Noblesse Oblige.

Both Naruto and Sasuke have grown and their eventual clash getting closer and closer. This is a update to my original post about Naruto versus Sasuke.

Naruto
Stage 1 (normal)
-Kage bushin
-Rasengan
-Summoning justu

Stage 2 (Sage Mode)
-Physical enhancement
-Chakra sensing
-Replenishable nature energy
-Frog-kata
-Rasengan variations
-Long range Rasenshuriken

Stage 3 (Kyuubi Cloak)
-Negative emotion and intent sensing
-Enormous chakra pool
-Chakra cloak physical enhancement
-Chakra cloak manipulation
-Body Flicker Jutsu
-Rasengan variations
-Rasenshuriken manipulation
-Tailed Beast Bomb

Stage 3a (Full Tailed Beast Form)?
-Naruto is befriending Kurama, so this form is imminent
-Tailed Beast body
-Tailed Beast Bomb manipulation and spamming
-Partial transformation (utilize tails)

Stage 3b (Hybrid Sage/Kyuubi)?
-Naruto has transcended to this stage once before against Nagato
-Extremely strong resistance (shown to disrupt Rinnegan's power)
-Fuse of Sage and Kyuubi abilities

Sasuke
Stage 1 (normal)
-Genius intellect
-Intense taijutsu training
-Kenjutsu (sword proficiency)
-Summoning jutsu (animals & weapons)
-Hebi-jutsu
-Katon-jutsu variations
-Chidori
-Lightning manipulation
-Kirin

Stage 2 (Orochimaru) expired
-Inherited jutsu (regeneration)
-Curse seal lvl 1 (chakra boost, physical enhancement)
-Curse seal lvl 2 (additional chakra boost, physical enhancement/transformation)
-Partial transformation

Stage 3.1 (Sharingan)
-Amazing reflex/perception
-Jutsu copying/analysis
-Chakra sensing (solely visual)
-Genjutsu

Stage 3.2 (Mangekyo Sharingan)
-Tsukiyomi
-Amaterasu
-Susano'o
-Black flame manipulation

Stage 3.3 (Eternal Mangekyo)
-Night vision
-Eternal Susano'o and Amaterasu spamming
-Awakening of new abilities?


THOUGHTS
Stage 1 Sasuke should beat Stage 1 Naruto.
-Naruto's trump card is Rasengan and Sasuke easily cancels that out with Chidori
-Only reason Naruto won't lose immediately is because he has massive chakra reserve so he can keep spamming clones and the same jutsus over and over again
-Sasuke has a lot of skills but limited in chakra

Stage 3.1 Sasuke hands down annihilates Stage 1 Naruto.
-Sasuke's weakness in the previous matchup is addressed with Sharingan, which conserves chakra and give him new abilities and enhancements

Stage 2 Naruto will have a good fight with Stage 3.1 Sasuke.
-Both have amazing chakra sensing, peak physical prowess, and plethora of jutsus
-Sasuke conserves chakra with Sharingan, while Sage Naruto uses natural energy
-Frog kata is a match for Sasuke's taijutsu and kenjutsu
-Rasengan variations can match lightning manipulations
-Rasenshuriken and Kirin both are aces

Stage 3 Naruto annihilates Stage 3.1 Sasuke.
-Too much boost in power, speed, and abilities

Stage 3.2 Sasuke can match up to Stage 3 Naruto but Sasuke will eventually lose.
-Naruto's speed can be great for offense and defense, though not as much Sasuke's Susano'o
-Naruto has enough abilities to counter everything Sasuke throws at him
-Naruto's ace is tailed beast bomb, while Sasuke has Amaterasu and Susano'o
-Naruto just need to outlast Sasuke because Sasuke has smaller chakra reserve and Mangekyo deteriorates his eyesight

Stage 3.3 Sasuke is superior to Stage 3 Naruto.
-Naruto can hold out against Sasuke, but Sasuke will quickly have all his abilities figured out and use his skill to beat Naruto before his chakra runs out
-Naruto's likely counter would be Stage 3a or Stage 3b...both are only speculatory

Looks like Kishimoto set it up nicely so that it will be a good fight. =]

Who do you think will win?

