Well, there we go. There weren’t many ways left for the story to go, and as expected, the Naruto manga will indeed end (so we think) with a climactic fight between Naruto and Sasuke. Admittedly I forgot all about Sasuke’s whole commentary about revolutions, killing the Kages, and establishing a new village (world?) under his rule, but I guess it works. At the very least, it’s not something pulled out of nowhere (always a plus), and it sets the foundations for the fight many of us have been wanting for a while.

With that said, I think it’s pretty much a definite that there’s no way Sasuke’s going to end up winning this fight, and I must say it would be quite the final twist if he does. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll just get tossed to the curb even if he loses (we all know how this story’s going to go with the reconciliation and friendship themes), and really the thing to watch for here isn’t so much the result as it is the fight itself. Both of them have come a long way since the very beginning in terms of individual strengths and in regards to how they’re essentially the symbolic trend breakers in a universe that’s repeated them since the time of the Sage of Six Paths, and there’s no question this fight’s going to be a symbolic representation of that. I’m still iffy about Sasuke’s decision in the first place (I mean, what kind of rule/leadership would he implement if he won?), but I guess it’s not too big of a deal considering the events that came before this in the first place.

All in all? Expect some ridiculous moves in the future, and a fight (you know there’s going to be a few chapters of just discussion too) that’ll probably last most (if not all) of the remainder of the year. The catch? You’re going to have to wait until the week after next for it to start, because it’s going on a one week break.

60 Comments

  1. I hate Sasuke even more now with his dick move about some kind revolutions and crap. Sigh, I wish Naruto would just kill Sasuke already. He is not a friend and will never will be in the end.

    firecow
  2. First it was Surprise Final Boss.
    Now we get Surprise Final Dickhead. 😛

    To be fair, this is much more interesting than Kaguya who is forgettable and was beaten way too easily. Also, this is the final fight that everyone was waiting for. So basically, it’s Kishifanservice.

    EamonX
  3. This is the most hamfisted, retarded way in which Kishimoto could come up with an excuse for Naruto and Sasuke to fight. Sasuke is hands down the most inconsistent character that I have ever seen in a work of fiction. To all aspiring writers wondering how you write a good character, Sasuke is the prime example of what NOT TO DO. For fuck’s sake, he could have just simply played it off as a simple friendly rivalry with a “Lets settle the score” moment. We would’ve been cool with that, but Kishi instead pulls this bullshit. Good lord this is fucking stupid.

    LaughingMan
    1. lol if you didnt saw this move coming from Sasuke you really meed to read beyond words my friend… because Kishimoto gave enough hints about Sasuke’s intentions.

      btw this “hey lets settle the score, friend! ” thing would have been SO LAME… now THAT would have been out of character..

      defc
  4. Okay, I’ll cop to it: I actually really liked this chapter. Between tsundere Kurama (seriously, that’s reason enough) and Sasuke turning out to be as much of a dick as we all thought he was, WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE?

    Yeah, the Kaguya fight sucked but that’s why I have absolutely no qualms with Kishimoto quickly moving on to this one instead. It’s waaay better than dragging out a failing storyline/boring fight like Kubo does.

    randomly
  5. Has anyone seen Sword Art Online because the idea of “your greatest ally turning into the final boss” theme seems really popular. Does anyone else know any manga/anime with that sort of theme?

    On the side note, I find it very coincidental with how Sasuke Uchiha has the same Japanese voice actor as Bleach’s Uryu Ishida; it sort of makes me wonder if Bleach will also have the same theme, where Ichigo’s “last boss” will be Uryu Ishida.

    Now, on the final side note is, where I put my personal thoughts, how I am a bit shocked with how Sasuke just made such a rather insane decision. I had really thought he had INDEED reverted back to his old self. We saw how Sasuke apologized to Karin, which is where small humor was involved, but to NOW see him revert back to being “I will now start my hostile takeover” is one hell of a plot twist. What would be more shocking is how Naruto would be right, on what he said earlier, where he and Sasuke will indeed kill each other.

