The "King" piece and the Next Hokage

[The Adjective]

The show is called "Naruto", so of course everything is going revolve around the character with that name. He's the king piece.

Have you ever noticed that pretty much every character Naruto comes in contact with has some startling revelation about themselves? Look and Neji, Gaara and even the 5th Hokage herself. These people change for better after an encounter with Naruto. It doesn't matter how clumsy and goofy he is, everyone eventually respects and admires him in some way or another.

And we know that strength isn't likely an issue because he manages to defeat or at least compete with enemies that seem to outclass him. Kakashi has told him that he may be the only ninja to surpass the 4th, the strongest known ninja of their village.

He's the hope of the village. He's the "king" piece that must be protected. He'll be the next Hokage.

I mean really, the show doesn't have that much depth.

[JaySee]

Because of his strength, it's obvious he's not the "king" piece. Hokages don't need protection. They do the protecting. It's quite obvious the "king" piece is the people precious to you.

[The Adjective]

Because of his strength, it's obvious he's not the "king" piece. Hokages don't need protection. They do the protecting. It's quite obvious the "king" piece is the people precious to you.

If you're going to protect an entire villiage, I think you'd need to be pretty strong, no? I don't understand your argument. You're saying a Hokage doesn't need to be strong because he has to protect people. Good one.

And I don't see why they make such a big secret out of the whole "precious people" drivle. They've used that in the show a thousand times. Why would Asuma tell Shikamaru something like that in confidence?

"Hey, Shikamaru! The king piece is the people in your life who are important to you! You must defend them at all costs! But hey, keep this little gem to yourself, ok?"

I just can't see it.

[jing]

Because of his strength, it's obvious he's not the "king" piece. Hokages don't need protection. They do the protecting. It's quite obvious the "king" piece is the people precious to you.

If the "king" piece is the people precious to you. Then how is Shikamaru the "knight" piece? Shikamaru could be precious to Naruto too.. maybe Shikamaru is the "king" aswell. Makes no sense. Therefore, I think the "king" piece is an actual figure, and thats Naruto. Even Kakashi admitted that he believes Naruto is the one that can surpass the fourth.

[Winged Dancer]

Jing has a point. If the king is "your precious person" then everyone is knight and king at the same time.

So yeah, the king must be an actual, tangible thing - either a person (most plausible thing) or a place. The Adjective, too, has a point - nobody would bother to keep such a thing secret.

I think that whetever the King piece is it has to do with what Asuma wanted to tell Kakashi but was never able to. Now, if we think of some other big-ass secret that hasn't been revealed, which comes to mind?

The only one I can think of is what Sasuke finds out about his clan after Itachi has murdered all. It might be a stretch, but they can be connected - after all, the Uchiha were said to be Konoha's "police force", which is in charge of protecting the village... just like a knight.

[JaySee]

First off, Adjective needs some reading comprehension courses. Because Naruto is strong, he's not the "King" piece. The King is the 2nd weakest piece in chess and stronger in shogi because the other pieces are weaker. If you want to follow this chess analogy, the Hokage would be QUEEN in western chess. I'm not sure what he/she'd be in shogi. Promoted rook or bishop perhaps? Promoted bishop aka Horse, more likely as it's seen as the strongest defensive piece.

It makes sense that Shikamaru is the knight because the knight moves unconventionally and can jump, but it's considerably weaker in shogi than western chess.

[The Adjective]

Keeping the chess analogy in mind, the King is probably the most useless piece on the board. It's up to every other piece, including the front-line pawns to protect the king at all costs, or the game is lost.

Having said that, Naruto (like the King piece) was a pretty useless ninja. He was a screw-up and a goof ball. However, it's been stated that the Fourth sealed the Demon Fox inside of Naruto with the intent of making him a hero of Konoha. The entire village has kept this from Naruto and the younger generations because they feared that he would be chastised and feared for it.

So, in a sense, the village is taking the role of the various chess pieces. They're protecting Naruto like the pieces on a chess board protect the King. Not because of what he is, but because of what he could become; a hero.

Asuma likely passed on this secret to Shikamaru.

Edit: Thanks for the lesson, Jay. But don't get "Hokage" and "King Piece" confused. Naruto's not Hokage yet, is he?

[jing]

First off, Adjective needs some reading comprehension courses. Because Naruto is strong, he's not the "King" piece. The King is the 2nd weakest piece in chess and stronger in shogi because the other pieces are weaker. If you want to follow this chess analogy, the Hokage would be QUEEN in western chess. I'm not sure what he/she'd be in shogi. Promoted rook or bishop perhaps? Promoted bishop aka Horse, more likely as it's seen as the strongest defensive piece.

It makes sense that Shikamaru is the knight because the knight moves unconventionally and can jump, but it's considerably weaker in shogi than western chess.

