Naruto Manga 459 Breakdown and Discussion: The Konoha 11 Follows Naruto’s Lead, What are Madara and Zetsu up to? and…another eye tech wonder???
Well, it had to happen. Shikamaru and the gang had to get into the action at some point and what a time for them to do so. Here it comes…
Talk about a mission and decision coming back to haunt you! I'll bet you didn't want to revisit that miserable "Retrieval"mission!
This is Penny(TsunadesTwin) with this week’s breakdown and I have to say this has come as close to a breakdown on all levels: the Konoha 11, the negotiations and…even Naruto’s faith in Sasuke (gasp!). When Kishi throws some wild surprises, he doesn’t hold back, does he? It feels like now we are in the middle of a close Super Bowl match up where we are sitting on the edge of our seats with all sides working their asses off and anything could happen. I LOVE games like that. I LOVE suspense like that. And, do we have it now! So much for any jutsu – well, almost!
I had a comment last week that bitched about the “romance” between Naruto and Sakura and how it wasn’t relevant. Well, hate to tell you NaruSaku/NaruHina haters out there but it is a huge component of what’s going on now. We now have the the Konoha 11 realizing that they are now the keepers of the “Will of Fire.” Word has now reached them about the decision to kill Sasuke as a criminal and Ino displays emotions I haven’t seen since Naruto I. Whoa! I had no idea she still had feelings for this emo nutcase. Regardless, everyone in our favorite group of shinobi now realizes that they now have to kill a former peer, a former trusted teammate, a former classmate…and now a wanted man. They are realizing that it is their time to step up to the plate and protect the now-rebuilding Konoha from the grave threat their former peer now presents. In their collective minds, they are stopping the cycle of revenge Sasuke has started by eliminating Sasuke. Is this what Naruto had in mind???
Well, Sai and Shikamaru, independently, have come to this same conclusion: to protect Konoha and to stop the revenge they need to stop relying on Naruto so much and eliminate Sasuke. Sai’s now saying he can sense Naruto’s emotions – and he senses Naruto’s anger when it comes to Sasuke. Hello!?! Sai???? Guys, I don’t think we have a Root ANBU anymore – he’s now a part of the Konoha group and probably has been for a long time. Sai is looking at it from the angle of Naruto being the workhorse who doesn’t get the full credit he deserves for the ultimate solutions – and his trusted friend.
For a guy who had to dig into books to figure out emotions, he's probably the most emotionally balanced shinobi of the lot. Definitely a true friend.
Shikamaru comes in and takes Naruto’s original argument of stopping the cycle of revenge and follows it through to fruition – and, folks, it’s ugly. But, hey? Who said the “give peace a chance” movement was an easy one?
Sakura, you can blame Naruto for starting this one. Shikamaru is following Naruto's lead...Or, is he?
Well, the title of this week’s chapter is Sakura’s Decision but I’d say it is a decision made by the now-Konoha 12. However, Sakura takes on the “fall guy” role to be the bearer of bad news to Naruto – that Sasuke must be killed. It is difficult to say where Sakura’s emotions are on Naruto or Sasuke but…it’s safe to say that she truly understands the gravity of the situation and the impact it will have on her childhood friend.
You can't deny it anymore, Sakura. It's over. That bad boy Uchiha you lusted after is no longer coming home to a warm welcome.
Little does anyone know, somewhere on the way back to Konoha, Naruto is now struggling with his own doubts. I’ll bet that none of us thought we’d ever see the day where we’d see Naruto actually doubt Sasuke in any way. However, as Kishi often does, he throws us another curve ball. Naruto is now realizing that Sasuke is just too far gone to be helped or saved – not that anyone can be saved from their own darkness to begin with. When Naruto made his promise to Sakura, he was a kid who thought it would be merely easy to convince a comrade to come back to Konoha. However, he has now learned that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He has also matured due to his encounter with Pain and now he realizes he’s a role model for allof Konoha. It brings to mind the last encounter that Naruto had with Itachi. For details, click here. Itachi questioned whether Naruto would be able to make the difficult choice between Konoha and Sasuke and gave him some of his power in the process. Naruto boasted that he’d save Sasuke and Konoha. Well, that was before the Pain-induced growth spur our favorite ninja experienced. I believe he’s now thinking “Hey Itachi? I think you’re right.”
