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weakest anbu
Thu, 02-24-2005, 07:39 AM
http://rewrite.cc/naruto_249.rar

haha so predictable but why?

PSJ
Thu, 02-24-2005, 08:29 AM
hmm so bird eyes took down gaara without no real effort, i guess that desert graveyard to her arm didnt hurt that much then. she was just playing with him it seems. so gaara isnt all that powerful even in his on turf, interesting. i just hope naruto got a better chance of defeating an akatsuki.

kAi
Thu, 02-24-2005, 09:51 AM
damn, that was alright.

and also you see gaara mention naruto's name a few times in his speech with kankurou, and he was suprised at the first one.

LobsterMagnet
Thu, 02-24-2005, 09:54 AM
Yesh I can't believe Garra was taken down so easily with a few fricking exploding paper birds. I'm just curious how was she able to do seals with only one arm? Didn't she lose one of her arms?

We also need a translation.

Hakeem_21
Thu, 02-24-2005, 09:54 AM
This time i have no problem with it being so predictable cause Gaara cant win a fight like for the story's sake.

RasenDori
Thu, 02-24-2005, 10:21 AM
i never imagined that gaara would be captured so soon. i expected this fight to end in stalemate... birdeye took down gaara by himself. i knew he would be be badass...yeah. i have lost all hope for naruto taking down any member of the akatsuki. its gonna take more then a few bunshins or a badass demon to take these guys out... and birdeye isnt even one of the strongest. if sasori is a superior, then perhaps hes a member of the upper echelons of the akatsuki.

kAi
Thu, 02-24-2005, 10:44 AM
yeah, if they can't beat the akatsuki now.
it's going to go for a while until they can.

i see naruto hearing this soon

maybe from kankurou himself

Hotsuma
Thu, 02-24-2005, 11:21 AM
damn. that was so cliche. Oh well.

Assertn
Thu, 02-24-2005, 11:57 AM
i dont get it.......
did another bird get inside the sphere, or did she somehow manipulate the sphere herself?

Hakeem_21
Thu, 02-24-2005, 12:02 PM
She did something so she could controll the sphere.

We will have to wait for Inane to fully understand what happened.

Masamune
Thu, 02-24-2005, 12:24 PM
seems like ( with page 18 mention to the previous chapter) that bird-hand-mouth-man got caught on purpose to release a bird within the sand, while his arm was within the sand , which would be able to get inside the sphere....

but thats my guess

Stoopider
Thu, 02-24-2005, 12:41 PM
Damn that sucks.. I guess Gaara still is years behind the Akatsuki's. Plus he doesn't have a teacher their level, so I guess he did improve alot.. but not enough. i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif

Yondaime
Thu, 02-24-2005, 01:03 PM
Page 1:
Title: As the Kazekage!
The "Dessert Coffin" crushes the "Akatsuki"'s arm...
Sidebar: Gaara's power is overwhelming...!

Page 2:
Mouth-hands: You're good...mmhmm!
Mouth hands: Seems like the sand that crushed my arm and the regular desert sand differ in their speed and power...
Mouth-hands: According to our research, he always uses a set amount of sand, carried in that gourd. Or rather, it's a special kind of sand infused with a massive amount of his chakra.

Page 3:
Mouth-hands: And, that same sand used for his "absolute defense"...
Mouth-hands: can become capable of attacking in an instant. The sand that crushed my arm must have come from that hole in his shell.
Mouth-hands: I've got my "specialty", plus one more of the pursuer types. (note: "specialty" is actually what the #18 meant from a few chapters back, it's the same thing.)

Page 4:
Sand-nin: Kazekage-sama's opponent...
Judging from his appearance, it's one of the "Akatsuki"...

Kankurou: I thought so...
Baki: Prepare for battle immediately! Guard Kazekage-sama!
Have the medic corps put up a barrier and get all civillians inside immediately!
Sand-nin: Yes sir!

Page 5:
Baki: Kankurou...
Kankurou: Yes?
Baki: Gaara can be reckless, so to make sure we're prepared...
We need to act as if Shukaku will appear.
Kankurou: That won't happen.
Gaara won't do anything that might harm the villagers...

Page 6:
Kankurou: I don't wanna say it, but...
Kankurou: Within the village, you're still thought of as a weapon that's to be feared.

Kankurou: People distance themselves from us...just getting into a regular platoon was hard.
None of our superiors like you, and most of the villagers are still terrified of you.

Gaara: I know, but...just standing around doing nothing hurts even more.

Gaara: To escape a path of solitude, one has to work hard and forge new paths with their own power.

Gaara: If I do that, then one day, I can be like him...

Page 7:
Gaara: That's why, as a Shinobi of the Hidden Sand, I will aim to become Kazekage.
To live a life connected to my village.
Kankurou: Gaara...

Gaara: "I'll put forth all my effort...I want to live a life where my existence is acknowledged by others."
When I saw Uzumaki Naruto, that's what I thought.
Being connected to others...all I've known up until now is hatred and the desire to kill.
But for him to be able to go so far...it makes me wonder, what is a "connection?"
Right now, there's one thing I understand.

Page 8:
Gaara: Pain, sadness...happines as well...can all be shared with others.
Gaara: When I fought Uzumaki Naruto, I felt like he had taught me something important.
Gaara: He suffered the same pain and lonliness as me. He taught me that one can change the path their life takes.

Gaara: Someday, I want to live an existance where I'm needed by others. Not as a weapon to be feared, but...

Page 9: As the Hidden Sand's Kazekage.

Somebody: Kick his ass, Kazekage-sama!

Page 10:
Mouth-hands: This should smash up the village. Mmhmm.
(thinking): But I seriously underestimated him...like Master Sasori said, I wasn't nearly prepared enough.
Mouth-hands: It'll serve them right for getting in the way...plus I'm tired of looking at that blank expression on your face.
Mouth-hands: Hehe...the clay I eat with my hands and mix with my chakra becomes a such a spectacular bomb!

Page 11:
Mouth-hands: My specialty has the highest level of my chakra, "C3", mixed into it more than any of my attacks. Truly a performance worthy of praise.

Sand-nin: What the hell is that?
Baki: Shit, everyone get away!

Mouth-hands: Too slow.

Page 12: KABOOM!

Page 13: Mouth-hands: Hehe...

Page 14:
Sand-nin A: H-holy...
Sand-nin B: This is Kazekage-sama's sand!
Sand-nin C: Unbelievable...what a huge shield...
Kankurou: Gaara...

Page 15:
Mouth-hands: You're in my sights now! Mmhmm!

Page 16:
Mouth-hands: Thought so...that special sand guards him incredibly fast...
But like I thought...

Page 17:
Gaara: Shi..!

Page 18:
Mouth-hands: hehe,
You indeed smashed my hand but,
I took that chance and ate some of your sand and put it back as my "exploding clay" (udonstraight)

Mouth-hands: But even though I planned for that, I knew an explosion at point-blank could still be guarded by that special sand...

Mouth-hands: So I had to create an opening. That's why I aimed my "specialty" at the village.

Mouth-hands: Haha! What a wonderful Kazekage, using the last of your power to pull the sand away back to the desert...
so it wouldn't bury the village.

Page 19:
Kankurou: G-Gaara!!

Sidebar: Gaara has fallen into Akatsuki's evil hands...what is their purpose?

Mouth-hands: We're not going to kill you, even though you sure gave me a hard time.
"Normal difficulty: clear."

Next time: "A harbinger of war! News of the Kazekage's capture reaches Konoha! What will Naruto say?"

--FIN

Translation by : hisshouburaiken (Narutofan)

Hakeem_21
Thu, 02-24-2005, 01:15 PM
Damn Gaara is cool.....

Im looking forward to his speech in inane.

Death BOO Z
Thu, 02-24-2005, 01:18 PM
that's why i hate nice guys, they always lose trying to protect...
i wonder what would have happen if the fight was elsewhere, but there's no point in guessing, so the count for now is:
good guys: 0
akatsuki: 1

Mut
Thu, 02-24-2005, 01:20 PM
hahah, Gaara got owned.

Superman
Thu, 02-24-2005, 01:26 PM
I don't think we have seen the last of Gaara. I am sure he will fight again, and if he doesn't have to wory about and use his power to protect his village, he will be much better.

I thought Gaara's fight against Kimimaru was a lot cooler than this one. Mostly I think that Kimimaru is just a hell of a lot cooler than this opponent.

Jman
Thu, 02-24-2005, 02:05 PM
I love the way this arc is going so far.
Wonder when they'll go after Naruto.
Can't wait for the next chapter.
So this would be the second time Gaara lost.

Prof. Chaos
Thu, 02-24-2005, 02:37 PM
WTF Gaara got owned??? So it seems the one person's bloodline limit is making explosives with his/her chakra.

Franggio
Thu, 02-24-2005, 02:48 PM
OI OI Oi Oi! ffs, stop this, how come everyone things that ambigous character is female?
and DBZ, don't make it sound like Akutski is the bad guys, I kinda like them, I like them a hell a lot
more than a Shoujo inspired bishie Sas-gay. Damn, I really hope Oro takes his body or the Akutski "disposes"
Orochimarus toys, really don't need him. He only makes the series look good for fangirls and Yaoi lovers

Kagemane_no_Jutsu
Thu, 02-24-2005, 02:48 PM
Hella cool chapter. It sux gaara lost but I liked the stuff with him and Kankuro, anything having to do with gaara is cool with me.

JusDaMan
Thu, 02-24-2005, 03:13 PM
I think bat girl's power is a mix of The origami guy from Flame of recca and the Bomb guy from yu yu hakusho... the quest class demon guy... who fought kurama in the underground tournment.

Bat girl is able to make "C3"( im assuming its 1 class below our real life C4 bombs) that is crazy.... AHahhaha

all akatsuki have a type of special bloodline or power...

