Naruto 481 review...

Hi folks...sorry for the late review...it’s not that late, but the chapter is out for quite a time, but U know...hangovers can be a bit...
This week we finally end this great battle, and fortunately we get to see some fresh faces as well, though it was obvious, that there’s nothing more to the fight itself.
Let’s get going shall we?

Now this is interesting. We have some young fellows on the cover, so even if I wouldn’t have read the spoilers, I could guess that we’ll see those faces in action in the chapter, especially that Hiruzen and Danzou are there. Funny thing this reminded me of those albums highschoolers make before graduation. So there U go, 6 classmates, but who is the teacher?
Flashbacks and details regarding past events/history of the shinobi world are always welcome. Usually this way we get a glimpse of what happened during war, we get developments which show us a larger picture.
This is one of Naruto great feat. The world developed by Kishi is awesome, and there are many details that describe it, which makes the reader to be able, to sink into that world even if it’s for 19 pages.
Let us see in what context will this flashback occur.

Finally it’s over...sorry to lose such a great prospect though

Last week Sasuke x Karin fans were struck by a terrible news. Sasuke finally reached a level coldness required for a villain. Danzou thought he would gain something by taking Karin hostage, but Sasuke used his Chidori spear to pierce through them both. By manga definition those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash. Well throughout the manga villains were trash in the eyes of the good guys, so lower than trash could mean, that in this case, Sasuke will turn out to be an excellent villain. But I’d rather wait to carve that in stone, because we didn’t get the full extent of his revenge IMO, and next is obviously Konoha, where are chances of meeting Naruto.
Karin didn’t really expect comradeship from Sasuke, she asks if she doesn’t mean anything to him. I feel sorry for Karin, she actually helped Sasuke multiple times, she loved him and the bastard just took her out, so I decided to make a little tribute to her skills as a shinobi with some material found on the web...(ok I just stole someones sig)...sorry

Spoiler:

RIP.
The next victim and obviously the original target is Danzou, and as any normal human being, before death his own life flashes before his eyes, but he emphasizes on one particular event, a very significant one I would say.

The guy is Sarutobi Hiruzen future Sandaime Hokage showing that he is willing to sacrifice himself as a decoy. He doesn’t really consider this sacrifice, though as he states that he is confident, knowing that he is the strongest in the group. The meaning of this scene is different though, becuz we got a glimpse of young Danzou’s feelings about what’s shinobi, confronted with the fear of death.
As Hiruzen makes his announcement his trembling stops, which he considers to be not so honorable, since he believes that a shinobi’s duty is do die by self-sacrifice. In this case he’s around as Hiruzen, though Hiruzen is more clear-minded, and obviously has more courage than Danzou, who is caught in his own fear of losing his life, thus Hokageship, and his true intentions as a shinobi.

ORDER IN THE CLASSROOM!
This is the teacher, Nidaime Hokage-sensei. He tells the young lads, that he will be the decoy, because the young leaves must survive, in order to protect Konoha in the future.
This context is interesting, because the team is tracked by an elite group of Kumogakure shinobi, who outnumber them 3 to 1. So they needed to decide a tactic in order to lose them, so after what happened, Nidaime offers himself.
The really significant moment is right around the corner, and judging from it, we could assume that Nidaime sensei died in battle facing Kumo shinobi.

This is the unofficial appointment of Hiruzen to the status of Hokage. There were lots of debates about this, because when I read the chapter, I remembered the exact same thing as well. The moment where shodai and nidaime supposedly appointed Hiruzen. The fact is that Hiruzen knew he would be Hokage, and it was decided by Shodai and Nidaime that he will be the 3rd. But that particular sequence is about the duties as a Hokage, and it’s more like a lecture.
This moment though, the current one in the flashback, is the actual promotion. Nidaime probably knew that he won’t survive this battle, so he made sure that his will is heard, and followed through.
Danzou admits Hiruzen was always one step ahead of him, so he decides to make a final showdown, probably in the hope of finally reaching Hiruzen.

