Source: Wikipedia
“When Time Stands Still”
“The episode begins with a flashback that reveals that Sagi, not Toki, died and that Toki took on her brother’s identity to avenge his death. Toki assumes the identity of the Noroimusha and attempts to attack Mousou, but is subdued by Mousou’s imitation of ninjutsu. Mousou’s Watari ninjas and Naruto’s group join the battle. While his companions fight the Watari ninja, Naruto pursues Mousou and is caught in a genjutsu.”
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Analysis
This episode also had an unfolding of events. It also revealed more details about the Watari Ninja, or, we could say, the Wondering Ninja.
Please take note that when I mention the name Sagi, it’s because her disguise has not been revealed yet, and when I mention Toki, that’s when she reveals her disguise.
This episode is a continuation of the previous episode, where Sagi was determined to seek vengeance on Mousou for killing his family members. With dialogue, tense music plays in the background.
Sagi: As long as the score isn’t settled, my heart is as broken as this watch, and we are both stuck forever in the past.
Lord Koumei: Sagi no! Revenge is a poison blade that saves the most fatal cut for the man who wields it!
Sagi: Fine, so long as I take Mousou out of me, his darkness could devour my soul, and I would welcome it.
Sagi is like Sasuke through and through in the sense that Sasuke also seeks vengeance on the person responsible for killing his clan and parents, Itachi Uchiha. This is evident when a flashback technique is used when Naruto starts noticing Sasuke’s need for vengeance. For instance, when Itachi and Kisame are planning to capture Naruto, Sasuke is oozing hatred for his brother as he says to Itachi, “It’s just as you said, brother, all this time I fostered my hatred for you; I lived my life for one single purpose. It ends here! Enough! You’re dead!“. Afterwards, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and used his Chidori against Itachi, but it was ineffective. Secondly, Naruto remembered his encounter with Sasuke, where he had a curse mark on the right side of his face. Sasuke said to him, “My days of playing ninja with you kids of the Leaf Village are done. Now I’m going to where Orochimaru is.” Sagi’s situation is reminiscent of Sasuke’s. Since Naruto is close to Sasuke and fails to save him, he is driven by emotion as he decides to convince Sagi that revenge is not the answer. This is why he starts yelling at Sagi in the following dialogue below:
Naruto yells I’ll never allow you to throw your soul away! Revenge consumed a friend of mine until nothing was left, and the only way that’s going to happen to you is over my dead body!
Sagi: I’ll see this through to the end, and if you’re not with me, then you’re against me. You’ll never understand.
Despite Naruto’s ultimatum, Sagi refuses to listen because he is determined to punish Mousou no matter what. His need for revenge has consumed him to the extent that when he pulls a rope, he traps them in a cage, causing the royal residence to collapse. He even risked destroying Chishima’s life, who lay in the hospital bed and woke up after realising that the building was disintegrating. Therefore, that is how Sagi is like Sasuke; he is willing to hurt others just to get his revenge.
During the fight between Nagare and Kakashi, there were more details concerning the Watari Ninja. When Kakashi freed himself from Nagare’s sand coffin (an imitation of Gaara’s technique) using his lightning blade, he used the lightning blade on Nagare. A conversation takes place between them where Nagare says, “We are roaming outcasts with no village, the drags of ninja society; that’s why we travel from place to place, stealing what jutsu we find, sharpening our skills without benefiting school or clan, looking for a land to call our own. But then, no matter how hard we try, I guess this means there are limitations we can never hope to surpass.” The Watari Ninjas are nomads who travel from place to place, stealing any jutsu they can find. It makes one wonder how Mousou is linked to them and what the agreement between the two of them is. As the analysis progresses, you’ll find out why.
The episode begins with a flashback that reveals that Sagi, not Toki, died and that Toki took on her brother’s identity to avenge his death. This is where we see the unfolding of events. Before Toki can wear the cursed warrior’s armour and pursue Mousou to punish him, she starts to have a flashback. Tense music plays in the background with a mix of Japanese guitars. When Toki realised that her brother had died, she wanted to commit suicide by using a sword. However, before she could do that, Sagi’s ghost stopped her and gave her a watch. At that moment, that’s when she promised to avenge both of their deaths and took on the disguise of Sagi. Back to the present, she wears the cursed warrior’s armour and plans to punish Mousou.
