Naruto

Ace of the Shadows wrote:

They're just regular jutsu that happen to be associated with certain clans.

As for 402... I guess all that Itachi crap had a point after all. I still think I prefer him as an unambiguous villain, but if his death turns Sasuke to The Dark Side, I can live with it.

I also guess this pretty much confirms the Naruto vs. Sasuke final battle, as if anyone doubted it...

Well... Just found this place today. It's great. I'll probably register soon, anyway.

I have a huge thing i want to mention on the subject of Naruto. I don't know what the situation we're dealing with is exactly called, but you know the typical quote "You're going to die anyway so i might just as well tell you my secret plan". This quote is typically then followed by the person hearing this quote somehow mysteriously surviving and living to pass this information to someone else.

However, this was Pain speaking to Jiraiya. And JIRAIYA DIED.

Either this is a major oversight by the author, or the most awesome reverse-cliche i've seen in a quite a while.

Just Between You and Me.

Another question; The Hyuga put those seals on the branch house to keep the secret of the Byakugan from spreading around, right? And the branch house members are guardians to the main house. So why does there seem to be no problem with Hinata, and presumably Hanabi when she's the right age, leaving with their teams, which obviously lacks branch members? The manga stated that the seal does something to those who have it that destroys their eyes (or otherwise conceals the secrets of the Byakugan.) Hinata goes on missions where she could possibly get caught or killed, and doesn't have the seal to screw with her eyes, so they'd be intact for study by enemy ninja. Is the Hyuga family (mainly the elders, because they seem to be the main instigators in all this) having a long lasting idiot moment? And for that matter, is Hiashi even the one with control over the family? (I get the feeling he'd be more lenient if he could.)

406 - I have a feeling I've seen Shiho before,but could her character be any less original? If her and Shikamaru become an Official Couple... she will Die For Our ShikaTemari Ship.

Unless it's Ino in Nerd Glasses. Then it makes more sense.

You know, is it just me or has the manga become better since it went back to characters interacting with each other instead of Sasuke beating everyone up?

It's not just you. I needed some story,humour & character development with my pummelling and I got it . Shikamaru telling Naruto that he's gone through the same thing dispelled the angst nicely. And Shika has a fangirl - not sure if want. [[spoiler:Kakashi's look at being forced to read from Icha Icha Tactics was priceless.

Pain is moving on Konoha now? Oh. Shit. Not quite Aizen-level,but bad enough. Changing tack a bit,if that's not Konata he's controlling (which doesn't seem likely,as we see her in the previous few panels) how the hell can he clone her?]] Perhaps that's the power of the Rinningan - it doesn't just copy and learn techniques like the Sharingan,it can mimic/copy people,abilities,bloodline limits and all. Pain has somehow formulated a jutsu that lets him transfer that onto a victim like he was overwriting a floppy,creating an avatar that's independent but subservient to his control. This could either be temporary,requiring a constant flow of chakra and the linkage of the personality (as seen in Kisame Vs. Team Guy and Itachi Vs. Team 7),or permanent,possibly requiring surgery (Pain's clones); those metal things on the face could be the Restraining Bolt/seal/whatever that makes it stick.

edited Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:02:30 by AckSed

That's not Konan. It doesn't even really look like her. It's probably just the new body Pain picked up to replace the one Jiraiya killed.

That clue, though... "None of them are real"? So the real Pain is still behind the scenes, controlling the others like puppets? That would explain why Nagato's body isn't among the Six Paths of Pain, I guess...

Alkthash wrote:

Well, a good old beating is always fun, but I think people can tired of any character, even a favorite, if the focus is on them for too long. Plus, there's always that niggling "what happened to that other guy?" thing that goes on when we don't see someone for a while. Plus, Sasuke seems to be reaching Scrappy status for a lot of people. (Not me just yet, since I don't read scanlations, not really knowing where to find them and not spending that much time on the internet anyway.)

To go back to what is probably old news, Gaara's resurrection. Am I the only one who thought the look on his face when he saw everyone there was the most pricelessly adorable thing ever?

universalperson wrote:

Actually, that'd be pretty cool.

Did anyone read Chapter 429 yet?

One Word. DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!!!!

Yeah, what was probably the single most exciting thing to happen in the manga all year. Pain flattened the place. All that's left is to make room for Hokage Danzou.

edited Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:37:26 by Black_tiger

I swear to freakin' god, if that attack killed everyone except Sakura, I'll be mad. Mad as hell.

I still can't fit it into my head... gone...

Soooo do you think this means that Nothing Is the Same Anymore? Are they going to try rebuilding Konoha immediately, or are the survivors going to set aside reconstruction and settle for a more clandestine association until they stop Pain/Akatsuki? Honestly, I would prefer the latter. What does this mean for the non-ninja residents? Will they have to become refugees? This reminds me of that time in Order Of The Stick when Azure castle blew up, though it's not the exact same.

Also, did anyone else realize that Pain was just going leave, but he basically decided to destroy the whole freaking town because Tsunade backtalked him and he wanted to teach them a lesson about "True Pain"?

EDIT: Wait. I just thought of something: How do you think Sasuke's going to feel that someone beat him to destroying Konoha, and his goal has been taken from him again?

edited Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:30:07 by thatother1dude

I haven't read it yet, as I'd prefer a higher quality version, but I'm very surprised that onemanga.com has a Naruto scanlation already, as all the research I've done points to Weekly Shounen Jump releasing on Tuesdays, and it's still early Tuesday morning in Japan right now. :/

I think some of these chapters are leaks. As for the actual chapter, did anyone else see these guys and immediately start calling them the Battletoads?

Oh snap! I didn't even know about the leak!

I don't know... Naruto's sudden competence smells of God-Mode Sue. My inner critic (I call him Pedanto) keeps saying it's not believable that he could have attained Sage Mode in such a short space of time.

You know, at this point, I don't really care. Naruto's fight with Hidan wasn't particularly awesome. This? Is. We've spent so much time with Naruto being Out of Focus that he needed an amazing Big Damn Heroes moment to get the glory back. And this pulled it off. Of course, now the real fight begins, but the past two chapters were great.

So... Who thinks Hinata is about to do something stupid and/or awesome (stupidly awesome? awesomely stupid?) Based on the most recent chapter I think she will either:

A) Intervene in the Naruto vs. Pain fight and save Naruto with a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] at a crucial moment and die a tragic but pointless death, further motivating Naruto in classic shonen style.

OR

B) Intervene in the Naruto vs. Pain fight and save Naruto with an attempted [[Heroic Sacrifice]] at a crucial moment, only have to be saved in turn by Naruto, leading to Naruto *finally* noticing Hinata's feelings.

Thoughts?

Listmaker

With a soft spot for the ship, I hope it's B. But this is an instance where I'd encourage everyone to help. First, if Shikamaru's dad gets involveed (assuming Shika's out with his busted leg), that should be one counter to Shinra Tensei. It's not like gravity's going to have any affect on a shadow. Second, if everyone mobs Pain in waves, he won't be able to gravity gun them all away, and something's gonna get through.

As much as I'd love B to happen, the manga seems to be emphasizing that This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself. I'm sure Naruto will come up with something on his own.

edited Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:31:33 by Nexus

Have we seen Team Gai at all since that scene when they were on the way back from a mission? I could see them jumping in now.

Wow...Nature-chakra overload! I honestly didn't think of that.

edited Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:32:23 by Nexus