to talk, in order to avoid saying his taboo word, then the end will be the same bitter end, even if he had spoken it.
So there you go, one question answered. The other one was the contradiction of Darui and Raikage regarding the the KinGin bros. Raikage was serious as he ever was and he admitted that the brothers were the worst criminals in Kumogakure's history, and even Samui showed signs of despise.
On the other hand, Darui said that they are revered as shining lights, but judging from his relaxed and easy-going attitude he could've used sarcasm when he said shining lights. In this chapter the posture is the same, but the text is different, so it's really hard to judge.
The first case would be that Kishimoto just pulled out the biggest and most massive retcon in Naruto's history. Complete 180 degree turn in one week.
The second scenario is that Darui doesn't use just sarcasm, but he likes tauntin his opponents, baiting them, just like when he threatened them, that he will peel of the golden and silver armor of them.
I don't know what's everybody's opinion on this matter, but I will try to offer a bit of direction in order to understand what Kishimoto is trying to do here, and why I think that the second scenario fits in perfectly here.
Let's start from the fact that Ginkaku is telling Darui that words are tools and they can be used the same way as weapons. The easiest way to execute trickery and deceit is by using words. I think there's no surprise here, our real life is surrounded by this system, just take a closer look and it is obvious, and there are examples in the manga as well. The most recent scene that I remember is when Sasuke tricked Danzou in confirming his theory about Izanagi. That was cool. Or Sakura's confession. That was uncool.
Now Darui in his very own style jumps on the bandwagon and uses words to trigger anger, maybe make the opponent drop their guard. That's why I think that the second scenario fits in perfectly. One side of this battle is the battle or game of words, and Darui is playing this game on a very high level.
And it is a success, I mean just look at Ginkaku's face he is really pissed by Darui's words, so I guess he was defeated at his own game.
Ginkaku's angry reply clearly insults Darui as we can see from the panel. The reason why we know this is not because Darui shows signs of being insulted, instead he shows pride as he counters what Ginkaku said.
The problem that was raised by Ginkaku is that the shinobi who are acting in the name of their villages are just the tools of the respective Kage. It seems that the brothers were just free spirits and didn't want to be bound by the village's rules, especially when that said village tried to make a peace treaty with Konoha.
This issue is really, really old. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Zabuza was defeated again, so everybody should remember the original fight. At the end, standing before Zabuza's grave Naruto decided that he will be a ninja in his own way. He never accepted to be a tool, like how Haku did for Zabuza, and that moment was the birth of Naruto's nindo. So we can see that Ginkaku is brining up on of the founding themes of the manga.
And then there was when Sandaime talked about the village and himself. He standed as the main pillar, as he was the symbol of the village, but his role as protector and fighter wasn't the only one, as all the shinobi in the village were fighting to protect. So in that respect the Kage and the shinobi are on equal level.
Another example would be the meaning of King in Konoha. It's not the Kage, but the new generation that needs to be protected and raised in the spirit of the village.
And there are plenty other examples in the manga, let me just remind you a few of them:
Part 1
Kimimaro being Orochimaru's tool
Sasuke being a tool of revenge
Part 2
Nagato being Madara's tool
Edo Tensei
I think the reason why Edo Tensei is here is pretty obvious, and the issue was addressed directly by Kankurou when he lectured Sasori about the essence of being a puppet master.
This time, Darui's response is more personal, it doesn't involve any complicated or generalized concept. He is Raikage's right arm, the extension of his power, and he accepts this, because he respects his boss, and considers this to be an honor.
The flashback is telling everything really, and the scene where Raikage appoints him as general is where it becomes clear that there's a relationship of trust and respect between the two. Even if Raikage is the boss in the situation, Darui is feeling honored to be his extension on the battlefield, because Raikage trusts him and treats him as equal, just like in Sandaime's example, that I offered earlier.
So this flashback was very important, because it offered Darui some character development, but it was also a surprise to see a more human, or if you like it wiser side of Raikage. And it was a pleasant surprise
But Darui made one mistake. He underestimated the power of the gourd, and he used a word combination that sounded a lot like his taboo word, and he was sealed. For me it was a pretty moving moment, because right after he bragged about himself being Raikage's right arm, he got sucked in immediately. Somehow I felt his disappointment, as he remembered his much revered boss, his colleagues, who I think were the same generation as him, probably his friends. So it really felt like a sad, demise, especially after seeing the development he got. So I was a bit sad
, however the demise of a good guy should be like this. 
