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Naruto 73March 8, 2004Title: Forbidden Secret Jutsu! Shiki-Fujin! Whoa. In this episode, our Hokage finally activates the forbidden "Shiki-Fujin" technique against Orochimaru. Orochimaru tries to counter the Hokage's technique using a cursed-sword jutsu, but it is ineffective against the now-powerful Hokage. Although the "Shiki-Fujin" is wickedly strong, since it actually summons Death incarnate, we learn that it has a horrible cost.
Meanwhile, outside the central arena, the village of Konoha is being systematically destroyed by a trio of giant snakes which were summoned by Orochimaru's invasion force. Although the Konoha ninjas try desperately to stop the giant snakes, they are simply no match for their opponents. All hope seems lost when a giant frog suddenly appears on the scene, crushing one of the three serpents.
It turns out that the giant sword-wielding frog is a creature summoned by Naruto's Chunin Exam mentor, Jiryia. Now that the odds have been somewhat equalized, the Konoha ninjas regroup and prepare to counterattack. While all of these things are happening in the village square, a much different scene is taking place in the Konoha forest. In the last episode, Temari was defeated by Sasuke, and now, Sasuke finally catches up with Kankuro, who is carrying the evil Gaara. Sasuke decides to fight Kankuro to reach Gaara, but, before the fight begins, they are stopped by the sudden appearance of the young bug-ninja Shino. In a bizarre turn of events, it turns out that Shino is actually on Sasuke's side, and followed him to this location by planting a tracking bug (literally) on Sasuke. Shino tells Sasuke to go defeat Gaara, and leave Kankuro to him. Sasuke accordingly runs off to face Gaara, and Shino is left facing Kankuro.
The End. * * * RATING: B This was an amazing episode, as we see more players (Jirya, Shino) come into the picture. In addition, the technique "Shiki-Fujin" seems like the most powerful jutsu we'll *ever* see in Naruto, so, definitely, that is way cool as well. I haven't ever seen Kankuro fight (using his weird cylinder covered in mummy wrappings) so, clearly, this episode does an excellent job of establishing a great cliff-hanger. Aside from all this, I only had one technical gripe with this episode, which occurs in the Hokage's statement that the victims of the "Shiki Fujin" technique have their souls swallowed by Death. However, this can't be true, since the Fourth Hokage used this technique to defeat the Nine-Tailed Fox, and the soul of the monster wasn't swallowed by Death, but was instead sealed into Naruto's body. Hmm. Also, isn't it wierd that Shino is able to catch up with Sasuke faster than Naruto, Sakura, and Pakkun? Oh well, maybe I forgot something (^_^) * * * disagree? read 11 comments! * * * Related Reviews
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