Naruto, the hokage!?

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well, at least Sasuke is adding a chick to his posse next week, so it won't be a total sausage-fest.

Actually, if you look at both water boy's and Sasuke's nude shots.... THERE'S NOTHING THERE! Not even IMPLIED to be there! They're crotchless! XD

That said... Senior Zabuza? >.>;; Water boy, don't steal Haku's thunder yo.

[Javer]

Actually, if you look at both water boy's and Sasuke's nude shots.... THERE'S NOTHING THERE! Not even IMPLIED to be there! They're crotchless! XD

I knew it!

[Illjwamh]

There's some homophobia going on in here. I personally thought Konohamaru's trick and Sakura's subsequent reacion were hi-goddamn-larious.

AAAHHH HOLY F*CK 347 IS SO MANY LEVELS OF WIN. *hyperventilates*
Naruto/Konohamaru hijinks are always good for a laugh and it's good to see somewhat of a followup on the first Wave Country arc. A bit of a pet-peeve of mine with long running anime is after an entire arc goes by, that's all you hear of it and any emotional attachment goes out the window. Although it's well and truely concluded, it's good to see another reference to the Wave Country arc and that it still has a lasting impression many years down the track.

Also, Naruto and Sakura's DO NOT WANT faces were gold.
I agree on all counts.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

There's some homophobia going on in here. I personally thought Konohamaru's trick and Sakura's subsequent reacion were hi-goddamn-larious.
No homophobia. People "Do not want" what they.. do not want :P

The embarrassment of Sakura when she's shown to be as perverted as the rest is brilliant. Sasuke seems to have a habit of being approached from behind too.

[Pedro The Hutt]

So Sasuke is an uke then? o: Who'd have thought.

[Natsuke Takeda]

Chpt. 348

WTF is going on? Sasuke suddenly doesn't so badass anymore with such mellowed out former captives of Orochimaru. Is this to bring down Itachi or has Sasuke suddenly become a vigilante who wants to destroy Akatsuki to make us believe he's been a good guy all along? I think what irks me is that his new 'team' is just too comedic (not very funny either) to be taken seriously, and I wouldn't like it if these people were the now cliche type of people who are comedic but are freakin sadistic inside >.>

Iono what I'm saying, but I just don't like the chapter at all.

We DO have a glasses girl, which was the only plus >.>

[Illjwamh]

Sadistic villains are normal people with normal problems, just like everyone else.

Apparently.


Well, I'm not going to solidify an opinion just yet; I'm going to let this new storyline play out a bit more first. It could be interesting, it could suck. Time will tell.

[Pedro The Hutt]

We DO have a glasses girl, which was the only plus >.>

Yet another raving Sasuke fangirl you mean, which is a minus. Sakura and Ino were MORE than enough. o:

[Natsuke Takeda]

Yet another raving Sasuke fangirl you mean, which is a minus. Sakura and Ino were MORE than enough. o:

*coughs* I just like women with glasses ^^;. It's when she takes them off that I think she's just the third addition to the "Sasuke please love me!" fanclub. You have a pink-haired, a blondie, and now a dk-haired one. We're missing a few more colors and then we get the Sasuke fangirl rainbow... though black was never visible in the rainbow.. but you know Sasuke.. always gotta be special >.>

[KiraraKim]

I can't take Naruto seriously anymore. Okay I guess they kind of made it clear that Orochimaru had all these ninjas captive, but that many?

And Sasuke starting up his own group just doesn't seem Sasuke enough to me.

I will continue to read it for the laughs (and Shikamaru) though. :devil

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

This latest chapter felt like Bleach but not as pretty. "HULK SMASH" arms were interesting.

[Illjwamh]

351 is out now.

Man, I've gotta say it. Even as a bad guy - or perhaps especially as one - Sasuke is badass.

[Kei]

This latest chapter felt like Bleach but not as pretty. "HULK SMASH" arms were interesting.

All I could think of was "Big O, SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWTIIIIIIIIIIME"


p.s. Karin is cute. If she turns out to be a trap, I will probably fly to Japan to bomb Kishimoto's house.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

All I could think of was "Big O, SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWTIIIIIIIIIIME"


p.s. Karin is cute. If she turns out to be a trap, I will probably fly to Japan to bomb Kishimoto's house.
That wouldn't be the first time that has happened either... :(

[Kei]

That wouldn't be the first time that has happened either... :(

Yeah. All cute "girls" in Naruto are all traps. All of them.


Even Sakura.

[M.Baka]

Long Live Naruto-kun The Hokage Of Village Hidden In The Leaves

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

Yeah. All cute "girls" in Naruto are all traps. All of them.


Even Sakura. Even Haku?

[triggerman]

sasuke is really too strong maybe this guy should kick naruto ass twice ass bad as the first time they fought if they fight again. it didn't really kick in to me that he is this strong till just now when he silenced both those dudes quick....even though he did beat orochimaru i just realized his greatness. he is hokage level and shit it is crazy.

[General Suburbia]

sasuke is really too strong maybe this guy should kick naruto ass twice ass bad as the first time they fought if they fight again. it didn't really kick in to me that he is this strong till just now when he silenced both those dudes quick....even though he did beat orochimaru i just realized his greatness. he is hokage level and shit it is crazy.
He is also very boring. And still clueless about the opposite sex.

[Kei]

Even Haku?

Don't remind me.

[Illjwamh]

352 is out. We all knew where this was going, though I'm shocked even Naruto would be stupid enough to hunt down one of the most dangerous men in the world with his arm the way it is.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Don't remind me.

Dude looks like a lady!~

Expect an edit after I've read the latest chapter. o:


Edit: Naruto: I like kamikaze tactics!

Good grief.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

At least this story has a sense of purpose again. Not a bad chapter.

[Illjwamh]

Purpose is one thing, but we could use a bit of a lull. We've barely seen anybody outside of Team 7 since the beginning of Part 2 except for Shikamaru, and those we do see receive very little character development...except for Shikamaru. Honestly, I've learned more about him since the time skip than Naruto himself. Kishimoto needs to slow things down and stop going from one giant plot element to the next. We don't need to rush from fight to fight - let us meet the characters again and find out some things about them: how they've changed, how they've grown, what they've learned over the years. What they had for breakfast for crying out loud. I'm reading this and watching the characters go through the motions of the story and I realize I don't even know who these characters are anymore. I can't identify with them like I could in Part 1. I miss that.

I also miss Team 10. Seriously. Are they ever going to get more than just a cameo appearance? Jesus Christ.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well, knowing Kishimoto he lets one team shine per arc, so with some luck Team 10 will move out again for the next big fight.

[Two-twenty]

Well, knowing Kishimoto he lets one team shine per arc, so with some luck Team 10 will move out again for the next big fight.
For the love of God, I hope you're right. This manga needs to focus more on the characters that have already been established.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

Which group was Team 10? If it's Hinata's then they should be very good at tracking.

[Illjwamh]

Yeah, that's them. And you're right, they're practically tailor-made for that.

EDIT: I meant Team 8. And booya, there they are. :cool:

[Two-twenty]

EDIT: I meant Team 8. And booya, there they are.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Twotwenty/awesome.gif YAAAAAAY! (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Twotwenty/page-17.png)

I swear to God, Kishimoto better not make them as useless as Ino and Choji. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Twotwenty/argh.gif

Also, I know there's only a 3% chance of it actually happening, but there better be some goddamn NarutoxHinata development. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Twotwenty/argh.gif

[KiraraKim]

I dropped Naruto, well I've just been to busy to keep up with it. But wow characters I actually care about have appeared in the manga. I am shocked.



Also, I know there's only a 3% chance of it actually happening, but there better be some goddamn NarutoxHinata development

More like 1% chance but I totally agree.

[Natsuke Takeda]

Either it's me, or Kishimoto's just showing this team to avoid being yelled at by fans. Though it does make sense considering they /are/ a tracking-type team... But still, I get the feeling this was placed because he needed a use for Hinata, Shino and Kiba, not because it made sense.

In a way, he's kind of making them a "pull em out of his ass so they're just there" team.

Hope I made sense~~~

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well even before the timeskip he used the other teams in cycles. It only made sense that they'd be next. XD
And we can hope for HinaxNaru development, but don't hold your breath. XD

[Natsuke Takeda]

Chpt. 355

And like a genie, your wishes for some sort of NarutoxHinata development is granted.

And though it may just be me, Hinata seems to have some more courage. She actually finished a sentence to Naruto in one frame!!!

[Illjwamh]

Well, she can't be the only character to have not grown up in the last few years. I'm kinda looking forward to seeing what she's capable of, and it seems we may get the chance.

In my opinion, the way Kakashi sent the two of them off together seemed kind of contrived, but whatcha gonna do?

[Pedro The Hutt]

Maybe Kakashi felt like being a matchmaker?

[Illjwamh]

I think it's more likely that Hinata is the member of Team 8 whose growth Kishimoto wants to showcase most (like Shikamaru was in Team 10), so he made sure she was going to be somewhere she'd end up in a fight, i.e. with Naruto.

He could have found a less obvious way to do it is all I'm saying.

[Minnie]

Eeee, I missed Hinata. Though I don't particularly pray see any NaruHina. D: Not my ship of choice. XD LOVE the funny-shadowy, triangular feet (http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8231/feetchahauo9.jpg) on page 17. (Ahh, yes, I laughed at them.)

I really, REALLY want to see what the hell Akatsuki's doing with those demon spirits. As much as I am amused by Akatsuki and their ultra super secret frat cave, I need some sort of... evidence or progressive happenings to make me fear them again. >_>;

[Shadowmage]

Who didn't see that coming? Oro's B*tch Boy indeed.

[triggerman]

i didn't.....so what does that make me dumb...i cant wait to see the tobi guy fight....with him looking so weird i can't wait to see what kind of tech he can do, and i wanna see how much kashimoto san really wants to exaggerate sasuke's power.

[Kei]

Haha, Karin's hair is bright Red. Take that, fancolor people!

[Illjwamh]

Heh, that was weird. I didn't picture her as a redhead at all. @_@

[Shadowmage]

Heh, that was weird. I didn't picture her as a redhead at all. @_@

Well, Sakura does have pink hair. (Future rivalry?!)

