Naruto Chapter 354

[Teki]

RAW (http://www.sendspace.com/file/q0sqhv) is out. :D

Edit: Scanlation (http://www.thiscowispurple.com/this-cow-models/manga-manga/)

Edit 2: LQ/MQ Scanlation (http://www.jcsolaris.nl/Jeroen/downloads/scan.php)

[RyougaZell]

w00t
Team 8 :D

Need trans... wtf with the Cats?

[big_ac]

Yeah, the cats were a little weird.

I don't know why I didn't notice this before, but Juugo is freakin' HUGE!

And everyone gets a cloak now.....yay!

[michelous]

yeah will finally get to see what hinata, shino, and kiba can do after the time skip

[RyougaZell]

Translation (Work in Progress at the time of this post) (http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=395903)

[LobsterMagnet]

Feels like it took forever for this chapter to come out. Gotta admit time snake looks pretty bitching in those black raincoats, naruto's team not so much.

Also glad to see that team 8 will finally have an opportunity to be in the storyline. I guess Kunari must be out on maternity leave. Feel bad for poor Yamado, shouldn't the poor guy be free from Shepparding naruto around? Seriously what's the point of Sai as well. The guy's got no more purpose what so ever, just leave the poor guy behind.

Curious to hear what's up with the freaky cat lady. Wonder how many chapters we got before the inevitable team 7 & 8 vs. team snake clash.

So far I've been enjoying these past few chapters I just hope kishi doesn't bog himself down with too many characters. Although i do wonder at this point in time does the leaf village have any reason to even bother trying to recapture sasuke? I mean him killing off Oro put off any danger of the sharingan falling into the wrong hands. For all intensive purposes as far as I can see the leaf village shouldn't have any interest in Sasuke anymore , if anything him taking out itachi would be a huge favor since it'd be one less akatasuki to deal with.

One other last random little observation, seems like all of the original genin teams are getting their own shipuuden arc. First part of the rescue Garra arc featured team Gai, (even though their contribution was minimal at best) Hidan and Kuzuzu arc featured Asuma's team, now finally team Kurnai gets it's time in the spotlight.

[kyubisrage]

http://www.bsmanga.com/2007/05/18/naruto-ch-354/

scan is out

[Tsukasa]

Maybe some of you would like a scanlation to download which be can be downloaded bloodshock (SS) (http://www.sendspace.com/file/9ka1mq)

[Idealistic]

Hmm.. Nice chapter.. Though those cats are pretty weird. And what's up with the city-like landscape? It looks like new york.

I wonder what Itachi is thinking everything they mention Orochimaru and Sasuke. I'm sure soon we will learn the main reason behind Itachi killing off the clan.

I found it weird Team Kakashi teamed up with Team Kurenai when they just talked about the two teams should have been on missions together so the communication goes well. Has Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai even been doing missions together? Nontheless though it is nice to see them get a part of the story like Lobstermagnet said.

For a second I thought Kakashi wasn't going, but I relooked at the page and saw Kakashi was with Team Kurenai.

Now that it's getting more an more serious... I hope we don't see anymore Naruto farting... And I hope Hinata has matured enough to not blush around Naruto anymore. Perhaps she will be able to talk in general now instead of being so scared all the time.

[RyougaZell]

Kakashi meant the other group, not the 8 at the same time.

Team Kurenai is a tracking team, so it is understandable their participation here. They need to track em fast.

Naruto farting? He only did it once in canon. Fillers don't count.

Don't count on Hinata not blushing though. Remember she fainted when Naruto returned (from Gaara's rescue mission)

[Assertn]

Yeah.....kinda expected Kakashi to be referring to Kurenai's team, since they've only been shown at passing glance before in the shippuuden.

Of course Sai is going to stick around....apparently his goal is get Sasuke back, ever since he's been changed by Naruto.

The whole cat lady thing seemed totally random and unnecessary....

[kyubisrage]

Seriously... It was really unnessary. Like wtf.... if they wanted to show that cat things now they should have included them as mentors of sasuke when he was small or something in a previous chapter..

It was like those character came from a filler arc..

