138 replies to this topic

[Darth Krypt]

Oh damn, it looks like Itachi's going for Kabuto. Which means Sakura won't get to kick that guy's ass.

[Miss Soupy]

spoiler --Click here to view--

This is the first time in a long while I have enjoyed the chapter. Itachi pretty much summed up the feelings I have had about Naruto lately and his mission of ONE.

I love Itachi.

[Phantom_999]

hello again --Click here to view--

Hi all I'm back! Wise words Itachi wise words

[Paptala]

Thoughts --Click here to view--

My favorite part was by far when Itachi told Naruto not to forget his friends and try to do everything on his own. As adorable as Naruto can be, I've always felt that that particular trait was somehwat annoying and arrogant. Also, its something that has been present, pretty much since the start of the manga.

There is also the double stadard of how its apparently a crime for Sakura to keep secrets from and/or lie to Naruto, but its totally okay for Naruto to keep secrets from and/or lie to Sakura. All in all I hope this speech will encourage Naruto to, eventually, confront Sakura about her feelings and more importantly, his own feelings. It might not happen until the very end though.

I really like Itachi now. At first I didn't really care that much for him but now it seem to me like he's a lot more comfortable with himself. I think it has to do with the fact that he no longer has any "earthly bounds" to that cursed clan of his.

And while we are on the subject of Sakura, I really hope she gets a fight soon. If its true that Itachi willl take care of all the Edo Tensei Zombies, then that doesn't leave a whole lot for Sakura to "prove herself" like it was recently discussed in the debate thread.

Thoughts --Click here to view--

While I fully agree that Naruto definitely needed that talk from Itachi, and I loved the talk itself and its implications, I don't think that arrogant is quite the right word for Naruto's behavior (despite Itachi himself using it). After all, it wasn't too long ago that Naruto was shouting at Minato how he wasn't smart or a great ninja. Maybe single-minded and someone letting the prophecy and his new powers get to his head.

That being said, I hope that Naruto takes the talk to heart and we see an ensuing effect in his behavior.

I have to admit, I really hope the MinaKushi panel (which I absolutely loved, btw) encourages Naruto to reach out to Sakura. She's been by his side all this time, offering to shoulder his burden, and HE'S the one who's been keeping her at a distance (likely because he's trying too hard to respect her feelings for Sasuke or protect her or some other justification along those lines). I really hope we get a scene where he flashbacks to those words about his parents, and says something like, "I'm sorry Sakura. This time, I'm ready to work together."

I also fully agree that there's a double standard where it comes to Sakura and Naruto's treatment of each other - BOTH of them hide things from the other to protect them, BOTH of them make mistakes, BOTH of them have their own emotional issues to work out. BOTH have had failures and successes.

And yes, here's hoping that Sakura gets her chance to shine yet; perhaps as Tricksie once suggested, she'll be the one to fight Kabuto. Once Itachi manages to dispel the jutsu, he's gone. Ending the jutsu doesn't necessarily mean Kabuto v. Itachi.

Edited by Paptala, 24 August 2011 - 10:44 PM.

[Konohakitten]

Wow --Click here to view--

So yeah the one thing in this chapter that got me the most was what Itachi's told Naruto. "Now that you are more powerful you start to forget others, to be arrogant and attached to your ego...will one day make you like Madara".When I read that I was like oh snap! Then I thought what Itachi would tell Sasuke if they were face to face. He'd give him an earful and then put an end to his lust for revenge. It was really nice getting to see what type of person Itachi always was. To bad he was always portrayed as a bad guy.

[Phantom_999]

Oh, Konohakitten how's your son doing, by the way?

[Super Boom]

It's not useful. --Click here to view--

It isn't really. Naruto remembers his friends and they're organized in Cell teams + the rest. There's nothing symbolic except that it's showing the people he cares about.

Somebody'll likely try to dissect that page to death, though...

Ha ha, most likely. Pairing stuff is so scarce nowadays, it's sort of guaranteed these things will be blown of proportion. That being said, I definitely took a little bit longer looking at that picture.

Not sure if I still need spoilers, but everyone else is doing it, and I wanna fit in... --Click here to view--

Hinata's in front of Kiba and Shino? And she's smiling more than Sakura is? Oh no, Naru/Hina is canon! Dang it!! Wait a minute, Sakura's in front of her team. Yeah, we win! Oh no, Ino's in front of her team, and she has a seductive look on her face! Oh well, I kind of like Naru/Ino. But wait a minute, the sweat drop on Naruto's right side is bigger than the one on his left! That means he loves Sakura more than Hinata! Yay! Plus, if you measure the distance from the tips of Naruto's hair to Sakura and Hinata, Sakura is closer! Yippee! But wait, Akamaru is closer than both of them. Crap, Naruto/Akamaru? I admit, I never saw that coming...