[Illjwamh]

I don't see what bearing Sakura's hair color should have had on my expectations of Karin's.

[Natsuke Takeda]

Face it, everyone was hooked on the Karin pic with the yellow clothes and black hair. Least I was.

Anyways... Kabuto's mystique has suddenly been crapped on.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well, you can now wonder WHY the hell he did that. XD Surely there's more to his life than Orochimaru-samaaa~

[Illjwamh]

Yeah, I always thought he was clever and scheme-y and had his own personal agenda, but it turns out he's just batshit insane. Kind of a disappointment, even if it does allow for the story to be taken in a new direction.

What I want to know is how he expects to get away from Naruto, Hinata and Yamato, when he knows their orders are to capture him on sight and he's already admitted he couldn't handle all three of them.

[jetfire]

I don't know if I missed something, but does anyone know how Kabuto could integrate himself with Orochimaru, when Sasuke already sealed Orochimaru within himself? Did Kabuto just find Orochimaru's body remains on the floor and fuse it with himself while Sasuke took over Oro's spirit (since Sasuke admitted that he "took over" Orochimaru, and he can now summon those snakes)? I'm pretty confused at the moment.

[Natsuke Takeda]

My guess? He implanted a bit of himself onto Kabuto ala Yami Bakura from YGO so that he may live on and never die. I think what always made Kabuto jealous of.... just about anyone Orochimaru wanted to use as a body was the fact that Kabuto was nothing other than just backup for the WORST case scenario.

Regardless how dramatic that sounds, the chances of Kabuto EVER having his own unique agendas (and ever getting shipped with Shizune, which yes they're ages are way diff but SO WHAT?!) are near down the drain. They never even explained that eye thing Kabuto had during the Forest of Death in the Chuunin Exam Arc.. or was that just the anime???

Whatever. You can now tell Kabuto's character rankings in the voting poll next time will definitely plunge now >.>

[Pedro The Hutt]

I don't know if I missed something, but does anyone know how Kabuto could integrate himself with Orochimaru, when Sasuke already sealed Orochimaru within himself? Did Kabuto just find Orochimaru's body remains on the floor and fuse it with himself while Sasuke took over Oro's spirit (since Sasuke admitted that he "took over" Orochimaru, and he can now summon those snakes)? I'm pretty confused at the moment.

I'm pretty sure that he already could summon those snakes by signing the proper papers with his blood much like Jiraiya allowed Naruto to summon toads.

And I'm sure that we'll get the explanation of how Kabuto succeeded in that sooner or later. XD

[Deja~VU]

I believe that Naruto will be a great Hokage someday, Dattebayo!!!

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well, that was a bit out of the blue and entirely spammy, good work.

On-topic: Now that I had a few days to think about it, I think the Oro/Kabu fusion is brilliant. XD It opens up a world of puns and fun to have with Oro/Kabu fangirls. "Well, you did always want them to be together."
"Hey, Kabuto said he has taken Orochimaru into him, guess that proves him to be the uke indeed!"

[Natsuke Takeda]

>.> Puns

Just what we needs, the Japanese version of a 4Kids Naruto ala One Piece lol

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

So.... Orochimaru is the new JENOVA then?

[Pedro The Hutt]

Oh my Buddha, Orochimaru even wants to see his parents again, if he starts talking about 'kaasan I'm putting down the manga.

[Shadowmage]

Mommy! I can throw it now!

[Ninja Realist]

This is just getting stupid now.

[Elric]

I know Sasuke is a prodigy and been taught by Orochiamaru, but I find he is TOO strong, making things seem broken. So far, he's making everyone he fought weaksause, including now against the Akatsuki. It's nice he is strong and all, but its not exciting if there isn't much struggle. Hoping he will have a difficult time when he eventually faces Itachi once more.

[Two-twenty]

I know Sasuke is a prodigy and been taught by Orochiamaru, but I find he is TOO strong, making things seem broken. So far, he's making everyone he fought weaksause, including now against the Akatsuki. It's nice he is strong and all, but its not exciting if there isn't much struggle. Hoping he will have a difficult time when he eventually faces Itachi once more.
And there's not a single page drawn that justifies this massive leap in power. I swear, the only thing that has me actually reading this is the potential for Hinata or Shino to do something awesome.

[Elric]

In my case, I am mostly waiting for Tobi to start fighting. I am curious as to what his powers are. He did become an Akatsuki member afterall.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

At this rate, making Tobi Obito would be justified just so we could have somebody kick Sasuke's ass.

[jetfire]

It would be humourous to see someone as goofy as Tobi kicking Sasuke's ass. I can picture Sasuke now, screaming "WTF?!? I lost to a noob!"

And Psychosaiya-jin, I don't think it's Obito, since his kind personality wouldn't coincide with helping Akatsuki. Plus, hallf of his body was crushed by that rock. But how crazy would it be if Obito was that venus fly trap member of Akatsuki? Half of his body was a different colour than his other half, and the line formed down the middle of his body is similar to the placement of the rock, where it crushed half of Obito's body. That's a possibility too, but also, not very likely.

[Natsuke Takeda]

I'll admit that Obito's personality is too nice for Akatsuki... but maybe he's brainwashed or heck, his views at life have changed... his personality as an idiot, however, have not lol

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

I think Obito coming back would be beyond silly but would still have been worth it if it guaranteed a Sasuke-whooping.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Plus being crushed by and buried under multiple tons of rock is pretty lethal for a near-death chuunin. And it also wouldn't make sense for him to be a rookie at Akatsuki considering he's Kakashi's age, it'd make him more likely to be an elder member of Akatsuki rather than someone who calls Deidara "sempai". =D

All in all Obito = Tobi does not add up.

[Illjwamh]

I still think Deidara will surprise us. He beat Gaara after all, even when we thought he'd lost. I'm not going to count anybody out who can do that.

[oompa loompa]

ya but gaara lost cuz he had a conscience and with all these questions to why tobi is nice, it could be like the nun from hellsing, she's all nice and gentle and then u flipa switch and she goes uber death on ur ass. so I don't know but I'm starting to lose inerest in sasuke and I'm really looking forward to seeing shino, hinata, and kiba do some fighting.............. k read 359, dont give a damn about diadarra's past, just kill him off and let tobi fight, its getting annoying watching him get his ass kiked

[Pedro The Hutt]

XD Deidara had character exposition, he's doomed. Poor chap.

[Illjwamh]

So it would seem. Damn.

[Ninja Realist]

These formulas are getting tired.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

The guy was nearly killed by a pre-super-rasenpan Naruto, of course he's screwed.

[Elric]

I still give Deidara some chance, but at this point, I have more interest in Tobi taking action. Deidara might've been beaten by Naruto, but he most likely got arrogant and held back too much (or maybe he didn't and I forgot). An alright chapter and I am a bit curious about Garuda and have some hope it's not hype.

[Zelyhon]

Yes yes. Deidara's doomed. We get that, Kishimoto. Can we please get back to where the interesting characters are and see if you're going to pay any attention to the massive potential fallout of Kabuto out and out saying that Naruto is the Nine Tails in front of Hinata please?

On the other hand, this chapter had some Kisame in it, so I've got to give it credit for that.

[Illjwamh]

HA! HAHA! This chapter was the greatest ever!

Well, maybe not ever, but in a long long time. It's like watching Gaara's sand shield explode all over again. Deidara, I shall never doubt you again.


But now that he's got Sasuke by the balls and they both know it, where does the story go from here? We know Sasuke can't die yet, so something has to happen, and it has to happen pretty quick.

[Enoah Ballard]

Hold on, did Sasuke just fly with a wing made out of snakes? A wing made out of ****ing snakes?!? God damn Naruto is stupid.

[triggerman]

no he kinda glided im sure with one wing, he like probably jump really high and far and used that one wing to carry him the rest of the way....but deidara is a pretty strong opponent and i am glad he has taken sasuke this far....but how did sasuke not see that deidara was using a clay clone....he she know that. good chapter though!

[Illjwamh]

Well, it's hard to say whether he should've known it was a clone or not. We're not entirely sure how the Sharingan works. Maybe he has to see Deidara making the clone for it to be effective. Remember, Neji's Byakugan couldn't tell the difference between the real Naruto and his shadow clones, and the two bloodlines are closely related.

[Barrelhaven]

Well, it's hard to say whether he should've known it was a clone or not. We're not entirely sure how the Sharingan works. Maybe he has to see Deidara making the clone for it to be effective. Remember, Neji's Byakugan couldn't tell the difference between the real Naruto and his shadow clones, and the two bloodlines are closely related.

It's hard to believe that SSJ Sasuke couldn't see through the clay clone when he can seemingly decipher every other jutsu out there. For Pete's sake, he even peered into Naruto's frickin' subconscious and saw his conversation with the Kyuubi. Besides, he should've at least noticed Deidara's chakra hiding inside that bird sculpture.

This wouldn't have been a problem if the powers were explained more thoroughly in the first place. It may be awfully convenient for the plot, since you can explain plotholes with "oh yeah, he/she could do this too", but to the readers', it's just plain frustrating.

Also, all this shadow clone gimmick is getting downright tiring. We can't go through a whole battle now without someone trying that trick at least once. We all see it coming now...whenever there is a seemingly improbable death situation (whether to a character essential for plot continuation, or simply because the fight hasn't been dragged out long enough), it's almost always a shadow clone that bit the dust. I'm so tired of this crap. You'd figure seasoned vets of the Ninja world would see it coming by now. Sigh.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well, it's been known for an age and then some that shuriken and kunai are THE most useless items in the Ninja world, it still doesn't seem to stop them from attempting to hit a target with them anyway.

[Shadowmage]

Chapter 326

It's Evangelion!

[DarkKanti]

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/2285/coverja3.jpg

Why are his hands making out?

[Natsuke Takeda]

It's a new form of yaoi. SELF-YAOI.

