Source: Wikipedia
“Memory of Flames”
“Todoroki states that he would go as far as killing Naruto to get to Gantetsu. When another member of the Ninja Dropouts attacks Naruto and Todoroki, capturing Gantetsu, it is revealed that the other members want to capture Gantetsu to find the money he stole from them. Naruto’s group learns that Akio, Todoroki’s brother, is alive, and he and his other orphans have been cared for by Gantetsu, who is seeking to atone for his crimes. The group fights and defeats another Ninja Dropout member, but Akio is kidnapped and taken to the Ninja Dropout base.”
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Analysis
The episode served as a resolution where all the mysteries of the plot were unravelled. First, the relevance of the title of the episode, “Memory of Flames,” refers to Todoroki’s memories of when his family was killed by the Ninja Dropouts. Yet Todoroki was not yet aware that his younger brother, Akio, was alive. Second, it is revealed that Gantetsu took the kids who were killed by his gang under his care because he was seeking to atone for his crimes. In other words, it is a falling action when the events and complications begin to resolve themselves and tension is released. More details will be revealed in the analysis.
At the beginning of the episode, dramatic music with a mix of electric guitars plays in the background. It starts by showing Sakura and Rock Lee facing trouble with orphans who were hiding behind the bushes, wielding their weapons. Moreover, it showed the scene when Todoroki planned to kill Gantetsu but was stopped by Naruto. At that moment, he told Naruto that Gantetsu murdered your whole family, and Gantetsu even confirmed it.
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More details about Todoroki’s memories.
As the scene progresses, Todoroki remembers how his mansion was set on fire during the night. He said it happened five years ago when Gantetsu was inside, holding Akio hostage. Afterwards, when Todoroki got out, he held on to a bag that had some books and papers. However, one that stood out the most was a fish key chain that belonged to his younger brother, Akio. Furthermore, the next day, which was around daytime, he saw the ruins of his mansion. While it was sunset, he would train with his sword while slicing the wooden dummies. After he sliced them, he would cry out loud, and to finalise his training, he tossed his sword at the last wooden dummy, which was sliced into two. Thereafter, he cried out, and this time he called out his brother’s name. The element of pain and suffering is evident here because he believed he lost the person who was most precious to him, which brings out a sad atmosphere.
After some time, Todoroki was told that it was the ninja dropouts who killed his family. He was told they were ruthless because, after they robbed their victims, they massacred everyone in the house so that no witnesses were left behind. The last time he was told these words, “Your parents’ bodies were recovered, but the fire was so fierce and Akio was so small, there were no traces of him left. I’m sorry, but you have to let your little brother go.”
Back to the present, Todoroki touches the burnt keyfish chain that was hanging under his sword and says, “The irony of it is that I can finally avenge my family and make him pay for what he has done to us, except that I must escort him safely to the capital.” Moreover, he said, “I know where my duty lies; I know it’s my mission; I should be satisfied that he’ll no doubt be sentenced to death, but seeing him now within reach with a calm expression on his face, the face of the man who destroyed my family, who took the life of my little brother,” After Gantetsu heard his story, he seemed a bit surprised that his younger brother had died, which caused Todoroki to run in his direction and kill him. Luckily, Naruto jumped and stopped Todoroki, which caused them to fall to the ground. The sword also dropped to the ground. Despite Naruto begging him to stop his pursuit of revenge, Todoroki was adamant about killing Gantetsu.
Todoroki states that he would go as far as killing Naruto to get to Gantetsu. A dialogue took place between them while Gantetsu was listening.
Todoroki (calm): There’s no one around; even the force no one would see.
Naruto: Don’t you even think like that?
Todoroki takes his sword: No one would ever need to know what happened.
Afterwards, ominous music plays in the background when he gets up with a sword in his hand.
Naruto: Todoroki, stop; I’m around; I will see.
Todoroki: No one will ever know.
Naruto (begging): Don’t do this.
Todoroki: If you keep your mouth shut, it would be better if you weren’t even here at all.
He holds his sword and points it at Naruto’s face.
Naruto (gets up): Now hold on a minute. What the hell are you thinking? You have got to calm down!
Todoroki (calm): I am perfectly calm, one way to be sure.
Naruto: Well, here we go again; it seems like half the time I ended up fighting the guy I thought I could trust.
Afterwards, Naruto prepares his ninja technique to stop Todoroki from his pursuit of revenge against Gantetsu.
The pursuit of revenge runs deep in Todoroki’s veins because Gantetsu is the cause of all the pain he has to endure from losing his family. Will he ever let go and forgive Gantetsu for what he did? Only time will tell, which brings out a sense of mystery to keep the viewer intrigued.
