Naruto Chapter 581 – Everyone’s Leaf – Review / Thoughts

In the past few chapters we have seen a focus solely on Sasuke and Itachi vs Kabuto, and Naruto chapter 581 is no different in that regard.
 
This was a kind of interesting chapter in all honesty, the thought of an actual battle was thrown out the window in favour of more talking.

While this type of chapter isn’t to everyone’s taste, I have always been a fan of them, as they usually end up revealing something big or important. What was interesting about this is the way that Sasuke was acting / reacting to what Kabuto had to say, and it actually revealed more about Sasuke’s nature now than I expected. After the recent chapters, I commented on how Sasuke seemed to be back to his old ways where he wasn’t just full of hatred and wanting to destroy everything in the name of revenge, and admittedly I was thinking that maybe he would stay that way after meeting Itachi, but after this it has raised fresh doubts in my mind.

I thought it was pretty awesome how Kabuto was still trying to talk Sasuke in to siding with him, and basically trying to work on the psyche of Sasuke. Kabuto told Sasuke once again about what a liar Itachi is, but also told him in harsher and more realistic words that the Itachi Sasuke sees in front of him now is nothing more than a dead wooden doll, and that he has no reason to feel guilty if he wants to switch over to Kabuto’s side.

Then came my favourite part of the chapter in the form of a short flashback Sasuke has, that appears to have happened shortly after Itachi’s death. A hooded Sasuke is actually in Konoha at a bar, and listens to a conversation a group of Konoha ninja are having about the news of Itachi’s death. They are all glad Itachi was killed, with one of them saying it was fitting punishment that one of Itachi’s comrades was the one to kill him considering Itachi had massacred his own comrades. Another person then says how he wanted to be the one to kill Itachi, and stabs a picture of him with his kunai. A look of pure hatred comes across Sasuke’s face as he listens a bit more to the group, with one of them saying that the village and the country will probably want to give Sasuke a medal and a good wage for killing an S-Rank criminal like that.

Then, a Kunai quickly appears from under Sasuke’s robe and in to his hand. Just as he is about to turn and confront the men, a hand is placed on his shoulder, and it’s revealed to be Tobi. Tobi tells Sasuke That the people he is angry with don’t know the truth, and that the place was too crowded anyway. Sasuke tells Tobi that he will tell them the truth, but Tobi just tells Sasuke to stop it, saying that they would never believe him anyway, and that even if these villagers asked the higher-ups then they would deny everything. Tobi then tells Sasuke that this is what Itachi wanted, he wanted to be labelled a traitor to the village for the sake of everyone in it.

Back in the present, Sasuke tells Kabuto that he is not like him, and that his reasons for wanting to crush the Leaf Village are his own. Kabuto then goes on to say that he knows why Itachi did what he did, saying he is the same, and explains about his childhood and how ever since he was first adopted by a Konoha ninja, he has been working hard for the village and making sacrifices. But despite doing so, all that ended up happening was he became distrusted just because he wasn’t originally from Konoha, and that both he and Itachi ended up getting nothing but shame and dishonour brought upon them in exchange for all they did for the village. Kabuto asks what has the village ever done for either of them, and tells Sasuke about how he too was molded in to a different person because of the way he was treated, and says that since he can understand Sasuke better than anyone else can, he will become his new older brother and stay at his side if Sasuke will come with him.

Itachi responds by telling Sasuke not to listen to Kabuto, saying that all this means is that Kabuto is a better liar than he is. Itachi then admits that Konoha is flawed and does have a darker side to it, but says that ultimately he is still Itachi Uchiha of the Leaf Village. Itachi goes on to say that he can’t criticise Sasuke for what he has done or how he has turned out, but that there is still one thing he has to say to him, though it will have to wait until after they stop Kabuto.

Kabuto begins boasting about how they can’t win and how his Edo Tensei is invincible. Itachi says to Sasuke that while Kabuto is annoying, he does have a point with what he is saying. Itachi then says Kabuto doesn’t know the true strength of the Uchiha, and says that the Uchiha’s eye power can affect a person regardless of their 5 senses, but that in exchange they lose the light from their eyes. Sasuke asks if he means Izanagi which takes Itachi by surprise. Itachi asks Sasuke how he knows about it, and when Sasuke tells him he encountered it during his fight with Danzo, Itachi tells Sasuke that it was impressive that he could survive against it.

Sasuke kind of shrugs off the comment and just asks how to use Izanagi, but Itachi tells him it’s not Izanagi he had in mind, instead it was something else, something that forms a pair with Izanagi. Sasuke replies by saying “Another one?” obviously wondering what it could be, while Itachi explains it’s already been prepared and calls it the ultimate jutsu that shall hold his destiny, with Kabuto now charging straight for them. Itachi blocks Kabuto’s attack with his sword, and reveals the technique is named Izanami. Itachi tells Sasuke that if Izanagi is a jutsu that can change destiny, then Izanami is a technique that can decide it, with the chapter ending as Itachi tells Sasuke to just stay close behind him.

