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Hi, my dear people! Well, time for a new review this week. Before, two things:
First: This chapter really got me shocked, for a long time I cannot remember anything so shocked in my life, when I readied the spoiler for the first time, and then the chapter, I almost fell from chair, mainly because of the last panels.
Second: This chapter was probably the hardest to make a review: We’re in a point where the majority of the analysis must be only assumptions; such analyses really are hard to write, but that’s the type I liked most. In case you’re wondering about the pics titles for Sasuke, Itachi and Madara, it’s something I borrowed from Gundam Seed, where some titles came with the phase followed by some character’s name, and the chapter were mainly about the character’s name in the title.. Actually in this chapter, I was able to do the same thing, because in those parts of review, the character in the picture was the most explored in each part. Then, let’s begin the fateful chapter!
Edited Manga by Binktopia
[size=+2]
Come on, at this point, I don’t even know if I’m really Uchiha Sasuke…
Yes, the explanations are coming to and end, but to test its veracity, Sasuke stepped in another key point of the story: Why the assassination’s attempts? If what Tobi is saying is truth, Itachi should protect Sasuke, not try to kill him. But in reality, Itachi never tried such act, but instead, the fight was necessary in order to destroy an inner threat in Sasuke’s body: Orochimaru! The last pieces of the puzzle are being placed correctly, and everything now makes a lot of sense.
Itachi knew that Oro’s ultimate goal was take Sasuke’s body, and the better moment to try it was when Sasuke was low in chakra and mind, then Itachi forced Sasuke to use all of his chakra hoping that Orochimaru could appears again, and finally, he destroyed him once and for all. That fight now makes perfect sense; the only reason for its existence was to get rid of Orochimaru, free Sasuke from cursed seal and to give him Mangekyou Sharingan. I’m really glad to see why Kishimoto showed Oro in the fight: in a first moment, many people here, including me, thought that such event was senseless, but now I finally understand it!
Tobi mentioned that Sasuke awoke MS by killing the closest person: I can see some contradictions here: Itachi wasn’t exactly the closest person to Sasuke, not in Sasuke’s mind, I’m sure. I think that correct term should be closest family ties here, because Itachi is his brother. Killing his best friend in order to achieve MS could be a little misunderstanding now: Shisui was killed by Itachi, but I’m suspecting that Shisui found out Itachi was a double spy, and without choice, he was murdered.
And another important thing to mention here: Itachi always was superior to Sasuke, when Tobi stated that if Itachi was to be serious, Sasuke would be dead by now: Looking at this, Probably Sasuke now can concludes that his motivations to fight wouldn’t never be able to defeat a noble man who loved his brother, and one more hint that revenge isn’t the right thing to do.
Can you prove it, Sasuke? Isn’t too much for you, given the circumstances?
Again, Sasuke is questioning Tobi, and now the subject is the incident with kyuubi 16 years ago. One thing I noticed just in this chapter: even though Itachi portrayed himself as a criminal, still Sasuke gave so much priority to Itachis’s words over Tobi’s words. Even with his hatred, Sasuke still believed in Itachi’s words: they share blood ties, and such ties aren’t broken so easily. Even with everything, in the deeps of Sasuke’s heart, probably some forgotten part still sees Itachi as a caring good brother. Fantastic development about it, showing us that even the greatest adversity cannot be superior to some feelings. More than a ninja, Sasuke is a human, and his human-side has been developed so well: I like every kind of drama, and this one with Sasuke make me feel as I was in his place.
Itachi again gave some hints from the perfect ninja he was, and he lied about Kyuubi and Madara because he was afraid that Sasuke could find the truth behind his plans. That’s the first shocking revelation, as I mentioned in the prologue: From what I understand, Itachi never saw Madara as a villain or a threat to his brother, but instead, the only reason he was trying to keep Sasuke away from Madara is because he was afraid Sasuke could learn the truth! Knowing that in the past Madara was a great ninja who would protect and fight for his clan, Itachi could believed Tobi would tell the true about Itachi, trying to show him as a true Uchiha. But there’s no reason to hide one’s true objectives when this person comes to die. Unless Itachi thought that, if Sasuke someday comes to know everything, the sorrow and burden for killing the person who cared about him more than anyone else would be so big that Sasuke could even kill himself for this.