Itachi is sharingan
Kisame is chakra sucking sword
bat girl is mouth hands
saiori is a big stomache with bird hair

Assertn
Thu, 02-24-2005, 03:33 PM
Originally posted by: JusDaMan
saiori is a big stomache with bird hair

um................................................ ........
what?

alright that cleared up a few things....
i was wondering why gaara had an opening in his sphere instead of just using the eye to watch

damn....i guess another formula besides
bones > sand
is
clay > sand

Death BOO Z
Thu, 02-24-2005, 04:16 PM
what are you talking about? Akatsuki are the bad guys, thier are the anti of the heros, and therefore, bad...

it'll be like saying that the russian baybladers in bayblade weren't bad (they're were twice as bad than normal, they were up against the good guys and they were russian, you don't get eviler than that!), the bad guys are everybody who isn't the good guys, it's a manga law!

of course, they're much better (in a villian way) than the russian baybladers, but they're still villians... and of course, the gender stable members are much, much better than all the sas-gay like villians, it's a given...

but what does that have anything to do with the topic?



if you're wondering why i mentioned bayblade, then the reason is becuase the TV aired a really shitty episode of DBGT (which is a really shitty anime) so that made me think about all the shitty stuff they showed at the time slot, and bayblade russian villians popped into my mind...

LobsterMagnet
Thu, 02-24-2005, 04:47 PM
I'm I the only one whose a bit disappointed about mouth hands? She dosen't seem that badass. Kinda reminds me of kimberly from FMA with the whole turn everything into bombs motif.

Also since when did we find out that the huntchback guy has a super stoamach? He hasn't done anything yet. He's the stronger one right?

All of the ataski pairs seem to be composed with one person whose really powerful and the other person takes the role of the gimp, they never really seem like their equals.

weakest anbu
Thu, 02-24-2005, 04:51 PM
Next time: "A harbinger of war! News of the Kazekage's capture reaches Konoha! What will Naruto say?"

oh fuck... please not another rescue mission... I rather see gaara's body getting tear apart by akatsuki's experiment than reading another long ass rescue arc.

Kagemane_no_Jutsu
Thu, 02-24-2005, 05:16 PM
I bet Gaara's just pretending to be hurt, he did still have the sand covering his body. And the reason he let the akatsuki capture him is so he can find out where their base is. Just a speculation i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif

JusDaMan
Thu, 02-24-2005, 06:28 PM
But if garra is asleep... wouldnt shukaku take over?

PSJ
Thu, 02-24-2005, 07:16 PM
Originally posted by: Prof. Chaos
WTF Gaara got owned??? So it seems the one person's bloodline limit is making explosives with his/her chakra.

just beacause an ability is diffrent doesnt mean its a bloodline limit dont start rumors like that.

Prof. Chaos
Thu, 02-24-2005, 07:56 PM
Im just guessing that each member has a bloodline limit. Kisame doesnt, but he has the chakra eating sword, a rare powerful item. I doubt the mouth on her hand is an item. I mean we've seen plenty of people with bloodline limits in the series so far, so why not?

Eurasian
Thu, 02-24-2005, 08:04 PM
Originally posted by: JusDaMan
But if garra is asleep... wouldnt shukaku take over?

there's a difference between sleep and being unconscious.

Assertn
Thu, 02-24-2005, 09:55 PM
Originally posted by: Eurasian


Originally posted by: JusDaMan
But if garra is asleep... wouldnt shukaku take over?

there's a difference between sleep and being unconscious.

well now actually.....JusDaMan, despite his previously nonsensical post, poses an interesting argument.
what really is a coma other than just a really long sleep?

maybe gaara let her catch him so she wouldnt endanger the village anymore i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif

Sidnne
Thu, 02-24-2005, 09:58 PM
OI OI Oi Oi! ffs, stop this, how come everyone things that ambigous character is female?

Maybe because they already said that she was female in the manga? If you would like a reference, check back to 248 when she first starts to fight Gaara. On page 13 Gaara says "she used an usual exploding thing..."


As for current chapter... I think it is a really good chapter, the flashback about Gaara wanting to be like Naruto was a nice touch. Then to see him go all out to protect the village like a true Kage was sweet. I love Gaara, but I expected him to lose this fight. Him losing is what will bring the leaf onto the scene.

I have a crazy theory about his capture.
Since it seems that the Akatsuki are out to collect the Yoma, its obvious that they won't get Kyuubi from Naruto, but perhaps they will succeed in extracting Shukaku from Gaara. It could actually be a blessing for Gaara since he is tormented by Shukaku. He could actually get some sleep and become mentally stable if he didn't have to worry about Shukaku. I'm not sure if Gaara's sand controlling abilities come directly from Shukaku or not, but if not then that could be a twist to the story. Although I kind of hope not, because Gaara's mental instability is what I love most about him.

weakest anbu
Thu, 02-24-2005, 10:22 PM
Originally posted by: Sidnne

Maybe because they already said that she was female in the manga? If you would like a reference, check back to 248 when she first starts to fight Gaara. On page 13 Gaara says "she used an usual exploding thing..."



inane assumed that shes a girl, but in the raw it never contained the word "she"... I think most ppl doubt that shes a girl cus shes fugly... they just cant accept the fact that there exists a female character in anime thats so hmmmm... unattractive.

RasenDori
Thu, 02-24-2005, 10:40 PM
Originally posted by: Death BOO Z
that's why i hate nice guys, they always lose trying to protect...
i wonder what would have happen if the fight was elsewhere, but there's no point in guessing, so the count for now is:
good guys: 0
akatsuki: 1

good guys: 1
akatsuki: 1

jiraiya managed to get them to run off delaying their plans for a bit, thats a win my book.

just to add my two cents to some of the things i read here:
-i dont think that the next arc will be a rescue arc... they have no clue of the location of the akatsuki's dark and gloomy cave. and chasing after a group of people that just took down a kage... wouldnt be smart
-i dont think that the shukaku can take over when gaara is unconscious. the shukaku takes over when gaara is in deep sleep, so it may be during the moments in the sleep cycle you experiance REM. im no expert, but i dont think you go through REM while unconscious.
-as for birdeye's sex, i dont see boobs.. naruto has pulled the sexual ambiguity thing before... im not falling for it again... until i see proof, birdeye's a dude
-birdeye is badass... accept it, there is no other option, artist rule all...yeah

SK
Thu, 02-24-2005, 10:43 PM
shoulda brought out the demon

Mut
Thu, 02-24-2005, 10:50 PM
All the people with the Youma are fucked, including Naruto. Itachi will put Naruto to sleep before Naruto can bust out his lame kage bunshin.

Assertn
Fri, 02-25-2005, 12:00 AM
Originally posted by: weakest anbu


Originally posted by: Sidnne

Maybe because they already said that she was female in the manga? If you would like a reference, check back to 248 when she first starts to fight Gaara. On page 13 Gaara says "she used an usual exploding thing..."



inane assumed that shes a girl, but in the raw it never contained the word "she"... I think most ppl doubt that shes a girl cus shes fugly... they just cant accept the fact that there exists a female character in anime thats so hmmmm... unattractive.

she's......not really all that bad.....just has creepy hands is all

Uchiha Barles
Fri, 02-25-2005, 12:05 AM
Dammit. I guess he lost. Not that it means anything at all, but I'll console myself with believing that if this fight had happened away from the village, Gaara would've won. Also, if the other so-called jounin weren't so useless, that stupid bomb would've been a non- issue. I mean come on, it should be suicide soloing an entire village of ninja, even for akatsuki memebers. Wtf was everyone else doing (yeah, watching, I know).

kaigan
Fri, 02-25-2005, 12:53 AM
gaara pretends to be captured so they can fight somewhere else since he doesn't want to harm the village.
naruto will arrive in time and fight along with gaara *i hope*

Mut
Fri, 02-25-2005, 01:27 AM
Originally posted by: kaigan
gaara pretends to be captured so they can fight somewhere else since he doesn't want to harm the village.
naruto will arrive in time and fight along with gaara *i hope*
Nope, not happening.

jing
Fri, 02-25-2005, 01:31 AM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
Dammit. I guess he lost. Not that it means anything at all, but I'll console myself with believing that if this fight had happened away from the village, Gaara would've won. Also, if the other so-called jounin weren't so useless, that stupid bomb would've been a non- issue. I mean come on, it should be suicide soloing an entire village of ninja, even for akatsuki memebers. Wtf was everyone else doing (yeah, watching, I know).

You know that.......Gaara without homefield advantage = shooting practice for akatsuki.

Captain Grammar
Fri, 02-25-2005, 01:38 AM
Originally posted by: AssertnFailure


Originally posted by: Eurasian


Originally posted by: JusDaMan
But if garra is asleep... wouldnt shukaku take over?

there's a difference between sleep and being unconscious.

well now actually.....JusDaMan, despite his previously nonsensical post, poses an interesting argument.
what really is a coma other than just a really long sleep?


Like Naruto's Kyubi, Shikaku needs Gaara to live. If Gaara dies, so does he. So, let's just say if Gaara is rendered unconscious because his mind and body shut down, the demon who feeds off of his life force is likewise rendered unconscious (or disabled). When Gaara is merely sleeping, his mind and body are still fully funtional and capable of fighting, however, Gaara's will is not there to hold the demon back.

There. No more flaws.

Uchiha Barles
Fri, 02-25-2005, 01:44 AM
[

You know that.......Gaara without homefield advantage = shooting practice for akatsuki.[/quote]

Nah. In the fight vs. Kimimaro, he said it takes no effort at all for him to make sand from dirt, so, its kinda like he has "homefield advantage" wherever there's dirt. Desert, forest, anywhere not urban. And, at least against that particular akatsuki member, I don't think he would've lost in any situation other than one in which he was forced to sacrifice himself for others.

