Naruto 3-in-1
volume 7 is an omnibus edition of the original volumes 19, 20 and 21. Like all
of the previous Naruto omnibus
editions, this volume collects a very nice selection of stories. Each volume
tells its own story while also serving as satisfying continuation of the
series. Volume 19 is the direct continuation of the previous volume’s story.
Naruto and Jiraiya have just found Tsunade, another of the Three Legendary
Shinobi, and they are trying to convince her to accept the position as the
Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure village.
Orochimaru and Kabuto are also after Tsunade but their goal is to have
her heal Orochimaru’s arms that he can continue with his plot to acquire the
Sharingan and destroy Konohagakure. The
whole volume is an extended fight sequence and as exciting as it is to have the
Three Legendary Shinobi fight, it was a bit of a disappointing fight. Part of
it had to do with the fact that all three were incapacitated in some way.
Orochimaru is unable to use his arms since his fight with the Third Hokage.
Tsunade is emotionally crippled as she is struggling between her
responsibilities as a Konoha ninja and her more selfish goals. Jiraiya, well,
he got poisoned by Tsunade in an earlier story. The other reason the fight was
a disappointment had to do with the type of fighting. All three used summoning
jutsu and the whole fight escalates in scale and it actually becomes less
interesting sine the summoned animals (toad, slug and snake) do much of the
fighting. Still, it’s not all bad. We get to see some interesting fighting
combinations like Gamabunta (the chief toad) spitting out oil and Jiraiya
igniting it with a flame ball. It’s also nice to see Kabuto and Tsunade using
their medical jutsu to fight.
Volume 20 served as a nice change of pace. It’s breather
volume, taking place between a story arc that just finished an another one that
is about to begin. Masashi Kishimoto takes the time to catch up on a few of the
other characters and develop them further. He spends time shedding new light on
Naruto and Sasuke’s mutual friendship and rivalry. He also spends some time on
Rock Lee. Lee is still recovering from the injuries he suffered while fighting
Gaara in the Chûnin exam. I have to admit I’ve always been a little disturbed
by Guy’s teaching techniques. It’s like brainwashing to a degree. Lee is
limited in what he can do. He’s only able to do one of the three main types of
justsu. Guy acts as if that’s not a handicap at all but it is. He convinces Lee
that even without special abilities he’s able to achieve the same heights in
fighting abilities as all of the other genin (low-level ninja). Part of Guy’s
teachings are true, Lee can still become a great ninja, but what I don’t like
about Guy’s message is that he doesn’t seem to acknowledge that everything Lee
will achieve will come at a high price. We witnessed Lee’s incredible taijutsu
(physical techniques) during his fight we Gaara but it has left him nearly
crippled. It’s nice to get to catch up on all the younger ninjas as the series
has had some really hectic plot developments and it elevated the series to a
whole new level of action and story but a little breather from time to time is
nice.
The final volume of this collection, volume 21, is the
beginning of a new arc. After being healed by Tsunade and recognizing Naruto’s
impressive growth, Sasuke feels like he hasn’t progressed as a ninja as well as
he should have. He’s recently been spurred to achieve greater strength
following an encounter with his brother, the man on how he will like to get his
revenger for annihilating the Uchiha clan. Sasuke departs to join Orochimaru to
become stronger. This leads to Tsunade sending out Shikamaru on a mission to
bring Sasuke back to Konohagakure. Shikamaru has always been one of my
favourite characters in Naruto. I think it’s great that we get to see him
actually lead a team. That’s what he is really good at as opposed to one-on-one
fighting. He’s a good fighter but being a ninja is more than just being a
strong fighter. Giving Shikamaru this mission and having us follow him on it
gives the reader a slightly different look at the world of Naruto, a world in which countries military is made up of ninjas. I
was pretty excited about this story arc when I first read it and I’m excited
about it now, too. Even though Sasuke isn’t one of my favourite characters
(he’s too much of a brooder and feels much too sorry for himself) it’s nice to
see him get into action. He’s been moping a lot for several volumes now and if
he’s serious about getting stronger, he’s got to go out and do something about
it. I don’t think he’s going about it the right way but that’s what makes the
story interesting. I’m also excited about this arc because we’ll be seeing some
of the Genins in action; some in particular we haven’t really seen do much
before.
All three volumes collected in this omnibus edition are a
tad underwhelming compared to the crazy volumes that preceded it. The series
really came into its own as of the 5th volume, the start of the
Chûnin exam. It continued to reach new heights with the end of the exam and
Orochimaru’s attack on the village in volume 13. It’s only natural that things
started to come down a bit in order to recoup and prepare for the next big
storyline. Naruto is also a series
that has tons of regular and recurring characters. Kishimoto has regularly been
introducing characters since the first volume but in volume 20, he gave the
readers the time to catch up with a few characters before starting the next art
and though it wasn’t as exciting as some of the stories, I appreciated the
change to catch up. The Sasuke Retrieval Team is made up in part of some ninjas
we haven’t spent a whole lot of time with before and the spotlight chapters on
Choji and his battles (one inner and exterior) for his self-confidence was a
rather nice way to start off the new arc. It’s unnecessary to say, but I’m
really looking forward to the next 3-in-1 omnibus!
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