I won't deny it—I love this arc. There's nothing cooler than watching Kabuto's recently undead army wreak untold havoc before going toe-to-toe with the struggling ninja from the present. We get a lot of second chances in this set, whether it's a rematch between old opponents, a chance to settle the score for the vengeful, or just a way for people to make up for misunderstandings that death had otherwise left hanging. Things finally come to light that were only mentioned in whispers before. Kishimoto Sensei's got a lot of shurikens in the air, and he tosses out even more in this episodes.

So far, both the Allied Forces and Akatsuki have gained and lost a lot of ground since the Fourth Great Ninja War started. Kabuto's corpse corps continues its assault on the battlefield while Madara's White Zetsu army infiltrates and destroys the Allied Ninja Forces from within. Yet the heroes haven't lost yet; not only have the Allied Forces already un-undeadified several of Kabuto's necrotic champions, but Naruto's return has brought even greater promise. With the Nine Tails' power backing him, Naruto can now sense the hostility from the White Zetsu copies, enabling him to tell who's an enemy.

Kabuto's not done though, bringing out some of his best soldiers yet. Gaara, the Kazekage and Ohnoki the Tsuchikage battle their predecessors while Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji face down Orochimaru's reanimated cohorts the Sound Four! Naruto hurries to join the fight himself, but he's got his own problems, namely, the reanimated Itachi and Nagato.

Nothing but fun times and rainbows here!

The battle with Naruto fighting resurrected Nagato and Itachi are why I'm a Naruto fan in the first place. Seeing the way they see Naruto now versus when they were alive earlier is really cool. Naruto had such a huge effect on both of them. For Itachi, he gave him hope that his little brother Sasuke had found a true friend. For Nagato, he changed his dark outlook on the pain and suffering of endless war. Unfortunately their reunion is brief, as Nagato quickly gets put under Kabuto's control. These battles aren't just another epic rematch between super ninja with lots of 'splosions—they're vindication of Naruto's core beliefs. And it's downright awesome how Itachi foresaw and prepared for a situation just like this.

Sad to say, not every villain turns out to have their hidden heart of gold. The Sound Four didn't learn their lesson and are as dead set on revenge as it is literally possible to be, and while Kabuto brought them back with the same resurrection jutsu he used on the rest of his soldiers, these guys were already loyal to Orochimaru's legacy. They didn't need any extra motivation to take revenge on the Hidden Leaf, just some directions from Kabuto about where to find the pesky little little ninja who defeated them in life.

Their fight makes for a neat little converse to Naruto's big duel with Nagato and Itachi; these guys don't care about hope and morals, they're just out for blood. Each of the Sound Four gets the infinite chakra and undying bodies that come standard with reanimation, yet while they've been pushing up the ninja daisies, Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji and Neji have all done a lot of evolving as people and as ninja. Suffice to say that, when compared with a bunch of angry crazies who can't let go of a petty grudge, their growth as people decides their fate. Naruto's friends are all about to show off just how much they've learned!

Alright, enough with all this character development already; it's lovely, but in this volume it's just the whipped cream on top of the MASSIVE battle that is the fight between the four reanimated Kage and the Allied Shinobi Forces. No, I'm serious, bust out the popcorn because this stuff is epic. As per tradition we have a lot of splosions coupled with awesome-looking Jutsu as both sides empty their arsenals out on each other. Watching heroes try to figure out their opponent's weaknesses in combat is one of my favorite moments, and that goes double when the opponent's got a reputation for being invincible. Like, the Raikage's known for having the ultimate electromagnetic shield, lightning spears and super speed; there's no obvious way around that. The former Tsuchikage also gets some pretty sweet action in too, what with his power to manipulate particles.

My main undead Kage, though, is the Mizukage. He's funny, quirky, friendly and has no eyebrows, making it impossible for the Allied army to take him seriously. Joke's on them, though; this guy's a walking nightmare. He's got illusion powers courtesy of giant clam familiar (mirages and mollusks go together like chocolate and peanut butter, don't they?), the ability to create bombs that walk, think, and self-regenerate for unlimited explosions. Defense-wise, he's also got his oily skin that can make Gaara's sand traps slip right off. Yeah, let's just rehash that for a sec: the fight takes place in the desert, against Gaara and the Mizukage's jutsu style is water. And he still walks all over the Allied Forces. Next time guys, don't underestimate goofy people, especially when they're Kage–there might just be a reason he holds the highest possible ninja rank!

Of course, Gaara's grittiest dilemma by far is dealing with the former Kazekage. This reunion between father and son brings the whole "optimism vs. fatalism" angle into sharper focus and sets it up right next to the whole cycle of vengeance theme. Gaara spent the majority of his life being an ball of sandy hate because his father and uncle made the wrong choices, turned on him, and died to leave him with a mess of unresolved issues that he only cleaned up with Naruto's help. Yet unlike Madara, Danzo, Orochimaru or Kabuto, the Kazekage wasn't just a villain who schemed for control whenever he wasn't punting chinchillas into cement mixers. Time has passed, wounds have begun to heal, and Gaara, the current Kazekage, is much better equipped to reconnect with his predecessor. (Though once all this is over, the old man's still not getting any Father of the Year mugs in his coffin. Just so we're clear.)

There are other vignettes, but this set's stayed pretty focused on advancing the overall plot. There's a good balance between Naruto helping out with the war effort and other characters contributing in their own way. And while you can color me seven hues of cynical in real life, I can't argue with Naruto's aggressive optimism or the results he gets. Even if he has to beat that optimism into some people. I mean, whatever works. Though he'll need a lot more of that optimism soon, because Kabuto's got something up the sleeve of his oversized snake hoodie, and it's very, very bad.

See if the Sound Four get what's coming to them in DVD Set 24 available here! 

English and Japanese 2.0 Audio and English Subtitles
Episodes: 297-309
Special Features: Storyboards, Art Gallery, Clean Openings, Clean Endings

by Chris Turner

©2002 MASASHI KISHIMOTO / 2007 SHIPPUDEN All Rights Reserved.