It's going to depend on what Sasuke does. Actions certainly speak louder.

Sasuke is still full of hatred. Now he just redirects it at someone else... for now... I think...

It seems that as expected he wants to change (and for that reason also rule) the world forcefully (as one son of the sage, the other son being represented by Naruto). And the funny thing is that Sasuke will be criticized for this while the 5 kages and 5 villages are doing the same thing day by day and they are the "good guys" :D
I hope Kishimoto at least gives some funny remarks about this using Orochi or some other smart guy who is not a "tool" for a village. On the other hand Naruto has no plan about bringing "peace" whatsoever, he's just as dumb in this matter as he always was, that is relying on luck. It would be nice if not only Naruto changes Sasuke but also vice versa, and i think this manga should not need to be "seinen" for that to happen.

Actually it's funny seeing Sai and Shikamaru being worried about Sasuke as a future threat while right now they are alive only because of Sasuke, because he brought the 4 hokages and Orochi to save the day.

And of course Sasuke trying to erase the existence of tailed beasts made him the "bad" guy of the chapter, forget that the "good" guys used the beasts to inflict countless damage and pain on other villages and on their own villages and they also took away the freedom of these creatures :)

IMO she used to be a bit more important than what we are seeing right now. Yes, she is used as a joke sometimes, but still retain some her serious side. Now, it seems like she's 100% a joke character used only for comic relief.

Karin & Suigetsu's little "who's weirder?" argument was stupid lol

While Katsuyu is relaying important info, Tsunade randomly decides to bend over, touch her toes and poke her butt out in our faces lolol.. tired from healing, I guess. lol

Before this chapter came out, I was hoping that Orochimaru had gotten there too late to save the Kages... But I suppose it was written on the wall that he'd help revive them after last chapter.

Then again.. even though I didn't like having them survive(is Neji really going to be the ONLY casualty of note?), having the Kages die might've been bad too - I really, really don't want to see any more Edo Tensei zombies.

And even though it came out of nowhere, I actually liked the end. Though I don't think this'll happen... What if Obito dies there? The Moon's Eye Plan dies with him. But that pretty much assures that someone other than Madara(Sasuke?) will possess/host/control the 10-tails...

just pointing out that if sasuke had bad intentions, naruto would know about it. so either sasuke doesn't or naruto is covering for him (as he usually does, but still he knows the truth)

I had to make an account just to contribute to this discussion. Dunno, the mood just struck really hard :)

While I completely, entirely get what people mean when they say the series has gone downhill or that too many personalities have changed, I think that saying such things is oversimplification.

First of all, it's not like Kishi is writing each new chapter off the top of his head each week. I'm sure he's got most of, if not all of the ending figured out already and probably has for quite some time. I'm making assumptions here, of course, but I think it's safe to say. The personality changes mentioned all seem pretty warranted to me, and not just the results of Kishi "writing himself into a wall". Karin, for example, has been a crazy, unstable fool since Day 1, nothing surprising about her changing her mind on Sasuke. She's going to be hot for him no matter what; this was made apparent early on. She's just fulfilling her role of comic-relief, sometimes-marginally-useful Sasuke fangirl.

Sasuke, on the other hand, has undergone a major ideology shift of late that was spurred on by talking to Itachi one last time. Understandable to me that he would start questioning some things as more and more info comes to light about the past. Either way, he's apparently got ulterior motives still, so maybe he hasn't changed at all but is just playing along. One thing's for sure, though, the series has gotten pretty overblown and convoluted, but that tends to happen when you've got so many characters and "powers" involved in a 600+ chapter story. I do miss the good ole' days when Sasuke was hunting down Itachi and all that jazz. I still trust that the ending is going to have some twists and turns, and what we're seeing in these lame chapters is just fluff to set the stage for the REAL ending. I hope...

So my tl;dr here is: Kishi probably still has plenty of tricks left up his sleeve, so I for one am going to wait for the series to actually end before judging it.

with all those noise and explosions going on, Shikamaru was able to hear Sai's and Sakura's conversation.

Karin is one of the most realistic characters,i've known girls just like her.All the confusion and frustration of the characters behavior is also realistic.Most people don't know what they really want much less how to get it.But as far as hardly anyone of importance dying that is just Manga cliche'.

