Source: Wikipedia
“The Weight of the Prized Artifact!”
“Naruto and Kiba are ordered to escort a man named Shinemon, who is transporting a rare and valuable artefact. Shinemon makes the mission almost insufferable with his pompous, overbearing attitude and his willingness to put the two in danger just to protect his interests. Bandits steal the artefact, and when Naruto saves Shinemon after he puts his life at risk to try to save the Kacho Fugetsu, he teaches him that people are more valuable than possessions. It is also revealed that Shinemon is the creator of the Kacho Fugetsu and can easily make another.”
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Analysis
The following episode highlights the importance of people being more valuable than possessions. In other words, one shouldn’t place more value on possessions than people because possessions are just artificial. Moreover, the episode showed how Shinemon remained a static character who refused to grow in terms of his pompous nature. He is also a flat character who is not well-developed, as I will reveal in the analysis.
Naruto and Kiba are ordered to escort a man named Shinemon, who is transporting a rare and valuable artefact. At the start of the episode, Naruto is sent on a mission by Tsunade to deliver a teacup (known as the beauty of nature) and protect it because it is worth a lot of money. Naruto had to help deliver the artefact to Kay Avenue, where it would be exhibited. So, while Naruto was holding the papers about the artefact, Naruto arrived at a rocky area where some builders were putting a huge safe that contained the artefact on a wooden stand using a crane. Shinemon was present, and while Naruto was observing from a distance, Kiba arrived with Akamaru and said to Naruto that Lady Tsunade had ordered him to come along as backup just in case Naruto needed help.
Shinemon makes the mission almost insufferable with his pompous, overbearing attitude and his willingness to put the two in danger just to protect his interests.
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Kiba and Naruto meet their client, Shinemon.
When Naruto and Kiba arrived at the rocky area where Shinemon and the builders were, their first interaction with Shinemon wasn’t pleasant. Shinemon was just plain rude. This is shown in the dialogue among them:
Shinemon: Hey, you dummy.
Naruto and Kiba looked at him, and Naruto said to Shinemon
Naruto: Me?
Shinemon: What’s wrong with you? The sign says no trespassing in nice big letters; can’t you read?
Kiba: Yeah, but we are here on orders from Lady Tsunade, we’re supposed to escort this thing wherever it’s going.
Naruto: Yep, that’s the deal; I got the papers right here.
Shinemon grabs the papers from Naruto’s hand, looks at them and says to them,
Shinemon: Oh yeah! Huh?
Suddenly, tense music plays in the background when the huge safe starts to collapse from the wooden stand. Eventually, the wooden stand broke, which caused the safe to almost fall in Naruto, Kiba, and Shinemon’s direction as Shinemon still looked at the papers.
Kiba: It’s coming down!
Naruto: Buddy, don’t just stand there; get out of the way!
Shinemon looks at Naruto: Huh? Hey, what is wrong with you? Catch it, quick!
After hearing this, Kiba and Naruto are speechless as Shinemon goes on to say,
Shinemon (rude): It’s your mission to protect it, right? So, get to work and start protecting it, you morons.
Kiba: Yeah but-
Before Kiba could finish his last statement, the safe opened and revealed the treasure that was wrapped in a box with strings holding onto the four corners of the safe. After seeing this, Shinemon said,
Shinemon (annoyed): Hurry up already; throw your bodies under it if you must.
So, Naruto and Kiba took some wooden stands and ran to the safe to hold the safe using the wooden stands. Afterwards, Shinemon runs to it with a knife and says,
Shinemon (enthusiastic): That’s it
He then jumped on top, stepping on Naruto’s face, cut the strings of the artefact that was in the safe, and got out.
Shinemon: Got it. Phew! That was close.
Naruto (suffocating): Okay, that’s great, but, uh, what are we supposed to do with this?
Shinemon (unbothered): Well, that’s your problem.
Naruto (suffocating): Huh? Man, what a jerk!
Afterwards, the wooden stands broke, which caused the huge safe to fall and crush them. As Naruto and Kiba scream from the pain, Shinemon casually walks away, unbothered about their well-being.