[Elric]

363
Not surprised that Sasuke survived the explosion. You can't kill off an important character that easily, plus I bet fanboys would get pissed if he is slain anyhow. Not that I care :p

And finally, we get to see the Akatsuki leaders face and his partner. I'll give him brownie points as he does look pretty cool

[Shadowmage]

If Naruto doesn't end after the Akatsuki arc...

[Barrelhaven]

I gotta say, that was an impressive chapter. I found it pretty funny that Sasuke used Orochi's pet as a defense to the blast...poor bastard. Anyway, like Elric said, the Akatsuki leader looks pretty badass.

Tobi is probably alive somehow though. I doubt he'd be wasted like that without being used in a battle to eat up an additional 3-4 chapters.

[Pedro The Hutt]

*raises hand* I found that pretty silly myself. So in the time it took for the blast to reach him he:
1) Summoned Manda.
2) Genjutsu-ed Manda into obeying.
3) Got into his mouth.
4) Teleported out of harm's way.

Given how fast explosions expand that's half a second tops.

That's just not right!

[Shadowmage]

*raises hand* I found that pretty silly myself. So in the time it took for the blast to reach him he:
1) Summoned Manda.
2) Genjutsu-ed Manda into obeying.
3) Got into his mouth.
4) Teleported out of harm's way.

Given how fast explosions expand that's half a second tops.

That's just not right!
Meh, apparently the Sharingan can slow down time as well.

[Ninja Realist]

The Akatsuki Leader seems like a bad ass for sure, but we all know that Kishimoto won't do anything interesting, unconventional or even remotely unpredictable with him, so don't get your hopes up.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Meh, apparently the Sharingan can slow down time as well.

Watch as in the next chapter Sharingan doubles as a TARDIS. =D

[Illjwamh]

Explanation:

He's a ninja!

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

Watch as in the next chapter Sharingan doubles as a TARDIS. =D
Apparently, Sharingan is ninja for "Deus Ex Machina". No wonder Orochimaru wanted it so bad.

[Kei]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/kei_neko/72611_vwtuvaki_1_122_1105lo.jpg

-_-

[Two-twenty]

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/kei_neko/72611_vwtuvaki_1_122_1105lo.jpg

-_-
You've got to be f*cking kidding me.

[Kei]

I wish I was.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/kei_neko/72617_vwtuvaki_3_122_753lo.jpg

[Two-twenty]

I wish I was.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89/kei_neko/72617_vwtuvaki_3_122_753lo.jpg
Christ Kei, you had me thinking it was Obito. At least it's Madara Uchiha.

If it were the former I reckon I would've facepalmed so hard I'd bruise my forehead.

[Kei]

I dunno. I'm still facepalming pretty hard regardless.

[Ninja Realist]

The best thing you can say about this is that it's at least comically stupid.

[Corpse]

In the next chapter, sasuke will reveal that he is actually Keanu Reeves, and exclaim that he "knows kung fu."

[jetfire]

And Tobi will probably turn out to be Obito, because he has a stupid goofy personality, and because Kakashi only took one eye from him, which would explain why he only had one eye hole in that face mask, and a sharingan eye. And that's just a far fetched hunch. Why would Obito be involved? Who knows.

And I just realized that Tobi has the letters "obi" in it. Obito also starts with "obi". Hmmm...

[Elric]

If Tobi is really Obito, it will be inevitable for him and Kakashi to confront each other. It does make the most sense, but we'll see.

[Two-twenty]

Jetfire and Elric, you two need to read the previous spoiler I posted previously.

[jetfire]

Jetfire and Elric, you two need to read the previous spoiler I posted previously.

D'oh! I just happened to skim by that one spoiler for some reason. But still, the first thing that I thought of when I saw Tobi there was Obito, and since I can't read Japanese, it seemed like the most likely conclusion. And who the hell is Madara Uchila? I know it's the third sharingan user, but it's been so long ago since it's been mentioned that I forgot what his connection with the story was supposed to be.

[triggerman]

okay sorry for be'n slow here...so who is that person in the spoiler pic? Obito?, or some random sharingan user? Who ever it is, he or she is in akatsuki member. that sharingan stuff was kinda crazy but kakashi did use a similar technique eariler on Deidara to take his arm. He got beat by the same tech twice. lol

[Pedro The Hutt]

As Two-Twenty already said, highlight the spoiler he posted, don't be mesmerised by the pretty pictures. o:

[triggerman]

so....Tobi is really Uchiha Madara????
...is dat what that means? Well it doesn't really matter i guess if i know right now becuase im guessing that this is a clip from the up coming chapter and ill be informed in a day or two when the translation comes out.

[Barrelhaven]

so....
Tobi is really Uchiha Madara????

is dat what that means? Well it doesn't really matter i guess if i know right now becuase im guessing that this is a clip from the up coming chapter and ill be informed in a day or two when the translation comes out.

You know...220 put that in the spoiler tags for a reason. Sigh.

[Shadowmage]

You know...220 put that in the spoiler tags for a reason. Sigh.

Surprise!

[Elric]

Ah crap, I did see the spoiler, but forgot about it when I was poisting. An Uchiha at least. :P

[Pedro The Hutt]

Or maybe not, as the actual line appears to be "Uchiha Madara's power", which can mean. A) It's Uchiha Madara referring to himself in third person.
B) Kakashi loses unique points as some bad-ass ninja killed Madara and took his eye for his own.

[Barrelhaven]

Or maybe not, as the actual line appears to be "Uchiha Madara's power", which can mean. A) It's Uchiha Madara referring to himself in third person.
B) Kakashi loses unique points as some bad-ass ninja killed Madara and took his eye for his own.

Concerning:

(a) Yeah, the wording makes things a bit vague. It could still possibly be Obito, though I'm not exactly sure if that makes things any better. The Sharingan-user population is slowly growing, nevertheless...

(b) But, Kakashi took just one eye because the other was rendered useless. I wonder what the other guy's excuse is (that is, if it isn't Obito himself). If it actually turns out to be Obito, then he loses bad-ass points, too, for getting squished by a tree and an eye plucked from him.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well... Obito was the one who suggested it that he'd wear his eye. So he has no right to be bittered about that. XD

Plus it altogether makes more sense that Obito's well and truly dead.

[triggerman]

so i don't get the order of things here...lik who is stronger Pain, or the wierd guy in the mask? cuz he called pain the leader of akatsuki but still it would see that pain answers to him. and is that guy like a member or some sort of like boss man who give all the orders. And does this mean that tobi is no body just a cover up?

[Barrelhaven]

Well... Obito was the one who suggested it that he'd wear his eye. So he has no right to be bittered about that. XD

Yeah, good point. But, it could be like one of those cases where your girlfriend offers you a bite of her Hershey bar, hoping you wouldn't take up the offer. Then you scarf down the whole friggin' thing like an ogre, and she's pissed at you for the rest of the week.

Plus it altogether makes more sense that Obito's well and truly dead.

Sense!? You're expecting sense in Naruto? I'd be surprised if the gang didn't whip out some dragonballs and revive the Hokage by the next chapter.

[Illjwamh]

*Towelie voice*

Man, I have no idea what's goin' on right now.

[oompa loompa]

DEUS EX MACHINA FTW!!!!!!!

the sharingan can bring people it wants back to life!!!!! like obito .) <--its only got one eye, wich explains why the spiral thingy is only open over his right eye but its probably not, just another guy pissed off at the uchiha clan......

and hey the trail is lost.... NOT FOR LONG!! DEUS EX MACHINA TO THE RESCUUUUUUE!!! KIBA U CAN SMELL BETTER THAN NINJA DOGS NOW.......... GO!!!!!

Kiba: hey my nose is better than a ninja dogs now so.......

WTF NARUTO.....WTF :sweat:

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

Tobi sounds scarey now...

[LCeh]

Hmmm..... excuse me while I rant for a bit.

What a crappy development. In fact, the story has been crap for a while now. Tobi somehow surviving, and then being an Uchiha.... it feels like Kishi is just pulling random crap out of his behind now. Very very disappointing the way this series is turning out to be.

Even though it's a shounen series, and you know the main character doesn't die, but that feeling was especially evident for me during the Sasuke/Deidara fight, and that's why I couldn't enjoy the fight one bit, knowing that Sasuke cannot die right now.

Then Sasuke summoning Manda when his chakra was supposedly very very low, and hypnotizing him all during the instant before the explosion reaches him.... didn't even make sense how Sasuke's supposed to be able to do that.

And then now the Tobi development. I just hope kishi ends it as soon as possible, even though I know full well that he won't.

[Pedro The Hutt]

Well, he's not exactly confirmed as an Uchiha yet, just as a person with a Sharingan. And as Kakashi has demonstrated, you don't necessarily have to be an Uchiha to possess at least one Sharingan eye.

[Natsuke Takeda]

>.> then that just begs the question of who's eye does the one Tobi has that belongs to. If it's Uchiha Madara, I really won't like cheery Tobi suddenly becoming sadistic and cunning, cause I kinda liked his cheerful charm.

And NOW it begs the question of who the REAL BAD GUY is. Suddenly this new Sharingan user appears... *sighs*

[Sasuke311]

I'm in chapter 364!!!! And I'm not telling. But it's not hard to find Naruto on the net at all!

[DarkKanti]

You want a medal or something?

If you read anything in the last page or two, you'd know we all have our own ways of reading just as far as you have. So congratulations, but you're not that special.

[KiraraKim]

I think you all deserve a medal for continuing to read Naruto. :)

[Barrelhaven]

You want a medal or something?

If you read anything in the last page or two, you'd know we all have our own ways of reading just as far as you have. So congratulations, but you're not that special.

You must be great with kids.

Kid: "Look mister, I made macaroni art!"
DK: "I make better art pissing in the snow. Now GTFO."

EDIT: Awesome sig, BTW. <3

[DarkKanti]

You must be great with kids.

According to his age, he's older than me.

Kid: "Look mister, I made macaroni art!"
DK: "I make better art pissing in the snow. Now GTFO."

>.> That was a private conversation between my little brother and myself.

EDIT: Awesome sig, BTW. <3

Thanks.

[Sasuke311]

All of the sudden this stopped being about the Naruto manga! And this time it wasn't really my fault!

