Naruto VIII: Longest. Day. EVER!

[LaZodiac]

...I'm reasonably certain that Deicide was just one Arc.

(The chapters that had Deicide in the title)

I'm not talking chapter title. For me, the Deicide arc would start from the moment Aizen gains the hongyoku, and end the moment he gets defeated. A LOT of time, and a hand full of "arcs" pass during that time.

In much the same light, the Great Shinobi War arc started the day the war started, and ends the day the war ends and the moon's eye plan is released. I'd probably include this final fight with Sasuke as part of it as well...which basically means that this is the last arc and will end when the manga does.

[Aotrs Commander]

*skulldesk*

*skulldesk*

*skulldesk*

You know what I said about filler?

Yeah. Might be consuming some corvine entities shortly.

Wow. I think that may have been the most skullpalming bad bit of filler I've seen, partly because of Naruto's characterisation. It was The Kunoichi of Nadeshiko Village, which was both a little bit... Yeah. Felt a bit sexist to be honest (village of all-female ninja had to go out and be beaten in battle by a man and then make that man their husband... especially as this is like the only defining trait we see of their village - a village of females who's only story role revolves around men.) The "villain" of the piece gets KO'd in about four second by Naruto (on the one hand HAH! on the other hand, as he was only in two scenes, it's hard to feel more than a momentary amusement becaue we didm't see enough of him to care.) Though the part that make me fume was Naruto going on about he fact he's in love with Sakura (first time I think he's explicitly said it on-screen, which is why I think it annoyed in particular) and how he's going to keep trying his hardest to win her love, even though he says he knows she's going to keep going after Sasuke, yaddayaddayadda. DUDE. For frack's sake, you could maybe at least ACKNOWEDGE Hinata for crying out loud, you arse! Maybe have some kind of reaction to that confession of hers, I dunno? If you aren't interested (and let's face it, that is pretty much a given, since there is one member of old Team Seven you obsesses over... and Sakura ain't it), then for frag's sake maybe you should TELL her that (because dude, you CANNOT use the excuse you're too dense when she was about as blunt as could be AND you're doing the whole "mature, wise advice dispencer thing now") and let her move on instead of tacitly stringing her along.

Aaaargh. Filler at it's worst. It wasn't even FUNNY.

Oh yeah, and then Naruto's advice to the would-be leader was "get stronger and then make the village change." Naruto, you know you just DID set someone off to lead a coup against their own village, right? No? *sigh* Come back Curry of Life, all is forgiven.

Hope the next episode is better.

Aaand the next episode was a really nice Team Eight flashback episode (Shino-centric, which makes like, what, TWO in 536 episodes) in which we see that while Kiba can be a bit of an arse when letting his mouth run at times, but he really is basically a decent guy and that Team Eight (unlike Some Other Teams) actually understands what "team" actually means. And Hinata is awesome. And Shino is awesome.

Also, ahaha, Naruto can't remember the name of one of his circle of friends. Hysterical, Naruto, hysterical. Especially since it's not even like you're doing it just to wind him up, since he's not even there. Arse.

And then a Tenten-centric episode, I dunno what this show is coming to I rea...hwha...?

...Mwah?

...Hnnfft?

...

...

...

Excuse me, I gotta do this right.

*fetches large glass of water*

*imbibes large glaqss of water*

*EPIC SPITTAKE*

A TENTEN-CENTRIC EPISODE?!?!?

HUZ-FREAKING-ZAH!!!!

A completely totally 100% genuine Tenten episode (again, TWO in 537! It's like the show is apologising for that really bad first one!) That was both stupendously awesome and also a little bit tragic. It's quite clear Guy spent the lion's share of his time on Lee, to the point Tenten was reduced to evesdropping to get her own moments of inspiration. It was almost meta in the way Tenten is always overlooked and in the background even in her own team. Even more slightly concerning is the fact she appears to be basically self-taught. (What the hell would she be like if she'd not been bascially left to her own devices?) Frag damn. And, not for the first time (the first was just after his recovery) I am left with the impression that Tenten is rather closer to Lee than Neji, not that he'd notice. (Seriously, does Team Seven have some sort of magic obession-generating field or something?) At to crown it all, it showed she's even moved on from her initial goal - and people say you don't get character development in filler!