Phase 1 - Itachi
Just like the brother’s fight makes sense now, some of Itachi’s actions are being explained, just like when he and Kisame appeared in the village after Sarutobi’s death. More the time passes, more I like Itachi: he just went to Konoha to show, indirectly, that he’ll protect Sasuke from everything. But his love for Sasuke broke every rule in ninja world, where love is just an insignificant detail, but not to me: He was the perfect example of ninja and brother. Just to add here, I don’t think Kisame was aware from Itachi’s goals; he didn’t care about a war in that time, and seems he’ll only follow Itachi, and Itachi’s plans were almost perfect, then he couldn’t allow that others could be aware from it.
Even is Sasuke still is screaming about Itachi’s actions, a single speech from Madara was able to keep him quiet. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” This part was great, not only by Tobi and his calm speech, but mainly by the silence who took part in the sequence: for the first time, Sasuke didn’t speak anything, not because Tobi ordered him just like in the latest chapters, but now for his own will. Remembrances about some discussions in the past with Itachi, and finally, he understood that he didn’t lived a life like he wanted, but instead, a life that his brother planned to him. In every aspect, Itachi was caring toward Sasuke. The amount of drama here was perfect, and most importantly: it wasn’t cliché, Kishimoto made a scenario where the feelings involved were coherent and real. Just a little note here and I don’t think is important to story, but Madara mentioned that Itachi had a girlfriend. While it could be a little premature, let’s not forget that in the same age, Itachi already was a double edge spy, and at age of 13, love isn’t something that one could easily understand. A childish love could be the most appropriate term.
Phase 2 - Madara
Then, the story reaches its climax. While saying the last details, Tobi cuts the ropes in Sasuke. After his last statement, he saw a quiet Sasuke that won’t complain anymore, then there’s no need to ropes. I’m really surprised with Tobi’s actions through this chapter: if we stay in this chapter, without any external references to any of his actions, Tobi didn’t anything evil, but instead, he was the hero for now, because he’s trying to portrait a good Itachi, showing all of his actions as good to Sasuke! And such actions could be really difficult to understand at this point.
In the entire chapter, Tobi only said good things about Itachi, and he’s giving so much emphasis about the great love Itachi felt by Sasuke. If Tobi really wants to bring Sasuke as an ally, he’s in the opposite direction, because everything he’d done until now was to help Sasuke. That’s the impression I got from Tobi: He’s helping Sasuke to find an answer to his life, trying to remove all the hatred from Sasuke’s heart; and most important: to guide Sasuke to a new direction where he could live a life by yourself.
Is really Madara an enemy? I reached some conclusion about it: Tobi saw in Sasuke a strong person with a strong will; Sasuke could be the right person to rebuild the Uchiha clan. But he couldn’t complete such task with hatred. Like I said, I’m only jumping to this conclusion based in this chapter, and if Kishimoto has another plan about Tobi, he’s hiding it very well. And another hint that Tobi couldn’t be as bad as we thought, is that when released Sasuke, he didn’t forced him into some orders, but it’s like he’ll giving Sasuke a free choice in the life from now.
And as Tobi keeps explaining, we found out Itachi had another objective in his mind: turn Sasuke a hero in Konoha, by defeating Itachi, a wanted criminal. A noble goal, indeed, but when Sasukes fled from Konoha, he’d became kind of a criminal too; probably Itachi believed that after their fights, Sasuke could regain the Uchiha’s pride. To exchange his life for the brother’s sake is something that a few people in the entire world would do, so well represented here by Itachi. And about Itachi’s illness, I also think is not relevant, but I’d risk to say it’s cancer: usually when people said that one is being eating by inside, the reason is cancer, because its effects are literally like “eating inside”. And if it was really cancer, Itachi suffered even an unimaginable pain, aside all the mental ones. Sasuke, you have the best brother…
Final Phase - Sasuke
Since the moment when Tobi cut the ropes, until the very last panel with Sasuke staring at the sea, I saw one of the greatest and most dramatics moments in Naruto: in a brief moment, everything that could define Itachi as ninja was presented to Sasuke. In the beginning of the chapter, we saw a broken Sasuke, screaming with Tobi because he wasn’t believing in his words, but now, he’s a different person, from what I can see: Seems he accepted Madara’s words, and not only that, but seems he’s believing in the true nature of his brother now, and in the last panel, I don’t see a man with hatred in the eye, but a grown person who would fight for something more important than hatred and vengeance.
