“A human like you seriously wants to be friends with a Tailed Beast?!”
Impression
What an exciting episode! This is exactly why I love Naruto’s canon and utterly despise their fillers. There’s such a noticeable gap in quality between the two. Anyway, first off – Sasuke’s been let loose. Or rather, he’s decided to destroy Zetsu now that he’s managed to successfully get an EMS implant. He can do so easily too, using Susanoo and Amaterasu with no worsening blindness. It’s almost as if he only ever wanted this from Tobi – and he has no qualms about breaking his allegiance at all, which isn’t too surprising. Remember that Itachi’s also out there, free from Edo Tensei control…could there be a potential future meeting?
Even if you’re Kakashi and Gai, you’re still human, and as a human there’s a limit to what you can do against transformed Jinchuuriki. Gai was in very bad condition after opening the Sixth Gate when he fought Kisame – even though he’s turning it on and off this time, I’m pretty sure it’s not sustainable. All of them are losing chakra, the Hachibi’s half dead and Naruto’s been eaten – not good. Not good at all. However, one respite is that the Bijuu aren’t under Tobi’s full control. The Gobi actually tried to attack Tobi – I’m guessing that his Sharingan control isn’t perfect when he has to control five other Paths at the same time, all in transformed mode. Even then, the Bijuu isn’t part of the Edo Tensei’s absolute control, only the Jinchuuriki is. Ganging up together on Naruto and Bee was definitely not voluntary on their part.
As fans, I think we’re fairly aware that the Bijuu aren’t just weapons of war (or pets) and do actually have personalities and emotions. From a shinobi’s perspective its different though – maybe its out of fear or something, but these massive clusters of chakra seem like tools to them. Even Hashirama, as benevolent as he is, spoke to Kurama as if he was being kept in captivity. Also, I’m glad I can finally call him Kurama. I don’t have to hold back anymore! 😀 While he’s still being rather tsundere, I think Kurama realises that Naruto’s slightly different – he lent a clone some chakra, and stopped stealing Naruto’s chakra as well. If only slowly, Kurama’s changing his opinion of Naruto, who wants to dissolve his hatred instead of keeping it forcefully locked up.
And meanwhile, Naruto’s been swallowed. By the “great monkey equal of heaven”, Son Goku! It’s a great reference, by the way. Besides the name, notice that Son has four tails, mirroring Goku’s four-star dragon ball. Anyway, Son has a lot of pride as a Bijuu. While the Hachibi (and Kyuubi) are perfectly fine being called by their number of tails, Son wants to be called by his name – and that’s understandable. Of all people, Naruto should relate to that most – a lot of people referred to him as “monster” or “it” or “Kyuubi” when he was little, rather than just calling him Naruto.
Speaking of names, the only real identity mystery left is Tobi, who is still intent on keeping on his mask. It’s pretty obvious guys. We know who you are, ramen shop owner!
Wouldn’t the name Son Goku be a reference to the chinese novel besides the manga series?
Yeah, “Son Goku” should be the Japanese pronunciation for Sun Wukong, from Journey to the West. I think some of the titles the Yonbi told Naruto about were ones used by Sun Wukong as well.