Manga Naruto Manga [Warning: Spoilers]

[Shinmaru]

I'm interested in seeing what Tobi can do, as well, but I'm okay with waiting a bit longer to see it. Pein has been around for [i]forever[/i], so I want to see him fight already, haha. My interest in Konan has diminished a bit, mostly because all we know she can do is turn into origami butterflies (useful for spying, not so much for fighting). Then again, I wouldn't doubt that she'll eventually do some crazy WTF jutsu that will really show why she's an S-class criminal.

I have a question about the last panel of Ch. 370: Does Tobi's Sharingan look like the Mangekyo Sharingan to anyone? I thought it was at first, but now I'm not so sure. It's difficult for me to tell. I'm 99% sure he has the Mangekyo Sharingan (otherwise, how the crap would he be powerful enough to boss around Pein and, by proxy, Itachi, or escape from Deidara blowing everything to hell against Sasuke?), but we don't have conclusive proof of that, obviously, haha.

Also, I wonder who will win the battle of the "that jutsus": Naruto or Sasuke? ZOMG :O

[Andy]

[quote name='Shinmaru']Does Tobi's Sharingan look like the Mangekyo Sharingan to anyone?[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]Eh, not really, but I will admit that there's definitely something strange about his sharingan. I'm not sure what type of sharingan that is, but it doesn't look like the regular sharingan, nor does it look like the mangekyou. So...maybe it's some sort of new sharingan?[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Shinmaru]

Well, the thing about the Mangekyo Sharingan is that it doesn't look the same for different people. But, yeah, I'm guessing that it's just a regular Sharingan and it just looks weird because the drawing is relatively small (although I haven't seen a high quality version of it yet).

[Gavin]

[quote name='Shinmaru']I'm interested in seeing what Tobi can do, as well, but I'm okay with waiting a bit longer to see it. Pein has been around for [i]forever[/i], so I want to see him fight already, haha. My interest in Konan has diminished a bit, mostly because all we know she can do is turn into origami butterflies (useful for spying, not so much for fighting). Then again, I wouldn't doubt that she'll eventually do some crazy WTF jutsu that will really show why she's an S-class criminal.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Seconded Mike, I'm far more interested to see what Tobito can do, as in reality compared to the other Akatsuki members we've seen practically nothing of him. That, and as a pair, Konan and Pein [who really do sound like supervillain rejects] haven't really interested me in a while. They both had all this mystique about them, and somehow over the last few chapters it's sort of disappeared.

As for Tobito's Mangekyo Sharingan, I've just taken another look at the image, and I don't think it looks any different from the regular three-tomoe version.[/SIZE]

[Andy]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]Excuse my bit of randomness here, but is [I]anybody[/I] even interested in seeing what Naruto and the gang have been up to lately? Seriously, I wanna see Naruto fight so I can see if there are any cool new jutsu that he might have learned recently. And what about the fight between Sasuke and Itachi? I mean come on, we've been waiting for this fight for a [I]long[/I] time, and I think I'm more interested in seeing that fight than I am seeing what Tobito and the rest of Akatsuki can do. Oh, and does anybody have any guesses as to whom Tobito is glaring at? Because that's one's been bugging me for a while now...[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Well, the reason that people aren't spazzing about what's going to happen in regards to Sasuke and Itachi is because it's obvious that Kishimoto is going to hold it off until the Pein vs. Jiraiya battle is over. No point working yourself into a frenzy over something that's obviously weeks away.

As far as Naruto goes, I'm thinking that the Rasenshuriken is just about enough for now. Truth be told, I think he ran off again without being fully healed, so anything he likely tries now will probably hurt him worse in the long run. Of course, there has to be a point where he is informed of both his ability to use "that jutsu" and just who his father is (come to think of it, Naruto's never mentioned his parents ever, though this is probably because he was just told growing up that his parents died when he was a baby and never brought it up again).

When it comes down to Tobito (I've finally broken down and decided to start calling him that), he's likely glaring at the statue of the First Hokage. It said somewhere in 370 that the First was the one that took Madara out, though apparently, he didn't do a good job of it.

Then again, Narutoland is also known as "the world where death doesn't necessarily make you dead," so it's not surprising. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if someone suddenly summoned the Third and just screwed with everyone. :/[/color][/size]

[Magus]

[COLOR="Navy"][b]Excuse my bit of randomness here, but is anybody even interested in seeing what Naruto and the gang have been up to lately?[/b]
Not really. I'm more interested in seeing the remaining Akatsuki's abilities. Especially Zetsu.

[b]And what about the fight between Sasuke and Itachi?[/b]
Honestly, this is the only fight that I'm waiting for, but like Kei said, it's a little obvious that they're going to stall for a bit. (Probably for quite some time.)

[b]Oh, and does anybody have any guesses as to whom Tobito is glaring at?[/b]
No. I stopped trying to guess things a while ago because I just suck at it.[/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Kei'][color=darkblue][size=1]Tobito (I've finally broken down and decided to start calling him that)[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Well I'm sometimes partial to Obitobi because it sounds funny. :animesmil

As for Andy's three questions:

[B]1][/B] Sort of, but I think we're really going to see Naruto built up a lot more after the Jiraiya/Pein and Sasuke/Itachi fights. I'd also like to see some of the other Leaf ninja built up a bit more too.

[b]2][/b] Hmm, still not sure about this one. On the one hand we've never seen Itachi really fight and on the other we've seen how easily Sasuke finished Orochimaru. It's either going to be quick and decisive in one favour, or it's going to be rather drawn out. Either way it'll probably be good.

[b]3][/b] I don't know if he's necessarily staring at anyone, it's entirely possible he's just doing typical Uchiha "staring off in the distance emo-ly".[/size]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Hm. Well Naruto seems to have finally come across Sasuke, which will likely end up with a delay to the Sasuke vs. Itachi fight (yay for Kishimoto stalls!) and it appears that Konan, Pein and Jiraiya have a past together. All in all, a very interesting chapter.

What's more interesting to me, though, is that Pein has taken on... well, I guess one could call it "Deidara form." This makes me wonder what he could possibly do. If he can also mimic Deidara's techniques in this form, that would be bad news in a lot of ways, though my gut is telling me it'll get a lot worse than that. Thoughts?[/color][/size]

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]If theories are true, Konan was the female shinobi on Jiraiya's team with Minato. Taking Pein's ability to swap bodies into account as well, it may well be that he was the other remaining member of the team, given he refers to Jiraiya with the honorific "sensei".

That said, I don't know if Pein's newest body is actually Deidara's, sure the resemblance is there, and it's possible that it's a clone, but I want to see some originality out of Pein. If he just takes bodies based on how effective they can be to him, it's a little too similar to Orochimaru for my tastes. Given that there were six bodies, and there are six chakra elements, I'm more willing to bet each body has a specific one for dealing with opponents.

Anyone else curious about what Tobito meant with the "hawk or snake" reference for Sasuke ?

On the note of curiousities, what five things would you like Kishimoto to give more info on ?[/SIZE]

[Shinmaru]

I thought it was funny when Sasuke was all, "GTFO >:O *Chidori*" to Naruto when Naruto's shadow clone showed up and had, like, half a second to communicate its intense admiration of Sasuke.

Anyway, I agree with Gavin that Konan was the female shinobi on Minato's team and that there is a distinct possibility Pein was the other male shinobi on the team. Pein and Konan's partnership would make sense if that were the case, at least.

And, yeah, I immediately noticed the similarity to Deidara, as well, Kei, haha. I wouldn't be surprised if Pein could mimic Deidara's abilities, but I doubt that's all he has to him. Gavin's suggestion is a solid one, especially if Pein's rain can not only spot intruders but also sense their chakra alignment. I guess we'll see sooner or later. :P

About Tobi's musings... I would guess they're more symoblic than anything literal. Tobi probably holds the qualities of the hawk (Uchiha clan?) in higher regard than those of the snake (Orochimaru?).

EDIT: Yeah, Raiyuu is correct. The hawk/snake metaphor was first brought up by Sasuke. If it's in reference to Sasuke's development and whether he relies more on his power or Orochimaru's power, then it makes sense.

[Raiyuu]

Wasn't the whole snake/hawk metaphor brought up originally by Sasuke, just before decking Orochimaru? He said Orochimaru was a snake, doomed to slither on the ground, whereas he was a hawk, able to command the skies. It was particularly appropriate for that pair because of Orochimaru's themes and true form, and Sasuke's winged Curse Seal form, but it looks like it's going to be an extended metaphor for Sasuke's development. I suppose it might refer to whether he relies on his own strength (hawk/Uchiha?) or relies more on the power he took from Orochimaru (snake/implied weaker of the two?).

