Naruto ch485

「 485 – So Close, and Yet So Far 」Naruto and Sasuke meet face-to-face for the first time since their encounter in Orochimaru’s lair. After seeing what Sasuke had become, and how close he was to breaking those ties completely by killing his fellow team member, will Naruto finally give up on him? Your move Naruto.

Naruto「 ナルト 」

Well there's weed, heroin, methamphetamine......

Chapter 485 – So Close, and Yet So Far
Read Online @ MANGASTREAM

Summary: As Naruto and Sasuke are busy staring each other down after Naruto miraculously swept in just in time to save Sakura, Kakashi takes the initiative to strike Sasuke as he is distracted. Sasuke only barely manages to defend himself but the move was enough to give Team 7 the space they needed to regroup. Naruto is surprised that Sasuke was willing to kill a member of Team 7 but Sasuke retorts by saying that he was an “ex” member. Naruto then reveals that Tobi had revealed Itachi’s true past to him. Even though he isn’t sure whether to believe him or not, the shocker came next when he said that he fully understood why Sasuke has done the things that he did.

This shocked everyone including Sasuke but he replies by saying that someone who had nothing to begin with has no say in the matter. He further adds that after managing to exact revenge on one of Itachi’s betrayers Danzou (which shocked everyone), he had felt a high that he never experienced before. He compares the sensation to having cleaned the Uchiha name of the stigma it’s been burdened with for decades. By killing every single Konoha citizen, he would be able to close off any ties that remain with the Uchiha’s bloody past, and he would be able to start fresh and revive his clan on a blank slate. Kakashi realizes that Sasuke has been tainted by the history of hatred in his clan, something that Naruto and Sakura would not understand without experiencing it first hand.

After hearing everything, Naruto readies a kage bunshin to subdue Sasuke but Kakashi intervenes, requesting for them to back off and let him clean up. He reasons that poison kunais like the one Sakura used would have no effect on Sasuke, as he is adamant that Orochimaru has made him immune to such mundane tactics. Sasuke readies for battle by charging up another chidori, as Karin watches from the sidelines, ridding herself of her previous feelings for the avenger. After realizing that Kakashi has intent to kill Sasuke, Naruto uses a bunshin to pull Kakashi into a headlock while his real body proceeds to attack Sasuke with a rasengan.

In a scene that many fans have seen before in the past, the two clash with their attacks, leaving a massive blow which creates a different space and time for the two to communicate in their minds. Taking this opportunity, Naruto explains why he had said what he did previously. He had hated everyone who had shunned him due to the Kyuubi, and he too wanted to take his revenge on them all. One misstep and he would have been an avenger for life. It was due to the connections he made with people like Sasuke and Iruka that he was able to save himself from that path. He ends the speech by saying that he was glad the two had met, since it had changed him completely. Sasuke replies by saying it’s too late for words to affect him anymore, and that it was time for Naruto to make a decision; to be a victim of his or the hero that rids the world of the Uchiha. Naruto chooses neither and says he will take the third choice, leaving a massive cliffhanger for next week as the aftermath of the two massive attacks subdues.

Bass’ Thoughts: Naruto actually kept a calm head in this chapter, good on him. Last week I couldn’t decide whether we’re gonna see kyuubi Naruto or mature Naruto and I was pleased to see that he kept his cool this time around even after seeing how close Sasuke was to killing Sakura. Even after Sasuke was shouting obscenities at him, he was still so composed. I’m loving this new Naruto and this mature side of him is definitely kickass. He’s been growing up to be more of a diplomat lately, with him formally apologizing to the Raikage, taking a beating willingly by the Rai-nins for Sasuke’s actions, reasoning with Nagato with actual words rather than fists and now this. I think he’s on his way to becoming a Hokage, since he doesn’t let his emotions take over his head. Of course, that has always been his strong point but now that he can determine what situation needs what solution, he is becoming more calculated. The meeting with his dad the Yondaime as well as realizing how far the Kyuubi got to fully regaining his powers has put a good effect on him and I hope this is what we’re gonna see from now on. Another bonus, Naruto was actually WAYYY cooler than Sasuke in this chapter! In fact, he wasn’t the one shouting crazy bull-shit at the top of his lungs with crazy expressions! This was definitely a flip and like Naruto said in the chapter, their roles could have been reversed so easily! Kudos, Naruto, kudos.

As for the chapter itself, it was cool to see that it wasn’t actually all yappity-yap-yap the whole way. While there were words spoken, the composition of the characters and panel positioning was dynamic enough to me that I actually enjoyed it. It wasn’t at all boring or forced and I actually appreciated how each character played their part in this chapter. Of course, the main scene of the chapter was always going to be the fight at the end with the two replicating the feats they achieved at the end of part one. While I was surprised to see such an emotional scene used so early in the manga (since I was so sure that the scene would have been used in their final battle), I guess it was inevitable as it provided the two the only time and place that they are able to talk to each other rationally without emotions taking over. Add in the nostalgia of the scene and I’m sure it was a very strong moment for fans of the series.

I also loved the fact that Karin was able to get over Sasuke so quickly. When she got concerned that Sasuke was pushing it too far, I was heading towards a facepalm. Thank god for the next panel since that completely redeemed her since she is now fully and clearly over that bastard. Another sidenote I’d like to add is the amount of WIN panels in the chapter. If I was still as active in colouring manga panels as I was in the past (shamelesss plug: My DeviantART), I would be foaming at the mouth with the amount of cool panels that are all colour worthy. This chapter was really nice to look at and even the static scenes had enough verve that they were worthy of a good colouring. Hopefully the artists will do this chapter proud.

With Naruto’s third option acting as the cliffhanger, it was also a great suspense-filled ending to the chapter. Honestly, I have no clue what this third option is. So he’s not gonna kill him or be killed, so my best bet is that he is going to take him captive or something (maybe something akin to Jiraiya’s old subduing frog techniques. Maybe he learned something from the Frog realm!). Whatever I come up with, I doubt it would be close to the truth so all I can do is to wait patiently for the next chapter. All in all, I thought this chapter was pretty sweet.

2Shea’s Thoughts: Oh Naruto, you’re growing up! It’s very shocking to see Naruto showing some smarts, especially against Sasuke of all people. I guess I should say that I honestly didn’t expect the conflict to reach this level this early. I had assumed Kakashi and Sasuke would at least get a bit of a fight in before Naruto showed up; followed by Sasuke leaving before he and Naruto actually began to fight. To be honest, even though there was a fair amount of build-up for this, it seems a bit rushed. We already get the epic Chidori and Rasengan clash, something we haven’t seen since their original bout; arguably the most prolific fight in the entire series. The thought going through my mind through out all of this was “this soon?!?”. I hope that it doesn’t lessen the impact of future engagements.

Kishimoto has really started to amp up the pacing overall, along with increasing the length of chapters. Things are actually feeling like the older chapters a bit. I have to think that he’s had the premise for this chapter prepared for a very long time. Honestly though, I wish we could have seen at least a bit more action between Kakashi and Sasuke…a clash between master and student. I have to think all of this, and seeing how Sasuke is now, has to be pretty painful for Kakashi. Sasuke was his prized pupil, and he hoped to mold him in his own image, only to see rage overcome him and rule his entire being. Emotions are really at a high point in this chapter, and I wish the characters (besides Sasuke) were showing it a bit more. Sakura was just about to be killed by her life long crush, I would expect her to be almost incapacitated by her feelings; considering how much she’s let them run wild in the past.

Overall this was an enjoyable chapter, one of the better ones in quite some time. I hope this cliffhanger we’ve been left with actually comes to be something meaningful, and not just another bluff of something amazing happening. It was nice to see all of the “main” characters interacting again though, and for that I have to say that I really liked this chapter, and I hope they continue this good streak for quite some time.

/ 9 Commentsleave a comment /

• XTJ says:

  March 4, 2010

  The Raesangan vs. Chidori was just a teaser, probably to satiate the fans before ending the fight prematurely, leaving people wanting more lol. Both of the guys have more powerful techniques available to show off in the "final" battle.
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  • Bass says:

    March 4, 2010

    Lol true.

    I really wonder what would win – The Rasenshuriken or the Kirin. Both have devastating power but it seems to be harder to defend against Sasuke's attack.
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• Kabitzin says:

  March 5, 2010

  The Kirin requires a retarded amount of set-up though, I bet it will never appear again. I found it interesting that Sasuke said he got a real thrill from killing Danzo, because it didn't really seem like Sasuke was THAT thrilled. In fact, I seem to remember him just frowning a lot afterwards. If that was the best high he's ever gotten, then he really needs to get out more often.

  This is so Sannin all over again, except that in this version Tsunade/Sakura sucks.
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  • Bass says:

    March 5, 2010

    I'd love to see him try Kirin on Naruto, especially since the guy can be a million people in the blink of an eye.
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• Benny says:

  March 5, 2010

  I thought Naruto's comment on how easily their roles could have been switched was very good. The image of a hatred fueled Naruto conjures up in the mind is pretty cool actually :D

  I'm curious as to what Naruto's "3rd option" will be because it doesn't seem as if any other route is a particularly logical one to take.

  P.S. You are also now aware that Sasuke cut Naruto with one of Sakura's poisoned kunais.

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    March 5, 2010

    Yea, I realized that moments after I published the post lol.

    Just thought up a scenario, what if the poison kicks in just when Madara swoops in? He takes both Sasuke and Naruto and then all hell breaks loose for the ninja world.

    How bout that for a plot twist huh? If it happens, you heard it here first lol
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    • Leon says:

      March 5, 2010

      I'd like to think that Kishimoto hasn't lost his mind that much. Yet lol.
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    • Bass says:

      March 5, 2010

      Whatever Kishi comes up with, I'm down with it more than I am with Kubo's crap lolol
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    • Benny says:

      March 5, 2010

      ……….Goddamn it man, I just know that's gonna happen now >_>

      Reply