The battle between Naruto and Pain rages on, and Naruto is being pushed to his limit. As Naruto’s sage mode is approaching its end, he is forced to use his secret weapon. In the Toad World, some of Naruto’s shadow clones are building senjutsu chakra. This special chakra is vital for performing the Rasengan Shuriken, Naruto’s most powerful jutsu. With only two shadow clones in reserve, there is only a small window of opportunity to defeat Pain’s main body, but one of Pain’s other bodies keeps blocking each blow. The only thing that can be done to prevent this is to trap Pain with a genjutsu. One problem – Naruto can’t perform genjustu, so while he acts as a distraction, the elder toads, Shima and Fukasaku, will perform the genjutsu.
The thing about Pain is that he is not easily fooled, and when he breaks free of the genjutsu, Fukasaku pays the ultimate price when Pain cuts him down. Now defenseless, Naruto will be easy pickings for Pain. If that wasn’t enough, Pain sends a spike through both of Naruto’s hands, pinning him to the ground. With the end near, one person gets in Pain's way and saves Naruto’s life. Hinata jumps in the way, and she does something that she wanted to do since she first knew Naruto – she proclaims her love for him. Shortly after that, Pain blows her away as if she was nothing more than an insect. That is one thing that Pain shouldn’t have done, because it pushes Naruto past his limit and he loses it. Within moments, the 9 Tailed Fox’s power emerges, and it isn’t just one, two or even four tails, Naruto sprouts 6 of the 9 tails. Now, will Naruto be able to defeat Pain and stop himself before he destroys everything, or will the 9 Tailed Demon Fox be reborn?
Overall
This volume is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Naruto. As a gift to the readers of Naruto, special full page illustrations have been scattered through this volume. There isn’t one or two, but there are seven unique illustrations. Each illustration depicts a special part of Naruto. Some of these are Sasuke and Hawk in a depressing-looking room, and then there is Naruto and his friends in a tunnel. Yet my favorite picture is one that shows all the greatest enemies in Naruto history, featuring Zabuza, Haku, Gaara, The sound 4, Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.
Over these past ten years, Naruto has changed a lot, and yet it’s still the same story concept. It’s still about a confident young ninja, struggling with the fight with his inner demons (whether metaphorical or actual) and his quest to be the greatest ninja. I love the fact that this story has remained true to what it is, but I also like the fact that it has evolved. One of the changes is as the readers matured so did the manga, and since Naruto isn’t over yet, I’m sure it will only get better.
ComicsOnline gives Naruto Volume 47, 3.5 out of 5 Rasengan Shuriken