(Actually, I think the total lack of Naruto actually helped this episode.)

So, mixed bag... From the ridiculous to the sublime.

[LaZodiac]

Ten-Ten spoilers:

Spoiler

Show

They set up a way for her to be of super help during the final battle and nothing ever comes of it.

[Lurkmoar]

Aotrs Commander, it could always be worse. Some bright spark might combine Endless Eight with Filler minus quality animation. That amount of suck would destroy the Earth, possibly the solar system.

Hyperbole obviously, but it would be enough to generate internet rage. Not that the net needs a reason to rage.

[Soras Teva Gee]

...The great Shinobi world arc ended a while ago.

The arc begins (after some run up) in chapter 515 with the lay out of forces and Tobi's declaration its on. It has yet to end as we have rolled without meaningful pause from battle to battle, event to event, and so on. Arbitrary distinction within that mean nothing just from being declared, you need actual breaks in events.

Thus it is the entirety of the manga after that point which is going to be I think chapter 700 because next week is a double finale run I recall. Regardless considering breaks this constitutes essentially 4 years of battle battle battle and battle battle battle battle.

[Rater202]

The arc begins (after some run up) in chapter 515 with the lay out of forces and Tobi's declaration its on. It has yet to end as we have rolled without meaningful pause from battle to battle, event to event, and so on. Arbitrary distinction within that mean nothing just from being declared, you need actual breaks in events.

Thus it is the entirety of the manga after that point which is going to be I think chapter 700 because next week is a double finale run I recall. Regardless considering breaks this constitutes essentially 4 years of battle battle battle and battle battle battle battle.

Okay, say what you want, but the arc that is officially called the Shinobi world War ended a while ago.

Here's the listing of the official arcs, which chapters/volumes they compose in the manga, and which episode of the anime they contain.

Introduction Arc (Volumes 1-2; Chapters 1-8), (Episodes 1-5)
Land of Waves Arc (Volumes 2-4; Chapters 9-33), (Episodes 6-19)
Chunin Exam Arc (Volumes 4-13; Chapters 34-114), (Episodes 20-67)
Invasion of Konoha Arc (Volumes 13-16; Chapters 115-138), (Episodes 68-80)
Search for Tsunade Arc (Volumes 16-19; Chapters 139-171), (Episodes 81-100)
Sasuke Retrieval Arc (Volumes 20-27; Chapters 172-238), (Episodes 107-135)
Kakashi Gaiden (Volume 27; Chapters 239-244), (Shippuden Episodes 119-120)
Kazekage Rescue Arc (Volumes 28-32; Chapters 245-281), (Shippuden Episodes 1-32)
Sasuke and Sai Arc (Volumes 32-35; Chapters 282-310), (Shippuden Episodes 33-53)
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc (Volumes 35-38; Chapters 311-342), (Shippuden Episodes 72-89)
Itachi Pursuit Arc (Volumes 38-43; Chapters 343-402), (Shippuden Episodes 113-118, 121-143)
Invasion of Pain Arc (Volumes 44-48; Chapters 403-449), (Shippuden Episodes 152-175)
Five Kage Summit Arc (Volumes 48-52; Chapters 450-488), (Shippuden Episodes 197-219)
Confining the Jinchuriki Arc (Volumes 52-54; Chapters 489-514), (Shippuden Episodes 220-222, 243-255)
Shinobi World War Arc (Volumes 55-62; Chapters 514-592), (Shippuden Episodes 256-344)
Ten-Tails Revival Arc (Volumes 62-68; Chapters 593-656), (Shippuden Episodes 345-)
The Final Arc (Volumes 69-72; Chapter 657-700)

In bold is where you're saying the World War Arc started, followed by the actual World War Arc as the second bolded line.

[ben-zayb]

Technically, the jyuubi revival story beginning C592 until the fall of tobi was a separate arc based on the wikia. Then, we had the revival of Madara beginning C663 until the manga's ending as a separate arc too.