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

>.> That was a private conversation between my little brother and myself.

Anything private should really be in private messages aka PM. Everthing else is in the public forum and open to critism- Unless I have misunderstood and you've actually just told your little brother that you make better art than him pissing in the snow. In which case, I congratulate you :D

Back on topic, Madura/Tobi is a welcome twist since "Pain" has turned out a little dissapointing.

[Barrelhaven]

>.> That was a private conversation between my little brother and myself.


Your little brother calls you "mister"? Now that's not weird.

Oh, and while I'm at it, the rule "'I' before 'E' except after 'C', or sounding like 'A' (as in weigh)" is complete BS as I've just discovered; The word "weird" fails to comply with the rule.

Edit: Hey, I just thought of another one, too: "foreign". Stupid English.

[triggerman]

what a cliff hanger i really wanna c what happens between these two...but u know kisame is close by so some one is gonna have to help naruto out but who....who would you most like to see fight with naruto to go aginst itachi and kisame?
I say hinata or shino....even though any one less than kakashi would probably get naruto and who ever else killed. lol

[Illjwamh]

Um...what?

Have you ever met my friends, the COHERENT SENTENCES?

Back on topic, Madura/Tobi is a welcome twist since "Pain" has turned out a little dissapointing.
I don't know. I think he's still significantly menacing. The only real let-down was that he's not the "real" mastermind behind Akatsuki, but I can get past that easily enough.

Pein:Madara as Bankotsu:Naraku


Or something.

[Barrelhaven]

So, along with his uber-sharingan, Sasuke picked up some Wolverine-like healing powers now to boot. Life just got unfair for his enemies. I guess that means Kishimoto doesn't have to worry about dishing out loads of damage to Sasuke anymore, since he can be right as rain by the next chapter. How convenient.

[Natsuke Takeda]

Recent Chapter:

Well... Finding Itachi sure didn't feel all too exciting >.>

Did I mention? Kiba, Shino and Hinata still hasn't done jack >.>

[Shadowmage]

Well... Finding Itachi sure didn't feel all too exciting >.>


Meh, it was an interesting way to end the chapter. For once, I didn't see this coming.

[LCeh]

Meh, it was an interesting way to end the chapter. For once, I didn't see this coming.

I agree. I think this is what Kishi needs to do more of: focus more on the main conflict and bring the main characters together once again. Enough with the milking and get on with the main plot already.

[Natsuke Takeda]

When you think about it tho.... It was NARUTO who found Itachi. No one else, not even Kakashi... Naruto. Which would probably mean either 1) Lots of talking or 2) lots of godmodding lmao

[Two-twenty]

When you think about it tho.... It was NARUTO who found Itachi. No one else, not even Kakashi... Naruto. Which would probably mean either 1) Lots of talking or 2) lots of godmodding lmao
Or both. Eitherway, I'm not exactly expecting anything awesome to come out of this. The only thing I'm really holding out here is for the eventual fight between Hinata and the chick Akatsuki when her and Pain/Pein/Payne/Peyne/Plox/whatever come for Naruto (because females aren't allowed to fight males in Naruto unless their names begin with "T"). Hopefully Shino will muscle in on Tobi and they can have an epic battle of the hoodies.

[Pedro The Hutt]

I agree. I think this is what Kishi needs to do more of: focus more on the main conflict and bring the main characters together once again. Enough with the milking and get on with the main plot already.
Eh.. "Oh and by sheer coincidence, here just happens to be Itachi!" isn't exactly high quality storytelling. XD

Nor is Sasuke's "Oh I'm oh so incredibly speshul" spree. Now he has increased healing abilities too! Freaking Gary-Stu. o:

[Illjwamh]

He's not entirely healed yet, he's just able to move around now. Naruto heals faster than that.

And nothing too bad happened to him except a thorough beating. (Getting his wing cut off doesn't count because he doesn't have those in his normal state.)

[LCeh]

Eh.. "Oh and by sheer coincidence, here just happens to be Itachi!" isn't exactly high quality storytelling. XD

Kishi hasn't done well in the story aspect for a long time now, and I doubt that will change all of a sudden. But at least we know that something of significance is finally happening, or at least that seems to be the direction the story is heading given what happened in the last chapter.

Nor is Sasuke's "Oh I'm oh so incredibly speshul" spree. Now he has increased healing abilities too! Freaking Gary-Stu. o:

Yea, Sasuke has been one of the most frustrating aspect of the story for me lately. But nevermind that, if we dwell on it further then it will take away even that little bit of entertainment that I am getting from this manga.

[PassiveObserver]

Well I suppose the whole naruto finding Itachi had to do with Itachi wanting naruto to find him. Thusly making this an easy task. I'm glad they finally revealed naruto's parentage with this latest chapter. Though I do wonder what the hell Itachi wanted to talk about.

[jetfire]

I'm glad they finally revealed naruto's parentage with this latest chapter. Though I do wonder what the hell Itachi wanted to talk about.

The real question is, how could anyone have guessed wrong about Naruto's parents if it wasn't revealed? It was so freaking obvious, since the Fourth looked identical to him, and Naruto was told that his parents died in a battle with the 9 Tails, which was sealed within him (obviously a duty of the hokage to want to have the kyuubi sealed in his own son rather than some random villager's). Add to the fact that Kakashi was trained by the Fourth, and soon after, trained a kid that was the spitting image of the Fourth.

Aside from that, I have a feeling that Jiraiya is going to become the next Asuma. Maybe Tsunade too.

[PassiveObserver]

The bit about naruto's mother wasn't quite as obvious as the obvious resemblence to his father. I have high hopes for Jiraiya because I believe him to be the most powerful of all the sanin, but that is probably just because I like his character to much to let him go. Either way there should be one hell of a fight coming up. Assuming he faces Pein.

edit: I would also like to add that those villagers are a bunch of jerks. They treated naruto like crap despite the fact that his father was a great leader.

[Barrelhaven]

Aside from that, I have a feeling that Jiraiya is going to become the next Asuma.

After the last chapter, with Kishimoto trying to force some random emotional attachment to Jiraiya on us, I think it's safe to say he's goner.

[Illjwamh]

Yeah, pretty much. I also think he was probably the strongest of the 3, but all the current evidence is pointing to him biting it.

He wouldn't kill Tsunade, though. I don't think he wants to have 2 Hokage die so close together.

[Pedro The Hutt]

>.>;; If the Uzumaki is his mother... then why is Naruto called Uzumaki?

[isolatedotaku]

I'm going to say that it probably had to do with the fact that if he shared the same last name with the 4th then it would have given it away from square one. We may have not known his name until recently, but I'd imagine that everyone else knew it.

I agree that we will probably soon see the end of Jiraiya, if not the near end. Kishi could be making a false set-up, but I wouldn't bet on it.

[Barrelhaven]

Chapter 368 was rather worthless. Akatsuki still don't know where "the intruder" (Jiraiya) is, and Jiraiya hasn't gotten any closer to them either. Basically, a drag-out chapter.

At least we got to see another Akatsuki's "power". Paper butterflies? I don't want to jump the gun, but that seems pretty pathetic.

[jetfire]

Tickle torture...could that sick bastard be any more cruel?

Chapter 368 was rather worthless. Akatsuki still don't know where "the intruder" (Jiraiya) is, and Jiraiya hasn't gotten any closer to them either. Basically, a drag-out chapter.

At least we got to see another Akatsuki's "power". Paper butterflies? I don't want to jump the gun, but that seems pretty pathetic.

I'm assuming that the paper butterflies are meant for tracking people. Not combat, which isn't that pathetic. And who knows? Her attacks could be cool, even if she used paper. Everyone's always raving about "The Paper" from Read or Die, and her cool abilities.

[Natsuke Takeda]

I agree with the paper being pathetic. It seems, in my perspective, that techniques we're seeing have definitely lost its sense of originality. I don't seem to get that kind of "pop" I get with jutsu, unlike the younger generation Naruto series. What really gets me irritated is the sudden lack of technique in movelists that the 3 main characters; Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto have.

Naruto basically has "Go for Broke" jutsu that, for some reason, has made him surpass Kakashi (which I think is BS, btw, since Kakashi is more diverse in his jutsu)... that is... if he LANDS his shots. And he's got that Hulk Hogan persona where he's gonna get his ass kicked but beats everyone in the nick of time.
Sasuke is a living livewire... oh, and he has an extending lightsaber >.> And it was fun when Sharingan was elusive... It's not fun when Sharingan is now the most powerful bloodline ever... What happened to Byakugan?
Sakura is a lot more fun to watch since she... well.. she FIGHTS. She hits hard and is reminiscent of the old Naruto fightining, where strategy takes place.

Look, all I'm saying is that... we can't always have Shikamaru playing the better fights. And the jutsu well has run dry, too. No technique seems to interest me.

Crows? Since when did Itachi become crows? Didn't some Jounin in Konoha have that? Whatever. It's just... iono..... it feels way too overdragged, and literally the leader of Akatsuki has been overrated considering before we even GOT to him, a more poweful villan shows up.

[Illjwamh]

Am I the only one who was seriously impressed by Jiraiya's infiltration abilities? I mean, we all raved about how cool his entrance was in the last chapter, but in this one we see him apprehend two enemy ninja and make his escape with them before Pein and Konan even have a chance to locate or identify him. That's pretty badass.

At least we got to see another Akatsuki's "power". Paper butterflies? I don't want to jump the gun, but that seems pretty pathetic.
Not at all. I think that would be an excellent jutsu for intelligence-gathering. Not everything they do has to be geared towards combat, you know.

At least we finally know her name. Now I'm just curious as to what village she's from.

[Pedro The Hutt]

I'm going to say that it probably had to do with the fact that if he shared the same last name with the 4th then it would have given it away from square one. We may have not known his name until recently, but I'd imagine that everyone else knew it.

I'm not exactly buying that, if everyone knew he was the Fourth's kid then they wouldn't have been sneering and snarling at him for 12 years. They probably would've felt oh so sorry for poor Naruto, son of the brave fourth Hokage, who had to deal with having an evil Kyuubi inside of him.