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Sakura and Rock Lee first encounter the orphans.
Meanwhile, the scene switched back to where Sakura and Rock Lee found the mysterious boy and were ready to fight. After some time, the kids who were hiding in the bushes revealed themselves while wielding their weapons. As a result, it left Sakura and Rock Lee stunned, and while they were still surprised, the kids said they should bring Gantetsu back to them. So, the kids prepared to fight Sakura and Rock Lee, but the two of them were reluctant to fight the kids. Instead, they asked them what their connection was to Gantetsu. Yet the kids didn’t want to listen, so they prepared to attack them, which compelled Sakura and Rock Lee to retreat for a bit and ask them to calm down. They wanted them to explain their connection to Gantetsu, and they were not prepared to hurt them because they were kids. Eventually, the kids will tell them the truth, as I will reveal later.
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Naruto versus Todoroki.
Back to the scene between Naruto and Todoroki, Todoroki ran in Naruto’s direction while holding the sword in his hand to attack him. So, Naruto activated his Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. Afterwards, he and the shadow clones wrapped around Todoroki and trapped him. Eventually, Todoroki dropped his sword on the ground, and Naruto told him to calm down to prevent him from killing Gantetsu. After some time, Gantetsu walked towards them and said, “Did you say your brother?” In response, Naruto said to him while still wrapped around Todoroki, “Don’t be stupid, Gantetsu; just stay out of it!” Thereafter, when he got close to them, he got trapped in a net, which carried him upwards. This means that one of the ninja dropouts arrived to capture Gantetsu.
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Naruto, Todoroki, and Gantetsu encounter one of the ninja dropouts, Monju.
Tense music plays in the background when Monju, who is still hiding in the forest, activates his Ninja Art: Wire Bind. As asserted by the Narutopedia Website, after performing the necessary hand seals, Monju launches several strands of wire to ensnare Naruto and Todoroki. Once captured, Monju can tighten the wire at will to inflict injury on the victims, Naruto and Todoroki (Narutopedia Website). Therefore, Monju launched his strings of mesh with sharp, pointed knives in Naruto and Todoroki’s direction. Due to the attack, the shadow clones disappeared while the mesh wrapped around Naruto and Todoroki. As a result, they are trapped in Monju’s mesh.
After some time, Monju introduced himself and gave more details about his ninja technique: “Save your strength; those strands are stronger than steel; all the struggling in the world won’t get you out.” Thereafter, he jumps onto a tree and stands close to the rope where Gantetsu was trapped in a net. There was also a rope that led to the ninja dropout’s hideout, so he planned to slide on the rope with Gantetsu. Before he left, Monju said, “I’ve come for Gantetsu, and now that I have him, I won’t trouble you any further. That web will shrink as it gets warmer out; first, you will do some suffering, and then eventually you’ll be cut into tiny pieces.” Afterwards, he slides on a rope and leaves, with Gantetsu saying, “Take it easy.” Moreover, Gantetsu was calling out Todoroki’s name because he wanted to tell him that his little brother was still alive.
After Monju left with Gantetsu, Naruto and Todoroki tried to break free from the mesh, but the mesh only got tighter. At that moment, Naruto realised that Gantetsu was telling the truth the whole time. In response, Todoroki said to Naruto that he should have let him kill Gantetsu when he had the chance. Moreover, Naruto then questioned Todoroki about why Gantetsu was calling out his name when he was taken away. In response, Todoroki said he had no idea, but Naruto believed that it had to be something important, something he felt he had to tell Todoroki. Therefore, he tries to break free so that he can find out what Gantetsu wants to say to Todoroki.
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Gantetsu’s secret is revealed.
Naruto’s group learns that Akio, Todoroki’s brother, is alive, and he and his other orphans have been cared for by Gantetsu, who is seeking to atone for his crimes. This was the start of a resolution where all the mysteries of the plot were unravelled. When Rock Lee and Sakura were being targeted by the orphans, they were reluctant to attack the orphans and asked them to put down their weapons. Eventually, Akio told the orphans to put their weapons down because he wanted to hear what Sakura and Rock Lee had to say. When Akio and the orphans heard who they were and that they were sent on a mission to deliver Gantetsu to the capital, Akio begged them to let Gantetsu go because Gantetsu was the one who saved them from the ninja dropouts.
Akio gave more details about Gantetsu, who sought to atone for his crimes. First, Akio revealed that they are all kids who lost their families to the ninja dropouts. Second, he said, “Gantetsu wanted to make sure at least the children would be saved, so he rescued every one of us and brought us here.” Last, he said, “He took in every child that was orphaned by his gang.”
