Source: Wikipedia
“Too Late for Help”
“The episode starts with Mousou stating the mission is over. Naruto, however, is sceptical and investigates where he and his companions fought the Noroimusha. He finds a secret passage to the feudal lord’s mansion but is caught. When Chishima goes to warn Mousou about Naruto’s investigation, he accidentally sees Mousou meeting with the Watari Ninja. Chishima tries to escape to inform the others about this development, but is pursued and injured by the Watari ninja. The Noroimusha arrives in Naruto’s cell, and he is sentenced to death.”
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Analysis
There is more to the cursed warrior story, and Naruto is presented as the one who solves the mystery of the second cursed warrior's identity.
The episode starts with Mousou stating that the mission is over. Mousou stated that the mission was over because Koumei had already confessed to his crimes. A dialogue takes place between him and the genin, and Naruto finds it suspicious that the case has already been solved.
Mousou: It seems the cursed warrior was all a ploy to stir up unrest with the public so he could seize the feudal lord’s seat.
Naruto: And Koumei told you all that himself?
Mousou: Yes, I know it’s inconceivable. When that cursed warrior disappeared, it was a soldier pretending to be a ninja who used powerful hydrochloric acid to melt his flesh.
Mousou laughs: You see, the cursed warrior incident is over. Now the land of birds can return to the beautiful, quiet place it was before this mess.
Naruto: Wait! Hold on a sec, there’s another cursed warrior out there-
Neji interrupts: Enough, Naruto
Naruto: What gives, Neji?
So, it seems the cursed warrior was a soldier who used powerful hydrochloric acid to melt his flesh. It is suspicious because why would a soldier kill himself instead of just confessing to a crime and admitting that he was just following the orders of Lord Koumei? Moreover, Mousou's not questioning why the soldier would kill himself instead of confessing to the crime is also suspicious since the other cursed warrior might be out there ready to attempt to kill the current feudal lord, Lord Sagi. The investigation was concluded too soon, and Naruto’s suspicions are valid.
Naruto, however, is sceptical and investigates where he and his companions fought the Noroimusha. At first, Neji and Tenten were prepared to leave and go back to the Hidden Leaf Village. However, due to Naruto’s suspicions about the second cursed warrior, Neji said, “The team is not yet finished with the cursed warrior; Tenten and I will study this from a different angle.” He also said to Naruto, “Naruto, you do have a valid point; the whole matter was resolved much too quickly.” Afterwards, Naruto heads off to investigate by himself.
When Naruto reached his destination, where he and his companions fought the Noroimusha or cursed warrior, he summoned the toads Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. Gamatatsu came across a huge black kite that was stuck in a tree. After noticing the kite, Naruto realised how the cursed warrior was able to fly during the night. He said, “Of course! If somebody flew one of these under the cover of night, a cursed warrior hanging off a black kite would look like he’s flying, and just like that, the mystery of a levitating warrior is solved. What’s next? Someone was here that night.” Thanks to Naruto, he might be getting closer to solving the mystery of the second cursed warrior.
He finds a secret passage to the feudal lord’s mansion but is caught. Gamatatsu is the one who found the secret passage. When he entered the room, he noticed that the area where he was sitting was nice, cool, and relaxing. Due to this, Naruto realises that the wind is blowing underneath, so he cuts a hole using his kunai and finds the secret passage. They check it out and follow the path of the secret passage to see where it ends. They find out that the secret passage leads to the feudal lord’s residence. Gamatatsu, Gamakichi, and Naruto are hiding at the residence; however, Gamatatsu's noise attracts the attention of the guards, and Naruto gets caught. As a result, Naruto is tied up and presented to Lord Sagi, who instructs the guards to arrest Naruto and lock him up in a dungeon.
When Chishima goes to warn Mousou about Naruto’s investigation, he accidentally sees Mousou meeting with the Watari Ninja. Mousou was having a meeting with Watari Ninja when he said, “We encountered some trouble along the way, but at last we found what we were looking for.” Tense music plays in the background when Chishima realises that Mousou is speaking to the Watari Ninja. The Watari Ninjas were all sitting on the ceiling. When the ninja noticed someone was eavesdropping on their conversation, they tossed their shuriken at the door. Luckily, Chishima escaped, but he got cut by the shuriken. Mousou opens his door and notices a trail of blood, so he instructs the ninja to find the intruder. The episode has gotten interesting. Only time will tell when Naruto, Neji, and Tenten investigate further the mystery of the cursed warrior.
Chishima tries to escape to inform the others about this development, but is pursued and injured by the Watari ninja. Chishima escaped to a place that is surrounded by bamboo trees. Due to his wounds, he leaps while he tries to escape to inform others. However, he was pursued by the ninja, which caused him to fall into a lake. When the ninja assumes that he’s gone, they leave; however, when they leave, Chishima is using a stick to breathe oxygen while he’s underwater. What will happen to Chishima? Will he survive and inform the Genin about the recent development? Only time will tell.
