Naruto 672- Gai lives, Naruto wrecks

The very fact that Naruto kicked one of Madara's black balls away is astounding. I squealed like a little girl when he did that! To be able to deflect possibly the most powerful substance in ninja history by kicking it with no chakra cloak or susannoo is impressive.

Since that is the only attack we have seen from Sage Madara, and Minato transported most of the balls away, Naruto theoretically has an automatic win. We dont even know what sasuke is capable of.

Sasuke did not go all out against Madara. Maybe he ran out of chakra or something, but we have not even seen the EMS susannoo since he used it on the weak little zetsus. Sasuke just recieved a power up IN ADDITION TO unknown pools of power granted by EMS.

But the start of this chapter is Gai-Sensei. He destroys Madara with the night elephant, and seals the deal with his last attack. I'm going with mangastream and calling it night gai. It pierces Madara, ripping his face and half of his body apart. Unfortunately, his insane healing abilities rendered Gai's attack as not very effective. But he still has not recovered fully, so hopefully there is at least some lasting damage from Gai's attack.

Most controversal, Naruto saves Gai. Now I have mixed feelings like most of the community. But Gai's leg is gone. Shattered bones and disintegrated.  So he maybe wheelchair bound forever, which is appropriate because no one wants him to die, but opening the eight gates can not come without consequence. So I am happy Naruto did this.

The biju/sage eyes are back! Can't wait to see Madara, Sasuke, and Naruto going all out. Sasuke is still shrouded in mystery. Maybe thats why he is one of my favorite characters. Although I've been feeling a lot of love from Naruto lately.

See you next time (whenever that is)!

Japanese Soft Power - Is Naruto a State Led Operation?

What if the reason Naruto has been more about talk than awesome jutsu lately is becasue the state of Japan has taken over the production of Naruto in order to not only create a better image of Japan but also to exert soft power over China? It may sound crazy but try to follow my logic.

1) Soft power is a concept created by Joesph Nye that states that countries will try to create power over other countries using attractive qualities of the state. Meaning that just by looking cool, Japan could be trying to exert power over other nations. Scholars have largely concluded that this hasn't worked too well for Japan, even though Japan is rated as having the top ten highest soft powers of all nations.

2) Naruto's message since the Pain arc has been to forgive and end the cycles of hatred that have been going on. Forgive and forget. Then the world will know true peace.

3) Japan was one of the most vicious nations before WWII, when it attacked China. It's wartime atrocities were legendary. To this day, Chinese and Koreans distrust and hate the Japanese.

4) Despite this, the Chinese and Koreans still consume anime.

5) What if the Japanese government has influenced Kishimoto to write about ending the cycles of hatred, forgiving and forgetting; in order to better relations with China and Korea, using Naruto as a soft power resource? Its possible that this is all an elaborate plot to bring world peace, or to better relations with other countries for economic and political benefit.

I developed this theory while writing a research paper on the soft power of Japan, which sadly I need to return to writing. As for the Naruto chapters lately, I can't wait to see what happens with Madara. Also I don't like that Obito is being forgiven so easily, but it is the entire moral of Naruto to end the cycles of hatred. Although no one liked Obito, people would still be mad at Kohnaha for his death, either because he came from Kohnaha or becasue they will be jealous that only leaf village shinobi actually killed him.  So it works, and improves the overall story, even though it lessens the action currently occurring. I do want to see a rasenganori, or Karin, or something from Sasuke. Let's see if Madara can be defeated!

Naruto 652 - Obito finished

Well Obito is having a stage of regrett and reminiscense. This must mean he is either going to die or go to the good side. More likely he is going to have a turnover moment like nagato did. So we finally get an end to the conflict, obito could get an enlightenment, and he will most likely die. Can't wait to see how naruto gets to change him around!

Naruto 651- obito defeated?

Well finally obito has his defenses penetrated by a combination naruto and sasuke attack. I'm really tired so I will just say that was really cool.

Naruto 650-Pure Awesome

This chapter was incredible. Seeing naruto and sasuke get shut down by obito, and then get up and form a combination nine tailed susanoo. Guah. The action was great and obito is as unstoppable as ever, but kakashi is hinting at a friendship no jutsu to stop obito in the end. I'm glad he is back.

Naruto 649-shikamaru survives

So this chapter showed Shikamaru surviving his lethal injury. I'm getting slightly irritated by the lack of action and continuous survival of Naruto's friends. Especially when Shikamaru was hit with an attck that killed everyone else instantly. Can't wait to see Naruto and Sasuke do something.

Naruto 648-Sasuke's sage mode

Most of this chapter was flashback. Although flashbacks provide good knowledge and make re-reads more enjoyable, it is a short term annoyance. Also the many two pages frames greatly shortened the chapter. That said I will focus on the current parts of the chapter. First of all, Naruto took minato's half of the nine tails. This allowed him to re gain full nine tailed mode even though his chakra was previously sucked out.

Also Sasuke seems have always had a sage mode of his own. The curse mark originated from juugo's sage mode like abilities. It so follows that he can coat his susanoo in curse mark chakra by having juugo close inside. Sasuke knows the curse mark so well, that he can use the chakra output from juugo to make his attacks just as effective as naruto's. Obito has no chance. I loved that frame with both of them attacking at the same time.

Second hokage said that sasuke csn surpass madara which isnt surprising, the question is when. Will it happen in this battle, against naruto later, or later as hokage?  Only time will tell. Weird how Obito plans on killing Naruto and Sasuke. I thought he had plans for them. I predit a look into those plans in the coming chapters, as well as somr serious smackdowns by naruto and sasuke.