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Naruto 106

October 29, 2004

Title: Does it reach you, Idate?! The implacability of the last spurt!
Fansubbed by: Dattebayo

Naruto breaks Aoi's sword using Rasengan.

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With Aoi gone, Idate goes forth to win the race . . .

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and Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura head back to Konoha.

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The End.

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RATING: B

As with all things, the Tea Country arc is finally over. Although it would be dishonest to say that this was an excellent arc, it definitely had its moments.

As a case in point, this episode shows Naruto single-handedly defeating Aoi by exploiting a crack in Aoi's stolen lightning-sword. While credit goes to Sasuke for first damaging Aoi's sword, there's no doubt that Naruto gets most of the credit for his accomplishment. Even so, this still doesn't really seem like quite an extraordinary triumph, since Aoi seemed fairly bored with the fight, and spent more time spewing useless rhetoric instead of actually attacking Naruto.

Even though the fight choreography was both tedious and redundant, one *can* say that the ending race between Idate and his opponent was indeed noteworthy. As an example, one must admit that the producers did an excellent job at conveying the sheer speed gained by Idate during his final burst, and it's quite thrilling to see the background of cheering fans blur into nothingness as our hero rushes to catch up. In addition, there's no doubt that the music during this sequence is simply extraordinary, and really accentuates the 'high-stakes' element in this race.

While this is all well and good, it is simply marvelous to be back in Konoha. By all accounts, it's clear that the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto is about to explode, and for viewers who waited to see the next-episode previews, all one can say is . . . damn.

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