Where's the party?

So, Akatsuki finally knows where Naruto is. On Naruto’s end, Bee searches, but cannot find the scroll, so they all assume the enemy knows of their position. Naruto goes over to help Guy up, but instead Guy screams in pain. Yamato tells Naruto not to touch him, as the aftereffects of opening the gates, namely torn muscle fibres, is starting to affect him. Naruto comically overplays it. Aoba suggests that they move Naruto as soon as possible, as Akatsuki know where they are. Motoi summons an owl, and ties a message to its leg. He then says that they’ll move Naruto, but he has to stay on the island. This confuses Aoba, but Motoi reveals the island is actually a giant turtle, and can move around, so won’t be on any map. He says that moving the island to the Hidden Cloud is safer than by boat, and says it would be too suspicious if Naruto left the island, as he’s meant to be on an ecology mission there.

Meanwhile, Kabuto suggests that he takes care of Bee and Naruto, but Madara asks why he wants to. Kabuto replies that he can easily earn Madara’s trust this way, plus Yamato is with Naruto, and he wants him as an experiment. Kabuto then says that instead he could use Zetsu’s body for experiments, and it wouldn’t even set back the Juubi’s revival. Madara realises that Orochimaru was spying on him. Kabuto goes on to say that the joint allied forces are around 80,000, and that Zetsu will be the key to fighting them. He then says that he could make Zetsu stronger, but that would be intrinsic on Madara taking him “there”. Zetsu is cautious, but Madara says he will give him 1 Zetsu in return for the Kyuubi, and then takes him to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. They go under it, and there Kabuto finds the body of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. Madara says that it isn’t really, as it’s just a body he grew from tissue he stole from Senju when they fought, and it has no mind of its own. He then says what he wants to show Kabuto is further down.

Meanwhile, at the Shinobi Forces’ Central Command, the Kages meet again. The owl Motoi sent has arrived, and they find out that Akatsuki knows they have set up there. Oonoki then says that now that they know that the Akatsuki knows, the Akatsuki will have to be on guard too, unless they want to walk into a trap. Tsunade notes how she doesn’t believe an island can move, especially since Naruto and Bee are the ones that Akatsuki are after. A says that he has planned a route which is only visible from the clouds, so they won’t be found. Mei says that if they were going to search, they would only send out recon teams, not waves of soldiers. Gaara points out Kisame would have mapped the island’s general location, so they would search around there. Mifune summarises that they need backup, but sending too large a force would be noticed by the enemy.

We cut back to Kabuto, who finally sees what Madara wanted him to see. He notes that it is amazing. Madara says it was risky and took a lot of Bijuu chakra to make so many, so he wants to keep as many as he can in reserve. Kabuto asks how many there are, and Madara says around 100,000. We then get to see that the chamber is full of Zetsu clones, enough to fight back the Allied Forces’ army. Back with the Kages, Oonoki says he will do it, referring to giving Naruto and co. backup. A doesn’t have any arguments, and Tsunade notes how his ability to fly would get him there quicker. Gaara is skeptical, but Oonoki talks himself up. He then gets a pain in the back, comically stopping his speech. Gaara says that he will go instead, as if he rode his sand he’d be there in no time. Oonoki tries to argue, but his back cracks again. Back with Kabuto, and he has summoned the corpse of Deidara for his own use. Deidara makes a clay bird, which they both get onto, and Kabuto says he will see Madara and Zetsu soon, ready to leave to get Naruto.

Another pretty actionless chapter, like most are these days, but at least it built up the tension pretty damn well. So, with Guy incapacitated, Naruto, Bee and Yamato are pretty much the only ones on the giant turtle that can fight off an oncoming Kabuto. Plus, Kabuto has the bodies of Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kakuzu and Nagato at his disposal, though he likely can use Kisame now too, seeming as though he’s dead. Plus, now Gaara is going to help, meaning what we’ll have is a giant shounen fight that everyone will love. Hopefully. Nice twists, having Madara grow a Senju from a piece of his tissue, and having him grow a Zetsu army. Quite inspired, and gives Madara a little less humanity, which is something we want in a good antagonist. Lastly, I want to make it clear that blogging isn’t pointless, as I have now learned the names of all the Kages and the Land of Iron’s Taishou. Pointless knowledge, in the long run, but knowledge nonetheless. Now, let’s get these fights started, Kishimoto. I can’t wait.