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Naruto [ナルト] #51
NARUTO -ナルト- 51 巻ノ五十一
突然のサクラの告白に戸惑うナルトに対し、サイは彼女の覚悟を告げる。さらに五影会談の結果を我愛羅から聞かされたナルトは…。一方、マダラの助力でダンゾウを捉えたサスケは、第二の復讐劇を開始する！！
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 30, 2010
143 people are currently reading
1558 people want to read
About the author
Masashi Kishimoto
1,202 books3,974 followersMasashi 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
November 17, 2021
The battle between Danzo and Sasuke and the subsequent Team 7 Reunion is a big series highlight for me.
October 2, 2022
6/10 stars
Danzo shows his true colors, and he really comes across as despicable, with no regard to human life or suffering. And yet still it's Sasuke's utter downfall that takes the centre of this volume - hatred has made him into the very thing he hated most, a mirror image of Danzo but worse, with only his own personal agenda and no thought for others. Danzo might be ruthless and bitter and evil, but at least he sacrificed everything for what he perceives as greater good - the survival and well-being of his village. Sasuke thinks only about himself.
This volume is a bit chaotic in terms of art, but Danzo's design is horribly fascinating and Kakashi never disappoints.
Danzo shows his true colors, and he really comes across as despicable, with no regard to human life or suffering. And yet still it's Sasuke's utter downfall that takes the centre of this volume - hatred has made him into the very thing he hated most, a mirror image of Danzo but worse, with only his own personal agenda and no thought for others. Danzo might be ruthless and bitter and evil, but at least he sacrificed everything for what he perceives as greater good - the survival and well-being of his village. Sasuke thinks only about himself.
This volume is a bit chaotic in terms of art, but Danzo's design is horribly fascinating and Kakashi never disappoints.
April 19, 2011
Yo, fanboys. Stop rating everything 5 stars just because you're addicted to the series. This really isn't THAT good. This is just standard Naruto fare, which is basically an automatic 3 stars. 2 stars if the volume was unusually bad. 1 star if it's so bad that it makes you want to stop reading the series. 4 stars if it really made you think. 5 stars ONLY if it's pretty much the best thing ever.
October 21, 2022
Sasuke vs Danzo is a series highlight, in all honesty. Such a masterful fight for so many reasons. And the reunion of Team 7 is wonderfully written for the most part. I hold this volume near to my heart.
June 14, 2011
I've enraged some people, the way geekdoms can get enraged, in the past when I have said the successor to Harry Potter in creativity, adventure, and fun was not Twilight or Percy Jackson or even A Series Of Unfortunate Events {which I love} but the true successor to Harry Potter was and is Naruto.
Every since the Shippuden growth happen within the series I'll admit there have been a few volumes that fell flat for me but with the end of Volume 50 and here with 51 I think the series is starting a good run again.
Mandara is my least favorite Naruto character. I know in a way he is suppose to be a vapor but in this universe where almost all of the characters have such presence he stands out too much as a vapor but here he was just in the background as Sasuke does battle with Danzo.
People always want to compare the battles in Naruto with Dragon Ball battles but I don't see them as similar. The battles in Naruto are chess matches, not just power up to another and another and another level of strength as it is with Dragon Ball. A battle in Naruto reminds me of someone trying to set a mathematics trap. These fights are personal, unique, and character driven.
One of the things I've always enjoyed about this series is how much of a flake the lead character can be. A flake, a spaz, but always always heroic in the end. But just when you think he may have cracked he shows how strong he can be. Shippuden is about Naruto growing up and now we are coming to the point when he will have no choice but to truly do so.
And the same can be said of Sakura.
Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi, Team 7 are about to face a confrontation that has been brewing for so long. All four have had their lives lead by the back street politics and actions of others. This seems like the moment that happens in a lot of people lives in that even though you may have not always had control of where your life is leading, there always comes a time when you must take control and lead your own footsteps.
4 out of 5 stars
Naruto 51
Every since the Shippuden growth happen within the series I'll admit there have been a few volumes that fell flat for me but with the end of Volume 50 and here with 51 I think the series is starting a good run again.
Mandara is my least favorite Naruto character. I know in a way he is suppose to be a vapor but in this universe where almost all of the characters have such presence he stands out too much as a vapor but here he was just in the background as Sasuke does battle with Danzo.
People always want to compare the battles in Naruto with Dragon Ball battles but I don't see them as similar. The battles in Naruto are chess matches, not just power up to another and another and another level of strength as it is with Dragon Ball. A battle in Naruto reminds me of someone trying to set a mathematics trap. These fights are personal, unique, and character driven.
