NARUTO chapter 634 REVIEW
"THE NEW TRIO"
Weeeell, look who decided to show up finally!
PEDOchimaru in the house! Hide yo kids, hide yo wife...
So this chapter opens with the dramatic scene we were left with last week as Team 7 stands proudly atop their summoning animals looking every bit like the famous Konoha Sannin of lore. But immediately it’s clear that Naruto was expecting boss toad Gamabunta and not his childhood froggy friend Gamakichi who has appeared in his father's place. When questioned why by Naruto, Gamakichi explains that his old man is busy, which is unusual. I don’t recall there ever being a time in the series when a summoning animal was “too busy” to be summoned, which could be cause for suspicion. I’m a huge fan of Jiraiya but I’m not a fan of bringing his character back because I feel it was well laid to rest. However, there’s no denying this off hand comment by Gamakichi is fanning the flames for those who are keen on the idea because Jiraiya is the only other shinobi we know of who also has a blood contract with Bamabunta. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
After a curt prompting from Gamakichi, Naruto explains he needs his toad allie’s help with jumping over the large Juubi creatures before them to get close to the Juubi itself.
The scene next focuses on Sasuke and Sakura as they relay instructions to their summoning animals in the manner suggested in the last chapter; Sasuke and snake, who’s name is Aoda, will slide through the Juubi creatures while Sakura will focus on healing everyone with who DOES turn out to be Katsuyu the slug in a manner similar to when Tsunade protected and healed Konoha during the Invasion of Pain. And speaking of Tsunade, it’s at this moment that Katsuyu complements Sakura on her ability to use the BYAKUGO seal by stating that Tsunade “will be” so proud of her… And wha-la! We get our first official suggestion that Tsunade has indeed survived being cut in half, which means the other Kage are probably recovered as well. But I don’t think this really comes as a big surprise to anyone because we need all hands on deck to kick ass on the battlefield!!
Of course, all the Sannin references are not lost on Minato and especially Hiruzen as he sees Team 7 and nostalgically remembers his own students, the original Sannin, and on his urging Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke leap, slither, and melt into action!
As Juugo and Sai look on, the New Sannin implement their plan as Sasuke, Aoda, Naruto and Gamakichi skillfully dodge and block Juubi creature attacks from above and below respectively while the mini slugs of Katsuyu attach to every member of the Shinobi Alliance and begin to heals wounds and restore energy. While this is going on, Shizune once again comments on how powerful Sakura has become, and once again I can’t help but point out that we as the audience should not be TOLD over and over she is powerful, we should be SHOWN through action. If Sakura’s character was more effectively written, Kishi would not need to keep trying to convince us through words that she is stronger now, overall it makes her power-ups feel hollow, but as I have mentioned NARUTO is a shonen series and Kishi has focused his attention on developing his two main boys, Naruto and Sasuke. I got a great message the other day asking my thoughts on feminism in NARUTO and I basically wrote a short essay response I will share later once I clean it up a bit more. (Thanks besta-fera!!)
Moving on, we see Sasuke and Aoda faced with a challenge as two Juubi creatures cleverly form a spiky barrier to block their path, but Sasuke shows little concern as we see a black flame sword slice cleaning through the barrier and a Juubi creature behind it.
As Naruto prepares a massive RASENSHURIKEN, Sasuke, with his SUSANOO activated, aims an AMATERASU flamed arrow towards his comrade’s jutsu and on Naruto’s call they begin to create their next big combo move. The tension is high, and as the individual members of Team 8 & 10 fuel their encouragement silently, tears begin to leak out of Sakura’s eyes to see her teammates working together again. But as a succession of panels focuses in on one of her teary eyes, it seems there may be a little regret lingering there as well, as if she knows what she sees might be too good to be true.
As Naruto and Sasuke release their jutsu into the air and towards the Juubi, Naruto has a small flashback to Yamato, who finally gets this minor moment of panel time, even if it is past tense. The flashback serves to explain why Naruto and Sasuke can work well together because their Element Types, wind and fire, enhance each other, which speaks metaphorically to their relationship as rivals. And this dynamic is demonstrated as the RASENSHURIKEN and AMATERASUI arrow combine perfectly mid-air to create a giant, spinning, black flamed shuriken which hits the Juubi squarely on the body, leaving it yelling in pain.