IMO the Shinobi War Arc was more similar to theHueco Mundo arc until half of the Fake Karakura Arc, with the remaining half of FKT until the introductory chapters to deicide being the 10 Tails Revival Arc. Deicide would then be akin to the Final arc in Naruto.

Still, it's still the longest freaking day in terms of chapter amount AFAIK.

[LaZodiac]

Technically, the jyuubi revival story beginning C592 until the fall of tobi was a separate arc based on the wikia. Then, we had the revival of Madara beginning C663 until the manga's ending as a separate arc too.

IMO the Shinobi War Arc was more similar to theHueco Mundo arc until half of the Fake Karakura Arc, with the remaining half of FKT until the introductory chapters to deicide being the 10 Tails Revival Arc. Deicide would then be akin to the Final arc in Naruto.

Still, it's still the longest freaking day in terms of chapter amount AFAIK.

Technically the day ended in the final pages of last chapter since they fell asleep.

[Rater202]

Technically the day ended in the final pages of last chapter since they fell asleep.

Actually, the sun came up as The Edoh Tensei ended and the Kages returned to the afterlife


So the Naruto Sasuke fight took an ideturninate amount of time the day after the first and only battle of the Shinobi world war and all that other crap, and they passed out after the atack and woke up an indeturminate amount of time latter(I want to say it was Nighttime, if only for Naruto's "heaven" coment when they woke up the second time), talked, fell asleep, woke up, and talekd some more.

So it's the morning or afternoon of the second day after Kaguya's defeat.

[Ramza00]

Truth Speaking balls use any four Elements, bare minimum.

Black Zetsu when he was with Kaguya says the Truth Speaking Balls use all Five Elemental Chakras as well as Yin and Yang on Chapter 689 (this is right before they seal Kaguya after Kakashi gets Obito's Sharingan again). Now there was a mistake with some versions of the manga saying wood instead of water while Zetsu listed them but the author Kishmoto in subsequent printings has corrected this and pointed it was a mistake in a later version of Shonen Jump

Now the Third Hokage when he first saw Obito with 2 truth seeking balls and Obito was not in control of the ten tails said these balls had at least 4 elements with them and they were superior to a bloodline limit (2 elements) and a bloodline expansion (3 elements).

[Rater202]

Black Zetsu when he was with Kaguya says the Truth Speaking Balls use all Five Elemental Chakras as well as Yin and Yang on Chapter 689 (this is right before they seal Kaguya after Kakashi gets Obito's Sharingan again). Now there was a mistake with some versions of the manga saying wood instead of water while Zetsu listed them but the author Kishmoto in subsequent printings has corrected this and pointed it was a mistake in a later version of Shonen Jump

Now the Third Hokage when he first saw Obito with 2 truth seeking balls and Obito was not in control of the ten tails said these balls had at least 4 elements with them and they were superior to a bloodline limit (2 elements) and a bloodline expansion (3 elements).

Yes. At least four. Which is what I said.

Also note that Kaguya's giant truth seeking ball was said to have all five elements and all Kekei Genkai, basically meaning hers was just that much more powerful than a normal one.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Okay, say what you want, but the arc that is officially called the Shinobi world War ended a while ago.

Officially means exactly ****. Hewing to an official designation that doesn't encompass the entirety of the war including the present chapter is to rob "story arc" of any actual meaning.

They can say "officially" red is purple and green is octarine but that don't make it actually so.

[TheEmerged]

*snipped comments about the "I'm on a boat!" filler arc

That arc was a mixed bag for me. I hated the "island of summoned beasts" episode almost as bad as the "Who's this Hinata you're talking about \ Ultimate Sexism Jutsu" episode. Yeah, let's go into a mystery situation and directly chide the protangonist for using abilities that would short-circuit the episode's plot.

As for the Ulimate Sexism Jutsu episode? I can honestly say that was one of the worst fillers I've ever seen, but there were a lot of pre-timeskip fillers I missed. Yes, I'm a fairly large NaruHina backer ("Team 8" is my favorite fanfic) so it was very much a slap in the face even without the creepy body-control jutsu and so forth.