[Parkalash]

Have to say i rly liked this chapter, and the team they made, can just hope to see some Real good action from the Hebi team as well as the Konoha's team, hopefully in a few chapter's really nice :) and ofc to hope to see some new technique's and most of all 1 or 2 penis joke's from Sai <3 them :p And thous ninja cat's rly unexpected but funny, hehe they shoud have hiered a army of ninja cat's from that cat (hag)

[animus]

I really like Suigetsu's personality. He's pretty chillax, and you just know he's some Zabuza-like assassin carrying a huge ass sword waiting to chop shit up when the time comes.

[chet_chetty]

Is it common in other mangas besides Dragonball (talking cat/tower) to have talking cats who give some sort of powerup to the hero? Kinda cute that the first two have their village symbol branded into their foreheads.

I think Itachi is okay (reponseless to Kisame's question) with Deidara going after Sasuke because Itachi knows Deidara is digging his own grave.

I wonder if the "thing" when Karin says "These things" on pg 6 are the same as the "few other things" Sasuke refers to in the panel before. I dont think the things are Suigetsu getting excited over the ninja cats (lol thundercats) in the panel after.

I think the weather is lousy because Suigetsu is about to get warp status (shoe tapping on puddle) and chop some limbs in the upcoming battle.

[KCMmmmm]

I'm a bit disappointed in this chapter. Absolutely nothing revealing happened at all. At least it means there is a possibility of some action in the future. I was starting to think they would sit around for another two years. Also, it's good to know the acting parties this time around. We've got team 7 and 8, Hebi, and the Deidara/Tobi team. At least, if the Leaf team and Akatsuki come into contact, we'll get a chance to find out if Tobi is really.....you know.

Good chapter next week, I'm guessing.

[Assertn]

Man........I just realized.......

We haven't seen Shino in action since his fight with Kankuro!!

[KCMmmmm]

Man........I just realized.......

We haven't seen Shino in action since his fight with Kankuro!!

Shino is quite possibly the single most underdeveloped Leaf ninja in the series. I would say the most of all ninja, but that guy from the Sand village (the one with the cloth over half of his face, can't remember his name) probably takes first. Even Kiba and Hinata had a few moments of fame....but Shino gets almost no attention.

[rockmanj]

I wonder if suigetsu even need a raincoat...i guess he's wearing it because there is no i in team, and he wants to look cool like everyone else :p. and what is team 7's instructor's name again? i always forget...


BTW...suigetsu fighting in the rain?? it seems like that might give him an unfair advantage.

[animus]

You mean the current leader? That would be Yamato.

[Psyke]

The ninja cats are there because the Pakkun plushes and soft toys haven't been selling as well as before.

[February]

Although I also feel that the cats were unnecessary, it doesnt create any wtf feelings for me since we've already seen Pakkun

Did Deidara say that he was going after Naruto's team or Sasuke's team? The way my scanalation was translated, it seemed like he didn't decide yet...

Someone mentioned about the city-type of setting that Sasuke enters, but if you really think back, the Naruto world has had some high-tech equipment such as (Oro taking a modern shower while painfully waiting for Sasuke to be delivered, or the time when ANBU was using TV and cameras to watch the Chunnin exam partcipants) so it seems appropriate....even though I highly want Kishi to make the Naruto world free of the modern technology we see today. If you really think about it, I dont know where but some part in Naruto, they showed us ninjas talking through microphones and headsets, which makes me wonder why they even use birds to transport messages (when sand village send an urgent bird to notify Konoha that Gaara had been taken)

[iMUSTbeTHEdevil]

Although I also feel that the cats were unnecessary, it doesnt create any wtf feelings for me since we've already seen Pakkun

Did Deidara say that he was going after Naruto's team or Sasuke's team? The way my scanalation was translated, it seemed like he didn't decide yet...