Mut
Fri, 02-25-2005, 01:58 AM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
Nah. In the fight vs. Kimimaro, he said it takes no effort at all for him to make sand from dirt, so, its kinda like he has "homefield advantage" wherever there's dirt. Desert, forest, anywhere not urban. And, at least against that particular akatsuki member, I don't think he would've lost in any situation other than one in which he was forced to sacrifice himself for others.
Gaara would've lost anyway. That's just the way story goes.

Anyway, If you bring in the "oh, he had to save those villagers" excuse, I'm gonna have to say that the Akatsuki member was at a bigger disadvantage, not Gaara. All those villagers could've attacked and distracted bird bitch and Gaara could've went in for a hit. Gaara isn't a smart fighter, he's more of the "I'm gonna go all out with my power and crush you" type. Gaara is talented but he is just an extremely poor strategist.

Assertn
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:02 AM
Originally posted by: Captain Grammar
Like Naruto's Kyubi, Shikaku needs Gaara to live. If Gaara dies, so does he. So, let's just say if Gaara is rendered unconscious because his mind and body shut down, the demon who feeds off of his life force is likewise rendered unconscious (or disabled). When Gaara is merely sleeping, his mind and body are still fully funtional and capable of fighting, however, Gaara's will is not there to hold the demon back.

There. No more flaws.

sounds like someone went on a trip to their local BS market

Uchiha Barles
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:10 AM
Gaara would've lost anyway. That's just the way story goes.

Anyway, If you bring in the "oh, he had to save those villagers" excuse, I'm gonna have to say that the Akatsuki member was at a bigger disadvantage, not Gaara. All those villagers could've attacked and distracted bird bitch and Gaara could've went in for a hit. Gaara isn't a smart fighter, he's more of the "I'm gonna go all out with my power and crush you" type. Gaara is talented but he is just an extremely poor strategist.[/quote]

On the basis of skill and power, gaara seems to have owned that akatsuki character. There's just no doubt about it from where I stand. And he was smart enough to look out the window and realize that those "birds" didn't exist in the desert. I really can't argue about his strategic ability though, he's never had to use much of it. And yes, the story required him to lose, but, I'm gonna go ahead and say he lost in that particular way to that particular character, because given what was shown, no other way is believable. About the villagers being a bunch of useless, needy vaginas, well, you've nailed that one. The akatsuki member really should've been a disadvange. So, in actuality, I don't even find this defeat of gaara to be believable. He shouldn't have lost, at all.

Captain Grammar
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:15 AM
Originally posted by: AssertnFailure


Originally posted by: Captain Grammar
Like Naruto's Kyubi, Shikaku needs Gaara to live. If Gaara dies, so does he. So, let's just say if Gaara is rendered unconscious because his mind and body shut down, the demon who feeds off of his life force is likewise rendered unconscious (or disabled). When Gaara is merely sleeping, his mind and body are still fully funtional and capable of fighting, however, Gaara's will is not there to hold the demon back.

There. No more flaws.

sounds like someone went on a trip to their local BS market

Yeah, totally. Good one.

Borg-Sy
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:20 AM
I frankly don't see this completely as Gaara's lost...
Considering that it's like going... "Yeah, I captured him... BUT he totally destroyed my arm..."
If you noticed when Gaara was falling his armor was damaged and all, but hell, not nearly as bad as Lee had damaged it in the preliminary matches... And Gaara still walk out from that like nothing had happened in that match.

Uchiha Barles
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:23 AM
Captain Grammar:

We know to a certain extent how naruto's demon was put into naruto, and we know that the nine-tails would die if naruto died, because 9-tails itself said so. What we don't know is "biological" relationship gaara has with the shukaku. I can't remember one instance where they said if gaara dies shukaku dies. Maybe its true, but its entirely possible that shukaku gets released upon gaaras death, or, just remains sealed within the body. We don't know, because no ones ever said anything about it, so you can't make that conclusion, or base any arguments on it.

Edit to Borg: Gaara lost. At this point, if bird girl wanted him dead, he'd be dead. That's complete and utter defeat.

idontnoh
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:31 AM
Doesnt gaara have a layer of sand always protecting him?? like in the fight versus Rock way before...So im guessing Gaara is ok and has an alterior motive for getting captured.

Mut
Fri, 02-25-2005, 02:40 AM
Originally posted by: idontnoh
Doesnt gaara have a layer of sand always protecting him?? like in the fight versus Rock way before...So im guessing Gaara is ok and has an alterior motive for getting captured.

You can tell that his sand armor is cracked to hell shit. IMO, Gaara is out for the count. The best part of this entire fight wasn't all the flashy or powerful jutsus. It was the part where Gaara went "Shi..." which is an exclamation mark on how fucked Gaara is.

Franggio
Fri, 02-25-2005, 03:28 AM
ok, it didn't have anytihng to do with the topic, but I just didn't want to start a new shitty thread only to bad mouth youre point of wiew!
and to deem the Akutski the bad guys is WRONG! don'
t you realise that they ar the black heroes! they ar collecting to Youmas just to contain theire powers so it wont harm the world again!
I promise they don't have any bad intentions!
well...I could say that but, nah. Anyways AKutiski rules and Rock Lee rules and Neji and Shikamru are pretty reliable aswell ^^


MORE FANGRILS FOR ROCK LEE!

Psyke
Fri, 02-25-2005, 03:51 AM
Most important things to realise:

1) Gaara lost but he did save the village as Kazekage
2) Gaara believes he owes Naruto for kicking sense into him
3) We are going to see new members of Akatsuki in the next chapter!

kaigan
Fri, 02-25-2005, 04:49 AM
let's drop the topic on gaara. we all know that he will loose from the beginning. no point if he wins.
but i do want him to get free though. it would suck if he was capture and that's the end of gaara. he'll be back on the picture sooner or later.

Elessar
Fri, 02-25-2005, 04:54 AM
This wasn't a chapterr about who is the strongest one, or who has the fanciest tricks. This chapter was pure story telling and character development.

I wouldn't even call that a fight with winners or losers. Because gaara and akatsuki-d00d both won.

Akatsuki-d00d won, because he obviously got his work done.

Gaara won, because he fulfilled his new purpose of life. We got the flashback on the huge impact Naruto had on him, that he wanted to become kage, even though he is still feared. He wanted to become the one who inherits the will of his village, loves it, protects it and ultimately sacrifices himself for its sake.
Rather than destroying the d00d, he focused on protecting his villages, putting his personal advantage behind that.
Therefor he fulfilled his role to its best and won.

PSJ
Fri, 02-25-2005, 06:34 AM
Originally posted by: Prof. Chaos
Im just guessing that each member has a bloodline limit. Kisame doesnt, but he has the chakra eating sword, a rare powerful item. I doubt the mouth on her hand is an item. I mean we've seen plenty of people with bloodline limits in the series so far, so why not?

no we havent seen plenty we have seen the uchihas, the hyuugas, haku and kimimaro. thats 4 bloodline limits and just because someone got a strange ability doesnt mean its a bloodline limit. kishimoto will explain to us when its a bloodline limit before that dont make assumptions.

Psyke
Fri, 02-25-2005, 07:58 AM
Originally posted by: Pervert-Sennin Jiraiya


Originally posted by: Prof. Chaos
Im just guessing that each member has a bloodline limit. Kisame doesnt, but he has the chakra eating sword, a rare powerful item. I doubt the mouth on her hand is an item. I mean we've seen plenty of people with bloodline limits in the series so far, so why not?

no we havent seen plenty we have seen the uchihas, the hyuugas, haku and kimimaro. thats 4 bloodline limits and just because someone got a strange ability doesnt mean its a bloodline limit. kishimoto will explain to us when its a bloodline limit before that dont make assumptions.

I read some where that Kabuto's teammate whose technique was to suck out the opponent's chakara using his palm, was a bloodline limit. Not too sure about that, but all the other limits are already listed by PSJ...

jing
Fri, 02-25-2005, 09:13 AM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
[

You know that.......Gaara without homefield advantage = shooting practice for akatsuki.

Nah. In the fight vs. Kimimaro, he said it takes no effort at all for him to make sand from dirt, so, its kinda like he has "homefield advantage" wherever there's dirt. Desert, forest, anywhere not urban. And, at least against that particular akatsuki member, I don't think he would've lost in any situation other than one in which he was forced to sacrifice himself for others.[/quote]

It's not homefield advantage, you never see Gaara use such a big wave of sand. You KNOW how big that was right...........................................

RasenDori
Fri, 02-25-2005, 09:39 AM
Originally posted by: Borg-Sy
I frankly don't see this completely as Gaara's lost...
Considering that it's like going... "Yeah, I captured him... BUT he totally destroyed my arm..."
If you noticed when Gaara was falling his armor was damaged and all, but hell, not nearly as bad as Lee had damaged it in the preliminary matches... And Gaara still walk out from that like nothing had happened in that match.

the winner of the fight is determined buy who acheived their goals. birdeyes goal: capture gaara. gaaras goal: defend himself and/or kill bird eye. breaking bird eyes arm wasnt the goal and doesnt mean jack shit unless hes dead. look ath neji versus kidoumaru. sure neji ended up with 2 huge holes in his body, but kidomaru ended up dead... who was the winner of that fight?

Death BOO Z
Fri, 02-25-2005, 10:22 AM
i didn't like how they spoon fed us with gaara's change, they could sum it up in a few sentences and get it over with, and they wouldn't have made me feel like i'm watching the 'and remember kids, don't touch drugs' corner...

it was like " i was bad, and then naruto came and made me change since he kicked my head really hard, so now i see the light, since the kick also got to the seeing center in my brain, and anyway, i decided to be the same as naruto, so i'll also fight to protect my viillage, and i also became the kage,so in a way, I already beat him, since i'm the kazakage and he's still a genin, but putting that aside, i'm now just like him, and it's really emotional, so cry, dammit! cry!"

too long.

they could've put it something banal like "this is what you would've done, right, naruto?"

Assertn
Fri, 02-25-2005, 12:16 PM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
Captain Grammar:

We know to a certain extent how naruto's demon was put into naruto, and we know that the nine-tails would die if naruto died, because 9-tails itself said so. What we don't know is "biological" relationship gaara has with the shukaku. I can't remember one instance where they said if gaara dies shukaku dies. Maybe its true, but its entirely possible that shukaku gets released upon gaaras death, or, just remains sealed within the body. We don't know, because no ones ever said anything about it, so you can't make that conclusion, or base any arguments on it.

Edit to Borg: Gaara lost. At this point, if bird girl wanted him dead, he'd be dead. That's complete and utter defeat.

actually this recalls to me an interesting detail i forgot about concerning shukaku and gaara......

the spirit of shukaku was fused into gaara using the ashes of a sand priest.....
this means that shukaku is capable of existing in a body that has even been so far as to be cremated!


DBZ: suck it up man.....kishimoto and anime production companies can throw in or chop off whatever they want in order to allow the episode/chapter to end at a good breaking point. It would just be plain dumb to use up less pages with flashback just so they can add one or 2 more frames and cut off the chapter at a really awkward place.


Edit: oh, and something to support the argument about shukaku not coming out as a result of gaara losing consciousness....
also keep in mind, that part of the process involves gaara going through a transformation to take shukaku's physical form. Shukaku doesnt necessarily come out every time gaara sleeps, he just eats away at gaaras personality instead.

Captain Grammar
Fri, 02-25-2005, 05:11 PM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
Captain Grammar:

We know to a certain extent how naruto's demon was put into naruto, and we know that the nine-tails would die if naruto died, because 9-tails itself said so. What we don't know is "biological" relationship gaara has with the shukaku. I can't remember one instance where they said if gaara dies shukaku dies. Maybe its true, but its entirely possible that shukaku gets released upon gaaras death, or, just remains sealed within the body. We don't know, because no ones ever said anything about it, so you can't make that conclusion, or base any arguments on it.

Edit to Borg: Gaara lost. At this point, if bird girl wanted him dead, he'd be dead. That's complete and utter defeat.

No, you're completely right. My post about Shukaku was complete speculation. I just made that assumtion based on the fact that when Gaara was knocked unconscious, Shukaku didn't come out and sluaghter all, as he would if Gaara slept. I mean, it's completely plausable.

Don't get me wrong guys, I'm not trying to tell you that what I say is fact. I'm just putting out my theory on the whole thing. If you don't believe it or think there's another reason, argue with me.

Hakeem_21
Fri, 02-25-2005, 05:16 PM
Originally posted by: Death BOO Z
i didn't like how they spoon fed us with gaara's change, they could sum it up in a few sentences and get it over with, and they wouldn't have made me feel like i'm watching the 'and remember kids, don't touch drugs' corner...

it was like " i was bad, and then naruto came and made me change since he kicked my head really hard, so now i see the light, since the kick also got to the seeing center in my brain, and anyway, i decided to be the same as naruto, so i'll also fight to protect my viillage, and i also became the kage,so in a way, I already beat him, since i'm the kazakage and he's still a genin, but putting that aside, i'm now just like him, and it's really emotional, so cry, dammit! cry!"

too long.

they could've put it something banal like "this is what you would've done, right, naruto?"


What were you expecting from a manga like this???

I was expecting more than they said about his change.

Death BOO Z
Fri, 02-25-2005, 06:15 PM
they wasted 4 pages on something which should've taken no more than one.
the same message could've been tranfered to us with kankaru saying that they (the villiagers) still hate gaara, and then gaara would say that even so, he must follow his way to true achknowledgment, and then look at some spiral thing and say "just like you..."

and bang! the message is clear, no need to drag it all over, i hate being spoon fed with obvious information, makes me feel like an anime watcher.

Deblas
Fri, 02-25-2005, 06:54 PM
I wanna see more of naruto. maybe the next chapter neji will appear!?

jing
Fri, 02-25-2005, 06:59 PM
they did not waste 4 pages. who gives a shit its only 4 pages.

XTCBoY2K
Fri, 02-25-2005, 07:23 PM
Originally posted by: Death BOO Z
they wasted 4 pages on something which should've taken no more than one.
the same message could've been tranfered to us with kankaru saying that they (the villiagers) still hate gaara, and then gaara would say that even so, he must follow his way to true achknowledgment, and then look at some spiral thing and say "just like you..."

and bang! the message is clear, no need to drag it all over, i hate being spoon fed with obvious information, makes me feel like an anime watcher.

Then don't read the manga. And there's no "they." It's just "he."

Psyke
Fri, 02-25-2005, 10:08 PM
Originally posted by: XTCBoY2K


Originally posted by: Death BOO Z
they wasted 4 pages on something which should've taken no more than one.
the same message could've been tranfered to us with kankaru saying that they (the villiagers) still hate gaara, and then gaara would say that even so, he must follow his way to true achknowledgment, and then look at some spiral thing and say "just like you..."

and bang! the message is clear, no need to drag it all over, i hate being spoon fed with obvious information, makes me feel like an anime watcher.

Then don't read the manga. And there's no "they." It's just "he."

Maybe he's refering to Kishimoto's team. They have around 7 to 8 members, and in the original manga Kishimoto introduces each and everyone of them and what they do (inking, backgrounds, etc).

LobsterMagnet
Fri, 02-25-2005, 11:25 PM
Yesh, why is everyone complaining about the pages devoted towards Garra's character development. I liked it, one of the recurring themes of the series is naruto's power to change people. Thats why so many characters in the series have come to respect him.

His first encounter was with Haku and Haku almost changed but then he had to go off and die.

Next naruto met up with Neji, Naruto beat his ass down and helped him change his outlook on life. His change of perspective allowed him to ackowledge his weakness when he fought kidomaru.

Naruto was able to change Garra in their climactic battle. I loved the scene when Garra was scared shitless because naruto was slowly intching his way towards him because he had a reason to fight. Garra's character development was fully summed up as he told Kankuro and Temari that he was sorry.

Naruto's next convert was Tsunande who he helped overcome her phobia and gain the stregth to deal with her inner demons and take up the postion of Hokage.

The last and most recent moment was when naruto failed to change Sasuke, despite his best efforts. This added a huge impact to naruto's character development, which hopefully we'll see soon.

So please why do you have to complain about Garra finally confronting his own demons and come to terms with his past and take the position of hokage. I'm happy for Garra. I"m honestly disappointed that he lost to the mouth guy but I guess it had t o happen for the story to progress.

kAi
Fri, 02-25-2005, 11:37 PM
So please why do you have to complain about Garra finally confronting his own demons and come to terms with his past and take the position of hokage. I'm happy for Garra. I"m honestly disappointed that he lost to the mouth guy but I guess it had t o happen for the story to progress.
I think you meant Kazekage. Anyway, i liked the Gaara development also.

I also had no doubt that Gaara would loose the fight, but i thought maybe in a different way, with the other Akatsuki member getting invovled, it seems the Akatsuki are going to be around for a while, also meaning that Naruto and Sasuke aren't at the level or a little underneath maybe to take on an Akatsuki member. It would be good to see how they would fair though.

Gaara may have put up more of a fight if he wasn't protecting the village, but would have lost in the end.

weakest anbu
Fri, 02-25-2005, 11:39 PM
"wasted 4 pages"...

that 4 pages is what Naruto its all about... not kiddy dbz fighting. woah... maybe im getting too old ;[

SK
Sat, 02-26-2005, 12:20 AM
If you can't contribute proper discussion, don't bother posting.

- Gotwoot Moderator

kAi
Sat, 02-26-2005, 12:50 AM
Originally posted by: -Sharingan-Kakashi-
shut the fuck up everyone tryin to act like mr expert

why don't you stop being an e-thug as you like to call everyone. Put something towards the actual discussion or Shut The Fuck Up.

SK
Sat, 02-26-2005, 12:51 AM
you guys fight too much rofl

Knives122
Sat, 02-26-2005, 01:19 AM
annnywayy(since I felt like waiting to post), over all pretty predictable the overall capture of Gaara could just be a ploy to get Naruto away from the big three(IMO Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade b/c they seem like the only ones that can contend with those kind of people).

but hey we got to see Kankuro(not that impressed) so hopefully next week we'll see at least Chouji and Kiba/Shino for the hell of it. Even though I would actually like to see Neji and Hinata(I've decided that Sasuke wont apper for at least 6-11 ch. from now)(unless he for some reason goes off before that time to attack Naruto(for who knows why))

overall pretty cool, but not that great

nests
Sat, 02-26-2005, 02:54 AM
I think the next chapter we will see the rest of the gang (exept Sasuke) since the capture of the Kazukage has to be big news and they have to show what Konohas ninja react.
on second tought they migth even show Orochimaru (but not Sauke) also react to this news.

Hakeem_21
Sat, 02-26-2005, 06:55 AM
Maybe we will see Oro pissing in his pants after hearing that Akatsuki is back in action.

samsonlonghair
Sat, 02-26-2005, 03:57 PM
If Akatsuki is going after demons as they say they are, maybe we'll see more people with demons. That could either turn this story arch really good or really cheesy. In any case, it's an interesting possibility. Of course, I'm never good at predicting things that will happen in the story.

Sidnne
Sat, 02-26-2005, 05:40 PM
over all pretty predictable the overall capture of Gaara could just be a ploy to get Naruto away from the big three(IMO Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Tsunade b/c they seem like the only ones that can contend with those kind of people).