On the other hand, I too LOVED that TenTen episode and the Shino-oriented one as well. It was nice to see another acknowledgement that the rest of the Konoha 11 are supposed to be chunin with teams of their own.

[Rater202]

They can say "officially" red is purple and green is octarine but that don't make it actually so.

That is the definition of official.

Let's go back and adress the comlaint: People are saying that the "Shinobi World War Arc" is dragging on forever.

I point out it ended two arcs ago.

People bitch becuase the War started here and isn't over yet(Incidentally the War was totally over as soon as the infinite moon thingy went off), completly ignoring that the begining of the War was in one arc, with multible arcs taking place during the War, with the War arc being the only arc durin that time that actually focused on the War

When the War began and when the ARC began are two completely different things.

The Shinobi World War arc is the Arc that focuses on the Shinobi world War. It ended when the Ten Tails was summoned

The Shinobi world War began during the Five Kages Summit arc, continued through the Confining the Jinchuriki, Shinobi World War, and Ten Tails Revival arcs, and ended during the Infinite Tsunoyoki/Final Arc

The War is over, and the War Arc ended a while ago.

So, in repeat: Thr complaint is that the ARC, the part of the story that specifically focuses on the War, is taking for ever to finish.

I claim that the arc that focuses on the Shinobi World War ended a while ago.

You coounter that the War is ongoing, thus the Arc is ongoing even though that isn't the Focus of the story anymore, and futher claim that the arc is even longer than it is, becuase War was officially declared 2 arcs before it was the focus of the story.

I point this out, offering proof of when the official arc begins, and you say that official means jack, which is a bulls*** counter argument.

I'm not normally this guy, but when you are arguing that the official listings are wrong, you're the one that is clearly and completely wrong.

[Aotrs Commander]

That arc was a mixed bag for me. I hated the "island of summoned beasts" episode almost as bad as the "Who's this Hinata you're talking about \ Ultimate Sexism Jutsu" episode. Yeah, let's go into a mystery situation and directly chide the protangonist for using abilities that would short-circuit the episode's plot.

As for the Ulimate Sexism Jutsu episode? I can honestly say that was one of the worst fillers I've ever seen, but there were a lot of pre-timeskip fillers I missed. Yes, I'm a fairly large NaruHina backer ("Team 8" is my favorite fanfic) so it was very much a slap in the face even without the creepy body-control jutsu and so forth.

On the other hand, I too LOVED that TenTen episode and the Shino-oriented one as well. It was nice to see another acknowledgement that the rest of the Konoha 11 are supposed to be chunin with teams of their own.

Yes. Those are the sort of things that make the filler SHINE: the diverse characters and their interactions. Main plot is way too focussed on Naruto/Sakura and sometimes Sasuke, to its deteriment. Naruto is, I feel at its level-best when utlising its large ensemble cast to best effect. I think that was why the chuunin exam arc was so good; it gave everyone a chance to develop (even if it did set the scene for "one-on-one instead of team battles" for a little too much of the time).

[Soras Teva Gee]

That is the definition of official.

Let's go back and adress the comlaint: People are saying that the "Shinobi World War Arc" is dragging on forever.

I point out it ended two arcs ago.

There is no authority on Earth that can just change what colors refer to much less actually reorder the visible spectrum to make that not purely superficial.

Likewise Kishi/Jump can slap whatever labels they want on arcs but unless they obey more generalized conventions of storytelling then those labels are likewise superficial fictions.

An argument that the arc was over ignores primary evidence of the story for a techincal fiction... therefore in no way undermines or counters the objections to it taking too long, being ridiculously padded or any such criticisms relating to the arc as the singular entity it actually is. If a paper shield is the only defense you have... if anything you have conceded the objection is indeed accurate because you have no other defenses but meaningless loophole abuse that does not address the substance of the criticism.

You are avoiding the problem rather then facing it. Misdirection and obfuscation are not counter-arguments.

[Rater202]

If the official definition of "red" were changed to the curent definition of "purple" than the color "purple" would now be the color "red". That is quite literally what the word official means.

