Summary: Naruto reads Jiraiya's story The Legend of the Gutsy Ninja, reaffirming Jiraiya's wish to address spreading hatred and work towards a future where people understand one another. Meanwhile, Sasuke delivers the Hachibi jinchuuriki to Madara and confirm his plans to go to Konoha. There is a flashback in which Sasuke tells Madara that he intends to destroy all of Konoha to make them understand what he feels with the loss of his brother. (Read 416
here)
serenphoria says:There's so much to say and expound on this chapter that I decided to keep it relatively brief to save myself the headache.
There have been hints that the driving narrative conflict was going to shift, but this chapter makes it clear: Naruto and Sasuke no longer have divergent goals, but rather the same one (understanding) but achieved through vastly different approaches. Suddenly, the story is much more interesting and Sasuke is a much more formidable foe; the final clash that we've all been anticipating will have much more weight behind it because it's no longer about getting a boy who ran away to come home, but about opposing world-views.
I'm not saying that Sasuke's logic isn't deeply, deeply flawed (Sasuke even admits that he's ruled by emotion - which we've always known), in fact, it's almost as if Kishimoto gives Sasuke that excuse in order to set up the conflict in as dramatic a way as possible: now our hero Naruto has to reconcile a conflict between what had thus far been two self-evident truths: his devotion to his friends and his devotion to his village. Or rather, his devotion to his friends and his devotion to his other friends...it hasn't occurred to him that the two may not be compatible.
Of course, this conflict falls apart depending on whether or not the flashback is reliable and relevant. This is called into question because the flashback is Madara's and not Sasuke's (based on when the black flashback background kicks in), so we can't assume Madara knows Sasuke's true motivation. I'm torn between being skeptical (because it's Madara) and trusting (what author could resist setting up this epic conflict between friends?)
If we don't assume that the flashback is reliable, here are the factors to consider in assessing the reliability of Sasuke's assertions:
1. If I got it wrong, who's flashback is it? Madara's, Sasuke's, or third-party objective?
2. Sasuke's relalationship to Madara. Sasuke said that he's using the Akatsuki, was this an instance of his manipulation?
3. If Sasuke wasn't lying at the time of the flashback, has he changed his mind? We know that Sasuke thought of his team during the Hachibi battle (and since the thought was his alone, there's no reason to believe that was disingenuous) and he has shown that he cares for his new teammates. So he does care about people (or at least, those close to him...but perhaps he doesn't care about people in general?). It may be possible that he spoke of destroying all of Konoha because of his emotional state at the time but doesn't
really mean it.
I am so confused about Madara's motives. From what we know, it would seem that he would want Sasuke to do exactly what it is Sasuke said he is going to do. If so, why would Madara continue to question Sasuke? To test his conviction, maybe, but if I were him, I'd let it be and not provoke my puppet into thinking too much. I'm slightly weirded out by the close-up of Madara's Sharingan. There may be some mind-control going on here...or maybe I've become paranoid about truths and untruths around Uchiha.
Darn Uchiha!
On a completely different note, why do all the Kages subject their kin to jinchuurikidom (Naruto, Gaara, Killerbee)? Well, at least in Killerbee's case, he's cared for, unlike poor assassination-target Gaara.
And why is baby!Juugo carrying all the weight? What kind of a team leader are you, Sasuke?!
And Jiraiya, a baseball cap does not a scary ninja make. Unless you're
this guy.
