As the battle keeps on rolling in Naruto, what we get this week is pretty much a continuation of concepts from chapters gone by. Essentially, what this chapter ends up being is a literal demonstration of the generational baton pass—and of how far the new generation has come—and it’s something that gives the battle an interesting touch. Granted, the battle is going on (and looks like it will go on) longer than expected as a result, but there’s nothing like having some chapters near the end of a series that just make you go “oh wow, it’s already been that long since ______ and ______ happened?” and “gosh darn, they’ve really come a long way, haven’t they?”

Indeed, seeing the Hokage hold the doors open for the new generation to take down the Ten-Tails is nice to see from a symbolic standpoint… even if I do admit to having wanted to see some more whoop ass from the former. I guess though, there’s still plenty of time for that however—there’s still the inevitable First Hokage vs. Madara fight after all—so… yeah. Either way, there’s admittedly not much else to say here. This was just one of those chapters that will undoubtedly resonate with viewers different depending on how they feel about each particular character, and in many ways, it’s something that can’t really be put into words. Suffice to say though, I can’t help but find myself reminiscing about the good old days, and it’s this nostalgia—to some degree, deja vu—that really makes this chapter feel better than it is. Well, that and Sai’s rather… comical return—you know, the part where he says “I’m part of Team 7 too! I’ll strike from the air!” and gets shot down a second later?

Either way, the march goes right on forward as the chapter title aptly indicates, and it looks like there’ll be quite the extravaganza next week due to the epic summoning fest at the end of this chapter. Fun times are definitely in store, and well, until next week!

72 Comments

  1. Those 3 summons at the end has me wondering a bit.
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Techim
    1. Well, we saw Kabuto somehow created a “Manda 2” before that was supposed to be more obedient (given the original Manda demanded human sacrifices for his services).

      Though, chances are, like Gamakichi, the others are probably the children. Though, it seems a little weird for Sasuke to go BACK to snakes when he went to hawks before.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
    2. I don’t think that those three summoned animals are Katsuyu, Gamabunta and Manda. I believe that they are Katsuyu’s Daughter, Gamabunta’s Son(Gamakichi) and Manda’s Child.

      K C M
      1. …If I remember right each person could only have 1 contract, and Sasuke had his with the hawks, but was able to use the snakes because at the time he was using Ochi’s chakra…

        platue
      2. platue that’s not true, if you remember both Naruto and Jiraiya were able to summon Gamabunta. It’s not like a certain summon creature cannot be summoned by different people. More like you enter into a contract with a specific creature clan.

        SOSAnimeBoy
    1. I’m still in shock over how easy Sasuke flipped back from heel to face and is now helping Team 7 and wants to be Hokage. All the length of the series I thought it would end with Sasuke and Naruto in a very ugly, brutal fight to the death. Os nice to see the next generation’s Sanin tho. each summoning a pet.

      Karmafan
  2. I loved this chapter, its great to see how far the individual teams have come. ShikaInoChu’s teamwork is still flawless as ever, Kiba learned Kage Bushin (LOL), Shino having deadlier bugs, Hinata finally learning 64 strikes (about time, when Neji could do it before the time skip…lol).

    My favorite part was how Sasuke and Naruto were sizing each other up in term of their new abilities. You know they still have their own rivalry in their mind despite the war in front of them.

    Its a shame though, I did want to see the Hokages kick some more ass, I still want to see some uber technique that the second hokage have, cause I really dont know much about his powers despite having some attacks shown in previous fights. We already know enough about the other 3.

    YanDaMan
  3. This chapter was full of trolling.

    Naruto completely dissed Kiba, who was bragging about being able to use Kage Bunshin, by basically telling him to get on his level lol.

    Hinata finally being able to use 64 palms, even though Neji was up to 128 palms.

    Shino still being creepy.Choji being used as a yoyo.Sasuke summoning a random snake and Sakura summons a random slug, Katsuyu was waaay bigger.

    But the biggest troll moment of them all was that Kishi actually got me to forget about Sai, who proclaims that he’s apart of Team 7, and gets destroyed instantly.

    Magoiichi
  4. Man was I the only one thinking this chapter was awkward and out of place? It felt as if Kishi did all those flashy moves just so he could create a delay while he thought about what to do next to advance the story…

    gawrshness
  5. That’s not Katsuyu, Gamabunta, Manda. Manda’s dead. That’ Gamakichi, the little guy who hangs out with Naruto. (He got a major growth from Pain arc though) And Katsuyu is still with Tsunade healing the Kage. Come on, they ALL LOOK DIFFERNT!

