Naruto inches ever closer to discovering the true identity of his nemesis, Pain. But is it worth it as the frustrated ninja begins to morph at last into the dreaded Nine Tails? Plus an unexpected confession reveals incredible secrets about his past as Naruto prepares for the ultimate battle with Pain. Can the chakra-challenged Naruto win when one misstep could spell disaster?
Masashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史 Kishimoto Masashi) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series Naruto. His younger twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, is also a manga artist and creator of the manga series O-Parts Hunter (666 Satan) and Blazer Drive. Two of his former assistants, Osamu Kajisa (Tattoo Hearts) and Yuuichi Itakura (Hand's), have also gone on to moderate success following their work on Naruto.
Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri (カラクリ?), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. This earned him the Weekly Shōnen Jump's monthly "Hop Step Award" in 1996, granted to promising new manga artists. This was followed in 1997 by a pilot version of Naruto (NARUTO-ナルト-), published in Akamaru Jump Summer. In 1998, Kishimoto premiered as a Weekly Shōnen Jump artist with a serialized version of Karakuri in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it proved unpopular and was canceled soon after. In 1999, a serialized version of Naruto began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump and quickly became a hit.
What can I say? I think this one is better than the last. It had everything. Hinata made me cry. Naruto lost it and went totally crazy. Eight Tails. Holy crap.
And then there was that whole sequence with his father. That made me tear up also. What a crazy emotional ride this volume is, and it's affecting me hard. Just. Wow. Wow.
I loved this volume to pieces! Although I'm still furious at the stupid gender stereotypes Kishimoto maintains, at least Hinata has guts and plenty of heart (even if no skills, sadly). Eight Tails is a force to behold. But the absolute pinnacle of this volume are the father scenes. I admit to a tear or two ;). Perfection.
Also, while Kishimoto was never known for subtlety, I appreciate how he continuously develops the deeper and more difficult themes of this manga: free will, the concepts of justice and vengeance, peace and sacrifice. The growth of both the characters and the whole world of Naruto is really admirable.
I am happy that they did not overdo the fight between Pain and the Nine-Tails like in anime. It looks cool with all the things breaking down around but it sometimes looks like how can Pain fight against such a beast all alone? But, thankfully they did not show much fighting sequence in Manga and went straight to the story.
I am hugely impressed by how Naruto has grown up. He is stupid and he admits himself but yes the character has now really grown from a useless kid to the savior of Konoha. This volume did bring tears to my eyes. Overall, it was fantastic and I am eager to see what will happen next since I have missed a lots of parts afterwards in the anime.
An incredibly explosive and violent battle culminating in glorious destruction as well as staggering revelations as Naruto and Pain battle out their rage in a clash of ideologies centered around justice and peace.
no bc i will FOREVER as in Forever bawl my fucking eyes out over naruto and minato's scene goddamn im so happy that they got to meet and talk even for a short period and even once but i Am so fucking sad that it had to be just like that why cant they live tgt happy :-(( fawrkkk i cant do this
Villains or heroes whoever dies in this book I feel sad for them. Damn you Kishimoto San, you playing with my heart. How many time you'll break my heart until this series end?
This is by far the best volume to date!! The stakes are at an all time high as Naruto runs out of Sage Jutsu against Pain. However he has a back up plan for that (who says Naruto isn't a smart ninja). The rest of the Konoha ninja are stuck doing nothing since Naruto asked them to not get involved, but that doesn't stop Hinata from rushing to Naruto's side and defending the man she loves. Even though she is no match for Pain, watching her get slain in front of his eyes Naruto snaps and the Nine Tails Seal is broken. With the help from his dad, Naruto gains control over the Nine Tails and unleashes one final assault against Pain, while also discobering the location of the mastermind, Nagato!!!
I’m beating a dead horse at this point but I do think this volume illustrates my biggest Naruto gripe regarding the way the author writes women. They only exist to fawn at the men or become plot devices to make them stronger. I can’t say I’m surprised by what the author did with Hinata.
The plot of this one was otherwise fantastic and it just sucks how much I want to like it.
yo deliberadamente ignorando cada aspecto cuestionable de todo esto por el simple hecho de que mi cerebro produce un mínimo de serotonina cada vez que veo a naruto:
Once upon a time, the spirit of an evil Nine Tailed Fox wreaked havoc on Konohagakure; the Village Hidden in the Leaves, killing hundreds of honorable ninja in the skirmish and leaving many children without homes or parents. The Fourth Hokage (leader of the village) unleashes a forbidden jutsu (magic spell/ninja ability) to seal the spirit of the evil fox into the body of a newborn baby named Naruto at the cost of his own life. He did this in the hopes that the boy could one day learn to master the power of the demonic spirit and use it to protect the village and become a great hero of the people.
