Naruto Manga 317: The Nightmare Begins

-WitherWings says:
Wah! Just read the new chapter. You were right Naruto did go and get help from another wind user. Guess who? And I must say that the three-tails is not so good looking. Get off work soon and read it.

-SnowyOwl says:
That was Asuma! I was surprised that he was a wind type. I think my conception of the characteristics of wind-type chakra is off from Kishimoto's. My first reaction is that wind-type would be ethereal (invisible?), fluid (have you seen the breeze swirl around leaves?) and would cover a lot of area and distance. Which is why I guessed Neji and Shikamaru were wind-types. Seems it's the opposite: wind-types bite and cut at concentrated levels -- which makes sense too I guess.

I think it's interesting that no one expected Naruto to be a wind-type. Thus far, his signature move is the Rasengan, which is really just shoving a blunt object with a lot of power behind it. I think Naruto will struggle with wind, because his style will have to become focused and precise, which is not Naruto-like at all. This seems counter-intuitive, because you are suppose to be a natural at your type. Also, I predict that his technique will involve cutting really hard things in half. So, he'll be bleeding people instead of bruising people - which won't sit well with him either.

And poor Yamato just sitting there doing some long-distance Kyuubi chakra suppression. He wouldn't be so tired if he didn't use up all his chakra making that waterfall.

-WitherWings says:
Does it really say that you should be a natural at your element? Maybe it's just something that you would be really good at and therefore be the master of. I wouldn't think that wind would be fluid and purdy because it's always used for cutting in anime, like Temari. I don't think you're suppose to use it to disorient people and stuff. Like haha you wanted to walk this way but I attack you with my subtle-ness and make you walk another direction.

Good ol' Yamato. Maybe he wanted to make the waterfall so he'd have something soothing to listen to while he chakra supressed. How did he ever learn to do it? He can't have really trained unless he's be doing it on Naruto all his life...

-SnowyOwl says:
Good point about Temari. I did think about her as an afterthought, and like I said, my first gut reaction was wrong. About the different chakra natures: Ninja wouldn't 'naturally' have a dominant chakra nature without it being 'natural' to them. It seems to follow that if you have a huge potential for one type and not others, then it should come naturally. If one didn't lean naturally towards one form, then you might as well be able to choose the one you want and just learn it.

And very interesting observation about Yamato. Either he's totally winging it or (more interestingly but more improbable), he's been practicing on Naruto in secret ... from afar ... unseen.

Naruto Manga 316: Begin Training

WitherWings says:
Ready to talk shop! I can't believe he de-leafed the tree. It's going to die now. I think that Asuma has a death wish because he has made himself a sacrificial pawn for the "king"

SnowyOwl says:
Agreed on the prediction on Asuma. He's been reflecting on something about his life lately (visiting and confessing to his father (the Third?) (see 314)). His metaphorical speak definitely had a foreboding/prophetic tone to it (it weirded out Shikamaru). I don't think the 'king' represents Naruto. He probably refers to some higher ideal.So...what's the point of having thousands of Narutos training if they're all doing the same thing? The only way he can speed up training is if all the clones try different approaches at once. And Yamato's a bit of a showoff, yeah? (Oh, I think I'll show you how I change my chakra's nature by ALTERING THE LANDSCAPE!)

WitherWings says:
So, do you think that the king is all of Konoha or something? Or maybe it's something corny like the friendship between villages or something.

But the training Naruto's make sense to me because normally he would do the same thing over again for like a month and then finally master it. With 50 thousand trillion of him, he's still doing the same thing but in less time. Very Naruto-esque. Doing different things will probably take too much brain power. "Shii-ne!!"

SnowyOwl says:
I do think that the 'king' Asuma refers to is an abstract concept. As for guesses, there are a few major themes that carry the series, which are expressed by a few key characters, but really, it all boils down to the value of 'bonds between people.' So, the 'king,' which must be protected, would fit -- 'bond between people are worth protecting.' Maybe I'll compose a more detailed post on that theory later.

As for Naruto's brand of training, don't forget that he only advanced after he stops to think and have little epiphanies. Kakashi's new training will only be effective if somehow having the clones simultaneously doing the same thing will get one of them to do something different faster. That's not even considering the fact that the original needs to release the jutsu to consolidate the information of all his individual clones. And I thought Kakashi was a tensai.

Ichi Posto-Dattebayo

Welcome to the inaugural posting of Mendokuse -- blog of comments, musings, predictions and what-not of the latest Naruto (wildly popular manga) chapters and general Naruto-y things. Letsa go!