sahugani's Naruto Review 356

sahugani · Jun 3, 2007

Sahugani’s Naruto Review 356

does anyone else take issue with the amount of purple Team Hebi wears (no offense to your favorite color Ichi)

Hello all. Many of you know me from my reviews over in the Bleach and One Piece sections and I have decided to start a new branch out here. I’ve actually been reading Naruto for longer than the other two series, but I figured Gold Knight had this ground covered. I also must say that I could not have had a better chapter to start these reviews with. As a Team 8 fanboy, the last few chapters have had me very excited and this one did not disappoint. Anyways, let’s get this started. The pics in this review were taken from Kokotas’s scan, so thanks a lot.

Akatsuki’s Problem Children

i'm still hoping for some meaning for all Tobi's inconsistancies whether it leads to Obito or not

First of all let me state that the incorporation of the page with Deidara and Tobi seems heavily out of place here. It is not a title page as that role was already filled by the two page color spread. The only purpose it could have possibly served in regards to this chapter is to foreshadow the identity of the man Sasuke calls out of hiding on the next page. Other than that, it is still a cool looking page with head shots of the two Akatsuki, the corresponding symbols from their rings, and a brief description of their personalities within the organization. The allowance of this team to go after Naruto is extremely strange given the circumstances. First of all, it violates the rule that each member should capture one Bijuu. As both Deidara and Tobi have fulfilled their duties, it would leave Itachi somewhat unnecessary to Akatsuki if they took his prize. Due to this, Itachi and the Akatsuki Leader must be somewhat certain that the pair will fail in their mission and thus will not affect Itachi’s role. On the other hand, the organization has already lost three members to Team 7 and allowing them to go on a mission that is doomed to fail would shorten their ranks even further. This leads to my theory that they have backup unknown to them to save their hides in case they are beaten. This backup would be one of two people in my mind. It could be Zetsu as not only would his tracking abilities be good for losing their pursuers after escaping, but it could lead to the fight I’ve been waiting for…Zetsu vs. Team 8 :XD

. The other person could be the unknown female member as it would be a good way to introduce her and a taste of her abilities into the storyline. For now though, all this is speculation as Naruto is not the target the pair saw first.

Crossed Paths

a person with hair that red can't go unnoticed in public

Before Sasuke’s lurking watcher even reveals himself, the scene cuts to Sakura as she and her pair of dogs follow Sasuke’s scent, thus revealing to us that she was not the person watching him earlier. The interesting part about this scene is that they pass directly next to Karin and instantly the scent they have been following starts to fade and move away. One could say that the dog was just picking up on a trace scent of Sasuke on Karin, which would account for its weakness and the fact that it was getting closer up until the point of crossing paths and then fading. To me though this is another example of Karin’s powers, whatever they are. Kakashi’s dogs are experts at tracking through scent and so even if there was only a trace scent of Sasuke on Karin, the dog would have been able to pinpoint it to Karin at that close distance. The only explanation is that Karin was able to mislead the dog’s senses with her power. As she still has yet to reveal exactly what her abilities are, I can’t say with certainty what she did, but I’m certain that her mysterious abilities are to blame for misleading the dog.

Outside of Karin’s effect on Kakashi’s dog, this brief encounter does much to extend the rivalry between Karin and Sakura. We have already seen that during their respective times teamed with Sasuke, both have been acting pretty much the same way towards him (basically both were huge Sasuke fangirls at the start of their teams). Now the two have actually seen each other briefly. Even though Sakura was unaware of Karin’s importance, she likely sensed something wrong. Karin on the other hand (if my theory about her using her ability to interfere with tracking is true) was fully aware of who she had to mislead and was using her task as an opportunity to see the girl who had filled her current role in Sasuke’s life in the past. While Sakura is still unaware of the rivalry’s existence, Karin has already decided who her biggest threat to her being with Sasuke is.

Naruto’s Pursuer

never trust the person who actually wears his hood even though everyone else has one...Shino

In a third concurrent storyline, Naruto’s team has also picked up on the existence of a person behind them (and they really shouldn’t miss it with a dog, a byakugan, and an ANBU on the team). Apparently my prediction of Juugo from last week was not creative enough and Kishi has blessed us with the reappearance of a character I would not have guessed, Kabuto. According to Yamato, Orochimaru’s former assistant is one of the most wanted people in Konoha at the moment and so it is odd that he has come on his own like this. Naruto’s reaction though is to ask about Sasuke, to which Kabuto answers and then discards the subject. His entire existence up till now has revolved around Orochimaru. Up until his master’s death, that meant taking care of Sasuke and logically, it would mean that after said death, it would mean killing Sasuke in revenge. Since he has brushed off the talk of Sasuke and instead turned the subject to Naruto, the importance of his actions from now on takes on a new level.