From all the things in this chapter, those 2 last panels were the greatest surprise: in almost 12 years of manga, I never saw such twist in any series. From some dramatic moments, with so many revelations, just in the middle of it, a little time-skip has passed with another Sasuke. Judging from his clothes and his healed body, some days had passed. And we can imply that Sasuke made his choice, and I really believe he’ll carry Itachi’s legacy. Wouldn’t have any other reason to put those words in the last panels if they don’t have any significance to Sasuke right now. In the context, such words could be Sasuke’s thoughts about Madara’s explanations.
And just like I said it was a great twist, I can say how happy I am with such ending. After read it carefully, I got a sadness feeling, because the last panel really looks like an ending. An ending for an old life filled with bad feelings and probably the beginning for a new one. If this chapter is really the ending of Uchiha’s saga (which I believe), I couldn’t ask for more: This chapter was perfectly written, showing everything needed to finish a saga, and Sasuke’s calm and serious face in the ending was worth the entire chapter.
***Key Points***
[size=+2]
Perfection, simple that. The chapter was the best thing I’ve readied in these past months: Being the majority of the time a flashback chapter wasn’t a problem, and all the questions were answered with logic and consistency. My opinion from now is the Uchiha saga is over, there’s nothing more to add about them, and when Kishimoto said about Sasuke’s year, he was right. But from my point of view, Sasuke’s story and year is over: in these 5 months, Kishimoto was brilliant to write about Sasuke, and seems his time as an avenger is over, but not only as an avenger, but in the manga as well: I’m saying that because there isn’t any role now to Sasuke in the story: If Madara was just trying to help Sasuke, he did it very well. Congratulations to Kishimoto, great chapter with a perfect ending! Now, my only complain in Kishimoto didn’t give us not a single hint about next chapter, damn!
Well, friends, see you next week!
First: This chapter really got me shocked, for a long time I cannot remember anything so shocked in my life, when I readied the spoiler for the first time, and then the chapter, I almost fell from chair, mainly because of the last panels.
Second: This chapter was probably the hardest to make a review: We’re in a point where the majority of the analysis must be only assumptions; such analyses really are hard to write, but that’s the type I liked most. In case you’re wondering about the pics titles for Sasuke, Itachi and Madara, it’s something I borrowed from Gundam Seed, where some titles came with the phase followed by some character’s name, and the chapter were mainly about the character’s name in the title.. Actually in this chapter, I was able to do the same thing, because in those parts of review, the character in the picture was the most explored in each part. Then, let’s begin the fateful chapter!
Edited Manga by Binktopia
[size=+2]
Naruto 401
[/size]
Come on, at this point, I don’t even know if I’m really Uchiha Sasuke…
Yes, the explanations are coming to and end, but to test its veracity, Sasuke stepped in another key point of the story: Why the assassination’s attempts? If what Tobi is saying is truth, Itachi should protect Sasuke, not try to kill him. But in reality, Itachi never tried such act, but instead, the fight was necessary in order to destroy an inner threat in Sasuke’s body: Orochimaru! The last pieces of the puzzle are being placed correctly, and everything now makes a lot of sense.
Itachi knew that Oro’s ultimate goal was take Sasuke’s body, and the better moment to try it was when Sasuke was low in chakra and mind, then Itachi forced Sasuke to use all of his chakra hoping that Orochimaru could appears again, and finally, he destroyed him once and for all. That fight now makes perfect sense; the only reason for its existence was to get rid of Orochimaru, free Sasuke from cursed seal and to give him Mangekyou Sharingan. I’m really glad to see why Kishimoto showed Oro in the fight: in a first moment, many people here, including me, thought that such event was senseless, but now I finally understand it!
Tobi mentioned that Sasuke awoke MS by killing the closest person: I can see some contradictions here: Itachi wasn’t exactly the closest person to Sasuke, not in Sasuke’s mind, I’m sure. I think that correct term should be closest family ties here, because Itachi is his brother. Killing his best friend in order to achieve MS could be a little misunderstanding now: Shisui was killed by Itachi, but I’m suspecting that Shisui found out Itachi was a double spy, and without choice, he was murdered.
