In terms of the filler…
Finally…I CAN SEE THE ENDING!
Off to do some soul searching before the war, Shikamaru goes to meet Naruto, and is joined by Tenten, who is restocking up on her weapons supply. However, something strange seems to be happening, as the ship gets caught up in a loop of repeated traps.
Impression
The best thing about this whole episode was the new OP, which featured some new, REAL canon content! And that included the five dead Akatsuki that Kabuto resurrected, the battle with Kisame, as well as the screenshot below, though saying any more than that would be a spoiler. And I’m not allowed to do that 🙁
Heads up though, this proves that filler is about to end in the foreseeable future! If the next 12 weeks counts as foreseeable to you. So don’t give up hope on this show yet!
Okay, back to the actual content of the episode. I have to admit, for a filler this was really well set up. I had thought it was a genjutsu of some sort, that there was no other explainable method. But leave it to Shikamaru to figure it all out (: I’d actually forgotten how clever he was, back when he fought Hidan and Kakuzu, managing to beat Hidan, an Akatsuki level, all by himself by just using his intellect. Granted, Hidan’s really thick, but still. He was IMMORTAL xD
The way the thieves worked – basically, people that stopped on the island would be cheerfully sent on their way, and then artificial fog would set in. Since the bay was a huge circle, with only a narrow exit, with fog the ships would just sail round and round, trying to avoid the rocks and the whirlpools. After the victims run out of chakra, the thieves would then sail out to grab their catch. This was actually quite similar to the one about the mushrooms, as in both ways the local natives exploited how the shinobi didn’t know about the island geography, and attempted to steal their loot. Not like they had any loot anyway, it was just Naruto.
One thing I didn’t get was how the rocks and whirlpool appeared again so fast. Granted, the spring tide would have pulled in another whirlpool, but rocks don’t randomly regenerate, and at that kind of speed as well, since they were going round and round in circles.
Eh, there’s not much else to say really. Next week it looks like we jump back to Konoha for a bit, for something to do with Team 10’s barbeque place and all the girls eating out.