One of the things I've always enjoyed about this series is how much of a flake the lead character can be. A flake, a spaz, but always always heroic in the end. But just when you think he may have cracked he shows how strong he can be. Shippuden is about Naruto growing up and now we are coming to the point when he will have no choice but to truly do so.
And the same can be said of Sakura.
Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi, Team 7 are about to face a confrontation that has been brewing for so long. All four have had their lives lead by the back street politics and actions of others. This seems like the moment that happens in a lot of people lives in that even though you may have not always had control of where your life is leading, there always comes a time when you must take control and lead your own footsteps.
4 out of 5 stars
Naruto 51
November 8, 2024
Posso dire che è stato bellissimo e davvero emozionante?
Lo scontro tra Sasuke e Danzo pazzesco,
E mi sono impaurita alla reazione di Naruto: il suo attacco di panico a sapere che adesso non aveva così tante persone che volessero salvare Sasuke come lui, il solo pensiero e realizzazione lo ha mandato in panico.
E Sakura, mi dispiace davvero. Tutti la odiano nel fandom di "Naruto" perché dicono che abbia giocato coi sentimenti di Naruto e pensava solo a Sasuke. Ma in realtà lei davvero ha a cuore entrambi, non ha giocato con niente e nessuno, anzi si è messa in prima persona come responsabile e coi sensi di colpa che le annebbiavano la mente si è gettata verso un situazione suicida per cercare di salvare i suoi amici più cari. Io la adoro come personaggio, il suo level up, la sua determinazione, la sua forza... È un essere umano, con i suoi difetti ma anche tanti pregi.
E Kakashi è il maestro/ padre che tutti vorremo ❤️
Lo scontro tra Sasuke e Danzo pazzesco,
E mi sono impaurita alla reazione di Naruto: il suo attacco di panico a sapere che adesso non aveva così tante persone che volessero salvare Sasuke come lui, il solo pensiero e realizzazione lo ha mandato in panico.
E Sakura, mi dispiace davvero. Tutti la odiano nel fandom di "Naruto" perché dicono che abbia giocato coi sentimenti di Naruto e pensava solo a Sasuke. Ma in realtà lei davvero ha a cuore entrambi, non ha giocato con niente e nessuno, anzi si è messa in prima persona come responsabile e coi sensi di colpa che le annebbiavano la mente si è gettata verso un situazione suicida per cercare di salvare i suoi amici più cari. Io la adoro come personaggio, il suo level up, la sua determinazione, la sua forza... È un essere umano, con i suoi difetti ma anche tanti pregi.
E Kakashi è il maestro/ padre che tutti vorremo ❤️
June 27, 2021
"𝙋𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙚'𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙨."
I never thought I could hate a character more than Orochimaru but Danzo proved me wrong. Even though he made harsh choices only for the betterment of Konoha, I still didn't completely understood his view of things. On the other hand, Sasuke's attempt to kill Sakura tells us plenty about how far he truly has fallen in his pursuit of vengeance. Things are looking so grim at the moment for our heroes.
I never thought I could hate a character more than Orochimaru but Danzo proved me wrong. Even though he made harsh choices only for the betterment of Konoha, I still didn't completely understood his view of things. On the other hand, Sasuke's attempt to kill Sakura tells us plenty about how far he truly has fallen in his pursuit of vengeance. Things are looking so grim at the moment for our heroes.
August 3, 2021
Sakura sucks.
July 2, 2024
So GLAD Danzo is dead. Fuck that guy. I AM SO STRESSED THO THIS WHOLE VOLUME HAD ME ON THE EDGE and now you’re telling me that Sasuke and Kakashi are going to fight. Oh my god
June 13, 2024
Ok
This book
Was CRAZY!
I haven’t read the Naruto manga since 2022.. school and life got busy but I’m back reading it now! I can’t believe everything that happened. Danzo telling Sasuke why Itachi couldn’t kill him because his life meant more than the entire village, Sakura explaining she’s going by herself to kill Sasuke, Sakura saying she wants to join Sasuke (I was like there’s no way), Sasuke almost killing her?!
Like my GOODNESS
And this story ending with Kakashi preparing to fight Sasuke?!?
This book
Was CRAZY!
I haven’t read the Naruto manga since 2022.. school and life got busy but I’m back reading it now! I can’t believe everything that happened. Danzo telling Sasuke why Itachi couldn’t kill him because his life meant more than the entire village, Sakura explaining she’s going by herself to kill Sasuke, Sakura saying she wants to join Sasuke (I was like there’s no way), Sasuke almost killing her?!
