100% Blind NARUTO Review (Part 9): The Great Sakura Debate & the Five Kage Summit Arc

[@TotallyNotMark]

Ended up getting spoiled on the Obito thing this week on Twitter during the Sakura drama. Sorry guys! If it's any consolation I thought it was a really REALLY cool idea.

[@feno8104]

Damn

[@Burdboy14]

DAMN sorry that happened

[@ChargedJolteon2]

I got spoiled about that too when i was watching naruto

[@Badalight]

That sucks but like, I'm pretty sure 0% of people were surprised at that reveal when it happened.

[@xRakanishu]

I got spoiled by the anime putting Kakashi Gaiden where they did instead of before Shippuden, so it made it painfully obvious when they showed Tobi right afterwards

[@Starvin-Marvin]

Naruto: “I hate people who lie to themselves.” Mark: “I’m totally not Mark.”

[@callmegabeX]

goated comment

[@iamdivan7368]

Gotta respect the power to make a character trending by asking your fanbase a question about them

[@tyuk5107]

Not even asking Lmao just a photo 😭

[@vipuntilwhenever]

She was already trending before this

[@jrodtdk4544]

@@fansee1368 A lot of incels in the naruto fandom

[@shorewall]

@@jrodtdk4544 Or a raging trash character in a super popular anime.

[@বদমাইশব্যাটা]

@@shorewall a little bit of both. Sakura is a bad character while a lot of incels self insert as naruto.

[@JetblackJay]

Mark this isn’t the last part of the Sakura debate this was only the beginning not joking

[@devanplays3509]

The stuff that happened later on isn't as bad as this one.

[@JetblackJay]

@@devanplays3509 no it's bad

[@DammnDeejay]

Fax

[@stoiccrane4259]

There's no real debate here. She's just a really useless character that had the kid of a guy who tried to kill her. Top tier role model for young girls right there!

[@devanplays3509]

@@JetblackJay how?

[@NewtBannner]

Mark: “Naruto is the strongest ninja in the village and by a widely large margin” Long time Naruto fans: *grinning with a smile full of Youth*

[@jacobjensen7704]

Guy and maybe Kakashi would be the only ones that could compete, Sage Naruto otherwise is the strongest by a wide margin.

[@Yan_mrz]

@@jacobjensen7704 I think he said smiling about guy. At that moment and time Gaï was the only one that could be stronger than Naruto. He could beat his ass anytime with the 7th then 8th gate. Kakashi didn’t have the double sharingan that could give him access to susano and way more power.

[@invisanon]

Pain was lucky he attacked the village while daddy wasn't home.

[@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou]

As far as the strongest leaf shinobi was at the time then they would have been Danzo but he didn’t interfere. As far as potential goes then might guy would be the strongest but he has to go at least 7-8 gate in which case he’s six paths level. Naruto is the strongest otherwise but not by a huge margin. Tsunade has better overall ap and kakashi is faster.

[@sudhir2445]

Meanwhile tsunade, danzo, guy be like : fr bro

[@dawnmcauley6411]

The best parts of every blind review Mark does, when he accurately predicts future plot beats and when he is completely fooled by misdirections. No, I'm not going to be saying which is which, that would be spoilers.

[@Gumby518]

And it's that easy to not spoil something other people might enjoy. Not everyone gets that. But then again, "some men just want to watch the world burn".

[@alfredowkwk]

You mean the obito part? lol

[@Yan_mrz]

Spoiler: Lmaoooo the fact he read infinite tsukoyumi was draining chakra from everyone to ditribute it to the god tree. Thankfully he didn’t read more on the subject, we came close guys, he almost got spoiled the whole story

[@the_armada5579]

@@alfredowkwk you probably live in your moms basement at the age of 32, still claiming your fortnite youtube channel with 57 subscribers is about to take off and soon you'll be rich and famous, while deep down you know you have no special talents, no education, and the only way you handle your deep and deserved depression is to spoil books and shows for others, so that they don't get that small moment of satisfaction, which is more than you ever get

[@darkcrow3350]

@@the_armada5579 what on earth is this garbage. Let me tell you this he never spoiled a single thing mark did it in this video because he got spoiled on Twitter. He was mentioning that part. Your response shows your lack of foresight and your lack of care of another person's mental health.

[@tulip8586]

Ah I love experiencing this show again through your reviews Mark, keep it up they're really fun to watch!!

[@jhsrt985]

It's the best aint it

[@lirolo8343]

Exactly

[@fuckville97]

It's also worth noting how Sasuke completely ditches his whole "don't kill anyone unnecessarily" thing from a few arcs ago when he gets to the summit. Huge contrast with where he was before his final battle w/ Itachi

[@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447]

i really hated that, it flies in the face of both Sasuke's morals and his intelligence. like karin said, it would be best to attack danzo on his way *back* from the summit, abd the worst time would be *during* rhe summit. bur for some fucking reason Sasuke goes full idiot mode and decides to attack THE ENTIRE SUMMIT!

[@TheShree909]

I can't stop laughing when series such as Naruto and Boruto are still considered in high regards!. Pain, Madara, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Itachi, Sasori, Orochimaru etc are Asscheeks in comparison to Average characters like Aizen, Blackbeard, Akainu, Doflamingo, Grimmjow, Johnathan Gilbert, Joker, Eren, Black Clover,SAO villains etc!. They can never equal Bleach even in their dream!. The series was a 2/10 for me. The highest part was Zabuza arc which was around 4/10!. And the quality dropped further after zabuza arc!. Bad storytelling, no exciting moments, very simple, easily predictable movesets all ruined the series further. Chunnin exams was the start of degradation of series quality with too much predictability!. And still people are talking of this series? Anybody who has Naruto/Boruto in top 100 mangas and anime must be having a very low bar!. I personally would rate both of them as Asscheeks!. It doesnt even deserve a manga sales in 100s!. One piece will never dip to the level of Naruto!. One piece in iits lowest point is 7 millions! While Naruto even in its highest point can't dream of 5 million!. Bleach is the GOAT among the big 3!.

[@AdityaSharma-cu9tn]

@@TheShree909 and that's how you ruin two great anime kids

[@TheArtistDT]

@@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447 zetsu told the kage he was there he never planned on attack all of them.

[@kazuhiramiller7945]

@@TheShree909 Opinion immediately disregarded because you tried to put SAO anywhere above the worst dogshit ever created.

[@Jazzmaster1992]

Sai being the one to talk to her about Naruto's promise is actually one of my favorite details. It imparts immense character growth on Sai as an individual, and informs us just how serious he was about learning to connect with others after he remained with Team 7 and slowly shed the teachings of The Foundation.

[@trexxis812]

I agree. And it just turns out he was wrong af because he's emotionally unintelligent. But it shows his effort, and his ability to see how Naruto feels, even tho his assessment of how to deal with it was certainly wrong.

[@the_Nameless_One99]

@@trexxis812 I don't get it. What was he wrong about?

[@Jazzmaster1992]

@@trexxis812 I don't think he was that wrong. At least not in the way he appealed to her emotionally, in a very "tough love" sense. Without knowing the exact details or nuance, he was able to bring up a very strong point: that Sasuke was causing pain, not just to the five nations but his former friends and teammates. I'd almost argue there wasn't a better person to give the speech, since everyone else around Naruto and Sakura are biased in some way. He has grown in his ability to feel emotions and also increased empathy, yet he doesn't have the real emotional connection to Sasuke that the others do, and can see why what he's doing is wrong, compare it to how hurt the others feel, and argue against trying to protect and save him.

[@Fax1880]

Funny how people like to ignore that Sai caused Sakura's actions and that he was TOTALLY WRONG, Naruto was doing all for himself he forgot Sakura's promise ages ago.

[@Jazzmaster1992]

@@Fax1880 ages ago, are you sure? When Sai notices Naruto's feelings for her after they return from the Tenshi Bridge, he asks Naruto why he doesn't tell Sakura how he feels. Naruto responds that it's hopeless because he couldn't even keep a promise to her. I think the weight of that promise was always there, even if it wasn't the sole reason he went after Sasuke or continued to try and save him.

[@bakuhakudraws5603]

Really, the whole thing with Sakura confessing her love for Naruto didn't even phase me: she made a dumb, irrational decision out of desperation in telling Naruto 'I love you', and Naruto said 'no you don't.' like an absolute chad. I felt like that scene was so much more about Naruto's growth than Sakura's involvement that I didn't even realize it was such a huge deal to people. Like yeah, she was incredibly irresponsible, she got called on it, let's move on. Additionally, I actually like her desperate struggle to be relevant: I feel like it's a very integral part of her character. She WANTS to be important to Sasuke, she WANTS to be able to have some agency and input on how this whole situation plays out, but ultimately she has none because it was never about her to begin with. Sasuke's reasons for being the way he is are his own, and she neither can nor should take responsibility for it. It's an important lesson for her to learn that I think makes her more interesting even as she has less and less involvement in the story.

[@silverhand861]

Ooh, i like this take. It's a chill and reasonable take. Rare. Absolutely agree that this is a critical part of her journey. Powerlessness feels horrible, especially when it's about friends. She's been doing a lot of good in Shippuden (When she was in focus), but everyone screws up. Even the level headed ones. As OP points out, she got an earfull from her friends, and was probably giving herself a hard time too. Lessons learned. Whole thing could have had more/better buildup though

[@HeinerGunnar]

You summarised my thoughts about it way better than I ever could. This scene is definitely blown way out of proportions by many people Like yeah, it's attempted emotional manipulation, but she's also literally a pubescent child soldier with PTSD. I can't really fault her for that, especially because her attempted target Naruto immediately saw right through her

[@SolitaryLark]

See I would agree with you if she had ever truly grown to feel relevant at some point. Cause then the struggle and difficulty and mistakes would mean somthing. Instead she just married the guy who basically spit in her face and was relegated to a housewife in the end. (Sakura is not someone I would want my daughters to look up to really is the big thing in the end and she’s not a good example of what not to do either since she’s “rewarded” in the end with everything she wanted)

[@vegebul1797]

@@SolitaryLark The only housewife in Naruto is Hinata. Sakura is the top medic and founder of children's clinic. Strongest kunoichi despite not being from a clan. She's worked hard for everything she's got and is a good role model.

[@SolitaryLark]

@@vegebul1797 no

[@Guac_Amole]

Honestly I keep getting impressed by Mark's abilities to draw every anime style accurately

[@arnitheguy]

i think its been trev drawing for the naruto series but i might be wrong

[@Meyu-Sys]

@@arnitheguy yeah it's trev since mark is not familiar with the series completely

[@Guac_Amole]

@@Meyu-Sys ty fam

[@SevenHunnid]

I review weed products on my KZbin channel lol

[@Guac_Amole]

@@SevenHunnid pogers

[@serisealias2834]

One thing I wish he brought up was how Hinata literally confessed her love to Naruto in the Pain arc and then nothing happened after.

[@yesnp6313]

Bad writing🤓

[@marvelsandals4228]

You mean how Hinata confessed her love, then nothing happened, then Sakura decided that was the perfect moment to confess her love to Naruto and hug him without waiting to find out how he felt about her or if he wanted to date her. When he asked her what changed her mind she literally said because he's a strong, famous ninja now. So by her own words, she rejected him for years, then pulled a 180 after he became popular. Not a good look.

[@johnlindsay7301]

Nothing happened? I didn’t see it this way. At the time there was a lot going on. And even after the fact. He turned into 7 tails and rampaged. The way she was treated was the catalyst to his transformation and domination of the last Pain. Then they went into war. And eventually after things settled down he married her. Sure he didn’t respond to her confession right away, or even after the Pain event. But they are 16 years old and in the middle of crazy events. So give him time. It’s only fair. Even Hinata thought so.

[@kevinbell5674]

"The Pain incident proved Naruto was the strongest in their village, and by an incredibly wide margin at that. Taking him off this proverbial chess board would be the equivalent to not using your queen because you're too scared of it being taken out." Hm.

[@grandmarshaljeromial5174]

War Arc, eh?

[@JMobster9]

If only he knew.

[@casper_z1259]

Tsunade is a chess grand master confirmed. Raikage suck it

[@pervysage5465]

@@JMobster9 If you meant Guy and abillity to become strongest for a few minutes until you die, then yeah, Guy is stronger.

[@grandmarshaljeromial5174]

@@pervysage5465 i think he's referring to the part in the war arc they're trying to keep naruto away from the war while he's the strongest ninja in the alliance if we don't count 8th gate guy or double MS kakashi

[@mikeriat9032]

In my opinion, Sakura's tasteless actions wouldn't have been that bad if she actually went ahead and executed her plan of trying to kill Sasuke. It would show actual development in her character and make her hurting Naruto not completely pointless. But like always she reverts back to Academy Sakura when she meets Sasuke. Like back at Orochimaru's hideout when she did nothing but stand around. I'm a sucker for a good romance/tragedy, but sadly nothing about Sakura's continued childish one-sided infatuation with Sasuke is well written or understandable. (Imagine a Sakura vs Sasuke fight at this point in the story, would have been so good and done wonders for her character.)

[@StarWritterSW]

Ditto. Sakura didn't had a single reason to keep her crush on Sasuke. Ino overgrew it, why couldn't Sakura, who barely knew him and didn't saw him for 3 years? If anything, the confession was off put because everything was pointing for her to actually fall in love for Naruto

[@fahimfahim624]

Dont understand why she have fans

[@jlit5215]

@@StarWritterSW (just for all sakes ignore the scene where ino cries over sasuke because that was also really bad). My personal feelings on this is that yeah please let Sakura fight sasuke. Besides the fact I loathe their “relationship” it would’ve been a moment to show that Sakura is resolute in doing this. Not being so weak willed. Hell we all know she would lose the fight, so you can still have the other parts. Man Sakura had so much potential as a character but it was consistently wasted

[@StarWritterSW]

@@jlit5215 every character was wasted in favor of Sasuke and Uchihas. Hell, we know NOTHING about the Uzumaki and they seem to be super important (even though no one knows them) Who took the worst were the women: Ino is nothing if she's obsessed with Sasuke or Sasuke 2.0 (that's Sai. Hell, her dream was about having the 2 fight for her), Tenten doesn't exist, Tsunade was thrown into the garbage and every character that made her is a man (Hashiramsa, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Naruto, Dan, her brother...), Mei have no character, Shizune just waves, Karin is an Uzumaki but matters shit, Sakura wasn't allowed to have powers on her own (because f*ck the Inner Sakura 2 Souls stuff right?) and she's not allowed to grow over her toxic stupid childish superficial crush over a guy she knows nothing and didn't saw for 3 YEARS. And Hinata... Do I even need to describe the perfect portray of a woman for a misogynist? Who abandoned everything, even her name and ninja career, after bouncing on Little Naruto?