Dramatic Entrance

there are some things you just don't say to the guy who's brother ruined his life

We once again return to Sasuke as Tobi is revealed to be the shadowy figure behind the tree. Sasuke recognizes Tobi’s cloak as that of Akatsuki and Tobi recognizes the family resemblance between Sasuke and Itachi, which earns a tick of anger from the young Uchiha. It doesn’t take long for Tobi to back away as Deidara comes in from above with a powerful bomb to drop on Sasuke. I didn’t really expect the Akatsuki pair to be one of the shadowy figures from the end of last week but I guess I was thinking a bit too much. I figured that having a clash now would result in an important death too early in the arc as there would be no reason for either side to stop fighting till the other had died. In that light, I suspect that the fight will be interrupted in a chapter or two to prevent such an event. I think it will either be one of the Akatsuki I mentioned earlier to prevent more unneeded casualties or Kakashi for a variety of reason I like better in this case. Having Kakashi be the one to intervene makes a good deal of sense. First of all, it allows us the first direct interaction between the Konoha teams and Team Hebi that I was hoping to get from Juugo meeting Naruto. We need to see Sasuke’s new attitude toward his old comrades now that he is not trying to act like a complete psychopath under Orochimaru’s tutelage. Also, should the Tobi=Obito theory have truth to it, it gives Tobi a reason to pull Deidara and himself out of the fight. Should it not be true, it gives the previously mentioned Akatsuki backup a reason to pull them out as the fight is no longer in their favor. Regardless of who ends the fight, I just hope we’ll get to see a hint of Tobi’s abilities before it happens.

Kabuto’s Gift

Please say something Hinata for the sake of Team 8

Apparently, Kabuto’s gift is a book that contains all the information Orochimaru’s organization had gathered on Akatsuki. When asked if he’s trying to strike a deal with Konoha, he admits that its value is not enough for such a bargain. His reason for risking capture to give this to Naruto is yet another example of Naruto’s effect on people. He claims to suffer through a crisis of identity and explains how his life has been shaped around not having one up until he met Orochimaru. He even tries to sympathize with Naruto. He points out that at some point, Naruto must have had to question whether or not he was truly Uzumai Naruto or simply a vessel for the Kyuubi. While Naruto was able to get through that issue relatively quickly, it was a huge issue in the life of Gaara as he was raised to recognize that he was merely a weapon as a jinchuriki until Naruto made him recognize that he could be human with the aid of friends. Kabuto is now trying to join the club with his story. During his time with Orochimaru, he was simply a tool for Orochimaru’s goals and before that was an agent for anyone to use but had no sense of self worth. Thanks to Naruto, he has come to appreciate himself in what he claims is the same way Naruto has.

Clash of the Titans

it doesn't hurt to be known around town as the guy with the really big snake

Before Kabuto gets to finish his speech, the scene cuts back to Sasuke as he has shielded himself from Deidara’s blast with a giant snake. Although we have witnessed Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru taking down members or former members of Akatsuki, this will be the first battle in which the handicap is not on the side of the organization and thus this will be a bit of a gauge to see exactly what Sasuke’s level of power is. Other than that, there is not really all that much that hasn’t already been said. Sasuke has pulled out his sharingan and Deidara has his mouthed hands at the ready as both prepare for an extremely loud and destructive duel. Meanwhile, Tobi might be standing back for the most part as he is somewhat worried about how Itachi will react to the news of his little brother’s death. In another display of Tobi’s idiocy, he has made a statement that, given Itachi’s personality, seems to give the elder Uchiha too much ability for emotion, but may pan out to be the truth as we still do not fully know the reason why he did not kill Sasuke and thus he may still want him alive.

The White Snake

Okay, Kabuto has just surpassed Zetsu as the weirdest looking guy for that creepy smile

After our brief return to Sasuke’s fight, the story again switches back to Kabuto’s tale. He praises Naruto for his strength to separate himself from the Kyuubi’s identity and making one for himself. He connects this to how he used to live his life for the sake of Orochimaru, but now wants to live for himself like Naruto has. However, he has taken this to a bizarre extreme as, like Naruto, he is using the power of that other identity to strengthen himself. Unlike Naruto, who was cursed with the Kyuubi and turned it into a personal power, Kabuto has incorporated Orochimaru’s power into himself willingly in order to obtain power. Back in Orochimaru’s final moments, we witnessed a flashback to his childhood in which he was told that a white snake was a symbol of resurrection. Now Kabuto (a white haired man as opposed to Sasuke’s general darkness) has come to fulfill this symbol and recreate Orochimaru’s power within himself. He now keeps Orochimaru inside of him as both a source of great power and an existence he must surpass in order to survive as himself. He has taken Naruto’s story far too literally and become his own form of jinchuriki with Orochimaru in the place of a bijuu. At some point, he will lose his battle with Orochimaru and the creepy former enemy will live again through Kabuto’s body.

Overall

I must say this chapter was great. My only real complaint would be not enough Team 8, but that’s just my own issue. At the time of Orochimaru’s demise, I thought it was a bit sudden and now we see that the reign of Oro is far from over through Kabuto’s new twist. To me this is a return of the series to greatness as for a while before this i've been somewhat bored with it, but still really liked it. Now It has once again captured my full attention. As a general habit in my reviews, I don’t rate the chapters as I think there are too many factors and I get really indecisive when trying to determine a score. I’ll just leave it as a great chapter.

ANBU4U · Jun 3, 2007