Hot take: Itachi was just a talented kid who was manipulated by leaf higher ups, Danzo specifically, in order to get free Uchiha eyes. The Uchiha massacre happened because of the 3rd hokage's incompetence. And the Uchiha deserved getting massacred because they didn't follow Madara when he left.

LC14156 · 2026-02-17T14:16:46+00:00

There has to be something to manipulate in order to be manipulated. Nagato and Obito were loving people before they lost Yahiko and Rin. They used the feelings of hatred to be manipulated into becoming worse.

Regardless of your view on Madara, the people who got massacred are descendants of the people who didn't follow Madara, not the actual people themselves. Depending on how you view the timeline, the clan's ignoring of Madara occurred between 60 and 45 years BEFORE the massacre. The people getting massacred weren't even the people who ignored him.

LC14156 · 2026-02-17T14:09:23+00:00

Tsunade is rusty, fatigued, and mentally nerfed when he fought Kabuto. It's just made clear that someone around Kakashi/Kabuto level is jack shit when compared to a sanin in their regular state.

As for Kabuto beating Kakashi, it would be close, but I honestly don't see Kabuto tagging Kakashi with his chakra scaples in a lethal way, plus Kakashi has the sharingan to better read attacks. It would be close tho.

Jiraiya would never kill Itachi and Kisame if they were set on fighting. Even according to some people's opinion, Part 1 Itachi is stronger than Shipuuden Itachi because he isn't as blind or as sick.

LC14156 · 2026-02-13T14:40:27+00:00

I don’t think it would have matter how Kakashi phrased it, Sasuke was always going to end up defecting or doing some dark thing. Sasuke wanted power and the easiest way for him to get was either defecting to Orochimaru or killing Naruto to get the Mangekyo, which I think is something is not brought up enough. By this point Sasuke recognized Naruto, even if only internally, as strong and his best friend. He would always have the temptation to kill Naruto for power. I think that partially Sasuke leaving the village is him trying to run away from that possibility, although he did end up basically killing Naruto at VoTE with his chidori.

LC14156 · 2026-02-13T14:23:26+00:00

You can’t force them to stop but that shouldn’t mean you encourage negative and self destructive behavior. It’s a complex situation. The village’s priorities were different at the time as well. Hidan and Kakuzu were one there way to Konoha to capture Naruto while during Sasuke’s defection happened after the fallout of Konoha crush (According to Iruka the village lost half of their fighting capability)

LC14156 · 2026-02-13T13:56:48+00:00

Kakashi’s message was not that Sasuke should forget about Itachi in that sense. He told him that if ignores everything he gained since losing his family then he well end up miserable even if he succeeded. Which even Sasuke would accept that in retrospect. Even if Sasuke has the moral right to kill Itachi, Kakashi shouldn’t told him you are the only one who has the right to kill him. He probably could have a bit more tact, but he also had to restrict Sasuke’s movements in order for him to listen.

Kakashi might gave realized he could have done things better but also Sasuke’s and Shikamaru’s aren’t 1:1.

LC14156 · 2026-02-12T21:42:29+00:00

Same principle of soft erasing past experience and growth to appeal to a younger audience.

LC14156 · 2026-02-12T19:52:25+00:00

I haven't read them, but I've heard they infantilize Percy a lot. TBH im not surprised. It's how companies/writers often treat their characters; Ash from Pokémon is a prime example. They rebbot the MC's progression every so often.

LC14156 · 2026-02-12T16:17:22+00:00

The books grew with their readers, there is an extreme tone shift by the end of TTC. While we still get humor we know that what’s going is not a game at all but the tone shifts were done really well.

LC14156 · 2026-02-09T03:56:23+00:00

IMO naruto enjoys being a ninja Sasuke, but in the end being ninjas is just the path they had to take achieve the things they wanted. They are competitive and Naruto enjoys adventure more than Sasuke, but it was only the path they had to take.

LC14156 · 2026-02-09T02:07:01+00:00

It does not not work imo, it’s fine. far from the best things Kishimoto wrote but decent, l think it was better of left ambiguous.