    Now, why does Sasuke still have the Snake summon, AND will this new snake even obey Sasuke is my question. (Sasuke did caused Manda’s death)

    drzero7
  6. This chapter was just so out of place. Im still caught up on sasuke being back in team seven. Seriously they just can’t say ‘oh your ok with us even though you’ve killed hundreds of people, did orochimaru’s bidding, tried to destroy the village, tried to kill your old friends and almost caused the end of the world’. Then he says he wants to be hokage!!? WTF? IS THE AUTHOR SERIOUS WITH THIS? Somebody should have just put a bulled through sasuke’s head right then and there because he’s more batshit insane than we thought he was.

    Haseo
    1. You’re absolutely right Haseo, I think MK(the author) is giving Sasuke too much pass, it would have been better if someone tells Sasuke that after the war is over that He’ll have to answer for what He’s done but all we are getting is this bygones be bygones BS and I can never understand why, frankly speaking this free pass of Sasuke is totally unbelievable, and the worst part of it all are those bimbo females Sakura, Ino and Karin, Sasuke tried to kill Sakura twice and She acts like it never happened, He also stabbed Karin and almost killed her and yet She too just brushed it off like nothing I can understand why Ino is still having the hots for him but Sakura and Karin are unbelievably fools for love and I’m starting to think that Sasuke can kill their mothers and they’ll be okay with that.

      K C M
      1. Using your argument none of the villages should remain allies after the war, because they all have all caused thousands upon thousands of deaths to each other. The let bygones be bygones is kinda a major theme in Naruto.

        platue
      2. @platue

        The huge difference though is that the majority of deaths caused by the various villages were caused during the previous Shinobi Wars, where death is expected, and those wars were more political than personal (expanding territory, obtaining secrets, etc) and soldiers following orders. When wars are declared over and peace is restored, that’s when you can make attempts to let bygones be bygones and try to repair/make new relations.

        It’s why, in real life, quite a number of allies (with the US, for example) were previously enemies (Germany and Japan, and so on and, to a lesser extent, Russia and China in that we’re not pointing nukes at eachother anymore) and so on, due to the circumstances, politics, and whatnot.

        Sasuke, however, there was no actual “war” going on (beyond what was in his mind). All it was was his ego and his never-ending road of vengeance; not caring who he hurts or kills, how he hurts them or their friends or families, or thinking about any of the consequences of his actions UNLESS they got him closer to that vengeance, as if he (like he tends to think) was somehow exempt from the law and stood higher than everyone else with whatever he does being infinitely more important than everything else in the world.

        When you consider that with Sasuke, the fact that he’s getting such a pass like this, despite the situation, is way too forced and impossible to ignore, especially if they decide to just accept him back. That would send a very bad message not just in-unverse, but also to us readers.

        HalfDemonInuyasha
      3. @ HalfDemonInuyasha.

        Thanks for making a great point and giving it to platue, I couldn’t have said it any better myself and I think that Sasuke getting a lot of passes is due to the fact that MK(the author)himself stated that He(Sasuke) is His favourite character, I know that Sasuke has gone through a lot of ordeal in His childhood but He’s got countless fan girls drooling over Him, Sharingan Powers and popularity the kind that makes Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Kiba, Shino, Lee or even Naruto(although He’s catching up) cringe uncomfortably and pale. What more does MK want for Sasuke.

        K C M
      4. Seriously, he had a bunch of people in the Academy (after the massacre anyway) offering him extra, special, personal help, but he turned them all down because of wanting to do everything himself and play the big loner who will “kill Itachi on his own”, yet then hypocritically turns around and says Konoha is “holding him back”, so he’s leaving to get essentially that same extra, special, personal help from Orochimaru…who, like Itachi, had gained their power IN KONOHA and didn’t leave until AFTER they were already very powerful as it is.

        And when he got his Mangekyo Sharingan, in ways, it’s not even “his” powers that he’s using, but Itachi’s, even before he got the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. (It was said that Itachi had “transferred his ocular powers” to him.) And now that he knows about Izanagi and Izanami, I wouldn’t be surprised if, in a last ditch effort, he asspulls them out (without even knowing precisely how they’re cast or anything). Only reason he wouldn’t now or before is because of literally costing him an eye for either of them, not mere blindness, and to ones like him and Madara, their eyes are more important to them than anything and losing them would be a fate worse than death (which is why I like to see it end with Sasuke alive, but permanently blind).