Labels: Manga, Naruto

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

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

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

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

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

With Karin analyzing Sasuke's fight against Danzo we find out that Danzo used neither a kage bunshin or genjutsu to evade Sasuke's attack. To find out Danzo's powers, Sasuke continues to probe at him with all out attacks such as Susanoo, Amaterasu, and Tsukiyomi. However after seemingly being destroyed by each of the jutsus, Danzo reappears unharmed shortly after. Karin continues to ascertain that what Danzo is doing is not genjustu - or at least one that she can detect. Danzo manages to catch Sasuke with a binding curse, but his taunting of Sasuke and Itachi pissed Sasuke off. Sasuke proceeds to upgrade his Susanoo through his anger, and it now has a ethereal bow and arrow. With this intensified assault, Danzo is forced to reveal another one of his secrets - that he collaborated with Orochimaru to have the Shodaime's genes implanted into his arm. Since Danzo has both Senju blood and Uchiha Sharingans, Madara notes he will have enormous control over Tailed Beasts, specifically the Kyuubi. This means Danzo is also after Naruto. Finally after Sasuke's relentless blows, Madara recognizes Danzo's jutsu as the forbidden Uchiha jutsu Izanagi.

Considering Karin's constant observation of the fight, I thought she would be the one to figure out Danzo's secret. Instead, she gets kicked aside by Danzo with no effort and Madara ends up explaining he knows the jutsu, which makes me ask why didn't he recognize or speak up about it right away. In addition, other than Danzo's sporadic plummets in chakra levels, we didn't need Karin's comments to see that the closing of the Sharingans is crucial to his jutsu.

As for abilities, Sasuke revealed that he made a new contract with a hawk for his Kuchiyose no Jutsu. His Kuchiyose tends to mirror the name of his group: Hebi - snakes, Taka - hawk. Danzo showed that not only can he utilize Futon jutsu, but also Mokuton from Senju blood and Kekkei Genkai Sharingan from Uchiha eyes. Finally to reiterate the obvious, Izanagi involves the closing of the Sharingan eyes, drops in chakra level, and the "illusion" that the user dies from an attack but instead escaping unharmed. We still can't be positive the order in which this happens, because in manga there is no concept of time gaps. As a result, the closing of the Sharingans could be an initiator of the jutsu, or an after effect of using the ability. Similarly, the changes in chakra might indicate that using the skill drops the chakra and closing the Sharingan restores the chakra. Finally, it should be noted that after an eye has been closed, Danzo has yet to reopen them.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

Danzo got grasped and interrogated by Sasuke. However, at the end it turns out Danzo either casted genjutsu or did a substitution jutsu which made Sasuke's attack null. Naruto starts hyperventilation from the realization that most of his friends gave up on Sasuke. I noticed Sasuke has two reoccurring themes. First, whatever new skill he obtains, he has incredible proficiency over it as he is able to partial transform and shape manipulate. This includes Chidori, Amaterasu, Curse Seal, and Susanoo. Second, since he got handwings from his Curse Seal transformation, he has gotten a replacement after loosing it from Deidara's explosion. He used Snake summoning jutsu to act as a replacement appendage, and now his Susanoo warrior's hands looks exactly the same as the curse Seal wings.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

There's a nice combat between Madara and Fu + Torune. We learn that Fu is from Ino's clan and Torune is from Shino's clan. Their skills appropriately match those from the Yamanaka and Aburame clans. At the cost of his arm from Torune's attack (don't know if this is permanent), Madara manages to get rid of both challengers from the combat zone. Next, he bring from back Sasuke and Karin from another dimension/place using the same jutsu. Now that Sasuke and Danzo are about to showdown, Danzo reveals that his right arm is implanted full of Sharingans. I have no idea not eyeballs in his arm can help in anyway to improve his combat abilities, but we shall see. Anyways, I gotta say is that Danzo is one effed up individual.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

