Source: Wikipedia
“The Bewildering Forest”
“The boat that Naruto’s group is on washes over a waterfall, allowing Naruto, Gantetsu, and Todoroki to escape into the forest. Naruto learns from Gantetsu that the forest is the Ninja Dropout hideout and that only a Ninja Dropout like him can find the way through. Naruto’s group defeats one of the Ninja Dropout members, who attacks with a large claw-like machine. Sakura and Lee encounter some orphans who are taking refuge in the forest. It is then revealed that Todoroki intends to kill Gantetsu to avenge his family.”
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Analysis
The following episode was centred on the bewildering forest, and there was a situational irony where what happened was the opposite of what was expected when it came to Gantetsu and his comrades. Other details will be mentioned in the analysis.
The episode is the continuation of the previous episode, where one of the Ninja Dropouts named Monju used his Ninja Art: Pattern Links to cut the ship in half.
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The top half of the ship went in the right direction.
It was around nighttime when Sakura, Rock Lee, and the rest of the guards were on this ship. When their ship went in the right direction due to Toki’s Crimson Mud technique, Sakura and Rock Lee were swimming in the river. After some time, Rock Lee drowned, which compelled Sakura to save him until they reached dry land. Luckily, other guards were already on the dry land as well, and at that moment, they realised that Naruto, Todoroki, and Gantetsu were missing.
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The bottom half of the ship went in the left direction.
Ominous music plays in the background to signify that the three Ninja Dropouts are present. While they were there, Naruto and Todoroki had their weapons ready to attack them, while Gantetsu was still in the cage. To guard Gantetsu, Naruto activated his Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and the shadow clones surrounded Gantetsu’s cage. In response to this, Shura used his umbrella to glide in the air, landed on top of the cage, and then activated Ninja Art: Blood Rain. As asserted by the Narutopedia website, Shura uses his umbrella to shoot needles from the bottom of it. Also, while gliding in the air, he can spin the umbrella to help further disperse the needles, shooting them at the targets underneath him (Narutopedia Website). Therefore, he used his umbrella to disperse the needles in Naruto’s shadow clones, which caused some of them to disappear. Eventually, Shura’s needles also hit Todoroki on his shoulder.
Afterwards, Shura unleashed a sword from the umbrella’s handle and ran in the direction of Naruto’s shadow clones. In response to Shura’s offence, Naruto’s Shadow Clones threw various kunai at him, but Shura deflected the attacks by spinning his sword, which acted as a shield to protect him. Thereafter, when he landed, he sliced the shadow clones with his sword. His offensive attack left the real Naruto and Todoroki at his whim, and when Shura realised he had the upper hand, he told them that his jutsu was not a ninjutsu but a murder jutsu. Shura proves to be a difficult opponent to defeat, which makes the scene interesting to watch.
The boat that Naruto’s group is on washes over a waterfall, allowing Naruto, Gantetsu, and Todoroki to escape into the forest. After Shura told them that his jutsu was a murder jutsu, he used his umbrella to trap them with needles on the wall. After he successfully trapped them, he was about to slice them with his sword. However, they heard a bang and realised that the ship was close to the edge of the waterfall. So, when the ship was on its way to the ground, the dropouts escaped as the ship hit the ground and exploded. The ship ended up broken into pieces, which caused a fire. Luckily, Naruto, Gantetsu, and Todoroki survived the crash. At that moment, they landed in the Bewildering Forest.
When Todoroki saw the fire, it reminded him of his memories of losing his parents and younger brother in a fire. He signs heavily, and when he sees Gantetsu getting up, he plans to kill him, but before he can kill him, Naruto comes. When he landed on the ground, Naruto wondered what they should do, and Todoroki said, “I know what I must do; my mission is to make sure he is delivered to justice.”
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The Three Ninja Dropouts attempt to attack them again.