[@mayconlcruz]

@@fahimfahim624 Welp, I like Sakura as character concept, and that's why my soul aches when I see the way the story treats her.

[@blazedj]

The way I take the Sakura confession thing is that, just as she claimed, she would explain the situation concerning the elimination of Sasuke to him, obviously thinking that, if he would back down from anyone, it’d be the person who set him on this path. However, recognizing that Naruto is the type to stick to his guns and be willing to die on that hill, she opted for an audible, unlike the others were expecting. Instead, like what shinobi are supposed to be known for, she attempted to deceive him, but with half truths. She does love him, just not romantically. She does want to spend the rest of their lives together, once again, not in that way, which is why she is trying to convince him not to march to his potential death on her behalf. However, Naruto sees right through this. Then, with Sasuke, obviously she’d planned on sidelining those who accompanied her, as she’d begun to feel some sense of responsibility for all of this. She obviously planned to get in good with him and strike when he least expected it, no matter how long it took, but Sasuke sees through this, but possibly not because it was obvious, but because, after he learned of Itachi’s “truth”, he could hardly trust anyone else again.

[@sergelucca635]

i like your take on it. 🙂

[@devaraft]

@@sarveshnathan7559 lol agree, I thought she think she might have the chance since she brings Kiba, Lee, and the others but then she DRUGS them??? I was like "bitch we both know it's just suicide to go against him alone"

[@deoxal7947]

Yes finally someone gets it. Like Itachi said, shinobi have to make very harsh decisions which is what she did. Kiba got mad internally at her for this but what they had in mind wouldn't have worked either and Naruto may have even fought them because if they couldn't defeat him, they couldn't defeat Sasuke. Sai said Sakura was prepared to be hated by Naruto if she suceeded but I think she was prepared for any reaction from him like Itachi was with Sasuke. If Naruto wanted to kill her, I don't think she'd fight back but if Naruto had accepted her love confession I think she would have been willing to marry him. Although starting a relationship on a lie is a good way for a marriage to end in divorce. It's possible Naruto becomes dark too, just not as much as Danzo and Sasuke. If he did, 100% he eliminates the Konoha government for Sasuke's sake. Or perhaps he discards his headband and goes to Amegakure to start a new life.

[@deoxal7947]

@@sarveshnathan7559 Remember after their fight with Killer B? Sasuke slept for days. After this fight he'd have to sleep and that's when Sakura could do it. When Sai tried that, his mistake was that Sasuke wasn't actually asleep. Doesn't matter how strong she is, Sasuke can't regenerate any part of himself let alone vital organs. One stab to the throat and he's done. Even Obito with Hashirama cells couldn't regenerate his heart without becoming a jinchuriki for the juubi.

[@deoxal7947]

@@devaraft She wasn't planning to fight him though

[@RzK_venger795]

So, summarizing Sakura's decision, we can interpret it like this: *_Interesting idea, awful execution._* And I absolutely agree with that.

[@alejandroservin131]

almost hers whole story arc.

[@RzK_venger795]

@@alejandroservin131 All thanks to Kishimoto...

[@kyleward7417]

@@RzK_venger795 All thanks to Sakura

[@RzK_venger795]

@@kyleward7417 *Kishimoto

[@kyleward7417]

@@RzK_venger795 S.A.K.U.R.A.*

[@sgcastle8389]

The part that revealed that Naruto was more faithful to Sasuke than Sakura.

[@beatofromuminekorealnotcli4574]

more stupid, maybe

[@defectiveuser470]

Sasuke was his first kiss. Homie's gotta watch out for his boy

[@jirrellj]

@@defectiveuser470 sus

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

@@defectiveuser470 lmao

[@deoxal7947]

Lol nope, you're misinterpreting this so bad that it's laughable. Team 7 is the closest thing to family Naruto had. And when one of your siblings is making a big mistake you don't just sit by. It's only slightly different because in this case he can date Sakura. Naruto always considered her a friend but wanted to marry her as well. Just like how Naruto told Itachi he wouldn't choose the village or Sasuke over the other, he wouldn't choose to save Sasuke and let Sakura die. Kakashi proposed that exact scenario to Sakura during the bell test.

[@ajgloves5133]

Currently on chapter 513, when I read that Sakura scene, I felt very similar. TNM you took the words out of my mouth again with this one. Loving these reviews as I read this wonderful series along while you do.

[@tobi679]

18:16 "This King" cracked me up way harder than it should have 💀💀💀

[@johnmoya7654]

It would have made more sense if Sakura told Naruto that she’s going back home because she doesn’t care about whether or not he dies anymore, which Naruto would take as betrayal of their initial motivation of saving Sasuke from the void. Only to then find out that she was just making him upset so that she can go kill Sasuke behind his back because she can’t stand the idea of Naruto being the one who has to kill him. That it would break him. Hence the rash compromise. I feel as if that’s more in line with her character

[@deoxal7947]

Naruto would never kill him. That's why she tried on her own. There's nothing anyone could do to get Naruto to relent but what Sakura did had the highest chance of working.

[@liams9752]

I saw Sakura trending on twitter the other day but I didn’t look at why. Good to know what started that war 😂☠️

[@spikegilfer1997]

Everyone else: "Russia Vs. Ukraine." The Naruto fandom: *I HATE PEOPLE WHO LIE TO THEMSELVES*

[@বদমাইশব্যাটা]

She trends at least once every month on twitter and there are ten new posts about Sakura on reddit each day. Love her or hate her, she is still one of the reasons why the fandom is so active even eight years after the manga ended.

[@daddyinthestreetsenpaiinth9250]

@@বদমাইশব্যাটা Holy shit it's been 8 years?!

[@spikegilfer1997]

@@daddyinthestreetsenpaiinth9250 Ouch.

[@nlevel8045]

The Five Kage summit arc is one of my favorites. The tension, politics and scheming are just great. For the Sakura thing...I don't hate her tbh. But it was indeed, so dumb and naive. The fact that Sai was the one starting the whole thing wasn't that illogical imo, because we've seen some kind of development from him throughout the series in terms of emotional and social intelligence

[@casper_z1259]

Or like if she really meant to kill Sasuke, who she knew was powerful enough to kill Orochimaru - her own master's equal - she would have taken Kiba, Sai, and Lee with her, who were totally onboard with her plan to begin with. Hell, she should have asked Neji instead of Kiba, since he has the Byakugan for tracking while also being stronger and used to fighting alongside Lee.

[@TheShree909]

I can't stop laughing when series such as Naruto and Boruto are still considered in high regards!. Pain, Madara, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Itachi, Sasori, Orochimaru etc are Asscheeks in comparison to Average characters like Aizen, Blackbeard, Akainu, Doflamingo, Grimmjow, Johnathan Gilbert, Joker, Eren, Black Clover,SAO villains etc!. They can never equal Bleach even in their dream!. The series was a 2/10 for me. The highest part was Zabuza arc which was around 4/10!. And the quality dropped further after zabuza arc!. Bad storytelling, no exciting moments, very simple, easily predictable movesets all ruined the series further. Chunnin exams was the start of degradation of series quality with too much predictability!. And still people are talking of this series? Anybody who has Naruto/Boruto in top 100 mangas and anime must be having a very low bar!. I personally would rate both of them as Asscheeks!. It doesnt even deserve a manga sales in 100s!. One piece will never dip to the level of Naruto!. One piece in iits lowest point is 7 millions! While Naruto even in its highest point can't dream of 5 million!. Bleach is the GOAT among the big 3!.

[@deoxal7947]

It wasn't dumb. As a kunoichi, that's exactly what she should be doing to complete missions. It had a higher chance of working than telling him the truth. Naruto likely would have fought them and Sakura knew that but Shikamaru didn't.

[@deoxal7947]

@@sarveshnathan7559 Because of Sai, yes that is what she thought. She rejected him a lot of times and Sai made her think that he stopped pursuing her because he wasn't able to keep his promise. In the manga that is, they changed it in the anime so he still flirted with her after the time skip. She didn't see it as the off chance, she was shocked that he did an uno reverse by rejecting her because she had been treating him as a child whose feelings needed to be protected. Naruto really dodged divorce like Agent Smith of the Matrix dodged bullets. Sai told Naruto she was prepared for him to hate her for killing him. My read on that is that was Kishimoto directly saying what she was thinking through Sai. If Naruto wanted to kill her, she wouldn't fight back. If he managed to forgive her then it's possible they start dating at least. I think the most likely thing though is he becomes depressed and goes to the Hidden Rain or somewhere else to help orphans. Naruto started to feel the world fall apart which is why he passed out partly because of her, and it was an excellent scene. I'm not going to hate her for acting on the info she had available. Not to mention that Shikamaru was planning on trying to kill Sasuke if she didn't do something. And being a hypocrite? How do you know that Naruto not giving up was in her mind holding her back? Even Kakashi hesitated. He had to work up the will to do it. Sakura was planning on doing it after she gained his trust though like a kunoichi normally operated in Japan. Most ninja missions were not assassinations though, more so intelligence gathering for other fighters. Kakashi could have chidoried Sasuke right before he got to Sakura instead of grabbing his arm to save her.

[@sarveshnathan7559]

@@deoxal7947 It's stupid that she thought of that because of Sai, as she is letting the opinion of a emotionally illiterate man dictate her course of action instead of her own experiences. It's not shocking to anyone with common sense since she rejected him many times. I will hate on her since she risked breaking the heart of her closest friend. "Sakura was planning on doing it after she gained his trust though like a kunoichi " But she didn't, did she?

[@tigerdactyl6958]

That was a mic drop moment Gaara asks the question "When did you all forsaken yourselves?" at the five kage summit. Yea most fans had WTF moment when sakura lied and said she loved naruto and stop going after sasuke for her sake. Naruto calls out her bs, like we're way past that point, Naruto wants to save Sasuke, no one else is trying to save him besides gaara trying at the summit. Yea most hidden leaf characters get shafted and won't be doing much in the rest of shippuden.

[@derPandre]

I think some of the problems that emerged with characters like sakura here is "just" a typical part of shonen anime: Sometimes the focus on main protagonist feels FORCED. My favorite example for this is fairy tail. Natsu, while being a great character for me, should'nt be the hero all the time. The anime is clearly about the guild, but natsu HAS to take the greatest peace of cake at the end of each arc. This leads to a letdown of sidecharacters in my oppinion. In naruto happens kinda the same. Sakura feels so FORCED to be a main character, even more at the end. I wish Kishimoto would have cut that shit out and "just" let her be a fairly strong ninja with medical talent. Instead of scenes like these, let the Konoha eleven shine, imagine they discussed how they should behave all together and then launch an attack all together with a plan. I miss for example good actions from rock lee and neji SO much here. Sadly, there was no time for them, every main event HAS to be around naruto, sasuke and sakura. In my oppinion, THAT is a problem most of the time. There are good examples in naruto though and I think one piece does an excellent job at this.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

Well said. Though, One Piece does have a tendency to force characters into the forefront that don't need to be there as well.

[@quietopinion9637]

She didn't feel forced at all, Naruto does tho

[@hitandruncommentor]

You would like yu yu hakusho. It doesn’t have this problem.

[@TheBleachj16]

I think Sakura's hate is also based on her attachment to Sasuke being so unbelievable. Most of the time these two barely exchange dialogue. It made more sense when she was a crazed 12 year fangirl, but I personally would have liked it better had she progressed passed that. I don't think its a coincidence Sakura was way better when Sasuke wasn't the focal point yet in part 2. As soon as he shows up its all downhill.

[@gloomsi]

Yeah, I watched naruto as a kid, which meant I watched all the filler as well, so when I went back and realized just how little time they ACTUALLY spent together once cutting out the filler, it's crazy. Naruto is one of the rare cases that the filler in Part 1 actually HELPS the characters and their relationships.

[@denalirowe1977]

@@gloomsi true

[@saucinreggie7900]

I'd actually argue that their relationship has alot of subtle details within part 1, she has almost as many scenes with him as naruto does I believe, I'd argue that part 2 drops the ball simply because they didn't interact enough (even if I think the Novels help).

[@qur1578]

I initially really disliked Sakura in this arc and was angry like everyone else but honestly revisiting it in hindsight after I’ve concluded the series has changed my opinion on it significantly.

[@fahimfahim624]

How? Regardless of her reason what she did was wrong and deserve to be critisize about it

[@vaibhavmadan7125]

@@fahimfahim624 yeah but that doesnt apply to her char as a whole it only applies to her char in THIS ARC AND IN THIS SCENE. its like how goku being stupid in super DOESNT APPLY TO HIS char IN THE ENTIRE SERIES. hence yes her char in this arc can be hated BUT TO HATE SAKURAS ENTIRE CHAR BECAUSE OF THIS ONE ARC doesnt make any sense.

[@Sugheyli]

@@fahimfahim624 it was wrong, however at the end it just ended up being some pointless drama bc turns out naruto never felt anything towards 💁🏽‍♀️

[@THE_MR_ANDRES]

Geez, folks dislike sakura because she reminds them of that one girl in high-school who they had unrequited feelings for who clearly had feelings for sombody else. plain and simple. Immature and out of touch. No matter what she says or does folks will hate her for that alone. People hate sakura because they feel that she's selfish, self involved and just obsessed with sasuke. Suddenly she changes her disposition/behavior 360° and you still hate her??? She chooses narutos feelings over her own, addresses the fact her sasuke complex is unhealthy and realizes she needs to be self reliant and fix things herself. Like there's no winning for this girl.

