The Four-eyed Journal » Manga

Naruto Manga Chapter 444: Nagato’s Pain

jhay — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:38:04 +0000

Another chapter of the Naruto Shippuuden Manga series has been released, Chapter 444: The Answer details the beginning of the dialog between Nagato and Naruto.

Both having an answer of their own the question that seems to have started it all, how to attain peace in this world. Or their world for that matter.

Nagato starts to reveal his painful past

After Nagato’s failed attempt to control Naruto, the two decides to put on hold their struggle to hear each other’s stories. Nagato goes first in retelling his story, his pain, so to speak.

One thing that’s to notice though, Nagato and Sasuke has a lot in common. Both went through the tragic pain of losing their family at such a young age. The chapters would be very interesting.

Naruto Manga Chapter 443: Naruto meets the real Pain – Nagato

jhay — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:45:09 +0000

This chapter confirms the defeat of Pain’s God Realm at the hands of Naruto. Now that all 6 bodies of Pain have been defeated, Naruto proceeds to seek out and face the real person behind Pain, Nagato.

Using the information he obtained from Katsuya, his father the 4th Hokage and his own observations, Naruto uses one of the chakra transmitters inserted into Pain’s body to trace back the location of Nagato.

Most of us expected a battle to break out between Nagato and Naruto but the opposite is what has happened, in this chapter for the time being. Naruto simply wants to talk with Nagato.

Naruto meets Nagato

What will Nagato and Naruto talk about? Will a fight erupt between them? Or will it be Naruto against Konan? Will peace be finally obtained after this fateful meeting?

Download Chapter 443 here

Naruto Manga Chapter 442: Naruto Defeats Pain?!

jhay — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 07:28:59 +0000

It’s been a long while since I last blogged about the manga version of my favorite series, Naruto.

Well, this is the chapter we’ve all been waiting for, the chapter in which Naruto finally strikes the killer blow to Pain’s God-realm. Check out the snippet from the last page of Chapter 442: The Last Gamble!!

Naruto hits Pain with his Rasengan

After a long, bloody and tragic battle which claimed the lives of Konoha’s many heroes, most notable of which is the Copy-Ninja Kakashi, and the destruction of Konoha itself, Naruto has finally landed a blow on Pain’s God-realm.

It’s not just some ordinary blow, it’s the technique that his teacher, Jiraiya taught him, which in turn was developed by his own father the 4th Hokage – Namikaze Minato, the Rasengan! Talk about poetic justice right?

The next chapter is simply to die for, what has happened to Pain’s God-realm? Has he really been defeated? How will they deal with the real Pain now that the battle is all but over?

What’s even more exciting is that the series will now shift towards the final confrontation between Sasuke and Naruto and the legendary Uchiha Madara.

Download the Chapter 442 now!

Naruto Chapter 398: The History of Konoha

jhay — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:03:26 +0000

Okay, this is a backlog, Chapter 402 has already been released so I have a lot of catching up to do.

On with this chapter which is a great one as we finally get to know the details of how Konoha started, or at least from the viewpoint of Uchiha Madara. One of the lessons I learned from history class is that “history is always biased in favor of the one who tells it.”

Anyways, in Chapter 398 we get a glimpse of how the ninja world was 14 or 15 years ago. Back when Konoha was still yet to be founded and the characters we so love and know of today were born.

In this chapter, we finally learned about the real persons behind the title of First Hokage. The legendary ninja known to be the greatest one during that time, the only one who could use the Wood Element (Mokouton) technique, one of the founders of Konoha, someone who could control the tailed-beasts and the most awesome of all, the one man who defeated Uchiha Madara: Senju Hashirama.

We also finally learned how the five Hidden Villages were formed, the “one hidden village per country” system again invented by Hashirama. What can we say, the man is indeed one great shinobi.

On the other hand, we saw the history of the Uchiha clan, the mighty and powerful clan that really steals the spotlight from any other clan in the Naruto world. They’re not that really bad, making peace with the Senju clan and then joining together to form the Hidden Leaf Village was a good move, however I’m not so sure if the Senju really thought ill of the Uchiha and perhaps it was all Uchiha Madara’s fault that they were put in such a situation of hatred and discrimination.

Oh well, it seems that we will never know the full story since no one else from that era is still alive to tell the tale. Still, it makes one hell of a history.