Like my GOODNESS
And this story ending with Kakashi preparing to fight Sasuke?!?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2020
This volume mostly has the battle between DANZOU AND SASUKE and its epic and we finally see what Sasuke's plans are or in a way what his actual powers are, after confrming for himself it was them elders of Konoha who had Itachi do the assassination of Uchiha clan, Sasuke unleashes Susanoo to even greater heights and he fights Danzou and their fight is epic and interesting, and you never know whose winning, until Karin tells sasuke the nature of the latters power and using Tsukuyomi he is able to defeat Danzou and take his revenge and meanwhile Sakura finally comes face to face with him and carry out her plans until Kakashi steps in, the later part of the volume got more interesting, Sasuke's final confrontation with his former Team 7 is becoming interesting. Maybe one of the best volumes and more revelations are her, and next volume is gonna be a big one!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2015
This volume was pretty special for me, but I had issues with Danzo. Sasuke was awesome and crazy the way he used everything he had to defeat Danzo, all the new skills and abilities he inherited from his brother, but I hated the get out of jail free card that Danzo kept playing. Sure, it made for a pretty cool story with rules that had to be figured out in lots of peril, but it felt too much like a cheat to me.
At least Sasuke pulled it off regardless. Very impressive.
At least Sasuke pulled it off regardless. Very impressive.
September 10, 2017
The fight between Sasuke and Danzo felt so anti-climatic.
Poo.
Poo.
January 19, 2018
NARUTO!!! My precious child! What are you going to do?! This is just heartbreaking! SAKURA! KAKASHI! Why do they have to do this?! SASAKE! How could you have fallen so far?!
February 18, 2020
I'm glad that Danzou is dead but the fight was so underwhelming
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 22, 2022
I really loved this volume! Sasuke vs. Danzo was epic and Sakura and the other shinobi deciding to go after Sasuke on their own! Emotional and compelling.
July 10, 2025
Ce tome marque la fin de Danzô, enfin! Non je l'aimais vraiment pas. Et en plus de ça, dans ce tome, on apprend de nouvelles choses sur lui, qui font qu'il m'a un peu plus énervée. Le mec trop jaloux et sûr de lui. Mais j'ai quand même aimé avoir une mini partie sur son passé et sa relation avec le troisième Hokage quand ils étaient novices.
J'ai aussi vu une petite évolution de Sasuke. Je l'apprécie moins qu'au début. Je le trouve trop simple à manipuler. Au début avec Oroshimaru et maintenant avec Madara. Il est aveuglé par la haine et ce qui est arrivé à son clan. Et ça ne l'aide pas. J'espère qu'il saura ouvrir les yeux et retrouver la raison.
J'ai aussi vu une petite évolution de Sasuke. Je l'apprécie moins qu'au début. Je le trouve trop simple à manipuler. Au début avec Oroshimaru et maintenant avec Madara. Il est aveuglé par la haine et ce qui est arrivé à son clan. Et ça ne l'aide pas. J'espère qu'il saura ouvrir les yeux et retrouver la raison.
August 7, 2021
A little transition, a lotta action. The next volume will be a great showdown.
January 3, 2022
Another banger volume
June 25, 2017
Back at the Naruto grind again!! I started back up with a real twisted volume!! Sasuke has finally passed the point of no return and has truly lost himself in darkness. Other then that, the sleeze ball known as Danzo is finally dead. His character stuck around to long!!
July 18, 2021
sasuke en su joker era...... my beloved.... my little meow meow...... my gaslighting gatekeeping girlboss.......
July 9, 2021
Sasuke has lost all sense and finally gets to fight Danzo, as Danzo busts out a bunch of weird new jutsu that amount to nothing more than him and Sasuke throwing big energy attacks at each other until one of them gets bored/is too tired. And Sakura gets a lot of blame, too, which sucks. Why does Sakura get blame? Because she's a woman! She loves Sasuke and it's her fault for falling in love with a traitor! Naruto loves her so it's her fault she asked Naruto to stop Sasuke! With Tsunade out of commission, and Sakura and Karin quickly being dumpstered to prove how Sasuke is so evil he will hurt the women that love him, this series is entirely lacking any good female characters. Which is par for the course for most battle shonen but it still sucks.