Which is why I still believe that Naruto being the fourth's kid is a relatively recent idea of Kishimoto. Just giving him extra Mary-Sue points to boot.

[Illjwamh]

Considering a very large portion of the fanbase has considered it ridiculously obvious for some time now (with convincing evidence and clues from the manga to back them up), I think the possibility of it being a new idea is highly unlikely.

I've been expecting it from just about the beginning, myself.

[Pedro The Hutt]

While true, it still is disappointing to see that they just dumped another Sue factor on top of him. (And still doesn't make any sense compared to how they treated him for the first 12 years of his life, but then, nothing beats a great big pile-up of off-screen angst)

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

I'm not exactly buying that, if everyone knew he was the Fourth's kid then they wouldn't have been sneering and snarling at him for 12 years. They probably would've felt oh so sorry for poor Naruto, son of the brave fourth Hokage, who had to deal with having an evil Kyuubi inside of him.

Which is why I still believe that Naruto being the fourth's kid is a relatively recent idea of Kishimoto. Just giving him extra Mary-Sue points to boot.
I'm not so sure. iirc Gaara's father was quite powerful in his village but the uncontrollable power of the sealed-demon meant that even he turned on him.
It's also probable that if Naruto was born out of wedlock then he would have no legitimate heritage.

[PassiveObserver]

From this last chapter it would appear that Jiraiya is totally boned, assuming he hasn't gotten a lot stronger since his youth (still wouldn't put it past him). I just hope that if Jiraiya does have to kick the bucket, he can at least take someone out with him. Hell, I'd settle for finally getting to see him fight using his full power. Should be a hell of a battle.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

From this last chapter it would appear that Jiraiya is totally boned, assuming he hasn't gotten a lot stronger since his youth (still wouldn't put it past him). I just hope that if Jiraiya does have to kick the bucket, he can at least take someone out with him. Hell, I'd settle for finally getting to see him fight using his full power. Should be a hell of a battle.
If you're thinking about his convo/confession and his foreshadowing of Naruto's heritage then yes. Things aren't looking too good for him since he's just gone and exhausted his character development and plot-device worth within a few pages.

Still, it'll be nice to see another Hokage-Level battle once again. The fact he'll be up against a team-up will add a little to the mix.

[Illjwamh]

Man, that would be cool. If Jiraiya does have to die (does the bit with Hanzou count as his flashback?), I'd like to see him go out in a blaze of glory.

And how are there six Akatsuki members? Including Pein himself, I only count five:

Itachi
Kisame
Zetsu
Konan
Pein


Unless we're assuming that Tobi is indeed still alive (it sure looked like him), and under Pein's command rather than above it.

[Zelyhon]

I think those bodies aren't actual named Akatsuki people as much as something like dummy bodies for Pein. The manga probably just referred to them as "Akatsuki" because they have the cloaks. They're probably part of whatever weird jutsus he uses.

[PassiveObserver]

I think those bodies aren't actual named Akatsuki people as much as something like dummy bodies for Pein. The manga probably just referred to them as "Akatsuki" because they have the cloaks. They're probably part of whatever weird jutsus he uses.

Thats probably not a bad guess. He does have the ability to create exact clones of people provided they loan the chakra for the copies (If I recall correctly).

[Barrelhaven]

Regardless, I think Tobi is still alive. He went out way too quickly and conveniently.

[PassiveObserver]

Regardless, I think Tobi is still alive. He went out way too quickly and conveniently.

Tobi is most definately alive. They wouldn't all of the sudden bring up that he is actually madara uchiha (whom the deamon fox is familiar with), without it actually leading to something.

[Zelyhon]

Thats probably not a bad guess. He does have the ability to create exact clones of people provided they loan the chakra for the copies (If I recall correctly).

You're mostly right. It was that he can transfer consciousness, form, abilities, and jutsus into another body. He doesn't create the body so much as mold it to fit whoever is put inside of it. He did that with Kisame and Itachi while they were extracting Gaara's demon. But the body itself is just some poor sap who gets taken for that purpose, as evidenced by the corpses of Not-Itachi and Not-Kisame.

[PassiveObserver]

From what I've seen/read about the spoilers for chapter 370 it would seem that the entire Naruto universe has pacing problems. /me states the obvious.

[triggerman]

man that hanzou was da man. he beat a three sannin bac in the day when they were together. i thinks dats crazy. like im pretty sure they are way stronger now but dang, pain aint no joke either. like if him and jiraiya. jiraiya will most definitely lose, but i think it will be a good fight.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

hmm. Hatori Hanzo is a seriously big name in ninja lore. I don't know how this might coincide with Hanzou but I have a feeling the old leader's body might make a reappearance thanks to Pein's machine.

[PassiveObserver]

hmm. Hatori Hanzo is a seriously big name in ninja lore. I don't know how this might coincide with Hanzou but I have a feeling the old leader's body might make a reappearance thanks to Pein's machine.

Wouldn't surprise me. Sasori raised the dead with puppets, and Orochimaru flat out raised the dead. Seems to be a common device for evil characters to employ.
Now what bothers me is the different parallels in the lives of several generations of ninja. Tsunade = Sakura, Orochimaru = Sasuke, Jiraiya = Naruto. Also Sasuke's chakra resembles that of Uchiha madara, therefore Sasuke = Madara. From this we can also conclude Orochimaru = Madara. Seeing as Madara was presumed dead, and seems to have somehow prolonged his life a great deal, one must wonder. How not dead is Orochimaru? And when will he work his way back into the story? Or maybe I'm over thinking things out of boredom.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

How not dead is Orochimaru? And when will he work his way back into the story? Or maybe I'm over thinking things out of boredom.Well he definately still lives on through Kabuto and I'll be dissapointed if the powers Sasuke acquired did not come without a price

[Natsuke Takeda]

Chapter 370

From what I see, the Naruto series has a horrible habit of not keeping it's original focus. Right now, the existence of Pein/Pain/whatever seems to be overshadowed by a certain Uchiha...

And seriously, Uchiha? WHY Uchiha? In fact, why is EVERYTHING involving the entire world revolving around Konoha's past and especially the Uchiha. I'm SICK of Uchiha.

Everything right now has been tied to Uchiha. Which is clearly pissing me off. What happened to the thrill of Akatsuki? They're S-Class missing-nin... How much more higher-ranked can you get than S? Uchiha Madara must be like...

U-Class! for UCHIHA. >.>

I know I'm getting over-frustrated... but really... Kishimoto should have at least made some real progress on Akatsuki. So far, no one has dealt any huge blows to Akatsuki's plans, which I'll say for now is now being contradicted in a way this chapter.

[Illjwamh]

Man, WTF is going on? I can barely follow this damn thing anymore.

[General Suburbia]

Basically, there's this really bad group of ninjas that wanna do something really bad. It involves sucking monsters out of a bunch of kids and taking over some village no one really cares enough to know about. Also, the leader is supposedly kick-ass awesome. I forgot what his name is.

Meanwhile, one of the group member's little brother is having a fit and has assembled his own little team to hunt the older brother. The brother knows this, and at the same time decides to lure his younger brother's former best friend into some kind of trap or deal or something, and remains quite about the details.

Meanwhile, the younger brother's former best friend's teammates (our main characters) are busy looking for the younger brother with a hissy fit. Or the very bad group of ninjas, I forgot. Something happened to them a while back, but that haven't been mentioned in such a long time I'm starting to forget they exist.

Meanwhile, this old guy has found his way inside the bad guys' village and has found out that the bad guy leader is so strong that he beat a beat some dude that was also very strong 50 years ago. And now he's getting worried.

At the same time, he's also getting worried about some event that happened a decade ago, and how it all ties in to some other dude that was supposed to have died hundreds (and possibly) thousands of years ago. Turns out his worries are somehow on the dot, as another member of the very bad group of ninjas is wondering around, brooding over "that" and how "that" is going to threaten the rest of humanity.

There are some other things thrown in along the side, like Naruto's father and mother being revealed, the old dude talking about another one of Naruto's "that" jutsu, etc.

I'm probably off on some details, but yeah. It's getting really hard to follow.

Forget my doubts. Kishimoto is not going to make this pretty. The best thing to do now imo is pull a deux ex machina and get it over with.

[Barrelhaven]

S'ok, if it wasn't blatantly obvious before, after reading Ch. 370, I think we can all agree Jiraiya isn't making it out of there alive. I mean, c'mon...handing over a legacy just in case? That's as good a 'kiss of death' as any.

Also, I don't like the idea of Naruto getting yet another suped-up special move. He's already loaded as is...Kishi needs to work within Naruto's current skill set and use it more creatively, not just add more tricks to the list. But I guess at this point, he's running outta ideas with that whole 'shadow clone' technique much like how he did with that 'it-really-wasn't-me-you-attacked-but-actually-a-plank-of-wood-instead' technique or whatever the hell you call it.

[PassiveObserver]

S'ok, if it wasn't blatantly obvious before, after reading Ch. 370, I think we can all agree Jiraiya isn't making it out of there alive. I mean, c'mon...handing over a legacy just in case? That's as good a 'kiss of death' as any.

Also, I don't like the idea of Naruto getting yet another suped-up special move. He's already loaded as is...Kishi needs to work within Naruto's current skill set and use it more creatively, not just add more tricks to the list. But I guess at this point, he's running outta ideas with that whole 'shadow clone' technique much like how he did with that 'it-really-wasn't-me-you-attacked-but-actually-a-plank-of-wood-instead' technique or whatever the hell you call it.

I suppose it comes down to the fact that Naruto must get some crazy jutsu to combat the fact that all the people he fights are several thousand times more intelligent than himself, along with having ridiculous abilities (sharingon anyone?), forbidden crazy jutsu, and nearly indestructible bodies. The way it looks Naruto has to defeat all of akatsuki, they need to level the playing field somehow.

[Illjwamh]

How do you figure he has to defeat all of them? He's only ever even fought two, and only killed one of them. Well, I guess Kakashi technically finished him off, but you know what I mean.