From the outset, Shinemon is presented as more concerned about protecting his artefact than caring about Naruto and Kiba’s well-being. In other words, he is presented as selfish, condescending, as shown in the following dialogue below:
After Naruto got out of the huge safe that crushed them, they decided to vent their frustrations at Shinemon, who was packing the artefact inside a small safe.
Naruto (angry): Are you as big of a jerk as I think you are?
Kiba (angry): Hey, in case you hadn’t noticed, we could have been killed.
Shinemon (unbothered): So, what? I thought you ninjas were supposed to risk your lives to fulfil your mission.
As he walked away carrying the small safe that contained the artefact, Naruto said,
Naruto (angry): Well, wait a second, buddy, hold on!
Shinemon (pompous): Don’t call me buddy; I’m the client who hired you; I’m Shinemon. So, since you weren’t killed, let’s get moving.
As Shinemon walked away, Naruto and Kiba were fuming with anger, as evidenced by the visual imagery of flames between the two of them.
Kiba (furious): Can you believe this guy?
Naruto is filled with rage as Kiba goes on to say,
Kiba (furious): Do you want to get him, Akamaru?
Akamaru barks
Naruto (furious): No, let me pound him with my Rasengan.
Shinemon (laughs): Sheesh, you guys are touchy, aren’t you?
Shinemon remains a static character who doesn’t change or feel sympathetic that Naruto and Kiba almost lost their lives trying to protect his artefact. As the episode progresses, certain scenes show his pompous, overbearing attitude and his willingness to put the two in danger just to protect his interests.
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Shinemon, Kiba, and Naruto walk in the woods.
As they walk in the woods, Shinemon’s overbearing attitude gets the best of them. For instance, Shinemon said, “Come on, hurry up, where is that indomitable ninja spirit?” and then went on to say, “I thought you guys were supposed to be in good shape; what a joke.” His attitude continued to get worse.
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Shinemon, Kiba and Naruto arrived at a bridge.
Shinemon dropped the artefact (that was in the small safe) close to a waterfall, so Naruto suggested they should take the long way down the river to fish it out. However, there was no time for that because the artefact was about to drop into the waterfall. So, Shinemon suggested that Naruto or Kiba should use a rope for bungee jumping to get the artefact. As a result, music starts to play in the background with a mix of intense electric guitar and Japanese guitar as a rope is tied on a bridge while Naruto is wrapped at the other end of the rope. Afterwards, Shinemon pushed Naruto to jump and to get the artefact, and as Naruto jumped, he said to Naruto, “Look at it this way, if you don’t survive, at least you’re feeding the fishes, hahahahahaha.” His pompous, overbearing attitude was starting to get annoying.
Luckily, Naruto got the artefact, but the rope broke, and as he almost fell into the water, it compelled him to stand on top of the river. However, he was still heading to the waterfall, so Naruto tried to run, but the water current pushed him, which resulted in him falling into the waterfall. At the end of the waterfall, Naruto was no way to be found, but the artefact came close to Shinemon, which compelled him to open the safe and hug the teapot. Afterwards, a dialogue took place:
Shinemon(relieved): My precious, thank goodness you’re still safe.
Kiba (annoyed): And what about him?
Shinemon (unbothered): Why are you so upset about huh? Ninjas die all the time, don’t they? It’s part of your job description.
Afterwards, Naruto arrived and was furious. He also had a bump on his head as he began to say to Shinemon:
Naruto (fuming with rage): Yeah, well, maybe it’s time you tried dying once!
As a result, Shinemon was scared when Naruto tried to beat him up. Naruto also wanted to use Rasengan, but Kiba stopped him while Shinemon said with a squeaky voice, “Hey! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Sheesh.”
At this moment, Shinemon is also shown to be a flat character who is not well developed because he still places value on possessions rather than human life. His personality sucks, as I will show in the next point.
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Shinemon, Kiba, and Naruto arrive at an abandoned town.
They walked into an abandoned town when Shinemon held on to the small safe, which contained the artefact, as his life depended on it. As a result, it caused people to stare at them, which eventually attracted bandits. Moreover, it didn’t help when Shinemon blurted out the value of the artefact when he said, “The inside here lies one of the most priceless works of art I have created by mortal hands!” For someone who called Naruto and Kiba morons, he was a moron to just blab the value of the artefact, which again shows that he is a flat character that is not well developed.
