Chapter 521- The Demon Of the Mist Returns

Another spectacular chapter this week from Kishimoto. The man is wasting no time in pushing this war forward as expected. Last chapter gave us a bit of a reprieve with the transition/exposition chapter between Madara and Kabuto, and this chapter drops right back into the action. And who to welcome the reader back into the fray than the infamous dynamic duo, Haku and Zabuza.

Haku

Zabuza

These two had the honor of being the first “boss” villains Naruto and team had to fight — back in the days when Naruto first began to utilize Kyuubi chakra and when Sasuke’s Sharingan was still in its infancy. To have Haku and Zabuza back sure is a treat; their fights with team seven was one of the things that helped make Naruto really popular when it first started. It really makes me want to go back and re-read those chapters. These two set the standard for high level kekkei genkai/ninjutsu battles to come and, even though both died in the end, were the first ones to be “converted” by Naruto to the good side. To this day, I consider Zabuza to be one of the best Naruto villains, and still feel his death, however cool it was, was somewhat premature.

That’s why it’s so great to see Zabuza back in action again with his trusty sidekick Haku. But when they were first revealed to be part of Kabuto’s Edo Tensei summons, I had some doubts about their fighting strength in the current times. After all, team seven had managed to defeat them back when they were still genin scrubs – and now they have to fight an army of allied shinobi. What’s worse, Zabuza’s even missing his cleaver sword cuz some water-sipping Sasuke fanboy had stolen it for his collection. So essentially, as this chapter proved, the great Zabuza is relegated to the rear while Haku gets the entire spotlight with his ice-based bloodline skills. And as much as I’d like to see Zabuza go berserk on an entire army with nothing but his water jutsu and sharpened teeth, you have to admit it’d be pretty one-sided; especially since he is facing off against Kakashi who has upgraded his Sharingan significantly since last they fought. Fortunately, Kishi must have realized this as well and made Kabuto give him a little boost near the end of the chapter, we’ll just have to see what kind of power-ups he’ll get next week.

Kabuto revealed to Madara the method to stop his Edo Tensei technique this chapter, but Madara is still mistrustful of every word coming out of that snake’s mouth. And for good reason, everything Kabuto has revealed about his undead summoning technique seems just too good to be true. Not only is he capable of controlling so many individuals at once, but the technique poses no risk to the user at all?? This contradicts many of the high level, even forbidden jutsus, introduced in this manga; the logic has always been that everything has a cost, and generally the powerful the ability/power, the higher the cost. If Edo Tensei is indeed this powerful and easy to use, then you’d think Orochimaru would have exploited it much more often. No, there has to be a reason why Orochimaru reserved it for crucial occasions like his fight versus the Third… Kabuto is still holding his cards close to his chest. Plus, he revealed in this chapter that he has “that other technique”, which he is confident will make him invincible along with Edo Tensei. And for the first time, we get a little glimpse into Kabuto’s real objective: he’s also seeking knowledge of the secrets of the Sage of the Six Paths — which means he might be after the Rinnegan sooner or later.

Something else aside from the main picture remember that Zabuza's partner Haku has also been brought back to life. Well we all know that Kakashi will be the one to take on Zabuza, but who will take on Haku the ice user.. There are three possibilities, Rock Lee the Taijutsu specialist, Sai who specializes in mid range attacks (i think it will be him) or Sakura who has super natural strength and has already fought against them before.. Who do you think would be best suited and let's find out who it really is next week!!! Finally the good stuff that i can write to you guys about!!

Peace in the Ninja world how can it be attained??

We all know about Jiraiya’s path to peace, it’s the same one passed down to Naruto, and similar to the philosophy of the Third Hokage (hence passed down to Minato, Tsunade, etc.). Basically it’s a type of pacifism where you seek to empathize, understand and ultimately forgive your enemies, thereby breaking the cycle of hatred and death. I think Naruto demonstrated this best when he chose not to kill Pein and instead talk to him despite his urge to avenge Jiraiya and everyone Pein ‘killed’ in Konoha. The Third Hokage, being Jiraiya’s mentor, preached the ideal of pacifism, and actively sought out diplomatic solutions as well as championed demilitarization amongst the rival hidden villages. Even after Konoha was the target of a secret attack by forces of Suna (who were decieved by Orochimaru), they did not seek revenge or reparations but instead formed an alliance with Suna which has only strengthened over time.

 

Now, let’s look at the opposing philosophy towards peace of Pain and those who share similar ideals. This path to peace is achieved through force and conquering– it’s the idea that peace can only be maintained if you destroy all those who are a threat to your people or dominate your opponents to the point where they are too weak and fearful to even retaliate. Pain followed this type of ideal to justify his destruction of a large part of Konoha because he deemed them a threat to peace; they were too powerful and would only cause more pain to those around them in the future. From his childhood experiences, Pain learned that those who dominate through power can only be brought down with power — action, not words, is what really brings about change. Danzo, although not at all connected to Pain, shares a similar ideal. 