The Akatsuki bodycount:

Sasori - Chiyo and Haruno Sakura

Kakuzu - Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi

Hidan - Nara Shikamaru

Orochimaru - Uchiha Sasuke

Deidara - Uchiha Sasuke and Himself

[Akimichi Choji]

Orochimaru wasn't a member of the Akatsuki when he died...

[Illjwamh]

Yeah, but he still had his ring, so I'm counting him.

[PassiveObserver]

Seeing as akatsuki already has two Uchiha in their ranks, I don't think we can really count on Sasuke to give any more help in destroying akatsuki. Also I consider the Sasori fight an unfair example because chiyo had extensive knowledge of his Jutsu. Had it been sakura and anyone else fighting they would have lost. As for Shikamaru, well he's just awesome, I conceed to that point. It just seems to me that the majority of akatsuki's distruction will be at the hands of Naruto.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

The most interesting thing at the moment is the history of the Uchiha family. It has been hinted at ever since the flashback of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. The other factor is how on earth this first Uchiha is related to the Kyuubi. My guess is that this nine-tails is involved with the foundation of the Konoha village.

[PassiveObserver]

The most interesting thing at the moment is the history of the Uchiha family. It has been hinted at ever since the flashback of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. The other factor is how on earth this first Uchiha is related to the Kyuubi. My guess is that this nine-tails is involved with the foundation of the Konoha village.

Well if Jiraiya assumes correct Madara could summon the Kyuubi. It would appear the Kyuubi has something to do with what is essentially bad energy from the people. It could be that Madara, with his extremely dark chakra, had the ability to create a Kyuubi in battle. Now the thing that bothers me is that the Uchiha clan acted as a sort of police in konoha (if I recall correctly), yet their founder was apparently an evil Ninja that the first Hokage felt the need to destroy. I'm also troubled by how the first hokage defeated a ninja that could summon a Kyuubi.

[triggerman]

well i was thinking along the same lines. Like either the first Hokage was really an amazing ninja with some outrageous jutsu. I guess the famous Wood style jutsu that the 1st is famous for, that supposedly he, and yamato who is supposed to be a clone of the 1st and an experiment of Orochimaru, can use.

But to be able to summon the Kyuubi is crazy. But thinking about what u said about how the Uchiha were the police squad in Konoha, maybe the older members of the clan new about his evil spirit and there way of trying to reconcile for it was to become the protectors of the village. I don't know. but i wanna see Jiraiya go all out if he does die.

[Akimichi Choji]

oh and btw, I heard that the entire plot for the end of naruto was leaked... and unfortunately I read it...

For anyone who really doesn't care about strictly following the series heres a spoiler for ya...if anyone knows that this isn't true, let me know, cause its just rumors in japan

THIS IS A HUGE SPOILER, THIS WILL RUIN THE END FOR YOU!!! CAUTION WHEN READING!!!!

the fourth hokage ran away and wasn't actually killed fighting kyuubi, he took his wife and left the hidden leaf village...Together they formed the Akatsuki, and invited the three best ninja's of the hidden leaf to join them, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Itachi...Jiraiya and Itachi refused, orochimaru joined and was named as #.... the fourth decided not to go after jiraiya thinking him able to keep the information secret, and respecting his old master too much...so he threatened itachi that if he didn't join, he would kill the entire Uchiha clan... Itachi(just a little arrogant) believed that anyone the fourth could send against him was easily defeatable...unfortunately while he was out on a mission the fourth sent the #2 ranked akatsuki member "white tiger" to kill most of the uchiha clan save one...when itachi returned he was able to ward off white tiger with his newly aquired mangekyo sharingan.... then to save his brother, itachi decided to join... but he had to do something first...he had to ensure that his younger brother would one day be strong enough to bring down the akatsuki, so he made sasuke hate him...by making him think he killed the entire uchiha clan...After absorbing Orochimaru, sasuke eventually finds itachi... and defeats him...only at the end does sasuke learn the truth, and is sent again in a shame spiral...but with his final breath Itachi bears no remorse, and is happy he can finally openly love his brother, and vice versa...

This is the end of the uchiha story...now on to naruto

as many have speculated, Uzumaki Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage and his wife...after hunting down the other akatsuki members, naruto gets to its leader, the fourth, and discovers this...they fight, and they are quite even for a while, until the fourth finally gets an advantage and badly beats naruto, still unwilling to give up naruto fights on, but it is clear something needs to happen or he will die... Then naruto's mother(akatsuki rank #8) gives her life to injure the fourth, and shows her love to naruto, with his final chance naruto kills the fourth hokage.... now going back to a lack of parenthood....

Hatake Kakashi dies in battle against the #2 ranked Akatsuki member, the White Tiger...defending Gai-sensei, who then kills white tiger in a blind rage...

at the end, naruto is proclaimed the Sixth hokage, as he always wanted

[Kei]

That is some pretty bad fanfiction you have there.

[KiraraKim]

How on Earth would the entire ending be leaked? Kishimoto probably hasn't even written the ending yet. Isn't there still a good number of chapters left?

[Two-twenty]

I can't even begin to count the plot holes. Rumours like this spring up all the time (people get kicks from leading Naruto fans on) and this one is a particularly poorly thought-out one.

Really now Akimichi Choji, get a clue.

[Akimichi Choji]

First of all, this is just what Ive heard, so like I said if it's not true, it's not true. But it makes perfect sense if it is. I am hard pressed to find a plot hole.

[Zelyhon]

First of all, this is just what Ive heard, so like I said if it's not true, it's not true. But it makes perfect sense if it is. I am hard pressed to find a plot hole.

Since you can't find any, here's a few things that this "summary" either lacks or blatantly contradicts canon information with.

1: We know the leader(s) of Akatsuki and neither of them are the Fourth Hokage. This has been confirmed by multiple sources on each one.

2: Akatsuki doesn't give numbers. They give rings and positions of fingers for the big statue thing.

3: There is no "White Tiger" in Akatsuki. That character just doesn't exist.

4: There is *one* woman in Akatsuki and she is named Konan. Naruto's mother is named Kushina. She is described as having red hair and acting like a tomboy. Konan has blue hair and, while there is little personality shown yet, she's certainly no tomboy.

5: Naruto being the 4th's son is no longer speculation, as it is a stated fact in chapter 367

6: There is no mention of the Kyuubi in there, who will almost certainly play into the final confrontation with Akatsuki (and their real leader, who is not the 4th Hokage)

7: There is no mention of the goals of Akatsuki or of their giant statue they use to contain the beasts.

8: No mention of any of the other surviving members of Akatsuki, like Zetsu, Kisame, or Pein (the sort-of leader).

9: No mention of...well...anyone except Naruto and Sasuke. Even if the rest of the village is forgotten, Sakura would play some role in the end.


There's nine for you, and those were just ones off the top of my head.

[Akimichi Choji]

Well my friend, nicely done. I do concede that what I wrote is no doubt a rumor. Although to be honest, Pein does look like the fourth with piercings and red hair, and I doubt Kishimoto wouldn't make it beneath him for the fourth and his wife to have changed names and hairstyles to form their new "Akatsuki" identities. But, thats highly unlikely. So, back to the manga.

**EDIT**

I failed to mention this earlier by the way, my apologies. The character I referred to as "White Tiger" is in fact Konan. Her ring Byakko on her right middle finger means White Tiger.

[Zelyhon]

Well my friend, nicely done. I do concede that what I wrote is no doubt a rumor. Although to be honest, Pein does look like the fourth with piercings and red hair, and I doubt Kishimoto wouldn't make it beneath him for the fourth and his wife to have changed names and hairstyles to form their new "Akatsuki" identities. But, thats highly unlikely. So, back to the manga.

**EDIT**

I failed to mention this earlier by the way, my apologies. The character I referred to as "White Tiger" is in fact Konan. Her ring Byakko on her right middle finger means White Tiger.

While the Byakko ring might make a bit more sense out of the "White tiger" bit, that opens up another contradiction. You said Naruto's mother, were this real, was #8 while "White Tiger" is #2. With one woman in Akatsuki, that puts Konan in two positions at once.

[Akimichi Choji]

Oh well that just proves more that this theory I found is incorrect.

I wish they used Choji more in the series...I love him so.

[Two-twenty]

Oh well that just proves more that this theory I found is incorrect.

I wish they used Choji more in the series...I love him so.
Subtle change of subject there. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Twotwenty/v.gif

The same can be said for Ino, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Ten Ten, Neiji, Lee, Anko, Kurenai, Danzo, Ibiki, Iruka, blah, blah, blah, just about the entire supporting cast.

[Barrelhaven]

Subtle change of subject there. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Twotwenty/v.gif

The same can be said for Ino, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Ten Ten, Neiji, Lee, Anko, Kurenai, Danzo, Ibiki, Iruka, blah, blah, blah, just about the entire supporting cast.

Hell, even some of the MAIN characters (i.e., Kakashi, Sakura, etc.) are getting shirked in the development department.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

I hate to break it to you but we've all known the ending for a long long time.

Naruto becomes Hokage and they all live happily ever after. The End.

[PassiveObserver]

I hate to break it to you but we've all known the ending for a long long time.

Naruto becomes Hokage and they all live happily ever after. The End.

Personally I'd rather Naruto pull a Jesus and die for their sins, and then Shikamaru becomes hokage. Not only would that just own entirely, it would also create a great contrast to the life Shikamaru always wanted.

[Akimichi Choji]

Subtle is my middle name...

I don't know about Shikamaru becoming hokage, I mean it would be a decent twist, but it's just too opposite to his persona. I envision Shikamaru pulling a Jiraiya and denying the position only to look for someone else, like one of his team members....and best friend....CHOJI!!!!

Join the campaign for Akimichi Choji for Hokage, 08'!!!

[Barrelhaven]

Subtle is my middle name...

I don't know about Shikamaru becoming hokage, I mean it would be a decent twist, but it's just too opposite to his persona. I envision Shikamaru pulling a Jiraiya and denying the position only to look for someone else, like one of his team members....and best friend....CHOJI!!!!

Join the campaign for Akimichi Choji for Hokage, 08'!!!

