The fifth omnibus volume of “Naruto 3-in-1” features the assassination attempt by Orochimaru and the Sound Ninja on the life of the third Hokage. Meanwhile, Sasuke takes on Gaara, Shino takes on Kankuro and the whole leaf village getting into the action to defend their home, If you love ninja action, “Naruto 3-in-1 Omnibus vol. 5” (Volumes 13-15) is recommended!
© 1999 by Masashi Kishimoto. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Naruto 3-in-1 Omnibus Vol. 5 (Volumes 13-15)
STORY AND ART BY: Masashi Kishimoto (岸本 æ–‰å²)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Jump Manga
RATED: T for Older Teen
RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2013
The final battle of the Chûnin Exam is at hand, with Sasuke and Gaara facing off in the arena. Later, Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru are on a top priority mission to track down Sasuke and the Sand ninja. Back at the village, the Third Hokage is still trapped in Orochimaru’s impenetrable barrier. And the tension between Naruto and Gaara builds. As Gaara continues to mutate, Naruto prepares for the fight of his life!
The Chunin exam has concluded and now it’s time for the Chunin Exam finals!
As Sasuke Uchiha takes on Gaara, an assassination attempt by Orochimaru and the Sound Ninja against the Leaf Village’s third Hokage, Sarutobi.
As the leaf village ninjas try to race and protect their leader, the third Hokage takes on the revived first and second Hokage brought back to life and now under the control of Orochimaru.
Will the third Hokage survive this assassination attempt?
Find out in “Naruto 3-in-1 Omnibus” vol. 5!
What is “Naruto”?
Since 1999, “Naruto†created by Masashi Kishimoto (“Karakuriâ€) has been one of the most popular manga, anime and video game series in Japan and has easily become a favorite best selling anime/manga series among fans all over the world.
Currently in Japan and also the United States, “Naruto” is currently in “Shippuden” mode focusing on an older teenage Naruto Uzumaki and for fans who were not around when “Naruto” was airing on television or were not around when the manga series was first released, some newer fans may have not had a chance to know how it all began.
Fortunately, Viz Media has released an omnibus for “Naruto” featuring three volumes in a 600-page omnibus edition.
What is “Naruto”?
“Naruto” is a manga series based on a young boy with big dreams, a boy who dreams about becoming a hokage (the leader of a ninja village) and is very determined in getting stronger to prove that he can one day become a leader. The problem is that he is often teased, ridiculed because his ninja arts has not been like everyone else and because he is often ignored or teased, he has become a bit of a prankster/trouble maker for the village.
But the reason for the ridicule is because Naruto has the spirit of the Fox with Nine Tails sealed inside him.
The Fox Spirit was an evil spirit that it took several ninja clans, great shinobi’s to work together, sacrifice their life in order to make sure that the villages will continually thrive and survive the onslaught from the Fox Spirit and the Fourth Hokage, the champion of the village, Konoha, hidden in the leaves, would seal the Fox Tail spirit in a boy, the boy is Naruto Uzumaki.
And thus the reason why the village has treated Naruto with disdain.
While trying to pass a test to become a ninja, unfortunately Naruto’s ninja arts are so weak that he continually flunks. His teacher Iruka is a littler harsh on him but he really wants Naruto to pass. One day, one of the ninjas in Konoha lied to Naruto and told him that in order to pass and become a ninja, he would have to steal secret scrolls. Naruto, being the naive boy that he is, does so. The ninja who told him to steal it, then tells the village that Naruto has stolen the sacred scrolls of the village that have been under lock and key, in fear that someone can use the jitsu’s for the wrong purpose.
The thing is that Naruto did read one jitsu and has mastered it, he learned to create hundreds of doppelgangers of himself and uses it to protect his teacher Iruka from the ninja traitor. And with his new skills, he has passed to become a real ninja.
From this point on, Naruto Uzumaki joins Team Kakashi and becomes teammates with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. This will be the team that Naruto will train and go on adventures with but part of the problem is that the team is not exactly well-disciplined and it doesn’t help that Naruto and his teammate Sasuke get on each others nerves.
While these young ninja learn their training, during their first mission, they come in contact with a powerful enemy, Zabuza Momoichi, of the Land of the Mist and his consort Haku.
Will these young ninja who are still being trained, will they be ready to fight against Zabuza and Haku? And can these three young ninja work as a team or will they continue to fight as individuals?
What happened so far?
In volume 2 of “Naruto 3-in-1”, the battle between Team Kakashi continues as Naruto wants vengeance against Haku for killing Sasuke. Team Kakashi takes on Zabuza and Sakura protects the bridge-builder Tazuna.
The volume is also the beginning of the Chunin Selection Exams in which young ninjas from different villages have come to the leaf village.
We are introduced to Gaara and friends from the sand village, meanwhile Rock Lee of Team Guy challenges Sasuke to a battle. We are also introduced to Team Asuma: Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino. We are also introduced to other teams such as the mysterious Otonin (Sound) teeam, the mysterious Kusanin Grass Ninja team and a team led by Kabuto.
