Happy 17th Birthday Naruto!
So it seems official, the fourth Shinobi War has ended. With the congratulations and emotional farewells taking place this chapter, it seems hard for Kishimoto-sensei to twist it into a new development of an antagonist returning or a new one appearing, especially after the thoughtful message Naruto left with his dad to pass on to his mother. The mirroring against Kushina’s message to Naruto in chapter 504 was fantastic, Kushina is so going to bawl her eyes dry when she hears what Naruto wants to tell her – what an awesome family.
There are several things that don’t make sense, I am curious about the “power” Hashirama gave to Sasuke to help him defeat Madara which was never used and what the exact point of comparing Sasuke to Madara’s brother, Izuna, was. There is also the existence of the Treasured Tools of the Sage of the Six Paths and what purpose they served coupled with the fact that both Atsui and Samui are still trapped/sealed inside Benihisago. I had expected Tenten to have some role to play once she got her hands on the Treasured Tools, but all that waiting amounted to nothing…what a tragic shame. And what about Guruguru, what happened with him after he ejected Yamato from his hold? I do also want to point out Hamura and what role he has to play within the story, but seeing as though he was barely covered, it isn’t really much of a problem if he continues to be left insignificant in regards to the current story.
It is weird, but even with the Shinju defeated and sealed, I just don’t feel satisfied with the end. Directly, the Shinju barely played a part in the story and as the existence which represented the opposite of Hagoromo’s ninshu philosophy, it should have been the main antagonist of the story. Kaguya being corrupted by chakra and controlled by the Shinju’s will, while interesting, wasn’t entirely an appropriate representation of conveying the final villain. The final villain was neither Kaguya nor the Shinju and the lack of any back story or explanation in regards to what happened in the past only increases the lack of attachment once feels towards Kaguya or the Shinju. Ah, I honestly was looking forward to Kaguya having a flashback and learning more about her and her reasons for consuming the Shinju fruit, what a dam shame such a development didn’t come about.
Glad to see Obito being highlighted as a hero, as he did play a huge part in ensuring the world didn’t end. If only Obito hadn’t gone and did what he did as Tobi though, I still feel bitter with what Obito did to Konan, she was such an awesome character and I miss her. Hopefully we get a scene with Naruto paying respect to her sacrifice and the massive belief she held in him leading the world into an era of peace. It was odd seeing Hashirama and Madara make up, especially given that just a few hours ago Madara was trying to put the world’s populace into a massive genjutsu and become a god. Funny seeing what the realisation of death having an inevitable hold on life has on a person’s state of being. With Madara now even accepting his fate, I guess this truly is the end of the fourth Shinobi War.
Minato congratulating Naruto for his birthday was great, its crazy to think that so much happened within one day, but at the same time, so much was achieved within that day. Hopefully with this war ending, and the shinobi of different nations coming together, the future can be a bit brighter than what it has been like for so long in the past. Naruto may not realise it, but he really has inspired a new way of thinking for how the future should be approached. Naruto expressing his love for his mother in the message he left with Minato pretty much showcased that to the Kages of the past as they faded back to the afterlife.
I am curious to see what will happen now and whether Naruto will become Hokage or if the manga series is going to end it on a more ambiguous note and leave the actual conclusion of the series to the Naruto film coming up. Either way, I am looking forward to the next chapter. Also Naruto and Kurama’s relationship is awesome, got to love how ‘friendly’ Kurama behaves when he is around Naruto.
12Dimension 