Unknown to the citizens of the Leaf, the Nine Tailed Fox was being controlled by an even more powerful adversary, a legendary rogue ninja that plans to wage war against the entire world from the shadows. The identity of the mysterious ninja that attacked the Leaf Village using the Nine Tails died with the Fourth Hokage, and he used what remained of his life to gift Naruto with the power of one day being able to stop this evil ninja and a clan of outlawed S-rank criminals called the Akatsuki from committing mass genocide against the many hidden villages and clans of the world.
Because of the evil spirit sealed inside him, Naruto grew up hated by the other children of the village because they believe him and the Nine Tails to be one and the same. They believe he’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, waiting for the perfect moment to kill them all just like the Nine Tails killed their parents and families. Shunned, dehumanized and treated like dirt, Naruto vows to become the greatest hokage the world has ever seen so that he can receive the love and acknowledgement he never got as a child.
On top of the Nine Tails power and the will to never quit, Naruto also possesses the uncanny ability to turn everyone he meets into a potential comrade. He brings out the best in his peers and tries his hardest to make his enemies see the errors of their ways. He disobeys the rules and ignores cultural traditions to try and make changes to the world and break the eternal cycle of war and hatred through his own methods. His determination is infectious to friend and foe alike. He earns himself the respect he deserves by overcoming one impossible obstacle at a time.
Naruto encounters many fascinating and terrifying ninja over the course of his journey to become hokage. Among them are Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto’s best friend and rival who is driven by the vengeful lust to murder his elder brother after he wiped out their own clan in cold blood. Sasuke warms up to Naruto, but his hatred and trauma are dangerous forces that threaten to break his moral code as a ninja and destroy his reputation among his peers.
Kakashi Hatake is a notorious copycat ninja that survived one of the most brutal and devastating wars in history as well as the Nine Tails attack on the Leaf Village. He becomes Naruto and Sasuke’s mentor and teaches them a great number of valuable lessons about surviving in the dangerous world of rogue ninja, bloodthirsty assassins and clans ruled by corruption.
Jiraiya is a perverted yet wise sage who taught the Fourth Hokage everything he knew and he’s regarded as a god among shinobi that’s famous for his heroic actions in the second great ninja war. He takes an interest in Naruto and raises him as a father figure to carry on the legacy of the Fourth Hokage to prepare him for the many dangerous people that want to use his power for their own nefarious purposes.
The Akatsuki is one such group of wicked ninja. Among them are Sasuke’s brother Itachi who murdered his clan and possesses many dangerous techniques involving illusions, psychological torture and elemental manipulation. Sasori who controls poisonous puppets with magical threads, Orochimaru who mastered the forbidden arts of reanimation and quasi-immortality, Deidara who fights from afar using detonating clay and many other deadly foes.
The entire series chronicles Naruto and his fellow ninja comrades growing through countless trials and tragedies. There are hundreds of unique jutsus, clans, and techniques which lead to some very intense, creative and strategic battles between skilled ninja with diverse abilities that don’t always match up evenly. There are clan based abilities such as the Aburame clan’s ability to control insects, the Yamanaka clan’s ability to jump into other people’s minds and control their bodies and the Inuzuka clan’s ability to bond with wolves that learn to mimic their master’s battle skills. Then there’s ocular genetic abilities such as the sharingan which allows the user to create psychological illusions, copy their enemy’s abilities and manipulate elemental energy. The byakugan allows the user to read their enemies vital points and detect their spiritual energy from faraway. The rinnegan grants control over space and gravity and so on.
On top of having countless unique abilities, nearly every character has a tragic backstory that makes them sympathetic and relatable, even the nastiest of the villains have well-explored reasons for following the paths they do and becoming the way they are. One of my favorite aspects of the series is how well it explores the physical, emotional and psychological effects war can have on society and culture as well as the survivors and future generations that are forced to live in them. How it breeds racism and cultural disputes, how it inspires hatred in orphaned children and war veterans robbed of their homes toward foreign nations, as well as how this eventually leads to further death, war, poverty and destruction. Learning to forgive the ones you hate to prevent further conflict and damaging the world for future generations even further is a major theme throughout the story.
Being a massive 700 chapter series, it’s not too surprising that there’s some plot holes and consistency issues. A rule might be stated regarding the requirements and usage of a certain jutsu or ability only for that rule to be repeatedly broken 400 chapters later. Sometimes the characters and rules contradict themselves, sometimes the chronology of certain events and historical facts don’t match up perfectly, the lore and general backstory go through several retcons that change the philosophy and power scaling of the characters and the scope of world-building; the final arc especially drags on and breaks a lot of the logic and rules that the story spent the whole series setting up, etc...
Naruto’s far from perfect, but I remember it very fondly for being one of the first series that introduced me to things like manga and Japanese entertainment in general. It was one of those childhood classics like Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin. The series grew up with me and I can’t help but feel grateful to it for introducing me to hundreds of other franchises that I’m still a huge fan of to this day and I continue to find many new ones on the regular. Naruto's journey from a clownish, disrespected outcast into a talented, well-loved and admired hero is a memorable one.