Talk about not being able to leave work! I hate it when I have stuff on my mind that keeps me from sleeping!
As I had a sleepless night due to a storm, much like Naruto is above, I began to ponder these developments. I have three theories on this and you can vote on which one you think is likely:
Theory 1: Naruto has finally had it with Sasuke. He’s no longer able to deal with the fact that Sasuke is seeking revenge for revenge’s sake, in his mind. He finally realizes that he can no longer save him. Based on his recent experience with Pain, Naruto realizes that Sasuke is now the embodiment of the “cancer” in the ninja world – one he had promised to make right (to Jiraiya). As such, Naruto feels that this cancer must be killed.
Theory 2: Naruto is feeling the same as in theory 1. However, he is now struggling with the prospect of Konoha eliminating Sasuke being a form of revenge because Sasuke is now a part of Akatsuki – the very group that has been after himfor many years and who destroyed Konoha – versus Sasuke’s desires for revenge and hatred. Which “revenge” is “justifiable?”
Theory 3: Naruto is feeling the same as Theory 1. However, in his recent experience with Pain, he learned that only through understanding another’s pain can come true understanding. The concept of “understanding another’s pain” does not mean agreeing with it. Therefore, he feels he must talk to Sasuke to find out what is going on and somehow conclude this mess. On top of that, he is sensing that something just isn’t right…
Naruto, where have YOU been? The rest of us haven't been able to understand this guy for quite some time now!
Ok…back to where the REAL action is….THE KAGE POW WOW!!!!
Hold on tight everyone! Keep your arms and hands inside the car at all times until we come to a complete stop! We're now in for a wild ride thanks to Madara!!
Yup, we are here, folks. The part you have been waiting for…the crashing of the Kage Party, which was quickly turning into a flop faster than you can say “Hokage.” While we are seeing some major developments in Konoha, there is just as much table-shattering activity in the Land of Iron. Danzo tries to play up the humility act big time but our rather emotional, demanding and very temperamental Raikage will have none of it. He see’s through Danzo’s games and tries to call him out into the open only to get a total smackdown by Mifune, our moderator for this deteriorating event.
Ok, we agree with you on one thing: no way in hell should Danzo lead...
However, Mifune doesn’t just smack down our Raikage – he tears down every other Kage present: Gaara for his youth, Tsuchi because of his age and his past use of Akatsuki, and Mizu because Akatsuki started there. Well, that pretty much decides it – Danzo it is…or is it?
Kishi?!? Just how many timesare you going to use that transplanted eye tech idea??? At the same time, I was thinking both that it was a great idea AND ecstatic that it was NOT the Sharingan this time. Ao, the old fart advisor of the gorgeous Mizukage, activates a Byakuganthat he claimed in a battle with a Hyuuga and what does he see…?
Ok, what the hell is going on here? Just how many Konoha eye techs have been transplanted into others? However, I must admit, this was pretty cool...
He sees a blast from his past – a chakra pattern that belonged to Shisui Uchiha, the one that Itachi killed in order to attain the Mangekyou Sharingan and his closest friend and relative. What makes this especially bad? Read below. Oh, Danzo! You are soooooooo busted!
Ok, Danzo. What's the deal here? Boy, does this raise some huge issues here...
Yup, Danzo got himself a gift of the most damaging Sharingan from our body harvesters now known as KabutOro. This Sharingan can manipulate a person’s mind without the victim even knowing it. Well, well, well. So, it may appear that Danzo has been manipulating things from the start. Does this mean that his appointment as Hokage was manipulated as well? Does this mean that Sai’s placement on Team 7 was a result of this same manipulation? Who knows just how much damage this guy has done with this? Or…is this all a result of the biggest, baddest Uchiha of all, Madara????
