And there we have it folks, the fist bump heard around the world. Combining the two halves of the Nine Tails’ chakra via the fist bump link, the Fourth manages to come in at the right time (again), and uses his teleportation skills on all the members within the barriers. Suffice to say though, it was pretty amazing when you consider the immense scope of it all, but alas… the use of the technique, as well as the explanation for it (even if it did give me a few chuckles seeing that bit with the Second Hokage and Naruto) end up taking up pretty much the entire chapter.

Generally, I’m still somewhat content with the chapter overall—especially the part where Naruto’s all like “it’s all good, I know what you want to say”—but if there’s one thing that really nagged at me a bit, it was the fact that any animosity between Sasuke and Naruto seems to have outright disappeared at this point. I mean, this started a little while back when Sasuke decided to jump in and declare himself a Hokage candidate, but it’s still somewhat shocking—for lack of a better expression— just how fast he’s flipped sides and how fast the others have been to accept that. Granted, the grim situation likely plays a part in this, but I just can’t help but feel this prodding at me like a sharp stick every once in a while, and the whole “let me give you some of my chakra too” portion of the chapter was one such prod.

I mean ultimately, it’s something I’ve come to accept in terms of how Naruto as a series rolls, but there are just sometimes where some nice positives are taken away from due to some negative aspects that just weren’t done as well. The father and son plot line here in particular was nicely done, but the impact for me was taken away somewhat by the decision to give Sasuke a few big panels in the middle of it all—even if it might set-up as a potential “learning moment” where Sasuke kind of realizes his shortcomings in regards to Naruto and leading. Either way though, it seems like Obito’s content to try and systematically demolish the army before he gets on with his illusion technique, and one wonders just exactly when we’ll finally get the return (if this happens at all) of the other Kages and/or Kakashi—the latter of which I can’t help but feel will play a key part in the coming weeks, as each chapter that Obito hangs around seems to make this more and more likely. Guess we’ll see how it goes, though it may turn out to be quite a wait before the bigger developments in this fight.

37 Comments

  1. The Second and Naruto’s brief interaction was priceless. It’s that kind of slapstick I kind of miss from these last few chapters. Good to see it can stay bright with all the darkness at times.

    Moridin
    1. And here you thought only the First would ever unnerve the second.

      On the side note, was Madara outside the barrier? If he was inside then even he could have be reduced into oblivion, but may regenerate later.

      L002
      1. Sorry I just reread that and saw you asked about Madara honestly not sure… also if he was harmed by Obito he wouldn’t be able to regenerate I believe as Obito ends all Jutsu.
        Sure him and the First will be fine…

        Moridin
    2. All the while, Sasuke is like “Damn it, Naruto stop stealing all the spotlight!” I have to admit that Naruto’s growth is clearly shown in this chapter with Sasuke asking “What now, Naruto? “, a complete turn around from how it used to be.

  2. Taking everyone outside the barrier with the Hiraishin was a clever trick; I certainly wasn’t expecting it. However, can’t Obito simply seal them all out and prepare the infinite tsukiyomi at his leisure now? Also, Hashirama and Madara weren’t teleported, gotta wonder what happened to them. The last few pages were rather confusing; at first I thought it was a continuation of the chapter, but when I re-read it I realized it was a flashback of Minato’s to before the chapter started. Kishi’s pacing has certainly been all over the place this year. Hopefully next week will move the plot along more now that the Minato/Naruto interactions are resolved.

    Also, all your jutsu are belong to Tobirama.

    Hochmeister
  3. Annnd Kishi continues to add the humor in all these chapters XD. A majority of the chapters since the Rookie 9 reunion have had a subtle scene of humor, but it always makes me cry laughing somehow. Any chapter where Naruto uses his head is a good chapter in my book.

    I favor the brains over the brawns any day. Not to mention the ones with the brains have been more badass lately. :3

    corporallevi
  4. I’ve seen quite a number of people bash this chapter because they all expected a new form for Naruto. Honestly if that happened, I wouldn’t have liked this chapter as much as I did, because another insane power boost wouldn’t develop Naruto like it did this week. And then what would happen? Naruto gets a new power up, but if he bounces the Biji balls away, they’re just gonna explode in the same area anyway and boom, everyone dies.

    This chapter is more accurate than what everyone else wanted to see for sure.

    swordhack4
    1. Agreed. Not exactly the jushin + bunshin team up I expected, but that came really close.

      Also I like the subtle groundwork(?) being laid for Sasuke… dude was defering to Naruto for the whole chapter (hell yeah, wonder if it’s for him becoming more… “accepting” of Naruto as a Hokage candidate (after they fight it out I’m sure)

      Vagrant
  5. This chapter was AMAZING!