    This is my small prediction of what may happen. We just saw the way Obito gave Kakashi the Sharingan. So my bet is how Hinata, as she breaks free from her dream, “magically” gives Naruto her Byakugan; we saw how Kaguya had the Byakugan, so my bet is that, with the power of the tailed beasts, the Byakugan’s full potential would be unveiled. XD

    L002
  6. Why is everyone on Naruto’s side? I’ve always felt more people like villains than protagonists. There are certainly better villains than Sasuke. I like Sasuke’s idea but killing the 5 kages isn’t going to work in the long run. In order to initiate a revolution, you need followers. Sasuke doesn’t have any and killing the kages will just push people further away from him. It’s pretty obvious but then when has Sasuke ever thought anything through? Naruto’s just as ridiculous. The world will go right back to the way it was if he’s in charge. Nothing will change. At least Sasuke wants to change something.

    lucjan
    1. And that’s why I keep arguing that Naruto nor Sasuke are presently fit to be leaders at all, much less Kages. They probably wouldn’t even be able to make Chunin right now. All the two of them have is brute power and, in Naruto’s case, a bit of charisma, but neither of them have really widely demonstrated the mentality necessary to be leaders, which is what a Chunin, much less a Jonin or Kage, requires. As of now, they’re both still pretty naive and too emotional in their ways of thinking, making them easy to manipulate by others.

      Their ways of thinking are also too extreme on opposite sides of the scale.

      For Naruto, he’s far too forgiving. While wanting to “save” people is noble, he doesn’t really think about the consequences of letting such people live. He just hopes that they become “better people”. He’s really just been lucky that a bunch of the people he’s saved didn’t simply take advantage of it and keep doing bad things (especially ones like Nagato and Obito, which was pure BS, IMO). Even when Sasuke was causing international incidents, Naruto still begged A to rescind his order to have Sasuke killed even though Sasuke is clearly working with now-internationally wanted criminal organization of his own free will. It wasn’t until Sasuke hit Naruto FAR more personally did Naruto finally start to change his view on him (almost killing Sakura), but even then, it was more of a one-sided double-suicide pact with Sasuke rather than actually changing his overall view.

      I doubt the citizens would want a leader who would let even wanted criminals go with little to no actual punishment for their crimes, especially if their only reason is nothing but faith and belief that they will learn their lesson and become better people.

      On the other hand, you have Sasuke, who seems to be demonstrating more and more Danzo’s cold-hearted style of rule; through power, fear, and an iron fist and if anyone, foreign or domestic, dares question or oppose you, then they are obstacles to be eliminated so they can’t become a potential threat in the future. Such a style of rule, if history has shown us, doesn’t usually last very long before the people (again, foreign and/or domestic) grow tired of that rule and band together to overthrow them. Such a rule also alienates not just your own people, but any allies you may have, whether it be your own council or allies from other countries.

      A leader needs balance.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
    1. And the biggest surpriser ever. First he says he wants to be Hokage, but now he says REVOLUTION! Everything he does and says practically flavor the manga as they greatly impact the audience.

      I don’t suppose, in the end, Sasuke may use the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique if Naruto manages to convince Sasuke to stop his revolution.

      L002
  7. Y’know, you would THINK that after the much hyped final battle which ended in the most anticlimactic way ever and had a villain that was about as poorly developed as any we’ve seen in the Narutoverse (seriously, she can’t hold a candle to Pain), Kishimoto would be perfectly content just to have Sasuke and Naruto fight it out as friends and settle the score they’ve had going since the very beginning.

    Of course though, this is Kishi whose only consistency in Naruto is how consistently he keeps pulling plot twists out of his ass and so we don’t get that.

    Oh no, now Sasuke is plotting a sinister “revolution” and it’s up to our brave hero Naruto to stop his friend, again.

    Ugh.

    Also, curiously, am I the only one who feels that these two really shouldn’t have the strength to fight anymore right now? Hell, should they even be standing?

    Ah screw it, let’s just watch these two idiots kill each other. >__>

    Ryan Ashfyre
  8. With Kakashi’s power up I would still think he could aid in this battle, as he had in the power against what’s her name (already forgot), but I’m sure shonen plot will dictate that he just sit on the sidelines and watch. (read: like most DBZ battles)

    Revolver
  9. This is cliched as hell. Pure fan service that is not even believable. We know who’s going to win and we know how he’s going to win so just sit through the usual Talk-no-Jutsu and enjoy the ending.. in 25-50 chapters.

