Version 1.0 of Obito’s Juubi Jinchuuriki form – colour by i-azu
Has Obito really thrown any belief that humanity won’t fall into the same darkness he fell into away? Does Obito believe that strongly the inevitable end for each person is an ocean of despair and pain to drown and suffer in? Has the Obito who was so hopeful and positive thinking really disappeared from the person now known as Tobi?
Team 7 reunited! – colour by i-azu
One man’s desperation exasperated by intense turmoil can sure turn into something quite frightening, especially when equipped with a world destroying and creating being. This despair and fear afflicting Tobi is something much more deeply rooted then I thought, especially with him going so far as to break free from Madara’s control to become the Juubi Jinchuuriki. Has Tobi really given up hope or is he just waiting for someone to save him from the spiraling drop of loneliness?
Two shinobi torn between friendship and the paths of their dreams – colour by Tremblax (http://tremblax.deviantart.com)
So we finally get to see a flashback of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara and find out just how those two are connected and how they ended up on such opposite ends of “peace“.
War wrought suffering, suffering led to pain and pain opened up the wounds to dreams desperately wished to become reality. The story of Hashirama and Madara was a much more unfortunate one than I expected.
To endure, means to be a shinobi – colour by TheALM
With the power to protect your comrades comes the curse of your failure to protect them; on the borderline of life and death, shinobi walk the narrow path of existence ever open to descend into the darkness below. Well that is how things should appear to a shinobi, but Naruto, he pretty much kicks that to the curb and rewrites the thinking into one where even if this “curse” were to tighten itself around his life, now that he realises that his comrades are fighting and willing to die for a purpose, for a future, he will look past this concept of “death” and continue on towards that future many hope for ever-remembering the dreams and actions of the people who fell in pursuit of it.
What an intense chapter, all the pages dedicated to Naruto, Kakashi, Guy and Hachibi attempting to catch Tobi off guard and expose an opening to counter him. Ultimately they weren’t able to hit Tobi let alone even touch him with all their attack plans but they were able to avoid Tobi absorbing Naruto so that’s counts for something. Still in this situation where they don’t understand Tobi’s ability, just how will they proceed? And what is up with Tobi anyway, I’m hungry for his back-story or some explanation behind this man shrouded in mystery who considers him self “no one”.
"Every jutsu has a weakness. This jutsu's weak point and risk...IS ME!" - coloured by KushinaStefy (http://kushinastefy.deviantart.com)
And here I was wondering what exactly Itachi would say the weakness of the Edo Tensei jutsu is…what a legendary badass Itachi. Just like Kabuto was, I was totally caught me off guard because that response was so TRUE! Itachi IS the weakness of the Edo Tensei jutsu which Kabuto has been boasting about so proudly since the start of this Fourth Shinobi World War Arc when he activated it. And the Itachi and Sasuke team-up, how awesome is that? I’m starting to like Sasuke more and more this Arc; now that he has met Itachi, he is really acting different than his usual “dark” self which wants to destroy everything. He is seeking answers now, answers that will help him understand himself and exactly what he wants or at the very least point him in the direction in which to look.
Jinchuuriki Awakening - by xxMeMoRiEzxx (http://xxmemoriezxx.deviantart.com)
A darkness ignored by everyone, existences forgotten by all, power sought for control, and voices dampened from fear; the tailed beast chained by the whims of man and entrapped to meaningless conflict created by humans. Within their prisons, chains of hate weigh them down but within their confines deep in the darkness, an echo of hope resounds radiantly within a ray of light; one man, one shinobi reaches his hands out, in hopes for change, and for a present filled with peace and understanding he and many seek, he steps forward and challenges the past, Uzumaki Naruto is here! Within his heart and within his eyes burns a conviction stronger than the sun strengthened by the beliefs and hopes of everyone supporting him, the end and the beginning converge together to reveal the today the tomorrow holds. Yes, I can see it, that path beginning to open up, the end to this cycle of hatred, and the man at the center of this change.
