⭐Naruto Episodes 116 & 117: Watch Along & Analysis

Jirobo looks like a 40 year old I will admit I’d blame the curse mark brings out the worst in people

For example the genin he used for the reanimation jitsu after they failed to advance

Thing to note about the sound ninja 4 orochimaru has high standards for his subordinates to the point where if they aren’t natural born geniuses they are going to be nothing more than ninjitsu fodder

So Choji dead. Neji dead. Who's next? Taking all bets. It's really late here and I gave you a huge segment last week with words that were too big for you so this week I'll keep it short. The worst is yet to come. This arc hurts. Sweet Dreams.

I would say Naruto + Shippuden together have about a dozen moments/events that an invested viewer would consider significantly emotionally impactful, the majority in Shippuden since it has a lot more volumes/runtime to place them. IMO it does a pretty good job of mixing them up so that some impact every viewer, and others vary depending on how you relate to/feel about certain characters, and interestingly, about their ideologies. Choji and butterflies; Neji and birds. The fuinjutsu or sealing jutsu used by the Hyuga Main family on the Side/Branch family is also sometimes referred to as the Caged Bird Curse/Seal. His bird-related imagery and conversations in the Chunin Exam were about caged birds learning to free themselves. Here we see wild birds again, first used to show his physical weakness, and then again to show the strength of his new philosophy. My favorite thing is that for the first time in his life most likely, Neji is faced with an opponent that clearly outclasses him in a serious fight, and he wonders what Naruto would do. And then, he actually DOES what he thinks Naruto would do. Tank the hit you can't avoid anyway, taking the least amount of damage possible. Use that opportunity to cripple the enemy with a surprise attack, and then use sheer grit to force your body to do what you want and charge the enemy head-on to finish them off at any cost. That's determination. Oh, and just so we make sure to mention it again, Neji is 13-14 years old at this point. He, Lee, and Tenten all graduated from the academy at 12, one year earlier than Naruto.

Denver Gray