The panel I chose is pretty interesting. As Kinkaku and Ginkaku decide to join in the battle, we can see Chouza. I was a bit puzzled at first really, because the angle is pretty weird or at least the distances are. I was like what the hell is Chouza doing there attacking the brothers. I really thought at first, that Chouza is doing something cool and tricky. The reason is because Chouza is roughly the same size as Kinkaku in that panel, so it was like an optical illusion
However this didn't last that long:P, cuz I rememberd Chou Baika no jutsu. And then I noticed the little Zetsus and the shinobis that were shown a few panels earlier. I know that the battle is intense and all, we can see that from Chouza's face, but in this panel Chouza is really looking somebody who is just using a broom and cleaning up little food remains, that Chouji spilled. So at least it was a nice comical relief for me, I don't know about you guys, but it was nice to catch a little break after witnessing all the seriousness earlier
.
So concluding our little comical break, we can return to badassness and pawnage. Moments before Darui's demise our Kakashi from the cloud was apologizing to everyone. I guess his entire life just flashed before his eyes, and he just apologized to everyone. Because his taboo word changed and the sealing jutsu was a failure.
Actually Darui notices that he is pretty apologetic, so it was no surprise that his taboo word got changed.
The double-spread is amazing. Darui is in a cool ninja posture, attacking from the blind spot. The scenes are dynamic and full of action, and there are many things happening one after the other, showing that Darui has a good capacity to react and adapt to the circumstances. He knocks down the brothers, and Ginkaku touches the rope accidentally. Then Darui throws his own sword at Kinkaku, but as Shikamaru told us the first attack is always decoy, and Kinkaku loses track of Darui and gets hit by a Ranton jutsu. However using Shikamaru's lessons, the first attack sequence is always a decoy, because distracting Kinkaku was perfect to curse Ginkaku and suddenly the brothers were driven in the corner.
I think this was very impressive, how each attack connected, and the quickness of the entire string of attack was the key to the success IMO.
Just looking at this picture, Ginkaku is really driven in the corner, that's why Darui takes the chance to lecture them, this time. He agrees that words are tools to deceit and trickery(we know that, he just used wordfare a few panels earlier), but words are also the means to transmit the true feelings of a person, when it really counts. Like Hinata's confession. That was cool as well.
It's interesting how the chapter manages to revive older themes in the manga. First I mentioned shinobi being a tool, but this time it's also about the importance of words. And we can connect this to the famous I won't go back on my own words! phrase so it's a pleasure to see how things are getting connected.
And this time it really counts, so the words are very powerful. Just as Darui showed his humble side, and it counted, because he managed to trick the jutsu. So I guess the title was a bit wrong as it should've been: Sorry are more than dull.
Ginkaku is also showing his side, which is pretty ugly, the way he depends on his brother. We could've expected this, I mean Ginkaku looks slimer and weaker than his brother, and judging by their fighting style they depend on each other a lot. And it's not just that it's ugly, but it's also a mistake, because his taboo word is Kinkaku, so gets sucked up, pretty quickly.
The last thing that I would like to mention regarding this battle sequence, is that it seems my theory about the chakra eating properties of the weapons are true. I said in the chapter discussion thread, that I think the weapons are not chakra consuming on their own, but only when that extract, curse, sea sequence is used. Of course this theory is not foolproof I think, but the timing of the sealing and the panels that show Darui feeling that his chakra is being devoured, kinda suggest that.
However things are not so simple or easy as they seem. We know that the brothers had traces of Kyuubi chakra in them when they appeared. The exact phrase was tinged with Kyuubi chakra. That means that there was print of Kyuubi chakra in them, probably some sort of mixture, between their own and Kyuubi's.
Last chapter we even got the explanation as to how in hell did they even come in contact with our favourite monster. They were swallowed by Kyuubi, while they were fighting the damn thing to capture it for Kumo. But they survived after staying in Kyuubi for two freakin weeks. Now as unbelievable as that sounds, in the end the result is the same, whether it's true or not.