Someone mentioned about the city-type of setting that Sasuke enters, but if you really think back, the Naruto world has had some high-tech equipment such as (Oro taking a modern shower while painfully waiting for Sasuke to be delivered, or the time when ANBU was using TV and cameras to watch the Chunnin exam partcipants) so it seems appropriate....even though I highly want Kishi to make the Naruto world free of the modern technology we see today. If you really think about it, I dont know where but some part in Naruto, they showed us ninjas talking through microphones and headsets, which makes me wonder why they even use birds to transport messages (when sand village send an urgent bird to notify Konoha that Gaara had been taken)

I suppose Yamato could set up telephone poles out of wood to each bordering country, but remember these places are often at war and have to be careful of even their allies. So it makes sense that they would be more secluded like that. And so what if they have made some modern advancements. You dont see them ALL the time, which shows that yes they can use them, but they would rather rely on their jutsus and such as opposed to technology all the time, like we use it! -dg-

[BananaFob]

Didn't Kishimoto say that he set Naruto up in this time and age, but without modern weapons like guns, bazookas, or tanks?

Anyway, felt like the Cats were really weird, and I have absolutely no idea where the girl came from.

[Winged Dancer]

Am I the only one dissapointed by the cats and the old woman?

Ah, I see I'm not alone.

Seriously, what's up with that? I always thought the Uchiha were cool enough to not need cats/animal sidekick. But now they do. BTW, is the old lady an Uchiha? If so, is the girl who was dressing Juugo an Uchiha as well? Because if they are, you know, it kinda takes the romance away. If there are females, there can be babies, and so the Uchiha won't become extint...

Well, I just hope that's the last we'll see of the cat woman and the two talking furballs. I have to say I like the new outfits, and I do like Suigetsu... Juugo, I just love how he's so tall. Still not sure about Karin. Not sure at all. What's her purpose? To be the brains/intelligence-gatherer of the team?

And yay for the new team! I've wanted to take a look at Kiba/Hinata/Shino ever since they appeared, about a year ago or so. I must be the only person not that interested in Shino - I can't help it, but bugs! Ew.

Anyway, I'm not sure I read correctly... did they say they're going to try and capture Itachi, or "restrain" him or something? 'Cause if they do, it's madness. Complete madness. No matter how much they've grown, and even if team 8 are the best for that kind of thing, it's still impossible to capture someone like Itachi. Can you imagine Itachi being "restrained" until Sasuke appears? I sure can't.

[RyougaZell]

Nah... they aren't Uchihas.
They are just their (private?) providers of weapons according to Sasuke.

[KCMmmmm]

Is it just a plot hole that Konoha is sending two platoons of Chuunin to capture an S rank criminal? Wouldn't a group of 6 Jounin be more appropriate? I understand the necessity of keeping Naruto in the series' action, but how can this seriously happen?

It's just my opinion that you, as the leader of the entire village, would want to send the best qualified, not just the guy who wants to do it the most. Anybody else share the same thoughts?

Oh yeah, the cats (and the old lady) kinda sucked. Boring.....I seriously felt like I was watching filler again.

[animus]

It's always been like that. Highest success rate to bring back Sasuke when the Sound 4? was escorting Sasuke would be to send jounins or chuunins. Tsunade would use the excuse that the jounin's are all out on missions due to the combined attack of the Sound + Sand on Konoha. Same thing with the current anime arc in Naruto, but it's an OK one here, due to the fact that Gai's team consists of him, Neji (Jounin), Lee and TenTen who are all capable shinobi.

[Mkadoza]

Is it just a plot hole that Konoha is sending two platoons of Chuunin to capture an S rank criminal? Wouldn't a group of 6 Jounin be more appropriate? I understand the necessity of keeping Naruto in the series' action, but how can this seriously happen?

It's just my opinion that you, as the leader of the entire village, would want to send the best qualified, not just the guy who wants to do it the most. Anybody else share the same thoughts?

Oh yeah, the cats (and the old lady) kinda sucked. Boring.....I seriously felt like I was watching filler again.

Not a plot hole. It makes sense considering that a) they'd use a tracking squad, one of the most talente din the village, since their parents would be passing their prime. Besides why not a squad with the hiers to several of the more powerful clans, Aburame and Hyuuga (though Neji would be better). Also consider the last to Akatsuki were dropped by a genius chuunin with nor extraordinary skill and a hyperpowered genin. I think it shows how overrated rank is.