Meanwhile, Sasuke’s gang are gathering outside – only to have our “half-Zetsu” disappear – but to where is the question (we all know where – Sasuke is soooo clueless!). Unknown to Sasuke and company, they are being used, yet again, as part of Akatsuki so that they can take the fall for the “Dance of Chaos” Madara is orchestrating. Oh, this is gonna be good…!
The tailgate party before the real one begins...
As Danzo is getting the interrogation usually saved for those that fall prey to his Sharingan, Akatsuki crashes this horrendous occasion. Yup, that ugly version of Zetsu – I wish both of those halves would get back together. Ewwwww! – plays “Pop Goes the Akatsuki” with our rather angry Kage who finally stop bickering enough to realize that their common enemy is right before them all.
Here I ammmmmmmmm! It's time to PARTYYYYYY!!!!
And then the announcement to all that “Sasuke has entered the building…”
Well, we actually get some agreement from these three arrogant Kage. Note how Gaara and our lovely Mizukage remain out of the mess...
Now, for the ultimate question…
Okee Dokee! There was soooo much to cover in here and I can’t wait for the next chapter! Until then…
–Penny
Word On Mars 
I dig the debates, discussions, and predictions on the forum. Definitely makes the manga more engaging. Anyway, I’ve got some “maybe” scenarios that I think make sense for the chapters ahead:
Madara vs. Danzo: Danzo apparently presents a threat or obstacle to Madara’s plan to rise to power. He sent Sasuke after him to take him out, and he wouldn’t do that unless he knew Sasuke would win (because he plans to “sync” Sasuke with the Gedo Mazo still). Sending in Zetsu to the little tea party is probably his plan to isolate Danzo by sending the other Kages and ninja on a hide-n-go-seek chase for uchiha boy. At that point, I’m guessing either sasuke or madara himself will try to take out danzo.
Konoha vs. Sasuke: This one is gonna turn into a capture mission instead of a “hit” job. Why? Because they’re about to get naruto involved. Even though he was shown to say that he doesn’t understand sasuke anymore doesn’t mean he’s gonna intend on killing him. He didn’t kill Pain (but he DID end up understanding him), he sure isn’t going to stand for the intent to kill sasuke. It doesn’t fit in with his Ghandi-like approach to peace without killing approach. Naruto’s approach to the raikage already made that point though I think.
Naruto vs. Sasuke: Probably not gonna happen. I know a lot of people would disagree with this one, but there are too many people gunning for sasuke now who will probably get to him first. This list also includes shika’s group, sakura, sai, kakashi, etc. Why else would kishi make a big fuss about everyone not relying on naruto as much anymore? Only for them to stand on the sidelines for Naruto to have a heart-to-heart with sasuke? Sure, naruto is stubborn and would tell his crew to back off, but like I said, too many other people in the mix.
Someone is bound to die: And I think it’s sasuke. It seems like an obvious pick but there are a lot of good reasons to go with him being the one to get taken out over danzo, from a plot perspective. To keep it short, I think kabuto kills sasuke, not one of the kages or danzo. That’s too boring. Then the next major naruto showdown is b/w naruto and madara. Why? Naruto blames madara for screwing up sasuke, for influencing Pain to destroy konoha, and oh yeah, for killing his dad (who made a specific point to identify madara being behind akatsuki and the konoha attack when he was killed). Besides, who else is uber evil and as powerful as madara in the manga? Nobody, really. The only other candidates I think kishi would display naruto’s control over the kyubi in a battle with is Killerbee or Sasuke. And I already think sasuke is out of the running as mentioned above.
well, since we are throwing theories out…here’s mine Danzo/Madara theory.