For the first challenge of the Chunin exams, each team must take part in the written test exam and pass, followed by a second exam in the forest of death in which 26 three-member teams must acquire the “Scroll of Heaven” and the “Scroll of Earth”. Whichever team acquires both scrolls wins the exam. With poisonous plants, bad animals and everyone vying for the scrolls, if any member is injured or dead, the team is disqualified. Also, each team is forbidden to look at the contents of the scrolls.
How will Naruto and team fare?
In “Naruto 3-in-1 Omnibus” Vol. 3 (vol. 7-9), with Sakura trying to protect Naruto and Sasuke and Rock Lee who tried to protect Sakura, now taken down by the sound team, with Sakura fighting for herself, Ichimaru, Choji and Ino decide to help Sakura. But also Rock Lee’s teammates Neji and Tenten waiting to jump into the fray and fight against the sound ninja.
Meanwhile, Sasuke returns to battle but in a new transformed state and more powerful than ever.
As for the other leaf ninjas, we are introduced to Kiba Inazuka and his dog Akamaru, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga who are following the sand ninja, Gaara and team and each witness the immense power of Gaara.
In the next battle for Naruto and friends, we are introduced to the evil Orochimaru and Kabuto’s connection with him.
And for the third round of the Chunin Exams, the surviving teams take part in one-on-one battles: Sasuke vs. Yoroi, Abumi vs. Shino, Misumi vs. Kankuro, Sakura vs. Ino, Tenten vs. Temari, Shikamaru vs. Tsuchi, Naruto vs. Kiba, Hinata vs. Neji and Rock Lee vs. Gara.
Who will win each battle?
What is happening in omnibus #5?
The Sound Ninja, Orochimaru along with Kabuto have disturbed the Chunin Exam finals with an assassination attempt on the life of the third Hokage, Sarutobi. In volume 13, which was supposed to be a battle between Sasuke vs. Gaara, it becomes a battle between the third hokage vs. the revival of the first two Hokage controlled by Orochimaru.
Meanwhile, as Orochimaru unleashes a giant snake to destroy the Konoha village, out of nowhere comes one of the three great shinobi’s, Lord Jiraiya to come to the aid of the village. Shino Aburame takes on Kankuro, while the battle betweens Sasuske vs. Gaara continues but now outside of the Chunin Exams.
The origin of Gaara is revealed and it leads up to a battle between Naruto along with the chief toad Gamabunta vs. Gaara and his one-tail beast sealed within him, Shukaku, the Sand Spirit.
So far, each “Naruto” volume has been an action-packed battle from beginning to end.
And with this fifth volume, it’s a shocker as Orochimaru, the Sound Ninja and Kabuto have executed their assassination attempt on the third hokage and to watch the elder Sarutobi, give all he has to fight against the revived two hokage’s was awesome. But the final battle between the third hokage and Orochimaru was exciting and you can’t help but be shocked by the end result.
The omnibus also features the one-on-one battle between Shino vs. Kankuro, Sasuke vs. Gaara, Naruto vs. Gaara and also getting to see Shikamaru’s leadership start to be noticed by all elder ninjas in the leaf village.
While one can expect to see all-out fighting in all three volumes included in the omnibus, the final 15th volume is where one can learn more about Gaara and what has made him this dark character that has left him separated from the world, his own village and makes him feared by others.
As a long time reader of the Japanese Shonen Jump magazine and long time anime viewer/reviewer, the “Naruto” series was a bit of surprise when I first had the opportunity to read and watch the series. Mainly because of how entertaining and how well-written the series was but also how mangaka Masashi Kishimoto built upon its characters by character development, making you care of what is happening with the protagonist Naruto, his teammates and also becoming captivated by the world around him.
Naruto is the classic underdog. The boy that everyone seems to hate, the boy who just wants to fit in, the boy who wants to have friends and in some ways, many of us have a little of “Naruto” within us and having those emotions of dreaming big, even though you feel that everyone doesn’t expect much from you. Insecurities, sadness, being a practical joker, for me, I can identify with Naruto and feel his pain. But what made me enjoy this series is seeing him persevere, working hard to prove that he is a capable ninja and most of all, his way of thinking helps to inspire those that come across him.
In the case of this fifth omnibus, it’s seeing the surprise of everyone when Naruto shows how much he has evolved as a fighter and summoning Gamabunta to take on Gaara and his beast, Shukaku.
The action and storyline gets better and better and I’m really enjoying how, despite all the action, there is a great amount of story that keeps you drawn in to the overall storyline and not just a quick read of large panels with action. Masashi Kishimoto really goes all out in building these battles.
For anyone getting into “Naruto”, this 3-in-1 omnibus is fantastic! For the price of less than two manga volumes, you are getting a total of three. And if you have only watched the anime series, “Naruto” fans may want to check out the manga series because there are a few scenes that didn’t appear on the anime series.
And also, throughout each volume, you get to read notes and even see sketches from series creator Masashi Kishimoto. Kishimoto writes about his personal history and more.
Overall, this is another excellent volume of “Naruto 3-in-1”. And if you have always wanted to read the manga series, now you can especially with the omnibus volumes which is an excellent value!
If you love ninja action, you definitely want to check out volume five of the “Naruto 3-in-1” omnibus. Great action, great story and for three volumes in one… A great deal!
Recommended!