[@sudhir2445]

I can see the reasoning behind this and what would've happened aftermath. But this was cheating in a way. Being with someone, with whom you are not even love with, misdirecting him is just not cool. What would've happened to Naruto if he ever finds out that she never loved him and it was just an excuse to misdirect him

[@RVoidFall]

No matter what im doing i drop it just to see mark's naruto series lmao

[@masummirza3033]

These videos are beautifully edited, glad to see them returning!

[@SS-gt8sy]

@Editor-san did you sell your soul to devil to get these godly editing skills?

[@SS-gt8sy]

@Editor-san so you went through a anime training arc

[@SS-gt8sy]

@Editor-san ik i was just joking

[@SS-gt8sy]

@Editor-san sry if it was rude I just wanted to say your skills are so good and I really appreciate it these videos were really helpful in the worst time of my life they made me happy once again even if it was temporary

[@danielbukowski2031]

I'll be honest, I forgot entirely about the scene with Sakura. Mark once again gives me a perspective I didn't really think about. I still have a higher opinion about Sakura than most but that's better explained in the next arc

[@Etticos.]

Isn’t the whole “Sakura loves Naruto” thing SUPPOSED to be manipulation and gross? Naruto even calls her out for it. The “tension” is cut immediately because Naruto isn’t an idiot. It isn’t supposed to be justified, she is doing a bad thing regardless of the intentions. Now she wants to kill Sasuke, but Naruto presents 2 problems. 1, if Sakura goes down fighting it will just suck Naruto in to save her, and 2 there is the potential that if Naruto finds out what Sakura is planning Naruto will try to stop her.

[@heftymagic4814]

Yes

[@worthyedge9307]

I get what you mean, but it still makes you lose a lot of respect for her, whether it was intentional or not.

[@Etticos.]

@@worthyedge9307 for sure she is being a manipulative asshole. Doesn’t mean the writing is awful.

[@RzK_venger795]

@@Etticos. Oh, the writing is indeed awful, because it could've been handled waaaaaaay better than Kishimoto did back in the day. She committed a terrible, irrational and irresponsible mistake with good intentions behind it, and it's understandable, and she learned from it, so we're supposed to move on, but we can't due to one single fact... It was terribly handled and written, and could've been done in a better way.

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

@@RzK_venger795 Character acts in-character, sequence of events make sense, but somehow terribly written? Not sure if you understand what that phrase means.

[@spoof2062]

Alright, he's finally at the part where people started REALLY hating sakura

[@raviathreya5357]

Myself included.

[@ByakuganXEyeX]

nah really hated sakura even before this.. @ssjblackenzo i honestly hated her to begin with and i didnt have to be neutral or like her to recognize she HAD good intentions. my thing was just like mark stated shes sup[posed to be THE MOST level-headed of the team and it was just one irrational decision after another which led to that massive manipulative Ex confession vibe that literally told me its time to put her in the trash-can where she belongs once and for all.

[@pawelmatal9563]

@wow bot warning

[@jamaaldagreatest2748]

@@ByakuganXEyeX To be fair (and I hate Sakura lol) she's never been the most level headed when it came to Sasuke. She's always acted irrational as hell over him from the jump

[@ByakuganXEyeX]

@@jamaaldagreatest2748 but I mean I regards to what mark was saying she literally activated manipulative ex vibes to move naruto to act a certain way because she can't communicate properly with that whole I love you thing. Like if she still thinks naruto is trying to bring him back because he made a promise to her then just ask before you assume and then try to manipulate the man to not do it. When mans has grown so much and probably has evolved his reasoning as to why he wants to bring him back.

[@TheXehanorto]

There are two moment's in this arc that I was really hoping you'd touch upon in this video, one got a passing mention and the other likely got overlooked because of the whole Sakura situation. Those being Madara's declaration of war and Naruto and Saskue's conversation during their clash. Madara's declaration of war proper once he finishes explaining his purpose in gathering the nine tailed beasts, bringing forth the Ten Tails and then becoming it's host for his plan to take form, has a single line that to this day sends a chill down my spine when I hear it, either in dub or sub. "There is no hope. To hope is equivalent to giving up and is the biggest deception of all." The weight of this line becomes even more apparent with later information, but right now it's the perfect counterpoint to the hope that Naruto has constantly clung onto throughout this story. To Madara, Hope is the true illusion, that belief that things can become better, that things will work out, that is what he is trying to erase from the world by casting this massive Genjutsu. In a dream world where everything is perfectly perfect, hope would be non existent. And then there's Naruto and Saskue and with the insights that Naruto gained from Jiraya's death (aka his Godfather and one of the closest things he had to family), his confrontation with Pain, and Madara informing him the truth about Itachi and the downfall of the Uchiha Clan, Naruto now has a clear understanding of Saskue and his pain. If Naruto had this kind of understanding during their first clash at the end of Part 1, he might have convinced Saskue to come back to the village. Now though, it's giving him the strength to not give up on his friend, it's giving him hope. There's a line said either during this or shortly after that is the epitome of who Naruto has become. "How can I be Hokage if I can't even save one friend?" He has declared that he will take on all of Saskue's hatred and that either he will save him from himself or they will both die the next time they fight. A far cry from who Naruto used to be.

[@itachisusanoo3689]

YES EXACTLY! I felt that something was missing and this is it, I LOVE what Naruto tells Sasuke here, the way he views both their predicaments is so, so nice.

[@mrprotoman154]

Bases and red pilled

[@aetherialbeing4223]

Honestly, Mark had missed multiple of these moments in the series and I’m kinda worried for the next arc as it’s either going to make the series amazing or absolutely awful depending on your interpretation. Moments like these push the series far closer to absolutely amazing, at least in my eyes

[@kyuubinaruto17]

@@aetherialbeing4223 Things like Kabuto suddenly becoming the co-villain of the war? It kinda took a lot of important characters down a peg. Characters that took entire books to beat now go down in a single chapter. How was "Madara" planning to win the war without Kabuto? The only reason they struggled against the Zetsu was because of Kabuto giving him crap tons of broken, unkillable ninja AND abducting Yamato and using his Hashirama cells to stengthen the Zetsu.

[@aetherialbeing4223]

@@kyuubinaruto17 None of that is relevant to my comment, like at all. I was talking about the theme of Naruto, not the fights. Lol

[@JoshDoingLinux]

My opinion on the scene about Sakura is that she didn't understand how powerful Sasuke had become. The news of the five kage summit assault didn't arrive yet. As far as they were concerned he had just subdued the 8 tails. As powerful as the beasts are, they're huge monsters and difficult to control and most citizens had no idea bee had control. Thus he was in their mind just as strong as the other Akatsuki members theyve fought. And she's beaten one already so she could probably beat another.

[@stefanocremonini2656]

As if Sasori can put a chaalleng to Hebi Sasuke. Every version of Chidori that he created would annihilate the Kazekage which is OBJECTIVELY the strongest puppet in the entire arsenal of Sasori. It is even more powerful than Sasori himself and the red marionette tecnique. Probabily the poison is the only justifiable reason why the Third Kazekage lost to him. I mean only Orochimaru,Kabuto,Tsunade,Hanzo,Chiyo,Sakura and Shizune are medical ninja expert enough to deal against it.

[@kyleward7417]

Literally the first moment Sakura and Sasuke met, Sasuke was about to kill all of them with Kirin until Orohimaru stopped them, even someone as dense as Naruto realised how far he was from Sasuke.

[@raviathreya5357]

She needed granny Chiyo to beat Sasori. And she knows that it isn't true because she saw how strong Pain is

[@archaicrapture]

BS Lady Chiyo carried her in that fight. The fight was about warfare experience & skills. That was the fights entire flex.

[@jibrael5705]

@@stefanocremonini2656 Hebi Sasuke would get folded by Sasori lmao

[@leonwolf4]

I remember hearing how the Author knew how much people hated Sakura. So his answer was to just draw her more "beautifully". Instead of you know...making her a better character. I even recall the drawings where she seemed to be done with greater detail compared to other characters on the same page and wondering why at the time.

[@calebolds9609]

Sasuke's genjutsu is always so interesting to read and my favorite in the series. It's rare he uses it but its always a very small one that makes such a giant change

[@misters6749]

6:20: a pity that you didn’t mention itachi essentially brainwashing Sasuke into believing Hate was the Path to Power and as a result leading to his current mind set. “You don’t have enough hate”, indeed.

[@trapsnake6]

I don't think this is something that can really be understood by this part of the story. It only become relevant when we get a chance to see some other interaction that happen later in the story

[@misters6749]

@@trapsnake6 completely disagree. We see Sasuke’s change in behaviour and thoughts before and directly after Itachi meets him again. Before he met him he was beginning to mellow out, especially in comparison to the beginning where he said, I want to kill a certain someone (paraphrasing) to him being a bit more interested infighting Naruto at the beginning of the chunin exam 2nd rounds. After Itachi pops up it’s strictly about Power and Revenge with him.

[@aerostrafe1075]

That part was so confusing to me. I can understand that he wanted Sasuke to hate him but Itachi himself should of known what that kind of mentality does. If anything he should of been bragging about his own hatred of his clan was his motivation for killing everyone to steer Sasuke away from that emotion. Nothing about it lines up right so I lean on the belief that in the beginning Kishimoto did not have those plans for Itachi in mind yet.

[@fabriziozagonel5720]

Actually this was something that made zero sense later, i am pretty sure the Itachi thing wasn't planed at start

[@misters6749]

@@aerostrafe1075 regardless of if he did that or not it would lead to Sasuke still wanting to hunt him down. Eventually obito/Tobi would be able to isolate him and tell him how things really went down, ultimately leading to the same result with Sasuke’s mindset. …. If anything Sasuke’s anger should be aimed at the other 2 elders whom OK’d the Uchiha clan massacre not the whole village. Alot of the conflict with Sasuke is built on “the curse of hatred” and his irrational mindset in order to prop up Naruto’s character. Again there are other ways of doing so but hindsight is 20/20

[@multitopictalk6714]

One of the best intro ever. These videos are amazing and i think i will read again the entire series. Such an amazing manga!!

[@solidskullz5736]

I love sasuke is like “alright time to attack the leaders of all the major countries on this continent”

[@stefanocremonini2656]

They were lucky that he didn't transplant Itachi's eyes. Amaterasu+Kagutsuchi+Susanoo WITHOUT ILLNESS AND HUGE CONSTANT CHAKRA DRAIN would oneshot them.

[@painvillegaming4119]

@@stefanocremonini2656 people will be wilding about itachi sometimes Like no just no

[@stefanocremonini2656]

@@painvillegaming4119 i don't understand what are you referring about Itachi because i was speaking only about the eyes's transplant.

[@mrcheesemunch]

@@stefanocremonini2656 I mean...no? Neither Sasuke nor Itachi could have beaten them all at once. Oonoki's Dust Release is more than enough to wipe them out, they're not Kage for nothing. Sasuke would have died several times over if not for backup.

[@legendarymortarplayer9453]

@@mrcheesemunch he is talking about ems sasuke ,ems sasuke is way stronger than the kage combined.

[@michaelcarlton1484]

Sakura was convinced by Sai BECAUSE he is so blunt and honest at that point in his life. Taking his words into account, Sakura was forced to come to terms with the fact that Sasuke, at this point, was pretty much insane and no longer there. They even mention that fact several times during this mini-arc that the Sasuke she and Naruto knew and the Sasuke that is currently listening to Madara are pretty much two different individuals. Even Sasuke says it. Sakura went to kill Sasuke solo for one reason. To kill the version of him that was insane. She was basically euthanizing him for his own sake in that moment. She came VERY close to doing that as well since she was able to get so close to him with her poisoned kunai. Yes, Sasuke had immunity to most toxins, but Sakura had no way of knowing that fact. The reason why she didn't go through with her attack is because under all of his insanity, Sasuke was still there deep inside. Naruto is the only one who gets through to Sasuke because of their unique empathy for each other's situations and his encounter with Pain. Sakura did not have those epiphanies and thus, was unfit to try and convince Sasuke. As a side note: I feel that a lot of people miss the fact that Sasuke did genuinely care for his teammates, especially Sakura, back in Part 1. This tumblr post goes into more detail, so I'll leave it here. sasusakuanalysis.tumblr.com/post/183110879685/from-sasukes-perspective

[@shorewall]

I think most people do understand that Sasuke did care about his teammates, which makes his decent into the monster he becomes all the more baffling.

[@sarveshnathan7559]

Sasuke may have cared about his teammates for a time in part 1, but he clearly didn't anymore after he made the choice the betray the Leaf. He burned bridges with everyone after he left and felt no remorse for it in Shippuden. "Sasuke was still there deep inside" Bullshit, Sakura had no way of knowing that. It's just her prioritizing her petty feelings over the safety of her village, as well as making her a hypocrite for lecturing Naruto for not getting over Sasuke when she herself couldn't, and it makes her confession and knocking out of her teammates totally pointless since she could never go through with her plan. "Sasuke had immunity to most toxins, but Sakura had no way of knowing that fact" Which highlights her stupidity, for trying to face an enemy she knows nothing about in terms of his powers, much less by herself. "They even mention that fact several times during this mini-arc that the Sasuke she and Naruto knew and the Sasuke that is currently listening to Madara are pretty much two different individuals. Even Sasuke says it." Yeah, people can change over time. Happens to everyone. Duh doi! Sakura is a dogshit character.

[@BIadelores]

"especially Sakura"? Sasuke over and over himself says Naruto is the most important person in his life.

[@michaelcarlton1484]

@@BIadelores Sakura calmed down Sasuke and prevented the curse mark from taking over several times. Sasuke also begged Naruto to save Sakura from Gaara as she was someone precious to him. Honestly, there's a lot of subtle stuff in early Naruto that shows Sasuke being more vulnerable around her.

[@sarveshnathan7559]

@@michaelcarlton1484 Sasuke was never vulnerable around her. Sakura calming Sasuke down is the only time of significance. Several times? No it was only that one time. Sasuke begging Naruto doesn't make Sakura special, as he would have said that for any of his comrades. Sakura was his least significant bond in the show.

[@bmccready4977]

Coming from someone who has watched and rewatched this series in its entirety several times over the last decade or two, I think that your level-headed, unbiased--as much as possible, of course, as you've clearly endeavored to do--and calm approach to the cadence of this narrative and this story as a whole is the best I've seen from anyone. Thank you!

[@DarksideXL]

Sakura had good intentions for Naruto but ultimately decided for the worst way ever by using manipulation to sway Naruto from chasing after Sasuke with a fake love confession. It put a poor taste in my mouth with her actions in the Five Kage Summit in my opinion and it's not like this did much for her character after this.

[@NamelessDeal]

This

[@archaicrapture]

The entire thing being a gag at the end was a low. It didn't do anything to her character in general. It didn't even parallel the Sasuke retrieval mission. If she wanted to put down Sasuke down then she should have been honest. He was so far so gone. She could've used the Raikage's argument, attacking the 5 Kage summit or even "killing" Danzo as treason

[@jamrah8713]

For real, I feel like Kishimoto could've done alot better, but i wont say i HATED it. I can tell what his intentions were with it and it was clear he had alot of plans for it with the underlaying nuance behind it but the way it was executed didnt make it very digestible. I will say though the hate for that scene is overblown though. People are entitled to their opinions about it but just dismissing it as pure trash is a bit too much in my opinion.

[@fahimfahim624]

The scene serve no purpose.the character the the show would be better off without it

[@dontmisunderstand6041]

I don't think it was bad writing. It's a character acting in-character. It's super duper shitty, to an extent that most people don't even fully grasp. But it's not in any way an out-of-character decision. That's why people hate *Sakura* for it, and most of the ones blaming Kishimoto for it do so in *defense* of Sakura.

[@CreeOnHere]

I think for the Sakura scene you missed the part where ALL of Konoha 12 were going to kill Sasuke. That’s why she was accompanied by Lee and Kiba. Sakura wasn’t simply taking agency to kill Sasuke on her own, the idea was first headed by Shikamaru and Neji who hold authority over her as Jonin. She went along with them while trying to take matters into her own hands bc she is closer to Sasuke than any of them are.

[@casper_z1259]

Rank isn't really relevant since its a unit's commander who gives out orders and policy, but yeah - it was a collective decision from what were starting to become the next leaders and stars of Konoha.

[@NinjaKIngAce]

Yeah, that WAS the plan, but Sakura immediately goes against the plan by, first lying to Naruto about her intentions, and second by knocking out Kiba and Lee, to then try to kill Sasuke herself

[@vegebul1797]

It's insane how bend out of shape ppl get over the fake confession scene. Like did Naruto die? Did he break down like a bitch and almost had a panic attack like he did with Sasuke? Some of y'all need to let this shit go. Seek therapy and figure out why you're really hating on a teenage girl who's not real.

[@cupcakes8472]

Honestly looking back at it I don’t think the confession scene was supposed to be this memorable I mean Naruto forgot about it the next episode and was still crushing on Sakura like nothing had happened

[@Galvatronover]

Calm down No one’s obsessing

[@becca_98]

Amen brother!

[@vegebul1797]

@@cupcakes8472 Exactly. Naruto understood why she did it and forgot about it seconds later, but for some reason his fanboys are still crying IN 2022 like Sakura personally rejected them. Some even said they got traumatized like WTF

[@vegebul1797]

@@Galvatronover except 90% of the naruto self inserts acting like little bitches

[@mrm64]

Thanks for being respectful. It's ok to dislike the approach Kishi took on Sakura. Thing is, Sakura fans have been bullied for even liking her especially beyond this point for so long and sadly in that recourse, toxic Sakura fans dish out the same negativity...especially on Twitter as you saw. It's hate on both ends. Personally, I love how human Sakura is and as a big fan, obviously I can say she made a mistake. Naruto saw through it and didn't want her to live a lie and knew how much she still cared for Sasuke and himself. I do say, that even as a strong ninja made for war...again, she' s still "human". She's allowed to make these mistakes. I mean look at Sai, he GROSSLY misunderstood the situation too but he barley gets flack for it even though he started this whole thing lol. But again , yes it was Sakura's mistake and people are allowed to feel whatever way. I'm still a fan because like you said, Sakura IS NOT shallow and she didn't say what she said to be a "thot" like many self-inserts do....it was FOR NARUTO. An extreme approach that didn't work out but again, FOR Naruto. She was willing to live a lie AND receive backlash FOR HIM, and that goes unnoticed by the fandom. Naruto took beatings from Karui, begged and begged the Kages not kill Sasuke, hyperventilated...imo it's only natural Sakura (and Sai) would go to these extreme lengths. Anyway, all of Konoha 13 are my children so I'm biased. I still love them all, especially Sakura/Team 7. Thanks, Mark!

[@calarakien]

nah man, fuck sai, literally the worst shippuden-era character

[@sarveshnathan7559]

There is a difference between a flawed character and a terribly written one. Sakura is the latter. She makes mistakes, but never learns from them, making very insufferable and annoying. So yeah, she is objectively not well-written. Sai was just stating his opinion, Sakura however was stupid to believe the word of man who's known for being emotionally illiterate.

[@BunniesLikeBananas]

@@sarveshnathan7559 you need to specify how she never learns from them if you make that argument. Sai is a great character as he was essentially raised to be a tool and still is very human. Hammering the theme zabuza brought up way back in the bridge arc

[@BunniesLikeBananas]

You’re so right. People give sakura so much garbage when this thing happens all the time. Emotions and feelings are so important thematically. The third hokage failed to kill orochimaru like twice because he had trouble overcoming the feelings he had for his student. And Kakashi says he was understanding that feeling. Having to kill someone you have a bond with is incredibly hard. Sakuras I’m involvement in this was huge too because she was probably the last person he would want to hurt but look how he was ready to kill her. This was a big moment to show how much Sasuke has changed to which Karin and Kakashi state as well

[@sarveshnathan7559]

@@BunniesLikeBananas Hiruzen, like Sakura, was a fool for not killing Orochimaru, or at least didn't try to apprehend him.

[@TheBobby2legs]

For me the reason why the Sakura lie was so unbearable was because it showed that she had no clue who Naruto was as a person, which was all kinds of insulting.

[@shotgunpete5117]

This. Naruto had grown, she hadn't. And she didn't realize. In a strange way it's almost poetic how it reflects the gap in their progress as a character. Not only could she not keep up in terms of raw strength, she was also way behind in strength of character. It's kinda beautifull in how bad it was, this was the moment you realized she would always be the third wheel who was just there because nostalgia.

[@beastvicious8672]

Even worse when she contemplates if Naruto and Sasuke were dying, which one she would save. Just after Sasuke tried to kill her and Naruto saved her. If that's a hard decision, it just shows she doesn't care at all about Naruto. Which is odd since thoughout Shippuden, she has defended Naruto several times. So much inconsistency.

[@বদমাইশব্যাটা]

@@beastvicious8672 thats filler. Anime added it. It wasn't in the manga. Seems like SP has a grudge against her lol

[@coniwiiuwu5578]

@@beastvicious8672 Well it’s fitting that you think that scene is inconsistent, since it never even happened to begin with and was filler added by the studio. The fact that she goes on to save Naruto right afterwards and later on to save both Sasuke and Naruto at the same time just serves to prove that that scene was clearly not written by the author lol

[@beastvicious8672]

@@coniwiiuwu5578 It's been about a decade since i read the manga. Just remembered that scene and it stood out to me. No need to get hostile, geez.

[@WolfXGamerful]

Y'know, we all shit on Sakura for how she fucked up twice but...look how close she got to Sasuke the second time she tried. She _would have_ succeeded if she could put away her feelings. Her plan _would have_ worked. Which is...kinda surprising considering how many people she trampled on just to get there. But, it's Sakura. She still has her heart too close to Sasuke.

[@Reshapable]

Cept that second time was bought with the unintended efforts of someone else who actually posed a threat. Someone she very likely COULD have included in the plan to achieve just that but didn't. Sasuke was also exhausted from repeated major fights which she had no way of counting on. Her plan did not nor ever would have worked. She won the lottery on chances and THEN your thing happened.

[@gamepixel5904]

@@Reshapable yeah

[@rogue7339]

Sasuke had poison resistance due to Orochimaru Not Sakura's fault she didn't know but poison dipped kunai wouldn't have gotten him

[@legendarymortarplayer9453]

@@rogue7339 bruh orochimaru was sealed by itachi else he would have used cursed seal.

[@sarah2cold377]

@@legendarymortarplayer9453 orochimaru still trained his body to resist poisons. he doesn't need the cursed seal for that

[@Anxomaxo]

"Naruto is the strongest shinobi in your village. Keeping him out of the field to protect him is absurd" Well, this will be relevant in the near future

[@taylor15games]

The Sakura part of this arc annoyed me greatly when I first watched it, I personally saw it as a character regression to her Selfish nature in early part 1, But as the series went on I saw it as a kind of Desperate attempt to take Agency and so she rushed her decision and made a large mistake in doing so. I then saw Sakura taking agency in the war WITHOUT fighting and trying to save Naruto as she did before and instead Decides to trust Naruto as he has now proved that it's HIS wish to save Sasuke and Stop the hatred in the world, I feel like she has finally realized that Naruto is developing mentally and ideologically by taking on the ideals and Goals of Characters like Minato, Nagato, Konan and Jiraiya. "Even I can see that there is far too much hatred in this Shinobi world" is a line Said by Jiraiya to Naruto which is then characterized by Pain. I believe Sakura started to see Jiraiya and A more adult Side to Naruto and Naruto Seemed to never let himself get mentally down despite all the pressure and the massive goals and morals he had set in his mind. Which made her proud and trusting of Narutos Ability to fight for the world, and so she is happy to take care of the sick and injured, Believing that Naruto would save more people than anyone else and had utmost trust in his ability to do so.

[@RzK_venger795]

You literally spit out straight facts, respects, dude Bv

[@the-point-bearer6689]

If she wants to, she would've at least look out for him on a date after she'll get over the idea of Sasuke, not the person.

[@Rockernalleyb]

For sure. People just don't understand what Sakura is trying to do here.

[@RzK_venger795]

@@Rockernalleyb It's understandable, but awfully handled in the narrative.

[@Jebbtube]

My main issue with this arc is; why does 'Madara' explain his plan to the Kages? If he kept his plan secret, they never would've united against him, and by the time they did, it'd be too late.

[@casper_z1259]

Plot no Jutsu

[@gig7932]

He wanted them to give up Naruto and Bee.

[@shakaj1525]

@@gig7932 exactly people should rewatch this series cuz they constantly seem to miss things

[@SB-ji7nj]

@@gig7932 He could forefully take 8 and 9 tails without starting the war. Only few shinobis losed their life. It's a plot.

[@shakaj1525]

@@SB-ji7nj The 8 tails was nowhere to be found after Sasuke failed to capture Bee. Tobi thought the Kage knew but they really didn't and he forced him to give the location. They didn't and because they didn't he announced the 4th great ninja war as a way of forcing the alliance

[@deterlanglytone]

Something I've always thought about Sakura is that she should've been the one that tried to save Naruto during the Pain Arc. While I like Hinata, this is more to do with the narrative overall. It would strengthen Sakura's feelings here in the eyes of the reader as well as making sure the first real thing she'd done in... three or so arcs wasn't this one event. But there are future problems this scene creates... that I won't spoil in the comment section of the video. I will say that if Mark reads this comment ever, to keep this in scene between Naruto and Sakura in mind and the reasons Naruto gives for knowing it is a lie in mind... for the stuff coming up... way in the future. Just remember this. It's nothing to do with a negative Sakura thing but a minor writing fobb over all.

[@frytoes]

lmao I love how the Sakura debate has half a video dedicated to it

[@megadeth8592]

A complete waste of time and video.

[@vipuntilwhenever]

Sakura is queen and got bitches talking about her 24/7

[@valentds]

@@megadeth8592 mostly bad things, so you should enjoy

[@96megatron]

I think my favorite Sakura moment was actually in Part 1, although it was filler, it was when Team 7 had to guard a runner in an important race. Sakura used her ability of having perfect Chakra control to strengthen her arms to lift the pillar part of a boat and hit the minions of the main villain who returned from the Chunnin Exam arc, you know the three-spandex ninjas from the Rain Village. That filler moment almost felt like a prelude to Sakura's growth from the end of Part 1 to Shippuden.

[@casper_z1259]

The editor if it was in the Manga: ''Yo, Kishi. Make our main man Naruto do that for her.''

[@MiniiNinja]

What I hate most about the Sakura confession is that she (and Kishimoto I guess) completely disrespect Naruto’s character by thinking he is doing this because he made a promise a long time ago, and secondly because literally the arc before this while she’s healing Hinata she ACKNOWLEDGES that Hinata really loves him. I’m not sure what Kishimoto was thinking and to this day I hate the confession with all my heart as it just completely disrespects Naruto

[@ombraura9118]

Firstly in that case why don't you blame Sai (and even Shikamaru and the others) guilttripping Sakura (for nothing) and thinking he's doing that on purpose ? What I hate the most about people hating that confession (among other stuff) is that they completely disregard the others' responsibility in that mess... I will even go as far as to say it's completely unfair to not feel bad for her even though she tries to think about him first and not her to get redemption (since, again, she's been guilttripped into thinking she's to blame for his pain). Secondly how is it a mark of disrespect when all they think about is Naruto's well-being. Lastly if Kishimoto completely disrespected Naruto's character then he wouldn't have made him reply that it's not just about this. So let's cut that bullshit. If nothing else Sakura was the one affected by that foolish failed attempt and Naruto was calling out how she lies to herself (nothing about himself) and Naruto was only affected by how everyone (not just Sakura) decided to kill Sasuke.

[@ManazYT]

@@ombraura9118 Sai guilttripping Sakura when he isn't able to even express his own emotions? I don't think that's even possible bro.