As the Alliance forces celebrate the jutsu’s success, it also earns high praise from Tobirama who explains that a combo jutsu of that sort is incredibly challenging to pull off and usually takes years of practice, which makes it all the more impressive since Naruto and Sasuke have not worked together is years. It should also be noted that Tobirama complements Sasuke’s KAGUTSUCHI - or AMATERASUI arrow - alone as being the strongest he’s ever seen, which coming from a guy who’s fought a lot of Uchiha in his day, suggests that Sasuke is indeed in a league of his own in terms of Uchiha power.
Minato is shown having another proud-daddy moment as he playfully names his son and teammate’s combo jutsu a very long, over complicated title in an attempt to capture the impressive nature of the thing. But with a gentle smile, he decides against his idea and overall this scene feels like Kishimoto poking fun of the fact that a lot of jutsu names in NARUTO tend to get longer and more complicated the higher the power level.
As Naruto and Gamakichi come to a landing next to Sasuke and Aoda, we see Naruto’s trademark confidence, and in a somewhat unsettlingly manner, we see Sasuke’s trademark bloodlust.
Though Sasuke has professed to be on Konoha’s side now, it’s clear from this cold, yet burning expression that his anger and determination to be the best remains firmly intact. And more significantly, this panel plants a seed of doubt in our minds as we are reminded that since leaving Konoha, Sasuke’s loyalty has always been first and foremost to his agenda, his goals. We are meant to question now, what is Sasuke’s agenda? Is it truly to become Hokage? Or is there something else he has in mind? Is Sakura onto something with those teary eyes? Even sensitive Juugo professes to Sai that he does not know what his leader’s intentions are.
Left with these new doubts in our mind, the chapter closes up with the appearance of Orochimaru, Karin and Suigetsu, and based on the large Hashirama tree behind them and Oro’s clear address to Tsunade, we know they are meeting up with the “fallen” Kage, and that if Orochimaru is directly addressing Tsunade then she must indeed be alive and kicking. What her exact condition is, I hope we find out next week! Though I got to say, if she is still in two pieces, Oro’s observation about her not “holding up” too well makes a great BURNnnn. Haha.
Overall, this chapter had the feel of “filler” again, though it was interesting to see Naruto and Sasuke’s new combo jutsu. But at this level of the war a chapter that doesn’t even feature Hashirama and Madara, the two most powerful characters on the field, is a mellow chapter indeed. I did enjoy that it ended with Oro and friends because we’ve all been curious about their movements and how the Kage have been fairing, and it looks like we are about to find out more regarding both. Aside from showing us how well Naruto and Sasuke can still work together, this chapter also called into question Sasuke’s motives which will no doubt come into play in a big way later…
I give this chapter a RATING of:
I guess I'm feeling nice today. This chapter was mostly concerned with Naruto and Sasuke’s combo jutsu, but it did begin to sew doubt in our minds about Sasuke’s agenda, announce Tsunade’s survival and reveal Orochimaru and the rest of Team Taka are meeting up with the Kage. Oh yes, and it tried to convince us with words again that Sakura is more powerful. And as I said, if her progress had been given equal “screen time” as her male comrades perhaps her new power-up’s wouldn’t seem quite as forced. But alas, ear wax.
As always, let me know what YOU guys thought of this chapter!! Are you happy Tsunade is alive? What do you think Sasuke’s ultimate intentions are? Is Gamabunta busy helping Jiraiya?? What would you think about the reunion of the ORIGINAL Sannin?
PREDICTIONS:
Karin will allow Tsunade to chomp away on her arm to speed her recovery and youthful looks. Suigetsu’s just going to stand around, like usual.
Now that Madara knows there’s another powerful Uchiha on the field, he’s going to attempt to bring Sasuke to his side. It also helps that Sasuke looks like his little bro Izuna.
Though Naruto and Sasuke’s attack was impressive, Juubi will recover somehow and then everyone will remember that, oh yeah, they’re battling against the god who created their planet and all life on it. It’s not going to be that easy~
Till next week!!