It turns how the thing Sakura couldn't tell Naruto was that she is going to Sasuke herself. As they learn of this Gaara's team arrives to tell them what happened at the summit. At the same time, Madara appears before Danzo. Danzo prepares to fight and tells his guards to cover him while he unseals his right arm.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

It seems instead of trying to escape, Kirabi was looking for the pencil he threw earlier. He manages to injure Kisame by throwing the Raiton charged pencil because Kisame did not expect him to on the offensive. Kisame disregards the injury and goes in again to slash off Kirabi's legs but this time the sword was broken by a Raiton charged shuriken thrown from Raikage and his guards. This gives enough time for Samehada to recharge Kirabi to a stronger level, and both Raikage (Raiton-charged) and Kirabi (Hachibi-charged) goes in and double clothelined Kisame. This combined attack had so much force that it decapitates Kisame.

Next, we find Suigetsu and Juugo discovered by the samurai. In addition, Mizukage and Chojiro saves Ao from decapitation and then dispells Fu's jutsu. Lastly, Sai approaches Naruto to tell the truth that Sakura could not tell him.

I found this comic from deviantart which was pretty funny.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

The Kirabi vs fish form Kisame fight mainly consisted of Kirabi running away because he was more concerned for the safety of Sabuchan and Ponta. Initially, Kirabi dragged his friends to try to escape the water dome but Kisame can move it at his will to keep them tracked. Kirabi changes directions from Sabuchan and Ponta because he is who Kisame is after, but Kisame keeps going for Sabuchan and Ponta. Kirabi rushes back to save them and Kisame tackles him. Kisame revealed that his going after Sabuchan and Ponta was a feint to catch Kirabi. While in contact with Kirabi, Kisame's body which is infused with Samehada immediately begins absorbing the Hachibi chakra. Kirabi disregards this and grabs Kisame with tentacles from his partial transformation (like Sasuke's Curse Seal level 2), which let Sabuchan and Ponta escape. Nevertheless, Kisame has the advantage in the water dome because he has gills and Kirabi is now running out of oxygen. Kirabi becomes unconscious and Kisame dispells his jutsu as well as his transformation. To make sure Kirabi can't escape, Kisame tries to cut off his legs with Samehada; however, due to absorbing so much of Kirabi's chakra, Samehada changed its loyalty to Kirabi because it likes his better. As a result, Samehada slashes Kisame and begins replenishing Kirabi with chakra like it had done with Kisame previously. Kisame quickly hinders this by kicking away Samehada but Kirabi is now conscious. Kirabi attempts to escape but Kisame grabs Kirabi's own sword to cut of his legs.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

This week in Naruto we learn that Kirabi has complete control over his Hachibi powers. He attacks Kisame with 7 tails with full consciousness and then proceeds to critically damage Kisame with 8 tailed level 2 form of the Hachibi cloak. Despite this, Kisame reveals that he is called the Tailed Beast without a tail because he can transmute the absorbed chakra from Samehada to heal himself. This, coupled with his massive chakra reserve and unyielding stamina makes him practically invincible. Ponta deduces that Kisame's strength lies within his sword and tells Kirabi to disarm Kisame. However, just as he says that, Kisame fuses with Samehada into a monster that is pretty much a shark-human hybrid. He engulfs a kilometer radius area with a Suiton Jutsu which acts as a miniature lake for his fish form to swim in.
The other thing that happened this chapter was Ao vs Fu. Fu's puppet trap enables him to switch his consciousness with the enemy who touches the puppet, which Ao did. Now that Ao is helpless in the puppet trap, Fu attempts to stab out the Byakugan eye because its property of Konoha. However, Kirigakure set a seal that protects the eye when its in danger. Fu improvises by trying to decapitate Ao's body and planning to switch out his consciousness right before the decapitation. Ao warns him that if he pulls out too early Ao will block the blade and then kill Fu.

