In the final chapter of the Netsushi review I found that this book really did make a different kind of noise. The author has a way of making things so easily understandable. No clutter, no big words and everything explained in just enough detail for the reader to grasp. It’s not a work of art, but instead a very good yarn told with great detail.
What I liked was that it stayed true to the original story. I won’t give away the ending, but you get the idea. In the first chapter, we are introduced to the village of shinobi: a small farming community in Hokkaido, Japan. A few boys from this village were sent as reinforcements to protect the rest of the village from the Naruto clan who are famous for being ninjas (warriors endowed with the ability to conceal and strike at just about any target without being seen). The brave shinobi were killed when a giant statue of a naruto started falling on the village.
This was just enough of an introduction to the plot. But then the story picks up after a year has passed and we meet a new , a boy called Naruto. Naruto is orphaned and has a special Sharingan, which allows him to see other people’s thoughts. He also has this kakashi (a powerful, double-bladed sword) which he uses for both offense and defense. This was my first assumption about what this book is about, but it turns out the story isn’t centered around the Sharingan, but instead about the bonds forged by the four boys. There are also some interesting sibling relationships, as well as the continuing conflict between the ninja clans.
It is a quick book that won’t drag you out, but there were quite a few moments that made me squirm a little and that made me smile a little. One scene left me wondering how naruto could do what he did without the Sharingan. I didn’t expect that, and that made the entire scene especially amazing, especially considering that this novel wasn’t even written yet when I was reading it. Anyway, I’ll just tell you one of the scenes that made me smile a lot.
After Naruto and the gang defeat Kuchiki Ritsu and the Konoha forces, Igbi Onome August enters the scene and immediately starts chasing after Naruto. She ends up getting injured during the battle, and Naruto decides to help her get back to the real world. This is where we start to see the beginning of a love story between Naruto and Hinata Hyuga. I’m not going to give it away, but let’s just say that I felt for both characters at points in the book, even though I really don’t care for Hinata in particular.
There is also a great action sequence involving Naruto, who are now known as Rock Lee, and the mysterious masked man known as Pain. Pain has been hunting the Konoha trio for some time and has finally tracked them to the Land of Water. Kakashi and Naruto have to save the three before they are killed, and in the process, Kakashi gets slashed by a massive fish. Very exciting stuff.
I suppose the main reason why I’m giving this short review is because I really enjoyed listening to the end of “Kakashi Gets Stressed”. It just reminded me of some of the scenes from Naruto. It was just good to see that in the final chapter, that this book was still relevant even though it was written for a new audience. The fight between Obito and Naruto at the end made me feel all that excitement again about the series. It was like everything had happened at once, and that I could not wait for the next episode. I did not have a doubt that Naruto and Obito would finally get their long awaited fight, and for those who didn’t know, please read the series, you won’t be disappointed.
In short, “Kakashi kills Rin” was a satisfying episode. It answers many questions and leaves you wanting more. I especially enjoyed the relationship between Obito and Rin. I really liked the way that Obito and Madara were portrayed in this book, and Madara was a very interesting character. My favorite of the new characters introduced in this collection is Madara Uchiha, he has a very intriguing style, and I hope he’ll get more screen time in the future. Overall this was a very satisfying to watch.