Plus the Leaf Village seems insistant upon handling things that are personal to you. Maybe they believe the added modivation improves performance. So obviously Naruto, Sakura and kakashi would be there, and the others are able and skilled. Besides how many other ninjas in the leaf do you know of that are better for this situation.

I liked the cats, if but for the fact we know where the equipment that theyll use came from, as opposed to them whipping out random weapons out of no where.

[Idealistic]

I liked the cats, if but for the fact we know where the equipment that theyll use came from, as opposed to them whipping out random weapons out of no where.

That's what I'm wondering... If your clan is going to keep a secret storage area for weapons, wouldn't it be a little close to home? In other words.... Close to Konoha? Then again... Team Hebi could be close to Konoha, nobody just knows.

That must be why the Uchiha clan died so easily by Itachi!!!!! Their weapons were stored in a secret place faraway from home!

[Felix]

I cant help but think that Shikamaru's team would be better for containment.

[elmojo]

finally, shino is back

[Idealistic]

finally, shino is back

Ehh... Shino may be underdeveloped but honestly, I think he's the most boring character out of all the rookie 9. All he does is throw bugs on you that eat up chakra. Nothing too impressive.... At least to me.

[February]

Ehh... Shino may be underdeveloped but honestly, I think he's the most boring character out of all the rookie 9. All he does is throw bugs on you that eat up chakra. Nothing too impressive.... At least to me.

the sole fact that he lets colonies of bugs live inside his body itself is impressive enough, no?
Talk about boring, you mean Ino. All she's done is the mind control jutsu

[animus]

TenTen's probably the least impressive one.

[Winged Dancer]

The girls are the least impressive ones. Damn you, macho world, damn you!!!

Well, I guess Tsunade is cool, and Temari is not so bad. But Konoha girls suck. They are mostly cannon fodder so the guys can get angry (You've hurt my precious teammate!! You'll pay!!) and beat the bad guy.

I just hope Hinata shows some improvement in the following chapters, but really, I just don't think it'll happen.

Team 8 is the best for finding and capturing people, so I guess it makes sense they're the chosen ones. Kiba and Akamaru can track their "prey" (Itachi, I guess), Shino can drain the chakra or prepare traps using his insects and Hinata.... Oh God, she's the medic, probably. Girls are medics, it seems. Well, Hinata can block the passage of chakra, too, right?

But all that can't be enough to worry Itachi. It'd be too simple.

[elmojo]

well i always thought shino was a more strategic based ninja like shikimaru and i am hoping he will have some glory moments and not underlooked like always :|, not too happy about tobi and deidera fighting them, i'd like tobi to live as long as possible haha

[Honoko]

I don't really have a problem with the konoha lineup. My only (false?) hope is that we get to see a real team battle instead of like, 8 drawn out fights that'll last until the end of this year =P

[Assertn]

The girls are the least impressive ones. Damn you, macho world, damn you!!!
Well, an old woman and a young girl beat Sasori ;P

[toonice714]

SHINO IS THE MAN! I cant wait until he gets some play in the series. I hope he shows something crazy that makes his character awesome in the next accel game. Naruto Accel is awesome.

[Winged Dancer]

Well, an old woman and a young girl beat Sasori ;P

I'd say only the old woman, and then she died =P Sakura is still pretty sucky...

You see?! That's the 19th Century mindframe, in which women become heroes only through marriage or death!! The lack of real femenine heroic figures, written by and for women penetrates all aspect of artistic expression!!!!!

Ok, I'll stop before I start foaming at the mouth with feminine fury or something.

BTW, both Sakura and Naruto will be owned by Sasuke simply because of his speed. He's way, way faster than any of the two. Naruto, as always, dedicated his training to raw power, while Sakura has strength and curative abilities. But those do no good if they can't see where Sasuke is attacking from.

