Source: Wikipedia
“Kurenai’s Top-Secret Mission: The Promise With the Third Hokage”
“As Kurenai attempts to escape with Yakumo, Naruto, and Sakura, the members of Team 8 and Might Guy come to their assistance and defeat the enemy. Kurenai and Yakumo reveal that Yakumo was entrusted to Kurenai as her student, as while she was unable to fight, she was a talented genjutsu user. However, Kurenai sealed away her abilities, and Yakumo reveals that she did so under the order of the Third Hokage.”
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Analysis
In this episode, it provided an exposition of background events to understand the storyline better. For example, there was a contrast between Kurenai telling her story about the Kurama clan to Squad 8 and Sakura, while Yakumo told Naruto her story about the Kurama clan. Other details will be mentioned in the analysis.
The episode is a continuation of the previous episode, when Naruto, Sakura, Squad 8, and Might Guy were on their way to rescue Kurenai. Moreover, it also showed the scene where Kurenai was comforting Yakumo, who was crying in the previous episode.
The episode starts by playing ominous music in the background when Kurama clan members arrive at the safehouse on Satomi Hill. Their leader, Unkai, who is the uncle of Yakumo, said to his comrades, “So the two who went in before you haven’t come out; perhaps Yakumo has been awakened at last.” This shows that he knows about Yakumo’s hidden powers, which are dangerous. So, after realising that the situation was threatening, he instructed two of his comrades to enter the safe house to capture Yakumo, while the other comrade was instructed to intercept the leaf ninja heading their way and take care of them. As a result, there was a battle that took place in two different directions; hence, a sense of conflict was evident.
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Kurenai versus the two Kurama clan members
When the two Kurama clan members entered the safe house, they found Kurenai protecting Yakumo. Moreover, when Kurenai checked their kunai, she realised the crest on their kunai belonged to the Kurama clan. They told her to release Yakumo, but Kurenai, in response, said to them that she was entrusted by the third Hokage to protect her. As a result, a battle took place. For instance, the two Kurama clan members used a genjutsu, which showed huge green tree vines trapping Kurenai and Yakumo. They went on to come out of a beanstalk to plan their next attack. However, Kurenai escaped their genjutsu and then trapped them in a genjutsu. Afterwards, while in a genjutsu, she and Yakumo turned into a lot of pink rose petals and surrounded their enemies’ bodies everywhere, which caused them to experience excruciating pain. At that moment, Kurenai won the fight, which shows why she is a master of genjutsu.
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Might Guy’s team versus one Kurama clan member.
Might Guy’s team get stopped close to the safehouse by one Kurama clan member? Immediately, Naruto ran in offence, but the enemy disappeared and trapped him in a genjutsu. In the genjutsu, there were huge green vines of a beanstalk covering the area, and the enemy was inside the beanstalk. As a result, Naruto ended up trapped by the vines encircling his body. When the enemy realised he had the upper hand, he went on the offensive, holding a sword, to stab Naruto. Luckily, Shino’s insect clone arrived to block the attack because the genjutsu doesn’t work on insects. Therefore, his insects covered the enemy, which caused the genjutsu to disappear as well as the enemy.
Moreover, when the enemy disappeared, Akamaru found his scent, which compelled him and Kiba to activate Man Beast Clone: Fang Over Fang to knock out the enemy in the air. To finish defeating the enemy, Might Guy knocked him out with his leaf hurricane, which resulted in the enemy landing on the ground. The enemy was defeated, and at that moment, Might Guy’s team realised that Naruto was still trapped in a genjutsu, believing that he was struggling with an overgrown weed. So, Sakura came close to him and released the genjutsu. If it weren’t for Shino, Kiba, and Might Guy, they wouldn’t have defeated the enemy.
After defeating the enemy, they rushed inside the safehouse and found four Kurama clan members caught in a genjutsu while unconscious. However, they didn’t find Kurenai and Yakumo, so Hinata activated her Byakugan and saw that Kurenai was gone since the window was open. Thereafter, the team leaves to look for Kurenai.
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Kurenai versus Unkai
As Kurenai attempts to escape with Yakumo, Naruto, Sakura, and the members of Team 8 and Might Guy come to their assistance and defeat the enemy. When Kurenai carries Yakumo on her back and runs into the woods, tense music plays in the background as she is trapped in a genjutsu. In the genjutsu, huge green vines were covering the area, so when she tried to release the genjutsu, it didn’t work. Moreover, a huge tree grew right in front of her that showed Unkai, the man who was made leader of the Kurama clan after Yakumo’s father’s death. When he showed himself, he said to Kurenai that this battle could be avoided if he handed Yakumo over to him, but Kurenai refused. Therefore, Kurenai escaped his genjutsu by stabbing herself with a kunai on her shoulder, then used genjutsu to form her body into pink rose petals when Unkai tossed a kunai at her. After some time, Kurenai disguised herself and Yakumo as a tree. However, Unkai could smell her blood, and when he saw the blood on the ground, he discovered where she was hiding. So, he tossed a shuriken in Kurenai’s direction, where her disguise was revealed. As a result of Unkai’s shuriken, she has another injury. Since Unkai has the upper hand, this shows a threatening atmosphere, but luckily, Might Guy’s team arrives to save her.
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Might Guy’s team versus Unkai.
Naruto first arrived when he battled it out with Unkai using the ninja tools, kunai. After some time, Naruto went on the offensive to target Unkai, but he disappeared with his genjutsu. Meanwhile, Sakura and Hinata arrived, and Hinata activated her Byakugan to find Unkai. When she found him, she told Naruto that Unkai was above him; hence, Naruto escaped before getting injured by the enemy. Afterwards, Naruto activated his Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu to use his Uzumaki Barrage against Unkai. After Unkai realised he had lost and got injured, he used his genjutsu to escape. To make sure he escaped, Hinata activated her Byakugan and saw him escaping into the woods. Therefore, Might Guy’s team won the battle in the sense that if it wasn’t for Hinata and Naruto, they wouldn’t have defeated him.
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Sakura utilises her medic ninja training.
After they finished defeating the enemy, they took Yakumo to the safe house to recuperate. While Yakumo lay unconscious on the bed, Naruto, Kurenai, and Sakura were present. Sakura took care of her, and after some time, she said to Kurenai, “The sedative I gave her seems to be working; she should rest comfortably for a while now, but what she needs is a full examination at the hospital back in the village.” Moreover, Sakura took care of the stab wound on Kurenai’s shoulder. At that moment, Sakura somehow feels she is no longer a burden since she is taking care of everyone’s wounds; hence, in a way, she is a dynamic character who continues to learn as a ninja.
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Might Guy decide to stay behind the safe house.
Meanwhile, Squad 8 and Might Guy were standing outside the safe house, where they found the Kurama clan members sleeping due to a genjutsu. After some time, they saw Kurenai and Sakura walking outside, which compelled them to check if Kurenai was okay. When they came close, Sakura said that Kurenai needed to go back to the village even though she had treated her wound. In response, Kurenai said she is more concerned about Yakumo’s condition. Therefore, since there was no sign of security, Might Guy suggests they should leave with Kurenai and Yakumo back to the village and organise a backup unit while he stays behind the safehouse to take care of things.
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The contrast of stories between Kurenai and Yakumo.
Kurenai and Yakumo reveal that Yakumo was entrusted to Kurenai as her student, as while she was unable to fight, she was a talented genjutsu user.
The contrast of stories shows when Kurenai tells Squad 8 and Sakura about her side of the story outside the safe house, while Yakumo tells Naruto her side of the story while in bed at the safe house. As a result, their stories are linked, as I will show below:
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Kurenai’s side of the story.
Emotional music plays in the background with a mix of piano and violin to symbolise that Kurenai is telling her story to Squad 8 and Sakura about Yakumo. She said, “Long ago, the Kurama clan was a mighty force in the village. For generations, they were known and respected throughout the leaf as masters in the art of genjutsu, but some years ago, their powers began to wane, and they produced fewer and fewer chunin and jonin. They were a clan in decline until a bright star full of promise was born, Yakumo.”
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Yakumo’s side of the story.
Yakumo said to Naruto, “They put their faith in me; as the only child of the head family, it was up to me to restore the clan’s greatness. Unfortunately, I was frail and often sick as a child, and it began to appear that I would never be allowed to enter the academy. This made me very sad. I truly wanted to live up to the expectations of my parents and the clan. Sensing my despair, my father went to the third Hokage and pleaded with him on my behalf.”
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Kurenai’s side of the story.
Kurenai said to Squad 8 and Sakura, “The third Hokage recognised that great powers were lying dormant in Yakumo, so he agreed to put her under my supervision.”
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Yakumo’s side of the story.
Yakumo said to Naruto, “By order of the third Hokage, I was given Kurenai sensei as my private teacher, but she...” She then cries as she goes on to say, “Kurenai sensei, she, she...”
Afterwards, the emotional music switches to edgy music with a percussion beat, showing Kurenai sealing her genjutsu. Thereafter, the scene switches to Kurenai when Kiba asks her why she did it.
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Kurenai’s side of the story
Kurenai said to Squad 8, “I don’t know, maybe because I used genjutsu too. Maybe because I was jealous of those great powers lying dormant in her.” She went on to say, “One master of genjutsu is enough for any village.” In response, Squad 8 refused to believe, but Kurenai said, “Believe it, and now you know why I quit. Someone capable of that doesn’t deserve to lead your squad.”
The way the stories were linked was probably to show the nature of the student-teacher relationship between Yakumo and Kurenai. They were close, but now their relationship was strained when Kurenai decided to seal her powers. Can the relationship be restored? Only time will tell.
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Squad 8 knew Kurenai was hiding something.
After hearing her excuse for leaving Squad 8, Hinata and Kiba knew she was hiding something. To support this, Shino said he noticed that she was hiding something through her body language. For instance, he said, “You’re both right. I was watching her. Her hand trembled with emotion when she spoke of what she had done to Yakumo; she felt it deeply. But when she explained her motives for doing it, the trembling suddenly stopped.” He went on to say, “She felt nothing because that part of her story was a lie.” Moreover, Shino said perhaps she was trying to protect someone else, and that someone is probably the third Hokage, as Yakumo revealed to Naruto.
However, Kurenai sealed away her abilities, and Yakumo reveals that she did so under the order of the Third Hokage. While Yakumo was still conversing with Naruto, she was sitting in her bed and said to Naruto that she had once overheard Kurenai and the Third Hokage talking about her; hence, a dialogue took place.
A flashback is shown when Yakumo is walking along a certain rooftop, and overhead, the third Hokage and Kurenai are talking about her.
Kurenai: I’m confident that Yakumo’s powers will not fully awaken for a long while yet.
Hiruzen: I see; nevertheless, sooner or later, the day will come when the dam bursts, and then the power of the Kurama clan will be so great that it will threaten the Hidden Leaf Village itself. But by that time, it may be too late to eliminate the threat.
Back to the present, a consistent Japanese guitar plays in the background, as Yakumo went on to say,
Yakumo: So, it wasn’t just Kurenai sensei; it was the third Hokage who took away my powers.
Naruto (raises his voice): You must have heard it wrong. Why would the third Hokage do something like that?
Yakumo: For the same reason that right before I began training with Kurenai sensei, my father and mother were killed.
Naruto (stunned): What?
Yakumo: Our house caught fire; the flames spread too quickly for my parents to be saved. But they were Jonin, alert, and highly trained; they had never been caught off guard like that—the fire that mysteriously broke out in broad daylight—and the investigation ruled it was an accident. But the report was sealed and kept secret; I was never allowed to see it.
Naruto: What do you mean? Are you saying the fire was set on purpose?
Yakumo (raises her voice): My parents were put to death by order of the third Hokage.
Naruto (touches his head): No way, it’s a lie, a lie! I’m not going to listen!
The dialogue showed how she overheard the Third Hokage talking to Kurenai about the Kurama clan’s power, which posed a threat to the village that had to be dealt with. To Naruto’s shock, Yakumo’s parents were killed in a horrible fire that Yakumo suspects was the Third Hokage’s doing since he had already said the Kurama clan was a threat to the Leaf Village. Could it be that the third Hokage killed Yakumo’s parents? The episode ends in suspense.
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and then Add to home screen.