Sasuke proving himself to be on the Gokage level against the Raikage, and now being on Danzo's level, continues to prove how strong he is. I got it with the Gokage, why are we rushing to cut off Danzo now? I guess it's a good way to clear up his whole plot line but Danzo never amounted to anything. He's that evil relic of the past, in a series that's all about characters trying to be better than the past, so he's nothing special. His hate for the Uchiha clan is the most interesting thing, and the fact that he's a 'villain' that Sasuke takes down (instead of Naruto taking down) is neat, but Danzo is a jerk and I hate seeing him. He's a filler obstacle that doesn't serve any grand purpose that isn't already served by so many other characters.
So many of the Naruto battles post-Pain have been a let-down. Sasuke keeps throwing out occular jutsu constantly while being warned that his eyes are growing weaker constantly but that doesn't stop him and we never see any real repurcussions. We compare this to Naruto whose new Rasen-shuriken destroys his arms and forced him to adapt, turning it into a thrown ranged attack. Sasuke doesn't do anything new or creative he just gets stronger and uses Susano'o and Amaterasu more and more, with no signs of stopping or damage. It's so bland and uninteresting. There's no great fight choreography or action, Sasuke stares at a dude and fire appears or he shoots and arrow and Danzo goes 'oh that was good but it did not kill me' so Sasuke shoots another arrow and Danzo goes 'oh that was good but it did not kill me' over and over again. It's a boring fight and this whole Gokage Summit arc needs to end quickly because this stuff is pointless.
That's the big problem, isn't it? Naruto got the respect of Konoha with the conclusion to the Pain arc. Our big desire for the series, seeing Naruto be respected and in a position to become Hokage, has already been fulfilled. We have the obligatory need to stop Akatsuki, and we need to save Sasuke. Those are the two plots left to tie up, while the core emotional need for respect that drives Naruto from the first chapter has already been accomplished. Akatsuki and Sasuke are set pieces to explore Naruto's character but we've already reached the apex of what Naruto's character has been motivated to do. This volume has Sasuke growing further apart than before, instead of heading to a conclusion, and Akatsuki walking away to start their "Fourth Ninja War" thing. We still have 1/3 of the series left to tie up these two plot points that we don't really care about! This whole series could be done in 50 chapters of Naruto punching Tobi in the face then having one last battle against Sasuke, instead we're introducing dozens of new characters and stretching it out forever with pointless battles that have nothing to do with why we care about this series in the first place.
Sasuke proving himself to be on the Gokage level against the Raikage, and now being on Danzo's level, continues to prove how strong he is. I got it with the Gokage, why are we rushing to cut off Danzo now? I guess it's a good way to clear up his whole plot line but Danzo never amounted to anything. He's that evil relic of the past, in a series that's all about characters trying to be better than the past, so he's nothing special. His hate for the Uchiha clan is the most interesting thing, and the fact that he's a 'villain' that Sasuke takes down (instead of Naruto taking down) is neat, but Danzo is a jerk and I hate seeing him. He's a filler obstacle that doesn't serve any grand purpose that isn't already served by so many other characters.
So many of the Naruto battles post-Pain have been a let-down. Sasuke keeps throwing out occular jutsu constantly while being warned that his eyes are growing weaker constantly but that doesn't stop him and we never see any real repurcussions. We compare this to Naruto whose new Rasen-shuriken destroys his arms and forced him to adapt, turning it into a thrown ranged attack. Sasuke doesn't do anything new or creative he just gets stronger and uses Susano'o and Amaterasu more and more, with no signs of stopping or damage. It's so bland and uninteresting. There's no great fight choreography or action, Sasuke stares at a dude and fire appears or he shoots and arrow and Danzo goes 'oh that was good but it did not kill me' so Sasuke shoots another arrow and Danzo goes 'oh that was good but it did not kill me' over and over again. It's a boring fight and this whole Gokage Summit arc needs to end quickly because this stuff is pointless.
That's the big problem, isn't it? Naruto got the respect of Konoha with the conclusion to the Pain arc. Our big desire for the series, seeing Naruto be respected and in a position to become Hokage, has already been fulfilled. We have the obligatory need to stop Akatsuki, and we need to save Sasuke. Those are the two plots left to tie up, while the core emotional need for respect that drives Naruto from the first chapter has already been accomplished. Akatsuki and Sasuke are set pieces to explore Naruto's character but we've already reached the apex of what Naruto's character has been motivated to do. This volume has Sasuke growing further apart than before, instead of heading to a conclusion, and Akatsuki walking away to start their "Fourth Ninja War" thing. We still have 1/3 of the series left to tie up these two plot points that we don't really care about! This whole series could be done in 50 chapters of Naruto punching Tobi in the face then having one last battle against Sasuke, instead we're introducing dozens of new characters and stretching it out forever with pointless battles that have nothing to do with why we care about this series in the first place.