And another important thing to mention here: Itachi always was superior to Sasuke, when Tobi stated that if Itachi was to be serious, Sasuke would be dead by now: Looking at this, Probably Sasuke now can concludes that his motivations to fight wouldn’t never be able to defeat a noble man who loved his brother, and one more hint that revenge isn’t the right thing to do.
Can you prove it, Sasuke? Isn’t too much for you, given the circumstances?
Again, Sasuke is questioning Tobi, and now the subject is the incident with kyuubi 16 years ago. One thing I noticed just in this chapter: even though Itachi portrayed himself as a criminal, still Sasuke gave so much priority to Itachis’s words over Tobi’s words. Even with his hatred, Sasuke still believed in Itachi’s words: they share blood ties, and such ties aren’t broken so easily. Even with everything, in the deeps of Sasuke’s heart, probably some forgotten part still sees Itachi as a caring good brother. Fantastic development about it, showing us that even the greatest adversity cannot be superior to some feelings. More than a ninja, Sasuke is a human, and his human-side has been developed so well: I like every kind of drama, and this one with Sasuke make me feel as I was in his place.
Itachi again gave some hints from the perfect ninja he was, and he lied about Kyuubi and Madara because he was afraid that Sasuke could find the truth behind his plans. That’s the first shocking revelation, as I mentioned in the prologue: From what I understand, Itachi never saw Madara as a villain or a threat to his brother, but instead, the only reason he was trying to keep Sasuke away from Madara is because he was afraid Sasuke could learn the truth! Knowing that in the past Madara was a great ninja who would protect and fight for his clan, Itachi could believed Tobi would tell the true about Itachi, trying to show him as a true Uchiha. But there’s no reason to hide one’s true objectives when this person comes to die. Unless Itachi thought that, if Sasuke someday comes to know everything, the sorrow and burden for killing the person who cared about him more than anyone else would be so big that Sasuke could even kill himself for this.
Phase 1 - Itachi
Just like the brother’s fight makes sense now, some of Itachi’s actions are being explained, just like when he and Kisame appeared in the village after Sarutobi’s death. More the time passes, more I like Itachi: he just went to Konoha to show, indirectly, that he’ll protect Sasuke from everything. But his love for Sasuke broke every rule in ninja world, where love is just an insignificant detail, but not to me: He was the perfect example of ninja and brother. Just to add here, I don’t think Kisame was aware from Itachi’s goals; he didn’t care about a war in that time, and seems he’ll only follow Itachi, and Itachi’s plans were almost perfect, then he couldn’t allow that others could be aware from it.
Even is Sasuke still is screaming about Itachi’s actions, a single speech from Madara was able to keep him quiet. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” This part was great, not only by Tobi and his calm speech, but mainly by the silence who took part in the sequence: for the first time, Sasuke didn’t speak anything, not because Tobi ordered him just like in the latest chapters, but now for his own will. Remembrances about some discussions in the past with Itachi, and finally, he understood that he didn’t lived a life like he wanted, but instead, a life that his brother planned to him. In every aspect, Itachi was caring toward Sasuke. The amount of drama here was perfect, and most importantly: it wasn’t cliché, Kishimoto made a scenario where the feelings involved were coherent and real. Just a little note here and I don’t think is important to story, but Madara mentioned that Itachi had a girlfriend. While it could be a little premature, let’s not forget that in the same age, Itachi already was a double edge spy, and at age of 13, love isn’t something that one could easily understand. A childish love could be the most appropriate term.
Phase 2 - Madara
Then, the story reaches its climax. While saying the last details, Tobi cuts the ropes in Sasuke. After his last statement, he saw a quiet Sasuke that won’t complain anymore, then there’s no need to ropes. I’m really surprised with Tobi’s actions through this chapter: if we stay in this chapter, without any external references to any of his actions, Tobi didn’t anything evil, but instead, he was the hero for now, because he’s trying to portrait a good Itachi, showing all of his actions as good to Sasuke! And such actions could be really difficult to understand at this point.
