Naruto Chapter 586 - Izanami Activates - Review / Thoughts

So, in Naruto 586, after all the weeks of building up to it, Izanami has finally been revealed, but was it as epic as people were predicting?

In short, no it wasn't. There were a lot of predictions made about Izanami, from rewinding time to (my own guess) altering the future, but it turned out to be something different altogether.

To be perfectly honest, as well as being extremely underwhelming, because of the very nature of the technique, it ensured that a lot of time would be wasted and that the chapter would become rather boring. If you haven't read the chapter yet, then I can tell you that the technique seems to be an especially strong Genjutsu that traps the person in a loop of repeating the same event over and over again, while in reality, they are just standing completely still and unaware of anything.

By doing this, several pages were literally just the same panels over and over again just so that the nature of the technique could be shown. Obviously to some extent it was going to have to be done, but to waste so many panels seems criminal, especially after all the weeks of slow paced flashbacks and the hyping of the technique.

I would have been far happier with either version of the fan predictions in all honesty, as it just turning out to be a stronger Genjutsu seems really lame and a huge letdown. Most people assumed that with all the build up and hype that something epic would happen when it was finally used, but I suspect most people will feel disappointed by what it actually turned out to be.

This chapter was the weakest in a long time, and I honestly can't say I enjoyed it. Far too many repeat panels and the underwhelming reveal of Izanami made for a very poor chapter overall, and has left me with a sense of utter disappointment. I am hoping Kishi shows us or does something special next week to make up for this, but as of now, this just feels like wasted potential.

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.*