NARUTO volume 13, chunin exams - sasuke vs gaara. came back to these chapters to remind myself of the art. it's so charming, and detailed, so i suppose it should have taken real effort for that result. by later issues kishimoto seems to be more intimate with his art to the point of just being able to convey what he wants through simpler strokes.

so NARUTO has a format of its own that made me think it could have been better thought out, especially when it comes to characters aside from naruto and sasuke. reading this last arc made me realize how great writing potential it had, but i've got to realize everything's got its limitations, like an overworking culture, or closed mindsets, strict deadlines, or the genre itself. but NARUTO is one of Shonen Jump's Big Three for a reason, and maybe it's thanks to its handling of the shonen genre that we get to have such newly amazing series nowadays, so: thanks for everything, NARUTO team :D

NARUTO volumes 71 & the beginning of 72, the chakra progenitor. it's funny to me that when sasuke tries to emphasize how much it's useless to care about teammates, naruto throws back a flirt at him remembering when sasuke's body moved on its own to save naruto, and this scene is set above burning lava; like ohhh it's getting hot in here... ok half-jokes aside, for an almost-last arc this wasn't as good as you'd hope it would be, but it's nice that team 7 fought alongside for once, the second time they did that in almost 700 chapters, the first one being in the forest of death in chapter 50-60ish.

NARUTO volumes 69 & 70, 4th shinobi war: birth of ten-tails' jinchuriki. father-son conflict in madara&obito's dynamic, 'you just used me'... also, sakura getting more show time, just for her to be brought down by sasuke over and over... it is utilized to expose how sasuke is different from naruto, wanting to sever with his past team, but i can't help thinking that sakura was so, so, SO left aside throughout all the series, especially since tenchi bridge arc (volumes 30ish), that when she has the minimum relevance, it's only for her to fail and realize her love interest isn't that interested in her.