Naruto Chapter 312 Review

Summary
Kakashi continues to explain his plans for Naruto. He describes the creation of an ULTIMATE NINJUTSU that will give young Nar the edge. Uncharacteristically, Naruto has foresight and points out the issue of time, and their lack of it. Kakashi craftily implies he's come up with a solution, but before he can explain Team 10 crash into room and disrupt things. A tense moment follows as Shikamaru and co. notice Sai, whose previous introduction to both he and Chouji was strained at best. A change of scene and we see Tsunade dismissing a subordinate. Shizune describes the current Akatsuki movements, exclaiming they could show up on the boarders of Konoha at any moment. Tsunade admits to the trouble this could cause, but also acknowledges the advantage of being able to confront them. We come back to Kakashi's room and in the meantime Sai has explained away the previous misunderstanding, utilising that winning smile and friend-making jutsu. Ino sees her chance to sink her talons into a Sasuke look-alike and Sakura has a quick bitch in her ear, explaining he's nothing special. Asuma dismisses the six kids, offering a treat of Yakiniku-q while he has a word with Kakashi. Naruto complains about not getting all the information from Kakashi, who explains they'll talk later. Team 10 and 7 (minus a Shikamaru, who strangely excused himself from the post-mission chill out) chow down. Ino explains that she and Chouji should introduce themselves and as this happens, Sai anxiously deliberates over nicknames for the two. The F-word almost slips out before a sharp-witted Naruto gags him and strongly warns against it. Taking a more tactically generalised approach with Ino, Sai names her 'Gorgeous', much to Sakura's dismay. We cut away to an unknown Kumogakure nin being pursued by two Akatsuki members. The two introduce themselves as Hidan, something of a pimp with a large weapon (heh) and Kazuku, who describes their target as the 'two-tales', (which the scanslation notes has the ability to summon the undead), warning him to keep up his guard.

Thoughts
First and foremost, this chapter alerted me to the problems of reading through /y/ on 4chan. As soon as Asuma tries to foist off the kids so he could 'chat' with Kakashi, the yaoi lobe of my brain (newly formed) went haywire. It's a personal issue I'll need to address in my own time, but seriously, that scene was just suggestive. I'm clearly not descending into perverted fanboy fantasy. No. SILENCE.

Predictions for this ULTIMATE NINJUTSU are fairly light on the ground. Assuming Kishimoto is playing it by the book it'll just be the next step in Naruto's arsenal of special moves. Granted, Kishimoto hasn't been as bad as Toriyama for this kind of thing, but it still seems lazy to rely on such a tired convention. Yet, the Kishimoto twist (and what usually makes him more sophisticated than Toriyama) is how he connects these things to the characterisation. How the recent suggestion that Naruto is disaffected with his reliance on the Kyūbi power will factor in intrigues me the most. Part of me knows Kishimoto just doesn't have the time or space to send Naruto on a journey of tortured self-discovery, but assuming he utilises this turmoil during Naruto's forthcoming training it should be enough to elevate the whole affair above generic shonen pish.

Opinions on the two new Akatsuki members also remain quite uncertain. Hidan is clearly all about the chicks and this could become incredibly annoying. Conversely, it could result in a hilarious defeat by one of our favourite Naruto ladies, so the potential for karmic revenge is generally preventing me from detesting him outright. All we know about Kazuku is that he has a cool name and seems to be quite cautious in comparison to his partner. I'm going to hold off for another chapter before I properly critique their characters. How they deal with the newly discovered Bijū will certainly shed better light on their potential to kick arse.

Personally, I'm more interested in this new Bijū character. Intuition suggests that she'll put up a good fight for a while, pulling off a few exciting techniques, but eventually will die. Her introduction seems too understated to matter in the grander scheme of things. I hope I'm wrong, but still, it's just the kind of vibe I get from her. Maybe it's the generally uninspired character design. We'll have to wait and see. The fight between she and the Akatsuki goons is certainly the most exciting thing about the coming chapter.

Perhaps it was the inclusion of Team 10, or the rampant homoerotic subtext, but this chapter was really enjoyable. We're still very much in the 'setup' period but things tick along nicely and we get some meaty plot progression in the form of two new Akatsuki and a new Bijū. The prospect of a proper Konoha vs. Akatsuki battle is quite exciting, too. You can't fault Kishomoto for being great at setting up potential awesomeness. It'll be interesting to see how/if he follows through on the implied promises.

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Author: Masashi Kishimoto
Scanslation: NBST

Comments

[Sutiben]

i really enjoyed that part where Sai gave Ino a nice nickname. It really brought a smile to my face as I saw that play out. Nice blog btw

[reza]

i'm want see image comic chapter 29 and story about comic naruto chapter 29. help me please!!!

[wisam]

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[mourad]

plz tell me what ep does naruto meets sasuke after 2 year tnx