As we plough on to the big six-double-oh, it seems that we can safely rule out Masked Man being Obito.

——

Amidst all that is currently going on in Naruto, it seems that the time is at hand where the identify of the Masked Man, Tobi, must be elucidated. Fan circles of Naruto, social networks, and even personal circles on various websites, have all carried out extensive debates and discussions as to whom this masked man is. Some have even go as far to say that it is Obito, whom Kakashi witnessed dying in a mission that went awry, while yet others believe it is some big name character in Ninja history who astray. Still yet, others believe it is a Sasuke from the future, who unlocked a time traveling ninjutsu via the Sharingan that enables him to transcend space and time to get revenge on those who caused him to lose his Itachi as well as hurt his precious relationship with his best friend, Naruto. 

The action in the chapter successfully worked to get our attention away from speculating about his identity to actually hoping to see how he could be defeated. I still harbor doubts about the success of this fight for the protagonists. Kakashi and Guy are virtually exhausted while Naruto and Bee are giving it their all. However with the chakra rods around to sap energy, the more agile Naruto is left to defend and attack. Fortunately he has his clones, however, that is still a huge burden on Naruto. Could he really succeed at this rate?

Perhaps Naruto could handle it. This was a really good panel; combining the different rotation wind based jutsus in this, separated by the panel break, was amazing. With Kakashi’s Kamui having perfect timing, provided for lots of panels of suspense, this landed a devastating blow on Masked Man, completely obliterating his mask, thusly, bringing us back to the opening question of just who is Masked Man?

Could he be revealed next chapter? Or will Kishimoto take us back to another arena in this and push the suspense even further. Or worst, could he do like some fans suggest and have the attack have done so much damage that Masked Man’s face is now so distorted that it can’t be identified? Or for even more laughs, could he do like the plot for a filler episode of Naruto part one, and have Masked Man wearing yet another mask underneath this mask? So many questions and theories yet no definitive evidence for either. So much suspense and intrigue made this a good chapter with nice action.

GO Rating: 4/5

[mangastream]