[February]

I think part of the reason why Sakura seems sucky (even though she's not imo) is because she doesnt have a life goal that is related to intense training and power-gaining. Naruto's goal to become a hokage and protect everyone which requires alot of power, and so does Sasuke's motive. What was Sakura's goal again? To find Sasuke? See? But I do admit Sakura has gotten better over time

And look at it this way; Because Sakura is in the same team as Naruto and Sasuke, she's always being compared between them by the readers. I dont think its fair because Naruto isn't your average everyday ninja since he has a Kyuubi sealed in him and Sasuke has advanced bloodline- Sharingan.

...And I think Sasuke isn't even in the same level as Naruto anymore. Naruto just cant beat him at this moment in the manga.

@AssertnFailure: I really think that Sasori let Sakura+old woman beat him. If you go over their fight again, right at the moment before Sasori gets stabbed, you'll notice something weird.

[KCMmmmm]

@AssertnFailure: I really think that Sasori let Sakura+old woman beat him. If you go over their fight again, right at the moment before Sasori gets stabbed, you'll notice something weird.

You mean the fact that he stops fighting when his "parents" capture him? Yeah, he gets caught in an emotional moment, and allows himself to be killed. Or at least, I remember it going down like that. I do remember Chiyo making a comment about how he allowed himself to be defeated....I would go back, but I don't have any of the old manga episodes anymore.

As far as Sakura being weak...I don't agree. With help or not, she still managed to take down an Akatsuki before anyone (even Naruto the powerhouse) managed it. If you don't think she pulled her weight in that battle, remember that she is primarily a medical ninja, and consider the effect to which her anti-venom was used. Sakura rocks!

Shikamaru probably has the best Akatsuki kill so far though....something about burying alive an immortal while destroying the heart (one of five) of his buddy through his own technique just makes me very happy. Justice was indeed served in that battle.

[Honoko]

Shikamaru probably has the best Akatsuki kill so far though....something about burying alive an immortal while destroying the heart (one of five) of his buddy through his own technique just makes me very happy. Justice was indeed served in that battle.
Completely agree. That guy is definitely the most ninja-y out of all of them.

[elmojo]

that is definately one kill i would like to see transitioned into the anime.. with cool music

[Death BOO Z]

wow, stupid.
ninja cats. it's like shaman king Hatchi and Manchi only ten times gayer.
what is all this about? the small cats take them to the old lady and refer to her as boss cat/grandma. and the good looking girl refers to her as grandma s well,are we about to see a cat-woman action?
well, juggo looks cool in his last scene. i wonder how long will he be able to maintain his coolness. I'm assuming that until he fights.

the 8team looks stupid. espcsially shino. it's fucking rainnning, why does he need sunglasses?

[animus]

Maybe, cause he has bugs running inside his pupils and he doesn't want you to see them?

[Assertn]

the 8team looks stupid. espcsially shino. it's fucking rainnning, why does he need sunglasses?

He wears sunglasses indoors too....nothing new here

[KCMmmmm]

the 8team looks stupid. espcsially shino. it's fucking rainnning, why does he need sunglasses?

To hide his Sharingan.

[darkmetal505]

Shino's emo you know; either that or he's a badass. I guess ninja cats are only complementary to ninja dogs, but I really want to see a ninja monkey. That would be awesome. I wonder how Kishi will play this 8 v 4 v 4.

[animus]

Ninja panda please.

[Winged Dancer]

We already had a ninja monkey. The Third summoned him to fight against Orochimaru. And Gai had a ninja turtle once. For me, only the really big summons are worth it - the frog, the snake and the slug triad. The rest are pretty lame, although Kakashi's dogs ain't that bad.

Ninja panda FTW, though!

[RyougaZell]

And Kidoumaru summoned Spiders.


Seriously... why are people suddenly critizing (sp?) Shino's sunglasses? He has had them on since always... and his father, Shibi, as well.
The long coats and sunglasses must be their clans clothes... to conceal insects whenever they move under the coat for surprise attacks, and the sunglasses maybe conceal some mutation to their eyes cause of the bloodline. Whatever... the Aburame have had them since the beginning, so Shino won't take them off for rain.

[LobsterMagnet]

We're in for some pretty messy fights in the next few chapters. I think Kishi has put in more characters then he honestly knows what to do with. We have four different independent factions all battling it out.

