For longtime “Naruto” fans, volume 63 is possibly one of the most significant volumes as the antagonist is revealed as well as their motivation. For those who have been waiting many volumes for answers of who is behind the mask and why they are trying to capture the jinchuriki and initiating a war, finally the great reveal is in this volume. Highly recommended!
© 1999 by Masashi Kishimoto. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Naruto Volume 63
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 Teen
RELEASE DATE: November 5, 2013
As the ninja war seemingly enters its final chapter, Naruto is determined to stop the mysterious man who started it all, Tobi! With Kakashi and Guy backing him up, Naruto appears to have the upper hand. But Tobi suddenly uses pieces of the Eight and Nine-Tailed beasts to bring the enormous Gedo statue to life to use as a devastating weapon.
It has been speculated during the Fourth Great Ninja War of who may be responsible for leading the attack against the ninja villages and why that person is wanting the war and what they needed the jinchuriki for.
As Naruto faces off against the man with the mask, the man that his father had told him about, who is responsible for the destruction of the village and his parent’s deaths, Kakashi and Guy have an idea that the man behind the mask is someone they know.
The man behind the mask is finally revealed in volume 63 of Masashi Kishimoto’s “Naruto”.
What is “Naruto” all about?
The popular manga series “Naruto” has been going strong since its debut in Shueisha back in 1999 via “Weekly Shonen Jump” magazine.
The manga by Masashi Kishimoto is about a young ninja named Naruto Uzamaki, a ninja of the Konoha leaf village who grew up facing prejudiced within his fellow ninjas because the evil nine-tailed fox was sealed inside him. But throughout the series, we have seen how Naruto is a kind-hearted boy who has worked hard in protecting his friends and staying true to his word with the goal of someday becoming the next Hokage of the village.
In the beginning, Naruto was part of Team Kakashi, alongside Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno and as a team, have grown up together taking on missions and also, joining with other teams of Team Konoha as well as other villages in taking on other major missions as well.
But now years have passed since those earlier years of Team Kakashi and Naruto and his friends are much older and his teammate Sasuke has left the village to pursue his brother Itachi for revenge of killing everyone of the Uchiha clan but worst of all, Sasuke is in search of the traitor of the Konoha village, the evil Orochimaru, in order to obtain more power.
During Naruto’s last confrontation with Sasuke, it appears that a black evil curse has consumed him. But as a promise to his teammate Sakura, Naruto will do what it takes to bring Sasuke back despite whether or not Sasuke has become evil.
What has happened in the last volumes of “Naruto” so far?
In the previous volume of the “Naruto” manga series features the beginning of the Great War as the ninja villages have united to take on the dead, past Gokage and deceased Akatsuki members as well as the revival of deadly ninjas by Kabuto.
The dead know they have been revived but are not able to control their bodies (which is being controlled by Kabuto). The goal of capturing Naruto for his nine-tail powers continues, but the ninja villages were able to hide Naruto in a moving island. Meanwhile, Naruto is unaware of what is going on the outside world, as the Gokage have him fighting in an enclosed space and being trained from Killer Bee.
Meanwhile, as ninja units of the Allied Shinboi Forces have been assembled to take on the resurrected and legendary ninjas that have been revived.
In volume 56, the Kage have been resurrected and Darui must take on the most dreaded ninja brothers of all time, Ginkaku and Kinkau a.k.a. The Gold & Silver Brothers. Two brothers who are not only powerful but having been eaten by the nine tails (and escaping it) and living within it’s belly and feeding off the Nine Tails inside, they were let out of the Jinchuriki’s body because of the harm they have caused and because they fed on the nine tails, they now have his chakra inside them. And Naruto is beginning to feel that something is wrong (and sensing his chakra on the outside). Meanwhile, Mifune must take on the resurrected second Tsuchikage, Hanzo and also Asuma has been resurrected and now Shikamaru, Choji and Ino must fight their former master to to the death.