[@sammy6805]

But naruto is? It's literally his ninja way i don't even know how many times he said it not to imply he wouldn't do it without the promises but still

[@zgoat8573]

How does this disrespect Naruto's character? The fact that Naruto told her that it wasn't just the promise shows that Kishimoto knew that already. I swear y'all just be talking 🤦🏿

[@Gumby518]

"No one likes tension built upon a lack of communication." You just perfectly captured why I've been frustrated with so many romance manga/anime. The inability of characters to say "i like you" in earnest until the media is finished ruined the enjoyment of many relationships in works of fiction (Nisekoi, Bleach, Tenchi Muyo, etc).

[@valeriansage]

But that is real life problems in real world relationships 90% most of the time

[@Toothpaste0000]

*Sasuke spending an entire arc using the Amaterasu and susano’o* *Itachi’s strongest jutsu being the susano’o* Mark: “yea the Spirit Kaiju”

[@LeaIsChill]

15:52 I actually think that this is a major reason why Sakura's decision is made. You're meant to feel how important Naruto is to the story going into the War Arc so what an interesting take away from Mark here! The whole war is "taking the Queen off the board" while everyone else slowly loses their lives

[@pratikkumar5293]

If Somebody says war arc is perfect & good execution like this arc .. I'm leaving this planet!!!

[@samfeels5608]

@@pratikkumar5293 Well. Goodbye then.

[@TheREALHugo4]

@@pratikkumar5293 Well goodbye kiddo.

[@BunchyPanther42]

I love the 5 Kage summit arc, it’s got great action and fights, good character moments and sets up what’s to come next given everything that’s happened up to the pain arc

[@IronicSonic83]

I think Sakura made a totally on character decision. We know since early days she loses his head about Sasuke. It's her personality trait that no ones like acting in full power here.

[@johnwood7308]

Ehhh true but still like mark said she is literally one of the smartest ninja in the village, i feel like with her being a trained ninja she could have put her emotions to the side yk. AND NOT TRUED TO 1V1 SASKE.

[@IronicSonic83]

@@johnwood7308 I mean Naruto series makes a strong case for characters NOT putting emotions aside. Sasuke is the Achilles Heel of Sakura and Naruto. And Kakashi to a certain degree. Hell, Naruto's path is to go beyond Ninja world where Ninjas are tools. Naruto sometimes is as annoying as Sakura when the talks point to Sasuke.

[@fahimfahim624]

The scene serve no purpose.the character the the show would be better off without it

[@MrJerkdude1]

@@fahimfahim624 literally any person could be better off without their flaws lol

[@jacobjensen7704]

I find that people miss the point a lot with Sakura. I think it is abundantly evident that, when it comes to Sasuke, Sakura is NOT rational. It's not just childish infatuation, there's a really important scene in the anime (don't remember if it was in the manga or not) where Ino (who was also childishly infuatuated with Sasuke) talks about how Sai is good looking like Sasuke is and Sakura pushes back disagreeing. That scene shows that it is not childish infatuation, it may have been for Ino, and it may have started that way for Sakura, but it didn't end that way for Sakura. Even later down the line people are well aware that her interactions with Sasuke, even when they're married, are kinda strange. She's totally okay with him being an absent father, she's still obsessed with him in the Last, in Boruto, while they're fighting Madara, etc. etc. The one thing I don't think Kishimoto did well is explaining exactly why Sakura has this strange, unhealthy obsession with Sasuke. I do think he does a good job at showing that it's not something shallow or childish, but something a lot more serious.

[@leonardofarias8843]

Sakura had a reason to keep her infatuation?

[@jacobjensen7704]

@@leonardofarias8843 no, Sakura was no longer infatuated. They showed that really, really clearly.

[@danielleparr345]

@@jacobjensen7704 Then what gives her the right to be in a bad mental state around sasuke if not still being based off her original irrational infatuation with sasuke

[@danielleparr345]

It all relies on the reader/ viewer getting involved and believing in their original relationship/ feelings for each other

[@nworder4life]

@@danielleparr345 Sasuke never had romantic feelings for her, he basically married her cause he knew he should after all the shit he put her through. There was even an arc in Boruto where we were led to believe Saruda might not even be their daughter and instead Sasuke's kid with Karin!

[@OblivionKnight76]

Am I the only one who doesn't think that the Sakura scene was THAT bad? I've always just seen it as a moment of desperation, that Naruto saw through immediately, instantly reliving the tention it would have caused otherwise. If anything, it just highlights Naruto's growth

[@longclaw22-72]

It's because you're not as rabid as the average anime fan. I feel like Sakura, as the typical pretty girl, stirs feelings of inadequacy in certain fans. The girl rebukes the nice guy for the hot asshole you know? But this is pure speculation on my part.

[@emeraldsplash7137]

I always thought this was it and it really feels weird to me that how people do not see that part

[@TotallyNotMark]

Get 20% OFF + Free Shipping at Manscaped with code NOTMARK20 at → manscaped.com/totallynotmark #manscapedpartner

[@bm631]

@totallynotmark You named the video part 9 lol

[@RVoidFall]

@@bm631 yh cuz its the 9th part

[@obinator9065]

Get 30% OFF + 10% Shipping at Manscaped

[@afellownerd]

Was thinking that after naruto, your next blind review could be bleach since the anime is coming back this year.

[@youknowho4378]

Dude read pluto you will love it

[@tonyamerica4481]

WOOOO YAHHH BABYY... the war arc soon. Thank God Narutos A storyline saves the beginning of the war (IMO)

[@jisunggoat960]

Are you kidding the war arc story wise is dread full the fights are amazing

[@sobored6026]

@@jisunggoat960 it's amazing untill Naruto became the chosen one got back to life and kaguya got reincarnated

[@MichellBollinger]

@@jisunggoat960 another reading comprehension lacker

[@A_000]

@@sobored6026 Thats not what happens bruh. Naruto got to do it because he happened to be the one most close to Asura's soul, leading to Asura choosing him. Normally nothing would happen, the reincarnations just move on to the next generation. Just like it had been for thousands of years. But Kaguya got revived, and giving Naruto and Sasuke powers were the only way to really seal her.

[@jisunggoat960]

@@sobored6026 it’s good Ish untill tehn but there’s still a. Lot of problems before that watch swage kages vid on it you’ll see more

[@vcarchangel6226]

Idk why this Sakura part is a big deal. She makes a dumb decision, but she is 16 & a child soldier, her emotional intelligence isn't that high, most of the cast is the same. Ever since Land of Waves the story explores how messed up the whole system is for everyone, especially children. None of them should be very well-adjusted. Overall, I have a hard time hating her actions since she had good intentions; definitely not a shining moment, but I can understand how she got there. It's a shame because as Mark stated this could have been a great scene/conflict. Kishimoto obviously wasn't equipped to handle writing this with more nuance or wasn't interested in the Sakura side & used her a plot device more than a person. I'm more inclined to blame the writer when making a character do something they otherwise wouldn't just to move the plot along.

[@bakuhakudraws5603]

there's a point later on where a character mentions that Jiraiya started this story really strong, but then Pain ruined the second act, and here's hoping Naruto can give it a good ending. I always viewed that as Kishimoto admiting his own faults: he knew certain aspects of the writing had gotten away from him throughout the middle of the series and that certain things weren't as well planned out as they could have been, but once he hit the 4th war arc he had an endgame in mind and was hoping he could bring it all back around by the end. It's one of the reasons I love Naruto so much: it's a very raw and real story from a storytelling perspective: you can practically SEE Kishimoto adjusting and changing things on the fly, losing some plot threads and reconciling others, and consistently growing with each chapter. The Sakura scene is a great example of Kishimoto having a great idea but just not quite being at the skill level as a storyteller needed to pull it off.

[@Dusxio]

I love your breakdown reviews, Mark! They really hit insightful perspectives on the plot, characters and more.

[@maced_]

YOU ARE STILL HERE THANK YOU MARK

[@unknownvariable9239]

I don’t know about anybody else, but I enjoyed the mad, careless, and pissed off Sasuke. It was bound to happen after everything he went through.

[@jisunggoat960]

Not really naruto stayed the same gaara changed quite quickly and there are othes

[@misters6749]

@@jisunggoat960 Ah but Sasuke constantly had fresh trauma dumped onto him which he couldn’t really heal from unlike these two. Naruto and Gaara didn’t have any older brothers come back to the village to remind him of how far of from his goal he was and put him in hospital. - also there was no one else offering him another path to power (ie Orochi). - also Gaara and Naruto were never told that all they did was for nothing like Sasuke did when he found out that Itachi always loved him and had to wipe out the clan…… or else.

[@sanjaynambisan2538]

sasuke is my favourite character in the series and this arc is a big part of why it was so much fun seeing sasuke not giving a fk and take on so many powerhouses at once

[@jisunggoat960]

@@misters6749 ye I’m not saying sasuke is badly written he’s a great character i was just saying that others have gone through similar pain and those points are correct but I could just say stuff that happened to naruto and gaara that didn’t to sasuke that are valid but is not an argument

[@legendarymortarplayer9453]

@@jisunggoat960 ratio

[@nosekid]

Does mark say Obito at 6:00?

[@KhKh06]

He said he got spoilt

[@TotallyNotMark]

Unfortuntely got spoilt during the Sakura twitter drama this week. Big sad.

[@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou]

Got spoiled

[@nosekid]

@@TotallyNotMark ah man I’m so sorry I didn’t know

[@sertaki]

I personally really enjoyed Sakura making some really bad decisions in this arc, including her decision to employ manipulation. It makes her feel like a real character with real issues and trauma, and actions informed by that. (Which does not excuse her betrayal of Naruto's trust and using his emotions against him, but it realistic behavior that can be found in people.) I don't want characters in the stories I follow to be nothing but "getting stronger, getting better, overcoming problems incrementally" - there is a place for people to stumble and fall royally, like she does here. And I think all of this was worth it for the big payoff at the end: She chose to take everything upon herself, to take on responsibility for all her friends by killing Sasuke, but ultimately couldn't do it. It makes her one of the most human characters in the whole story, flaws and all.

[@sarveshnathan7559]

Sakura never suffered any real trauma. What she did isn't realistic, no realistic person who jump to such haphazard decisions like that.

[@sertaki]

@@sarveshnathan7559 Every single character in the series is traumatized by war, they are all child soldiers.

[@shorewall]

@@sarveshnathan7559 I believe that real women would act like that. Doesn't make it any less toxic or self centered though. :D

[@hello9470]

