Noblesse Oblige.

As expected, Aizen merged from the smoke unharmed. It also seems he has completed his transformation: the whole body of Aizen is covered by a white Hougyoku armor. Aizen instantly shunpos in between Urahara and Isshin and says Urahara's powerful attack combo was not enough to defeat his new Hougyoku conquered self. Aizen proceeds to rip out the reiatsu seals from his wrists and mocks Urahara's attempt. Both Urahara and Isshin rush at Aizen but Aizen displays a surprisingly dextrous combination of movement that repels both attackers with ease. However, Urahara and Isshin had hid chains in their attack and now release the trap which binds Aizens limbs. Aizen calls this a mockery but is suddenly smacked into the ground with an attack from above. The attacker turns out to be Yoroichi; it seems she has finally decided to appear. Yoroichi is wearing armor-like equipment on her arms and legs. It is revealed that the equipment is anti-hierro weapon designed by Urahara. Yoroichi does not stop after one attack and punches the prone Aizen again, which had enough power to blow up the surrounding. Yoroichi relaxes but Urahara warns her to get out of the way. Suddenly a huge attack emerges from below and Yoroichi attempts to dodge. She is quick enough to escape without injury, but the equipment attached to her right leg got destroyed. Aizen emerges from the smoke created by his attack saying he will crush them into tiny remnants one by one. Aizen's chest is cracked deeply from Yoroichi's attack but he is unphased.

As the Hougyoku start to healing Aizen's injury, Aizen tells our heroes of Karakura town that their combined effort towards defeating him symbolizes their hope and spirit. Aizen intends to smash their spirit by proving nothing they do will work and then proceed to kill them. When he finishes talking, Aizen shunpos to Yoroichi and deals a damaging attack which blows up the area around them. As they resume their fighting, Ichigo watches on. Gin catches Ichigo's attention by suggesting they both sit down and enjoy the fight from the sidelines. Gin admits he didn't know of Aizen's plan to merge with the Hougyoku and that he did it while Gin wasn't looking. Nevertheless, now that Aizen has merged, Gin claims that Urahara and them are all going to die. Ichigo responds by questioning how Gin can be sure of his own safety from Aizen. Gin says he didn't expect a response like this because it makes like sound like Ichigo has already accepted defeat. Gin rebukes Ichigo for being weak and suddenly begins to attack him. Ichigo dodges the first attack but Gin immediately follows with an even stronger attack. In order to block it Ichigo is forced to finally don his Hollow mask. Gin's attack slices through the town, destroying all the buildings on the way. The commotion wakes up Kira and he notices that Matsumoto is gone. She is seen from afar running towards the battle to where Gin is.


Kira tries to chase after her but he collapses from fatigue. Apparently Kira managed to close up Matsumoto's severe wound above her hip to keep her from dying but Matsumoto is still in critical condition. The scene switches back to Ichigo and Gin and it appears Ichigo has already been defeated. Gin derides him for having such a brittle mask and no Hollowfication power. Gin tells Ichigo to run. Meanwhile,  the smoke clears from Aizen's attack and it is revealed Yoroichi managed to escape without injury once again but at the cost of the equipment on her right arm being destroyed. Urahara and Yoroichi banter some more and Aizen says this is all a ploy to distract him. He recognizes Urahara's intellect as the only one in Soul Society that is higher than his own. But despite this, it doesn't matter anymore because Aizen holds power many times greater than them meaning he cannot be defeated. Urahara responds by sending a Hadou flying at Aizen's face. This is meant as a distraction so Yoroichi can get in close and land another hit. However, Aizen saw through this immediately and effortlessly blocks Yoroichi's attack. Yoroichi sends another punch powered with Senkou and the attack smashes through Aizen's defense and proceeds to crack his outer shell again. Yoroichi tries to followup with another attack but Aizen blocks her while reiterating how they cannot defeat him. Urahara comes from behind and ensnares Aizen with his zanpakutou Behime's ability. Aizen states he cannot be binder with such a skill and Urahara stabs his zanpakutou into the web his ability created. This lights a fuse which engulfs Aizen in a enormous fiery explosion. Aizen emerges barely wounded and he calls their efforts comical. Before he can finish speaking, Isshin appears behind him and deals a point blank Getsuga Tenshou reminiscent of Ichigo's attack on Aizen a while ago.

Thoughts:
1. Why is Ichigo so weak? I don't even know how to explain this anymore.

2. Isshin was able to do Getsuga Tenshou, which means his zanpakutou is Tensa Zangetsu? I don't know how two people can have the same zanpakutou because in the Bleach movie Diamond Dust Rebellion, Hitsugaya's friend was persecuted for also having Hyourinmaru. I guess this can be explained by saying either the movie is non canon (independent of manga) or by the fact Isshin isn't part of Soul Society so he isn't under their jurisdiction. I guess another explanation would be that Ichigo got his zanpakutou way after Isshin did so in Soul Society's eyes there was no overlap. Either way, I wasn't happy with this revelation at first because Tensa Zangetsu is a pretty boring zanpakutou. But then I realized maybe Ichigo just sucks and Isshin can show us how it is really used. Also, Isshin actually has control over Zangetsu as he is shown to be able to keep it in it's sealed form.  Not only that, he managed to release a Getsuga Tenshou without releasing his zanpakutou.

