NARUTO Ch. 696 Review

You know it must be true, because he said it.

Naruto may be looking for a fair fight in this grand rematch, but Sasuke only wants his friend's life.

The Good

Don't ruin this with words.

You know, when this chapter focuses on the action and I sort of ignore what they're saying, this all isn't so bad. The scenes where they actually start fighting are great. Too bad you have to filter through so much double-talk to get it them. I now have a better understanding why the kaiju should never talk in those monster movies. It would just ruin the fun of it all.

The Bad

Does this plan sound familiar? It should.

If you've ever watched a long running TV series, you can almost always tell when the writers knew the series was coming to an end. They start throwing out there such bizarre themes and plots, because what are the higher-ups going to do about it? Cancel them?

That's the same vibe I'm getting from this. I say that because apparently Sasuke can just have whatever power he wants at this stage. I mean, the guy is given -- not earned -- one Rinnegan eye, and he suddenly knows how to use it to channel the Bijus' power into himself with zero flaws.

It gets worse as Sasuke tries to elaborate on his grand scheme in more detail, and he only comes out of it looking even more delusional than I originally thought. He is proposing the "exact" same plan that Madara had, but apparently missed the news that it doesn't work. He's also wrong on the facts. The world wasn't united against Kaguya. They never even saw her. To top it all off, he somehow plans to manipulate everything from the shadows while being Hokage. How do you do manipulate people from the shadows and be the focus of the world's scorn at the same time. That's like having your cake, eating it, then saying "F*** cake!".

Verdict 3/5

If this chapter was more action and less dialog, I would be far happier. It seems that the more Kishimoto tries to explain in his sprint to the finale the less I'm understanding. It honestly appears that the only reason Sasuke wants to be Hokage is because the writer needs him to be. For nothing more than the sake of being opposed to Naruto. As if they don't have enough drama between then as if already stands.

Follow along with the latest NARUTO chapters yourself, tune in for the SJ Podcast, and check out the free starter pack sampler at ShonenJump.com here. You can download the free app for both iOS and Android devices.

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/