[Manga] Naruto Chapter 614 Discussion Thread

[TimeMask]

Originally Posted by kitten320

That was... unexpected... out of all possible characters Neji was not among those that I suspected to die...

He really needed more screen time =/

Though I still can't brush off the feeling that he will be back... especially since Obito/Madara are playing with dreams and illusion jutsus... I seriously hope that Kishi won't pull Nagato trick again.

Also is it just me or did Kishi become a big NaruHina fan lately?
He ignored them for ages and now he keeps rubbing them in your face for the last few chapters.

If Neji is staying dead then its odd that we didn't see Neji's face in the chapter were Konoha 11 came to help Naruto. As it felt random when Neji got killed saving Naruto and Hinata as we hadn't seen much of Neji.

If Kishimoto doesn't have Obito revive Neji later on then he may have Naruto learn a jutsu to bring Neji back to life as his Kyubi chakra made Yamato's mokuton grow more. Which means the Kyubi chakra gave energy to a living thing (tree) just by being near it.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by james0246

^Neji has been represented by birds in the past (what with the caged seal and everything), so the bird flying away was simply symbolic of Neji's death...at least until he comes back later on.

The bird flying away represented freedom, I'd say the fact that the poor bird was gutted the next panel was more symbolic of that.

Originally Posted by Dengar

The problem I -am- having is when people keep saying it's "so obvious that Obito is going to pull a Nagato". Which it really isn't.

Well technically there are so many Rinnegan going around nowadays that a lot of people could do that eventually.

[Casshern]

About the Hyuugas changing, haven't the Hyuugas already changed? Hinata's father is training Hanabi because she's stronger, instead of Hinata who is the oldest, which was basically the whole issue with Neji's father. Or am I mistaken?

[kitten320]

Originally Posted by TimeMask

If Neji is staying dead then its odd that we didn't see Neji's face in the chapter were Konoha 11 came to help Naruto. As it felt random when Neji got killed saving Naruto and Hinata as we hadn't seen much of Neji.

If Kishimoto doesn't have Obito revive Neji later on then he may have Naruto learn a jutsu to bring Neji back to life as his Kyubi chakra made Yamato's mokuton grow more. Which means the Kyubi chakra gave energy to a living thing (tree) just by being near it.

Please no.

I love Neji and all but I don't want fro everyone to come back again.
That's just a waste of time x_x

[Poetic Justice]

That Hinata crying face in the last panel is so bad it's funny. Also if everyone is revived after this war it would be worse than dragon ball z.

It's hard to feel for a character who has had a minor presence in the series for what? 400 chapters.

[Dengar]

His character has already been established and well-rounded since before the timeskip though.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Casshern

About the Hyuugas changing, haven't the Hyuugas already changed? Hinata's father is training Hanabi because she's stronger, instead of Hinata who is the oldest, which was basically the whole issue with Neji's father. Or am I mistaken?

No, that’s not the change. The issue with Neji’s dad & Hina’s dad is “branch-family vs. main-family”, not who is the oldest (even though that's a factor too). Both Hanabi(?) and Hinata is from main-family IIRC, so there’s not much of a problem there. Hanabi has always been more regarded due to her being more talented than Hinata. Hinata herself is considered a “failure” early on, even though she’s from the main-family.

Anybody is welcomed to correct me if I'm wrong .

[TimeMask]

When a Hyuga with a forehead seal dies their eyes are sealed, I also mentioned this on my anime review site.

So if Neji is brought back to life he may be blind. However he would no longer have that seal on his forehead.

Neji living but being blind would remind me of when Neji said in part 1 that Sasuke was in the darkness as Neji would be seeing nothing if he was blind.

kitten320 I agree as it would be more dramatic for Neji to say dead then to be revived.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

No, that’s not the change. The issue with Neji’s dad & Hina’s dad is “branch-family vs. main-family”, not who is the oldest (even though that's a factor too). Both Hanabi(?) and Hinata is from main-family IIRC, so there’s not much of a problem there. Hanabi has always been more regarded due to her being more talented than Hinata. Hinata herself is considered a “failure” early on, even though she’s from the main-family.

Anybody is welcomed to correct me if I'm wrong .

Yes, ths sitaution with Hanabi and Hinata is not much different than with the two borthers only instead of the favoritism being based on age its based on natural talent. However I do feel that Casshern does have a point. After the Chunin Exams it seemed like things were already changing for the hyuuga as Hinata's father came to apolgize for what the family had done, came to acknowledge neji and believe he started to train neji. He was treating Neji more like his nephew than a simple branch family member...

[Dengar]

Well, originally, the system with the branch and main families was put into place in order to protect the Hyuga's ability. It can still be that, but without, you know, branch family members being considered inferior.

[Midnight Commander]

Originally Posted by Obelisk ze Tormentor

No, that’s not the change. The issue with Neji’s dad & Hina’s dad is “branch-family vs. main-family”, not who is the oldest (even though that's a factor too). Both Hanabi(?) and Hinata is from main-family IIRC, so there’s not much of a problem there. Hanabi has always been more regarded due to her being more talented than Hinata. Hinata herself is considered a “failure” early on, even though she’s from the main-family.

Anybody is welcomed to correct me if I'm wrong .

Hinata's main issue in part I was dealing with being essentially disgarded by her father. He gave up on her and considered her a failure, giving his full attention and training efforts to her younger sister; even giving her Hinata's position as heir if I remember correctly. Asuma's girlfriend (forgot her name) became Hinata's trainer thereafter, and helped her develop her skills and get over the emotional toll of being cast away from her father.

I really liked the Hyuuga clan in part I, and thought their main/branch family issues were interesting. I always thought Neji was a pretty big waste of potential in a character; so much more could have been done with him. I don't find many of the rookies that interesting, but Neji was definitely one who should have recieved some more screentime.