This mixture of chakra and the hatred in Kinkaku's heart triggered a tailed beast transformation, similar to what Naruto had. But there are some noticeable differences. First and most important is the sixth tail, which is huuuuuge. I don't know what that could mean, but it's really strange. While the chakra retains some of Kyuubi's aspects in doesn't subdue the body completely. We can clearly see the muscles, Kinkaku's hair. The last difference which is related to this is the lack of bones, bones which should've appeared in the case of a high level transformation like this one.
It seems like Kinkaku is in control though, which denotes the fact that Kyuubi is not really present there, just scraps of his chakra and will. So there's is no sovereign mind to take over, but the harmful effects are still there.
I will attempt to explain that huuge tail now. The first, which is more like an assumption really is that because of the lack of Kyuubi, the chakra is unstable and the sudden burst of power cannot be controlled, because they are not bound to anyone's will, neither Kyuubi's neither Kinkaku's. So if this is true, we can expect Kinkaku or maybe just that single tail to simpley blow up and wreak extensive havoc for the Alliance.
The second explanation is based on an idea quite contrary to the previous one, because this time it's related to Kinkaku having control over the tails, basically the chakra is bound to his will. I don't know about the rest of the Bijuu, but in Kyuubi's case, when there's a host, the host can use the chakra cloak to extend his arms, use the tails to attack, that sort of thing. We saw that Naruto played Tarzan using Kyuubi chakra, while fighting against Sasuke. Now there's no difference between tail and arm, because it's just chakra, so my guess is that Kinkaku enlarged one tail intentionally to be able to strike more people at once, with more power.
What Kakuzu says here kinda backs up the second possibility I mentioned earlier. And that's because this enlarged one tail seems to be a signature move, and it is recognized by Kakuzu. So could it be that each brother has a different way in using Kyuubi's chakra? I think it is possible, at least Kakuzu's remarks sway me in that direction.
However it is interesting how Kakuzu knows the brothers. For example it tells us that the brothers fought in this form in early history as well. However the way Kakuzu says it makes it a bit weird.
Maybe there's no logical relation between the two parts of his sentence. So it's like this:Kyuubi form of Kinkaku long time no see, then he changes back to the present, and concludes: some one took out Ginkaku.
But maybe there is some logical relation: Kyuubi form, long time no see, and he stays in the past, where Ginkaku was defeated once: someone must've pawned Ginkaku
Am I confusing or what?
....but seriously, which scenario do you think is the true one? Was Ginkaku defeated in the past or not? And by logical extension, if Ginkaku was defeated in the past and Kakuzu knows that Ginkaku's death can trigger such reaction, could it be that Kakuzu was the one who defeated Ginkaku and then took on Kyuubi-Kinkaku? Please answer these question as these are the questions of the week from me. And with that I'm gonna wrap up this part, and charge towards the mark of the chapter, which will probably be higher than usual, but I don't know yet, because I haven't done math.
Overview
As always we begin with character development or characterization. And this chapter kinda scores at this department. Not only did we get to see some development of Darui, but we even had scraps of Raikage and Ginkaku.
Let's start with Raikage who got the least development. He just showed a more sensitive side of his, by acknowledging his trust in Darui. That flashback was pretty important and was one of the highlights of this chapter.
Let's consider Raikage a river, or something that stands in the middle separating two realms.
One realm is represented by Ginkaku, who takes Darui lightly as he doesn't understand why ninjas these days don't think of themselves as tools, if they are under orders of their Kage. It's clear that both brothers were not just thinking, but believing that ninjas are just tools of their superiors, like Kages or people who hire them. I think that after they were sent to capture Kyuubi, and they got all chewed up and spit out, they decided to screw the system and they deserted. I think that was a turning point in their lives, and they chose freedom, so they went on rampage and attacked a summit, and in the end they consider every other shinobi third-rate trash, if they execute someone else's orders. It is a bit similar to what Naruto decided, in fact the main idea is the same, being shinobi in their own way, however they've fallen to the opposing end.
The other realm is Darui who believes that he is an extension of his Kage's power and influence, those being the reasons why he doesn't consider himself just a tool.
If we know something about our society, then we know that true freedom means the freedom of doing everything we want, but within the boundaries of laws that prevent us from harming each other...or something like that
...I think that Darui knows this and in this chapter he represents this kind of thinking, so I think it's appropriate to say that his understanding of freedom is not distorted as it is Ginkaku's. So now that I think more about it, maybe I shouldn't have called Raikage a river, but I think the symbolism is adequate, because he represents the boundary, the law that the brothers decided to throw away, and that Darui acknowledged and acts within.