Naruto’s parents: Minato Namikaze & Uzumaki Kushina

jhay — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:30:52 +0000

Ever since the immensely popular anime and manga series Naruto by Masahi Kishimoto came out, the central character, Naruto has attracted a great following. It’s because of his abilities and personality that has led to a great success to the series.

However, perhaps to add more spice to the series, Naruto’s background has remained largely obscured much to this day even though many say that the manga series has passed the half-way point of the story.

The burning question still stands: Who are Naruto’s parents?

It was all revealed in Chapter 347 of manga series wherein Tsunade and Jiraiya reminisce the good old days while contemplating for the future of Konoha.

They confirmed all speculations that Uzumaki Naruto is indeed the son of the Fourth Hokage,Konoha’s Yello Flash; Minato Namikaze.

Here’s his short bio from Naruto Wiki

According to those who knew him, Minato was a very talented ninja-having graduated from the Academy at the age of ten. He came under the tutelage of Jiraiya, and under his guidance, learned to develop his skills. Impressed with Minato’s determination to succeed, Jiraiya took it upon himself to teach the latter the Toad Summoning Technique. Minato mastered the technique, being the only person to fully control Gamabunta, a feat not even his sensei could do. His skills would further grow with the development of his own jutsu, the Rasengan and Flying Thunder God Technique.

After attaining the rank of Jonin, Minato was given direction of his own team, which consisted of Kakashi Hatake, Rin and Obito Uchiha. Along with Kakashi, Minato’s reputation greatly increased during the Third Great Ninja War, where his skills earned him the moniker of Konoha’s Yellow Flash. As a gift for Kakashi’s advancement to Jonin, Minato gave him a unique kunai marked with one of the Flying Thunder God transportation markers. Shortly afterwards, he informed the team of their mission: destroy a bridge that aided the enemy Rock ninja force. For the mission, Kakashi took Minato’s place as commander of the team while he went to a different battlefield, where he was able to defeat a large number of Iwa ninja singlehandedly. His team, however, was unable to complete their mission, as differences between Obito and Kakashi lead the team to be caught in a trap. Obito, however, was unable to survive the mission, instead helping Kakashi save Rin by giving Kakashi his Sharingan eye before being completely crushed by rocks. When Rin used Kakashi’s kunai, Minato arrived and easily defeated the Iwagakure ninja. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived Obito was already dead, though he managed to save Kakashi and Rin. They would later go on to fulfill their mission and help repel the invasion.

Now for Naruto’s mother, Uzumaki Kushina,

Of course, here’s some information about her, again from Naruto Wiki:

She was the mother of Naruto Uzumaki. When she was young she was a talkative tom boy. It’s noted that she had long, red hair that came down to her lower back as seen in chapter 382. When she grew up her beauty, personality and Ninjutsu became known to many. It was this very personality and Ninjutsu skill which she would pass on to Naruto. At some point in time she met Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, and bore his child. When Jiraiya visited the couple during the pregnancy, he allowed Minato to read one of his latest books, a semi-biographical account of Jiraiya’s own life. The character in the story was known for his drive and determination. For that reason Minato asked Jiraiya if he would mind if he named his own son “Naruto” after the character in the story. Kushina offered her approval of the name choice. Jiraiya was embarrassed and honored. After the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konoha, which resulted in the death of Minato, and the demon fox being sealed within Naruto, Kushina’s status became unknown, but she is presumed deceased as she is referred to in the past tense.

Who would’ve thought Naruto would be born of these parents, just like or even greater than Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto’s heritage is deeply rooted in Konoha’s history we’re pretty sure his future will be too.

Though fans are asking, what ever happened to Kushina? It was never mentioned she died after giving birth to Naruto or she was also killed by the Demon-Fox when it attacked Konoha. Or perhaps she did die after giving birth to Naruto, it would make it a lot easier for Minato to pick his son as the container for sealing in the Nine-tailed Demon Fox. Or Kushina approved the idea and knowing that his lover would die from using the technique, his son would immediately be of great instrument in his success to save Konoha and carry on his great legacy. Or something else, but I’m sure though that we will soon find out as the series progresses on.

I just can’t wait for Naruto himself to learn of this truth. What would be his reaction and how would act from there on. This series is definitely one of the greatest stories ever told.

Lastly, here’s an artwork depicting Naruto’s parents together in combat-readiness: