Naruto Chapter 394: Sasuke's Victory

Summary: Zetsu is in disbelief that Itachi had lost the battle. Smiling, Sasuke collapses next to his brother. Meanwhile, Team Konoha figures out that their offensive attacks are going through Tobi/Madara and Shino prepares to counter. (Read 394 here)

Serenphoria* (aka SnowyOwl) Says:

After two months in real-time we see Naruto and co. again, but not without having gone through a really exciting battle with the Uchiha brothers. There was both a sense of closure and continuation; a conclusion to a chapter, but not the story. We were giving some significant answers, but more questions arise:

Is Itachi dead?:

I hope so, it was a fantastic send-off. However, Zetsu's words and word choice make me nervous:

"Itachi is dead? That Itachi isn't dead?"
"His movements are completely different. He even looks different..."**

Though in any other reading this could be interpreted as Zetsu's utter disbelief that the peerless Itachi had been defeated, I wouldn't put it past Kishimoto to use this as misdirection and use this as a clue that there is another, or a real Itachi elsewhere. We've already seen that it was possible for Akasuki members to channel a percentage of there power and fight by proxy.

What I'm hoping for is more insight into the speculated pre-injury. As suggested by zapenstap, the deterioration of Itachi's eyes (and perhaps even more) drove Itachi to seek Sasuke's eyes even though it hadn't matured to its Mangekyou form. At this point, I'd really like any new information to make Itachi's character more human and vulnerable, rather than finding out the real him is out there somewhere and 10x more powerful.

What's happening with Sasuke?

I don't think Sasuke is dead. Based on the fight, the more likely scenario is that Itachi is dead (or close to) and Sasuke is just exhausted. Sasuke pushed himself until he was out of chakra, but was saved from being trounced because he had two trump cards: Cursed Seal level-2 and Orochimaru. Yes, CS2 does cause some damage to the body, but he's been in that state before and it's never come close to killing him. Itachi, on the other hand, was very obviously suffering from internal injury.

The battle is over, the adrenaline dies down, and exhaustion takes over. Anyone who gets sick after an intense week of finals knows how it feels to have your body fall apart when you finally let it.

So what's with the bleeding eye and creepy smile?

I think the bleeding eye is symbolic, since it closely mirrors the effect of Itachi's Amaterasu but clearly Sasuke's not performing any jutsu in particular right now. I don't know of what yet though... (Okay, so actually my gut reaction was: Kyaa! he's achieved a form of Mangekyou! He thought of Itachi as his closest friend! because the blood dripping from the eyes didn't quite match the blood from Itachi's hands). And the smile is a combination of him being really glad it's over and letting exhaustion take over (or him realizing he just evolved his eyes and smiling at the irony).

Of course, if I was to offer a conspiracy theory, I'd say that Itach had somehow transfered into Sasuke's body >.<

[Transitions]
The transitions were very deliberate, expecially the one from the Uchiha battle ground to Madara's eyes. Transitions and juxtapositions are usually important and this one especially gave me the creeps. Seems like Madara is keeping an eye out on the Uchiha battle, if not having a direct hand in it. Or perhaps it's just another reminder of how terrifying the Uchiha bloodline is and there are still powers we have yet to realize.

Again, zapenstap has a very interesting theory that I wish I came up with!***

[Team Konoha]
Glad to see them again, and I look forward to a slightly more light-hearted fight (no crazy emotional burdens and history to worry about. Unless, of course *cough*Obito*cough*)

Wow, it took a lot of people a long time to figure out Tobi's a phaser. Didn't we discuss this in the post for chapter 358? They obviously don't read X-men in Fire country. Except Shino. He seems like a guy who would.

And when did Kakashi start using the Sharingan?!? On no, already? I have more anxiety over Kakashi than anyone else in the group. I blame you for my rising blood-pressure! (please don't die!)

And Shino looks like he's about to unleash some awesomeness. I can't wait!


*SnowyOwl will now be posting as serenphoria for consistency. Sorry for any confusion.
**Binktopia's translation is much more colloquial: "Itachi passed out? No, you don't think Itachi's dead?!" This would make any speculation of a real!Itachi moot, but from the deliberate emphasis on "That" Itachi in FrankyHouse's translation makes me think they did a more accurate job expressing the ambiguity offered by the original Japanese, whereas Binktopia took some liberty in interpreting.
***I'd like to disclaim that I wrote most of this post before reading zapenstap's analysis. Similarities are coincidental, or the product of us both reading into the same things :)