8-man team naruto

4-man team sasuke

2-man team Akatsuki Itachi/Kisame

and the other akatsuki

2-man team of Diedara/Tobi

If there's one thing I'd bet my life on it's the fact that Tobi will wind up meeting/confronting Kakashi to give off the big reveal that he is in fact Obito.

Yeah I know I'm probably going to get negative repped for saying that, and even I think it's pretty stupid to think that Tobi is in fact cyber obito resurrected from the grave but honestly at this point judging by their personalities alone it's not a far stretch to guess that their the same person. It's just one of those sort of dumb things in the naruto universe (like the unexplained original of Kakashi's Mangekyou sharingan) that I accept as fact until otherwise.

[KCMmmmm]

We're in for some pretty messy fights in the next few chapters. I think Kishi has put in more characters then he honestly knows what to do with. We have four different independent factions all battling it out.

8-man team naruto

4-man team sasuke

2-man team Akatsuki Itachi/Kisame

and the other akatsuki

2-man team of Diedara/Tobi

If there's one thing I'd bet my life on it's the fact that Tobi will wind up meeting/confronting Kakashi to give off the big reveal that he is in fact Obito.

Yeah I know I'm probably going to get negative repped for saying that, and even I think it's pretty stupid to think that Tobi is in fact cyber obito resurrected from the grave but honestly at this point judging by their personalities alone it's not a far stretch to guess that their the same person. It's just one of those sort of dumb things in the naruto universe (like the unexplained original of Kakashi's Mangekyou sharingan) that I accept as fact until otherwise.

I'm not completely sure Akatsuki is dispatching Itachi and Kisame just yet, so you may be able to cross those two off for a little while. I already commented on the Tobi/Obito confrontation with Kakshi, so I totally agree with you there. And, like you, I really want to hear about how Kakashi got Mangekyou. And Sasuke, while we're at it. I'm a little bit curious if the different Mangekyou forms represent a different means of attaining it, or if they are simply different for each user; and whether the power changes according to the different type. So far, we've seen Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu from Itachi, and the dimension-warp from Kakshi. What's Sasuke capable of, and how are those jutsus used (with the exception of Tsukuyomi, the only one which has been fully explained.) There are too many loose ends to tie up before they reveal any more, in my opinion.

[animus]

Uh, am I missing something, I don't recall Sasuke getting Mangekyou.

[KCMmmmm]

Uh, am I missing something, I don't recall Sasuke getting Mangekyou.

He revealed it right after defeating Orochimaru, to Kabuto I believe. He had a circular line in the center of his eye, crossing straight through each of the "spots". Normal sharingan doesn't have that....so something was up.

Somebody support me on this; I don't have that chapter on this comp to double check. Or am I completely mistaken?


Edit: Ok, I just checked....and I am wrong. So, I screwed up. Sasuke does not have Mangekyou. Whooops, I better go back and read some of the older chapters. Or something. Sorry.

[LobsterMagnet]

It's not a question of whether or not akatsuki is going to dispatch kisame and itachi both the 8-man naruto team and 4-man sasuke team are going to be hunting the two of them down either way. So unless itachi and kisame have a good hide-away both forces are going to converge on their respective asses. Then again kisame and itachi never struck me as the hiding types.

I really do hope kishi finds a way to balance out all of the characters he's got running around. Giving enough time to show the expanded abilities of team 8 as well as showing off sasuke's newfound team.

Because honestly we still don't really know what they're capable of. Especially Kirin. As of now she's as useless as Sakura was pre-time jump. The only thing that can be said for certain is that she wants to roxor Sauske's boxers. I love it how Zetsu reports on all of the other members of Sasuke's Team but doesn't even mention Karin.

Leader: So Sauske's gained one of the legendary Houzuki mist brothers and Juugo of tenpin. Who is the third member of his squad?

Zetsu: Oh you mean the other one?

Leader: Yes, you said he had a 4-man squad.

Zetsu: Oh her, she's just some bitch, she doesn't do anything other then bitch and whine. I think he brought her along just so she could polish his pecker, I mean the guy's still a teenager, right?

[elmojo]

would you guys stop beating a dead horse with the obito thing lol