Chaos rages as the tide of battle slowly turns. Between Kabuto’s ever-growing army of the legendary dead and the myriad White Zetsu, the living ninja find themselves in a losing battle of attrition. Yet the Allied Shinobi Forces are pushing back, even as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist push to gain further ground. Meanwhile, Naruto, Hokage Tsunade, Raikage and fellow Jinchuriki Killer Bee are still a long way from the front lines. It’s been a long road to get here and Madara’s held all the cards almost since the beginning, but Allied Ninja aren’t giving up yet! Let’s dive right in!

Getting All Misty-Eyed

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist go way back into the Hidden Mist Village’s military history, each passing their sword onto a worthy successor before their own passing. If your remember, Zabuza had once been one of their number, but the members that Kabuto selected are his predecessors: the strongest ninja to ever wield a sword in the name of the Hidden Mist.

Yet there is hope: while all of Kabuto’s reanimated ninja possess massive skill and can’t die until Kabuto releases the Jutsu, sealing techniques work as well as ever. Sai’s become the leader of the Sealing Corps, and he’s got a brand new seven-foot-long brush that can help lock away some of the baddies. After years of developing his artistic skill even as he repressed the powerful emotions welling within him, Sai now has everything he needs to create powerful Sealing Jutsus that will make these uppity corpses wish Kabuto had left them six feet under. Sai just has to make sure that his negative emotions don’t overwhelm his body. More good news: he has Rock Lee to help. Yeah, try being miserable with Rock Lee in a five-mile radius.

I also got to indulge in one of my favorite guilty pleasures: watching Kakashi and Guy strut their stuff on the battlefield. When two of the most serial-killer-y Swordsmen end up knocking Kakashi’s Sharingan eye temporarily out of commission, it’s up to these two “rivals” to overcome the odds. It does help that they’ve got friendship on their side, unlike their bickering quarries. (Just because you’re immortal doesn’t mean that you can turn your back in a fight!)

The action in these episodes stays pretty intense. Also, since Naruto’s still miles and miles away, some of the more obscure characters get their chance to shine. Call me a sucker for underdog stories, but it’s kind of awesome to see heroes who aren’t in the main lineup still triumph over enemies who history says should be better in every way. Guess the children really are the future!

With Great Responsibility

Though I’d enjoyed myself throughout the first disc, I kind of missed Naruto. Yet I almost spat out my ramen when I got to Disc 1’s final episode. Rather than yet another fight with yet another Swordsman of the Mist, the episode opened in a civilian home with two children and no Ninja, no war and no Naruto. I thought that there must’ve been an error on my DVD and that the manufacturer had tacked on the first episode of some other show...at least until I caught sight of the reanimated Deidara dropping clay bombs on the screaming populace. No joke, even after that I was still convinced the characters had fallen into a parallel dimension.

Or maybe it was me that had gone to the parallel dimension; after “Road to Sakura” in the last set, I have no idea what to believe anymore!

The little girl and boy are residents of mostly-civilian Tonika Village. Just when they’re ready to tuck in for the night, a massive fire breaks out across the town while several mysterious, powerful and regenerate-y assailants fan the flames. Rescued from their burning house by their dogged teacher, the two siblings and several other children escape the carnage together. Leaving their ruined homes behind, the terrified and crispy refugees begin their journey across the harsh desert surrounding Tonika, seeking desperate refuge from a nearby village.

Seriously, that entire sequence is how they open the arc. Only after this does the intro song start up and the focus shift to Team 7 and their mission in the area. …yeah, not exactly your typical Naruto fair. I must say that it’s actually pretty surreal to see defenseless civilians getting taken out in this show. Not only are the fatality rates surprisingly low to begin with, but most of the characters that die are at least trained ninja engaging in combat!

This episode is the first in a six-part mini-arc titled Power that takes place during the early stages of the fourth Shinobi War, perhaps a week prior to Kabuto and Madara’s fatefully joining forces. Here, Kabuto has unleashed some of his prototype reanimated soldiers on Tonika, and Team 7 must race to stop him and his accomplice from claiming the ancient super weapon hidden within Tonika Village’s surrounding waters.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: at least two or three Naruto movies and several other anime original episodes have used the villain-after-ancient-weapon premise. And… you’re not wrong. Even so I will also say that this is far and away the best anime originals I’ve even seen in Naruto. Or in any other anime series, for that matter. The writing, animation and pacing are all top-notch quality. Heck, I actually enjoyed these episodes a lot more than several of the Naruto’s canon ones.

Yeah. I said it. What, you wanna fight?

The characters are where the Power arc truly shines. Naruto’s still the hero, but the story takes its time building up the children, their teacher Dokku and his childhood friend Shiseru, giving us enough time to really get to know them and to make their problems feel important. I found myself genuinely hoping that no one pulled a ‘take me instead’ and would go on to live happy lives off-screen once the story ended.

Another thing: the villages that form the episodes’ setting are also fairly unique. Unlike the Feudal Japan-esque style that’s everywhere else in the Naruto-verse, they’ve got this really Western vibe, hinting that they’re probably nowhere near the parts of the country where the action usually takes place.

Kabuto’s interest in this particular town stems in part from the fact that—at the time this arc takes place—he hasn’t yet perfected the Reanimation Jutsu and intends to use the nearby life-giving waters to further his research. Of course if he can find something ancient and World-Splodey, that’s so much the better! Other little details along the way act as nods to events that occur before and after. And the best part? This entire segment was commissioned as a celebration of the series, both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, passing the five-hundred-episode mark. 

It’s not just the ninja whose push towards triumph is slow and unsteady. The simple tale of young boy chasing his dream of becoming Hokage unfolded into a massive epic, serving us thrills, shocking revelations, exotic lands, unforgettable characters, and flashbacks. (So very many flashbacks!) Even so, a journey of five hundred episodes begins with a single orange ninja, and now that we’re here…well, I'mma grab my ninja sweatband and take victory laps until the next DVD set. Until then!

English & Japanese 2.0 Audio/English Subtitles
Episodes: 284-296
Special Features: Storyboards, Art Gallery, Clean Opening, Clean Ending

Naruto Shippuden DVD Set 23 is available now at viz.com!

©2002 MASASHI KISHIMOTO / 2007 SHIPPUDEN All Rights Reserved.

by Chris Turner