Category: Naruto (Manga)

…You bring out the swarm. Except in this case, that means his Raikage brother for some gang beats. Seeing as the last chapter left Bee at Kisame’s mercy, I’m a bit surprised how quickly the tides turned. It wasn’t like Raikage and co. hopped in right away either, as Bee managed to get a pencil attack off before hand. In any case, is it safe to assume that Kisame’s dead now? I mean he got decapitated and everything, but I’m still skeptical about any death in Naruto until I see either a funeral or some acknowledgment from comrades. Also, just so that there’s no misunderstanding on the technique Kisame was trying to pull off, it was a “Suiton Daikoudan” 「水遁大鮫弾」, which literally translates to “Water Technique, Huge Shark Bullet”. Judging by its name, it wasn’t any sort of replacement/escape technique.

The rest of the chapter with Ao surviving and Mizukage seeing through Fuu’s ability was fairly run-of-the-mill, but they ended on a decent cliffhanger with Sai approaching Naruto about Sakura’s confession. It’s been suggested to me that what Naruto doesn’t know is that permission to dispose of Sasuke as a missing ninja was given, however I double-checked this because I sort of recall him already knowing. Well it turns out he does, after hearing it from Kiba at the end of chapter 451. As such, the only thing that comes to mind at this point is that Sakura confessed because she’s concerned about Naruto putting himself in more danger for her sake. i.e. That it was a semi-guilt-driven confession. Are there any other possibilities that I’m overlooking?

* Oh right, Naruto’s not aware that Sakura and co. are going to try and take out Sasuke themselves. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll succeed…

While I’m a bit disappointed that the Kisame/Bee fight basically came down to a chakra suckfest (with a shark trying to drown an octopus), I was pretty amused by the fact that Samehada chose delicious-tasting jinchuuriki chakra over loyalty to Kisame. Queue annoyed owner’s football punt above. I don’t approve of animal cruelty in the slightest, but I just saw that whole scene as a pet dog taking a liking to someone else, causing the owner to kick his own dog out of disgust. It was almost like, “Alright go get him! Wait, why the hell are you licking his feet!?” Kisame may have won the fight, but that was some pretty good self-ownage by his sword.

Aside from that, I couldn’t help but laugh at the descriptive diagrams explaining how Kisame’s huge bubble of water moves with him and how leading him in the opposite direction would allow Punta and Sabu-chan to escape. It’s at moments like these that Naruto really comes off as a shounen manga, making me imagine the eyes of young kids just lighting up when they read that part. I can’t help but picture a light bulb instantly switching on in their heads along with the thought, 「ああ、なるほどね。」 “Ah, I see.” What didn’t sit so well with me is how drowning is still an issue here. I mean, the ninjas in this world have unreal control of chakra and can stick to surfaces, walk on water, clone themselves, throw balls of pure energy, create huge pools of floating water, turn into huge monsters, and a whole lot more, but they can’t for the life of them generate a pocket of air with some oxygen in it. Sorry to say, but my suspension of disbelief just breaks down there. -_-;

Yeah yeah, I know it’s just a manga, but that doesn’t mean I can’t poke fun at it!

Well that’s news to me. If you were taking bets on who would win a fight between an octopus and a shark, I’d probably say a shark without a second thought. Killer Bee’s line made me curious enough to look it up though, so here‘s an example of an octopus taking out a shark. I don’t know what’s more impressive though, Bee’s ability to tame his 8-tailed beast and be in complete control while using his version of the jinchuuriki cloak, or Kisame’s infinite chakra-battery Samehada that he can surprisingly fuse with. However, I can say that Naruto (as a series) is looking less like a battle between ninjas and more like a battle between freak shows at this rate. Speaking of which, what’s with Samehada anyway? It’s nice to know that it has a limit on how much chakra it can absorb in one go, but it still looks like a huge porcupine more than anything else. Also, I don’t really need to hear Kisame talk about how big it’s gotten. -_-;

The other notable part is Fuu’s attempt to retrieve Ao’s Byakugan by making him cut off his own head off. While Danzo probably wants the eye retrieved so that other villages don’t have a Konoha kekkei genkai (bloodline ability), is anyone else starting to think he might want it for himself? Sharingan + Byakugan? Not saying it’ll happen (because it’s the wrong-sided eye anyway), but that would be pretty overpowered.

I know it’s Sakura’s nature to be a tsundere, but forcing the whole confession on Naruto and trying to make him feel bad for not giving her a response doesn’t sit well with me. Even if she has to maintain a tough exterior, I don’t think forcing a favorable response is the right way of going about it. Also, what started as a confession quickly became Sakura’s means of telling Naruto to stop going after Sasuke for her. It’s almost as if she’s given her half-baked feelings to him now as compensation for what she’s put him through. By the sound of things, she’s reluctant about it too.

I don’t doubt that she cares about Naruto and his well-being, but her inner apology to him comes off as her regretting doing this and trampling on his personal desire to help Sasuke. No matter how you slice that, I still see it as her feelings not being genuine enough. What’s funny though is that she’s taking it upon herself to find Sasuke, but drags Kiba along. If she asks Rock Lee for help too, I’m going to start having flashbacks to what she just tried to fix with Naruto. That said, I’m curious as to what Kiba was referring to when he suggested telling Naruto the “truth”. If I haven’t overlooked anything, it looks like they’re both hiding something from one another at this point.

Anyway, we see how Gaara can get people to change just like Naruto does, which is a predominant theme as usual. More importantly, we finally see some Killer Bee vs. Kisame action. I find it pretty ridiculous that Kisame’s Samehada can absorb the amount of chakra a Jinchuuriki has, but hey, I don’t write this stuff.

* From what everyone’s telling me, what Naruto doesn’t know right now is that Konoha’s decided to kill Sasuke themselves. I gather that’s what Sakura’s team is out to do right now. Thanks to those who pointed this out.

First off, I’m treading on unknown waters by bringing the other shounen-tastic series to RC, but I shall face embrace thy Narutards head on! That said, who really cares about the establishment of the ninja alliance and the impending fourth ninja war when Sakura is confessing to Naruto! You know, I was just starting to like Sakura more lately, but I just lost a lot of respect for her after this “pity” confession. All I see it as is her way of ridding herself of the guilt she feels now, after she FINALLY realizes what she’s put Naruto through all these years. Well I’m sorry Sakura, you can sell your body to him at this point, but the damage is done you inconsiderate girl.

I’m so glad Naruto didn’t buy into her confession and best of all, threw it back in her face at the end. I mean, does she not realize that him accepting this now and throwing away his resolve for the past 3+ years would immediately make all the hardships he’s gone through chasing after Sasuke meaningless? Personally, I’m sick of Naruto’s ongoing pursuit of the runaway ninja who would kill him without even flinching, but at least he sticks with it and never wavers. For the first time, I actually respect Naruto’s stubborn attitude. He has his way of the ninja and Sakura just tried to trample on it. God, what a stupid girl. You’re not scoring with the next Hokage after Danzou curls over and dies with these wishy-washy feelings!