Danzo was a selfish, no-good, snake of a man but his goal was still to maintain the peace Konoha enjoys… and that means eliminating any threats within the village or out of the village by any means necessary. There is a dark side to their peaceful existence most villagers will never realize, but it is a necessary sin.

So the question is: which philosophy towards peace do you support? Before you answer, think about it realistically, even use real-world events if it will help. Try to avoid voting for one or the other simply because your favorite character shares that ideal. Here’s some questions to ask for both sides of the argument:

Has long term peace been achieved by letting the enemies have their way?

Has long term peace been achieved by preemptive strikes or subjugating an entire nation through military force? Is pacifism effective in a world that is entrenched in warfare or does it just make you a vulnerable target?

Is one people’s peace ever justified by taking away the peace of another people (through occupation, collective punishment, economic blockades, etc.)?

Anime Boston!!!

Who's going to the next anime convention??? I have been told that the next convention being held is in Boston!! If you are an anime fanatic (which i hope you are since you are reading this, reading the manga, and most likely watching the show) this is your HAVEN!!! ANIME BOSTON CLICK HERE!!! I am sooooo excited this will be my first convention as a loyal lover and appreciator of Japanese Animation. I have soo many ideas of who i want to be!! I was thinking Danzo, then i thought Captain Yamato, then i was thinking maybe just a standard Jonin would be enough!! I don't know about you but I'm putting a lot of thought and effort into my outfit because i looked at some costumes that people made or bought and it is no where near a joke!!

AND IF THATS NOT CONVINCING ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU GO LOOK AT THE CROWDS THEY GET!!!

I am currently going with four other people this is going to be insane, they have parties, exclusive deals on manga scripts, books, movies.. it's out of this world AND ITS NOT JUST NARUTO, they have other anime series present as well I'm telling you this is an event you wont want to miss out on. So take a moment after reading this to click on the link and do some research on the event!! And if you want (and i strongly encourage) post up what you would like to go as and so we can hear what you have to say!! Thanks guys hope to hear from you soon!!

My Theory about Tobi aka. Madara Uchiha

I HAVE TOBI THEORY! I know we’re tired of these new theories every single time we see this guy in a chapter but bare with me. When Tobi said that he gave the Rinnegan to Nagato and that it all belong to him it got me thinking. Where the hell did he get them from? So here’s my theory maybe this guy is the Rikudo sage. The Rikudo sage is suppose to have started the ninja and brought some kind of peace over the world at one point. Maybe when he was getting old the world started to go into chaos again and since he was dying he knew he couldn’t stop it and was angry because his way of the ninja failed. It failed so much that his own children turn against each other showing him they couldn’t be entrusted to follow his in his footsteps. Feeling helpless and dying he released the Juubi ( Did anyone else realize Juubi is Bijuu backwards?)  and split them up knowing he couldn’t trust the Juubi’s power and the ninja world to either one of his sons. So to once again bring lasting peace to the ninja world he needed to come up with a way to live again forever, by transferring his soul into other ninja.

So before his own body died he transferred his soul into another ninja and took his Rinnegan eyes and started his master plan. He couldn’t just implant the Rinnegan into his new body because they were too powerful for normal shinobi to possess, so he realized if he was going to bring peace he needed power so he went to the next most powerful weapons his children, Uchiha and Senju. After observing their power for years he witnessed the power of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. He might have been impressed with Madara which is why he chose to go after the Sharingan believing it was the quickest way to gain power.

Realizing that Madara was one of the strongest ninja in the shinobi world and admired his power he transferred his soul into Madara’s body so he can use his eyes to their full potential. He then went to start his plans to once again take control of the world, first by take over Kirigakure and therefore being responsible for the BloodyMist Era.  Soon after he realized that even he couldn’t use the Sharingan to the same level as Madara which would interfere with his plans on using Madara’s Sharingan to cast an Eternal Tsukuyomi on the world putting them under his control so he can bring lasting peace. Also Madara Uchiha’s body was starting to reject him so he needed to find another Uchiha. So one day he came across the body of the almost dead Obito Uchiha and he transferred his soul into Obito’s body also somehow repairing it and since Kakashi had Obito’s eye and the other one was crushed he implanted Madara Uchihas eyes which explains why he claims to have his power. In the manga he says he’s not at full power, maybe he means his power as the Rikudo Sage but even if he did mean Madara he may not was able to use the Sharingan to the same level as Madara.

Realizing that the he will need the Eternal Mangekyou’s Sharingans power to bring peace with his Moons Eye plan once again he went to find another Uchiha with eyes with the same potential as Madara’s but this time he would take this ninja under his wing and help him obtain EMS so he could use the full power of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, that’s where he found Itachi Uchiha. Scared that one day another Uchiha would be born with even stronger eyes capable of defeating him and breaking his control over the world he had them eliminated. Also seeing his older son, the creator of Uchiha, hatred throughout the clan he eliminated them because he knew they would be a force of evil in the world which is why he chose his younger son over him.