Setting aside such tiring ideas, the interaction between Raikage and Darui was full of emotion and passion, something Bee could really learn and add to his rhymes. This revealed another side of the Kumo shinobi and added a deeper layer to their personality, not even mentioning that both of them managed to get closer to the reader's heart, Darui's fanbase actually exploding in the process.
Plot development is zero this time. Even if I managed to grasp something in my last review of chapter 526, this time I cannot do that. And that's because the focus was on one fight, so we didn't even get the slow motion of plot going forward somehow. I really can't add anything more to this, except that there were some elements that filled in certain holes in the plot, or history of Narutoverse.
The first was the flashback. Flashbacks, in this context, serve the purpose of making the story a bit more cohesive it covers certain holes that maybe needed covering or maybe not, but they certainly have a positive effect, anyways.
The second is almost a flashback, but unfortunately Kakuzu can't remember, because it was too long ago. Never mind, we know he's old, but at least he recognizes Kinkaku in his cloak, offering us little ideas and details about the past of Narutoverse.
The action was great. I presented Darui's string of jutsu in more detail earlier in the review. the dynamics were good, and the whole fighting finally introduced an element, a realistic one, that was kinda forgotten. And that is luck. Indeed Darui was lucky, and he knows it, too. I liked this luck, because it made the whole concept of battle and figting more believable, however the circumstances are still a bit weird for me. I didn't really like that he was able to escape this way.
Kishimoto decided to show us Chouza and badass Kakuzu who already managed to collect 4 hearts, which is great, because it means that his showdown is approaching really fast.
The structure of the chapter is something that we've been used to seeing pretty frequently. I mean there's te first part, where certain characters gain some highlight, and then there's the cliffhanger part, which was the Kyuubi transformation. The cliffhanger was a bit more complex this time, because it feature Kakuzu's intervention, so instead of on getting one panel of awesomeness, we got a more intelligent and interesting cliffhanger.
The first part, was focused around the question: To be a tool or not to be?, even if it was about words or a person's actions. With this one question Kishimoto refreshed our memory that such things as nindos exist, that the power of the words are impressive in this manga. I mean just take a look at Naruto's actions, how he managed to change people, and how a book managed to change Nagato back to his old self. We were also reminded of the eternal struggle of emotion vs. cold ninja attitude, or tool vs. individal being.
The art was pretty okay, but it wasn't splendid. Of course there was an impressive double-spread, but certain panels like the random ninja fighting, while Darui got sucked up, and that weird scale that was chosen to show Chouza are the ones that are keeping the mark lower than it should be.
So 8/10 for this chapter, which is a pretty high mark for this chapter, and it's well deserved, in my opinion.
Predictions/Want to happen
I think we will get another chapter with Darui fighting Kinkaku and maybe Kakuzu being shown as he comments further on Kinkaku's transformation...so the fighting will be at Darui's location. While Kishimoto will build up the suspense, I think we will also change locations, with the last panels being with the reinforcements that arrived an managed to repel Zetsus or maybe even an attack by Kinkaku.
What I want is Mifune to arrive there first. I'm eager to see his skills, maybe he will restore the samurai honor. While I'm not really interested in what manner will they arrive, their appearance should be explosive.
If Kitsuchi arrives there first(which is unlikely, according to the strategy of Shikaku), then we should get at least a some panels with them running away from the enemy Zetsus.
Well this was kinda it. Thanks a lot for being patient and for reading the review, and thanks the guys shown in the panel for making this chapter and review happen.
Please post anything ranging from thoughts about the chapter, or review to answering my questions about Kakuzu and Kinkaku or which is better in certain circumstances to be a tool or not to be?
Also I'm using this opportunity to stay tuned for the interviews with reviewers. The first one was with The Underscore, our resident Bleach reviewer, so if you haven't read that one, please do and comment. I won't spoil who will be the next "victim", but the interview already happened last night, and it will be posted sometime around next weekend.
And if you haven't noticed already, the MH Anime Awards is officially on the roll. Those who don't know this works, please visit the section, read the rules and then knock URself out with the posting. For those who participated in the manga awards, I hope you will like this one as well.
Thanks for tuning in, I'll definitely see you around!
Mata ne!
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