Using those particular two animals also makes me think of the [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvpod8bBwRA"][u]Basilisk opening sequence[/u][/url]. In that case it represented the mutually destructive nature of the two clans' hatred, so perhaps in Japan the hawk/snake dichotomy is an accepted metaphor for mutual exclusivity or polar opposites...?

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]I'd actually forgotten that bit Raiyuu, thanks for the reminder.

If I'm right, and Pein and Konan are the other two members of Jiraiya's Genin team, then I'm curious as to whether or not Kishimoto is going to repeat Sarutobi's death in being killed by his former student. Before we knew anything about Konan and Pein's relationship with Jiraiya I was fairly certain Ero-Sennin was going to die, but now, I don't know it would just seem a bit unoriginal to me.

I mean if the Tobito was the one to summon the Kyuubi, then he indirectly killed Minato, so that's two cases of the sensei being killed by the student. Make it three, and I get the feeling Kakashi might start to get worried about a future confrontation with Sasuke.[/SIZE]

[Kei]

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]? I get the feeling Kakashi might start to get worried about a future confrontation with Sasuke.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[color=darkblue][size=1]...That would make me cry. I mean that.

I would then never read Naruto again. Seriously.

Anyway, what you're saying does make a bit of sense. We all know Jiraiya is pretty much bound to die (and I will be absolutely gob-smacked if he does make it through), but if does turn out that this is the third case of a student killing his master, then methinks Kishimoto goes a bit overboard trying to drive a point home.[/color][/size]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Kei'][color=darkblue][size=1]...But if does turn out that this is the third case of a student killing his master, then methinks Kishimoto goes a bit overboard trying to drive a point home.[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Well that's why I'm hoping Jiraiya may get a reprieve from his implied death sentence, because it would just be a tad repetitive to have him killed by his former students, when the same happened to his master and possibly his own most favoured student.

Does anyone else think that Kishimoto is just waiting to get Jiraiya out of the picture to have Naruto reveal more of the techniques he learned/developed in his two and a half year training ? I mean we've seen a lot of changes from the other two members of Team 7, but the title character himself is still using most of his older moves.[/SIZE]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Well, this chapter cleared up a few things, I suppose. Then again, it opened up a whole new list of questions.

I've been wondering for a while why two Rain ninja would have been trained by Jiraiya, but I suppose it makes sense, given that it appears Team Sannin was stationed in the Rain Country for a while.

However, my main beef now is with Nagato. It's obvious that he's Tobi, but I'm trying to work out how he could possibly be connected to Madara Uchiha. The only thing I can possibly think of is a possible branch off from the Uchiha family that went off to the Rain Country. However, it could also be that Nagato developed a split personality, one of which thinking that he actually is Madara Uchiha.

There's a lot of possibilities, really. As far as the plot goes, a lot of things can work out. I guess we'll have to wait to find out what happens.

Though, one thing I'm wondering about... Why did Jiraiya think the Rain kids were dead? And why did he have a "WTF?!" moment when he saw Nagato's eyes? Hm...[/color][/size]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Kei'][color=darkblue][size=1]However, my main beef now is with Nagato. It's obvious that he's Tobi, but I'm trying to work out how he could possibly be connected to Madara Uchiha. The only thing I can possibly think of is a possible branch off from the Uchiha family that went off to the Rain Country. However, it could also be that Nagato developed a split personality, one of which thinking that he actually is Madara Uchiha.
[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]I don't know where you got that out of Kei, the last page of the manga pretty clearly hints that Nagato is Pein.

I've got a fairly weird theory about this that involves both Nagato and Yahiko being Pein in one body, but the next chapter of the manga is apparently going to reveal exactly what happened, so I'm going to just wait to see.

It's also good to see that Jiraiya was the most kind-hearted of the three Sannin, because this chapter pretty much proves that Tsunade has been a ***** her entire life. I mean seriously, you don't just turn away a group of children who chances are you made orphans after giving them a few crackers.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Kei'][color=darkblue][size=1]Though, one thing I'm wondering about... Why did Jiraiya think the Rain kids were dead? And why did he have a "WTF?!" moment when he saw Nagato's eyes? Hm...[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Well as for the first question, the guy Nagato killed, at least I assume it was Nagato who killed him, was a Stone chunin. Based on Jiraiya's reaction, I also assume he hadn't been training them that long at that point, thus he didn't expect them to be able to handle a chunin.

As for the second questions, yeah I really want to know what freaked the shite out of Jiraiya when he saw those eyes.

I'm also curious as to what Jiraiya meant on page 8, when he said "It's the least I can do to make up for this". [/SIZE]

[Raiyuu]

If you look at the last page, you'll see that Nagato has the same crazy spiral eyes as Pain. Coupled with the sidetext "is this the birth of Pain?" I assume Nagato is a young Pain, not a young Tobi. I'm intrigued to see whether the pattern in his eyes is another bloodline limit, like the Sharingan or Byakugan.

The whole chapter was an exercise in being misleading - making us think Yahiko, the spiky-haired kid that looks a bit like Pain's first body, was Pain, all the while hiding Nagato's giveaway eyes behind his fringe.

Once it gets back to the actual fight, I'm interested to see whether Konan has any way of dealing with fire jutsu. If all her techniques are paper-based, I'd think a well-placed Goukyaku no Jutsu would take her out in one shot, but she must have something else up her sleeve if Kishimoto's pairing her up as an equal to Jiraiya.

[Gavin]

[quote name='Raiyuu']I'm intrigued to see whether the pattern in his eyes is another bloodline limit, like the Sharingan or Byakugan.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]I don't know why, but I reckon it might be something similar to the dojutsu of Gennosuke from Basilisk. I hope it's something distinct anyway, and not too similar to either of Konoha's eye techniques.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Raiyuu']Once it gets back to the actual fight, I'm interested to see whether Konan has any way of dealing with fire jutsu. If all her techniques are paper-based, I'd think a well-placed Goukyaku no Jutsu would take her out in one shot, but she must have something else up her sleeve if Kishimoto's pairing her up as an equal to Jiraiya.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]I doubt that Konan is Jiraiya's equal, but I think lingering emotion from the latter might mean he won't go for her with the same killing intent he would another enemy. That might give her a few more openings than she would otherwise have.[/SIZE]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]I don't know, really. I suppose what you're both saying makes the most sense, but I guess I was just thrown of by what Nagato looked like. I didn't think about the body shifting at all.

Of course, I did read the chapter at about 3:00 a.m., so that might have contributed to my seeming stupidity, lol.[/color][/size]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Kei'][color=darkblue][size=1]I don't know, really. I suppose what you're both saying makes the most sense, but I guess I was just thrown of by what Nagato looked like. I didn't think about the body shifting at all.

Of course, I did read the chapter at about 3:00 a.m., so that might have contributed to my seeming stupidity, lol.[/color][/size][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Heh, don't worry about it Kei, I'll even admit that when you said he could be Tobi, I had a look and thought the same thing for a moment.[/SIZE]

[Andy]

[quote name='Raiyuu']I'm intrigued to see whether the pattern in his eyes is another bloodline limit, like the Sharingan or Byakugan.
[/QUOTE]

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="2"]Yeah, my first impression of those eye's were that they might be some sort of long-lost kekkei genkai.

And as for the fight between Konan and Jiraiya, I'm pretty sure Jiraiya > Konan. I mean seriously, origami? [B]Lame[/B].[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Aberinkula]

[COLOR="Olive"]Andy is right about Origami. Rhere was a guy who started an origami store in eastern LA, but the buisness folded.

I wonder where I stand on the series? I just got done watching the episdoe where Naruto and Sasuke were fighting the guy witht eh thunder Spirit's sword. The Land of Tea arc, the part with the race. I hope CN doesn't air the filters.[/COLOR]

[Gavin]

[quote name='Revolver'][COLOR="Olive"]Andy is right about Origami. There was a guy who started an origami store in eastern LA, but the buisness folded.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]Really lame joke Rev...:animesigh[/SIZE]

[quote name='Revolver'][COLOR="Olive"]I wonder where I stand on the series? I just got done watching the episdoe where Naruto and Sasuke were fighting the guy with the thunder Spirit's sword. The Land of Tea arc, the part with the race. I hope CN doesn't air the fillers.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[SIZE="1"]You're already a good bit into the fillers Rev, everything after Ep 136 up until the Shippuuden or "Hurricane Chronicles" is filler. If you have a fast internet connection I'd personally recommend watching the stuff online. Don't bother watching the rest of the fillers, nothing good happens.

And seeing as I'm talking about the Shippuuden, the way they've handled the post-Sasori fight just sucks. Naruto apparently can't control his two-tailed form and looks like a seriously ******-up version of the Joker. [/SIZE]

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]Hey, guys, try to keep talk about the anime to the Anime Lounge thread, 'kay? There's a reason it's there. ^_~[/color][/size]