Viridian Dreams Forum

Mmmm...The thing is that in the stinger of The Last, when Naruto is playing with Boruto and Himawari, the Hokage monument in the background doesn’t have his face, so it seems he was made Hokage after the next gen kids were born.

Which is part of why I consider the placement of the flashback iffy: Even assuming Naruto was made Hokage shortly after the stinger of The Last, it doesn’t seem to me that the kids would be so young at that point that any of them would forget their parents’ faces if they left for an extended period of time. Granted we, don’t know what age Boruto and Himawari, and by extension Sarada, have in the stinger, and if they were in the 5/6 range of age when the flashback happened, I suppose Sarada forgetting Sasuke’s face could be possible.

Sakura PAWNCH!

And then a kidnapping.

That was seriously great. The boys are down/incovienced, the newgenkids are too weak, the bad guy is gloating about how peace has made the heroes weak and then "NOT MY DAUGHTER/HUSBAND/BUDDY YOU BITCH!"

And then she gets captured, yeah. But she doesn't even seem especially freaked out about that. "Well crap. I sure stepped into it this time." In fact, she tells off Shin Sr when he wants her to make a transplant from his son for him that will kill said son. It's great. I'm half expecting the team to come to her rescue... only for her to have already handled everything.

It's just... satisfying, after seeing her mostly be a housewife for the past fivish chapters.

Also, Sasuke owning up to being a prick? What is this? What is this universe?

Sakura’s “big damn heroes” moment was the highlight of the chapter. I’m also not particularly fond of her being a “captive” of sorts afterwards, but to be fair, her “kidnapping” was completely accidental. She just was too close to the area of effect of the Kamui.

And well, I have this slight feeling that Shin Sr. might be a twisted version of Jango Feet as in all the kids are actually clones of him that he harvests for parts. I also have this slight feeling that the mini-Juubi (or whatever that thing is) might actually be the true mastermind…

Well, can't really say I didn't see that coming. I was hoping it wouldn't, but it didn't surprise me at all. It seemed like the perfect time to have that piece hit the fan. On the other hand, Chōchō's reaction to Orochimaru was hilarious.

Being Sarada continues to be suffering.

But you have to know that there's gonna be a second reveal about her origins.

I have my doubts about that “twist”. Putting aside that after everything that happened in Part II, I don’t think Kishimoto would turn Sasuke into such a scumbag (again I mean ), the set-up points to a red herring. On one hand, the one performing the test is Suigetsu, who honestly is probably the last individual you would want using lab equipment. On the other hand, he is using a sample that he presumes belongs to Karin but there isn’t any actual confirmation of that. Granted, we don’t know why Karin would have in her possession a sample that matches Sarada’s DNA, but considering her… ehem… “habits”, that sample might very well belong to Sasuke.

Anyway, I think the mystery of Sarada’s parentage won’t be resolved until the end of the miniseries (because that’s how “drama!” works ), but I still believe Sakura is her biological mother.

On another matter, am I the only one who is irked by the fact that Orochimaru is merely “under vigilance” yet still allowed to go and do as he pleases instead of… you know, incarcerated for all of his crimes?

Oh please. If they did nothing about Sasuke, why would they do anything about Orochimaru?

--

Also, calling it now. Sarada is actually the offspring of Sasuke and Naruto, formed through unholy medical techniques and carried to term by Sakura. Or Karin. Or both, because unholy medical techniques.

Or, you know, all this talk of genetic experiments and cloning are related?

I was also irked by the fact that Sasuke wasn’t really punished either. But even then, I think this is more troubling, considering Orochimaru wasn’t friends with the War hero and the Hokage, and that his crimes were a degree of magnitude worse (if only because, while not for lack of trying, in the grand scheme of things Sasuke was always very ineffectual at being evil).

Yeah, Orochimaru is... yeah. But at least he's under the watchful eyes of Yamato.... For all the good that'll do. Dude has Suigetsu and Jugo on his side, for some reason.

In somewhat unrelated news, PelleK, a power-metal-coverer of pop culture songs, has done every Naruto Opening in a series of two medleys. First was the Part 1 Openings, and now we have all of the current Shippuden openings. He can be a little hit or miss with his covers (I prefer him at his most hamtastic), but he did a very good job with these, at least in my opinion.

Also, the Anime is not yet finished, last I checked. Oh god why isn't it finished?

At the risk of sounding extremely cynical: Because the cash cow has to be milked dry.

I expected them to finish it before the premiere of the Boruto movie, but at this pace, I have serious doubts they will manage it. They are even adding more fillers after just finishing the last batch.

Talking about the movie, the most recent poster seems to reveal the villain (and I suppose the threat that Sasuke was talking about in the Gaiden), someone evidently related to the Ootsutsuki clan. Gotta wonder: What’s with this trend of putting eyes were they don’t go, especially the hands? Did Kishimoto like the scene with the ogre in Pan’s Labyrinth that much?

Eyes on the inside. Fear the old bloodlines.

Naruto Uzumaki confirmed for bestest father figure. Iruka taught him well.

Sarada: "IMMA GO CONFRONT MY DAD AND FAKE MOM AND REAL MOM AND LEAVE THE VILLAGE AND-"

Naruto: "Ooooh no. We are not doing this again."

------

Naruto: "Alright, let's go rescue Sakura!"

Sasuke: "HAHAHAHAHAAHA- Oh god, you're serious! Let me laugh even harder! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"

Sarada: "... Wow, that's... one heck of a laugh. (I wonder if I can laugh like that...)"

Sasuke: "Let's get one thing straight. She's not locked in there with them. They're locked in there with her."