After hearing how valuable the artefact was, the bandits drew up their swords, which resulted in Kiba, Naruto, and Shinemon running as fast as they could while the bandits chased after them. So, they split up and decided that Kiba would go with Shinemon in the opposite direction while Naruto stayed to distract the bandits.
However, the bandits eventually caught up to Shinemon and Kiba. At that moment, Shinemon’s overbearing attitude starts to kick in when he says to Kiba, “Why are you running away, you coward? I’m supposed to run; you’re supposed to stand and fight.” So Kiba stayed to fight while Shinemon ran away with his precious artefact.
Shinemon eventually reached a small town to hide while Kiba and Naruto were taking care of the bandits in the abandoned town.
Eventually, Naruto and Kiba handled the bandits and arrived with the dust and injuries they sustained from the fight. In response, Shinemon was being a jerk when he said, “Well, it took you long enough.” After hearing his words, this angered them when Naruto said to him that he was pushing it, while Kiba and Akamaru wanted to activate their Fang Over Fang on him. In response, Shinemon got scared and said, “Hey! Joking, it was just a joke. I was kidding.” Shinemon remains a flat character who doesn’t want to learn.
Meanwhile, a bird was watching them. Afterwards, ominous music plays in the background when the bird goes to a cave where the bandits are located. When the bird informed them about the location of the artefact, the bandits made plans to get it. This is a dramatic irony where the viewer knows that Naruto, Kiba, and Shinemon are going to come across some trouble while the characters are not yet aware of the danger.
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Shinemon, Kiba, and Naruto get ambushed by bandits.
Bandits steal the artefact. As Shinemon, Kiba, and Naruto walk along a path, they get ambushed by bandits who toss various kunai at them. In response to the threatening situation, they dodged them and hid behind a rock. Naruto then tells Shinemon to stay there while he and Kiba handle the enemies. After some time, the enemy tossed smoke screens to cause black smoke so that they couldn’t see their attacks. After seeing this, Shinemon was being a jerk, saying, “Instead of sitting there admiring them, why don’t you get up there and fight them?” In response, Naruto said, “Shut up and stay down!” so he stayed down. Shinemon's overbearing attitude will cause him to lose the artefact, as I will reveal later.
Naruto activated his Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu while Kiba and Akamaru jumped in the air and landed on the ground so that they could locate the enemies by sniffing their scent. While stuck in the black smokescreen, Naruto’s shadow clones saw the enemy and tried to hit him, but he vanished.
Action music plays in the background with an electric guitar when Kiba and Akamaru activate Beast Mimicry, Man Beast Clone: Fang-Over-Fang, at the enemies, but they dodge it. Thereafter, Akamaru used dynamic marking when he spun in the air and spat his saliva or pee all over the area, which landed on Shinemon. As a result, Shinomen made a noise by calling Naruto, saying, “Naruto! Where are you? Get over here and protect me, you idiot!” Thanks to his stupidity in causing noise, the enemy found him and took the artefact. As he screams, the smokescreen disappears, and when Kiba and Naruto come close to where Shinemon is, they realise that the bandit opened the safe that was on Shinemon’s back and took the artefact; hence, the music stops playing in the background.
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Shinemon, Kiba, and Naruto made plans to enter the cave where the bandits were located.
After they realised the artefact was stolen, they went to a nearby lake because Shinemon had to wash his clothes due to Akamaru’s pee when he used dynamic barking. Moreover, Kiba said they would be able to track the enemy using Akamaru’s dynamic marking if they hadn’t gone too far. In response, Akamaru said they were still close, so they headed to the cave where the bandits were.
Thanks to Shinemon making a noise, the bandits knew there were intruders. So, the bandits tried to escape because Shinemon, Kiba, and Naruto were chasing after them. As a result, action music plays in the background when the bandit leader runs away with the artefact in his hand while the three bandits remain behind. Therefore, Kiba and Naruto remained behind to fight the bandits, while Shinemon ran to chase the bandit leader, who ran further inside the cave.
