To stall Madara and save Naruto's life, Kakashi and Obito must team up for the first time since childhood and combine the powers of theirSharingan Eyes.
The Good
This chapter was a rather remarkable improvement over what happened last week, but it's not so much in the story, as it were. I feel it's the pacing that far better reflects the urgent circumstances that they're all in. They're in much more of a hurry to do something before Naruto dies. Which is what should have been happening since Kurama was dragged out of him several weeks ago. Hardly the time for expositional monologing and ill-placed history lessons.
I'm sure there are a lot of die hard fans out there who are jumping for joy over this Kakashi and Obito team up, but that became painfully predictable once Obito started to turn. It once again ties into something involving Rin and their childhood. Sure, it's a touching story, but this -- much as with the Minato andKushina moments -- is just a played out theme at this point.
The Bad
Where things really fall apart are in their execution. It's at this point that the story is essentially broken, and we're just going through the shonen-motions to sum things up. What I'm mainly talking about are both Obito and Madara. Kishimoto first wanted me to believe that a human Madara is powerful enough to whoop the ass of all Biju with a single glance and seal them with ridiculous ease, but he's suddenly put on the defensive by Kakashi and what should be a half-dead Obito.
Now, I'm suppose to also accept that Obito can pull away both the power of the Ten-Tails and more of the Biju powers with the effort of playing "gott'cha nose" with with a four year-old. While we're on the topic, what is Black Zetsu doing during all of this? Wasn't it him and not Obito that absorbed the Nine-Tails?
I'm also just not accepting Obito's turn for good. You can't sell me on how evil he is for nine some odd years, have him murder so many people, then expect me to be alright with him making such a sudden turn. That boat long since sailed away. It's beyond sloppy to the level of fictional malpractice.
Verdict 3/5
This edition of NARUTO can really be enjoyed if you just turn off that part of your brain that connects to rational thought and long term memory. It's as if the author doesn't want you to think about the things he's done in the past and wanted you to accept only weeks ago. Just forget that it took Naruto and the entire Shinobi Alliance to do what a half-dead man can accomplish with little effort. Forget than a man who's pretty much been untouchable and currently possesses the power of a god is now hesitant to attack anyone. If the writer isn't going to care about his own systems, then why should the reader?
Disagree all you wish, but it's still true. I was seriously tempted to rate this chapter a 4 out of 5 up until I started thinking about the events. I get this notion that whoever is in charge of keeping Kishimoto's story in check has chosen to let him do whatever he wants if it means ending this arc finally. That's a motive that I can get behind.
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About the Author
 | Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek. Follow for news updates: @AnimeVicers / @FoxxFireArt / http://kristofferremmell.tumblr.com/ |
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