Like sakura or hate sakura honestly it person decision and I like her because she is the most human character in the series. It funny how people call sakura selfish when she was thinking of naruto because in the interview it said When given the order to suppress Sasuke, who has become a missing nin, Sakura considers Naruto's feelings and realizes that her request to bring back the old Sasuke is binding him. To untie Naruto from that curse, Sakura confesses to him. The naruto fandom only blame sakura and not blame both Sai and shikamaru too because they were part of the reason for sakura confession. SAI TOLD SAKURA THAT SHE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS CAUSING NARUTO THE MOST SUFFERING. HE SAID THAT THE PROMISE NARUTO DID TO SAKURA WAS LIKE A CURSE TO HIM. NARUTO WAS IN GREAT PAIN BECAUSE HE COULD NOT BRING SASUKE BACK FROM THE PATH OF DARKNESS THAT HE CHOSE. SAKURA KNEW THIS AND SAI PLACED HALF THE BLAME ON SAKURA. SAI LINES IT SEEMS TO ME THAT NARUTO STILL BEARS THAT CROSS OF HIS PROMISE TO YOU... ...AND THAT HE PLANS TO BEAR IT THE REST OF HIS LIFE I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU SAID TO NARUTO... ...BUT IT FEELS JUST LIKE WHAT I HAVE... LIKE A CURSE MARK SASUKE IS CERTAINLY MAKING NARUTO SUFFER... ...BUT I THINK YOU MAY BE. TOO? SAKURA WAS DEEPLY AFFECTED BY THIS. GETTING TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS THE MAIN REASON FOR NARUTO'S PAIN SADDENED HER GREATLY. AND SO SHE TOOK THE WHOLE BLAME ON HER. SHE PLANNED TO FREE NARUTO FROM THIS BURDEN AND CURSE THAT SHE IMPOSEDON HIM. SHE WANTED NARUTO TO BE HAPPY AND ONLY HAD HIS BEST INTEREST IN HER MIND. SHIKAMARU LINE THIS SURE ISN'T GOING TO BE EASY SAKURA LINE I'LL... TALK TO NARUTO I WAS THE ONE WHO CAUSED NARUTO THE MOST PAIN... I'M ALWAYS MAKING MISTAKES AND FALLING SHORT... I DON'T WANT TO BE WRONG... OR FAIL ANYMORE SAI EVEN SAID IT HIMSELF THAT HE WAS THE ONE WHO PUSHED SAKURA TOWARD THIS ACTION AND THAT SAKURA ACTING THIS WAY WAS PARTLY HIS FAULT. BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IT WAS NOT MY INTENT, IT IS PARTLY MY FAULT TOO FOR PUSHING SAKURA TOWARD THIS ACTION... SO I HAD TO TELL YOU OF COURSE NARUTO WAS TRYING TO BRING BACK SASUKE NOT BECAUSE OF HIS PROMISE TO SAKURA, BUT BECAUSE HE HIMSELF WANTED TO HELP SASUKE TO GET OUT OF THE DARKNESS. BUT SAI MADE SAKURA BELIEVE OTHERWISE AND SO SAKURA TRIED TO HELP EASEN NARUTO'S BURDEN. SHIZUNE LINE NARUTO HIMSELF GENUINELY WANTS TO RESCUE SASUKE ... NOT JUST BECAUSE HE PROMISED SAKURA! SAI LINE I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU NARUTO LINE ANYWAY, IT DOESN'T MATTER EVEN IF THERE'S NO PROMISE BETWEEN US ANY MORE SAKURA ! NARUTO LINE CUZ I WANT TO RESCUE SASUKE FOR MY OWN SAKE NARUTO DATABOOK Naruto exchanged "The promise of a lifetime with Sakura. That pact was to bring Sasuke back home to the village. But now, it was also a common objective for the two of them. In order to (bring Sasuke back), both of them diligently applied their skills and cultivated their own personalities by working hard. While (they were training),they could share in their hope and despair with one another. "The bonds of Team 7" certainly exist...!! NARUTO WAS TRULY HAPPY WHEN SAKURA CONFESSED TO HIM, BUT HE KNEW, FROM EARLY ON THAT SAKURA HAD DEEPLY LOVED AND CARED ABOUT SASUKE. AND SO HE KNEW THAT SAKURA WAS HIDING SOMETHING FROM HIM. HE KNEW THAT SAKURA COULDN'T JUST STOP LOVING SASUKE THAT QUICKLY. NARUTO BLUSH also dots SAKURA LINE NARUTO ...I SAID, I LOVE YOU! NOTICE NARUTO'S REACTIONS WHENEVER SAKURA TALKS ABOUT HOW NARUTO SHOULD FORGET ABOUT HIS PROMISE TO HER AND HOW HE SHOULD STOP CHASING SASUKE. "NARUTO NOTICED THOSE FEELINGS THAT WERE CONCEALED BEHIND HER WORDS" (FOURTH DATABOOK, NARUTO'S PROFILE) SAKURA LINE OF COURSE I’D COME ALL THE WAY HERE! YOU'RE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT SASUNE THIS AND SASUKE THAT AND CHASING AFTER SASUKE GETTING YOURSELF INTO DANGEROUS SITUATIONS SO NARUTO. YOU CAN FORGET YOUR PROMISE TO ME YOU CAN STOP CHASING SASUKE SO THE PROMISE BETWEEN US DOESN'T STAND ANYMORE, EITHER! NARUTO LINE BUT IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THAT PROMISE SAKURA LINE MEANWHILE, SASUKE KEEPS ADDING TO HIS CRIMES AND CRUSHING MY HEART.. ALWAYS BECOMING MORE OF A STRANGER THAT I DON'T RECOGNIZE NARUTO FROWN FACE AND DOTS SAKURA LINE YOU'RE THE NINE TAILS JINCHURIKI, TARGETED BY THE AKATSUKI! WHY DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT YOUR OWN SKIN FOR A CHANGE?! YOU SEE, I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHASE AFTER SASUKE TO THE POINT OF PUTTING YOURSELF IN DANGER I CAME HERE TO FIND YOU BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO RETURN TO THE VILLAGE RIGHT AWAY! THAT'S ALL! NOTHING, REALLY IT'S JUST THAT I FINALLY WOKE UP I CAN'T CONTINUE TO LOVE AROGUE SHINOBI, A CRIMINAL I'M NOT A CHILD ANYMORE... I CAN SEPARATE REALITY FROM FANTASY READ ALL THOSE PANELS CAREFULLY. SAKURA HAD MADE IT OBVIOUS THROUGHOUT THAT "CONFESSION" THAT SHE REALLY ONLY WANTED NARUTO TO STOP PUTTING HIMSELF IN DANGER. SHE KNEW THAT THE AKATSUKI WERE AFTER HIM BECAUSE HE WAS THE NINE TAILS JINCHUURIKI AND NOW SHE DIDN'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO BE AGAINST NARUTO. "SO NARUTO, NO NEED TO KEEP THAT PROMISE, WON'T YOU STOP CHASING SASUKE...." THIS SHOWS WHAT SAKURA'S TRUE INTENTIONS REALLY WERE. SHE WANTED NARUTO TO FORGET ABOUT THAT PROMISE HE MADE TO HER SO THAT SHE COULD TAKE THE BURDEN OFF OF HIM. SHE WANTED NARUTO TO STOP CHASING SASUKE SO THAT NARUTO DOESN'T GET INTO ANY MORE DANGER AND SO THAT HIS PAIN IS RELIEVED. SHE TOLD HIM HOW SASUKE HAS CHANGED AND HE'S NOT THE SASUKE THAT THEY KNEW. SHE TOLD HER THAT SASUKE IS A CRIMINAL NOW SO TO PREPARE HIM FOR WHATEVER WILL BE DONE TO SASUKE. SAKURA WAS READY TO CARRY NARUTO'S HATRED IF IT MEANT THAT SHE COULD KEEP HIM AWAY FROM DANGER. NARUTO KEPT ASKING SAKURA WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AND WHAT SHE REALLY WANTED TO SAY BUT SAKURA DOESN'T TELL HIM BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T WANT TO HURT HIM BY TELLING HIM THAT ALL HIS FRIENDS WERE PLANNING TO KILL SASUKE ON THEIR OWN. NARUTO I'M SO SORRY! SAKURA DID ALL THIS FOR THE SAKE OF NARUTO AND THE VILLAGE. SHE PUTHER FEELINGS FOR SASUKE BECAUSE SHE KNEW SASUKE WAS A THREAT TO KONOHA. SHE LIED TO NARUTO BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO SAVE HIM FROM THE CONSTANT DANGERS HE WAS PUTTING HIMSELF INTO. SHE WAS EVEN READY TO BE HATED BY NARUTO FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE BUT SHE STILL WANTED TO SAVE HIM AND TAKE THE BURDEN OFF OF HIM AND I DON'T KNOW WHY HATERS TURN A BLINDEYE TO THE FACT THAT SAI WAS THE ONE WHO PUSHED SAKURA INTO THE SITUATION.

[@hello9470]

HOW SHIKAMRU TAKE PART IN THIS SAI LINE ...AND I'VE COME TO KNOW THAT THAT'S ANGER SO BOTH FOR NARUTO AND KONOHA... ..WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS OURSELVES. INSTEAD OF RELYING ON NARUTO SASUKE'S SHIKAMARU LINE IT'S JUST AS SAI SAYS... SHIZUNE line SHIKAMARU SAI ! SAKURA LOOKING DOWN and dots SHIKAMARU WE'RE NOT KIDS ANYMORE WE NEED TO STOP THE AKATSUKI ...AND WE NEED TO STOP SASUKE Dots I CAME HERE TO ASK THE CONSENT OF CELL NUMBER SEVEN'S MEMBERS CONSENT? DON'T TELL ME...?! YEAH... THAT'S RIGHT WE CAN'T LET KONOHAGAKURE AND KUMOGAKURE ENTER INTO WAR BECAUSE OF SASUKE LET ME EXPLAIN... IT'LL BE A BIT ROUND ABOUT, BUT BEAR WITH ME IF KUMOGAKURE KILLS SASUKE. YOU AND INO AND ESPECIALLY NARUTO AREN'T APT TO JUST LET IT BE AND F YOU TWO OR INO WERE TO RECKLESSLY LASH OUT AND GET KILLED BY CLOUD NINJA... ...NEITHER I NOR CHOJI, NOR MASTER INDICH OR YOUR PARENTS. WILL STAY SLENT WE'D AVENGE YOU ...NEITHER I NOR CHOJI, NOR MASTER INDICH OR YOUR PARENTS. WILL STAY SLENT WE'D AVENGE YOU AND IF I OR CHOJI WERE TO GET KILLED NEXT, OUR FATHERS WOULD SET OUT, AND BEFORE YOU KNOW IT, TO BE A FULL-BLOWN WAR FROM WHAT THAT CLOUD CORIER MENTIONED... THEY ALREADY REGARD SASUKE AS AN INTERNATIONAL FELON IF SASUKE CONTINUES TO ALIGN HIMSELF WITH THE AKATSUKI AND INCREASE HATRED AGAINST HIM EVERYWHERE... ...I FEEL HE OUGHT TO BE DEALT WITH BY KONOHA'S HAND YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING. RIGHT...? SAKURA...? SAKURA TEAR DRIP SHIKAMARU LINE THAT'S WHAT THE CONSENT IS FOR... SAKURA WHAT SAY YOU... SAKURA LINE SHIKAMARU SHIKAMARU LOOKING DOWN SAKURA LINE JUST DON'T SAY ANY MORE All of them dots SAKURA WIPE HER TEAR SHIKAMARU LINE AND I'M SORRY, SAKURA... BUT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR ANSWER IS, I'M GOING TO PROCEED FORWARD IN THE BEST INTEREST OF KONOHA'S FUTURE I'LL GO TALK TO NARUTO ABOUT THIS... WHERE IS HE? SAI LINE NARUTO'S GONE OFF... TO THE LAND OF IRON TO MEET WITH THE RAIKAGE SHIKAMARU ! HE'S ALREADY... THIS SURE ISN'T GOING TO BE EASY SAKURA I'LL... TALK TO NARUTO EVERYONE ! SAKURA SINCE HE'S THE FOOL THAT FELL FOR ME LET ME TAKE ON THAT ROLE I WAS THE ONE WHO CAUSED NARUTO THE MOST PAIN I'M ALWAYS MAKING MISTAKES AND FALLING SHORT I DON'T WANT TO BE WRONG... OR FAIL ANYMORE So basically They narrowed her down and made her believe she was the reason for Naruto’s suffering she was heartbroken and confused, they took advantage of that Also she had her mentor in coma.. like excuse me. Both Naruto and Sakura deserved better in this arc.

[@hello9470]

I think Sakura halted her attack because Mixture of feeling like love, feeling of guilt for failing to stop his defection, compassion for a trouble comrade corrupt by the like of orochimaru and concern of naruto feeling

[@bigbangmadeyouridols]

i love sakura. anyone who hates her need therapy

[@hello9470]

@@bigbangmadeyouridols the reason they hate her are so stupid

[@sarveshnathan7559]

"she is the most human character in the series" Most annoying character in the series is more like it. "SAKURA HAD MADE IT OBVIOUS THROUGHOUT THAT "CONFESSION" THAT SHE REALLY ONLY WANTED NARUTO TO STOP PUTTING HIMSELF IN DANGER. SHE KNEW THAT THE AKATSUKI WERE AFTER HIM BECAUSE HE WAS THE NINE TAILS JINCHUURIKI AND NOW SHE DIDN'T WANT ANYONE ELSE TO BE AGAINST NARUTO. "SO NARUTO, NO NEED TO KEEP THAT PROMISE, WON'T YOU STOP CHASING SASUKE...." THIS SHOWS WHAT SAKURA'S TRUE INTENTIONS REALLY WERE. SHE WANTED NARUTO TO FORGET ABOUT THAT PROMISE HE MADE TO HER SO THAT SHE COULD TAKE THE BURDEN OFF OF HIM. SHE WANTED NARUTO TO STOP CHASING SASUKE SO THAT NARUTO DOESN'T GET INTO ANY MORE DANGER AND SO THAT HIS PAIN IS RELIEVED. SHE TOLD HIM HOW SASUKE HAS CHANGED AND HE'S NOT THE SASUKE THAT THEY KNEW. SHE TOLD HER THAT SASUKE IS A CRIMINAL NOW SO TO PREPARE HIM FOR WHATEVER WILL BE DONE TO SASUKE. SAKURA WAS READY TO CARRY NARUTO'S HATRED IF IT MEANT THAT SHE COULD KEEP HIM AWAY FROM DANGER." Does Sakura really think Naruto did it just because of that promise, even though it's clear he cares about Sasuke? Even if Sakura convinces Naruto, and she does kill Sasuke, is she gonna tell him after that she was just lying to him so she can kill his best friend behind his back? The fact that she think this would work, after all the times she's rejected him? She is willing to break Naruto's heart on the off-chance that Naruto would believe her, just so she can kill Sasuke herself, which she failed to do anyway, making her a big hypocrite for trying to get Naruto to give up on Sasuke when she herself couldn't, and makes all that confession completely pointless. Her decision to lie to Naruto so she can kill Sasuke behind his back is one of the many reasons that caused Naruto to faint from hyperventilation. It's obvious that she's only said it to make herself feel less guilty about the promise. The only reason she did was to get rid of the guilt in side of her. She emotionally manipulated naruto with no remorse whatsoever. She is willing to break Naruto's heart on the off-chance that Naruto would believe her, just so she can kill Sasuke herself, which she failed to do anyway, making her a big hypocrite for trying to get Naruto to give up on Sasuke when she herself couldn't, and makes all that confession completely pointless.

[@trifan8502]

These reviews continue to be a joy to watch. Honestly, I never made it to this point in the series when I read it. I liked Naruto, but it stopped being what I wanted it to be when I started, and I wasn't enjoying it week to week, so I never finished it. This review series has done a lot to rekindle my interest here a decade later, and to recontextualize some of the things I didn't understand or like at the time. Thank you for that. I hope your reading experience continues to be mostly positive, and that you are able to avoid further grief and spoilers.

[@BassForever]

The Sakura confession scene would have worked a lot better with a younger Sakura and Naruto before the Retrieval arc and would have fit a lot better thematically all around. Naruto is given the moment to mature when he calls out Sakura for lying, which would in turn be the reason Tsunade gives the green light for the retrieval mission, and gives Sakura time to reflect on her actions (since she would be barred from the mission), and want to train/grow under Tsunade into a strong Ninja who can stand alongside her friends and fight for what she wants and believes in.

[@JonathanRiverafrickinnice555]

I agree with that, bit of a missed opportunity.

[@fahimfahim624]

The scene serve no purpose.the character the the show would be better off without it

[@vaibhavmadan7125]

@@fahimfahim624 i def agree with that. all it did was destroy 1 char or almost destroyed it dep on how u see sakura. brought in artificial tension . etc.

[@leedriver7029]

5:59 the sons belonged to the Sage of the Six Paths, not “Akatsukiobito”

[@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou]

33:14

[@uchihaability]

I agree with almost everything you said, with a few reservations. Sakura was never planning to fight the Akatsuki. She isn’t thinking about fighting a death squad to get to Sasuke, she’s thinking about fighting Sasuke. In a character data book Kishimoto put out sometime between 2007-2009, he specified that Sakura is unsure of where her feelings lie for Sasuke and Naruto at this point in the series. When she tells Naruto she loves him, she’s first and foremost trying to get him to go home and not chase after Sasuke, putting his own freedom at risk with Danzo being the current hokage. But Sakura’s not stupid. In fact, she’s been highlighted as one of the smart(er) characters in the series numerous times before this. Sakura plans to go and deal with Sasuke herself; which yes, is a laughably bad idea, but tbf she thinks Sasuke is still at the level he was in the Tenchi Bridge arc. Sakura doesn’t plan to die on this mission, though. She confessed to Naruto, and she’s ready to go on with life from that point. That means that if Naruto had bended to her plan in that moment, they probably would have ended up together. It’s not until the climax of this arc that Sakura realizes that she wasn’t prepared for this. So many people jump to hating her character for this moment, but I get it. She’s a shinobi, but she’s also 16 years old.