Eventually, the bandit leader stopped on the other side of the bridge. When Shinemon ran on the bridge, the bandit leader cut the bridge rope by tossing a knife that was shaped like a boomerang on both sides. Luckily, Shinemon got to the other side, where the bandit leader was and pushed him to the ground.
Meanwhile, Kiba and Naruto finished taking care of the bandits and headed to help Shinemon.
Shinemon and the bandit leader struggle with the artefact, and eventually, the bandit leader kicks him and punches Shinemon multiple times in the face vigorously. As he walked away, Shinemon said he should give it back, so he pushed the bandit against the wall, headbutted him, and punched him, which caused the bandit to drop the artefact in the air. Luckily, Shinemon got it. The determination to get the artefact was impressive.
After Shineman beat up the bandit leader, Naruto and Kiba fixed the bridge. So Shinemon got to the other side, where Naruto and Kiba were while holding the artefact in his hands. As he stood on the bridge, the bandit leader laughed and held on to a weird rope that came from upwards. When he pulled the rope downward, it caused the boulders to fall to the ground. Unfortunately, the boulder crushed the bandit leader, resulting in his death. Furthermore, as the boulders continued to fall, they all ran. While they were running to the exit, Shinemon still held on to the artefact, which slowed him down. As a result, a huge boulder blocked his way. At that moment, he was willing to risk his life to save the artefact, but Naruto said he should leave the artefact, climb on top of the rock, and get out of there. In response, Shinemon said they should forget about him and take the artefact. How he was willing to risk his life just for an artefact is appalling and baffling. This again just proves that he is a flat character who is not well-developed because he lacks common sense here.
After some time, the rock below him collapsed, which resulted in him almost falling into a deep pit. Shinemon tried to save the artefact, but it was already at the edge. So, Naruto held out his hand so that he could crawl and reach out his hand to Naruto. Yet he was still adamant about saving the artefact, but it fell and broke into pieces in the pit, which resulted in Shinemon falling into the pit as well. At that moment, he reflected on the words he had been saying throughout the day. First, he said, “The beauty of nature is more precious than human life itself.” Second, he said, “No human life is as valuable as the beauty of nature.” Due to the threatening situation, he realised that he didn’t want to die. Luckily, he was saved by Naruto, who used his shadow clones as a rope to reach him before he went deeper into the pit. This is how he realised that his life was more valuable than his possessions.
And when Naruto saves Shinemon after he puts his life at risk to try to save the Kacho Fugetsu, he teaches him that people are more valuable than possessions. When Naruto saved him, he said to him, “Gotcha! Sorry, but I still think there’s nothing more valuable than a human life.” In response, Shinemon cried and then smiled when he said, “Nice bungee jump.” At that moment, he went from a static character to a dynamic character who learned that people are more valuable than possessions. Yet, in the next paragraph, he still had that pompous and overbearing attitude.
It is also revealed that Shinemon is the creator of the Kacho Fugetsu and can easily make another. As they walk into town, which is known as Kay Avenue, Shinemon reveals that he can make another artefact because he is the creator of the “beauty of nature.” To support his claim, Naruto and Kiba see a post about him; hence, all this time, he was the national treasure. After some time, Shinemon said in a pompous way, “Come on! Where’s that indomitable ninja spirit? Cheer up, you guys! You got me here safe and sound, and as we have all come to learn, my life is the greatest treasure of all, so give yourselves a big pat on the back. You did a good job for Genin, that is.” Thereafter, towards the end of the episode, he walks away pompously, saying he is off to make another artefact, which leaves Naruto and Kiba speechless. It is baffling that all this time, when they risked their lives to get the artefact in the waterfall, it wasn’t necessary since Shinemon could have made a new one himself, and they would have saved time from coming across bandits. This again just makes Shinemon a flat character who is not well-developed.
The lesson from this episode was obviously that people are more valuable than possessions. Moreover, it also showed that one should be wary when they boast about their wealth because some might take advantage, as was evident when the bandits ambushed them in the abandoned town. Another lesson is that one should be careful how they treat others because not everyone is like Naruto, who can just forgive and forget.
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and then Add to home screen.