    LK
  10. The funniest part was when Sage of Sixth Path had to leave really quickly because he saw how dumb this fight is. But he knew the outcome already.

    Neither of them can be killed, since they both have to combine their powers to wake everyone. So there you go, nobody’s dying here.

    LK
  11. see? i told all of you! why did everyone think the final fight was going to be kaguya? the rematch of naruto v. sasuke is the thing this manga has been building up to for years. and now we’re going to get it!

    orkinlort
  12. Am I the only one who finds this chapter irritating? For the past few episodes, the theme of “Oh I have this great idea of the idealistic world and I’m going to impose this idea to everyone. I am the best and no one is better than me.” Honestly, I’m getting sick of this.

    UE
  13. Hagaromo: Well crap, this reincarnation didn’t work either. Oh well, gotta go!

    So Sasuke flip-flops yet again and is now trying to do what his father tried (and failed to do) years ago, only on a far bigger scale, and with far less planning and thinking involved.

    Even if Sasuke managed to pull off this “revolution”, it would only blow up in his face in the end. If he were to kill the Five Kage, then all of their respective villages (as in the five most powerful villages in the land) will be after him. Even just killing Naruto would have the entire Alliance after him and it’s pretty obvious that, compared to ones like Kaguya, Madara, or Obito, Sasuke himself would be a cakewalk for the Kages, much less entire armies. Sasuke may have the Rinnegan, but it’s still just one Rinnegan eye, meaning it’s not as powerful as it could be, as we saw with Madara.

    And how can they keep going anyway (much less Sasuke pulling off NINE Chibaku Tenseis)? Even Black Zetsu worried about Kaguya’s chakra depleting during the battle (and all she was doing was dimension hopping most of the time), after all the stuff Naruto and Sasuke did, how are they not collapsed on the ground, almost dead from chakra exhaustion?

    So depending on what happens in this fight, Kishi will either barely keep the manga afloat at the end, or be a total hypocritical sellout (considering the message Shippuden and events have made the story out to be) that will sink it completely.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
  14. Its gone to pot. For pity’s sake end it already. After reading / watching / mooning over Naruto, I am fed up. Can’t believe a writer would willingly sacrifice his own creation in dumb ways.

    I am going back to watching from the beginning. No need to continue reading the ending planned here beyond a cursory glance.

    Pah! Timesink with no real message, even Talk-No-Jutsu would have sufficed as ending. But this ?

    Back to fighting Sasuke vs Naruto with Sakura / Kakashi watching on.

    maniii
  15. To me, this whole chapter and his stating that he wanted a revolution wasn’t out of character at all for him. He even told the sage that revolution was his goal in that flashback it showed when he came to give him and naruto their new powers. Sasukes character development actually makes total sense, and not in this part of the story, throughout the series as well. It also shows that Sasuke actually having a goal in mind and that’s trying to make the world better, but at the same time his way of going about it is violent and twisted, which goes along with basically all of his said character development. Tbh, it would have been a bit much if he completely changed after just one talk with Hashirama.

    75ChaosFlare
  16. We all knew this was coming. We ALL knew. I was praying they would just end it, but NO. I hate Sasuke now then even before. He seriously has NO purpose now that Itachi is dead. Someone just kill him and end this Series.

    Corey Lucas
  17. It’d be nice if all Sasuke’s talk of Revolution was just about finding an excuse to fight Naruto. This might even be fun if it turned out that he wasn’t taking himself seriously for once, since we all stopped taking him seriously years ago.