[@StarWritterSW]

Thanks! Finally someone addressing her feelings for Naruto!

[@sarveshnathan7559]

"But Sakura’s not stupid. In fact, she’s been highlighted as one of the smart(er) characters in the series numerous times before this." -Blindly running to and trying to reason with a berserk 4T Naruto who was clearly violent and uncontrollable, even with Yamato's warnings -The "confession" -Knocking out all her teammates so she can try and kill Sasuke herself -Not killing Sasuke when she had the chance to follow through with her mission and made sure all the risky shit she did was not in vain, and as a result, Sasuke almost kills her, and Naruto has to save her (again), and take the poison kunai for her -Running to Madara and saying out loud that she'll be a diversion without ever discussing it with her teammates, defeating the purpose of a diversion "Sakura plans to go and deal with Sasuke herself; which yes, is a laughably bad idea, but tbf she thinks Sasuke is still at the level he was in the Tenchi Bridge arc. " You're just proving her stupidity. 1. For thinking that Sasuke is the same strength as was back then, and hasn't gotten stronger since 2. Even if he didn't, Sasuke still decimated all of them with ease on Tenchi Bridge even when Sakura had help So given these two facts, it makes Sakura incredibly stupid for thinking she can beat him herself.

[@StarWritterSW]

@@sarveshnathan7559 -She never saw Berserk Naruto, not even 4T. At least she tried -I won't touch on that -It was something personal. A bit low to take them down but was something that she had to do alone -Blame Kishimoto on that one for not knowing how women act, think and feel. No rational woman would still love someone like Sasuke, especially if they know nothing about him besides looks and didn't saw him for 3 years

[@sarveshnathan7559]

@@StarWritterSW -She literally saw 4T Naruto and how violent he was, and thought it was a good idea to just run up to him and reason with this uncontrollable beast even when Yamato told her not to do it. -It was stupid to knock them out. She has no chance against Sasuke alone.

[@StarWritterSW]

@@sarveshnathan7559 -at least she tried. After that she learned and didn't interfere on the Pain fight (thing that Hinata did and just made everything worse but no one points that out) -maybe. I think she would held her own. She wouldn't win but she wouldn't be taken out as fast as the plot seemed (like she was this close of getting the Kunai on his back but if she had grown more emotionally, she would have got him)

[@thegreatblazer2708]

I think you did an excelent job with the Sakura scene, and I believe you tackled it with great nuance and neutrality. I personally believe it is a rather well executed scene that was in fact a turning point for the character of Sakura, simply because of that said irrationality. Sasuke is and has been a constant source of injury for Naruto and Sakura ever since he decided to go rogue with Orochimaru. Regardless of how many times both of them tried to offer help and aid to Sasuke, he rejected it; he continued going down his relentless spiral of insanity. And I believe that this is the crux of Sakura's I love you: How toxic and hurtful continuing to seek Sasuke is. This scene, more than anything, is Sakura convincing herself that she does not love Sasuke, she loves Naruto; and Naruto himself calls this out "I hate people who lie to themselves". She at this point, in a naive, confused, and most importantly, despairful way tries to convince herself and Naruto to move on. You do not have to apologize to a person who has hurt you, the person who has hurt you needs to acknowledge their mistake and rectify it, so that they may work back towards earning that trust; and because of this, it is Sasuke who has to get his head out of his mentality and it is him who has to choose to be better; it is not Sakura or Naruto's duty to fix him if he rejects being helped. However Sakura does love Sasuke, even after all that, and she cannot handle it well, which leads to what I did disagree with about your analysis about it: Sakura's level-headedness. I think a significant point of this scene is to in fact break that vision of Sakura as the colected and efficient one of this group, because she isn't that. She is still human and more than anything, and she has a giant set of expectations and problems on her shoulders: Her master, the only person that she has been able to lean on constantly, is incapacitated for an indefinite amount of time; she is meant to carry on her legacy; Danzo is taking over the village; her village was floored by Pain; Sasuke is running amok in the world; the Akatsuki is not too far off completing their goal; and within this hell she still has to act like she isn't struggling, because she is a medic and a medic cannot be weak. It is, again, this perfectionism that the Shinobi world keeps demanding out of its world and that has bred so much misery. She could no longer be this person making rational choices because the person deep down was breaking and tearing at the seams and she had nobody to rely on to help her. Sai, less than cause this, was what finished breaking her from her already stablished struggle and this set of actions was further enabled by everyone accompanying her choosing to remain silent during the fake confession. She couldn't lean on Tsunade for emotional aid when it was her who taught her that she needed to become unflinching as a medical ninja and resolve her inner turmoil, something that Tsunade herself failed to do for years and years; she chose to not lean on Kakashi because she knew that he had as little answers as she did and that leads to the only other person stuck in this cycle: Naruto. And Naruto, in his right mind, rejects this nonsense that she is trying to make herself believe, and then she has nobody. So she does the very irrational things she does, because she feels alone and isolated; because she is broken. But fortunately, the story doesn't treat Sakura's choice as a correct one, which would have broken any narrative cohesion up to this point. She DID endanger her friends, she DID delude herself into thinking that Sasuke would return and she DID not muster the will to hurt him after everything. She made a mistake and the story doesn't shy away from this; and instead creates an opportunity for her to reflect and make a change. Will this opportunity actually be used? Find out as the story progresses! Either way, I think you did an excelent job argumenting your point of view and I think that the approach you took was a perfectly valid one. I am glad that I got to see a properly written and presented argument for the side of this coin and I can't wait to hear your thoughts on future events in the series. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos!

[@Lyy0n]

The problem with this viewpoint is that 1. A lot of what you’re saying is more or less isn’t suppprted. It’s implied she did that more so as a mechanic to protect Naruto’s feelings because of Sai. There wasn’t really any story clue that would consider that idea she was having an internal struggle to decide who she loved. If that was what she meant, it’s still a contrived choice, but it’s something that doesn’t have any implication in the story. You’d just have to somehow assume it as a reader. 2. She’s a human in a world where she faces death constantly. Similar to what mark said, it’s would become a character to flaw to ignore all of her relative points that should make her way more rational than even the average ninja. We hadn’t even been absorbed into a major clue of sakuras irrationality, so again it’d be contrived if it was true. This is such a basic mistake, that it almost goes past the point of just being itrational. It should be a blatant obvious decision to not take, and taking it just makes her look weaker than she needs to be, because even in the face of irrationality, you wouldn’t see other ninjas quite making that type of decision.

[@PresidentJackBauer]

Sasuke was going to kill them. I feel like that is just glossed over by every one because he failed. Everyone makes excuses for him. Or like Mark just did, move along. Sasuke has no consequences for any of his actions throughout the entire series.

[@longclaw22-72]

Neither does Gaara or the Nine Tails, or Vegeta from DBZ. It's a Shonen Manga you can chill 😂

[@donuts1878]

Didn’t he lose an arm? I feel like thats a pretty big consequence

[@addictedtoair1351]

@@donuts1878 so did Naruto

[@seand7042]

@@longclaw22-72 except Gaara did die initially to protect the people that he originally didn't care for at all

[@mikeclarke5732]

@@longclaw22-72 Gaara literally died to protect his people, Vegeta not only died but was sent straight to hell for his actions, the Nine Tails was under mind control, and was sealed inside Naruto for its actions. Sasuke not only got off Scott free(in the manga anyway, the anime at least had him in prison for a year) but is still allowed outside the village( granted he’s only used to go on dangerous missions outside the leaf) and the fact Naruto and Sakura are perfectly okay with Sasuke is disgusting.

[@Fax1880]

The people that get mad at Sakura are just self insert, first the confession started because of Sai blaming her for Naruto following Sasuke WHEN NARUTO HIMSELF IS OBSESSED WITH SASUKE, Sakura confessed to TAKE that burden from him, her plan to take Sasuke was stupid as shit, Kishi literally made her incompetent but that confession was NOT the problem.

[@Kfoglarsson]

That Sakura moment was so sad. In that moment she gave up, and it was not only a moment that defined Sakura but Naruto too. Bear in mind that Naruto used to have a crush on Sakura, this moment in the story finally brought that story line up and to a close, and I think a lot of people forget that. Naruto has the chance to have Sakura if he wants her as she is giving up her hope on saving Sasuke and with that also tries to free Naruto from the painful promise he made to her years ago, to save Sasuke for her sake, which she thinks is only hurting Naruto. But she gets rejected by Naruto not only because he sees through her words (maybe there is some truth in het decleration of love to him, I honestly believe she actually does love him and recognizes that he's the man that would do anything for her) but Naruto is not only trying to save Sasuke for her sake, he's doing that for himself too... And Sakura realizes that in this part, which is an important step for them both. Naruto truly does not go back on his word, he won't give up, and as a true leader, when Sakura falters in her beliefe that Sasuke might be better of dead, Naruto picks her up again and says otherwise.

[@Need4RealMusik]

Seven dollars personally and then let it go back to Amazon account

[@Die4Gesichter]

The upload times got so weird I Love It

[@samlerf]

This may seem like a pointless diversion, yet this is connected to Danzo: One of my favorite thematic themes of Naruto is the connection between Sakura and Naruto, she being the only person who could possibly understand why saving Sasuke was so important, who would stand by Naruto’s side, working and growing with him while they stayed on the same page, how she effectively seemed like some kind of older sister to Naruto, a smart and more mature personality that was flawed enough to still learn from Naruto while also (potentially) allowing Naruto to learn from her. And I like Sakura, I like a lot of her scenes with Sai or Naruto. And, in my opinion, Sakura was rather well integrated in the Gaara rescue and Sasori arc. Sadly (especially in the manga) Sakura was pushed into the shadow almost completely after this. I mean: We get an entire Training arc for a new jutsu where Kakashi (who wasn’t even that invested in Naruto) was at Naruto’s side instead of Sakura. And meanwhile Sakura became (more or less) just another employee of Tsunade, even though it was already sad enough that Shizune appeared to be completely dropped after arriving in Konoha, to the point that I almost feel tempted to ask what the point of her surviving the fight against Kabuto was. And I say that as someone who mostly likes Shizune, finding her kind and mostly empathic, even if sadly bland. But Sakura? She gets to be a mere communication tool between Naruto’s team and Tsunade, while also being used for a tear-comet scene transition. With all this being said, I would have liked it best for Sakura to train alongside Naruto instead of seemlingly giving up on their dream and doing the whole “All I can do is believe in them” nonsense, placing all their shared weight on Naruto’s shoulders. So what am I all about? I would have liked to see Danzo be a opposition for the female characters more, since they tend to be more underdeveloped (or her and Naruto, as part of their team dynamic). And it would have been a great contrast to the action-oriented plots that Naruto could be staring in. The scene where Danzo is first established seemed like pretty good set up for Sakura getting her own plotline, perhaps teaming up with other characters in need of spotlight like Tenten or Shizune. It could have been some kind of tactical chess-move, a game of minds and/or some kind of spy-thriller. It would have been interesting in that sense that the story itself already provided neat set up for Tsunade’s and Danzo’s strained relationship. And Sakura being Tsunade’s apprentice would have played into the overall theme of generational conflict. And, of course, I would have liked Sakura to be at Naruto’s side in the land of iron arc instead of this contrived false confession that seemed like a surprising twist for the sake of being surprising. They could have went off together, they could have easily be separated through Tobi’s or Zetzu’s machinations, if the face to face confrontation between Sasuke and Sakura were really needed. At worst I think Kakashi appearing for what we got unexplained would have been the lesser of two evils. I get that one can’t flash out everybody in the story - and that’s not even the point. But the person who was on Naruto’s and Sasuke’s team should have had more of an impact.

[@rikudoubapeck]

Sakura's perspective is always completely missed in this bit even by someone as thorough as Mark. All Konoha 11 decided to kill Sasuke regardless of Sakura's decision. This has been brewing since Danzo gave the ok. Now other villages can also kill him and have been shown to be pursuing that course as seen with Omoi and Karui. Sakura knows all this and feels like there is no real hope of saving Sasuke. He is dead but if she doesn't do anything not only will Sasuke die but Naruto will also be devastated. Her actions are all about saving Naruto and his feelings. She knows he cares about Sasuke but the lengths Naruto is willing to go for him seem to eclipse normal friendship so Sakura can only hope it's also about his promise. She hopes this because then she has some power to protect Naruto from himself by taking some responsibility away from him. As mentioned later Sakura came into that conversation suspecting Naruto wouldn't accept her lie. She knows he personally wants to save Sasuke. She just wanted to try all she could to protect his feelings and life. Also her plan to kill Sasuke was solid considering the near result. If not for plot convince and her emotions she could have killed him.

[@sarveshnathan7559]

No her plan was stupid as fuck. She was doomed to fail from the very start. That's why Kakashi went after her because she knew he has no chance against him. Sasuke would have killed her where she stood. Sakura would have been light work for Sasuke.

[@rikudoubapeck]

@@sarveshnathan7559 Sakura didn't plan on 1v1 ing Sasuke in a fair fight. She didn't know how far gone he was that he would kill his own teammate, so she planned to trick him. Sakura planned to pretend to teamup with him then stab and poison him the first chance she got.

[@DudeReelTalk]

Like the legend said… this was indeed a great video!

[@yangwenli668]

the video released a minute ago and you already watched it?

[@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou]

“Fans in the west take anime very seriously, huh” with how passionate people are with anime characters sometimes, it’s kinda sad how I have to agree with him. Miyazaki is based

[@thebrokenpuppet2714]

It said hideo Kojima it was a joke fake quote

[@Xeno574]

I hate people that take anime so seriously. Like go do something with your life instead of complaining about fictional characters on a screen/page lol.