Another interesting technique, which was kind of expected, that Danzou will try to erase himself, but it turns out to be dangerous for those are around. According to Madarapedia the jutsu is called Ura Shishou Fuuin Jutsu. All this fighting was very interesting, and Danzou ended it like a true shinobi, even though we couldn’t say he lived his life as a true shinobi. We all know the things he did against Konoha, which is funny because he did those things for Konoha. The reason for that is an excellent phrase(he seems to be an artist of words)


Finally a change of scenery in the actual present. This time we see a bunch of not so true shinobi trying to track down the big villain.
Sai is the only one who is no the right path of reaching the essence of what a shinobi is, stopping Sakura in making a mistake.
Let’s describe the situation a bit. Kiba finds Sasuke, but he notices Tobi’s strength as well, so Sakura decides to stop. After she gets the exact location of Sasuke, she decides to put everybody to sleep, so she can finish(?) sasuke by herself. Kiba shows some signs of dumbness, as he accuses Sai for being shady and sneaky, when in fact Sakura oneesan is the one to blame. Lee...he is only passionate with Gai, so I don’t blame him that he is pretty absent.

Sai is DA MAN. He decides to stop everyone, with the risk of fighting all three fellows by himself, because as I said, the others seem to be on Sakura’s side. In another panel Sai is shown with Kakashi hurrying to the place where the fight is going to errupt, but it is interesting because that Sai is a Kage Bunshin, and he knows what is happening with Sakura and co....but heck...I forgot surveillance technology exists in the Narutoverse.
As Sakura is ready to kick some butt, she puts on her gloves, so I’m already sorry for the trees and rocks in the area, but somewhere else we have two Uchihas screaming Jihad( no offence intended) in their hearts, as they decide to head for Konoha.


Quick summary/Opinions

Very good chapter. I liked Danzou's last jutsu, liked the flashback, Sakura didn't suprise me at all, same with Danzou. I like when a chapter focuses on different places, situations, not just one or convo. It was a great chapter 9/10 in my book. The plot changed a little, Karin is dead or so it seems, Sakura will fight Sai, if Kakashi won't get there. But making an analogy with part 1, I think he won't get there in time this time either.
Good cocktail of flashbacks, fight, convos, memorable phrases, and it seems like the plot is unfolding slowly. Cheers Kishi.

Predictions/Want to happen

Well I don't know what's with Karin, but for plot consistency I hope she is dead. On another hand, I think Kakashi will fail this time as well, and Sakure will go on a rampage. But I don't think she will be able to beat Sai, so in the end Sakura will face Kakashi.
I think we will get a short glimpse at what Sasuke will do, maybe some decisions of his and I don't think we'll get to see Naruto.
Sakura and Sai will be the main focus next week.

That's all folks...Let us remember the good ol' lads at SleepyFans, whose scans I borrowed for this hopefully enjoyable review. The chapter was definitely better than the review, so enjoy that at least.
Buhbye!

I actually felt sorry for Danzou. I couldn't believe it. This whole chain of events stems from the fact that he is trying to make up for his past fears and save Konoha! Sure, he made some mistakes along the way, but overall he was just trying to be the best ninja he knew how.

It was also great to see the 3rd so young. That flashback let us see so much about why the 2nd Hokage was great and what made the 3rd the 3rd. The Will of Fire coming into play again Those Sarutobi's who knew they got all that from the Hashirama's? Well, we do now!! This is pretty enjoyable. I am excited to see if we go back to Naruto or if we see Sakura and Sai fighting next time.

^^yep...things get interesting...I wonder though if Lee and Kiba would support Sakura, if not she has no chance, or maybe she is prepared for this...the thing is I see Sai winning in a very difficult manner if those two team up with sakura instead, but I still see him winning...
early days of the shinobi are the best...see kakashi gaiden

just reflecting again, but. I am beginning to wonder if Kagami's eyes were on Danzou's arm???

I personally don't think that Sakura stands a chance against Sai's fighting style. He is great at hand to hand AND his ink jutsus allow him to be distanced from her also. her attack that she learned from tsunade are fairly close range, including the earth shaker punch she used against kakashi (he wasn't very far away, though not right next to her). I know she is stronger and all, but it seemed like danzou was great at preparing his ROOT members for battle (only based on Sai's previous scenes).