Resuming after a one week hiatus, Naruto returns with… a bit of a whimper, as nothing much of note happens this chapter. We get a some 1v1 between Obito and Kakashi, as well as a quick discussion between the two, but the result ends up being overly dramatic than anything.

And well, it’s because virtually everything Kakashi does this chapter seemed a bit forced and out of character. Believing Obito to be a hero? Believing himself to be trash? Letting himself waver in the face of a few flashbacks and some select lines? I mean, nothing here just seems particularly right to me. Yes, the effect of Rin’s death and Obito still being alive would qualify as a big enough shock to knock even Kakashi off his game… but at the same time, if there’s been one character that’s been consistently able to get along despite his past and any emotional issue, it’s been him. And with the fate of the world at stake, somehow, I’d hesitate to think that a man like Kakashi would let the words of a “dead man” get to him at this point.

But that aside, the only real major aspect that seems worth discussing from the chapter is the quote Kakashi said quite a while back (and of which we find was taken off of Obito), which was that “Those who break the rules are trash, but those who don’t protect their friends are worse.” Since the first time I heard it way back when, this was one of those statements that intrigued me quite a bit. There’s just the nice commentary hidden behind it all, that rules are there for a reason, yet rules aren’t absolute. That there are things that are more important than maintaining some rule or standard, and it’s that kind of flexibility and the ability to think on your feet in a given scenario that just gave Kakashi’s character that added complexity to it. And while the method used to bring this back up wasn’t the great, it admittedly does set up nicely for the recovery at the end of the chapter. Kakashi gets his renewed resolve and overcomes his past trauma because of this, and it’s a necessary thing for virtually every character at some point in time, especially in series such as this.

Overall though, at the very least (despite the fact it wasn’t done particularly well and the result was a chapter where nothing major happened), we do get this development for Kakashi. The fact that it was done (albeit poorly), is better than the alternative of having never addressed it in the first place, which in turn made this chapter a necessary, although not “awesome” one. At least now we’ve set the foundations to move full speed forward, and hopefully the coming chapters will begin to tone down on the flashbacks and discussions, and lead to some actual progression.

48 Comments

  1. I find it really weird that kakashi asking the same question to obito “if his action is resulted by rin death” when obito already confirmed it few chapter ago. So inconsistent, did the author forgot ?

    Walaoa
      1. not enough evidence to tell either way at the moment… although if the entire plot of naruto hinges on this reveal, hopefully kishi has some sharingan up his sleeve (danzou style)

        defunktbots
  2. You know what’s also out of character? Trying to start giving Kakashi character development in the middle of the final battle when he’s never needed it in the first place! He’s clearly already put his feelings about what Obito told him before he “died” to good use in helping unite the five villages and train his students, and Obito coming back at this point really only serves as a giving his character a setback that is really out of place at this point.

    Da5id
    1. Hey now, while I’ve been nitpicking about certain aspects within the past few chapters, I don’t think this one isn’t so bad. If anything, Kakashi’s self-affirmation is a sign of his fully-developed character. Now to be fair, I think it’s only right to give him a break considering how easily this turned for the worse. His dead best friend just came back from the dead as the right hand man of the Big Bad, I think Kakashi deserves some recognition for only mildly feeling disappointed in himself. At least his resolve only wavered for a small moment (I mean who wouldn’t, given the situation and all?). I mean with Naruto backing him up he was quickly able to recover, I think he deserves a bit of credit for that one.

      ronri
      1. Right, I agree. But it’s not the fact that they’re giving him development that I have problem with.

        IT’S THE FACT THEY’RE DOING IT NOW, IN THE FINAL BATTLE. Once again, if they had simply revealed him as Obito from the get-go or at least in one of the earlier arcs, that would have been fine to settle all of the development and explore Rin and Obito’s characters and backstories, then still have this final battle at the end, THAT would have been fine, even perfect, for a conclusion to that aspect of his character. Here it is simply shoehorned in, and a huuuuuge waste of a main antagonist.

        Da5id
  3. Man Kakashi’s such a tank, we see other shinobi go down with a kick or a scratch and he’s taking godly amounts of injuries from Obito and is still trying to talk him down, I was especially surprised to see Kakashi still standing after Obito slashed him using two giant shurikens.

    On a side note something’s been really bothering me during the battle against Madara and Obito; why isn’t Bee just turning back into his human form? He’d be a lot more effective against Madara’s current wood dragon thing considering it’s been obviously designed to deal with the bulky form of the bijuu rather than a normal sized man who can shoot out powerful techniques, like Gai who just toppled Madara’s susano’o.

    gawrshness
    1. It’s not that B can’t turn back but I think it’s more along the lines that he has no ultra heavy attack while not in his bijou mode. Out of everything we’ve seen his strongest attack is the bijuudama. He just doesn’t have an attack of that class while in his human form. On the other hand naruto has both the bijuudama and while human the rasenshuriken.

      Alcren
      1. Yeah, in his human state, it’s really all about sword fighting with his sword style (and Samehada now too), which can’t really do all that much against someone who can simply easily regenerate it from their blows and someone who can simply “dodge” them.

        HalfDemonInuyasha
      1. Eh, Naruto is only more powerful than Kakashi in terms of just brute power. In terms of actual overall skill and other mental capacity, however, Kakashi is still far ahead of Naruto.