[@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou]

@@thebrokenpuppet2714 was it Hideo Kojima who said it, cause I was kinda confused with the picture displayed. Anyways as far as I know, that does sound like a Miyazaki quote even if he may have never said it.

[@thebrokenpuppet2714]

@@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou the entire quote was made up

[@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou]

@@thebrokenpuppet2714 don’t gotta sound like a broken record, all I said was that it still sounds legit even if it’s fake.

[@ssjblackzeno5148]

Regarding the Sakura situation it's really simple people who already hated her will hate her withouth trying to understand anything while those that are neutral or like her will recognise that while the intentions were hood and noble the way she went about it was really bad.

[@zygfrydvolt1281]

Idk I loved Sakura even tho she didn't get a lot of development. Her emotions in the Zabuza Ark resonated with me and I had foundnes for her ever since. That's why I was extatic when she came back In full force in Shippuden. I absolutely adored her finding her own way of mastery as a ninja. Not only that but it was an extremely important role. A medic, I had hopes of her proceeding into the future conflicts risking her life to provide aid. And then came her confession. And I will never look at her the same way. Because she knew full well what it would mean to him had she really did feel that way and still chose to manipulate him. I don't hate her character but the love I felt completely evaporated leaving me bitter.

[@raviathreya5357]

I was indifferent to her before the scene. I hated her ever since

[@gsp6517]

I like Sakura, the problem is that Kishimoto doesn't. To be fair, he doesn't seem to know how to write women at all, so eh...

[@mattpreece6106]

YES!! Keep those videos coming Mark! .. still so happy and relieved to see you continue to follow your passion :D

[@riaankhekre8308]

Mark let me start off by sayin u did a wonderful job analysing this scene and frankly being the first person who actually took time to delve into it. How u presented pros and cons and the symbolism of the scene was very well made and educated. I do think there were a few points here and there which u have wronf but its ur opinion and i Respect it. First in terms of sakura being level headed i feel ur not taking into account recent events and how quickly they happened. Frankly not only sakura but every member of team 7 faced this alot. For sakura her master was on the deathbed, her teammate was declared an international terrorist and her other friend was a target aswell as the village being destroyed +her other comrades thinkin of killing sasuke aswell so i think atp noone was level headed anymore. The decision stemmed more from emotion to protect rather than that of a shinobi as well sakura doesnt want naruto to die. Second i wouldnt say sakura was being selfish as there was no personal gain from it. As sai says she was ready for naruto to resent her so her being selfish isnt correct here. And lastlt i feel this scene as much as it is controversial for sakura imo its makes her character interesting. Any character which goes through ups and downs in their storyline make them a watch to look out for so this shouldnt be a scene for everyone to loose their heads off. Again thanks mark for properly analysing the scene hope u enjoy the war arc now where u will see the very highs of sakura aswell

[@uzunami810]

SPOILERS FOR THE WAR ARC * * * * * * * * Just realized that Naruto's "I hate people who lie to themselves" line also refers to Obito, this took me way too long to realize

[@egeorgiades93]

He’s already spoiled by it. He even accidentally slipped at 6:01.

[@Matthew_Murray]

The Sakura issue is a hot topic among Naruto communities and this is probably the most in-depth someone has dove into this scene. Most of the hatred thrown toward Sakura has little to do with this scene but more so this idea in shonen manga/anime communities that a characters worth to the story is tied to how many wins they have, so people say Sakura is useless because they ignore everything else she contributes to the story that isn’t based in a fight scene. Now as for the scene itself I think it was poorly thought out on the part of Sakura but I understand the logic she used to reach the decision. Sakura knows that Naruto likes her, she also knows that Naruto will never go back on his word and break his promise to her. So in her mind she needs to make it clear to Naruto that she no longer cares about Sasuke. In an attempt to convince Naruto she tries to pretend to push all her feelings for Sasuke onto him. So I think the logic makes sense but I agree that it was pretty brash and a little out of character for Sakura. However, I think the ultimate point of this scene was to highlight Naruto’s emotional maturity both to the audience and to Sakura. Well that’s all I got. ✌️

[@astrojellyfish8137]

YES I always get so annoyed when people make fun of Sakura for crying out to Naruto after Pain flattens Konoha. Like oh, she was so useless all she could do was call for help. But they literally show her taking charge and working her ass off in the hospital during the invasion. She's a healer (a damn good one) more than a fighter, but she can fight too, if she needs to.

[@yashraj8459]

Why that logic, Lee lost all his battle but people still like him. Most of her hate comes from incidents where she doesn't respect Naruto and doesn't care about him most of the time. Example: Sakura hugging her parents and forgetting about Naruto after the arc where the roles were reversed for a bit and Sakura was an orphan and naruto had a family in the tsukoyomi. Everytime when sakura punches naruto unnecessarily.

[@cupcakes8472]

@@yashraj8459 Sakura has shown many times that she loves Naruto as a friend tho and where she punches Naruto are for comedy and mostly filler don’t know why y’all take it so seriously

[@yashraj8459]

@@cupcakes8472 comedy to the people with two brain cells, punching Naruto after he singlehandedly defeated pain is not funny, she should be kissing his feet after that. Also you conveniently didn't talk about the other thing that she did to Naruto. Let me give you one more reason, everytime she thought she could be of used, proceeds to be more useless. Forrest of death scene when both Sasuke and Naruto were down, Lee did more than she did. Cut her hair off WOW! SO HEROIC should get a medal.

[@Ikeai-zv8lv]

​@@yashraj8459 The thing is Sakura isn't the only one guilty of this. Naruto punches Konohamaru? No one cares. Any other character punches naruto except Sakura? Nobody bats an eye. It isn't even canon most of the time, and Naruto tends to be doing something stupid a lot of the time. I admit she was bad in part 1 when she was 13 years old, especially with that comment about Naruto having no parents but she changed in part 2. She was definitely annoying with how obsessed with Sasuke she was but in part 2, Naruto was definitely worse. Sasuke tried to kill him and became a terrorist and Naruto still was on about how he and Sasuke have a bond and they are best friends. If anything, Naruto seemed like he had more of a bond with Shikamaru and Choji than he did Sasuke. I know you didn't say anything about the second point, that was just me rambling.

[@DarkSpiritShleah]

THANK YOU for explaining Sakura’s side in all this. The manga and anime’s fanbase can be so sexist and quick to hate female characters. Also gotta recognize kishimoto’s struggle with female characters.

[@kyleward7417]

Infact everyone should be more sexist if it means more hate for Sakura.

[@calarakien]

now that you've made that comparison, i want fanart of an outfit swap between mansley and danzo

[@bioshogushin606]

Mark releasing unstable dark matter at 8:50 and then cutting right to the sponsor part of the video, is hilarious.

[@ihtishamhussain1785]

Love how Mark understands how dumb Sakura was in this moment while there’s so many that defend it. There isn’t anything defending that

[@becca_98]

I would say Kishimoto is the dumb one in this situacion (not to mention lazy), he commited character assassination to make Naruto look better (something he does a lot)

[@norishimogawa6125]

@@becca_98 I’m always confused when people say it’s “kishimotos/sakuras fault” because kishimoto literally controls her actions what she does is up to him so it’s no question that it’s his fault. What’s her fault only lies within the pages of the manga,

[@kpro88]

Meh I liked that sakura bit its clear like you said she should know better and that's why as the reader i think we should see how bad she feels and that she really does love naruto just not in the way she said cause she is willing to go against her own character to save him the only way she thinks she can as she's "useless", its her weakest moment and naruto is there to see her through.

[@afellownerd]

Was thinking that after naruto, your next blind review could be bleach since the anime is coming back this year.

[@chloehahn8372]

Seconded

[@boomkruncher325zzshred5]

Regarding Sakura: So… people aren’t allowed to make catastrophically bad decisions and suffer for it? Sakura is allowed to make mistakes that bad. She made a big one with her confession, and she paid for it. And that experience taught her a painful lesson. Love and sex are also two separate things. Sakura could have separated romantic attraction from genuine concern for his safety. The fact she didn’t shows the story is willing to allow characters to make the worst possible decisions, and to face the consequences, is a mark of a great story.

[@Galvatronover]

But she didn’t suffer for it

[@Lyy0n]

She didn’t suffer from it, AND it’s a mistake that’s hard to throw within the “she’s human” box, because no one else in the show makes such a blatant stupid mistake like that, so yes, she gets the short end of the stick

[@UnpredictableSB]

Mark: Kisame can transform, was that hinted before? Me who has watched the whole series: HE WHAT?

[@45yees25]

Great video mark again as usual i always look forward to your reviews The Sakura stan in me is coming out again after being dormant for a year and ive had missed grown men frothing in the mouth for a pink haired teenager but here are my opinions on the debate When i first started naruto i was warned about sakura people kept on telling me omg your gonna hate this girl soo much and some other nonsense and 720 episodes and 9 movies later she is my favorite character she is meant to be flawed There is a massive double standard because if sakura was going to be in danger and naruto told her "no don't go i love you and don't want to see you get hurt 😢🥺🥺" the crowd would be cheering. But i digress Sai was the real manipulator in this situation using his little interpretation on the situation to get her to do something i do agree that she could have phrased it better but sai made her breakdown and shikamaru had some guilt tripping too I don't think she was selfish either manipulative yes but she had the right idea but the wrong words and influence The whole interaction is stupid anyway but the extend of the hate that girl gets is embarrassing and you won't prove me wrong Edit: Sai manipulated her into thinking that naruto is getting himself hurt and risking his life because of the promise he made to her she thought she could by telling him he would be relieved and not go after sasuke anymore again like i said above she phrased it wrong

[@hunterwynn3826]

Naruto letting himself get beaten up on Sasuke's behalf from the Cloud Ninja really made Naruto's relationship with Sasuke feel very toxic. Naruto is basically saying "don't punish Sasuke for going into your village and killing your friend," he's trying to break the cycle of violence, but there are consequences for your action. That's the annoying part of Naruto & Sasuke, Naruto rolls over for Sasuke and will do anything for him while Sasuke is willing to kill Naruto. This feels like the equivalent of Harley Quinn and the Joker.

[@davidkamps9879]

I think it’s a shallow telling of their dynamic. It’s not just sasuke who Naruto is allowing himself to be beat up for. He ultimately is still trying to find an answer to the question of the cycle of hatred. He’s trying to find a way to end that cycle and at this point he has the wrong answer.

[@hunterwynn3826]

@@davidkamps9879 It's the wrong answer, but the series itself never fully address it as being wrong or tell Naruto that what he did was stupid. A lot of times when Naruto does this stuff like "take all your hate on me, Sasuke. I'm the only one who can take, and we'll die together" is painted as virtuous when it's really gross.

[@davidkamps9879]

@@hunterwynn3826 I get what you’re saying but you’re missing the point from a philosophical perspective. In Naruto the stronger ideology ultimately wins in battle. Naruto defeats Sasuke when he proves that his bonds and embracing others was stronger than being a tyrant. Sasuke was part of a clan that was warped with a curse of hated and Naruto was tasked with ending the cycle of hatred. Naruto philosophically defeating Sasuke is symbolic of that. The relationship is deep rooted but one sided while Sasuke abandoned the village. Naruto understood Sasukes struggle and that’s why he didn’t kill him and was willing to go so far. He was told countless times that what he was doing was stupid. But ultimately Naruto’s conviction as well as the quelling of his inner demons allowed him to confront what Sasuke had become. It wasn’t an abusive relationship because it was never intended to be a relationship in the first place. Naruto was getting involved to save sasuke from himself, it’s a hero’s journey.

[@hunterwynn3826]

@@davidkamps9879 it was a relationship to begin with, they kept mentioning how they're friends and their bonds. Regardless of what philosophy is behind the two characters it doesn't change how unhealthy Naruto tries to go about this, and it doesn't excuse all the horrible things Sasuke has done. There get to a point where it doesn't matter what horrible thing a person experienced in the past, it doesn't excuse the horrific things they're currently doing. And at the end of the series Sasuke is given a full pardon of his crime for stopping the Infinite Tsukuyomi despite playing a roll on creating it and unleashing the 10 Tails.

[@davidkamps9879]

@@hunterwynn3826 Edit: major spoilers ahead that’s just not true. Naruto says sasuke is his friend, Sasuke doesn’t reciprocate that. The terrible things Sasuke did aren’t unheard of in this universe, keep in mind that this is a world where child soldiers are par for the course. What type of emotional and mental stability are you expecting from a generation that’s warped through war, especially when the person in question has power that scales with emotional trauma while enhancing that trauma. Sasuke is a tragic character and is punished for his actions. He loses an arm and never takes a new one, he spends the rest of his life taking care of dimensional threats and loose ends by himself. He saves Konoha from a meteor during Naruto’s absence. He definitely got his redemption and payed a price for his failures. And all that isn’t taking into consideration the initial corruption of both the Sharinagan and the curse mark which completely warped his mind. And he had his whole clan slaughtered. He looked for power in isolation and Naruto wouldn’t let him. Sasuke even asks Naruto why he keeps getting involved with him. This is why Naruto is told what he’s doing is stupid by his friends. It’s not like the show glossed over the fact that their friendship dynamic was one sided.

[@LauGman]

Ironically enough, Japanese fans love Sakura. Opinions can be very different depending on your country or area

[@92JazzQueen]

That's false even the Japanese hate her

[@vegebul1797]

@@92JazzQueen Its true. She has her own birthday events set up by fans and her merch sell out faster than Naruto's.

[@quietopinion9637]

@@92JazzQueen Nah they loved and supported sasusaku too

[@About9000]

You have really interesting and unique takes on the series, and watching your videos allows me to see things in a new light. I think part of the reason the fanbase feels the way it does (myself included) is because Naruto was the headliner of the big 3, Manga that introduced and connected young audiences. you, as an adult able to read the story freely at your own pace had a fundamentally different experience to us who had to grow up along side the show itself and I find this incredibly valuable as I wouldn't get these takes from other fans.

[@monotube3]

FINALLLY MARK IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SO LONG IT FEELS LIKE