September 15, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.
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.
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.
August 3, 2024
Another aggravating volume.
This time because Danzo is throughout the whole volume. It’s getting 3 stars because although I was mad the entirety of it, Danzo is now dead!
FINALLY.
Goodbye Danzo. You bastard.
His character getting removed from the story makes me so happy. I’m ecstatic because I couldn’t stand him any longer. He deserved everything Sasuke did to him.
Danzo comes in with the 1st Hokage’s face as his right arm. The right arm also has 10-or-so sharingan eyes mushed into the Hashirama’s flesh, cells.
And bears Shisui’s sharingan in his right eye.
He had all of the Uchiha killed.
ALL OF THOSE EYES WERE STOLEN AFTER MURDER. He wreaks havoc and violence to attain power over everyone.
Madara then says about Hashirama’s cells and Uchiha eyes, that it “looks like he’s planning to control the 9-tails.” MHMM. No surprise there!
We found out that Danzo was SO SALTY that the 3rd Hokage, Hiruzen, gained the seat of Hokage, instead of him, that he held a blackness in his heart that grew into pure hatred and psychopathy, for not getting the authoritative power he feels he deserves.
Until he dies, when he admits to himself that he wasn’t as good as Hiruzen. That Danzo had always “walked behind him”, being constantly passed in every area of life, authority, power and jutsu.
Haha fuck you Danzo.
Madara is just sitting watching Sasuke and Danzo eating popcorn
The Susano came out again but this time in a more progressed form. It grew muscle and armor with like purple flames coming off of it and is now armed with a bow and arrow. The whole thing is purple with flames.
When Sasuke thinks he killed him… his face…
Danzo uses his STOLEN sharingans to use The Izanagi, an ocular jutsu that is forbidden even amount the Uchiha.
BUT Danzo never thinks that Sasuke’s 2 eyes could beat his forbidden jutsu with 10 more eyes than he has.
Danzo, you are not an Uchiha!
NO SHIT. Mf.
Everything had something to do with ocular jutsus, genjutsus, reality and fantasy, dreams and nightmares
The eyeball room!!!
FINALLY THEYRE GOING AFTER SASUKE. Naruto has thrown his childish naive side into an older teenager. So I guess that’s something. And Sakura wants to kill him herself?! Do something for god sakes.
Sai to Naruto:
“No one in Konoha has any sympathy for those aligned in the Akatsuki. Sakura is no fool. She’s not a child who doesn’t understand the situation or what the circumstances are.”
“She can’t leave Sasuke to continue progressing towards evil. It’s because she loves him that she wants to save Sasuke from the path of darkness.
Even if the only way to do that is to kill the person she loves by her own hand.
That is what she resigned herself to, for having fallen in love with him.”
In almost every anime I’ve seen where the male goes “bad” or “evil” the female who’s in love with him always swoops in to “save them.”
I honestly found it humorous that Sakura, who is now familiar with medicines, prepared sleeping powder bomb balls so she could put Lee, Sai, Kiba and Akamaru out so that she can run off and kill Sasuke by herself.
Naruto’s psyche finally fully shattered he had a major panic attack and collapsed in sweat. Welcome to reality kiddo!
I understand why he stayed in his bubble of fantasy and friendship but it drove me absolutely insaneee.
Well Sasuke stabbed Karin to get to Danzo, whom had used her as a shield. Are we supposed to be surprised?!
And Sasuke tried to kill Sakura.
Although to his defense she was trying to kill him and he obviously knew that.
When Kakashi goes “He’s been completely brainwashed by Madara!”
Ummm, it was the truth and he let Sasuke pick his own path. Sasuke chose the path Kakashi doesn’t like.
He said “Perhaps I was trying to convince myself.” You still are Kakashi damn. This is who Sasuke is. This is anger love and hatred. That’s more than enough to completely change a child to a fucked up teenager.
Kakashi keeps saying he was a bad teacher and he’s sorry… um yeah, Kakashi was a bad teacher because he constantly refused factual information about Sasuke. He taught him Chidori(Kakashi’s original move), all the while knowing that it’s possible he could use that violently for combat. So because you were training him for Itachi that it was okay? Kakashi never thought about the future. He thought he saw himself in Sasuke and that’s why he could never look at the big picture. Don’t assume a child is a mini-me and teach him exactly as you would yourself. Kakashi missed so many red flags and alarms. So many. Kakashi is TOOO nice. He is just way too nice, hopeful, and positive, that sometimes he can’t see reality. He’s great when it comes to fighting, but when thinking about an end result involving people, he is very different with Sasuke. He thinks “Well if I scold and mold the kid it’ll be fine right?” No.