As PO stated, the fact that it's the last job Shikamaru would want is the reason why it'd be such a charming result. Who wouldn't love a grumpy, lazy hokage? But yeah, your view definitely suits his character better, though.

Just curious, but what's with all the Choji-love? He probably had like 3 lines total in all 29,014 episodes, and hardly received any screen time. Basically, he's an obese kid who doesn't like people pointing out his poor eating habits. He'd probably kick the bucket from clotted arteries before making hokage, anyway.

[Illjwamh]

Nah, Chouji's cool. His fight with Jiroubou made up for his shortcomings.

But Hokage? I don't think so.

[oompa loompa]

outside of the next hokage debate (which will end with naruto being hokage...... because thats the only possible way it could end) is tobi madara or what, cuz its really getting annoying hearing jiraya talk about "THAT" technique, and everyone getting to a revelation and woops end of chapter, then like an ADD patient, the manga forgets what it was talking about in the last chapter and goes on to another of its 6 parallel tangents, be it sasuke, naruto, Pain, jiraya, kakashi, or any of the other lesser shinobi that decide to make themselves usefull. basically im just getting sick and tired of nothing going anywhere...... the only thing that has hapened in the last 10 chapters besides sasukes sharingan becoming the lord of DEUS EX MACHINA (referring to battle against akatsuki) is that jiraya can turn people into frogs..... WOW that friggin amazing.... not..... MOVE THE DAMN STORY ALONG!!!!!!


really anticipating next week though lol

[Akimichi Choji]

Ok I just finished 371, how could Pein and Konan NOT be the fourth and his wife???

Pein claims Jiraiya is his former sensei, that he no longer has any love for. And Jiraiya remarks that Konan has grown to be a beautiful women and that her jutsu has improved...

I'm sorry, but unless Pein is the other unknown student of Jiraiyas, I can't see Pein not being the Fourth and Konan being Jiraiya's female student.

And I'm sorry, but Choji is God. And when you mention he wasn't in the series much, doesn't mean he wasn't a great Ninja. The first, second, and fourth hokage's are barely mentioned in the series(save the fourth) and their argueably three of the greatest ninja's ever to exist!

Honestly, I am a fan of samurai over ninja, so I favor the ninja in the series who have the bluntest techniques. I don't like the fancy stuff, just hit and punch. When Choji fights Jiroubou he never uses like, stealth, or fire or elements to fight him. At the beginning he just puts chains on himself and uses the meat tank technique. At the end, all he does is pop a pill to make him extremely fast and powerful.

When Chomaru fought against the sand, all he did was use the enlargement jutsu and literally wack the crap out of the shinobi on the buildings. I mean, you can't more blunt then that!

I mean, I'm sure Choji and Chomaru have techniques similar to that of regular shinobi as well, but the fact that most of the time they only use their fists or swords to fight, is what I love most about them. And since Shikamaru is Choji's best friend....

Choji/Shikamaru in 08'!

Vote Lazy, or don't vote at all(even lazier)!

[oompa loompa]

..........um...... ok..... neways..... about Pain being the fourth...... If he is, I wouldn't be surprised, however I don't think he is based largely on the fact that if he was, he wouldn't have a crossed out rain nation head band. but f course we won't really know until he fights since the fourth knew how to summon frogs an used basically the same techinques as jiraya..... and about the wife thing, thats possible becasue she is from the rain nation but "Konan" wasn't her name and she was already old when she gave birthto naruto so Jiraya wouldn't have made the grown up comment

[Barrelhaven]

Ok I just finished 371, how could Pein and Konan NOT be the fourth and his wife???

Pein claims Jiraiya is his former sensei, that he no longer has any love for. And Jiraiya remarks that Konan has grown to be a beautiful women and that her jutsu has improved...

I'm sorry, but unless Pein is the other unknown student of Jiraiyas, I can't see Pein not being the Fourth and Konan being Jiraiya female student.

Yeah, after reading 371, it's most likely them. If that's the case, this could either be horribly retarded or incredibly awesome...I don't see there being a middle ground here.

Anyway, we should've seen the signs, since Kishi brought up Naruto's parents out of the blue not too long ago.

Oh, and I don't mind if you like Choji...I was just wondering about the reason behind it, is all. =)

[Illjwamh]

I assumed Konan and Pein were Jiraiya's other two students. He had three, you know.

And he referred to her as "Konan", not "Kushina", which he would have done if he'd recognized her as Naruto's mother and not as someone else.

And her hair is blue, not red.

Pein is clearly going by a pseudonym or Jiraiya would've figured out who he was already as well.


Honestly, I think you guys are grasping at straws for something you want to happen, and are failing to step back and analyze things objectively.

[Akimichi Choji]

That would be a decent assumption, but Jiraiya's third student looks nothing like what Pein looks like, not to be mean but it seems to me that Jiraiya's other student is one of the only anime characters to ever been drawn to look more like an Asian person. Its more likely that the Fourth died his hair and got some piercings... And to be honest, I assumed Jiraiya's girl student was the Fourth's wife...

Choji/Shikamaru in 08'!

Vote Lazy! Or don't vote at all(even lazier)!

[Illjwamh]

Pein has multiple bodies, as we've just seen. It's not difficult to assume he can change his appearance.

From what we know, Kushina was a kunoichi of the Whirlpool country before she met and married the Fourth. It's unlikely then that she would have been the genin student of any Konoha shinobi.

Also, Pein could be using the term "sensei" more loosely. It doesn't have to mean that he was once Jiraiya's direct subordinate. Sakura refers to Gai as "Gai-sensei", and she's not on his team. He could also be using the term in reference to Jiraiya having been Konan's sensei, considering he's talking to her. It's way to soon to be jumping to conclusions. Especially unlikely ones.

[PassiveObserver]

I can safely say without a doubt that Pein and Konan are not Naruto's parents. I think it would be safe to assume that the two other students in the photo with Jiraiya and the fourth are probably Pein and Konan. Granted pein's headband says otherwise, but that's beside the point. Either way he's not the fourth.

[Barrelhaven]

I can safely say without a doubt that Pein and Konan are not Naruto's parents. I think it would be safe to assume that the two other students in the photo with Jiraiya and the fourth are probably Pein and Konan. Granted pein's headband says otherwise, but that's beside the point. Either way he's not the fourth.

I wouldn't put it past Kishi to embrace the absurd. After all, Orochimaru still lives on Liquid Snake-style, and friggin' Uchiha Madara is apparently still roaming around as well.

[PsychoSaiya-jin]

372: To my surprise, it turns out that Jiraiya is the true leader of Akatsuki. Just as planned.

[Elric]

For Pein and Konan, I'm predicting they're Jiraya's two other students. I recall 2 chapters ago when Pein was switching bodies is that one of them was chubby.

For the past few chapters, I've found Jiraya's jutsu to be a lot more fun than some of the jutsu I've seen for a while, exclusding Konan's since I find her's to be interesting.

[triggerman]

372: To my surprise, it turns out that Jiraiya is the true leader of Akatsuki. Just as planned.

u for real that would be crazy and i would be extreamly surprised if that would be the case. But i would be really willing to say that pain and konan are jiraiya's students outside of the fourth. Like we can not be sure that the first pain that we were exposed to is the actual pain, that could have been one of his other bodies, who knows. but like i don't think that pain is the real leader of akatsuki, but i think the person sitting on the the vally of the end statue is the real leader, which is probably uchiha madaraa

[Shadowmage]

u for real that would be crazy and i would be extreamly surprised if that would be the case. But i would be really willing to say that pain and konan are jiraiya's students outside of the fourth. Like we can not be sure that the first pain that we were exposed to is the actual pain, that could have been one of his other bodies, who knows. but like i don't think that pain is the real leader of akatsuki, but i think the person sitting on the the vally of the end statue is the real leader, which is probably uchiha madaraa
[/sarcasm]

[Akimichi Choji]

Where did you find 372? From what I've seen its not out yet...

And honestly, lets stop the arguements about whether or not Tobi is madara...Obviously he is, in the same episode Madara's mentioned, Tobi(supposedly dead) is seen on Madara's statue with the sharingan in his little eye hole...Now, whether or not Madara ever died, or Tobi is just a reincarnation of Madara is debatable... But I think we can safely say Tobi is Madara one way or the other...

As for Pein being the Fourth's other student...I can't see that. Honestly, the fact that he was never spoken about in the series gives a LITTLE bit of help to the fact that he may be Pein, but that also works against the theory. Pein's the leader of the Akatsuki, meaning he must be a GODLY ninja(whether or not he takes orders from madara). I don't see a character never before mentioned in the series being the Leader of this group of awesome shinobi...

It's much easier to believe the Fourth mastered this body technique to hide who he is. I mean, who cares if the other student's face was shown and everyone knew who he was. Because it doesn't seem he was even significant enough to even be mentioned before. But if the FOURTH was Pein, now THERES a reason to master a body technique to keep people from recognizing you.

Now as for the Konan and/or Kushina debate heres the thing: she could have changed her name. According to the story, the FOURTH died(supposedly) but what happened to his wife? I'm guessing she ran away after the Fourth's death(or did she run away with the fourth after faking his own death?) and changed her identity, hoping never to be found. Now, I assume she isn't a godly enough ninja to have as many advanced techniques as Namikaze or Jiraiya, so the Toad sage may have simply been able to recognize her right off the bat(or maybe he already knew she was in the Akatsuki). If Jiraiya had already known that Naruto's mother(and his former student) had joined the akatsuki, he may have found out on his own what her new identity was(konan).

This leads us to where 371 ended. Jiraiya easily recognizes Konan(kushina, my guess) because she has only changed a portion of her appearance(only the hair from what I've noticed, if indeed she is Jiraiya's other student). This leads us to a fight that Jiraiya will inevitably win that is full of emotion for the sensei who has to battle his former student to the death. But this leads even FURTHER into a great conflict and battle, as Pein joins the fight(probably after Jiraiya has defeated or incapacitated Konan). Jiraiya(still unaware of Pein's POSSIBLE identity as the Fourth) probes Pein as to his true identity, what he's doing with Konan, and about the Akatsuki in general. Now, I doubt the Pein vs. Jiraiya fight will have a victor, because to be honest, neither would die against the strongest of ninja and both still have plenty of use in the series. So I predict that Pein will use some kind of technique that Jiraiya will recognize. Then Jiraiya will say something about it(probably something along the lines of "theres only one shinobi I have seen use that technique, and he is dead), causing Pein to be anxious about his TRUE identity being revealed, so he'll probably run away(with or without Konan I can't say).

