The Great Ninja war begins and the unity of the ninja villages take on the revived legendary ninjas of the past led by Kabuto. A thrilling, all-action volume that “Naruto” fans will surely love! Recommended!
© 1999 by Masashi Kishimoto. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Naruto Volume 55
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: March 6, 2012
The Great War Begins. Evil masterminds Kabuto and Madara instigate skirmish with Naruto and friends on Turtle Island. The Allied Shinobi Forces prepare to attack, but are they read for Kabuto’s horde of reanimated dead ninja?!
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.
Volume 55 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 and other deadly ninjas revived by Kabuto to take on the various ninja clans.
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 other than he is working on a mission. But everyone is hoping that Killer Bee can train Naruto on how to gain control of the nine-tail fox and prepare for the big war.
Meanwhile, as ninja units have been assembled on both sides, it’s a battle to the death as the ninjas of other villages must take on the ninjas that have been revived. This includes the return of a few of the deadly Akatsuki and also for Kakashi, the return of Zabuza and Haku. But this time, Zabuza and the revived legendary swordsmen of the mist are ready to fight.
Here is a brief summary of each chapter of “Naruto Volume 55”:
- Number 515 – The Great War Begins! – Naruto learns from Killer Bee on how to control the nine-tails chakra while the Ninja villages set up squads to prepare for the Great War. Kabut sends out the revived Gokage and Akatsuki members and takes control of them for battle.
- Number 516 – Gaara’s Speech – As rival ninja villages must work together, Gaara tries to bring unity to the rival clans and prepare for war.
- Number 517 – Omoi’s War – Commando Unit Captain Kankuro takes his team to take on the revived Deidara and Sasori. Meanwhile, Sai confronts his brother.
- Number 518 – Battle of the Commando Units!! – The battle between the opposing units continue.
- Number 519 – The Biju Bomb – Killer Bee tries to teach Naruto the Biju bomb and also learn of the ramifications of the new jutsu.
- Number 520 – Secrets of the Edotensei – Kabuto reveals the secrets of the Edotensei.
- Number 521 – The Main Regiment in Batle!! – The battle continues as Kakashi takes on the revived Zabuza.
- Number 522 – We Died. – Zabuza and Haku find out that they have died and have been revived.
- Number 523 – The Legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist!! – The commando unit led by Kakashi must take on the legendary seven swordsmen of the Mist.
- Number 524 – That Which Ought to be Protected – Kakashi vs. Zabuza to the death.
“Naruto” vol .55 begins the Great Ninja War and one can expect plenty of action in these latest chapters.
And despite all ninja villages banding together for the war, Kabuto has revived legendary ninjas, swordsmen and former leaders of ninja villages, including the Akatsuki and he has complete control over them. No matter how hard the dead try to fight Kabuto’s control, they are unable to break it and must fight against their former rivals, family members and friends.
As for Naruto, the training he is receiving from Killer Bee is starting to work but he finds out that through this new jutsu, he is unable to use shadow clones otherwise, the nine-tail fox will consume as much chakra to kill Naruto. Naruto must learn how to control the beast within and utilize its power (essentially swapping his power with nine-tails power) without dying.
Needless to say, this latest volume of “Naruto” is an intense, all-action fight-fes! And the war is captured amazing well in this latest volume as Masashi Kishimoto tries to capture the essence of battle between the ninjas as the village may have the numbers, but Kabuto’s revived dead ninjas have the power. Strategy comes to play and who will win and who will lose will be quite interesting because it seems that as of now, Kabuto has the edge.
I can’t wait to see how this overall storyline develops especially how Naruto develops from his training.
Overall, “Naruto” is an awesome manga series and for those who have appreciated the anime series first, will definitely enjoy the manga series as well. And once again, another thrilling, action-packed volume of “Naruto” the manga series. Highly recommended!