Naruto Chapter 323 Review

Summary
Asuma and chums continue to face-off against Hidan, completely perplexed by his invulnerability. The usual good-guy mission statement occurs and Asuma enquires about the whereabouts of Hidan's partner. Queue Kakuzu's dramatic entrance, appearing suddenly behind Shikamaru and going in for the kill. Shikamaru evades, but consequently interrupts his Kagenui jutsu and Hidan exclaims excitedly. Asuma, shielding Shikamaru with his knives drawn, quickly orders Kotetsu and Izumo to back away and they do so, leaving the two blades still impaling a volatile Hidan. Drawing his weapon, Hidan demands that Kakuzu doesn't interfere and proceeds to draw out a religious symbol on the floor with his blood. An anxious Asuma quickly formulates a full-on attack plan and Shikamaru warns that it's too risky, and very much unlike Asuma. Pulling a face that unnerves Shikamaru all the more, Asuma demands that there's no other choice. Izumo suggests a retreat in order to formulate a better strategy of attack and Asuma explains that this kind of foe wouldn't allow such to happen without major upset. Hidan removes the two blades from his sides and, with Shikamaru at the ready, Asuma launches his attack. After some rather nifty acrobatics, avoiding the Kagenui, Hidan throws one of the blades at Asuma and he cuts it in two with his knives. This is rapidly followed by Hidan's rope weapon, which Asuma mostly deflects except for a small cut on his right cheek. Trying a different approach, Asuma uses an explosive fire jutsu. Landing back in his religious symbol, Hidan licks the blood from his weapon causing his hand (and body) to turn black with white markings reflecting his bone structure. The fire jutsu hits with full effect and it seems only to burn away part of Hidan's cloak, while causing serious injury to most of Asuma's right side. Asuma is completely bewildered by how his attack was reflected in such a manner and Hidan is fully revealed with his skin having transformed into some kind of skeletal armour. He explains that his ritual will now begin and they will both share some exquisite pain together.

Thoughts
Steady on there, Asuma. Don't get yourself killed. Only, don't stop the action either. Just when a tactical mastermind like Shikamaru expresses unease in your method of attack, take a moment to reconsider. It's not looking very hopeful for Beardy-sensei, is it?

Still, it's fantastic to finally see Hidan (and Asuma for that matter) in action. Having being stressed out by all this insinuation of his uberness we finally get a firsthand demonstration. And he looks like a dork. Kishimoto has obviously been reading books about the Aztecan afterlife, or playing Grim Fandango, or something . . . either way, we get a rather ridiculous outfit change. He really does look like some bloke wearing a rubbish Halloween costume. Hopefully these mysterious powers he's gained as a result will buffer the lameness factor of how silly he looks. I wonder now that Hidan has tasted some of Asuma's blood, and gone all Manny Calavera, is he completely impervious to Asuma's jutsu, or even can he reflect it back on Asuma? It could explain this whole 'shared pain' gobshite. I definitely think there's a bond between them that will cause Asuma a whole buttload of problems in the coming chapters.

Also, what the hell is Kakuzu doing? Shikamaru, Izumo and Kotetsu are standing a few metres away from him and they're all looking on like a bunch of infirm grannies. I won't dwell on the whole lack of logic of this situation, it's a bloody comic after all, but surely Kakuzu would take steps to reduce the threat from the three other team members. Granted, Shika is apart of the fight (even if he's failing miserably to be much assistance), and Hidan demanded Kakuzu to stay out of things. But conversely, why aren't Izumo and Kotetsu doing anything either? 

Apart from the silly new look for Hidan the artwork this chapter was its usual energetic self. Kishimoto's mastery of anatomy means his fight scenes are incredibly dynamic and frenetic and it's always a joy to read them. It was sometimes difficult to tell what Shikamaru's Kagenui was doing, but that could easily be my scan's modest quality. Overall the chapter looks fantastic, as usual.

Conclusion
This battle doesn't seem as epic as the previous ones, with Kishimoto often using the environment in his big fight scenes to heighten the drama, but it's only really just begun. The wildcard of Kakuzu waiting on the sidelines makes this seem like a rather tall order for the Niju Shotai to succeed and I'm definitely excited to see how things play out. Naruto gets a bad reputation for being over-long and drawn out, but when we get a well-planned battle sequence it subdues much of the cynicism towards the series, if only for the duration. There's much to be said for a series that can foster this kind of drama from its supporting cast, though. People's fondness for Asuma and Shikamaru means they sustain a storyline that doesn't involve the protagonists at all, and that deserves props. This also means neither of them can freaking die. I really hope I'm being needlessly paranoid . . . D;

Comments

[aurabolt]

Well...I'm still going to take scene at Kurenai's apartment as a prominent death sign for Asuma since Kishimoto already let Gaara slip out alive after all that mess.

As for Hidan, I'm pretty sure it's one of those cases where you have to kill yourself to kill him. If that's correct, it'll make sense why Kakuzu can't kill him. Technically he can, but he doesn't want to since he's too greedy to take his own life.

[Eleutheria]

Because the mangaka is a lazy bastard and won't take the time out to plan multiple man melees, so every fight winds up 1v1.

Even if the narrative justification is "oh his other 3 team mates and the other enemy just stare each other down while their nakama is getting raped"

[Hige]

aurabolt: That's probably a fair prediction. I wish it weren't so, though. ):

Eleutheria: I think this is Asuma's moment to shine. Kishimoto usually has at least two people fighting in these big 'showcase' fights. I really want to see how he deals with these observing parties, though. He can't just have them stand there and look dim for the whole thing.