This will leave Jiraiya with a lot to think about, and I'm guessing by his next encounter with Pein he will have figured it. I don't know how he'll reveal it, maybe he will refer to Pein as Namikaze. Thus revealing to the us that Pein is the Fourth.

Or Jiraiya could totally misinterpret Pein using a technique the Fourth used and he could assume that Pein had SOMETHING to do with the Fourth, or the fourth's death. Then Pein will probably laugh and chastise Jiraiya for his stupidity, then reveal that he is in fact the Fourth.

Now, this will be a huge shock for Jiraiya, but from what wev'e seen he is in pretty decent control of his emotions(save for pretty girls). Now after this is sketchy, because if this is along the lines of what happens, Jiraiya has revealed probably the biggest twist of the show. And that would be his peak as a character, which may(although highly unlikely) lead to his death. He probably would get into a fight with the Fourth(if this is how its gonna happen), and although I don't see Jiraiya losing to ANYONE, the most outrageous ending to the fight would be Jiraiya's death. Because honestly, maybe Jiraiya's entire point in the series(other then training naruto) is revealing that the Fourth is Pein. Then after the huge twist is revealed, Jiraiya dying would set the series up for the climax.

But if Jiraiya had previously found out that Pein is the Fourth, he probably wouldn't tell anyone. So if he died, the knowledge would die with him. This leads to a problem, because who is left to reveal to the other characters Pein's true identity? Maybe Kakashi, since he was the Fourth's pupil, but I doubt it. So the safe bet would be Jiraiya surviving the fight. And since I don't see Jiraiya EVER retreating from a fight, Pein would probably be the one to scurry away.

By the way, I don't claim this to be what will happen. I mean, it may happen. But I will be a little surprised if it does, this is just the guess of a guy whose up at 1:30 in the morning...

[Natsuke Takeda]

*twitches*

This still doesn't explain where the hell the damn demons they sucked out WENT.

wtf is with Kishimoto?! Gaara lost his powers alone with that cloud lady AND that poor poor turtle! As we can see, we DON'T have that many Akatsuki to sho- wait, we were shown EVERY member. Can someone please tell me where in the hell those powers went?!

And Chouji, Psycho was saracastic for 372, which is actually obvious to see. You don't need to show any kind of /sarcasm or *rolls eyes* stuff in THIS discussion to know what's a joke anymore... cause this series is now becoming exactly that: a joke.

EVERYTHING is still connected to Konoha, and that is absolute ridiculous. There are WAY too many connections between everyone. And what's worse is that the original Genin squad apart from the SakuNaruSasu trio (of DEATH) is being shoved for new characters that, quite honestly, are going to die anyways.

Where is my Ino? My Kiba? Where is the InoxSai action we should be seeing?! NaruxHina?! Seriously at LEAST NaruxHina scenes. I'm not a fan of them, but seriously, by NOW that should be taking its course full speed.

And Jiraiya not being surprised when he sees people he hasn't seen in such a long time is seriously not helping. His death should be dramatic, not super hero-esque. Every death is like that now, where he dies in glory. I think Jiraiya should die horribly since that seems to make a better effect. Everyone wants J to die like a man... Why not let him die of circumstances we COULDN'T see.

And tbh, is Pein is the Fourth... I'm burning my next Naruto manga. Cause quite honestly, you'd have to be a HUGE Naruto fan to seriously see that, and not throw the book in utter disgust for the sake of plotline storytelling.

The dead should be left dead. The dying should not always have that colorful "the rainbow will always flow" corny nonsense. And Naruto should FINALLY have a cool fight scene where he's NOT beaten half to death before he wins. If he's going to train like a mother f*cker, he's going to beat someone like a mother f*cker... and guess what~ He should OWN Sasuke.

As you can tell, I am /clearly/ frustrated by Naruto. It's a series I like to read and I can't help it. However, I am highly critical of how badly its been going. This time warp has done nothing but transfer Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball was a great series... DBZ was a series that... well, you get the point.

It's horrible >.>

[Barrelhaven]

And Chouji, Psycho was saracastic for 372, which is actually obvious to see. You don't need to show any kind of /sarcasm or *rolls eyes* stuff in THIS discussion to know what's a joke anymore... cause this series is now becoming exactly that: a joke.

Excellent post, but I loved this segment in particular. It pretty much sums up the state of the manga. This thread has been a face-palm bonanza lately...people can't even decipher blatant sarcasm anymore, because the manga has already become so absurd, that even the most illogical is possible.

I'm hoping they give Jiraiya proper treatment.

[Illjwamh]

Where did you find 372? From what I've seen its not out yet...

And honestly, lets stop the arguements about whether or not Tobi is madara...Obviously he is, in the same episode Madara's mentioned, Tobi(supposedly dead) is seen on Madara's statue with the sharingan in his little eye hole...Now, whether or not Madara ever died, or Tobi is just a reincarnation of Madara is debatable... But I think we can safely say Tobi is Madara one way or the other...

As for Pein being the Fourth's other student...I can't see that. Honestly, the fact that he was never spoken about in the series gives a LITTLE bit of help to the fact that he may be Pein, but that also works against the theory. Pein's the leader of the Akatsuki, meaning he must be a GODLY ninja(whether or not he takes orders from madara). I don't see a character never before mentioned in the series being the Leader of this group of awesome shinobi...

It's much easier to believe the Fourth mastered this body technique to hide who he is. I mean, who cares if the other student's face was shown and everyone knew who he was. Because it doesn't seem he was even significant enough to even be mentioned before. But if the FOURTH was Pein, now THERES a reason to master a body technique to keep people from recognizing you.

Now as for the Konan and/or Kushina debate heres the thing: she could have changed her name. According to the story, the FOURTH died(supposedly) but what happened to his wife? I'm guessing she ran away after the Fourth's death(or did she run away with the fourth after faking his own death?) and changed her identity, hoping never to be found. Now, I assume she isn't a godly enough ninja to have as many advanced techniques as Namikaze or Jiraiya, so the Toad sage may have simply been able to recognize her right off the bat(or maybe he already knew she was in the Akatsuki). If Jiraiya had already known that Naruto's mother(and his former student) had joined the akatsuki, he may have found out on his own what her new identity was(konan).

This leads us to where 371 ended. Jiraiya easily recognizes Konan(kushina, my guess) because she has only changed a portion of her appearance(only the hair from what I've noticed, if indeed she is Jiraiya's other student). This leads us to a fight that Jiraiya will inevitably win that is full of emotion for the sensei who has to battle his former student to the death. But this leads even FURTHER into a great conflict and battle, as Pein joins the fight(probably after Jiraiya has defeated or incapacitated Konan). Jiraiya(still unaware of Pein's POSSIBLE identity as the Fourth) probes Pein as to his true identity, what he's doing with Konan, and about the Akatsuki in general. Now, I doubt the Pein vs. Jiraiya fight will have a victor, because to be honest, neither would die against the strongest of ninja and both still have plenty of use in the series. So I predict that Pein will use some kind of technique that Jiraiya will recognize. Then Jiraiya will say something about it(probably something along the lines of "theres only one shinobi I have seen use that technique, and he is dead), causing Pein to be anxious about his TRUE identity being revealed, so he'll probably run away(with or without Konan I can't say).

This will leave Jiraiya with a lot to think about, and I'm guessing by his next encounter with Pein he will have figured it. I don't know how he'll reveal it, maybe he will refer to Pein as Namikaze. Thus revealing to the us that Pein is the Fourth.

Or Jiraiya could totally misinterpret Pein using a technique the Fourth used and he could assume that Pein had SOMETHING to do with the Fourth, or the fourth's death. Then Pein will probably laugh and chastise Jiraiya for his stupidity, then reveal that he is in fact the Fourth.

Now, this will be a huge shock for Jiraiya, but from what wev'e seen he is in pretty decent control of his emotions(save for pretty girls). Now after this is sketchy, because if this is along the lines of what happens, Jiraiya has revealed probably the biggest twist of the show. And that would be his peak as a character, which may(although highly unlikely) lead to his death. He probably would get into a fight with the Fourth(if this is how its gonna happen), and although I don't see Jiraiya losing to ANYONE, the most outrageous ending to the fight would be Jiraiya's death. Because honestly, maybe Jiraiya's entire point in the series(other then training naruto) is revealing that the Fourth is Pein. Then after the huge twist is revealed, Jiraiya dying would set the series up for the climax.

But if Jiraiya had previously found out that Pein is the Fourth, he probably wouldn't tell anyone. So if he died, the knowledge would die with him. This leads to a problem, because who is left to reveal to the other characters Pein's true identity? Maybe Kakashi, since he was the Fourth's pupil, but I doubt it. So the safe bet would be Jiraiya surviving the fight. And since I don't see Jiraiya EVER retreating from a fight, Pein would probably be the one to scurry away.

By the way, I don't claim this to be what will happen. I mean, it may happen. But I will be a little surprised if it does, this is just the guess of a guy whose up at 1:30 in the morning...

I don't know where you get your deductions from, or how you arrive at your "obvious" conclusions, but I must say I'm getting some serious insight into where bad fanfiction comes from.

[Akimichi Choji]

The dead should be left dead. The dying should not always have that colorful "the rainbow will always flow" corny nonsense. And Naruto should FINALLY have a cool fight scene where he's NOT beaten half to death before he wins. If he's going to train like a mother f*cker, he's going to beat someone like a mother f*cker... and guess what~ He should OWN Sasuke.

As you can tell, I am /clearly/ frustrated by Naruto. It's a series I like to read and I can't help it. However, I am highly critical of how badly its been going. This time warp has done nothing but transfer Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball was a great series... DBZ was a series that... well, you get the point.

It's horrible >.>

geez man, simmer down now...

If anything the t