In the manga it mentions that Danzo had ties with Orochimaru, and I also think that Danzo = Madara. Madara has been alive going on what 2oo some years. I think that Dazon/Madara had the body transfer jutsu and in his dealings with Oro he handed it over. So I think Madara/Danzo has been jumping bodies the whole time. I also think that he wanted Itachis body, but Itachi was too strong for him so he waited for Sauske. He didn’t show himself to Sauske until after Itachi was dead because Itachi knew too much and would stop Madara from taking Sauske. Cause in the end he did prove that he still loved his brother. Sauske is turning out to be too much for Madara/Danzo to handle so he has declared Sauske an enemy of the state pretty much so Sauske can be brought in and the body transfer can be forced. So he’ll be hokage of Konoha, and have a strong, nublie Uchiha body to rule to world……
So yeah, that’s my theory and i’m sticking to it!
Thank you for the review 😀 Another excellent job!
Naruto won’t kill Sasuke, unless it’s the final thing he does in the story. Thusfar he’s only killed 1 character (Kakuzu). It’s clear that Naruto is going Trigun (pacifism) mode, and that’s not a bad thing.
Likewise, there is entirely too much story built into Sasuke, along with his connections to Madara, for him to die anytime soon. I think he’s stronger than Kishi has made him seem during the Killerbee fight; especially with his new MS.
Sasuke has yet to do anything evil, and he has NEVER KILLED ANYBODY. Arguably Itachi, but he just fell over dead from exhaustion it seemed. Why would Kishi include the scene of him defeating countless ninjas, but not killing any of them. Clearly, he will redeem himself.
Yes, ultimately Sasuke will redeem himself, though he may die as it happens. I hated Sasuke in the anime, but in the manga he isn’t so bad, he’s just gullible. He’s being completely misled and his life has been fucked over by Madara and Danzo. All it would take is for Naruto to tell Sasuke that Madara lied about the kyuubi; at which point Sasuke could link all of his misfortune to that one action.
And I mean, Madara went against Itachi’s wishes 5 minutes after he died. What a dick! Wouldn’t Sasuke find it odd that the guy would so easily step on everything that Itachi tried so hard to maintain (Sasuke’s ignorance)? It’s only a matter of time before Sasuke realizes Madara’s a doucher. He’s just like Sakura, he needs to be told stuff in very very blatant terms.
I do hope the Sasuke issue is resolved soon. Naruto and Sakura live in a very loving environment with tons of potential friends. I find it VERY hard that people in their situation would cling to a shortlived childhood friendship when they could hang out with good people like Shikamaru, Choji, Lee, etc…
“Madara. Madara has been alive going on what 2oo some years.”
Assuming the Third was about 80 when he died, and that Madara is as old as the First, that would put him at around 110-120 years old.
“I also think that he wanted Itachis body, but Itachi was too strong for him so he waited for Sauske.”
Madara is way way way way way stronger than Sasuke or Itachi. He had so many opportunities for either of their bodies. He could’ve had Pain help him in killing Itachi. He summoned the kyuubi 16 years ago, and frankly, he makes Minato seem weak.
“Sauske is turning out to be too much for Madara/Danzo to handle so he has declared Sauske an enemy of the state pretty much so Sauske can be brought in and the body transfer can be forced.”
Just looking at the fact that Madara jokes around during all fights and can’t even be touched, along with the fact that he is ‘disappointed’ in Sasuke and was ready to kill him over the Killerbee incident, I don’t see how it’s infered that Sasuke is too powerful for Madara.
“So yeah, that’s my theory and i’m sticking to it!”
How many times have these theories been disproven? Naruto would be a terrible story if all of these theories were right.
To finally disprove the body transfer theory: You say Madara waited until Itachi died to appear before Sasuke. What about the fact that Sasuke was unconscious and at Madara’s mercy for a day after the fight? He was even tied up by Madara… If Madara wanted Sasuke’s body for anything, he would’ve taken it while sasuke was unconscious in his freaking cave.
