Naruto Chapter 398: Konoha's Beginnings

Summary: Madara claims that Itachi massacred the Uchiha on orders from Konoha's leaders and begins to tell the tale of Konoha's origin. (Read 389 here).

Serenphoria says:

I love flashbacks!

[Framing the Story]

I think Kishimoto was very clever having Sasuke question Madara's trustworthiness and then having Madara admitting he can't back up his words so it's up to Sasuke whether or not to believe them. Here, Sasuke is a proxy for the reader - we are just as skeptical and wary of new information about Itachi as he is. (I personally think Sasuke would not even have the curiosity or patience to hear Itachi's story at this point, but he did it for our benefit ^_^). Thus, when Madara says 'You'll have to decide to believe or not, but hear me out,' he's talking to us as well. By not insisting on convincing us he is trustworthy, he in fact becomes more trustworthy. (It's a basic psychology principle that people doing something not their self-interest are more trustworthy)

And by putting the onus on readers to decide truth from untruth, Kishi protects himself from any direction he wants to go. Plot point later that doesn't meet expectations? Well, you can't be upset because it was never 'Truth,' you just chose to believe it was.

This gives Kishi significant leverage to have Madara lie, omit, modify history for his own ends. But I like where it's headed so far...

[Coming of Age and the Loss of Identity]

I really liked the fact that Sandaime was in on the supposed order to get rid of the Uchiha. Through the lens of the Rookie 9 and especially Naruto, Sandaime is the evangelist of Konoha's most cherished values: empathy, kindness, family, connections, the will of fire ... to have been part of such a brutal decision and to have kept this secret to his grave casts him in a different light. The peace that Konoha knows was bought with blood and is still perhaps a facade. It's a slap-in-the-face reminder that Konoha is not the sun-shiney safe haven that we know, but a village in which its main economic trade is mercenary work and have no qualms putting sharp metal weapons into the hands of toddlers.

I think the revelation that Itachi was on orders is a bit of a coming-of-age moment for Sasuke, as it is for us. The scope of your world is bigger than your immediate family. Evil does not start and end with a person. The green glasses are lifted and we find that home is not perfect - far from it. I won't go so far as to say Itachi is a victim of his broken society, but he was used as a tool to fix (or perpetuate?) it.

To overly simplify things, Konoha hides its ugly foundations (with good effect, esp. with the new generation) but the reality is that it still has an ugly core.

[But this is also where I see Naruto becoming the true hero of this tale. His idealism, naiveté, and stubbornness allows him to redefine the values which govern his life, his way of the ninja, and live it out steadfastly. And it's his utter commitment to them gives him the power to shake everyone else's preconceptions of how things are and should be. Unbeknownst to him, he's not just striving to inherit Sandaime's legacy, but to enact real change.]

I had more to say, but I'm sleepy and dying to read the next chapter!