3. Finally, I really enjoy the Karakura heroes' attack combos because they are actually smart and well thought out. I haven't seen strategy in a long time probably because Ichigo doesn't have a concept of what it is. All we see is strong people pwning weak people until the weak people get a power up and become the strong person thus proceeding to pwn the strong person that is now deemed as weak. Here, Urahara and them are clearly the underdogs, yet they are using strategy to fight on par with Aizen.

*this whole post was typed with an iPad =p

Labels: Bleach, Manga

The island that Naruto and company (Yamato, Gai, and another Jounin) arrived at is protected by a barrier that will alert them if enemies approach. Furthermore, the physical characteristics of the island is repelling as it is composed of humongous spikes. Finally, the inhabitants of the island are enormous beasts like the squid, gorillas, or pandas. Needless to say, Kirabi has tamed them all or became their friends - fist pump the gorilla. The dimwitted Naruto didn't realize that Kirabi was the Hachibi until Motoi told him so - I mean what else could be an oxtopus (ox + octopus =p). After learning of this, Naruto immediately goes to Kirabi to learn about how to control his inner Bijuu. However, Kirabi is only interested in rap rhymes and fist pumps, and he ended up shrugging Naruto off after Naruto tried to tempt him with Harem no Jutsu. Naruto goes to Motoi for help and Motoi brings him to the Waterfall of Truth. When Naruto meditates in the Waterfall of Truth, his true inner self appears before him. It turns out his inner self is liked by the Kyubi because he embodies all the hidden hatred within Naruto's heart. Dark Naruto attacks Naruto but they are evenly matched in skill and technique. Due to a stalemate, Naruto exits his inner world and converses with Yamato and Motoi about what happened. Motoi says Naruto will not be able to control the Kyubi if he doesn't defeat his inner self. Naruto asks him to tell about how Kirabi managed to conquer his inner self because that might give him some hints on how to defeat Dark Naruto. Motoi explains that Kirabi was treated the same way as Naruto was treated for being a Jinchuuriki, but it never got him depressed or anything because he was trying to be a good host for his brother, the current Raikage. Motoi states that Kirabi is pretty much a village hero and he holds tremendous respect towards Kirabi. Because of this, Yamato and Naruto ask Motoi to appeal to Kirabi in their place to help with the training, but Motoi reveals that he can't do that because he had previously tried to assassinate Kirabi.

Motoi flashback to a time when the Hachibi did not have a compatible host, causing the village to constantly try to keep it under their control. Due to the previous Raikage's and Kirabi's brother's power they were able to do so, but always at the cost of many casualties. The wild Hachibi killed many villagers in its rampages and one of them was Motoi's father. Thus, Motoi developed a grudge towards the Hachibi. The Jinchuuriki at the time who lost control and killed Motoi's father died when the Kumogakure extracted the Bijuu from him. As a result, Motoi now had nowhere to displace his anger. However, when his close friend Kirabi willingly accepted the role as the next Jinchuuriki, Motoi attempted to kill him because he thought Kirabi would not be able to control the Hachibi as well. Not only did Motoi fail the assassination, but Kirabi also proved him wrong by besting the Hachibi. Thus, Motoi became too ashamed to speak to Kirabi again. Yamato asks why did he tell them all this and Motoi admitted he was trying to apologize by telling this to another Jinchuuriki because he couldn't say it to Kirabi's face. Naruto got upset that he was being used so he left to go ponder on a spike overlooking the sea. He thinks back to his own difficult childhood and also Gaara's and empathizes with what Kirabi went through. It turns out Yamato and Motoi ran after Naruto but got delayed because they were attacked by the giant squid. The squid appears before Naruto with Motoi in its grasp and Naruto immediately confuses it with the Hachibi again. Yamato set him straight and they both begin to attack the squid. However, Kirabi appears in Hachibi form and knocks the squid unconscious in one punch. Motoi asks him why did he save him and Kirabi turns a blind eye to their past and offers him a fist pump.


Now that their one-sided conflict has been resolved, Kirabi accepts Naruto because he tried to save his friend. Naruto reciprocates with many lines of rap yo dattebayo. Kirabi fist pumps him and tells Naruto he is ready for the Waterfall of Truth again. Thus, Naruto enters his inner world and confronts Dark Naruto again. Dark Naruto tells Naruto he has suffered because of the villagers yet now Naruto is accepting their change of heart due to Naruto saving the village. However, Naruto says he must have faith in himself because other people believe in him, and also Kirabi never let any of this affect him. This starts to weaken the Dark Naruto and makes him attack Naruto, while asking what's the reason of his existence. Naruto says they are actually one and thanks him for everything. Naruto intercepts Dark Naruto's attack with a hug and tells him it's going to be alright. Letting go of his own anger at their past, Dark Naruto's eyes lighten and disappears into Naruto. Naruto emerge from the inner world with a smile and Kirabi tells him they are ready for the next step. They both walk through the waterfall - with Yamato following - and steps into a humongous room where Naruto will fight the Kyubi.