In volume 57, the Allied Shinobi Forces have kept Naruto in the dark as much as they can. By telling him he’s on a major mission and keeping him hidden inside an island, with various members of the Forces to prevent his escape, with Naruto’s new found power of tapping into the power of the nine-tailed fox, he can now sense death around him.
And with Naruto now knowing that something is terribly wrong, both Naruto and Killer Bee want to show Madara and the Akatsuki that they are going to fight back and no way will they be stripping the power of the jinchuriki away from them. But knowing how important both Killer Bee and Naruto are for the Allied Shinobi Forces, under orders, ninjas of various villages must try to block the two from escaping.
So, badly that Raikage and Lady Tsunade are called into stop both Killer Bee and Naruto.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, as night time comes, both sides take a break and try to recuperate from their injuries. But what the Allied Shinobi Forces don’t know is that their camps have been infiltrated by ninjas that can assume a form of one of the Forces’s Shinobi. With an unknown enemy killing doctors and important people in the Allied Forces camps, they must find a way to capture and kill these hidden enemies before more ninjas of the Allied Shinobi Forces are killed.
In volume 58, Naruto and Killer Bee have been able to seal away the previous Raikage but now with the Akatsuki infiltrating all Allied Forces camps and no one able to tell who is friend and foe, more and more allied forces are being injured or killed by the impostors.
And only one person can help them…Naruto. Who must create shadow clones of himself with is new power to sniff them out.
Which leads to volume 59 as the battle continues to escalate as Gaara, leader of the Sand Village and Ohnoki, leader of the Stone Village must continue to fight against the great Mizukage of the Mist Village, who was resurrected.
But also, another battle will begin as Madara Uchiha finally strikes back and as for Naruto and Killer Bee, they find themselves in another battle with Tobi of the Akatsuki.
And now here we are with volume 60, as the Allied Shinobi Forces are making their comeback, the revived masked Madara Uchiha unleashes the six jinchuriki to fight and kill Naruto and Killer Bee.
With Killer Bee and the eight tails injured, Kakashi and Guy go into assist Naruto and Killer Bee.
But while the jinchuriki are being controlled by Madara, all biju are able to communicate with each other telepathically and somehow the six jinchuriki are confronted by Naruto for the very first time, but instead of wanting to take control of them, Naruto is intent of saving them. Never seeing this kindness ever before the biju are able to see Naruto’s kindness towards them.
And during battle, Naruto activates his Biju Mode and is now able to access the Biju Psyche Plain to be in the consciousness of the jinchuriki and a little of the history of biju is revealed.
In volume 63 of “Naruto”, with Madara Uchiha back, they leaders of the ninja villages have been beaten, meanwhile Naruto, Kakashi and Guy fight against the masked man. As Kakashi is nearly depleted of chakra, he also fears the worst as he and Guy think they know who is behind the mask.
And as Naruto is able to deliver a sharingan to the masked man, shattering his mask, the identity of the antagonist has been revealed!
With the 63rd volume of “Naruto”, what readers will finally get are answers.
Answers to those responsible for the Great Ninja War, why they needed the Jinchuriki, why they needed Pain and simply why the one person that Kakashi and Guy thought to be dead, is very much alive.
Is it one person pulling the strings or are there two?
Suffice to say, I don’t want to reveal a whole lot of what is going on in volume 63 because it’s a volume that is primarily a flashback of the antagonist and their mentality and vision.
The Great Ninja War is still ongoing and all we know for now is that the leaders of each ninja village have suffered a major blow. Are they alive or are they dead? For that, we’ll probably find out in volume 64, but for now, it’s the major revelation of who is responsible for the attack years ago and who was responsible for unleashing the nine-tail, who is responsible for the Great Ninja War and more.
As always, Masashi Kishimoto’s artwork is well-done and his storytelling for this volume is rather fascinating and captivating.
Overall, for long time readers of “Naruto”, volume 63 is a significant volume as the antagonist is revealed and the motivation for what and why they are trying to collect the jinchuriki and why the Great War was started is revealed.
This is one volume you don’t want to miss!