While Naruto and Todoroki were conversing about their next move, suddenly, needles landed on the ground. They looked up and saw Shura gliding in the air with his umbrella, while Monju and Toki ran down the cliff to attack them. So, Naruto said they should escape, and in response, Todoroki said Gantetsu couldn’t escape and suggested that he should kill him since he was already guilty of a crime. But Naruto held Gantetsu’s hand and ran with him, which compelled Todoroki to follow them. While they ran in the forest, Todoroki warned Gantestu that if he tried to escape, he would kill him. Meanwhile, the ninja dropouts continued to toss their various kunai at them. Luckily, when they continued to run away, they lost sight of their enemies. Therefore, when they got far from those attacks and lost them, they took a break along a path in the forest. They were lost, so Todoroki suggested that they take their bearings from the moon’s transit because they couldn’t go back to the river. Instead, they had to pass through the forest until they reached the capital, where Gantetsu was supposed to be tried for his crimes. So, as they walk along the path in the forest, Naruto hopes that his team is safe.
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Sakura and Rock Lee encounter a mysterious boy who lives in the forest.
Sakura and Rock Lee run into the forest in hopes of finding Naruto. After some time, Sakura and Rock Lee jumped and climbed into one of the trees. They hid in the tree because Sakura sensed that someone was following them. Eventually, a mysterious boy came from above and sliced the tree branch where they were both standing. In response to the boy’s attack, Sakura and Rock Lee tossed kunai at him, which cut his arm. As a result, this caused him to retreat, which compelled Sakura, Rock Lee to follow him, believing that he would lead them to where Naruto, Todoroki, and Gantetsu were located.
Naruto learns from Gantetsu that the forest is the Ninja Dropout hideout and that only a Ninja Dropout like him can find the way through. During the night, Naruto, Gantetsu, and Todoroki walk along a path in the forest, surrounded by fog. At that moment, they realised they were lost, which compelled Gantetsu to tell them more about this forest. First, he said, “It’s the forest of bewilderment. Once you get lost in this place, you never find your way out again.” Second, he said, “I know everything about it; this place is our hideout.” Third, he said, “It’s the perfect hiding place—the fog, winds that blow from every direction, magnetic fields so strong their compasses are useless. Someone who doesn’t know this place and gets lost in it is lost forever.” Last, he said, “Not alive, you won’t. It takes someone like me to know every inch of this forest. Listen, you’ll never find your way out without me to guide you.” Despite Gantetsu offering to guide them in the forest, Todoroki was still sceptical about his motives, so this influenced Gantetsu to reveal the real reason why the ninja dropouts wanted to rescue him.
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The situational irony in terms of the real reason why the ninja dropouts wanted to rescue Gantetsu.
A dialogue took place among them when Gantetsu removed his shirt to reveal scars all over his body. As a result, it left Naruto and Todoroki speechless for a moment, and then Naruto said:
Naruto: Who did that?
Gantetsu: Everything my comrades and I stole from others, I stole from them. They wanted to know where I hid it, and they didn’t ask nicely. My comrades aren’t coming to rescue me; all they are after is the money I took from them, and once they have all that money, they want me as dead as you do.
Todoroki held a sword to his face. Is that right? You expect me to believe that?
Naruto: Wait, hang on a second. You said yourself that you believe this is their hideout, right? This means that the others must know their way around it as well as he does, which means that...
Todoroki (shouts): Which means what?
Naruto: Mmmm, it doesn’t matter if his friends are coming to rescue him or to tear him from limb to limb; the point is they’re coming, and we are on their stomping grounds, which means they know where they’re going, and we don’t have a clue. I think we must trust him; he’s the only chance we have.
Todoroki removes his sword from Gantetsu’s face.
Naruto: Mmm, well, am I wrong or what?
Moment of silence until Todoroki eventually agreed.
The real reason why the ninja dropouts wanted to rescue Gantetsu presents something sinister. In other words, what was expected, which was them rescuing Gantetsu, is the opposite of what was expected since they wanted to kill Gantetsu for stealing money from them.
