The Masked Things

G'day, night, whatever! I'm back with a post about Naruto manga chapter 334.

*~*Chapter 334 Spoilers*~*

This week's chapter was brilliantly freaky! Finally, we have some idea about Kakuzu's abilities. Suddenly, his powers seem far more abominable than Hidan's.

When those scary, black ghost things appeared, the first thoughts in my mind were; "WTF?!", "Are they puppets?" and "WTF?!"

I must admit, I was intrigued, but hardly impressed. That was until I got a good look at those creepy-as-hell masked creatures. They're so cool and terrifying! Shikamaru and Chouji's reaction of disgust and trepidation to them was really quite understandable.

I still have no idea how that whole thing works, with the masked thingies flying out Kakuzu's back and attacking everyone.

And why the HELL did Hidan look so sad and contemplative when one of them died away? Unless I read his expression very wrong, that's a total mystery to me... Maybe it's because he was seeing a small part of Kakuzu dying... Awww!!

So it appears that the tables have turned once again, Kakuzu and Hidan are getting serious and are responding with typical Akatsuki ferocity.

Suddenly I'm no longer worried for Hidan and Kakuzu, but for Team Shikamaru.

Only Ino seems to be safe at the moment, hiding behind her tree. I guess her attack style, to hide and strike at the opportune moment, demands that she remain out of sight. Wouldn't it be great if she did something really unexpectedly awesome though?

Of course, odds are she'll do absolutely nothing. If she does do something, it'll probably be healing someone's cut knee or something boring like that...

Shikamaru's not through yet, however. He's a tactical genius, after all. He'll be analysing every movement Hidan and Kakuzu make and searching for points of attack that may be effective. Nothing will escape his notice!

As for Kakashi, he seems to be stripping down, doesn't he? First the jacket, then the gloves. Let's not forget the beginnings of that tear in his mask. Will we get to see his face, maybe? Wow, I'd have such mixed feelings about that.

I noticed that Kakashi looks younger without his jacket. I like it! Heh heh!

Predictions for future chapters? Well, it looks like the stage has been set for a huge elemental battle. It's going to be good, that's all I know for sure.

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

I'm going Christmas shopping this weekend. You should too! Get it all over with and wrapped up.

I'm hoping for some Naruto manga from my uncle. He bought me manga last year and this year I've asked for some more. Heh heh!

Countdown

Welcome to the Nest, random person!

Writing and posting these updates takes me a long time, especially now that I need to upload everything separately to avoid my browser crashing. So please excuse me if I ever post a day late.

*~*Chapter 333 Spoilers*~*

After I sat and thought about it for a minute, I realized that this chapter, despite being a lead-up chapter (leading up to a big event, i.e. Naruto’s fight) has certainly done it’s job and added yet more depth to the story.

I found the Akatsuki vs Team Shikamaru fight interesting and rather enlightening. Though I am pretty glad that Kishimoto isn’t dragging it out to unnecessary lengths. After all, I really want to see Team 7 in action, already! When Team 7 are on the move, we’ll finally be getting somewhere. Granted that these recent chapters have been leading up to something significant and have bought Naruto time to create his new jutsu.

Once again, I adored the KakuHida interaction. I loved the face Hidan made on the 6th page. Dear Hidan seems more like Naruto with every chapter, ne?

Speaking of Naruto, I can’t tell you how happy I am that his training period is just about over. Not a moment too soon, in my opinion. I’m hoping that Kishimoto gives Naruto a real battle this time and not just a tossed kunai and a Kyuubi transformation. Naruto hasn’t had a real fight in the whole of Part II! There was the Oodama Rasengan at the Itachi clone, the spat with Deidara, the mini-clash with Sai, Kyuubi pounding the shit out of Orochimaru, and then the little confrontation with Sasuke.

None of these encounters have given us a real taste of Naruto’s might, only Kyuubi’s. He must be so much stronger than he was in Part I and we’ve seen no concrete evidence of it. We’ve only really seen that Kyuubi is playing a bigger part in Naruto’s fights.
Therefore, I’m hoping for an impressive battle this time. Like the Sakura vs Sasori fight, which is, I think, the only proper ninja battle we’ve seen in Part II, so far. Yup, Kishimoto better come up with something spectacular, as I’m sure he will. But of course I’m getting ahead of things here…

So from Yamato we learned that there are weaknesses and strengths to each element, as should be obvious to anyone whose seen elements in a game or story before. We learned the weaknesses and strengths of the elements in the Narutoverse.

And contrary to the elemental structure in Pokemon, Earth is apparently vulnerable to Lighting in the Narutoverse, rather than totally immune to it. We saw this in action in the final pages of the chapter, in which Kakashi thrust his Chidori arm through Kakuzu’s chest, after the Akatsuki member had used an Earth jutsu to harden his skin.

Will Kakuzu die? I’m really not sure. I’m about 50/50 at the moment. This is because while it’s true that Kakuzu has pulled many tricks and is a very smart and skilled warrior, I don’t see how he could survive such a wound, without being Hidan. Unless, of course, that’s oil and not blood pouring from his chest and we find out his whole body is robotic and repairable.

The Kakuzu Kakashi attacked can’t be a bunshin, simply because with his Sharingan, Kakashi can identify a bunshin from a real body without having to kill it first.

Aww, if Kakuzu does die, where does that leave poor Hidan? He’s a helpless, immortal newb without his trusty pal Kakuzu! I sure hope everything turns out okay for them…

*~*End of Spoilers*~*

Don’t forget to check the Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles countdown every once in awhile. It seems so far off, but the days will fly by!

I’ll be back with another update packed with 334 spoilers next week. Have a great week, everyone! Don’t forget to start your advent calendars tomorrow, after all, it’s the 1st of December! The countdown to Christmas has begun too! Heh heh!