Everything I feel about Kakashi when having to do with Sasuke, was again confirmed by Kakashi’s thinking in the ending chapter.
He said that Sasuke “truly continued to feel affection towards Orochimaru, no matter how far he fell.”
WHAT? WHATT?! What the fuck?? He went to Orochimaru for power to kill his brother and nothing more. Then he killed Orochimaru because he was just done getting the power he needed. Sasuke killed him while Orochimaru was in a sickly state.
Well, Sakura took Karin away to heal and then take her back to Konoha for interrogations. Kakashi is in a current 1-on-1 with Sasuke, battle has not started yet. Naruto is on the way. He found Sasuke by his chakra, while he was in Sage Mode.
This time because Danzo is throughout the whole volume. It’s getting 3 stars because although I was mad the entirety of it, Danzo is now dead!
FINALLY.
Goodbye Danzo. You bastard.
His character getting removed from the story makes me so happy. I’m ecstatic because I couldn’t stand him any longer. He deserved everything Sasuke did to him.
Danzo comes in with the 1st Hokage’s face as his right arm. The right arm also has 10-or-so sharingan eyes mushed into the Hashirama’s flesh, cells.
And bears Shisui’s sharingan in his right eye.
He had all of the Uchiha killed.
ALL OF THOSE EYES WERE STOLEN AFTER MURDER. He wreaks havoc and violence to attain power over everyone.
Madara then says about Hashirama’s cells and Uchiha eyes, that it “looks like he’s planning to control the 9-tails.” MHMM. No surprise there!
We found out that Danzo was SO SALTY that the 3rd Hokage, Hiruzen, gained the seat of Hokage, instead of him, that he held a blackness in his heart that grew into pure hatred and psychopathy, for not getting the authoritative power he feels he deserves.
Until he dies, when he admits to himself that he wasn’t as good as Hiruzen. That Danzo had always “walked behind him”, being constantly passed in every area of life, authority, power and jutsu.
Haha fuck you Danzo.
Madara is just sitting watching Sasuke and Danzo eating popcorn
The Susano came out again but this time in a more progressed form. It grew muscle and armor with like purple flames coming off of it and is now armed with a bow and arrow. The whole thing is purple with flames.
When Sasuke thinks he killed him… his face…
Danzo uses his STOLEN sharingans to use The Izanagi, an ocular jutsu that is forbidden even amount the Uchiha.
BUT Danzo never thinks that Sasuke’s 2 eyes could beat his forbidden jutsu with 10 more eyes than he has.
Danzo, you are not an Uchiha!
NO SHIT. Mf.
Everything had something to do with ocular jutsus, genjutsus, reality and fantasy, dreams and nightmares
The eyeball room!!!
FINALLY THEYRE GOING AFTER SASUKE. Naruto has thrown his childish naive side into an older teenager. So I guess that’s something. And Sakura wants to kill him herself?! Do something for god sakes.
Sai to Naruto:
“No one in Konoha has any sympathy for those aligned in the Akatsuki. Sakura is no fool. She’s not a child who doesn’t understand the situation or what the circumstances are.”
“She can’t leave Sasuke to continue progressing towards evil. It’s because she loves him that she wants to save Sasuke from the path of darkness.
Even if the only way to do that is to kill the person she loves by her own hand.
That is what she resigned herself to, for having fallen in love with him.”
In almost every anime I’ve seen where the male goes “bad” or “evil” the female who’s in love with him always swoops in to “save them.”
I honestly found it humorous that Sakura, who is now familiar with medicines, prepared sleeping powder bomb balls so she could put Lee, Sai, Kiba and Akamaru out so that she can run off and kill Sasuke by herself.
Naruto’s psyche finally fully shattered he had a major panic attack and collapsed in sweat. Welcome to reality kiddo!
I understand why he stayed in his bubble of fantasy and friendship but it drove me absolutely insaneee.
Well Sasuke stabbed Karin to get to Danzo, whom had used her as a shield. Are we supposed to be surprised?!
And Sasuke tried to kill Sakura.
Although to his defense she was trying to kill him and he obviously knew that.
When Kakashi goes “He’s been completely brainwashed by Madara!”
Ummm, it was the truth and he let Sasuke pick his own path. Sasuke chose the path Kakashi doesn’t like.
