Naruto continues with its ninth arc, the Akatsuki Suppression Mission, which features another training session with Naruto, and Team 10 (aka: Asuma’s team) fight against Hidan and Kakuzu. There is a lot to love about this arc, specifically the emotional rollercoaster that Kishimoto puts his readers through.
However, there are other things that I did not like, specifically the fast pacing, strange characterizations, and the contradiction of a main theme.
Recap of the Last Arc
The Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission arc follows a newly formed team, Team Yamato. With Kakashi out of commission, Yamato, a jōnin, is made captain of Sakura, Naruto, and a new character named Sai. Much to Tsunade’s dismay, ANBU Root leader, Danzō, has begun to involve himself in the village’s political matters by volunteering Sai.
The new team eventually leaves Konoha to meet up with who they believe is Orochimaru. Yamato, disguised as Sasori, confronts Kabuto, but is eventually attacked by Orochimaru. This triggers a fight between Team Yamato and Orochimaru and Kabuto. However, the focus turns to Naruto, who, enraged, has begun to transform into the Nine Tails.
In the midst of the battle, Naruto attacks Sakura before Yamato could suppress the beast’s chakra. It turns out that this is not the first time that Naruto had lost control of the Nine Tails; he once attacked Jiraiya sometime during Naruto’s two-year training.
Meanwhile, Sai meets up in secret with Orochimaru and Kabuto. At this point, it is apparent that Sai has made the decision to betray Konoha. The remaining members of Team Yamato track Sai down, which leads them to Orochimaru’s hideout. They infiltrate and capture Sai. However, Kabuto immediately interferes, and Sai helps Team Yamato out of curiosity for Naruto’s friendship with Sasuke, who had already proven to Sai that he is uninterested in Naruto and Sakura.
In short, Team Yamato comes face to face with Sasuke, who nearly kills Naruto and Sakura. Their meeting is cut short by Orochimaru, who tells Sasuke that Konoha ninjas are needed to take the Akatsuki down. The mission concludes with Team Yamato’s failure to take Sasuke back home; however, they succeed in confirming that Danzō is planning a coup d’etat with his loyal Root followers.
Akatsuki Suppression Mission
The Akatsuki Suppression Mission arc spans through volumes 35 to 38, or chapters 311 to 342. This arc takes place after the Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission.
Summary
The arc begins in the village at the library where Sai dutifully reads books about developing interpersonal relationships. Sakura finds him and is impressed by his determination to forge bonds.
Later, she, Sai, and Naruto meet with Kakashi, who had been staying at the hospital. Kakashi informs them that they need to get stronger, though he has come up with a training that better suits Naruto. Soon after, Team 10 interrupts their meeting and the young ninjas go out for BBQ.
Meanwhile, the Akatsuki are busy hunting down other
Jinchūriki, or tailed beast hosts. Hidan and Kakuzu, two Akatsuki members, are able to capture the Jinchūriki of the Two Tails, a female ninja of Kumogakure named Ni’i Yugito. The pair eventually target The Land of Fire. Kakuzu tends to collect bounties and he prompts Hidan to help him kill a monk, a former ninja.
Later, Naruto assumes training with Kakashi as an instructor and Yamato as support. While this is happening, the Akatsuki continue their rampage in search for more tailed beasts. Hidan and Kakuzu seem to be approaching Konoha, and Deidara has teamed up with the mysterious Tobi to capture the Three Tails.
Due to Kakuzu and Hidan’s disturbance, a militia of Konohagakure ninjas are deployed to either detain or kill them. Among them is Asuma and Shikamaru, who are accompanied by Izumo and Kotetsu. Their fight against Hidan and Kakuzu is a long one. They are eventually assisted by Ino and Chōji. However, Asuma eventually succumbs to his injuries and dies.
Some time passes after Asuma’s funeral, and Team 10 devises a plot to avenge Asuma. With Team 7’s help, Kakuzu is killed and Hidan, who is supposedly immortal, is defeated by having his body destroyed by paper bombs.
The arc ends with Shikamaru assuring Kurenai that he will be there for her and Asuma’s unborn child. Readers are also given a glimpse of Sasuke, who had defeated a number of shinobi.
Review
I give this arc 3 out of 5 stars: ⭐⭐⭐
The Writing
I enjoyed most of the arc. The first time I read the series, I was completely oblivious to the constant death flags that were waved for Asuma Sarutobi.
If you are unsure of what I mean by death flags, I am referring to the subtle foreshadowing of a character’s impending death. The more prominent form of a death flag is that a minor character with little to no roles in the story suddenly takes the spotlight. In the beginning of the arc, Asuma is seen reflecting over his late father’s (The Third Hokage) grave. Due to the sudden focus on Asuma and Team 10, I wish that we had more of him in the previous arcs. It would have made his death less predictable, though other foreshadowing—like Asuma’s loincloth—made the story more intriguing because it was apparent that Asuma would eventually face off against the Akatsuki.
I should also say that the pacing of the arc is a lot quicker; in the beginning of the arc, Hidan and Kakuzu’s actions are either elaborate or done off the page. In other words, we either get a couple of pages of their interactions, or we get almost nothing. And when we do get something of them, they are very violent. Furthermore, the tone in the arc changes as abruptly as the pacing. Naruto’s training and the buildup to Asuma’s final fight are almost as long as Asuma’s fight; however, the funeral and Team 10’s mourning period is very short and abruptly ended. The manga panels do an okay job presenting the passage of time, though it is unclear if what passed are days, weeks, or months.
