Naruto 695 review

Hello everyone and welcome to what will probably one of my final reviews for Naruto.

If you haven't heard yet, Naruto is down to it's final 5 (now 4) weeks. Kishi has put an end date on the Manga and it's at November 10th. Quite a sad bit of news but at least we know we are watching the final fight of the show now, so anyone hoping for Rock Lee to ever be relevant again.... tough luck I guess.
Anyways let's talk about this chapter, I don't quite understand where Naruto and Sasuke are standing, in one frame they are in mid air, engaging each other in hot elbow-to-elbow action, and in the other they both jump from some surface, we can't tell at all which statue it is or how they got there, nor does it make sense because they both jumped from the same point and I assume have comparable speed as well.

Here they are, standing on their predecessor's heads.

Where are they standing?

I am not sure why it bothers me so much that we don't know where they are standing but anyways this fight will be much easier to follow in the anime. Since it's hard to mention every punch and kick that happens I'll just focus on the stuff that interests me, like for one thing how did Naruto take a direct hit from Sasuke's Chidori and somehow just fly away without a hole in his body?.

Anyone expecting a fast and furious skirmish between Naruto and Sasuke is in for a disappointment, 7 pages in the fight and both of them summon their strongest Pokemon and hide inside it, Sasuke uses his perfect Susanno and Naruto has his Kyuubi form.

Last week I mentioned that Naruto and Sasuke will do that thing where they bump fists at the start of the fight, that will lead them to understand each other. It happens but not quite as I imagined, with two tidal waves as well as gigantic monsters. Still I expect Naruto to do that speech where he mentions how two ninjas who fist each other will understand each other. Then again if you reach the fisting stage you really don't have much more to learn about the relationship :).

Oddly enough we get a flashback right after the fisting begins, to their childhood and how lonely they both grew up, is Kishi trying to tell us that they are both thinking this? bit odd that right in the middle of a fight  two people will think of the exact same events from their childhoods. They even remember that moment on the harbor where they both act Tsundere to each other. The next punch brings back more memories, to their first fight with each other. The third and final blow leads to a flashback to the last chapter, my god these flashbacks are out of control. If the manga keeps going I swear one day we will have flashbacks to the very start of a chapter.

Sasuke seems unimpressed by Naruto's efforts in the fight and taunts him if he can do anymore, Naruto says he won't die and Sasuke's doing that lone wolf act again. I am not sure Sasuke ever dropped the lone wolf thing since his introduction anyways, I mean sure he worked with a team a couple of times but has he really connected with them emotionally? Also was anyone else hoping Naruto would say " I won't die even if you kill me?"

So much for everyone who thought Naruto was their friend...

So apparently Sasuke is Naruto's one and only best friend, sorry Gaara who changed his life for Naruto, sorry Neji who died to save him, sorry Hinata who...well I'm not sure Naruto actually knows who Hinata is now. One thing that bothered me this chapter is when Naruto thinks that Sasuke picked the Valley of the End as some sort of emotional tribute to Naruto, it's the kind of thinking you see in an abusive relationship where one partner tries to justify every bad thing their partner does to them. "She slapped me but it's only because she loves me".

Naruto and Sasuke charge up their giant attacks, Naruto with a massive Bijuu bomb and Sasuke with a bigger version of Chidori which results in a massive explosion and Naruto and Sasuke entering some sort of white dimension world.... does this look familiar to anyone?

Giant explosion? check!.

Two heterosexual ninjas staring at each other for much longer than is normal between two straight guys? very check!

And that's it for this chapter, it ends with them saying they do understand each other and they are going to talk for a while in this white dimension world, Not like it matters, I doubt being stuck with Naruto in some sort of dream world would ever change a villain's mind, especially if that villain is hell bent on revenge and hatred.

oh wait...

Predictions

1- Naruto will use Therapy no jutsu to help Sasuke, I expect it to work to some extent or completely, however I doubt the fight will end in the next chapter. How much of a letdown would it be if the final fight of the manga ends up being 2-3 chapters long?

By the way Talk no jutsu has been used on Zabusa, Nagato, Neji, Gaara and Obito. All people who have been Talked no jutsued have died at least once, some even twice, showing the lethality of the move and how dangerous it is.

2- Still hoping we see the power Hashirama gave to Sasuke, but I am starting to think it is going to be irrelevent, same with the tools of the Sage that Tenten found.

3- Something something Fisting ninjas something something understand each other.

4- Starting to think we won't have Kakashi show up this fight, I hope he does even if it will ruin the 1 v 1 dynamic going on right now.

Rating

Chapters like these are a bit hard to rate, since they are mostly just techniques used on each other and very little dialogue. I finished this chapter in like 2 minutes and re-read it a bunch of times for this review, can't say it ever really impressed me yet I'm sure it's just one of those chapters that isn't meant to be read by itself, it sort of works well with another chapter (696) or in the anime. As it is Naruto 695 gets a 2 out of 5 from me.