Naruto Chapter 433: Sage Technique Failure?

Summary: Out of sage-mode, Naruto uses his back-up plan. God-mode Pain gets his second wind. (Read 433 here)

Serenphoria Says:

Naruto left copies of himself behind?!? That's freakin' crazy.

For a moment I thought he was just going to swap with a clone and charged up (or we were seeing clone!Naruto this whole time)...idk, the whole thing was a little confusing.

And who didn't see all the dead Pains coming back alive a mile away. Sheesh.

I guess I don't really have much to say for this chapter...just that...it bothers me a little that Naruto's wearing Yondaime-style outerwear. I don't think it would actually be Yondaime's old summer cloak since Kishimoto would have made a bigger deal about it (but then again, he just might off Kakashi without a proper send off...) so anything is possible in the Narutoverse's small, small world.

But yeah, I feel that it's almost a little disrespectful to evoke Yondaime almost completely now (first it was just the verbal comparisons, now Naruto's visually replaced him) - to both of them. I liked Naruto because he was different and found a way to be accepted for who he is, but since the Tsunade-Jiraiya-nostalgic-bench-of-foreshadowy-death discussion, Naruto has disappeared a little even if he might think he's completely unique.

*Shrugs*

I hope Team Gai is out somewhere disposing of puppet-master!Pain, because otherwise, what the heck?! Where are they?

Too lazy to add pictures right now. One day...they'll be back.

Naruto Chapter 432: The Return of the Rasen Shuriken

Summary: Naruto continues to battle the Six Paths of Pain with new Rasengan techniques. (Read 432 here)

Serenphoria says:

New throwy shuriken? Very cool. That's what it should have been all along and I'm glad that Naruto has been able to evolve and perfect his signature technique. And the expandy part, (which actually makes sense since no one is there to keep all that energy together), was a nice surprise.

The double rasengan wasn't nearly as cool or effective, but I'll give it to Naru since he was getting tired.

I'm not so sure how I feel about the Shika!men. Part of me thinks it's in character that Shikamaru would use a broken leg as an excuse not to try to hard to do something, but given the seriousness of the situation, it would have been more in character if he somehow got himself to the battle. He's mainly a shadow user after all - not much leg work needed.

And Shika!dad saying to stay out of the way... I keep hoping that if Sasuke was about the short-comings of getting powerful alone, Naruto would be the one to demonstrate strength in team work. Plus, Naruto could use their help now that he's powered down.

Maybe we'll see the Shika!men there yet. And maybe we'll finally see Team Gai. Come save the day!

I'm a little weary about all the Pains being defeated. They're all more or less puppets and have all come back to "life" after being defeated. Is what Naruto doing making a difference? Where is the real Pain and why isn't anyone going after him?

Naruto Chapter 431: Naruto Erupts

Summary: Naruto and Pain's summons do battle. (Read 431 here)

Serenphoria says:

Yikes! I'm late with comments, so I'll be brief:

Naruto: *is bad@ss*
Tsunade: *is looking her age*
Kishimoto: *is being sly about Kakashi*

Not to make light of Tsunade, I thought is was particularly meaningful for her to sacrifice her youthfulness, which she held so dear, to protect her constitutes. It speaks to the gravity of the situation and in a way, was Tsunade's own coming-of-age moment. Nice touch, Kishi.

Not so nice is his teasing us with Kakashi's fate. Everything says that Kakashi's dead, except no one will actually say it! What the heck! I don't think it's just my wishful thinking...Kishi is manipulating our emotions and expectations. Otherwise, why not be as straightforward with acknowledging the death like Asuma's or Jiraiya's?

Humph.