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The identity of the second cursed warrior is revealed.
The Noroimusha arrives in Naruto’s cell, and he is sentenced to death. When the cursed warrior arrives in Naruto’s cell, he attempts to kill Naruto. Tense music with a mix of drums and Japanese flute plays in the background as Naruto dodges his attacks while he’s still tied up in a coat. While dodging his attacks, the cursed warrior left some cut marks on Naruto’s coat. When Naruto was about to break free, the warrior held him on a wall with his spear. Before the cursed warrior could kill Naruto with his sword, Naruto broke free and dodged his attack. Naruto is on the offensive as he punches him in the face. When he breaks his mask, it turns out that the second cursed warrior is Lord Sagi. Due to this, a dialogue takes place between them:
Naruto: Sagi! What the heck is going on here? You’re telling me you were the other cursed warrior, but why?
Sagi grunts: They say that only a ghost can accomplish true vengeance, but that is nothing more than a dirty lie! This watch has been handed down from generation to generation of feudal lords and is supposed to be passed on from father to son. I’m no more, not with my father, who perished, washed up, and was taken. It’s as if you felt the true pain of death. The only reason I continued this shameless life was to get my revenge; the moment I achieved it, I could perish as well.
Naruto: But that’s no way to live.
Sagi yells: You have no idea what it feels like to lose everything you hold dear!
Naruto: You’re right. Okay, I don’t know! But I do know one thing: You’re a feudal lord, right? Is revenge the job of a feudal lord? Of course not! Look, Koumei has already been arrested for the evil he’s committed; you could just let Mousou handle it and walk away, right?
Sagi looks away. You have no right to interfere in this, and besides, now that you know everything you do, we cannot let you survive. You have trespassed on the land of the feudal palace, and the punishment for that is death!
Naruto: Mmm, you’re kidding me.
Thanks to Naruto’s interference and investigation, the identity of the second cursed warrior is revealed to be the feudal lord, Sagi. It seems he used the identity of the cursed warrior to seek vengeance on the man who killed his father. Sagi is like Sasuke in the sense that both are seeking vengeance on the people who caused their suffering. In this case, Sagi is seeking vengeance on Koumei, who seemingly killed his father, while Sasuke is seeking revenge on Itachi Uchiha, who killed his parents and the whole Uchiha clan.
Despite Naruto telling Sagi that living only to seek vengeance is no life at all, Sagi is still insistent on killing Naruto since he knows everything. It makes one wonder: could it be Mousou who hired the Watari ninja to attack the current feudal lord to deflect suspicion about the second cursed warrior, or is there more to the story? Only time will tell. Moreover, if Koumei is already in jail for killing Lord Owashi, why is Sagi still seeking vengeance? Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, Tenten and Neji are investigating the tombs of past feudal lords. When they come across the tomb of Lord Owashi, Neji activates his Byakugan to see anything amiss, and he sees a purple light. He said to Tenten, “I sense something poisonous inside Owashi’s body. Was he assassinated?” Afterwards, the guards surround them and inform them of Naruto’s arrest due to him infiltrated the royal residence. As a result, he was sentenced to death. Moreover, they also told the genin to leave the land of birds at once or they would be executed where they could stand for the same crime Naruto committed. As a result, Tenten and Neji escaped while the guards threw their bows at them. They manage to escape into a forest, and they make plans to save Naruto. However, Kakashi arrived to inform them that they couldn’t save Naruto and that their mission was over. This means that they can’t do anything beyond their mission; hence, Naruto is in danger of being executed. The episode ends with a cliffhanger where Naruto might end up getting executed. We are also left with some unanswered questions:
Will Naruto survive?
What will happen to Chishima, who is still hiding underwater while breathing oxygen from a stick? Will he survive and inform the Genin about the recent development?
Neji senses something poisonous inside Owashi’s body. Was he assassinated? Who poisoned Owashi? Was it Koumei, or was it someone else? If it were someone else, why would Koumei admit to a crime he didn’t commit?
Why would Mousou meet with the Watari ninja who attempted to assassinate the current feudal lord, Lord Sagi? Did he mean to kill the feudal lord, or was there more story?
If Koumei is already in jail for killing Lord Owashi, why is Sagi still seeking vengeance?
Will anyone in the village find out that Lord Sagi was the second cursed warrior?
These questions will be answered in the next episode.
The lesson from this episode could be derived from Naruto’s words to Lord Sagi: “Living only to seek vengeance is no life at all.”
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and then Add to home screen.