Recently Read: Naruto Vol. 32

While Tsunade faces down Konoha Council's attempts to suppress and surveil Naruto, newcomer Sai joins Team Kakashi. Now led by Yamato while Kakashi is on the mend, the group prepares to continue the search for Sasuke. Sai, a Root member who's been taught to suppress all emotion, counterintuitively has an artistic leaning; he also has an abrasive relationship with Naruto, a clash which will need to be resolved if they're to work together. The book's spy intrigue ends with a cameo appearance by top villain Orochimaru himself. Vol. 32's another fine sampling of this sprawling epic.

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Recently Read: Naruto, Vol. 29, by Masashi Kishimoto

 

Creator Masashi Kishimoto rachets up the suspense in Vol. 29. Granny Chiyo (certainly one of the coolest Grandmas in fiction) joins Kakashi's team to rescue Gaara from the evil Akatsuki - not least because her grandson Sasori is one of them. Meanwhile, the Akatsuki are extracting the Biju (tailed beast) from Gaara's body in a bizarre, Lovecraftian ritual. Both Kakashi's team and Might Guy's team are fiercely tested on their way to the Akatsuki by doppelganger-like body doubles utilized to detain the teams (as well as lesson their chakra). It all ends on a terrific cliffhanger. It's also great to see some longstanding characters again, such as Neji and Pakkun, the talking, super-tracking Ninja Hound.

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Recently Read: Naruto Vol. 28, by Masashi Kishimoto

With Volume 28 of the series, Masashi Kishimoto jump the narrative over two years into the future. The reunion of Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi is poignant and fun, with the trio reliving and updating their earliest training together (minus the rogue Sasuke).

Much needed downtime is interrupted by a most dangerous threat. Members of the Akatsuki (of which Orochimaru is a member) arrive at the Sand Village to kidnap a reformed Gaara (Lord Kazekage). Sasori and Deidara are some of the most lethal and creepy antagonists yet, a threat Lady Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, must respond to.

Twenty-eight volumes into the series, Kishimoto's storytelling remains at a high level, well-paced, inventive, suspenseful, with fabulous art and superlative characterization. It's a great start to the series' second half. 

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Recently Read: Naruto Volume 27

 

Naruto Vol. 27, "Departure", is a respite between the story's Part 1 and Part 2 (volumes 28-72).Its downtime involves healing, camaraderie and renewed commitments. Understanding they have two and a half years before Orochimaru can completely claim Sasuke's body and soul, Naruto leaves to train with Jiraiya, while Sakura studies to be a mission medic under Tsunade's instruction.

Before Part 2 begins the series' time-jump, creator Masashi Kishimoto tells a flashback/side story: insight into Kakashi's past and the mysterious origin of his covered eye. If you're a fan of Kakashi (I am), this is essential reading.

In a brief preface, Kishimoto states that "...I don't think Naruto needs to be broken up into parts". Why did he, then? Was it editorial decree? I'd love to learn more about the inner workings of this series. 

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Recently Read: Naruto Vol. 16

Operation Destroy Konaha comes to an end in this volume and, for the first time, creator Masashi Kishimoto seems rushed in the construction of the plot (and also the art; Panel 4, Page 89 - when read right to left - is the most slapdash illustration to appear in the series so far). The story jumps from scene to scene and time to time so often and abruptly that the storytelling borders on confusion in places. Still, this is Naruto. His and Gaara's battle culminates with Gaara getting a glimpse of understanding about sacrifice and love. An important leader also puts that idea into action and pays for it with his life. The volume also introduces Sasuke's older brother Uchiha Itachi, a malevolent threat to Naruto and Sasuke; even Kakashi is no match for him. Hurried execution aside, this is another exciting episode in a grand epic.

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Recently Read: Naruto, Vol. 14: Hokage vs. Hokage!!

The long plotted attack on "The Village Hidden in the Leaves" continues as Orochimaru revives the dead in order to combat the Third Hokage, and Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru and Kakashi's talking dog, Pakkun, are sent to stop Sasuke, on the trail of the evil and ill Gaara. Orochimaru's Frankenstein-like experiments in raising the dead are told in flashback and beetle king Shino takes on Kankuro, allowing Sasuke to catch up with the rest of his group. It's a flurry of activity after the Chunin exams were interrupted by the coup, and author/artist Masashi Kishimoto is a master of plotting, timing, suspense, characterization and world building. As a plus, the chapters are headed by Kishimoto's musings on his first attempts to seriously create manga. This is a worthy addition to an amazingly complex story. 

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Recently Read: Naruto, Vol. 13

 

After a relatively quiet volume (for Naruto), Vol. 13 explodes with action and tension.
It starts with one of the grandest entrances in all of comics, as Kakashi and Sakura
mysteriously return to the Chunin exams. Before the match between Sakura and the psychopathic Gaara begins, Naruto and Shikamaru are innocent bystanders to Gaara slaughtering two toughs who ask him to throw his bout for Lords betting on the matches. 

Finally, after several volumes of suspense, Sakura and Gaara's match begins, but isn't completed before Orochimaru's well-planned civil war begins and the life of the fourth Hokage and the safety of all of Konoha is in jeopardy. This is superior and amazing storytelling by the great author and artist Masashi Kishimoto. 

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Recently Read: Naruto, Vol. 12

 

The final rounds of the Chunin exams begin. Naruto spars with Neji of the Hyuaga Clan Cadet Branch, in a 105-page battle as philosophical as it is physical, with warring ideas on destiny and free will. Naruto has opportunity during the standoff to tap into the power of his incased fox spirit. Naruto's comrade Sasuke has yet to show up for the tournament (glimpses are shown of a previous and mysterious scene with Gaara, Sasuke and Kakashi), so Kanjuro and Aburame Shino match up instead. This volume doesn't have as much room for the layered and complex political intrigue that the preceding volumes had, but is still suspenseful, top-notch cartooning.

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