Overall this was a decent enough chapter, though I admit myself I would like to see some more actual fighting in the next chapter. The flashback with Sasuke was awesome and was my favourite part of the chapter as I said earlier, and it was good hearing a bit more about Kabuto as well. The main talking point however is inevitably going to be about the new technique Itachi spoke of, Izanami.

It’s going to be pretty controversial in any case, as the Sharingan and its’ powers get a lot of grief from some fans as it is for the stupid amount of powerups and hax it has, so with yet another new technique I am sure it will make a lot of people unhappy. While I for one am excited and looking forward to seeing just what this technique is and what it does, I will admit that the Sharingan gaining new powers seemingly every time an Uchiha is in trouble is over the top.

Moving away from that briefly, I think this chapter also showed that maybe Sasuke really hasn’t moved on in any way since he first became “crazy”.  The past few weeks it appeared as if there had been a change in him since meeting with Itachi, but it felt like Kabuto did a good job of peeling back this veil and underneath revealing that maybe, just maybe, Sasuke doesn’t trust Itachi that much afterall, and that there is a decent chance that once Itachi is out of the picture once more, Sasuke will go back to his goal of crushing Konoha.
So as I said, I am pretty curious about Izanami, especially after Itachi’s words. If whatever it is takes away a user’s light, it must be something pretty amazing like Izanagi. With Itachi saying that Izanami is a technique that can decide someone’s fate it is of course intentionally vague, but I would like to hear what your thoughts on it are and what it may be, so any ideas or theories just leave in the comments box below!

So overall a pretty good chapter in any case, but yet again one that has left me more anxious to see the follow up rather than loving what is already released.

What Is / What Will Itachi's Izanami Do or Be? (Theory)

Itachi's Izanami - What will happen when he uses it / what will it do?  Of course this is a question Naruto fans have been asking and trying to figure out since the first chapter it was mentioned, and in what's a first for me and my site, I am going to discuss my own idea of what I think it may be.

As I said, I haven't done anything like this before either here or on my old site, but I thought it might be interesting putting out my theory for others to see and debate about. And who knows, depending on how popular / how interested people are in this, I may make future prediction posts too.

Now then, on to the theory itself.

Since the OVA came out showing the fight between Madara and Hashirama Senju at the VotE, a lot of people singled out one scene in particular where they say it shows Madara supposedly rewinding time using his EMS to send back Shuriken that were aimed at him. Where this ties in to things is that a lot of people have been using this to fuel the idea that maybe Izanami is going to be that same technique and that Itachi will be able to rewind time with it too, but I disagree with that.

When you think about it, it really wouldn't fit in or make much sense, especially when you think about what Izanagi already does. With Izanagi, that's almost like a rewind time technique in of itself. I know technically it doesn't rewind time, but it still does save a person's life by taking back an action that is about to (or already happened). If Izanami was just rewinding time, then I still couldn't see it being able to go that far back, and if it were only a few minutes or seconds, it would be far too similar to Izanagi.

Itachi himself said  "If Izanagi changes fate, then Izanami decides it."  which of course was deliberately very vague. However, I think that, rather than rewinding time, Izanami will let Itachi change the future. It seems far more plausible, plus the "deciding fate" comment for Itachi would fit in much better. I don't know exactly what Itachi would do (though probably going to the future and placing Kabuto under Genjutsu or forcing him to stop Edo Tensei or something).

We also know how Kishimoto loves using Japanese mythology in his work, and indeed, Izanagi was a god in that too. In the story, Izanami was the wife of Izanagi, and was a goddess of both creation and death. I won't go in to a long speech about it as I don't want to bore you, but perhaps interesting is that at one stage, an angry Izanami swore to her husband (Izanagi) that she would kill 1,000 men per day, to which Izanagi replied that he would simply create 1,500 men to make up for it. Funnily enough, Izanami died giving birth to someone named Kagutsuchi, which of course is one of Sasuke's fire techniques, so it's clear Kishi likes linking the Uchiha with these gods (having now done so with Amaterasu, Izanagi, Izanami and Tsukuyomi to name a few).

More to the point, although she was known for both creation and death, since Izanagi essentially gave life to the person who was about to die, it enhances the possibility that Izanami will do something to end someone's life. Indeed, it would also fit in well with the comment about deciding fate, as what could be more decisive than ending someone's life? The only problem is that Itachi has repeatedly said that he can't afford to kill Kabuto, so we know he isn't going to use Izanami to actually kill him.

Maybe what he means by deciding fate is that, rather than killing Kabuto and deciding his fate, Izanami will instead let him decide the fate of the Edo Tensei, with him maybe getting the chance to seal them all away himself with his Totsuka Sword?

Of course that's just an idea, and I am just trying to make sense of Itachi's vague comments and the possibility of Kishi again taking the outline (or at least inspiration) from Japanese mythology once more.

While I don't know how or what he will do with Izanami, I am fairly confident in my prediction that it will involve going in to the future at the very least.

In any case, feel free to leave your own thoughts below on what you think it could be, or of course, if you disagree with my theory, then also feel free to leave a comment!












*Now I know how these debates often turn in to insults and petty name calling, but please refrain from doing that as there really is no need. If you disagree, please at least be civil about it and post a reasoned argument for or against the other person's point.*