Naruto Chapter 436: Peace

Summary: Inoichi theorizes that the person controlling the Pains is located in the highest point near Konoha. Pain explains he is seeking justice and cyclical periods of peace via fear and though Naruto disagrees with Pain’s methods, he is unable to provide an alternative course. Nagato is revealed. (Read 436 here)

Serenphoria Says:

Though the inevitable monologue came, this chapter meaty and satisfying nonetheless. I had a lot of thoughts on this one, so sorry for the delay:

[More Chakra Properties]

So chakra can be projected through space as long as the path is relatively clear, like satellite signals. I never thought about the limitations of real!Pain even though the Nara’s shadow is a physical manifestation of this property. Interesting…in my head I just imagined real!Pain was in a tree just outside the walls or something (maybe I was still thinking of Tobi)

I predict Ino and her dad are the ones scouting via bird possession.

[Justice]

Although the chapter is called Peace, it was just as much about Justice, a concept that we haven’t heard much, if at all, in Naruto. I think if anything, we’ve known Justice as an end (Sasuke seeking vengeance as a form of “justice”?). In fact, Naruto’s motivation for “Justice” is eerily similar to what is motivating Sasuke: a deep, emotionally-charged sense of loss and the desire to make the culprit pay. Nagato represents a more classical sense of justice: one that stands on principle, detached from personal emotion. Still, I had trouble following his reasoning: is instilling fear in military states ‘just’ and ‘righteous’ because it brings peace or is it ‘just’ because the military states must pay for the nature of its existence?

Perhaps a larger question is, do military states exist because humans cannot help but hate and fight, or does the very presence of a military state generate war? And, if it’s the case that humans are warrish by nature, is a military state the best way to deal with it?

From Nagato’s point of view, he accepts that humans will fight, but he seems to also assume that a military state is inevitable. For all his grand ambition, he does not seek to undo the institution of a military state, only to regulate the people within its confines.

[Confrontation]

It was thrilling to see these two larger than life characters come together. This confrontation alone was more thrilling than the whole fight prior, particularly because we see just how far Naruto has come and how far he still has to go.

Where Naruto’s vision for Justice reached only as far as Kohona, Nagato’s reached all inhabited land and we see that Naruto’s world is still only as big as his village. (Yes, yes, he’s got connections in Sand, blah, blah…but you still get the sense that his world is still about his friends, and what he’s identified as “home”). That’s why it was so sweet to see a moment when his world suddenly got a lot bigger. Naruto came into the fight with such conviction and clear delineation between the good guys and the bad guys, but we end the chapter with everything fading into gray. The bad guy has known the same pain and their goal is ultimately the same. The ninja way of life is no longer glorified and infallible, but marred by fundamental flaws and subsequent consequences. Naruto was not defeated even with his hands pieced through, but he was when he no longer knew why he was fighting.

I loved, loved, loved that we’re seeing him mature as someone who is capable of listening to the other side and acknowledging that he doesn’t have the answers. I’m also reveling in the fact that he’s in a serious moral quandary (evil me). I’m able to enjoy his pain so much because I know that there’s a stubborn child-like part of him that will hang on to his idealism and he’ll come to the conclusion that he may not have the answer, but Nagato’s got it wrong and he’ll bring peace in his own way!

[What Next?]

I feel that we’re more-or-less done with the Pains: the next step is dealing with Nagato so that the last Pain standing is disabled, or at least escapable. I don’t actually see Naruto being taken away. He—along with the rest of us—needs time to take in the damage and grieve. Pacing-wise, we’re not ready for another rescue.

That said, I don’t think Kakashi will be a puppet in the immediate future. I’m not even going to speculate and just wait it out.

Oh Nagato! I immediately thought of that one mutant in X-Men II who immaciated and prematurely old because it took so much out of him control others with his mind. For the power the Pains had, I think it’s fitting that Nagato is so gross. I would have been miffed if he was handsome and healthy AND powerful. Something’s got to give.

That's Justice.