The sucessive battles and tense moments are finally over, and here starts a streak of episodes with a lighter tone. Kakashi carries Karin on his back, while Naruto is slowly recovering from the poison. When he asks about who she is, Sakura updates him, while Kakashi says that she will be taken to the village for information. As Naruto proceeds to return to Konoha, Kakashi tells they must go thw other way, they forgot something at the Iron country, reminding Sakura, who suddenly remembers. Then, Yamato appears (it's funny how his role was forgotten), and traps Naruto in a wood prison, as a punishment for escaping. On a bit comical talk, Kakashi tells him that Naruto arrived just in time, and that everything turned out fine. Still with a more serious tone, he adds that if it wasn't for him, Sakura would be probably dead, and maybe he too. This reminding saddens her, and was perfect also to remember anyone how severe was the situation. Then, Karin tells them that Sasuke's chakra is now much more darker and colder than before, but Naruto remains optimistic and says that Sasuke remains being Sasuke, comforting them. As Yamato leaves to repair the cabin (and apologize to the owners), the four start their way back. Karin thinks how now she is a prisoner from Konoha, wonders about Jugo and Suigetsu, but then she doesn't want to care anymore. This part was like a comedy overall, with funny moments, to let pass the drama of recent episodes. Yamato's interruption and Kakashi's reminding were the best. Still, there was a sadness surrounding Sakura and Karin. For Sakura, because she almost died, and felt like she failed, or after all this, she did not achieve nothing. Naruto's actions didn't comfort her either. But this is just how Kishimoto wrote her. The good part is how she treats Naruto, as she feels responsible for bringing the poisoned kunai, she is nice towards him. That's why for me she is not a bad character in Shippuden. Somehow, she is the woman next to the protagonist, who has supported him like no one else during all the arcs. About Karin, it's great her character progression. From the three Taka members, she ends up being the best. She was a blind teenager over her crush for Sasuke, who followed his orders, and stood with Suigetsu and Jugo for the group. And before she was a pawn in Orochimaru's plans. But now, she is free from all the bad guys, and free from Sasuke. She doesn't care anymore about them, Taka, vengeance, whatever. She realized the truth, and that Sasuke doesn't care about anyone but himself. She awoke, unlike Naruto.
Then, the four arrive at the woods, and a exhausted Naruto wonders how Kiba, Lee, Sai and Akamaru can sleep so peacefully when Sakura was in trouble. She feels bad and gives an awkward smile, Kakashi reminds her to apologize to them, as she tells Naruto that it's her fault that they are asleep. Still, he simply goes to rest on the ground, like them, causing Sakura to get angry for a moment. Karin reminds her of Naruto's state given the poison, so she gets back to her guilty side. Kakashi sees him resting and thinks how he took a load off his shoulders, given how peaceful he seems. Sakura stares at him too, and smiles (nice moment). She starts giving a medicine to all of them so they wake up, and looks at them with a nice kind face (guilt). Kiba is surprised that Naruto is there, and tries to wake him up, but Sakura asks to be careful, to treat him nicely, given his state. Sai brings back the seriousness and asks about Danzo, considering his curse mark is gone. Kakashi updates them with Karin's help, who confirms them that Sasuke killed Danzo. The three are left stunned, and Kiba is loud because he doesn't understand what happened. He shouts at Naruto for answers, but Lee stops him. A while after, they keep walking towards Konoha, while Kiba ponders how bad everything went, and complains to Sakura: he traced Sasuke for her, and didn't say anything to Naruto, but Sai disobeyed and rat the truth to him. Then, they went to face Sasuke, but he got away. Kakashi first tells him to not get angry, and then Naruto tells him to shut up and stop complaining. Kiba answers that he is always whining, to which Sai agrees and laughs. Naruto starts discussing with them, and Lee recalls how is that the old Naruto is back. As this goes on, Karin sees Naruto's chakra, warm and lightful, the opposite to Sasuke's. Suddenly, three ANBU hunters from Root appear looking for Sai. He is forced to inform them about Danzo's fate, and also proposes a talk about the future, with Kakashi as the new Hokage. They prefer to to back to Konoha soon. Sakura is surprised that Kakashi will be Hokage, and he reluctantly confirms. This part was well written overall, a comedic relief was surely needed. There were good parts, like Karin noticing Naruto's lightful spirit, or Sakura's nice behavior given that she put her friends to sleep. Kiba's pointings about Sasuke was right, even if Danzo was a shady dark character, he was the Hokage. And given the ANBU from Root, what Naruto is going to tell them about Sasuke? He clearly doesn't understand how Konoha and the world works. Anyway, the moment when he stopped Kiba's complains against Sakura was a good moment. It's weird that Naruto and Sakura never talked about the consequences of their last talk. He didn't say anything about the confession, or about the fact that she hid the truth to protect his feelings. At least here he indirectly defended her from Kiba, implying that he is not angry at her anymore. About the laughter, and the old Naruto, it's strange to see how he can be like nothing considering what happened. Kakashi was serious enough, while Sakura remained saddened overall, she didn't reacted to the boys dumb discussion.