        HalfDemonInuyasha
    2. It certainly wasn’t hundreds, but yeah. He also never actually got around to destroying the leaf, he just said he would at some point.

      Also, right now, they are facing off against the most powerful creature in history and the most powerful Shinobi. Yes I know Hashirama was stronger, but now that Madara has his cells plus the Rinnegan, I have a feeling that isn’t the case anymore.

      They have a little more to worry about than Sasuke killing 20 or 30 faceless samurai and 1 manipulative prick in Danzo

      Zero Hour 17
  7. I love that the “inheriting the will of fire” theme is finally coming full circle (ish)! As corny as the fodder juubi-spawns are, I’m glad that, for the most part, everyone* is holding their own against the oldest, probably most powerful, and definitely the ugliest, evil in the ninja world. The symbolism is strong in this war. *Note… Sai y u do dis to urself

    The scene at the end gave me chills, and I’m really happy to see… the youngest toad (Gamakichi?) all grown up and ready to fight for the right to be thematically relevant. I kind of giggled at the random snake Sasuke summoned (read: WHO ARE YOU??), and yeah Katsuyu is just Katsuyu because she is a slug and no one is going to be able to tell whether she is different or not.

    Pokes aside, I’m thoroughly enjoying the debut of the new Sannin, and I would love for us to get a reaction from Tsunade and possibly Orochimaru. Also Jiraiya… I wish you were also resurrected somehow ; n;… but I realize this is next to impossible.

    But plot. Oh that plot… WHY DOES MADARA NOT CARE THAT FOUR OF THE STRONGEST-NINJAS-EVER HAVE SHOWN UP W/O HIM PLANNING? WHERE IS YAMATO AND WHAT PURPOSE DOES HE SERVE TO MADARA AT THIS POINT? I seriously feel like Yamato is the archetypical kidnapped maiden and we’re going to cut an incision in the Juubi only to find him strapped in there. Some male character will pull him out and initiate this moe scene where Yamato, with a flushed face, coughs “You came to save me” before fainting… I would question other plot lines further, but my post is kind of long. Sorry! ^^;

    tl;dr: thematically Naruto has been on the f***ing ball, but story-wise… meh.

    nohm nohm
  8. One thing I’m wondering is, with Madara, why Kishi hasn’t had him using any of the other Rinnegan abilities that we’ve seen Nagato use. Especially considering Nagato was using HIS eyes, yet was able to do so much with them (could be because of his Uzumaki lineage). Even Obito was able to do an imitation of it with the Edo Tensei’ed Jinchuriki, but you’d think Madara would be pulling all that and then some. I mean, it’s possible that Kishi could be saving stuff for his fight with Hashirama (if we get it), and we did see a couple different things like the giant meteors and “stabilizing” Susano’o, but it doesn’t mean he can’t be shown using the things we’ve already seen (on a greater level).

    We got so much boasting before about how the Rinnegan is so powerful and legendary, and were even demonstrated through Nagato some of its own unique abilities, yet Obito and Madara have barely done a thing with it and we haven’t really gotten any more info about it. Even with the fact that the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan + Senju DNA leading to it being able to evolve into the Rinnegan, it seems like only the Sharingan family has been getting any sort of real attention. And don’t even get me started on the Byakugan and the lack of origins too.

    Basically, it feels like ever since a bit before the war started, and especially once we started getting into it, we get only the barest of basic info about someone/something said to be so powerful (and/or convenient), but no real details whatsoever; the Senju and Uzumaki Clans, the Rinnegan, various Edo Tensei’ed people, the Shinigami Mask, the tools of the Rikudo Sennin that we’ve never seen again after that bit with them, and so on. And then when we do start to get more details on something, it tends to feel out of place at times.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. I see what you mean about a lot of things/details falling out of place and believe me there are sometimes I feel that MK(the author) should have written some parts of the story better or made some of the details not fall out of place, for instance I would have made Naruto’s hair colour red if I were MK(He gave Naruto a blonde hair to appeal to western audiences)in order to fit in with the rest of the Uzumaki Clan that we know has red hair, His hair can still be spikey like his father’s but still I would have made it red like His mother’s but it doesn’t matter either way and I’ve got to give Him(MK) some credit for holding this series for as long as He has and hope that He makes the story more cooler and better and nothing corny.

