Last chapter Itachi became a good guy... again, and helped Naruto and Bee take out the not so crippled Nagato. Despite Kabuto’s wonderful plans (like allowing his zombies to talk), Itachi is just too powerful, and easily takes him out with a few well placed kunai and Susanoo. So What is in store for our heroes now?
THE GOOD
The thing about Naruto (and all shonen heroes for that matter) is that they believe they can solve every problem by themselves, but because none of these characters are actually Goku, they can’t. Japanese and Eastern culture in general are all about group society, more than the individual, and this chapter spreads this idea like lice in kindergarden.
Naruto needs to bring an end to this war, and he believes he is the only one who can do this. Of course Itachi, being the only intelligent person here thinks this is crazy, and tells Naruto to allow him to take on Kabuto and his army of zombies. “Poppycock”, Naruto screams to this, “this is my burden to bear!” Itachi doesn’t buy it. He tells Naruto that he is getting awfully cocky now, and that people loved him so much before because he acknowledged their existence. This actually makes sense to Naruto, and he backs off, allowing Itachi to do whatever he pleases.
The chapter then heads over to the battle in the dessert with the 3 master kages taking on the united ninja army. On the last panel of the last page we see what could be Naruto coming in to save the day. Is Naruto powerful enough to take out a kage now?
THE BAD
“Don’t forget about your friends!”, after reading this panel, I realized that this panel just doesn’t apply to Naruto, but to the person who actually wrote it, Kishimoto himself! Kishimoto, you too can’t forget about the side characters you took so long to develop. I love Killer Bee just as much as any Joe Taxpayer, but what about character’s like Kiba, what the hell is he up to? Has Sakura ever really had a good one to one fight with anyone? Does Iruka have any special powers? Please don’t forget your characters Kishimoto.
THE VERDICT 3/5
This battle is racing toward its climax, since most of the enemies are dead (again). If that truly is Naruto in the last panel, then I would love to see him fight all out to take on these three guys by himself. At that point no one will stand in his way except Sasuke and Madara, goodie gumdrops.