Now, Story arc refers to a specific part of a story that focuses on a specific theme.

while the War may have started in the Kage Summit Arc, only the Shinobi World War Arc, which started when Naruto and Bee entered the battle field and ended when the Ten Tails was resurrected, and thus takes place between the "Confining the Jinchuriki" and the "Ten Tails Revival" arcs ,actually focused on the War

Before and after that, while the war was ongoing, it was not the focus of the story, and thus not the focus of the Arcs.

The point remains that you are wrong, because you are complaining that the Arc is taking to long to resolve, when the Arc has concluded, and the War that the arc was focusing on Ended with the end of the following arc.

And again, the war ended when Madara cast the Infinite Tsunoyoki or whatever it's called. So both the war and arc have concluded.

And again, the official source is the ultimate authority, so again, you're wrong. accept it.

[Traab]

Yes. Those are the sort of things that make the filler SHINE: the diverse characters and their interactions. Main plot is way too focussed on Naruto/Sakura and sometimes Sasuke, to its deteriment. Naruto is, I feel at its level-best when utlising its large ensemble cast to best effect. I think that was why the chuunin exam arc was so good; it gave everyone a chance to develop (even if it did set the scene for "one-on-one instead of team battles" for a little too much of the time).

The one thing I sorta dislike about the fillers is they seem to make naruto more kickass, and while thats nice, its a bit annoying to have him go from say, the fuuma clan arc pre time skip, where he basically wtfpwns his way through the jounin level ninja, up to and including overpowering that strange triangle barrier super move, back to being a bit of an idiot who clone spams his way to victory. Oh wait, this is post tsunade retrival, he spams clones till he can finally land a rasengan on his target for the win.

I really hated it because it was also an arc where sakura gets to see how kickass naruto really is. Up till then she has generally (chunin exam finals aside) been not awake or able to see him fight tough battles and win. She never saw what happened with haku, she was knocked out for garra, and aside from the neji fight, she never got to see him do something awesome. So her opinion of him being this stubborn loudmouth who could never compare to her precious sasuke-kun is easily maintained. But this time she did. It was actually a decent opening to create a potential naru/saku pairing. Sasuke is gone and evil, naruto is actually kind of badass and sakura not only sees it but admits it, it could have been a real thaw in her feelings for him. But nope, filler, it didnt happen.

[Sith_Happens]

Speaking of filler, if the anime doesn't expand this last fight significantly I will be sorely disappointed.

[Rater202]

...The fight will probably look more awesome in animation.

Though maybe changeing a few things so we see sasukes "Yes, he's my best friends but that connections a weakness so kill him" internal monologue earlier in the fight.

[Sliver]

In bold is where you're saying the World War Arc started, followed by the actual World War Arc as the second bolded line.

I'm kinda sad that it's not called The Final Arc Arc... The name "The Final" for an arc is just...

[Morph Bark]

Just read the chapter. Man, that was GOOD! The only bad thing was that it took us so long to get here! If that hella long day had taken half the time it did instead and/or had been spread out across a longer time, it would've been great.

I also thought the art was really good in this one. Does anyone think that Kishimoto may secretly have made this chapter ages ago and iterated it over time, devoting time to it while working on the other chapters of the time and therefore the others are a little less good and this one that much better?

[Lurkmoar]

Just read the chapter. Man, that was GOOD! The only bad thing was that it took us so long to get here! If that hella long day had taken half the time it did instead and/or had been spread out across a longer time, it would've been great.

I also thought the art was really good in this one. Does anyone think that Kishimoto may secretly have made this chapter ages ago and iterated it over time, devoting time to it while working on the other chapters of the time and therefore the others are a little less good and this one that much better?

He might have had a rough, rough sketch of it, but other than that I doubt it. The hours a mangaka work are friggin' brutal.

[Starwulf]

TRAAB!!! THIRD FANG UPDATED!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wooo..I Just freaked my wife out cuz I started hyperventilating going "He Updated, He Updated, He Updated" over in over in a very manic tone of voice :)

Off to read!

