Naruto ch502

The resemblance is uncanny

「 502 – The Fourth Hokage goes to war 」Minato is now ready to battle both Madara and the Kyuubi. With the Kyuubi summoned in the middle of the village, how does he hope to defend the village under such circumstances?

Naruto「 ナルト 」

Mature beyond his years

Chapter 502 – The Fourth Hokage goes to war
Read Online @ MANGASTREAM

Finally, we get to see Minato in action! While I was disappointed to see that he did not fight both Madara and Kyuubi at the same time (years of hype tend to blur your perception on things), the one-on-one so far is not bad at all. Since there’s so much moves exchanged between the two, I can’t help but be in awe at the speed of everything since when you think about it, this fight is all pretty much instantaneous with all the warping and space-traveling.

That hiraishin really is hack and this entire space/time jutsu thing is just broken. This chapter shows that it could be used as both the ultimate offense and the ultimate defense. Imagine how the other hokages would have handled that kyuubi ki-blast situation. We don’t know the extent of Nidaime’s S/T justsus but I’m pretty sure Minato is at least above his level at this point. Shodaime has his mokuton jutsu that he can summon to at least receive the impact. Sandaime, who is said to have known nearly every jutsu may have something in his arsenal but we can only speculate at this point. Tsunade can only act after the situation, as she is a healer so she probably could not handle such an attack. That leaves Minato’s S/T defense as one of the better ones out there, above Orochimarus demon gates, Sasuke and Itachis Susano’o and Gaaras sand in terms of protecting the village from an attack of that caliber.

Now THAT is what I call a summon

It really is an amazing asset and I for one hope that Naruto will be able to learn the basics of the jutsu sooner or later. Naruto currently lacks an ultimate defense of his own. You can argue that his bunshin army does provide himself some defense, which is does, but how would he use it to defend an entire village? Absorb the impact? Knowing Naruto he would probably do that for the sake of his comrades but I doubt it is the most efficient especially against Sasukes kirin. Perhaps “that” jutsu that Jiraiya hinted at has something to do with S/T. I hope that Naruto does learn this at some point, since he is pretty much learning his attack arsenal jutsu second hand from both Jiraiya and Minato (frog summons, rasengan, Sage mode). Knowing Kishi though, Sasuke will probably be the one to first learn a hiraishin/ST variant, seeing as he already has a decent flash step move of his own (by that I mean his fast speed)

Speaking of sage mode, I wonder why Minato doesn’t have one? Surely he would be able to control it, and as hokage it would seem that it would be the ultimate shield against physical attacks. The frog katas for instance would be pretty useful in a fistfight and being immune to pain would be really beneficial in any situation. Who knows, maybe he will showcase it later on in the flashback, even if it is just wishful thinking.

Only a badass stands on the tip of his own statue and expects you not to notice

The whole Hiraishin tiers are also interesting. At first glance, the rasengan that connected with Madara at the end of the chapter looked like any other hiraishin out there, so why the need for level 2? Some speculate that it is due to the teleporting to a moving kunai that may be the reason, but others have said that this was a mistranslation on the scanlator’s part, seeing as some argue that it means “steps” rather than “levels”. If it was suppose to be levels though, maybe Naruto will be the one to elevate it to another level. He’s done it before with the rasengan, maybe he can do it with the hiraishin. Either way, that last attack was pretty bitchin’, and the quick and innovative thinking shown here really shows how Naruto seems to have inherited his fathers creativity.

As for Madara, I’m not sure if he really was the one taking the hit here. We all know how things can usually turn out different than reality in this manga, especially with the presence of the sharingan (and Madara is the best wielder of it after all). I would not be surprised at all if Madara somehow managed to just laugh this off on a nearby tree or something. Hell, it could even be a genjutsu trap, seeing as the two held eye contact for a while there. A seasoned sharingan user like Madara would not let such an opportunity slip so there is that possibility.  If it was really him who took the hit, it may explain Madara’s current day get up, with his waist and arm area all bolted up in that armor (after all, in this chapter Madara’s arm seems pretty normal and healthy to me, compared to his current state.) Perhaps the rasengan did a number on his “shell” so he needed some support. This might be the opening that Minato needs to seal the kyuubi.

And he catches the kunai, just cos he can

Personally I hope this sparring isn’t over just yet though, since I want to see more to Minato than just the rasengan and hiraishin. Spamming jutsus? Like father like son? I hope not. But yea, this chapter again successfully shows just how badass Minato is. He means business and that scene where he was standing on top of his own statue was just screaming out GAR. We all know how this ends but I hope Minato does have his own say at how this ends. I would hate to see him be too far under Madaras level so hopefully he ends this on his terms without losing too much face (even though he will lose everything by the end of all this). Oh, and lol at Sandaime not giving a crap about his wife. Is he not concerned at all?

/ 2 Commentsleave a comment /

• Kyokai says:

  July 21, 2010

  This was another epic chapter featuring badass Minato. Like you I want to see more of him and hope the action is not over yet. I was just going whoa from the fast-paced fight between Yondaime/Madara and chapter ended. I wanted MOAR!

  Btw, I think Sandaime was so business-like because he already knew the shit has hit the fan and he was heading the clean-up crew. xD

  Reply
  • Bass says:

    July 22, 2010

    Lol Sandaime was just looking for a way out :hehee

    I can see another two chapters at most for the flashback, hopefully we get to see Minato move on to the kyuubi by the end of the next chapter, even though I wish his fight with Madara was longer…

    Reply