On another note, eff OneManga. It's being slow with releases and suspended a bunch of other mangas I am following.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

As Isshin continues to fight Aizen, Ichigo and Gin exchange words. Gin says its being a while since they fought, but Ichigo says he doesn't remember it. He explains that everyone who he has fought with conveyed their minds through the battle; however, Gin was different in that he didn't even look at him despite the fact they were fighting. Ichigo wonders what he was looking at instead and Gin responds he is a creepy kid. Gin next raises his reiatsu and asks Ichigo if he knew how long Shinsou can stretch - 100 sword lengths (approx 100 meters). Next he tells Ichigo to guess how long his Bankai is. Ichigo says he doesn't care, but Gin surprises him by revealing the sword can stretch 13km. Gin claims its hard to grasp how long that distance is, so he intends to show Ichigo by releasing his Bankai, Kamishini no Yari. The release of his sword immediately cuts down every building in sight horizontally and Gin follows through by swinging the sword at Ichigo. The attack pushes Ichigo back tremendously but he manages to block it and stop the momentum. Gin seemed surprised but Ichigo says its not uncommon for one Bankai to block another. Since Gin's sword is halted, Ichigo immediately unleashes a Getsuga at Gin. This attack made contact but Gin emerges with only a light wound. Gin responds that Ichigo is a creepy kid to have stopped his Bankai and he will fight Ichigo the old fashioned way to take care of him. Gin retracts his Bankai and Ichigo notices how fast he did it. Gin uses Shunpo and his unreleased sword to attack Ichigo relentlessly, while Ichigo tries to make sense of Gin's sword. Ichigo realized Gin's sword's power and that he's done for if Gin manages to point the tip of his sword at Ichigo. Just at the moment of this revelation, Gin Shunpos away and shoots out his Bankai, which instantly pierces Ichigo's shoulder. Gin follows with a vertical slash to which Ichigo manages to evade. The missed attack impacts with the ground and destroys the whole section where Ichigo was standing. While the debris was still flying in midair, Ichigo rushes Gin to close the distance. However, Gin had retracted his sword to counter Ichigo's assault and then distances himself again. Ichigo tells Gin he figured out Gin's sword's ability - it's not in the length, but rather how fast Gin can stretch his sword. The whole spiel making Ichigo guess the length of the sword was an attempt to distract him from its true power. Gin ascertains him and further demonstrates that his Bankai can contract at 500x the speed of sound. Considering its maximum distance of 13km, Gin can technically hit anything in a 13km radius in less than 80ms [(13 000 m) / (speed of sound x 500) = 76.4054189 milliseconds]. Gin says he told Ichigo this because Ichigo doesn't stand a chance in hell.

Meanwhile, Isshin is overtaking Aizen in their fight and he says that Aizen is at his limits. Aizen agrees that he is at his limit, but only for his shinigami self. Aizen claims that the Hougyoku has its own will and that will is now finally accepting Aizen's will (meaning they are merging). Isshin remains in the dark so Aizen explains that the Hougyoku's power is not the blurring of the line between Shinigami and Hollows. Instead, its true power is to read the minds of those around it and make manifest what it finds there. Aizen explains the reason why Urahara misidentified the Hougyoku's power as manipulating the boundary between Hollow and Shinigami is because that was his wish as its creator; the reason that Rukia transferred all her spiritual power to Ichigo and then lost her powers as a Shinigami was because she hadn't been given any relief from the pain of killing Kaien; the reason Sado and Inoue had their unique powers brought forth was because they detested their own powerlessness. Furthermore, Aizen elaborates that the Hougyoku doesn't completely work unless the subjects inherently possess the power to fulfill their desire. Their conversation is interrupted by Gin's attack sending Ichigo flying past them into a building. Gin apologizes for the interruption but Aizen says they are finishing up. As he said this, the Hougyoku envelopes more of his body, which indicates the speeding up of the transformation. Suddenly, Aizen gets shot through his shoulder: Urahara finally makes his appearance. Urahara notes the progress of the transformation, and Aizen says that he is mastering the Hougyoku that Urahara couldn't himself. Aizen Shunpos to Urahara and stabs him but Urahara's "body" pops. It turns out this was the inflatable substitute Gigai Urahara used on Yammy. Urahara appears behind Aizen and binds him with Bakudou 61 Six Rods Light Prison, Bakudou 63 Sajyou Sabaku, and Bakudou 73 Kuyou Shibari. Urahara finishes the combo with Hadou 91 Thousand Hands Bright Sky Cannon. Even though Aizen notes the danger of the level 91 Kidou, he does not dodge. Aizen emerges from the smoke unharmed and surprise attacks Urahara from behind; Urahara escapes with a shoulder injury. Urahara says Aizen's carelessness isn't like his old self anymore and Aizen explains this is because he is so strong he doesn't need to be. Urahara clarifies his statements meaning that the old Aizen would not let him try attacks one after another. As he says this, Aizen's hands become bound with reiatsu handcuffs. Urahara explains it is a seal that seals the flow of reiatsu out of one's palms so the victim would be blasted by his own reiatsu. Aizen proceeds to be enveloped by an explosion of light.

Thoughts on~
Gin: The revelation of Gin's abilities did not disappoint but did not impress. Considering Gin's Bankai, it is not very creative as it is just an extension of his Shikai (faster speed and longer length). However, it is very strong. Essentially, the speed and distance of his attacks make him the perfect sniper. If you are standing 13km away, you will have less than 80ms to dodge one of Gin's attacks. The problem here is whether Gin himself can even see his targets this far away (and his eyes being closed all the time doesn't help =P). Nevertheless, I was very satisfied with the spur of some great action pictures and poses for Gin form these chapters.

Aizen: I am very displeased with how Aizen is turning out. First considering his appearance, he is ugly and boring as hell. Aizen looks like a cross between Rudobon (leader of Exequias) and Tosen's Hollowfication form. Hopefully Aizen was right in saying mid-transformation is always ugly and what we see now is not a good representation of his final form. Next, considering his strength, Aizen became weak like a noob. Not more than a few chapters ago, Gin exclaimed on Aizen's insane strength and Aizen proved it by pwning all the captains with little effort and breaking their most powerful combined attacks and Bankais (and this was only with his Shikai). But ever since his bout with Yamamoto, Aizen has fallen from his pedestal of seemingly invincibility. For 390 chapters, Aizen never had more than a scratch on him. Even Yamamoto, who is the strongest Shinigami in 1000 years, only managed to burn his clothing and dirty his face with a self sacrificial high leveled Kidou. Then out of nowhere, Ichigo comes and somehow wounds Aizen with an unmasked Getsuga (remember even Ulquiorra could block this barehandedly). Then immediately after this, some minor comic relief character we haven't seen much of (no offense Isshin) comes in and start beating the crap out of Aizen with just his Zanpakutou - no release or Kidou. I demand the back story on Isshin soon or else I will stop believing in anything logical anymore. Either way, assuming Isshin was more powerful than all the Gotei 13 and Visoreds combined (seeing how all them barely injured Aizen), why doesn't Aizen reveal his true power and release his Bankai. Instead, he relies on the merged Hougyoku to heal him while he tells the enemy all about his plans. Urahara did the right thing and took this opportunity to wail on Aizen with high level attacks. Anyways my point is Aizen seems to have gotten weaker, which might be explained by the fact he is in mid-transformation and his abilities are limited. I don't buy any of this, hopefully we will get our explanations soon.

Urahara:
One word: epic.

Labels: Bleach, Manga

The sages at Myouboku Mountain decides that it is time to pass on the key to the Kyuubi's power to Naruto himself. They reverse summon Naruto to Myouboku and brings him before the Great Toad Sage. The Elder tells him he will meet an octopus and then battle a young man with great power in his eyes. Naruto was stumped by the octopus prophecy but knew immediately the Elder was referring to Sasuke. Naruto says he knows this and is prepared for everything that's going to happen. The Elder continues that he foresaw the transfer of the key to the Fourth's seal to Naruto as well. Thus, Gamatora opens himself up so Naruto can take possession of the key.

Meanwhile at Madara's hideout, he is confronted by Kabuto. Madara saw him as a traitor to Akatsuki and jumps to engage him in combat. However, Kabuto does Kuchiyose Edo Tensei (Impure World Ressurection) to summon Nagato, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi and that halted Madara in his tracks. Kabuto claims he has surpassed even Orochimaru and the Second Hokage, who were the other users of this jutsu. He explains that he did not meet to fight, but rather join forces with Madara. Madara remains skeptical and asks him what he wants. Kabuto says he wants Sasuke, so he can learn the pure, unaltered truth about ninjutsu. Madara attempts to refuse but Kabuto summons one more casket, whose inhabitant was blocked from view. However, it seems whoever this is was surprising or strong enough to evoke a concerned response from Madara. After this demonstration Madara agrees to Kabuto's terms with the condition that he will only hand over Sasuke after the war.

Back at Myouboku, the sages tell Naruto that the Kyuubi within him has two components: the mind and the chakra. The chakra is the enormous reservoir of chakra hidden beneath Naruto's own chakra while the mind is the thing that makes Naruto go out of control and transform gradually into the Kyuubi. Every time Naruto wishes to draw upon the Kyuubi chakra, he can't help but draw some of the mind out with it. Naruto's goal in attaining more power is to draw out the Kyuubi chakra while filtering out the Kyuubi's mind filled with hate. The key would enable him to unlock the full potential; however, if the Kyuubi's mind overcomes Naruto's then it will get released from the seal and take over Naruto.

It is now up to Naruto to decide if he wants to take the key. Naruto thinks back to his prior decision to not use the Kyubi's power anymore because every time it has hurt his friends in the process. However, he realizes that to beat Sasuke, he will need the Kyubi's chakra. It turns out the octopus prophecy is tied to Naruto gaining control over the Kyubi, so Naruto leaves to find the octopus.

Meanwhile, Kumogakure is spearheading the military plans and attack tactics. Unfortunately, Kisame has infiltrated their confidential meetings because everyone thinks he is Kirabi's new weapon. While Kisame's mission is to capture Kirabi, he convenient also acts as a super spy in this circumstance for Akatsuki. Raikage calls a meeting with the other Kages. At the meeting, they first agreed to set up a sharing of intelligence system. Next, the issue of the Jinchuuriki was brought up. Everyone except Tsunade and Raikage opted to have the Hachibi and Kyubi hidden, instead of using them to complement the military attack strength. Tsunade concede to the majority and Raikage offers a secret island of Kumogakure where he and Kirabi train. This is bad because Kisame has infiltrated them and will be on the island with Naruto and Kirabi.

It turns out the Kages didn't have to hide Naruto on the island; he was already on his way to the island due to the octopus prophecy. Naruto is accompanied by Yamato, who can help keep him under control if he loses it. Their ship is attacked by a giant squid, and they are saved by Kirabi in his Hachibi form. Naruto is excited to have finally met the octopus.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

For the ability to counter the strongest Zanpakutou, Wonderweiss lost language, knowledge, memory, and even reason. Thus with this advantage Wonderweiss charges at Yamamoto. However, he failed to realize Yamamoto is  not reliant on his Zanpakutou, as he is physically powerful as well. With one punch, Yamamoto sends Wonderweiss flying and he tells Aizen he is the strongest shinigami in the last 1000 years. He shunpos to Aizen and attempts to uppercut him, but Wonderweiss intercepts. It turns out that one punch isn't enough to defeat Wonderweiss, so Yamamoto prepares to deal some serious damage. Wonderweiss makes many attempts to attack Yamamoto, but to avail. Yamamoto breaks off all his limbs and ends it with a double punch. Yamamoto tells Aizen it was cruel to strip away Wonderweiss's feelings, and Aizen responds that Yamamoto has taken his words too lightly, which caused him to overlook something. Wonderweiss's ability allowed him to seal Ryujin Jakka's flames, but those flames must be stored somewhere. It turns out they were stored in Wonderweiss's body, and now that his body has been shattered from Yamamoto's attack, all of Yamamoto's flames that were released earlier will explode at the same time. Yamamoto quickly realizes and runs to contain the explosion. Yamamoto succeeds in limiting the magnitude of the explosion so that only things in the barrier were blown up. However, this was at the cost of his body and stamina. Aizen steps in for the kill but Yamamoto has one last trick up his sleeve. He does Ittou Kasou, which is a self sacrificial Hadou that blows up the user's own body. Aizen realizes this attempt to finish him off and manages to dodge with minor injury. As he exits the smoke from the explosion he collides into a full powered Getsuga Tenshou from a Hollowfied Ichigo.

The attack damaged Aizen severely and Ichigo tries another to finish him off. But since Aizen is no longer caught off guard, he dodges the attack and smacks it away with his bare hands. Aizen tells Ichigo he missed his chance to kill him and then shows him the wound, which is rapidly being reconstructed. Aizen reveals he is unharmed because he has merged with the Hougyoku, and then proceeds to acclaim how Ichigo's reiatsu was well developed .. just like he planned. Ichigo remains shocked as Aizen tells him that everything from his meeting with Rukia to his battle with Ulquiorra was played in the palm of his hand. Ichigo refuses to believe him and Aizen manages to convince him. Ichigo asks why Aizen chose him and Aizen says that he has been aware of Ichigo since he was born, because Ichigo is half human - half shinigami.

Just at that moment, Ichigo's father Isshin appears between them. Ichigo is surprised and Isshin takes this time to headbutt him. He then grabs Ichigo and shunpos to a great distance away from Aizen and puts up a reiatsu masking barrier. While they are safe Isshin tells Ichigo he will explain everything, but Ichigo says he doesn't need to know - not until he finds out why his dad has hid this from him. However, for the time being, he does not want to trample on Isshin's feelings, and tells him he is fine not knowing anything. Back on Aizen's side, he notes that Gin has been watching and not fighting for a long time. Gin explains there was no need for him to intervene as Aizen is strong enough by himself. Just as he finished speaking, Ichigo strikes at him from behind. Gin blocks and tells Ichigo it has been a long time since they fought and he will go all out by finally releasing his Bankai. At the same time, Isshin cuts the building they were standing on in half, to separate Gin and Aizen, and begins attacking Aizen. At the flick of his finger, he manages to send Aizen flying through couple buildings.

Thoughts: I have two concerns with what happened. The first thing I want to say is that Yamamoto is dead ... without ever revealing his Bankai. >_< Usually when characters power up they tend to get healed, or their current woulds are negligible because they are stronger. Yamamoto had already defeated Wonderweiss so now there was nothing to counter his fire-based Bankai. Maybe I am just not fully grasping the gravity of the explosion and Yamamoto was already on the verge of death to shield it. The second thing that caught my attention was Isshin's strength. Yamamoto has just stated he was the strongest shinigami in 1000 years, but now Isshin is pretty much kicking Aizen's ass (by appearance, but there's a good chance he has never seen Aizen's Shikai either.) whereas Yamamoto died in the process. He looks around Kyoraku's age, but we haven't seen him in the flashback chapters so I guess maybe he is the generation before. Hopefully all will come to be explained soon.

Labels: Bleach, Manga

After being approached by Sakura, Sasuke tells her his goal is to destroy Konoha. Sakura says she still wants to follow him despite this, so Sasuke tells her she can join him if she kills Karin. Sakura walks past Sasuke to Karin and ponders about how Sasuke has changed and whether she should kill him. Meanwhile Sasuke conjures up a Chidori and is about to strike Sakura while her back is turned. Karin, who is facing this direction, tells Sasuke to stop, which bring the backstabbing attempt to Sakura's attention. Sakura is surprised and won't be able to dodge the attack, but Kakashi arrives just in time to deflect Sasuke's attack. After a short exchange of blows, Sasuke and Kakashi distance themselves from one another and begins to talk. Kakashi remark on how Sasuke have fallen and tells Sakura not to take the burden of killing Sasuke on to herself. Sasuke says that he has been dying to kill Kakashi and prepares to fight. Kakashi tells Sakura to back down and heal Karin, and that he's now taking the burden of killing Sasuke. Sasuke opens with an ethereal arrow from his Susanoo and Kakashi counters this with his Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke remarks at his ability to use the Mangekyo and Kakashi tells him to search something other than hatred in his heart. Sasuke remains stubborn and yells that no one knows anything about Itachi. His rage powers up his Susanoo to another level, and even Kakashi notes that this is getting very dangerous. But before Sasuke can attack, the Susanoo warrior dissipates back down to almost nothing; it seems his vision is giving out from the extensive use of the Mangekyo. Sakura takes this chance to try to stab Sasuke from the back, but she couldn't bring herself to it in the very last second. Sasuke realizes this attempt and grabs her by the neck. He takes her kunai and is about to strike her down, but Naruto arrives in time to save her. Finally Naruto and Sasuke meet again!


Naruto tells Sasuke he knows the truth about Itachi, and he understands Sasuke's plans for revenge. Sasuke claims Naruto doesn't know anything about having parents or siblings, and that his first taste for revenge when he killed Danzo felt exhilarating. He continues to say that the Uchiha has always been repudiated, and that when he kills everyone in Konoha he will finally sever the tainted bond. Naruto prepares for battle, but Kakashi says he will fight. Naruto   disregards this and runs at Sasuke with a Rasengan. Sasuke attacks him with a Chidori. Their attacks collide and explodes. Both are sent flying; Kakashi grabs Naruto and at the same time white-Zetsu cushions Sasuke's fall. Zetsu explains he has been following Sasuke for a while now and it was on Madara's orders. Zetsu goes back with one of his clones and alerts Madara that Sasuke is in trouble. Madara is seen getting his arm replaced while stating he should go collect the Rinnegan. After hearing Zetsu's info, he teleports back to Sasuke and tells him they are leaving. Zetsu takes the initiative to capture Naruto and immediately summons half a dozen clones. However, Madara cuts him short by saying the Kyubi is too much for a non-warrior like himself. Instead, he has Zetsu go check up on Kisame and meet with his black half. Madara is about to leave with Sasuke but Naruto says he's got something to say. Sasuke tells Madara to wait and obliges to listen. Naruto recalls that back at the Final Valley, Sasuke said that a first class ninja can read his opponent's heart just by trading blows with him once. Now that they are both first class ninjas, the blow they exchanged earlier let them to read each other's hearts. Naruto's conclusion was that they will eventually kill each other. Naruto urges that instead of attacking Konoha, Sasuke should redirect his hatred toward him because he can shoulder all of it. Sasuke asks why he cares, and Naruto responds that the reason is friendship. So pretty much Naruto is still trying to save Sasuke, but no longer by verbal persuasion but rather exchange of blows. When they kill each other they will no longer be Kyubi and Uchiha, so they can finally understand each other normally in the next world. Sasuke remains stubborn replies that he doesn't want to change and he doesn't plan on dying either because he will kill Naruto. Kakashi tells Naruto he will fight Sasuke and Naruto should pursue his dream of becoming Hokage. But Naruto responds how can he become Hokage if he can't even save one friend. Naruto's final decision is to fight Sasuke, and Sasuke agrees to fight him before attacking Konoha (so at least Naruto speech was somewhat useful). Sakura realized her role is to just have faith in both of them. Kakashi agrees with Naruto's plan but decides to fight Madara. However, Madara tells him that his Mangekyo won't work on him and teleports everyone away. Once they have left, Sasuke tells Madara he wants Itachi's eyes. Madara realizes Sasuke is going blind from overuse of Susanoo. Sasuke explains he wants to do this so he can utterly destroy Naruto. At the same time, Kakashi grabs Karin and they are heading back to Konoha.

Raikage and Kirabi are seen returning to their village. Bee explains to his mates that the new sword on his back is spoils of war from his battle with one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist. White-Zetsu meets up with black-Zetsu and black-Zetsu says he recorded the Hachibi vs Kisame fight and that Kirabi has taken Samehada. Based on white-Zetsu's response, this was according to plan. It seems black-Zetsu can create chakra-matching clones of anyone he touches (though much weaker with little combat ability). His clone switched places with Kisame under water and Kisame merged with Samehada so that he could infiltrate the village. Now that Kirabi carried Samehada back into the village, Kisame's mission is going well. Kabuto is always seen merging more with what's left of Orochimaru and becoming more snake-like.

The Daimyos of each country have a teleconference on the prospect of another war and the alliance of the ninja villages against Madara. After some chatter they agree and this decision is relayed to all the ninja villages and their Kages. Kakashi and them meets up with Lee, Kiba, and Sai. Karin is seen getting along well with them and she realized Naruto is the opposite of Sasuke. She states that Naruto's chakra is warm and bright, then notices the dark Kyubi chakra beneath it all. The group is approached by Anbu nin from Root, and Sai tells them they are no longer under Danzo's curse now that Danzo's dead. The future of their group lies in the hands of the next Hokage, Kakashi. Kakashi tells the remaining Elders that Danzo has been killed, and then elect him for Hokage so that Konoha can go through with the alliance. However, just as he is about to get initiated, Tsunade wakes up from her coma. The focus switches back to Sasuke, and it seems he has merged his eyes with Itachi's Sharingan but Madara says it will take a little longer to get readjusted. Sasuke exclaims he can already feel Itachi's power.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

The captains' combined attack allowed Hitsugaya to pierce his Zanpakutou through Aizen's chest. The vice captains are joyous and they disregard that the critically injured Hinamori just got up and started walking away. They think the fight is over, but Ichigo snaps some sense into them. Apparently, this whole time Aizen had switched himself with Hinamori using Kyoka Suigetsu and thus the captains attacks were all inflicted on Hinamori. I feel really bad for Hinamori because she was already wounded and now Kyoraku and Hitsugaya stabs her through the chest. I'm actually quite surprised she's not dead; after all the captains thought this level of attack was enough to finish Aizen. I guess no one in Bleach ever dies, not even minor characters. The question I have is why didn't Ichigo tell them sooner, like before the captains wasted their energy inflicting friendly fire. He just stood there like an idiot being confused at what everyone was doing. Anyways, Aizen takes this chance to drop the vice captains. Hitsugaya is mad pissed and rushes at Aizen. Everyone tells him to wait, but Aizen just slices down all of them at the same time. Hitsugaya lost an arm and a leg from this strike, and I'm pretty sure this time it's not a clone. I think Kubo just likes drawing broken shards of ice or something because this is like the 5th time Hitsugaya has been owned, and he falls again with such elegance. There is suddenly an explosion of fire and it seems Yamamoto is ready to join the fray. Aizen tells him its too late and he stands no chance, but Yamamoto does not falter. He lets Aizen stab him and then grabs Aizen's arm to make sure he's not being affected by Kyoka Suigetsu. Yamamoto initiates the Flames of Hell technique which will envelope everyone with flame including the wounded captains and destroy them all at once. As he is explaining his resolve to die and the way of the Gotei 13, Wonderweiss appears behind him. Yamamoto slashes at him but Wonderweiss manages to block the attack because all the flames were extinguished. Aizen explains Wonderweiss is a modified Arrancar whose sole purpose is to extinguish Ryujin Jakka's flames in his Resurreccion form, Extinguir. Thus, when Aizen might lose to Yamamoto in a fair fight because Ryujin Jakka is the strongest Zanpakutou, he turned the tide of the battle with Wonderweiss as the perfect counter.

I am very confused at Yamamoto's actions and intentions. He said the entire battle was leading to the point where he activated Flames of Hell and apparently this technique incinerates everything, even himself. Also, the other captains are prepared to die for this technique to finish Aizen. If the captains were prepared to die and this technique was so strong, how come Yamamoto didn't activate it at the beginning and just kill everyone at once. That way, the captains can defend against counters like Wonderweiss at their full strength during the time it takes for Flames of Hell to blow up. Instead, Yamamoto activates it now when they are at a disadvantage because everyone is almost dead anyways, so effectively its just him and Ichigo vs Aizen, Ichimaru, and Wonderweiss (I guess Wonderweiss defeated Kensei).

Finally. just a list of who defeated all the good guys:
1st squad Yamamoto - in progress vs Aizen and Wonderweiss
1st squad Sasakibe - unknown
2nd squad Soifon - defeated by Aizen
2nd squad Omaeda - unknown
3rd squad Kira - defeated by Aizen
5th squad Hinamori - defeated by Hitsugaya through Aizen
7th squad Komamura - defeated by Aizen
7th squad Iba - defeated by Aizen
8th squad Kyoraku - defeated by Aizen
9th squad Hisagi - defeated by Aizen
10th squad Hitsugaya - defeated by Aizen
10th squad Matsumoto - defeated by Allon
13th squad Ukitake - defeated by Wonderweiss
Shinji - defeated by Aizen
Hiyori - defeated by Aizen
Love - defeated by Aizen
Rose - defeated by Aizen
Kensei - defeated by Wonderweiss (inferred)
Mashiro - defeated by Wonderweiss
Hachi - still alive healing
Lisa - - defeated by Aizen

Labels: Bleach, Manga

While Sasuke was out fighting Kage level opponents, Naruto was unconscious the whole time because he hyperventilated upon learning Sasuke has been marked for death. Now that he finally woke up, he escapes Yamato to pursue after Sakura. Whether he is doing this for Sakura or Sasuke's sake I don't know, but at this point, I honestly don't care =P.

As for Karin, she has been really useful ... in keeping Sasuke under the spotlight. Every time Sasuke finishes a big battle she just heals him so that he can keep on fighting. I can't believe Sasuke is so coldhearted/douchey that he overlooks this and her affection for him to just stab her without hesitation. Nevertheless, Karin is still alive from the fatal wound (which in anime means they will be healed), but the fact she had a flashback of when she met Sasuke during the Chuunin Exam doesn't help her case. Flashbacks foreshadow death, unless you are a main character. Then it tends to give you a power up.

Finally, Sakura ditched her group and approached Sasuke with intent of joining him right before Sasuke was about to deal the killing blow to Karin. This is complete BS. She definitely has a ulterior motive. If somehow this happened to be her speaking the truth, then I completely lost faith in all three of the main characters: Naruto is a useless hyperventilating noob; Sasuke is an overpowered, basically immortal douchebag (because no one can kill him); and Sakura now is a traitor who broke a man's ideals (Naruto) in return for unrequited love from the latter douchebag.

It also seems after the continuous fighting Sasuke's eyes are giving out. This means he will probably learn some new jutsu soon or get an eye upgrade, or even better, succumb to the darkness. That would make things interesting =D. In any case I have been bored with Sasuke, because we know all his skills already: Chidori, Sharingan, Katon no jutsu, Kirin, Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susanoo. Yay.