He said “Perhaps I was trying to convince myself.” You still are Kakashi damn. This is who Sasuke is. This is anger love and hatred. That’s more than enough to completely change a child to a fucked up teenager.
Kakashi keeps saying he was a bad teacher and he’s sorry… um yeah, Kakashi was a bad teacher because he constantly refused factual information about Sasuke. He taught him Chidori(Kakashi’s original move), all the while knowing that it’s possible he could use that violently for combat. So because you were training him for Itachi that it was okay? Kakashi never thought about the future. He thought he saw himself in Sasuke and that’s why he could never look at the big picture. Don’t assume a child is a mini-me and teach him exactly as you would yourself. Kakashi missed so many red flags and alarms. So many. Kakashi is TOOO nice. He is just way too nice, hopeful, and positive, that sometimes he can’t see reality. He’s great when it comes to fighting, but when thinking about an end result involving people, he is very different with Sasuke. He thinks “Well if I scold and mold the kid it’ll be fine right?” No.
Everything I feel about Kakashi when having to do with Sasuke, was again confirmed by Kakashi’s thinking in the ending chapter.
He said that Sasuke “truly continued to feel affection towards Orochimaru, no matter how far he fell.”
WHAT? WHATT?! What the fuck?? He went to Orochimaru for power to kill his brother and nothing more. Then he killed Orochimaru because he was just done getting the power he needed. Sasuke killed him while Orochimaru was in a sickly state.
Well, Sakura took Karin away to heal and then take her back to Konoha for interrogations. Kakashi is in a current 1-on-1 with Sasuke, battle has not started yet. Naruto is on the way. He found Sasuke by his chakra, while he was in Sage Mode.
May 31, 2022
danzo ypu disgusting piece of shit fuck u so much you deserve worse !!!! fhfh very conceited of sakura to think she can kill sasuke 😭 its so funny cos she reslly thought she can deceive him GIRL WAKE UPPPP do u think a murderer like him can be that dumb? 😭 plus d fact that she just realized now that hes not the old sasuke anymore jsksksjd girl keep up
August 9, 2022
I'm really pissed that Sakura gets so much hate and not Sasuke, because what the hell was this!? Pure sexism because she isn't even half as annoying as he is. The boy is too far gone. Honestly? Sasuke is not a very interesting villain anyways. I will hate him forever if he hurts Kakashi.
June 25, 2010
WTF? Does it never end?
June 27, 2011
i love this book i just got it today on monday i am going to read my book right now.
December 14, 2016
Love love love!! <3<3
November 25, 2022
When I first watched Naruto, I was in tears when Danzo died. "So what do you think of this me? Eh Hiruzen...? Who and what am I to you...?" Is the line that got me. I hated Danzo, I still do, but this line. I don't know why I found it heartbreaking. They were playing together as kids, he just thought of you as a friend, someone who he could grow with, but you took it too far. This whole light and dark thing, you could have just lived in the light with him. It was sad, but he brought it on himself.
Danzo's eye arm is physically disgusting but also morally so reclusive. He (and Orochimaru) just couldn't let the Uchiha live, he took every opportunity to persecute them whilst stealing from them. He coveted them so much he wanted them dead. Jealousy was at the heart of both their behaviour. It just makes them so pathetic. I cannot fault Sasuke for taking revenge against this sad man.
I also can't really hate Sasuke for wanting revenge. His whole family was killed (by a brother he should still hate in my opinion) for the supposed sake of the village. He is, in a sense, justified in wanting revenge against the village elders who sanctioned this. In his mind, there is no justice, war criminals in such a militaristic world are not going to be put to justice. Sasuke's a soldier/shinobi like them. They live by the sword as he does, they will die by it. That's why Naruto wants a world without such fighting. I cannot say that his desire for revenge against the entire village is acceptable. To be honest, they didn't know.
Sasuke has been manipulated his whole life. Itachi, Orochimaru and now Madara/Tobi. All this hate, hate, hate stuff when it was actually the thought of how much his complicated brother cherished him, more than the village he protected his whole life, is what made Sasuke stronger. It was in a previous scene, thoughts of his former team which brought him back together. There's definitely a lot of hate there. His mentors have espoused it as his source of power and he's using it well, but he can't bury all that love.
His facial expressions are so iconic. "I'm just itching to kill you" it's really too much Sasuke. And when he decides to cut through Karin, he's completely gone. Karin should have taken this as the sign it was to give up on loving Sasuke. Yeah, he saved you as a kid, but he is not that kid anymore. He was gonna make some other girl kill you off! There's a lot of trauma there linking love and pain that she needs to work through.