Also, the action is, overall, incredible. Kishimoto’s art looks amazing in general, so every action sequence is impressive. The character designs are also great.
The Characters
Hidan is the strangest between he and Kakuzu. His ritualistic killings are creepy, given his sadomasochism and willingness to harm himself to appease the god he worships. Despite his murderous tendencies, Hidan has some ideals that he follows. For instance, he is reluctant to kill monks in exchange for money because he believes that “killing a monk for worldly gain is a ticket straight to damnation” (Vol. 35, Ch. 314). Despite Hidan’s limits to violence, I would not say that he is an interesting character. This is the same for Kakuzu, who is supposedly Hidan’s best choice for a partner. The pair are quite violent. Theirs is unlike the characterization of the antagonists we have gotten in other arcs of the series. It seems as though Kishimoto was more interested in painting them as completely evil. There are no complexities for these characters. I do not think that all antagonists need to be redeemed, but given the former character arcs that we have gotten, it is disappointing to see two characters be reduced to nothing more than their violent tendencies.
Kakashi will remain one of my favorite Naruto characters. However, I think that Kishimoto fumbled with his title as a teacher. This arc makes his flaws as a teacher more apparent; Kakashi had previously abandoned his teaching duties with Naruto and Sakura in the Chūnin Exams arc so that he could focus on Sasuke’s growth. And now that he has an opportunity to be a teacher for the new Team Kakashi, he sets his focus on only Naruto. Fans could argue that Sakura already has Tsunade for training and hat Sai needs no training, but Naruto has Jiraiya. The logic behind Kakashi’s choice to only train Naruto is questionable even if it is meant for his own protection. This contradicts Kakashi’s teachings of teamwork.
This also taps into another issue that Kishimoto creates for the series. Naruto‘s character arc contradicts everything that he stands for. It is true that hard work pays off, and that he has definitely worked hard to get this far; however, it is difficult to accept this as Naruto’s philosophy when Kishimoto focuses on Naruto to this extent. He even goes as far as to give Naruto another jutsu instead of having him refine the techniques that he already knows. Kakashi goes as far as to suggest that Naruto may surpass him, which is an unnecessary comment because readers are already aware of this. There is so much that Naruto can do that people like Kakashi and Tsunade cannot.
Likewise, Shikamaru often overshadows his teammates, which garners more attention from Asuma. It is clear that Kishimoto favors some characters over others, which is unfortunate. This gives me the impression that there are too many characters in the series and that Kishimoto does not know what to do with them. Seeing the rest of Shikamaru’s team—Ino and Chōji—in action since Part 1 has been a breath of fresh air.
On another note, there is nothing more I can say about Shikamaru that I have not already; he is a great leader and it is amazing to see what Kishimoto can do with the best trait of a well-written character.
Kurenai had a lot of potential of being an great character. However, Kishimoto diminishes her to a jōnin with abilities that are only discussed and never shown. It is impossible for her to be memorable to me because she has had almost irrelevant to the story. And in this arc, Kurenai is diminished once again to Asuma’s lover, who is pregnant with their child. Her involvement in Hinata’s growth in Part 1 of the series made me want to see more of her, so it is a shame that Kishimoto completely retires her from the action so soon in Part 2.
Asuma never struck me as a good character before this arc. However, all I can say is that he is a better teacher to his team than Kakashi is to his own. It is clear that Asuma is interested in his students’ development.
The Theme(s)
Revenge
As I read this arc, I wondered why revenge is something that Sasuke should not seek while Ino, Chōji, and Shikamaru are enabled to. Sasuke’s reaction to being told to give up on his revenge plot made it clear that being told not to do something did not matter. Kakashi was unable to stop Sasuke, so I had the impression that Kakashi understood this when he decided to help Team 10 defeat Kakuzu and Hidan. However, I could not help but think that the previous notions on revenge had been contradicted in this arc.
In previous subplots, Kishimoto made revenge a very dark issue that people should not pursue. Characters like Neji and Gaara understood this and stopped being violent against others. However, he paints the Ino-Shika-Chō trio’s actions as more heroic than tragic. Readers should feel relieved about the Akatsuki members being killed to avenge Asuma. But this shift of perspective does not fit the story. There are things that will be revealed about the Uchiha clan in later arcs that will make Sasuke’s pursuit of Itachi much more tragic, and that fits Sasuke’s character arc and overall revenge theme well. There is no way to excuse Hidan and Kakuzu’s actions. However, I do not think that their villainy is enough to justify having a group of kids hunt these men down to kill them. It is definitely a cool subplot, but it is also a poor addition to a story that advises against vengeance.
I hate to sound repetitive, but I did enjoy this arc. Of course, there are several things that I could not overlook, such as the fast pacing, strange characterizations, and contradicting themes. I still think that Kishimoto is a master of his craft.
The next arc, the Itachi Pursuit Mission arc, also known as Master’s Prophecy and Vengeance arc, spans through volumes 38 to 40, or chapters 343 to 367. This subplot features Sasuke finally taking action against his older brother. I will have my arc review ready next Saturday.
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