[Manga] Naruto Chapter 548 Discussion

[Ulquiorra]

Anyone gearing up for an epic ItaNaga vs Naruto and his faithful man servant fight are probably going to be disappointed. But what gives me hope that you will see a fight is that Kabuto is probably testing Naruto. Naruto and the coffin might be his way to defeat Madara once he gets his Sasuke prize. But who am I kidding? There is not going to be a fight. Naruto will claim his divinity and ItaNaga will sing his praises from heaven on high while crows spurt from Naruto's mouth.

Originally Posted by Suika-Esper

Lame? The Gaara part did a better job of explaining what really happened than last chapter. It also proves that Gaara is a much stronger person than Sasuke will ever be (though we already knew that, this chapter just emphasizes it that much more). He was made to think he was unloved by anyone for 80% of his life, yet still became strong and mature enough to be what he is now. Mu vs Oonoki was done well and it's understandable that Oonoki would get tired before Mu, who died at a younger age.

When you have to go over something again and explain it, that means you didn't do a good job the first time.

The Gaara stuff was classic Kishimoto hitting you over the head with a hammer. Least we forget that this manga is for 12 year old Japanese boys with short attention spans. We didn't need to waste that many panels going over his past again. It brought the chapter to a halt. We get it. Bye daddy. Temari never even got to say goodbye to daddy which shows you how meaningless Kishimoto considers her. It was all about Gaara wangst.

And that giant panel with Gaara crying was over the top. I thought his mascara would run.

Originally Posted by haegar

Wonder who's gonna take on the old Raikage btw? maybe A is gonna show or will that be left to Bee to handle maybe? Currently he makes for Naruto's faithfull Robin sidekick...thats selling him a bit cheap eh?!

Isn't it painfully obvious? Darui. A and Kirabi are not near the battle. A is back at HQ and Kirabi will forever be Naruto's sidekick until death. Darui and Shikamaru's divisions were suppose to be Gaara's backup for the Kages. The Raikage passed down his Black Lightening to Darui so there is time to waste I mean something to learn there. Shikamaru and Temari will fight the Mizukage. Just like they did another genutsu user in Tayuya. But this time Shikamaru will rescue Temari and see little hearts over him. Kishi pretty much set up the fights now.

Onoki now needing Gaara's helps increases his chances of death slightly. Since I can see Kishi gleefully drawing Onoki dying in Gaara's arms while rambling on about passing his will to him. His granddaughter can tag along with the backup to be present at this scene.

[mrShady]

Hmmm weak chapter, hope the anime doesn't spend 2 chapters with gaara flashback..... never mind they probably will.
Anyway the Itachi/Nagato vs Bee/Naruto is nice. And Bee should know Itachi, the guy who killed his entire clan, the guy with the amazing skills. He should be known for doing some amazing shit in a war or during some impossible mission against the cloud or something.

[Frenchie]

Wind > Lightning. I bet Temari will have a role to play in defeating former Raikage.
Shikamaru has already proven adept at defeating genjutsu users with sheer smarts, so I wouldn't be surprised if he went on to defeat Mizukage while Gaara has to go help old Oonoki against Muu.

Also: Am I the only one thinking Muu is freaking badass?

[ronin myael]

if there's anything good about this chapter is that it finally puts an end to the whole gaara drama and his daddy issues, though i don't think he really has unresolved issues, otherwise he never would have moved on and become the kazekage that he is now. gaara is cool now, okay? he has resolved his issues once and for all, he has become a better and stronger person. no more reminders please kishi?

nagato and itachi fighting naruto and bee? i doubt it! kabuto would probably force them to fight but i bet those two would find a way to let naruto beat them with minimal effort. let's hope that this encounter would prove fruitful, like some real relevance to the war at hand. these zombie fights are getting lamer and lamer. where's madara? i want to see some action from him.

[Ulquiorra]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Wind > Lightning. I bet Temari will have a role to play in defeating former Raikage.
Shikamaru has already proven adept at defeating genjutsu users with sheer smarts, so I wouldn't be surprised if he went on to defeat Mizukage while Gaara has to go help old Oonoki against Muu.

Wind > Lightening when they are equal. Temari is badly outclassed against the old Raikage. That's why Darui will have to face him with Black Lightening.

I have a feeling the Mizukage uses sound genjutsu with his magic clam. Temari + Shikamaru defeated Tayuya who also used sound genjutsu. So just do it again with Temari and Shikamaru's roles reversed.

Originally Posted by Frenchie

Also: Am I the only one thinking Muu is freaking badass?

I like him too. But too bad all you need is a few corny jokes and a giant clam to impress the Naruto fandom. Everyone is on the Mizukage bandwagon. Until he gets his arse kicked.

[Frenchie]

I thought Muu was the bandaged Tsuchikage.

That said, Mizukage is also awesome.

[DeDe]

So the previews have been on target the past few chapters. Nagato and Itachi did meet Naruto. Will they be sealed here? Will Kirabi be captured? Or will this just be plot exposition?

Did we learn something when the Mizukage said he uses yin chakra and genjutsu? We should be closer to finally understanding yin and yang chakra.

Originally Posted by Ulquiorra

Isn't it painfully obvious? Darui. A and Kirabi are not near the battle. A is back at HQ and Kirabi will forever be Naruto's sidekick until death. Darui and Shikamaru's divisions were suppose to be Gaara's backup for the Kages. The Raikage passed down his Black Lightening to Darui so there is time to waste I mean something to learn there. Shikamaru and Temari will fight the Mizukage. Just like they did another genutsu user in Tayuya. But this time Shikamaru will rescue Temari and see little hearts over him. Kishi pretty much set up the fights now.