I don't think kidnapping Gaara was designed to be a trap to lure Naruto out of Konoha. The Kazekage of the sand village is too high of a risk to run just to set up a trap, especially since the only known direct interaction between Gaara and Naruto was their fight in the woods. If they wanted to lure Naruto out, they probably would have kidnapped somebody from Konoha, or possibly even Sasuke.
That also wouldn't get Naruto away from Jiraiya or Kakashi anyway, especially since Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi are now a team. If they are going up against Akatsuki to rescue a Kazekage, they won't send a team of genins this time, they will send some big dogs.

Plus, Akatsuki's plan is to harvest the Yoma, which includes Shukaku. Their intention for Gaara is to extract Shukaku from him. I doubt they are planning to use him as bait.



let's drop the topic on gaara. we all know that he will loose from the beginning. no point if he wins.

Why would we drop the topic on Gaara when the last two and a half chapters have been about Gaara? This is the 249 discussion, and the last time I looked, 249 had an awful lot to do with Gaara. If you don't wish to discuss him, then view a different thread.

Hellraiser
Sat, 02-26-2005, 07:13 PM
inanes out.

guardiankepeer
Sat, 02-26-2005, 07:20 PM
I made sure I raed through the previous posts, and i had a few comments. For all those people that were complaining about pages being wasted...C'mon this will eventually need to fill a season, you can't just breeze through. Plus it adds to the suspense of the battle.




i didn't like how they spoon fed us with gaara's change, they could sum it up in a few sentences and get it over with, and they wouldn't have made me feel like i'm watching the 'and remember kids, don't touch drugs' corner...
Spoon fed nothing! I dont think you got the importants of this scene. Maybe you should read the manga again, or read Lobster magnet's post ( I think he summed up the whole idea perfectly!4th page) Basically the scene between Gaara and kankaru explains his sacrifice and his overal change. If this was shorter it would not have the same impact. So do not dismiss Kishimoto's genius.

Wow, maybe i got too serious!!! Well I loved this chapter.....as you can tell by the above comments ...my favorite scene was the Gaara and kankaru. Just because I am the biggest self-proclaimed Uzumaki naruto fan ... So by Gaara saying that he looked up to him really brought a smile to my face. But also the deeper meaning that it holds. Now if i got it right, gaara collapsed because he ran out of chakra since he saved the village. But he still had his perfect defense on( it was cracked but it was still on like the lee/sasuke vs gaara match).I remember them saying that it needed a great deal of chakra for it to be maintained. So my question is how can he run out of chakra and still have it on...it should have desintegrated into sand or something?Or does this indicate that he was captured on purpose ?

I can't wait for the next chapter ....Naruto comes in the picture ....i don't know about you guys but this self-proclaimed #1 naruto fan will be glued to the computer.

Insomniac
Sat, 02-26-2005, 08:50 PM
i love how people said that this was predictable, well come on its not like theres so many outcomes to this battle that we couldnt guess what was going to happen

i spose you'd rather that Gaara won the fight and Atasuki ran off 'guess we're crap, even though we've been setup as the major bad guys of the entire series'
how can anyone honestly believe that Gaara alone could beat them?

Lefty
Sat, 02-26-2005, 09:19 PM
The gara fanboys. But I saw this coming form a mile away. I can't wait to see what happens for the next few chapters.

Assertn
Sat, 02-26-2005, 09:31 PM
Originally posted by: -Sharingan-Kakashi-
you guys fight too much rofl

the world isnt such a flowery place that nobody is gonna have differences in opinions to instigate an argument. If that was the case, then the forums would suck anyway.


i knew gaara wouldnt win....but i was hoping to be caught off guard i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif

hiten mitsurugi
Sat, 02-26-2005, 09:36 PM
This akatsuki member seems to think very logically i.e. he's a very smart fighter. Shikamaru is also very logical, he also plans a few moves ahead. I would love to see these two guys fight.

How can anyone say that the fight is over with Gaara? Gaara couldn't release Shukaku because of the city. The bird guy is carrying Gaara out of the city towards Akatasuki. Gaara got bombed to hell, he' should be on the brink of passing out. When he passes out, voluntarily or involuntarily, as long as he is far away from the Sand village; Shukaku can come out and whip that bird head's candy ass.

Will this happen? Probably not, but this is how I (logically) see it.

Hakeem_21
Sat, 02-26-2005, 09:56 PM
After reading Inane and understanding how the akatsuki guy won i can say that if there is more guys as strong as him in akatsuki then Naruto and co shoulndt worry too much cause Gaara was pretty even until the the trap.

But mostly likely he will be weekest of them all, even Kisame must be better than he/she.

Sidnne
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:09 PM
How can anyone say that the fight is over with Gaara? Gaara couldn't release Shukaku because of the city. The bird guy is carrying Gaara out of the city towards Akatasuki. Gaara got bombed to hell, he' should be on the brink of passing out. When he passes out, voluntarily or involuntarily, as long as he is far away from the Sand village; Shukaku can come out and whip that bird head's candy ass.

Naruto defeated Shukaku so I doubt it would be much of a problem for Akatsuki to deal with should Gaara release it. Although, birdeye did say that she was out of clay and tricks so if Shukaku did happen to be released while they are flying, I think the bird will crash and she wouldn't have any way to defend against it.

Mut
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:13 PM
Gaara is dead. Face it.

Hakeem_21
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:17 PM
Why would he be dead??

He/she said it was hard NOT killing him.

Zerohour
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:25 PM
I figured Garaa would get beat down, but just the fact that he was taken down in a single attack without even it being the strongest explosive that the Akatsuki member had is kind of doubtful. He still had the coating of sand-armor. So it's very well posible that he did fake his capture in order to get himself out of the village.

Also, a theory for Akatsuki's mission just hit me. Since there are nine Yoma and nine Akatsuki members, it makes even more sense to me that their goal is to capture the Yoma. If they figure out a way to get the Yoma out of the vessle and into one of themselfs, they would further their powers greatly. (Into an akatsuki member if a yoma isn't in one.)

Sidnne
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:38 PM
Originally posted by: Mut@t@
Gaara is dead. Face it.

But if his name was Uchiha Gaara, his d*ck would be in your mouth.

Mut
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:42 PM
Do I know you Sidnne? Don't deliberately flame me cuz I said Gaara is dead. Try having a valid reason next time.

Sidnne
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:44 PM
No, I flame you because you constantly bash any character that isn't an Uchiha. Try not being such a fanboi next time.

Mut
Sat, 02-26-2005, 10:55 PM
No thanks. And please leave me alone, I'm not in the mood to get in a flamewar with you.

Uchiha Barles
Sat, 02-26-2005, 11:02 PM
The guy says "Gaara is dead" for probably no reason at all, and you dipshits are quick to jump at his nuts and swing from his pubic hair. What the fuck is wrong with you people?! He didn't bash gaara you goddamn moron. I'm starting to think you people are just mad at mut for him making you all polish his knob. If its not true, then please, shut the fuck up. I'm generally not one for defending anyone online, but sometimes, the shit just gets out of hand.

Deblas
Sat, 02-26-2005, 11:05 PM
Originally posted by: Sidnne


Originally posted by: Mut@t@
Gaara is dead. Face it.

But if his name was Uchiha Gaara, his d*ck would be in your mouth.

LOFL. nice one. and anyway he is not dead for obvious reasons. want the reason? okay. the akatsuki member said that it was tough not killing him. Its just my opinion though

Sidnne
Sat, 02-26-2005, 11:06 PM
I'm not here to start flame wars and this isn't the thread for that anyway. I usually take an objective approach to everything but for some reason your comment annoyed me. I said what I wanted to say and I'm done.

Back to the 249 discussion.

Stoopider
Sat, 02-26-2005, 11:07 PM
Originally posted by: Mut@t@
Gaara is dead. Face it.

Hmm. We may never know. Probably extract the monster outta him. But might not kill him.

Their intentions is still not known. By klling him, they'lll lose the shukaku straight away no?

However I hope he doesn't die.. Gaara is a great monstrous rival for Naruto.. better than Sasuke IMO. But wish he still had his madness rather than becoming saner.

Deblas
Sat, 02-26-2005, 11:10 PM
yes, lets. now. why do you think that they want garaa? probably cause of shukaku. I mean, they are after naruto cause of kyubi

Uchiha Barles
Sat, 02-26-2005, 11:30 PM
It seems clear that akatsuki wants demons, but what do they want to do with that? It seems that they're not interested in wealth, glory, or world domination (by extention of not being interested in glory). I imagine their after sort of the same thing as orochimaru, (ultimate ninja power) but decided there was a better way to get it than body switching and all that other crap he does.

Hellraiser
Sun, 02-27-2005, 01:54 AM
Could Gaara still control sand without Shukaku? Ya I know that's a dumb question but I'm a bit dense.

Assertn
Sun, 02-27-2005, 02:19 AM
probably not........we never see anyone else ever control sand with jutsus besides him

MFauli
Sun, 02-27-2005, 07:00 AM
Perhaps there´s a certain number of demons in the world of Naruto, and if all these demons are brought together, there will awake the ultimate power.
The one, who brings together all demons will get this power.

Yeah ^^

Insomniac
Sun, 02-27-2005, 08:44 AM
i cant believe people are calling the bird guy weak haha and that Kisame was better then him, lets review - Itachi and Kisame went after a weak Naruto and got beaten back, Sasori and Bird guy went after Gaara who was a Kazekage (which is around Jiyairas level) and Bird guy bought him down ALONE

Kisame couldnt even deal with Kakashi

PSJ
Sun, 02-27-2005, 08:45 AM
Originally posted by: AssertnFailure
probably not........we never see anyone else ever control sand with jutsus besides him

but there still is a possibility. people can control water, wind, fire, even plants and sound so why shouldnt it be possible to control sand without shukaku?