    CTT
  18. Somehow I missed that homicidal look in Sasuke’s eyes. Bring in more black backgrounds to make him more dark.
    And the Sage of Six Paths was like “no decision I make brings out a positive result, they still will end up fighting each other…(sigh)”
    I cannot deny how grown up Naruto has become, he’s not throwing a “Sasuke” fit about saving him. That’s how you confront a problem bro.

    random viewer
  19. See, I actually enjoy the way this particular twist works to allow consistency for Sasuke’s character. Sasuke has been one shoe short of a pair since the very beginning of the manga and just because he seemed to have a better handle on it when he had a clear and defined target named Itachi to aim at doesn’t make it less so. From the moment his family was slaughtered, Sasuke has been primarily about two things and that is seeking power and attempting to fix his world. The only thing that has changed for him since that time is just how he’s going about reaching those goals.

    With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that he came to the ‘Kill Madara’ party not to help his old friends or to do the right thing, but instead to eliminate a threat and consolidate his power base so that he can make things how he thinks they should be. And, to be fair, he never indicated that he had a change of heart or anything of the sort when he showed up to fight in the first place. So, I don’t really know if not going out of his way to correct people’s assumptions in the middle of a fight when the information isn’t terribly relevant really qualifies as a betrayal.

    In a way, Naruto and Sasuke are very similar in that they are both striving to fix things and everything they do is a step in that direction. The difference is that while Naruto places his faith in people, Sasuke only has faith in himself and acts accordingly. That said, I don’t think Sasuke’s thought much past ‘clearly the best way to change things is to eliminate the system’ as I imagine getting five kage-less villages worth of ninjas to just fall in line after he kills their leaders is going to be a lot like herding homicidal cats. For all that he’s a generally intelligent, crazy bastard, Sasuke just isn’t really much of a planner.

    Also, I agree with pretty much everyone that the manga really couldn’t possibly have ended without Naruto and Sasuke fighting each other one last time, I just think handling it this way was pretty much the only way to do it in a manner that works for Sasuke’s character. Them randomly fighting to ‘settle things’ or ‘just because’ would have been ridiculous and completely at odds with how Sasuke has been portrayed up to this point. I don’t have a lot of faith in the idea that Naruto is going to be able to Talk-no-Jutsu the crazy out of Sasuke so I can’t really see Sasuke living through this fight, but I suppose weirder things have happened in shounen manga. -.-

    Dre
  20. Sasuke must not have been paying attention to the war. Naruto has faced off with many legendary ninjas and held his own. Even with Kaguya it was Naruto doing most of the work. Yet the delusional little emo prick thinks he stands a chance. If I was Naruto my first move would be to throw a kunai into that Rinnegann eye. I know thats not going to happen and we are in for a fight that will be dragged out into early 2015. I know Naruto has amassed chakra from all the tailed beast, but Sasuke only got an eye upgrade. Plus I don’t see how Sasuke has the chakra levels to utilize the power of the Rinnegan back to back as he appears to be doing. Kaguya was a goddess/demon/rabbit/whatever. Obito and Madara both had Harashima’s regeneration cells to keep them going. Naruto’s uzimaki bloodline is known for their longevity as well. Sasuke ONLY has that eye, there was nothing special about his family from what I remember…I mean seriously!!!

    Cass0
  21. Yeah I agree with what you said, but I wouldn’t really consider Sasuke winning to be a plot twist. It’s already been done in part 1 of Naruto. I know it’s a dead end but I like to focus on the Great Toad Sage’s words on the role of the “Destined Child,” more specifically, the part where he says that the child, ones it’s been trained by Jiraiya, will save or DESTROY the world. So What’d consider to be a plot twist is the Yami side of Kurama to corrupt Naruto and Turn our favorite knuckle-headed hero evil.

    dgj212
  22. I don’t see how the rest of the shinobis would rallied behind Sasuke after killing the five kages.
    Only way I can think of is if Naruto went along with the idea, kill kages, release the shinobis of the infinite tsukuyomi, said the kages died during the infinite tsukuyomi, and with the whole ninja world united and needing of a new leader, who else but the hero of the war, Naruto (and maybe Sasuke as the 2nd hokage for helping at the very end there, who will eventually assassinate Naruto and thus become hokage).

    ProfChaos
  23. Sasuke has to fucking die… and I’m not a fanboy (or a hater), infact, I believe him to be one of the best characters in the series. but he has to die (that or naruto), the siries has to end, and I am NOT going to take some cheap ‘talk no jutss’ ending… that would suck balls.

    pimph pomph

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