Come to think about it i've know guys with Obitos hang up.They say they love a girl so much,but when they just want to be friends and start making decisions that the dude feels are contrary to his false image of her he then begins blaming the world for making her act that way.

I forgot about that. Let's hope Kishi doesn't...

Well, those dudes you know need some serious counseling before they end up like Tobito :heh:.

There has to be a doujin about Kakashi and Obito 'stabbing' eachother in Cube World.

I never really thought of Katsuyu as icky, but now...

i dont really like either character, but this is true. people do go so far as to kill themselves over lost love or unreturned love. so what would they do if they had a sharingan? :heh: and i actually do know a girl who is so in love with a guy that it's sickening. he couldn't care less about her and pretty much hates her and she constantly says she would do anything for him and still has a huge crush regardless of what happens. she's also pretty attractive, just crazy (like karin...). both behaviors are extremely immature, but are actually quite realistic

You know what, I never thought about it that way...but it makes sense! Not that it gives any room for compassion, but still :P

Kishimoto would of written some other saving roll for the Alliance. Rather than the unnecessary move of bringing back dead hokages to an already overcrowded final fight.

And Sasuke wasn't presented as the bad guy. Orochimaru was inspired to save the kages by him. He isn't showing signs of evil and hatred. That is why Naruto and Hashirama were shocked when he went off script. He is becoming the new Danzou. A misguided zealot who doesn't care what others think and will act as he sees fit. Kishi even had Alliance members cheering his efforts. A lot of them would probably agree with Sasuke on the biju. If Kishi wants to write it, he could split the Alliance down the middle with half following Sasuke's vision. Naruto really doesn't have answers other than to believe in him. He is more messiah than leader. Sasuke offers a lot more logical look at the world. At least right now.

That said, it is important to see what Kishi is saying about Sasuke through other characters.

Sakura - probably knows Sasuke better than anyone. Wants to believe in him, but knows he will end up hurting people close to her. No matter how badly she wants to, she knows that she can't trust him and this will end badly.

Sai - Kishi has now used him a few times to read other characters like a book. He doesn't trust Sasuke or consider him an ally.

Shikamaru - the smartest guy left in the manga and the closest thing Naruto has to a futurist. Seeing Sakura and Sai's conversation confirmed his own suspicions about Sasuke. He is likely already planning something since Naruto is already 5 moves behind Sasuke. He knows Sasuke in control of anything is bad news.

Sasuke hasn't been presented as a bad guy...yet. We already know he wants to destroy the current failed system and create a new one. So that makes him no different than Naruto. Where he will fail is in this new system he wants to create. He has no problem killing the biju. Logical given the strife they cause. Hashirama's plan was a flop. But what if he decides he doesn't what there to be ninja villages anymore other than the Konoha he rules? Ninja villages cause war. Or do away with clans since they cause division? Kishi is going to have to take it to the next step with Sasuke to show why characters like Shikamaru and Sakura don't trust what he is planning.

If Sasuke wants to get rid of the Biju due to them creating tension, then he will have to kill Naruto since he hosts Kurama.

Unless of course he thinks in his world where Naruto follows him, he will be the only one allowed to use the power of a biju to control the rest.....

Excuse me, are you saying that every girl would still go crazy over a guy after he stabbed you and almost killed you for his own selfish reasons? :twitch:

Karin's behavior is unpleasant. It's not like that's the only to portray her realistic behavior. It would be more fitting if she had gone nuclear on Sasuke's ass. She is NOT naive like Sakura (although Kishi has done everything in his power to assert that) just due to the fact that she was working with Oro. You cannot be naive when you work with someone like him.

another thing to point out about karin is that she is a masochist. her primary ninja power is getting bitten (and as we've seen when sasuke does it at least, she loves it). it's expressive of her mentality as well. she basically likes the abuse and being treated like crap... unfortunately another realistic trait

He's just drawing a parallel to a kind of behaviour that occurs in real life, not that every woman is like this. The equivalent for guys would be some poor schmuck in the friendzone who gets used and stepped on by the girl he loves while she has relationships with other guys who don't give a damn about her. Even though he knows there's no chance he still keeps going back for more, perpetuating his own suffering. Love can make both men and women act really stupid.