RasenDori
Sun, 02-27-2005, 09:50 AM
well, water, fire, wind, lightning, rock are parts of the 5 basic jutsu elements, if you remeber the chapter way back when kakashi explianed it. anything outside those catergorires ike ice and sand are specialist abilities. although i really cant understand the ice thing... if its just another form of water, and controling mist is a basic kirigakure thing.

PSJ
Sun, 02-27-2005, 10:04 AM
i cant understand the rock thing sand is basicly small rocks and shouldnt be much harder to control then say water, so if anyone can manipulate rock than sand should be quite easy. and ice should be fairly easy to lower the temprature of water shouldnt be to hard for someon who can create fire and various other elements.

jing
Sun, 02-27-2005, 11:48 AM
Originally posted by: Pervert-Sennin Jiraiya
i cant understand the rock thing sand is basicly small rocks and shouldnt be much harder to control then say water, so if anyone can manipulate rock than sand should be quite easy. and ice should be fairly easy to lower the temprature of water shouldnt be to hard for someon who can create fire and various other elements.

It's not really which one is harder, it's more like who is able to.

Assertn
Sun, 02-27-2005, 12:44 PM
maybe controlling sand requires such an extensive amount of chakra, that only a demon power could make it practical to do so

hiten mitsurugi
Sun, 02-27-2005, 04:01 PM
Kind of off-topic, but Sasuke should be dead now. Its been three years, about enough time for Oro's transfer into a new body. Oro should have taken his body, by now, since that was one of his major goals.

Mut
Sun, 02-27-2005, 04:02 PM
It hasn't been three years.

hiten mitsurugi
Sun, 02-27-2005, 04:12 PM
So its been about 2.5 years that's close enough to 3 years. Oro should have raped Sasuke's body by now!!!

kaigan
Sun, 02-27-2005, 04:39 PM
3 years or not 3 years, the fking prick needs to die.

RasenDori
Sun, 02-27-2005, 05:01 PM
not before he kills itachi, or has a change of heart

Prof. Chaos
Sun, 02-27-2005, 05:16 PM
Originally posted by: AssertnFailure
maybe controlling sand requires such an extensive amount of chakra, that only a demon power could make it practical to do so

Well we do know that Shukaku is responsable for Gaara's always protecting sand barrier. But maybe as you said, his massive amount of Chakra allows Gaara to do more than he could with the sand than without.

Hakeem_21
Sun, 02-27-2005, 11:00 PM
The most intresting thing in this chapter was that the speciel sand in Gaara courd is much stronger than the normal sand he uses.

I have always thought that cause of the demon that Gaara could use all sand how he wants but we know that he uses the speciel sand for powerful attacks.

Also i dont anyone els can use sand,i think the demon gives Gaara the power to use sand as his weapon.

Uchiha Barles
Mon, 02-28-2005, 12:22 AM
Originally posted by: RasenDori
well, water, fire, wind, lightning, rock are parts of the 5 basic jutsu elements, if you remeber the chapter way back when kakashi explianed it. anything outside those catergorires ike ice and sand are specialist abilities. although i really cant understand the ice thing... if its just another form of water, and controling mist is a basic kirigakure thing.

That's pretty interesting. Maybe the thing is that, although ice is just another form of water, its uses would be different from what you would use water for, and as such, different techniques are required to make proper use of ice. Same thing with sand. Probably the uses for rock and for sand are different, and the techniques required to use sand most effectively aren't techniques that can be done by anyone. For example, I can imagine a rock specialist causing a rock avalanche in a mountain terrain. A sand avalanche probably wouldn't be as effective, but no one argues about sand jutsu effectiveness when gaara uses it because of the utter control he exerts over it, which I imagine is more difficult than causing a rock avalanche. Uh...is this making any sense?

Raven
Mon, 02-28-2005, 02:28 AM
Originally posted by: RasenDori
the winner of the fight is determined buy who acheived their goals. birdeyes goal: capture gaara. gaaras goal: defend himself and/or kill bird eye. breaking bird eyes arm wasnt the goal and doesnt mean jack shit unless hes dead.
I'd say Gaara's goal wasn't to necessarily look after himself or kill the enemy, it was just to protect his village and he did that. So IMHO he acheived his goal.

Psyke
Mon, 02-28-2005, 04:20 AM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles


Originally posted by: RasenDori
well, water, fire, wind, lightning, rock are parts of the 5 basic jutsu elements, if you remeber the chapter way back when kakashi explianed it. anything outside those catergorires ike ice and sand are specialist abilities. although i really cant understand the ice thing... if its just another form of water, and controling mist is a basic kirigakure thing.

That's pretty interesting. Maybe the thing is that, although ice is just another form of water, its uses would be different from what you would use water for, and as such, different techniques are required to make proper use of ice. Same thing with sand. Probably the uses for rock and for sand are different, and the techniques required to use sand most effectively aren't techniques that can be done by anyone. For example, I can imagine a rock specialist causing a rock avalanche in a mountain terrain. A sand avalanche probably wouldn't be as effective, but no one argues about sand jutsu effectiveness when gaara uses it because of the utter control he exerts over it, which I imagine is more difficult than causing a rock avalanche. Uh...is this making any sense?

Woah..... u guys are talking as if you are capable of doing jutsus in real life......

RasenDori
Mon, 02-28-2005, 09:03 AM
Originally posted by: CmDr_RavEn


Originally posted by: RasenDori
the winner of the fight is determined buy who acheived their goals. birdeyes goal: capture gaara. gaaras goal: defend himself and/or kill bird eye. breaking bird eyes arm wasnt the goal and doesnt mean jack shit unless hes dead.
I'd say Gaara's goal wasn't to necessarily look after himself or kill the enemy, it was just to protect his village and he did that. So IMHO he acheived his goal.

however the akatsuki goal was never to attack the village. if gaara was trying to defend the village then he had the wrong goal from the get go. by your logic if bird eye never used nuber 18 and still man handled gaara he would have won. which is totally not the case.

Hikyuu
Mon, 02-28-2005, 01:43 PM
I think its pretty obvious gaara is alive. Mut was just trying to draw out the tards and see who would respond.. anywhoo The shukaku might be released.. which could be the Aka.. yeah plan.. so they can seal it or caputre it then possibly discard the now useless Gaara if they seperate the two entities. and this might continueas they go around collecting more and more of the tails or evil monster huge enemies.. blah blah blah.. I just hope it isnt this predictable.. really.. that would suck ..

kAi
Mon, 02-28-2005, 03:18 PM
Originally posted by: RasenDori


Originally posted by: CmDr_RavEn


Originally posted by: RasenDori
the winner of the fight is determined buy who acheived their goals. birdeyes goal: capture gaara. gaaras goal: defend himself and/or kill bird eye. breaking bird eyes arm wasnt the goal and doesnt mean jack shit unless hes dead.
I'd say Gaara's goal wasn't to necessarily look after himself or kill the enemy, it was just to protect his village and he did that. So IMHO he acheived his goal.

however the akatsuki goal was never to attack the village. if gaara was trying to defend the village then he had the wrong goal from the get go. by your logic if bird eye never used nuber 18 and still man handled gaara he would have won. which is totally not the case.

The Akatsuki were planning on just walking in there? Gaara had the right straight of mind from the get go, someone had killed some of his people he see's the person, and fights this person to protect his village. An enemy will use any means necessary to defeat their opponent, including attacking the village. Gaara also has to be conscious about his attacks, he could kill or endanger (Shukaku for one) the lives of his people.

edit to below: I don't think anyone would. You would go down fighting, or use the tactical retreat.

Assertn
Mon, 02-28-2005, 03:25 PM
seriously....
the goal of a kage is to protect his village, but he's not just gonna offer his life over to anyone who comes to take it

Sidnne
Mon, 02-28-2005, 03:41 PM
I think its pretty obvious gaara is alive. Mut was just trying to draw out the tards and see who would respond..

Good job posting on a dead issue two days and two pages too late.

Terracosmo
Mon, 02-28-2005, 03:45 PM
Damn good chapter, it's great to see how Gaara has evolved.

RasenDori
Mon, 02-28-2005, 03:51 PM
Originally posted by: kAi


Originally posted by: RasenDori


Originally posted by: CmDr_RavEn


Originally posted by: RasenDori
the winner of the fight is determined buy who acheived their goals. birdeyes goal: capture gaara. gaaras goal: defend himself and/or kill bird eye. breaking bird eyes arm wasnt the goal and doesnt mean jack shit unless hes dead.
I'd say Gaara's goal wasn't to necessarily look after himself or kill the enemy, it was just to protect his village and he did that. So IMHO he acheived his goal.

however the akatsuki goal was never to attack the village. if gaara was trying to defend the village then he had the wrong goal from the get go. by your logic if bird eye never used nuber 18 and still man handled gaara he would have won. which is totally not the case.

The Akatsuki were planning on just walking in there? Gaara had the right straight of mind from the get go, someone had killed some of his people he see's the person, and fights this person to protect his village. An enemy will use any means necessary to defeat their opponent, including attacking the village. Gaara also has to be conscious about his attacks, he could kill or endanger (Shukaku for one) the lives of his people.

edit to below: I don't think anyone would. You would go down fighting, or use the tactical retreat.

if you think that gaaras goal was to protect the village from harm then you could say that won this fight from the very begining. because the akatsuki wasnt there to thrash the place around, it just kind of ended up happening as a means to an end. in anycase, if gaaras conditions for winning was protecting the village then he lost as soon as he went unconscious. a vilage were the kage was defeated AND captured will definately be seen as weak. the nation itself will fall into turmoil with out the guidance of the kage, so hes not really protecting the village anymore, is he? moreover, bird eye and sasori could have easily destroyed the place after knocking gaara out. face it, gaara lost.

as for the shukaku taking over when gaara goes unconscious... if you really believe that, do you think that bird eye would have made it out of the village before that happened? its not gonna happen. even the preview title hints to this fight being over.

kAi
Mon, 02-28-2005, 04:14 PM
Originally posted by: RasenDori
if you think that gaaras goal was to protect the village from harm then you could say that won this fight from the very begining. because the akatsuki wasnt there to thrash the place around, it just kind of ended up happening as a means to an end. in anycase, if gaaras conditions for winning was protecting the village then he lost as soon as he went unconscious. a vilage were the kage was defeated AND captured will definately be seen as weak. the nation itself will fall into turmoil with out the guidance of the kage, so hes not really protecting the village anymore, is he? moreover, bird eye and sasori could have easily destroyed the place after knocking gaara out. face it, gaara lost.

as for the shukaku taking over when gaara goes unconscious... if you really believe that, do you think that bird eye would have made it out of the village before that happened? its not gonna happen. even the preview title hints to this fight being over.