It was a rhetorical question when I asked how could Shikamaru become knight. I was trying to prove that if the king piece is "someone precious to protect", then anyone can be the king, included Shikamaru himself. Adjective is pretty logical with his opinion. Sorry JaySee, I just see you going in circles.

[Augury]

If a comparison is going to be made between how the pieces in "chess" function and what people represent in the story, the comparison should be to shogi, not western chess. Shogi is referred to as "japanese chess." The panels of Shikamaru and Asuma playing chess also show that they are playing Shogi, not western chess.

Shogi on Wiki

[The Adjective]

The rules are similar enough that my argument still makes sense.

[darkmetal505]

@The Adjective

When did the Fourth want to make Naruto a hero? Why would he be chastised and feared for being a hero?

[The Adjective]

Wasn't it translated in the show or manga somewhere that the Fourth had sealed the demon inside Naruto with the intent of making him a hero? Surely he didn't do it to curse the boy.

And, I'm sorry if I didn't word it correctly, but I meant that he'd be feared and chastised for having a demon inside of him much like Gaara was.

Edit: From Wikipedia:

"The Fourth Hokage was celebrated as a hero for sealing the demon fox away. He wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the demon fox.
A decree made by the Third Hokage made it so that the other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even to their own children."

[The Heretic Azazel]

Wow I guess Wikipedia can replace pretty much any reliable source these days...I never knew research could be so easy

[The Adjective]

Enlightening input.

You completely disarmed my argument. Really. Nice work.

[JaySee]

ANYWAYS, the King in both games is a useless piece that must be protected. Naruto's not useless and doesn't need protection from Shikamaru. It makes no sense for Asuma to tell Shikamaru to protect Naruto when Naruto has 2 Jounin and a Sanin protecting him.

Hey! Shikamaru... You know that guy who can kick your butt? You need to go protect him.

Yeah... that makes A LOT OF SENSE.

Anyways, despite the wikipedia referrence... It has been told in the manga and anime that the fourth wanted people to think of Naruto as a hero for sealing the demon within him, but the stupid villagers only saw him as a demon and outcast him despite his wishes. The third made the rule not to tell the younger generations so they wouldn't do the same. So the jerk villagers just told their children to outcast him for no reason. I've always thought THIS was a much more compelling story to turn someone to evil than Sasuke's, but oh well...

[jing]

ANYWAYS, the King in both games is a useless piece that must be protected. Naruto's not useless and doesn't need protection from Shikamaru. It makes no sense for Asuma to tell Shikamaru to protect Naruto when Naruto has 2 Jounin and a Sanin protecting him.

Hey! Shikamaru... You know that guy who can kick your butt? You need to go protect him.

Yeah... that makes A LOT OF SENSE.

Anyways, despite the wikipedia referrence... It has been told in the manga and anime that the fourth wanted people to think of Naruto as a hero for sealing the demon within him, but the stupid villagers only saw him as a demon and outcast him despite his wishes. The third made the rule not to tell the younger generations so they wouldn't do the same. So the jerk villagers just told their children to outcast him for no reason. I've always thought THIS was a much more compelling story to turn someone to evil than Sasuke's, but oh well...

Naruto is usefull? Thats...a first.. really. 2 Jounins and a Sanin protecting him... wow, bring it on akatsuki! I never knew one trick pony Naruto can kick butt. If you think about it, hes got a nuke in his stomach that can fall in the wrong hands when Akatsuki gets him. Hes the useless king, but if he falls, so does Konoha.

[JaySee]

It's already been shown that Ero-Sennin and Kakashi can hold their own against the Akatsuki. And they only attack in pairs. Naruto beat Gaara when no one else could.

[jing]

It's already been shown that Ero-Sennin and Kakashi can hold their own against the Akatsuki. And they only attack in pairs. Naruto beat Gaara when no one else could.

Thats because the sand shield was down.

[Dark Dragon]

It's already been shown that Ero-Sennin and Kakashi can hold their own against the Akatsuki. And they only attack in pairs. Naruto beat Gaara when no one else could.

no one can beat gaara? how did you manage to come to that conclusion?
1. Lee got pass Gaara sand barrier
2. Sasuke was able to injure Gaara with the Chidori
3. Both Lee and Sasuke was Genin at the time so i'd imagine a Jounin would be able to take him down.

In Chest/Shogi the game is lost when the King is taken but as long as the King stay alive it is still possible to win the game.
Who is the only person you can think of that might cause the downfall of the village if he/she was to get capture?
The only person that i can think of is Naruto because if the Akatsuki is able to get Kyubi (the strongest demon, remember what he did to Jiraiya and Orochimaru with only 4 tail?) it would be near impossible to stop them, on the other hand if Naruto through some miracle manage to control his Kyubi power he would have a nearly limitless source of Chakra at his disposal that might enable him to stop the akatsuki and save the village.

[The Adjective]

Maybe it's Choji.