It looks like this will be the case. I was a little worried that Naruto Sue would interfere in the Kage fights, but now he won't and the backup will come. The Fourth Division will reform. But I have been burned by Kishi before so I am trying not to get my hopes up.

[yakumo-chan]

there's kinda a contradiction in the story of naruto please look:

in Chapter 519- 8Tails tells Naruto he will die in an instant if he uses a single Shadow Clone in his new form
but in Chapter 545- Naruto uses shadow clones in his new form

[Souten no Seigyoku]

What a load. Kish keeps doing this. If he's trying to end the series, fine, but do it while maintaining realism. To stay true to the series, you need to stay true to the character personalities.

Kabuto wouldnt allow his puppets to help the enemy. Didnt he already kill off the Seven Swordsmen personalities? Kabuto would kill his puppets personalities as soon as he saw they were helping the enemy. He wouldnt allow then to undermine everything.

[mrShady]

Hmmm no discussions, guess everybody is awaiting next weeks episode to give us some new plot development. I know I am.

So what is everybody looking forward to learn about next week?

[Fran~]

Originally Posted by mrShady

So what is everybody looking forward to learn about next week?

The power that Itachi gave to Naruto a.k.a. the crow.

[Ulquiorra]

Originally Posted by mrShady

Hmmm no discussions, guess everybody is awaiting next weeks episode to give us some new plot development. I know I am.

So what is everybody looking forward to learn about next week?

Well this chapter was just a rehash from last week with Gaara. Next week should be better...or it will just tick off more people. It should be half ItachiNagato and the Kage fights.

But either this board is dead or the war isn't interesting fans at the moment.

[yakumo-chan]

i dont like the idea of gaara's father was a good guy after all... its kinda lame...

[mrShady]

Yeah I guess it was a really slow chapter almost a 2nd part to chapter 547. I had expected to see more of the kages, or something more to do with the chapter title.
Atleast we can cross gaara of the war flashback list.

Anyway I think most have said what they wanted to say in the 547 thread and since this chapter added little else there is not much to talk about (yes i'm answering my own question).

I hope the next chapter gives us some new revelations (The crow would be awesome) or just some awesome fights, atleast something to talk about instead of the same old Mangaka bashing.

[Alchemist007]

Originally Posted by yakumo-chan

i dont like the idea of gaara's father was a good guy after all... its kinda lame...

I think the point is to show that there are different ways to see doing the right thing. Like Madara thinks the best solution is to use his Moon's Eye plan.

[Nintendo]

8 tails not knowing pain i can understand, because really no one knew who pain really was. Maybe only madara and itachi.

but him not knowing the famous itachi? maybe he didnt care enough to learn about him or listen to the stories. But i figure a person who killed his own clan in a rival village, the news would get back to him.

but its interesting, now itachi can say whats real and fake is the story madara told them and what new info pain will give.

[xellos2099]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

I think the point is to show that there are different ways to see doing the right thing. Like Madara thinks the best solution is to use his Moon's Eye plan.

Right, as understanding is a 3 edge sword... Gaara's version, his dad version and the truth.

[hamstar]

I'm not liking this. This whole undead summon technique is just reducing all the great ninjas to nothing but cannon fodder and make the new generation look good. We'll probably see Itachi and Nagato get smashed with ease.

[Ulquiorra]

Originally Posted by hamstar

I'm not liking this. This whole undead summon technique is just reducing all the great ninjas to nothing but cannon fodder and make the new generation look good. We'll probably see Itachi and Nagato get smashed with ease.

Has the new generation looked good? If anything the zombies have shown us how much stronger the old generation was. And I don't think that was Kishimoto's intention. But he just can't help himself. Who today, outside of Naruto and Sasuke, has abilities like Onoki, A, and Muu? Does any of Naruto's generation, again besides the two mains, look like they will have the power of the previous generations? Gaara? Can anyone see characters like Shikamaru, Neji, Temari, Kankuro, Sakura, Lee, Omoi. and the others emerging as Kage level fighters?

It's amazing that Kishmoto might skip over the one thing that could reinvigorate his manga. Seeing the kids in their primes and not having to rely on adults for the first time. But it's almost like Kishi is afraid to write a truly youth oriented manga. He seems much more comfortable writing for adult characters now.

[Ero-Senn1n]

Originally Posted by yakumo-chan

i dont like the idea of gaara's father was a good guy after all... its kinda lame...

Where was he a good guy? He even admits that his life was a complete failure. Of course the whole manga is idealistic, but that is what we expect from such a manga/story. By idealistic i mean that the thinking of the old generation is shown as wrong, whereas in real life it makes more sense. But i do not expect realism. And if there was no Naruto to change Gaara and no Orochimaru to trick and kill Gaara's father then the actions of Gaara's father would seem logical. They would just seal the demon in someone else, and keep trying until they find someone who succeeds in their sick tests of power. It would be more realistic but quite boring for us readers. But even if it seems logical the reader would have a feeling that this system is wrong, it's core logic is flawed and in the long term these villages would lose all their demons and their best ninja and finally ninja villages should just cease to exist. It's like the current capitalism and western type democracy, it looks logical and it is ruling the world, but we can feel that there is something fundametally wrong with it, and we are beginning to experinece the problems of the system (global warming, pollution, no children, etc.). So we want changes in our world, but nobody knows what would a better world be like, but in the Narutoverse Kishimoto is trying to show a better world, even if that better world is a utopia that would never work in real life, but reading a manga we like to dream. What i meant to say is that it's hard to make a clear difference between "good" and "bad". That is why Gaara says to his father that he understands why he tried to kill him 6 times and that the duty of the leader is to defend his village. Gaara as the current leader with his rational side understands his father, of course for that he has to suppress his emotional side.