The other part of the episode showed Killer B's welcome at Kumogakure. He greeted playfully Omoi and Karui, and told them about Samehada. The Raikage, Shee and Darui were updated and called to a meeting with the Daimyo. The best part here was Kisame. Turns out that he infiltrated on purpose, and faked his own death with white Zetsu's help. He is hidden inside Samehada, they share the same type of chakra, along the Hachibi (shark, octopus), so he cannot be detected. He let the sword on B's hands just like planned. It's revealed that Obito sent him on a mission to capture the Hachibi, considering that during the war, Naruto and Killer B will be hidden somewhere. Kisame's mission also consists in gather information about the enemy. The shark is surely one of the best villains of the storyline. Another detail to remark, is how Obito, Black Zetsu insist that white Zetsu is weak. This is important because of the upcoming war. In the meantime, the Raikage and his subordinates convince the Lord (Daimyo), to approve the Shinobi Alliance and reunite with the other four Lords to deal with the war. The episode finishes with Killer B doing his rap (now with the passion added by the Enka), acclaimed by the people (including Omoi and Karui) at a concert. But the Raikage notices this and kicks his brother away the concert. Again, B served as comedic relief. Then, Omoi and Karui proved to be hypocrites considering how much trouble they caused at Konoha. Here they were like nothing happened, and they could have caused a war (though the first responsible were Obito and Sasuke). One last comment, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning seems a much more serious man than the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He really analyzed the situation and thought about the differences between the nations.
Then, the four arrive at the woods, and a exhausted Naruto wonders how Kiba, Lee, Sai and Akamaru can sleep so peacefully when Sakura was in trouble. She feels bad and gives an awkward smile, Kakashi reminds her to apologize to them, as she tells Naruto that it's her fault that they are asleep. Still, he simply goes to rest on the ground, like them, causing Sakura to get angry for a moment. Karin reminds her of Naruto's state given the poison, so she gets back to her guilty side. Kakashi sees him resting and thinks how he took a load off his shoulders, given how peaceful he seems. Sakura stares at him too, and smiles (nice moment). She starts giving a medicine to all of them so they wake up, and looks at them with a nice kind face (guilt). Kiba is surprised that Naruto is there, and tries to wake him up, but Sakura asks to be careful, to treat him nicely, given his state. Sai brings back the seriousness and asks about Danzo, considering his curse mark is gone. Kakashi updates them with Karin's help, who confirms them that Sasuke killed Danzo. The three are left stunned, and Kiba is loud because he doesn't understand what happened. He shouts at Naruto for answers, but Lee stops him. A while after, they keep walking towards Konoha, while Kiba ponders how bad everything went, and complains to Sakura: he traced Sasuke for her, and didn't say anything to Naruto, but Sai disobeyed and rat the truth to him. Then, they went to face Sasuke, but he got away. Kakashi first tells him to not get angry, and then Naruto tells him to shut up and stop complaining. Kiba answers that he is always whining, to which Sai agrees and laughs. Naruto starts discussing with them, and Lee recalls how is that the old Naruto is back. As this goes on, Karin sees Naruto's chakra, warm and lightful, the opposite to Sasuke's. Suddenly, three ANBU hunters from Root appear looking for Sai. He is forced to inform them about Danzo's fate, and also proposes a talk about the future, with Kakashi as the new Hokage. They prefer to to back to Konoha soon. Sakura is surprised that Kakashi will be Hokage, and he reluctantly confirms. This part was well written overall, a comedic relief was surely needed. There were good parts, like Karin noticing Naruto's lightful spirit, or Sakura's nice behavior given that she put her friends to sleep. Kiba's pointings about Sasuke was right, even if Danzo was a shady dark character, he was the Hokage. And given the ANBU from Root, what Naruto is going to tell them about Sasuke? He clearly doesn't understand how Konoha and the world works. Anyway, the moment when he stopped Kiba's complains against Sakura was a good moment. It's weird that Naruto and Sakura never talked about the consequences of their last talk. He didn't say anything about the confession, or about the fact that she hid the truth to protect his feelings. At least here he indirectly defended her from Kiba, implying that he is not angry at her anymore. About the laughter, and the old Naruto, it's strange to see how he can be like nothing considering what happened. Kakashi was serious enough, while Sakura remained saddened overall, she didn't reacted to the boys dumb discussion.
The other part of the episode showed Killer B's welcome at Kumogakure. He greeted playfully Omoi and Karui, and told them about Samehada. The Raikage, Shee and Darui were updated and called to a meeting with the Daimyo. The best part here was Kisame. Turns out that he infiltrated on purpose, and faked his own death with white Zetsu's help. He is hidden inside Samehada, they share the same type of chakra, along the Hachibi (shark, octopus), so he cannot be detected. He let the sword on B's hands just like planned. It's revealed that Obito sent him on a mission to capture the Hachibi, considering that during the war, Naruto and Killer B will be hidden somewhere. Kisame's mission also consists in gather information about the enemy. The shark is surely one of the best villains of the storyline. Another detail to remark, is how Obito, Black Zetsu insist that white Zetsu is weak. This is important because of the upcoming war. In the meantime, the Raikage and his subordinates convince the Lord (Daimyo), to approve the Shinobi Alliance and reunite with the other four Lords to deal with the war. The episode finishes with Killer B doing his rap (now with the passion added by the Enka), acclaimed by the people (including Omoi and Karui) at a concert. But the Raikage notices this and kicks his brother away the concert. Again, B served as comedic relief. Then, Omoi and Karui proved to be hypocrites considering how much trouble they caused at Konoha. Here they were like nothing happened, and they could have caused a war (though the first responsible were Obito and Sasuke). One last comment, the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning seems a much more serious man than the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. He really analyzed the situation and thought about the differences between the nations.