Thoughts:
Kirabi's tries with several different chakra forms against Kisame helped him deduce that Samehada maxes out at absorbing six tails' equivalent of chakra at a time (which is disgustingly unbalanced). Even when attacking Kisame with 8 tails in level 2 form, Samehada managed to bring him back down to 8 tails level 1 form. This says a lot about Samehada and Bijou chakra.Concerning Kisame's sword, Samehada, it gets bigger and bigger every time it absorbs more chakra. But its size probably normalizes after the fights because when Kisame fought the 4-Tails Jinchuuriki, his sword was normal when we saw him post-battle. Also, the reason why Kisame is so overpowered against Bijou hosts is because Jinchuuriki utilize pure chakra in overwhelming amounts, which unfortunates makes Samehada super happy. I wonder how Samehada does against ninjutsu though - would it absorb the chakra-based ninjutsu like Pain's Hungry Ghost Realm or have little effect because ninjutsu is chakra transmuted by hand seals and genetics (Kekkei Genkai)? The only previous fight we can refer to is Kisame vs Gai, but Gai doesn't use chakra. We do know now taijutsu and high speed works well against Kisame.
As for Bijou chakra levels and forms, I have always thought tails 1-3 is the translucent chakra cloak that bubbles (resembling water); 4-5 is the dense, black/red chakra cloak (resembling blood); 6-7 is the previous form with exoskeletal armor (resembling bone); 8 is the previous form with ligaments and muscle (resembling muscle); and hypothetically 9 tails fully revives the Kyuubi. However, Kirabi revealed this week that he can go up at least to 7 tails with the translucent chakra cloak (which he calls level 1) and 8 tails with the dense chakra cloak (which he calls level 2). This either indicates that the chakra forms differ among hosts or its not as clearly defined as I thought it to be. In addition, Samehada reverted Kirabi from 8 tails level 2 form to 8 tails level 1 form. This shows that the difference between level 1 and 2 chakra form is roughly 6 Bjiou tails' worth of chakra.
Finally, my thoughts on Kisame's new shark form is very negative. Judging by its appearance, Kisame now looks really weak. First, his webbed hands make it hard to form hand seals aka do ninjutsu. Second, the lack of a sword means his range is decreased. And third, he looks ugly as hell. We all know that in anime, attractiveness/coolness is directly proportional to strength and power. Kisame pretty much just sealed his own fate >.<

Labels: Manga, Naruto

Ok, so I really don't like the crap Sakura is saying so I'm going skip it. The main thing is both are hiding a secret from each other and its causing confusion and agitation. Nevertheless, while Sakura is leaving, we see a clone of Sai hiding in the corner. I wonder what that is about. Next, there's a quick scene revealing how Gaara managed to change the stubborn Tsuchikage, a power that Naruto repeatedly has. Finally, we get to the Kirabi vs Kisame fight. Kisame shows that he can throw around Samehada like a flail. Also, it seems Kirabi's Raiton chakra not only powers his weapons' damage but also sharpness like Fuuton does. After an exchange of moves, Kirabi finally brings out the Hachibi chakra, however that chakra is quickly eaten by Samehada. The chakra excites Samehada to its full form, which now has a mouth and is broader than before.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

This week's Naruto was a bit disappointing to me. After all, Kishimoto took a week off to gather material, so I was expecting some immersive fighting between Kisame and Kirabi. However, it quickly switches to Ao and Danzo's team. One of Danzo's body guards, Fu, springs a trap on Ao, but it backfires because of Ao's superior jutsu.
Back at the summit, they reached the consensus for Raikage to be the leader of the Shinobi Alliance. Raikage immediately asks Tsuchikage for his aid because he has experience against Madara (suggesting Tsuchikage's age and power).
Switching now to Naruto and the Konoha ninjas we find out that Sakura has confessed to Naruto. She tells him she no longer wants Sasuke because he is going down the path of evil and finally sees Naruto's worth after protecting everyone from Pain. Sakura urges him to stop chasing Sasuke...
Naruto doesn't buy the bullcrap, here's a rant about this that I completely agree with:

hell effing no, sakura

Labels: Manga, Naruto

Naruto is even worse than Bleach for fillers. Bleach had roughly 3 arcs/seasons of fillers, but Naruto unfortunately has a lot more. Innocent non-manga-reading Naruto watchers are misled into thinking they are watching canon material because the producers try so hard to transition between actual plot and filler plots. Despite this, it is my goal to save watchers from non-canon material by listing the filler episodes that can skipped without missing any vital plot.