Also seeing that Itachi wouldn’t help him with his Moons Eye plan he went after Sasuke who also had the stronger eyes. Now that he has Sasuke with the EMS he has his eyes on Naruto because he is a descendant of the Senju he needs his body to tranfer his soul into so he can finally implant his Rinnegan which will be his rebirth and gain his full power and use it to revive the Juubi and become the ultimate jinchuuriki and with his power and Sasuke’s Sharingan bring the world under his control.

I’m guessing he figures since letting the world think for itself and allowing them to evolve slowly on their own didn’t work so he is taking it in his own hands once again and this time will force peace on the entire ninja world. I also think this is what will make Naruto so great, to be able to defeat the Sage of the Six paths and revolutionize the ninja world. Naruto will remind him what he use to believe just like he reminded Nagato. This is all just a theory so don’t go to hard on me.

CH 513 Kabuto V.s. the Tsuchikage, the first fight to start the Ninja War!!!

 THE NINJA WAR HAS BEGUN AND THE FIRST MOVE HAS BEEN MADE BY THE ENEMY!!! The first to strike is a duo made up of Kabuto and a resurrected Deidara, who was killed by Sasuke in a battle. How is it that he is alive?? Well in the manga they tell us that Kabuto had perfected a resurrection jutsu that had been passed down to him by Orochimaru before his demise. But look at Kabuto he has scales and is starting to take the form of what looks like a snake.. Hmmm I think someone is trying to make a comeback, the guy has a snake in his robe! 

Last time we saw him in any real action was during the first season of Shippuden where they tried to find Sasuke but failed. Now he reappears as an ALLY to Madara Uchiha but not even Madara can see through his plans. He claims that he just wants to help and be allowed to experiment on the Tailed Beasts when its all over simple enough. But Madara knows that when anything involves Orochimaru nothing is simple there is always something new with him, always a hidden motive, now the key is to find out what...

A fairly interesting chapter overall, I’m glad Kishi (the author of the manga) decided to move ahead full steam with the current arc and get straight to the action we want to see. I previously had the notion that all of Kabuto’s undead summons would be mindless zombies, but Deidara demonstrated this chapter that the summons still have their abilities (although likely not as powerful as the original) as well as their personalities intact. Basically, this means we might get to see all the dead Akatsuki members again – I’m real interested in what undead Itachi and Nagato would be like.

Looks like Tsuchikage is coming to help out Naruto and the others despite his bad back. Sadly, we won’t be seeing a Gaara vs Deidara rematch – although it’s out of character for the current Gaara, I still think deep inside he wants some payback against Deidara for putting his friends and his villagers’ lives at risk when he attacked his village. Not that I don’t want to see Tsuchikage in action, being the oldest of the current kages I think he has the most battle experience and jutsu knowledge to make any opponent rethink their strategy. We saw a small glimpse of what the Tsuchikage can do during Sasuke’s attack on the kage summit, and I think his gravity powers have a lot of us interested as there is nothing like it in the Naruverse thus far. The ability to fly without any kind of mount or support is a powerful one, and Tsuchikage may have a monopoly on it since we haven’t seen it used by any shinobi before (Gaara’s floating sand is kind of like a mount), even other shinobi from Tsuchigakure. I don’t think Deidara has a chance in this battle, heck it might have been the Tsuchikage who taught him most of his abilities. The best we can hope for is a little more information being revealed about Deidara’s history with his home village.Kabuto must have been really busy ever since Orochimaru got pwned. Not only did he manage to upgrade the Edo Tensei, but also clone a Godzilla-sized Manda clone as well. This is one kid Kakashi probably wished he would have killed during their first encounter because he’s got as much h4x0rz potential as Madara. I also liked the fact that Kabuto decided to give his undead summons more autonomy than Orochimaru did. By giving them semi-free will, the zombie Akatsuki can be more effective by fighting more like their living counterpart. However, I don’t know if Kabuto would want to grant the same privileges to undead summons of Itachi or Nagato though.

I’m not sure how Kabuto is planning on beating Naruto and Killer Bee, not to mention bypassing the Konoha ninja protecting them. So far Kabuto hasn’t really shown any upgraded fighting powers personally to make us think he has any chance against two Jinchuuriki, so he’ll definitely need to rely on tricks and pull out a heavy hitter like Pain or Itachi to have any chance. But then again, his intention may not be to fight at all. It’s suspicious that someone as egomaniacal as him would aid Madara in any way unless it was for his own benefit. And I don’t think Kabuto would willingly risk his life fighting against Naruto and the others unless there was someone/something he needed to acquire here. Kabuto did mention that he wanted to experiment on Yamato, so maybe his focus isn't Naruto this time around. Why do I get the feeling that whatever it is, Kabuto is going to win this fight?