He also mentioned how Gantetsu wanted to leave the ninja dropouts, so Gantetsu said four things to Akio. First, Gantetsu said, “I’m leaving the ninja dropouts; I can’t stand it anymore. They are not people; they are animals; I can’t be a part of it any longer.” Second, to avoid getting punished for leaving them, Gantetsu said to Akio, “What I will do is rob them and then get myself arrested by the police.” Third, he said, “Because then the whole gang will do all they can to free me to get their loot back, giving the police a chance to round them up.” Therefore, Gantetsu was the bait to draw them out; hence, he said these final words: “So that there would be no more victims like you, this is the path I have to take.”
Akio said that Gantetsu stole all their treasure and brought it back to them. So, they came out of the forest because they were worried something had happened to him and hoped that the ninja dropouts would be caught. In other words, Gantetsu is making amends for his past by destroying the gang he used to belong to. At that moment, Gantetsu is a dynamic character who changes from being a villain to a character who is seeking to atone for his crimes. Moreover, since he took care of the orphans, he is also a round character who seems like a real character who cares about them and has a complex personality.
So, after they heard their story, Rock Lee and Sakura made plans to find Naruto. They hoped that they could rescue Gantetsu. However, they were not aware that Gantetsu had already been taken by Monju. Moreover, they were not aware that Naruto and Todoroki were in danger.
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Naruto and Todoroki break free from the mesh.
Meanwhile, back to the scene with Naruto and Todoroki, they are still trapped in the mesh. However, they realised the weakness behind Monju’s jutsu. For instance, when Naruto’s sweat drops on the mesh, it loosens; hence, it gets looser when it soaks up sweat. So they used their sweat to free themselves. While breaking, Naruto remembers how Gantetsu saved his life and can’t believe he was once evil. So, he is determined to find out if Gantetsu is evil, and Todoroki plans to see him one more time to get revenge for what he did to his family. As a result, they both used their teeth to break free from the mesh. They are both free, and Naruto runs to save Gantetsu, while Todoroki is still adamant about getting his revenge and follows Naruto.
The group fights and defeats another Ninja Dropout member, but Akio is kidnapped and taken to the Ninja Dropout base. When Monju was sliding on the rope with Gantetsu, who was still trapped in his net, he saw the orphans, Rock Lee, and Sakura in the forest. They all saw Gantetsu trapped in the net, and when Gantetsu saw them, he tried to break free, but instead, he fell to the ground while still trapped in Monju’s net. Intense music with a mix of electric guitar and violin plays in the background when Monju lands on the ground. Eventually, there was a struggle between him and Akio, but he had the upper hand when he trapped him in his mesh by wrapping it around his body.
When Sakura saw that Akio was trapped in Monju’s net, she tossed her two kunai at him, but Monju activated his Ninja Art: Mesh Cage to block her attacks. According to the Narutopedia website, this technique uses wire strings to form a powerful protective dome. This dome can repel most basic taijutsu attacks. Monju can reshape the wire within the dome as needed, changing it from a defensive structure to a binding string with ease (Narutopedia Website). At this moment, he just used the dome as a defensive structure. When Rock Lee tried to kick the mesh cage, his taijutsu skills were ineffective because they didn’t leave a dent in his structure. This just proves how skilled Monju is as a shinobi.
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Monju converses with Gantetsu and finds out his secret.
When Monju asked Gantetsu where he hid their money, Gantetsu said he would not get it. So, this compelled Monju to tighten the mess that was wrapped around Akio’s body. Eventually, Gantetsu revealed that the orphans were victims of homes attacked by ninja dropouts. So, he rescued them and kept them safe. In response, Monju was furious, as evident in the dialogue below:
Monju (furious): You did what?! You rescued witnesses! You betrayed us! Did you take our treasure and give it back?
Gantetsu: That money didn’t belong to us; it belonged to their families!
Monju: Don’t talk to me, you dirty traitor!
This just proved the end of the relationship between the ninja dropouts. The relationship between Gantetsu and the ninja dropouts went from being a solid relationship to a strained relationship that can never be restored. In other words, it’s a falling action when the events and complications begin to resolve themselves and tension is released.
Towards the end of the episode, Naruto arrives and jumps on top of the mesh cage, and then Todoroki arrives. When he saw his younger brother trapped in the cage, he couldn’t believe it. Will they have time to reunite and reconcile as brothers? This leaves the episode in suspense until the viewer watches the next episode.
The lesson from this episode is that everyone has a choice to rectify their mistakes, as evidenced by Gantetsu, who saved the orphans so that he could atone for his crimes.
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and then Add to home screen.