[Traab]

TRAAB!!! THIRD FANG UPDATED!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Wooo..I Just freaked my wife out cuz I started hyperventilating going "He Updated, He Updated, He Updated" over in over in a very manic tone of voice :)

Off to read!

lol Yeah, i got the update and read it last night, we finally get to see SHINO FIGHT! That poor bastard has gone the entire first book and up till now with no badassery to his name, and its finally happening. Too bad about the cliff hangar, but it was enough to make me very eager for the next chapter.

[Aotrs Commander]

Next three episodes... A mixed bag.

A Sai episode that was a bit bland and flash-backy, culminating in a frankly creepy painting of Sai, Naruto, Saskue and Sakura holding hands. Also a bit sad, since it's quite clear by this stage that Sai never will be a proper part of Team Seven in the minds of Naruto and Sakura.

Followed by a cool Ino-Shike-Cho episode, guest starring That Really Cool Old Genin Dude! Recurring filler character! Has, like, ever happened before? Because Kosuke certainly deserves it!

And then an amusing-but-a-bit-uncomfortable Kiba arc... Uncomfortable because it's obvious Kiba will simply never catch up to Naruto, ever, a Naruto is accelerating away from him. (That said, there was a bit of that in the last episode as well, since in the end, everyone apart from team seven is basically irrelevant aren't they?)



It suddenly struck me why all these episodes are flashbacks. With the shinobi nations basically all allied and no non-war missions going on, there's no narrative room for current stories (and you can't even do preliminary stuff, because otherwise the reveal (presumably) of the Zetsu army would be undermined). Hense, in order to tell a decent story, you either have to follow Naruto On A Boat misadventures or flashback.

[LaZodiac]

Next three episodes... A mixed bag.

A Sai episode that was a bit bland and flash-backy, culminating in a frankly creepy painting of Sai, Naruto, Saskue and Sakura holding hands. Also a bit sad, since it's quite clear by this stage that Sai never will be a proper part of Team Seven in the minds of Naruto and Sakura.

Followed by a cool Ino-Shike-Cho episode, guest starring That Really Cool Old Genin Dude! Recurring filler character! Has, like, ever happened before? Because Kosuke certainly deserves it!

And then an amusing-but-a-bit-uncomfortable Kiba arc... Uncomfortable because it's obvious Kiba will simply never catch up to Naruto, ever, a Naruto is accelerating away from him. (That said, there was a bit of that in the last episode as well, since in the end, everyone apart from team seven is basically irrelevant aren't they?)



It suddenly struck me why all these episodes are flashbacks. With the shinobi nations basically all allied and no non-war missions going on, there's no narrative room for current stories (and you can't even do preliminary stuff, because otherwise the reveal (presumably) of the Zetsu army would be undermined). Hense, in order to tell a decent story, you either have to follow Naruto On A Boat misadventures or flashback.

To be fair it's also, as far as I can tell, done really well! It's also all to be wasted because none of these side characters have gotten nearly as much attention as they deserved in this series.

[Rater202]

We first see the Zetsu army before the battle even begins, around the time Tobi replaces Sasuke's eyes.

[Rater202]

So, Both Madara and Sasuke have demonstrated that it's possible to use Susanoo to provide armor and a power Boost to a Tailed-Beast-Madara when using Kurama against Hashirama and Sasuke with Naruto in Taild Best Mode against Madara, Tobi, and the Ten-Tails.

Would Anybody else like to see that combination with Naruto's Ashura-Kurama mode, like, in the Movie or as a combination move in a video game?

[Lurkmoar]

So, Both Madara and Sasuke have demonstrated that it's possible to use Susanoo to provide armor and a power Boost to a Tailed-Beast-Madara when using Kurama against Hashirama and Sasuke with Naruto in Taild Best Mode against Madara, Tobi, and the Ten-Tails.

Would Anybody else like to see that combination with Naruto's Ashura-Kurama mode, like, in the Movie or as a combination move in a video game?

If that was combined with a Prototype(videogame) style where I could rampage across the world, that would rule. I don't want to fight Kaiju, I want to be them to smash the puny humans! Mwhahahaha!