Instead, I would like to learn more of Madara's secrets and abilities. Why does he want Shisui's eye, in addition to all the other Sharingans he has collected as seen in the picture below. Also, I'm quite sure that the Sharingan focused upon in the top right panel is that of Itachi's.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

I was curious how the captains and Visoreds intended to fight Aizen, and my question was answered: lamely. They started off by charging at Aizen head on with simple sword slashes and Shikai melee attacks. Only Kyoraku showed promise as he attacked Aizen from behind while Aizen was lecturing Hitsugaya. Of course, none of these attacks worked against Aizen. They should have known from what happened back in Soul Society that Aizen is strong enough to be invulnerable to straight up basic attacks. Hitsugaya and Komamura quickly realize the futility of their attacks and goes Bankai; however, this does not phase Aizen one bit. Aizen dodges all of Hitsugaya's ice attacks and defends against a combined attack from Love and Komamura. He then shows his overwhelming power by completing raping Komamura - again. Love and Rose now make a combined attack, but Aizen swiftly cuts down Rose. He proceeds to use Rose's whip to immobilize Love and then cuts him down as well. Ichigo watches in awe as Aizen just took down three captains in a couple of seconds. Lisa Hollowfies and attempts to decapitate Aizen from behind, but Aizen easily dodges and slashes her down while noting that the Visoreds are nothing more than Arrancars to him.
The captains finally decide to pull out some strategy and techniques: Soifon does shadow clones and rushes all of them at Aizen. With her real self she tries to stab Aizen twice in the same location with her stinger Shikai. Aizen first attempts to counter with a sword slash but Hitsugaya freezes his sword hand with an ice pillar. Aizen still manages to catch Soifon's weapon with his other thus preventing her from piercing him. However, since both Aizen's hands are occupied, Kyoraku manages to pierce Aizen through the chest from behind by suddenly teleporting there with his shadow technique. Hitsugaya says its over to Aizen and lunges towards him. Aizen breaks out of the ice to counter, but is disorientated by Shinji's Shikai inversion technique. Since he could not readjust fast enough to the change, Hitsugaya also manages to pierce Aizen through the chest.
It is confirmed that Unohana came back and will heal Hiyori, also Gin has been viewing the battle from the sidelines. Finally, let us not forget Kensei and Wonderweiss are facing off elsewhere while all this is happening.
Aizen's rapeage:

Thoughts: Other than Hitsugaya and Komamura, nobody else went Bankai to fight Aizen - who we know is tremendously strong. I was not surprised that Aizen could emerge victorious over them when all they did was run at him with simple Shikai releases. However, I was surprised at the ease of which Aizen cut them down. Komamura, a captain of "equal" level to Aizen's old position in Soul Society, was demolished by Aizen with a simple sword slash while he was in full Bankai mode. If we recall, he had fought on par with a Hollowfied Tousen a couple chapters earlier with the exact same Bankai. So either Tousen greatly weakened him in their bout, or Aizen had the ability to destroy Tousen anytime on whim this whole time. This also brings the question of how strong Gin is on the power scale. Now we basically know that Aizen can take down captain level individuals with even more ease than these captain level individuals taking down Menos.

Labels: Bleach, Manga

Izanagi has the capability to make anything an illusion and make any illusion real. It blurs the line between reality and illusion, thus making it the most powerful genjutsu ever. The after effect of using Izanagi is that the user's eyes will never open again. Danzo circumvents this by having 11 different Sharingans embedded within himself. Thus if needed, he can use this technique 11 times. Since Izanagi can hypothetically make some insanely powerful offensive illusion real, it is very dangerous to the opponent. As a result, Sasuke pulls out all his techniques to force Danzo to use his Izanagi defensively. In addition, it seems that the Sharingans on Danzo's arm does not give him any nerve response or visual feedback, so he does not know when one of them has been closed. Consequently, Danzo has to keep checking how many Sharingans he has left to use, and Sasuke took advantage of this by casting a genjutsu on Danzo to make him think he had one more Sharingan than he actually did. When Sasuke and Danzo lunged at each other with their swords Danzo tried to activate Izanagi with his non existant Sharingan. Since it didn't work, he got critically injured from Sasuke's sword. Both Madara and Sasuke comments how a real holder of Sharingan is stronger than someone who borrowed the eyes. Karin quickly heals Sasuke, but Danzo gets up once more after severing his out-of-control Shodai cells. He reveals Shisui's Sharingan to Sasuke. It seems there's something special about Shisui's Sharingan which stops Danzo from throwing it away as a defensive Izanagi. He hinted that it might be a powerful genjutsu, but I don't know what could be more powerful than Tsukiyomi and Izanagi, which manipulates time and space respectively with illusion. Danzo wasn't sure whether to use the Sharingan on Sasuke or Madara, so he takes Karin hostage to buy time. However, Sasuke is merciless as he stabs through Karin with a Chidori blade to pierce Danzo's heart. Karin dies immediately but Danzo as a last attempts activates a sealing jutsu that tries to seal all those around him to his dying body. However, Madara recognized it and both he and Sasuke are able to avoid the jutsu. Moments before Danzo's death, we learn from a flashback that the reason for everything Danzo has done is to measure himself against the Third. Prior to Danzo's activation of his final jutsu, Madara said he was going to take Shisui's eye; however, now that Danzo has sealed his body it is not clear whether Madara can still do so. On another note, Sakura and her group is closing in on Sasuke while Kakashi is close behind in his attempt to stop the encounter.

Labels: Manga, Naruto