[Manga] Naruto Chapter 632 Discussion Thread

[james0246]

Originally Posted by Hunter

I think you forgot how much power Sakura's punch used to pack because this one was easily 100 times more powerful than before, take a look a chapter 246 for comparison.

More powerful? Sure. I already said I expect it's powerful enough to even damage something like Susano'o. But, it's still something we've seen before, it just takes up more of the page now.

Originally Posted by Hunter

Still, in order to keep up with the asspullwer-up of late the author should have had her take the Juubi by the arm, waltz it around in the air, crush it against the barrier repeatedly, tear of its arm and use it as a suppository.

Would that really be so bad? I would have loved to see Sakura do something of scope and scale to Konan ocean of trillions of exploding tags. So over-the-top as to actually warrant Naruto's expression (as is, I find Naruto's expression more disingenuous than anything else in this chapter). Instead, we get more of the same, just larger, but not large enough.

[Hunter]

I wasn't being sarcastic, except perhaps for the suppository part, this kind of over the top feat really is what a character needs to stand out nowadays. I didn't quote the rest of your sentence because I was agreeing with it.

[mayumi]

Shouldn't they be doing a sealing jutsu? I am sure rikudou must have left some manual unless he pops up in naruto suddenly or are they going to hit with chakra and all they got like hashirama said last chapter

[Cookie-Monster]

Tsunade/Sakura's skills were always lazily written.

In most fighting fiction, its difficult to write a strong female because it is difficult to visualize a girl being physically stronger than other male fighters. To make up for it, female fighters are usually more skilled.

Such a setup was perfect for the naruto world where quick thinking, hard work, and jutsus eliminate the raw strength factor.

So it was always odd that Tsunade (and later sakura) were not beefed up using that route. Why make tsunade a goofy power puncher? It is so linear and boring. If Tsunade had been written in the vein of a Kakashi/Sarutobi type quick thinking skilled jutsu user, it would have made her much more interesting.

Also I wonder how different the manga would have been Sakura had been a female character with a more "prestigious" background. Ie if the original Team 7 had been chosen by Sarutobi because they were all talented/promising.

For example if Sakura had been a Hyuuga. Perhaps a hyuuga in the subservient role such as Neji, so she had a chip on her shoulder, and could plausibly be powered up in a much more interesting way.

It would also make for a much more interesting love triangle =)

Hyuuga-Sakura loves sasuke.
Naruto loves Hyuga-sakura.
Hinata loves Naruto.
Hyuga-Sakura hates Hinata.

[james0246]

Originally Posted by Cookie-Monster

Also I wonder how different the manga would have been Sakura had been a female character with a more "prestigious" background.

That's not the point of Sakura. She is specifically designed to be an ordinary girl that can stand beside giants. Sadly, Kishimoto never went through the leg work required to legitimately shown her being able to stand beside her teammates.

(That being said, she was the top ranked kunoichi of her class, that is why she was placed with Sasuke and Naruto (the top and the bottom of her class).)

[itachi-san314]

I dont mind the physicality of tsunade and sakura. i do mind that kishi totally forgot that sakura's initial promise was in genjutsu. i really wished that he could have explored that angle of her character. since she was so 'gifted' with chakra control, her genjutsu prowess could have believably been on par with the uchiha although never quite as good as sasuke and certainly not itachi of course, but still something the likes of akatsuki would have trouble with. so with the physical strength, medic techs and genjutsu she would have been pretty complete and much more interesting. the hyuuga should have started getting into genjutsu as well to keep them up to par with the new powers. kishi turned genjutsu into almost an entirely itachi thing when it's a basic third of the technique pie chart from the start of the manga. sasuke barely even uses it so sakura using it a lot wouldn't be overkill in team 7

[Poetic Justice]

Well Sakura got her 5 minutes of glory time the fans had been pleading for, Back to the real cast now.

[Artimus_Prime]

Originally Posted by The Small One

Which doesn't really help anymore, if all the fighters are inside of the barrier.

Originally Posted by Artful Dodger

Well, we have yet to see what the plan actually is.

plus hashirama, added another seal to the juubis head...at the moment, it seems that it cant create another spirit bomb anyway...

[Gintokifan22]

Wow, what a load of crap!!! I don't know whats going on Kishi's head these days.

Sakura gets a random ass pull after being useless background fodder for years and than needs help from Sasuke/Naruto again?? Wow, one step forward two step backwards

Now, to top things off, every one wants to be a hokage?? Wow Naruto you've got some compettion, Kiba going to be a hard one to beat here

Ok, so now end couples are going to be, SakuraxSasuke?? KibaxHinata?? ShikamaruxIno?? Naruto's getting screwed here, hes going to end up alone

Oh look, Sasuke may not be evil but he sure is heck of a jerk, evil or not. Naruto does all this and yet he still treats him like crap?? If any thing Naruto should be doing that to him not the other way around, we all know Kishi has a man crush on Sasuke though and never wants to do him wrong

Do we even have a villain now?? Seems hes they've given up on that goal

Horrible, just horrble!!! I can't wait for the series to end, no offense to still Naruto fans

[Monster0]

Sakura is to AnimeSuki Naruto forum

as is

Rin is to Obito

[Hunter]

Your analogy needs a little work.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by The Small One

Come to think of it: They made 10 teams out of Naruto's graduating class. How comes we never heard much (or anything?) about the other seven teams?
Chouji even said this chapter, that everyone from their class is at the battlefield.

Well there was also the additional test that the trio had to take with Kakashi. Assuming kakashi wasn't bluffing, failing the test meant getting sent back to the academy and it could be assumed that the others also had to deal with similar but different tests under their jounin instructors(supposedly kakashi's test was harder). Could be that the konoha 9 are the only ones in their class that passed their tests, while the others failed... thus technically only those 9 truly graduated while the others had to try again next year

Originally Posted by itachi-san314

I dont mind the physicality of tsunade and sakura. i do mind that kishi totally forgot that sakura's initial promise was in genjutsu. i really wished that he could have explored that angle of her character. since she was so 'gifted' with chakra control, her genjutsu prowess could have believably been on par with the uchiha although never quite as good as sasuke and certainly not itachi of course, but still something the likes of akatsuki would have trouble with. so with the physical strength, medic techs and genjutsu she would have been pretty complete and much more interesting. the hyuuga should have started getting into genjutsu as well to keep them up to par with the new powers. kishi turned genjutsu into almost an entirely itachi thing when it's a basic third of the technique pie chart from the start of the manga. sasuke barely even uses it so sakura using it a lot wouldn't be overkill in team 7

Originally Posted by james0246

That's not the point of Sakura. She is specifically designed to be an ordinary girl that can stand beside giants. Sadly, Kishimoto never went through the leg work required to legitimately shown her being able to stand beside her teammates.

When it comes down to it, one of the problems with Sakura is that it seems like kishi has not put nearly enough thought into her abilities. Naruto may mostly use shadow clones and Rasengan but he atleast found different ways to make use of them; plus he got additional power ups. Sasuke too, his build gives him a good variety of techniques between lightning, fire and his sharigan. Its this variety and the ability to do something different in every fight that helps keep people invested in the combat... But Sakura only has he super punch and her medical justu, the later of which she does not make use of in active combat... her fight with Sasori was great, but that's because that was the first time we ever saw her fight like that; if you've seen one super strong punch you've kind of seen them all. Sakura needed the chance to evolve her abilities and get power ups, but evolve in a way that would give her variety... I mean the first time sakura ever unleashed a punch it was an epic and shocking moment; but this time, even though the punch was a lot bigger, it doesn't feel all that impressive.

Giving Sakura more variety could have been done in any number of ways; for isntance...
- Finding ways to use medical justu in active combat and/or weaponize it... like Kabuto's Chakra scalpel, or Tsunade's nerve strike. Maybe she could have concocted her own solider pills for a wide variety of different affects. Or atleast find more ways to make use of her medical knowledge in combat
- Finding other ways she might use Chakra control to do something else other than throw a powerful punch. Like let her use her punches to through out shock waves for a long range attack; or use chakra control to enhance her reflexes and boost her speed. heh, ironically, the rasengan required a great deal of chakra control
- Letting her advance in some other area like genjustu. We were told long ago that her affinity for genjustu was key to her surpassing tsunade. Genjutu might have given her some more interesting ways to fight to help give her more variety... heck maybe she might have even be thrown into a situation where she had to defend herself against Sasuke; how well she performed against the sharigan could in turn be a testament to how great her skills are.

Giving Sakura more variety to make her fights more interesting as well as giving her more fights with opponents of great strength would have done A LOT for her characrer and helpped to show her being able to catch up to Naruto and Sasuke.

[Nintendo]

I dont see sasuke and naruto helping sakura as bailing her out as them working as a team once again. It seemed more like they have a common goal of defeating whats infront of them and while it might look like they are bailing her out, its more them coming together and being a team again and having pretty flawless timing together after so many years.

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

Giving Sakura more variety could have been done in any number of ways; for isntance...
- Finding ways to use medical justu in active combat and/or weaponize it... like Kabuto's Chakra scalpel, or Tsunade's nerve strike. Maybe she could have concocted her own solider pills for a wide variety of different affects. Or atleast find more ways to make use of her medical knowledge in combat

Sakura throwing punches might be boring, but seeing her use Chakra Scalpels or nerve strikes all the time would be just as dull. In any case, the super strength is the most efficient way of fighting for a medical ninja, so it doesn't bother me.

- Letting her advance in some other area like genjustu. We were told long ago that her affinity for genjustu was key to her surpassing tsunade. Genjutu might have given her some more interesting ways to fight to help give her more variety... heck maybe she might have even be thrown into a situation where she had to defend herself against Sasuke; how well she performed against the sharigan could in turn be a testament to how great her skills are.

Firstly, where would she find the time to learn genjutsu? In just 3 years, she became an excellent medical ninja and also raised her combat skills. Learning genjutsu, which requires a lot of intellect would pushing it.

In any case, from what I've seen in the manga, apart from special genjutsu, like the sound based variety or Sharingan genjutsu, genjutsu isn't suited for one on one fights, at best it's a support.

[Destined_Fate]

About darn time they gave Sakura some love. It's been so long!

[janipani]

Naruto is funny series. At first I liked all the characters now I pretty much hate all of them except Jiraya who stays dead.. I hope. He is the best character in this series, in a way most realistic even.

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by The Small One

It was long ago, but I thought Kakashi was the only Jounin-Teamleader with an additional test.
Though you make a valid point here. Could very well be possible.

On the other hand: Wouldn't it be wiser to postpone the numbering of the teams until after everyone was successful? Should be very confusing if every year has another set of numbers.
But when I think about it more: It's even stupid to give the teams numbers in the first place. Names would have been much better.

I Looked back to the previous chapters.
Kakashi told them that of the 27 grad's only 9 would actually become genin while the others would go back to the academy... So ya, that's what happened ot the rest of them. Though if you wanted to talk about missed potential, you could ask what about the other potential genins from Neji/rock lee/tenten's class... though this is something i don't mind too much, as focus has been spread enough as it is. Though it would have been some nice thinking if Kishi allowed such characters a cameo just to show that they exist

But ya, kinda dumb to give them team numbers; should just refer to them by their jounin leader or just make up something and never bother with the numbers. Though to be fair, i seem to recall them sometimes being referred to by the jounin name... though prefer an original team name since the jounin wouldn't always be there with them like when they get older and become jounin themselves.

Originally Posted by Endscape

Sakura throwing punches might be boring, but seeing her use Chakra Scalpels or nerve strikes all the time would be just as dull. In any case, the super strength is the most efficient way of fighting for a medical ninja, so it doesn't bother me.

That's why you provide VARIETY... give her a whole slew of different moves she can use with different combinations and strategies; its alot better than being a one trick pony.

Also a reason her only using super strength to fight might not bother you is because Sakura never gets to fight... She hasn't done much fighting since sasori. Can't get old if you never see anything

Firstly, where would she find the time to learn genjutsu? In just 3 years, she became an excellent medical ninja and also raised her combat skills. Learning genjutsu, which requires a lot of intellect would pushing it.

In any case, from what I've seen in the manga, apart from special genjutsu, like the sound based variety or Sharingan genjutsu, genjutsu isn't suited for one on one fights, at best it's a support.

When? Naruto found plenty of time to train and get new power ups. Is sakura just doing nothing all day while he trains hard? And heck those 3 years could have been used for ANYTHING, including giving her additional genjutsu. Not to mention from the very beginning Sakura was presented as one of the smarter genin amongst her classmates; the fact that it requires intellect would only mean it be something easier for sakura to learn and master.

Also we have seen enough genjustu to know that it is useful in combat. Heck it can support the fighter that uses it as genjustu can be used to through off your opponents and create openings for attack. Hit them with a debuff, and then follow up with a mega punch.

Really there are ENDLESS possibilities for what Kishi could have done for sakura as he could have come up with anything he wanted... he just simply didn't care enough.

[Essenar]

This entire chapter is almost as bad as Kishimoto giving us a completely black page in the issue about Obito being Tobi. "I don't care anymore". That's what I sum up from Sakura doing another shanarro punch and Sasuke acting cold and neglectful again. "Stay out of my way stupid Naruto! You're in the way and you're stupid!"

Naruto - "Hey acknowledge me!"

Everyone - "You'll never be hokage stupid Naruto!"

Like honest, is Kishimoto hungover and thinking we're still in the Chunnin exam?

[Artimus_Prime]

Originally Posted by Slayerx

That's why you provide VARIETY... give her a whole slew of different moves she can use with different combinations and strategies; its alot better than being a one trick pony.

Also a reason her only using super strength to fight might not bother you is because Sakura never gets to fight... She hasn't done much fighting since sasori. Can't get old if you never see anything

right hook, jab, uppercut
roundhouse kick, leg sweep, karate chop, peoples elbow...
theres your variety. the chick has superhuman strength...she only really needs to land one punch.
-kakashi says so in the shippuden bell test
-raikage would've flattened naruto(tail beast mode) if he had not have blocked
-tsunade breaks madara susanoo.
sakuras strength is weapon enough...

imo, the sasori fight was all we needed for sakura as it pertains to her battle capabilties. during that fight we see tsunade explaining sakuras role as an excellent medical ninja (tsunade provides further explanation during her fight with madara when she mentions those 3 or 4 rules). why we would come to expect anything else? im not sure...
and we keep pointing out how LONG its been since she fought. yes for us readers its been 8 years, but it has not been that long in manga time. these are the volumes since 34 when sakura beat sasori:
35-38 kakuzu/hidan/shika/asuma/begin sasuke
39-40 sasuke
41 jiraiya
42-43 sasuke after itachi
44 sage training
45 sasuke.bee/pain invasion
46-48 pain vs naruto
49-50 gokage summit
51-52 sasuke vs danzo/
53 - prep for war, have war***(if i screwed this up hopefully somebody corrects me

vol 38?, sasuke beats orochimaru 6 months(in manga time) after sakura beats sasori. roughly 3 months later, war breaks out.
within this timeline/storyline, when/where was sakura suppose to get this major fight?

Originally Posted by Slayerx

When? Naruto found plenty of time to train and get new power ups. Is sakura just doing nothing all day while he trains hard? And heck those 3 years could have been used for ANYTHING, including giving her additional genjutsu.

just a little bit unfair considering narutos bloodline. he literally requires no time to learn anything...he developed rasenshuriken in like a day...and sage mode training didnt take long either.
she spent those three years becoming a capable fighter and as of 632 revealed, storing chakra for a seal that so far only mito uzumaki, and tsunade have managed to utilize...(shizunes admitting she wasnt able to do it was suppose to increase the wow factor i think)

also we have yet to see what she can actually do...she didnt save up for one punch. i hope its some form of the technique tsunade used against madara

[mayumi]

Originally Posted by Essenar

This entire chapter is almost as bad as Kishimoto giving us a completely black page in the issue about Obito being Tobi. "I don't care anymore". That's what I sum up from Sakura doing another shanarro punch and Sasuke acting cold and neglectful again. "Stay out of my way stupid Naruto! You're in the way and you're stupid!"

Naruto - "Hey acknowledge me!"

Everyone - "You'll never be hokage stupid Naruto!"

Like honest, is Kishimoto hungover and thinking we're still in the Chunnin exam?

This is indeed going to continue into next chapter as well. Other teams show off. Hashi gets more impressed. Then Sasuke shows off and Hashi says "oh this kid can be hokage"

Naruto really doesn't need this shit but for Kishi it seems to be something funny. I get the nostalgia and stuff but it just seems like a opportunity to put down naruto when he could really be doing his own thing without the other rookies or even sasuke or sakura.
He has been held back protecting alliance and now the rookies.