IT must bee green eeggs anddd ham because itsss saaaamiaaaaam
hello neighbor
ONE) I’ve been killing myself waiting for this review to come out. for all you nar/saku fans it a rap you can cancel that from ever happening http://www.onemanga.com/Naruto/459/14/ saying something like that oh yea that’s a negative. okay on 2 the next topic. A WWND huh? (What would Naruto do) i think he will feel like a lot of weights been lifted off his shoulders and he has a clear conscious and he does the right thing and that is to kill sasuke before a war breaks out it’s almost the same decision itachi had to make his clan or konoha.
NI)Theory Sakura will find naruto and tell him that konoha has betryaed team 7 and they all want to kill sasuke enraged naruto goes back to the hokage to try and punch danzo head in and notices sasuke chakra he goes there see what sasuke has done and he makes his decision sasuke execution
TRE) sakura is so in love with sasuke that she lies to naruto to save sasuke life she tells him konoha is against them cause there all aiming to kill sasuke naruto becomes enraged throws a tantrum and convinces that there is another way to do stop sasuke and thats with the power itachi gave him.
CURATO) does anyone think that 1 half of zetsu may get pwn here idk im just asking should i continue madara plan this all along he needs to get danzo out of the way because he nos the bodyflicker justu CREDITS TO MANNY for finding this page http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Shisui_Uchiha : this may be a techinque that may force madra to fight equally i mean on the physical side of things boy if temari fan gets any closer to zetsu see ya
danzce and madara are link – how
1)”my right eye saw through the illusion placed on the 4th mizukage” danzo used misukage ok
2 kisame called todi who ever he really is = mizukage then i mean madara so both danzo and madara have inks in mizukage( but hold on. once a person is identify r they any reason for not to show his face why did not kisis did not show his face) (404 page 2)
3)danzo was at the place where pain fighting hanzo – madara knows pain too
4 the looks. everything the same righ side eye same hair short black simlier hight i can go on if you want to
that is engouh to show links betwwen danzo and madara dont tell me danzo dont know madara
hey Penny, i just wanna say you’ve been doing a great job on your posts since ira shutdown, i’ve had a blast reading them.
Indeed good job Penny! Don’t think I’m not reading your breakdowns too. 😉
So it’s not Obito’s arm and Sharingan that Danzo is housing, but Shisui’s.
Kishi could’ve made this so much more interesting by having it be Obito instead of Shisui.
Hey everyone,
I was just reviewing the polls and thought I’d give you one interesting poll result: it is a virtual tie as to whether or not Sasuke exacts his revenge yet finds more targets versus having his group be destroyed. That one I thought was very interesting…
Thanks for the comments. Gaaahhh. Time to get all the anime stuff caught up… 😀
Who else would he intentionally target though? He’s going after Danzo now thanks to Madara’s guidance and I doubt the hit-list will get bigger (Madara wouldn’t have time to make a case for another victim in all the ninja chaos we’re about to enjoy). Of course he might have to take out a bodyguard or two, but I dont’ think that counts towards what the poll question was asking about.
Kishi’s done a good job at mixing up the suspense and allowing the plot twists to go any way from week to week (Well…except for the damn eye techniques. The ninja eye fairy has been generous to this generation I guess). Anyway, the “what if’s” people have posted have been all over the place. Definitely entertaining and makes for the experience with the manga as a whole a pretty good one. Thankfully we’re over the..uh…pain of the slow ending to the Pain arc.
I actually like sasuke as a character. He’s been turned into the perfect character opposite of naruto, which is why i think he’ll end up dying, and NOT at naruto’s hands because it’s just more juicier that way.
Thanks for the breakdown Penny,. It was great that you explained, that some readers can’t understand. Like they are saying that it is stupid for Kishi to do this thing.. Can’t wait for the next chapter..
I think, not anytime soon, that sasuke will use his shiringan to help naruto control kyuubi, and they’ll bring peace after some major ass kicking.
Excellent breakdown! I can’t wait for the other chapter to come out and to read your entertaining and concise review on it 😉
omg did u see the newest one???? itachi comes back to life and POOF hes gone and it was just a ghost… D:<