Source: Wikipedia
“When Egrets Flap Their Wings”
“Mousou reveals himself to be Hoki, the migrating ninja, who plans to travel and collect as many jutsus as possible. He seemingly kills Chishima and knocks Naruto underwater. Naruto awakens when Sagi’s ghost asks him to save Toki from her desire for revenge and defeat Mousou. Naruto rises from the water and punches Hoki, then tells Toki that he has seen Sagi. Naruto then fights against and defeats Hoki. Chishima turns out to have survived Hoki’s attack. Toki apologises to her subjects for deceiving them but asks them to allow her to remain ruler and restore the Bird Country. After the group leaves, Neji tells Naruto that the first Cursed Warrior they encountered was a real ghost, much to his horror.
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Analysis
The episode highlighted that the need for revenge only leads to destruction. The following analysis will examine the details of what happened.
The episode starts when Chishima enters Mousou’s place at night. When he entered the room, he noticed a door underground that led to a lake where he, Sagi, and Toki used to play as kids. He stumbles, and as he reaches the end, he sees Naruto standing on the lake. Naruto was standing still because he was still trapped in Mousou’s genjutsu. While Naruto was distracted, Mousou, who was underwater, attempted to pull Naruto down. While Naruto was still trapped in the genjutsu, he was still fascinated to see Chishima, Sagi, and Toki hanging out at the lake. Luckily, Chishima calls him out, and Naruto finally wakes up from the genjutsu. Although Mousou managed to pull Naruto underwater, Naruto stabbed his shoulder with his kunai before he could go further underwater. As a result, Mousou lets him go, and Naruto swims upwards to breathe oxygen. As the episode progresses, Mousou keeps Toki hostage in a boat while they are in the middle of the lake.
Mousou reveals himself to be Hoki, the migrating ninja, who plans to travel and collect as many jutsus as possible. He seemingly kills Chishima and knocks Naruto underwater. When Mousou revealed his identity, he activated his Water Style technique, Water Dragon Jutsu. Due to this, the lake formed into a dragon and targeted Naruto and Chishima. Afterwards, Hoki tossed his shuriken at them, and Chishima shielded Naruto from Hoki’s attacks using his backside. Before Chishima passed out, Lady Toki kept calling out his name. When Chishima heard her calling out to him, he started reminiscing about their childhood: “Lady Toki, I remember that there were so many wonderful days spent together at this lake, playing here with you and with Lord Sagi. In those days, the land of birds was so tranquil, so gentle, and so warm. With all your resolve, you can again restore the land of birds to the way it once was.” He also tells Naruto that he should protect Lady Toki because she means everything to him. Afterwards, Chishima seemingly dies.
Chishima is portrayed as brave in that he risked his life to save his village. Saving Naruto meant that Naruto could put a stop to Mousou’s plans to take over a village. Chishima always showed love for his village from the start, since he even gave all his money to the Leaf Village to save his village. Therefore, Chishima plays a role in saving his village. He is a round character who seems like a real person who cares about others.
When Chishima seemingly dies, Naruto gets angry and promises to make Hoki pay for what he did. Before Naruto could inflict his attack on Hoki, Hoki activated his jutsu Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu, where huge waves came after Naruto and destroyed everything in their path, including trees.
Meanwhile, Tenten, Neji, and Kakashi defeated the Watari ninja. First, Tenten used her ninja tools. Second, Neji used his gentle fist to defeat them. Last, Kakashi used a substitution jutsu to deflect the Watari ninja’s shuriken and then strangled his neck from behind, which caused the Watari Ninja to pass out. After they finished their battle, they entered Mousou’s house and found the door that led them to the lake. They decide to follow it since it will lead them to Naruto. The Hidden Leaf Ninjas are skilled, so the Watari Ninjas were no match for them.
When Hoki seemingly defeats Naruto, he prepares to kill Toki with his sword. Toki gives up and prepares for her death. She believes that since she failed to get her revenge, what’s the point of living? This proves that the pursuit of revenge is never positive. It is always negative when it affects someone in a bad way, as is evident when Toki is willing to give up just because she failed to get her revenge. While this is happening, Naruto goes further underwater, where he encounters Sagi’s ghost.
Naruto awakens when Sagi’s ghost asks him to save Toki from her desire for revenge and defeat Mousou. Sagi’s ghost said to Naruto, “Naruto, wake up. Save Toki, wake up and save my little sister. I entrusted her with the future of the land of birds; I left her my watch, but Toki became obsessed with her intense desire for revenge for her heart. It’s like time is stuck. As a mere soul, I cannot change it, so I beg of you to please change it for me. Push her time out of the past and towards the future.” Therefore, Naruto acts as a messenger or mediator between Sagi and Toki, helping Toki realise that she should stop pursuing her desire for revenge and move on with her life.
Moreover, through Naruto’s encounter with Sagi’s ghost, we learn a bit about his character. He was indeed a great feudal lord who always put the interests of the village first. Furthermore, he also cared about his family, including his sister. When he witnessed his sister’s desire for revenge, it hurt him because she never had a chance to live a fulfilling life. She was always seeking revenge, and since he decided to ask Naruto for his help, it shows the deep love he has for his sister. Therefore, he and his sister had a close relationship before he died.