      As for Madara creating his own six paths, you’ve got to admit that guy has enough powers to create more World wars than we have had in real life coupled with the fact that He is in an edo tensei form has Hashirama’s DNA in him, has his EMS in eternal form, has the Rinnegan etc, of course He can create his own six paths but my fear is that for some unfortunate reason He is some how ressurected and He becomes the ten tails jinchuuriki and proceeds with His moon eye plan to put all living Beings under his genjutsu and make himself a God.

      K C M
  9. Has anyone realized in the first page how Naruto and Sasuke are checking each other’s powers out and seemed a little bothered. I believe their rivalry is still on and I also believe that when they fight again that they both will die.

    K C M
  10. There is a time and place for side characters to get screen time. That time was before the hokage and Sasuke arrived and moved towards the climax. If every chapter is going to be like the last few, showing what everyone is doing at all times in the fight, it’s going to be a year before the Juubi is hit with a jutsu

    Zero Hour 17
    1. it’s the symbol for Ninja. She is part of the Shinobi allied forces in their fight against Madara and the Juubi. Naruto was initially excluded, which is why he still has the leaf headband

      Zero Hour 17
  11. Well, since Sai finally showed up and being kinda piggy-backed by the good graces of Naruto, I guess it means we’ll finally find out what happened with Yamato-Taicho!

    Or three more chapters of Kakashi. Man, he’s just gonna pop out, see the three big summons and be like “The Sannin?!” and then see it’s his students and it’ll be these two pages filled of “what.” since he had no idea this happened.

    The Truth is in the Axe
  12. Now that’s how you do realistic powerups. Take previous powers, enhance, combine, shake, and (in Hinata’s case show how recent events enable them) then pour. The big gripe though is that it’s way too late in the series for this and against fodder enemies. This is literally the first time we’ve seen team 8 fight since part 1. But still, it’s nice to see the brats fighting so well, and hopefully they’ll get to do something more relevant that holding off juubi spawn.

    Poor Sai though!

    Hochmeister
  13. Don’t tell me that Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are going to be named the new legendary sanin by the time this war is over, I can understand the generational shift and the fact that the torch needs to be passed but I think it’s too soon, they each still have a long way to go before they can surpass their respectful masters.

    K C M
    1. Agreed.

      Naruto and Sasuke have the general power to the titles, but all three of them don’t have nearly as much experience and are all still pretty emotionally and mentally immature.

      As I mentioned with Naruto being Kage a couple chapters back, give it a few years and we’ll see.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      1. I totally agree at the fact that they won’t be able to surpass their masters. I mean, especially sakura. She’s becoming a little bit too much for me, its ridiculous how Sasuke could get an easy pass just by saying “I’m going to be Hokage!”…. THAT ONE LINE THREW ME OFF COMPLETELY..I can’t stand it..

        Kiminobokuwa
      2. Actually, I find Sakura and the other Rookies’ progression to be a lot more believable. Sure, they got stronger than they were 3 years before, but it shows that it’s ONLY been 3 years, so it comes off as natural progression from 3 years of training whereas Naruto and Sasuke were, as I said before, all but handed hax/convenient power-ups with minimal actual “training” left and right throughout Part 2 and what training they do get somehow allows them to far surpass those before them, even those that may have spent years in the same training.

        HalfDemonInuyasha
  14. why all show his best moves now? i mean they have done nothing soo far, them are fail even like meatshields and now LOOK MY NEW SKILL LOL.
    and wtf with sasuke orichimaru change of sides with soooo lame excuse

    dark
    1. Kubo ? For real ? Bleach totally gone really bad after the short fight of Ichigo and Aizen. After that it never capture any interest of mine. Yeah, Naruto might have a lots of unanswered question or something. It is much better than Kubo’s. Some how I’m excited for Naruto and not Bleach like the old days anymore. I was like only read through for Bleach.

      MooMiao
  15. All of these power-ups would have been more relevant versus the zombies but nooooo, MK wants the Juubi to multiply. I’m disappointed cause if Madara and the 1st will fighting while Naruto and Sasuke fight and Kakashi is handling Obito (Wish the 4th would talk some sense into his student for us), then what are the other kages and ninja gonna do, watch? But I guess I’ll just see where this goes. Hopefully the Juubi will pull a Frieza and transfom into something decent to look at.

    Aquarian DragonSlayer
    1. Probably because this was meant to showcase the “Rookie Nine”; all of them having been in the same graduating class together.

      Team Gai, of course, was a team that graduated the previous year, so a separate unit all together.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
  16. sorry for double posting, but i just want to say I agree with Zephyr, this really is about the generational baton pass, specially for Team 7. Can we call them the next gen legendary sannin already? 😀

    snake_eyes999

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