Naruto Chapter 440 – Father

Post Author: Bob

Hi guys, before I get started, I just want to add a shameless plug for J-sama’s weekly blogs on Bleach manga!  It’s a very good analysis (If you can get over his taste in music) so take a look.  Oh and also, be sure to read my FAQ post if you’re still confused about how the new Shannaro!!! blog works.

After 440 chapters, father and son are finally reunited. And just like any good parent who sees his child in danger, Minato came back to get Naruto back to his feet and offer words of encouragement for the upcoming struggle. Unfortunately, this is the limit of what Minato can do for Naruto, the rest of the journey will be up to Naruto himself. There comes a time in a child’s life when he finally becomes an adult and will need to make the hard choices in life by himself; whether he’ll succeed or fail will be fully his own responsibility. I believe Naruto has come to reach this point in his life. What he does from this point on will determine the future of Konoha and the Ninja world as a whole.

Minato’s appearance was quite a surprise to many of us. His carefree sense of humor reminds me a lot of Kakashi (Kyubbi: “Come here!! I’ll rip you into shreds!!“ Minato: “saying you’re going to rip me to shreds isn’t going to make me come closer.“) Like teacher, like student, I suppose. It seems that this Minato is more than some mere illusion; although he does not explain how he did it, I believe that this Minato is indeed a part of the original. Before he disappeared, Minato said his “chakra was fading”, this means a part of his own chakra must have been stored inside Naruto or within the seal all this time. It was activated when eight tails appeared in order to allow Minato’s form to appear in front of Naruto in his consciousness. To store his own chakra inside Naruto for this long, it must have been a very small amount, just long enough for Minato to have a short conversation to Naruto and restore his seal. It’s too bad Minato couldn’t have stayed longer, I’m sure Naruto had tons more questions like about his mother Kushina, but I guess there are far more pressing matters at hand. When Minato restored Naruto’s seal, he said that this will be the last time, does that mean he won’t be able to appear in front of Naruto anymore? That would too sad, I’m sure Naruto could learn a lot from his father. I hope Tsunade or one of the adults will finally sit down with Naruto sometime and tell him about what kind of persons his parents were.

Minato said he had been watching the events unfold from inside Naruto, which is kind of creepy if you think about it. How would you like it if one of your parents had been watching your every move through your eyes from the day you were born? Minato said he saw Konoha’s destruction from inside Naruto and also knows about Jiraya’s death. But I can’t help but point out here that he did not mention anything about Kakashi. I’m sure Naruto believes Kakashi has been killed in battle because he can no longer sense his energy, but why doesn’t Minato acknowledge it? Is there still hope or am I just grasping at straws?

Naruto’s reaction when Minato revealed that he was his father was just what I expected – a mix or joy and frustration. After all, who wouldn’t be happy to learn that his father was the hero who saved the entire village. It was Minato who originally requested the Third Hokage prevent Naruto from knowing the truth. Although it was a harsh choice to make, I can understand why Minato did it. The fact that the Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto was a well guarded secreted which the Third Hokage tightly enforced, but this wouldn‘t stop enemies from outside the village from trying to find out where the Kyuubi had been sealed. If someone outside the village learned that Naruto was the son of the Hokage who sealed the Kyuubi, then he’d become a natural target because the enemy will suspect that Naruto must have some secret passed down to him regarding the Kyuubi or sealing Bijuus. Also, if you think about it, not knowing that he was the son of a Hokage might have made Naruto even stronger. If Naruto knew he was the descendent of a Hokage, he might have grown up arrogant, and rather than train hard to improve his skills, just take for granted he was naturally talented because he has the bloodline of a Hokage. His self training also gave rise to one of Naruto’s most defining traits – his stubbornness. Naruto had some people like Iruka to support him growing up, but when it came down to it, he was an orphan and had no one to rely on but himself. But even in this situation, Naruto learned to be tough and pushed forward regardless what the odds are against him succeeding. Although it was harsh to make Naruto grow up without knowing his parents, it was for his own safety, and I believe he grew up into a better person because of it.

The things which Minato tells to Naruto are what we have already known already so I’ll just summarize them quickly in one breath. Minato sealed half of Kyuubi’s chakra inside Naruto because he wanted Naruto to use it to fight against the masked Akatsuki member (Tobi/Madara) who he believes was controlling Kyuubi when it attacked Konoha 16 years ago, and who he believes will do so again and is using Pein to achieve that agenda. Naruto refuses to believe that Pein is simply being “used” as it suggests he is not wholly responsible for his actions so far. There’s truth in Minato’s words that Jiraiya was not just killed by Pein, but also by the Ninja system that caused so much suffering to a nation that allowed the creation of someone like Pein. However, ultimately a man is responsible for his own action and can’t simply blame it on his upbringing or his past; this is why Naruto cannot find it in his heart to forgive Pein. Minato does not ask Naruto to forgive Pein either, he is not here to tell Naruto exactly how to bring peace to the world – it’s not a simple answer and neither Minato nor Jiraiya found the right solution. Naruto, like he has down all his life, will need to walk his own path to find the answer. What Minato can offer though are the words of acknowledgement Naruto has been seeking to hear all his life: “I believe in you.” As the Eight-Tails recedes and Naruto emerges from his dream-like state once again in Sage Mode – there’s definitely a renewed look of confidence in his eyes. He knows he is the son of the Fourth and that the future of Konoha now rest on his shoulders, he will not let them down.

By the way, awesome Falcon Punch Naruto! Take that you deadbeat dad, now cough up sixteen years of child support payments!!!

FAQ on Shannaro 2.0

There’s been some confusion with how things work now that we’ve switched to the new Shannaro!!! blog hosted by WordPress.  Hopefully this post will help answer some of those questions, and if it doesn’t just post a comment here.

1. Why did we move?

The simple answer is Shannaro!!! grew too big, too fast  for the host I had previously.  More traffic = more server load = more $$$.  The hosting company demanded more $$$ (A Lot More) or else they’d shutdown my sites, including my main site Narutohurricane.com.  I lacked sufficient $$$, so was forced to move the blog elsewhere.

2. What’s different about the new Shannaro?

Besides the visual differences, the main changes you’ll notice are that rankings are no longer available and that the grotesquely large avatars have been replaced with smaller ones. These changes will actually make the pages load faster than before, so it’s actually good in a sense.  One of the bad changes involves how people submit blogs, which I’ll address later.

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Notice that the web address for the blog is not longer http://www.narutohurricane.com/narutoblog, it’s because we’re not on the OLD Shannaro blog anymore.  This is a freely hosted WordPress blog so you’ll need to create a user account with WordPress in order to login. If you haven’t done so, visit http://wordpress.com/signup/ to do so.

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The problem with this new blog is that not everyone automatically can become a contributor right after they register.  You can be made a contributor, author or editor only by an invitation sent by me, and this can only happen if you have a  current user account with WordPress. Anyone who had a published blog on the old or new Shannaro!!! can automatically become a contributor on the new blog if they wish it.  I’ve sent out invitations to a lot of people already, so please check your emails (the one you registered with WordPress).  If you haven’t received an email invitation, please post a message here to request one, but remember you must have had a published blog on the old or new Shannaro!!! already.

If you’re a new user and would like to contribute, please send your first blog submission along with the your WordPress account email to my email: admin(at) narutohurricane.com, just replace the (at) with @.  Here’s some general guidelines on what we’re looking for in a good blog post. Once it’s accepted, you will receive an invitation to become a contributor.

6. I had a draft blog I was working on in the old Shannaro!!! Can I get it back?

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These are all the questions I can think of at the moment, if I missed anything, please post a message.