This episode is staging the beginning of the War Arc, as tells what is going to happen with Naruto during the first part of the war. To make a recap: Tsunade is on another meeting with the council of Konoha and the jonins, and reassures the importance of Madara Uchiha in the war. Then, at her headquarters, she updates Sakura about the war (she wasn't present when Gaara, Temari and Kankuro told the news of the Kage Summit). Tsunade is also notified of Naruto's sudden disappearance at Ichiraku, so everyone goes to find him. Still, Fukasaku sends him back, and Teuchi is surprised again. Naruto finds himself next to a pair of shinobis who admire him and ask for an autograph. He awkwardly doubts as he is not used to it, while Teuchi ponders about how the attitude from the villagers changed towards Naruto. Anyway, just as he is about to eat ramen, again, this time Sakura appears and takes him with Tsunade, who was worried. Naruto then tells them about the new prophecy and that Fukasaku was the one who summoned him. Later, Tsunade finally meets with the other Kages, but she is surprised of their decision to hide the Kyuubi and the Hachibi instead of letting them fight. She is forced to accept it, as Gaara says that Naruto is reckless when it comes to save his friends. The Raikage has prepared a special place at Kumogakure, casually an island, so Tsunade (now aware of the prophecy) asks him if he could tell Killer B to help Naruto to control the Kyuubi. A is reluctant at first, but then agrees, as the island is the place where B learned to control the Hachibi too. At the end, Tsunade assigns to Naruto the mission "rank S" to that island, where he is supposed to meet the octopus and train to control the Kyuubi. For what she says, Naruto is aware of the upcoming war, but he seems to think the mission is as preparation for it. On the other hand, Shikamaru and Choji quietly discuss about if they are prepared to the war. Sakura meets a experienced nurse, who shows her pictures to prepare her for the chaos in the battlefield. She struggles, but wants to be ready. Unfortunately, the writer of this episode added a ridiculous line for her, when she questions herself who would she save first if they fight, Naruto or Sasuke. All this was pretty confusing because in the manga, there's no clear continuation on the storyline, Naruto is on one page at Ichiraku, and on the next, inside a ship towards the island. It's like he was never showed talking to Tsunade, Kishimoto never wrote the moment when he saw her again after she woke up. Here is proved once again that the war arc ruined Shippuden. The writer lost control of the story.
Then, the preparations for the war were predictable, kind of boring because the speech is repetitive. Wasn't a bad idea to show Shikamaru and Choji talking, or Sakura getting ready to such situation. Still, the dialogues were poor. As for Naruto's appearances with Tsunade, were necessary, made to fill the gaps of the manga, but felt it wasn't serious enough, especially the last part. Naruto knows about the war, Gaara told him at the Iron country, so why he'd believe that he has a special mission outside? He is aware of the prophecy and that he has to learn to control the Kyuubi, so he knows that he leaves Konoha for that reason. So, why there was not a farewell? He deserved to say goodbye to Sakura, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and others. The next filler episodes have a small role in this, but it's bad how the canon part completely skipped important moments. Naruto's knowledge about the war was ignored here. On the other hand, The five Kage's decision wasn't very smart. It only served to give Naruto the necessary time to train with the Kyuubi's chakra.
Then, the preparations for the war were predictable, kind of boring because the speech is repetitive. Wasn't a bad idea to show Shikamaru and Choji talking, or Sakura getting ready to such situation. Still, the dialogues were poor. As for Naruto's appearances with Tsunade, were necessary, made to fill the gaps of the manga, but felt it wasn't serious enough, especially the last part. Naruto knows about the war, Gaara told him at the Iron country, so why he'd believe that he has a special mission outside? He is aware of the prophecy and that he has to learn to control the Kyuubi, so he knows that he leaves Konoha for that reason. So, why there was not a farewell? He deserved to say goodbye to Sakura, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and others. The next filler episodes have a small role in this, but it's bad how the canon part completely skipped important moments. Naruto's knowledge about the war was ignored here. On the other hand, The five Kage's decision wasn't very smart. It only served to give Naruto the necessary time to train with the Kyuubi's chakra.