Quick run down of filler episodes:

~Naruto~

Land of Tea miniarc - episodes 101 - 106

Random Shit - episodes 136 - 219

~Shippuuden~

Sora arc - episodes 57 - 71

Three Tails Bijou arc - episodes 91 - 112

Skip these episodes and watch all canon material! Naruto will be a lot more enjoyable =P.
Because the producers transitions between canon plot and filler plot, there are some important developments at the end of filler arcs. Similarly, there are unimportant filler developments at the end of canon arcs. The suggested advice would be to watch the last few minutes of last episode of filler arcs xP.

Unlike Bleach, I did not watch most of these Naruto filler arcs because they are so ridiculously stupid. Thus, I will just list some reasons why I did NOT watch them haha and a short summary of them based on my limited knowledge.

Land of Tea miniarc (101 - 106)
Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke find out their newest mission will be to protect Idate from attacks by the enemy clan, during a race. Very underwhelming arc, don't watch it please.

Random Shit (136 - 219)
Yes you read it right - 83 episodes of fillers...
DO NOT WATCH THESE EPISODES!! =[[. This span of almost FOUR SEASONS are nothing but craps fillers!! It is a mix of pointless miniarcs and random shit like bug catching. Please save your time and do not watch these! I fell trap to about 1 season of this shit before I realized I'm basically watching nothing.

Sora arc (Shippuuden 57 - 71)
Sora's dad infused some excess Kyuubi chakra into him so he is a pseudo-Jinchuuriki (only interesting thing about him). As a result, he is alienated by villagers and becomes another Gaara to Naruto. This whole arc is a ploy by the producers to give Kyuubi Naruto (and Asuma) more screen time. However, this effort generates a lot of powerconfusion and anticlimax to when Naruto first became 4-tailed Kyuubi. It should be noted that Naruto decided to never rely on the Kyuubi's power again because it hurt Sakura, yet here we have him transforming like no other in a filler. I personally only watched 2 or 3 episodes of this filler when it was nearing the end, but I wouldn't recommend anyone else to watch it. Nevertheless, I should note that I did hear some people say that this is the only decent Naruto filler arc. If you decide to skip it, make sure you watch the end of episode 71, because it introduces some new Akatsuki members and another Jinchuuriki.

Three Tails Bijou arc (Shippuuden 91 - 112)
So basically what happened in about half a chapter in the manga, took them a whole season to animate. This is the point when I gave up Shippuuden >_>. Instead of Deidara and Tobi coming in to capture the Sanbi, the producers made up a whole array new crap characters with new jutsu (Crystal style...) that try to capture the Sanbi or something. After 20 odd episode, they fail in capturing the Sanbi, AND THEN Deidara and Tobi comes in and captures it for Akatsuki. This basically means the whole filler arc was pointless =P. So take my advice and don't watch it. If you took my advice, make sure to watch the latter half of episode 112 because that's when Deidara and Tobi comes in and make the whole filler season void. Furthermore, Gurren is a filler character that works for Orochimaru, and she was inserted in episodes 89 and 90 to make her look legit. Disregard her existence please =P.

Labels: Anime, Naruto

Now that Madara has declared war, the Kages formed a Shinobi Alliance to combat Madara, Akatsuki, and his 7 Bijous. Tsuchikage also urged to use the Hachibi and Kyuubi in this war, but Kazekage warns that it might be a trap to lure them out. Since Danzo fled from Sasuke's attack, Gaara promised to relay what has happened to Kakashi. On Raikage's end, he will send Samui's team to search out Kirabi now that they know he is still alive. Chojiro adds that everyone should be careful of Kisame, who possess tremendous strength that rivals that of a Bijou.

