Recap - Naruto is a popular Japanese manga/anime by Masashi Kishimoto. It centres around a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki. After a Nine-Tails attacks the village Konoha, the Fourth Hokage, risks his life (paying the ultimate price_ and seals the demon inside a newborn Naruto. Studying to become a ninja Naruto struggles with trying to fit in, being accepted and striving for his dream of becoming the Hokage. The story follows Naruto and his friends (team 7) and the missions they must accomplish all while the young ninja tries to complete his dream.
As I set out on my mission and journey further into the world of Naruto I find my opinion of the show is starting to change. At first I thought it was something I could never get into but I find myself enjoying the character introductions and character growths, which I guess means I am invested.
As much as I like Naruto I needed him to be surrounded by other characters in order for that to really come through. In enters Kakashi Hatake. He is a shinobi of Konohagakure. After receiving a Sharingan when he was younger he came into fame as the Copy Ninja Kakashi. He is talented, skillful and one of the village's most capable ninja. He is the leader of Team 7 and acts as teacher to our young heroes. I quickly took an interest in his character. Kakashi is unconventional. He is often shown as being bored and unenthusiastic displaying his calm like nature often an advantage when in battle. He has been described as cool and hip. But better than that Kakashi, despite his growing reputation and strength in abilities, remains modest. He possesses qualities I often seek out in characters. He is presented to us as someone who is stoic and emotionless but actually has a big heart and is very caring. He is fiercely loyal and he also has a childlike side. Of course we aren't going to ignore the fact that we all know Kakashi is mega handsome under that mask. Yuukatan also neglected to tell me that Kakashi is a dog person so my love for the man only grows (stop trying to keep him for yourself, selfish).
What I needed from the story was an overall story arc which focused on moving our main protagonist forward. Our young heroes, now forming Team 7, and their leader Kakashi begin training in various ways to evolve as ninja. After a few successfully accomplished D-rank missions, Naruto asks the Hokage for a higher level missions, feeling that Team 7 is ready to take on more. They are assigned to escort bridge builder Tazuna to the Land of Waves. The mission already seems too high level when two ninja appear out of nowhere to attack the group. It seems our team's leader is easily defeated by the company. However Kakashi reappears and easily defeats the ninja. Naruto is badly injured and poisoned during the mission. We get to see Naruto's determination when he fears he might jeopardize the mission and cuts his hand with his kunai in order to cut out the poison. We learn that the mission level is much higher than the information given. We meet Zabuza and his young companion Haku our main antagonists of the story. There are several battles that reveal our leader's abilities and show our young heroes journey and growth.
Haku is another character that I thought was very interesting. Often mistaken for a young girl and very deadly at his age Haku is levels above Team 7. His relationship with Zabuza vastly different from Team 7 and their leader lends for and interesting dynamic.
Naruto, inspired by the story of "The Land Where a Hero Once Lived" strives to help the village. Only after he loses his cool and his nine-tail fox abilities emerge are team 7 able to defeat the young boy.
I am looking forward to continue the series at this point and watch as each of the characters reveal themselves.
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