Naruto rises from the water and punches Hoki, then tells Toki that he has seen Sagi. Triumph music plays in the background with a mix of electric guitar, Japanese chants, drums, and Japanese flute as Naruto punches Hoki and lands on the boat. As Naruto prepares to cut the rope with his kunai to free Toki, a dialogue takes place between Naruto and Toki.
Toki (smiles): Naruto
Naruto: You’re not going to believe this, but I think I just met your brother in a dream.
Toki: You saw Sagi?
Naruto cuts the rope and frees Toki.
Naruto: And he told me something: Your brother doesn’t want you to avenge his and your father’s deaths. He said you should move on and take care of this land instead.
Toki: But-
Naruto: Not just for Sagi but for Chishima too; you’ve got to make the Land of Birds great again.
Toki smiles as Naruto proceeds to say, “You see, your life matters.” As a result, Toki had a positive look on her face as she said, “Naruto”.
From the dialogue, Naruto plays a role in helping Toki realise that her life does matter and that she doesn’t need to pursue revenge anymore. Toki is finally free from her need to pursue vengeance; she is now at peace.
Naruto then fights against and defeats Hoki. After Naruto and Toki finished their conversation, Hoki tossed his shuriken at them. Naruto then deflected his attack with his kunai. He gets off the boat, looks at Hoki, and says to him, “You’re finished, Hoki. You think you’ll take over this land.” Naruto went on to say, “No way, a person who has an impure heart-a heart that’s bent on revenge—can never hope to govern. Don’t you get it? The reason this was such a wonderful place was because Chishima, Sagi, and Toki’s hearts were connected; they were one. Even if you cheat your way into a position of power, you will never win over the hearts of people.” This further proves the point that the desire for revenge only leads to destruction. However, if everything is centred on peace, things start falling into place.
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Naruto’s Shadow Clones versus Hoki’s Shadow Clones
After Naruto finishes his statement, he then activates his Shadow Clone Jutsu, and Hoki also uses the same jutsu. It is a battle between Shadow Clones, where both are charging forward against each other. Hoki seemingly had the upper hand because he knocked out Naruto’s shadow clones. However, Naruto wins with his shadow clones using his technique, Uzumaki Barrage. Naruto wins the fight through tactics and skill, which shows that he is getting better at being a fine shinobi; hence, he is a dynamic character.
Chishima turns out to have survived Hoki’s attack. After Naruto defeats Hoki, Toki rides the boat close to dry land and runs to check on Chishima. While Naruto takes Hoki off the lake with a rope, Chishima wakes up. Therefore, there is an element of hope since Toki hasn’t lost another person she cared about from Hoki’s killings. Moreover, Toki’s pocket watch starts to move again. Sagi’s ghost says that if she forgot about revenge, time would start moving forward. Therefore, symbolism was also used in this episode. The watch Toki got from her brother symbolised that he was always there for her. When it was not moving, it was stuck. She had the desire to pursue her revenge, which took a toll on her life because she never lived a fulfilling life. When the watch started moving, it symbolised hope for her that, since she let go of her desire for revenge, she would live a peaceful and fulfilling life.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, Tenten, and Neji found Naruto, which means they completed their mission. Although they completed the mission, Naruto said, “This stinks; we don’t get any bonuses now because Mousou, the person who signs the paychecks, was the bad guy.” This was unfortunate; however, at least the wondering ninja / Watari ninja is going to get a severe sentence.
Toki apologises to her subjects for deceiving them but asks them to allow her to remain ruler, to restore the Bird Country. She promised to restore the land not just for her late brother and father but also for her friend, Chishima, who loves his land. Toki has found peace and will start to live a fulfilling life and fulfil her brother Sagi’s wishes. Lord Koumei is back in his role as lord, where he will help Lady Toki in her rule as feudal lord. In other words, he accepted Toki as the new feudal lord.
After the group leaves, Neji tells Naruto that the first Cursed Warrior they encountered was a real ghost, much to his horror. When they first encountered the cursed warrior, Naruto defeated him, and when he wanted to check the cursed warrior’s identity, the armour was empty. Neji said that when he activated his Byakugan, he saw someone or something. He also said he could sense the cursed warrior inside the armour, but at the same time, he couldn’t sense even a flicker of life. Therefore, all this time, they were dealing with a ghost. The episode ends when Naruto is frightened that he has fought a ghost.
The question I mentioned in Season 4: Episode 165 was answered in this episode:
Will anyone in the village find out that Lord Sagi was the second cursed warrior? People found out the truth that Lord Sagi was Lady Toki, and all the secrets were revealed, even about the cursed warrior. After finding out the truth, they still accepted Lady Toki as the feudal lord.
The lesson from this episode is that seeking vengeance leads to an unfulfilling life. Seeking peace leads to a fulfilling life, as is evident when Lady Toki finally finds peace and lives a fulfilling life as the feudal lord.
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and then Add to home screen.