Alright, sorry about that, thought I'd get a head start on that analysis. But in all seriousness, I really don't think it means anything, it's just Kishi drawing all the teams, plus Tsunade and Iruka. Though Hinata's exp​ression looks a little different than the last time Naruto thought about her, with how she's actually smiling this time. Also, why does Shikamaru look so evil?

But since this a Naru/Saku fan site, I might as well bring up the only real pairing-related thing in this chapter, the Mina/Kushi panel. It looks like Itachi said that Minato was able to become Hokage because he had the support of Kushina. If Naruto understands that, then maybe he'll finally consider his mom's advice on women on talk to Sakura (or Hinata, but hopefully not, LOL) about his feelings. If he really decides he needs her support, he might finally talk to her about this whole confusing shipping mess. It's about time if you ask me. Though, for some reason, I think when Naruto finally makes his love confession, he won't wait for a response. He'll just dash off after telling her, and then she'll have to sit on it while he fights Madara/Sasuke. But we'll see.

As for the rest of the chapter, I like that we're finally seeing Naruto on the other battlefields. I was wondering where all those clones went. Anyway, maybe that means all the individual battles will be wrapped up soon, and Naruto will be reunited with most of the Konoha 11. I guess I doubt Itachi's gonna stop Kabuto for a while. I mean, how lame would it be if we see Madara heading out with his six "Jinchurigans", and then they all just disintegrate mid-battle? Plus, why bring back Chiyo, Kimimaro, Hizashi, and Dan if they aren't going to have their battles concluded, or even started? Kabuto will probably fight Itachi conveniently right after all the Edo Tensei zombies are defeated. That'll give Kishi a good 20 more chapters for trolling, LOL.

Edited by Boom...Winning, 25 August 2011 - 12:20 AM.

[K9ofChaos]

Dammit Kishi, why'd you have to destroy Shisui's eye? You could've easily made a plot twist about Obito and Shisui being siblings so you could give Kakashi an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. You've just wasted potential awesomeness.


And Itachi's little speech might have made more of an impact on me if he didn't ENCOURAGE Naruto to try to redeem SASUKE! How can Itachi lecture Naruto about not forgeting about his friends and teamwork if he previously told him to go for saving an emo douchebag who was never a good friend to begin with?


I know that Kishi seems like the type of guy that likes those mushy happy endings where everything is right with the world and all that sappy crap. But to me, he doesn't seem to understand that not everyone deserves to have a happy ending. When there's a character that people will absolutely hate, it puts a smile on their faces when that character suffers a brutally painful and humiliating death that makes the character look like a pathetic child crying for mommy and daddy. On the other hand, it's not cool when the writer tries to force us to sympathize with a poorly written character who hogs all the screen time and behaves like a whiney little b*tch about his crappy past which he seems incapable of getting over it and moving on.


I would like to end this post of mine by saying that I agree with that video saying that Naruto is a tool.

[CaramelMiki]

Thoughts --Click here to view--

Another great chapter and the manga shows why its head and shoulders above the anime right now. Itachi's speech to Naruto was well played and I'm glad that he told Naruto he doesn't have to shoulder this alone, it shows how great of a character Itachi is and he definitely has my definition respect now, then again he always has over Sasuke and that's something Itachi knew Minato and Kushina. I just hope Naruto takes Itachi's speech to heart, especially the part about Minato having Kushina, I could so see that paralleled with Sakura, if only it would happen.

I agree --Click here to view--

I really agree with you. In the past chapters it really showed how a good person Itachi really is. His words touched my heart


and why wasn't Yamato not in the picture of his friends? XD

Edited by CaramelMiki, 25 August 2011 - 01:39 AM.

[Konohakitten]

Oh, Konohakitten how's your son doing, by the way?

Awe thanks for asking, he's doing great He's discovered that he can climb on things, so nothing is safe from him now XD

[tricksie]

So yeah the one thing in this chapter that got me the most was what Itachi's told Naruto. "Now that you are more powerful you start to forget others, to be arrogant and attached to your ego...will one day make you like Madara".When I read that I was like oh snap! Then I thought what Itachi would tell Sasuke if they were face to face. He'd give him an earful and then put an end to his lust for revenge. It was really nice getting to see what type of person Itachi always was. To bad he was always portrayed as a bad guy.

I just can't get behind the Itachi love. To me, he is still a bad guy. He just had a good motive.

So here's the thing: either he's a serial killer who had a moment of goodness, or a good person who became a serial killer. But either way, he's still comes out as a serial killer.

And although he was inspiring in this chapter, he's still a serial killer of horrific proportions. Like killing-your-own-parents bad.