After they agree to let Gantetsu guide them in the forest, it is daytime when they walk along a certain path in the forest. After some time, they encountered a colourful snake, and when it wanted to bite Naruto, Gantetsu blocked its bite by letting the snake bite his hand instead. When Naruto asked why he protected him, Gantetsu said its venom did not affect him because he was used to it. So he tossed it in the bushes. If Gantetsu wasn’t guiding them, they would probably have died; hence, Gantetsu is their protector to guide them in the forest.
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Naruto, Todoroki, and Gantetsu encounter Toki.
Naruto’s group defeats one of the Ninja Dropout members, who attacks with a large claw-like machine. As they continued to walk along the path, Gantetsu stopped to look at a certain huge tree, realising that something was amiss. Eventually, it turned out to be a trap when the ground exploded to bury them underground. This was due to Toki’s large, claw-like machine, as he was standing under a tree branch upside down.
As Naruto, Todoroki, and Gantetsu were dipped inside the pit, Toki activated his Ninja art, Crimson Mud, where he went downward and fired it in their direction with such force that his large claw-like machine kept spinning until he was crushed into the pit. However, Toki ended up being the only one stuck in the pit because Naruto, Todoroki, and Gantetsu had already escaped as they stood on the ground and watched Toki. They managed to escape using Naruto’s old shadow clone and transformation jutsu combo.
Afterwards, Naruto activated his shadow clone to activate the Rasengan. He then went to the pit with the Rasengan and hit Toki, which caused a huge explosion. However, when Naruto got inside the pit, Toki formed a hole in the wall of the pit, escaped, and then came out of another hole to hit Naruto. As a result, Naruto ran into the first hole of the pit to escape, and eventually, Toki followed him. While Naruto was handling the enemy, Gantetsu seemingly ran away, and Todoroki followed him. After some time, Gantetsu stopped running, knelt on the ground, and put his ear to the ground to hear where Naruto and Toki were located. He then ran to the other side, slid on a hump that was covered with grass, turned, looked at the hump covered with grass, and punched it.
Meanwhile, while underground, Toki caught up to Naruto with his spinning claw and started attacking him. Luckily, Gantetsu broke the hump that was covered with grass, held out his hand to save Naruto, and got him out. Afterwards, Naruto jumped in the air and activated a shadow clone to use Rasengan one more time to defeat Toki. As a result, there was an explosion, which buried Toki inside the pit. If it weren’t for Gantetsu, Naruto couldn’t have defeated Toki by himself; hence, Gantetsu saved Naruto the second time. His demeanour throughout the episode makes it hard to believe that he killed Todoroki’s parents or that he is a villain. What was his real reason for stealing from his gang? Only time will tell, which brings out a sense of mystery about Gantetsu.
Sakura and Lee encounter some orphans who are taking refuge in the forest. As they chased after the mysterious boy, they encountered weapons tossed at them and dodged them. At that moment, they are surrounded by orphans who are hiding behind the bushes, wielding their weapons. What is their story? Are they linked to Gantetsu? If they are, does this mean Gantetsu cares about them, or does he plan to do something sinister with them? All these rhetorical questions might be answered in the next episode.
It is then revealed that Todoroki intends to kill Gantetsu to avenge his family. While they walk along a path in the forest, Naruto and Gantetsu are walking in front, while Todoroki walks behind them. As Todoroki was walking behind them, he had his sword in his hand, ready to kill Gantetsu. So, he ran in Gantetsu’s direction, and luckily, when Naruto pushed Gantetsu a little to the side, the sword only left a cut on his arm. As a result, Gantetsu felt pain as he applied pressure to his arm using his hand. At that moment, intense music with a mix of drums plays in the background when Todoroki reveals that Gantetsu killed his family, even his younger brother; hence, he vows to avenge his family. The episode ends with Naruto in disbelief that Gantetsu killed Todoroki’s family. What will Naruto do in this situation? This question will be answered in the next episode.
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and then Add to home screen.