Toki assumes the identity of the Noroimusha and attempts to attack Mousou, but is subdued by Mousou’s imitation of ninjutsu. When Sagi (Toki) arrives at Mousou’s house, Mousou activates his jutsu, Firestyle: Fireball Jutsu, on the cursed warrior, where he burns the huge kites that made him fly. While they were fighting, Mousou started to reveal some details about himself and the Watari Ninja. A dialogue takes place between them:
Mousou: Yes, that’s right, Mousou is just the face with which I dupe in an unwitting world. My real name is Hoki, a member and leader of the Wondering Ninja, or Watari Ninja. With no village of our own, we drift from place to place, flocking among the waves, stealing the jutsu nobody would teach us. But as the years set heavy on our shoulders, our clan was tired of this vagrant existence, and that’s why we have been looking for a land in which to end our wandering and set down roots.
Sagi: So, the truth comes out. You’ve been planning to take over from the moment you arrived here.
Mousou: How dare you judge our motives? You spoiled feudal wealth; fortune has favoured you! We, the wandering ninja, suffer in a way you could never begin to understand. I see no harm in poor unfortunates wanting to find a place they can call home, but we could never have come this far had it not been for your father. I assumed the guise of Mousou and charmed my way into Lord Owashi’s confidence; all the while, the fool never suspected a thing. A dramatic bit of genjutsu was enough to convince him of Mousou’s magical prowess; thus, he brought me into the fold as a trusted advisor. Koumei alone had enough sense to harbour suspicions about what I was up to. So, I painted Koumei as a malcontent after killing your father.
Sagi: That was you; you’re the one who murdered my father?!
Mousou: With pleasure, and after I kill you tonight, no one will stand in our way!
Sagi: Your evil ends here
From the dialogue, when he mentions the dramatic genjutsu, he is referring to where he seemingly swallowed a small sword. Mousou is presented as a snake that is willing to do whatever it takes to get what it wants, to the extent of killing people and framing an innocent man for his murders. He also lacks remorse for what he did, since his excuse is that he did whatever it took to survive as a Watari Ninja. We can also see the element of appearance versus reality throughout the storyline, where Mousou seemed like a saint but then turned out to be a snake.
After several clashes between the two of them, Toki’s identity is revealed. Mousou seemingly used Shadow Possession Jutsu, where he controls Toki. This technique is like Shikamaru’s jutsu. Before Mousou could inflict any damage on Toki, Chishima arrived to save her. After realising that he is alive, Mousou tosses his shuriken at Chishima, but the shuriken clash with a kunai tossed by Naruto. Triumph music plays in the background with a mix of Japanese flute and electric guitar. Naruto said he heard everything and revealed that the shadow possession was just another genjutsu trick to convince them that she was trapped. She eventually ends up being free.
Afterwards, Naruto shows himself where he activated his shadow clones dressed as the cursed warrior. Among those shadow clones are Neji, Tenten, and Kakashi, who used Substitution Jutsu to dress as cursed warriors. After a series of clashes, Kakashi said to Mousou, “So you’re Hoki, leader of the infamous wandering ninja; your reputation presides over you, a shinobi who’s ever creeping from place to place in search of new prey like a bat in the night.” He went on to say, “We of the leaf are taught to face our difficulties with honour; that is the true way of the ninja. People like you who try to better their lot through deceit are ninjas in name only, nothing but common thieves.” This further proves that the element of appearance versus reality is shown, where Mousou was operating through deceitful action to get what he wanted. Due to Kakashi’s words, Mousou seemingly summons dragons and knocks out Chishima and Toki. He then proceeded to take Toki hostage. After some time, it is revealed that the dragons were just an illusion because Mousou used a projection. It was just a way of destroying them while he took Toki hostage.
Mousou’s Watari ninjas and Naruto’s group join the battle. When Mousou entered the mansion with Toki, the genin wanted to follow him. However, they are confronted by the Watari ninjas, and Neji and Tenten use taijutsu to defeat them. Moreover, Naruto activates his Shadow Clone Jutsu to defeat them, and after that, he enters the mansion in hopes of saving Toki.
While his companions fight the Watari ninja, Naruto pursues Mousou and is caught in a genjutsu. In the genjutsu, Naruto saw Mousou riding on a boat by watching him on a screen. Mousou proceeds to taunt Naruto by telling him that if he wants Toki back, he should get her by riding on a boat. Eventually, Naruto gets in the boat, and along the lake, he sees Toki, Sagi, and Chishima as kids. While Naruto is intrigued, Mousou starts laughing with his evil laugh. The episode ends in suspense. What will happen to Toki, Kakashi, Tenten, Neji, Naruto, and Chishima? This will be revealed in the next episode.
The lesson from this episode is that looks can be deceiving; not everything is what it seems, as was evident when Mousou deceived everyone into thinking he was a good guy when he was just a snake.
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and then Add to home screen.