    Naruto using his brain without completely knowing the whole process = That’s my Naruto!
    Naruto still down-rating the Second’s accomplishments = lol yes!
    Sasuke planning on saving only Naruto and himself from the bombs = potential character ‘realization’ development setup?
    Shikamaru drawing a blank = I got love for my favorite character, but I have to admit, Naruto has now surpassed him.

    Where is this comedy gold coming from? smh I underestimated the Second’s character.

    Aquarian DragonSlayer
    1. More like he knows he can’t take on Obito alone, and the Foyrth and Second can tele themselves. So he’s “to hell with everyone else” and save the ones who have a shot at fighting back.

      Which is a very good contrast that gives Naruto the spotlight. Instead of the father-son tag team saving the alliance indirectly by attacking Obito, they actually do a play that would save everyone directly instead. More buildup for Naruto’s already established way of doing things (or something like it)

      Vagrant
    2. Saying Naruto surpassed Shikamaru in terms of intelligence is pushing things a bit. This situation is different from other times. Naruto, Minato, and the Second were on the same page. Naruto knows his abilities better than anyone and retained what Minato said about the Flying Raijin. That’s when he took this into consideration.

      If Shikamaru had been informed about this as well, I’m pretty positive he would have came up with the same strategy.

      Naruto didn’t surpass Shikamaru. It was based on who has more info at the moment. Hell Naruto didn’t even really know what he did, he just took a educated gamble and the Second told him what he did, much to his own surprise.

      swordhack4
  6. Madara : Hmph, so everyone survived, oh well. HASHIRAMA !
    Hashirama : MADARA !
    Madara : HASHIRAMA !
    Hashirama : MADARA !
    Madara : HASHIRAMA !
    Hashirama : MADARA !
    Naruto : SASUKE !
    Sasuke : NARUTO !
    Naruto : SASUKE !
    Sasuke : NARUTO !
    Goku : GOKU !!

    ….

    Aizen : All according to plan.

    Destiny-
  7. G*Y. Am getting tire of this BS…Have been rooting for Obito to succeed for a while now, even though I know he’s not going to win. His plan doesn’t sound that bad. Still want to see this story through the end, but it’s just like…meh…

    .
  8. I agree with you Zephyr. It frankly creeps me how out Sasuke is suddenly so cooperative. It seems almost OOC for him to now join the effort, look toward Naruto for guidance, and even casually say, “What our next move, Naruto?”

    Throughout the series, Sasuke has embodied hatred, rage, and revenge ( Ch. 462) and was cast as Naruto’s rival in his ideals, actions, and personality.

    So when Sasuke reached his “answer” in Ch. 627 and decided to help Konoha, are we as readers supposed to believe he’s turned a new leaf? Or are we still suppose to doubt him?

    I’m just not sure if we’re suppose to take his new self at facevalue and consider all these “yay team 7 is back together” kind of moments as genuine.

    It’s unnerving.

    Chloesong
    1. I don’t think we’re supposed to believe he’s turned a new leaf nor doubt him. I believe we’re supposed to watch him. In the past few chapters, Sasuke has been more than just bipolar.

      If you watch him carefully, you’ll see he’s constantly looking at Naruto silently, enjoying his moments with him, but at the same time, he seems like he’s acting on his own. Not only that, we also have his “erase the past” scene.

      At this point, I’m not going to doubt him. But I’m not going to accept him either. Just observe him. Sasuke is my favorite character, but believe me when I say this, I’m watching him from a neutral standpoint right now. I think that’s the only option. It avoids more confusion at least.

      swordhack4
      1. Exactly. Like Orochimaru, I’m curious to see where this will take Sasuke. Kishi probably did this unintentionally, but gave a answer to how we should look at Sasuke through Orochimaru’s words.

        And I want to doubt he has some motive behind this, but just like with Sasuke, I’m not on Orochi’s side, nor against him. Just watching him….well, I will be watching him when he enters the battlefield.

        swordhack4
  9. i find it pretty hilarious how sasuke is completely inadequate this whole battle.

    sasuke: there’s no time! i’m going to teleport you, me, and naruto!
    naruto: shut up and take my chakra!

    ::teleports entire ninja army::

    sasuke: …

    RickyMack
  10. Am I the only one who is just shocked how the 1st Hokage says “That’s an impressive volume of chakra comparable to mine in fact” So the 1st has more chakra than a BIJUU?

    I’m still wondering if the 4th can transfer the other half of the Kyubi to Naruto. All that power we’ve seen from Naruto and the Kyubi is only HALF imagine how much more chakra/power Naruto would have

    Quest?on
    1. Since Madara has a jutsu to rival a Bijuu, I can’t find it hard to imagine the Hashi has more. I mean he did defeat a fully Susanoo-armored yin-yang-complete Kyuubi with one big Buddha Jutsu.

      TheOrangeOne
      1. Also not to mention the fact Kisame was considered a “Tailed Beast without a Tail” as his Chakra levels rivalled the Bijuu’s themselves. So it is hardly without precedent.

        Moridin

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *