Naruto 342

[Tsukasa]

Naruto LQ Raw

Naruto 342 (http://www.sendspace.com/file/wovy53)


Naruto LQ Scanlation

Scanlation (http://www.sendspace.com/file/a0ucww)

[RyougaZell]

Great chapter.

So I guess Kakashi gave Kakuzu the final blow. I guess he is gone now, and I think that means Hidan is lost as well. His nature of inmortal may have him alive, but without Kakuzu to re-atach him he is done for as well.

Which village where the guys at the end of the chapter? I guess we will stop seeing Akatsuki again for a while.

Kurenai is definitely pregnant with Asuma's child.

[toonice714]

I dont know if I like where this chapter is going. They just show naruto and his new explosively powerful jutsu, now at the end of the chapter you see sasuke sittin around a pile of dead ninja. The next chapter better not unveil a powered up chidori to match the rasengan.

[JaySee]

Guess Konohamaru will have a cousin.

A powered up Chidori was already shown by Sasuke.

[chet_chetty]

lol @ keeping Kakuzu alive for Kakashi's dramatic commentary. the jutsu should have disintegrated him into nothingness.

i'm disappointed in the king not being a single entity. i would have been perfectly fine with asuma and kurenai's unborn child being the king. the grandchild of a hokage and child of 2 jounins...this kid is future hokage material without a doubt.

[JaySee]

Lineage has nothing to do with being Hokage. If it were, Konohamaru would be the next Hokage.

[Teki]

I dont know if I like where this chapter is going. They just show naruto and his new explosively powerful jutsu, now at the end of the chapter you see sasuke sittin around a pile of dead ninja. The next chapter better not unveil a powered up chidori to match the rasengan.

actually, orochimaru specifically said that sasuke didnt kill any of them.

[Yukimura]

Crap, this means Sasuke will probably come back to the light side again at the end (after Naruto defeats Orochimaru). Then maybe Sasuke and Sakura can get married while Naruto is Hokage like in that fanart panel thing.

And was Kurenai's pregnency revealed before or is this the first we've heard of it?

[Assertn]

At first I thought Sasuke was implying that he sought to kill Naruto...but then I was wondering why he would want to....

Which led me to what he's been after all along and I COMPLETELY forgot about...his brother!

Basically what I'm trying to say is....I think this next arc will involve a confrontation between Itachi and Sasuke

[Honoko]

At first I thought Sasuke was implying that he sought to kill Naruto...but then I was wondering why he would want to....

Which led me to what he's been after all along and I COMPLETELY forgot about...his brother!

Basically what I'm trying to say is....I think this next arc will involve a confrontation between Itachi and Sasuke
I hope so. It's about damn time, in my opinion.

[JaySee]

I want Sasuke to die already. I hope Itachi kills him. Or even better, Orochimaru takes his body and Naruto kills him.

[kAi]

Hmmm, seems Kishimoto is continuing fast through this part of the manga, seems like he's trying to finish up the Akatsuki members.

Might be a good place to start with Orochimaru and Sasuke taking more of a lead role, would be good to see.

[HyourinMaru-]

yes.. then sasuke takes itachi 1 on 1... then orochimaru vs. kisame.... just an opinion

[The Adjective]

Jay: How can you hate ol' Sasuke?

Speaking of Sasuke... Isn't his new look totally badass? I just realized how flipping sweet it was in that last picture of him.

Haha, what's with the big Shaquille ninja he's sitting on?

[February]

Jay: How can you hate ol' Sasuke?

Speaking of Sasuke... Isn't his new look totally badass? I just realized how flipping sweet it was in that last picture of him.

Haha, what's with the big Shaquille ninja he's sitting on?

lol i noticed the big dude as well

anyway, if they show sasuke vs itachi already, manga would be running way TOO fast, because sasuke already said that he needs to give his body to oro to be strong enough to beat itachi, and i dont think sasuke's body will be going to oro just yet

one big thing i hated about this last fighting scene.
Naruto, if you look carefully after he pulls off the new move, kishi made him look like he was seriously injured. I mean come on, look at chapter 341 after he shoves that skill into kazaku....he sure looked healthy then...or maybe the "impact" of the windrasengan did it? being thrown back by force damages you so much that someone has to chakra-heal you?

and not to mention how easily Kazaku fell for a lame kage bunshin technique...he should have seen through that way too easily

[The Adjective]

and not to mention how easily Kazaku fell for a lame kage bunshin technique...he should have seen through that way too easily

Hey hey hey! Everyone's fooled by kage bunshin, ok? Why should he be treated any diferently?

And I think Naruto was just pooped from using that technique so many times.

[iMUSTbeTHEdevil]

Ehh it was an aight chapter. I just didnt realize way back when before the Chuunin exam that Asuma clearly says his last name and I didnt put it together back then, Thanks Toonami for showing me what I missed! But about the chapter.....kinda odd that Sai and Sakura didnt get to do anything but show up, but what are ya gonna do? Cant wait to see more Akatsuki members get taken out, but I think that they are going to die by Oro and Sasuke. Would be nice to see them take some down and show some evil! -dg-

[Yukimura]

@February I think they mentioned he was so worn out b/c he'd used three Rasenshurikens in quick succession. I doubt he was out of chakra but maybe the mental strain of controlling it takes a lot out of him.

[Vegechan]

I just want to say something about how easily Kazaku fell for the Kage Bunshin trick. Yes, it's a very simple trick, but I really don't think he would have expected the clone himself to create another rasenganshurikin. It's a simple distraction, yes, but a very clever one. Kazaku thought he was seeing through his trick by attacking the Naruto with the Rasenganshurikin, which Naruto predicted he would do. Regardless of how simple it is, I really do think it shows how much Naruto has grown. He still has his goofy moments, but overall he's much more mature and there were various moments I said to myself "Wow... he's so badass..."

[HyourinMaru-]

lol i noticed the big dude as well

anyway, if they show sasuke vs itachi already, manga would be running way TOO fast, because sasuke already said that he needs to give his body to oro to be strong enough to beat itachi, and i dont think sasuke's body will be going to oro just yet

one big thing i hated about this last fighting scene.
Naruto, if you look carefully after he pulls off the new move, kishi made him look like he was seriously injured. I mean come on, look at chapter 341 after he shoves that skill into kazaku....he sure looked healthy then...or maybe the "impact" of the windrasengan did it? being thrown back by force damages you so much that someone has to chakra-heal you?

and not to mention how easily Kazaku fell for a lame kage bunshin technique...he should have seen through that way too easily

yamato said he did it three times.. and looking at it closely... you can see that the kage bunshin was the one carrying out the jutsu... and when kakuzu attacked the bunshin... naruto together with the two clones made another rasen shuriken quickly... and then not to mention yamato also said that he could barely use two during the training session... so how much more two quick jutsu...

[Idealistic]

Can learning just a new jutsu really make you that much more powerful? All Naruto learned was a new direct-attack. It's not like his fighting skills and speed and such improved as well.

But nontheless it is still a cool jutsu and all... And with 2 members of Akatsuki already gone... I wonder how long the rest of the series will be.

[JaySee]

He created a new jutsu and learned better ways to use the kage bunshin. He also got years of experience ouf of it.

[Lefty]

He created a new jutsu and learned better ways to use the kage bunshin. He also got years of experience ouf of it.

Probably a life times worth of experience from the begining of the training to now.

[jing]

He was pretty lucky that he got out of this alive. Just think about it, his speed didn't increase, would Rasen shuriken have touched Rock Lee or Sasuke? It would be better if we knew how long it takes to set this new jutsu up, and how long it takes for Naruto's speed to land. To me, he didn't really change... it's just Rasengan with more buffs. As for analyzing with Kagebunshins... he could have done that ages ago, but he was a dumbass?

[Super5]

Man, akatsuki seems to be dropping like flies. However, don't count out Hidan yet. He is immortal after all, and Zetsu could be lurking close by. So I guess the poll was pretty accurate:

http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?t=14124

Hidan and Kakuzu were the overwhelming favorites.

[Carnage]

Mother F*****, so much bullshit in one chapter.

1.) Kakuzu is beaten by Naruto in 2 chapters....wtf....
2.) Shikamaru beats an akatsuki member all by himself......wtf....
3.) All of a Sudden Naruto is better than Kakashi because of one new move that doesn't even involve the kyuubi....wtf.....
3.5) I still can't get over Hidan losing to Shikamaru
4.) Akatsuki is overated. My grandma could get in.

To compensate for all the bullshit so far, Kishimoto owes us more Asuma x Kurenai hentai.

[HyourinMaru-]

He was pretty lucky that he got out of this alive. Just think about it, his speed didn't increase, would Rasen shuriken have touched Rock Lee or Sasuke? It would be better if we knew how long it takes to set this new jutsu up, and how long it takes for Naruto's speed to land. To me, he didn't really change... it's just Rasengan with more buffs. As for analyzing with Kagebunshins... he could have done that ages ago, but he was a dumbass?

well yes, naruto might be a dumb ass ninja 3 years ago, but after that training he had with kakashi, he already changed. before, Naruto used to attack the enemy carelessly using all of his chakra in a kage bunshin and what does he get? all those clones goes poof and he creates another then attacks. but at the start of the battle (naruto vs. kakuzu) he was using his head at that time. he was trying to know on how kakuzu attacks, and with that, he had a hint that he only needs at least 3 kage bunshin for him to land a rasen shuriken, well at first it did not hit because we might put it that he was holding it for too long or something else, but with that second attempt, he landed it on kakuzu perfectly. remember the clone was also carrying a rasen shuriken... and then 2 of his clones and himself attacked kakuzu from behind where in kakuzu thought that the one in front of him was the clone. and from that point, I could say that was only a small span of time that he created the rasengan shuriken.

[Idealistic]

this training makes the 2 1/2 years training with jiraiya completely useless.... he was still a clueless ninja after they came back.

we can pretty much say jiraiya didn't teach naruto how to defend himself from akatsuki at all... and that was the whole point of jiraiya training naruto for 2 1/2 years.... wtf 2 1/2 years and naruto can use 4-tails of kyuubi's power but now they are trying to hold him back.

why didn't jiraiya train naruto to learn this new jutsu?

and how come kakashi was the only one who figured out this way of training with the kage bunshins?

[JaySee]

Naruto couldn't learn this new jutsu without the Kyuubi power.
Kage Bunshin is a forbidden technique. Very few people know how to do it.

[Munsu]

Mother F*****, so much bullshit in one chapter.

1.) Kakuzu is beaten by Naruto in 2 chapters....wtf....
2.) Shikamaru beats an akatsuki member all by himself......wtf....
3.) All of a Sudden Naruto is better than Kakashi because of one new move that doesn't even involve the kyuubi....wtf.....
3.5) I still can't get over Hidan losing to Shikamaru
4.) Akatsuki is overated. My grandma could get in.

To compensate for all the bullshit so far, Kishimoto owes us more Asuma x Kurenai hentai.
I don't see you guys complaining in Bleach when Ichigo powers up and kicks all the strong characters. Heck, you even saw Itachi wipe-out his whole clan, and everyone just seems to accept it just fine. Also, you're missing the point of everything on what has been going on, especially the "King piece" refference.

Kakuzu was beaten first because he was already partly weakened by Kakashi and the others. Secondly, time to test the new Resengan, so he had to go.
Shikamaru didn't beat Hidan by himself. He was very well prepared for the fight, so he was in a huge advantage. The whole setting where the fight took place was specifically prepared to take Hidan down.

You people over think too much. This are ninjas trained to kill, so anything can happen at any given time. It doesn't matter what rank or level the person is, the important point is that all of them have techniques that kill, so watch your backs.

[Raven]

Not many people have died during the course of this series - the last few chapters seemed to have made up for it a bit...

[Terracosmo]

I would like to see more good guys die though. It seems like all the ones fighting on the side of good never die except the sidelines characters. Honestly, who was emotionally devastated by the deaths of Hayate, the old grandma during the Gaara arc or Asuma? I personally didn't care enough for any of them. I don't "feel" their deaths as I should do when something as grave (pun) as that happens. *insert the 8241842nd obligatory "Chouji should have died" rant thingy here*



Evil characters on the other hand almost appear completely expendable except in Akatsuki, where it instead feels weird when they get owned due to all the build-up that organization has had throughout the years of the series. I think that most of us have problems getting over that the akatsuki members are killed at all, especially by the "leaf kiddies". This can also be attributed to the bigass hype that Akatsuki has received in the series. Everybody's been like "yeah they're invincible can't be killed etc". Kishi has in a sense written himself into a corner. But in the end, who gives a shit. People have to die, even the ones who you think of as invincible apparently..

[Genma]

Honestly, who was emotionally devastated by the death of Hayate,

I was... :(

[Terracosmo]

Well I guess he was pretty cool but my point is he didn't receive much development or screentime before passing away :S

[Assertn]

Geez...can't you guys just let the man do his work?
You should all know by now that playing the safe route with his well-developed characters is part of Kishimoto's style. If you don't follow the story for his style, then what do you follow it for?