[Ero-Senn1n]

Originally Posted by Captain Commando

Hinata's main issue in part I was dealing with being essentially disgarded by her father. He gave up on her and considered her a failure, giving his full attention and training efforts to her younger sister; even giving her Hinata's position as heir if I remember correctly.

If i remember correctly the big problem for her father was that he could not just give the position to Hanabi due to the rules. The rule is the oldest one becomes the new head and the younger one gets the seal on his/her forehead and becomes part of the branch family, regardless of what talent they have. Neji's father and the current family head were twin brothers too, but one came out of the mother a bit earlier and that defined his whole life and caused his death in the end. So what shocked Kurenai is that her father actually wanted Hinata to die, because in that case the younger sister becomes the head of family. I think Kishimoto messed up the personality of the father a bit, because on one hand he made the decision that Hinata should die because she's a disgrace to the family but on the other hand he apologizes to Neji in the way he did.

Kishimoto most likely invented this law to be like those inhuman medieval laws about the oldest son inheriting everything (i don't know about how that was in japan, but i guess it was very similar to the western stuff), so that the land does not get divided into smaller pieces. So it had a very practical purpose that was very important. So my guess is that Naruto won't have to stop this practice by force, since Kishimoto avoids any serious conflict between Naruto and the old people (as we saw Danzou's evil rule wasn't ended by Naruto but by Sasuke), but instead Naruto will unite the ninja world, so that the ninja system changes in a way that the main and branch family rule won't have any practical use any more and the Hyuuga will give it up.

Originally Posted by Captain Commando

Asuma's girlfriend (forgot her name)

Forgetting Kurenai, shame on you

[itachi-san314]

Originally Posted by Dengar

His character has already been established and well-rounded since before the timeskip though.

thats true but there's nothing to say that he couldn't have had further development in shippuuden arcs. kakashi was pretty well established in part 1 and gaiden, but he's still a major player and developing right now in the story. other things could have happened to neji to test his faith in narutism. same goes for all the k11 pretty much. kishi just got tired of writing/drawing them and wanted to make new characters to develop. i like most of the new characters, but i think the story would be better if he kept focusing on the same characters like neji. that lack of focus is why this chapter didn't have much of an impact aside from surprise. if neji was still interesting and battling his own demons and then decided to sacrifice himself for narutism, it would have been pretty momentous. actually it was... back in the sound 5 arc when he should have stayed dead the first time...

^no offense to neji btw, i really like his character, i just prefer story over individual characters and it would have made a better story for him to have died in part 1 given what we know now in part 2

[Mateus]

Originally Posted by solidguy

Was that Sasuke or Sai that was shot down?

It was Sai, if it were Sasuke then we'd also be seeing Orochimaru, Suigetsu and Juugo.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Well, originally, the system with the branch and main families was put into place in order to protect the Hyuga's ability. It can still be that, but without, you know, branch family members being considered inferior.

Isn’t that Mizukage’s assistant (forgot his name) managed to stole a Byakugan eye and use it on himself? So, the branch-family-seal system isn’t that effective after all.

Originally Posted by Captain Commando

Asuma's girlfriend (forgot her name)...

How can yo forget Kurenai, one of the hottest women in the manga.

Originally Posted by Ero-Senn1n

I think Kishimoto messed up the personality of the father a bit, because on one hand he made the decision that Hinata should die because she's a disgrace to the family but on the other hand he apologizes to Neji in the way he did.

Maybe one factor is that he felt sorry since he saw that his brother’s son (Neji) had real talent and could be the pride of the family compared to his own daughter (Hinata) after his chuunin exam.

Anyway, if what you said is true, then Hina's father is really messed up.

[james0246]

I saw the name Hanabi appear...How is my wonderful little firecracker? If she was fighting, Madara would have already surrendered, and Tobi would Kamui'd himself out of existence.

Instead we get more Neji suckage. What's with this guy always getting long pointy objects shoved into him? At least he got that ugly tattoo removed...

[AnimeFangirl]

Originally Posted by Poetic Justice

Also if everyone is revived after this war it would be worse than dragon ball z.

Mass revival was never a 'problem' in Dragon Ball, since it was established very early on that the dead could come back to life. Don't lower DB to the same level as Kishimoto's Asspull no Jutsu.

[battle22]

I hope they give Neji some screentime in Anime War fight fillers. Maybe a Filler fight with his father, that would be nice to watch. (I hate how they are wasting money on useless fillers right now....*sigh*....Naruto Anime team needs to get fired.)

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by battle22

(I hate how they are wasting money on useless fillers right now....*sigh*....Naruto Anime team needs to get fired.)

Really? You advice to fire the entire team that animate Naruto because of their hard-work of buying the mangaka some time by creating filler episodes? That’s clearly not a good solution (if it’s a solution at all). If you see the animation in the now-airing filler arc, it was great (near or at movie-level). So, the animators are actually doing a good job. If you meant that the story in the fillers suck, it’s all on the scriptwriters (or whoever come up with the story), not the entire team.

[Kenu]

Originally Posted by battle22

I hope they give Neji some screentime in Anime War fight fillers. Maybe a Filler fight with his father, that would be nice to watch.

Yep, probably the only way to redeem Neji's death is to fix it up in the Anime. Give it more meaning than a useless jump in the way of a bullet dive.

Originally Posted by Dengar

His character has already been established and well-rounded since before the timeskip though.

Erm.. so for about 400 chapters, there's been no growth in his character.. and it's timely to kill him off?


Seems like there's two camps:

1. Ballsy move Kishimoto killing off a main character.

2. Meh, this character hasn't featured in the story for eons and his death is rather meaningless.