------

Shin: "GENES PEACE WAR GENES EXTINCTION WAR GENES-"

Sakura: (Takes deep breath) "... One, genetics doesn't work that way. Two, I'm not gonna let you do whatever you freaking want."

Shin: "Really? And you're gonna stop me?"

Sakura: "Ooooh yeah. It's been years since I had a good scrap all to myself. And NO ONE'S gonna get in my way."

It was nice to see Naruto preventing Sarada from falling into the overplayed Uchiha routine of “Woe is me! I was betrayed/feel betrayed by a/lost a loved one, so I’m never returning again to the village, except probably to destroy it.”

Still, all those pages lifted directly form part I of the original manga felt excessive. I’m also really confused at this point: So all this talk about how family bonds are not defined by blood but by feelings and closeness, plus all the talk about clones and genes in the previous chapter, mean that Sarada is genuinely a genetic experiment of sorts? Is the mangaka really going to do that?

Oh! Well, the scenes with Sakura and Sarada bonding were really enjoyable anyway.

Mother and Daughter, savin' the day.

Shin: "CURSE YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL!"

Shin Clones: "What a tweest!"

Sakura: "No. No, it really wasn't. The only twist is that it hadn't happened yet."

Shin Clones: "... Well, we have an army!"

Naruto: "And we have a ME!"

I'm actually kinda disappointed that Sasuke and company showed up so quicklike. I could have lived with a whole chapter devoted to Sakura kicking Shin around like a ragdoll. He tries to escape and/or pulls a move that looks like it might actually stop Sakura, and then Sasuke shows up to put a stop to that. I was all hyped up for Sakura to kick all of the butt this chapter, only for the Uchiha Spotlight Stealing Squad to do their favorite routine.

Ah well, at least we have a girl kicking butt.

By the way, when did Sarada learn how to use the Super Strength thing from Sakura? I guess it could have been something Sakura taught her while she was still in school... or maybe she Sharingan-copied it. I'm going to say the former. Because that makes me feel better about it. Either way, Sakura Super Strength and Sharingan Hax is a really potent combination.

Also, GENETICS DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! YOU CAN'T MAKE A CLONE OF YOURSELF THAT IS ACTUALLY TEN TIMES YOUR SIZE! WHERE'D YOU EVEN HIDE THAT GUY FROM YOUR BOSS!?

I mean, unless they combined Akamichi DNA with Uchiha DNA. That'd be scary.

Either way, Sakura Super Strength and Sharingan Hax is a really potent combination.

Terrifying really, powers bordering on precognition combined with the chakra and control to cause mini-quakes with a punch. Given to a slightly emotionally unstable twelve year old child.

Also, GENETICS DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY! YOU CAN'T MAKE A CLONE OF YOURSELF THAT IS ACTUALLY TEN TIMES YOUR SIZE! WHERE'D YOU EVEN HIDE THAT GUY FROM YOUR BOSS!?

I mean, unless they combined Akamichi DNA with Uchiha DNA. That'd be scary.

Kishinetics, already established that he isn't an expert at human genetics.

*Insert witty commentary here about the Clone Wars that is better than whatever thing doc might come with*

Honestly, Shin should actually be proud: His “sons” really took his lessons to heart.

One of these days I will finally learn to not expect that Sakura will receive an extended fighting scene, even if the author sets it up. At least Sarada’s showing was impressive (and given that she is an Uchiha I expect that she will be treated better by the author when it comes to receiving the spotlight).

That combination of Sharingan and Super Strenght is certainly terrifying but at the very least Sarada is way less emotionally unstable than her father. I also presume it’s way more likely that Sakura trained her, rather than she copying it with the Sharingan.

And well, I’m not going to speculate anything this time regarding the whole “parentage” thing. Kishimoto is going to pains in order to keep the audience in the guessing game and I won’t indulge his trolling. I just hope we finally get some proper answers next chapter.

On a different matter: Despite my initial reticence, I have to admit the recent trailer for the Boruto movie have me interested in it. Wish I could link to it, but it seems the copyright machine is removing them quickly.

So, yeah, chapter 10 was interesting.

Random guy working at Orphanage: Where the hell are we gonna keep all these kids?

Kabutomaru: Ignore the fact that I was a twisted **** and put me in charge of the molding of parentless childrens minds.

Karin: I'm no one important, but apparently i'm trustworthy enough to help Sakura deliver her child. Not like she could have had Ino, or Shizune, or Tsunade do it.

The feels i'm getting from this 10 chapter "arc" is as follow:

Kishimoto: Wow look at these fan theories. I must put a stop to them all!

Well, if you wanna be cynical about it, sure.

But I kind of like that it's Sarada who seems to be joining the "become Hokage" faction. Boruto seems pretty uninterested in taking that position, probably because of issues with Naruto being away and stuff.

Also, considering how messed up Kabuto was, I can kind of buy him being relegated to a position similar to his previous guardian, where Naruto and co can keep an eye on him in case he slips back into Orochimaru 2.0.

So, as part of the premiere of the Boruto movie, the assistants received a fanbook that included a one-shot about the day of Naruto’s inauguration. That one has already been scanlated.

It’s actually very interesting: Turns out Himawari, Naruto’s daughter, does have the Byakugan despite her eyes not having the standard Hyuuga phenotype. She is also pretty terrifying when angered.

Not going to say anymore, you should read it if you can.

I agree. That was hilarious. Took me a moment to figure out what was going on at the end... XD
Himawari, on the other hand, that was like something out of a 30-second horror flick... yikes.

Being an inheritor of the Will of Fire is suffering.