Kishimoto tries to create arcs that revolve around specific themes...
With the wave country arc, it was about "bonds" and "the importance of having a precious person"
With Lee vs Sasuke, it was "hard work vs genius"
With Naruto vs Gaara, it was "fighting for others vs fighting for yourself"
With both the 3rd and now with Asuma, it was "the young will always surpass the old"
(I think having Asuma be the one to carry over this theme by dying was even more powerful, since his father died carrying that theme back in the war between konoha and sand)

That's his style, and if he hadn't been enforcing such rhetoric in the first place, then I'd be compelled to complain as well, but to me this totally justifies Naruto beating Kakuzu. To kill off a character or not is at his own discretion, because he's the one who has to devise the next scenario, and he chooses which characters will play a role in it. I'm fine with that.

The only things I ever have issues with are plot elements that seem to serve no purpose, such as oro losing his arms to the 3rd only to get them back later, or this big deal about the roots organization (and Yamato being Sai's secret mentor) completely neglected...although I still expect some sort of coup happening soon.

[toonice714]

I can recall a time when a lot of people were complaining because a well thought out plan would be ruined for the sake of character development. This is the first plan that was seen all the way through with no bs. I'm glad hidan is dead it will give him less moves in naruto shippuden accel. Be happy! Now hidan wont be one of those cheap ass characters. lol

[Carnage]

I don't see you guys complaining in Bleach when Ichigo powers up and kicks all the strong characters. Heck, you even saw Itachi wipe-out his whole clan, and everyone just seems to accept it just fine. Also, you're missing the point of everything on what has been going on, especially the "King piece" refference.

Kakuzu was beaten first because he was already partly weakened by Kakashi and the others. Secondly, time to test the new Resengan, so he had to go.
Shikamaru didn't beat Hidan by himself. He was very well prepared for the fight, so he was in a huge advantage. The whole setting where the fight took place was specifically prepared to take Hidan down.

You people over think too much. This are ninjas trained to kill, so anything can happen at any given time. It doesn't matter what rank or level the person is, the important point is that all of them have techniques that kill, so watch your backs.

As for bleach, most of those instances Ichigo powered up because of his either inner hollow stregnth or hidden reserves that noone knew about. The hollow is alot like Naruto tapping into the Kyuubi's power, no complaints there. Whenever he uses his hidden reserves, he doesnt even really win his fights (Byakuya breaks his sword and he ties with Kenpachi). That is also like how when Naruto used the resangan on Kabuto, kind of like instinct. But here Naruto came up with a simple plan and fooled a really old/experienced Akatsuki member that fought the 1st Hokage. Eh, its kind of hard for me to accept.

As for Itachi, he had been building up his skills, its not like he suddenly became uber duber powerfull overnight (unless you count him attaining his mangyekou, but even Kakashi admits he's pretty powerful w/o it).

But I do see what kishimoto is trying to say with the "king" piece, I just think they're a bit short experience compared to Kakashi, Gai, Jiraiya, etc.

[animus]

During the part where Kurenai and Shikamaru talk, and Shika says "I will take care of your baby" or something like that. I thought he volunteered to be the baby daddy O_o

[Assertn]

Technically, Naruto now has more years of training experience than even Kakashi has.

[NeoCybercoin]

Well Kakashi also has the Kage Bunshin ya know.

[darkshadow]

Technically, Naruto now has more years of training experience than even Kakashi has.

I think that is only valid for experience with fuses elements with a jutsu.
No way naruto has more experience then kakashi when it comes to battle, jutsu's and plain ninja knowledge.

Also i dont understand something, kakashi knows he has low stamina, why doesn't he carry like a dozen soldier pills with him >_> and just spam jutsu's over and over and over and over and.... you get my point <_<.

[Idealistic]

Well Kakashi also has the Kage Bunshin ya know.

He doesn't have enough chakra to do that kind of training... He even said it.

[Chouonsoku]

I think that is only valid for experience with fuses elements with a jutsu.
No way naruto has more experience then kakashi when it comes to battle, jutsu's and plain ninja knowledge.

Also i dont understand something, kakashi knows he has low stamina, why doesn't he carry like a dozen soldier pills with him >_> and just spam jutsu's over and over and over and over and.... you get my point <_<.

Because soldier pills make you more aggressive and shrink your genitalia.

[Knives122]

-_-

I think Kakashi doesn't take soldier pills b/c it defeats the purpose of him doing extremely badass things in a short amount of time. That's pretty much why we all love Kakashi after all..

[Chouonsoku]

Okay, in all seriousness, do you remember what happened when Chouji took the soldier pills? He nearly killed himself. It damn near wasted him away. Now, someone that is already fit like Kakashi taking them, he'd be bones afterwards.

[Carnage]

Those werent ordinary soldier pills, they were especially made for his clan.

[HyourinMaru-]

kakashi might take some soldier pills but i guess it would be only to enhance his stamina... and also... soldier pills are different from those that chouji took.. it was merely thier clans pills that will enhance thier techniques. remember that chouji almost died taking up those pills just because he needed to and was left with no more choice or else hed be defeated by that fat guy sound nin.

[dimitris127]

i believe you are right HyourinMaru.....also would you like kakashi a cool looking type to take every 5 to 10 minutes a pill?i wouldn't want it for sure....it would make somewhat inferior to the others...

[HyourinMaru-]

Shikamaru didn't beat Hidan by himself. He was very well prepared for the fight, so he was in a huge advantage. The whole setting where the fight took place was specifically prepared to take Hidan down.

i agree to this post... shikamaru wouldnt let asuma down where in he learned how hiddan attacks and with his calculations, he just thought and felt confident that he can take him down. Hidan also is a dumb ninja... he only got an advantage with his immortality... but with his fighting style, he only uses some rituals on making the attackers take thier own attacks and that does not thrills me... he even ended up with his head cut by asuma... if only Hidan was not imortal then he would have died by the time his head was cut.

[CapsuleCorpJX]

The last few chapters is really screwing things up for me. Come on? S-Class criminals being beaten one on one by Shikamaru and Naruto? Thats ridiculous. A good chapter, good action, even decent tactics, but still ... the two chars should not be on the level of Akatsuki, and should have used every member of their team to kill off those Akatsuki (and even then maybe only kill one).

[toonice714]

It has been said about one hundred times. The Atkatsuki are over hyped ninja with a very short sighted plan. I think once they have eliminated enough of them either the true plan will be revealed or the will fall to a greater villian leading us all into a new more interesting arc. The atkatsuki are dropping like files for a reason, plus it not like they're losing to just anyone. Shikamaru was chosen to be a chuunin before the leaf and the sand's best rookie's for a reason.

[HyourinMaru-]

that would simply mean that Shikamaru has a very high inteligence and that he could take out an enemy wisely. Remember the Chapter where in the Third was saying that he could have taken out Temari if Shikamaru did not surrender. that only proves hes very intelligent. And with regards to Narutos jutsu, it is as powerful as what Kakashi said. And besides, Naruto was not the one who took out kakuzu alone, Kakuzu was like vs. kakashi, shikamaru (1st part), ino (in which she did not do anything aside from locating kakuzu and hidan), chouji (whose jutsus never damaged a bit to kakuzu), then came yamato and narutos combined jutsu. so basically, it was only Hidan you went out 1 on 1. and considering the fact that Shikamaru had faced Hidan in a battle where in Asuma died. So he would have raised 1000 more plans on how to take out Hidan. Unless of course if Hidan didnot show his true abilities.

[Skaw]

The last few chapters is really screwing things up for me. Come on? S-Class criminals being beaten one on one by Shikamaru and Naruto? Thats ridiculous. A good chapter, good action, even decent tactics, but still ... the two chars should not be on the level of Akatsuki, and should have used every member of their team to kill off those Akatsuki (and even then maybe only kill one).

Shikamaru won simply due to preplanning and knowing Hidan's one true trick. Where as Hidan really didn't know Shikamaru's true talent - his genius. As far as Hidan knew, he was just some punk kid trying to get revenge for Teacher.

As for Naruto.. Him, Sakura, and Sasuke are basically the Sannin reborn - another trio of Kage level Ninja. Though Sakura is lagging behind compared to the guys. As for her strength, it's apparent she's still leaps and bounds above your ordinary Chunin, and most Jounin. Add that together with Chiyo's experience and wisdom, there in lies Sasori's defeat. If she had a wider range of talent, she would probably be the most dangerous one of the bunch as far as unassisted(Kyuubi/Sharingan) skill goes.

Akatsuki may have talent, but they aren't Kages(theories aside) and lack any proven Kage-level ninja since Orochimaru left. Given that, and despite being a Genin with Kage level Chakra, Stamina, and Techniques, Naruto better be able to bust some Upper Jounin-rank skulls.