Gaara is fighting for his people to protect them, and to gain acceptance and to keep that acceptance from them, this is why he fights, this is why he will always fight, this is what it means to become Kage (and even more so to Gaara and Naruto, as you know, about the hate and fear). Of course he can't protect the village while he's unconscious, but he protected the best he could, but it's also lucky that they didn't want to hurt the village they just wanted to capture Gaara. He still fought to protect his village is my point. Tell me one time that when i said that Gaara didn't lose, i never said that, I know Gaara lost, i never said otherwise.

"As for the Shukaku taking over when Gaara goes unconscious", when I said (Shukaku) I meant as if he was fighting he couldn't exactly bring out Shukaku and keep the village safe at the same time, he would endanger them by using it, not that it will awaken when he goes unconscious.

RasenDori
Mon, 02-28-2005, 04:23 PM
well you were posting in response to my comments on why gaara lost, so i assumed you were defending that theory. and the shukaku comment wasnt directed towards you, it was a general statement to those that think speculate that the shukaku will be released *points in hikyuu's general direction*

hiten mitsurugi
Wed, 03-02-2005, 01:06 AM
Originally posted by: RasenDori

as for the shukaku taking over when gaara goes unconscious... if you really believe that, do you think that bird eye would have made it out of the village before that happened? its not gonna happen. even the preview title hints to this fight being over.

Yeah, shukaku will not appear, for the sake of the story. Personally, I'm glad, it'll speed up the story. I'd hate to see four more releases about this. But logically, Shukaku does appear whenever Gaara is unconscious. "Unconscious," either by fake sleep or KO; it doesn't matter, Shukaku should appear. As a reason for "bird eye" making it out of the city, it's because Gaara doesn't want to unleash Shukaku upon the city. It would be better for "bird eye" to travel as far away from the city, before shukaku is released.




Originally posted by: Hakeem_21
After reading Inane and understanding how the akatsuki guy won i can say that if there is more guys as strong as him in akatsuki then Naruto and co shoulndt worry too much cause Gaara was pretty even until the the trap.

But mostly likely he will be weekest of them all, even Kisame must be better than he/she.

Don't forget that Naruto has kyuubi. Obviously if Naruto was normal, he would have ran out of chakra in his fight against Gaara, a long time ago.

Mut
Wed, 03-02-2005, 01:13 AM
Naruto stands no chance against the members of Akatsuki. Only two people can save Naruto from Akatsuki and one of them is busy being a hokage and the other is busy investigating. Naruto is good as dead once he runs into Itachi without Jiraiya saving his vagina.

Dezalanel
Wed, 03-02-2005, 01:18 AM
Yeah....Naruto is definitly screwed without Jiraiya. BUT I am interested to see how strong he has gotten....combine that with his Kyuubi and he is prolly pretty strong now, or at least thats what I like to believe. I reallllly want to see how much Sasuke has changed though.

hiten mitsurugi
Wed, 03-02-2005, 01:27 AM
I'll play the devils advocate. We really haven't seen Naruto except for his little bell sparring match with Kakashi. They got the bells really easily. It seems that Naruto hasn't developed mentally. I'd like to see what Jaraiya has taught him. Naruto might hold his own against them.

if(naruto vs itachi){
This is how I see it. If Naruto walks up to Itachi, then goes to kyubi-naruto immediately. Summons the fourth (note: they learned this jutsu from spying on oro and sasuke, they just neglected to bring sasuke back)! The great yellow flash/flicker, or whatever goes straight to work on disembowling Itachi. Naruto then grows chakra admantium claws, throws rasengan fast balls. == Naruto Victory!!!!
}
else
{
Naruto walks up to Itachi and immediately uses kage bunshin. I hope Itachi whops Naruto's head off, because I'm sick and tired of kage bunshin (I'm sure the freaking artist are tired of drawing it too). == Itachi Victory!!!!
}

SK
Wed, 03-02-2005, 05:01 PM
can the frog boss + naruto + kakashi + sakura have a chance against itachi you think?

PSJ
Wed, 03-02-2005, 05:50 PM
no. just because they are more doesnt make them stronger or faster, they could use some uber tactics maybe but my guess is that itachi will take them out to quickly. as for gamabunta he cant do much he's just big. if itachi jumps up on his back he can do nothing. itachi took kurenai and asuma with shadow clones and chances are that he has improved since that battle.

Uchiha Barles
Wed, 03-02-2005, 05:51 PM
Hiten:

Naruto will never beat itachi. He won't be strong enough to pull that off till near the end of the series, or if he does become strong enough at some point, he won't get the opportunity to kill him, cuz Sasuke's gonna do it. But that's ok, we'll then get to see the Naruto/Sasuke rematch that matters.

And Naruto most certainly did grow mentally. In his previous fights, he never thought about the weakness inherent to an enemy's abilities. This time, he did. Plus, there was that kage bunshin trade off "game" he played with Kakashi at the beginning of the fight, which ended in a stalemate. Seeing as Naruto wasn't made to look like an idiot during the fight, he came up with a strategy to take advantage of a disadvantage in his opponents ability (which he never did before), and did all this using only his trusty kage bunshin, I'd say he grew mentally. Quite a bit.

Hakeem_21
Wed, 03-02-2005, 07:36 PM
Originally posted by: hiten mitsurugi


Originally posted by: RasenDori

as for the shukaku taking over when gaara goes unconscious... if you really believe that, do you think that bird eye would have made it out of the village before that happened? its not gonna happen. even the preview title hints to this fight being over.

Yeah, shukaku will not appear, for the sake of the story. Personally, I'm glad, it'll speed up the story. I'd hate to see four more releases about this. But logically, Shukaku does appear whenever Gaara is unconscious. "Unconscious," either by fake sleep or KO; it doesn't matter, Shukaku should appear. As a reason for "bird eye" making it out of the city, it's because Gaara doesn't want to unleash Shukaku upon the city. It would be better for "bird eye" to travel as far away from the city, before shukaku is released.




Originally posted by: Hakeem_21
After reading Inane and understanding how the akatsuki guy won i can say that if there is more guys as strong as him in akatsuki then Naruto and co shoulndt worry too much cause Gaara was pretty even until the the trap.

But mostly likely he will be weekest of them all, even Kisame must be better than he/she.

Don't forget that Naruto has kyuubi. Obviously if Naruto was normal, he would have ran out of chakra in his fight against Gaara, a long time ago.

The same thing could be said about Gaara and both of them has demon with alot of chakra so it was a fair fight naruto won cause he was smarter,Gaara just went crazy.

hiten mitsurugi
Wed, 03-02-2005, 09:02 PM
Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
Hiten:

Naruto will never beat itachi. He won't be strong enough to pull that off till near the end of the series, or if he does become strong enough at some point, he won't get the opportunity to kill him, cuz Sasuke's gonna do it. But that's ok, we'll then get to see the Naruto/Sasuke rematch that matters.

And Naruto most certainly did grow mentally. In his previous fights, he never thought about the weakness inherent to an enemy's abilities. This time, he did. Plus, there was that kage bunshin trade off "game" he played with Kakashi at the beginning of the fight, which ended in a stalemate. Seeing as Naruto wasn't made to look like an idiot during the fight, he came up with a strategy to take advantage of a disadvantage in his opponents ability (which he never did before), and did all this using only his trusty kage bunshin, I'd say he grew mentally. Quite a bit.

Dunno what you're tallking about, but Naruto sure didn't get a beat down during his last encounter with Itachi. If it didn't happen before when Naruto was really an idiot. It sure isn't gonna happen now, when you said yourself that Naruto has improved.

"Naruto will never beat itachi." That's quite a hyperbole, but judging by your user name, I guess it fits. It's really up to Kishimoto now. I hope he lays all this garbage to rest because when Naruto becomes Hokage; I don't want to hear any, "but Naruto never beat Itachi." That's why Naruto can not become Hokage until he beats his enemies. After Naruto beats Itachi, Sasuke will say,"hey, that Naruto beat the hell out of my brother. If he can do it, then I can too." Naruto once again helps Sasuke out with his life long goal. If it does't work out that way, then right when Oro is about to take Sasuke's body, Sasuke makes a last wish. " I don't care if you take my body, I just want you to kill my brother with it." You know, kinda like how he inhabited his latest body.

Mut
Wed, 03-02-2005, 09:27 PM
Aren't you the guy who tried to prove that Naruto is the most powerful character alive right now? You know, from waaay back...

Deblas
Wed, 03-02-2005, 10:49 PM
why are we discussing something that hasn't happened yet. we don't know if naruto stands a chance or not against the akatsuki. Before we jump to conclusions why don't we just wait until it actually happens?

hiten mitsurugi
Wed, 03-02-2005, 11:25 PM
Originally posted by: Deblas
why are we discussing something that hasn't happened yet. we don't know if naruto stands a chance or not against the akatsuki. Before we jump to conclusions why don't we just wait until it actually happens?

