Impression
They really shouldn’t keep playing that Bijuu song whenever they want to stall for time.
This fight has gone on for quite a few weeks now – yet every time, the thing that strikes me most is how creepy Kabuto’s become. Clearly the aesthetic changes brought about by his Sennin transformation weren’t enough – nor were the techniques he stole from Taka. Now he’s gone and implanted the Sound Four into himself as well, and have somehow gained the ability to use all their jutsu (even Kimimaro’s, despite it being a kekkei genkai). Presumably they’re just cells he’s harvested from their corpses. Orochimaru’s deformed snake head has also made a reappearance, this time protruding out of Kabuto’s torso. It’s almost as if it’s highlighting Kabuto’s identity crisis (the issue no-one really cares about) – he’s taken in all these people in an attempt to find himself, yet his own sense of self is more lost than ever before. Admittedly, Kabuto and his wide arsenal of jutsu did manage to give the Uchiha brothers a bit of trouble, while acting angsty the whole time over their intellectual superiority. Meanwhile Itachi and Sasuke are having a fun time trolling! It’s as if they’ve decided to respond to every attack with a Mangekyou Sharingan technique, all while speaking loudly with each other about Izanami’s activation (which Kabuto can hear every word of). Then again, Kabuto’s fairly confident about his own ability to avoid any type of genjutsu, as he’s sealed off his eyesight.
Despite the Sharingan operating as a doujutsu, it seems like Izanami’s been successfully used on Kabuto. Had he kept his eyesight, Kabuto would have realized the danger he was in when one of Itachi’s eyes completely ceased functioning. It looks like even the Edo Tensei can’t regenerate Sharingan which have “lost their light” – probably because it hasn’t been physically destroyed. I know Itachi’s a genius… but you’ve gotta wonder how he’s learned all these Uchiha kinjutsu when they carry irreparable risks. Learning about something in theory is very different from applying it in practice, no matter how talented one is. But anyway, Kabuto’s feeling of deja vu turned out to be the recurring loop of events Izanami conjures up – every time he stabs Itachi, it turns out to be a crow clone and his horn is cut off with the real Itachi’s sword. The same jutsus are being repeated too; Kabuto knows Sasuke’s going to try and get him with a Katon jutsu, and responds with a Suiton. The crow feather on the ground and the stalactite’s water droplet signal the repetition of the loop, which Kabuto cannot get out of.
It’s interesting how Itachi almost seems to be teaching Kabuto something – he’s repeatedly telling him to acknowledge himself instead of trying to be someone else, as if he’s encouraging him to change. That seems to be the goal here (instead of immobilizing him like with other genjutsu) especially as Izanami was consciously designed with an escape route in mind. Of course, I’m sure it’ll keep him still long enough for Itachi to undo the Edo Tensei. It’ll all be explained properly next week – which seems to be partly filler from the looks of it. This time, though, I think it’ll be a good thing – filler Uchiha characters will help us understand the concept of Izanagi and Izanami slightly better.