        But, as mentioned, Naruto is the MC, so that gives him (and other main MCs) an “automatic edge” when it comes to those truly skilled and powerful shinobi who had to work hard their whole lives to get to where they are/were; including geniuses like Itachi and Orochimaru.

        HalfDemonInuyasha
  4. I had almost forgotten about such simple jutsus as Shadow Clone with all the earth shattering ones being tossed around at this point. It was nice to see one of the originals at work again. What I don’t understand, on that note, is that we’ve seen how effective a fox-mode shadow clone is before (in the fight against the former Raikage, can’t remember the name, but Gaara and the Tsuchikage were present too) so why doesn’t Naruto use them in this fight? Surely if he had a small army of powered up clones then they could turn the tables on this fight?

    Also, I’m worried about the situation with Madara. He is a god, let’s face it, and if memory serves right, he already had the power to control the tailed beasts. Because he appears to have some of the 1st Hokage’s power, and also the rinnegan, I’m worried that it will get to a point where he will simply seal Naruto and Bee’s powers away. If they lose them, it’s all over. Even with them they’re struggling.

    Celecia01
    1. Such a thing would only really work against Obito and only if Kakashi, Gai, and/or Bee are able to assist like we saw before.

      But against someone like Madara, as he is now, that still wouldn’t be able to do anything in the long run. There’s just no conventional way Madara can be beaten as he is now. Hell, even if he wasn’t revived by Edo Tensei, he’d still be a huge force to be reckoned with and he was only made even stronger by acquiring Hashirama’s DNA and the Rinnegan. This is why there’s a lot of predictions on Obito pulling something, as no one else presently alive really knows any effective method for stopping him.

      I do wonder just why Madara or Obito don’t simply use the Sharingan’s ability to suppress the power of the Biju.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      1. Bee and Naruto have entered a pack with their tailed beast. They aren’t wild and untamed like earlier. They are sharing their will. I don’t know why they don’t attempt genjutsu with the Sharingan. I know Madara is skilled enough to do this since has a plan to cast it on the entire world.

        GroundZero613
    2. well he doesn’t use shadow clones because it costs chakra and at this point Naruto needs all his chakra in his main body to keep up and with a combination of the Sharingan and rinegan, not to mention being encased in Susano’o Naruto won’t be creating any Shadow clone distractions

      Zero Hour 17
  5. Of course, it’s pretty easy to tell that Obito is only trying to ACT all nihilistic about everything, if all his “Shut up, trash” responses are any indication, even though last time, he was saying how he doesn’t care anymore and before that, how he was “nobody”.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  6. Ah yes, I remember that now! At least that means we won’t see any power downs during the fight (let’s be honest, they can’t afford it), but I’d forgotten that of course, Madara must have some god-level genjutsu as well, in addition to everything else.

    To be honest, I predicted that either Obito will see sense and turn to the good side, or Sasuke and Orichimaru will appear with whatever war-solving answer they acquired, however even if one of these happens (or both) the odds of defeating Madara are still thin as hell. The only possibility I can think of is if maybe they can seal him in the same place he was trapped before being revived? The one where he met Obito and where Zetsu was born.

    Also, it’s a bizarre point to make, but I feel it needs making. By this point Yamato has probably died from having all of his chakra used to make Zetsu clones.

    Celecia01
  7. It seem Kakashi is back on his feet, and now he know how to use his sharigan to teleport himself out of the dimension. Now if Kakashi could just utilize that, they might have a chance to beat Obito. That space-ninjustu will help further enhance Kakashi’s ability. Maybe in the future after the war, Kakashi can use this technique, to be one of the fastest ninja. Lastly, I hope Might Guy opens his 8th gate and with the help of KillerBee pwn Madara. Otherwise there aren’t many chance they can beat Madara, and Obito.

    gsharp
    1. Even if Gai opens the 8th Gate, it won’t mean anything unless it comes with some convenient hax sealing technique or something. Madara would simply regenerate from any blow Gai could give him, and considering the toll the Gates take on the body (and inevitable death of the user with the 8th Gate without some hax bypassing like the movie did), I doubt it can be used for THAT long either while Madara has infinite chakra to use on his side.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
  8. I find it amusing how some people here thought of this chapter as a whimper/dull week for Naruto. I loved it.

    In this genre of manga, the teenager boy gets to save the world. Accept it for what it is, and enjoy it. This week was classic, classic chapter for Naruto. We get to see him kick ass in his new Godmode form and give some cheesy, absurd and awesome lines. He was in the spotlight at the end too; everyone had to turn heads to this ridiculously powerful teenager and be reminded of who they’re dealing with. Way to come back from those flashbacks, if you ask me.

    Naruto is all about action, some subtle morals and, well, Naruto’s story. You’re getting all three this week, so why complain?

  9. so i’ve been thinking. even if obito n rin’s feeling are mutual. does uchiha let their clan members to marry someone outside the clan (sasuke’s mother looks like an uchiha as well)? so the kekkei genkai stays in the clan only like the hyuga and their byakugan.

    grt
    1. If memory serves, Rin was in love with Kakashi. Must have been pretty shocking to get a chidori through the chest from the boy you love – or I guess from anyone.

      Not sure about the intermingling of clans though.

      7godeohs

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