In the entire chapter, Tobi only said good things about Itachi, and he’s giving so much emphasis about the great love Itachi felt by Sasuke. If Tobi really wants to bring Sasuke as an ally, he’s in the opposite direction, because everything he’d done until now was to help Sasuke. That’s the impression I got from Tobi: He’s helping Sasuke to find an answer to his life, trying to remove all the hatred from Sasuke’s heart; and most important: to guide Sasuke to a new direction where he could live a life by yourself.
Is really Madara an enemy? I reached some conclusion about it: Tobi saw in Sasuke a strong person with a strong will; Sasuke could be the right person to rebuild the Uchiha clan. But he couldn’t complete such task with hatred. Like I said, I’m only jumping to this conclusion based in this chapter, and if Kishimoto has another plan about Tobi, he’s hiding it very well. And another hint that Tobi couldn’t be as bad as we thought, is that when released Sasuke, he didn’t forced him into some orders, but it’s like he’ll giving Sasuke a free choice in the life from now.
And as Tobi keeps explaining, we found out Itachi had another objective in his mind: turn Sasuke a hero in Konoha, by defeating Itachi, a wanted criminal. A noble goal, indeed, but when Sasukes fled from Konoha, he’d became kind of a criminal too; probably Itachi believed that after their fights, Sasuke could regain the Uchiha’s pride. To exchange his life for the brother’s sake is something that a few people in the entire world would do, so well represented here by Itachi. And about Itachi’s illness, I also think is not relevant, but I’d risk to say it’s cancer: usually when people said that one is being eating by inside, the reason is cancer, because its effects are literally like “eating inside”. And if it was really cancer, Itachi suffered even an unimaginable pain, aside all the mental ones. Sasuke, you have the best brother…
Final Phase - Sasuke
Since the moment when Tobi cut the ropes, until the very last panel with Sasuke staring at the sea, I saw one of the greatest and most dramatics moments in Naruto: in a brief moment, everything that could define Itachi as ninja was presented to Sasuke. In the beginning of the chapter, we saw a broken Sasuke, screaming with Tobi because he wasn’t believing in his words, but now, he’s a different person, from what I can see: Seems he accepted Madara’s words, and not only that, but seems he’s believing in the true nature of his brother now, and in the last panel, I don’t see a man with hatred in the eye, but a grown person who would fight for something more important than hatred and vengeance.
From all the things in this chapter, those 2 last panels were the greatest surprise: in almost 12 years of manga, I never saw such twist in any series. From some dramatic moments, with so many revelations, just in the middle of it, a little time-skip has passed with another Sasuke. Judging from his clothes and his healed body, some days had passed. And we can imply that Sasuke made his choice, and I really believe he’ll carry Itachi’s legacy. Wouldn’t have any other reason to put those words in the last panels if they don’t have any significance to Sasuke right now. In the context, such words could be Sasuke’s thoughts about Madara’s explanations.
And just like I said it was a great twist, I can say how happy I am with such ending. After read it carefully, I got a sadness feeling, because the last panel really looks like an ending. An ending for an old life filled with bad feelings and probably the beginning for a new one. If this chapter is really the ending of Uchiha’s saga (which I believe), I couldn’t ask for more: This chapter was perfectly written, showing everything needed to finish a saga, and Sasuke’s calm and serious face in the ending was worth the entire chapter.
***Key Points***
- Tobi helped Sasuke
- Itachi was superior to Sasuke, after all
- Sasuke is completely different in the last panel
[size=+2]
Summary
[/size]Perfection, simple that. The chapter was the best thing I’ve readied in these past months: Being the majority of the time a flashback chapter wasn’t a problem, and all the questions were answered with logic and consistency. My opinion from now is the Uchiha saga is over, there’s nothing more to add about them, and when Kishimoto said about Sasuke’s year, he was right. But from my point of view, Sasuke’s story and year is over: in these 5 months, Kishimoto was brilliant to write about Sasuke, and seems his time as an avenger is over, but not only as an avenger, but in the manga as well: I’m saying that because there isn’t any role now to Sasuke in the story: If Madara was just trying to help Sasuke, he did it very well. Congratulations to Kishimoto, great chapter with a perfect ending! Now, my only complain in Kishimoto didn’t give us not a single hint about next chapter, damn!
Well, friends, see you next week!