He didn't just get into the Akatsuki on a letter of reccomendation; he earned his place rightfully. And who knows what other things he's had to do as part for that group to keep up that facade.

I'm really not picking on your post, dear. It's more in response to all the I-heart-Itachi stuff floating around. I just don't have anymore love for Itachi than I do for Danzo or any of the other characters that have been given a redemption back story. Danzo especially.

(There's a lot of irony packed into those character dynamics: Danzo orders Itachi to kill his family; Itachi agrees and spares his brother; brother comes back and kills Danzo, avenging his clan; at the same time we are meant to sympathize with Danzo going to extreme measures to protect Konoha...just like Itachi did.)

I just can't get past his awful deeds, including the scarring of Sasuke for the 'greater good,' to see him as a "good guy" character. I do, however, think of him like Kisame with his "true shinobi" attitude. He's not good or bad, he just follows orders, killing efficiently when he's told to kill. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same....

Ooo, just thought of a great plot twist! What if Itachi went back to Kabuto and instead of fighting...Itachi reported that everything had gone according to plan. Wouldn't that be insane?! After the whole audience is fully invested in Itachi's story and him being a good guy, only to have the whole thing thrown upside down! Whoo-hoo! (Then, of course, at the very end Itachi could come out as thwarting Kabuto in their most desperate hour, proving that he was always for Konoha, thereby redeeming him.) I'm dying for some plot twists here, can't you tell?!

edit: @k9ofchaos, just read your post. Too funny and true. I am always wishing for more depth to these storylines too. Not every character deserves a happy ending, and not every character deserves to have their motives understood. Hell, most RL bad guys don't even have reasonable motives. Their just selfish jerks. Kishi seems to have forgotten how to write bona fide, frightening baddies (like Itachi in Part 1). The cruel and careless nature of his crimes were what made him scary.

And I agree with you: Sasuke has had too much focus with too little development, and this chapter really showed Naruto's lingering immaturity. Like I said, I'm always left wishing for more depth.

Edited by tricksie, 25 August 2011 - 02:15 AM.

[Greed-Sama]

So here's the thing: either he's a serial killer who had a moment of goodness, or a good person who became a serial killer. But either way, he's still comes out as a serial killer.

A solider cannot be defined as a serial killer. Itachi is a hero. You can argue that there could have been another way to deal with the coming Uchiha revolt but diplomacy had already been ruled out. Banishment wouldn't have done a thing, so all there was to do was give a preemptive strike or wait until the revolt happen and then eliminate them or their leaders. Either way no one wins.

[harry4e]

I just can't get behind the Itachi love. To me, he is still a bad guy. He just had a good motive.

So here's the thing: either he's a serial killer who had a moment of goodness, or a good person who became a serial killer. But either way, he's still comes out as a serial killer.

And although he was inspiring in this chapter, he's still a serial killer of horrific proportions. Like killing-your-own-parents bad.

He didn't just get into the Akatsuki on a letter of reccomendation; he earned his place rightfully. And who knows what other things he's had to do as part for that group to keep up that facade.

I'm really not picking on your post, dear. It's more in response to all the I-heart-Itachi stuff floating around. I just don't have anymore love for Itachi than I do for Danzo or any of the other characters that have been given a redemption back story. Danzo especially.

(There's a lot of irony packed into those character dynamics: Danzo orders Itachi to kill his family; Itachi agrees and spares his brother; brother comes back and kills Danzo, avenging his clan; at the same time we are meant to sympathize with Danzo going to extreme measures to protect Konoha...just like Itachi did.)

I just can't get past his awful deeds, including the scarring of Sasuke for the 'greater good,' to see him as a "good guy" character. I do, however, think of him like Kisame with his "true shinobi" attitude. He's not good or bad, he just follows orders, killing efficiently when he's told to kill. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same....

Ooo, just thought of a great plot twist! What if Itachi went back to Kabuto and instead of fighting...Itachi reported that everything had gone according to plan. Wouldn't that be insane?! After the whole audience is fully invested in Itachi's story and him being a good guy, only to have the whole thing thrown upside down! Whoo-hoo! (Then, of course, at the very end Itachi could come out as thwarting Kabuto in their most desperate hour, proving that he was always for Konoha, thereby redeeming him.) I'm dying for some plot twists here, can't you tell?!

edit: @k9ofchaos, just read your post. Too funny and true. I am always wishing for more depth to these storylines too. Not every character deserves a happy ending, and not every character deserves to have their motives understood. Hell, most RL bad guys don't even have reasonable motives. Their just selfish jerks. Kishi seems to have forgotten how to write bona fide, frightening baddies (like Itachi in Part 1). The cruel and careless nature of his crimes were what made him scary.