It switches to Naruto who is practicing Sage Mode in the snow, and Sakura just arrived to talk to him. We also find out that Kirabi is in some forest rap-battling with a random person. However, their session is soon disturbing by non-other than Kisame. Get ready for another fight! =D

Now considering the two sides of the war,
Madara's side:
Madara
Akatsuki (Kisame, Zetsu)
Taka(Sasuke, Suigetsu, Karin, Juugo)
Bijous (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Five Great Ninja Nations' side:
Raikage (Samui's team and others)
Tsuchikage (Jounins)
Mizukage (Chojiro and others)
Kazekage (Temari, Kankuro, and others)
Konoha (Kakashi, Yamamoto, and others)
Jinchuurikis (Kirabi, Naruto)
Samurais

Just looking at it, they set it up so that Naruto is the only one capable of effectively opposing the Mangekyo Sharingan. He's got Sage Mode and Jinchuuriki chakra going for him.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

We find out that Madara's phasing ability is even faster than Raikage's Raiton Jutsu as he was able to dodge Raikage's surprise assault effortlessly (also note that Sasuke was untouched, so this jutsu affects anyone he touches). In addition, Madara reveals that he can warp people near him into another dimension. He warped Karin and Sasuke out of danger and ordered Karin to heal Sasuke. The Kages are pissed that Sasuke managed to escape but Madara makes them listen to his demands: he wants to become one with everything because his duel with Shodai Hokage severely stunted his powers. How does he intend to do so?

Madara explains that the Rikudo Sage is famous because he defeated the legendary Juubi (Ten-Tails). The beast was so strong that Rikudo Sage had to seal it into his own body. However as he neared his end his seal became unstable. Rikudo Sage was forced to dilute the Juubi's power by separating him to the nine Bjious that we know today. Madara reveals that his goal is to collect the nine Bijous and revive the Juubi. Then he aims to take the Juubi's legendary power to actvivate the Mugen Tsukiyomi, which can project the Sharingan onto the moon then influence the whole world with his illusion. This is the so called Moon's Eye Plan.

Madara proceeds to ask the Kages to hand over Naruto and Kirabi, but they refuse. As a reseult, Madara declares the onset of the 4th Ninja War.

I really liked this chapter, because it pulls everything together. Also, we haven't seen this thing called "plot" in a long time between Naruto and Bleach. This development caught me off guard =P. But I look forward to what is going to happen!

By the way, I do not care whatsoever what Sakura wants to say to Naruto >_>.

Labels: Manga, Naruto

A lot of stuff happened in Naruto chapter 466, so I couldn't blog about it while studying for my three midterms that were all on the same day >_>
Anyways now I'm done so there are my thoughts.

1. Chojiro's sword is called Hiramekarei. It is a double-handled sword with two holes in the upper end of the blade that shoot out chakra. The chakra can be shape manipulated into weapons such as a hammer. The part that bothers me is that it no longer is a sword.


2. I wasn't wrong about Mizukage's kekkei genkai being fire and earth; however, I wasn't right either because she can utilize water, fire, and earth to combine them into two different kekkei genkais! One is Lava Release (fire+earth) which does what it sounds. The other is Boil Release (fire+water), which fills with atmosphere with a corrosive mist that burns away even the Susanoo - granted it was the premature version and Sasuke was low on chakra.

3. So Zetsu wasn't dead lol. Instead the whole time he was prepping his Hoshi no Jutsu, which latches onto enemies and then propagates by leeching their chakra. Then he can replenish the stolen chakra to anyone he likes, and for our purposes he chose the about-to-get-pwned Sasuke.

4. We discovered that Akatsuchi can summon a giant golem from his mouth. The golem proceeds to rip apart Zetsu's jutsu and start eating it.

5. Tsuchikage's Jinton Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu materializes a cube, which upon impact with anything, instantly atomizes it. Ok, this jutsu is so cheap, if Madara hadn't stepped in Sasuke would have been a goner. Its only shortcoming seem to be its short range. But once Tsuchikage gets close to you, you will be off to another world. Also, note that he can just fly around haha. =P

6. Madara is very talkative lately. It seems he can't resist telling his opponents all about his plan and history. Anywho it doesn't matter, I really want to find out what the Moon's Eye Plan entails. I think there's a high possibility that it has to do with the Sharingan. After all, why does he need Sasuke and also it has the word "eye" in the name.

Labels: Manga, Naruto