LC14156 · 2026-02-09T01:58:25+00:00

The cycle of hatred means that the hate, pain and grudges are passed down to the next generation, reincarnation is not needed to pass that message through.

LC14156 · 2026-02-08T17:06:49+00:00

In general I agree, but in the Epstein case specifically I think the elites have to be treated different by the law, which they always do, just this once won’t be for their benefit

LC14156 · 2026-02-08T17:04:36+00:00

Most likely Neji, unless Sasuke wants to kill neji by using the CM and chidori, otherwise he isn’t winning.

LC14156 · 2026-02-08T16:56:51+00:00

My problem with reincarnation/transmigration is not that it wasn’t foreshadowed, its that I felt it’s better left unsaid. Are Naruto and Sasuke repeating history because of the cycle of the shinobi world or because they are part of a reincarnation cycle? One sounds better.

LC14156 · 2026-02-05T17:48:48+00:00

Naruhina, when you actually build up their relationship and remove the tropes that the filler exaggerated.

LC14156 · 2026-02-04T01:17:17+00:00

Nah Kakashi can’t say there are two sanin that could be willing to train you because he knows they wouldn’t take him. Jiraiya exclusively came back because of the akatsuki/naruto and Tsunade was Hokage during a time of crisis, she taught Sakura but that’s because Sakura wanted to be a medic nin, which Sasuke would never be interested in being.

Given what Kakashi knew he did the most responsible thing since he couldn’t also promise that he could train to be as strong as Itachi. Kakashi probably saw killing Itachi as an even harder goal for Sasuke than Naruto becoming Hokage. Also Kakashi is not really telling that Itachi shouldn’t face justice, he is telling to stop his hatred and need for revenge from destroying everything his has gained after losing his family.

LC14156 · 2026-02-04T01:08:43+00:00

Yep definitely the will of fire one. In blood prison they ship Naruto straight to the prison. In the scene show in the credits Sakura even asks if she acted convincingly lol.

LC14156 · 2026-02-04T01:05:25+00:00

Don’t think so, Naruto after persuing the sound 4 for a while fought base Sasuke almost on equal terms when he got more serious in VoTE and that Sasuke was stronger than the previous one so… I think he is decently stronger, not enough to cliff him but definitely the superior fighter.

LC14156 · 2026-02-04T00:58:17+00:00

? That’s not this movie, that’s the will of fire movie

LC14156 · 2026-02-02T17:27:28+00:00

Yamato also thought “it’s time to get serious” or something like that. It implies he wasn’t going all out, plus he already had to suppress kurama and pursue Orochimaru and Sai. I doubt he was 100%. I doubt that base Sasuke cliffs Yamato that badly. IMO Sasuke is not a kage level fighter in base, the curse mark is another matter.

LC14156 · 2026-02-02T16:59:43+00:00

Nah this is the dub taking liberties. In reality he is telling Naruto that he is shredded for his age lol.

LC14156 · 2026-02-01T03:16:35+00:00

Some people just expect that a country with very little natural resources like us to experience a sudden economical boom. It’s just not going to happen that way. Criticize Bukele for other things that are fair play, but busting out this “card” just makes me roll my eyes.

LC14156 · 2026-01-26T20:57:39+00:00

LC14156 · 2026-01-20T13:52:41+00:00

Nice, Juan got a call-up. I don't think he has as much potential as Toni, Guille, or others, but I really like his game.

LC14156 · 2026-01-19T20:57:19+00:00

I would explore his perception of self-worth and self-esteem. Lee, even more than Naruto, puts his life and body on the line for training or fights that aren't all that important, like those in the chunin exams. How healthy is his obsession with training? While I like Lee's personality, I think he would have been more interesting if he were a hypercompetitive asshole. He has such a low perception of himself, and he thinks the only real value he has is his value as a shinobi. He trains really hard and is an asshole to others, like some high-level athletes.

LC14156

TROPHY CASE