I stated it earlier; it's because teh Uchicha clans want to hype Itachi up. It's like the old Mike Tyson fights. Everyone speculates on how long the contender will last in the ring.



Originally posted by: Mut@t@
Aren't you the guy who tried to prove that Naruto is the most powerful character alive right now? You know, from waaay back...

I don't know much about the youmas (i.e. which youma is the strongest) , but Naruto is the most powerful, whether he knows how to use that power, that's a different story. He has the most potential, but his power just sits there, wasted in his existence. I know better than to try to prove anything to a FAN. The term exist because there are FANS (fanatics) out there who have very bad tunnel vision.

Mut
Thu, 03-03-2005, 12:04 AM
Dude, Naruto has the most potential. I agree on that part, but right now he is not the strongest. Ok?

Most potential != currently most powerful

hiten mitsurugi
Thu, 03-03-2005, 02:53 AM
Originally posted by: Mut@t@
Dude, Naruto has the most potential. I agree on that part, but right now he is not the strongest. Ok?

Most potential != currently most powerful

I guess it's just how you see it.

Here's a physics analogy. Potential energy vs Kinetic energy

If you see Itachi as being powerful because he's got bad ass jutsus (heaven forbid we haven't seen any of them yet), chakra, speed. You probably see him as kinetic because his power is in motion i.e. he's presently using it.

VS.

Naruto has a wealth of potential energy, chakra, speed, powerful jutsus. He's just not using it (damn the author, LOL). He's waiting to be pushed over the hill so that his potential energy will become kinetic (due to author). His present potential energy is greater than that of Itachi, Jaraiya, Oro . . . etc, even if he's not using it yet.

sometimes (depending on circumstances) potential energy > kinetic energy.

Mut
Thu, 03-03-2005, 03:31 AM
So... Naruto isn't the strongest. Alright, that's all you had to say. Also, it's not that Naruto isn't using it, he can't use it.

Naruto's potential power is irrelevant in a fight against someone like Itachi (this is only from the last arc, not this current one cuz we don't know how strong Naruto got 3 years later).

1. Naruto won't even have a chance to release his kyubi chakra.
2. Even if Naruto does release all the kyubi chakra, it is still nothing compared to what Itachi can do (not just chakra wise).

Now, as for if Itachi fought Naruto right now... Itachi will hands down kick the shit out of Naruto. It's too early for Naruto to be owning Akatsuki members, especially someone with Sharingan; as Y would call it "the ultimate cheat code." Itachi is simply just a faster, smarter, stronger, and a more talented and skilled ninja.

Captain Grammar
Thu, 03-03-2005, 03:50 AM
Originally posted by: hiten mitsurugi


Originally posted by: Mut@t@
Dude, Naruto has the most potential. I agree on that part, but right now he is not the strongest. Ok?

Most potential != currently most powerful

I guess it's just how you see it.

Here's a physics analogy. Potential energy vs Kinetic energy

If you see Itachi as being powerful because he's got bad ass jutsus (heaven forbid we haven't seen any of them yet), chakra, speed. You probably see him as kinetic because his power is in motion i.e. he's presently using it.

VS.

Naruto has a wealth of potential energy, chakra, speed, powerful jutsus. He's just not using it (damn the author, LOL). He's waiting to be pushed over the hill so that his potential energy will become kinetic (due to author). His present potential energy is greater than that of Itachi, Jaraiya, Oro . . . etc, even if he's not using it yet.

sometimes (depending on circumstances) potential energy > kinetic energy.

If we haven't seen him use them yet, then wouldn't he also be considered "potential"?

kAi
Thu, 03-03-2005, 03:57 AM
The difference between Naruto and Gaara shouldn't be to great, I think it would be rather small, and with Gaara losing the fight and being captured tells me that the Akatsuki are going to be around for a while. He did put up a fight, and yes he had to protect the village, but the Akatsuki member wasn't trying to kill him, which is always an easier thing to do. Gaara would have lost in the long-run anyway, and that was one Akatsuki member, the other was watching the fight from the ground.

If Naruto is able to defeat any Akatsuki member it would be the weaker ones in the group, I don't think he will be able to defeat Itachi yet, but the battles will be good and i think time consuming and chakra consuming, I have nothing to prove this on as they haven't shown Naruto fight properly yet.

Well I'm also thinking that Kankurou may deliver the news, I wonder what Konoha's reaction is going to be, I'm talking about Tsunade, meaning what's going to be her step in this development, send some ANBU out, send another team, send Naruto. etc. I'm also curious of Naruto's reaction.

hiten mitsurugi
Thu, 03-03-2005, 05:07 AM
Originally posted by: Captain Grammar

If we haven't seen him use them yet, then wouldn't he also be considered "potential"?

I said that out of sarcasm. LOL

But to answer your question, not really. We understand how the sharingan works through Sasuke and Kakashi. We've seen the mange, fire, etc. I'd say that he's a couple of levels below the senins. He also has to report to upper echelons. Contrastingly, we've only only seen Naruto's "flippin" kage bunshin, but we know that he's capable of more; especially because of Kyuubi (healing powers, chakra, stamina, . . . whatever abilities kishimoto's mind can conceive of).

To put it shortly, there are too many people out there who have given Itachi too much potential. (hyperbole)

SK
Thu, 03-03-2005, 06:12 AM
lol kai it would suck for naruto and gaara if the birdguy is one of the weaker ones.

kAi
Thu, 03-03-2005, 07:15 AM
yeah it would at the moment, but it should be more interesting for us, as he will need to get stronger and use some kyubi abit maybe.

Hakeem_21
Thu, 03-03-2005, 02:08 PM
It would be awsome if he was the weekest in Akatsuki then there must be monsters in the group not that the birdguy was all that but he was damn good..

I wonder who they will send after naruto maybe Itachi,Kisame again. That would be smart since Itachi knows more than any of them how things are in his home town.

Uchiha Barles
Thu, 03-03-2005, 07:22 PM
Originally posted by: hiten mitsurugi


Originally posted by: Uchiha Barles
Hiten:

Naruto will never beat itachi. He won't be strong enough to pull that off till near the end of the series, or if he does become strong enough at some point, he won't get the opportunity to kill him, cuz Sasuke's gonna do it. But that's ok, we'll then get to see the Naruto/Sasuke rematch that matters.

And Naruto most certainly did grow mentally. In his previous fights, he never thought about the weakness inherent to an enemy's abilities. This time, he did. Plus, there was that kage bunshin trade off "game" he played with Kakashi at the beginning of the fight, which ended in a stalemate. Seeing as Naruto wasn't made to look like an idiot during the fight, he came up with a strategy to take advantage of a disadvantage in his opponents ability (which he never did before), and did all this using only his trusty kage bunshin, I'd say he grew mentally. Quite a bit.

Dunno what you're tallking about, but Naruto sure didn't get a beat down during his last encounter with Itachi. If it didn't happen before when Naruto was really an idiot. It sure isn't gonna happen now, when you said yourself that Naruto has improved.

"Naruto will never beat itachi." That's quite a hyperbole, but judging by your user name, I guess it fits. It's really up to Kishimoto now. I hope he lays all this garbage to rest because when Naruto becomes Hokage; I don't want to hear any, "but Naruto never beat Itachi." That's why Naruto can not become Hokage until he beats his enemies. After Naruto beats Itachi, Sasuke will say,"hey, that Naruto beat the hell out of my brother. If he can do it, then I can too." Naruto once again helps Sasuke out with his life long goal. If it does't work out that way, then right when Oro is about to take Sasuke's body, Sasuke makes a last wish. " I don't care if you take my body, I just want you to kill my brother with it." You know, kinda like how he inhabited his latest body.


Well, just to clear up any misconceptions you might have about my opinions arising from my user name, I'll this. My favorite character is in fact naruto. Hands down. The sharingan is my favorite bloodline limit, thus the Uchiha in my user name. Now, Naruto sure didn't get a beatdown last time he encountered Itachi. I can't argue that, but allow me to point out a few things about that "encounter". For one, it got interrrupted...twice. Sasuke came in, and then jiraiya came in. When Sasuke came in, Itachi beat him down pretty badly in what is, in my humble opion, the most hillarious beatdown ever. He did it easily too. Then, when Jiraiya had had enough with the comedy, he decided to take on Itachi and kisame, but they escaped his wrath. When did Naruto actually fight Itachi in that encounter? I guess you can say that it happened when he summoned the kyubi chakra, but it took less than a second for kisame to own him with his chakra eating sword. Naruto did nothing else, and more importantly, nothing was even attempted against Naruto starting from the point that his chakra was eaten. Naruto got out of that because Sasuke delayed Itachi and Kisame long enough for Jiraiya to get there. If it wasn't for Jiraiya, that would've been it for Naruto.

About Naruto not beating Itachi now, well, I'm just going with the flow of the story. There's no way that Naruto gained enough power in three years to all of a sudden be able to beat itachi. This is just a guess mind you, but think about it. Even if he did gain a lot of power, Itachi likely did too. Itachi was only 17 at the time of the first encounter, so he has plenty of time to grow in strenght still. Furthurmore, although this has been said a zillion times, for the sake of the story, Naruto cannot be the one to beat Itachi. It has to be Sasuke. First off, I doubt Sasuke is going to get his body taken over by orochimaru. My prediction is that either Itachi or one of the Sannin will kill Oro. Sasuke losing his body to orochimaru would take too much away from our (as in the audience) belief in what Sasuke's will is, and that theme has been too big in the story to just do away with in that fashion. Second of all, what would happen if Itachi was killed by someone other than Sasuke? It's like...uh....okaaaaaaaay....lalalala. Anti-climactic. That won't happen. It's taking away Sasuke's moment. Naruto's moment will come in his final fight with Sasuke.

About Naruto becoming Hokage...I hope he doesn't, but I still want him to be undisputably the strongest character in the series at the end.