Sakura comes to do what she thought she was going to do. Obviously, she does not succeed. At least she tried. The least emotion Sasuke shows in this volume is when he goes in to kill Sakura. Which is one of the reasons I could never believe in a relationship between them. Trying to kill the other person is part and parcel of the whole enemies to lovers shtick. Which is the position these two are currently in. The enemies can try to kill each other, but they can't be wantonly cruel and Sasuke is cruel to Sakura. He is cruel in his indifference. He barely bats an eye when she's around. There's absolutely no passion. He shows more emotion and passion, even if it is hate, against Kakashi. There's barely anything there with most Naruro "romances" but this one's honestly the worst in my opinion for the way it degrades one character. The worst things about Sakura come from her infatuation with Sasuke. She could have been so much more.
Then there's the other, more specific, object of Sasuke's ire. Naruto. The pest he can't get rid of. The bond he just can't shake in quest for power. He's always screaming and shouting at him. And Naruto's out here having a panic attack at the thought of Sasuke being killed. His friends killing his friend. I can see why he's troubled. I love that Kishimoto shows how emotional Naruto is. Here's his counterpart Sasuke trying so hard to show nothing but anger, and here's Naruto trying to pretend he's always ok. But he breaks apart often, and for Sasuke a lot. I love that he's so driven by emotion and disarmed by it.
Someone else with great face is Yamato. That man's so judgy, it's great.
Danzo's eye arm is physically disgusting but also morally so reclusive. He (and Orochimaru) just couldn't let the Uchiha live, he took every opportunity to persecute them whilst stealing from them. He coveted them so much he wanted them dead. Jealousy was at the heart of both their behaviour. It just makes them so pathetic. I cannot fault Sasuke for taking revenge against this sad man.
I also can't really hate Sasuke for wanting revenge. His whole family was killed (by a brother he should still hate in my opinion) for the supposed sake of the village. He is, in a sense, justified in wanting revenge against the village elders who sanctioned this. In his mind, there is no justice, war criminals in such a militaristic world are not going to be put to justice. Sasuke's a soldier/shinobi like them. They live by the sword as he does, they will die by it. That's why Naruto wants a world without such fighting. I cannot say that his desire for revenge against the entire village is acceptable. To be honest, they didn't know.
Sasuke has been manipulated his whole life. Itachi, Orochimaru and now Madara/Tobi. All this hate, hate, hate stuff when it was actually the thought of how much his complicated brother cherished him, more than the village he protected his whole life, is what made Sasuke stronger. It was in a previous scene, thoughts of his former team which brought him back together. There's definitely a lot of hate there. His mentors have espoused it as his source of power and he's using it well, but he can't bury all that love.
His facial expressions are so iconic. "I'm just itching to kill you" it's really too much Sasuke. And when he decides to cut through Karin, he's completely gone. Karin should have taken this as the sign it was to give up on loving Sasuke. Yeah, he saved you as a kid, but he is not that kid anymore. He was gonna make some other girl kill you off! There's a lot of trauma there linking love and pain that she needs to work through.
Sakura comes to do what she thought she was going to do. Obviously, she does not succeed. At least she tried. The least emotion Sasuke shows in this volume is when he goes in to kill Sakura. Which is one of the reasons I could never believe in a relationship between them. Trying to kill the other person is part and parcel of the whole enemies to lovers shtick. Which is the position these two are currently in. The enemies can try to kill each other, but they can't be wantonly cruel and Sasuke is cruel to Sakura. He is cruel in his indifference. He barely bats an eye when she's around. There's absolutely no passion. He shows more emotion and passion, even if it is hate, against Kakashi. There's barely anything there with most Naruro "romances" but this one's honestly the worst in my opinion for the way it degrades one character. The worst things about Sakura come from her infatuation with Sasuke. She could have been so much more.
Then there's the other, more specific, object of Sasuke's ire. Naruto. The pest he can't get rid of. The bond he just can't shake in quest for power. He's always screaming and shouting at him. And Naruto's out here having a panic attack at the thought of Sasuke being killed. His friends killing his friend. I can see why he's troubled. I love that Kishimoto shows how emotional Naruto is. Here's his counterpart Sasuke trying so hard to show nothing but anger, and here's Naruto trying to pretend he's always ok. But he breaks apart often, and for Sasuke a lot. I love that he's so driven by emotion and disarmed by it.
Someone else with great face is Yamato. That man's so judgy, it's great.
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