And I agree with you: Sasuke has had too much focus with too little development, and this chapter really showed Naruto's lingering immaturity. Like I said, I'm always left wishing for more depth.

Itachi did what he did because he was thinking of the lives of the many instead of the lives of a few, his methods were cruel and brutal but he was following orders, he intended to die in the hands of his brother, who would then be seen as a hero thus restoring the tarnished name of the Uchiha dating back from the First Hokage's battle with Madara.

It wasn't like it was his idea to kill his entire clan but was an order from the Elders council, he was put in a very difficult situation,If he didn't kill his clan, what would have happened? The coup would have meant thousands of lifes lost in the civil war, then more likely other villages would attact a weakened Konoha and even more thousands of lifes lost with the fourth Shinobi war. So who knows how many tens of thousands of lives were saved because of Itachi carrying out his orders.

He also never saw himself as a hero, he lived with the guilt for the next 8/9 years and joined Akatsuki again to protect Konoha, being the one in charge of Kyuubi meant he could actually delay the capture of Naruto and delay it to a point where Naruto would be strong enough to protect himself.

That's why Itachi is one of the most loved charactors in the Manga, he was thrust in a situation he didn't want, hardened his heart to become the villain, and set into motion his own demise at the hand of his brother, (though i'll admit, mentally torturing someone to get them motivated not the best move.) who if things went according to plan would not only be seen as a hero but the gap between the Uchiha and Konoha would vanish, unfortunitely as he admitted this week, he made the mistake of thinking he was too stong and got outsmarted by Madara.

If you want to talk about charactors who are loved that don't make sense, I'd say the second Hokage, he's the one (according to Madara) who devided the Uchiha from the village, had them restricted to the village and kept a close eye on them and lets not forget this war is as troublesome as it is because of one of his Jutsu's you have to question the motives of a person who used dead people as weapons, and considering the other Kage's knew about the move it proves he used it in battle.

[pharix]

A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time (a "cooling off period") between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification.

don't think Itachi was like that at all

also, I still think Itachi bailing when Jiraiya showed up was at least partially acting.

Edited by pharix, 25 August 2011 - 03:31 AM.

[CloudMountainJuror]

I'm just gonna post this because it seems like no one saw it when I posted it earlier, and because it contributes to the discussion. It's a video made by a friend of mine discussing a problem he had with this chapter...that I agree with:

What are everyone else's thoughts on this?

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Itachi's speech helped Naruto think things over, IMO Naruto isnt a tool nuff said.

[CloudMountainJuror]

Itachi's speech helped Naruto think things over, IMO Naruto isnt a tool nuff said.

Why was it Itachi that helped Naruto think things over though? Why not Iruka, who is much, much closer to Naruto?

Also, I meant to have the focus be on everything but the parts he was saying that Naruto was a tool.

Edited by zacrathedemon5, 25 August 2011 - 03:48 AM.

[ciardha]

Hinata's in front of Kiba and Shino? And she's smiling more than Sakura is? Oh no, Naru/Hina is canon! Dang it!! Wait a minute, Sakura's in front of her team. Yeah, we win! Oh no, Ino's in front of her team, and she has a seductive look on her face! Oh well, I kind of like Naru/Ino. But wait a minute, the sweat drop on Naruto's right side is bigger than the one on his left! That means he loves Sakura more than Hinata! Yay! Plus, if you measure the distance from the tips of Naruto's hair to Sakura and Hinata, Sakura is closer! Yippee! But wait, Akamaru is closer than both of them. Crap, Naruto/Akamaru? I admit, I never saw that coming...

Alright, sorry about that, thought I'd get a head start on that analysis.

Heh, I'll play. Actually Sakura is smiling just as much, plus her expression and the way her eyes are directed toward Naruto closely echoes Kushina's to Minato's on the page before. Plus did you notice Kishimoto has made Kushina's and Sakura's faces look even more alike...

Let's see what else- oh Akamaru is the one connected to Naruto in that panel, Hinata is much smaller and distant from Naruto and she's not noticeably looking toward Naruto, she looks more like she's looking at nothing. The is no space in between Sakura and Naruto, Sakura is much larger and closer to Naruto and like I said her eyes are actually directed at Naruto....

[Dyshana]

I really liked the chapter, Im glad Itachi had the firm talk about him and his ego and also to remember his friends other than that great chapter.

[Fyuria'sLeo]

Why was it Itachi that helped Naruto think things over though? Why not Iruka, who is much, much closer to Naruto?

Also, I meant to have the focus be on everything but the parts he was saying that Naruto was a tool.

Iruka didnt notice that Naruto was so full of himself but Itachi noticed it right away. And sorry I didnt know what you wanted me to focus on. I have to get some sleep so ill talk about this more in the morning.