The action of this chapter was more so a build up to the juicy parts of the fight between the Uchiha brothers and Kabuto that are bound to ensue in coming chapters; even still quite a few interesting things happened, along with a few reveals in reguards to new jutsu.
Before we get to what everyone is raving about (Kabuto's Dragon Sage Mode), it should be noted that right off the bat Itachi and Sasuke whipped out Sussano. Frankly, it's disappointing for me to see these two great fighters turned into nothing more than mecha operators, but alas, I guess they need to pull out the big guns considering who their opponent is and the situation they are in. What should be noted is that while Itachi has infinite stamina, Sasuke does not, and for once, Itachi won't be this feeble ninja having to hold back. It'll be interesting to see if stamina becomes an issue for Sasuke during this fight.
Starting off though, both Itachi and Sasuke began engaging Kabuto differently. Itachi took a more restrained approach and didn't attempt to hurt Kabuto whereas Sasuke immediately cut through his snakes. While Itachi is usually always correcting Sasuke, this time it was Sasuke who corrected Itachi claiming that they mustn’t take it easy on Kabuto given the fact he has Orochimaru's powers. This should lead into quite the brawl between these fighters as it's becoming blatantly obvious that even if the Uchiha brothers wanted to kill Kabuto, they might not succeed.
Speaking of Kabuto, is it just me or did Kishi take some influence for Doc. Ock from the Spider-Man comics in the way he uses his snakes? Offensively Kabuto didn't display much in this chapter, but I do like his fighting style nonetheless. And his initial attacks with the snakes were pretty cool.
But while Kabuto may not have been offensive heavy this week, his defense is proving to be quite impressive. Not only does he have an amazing defense against ocular genjutsu with his snakes, but his healing capabilities and ability to liquefy (thanks to Karin and Suigetsu respectively) have given him quite the powerful body. Watching him easily deal with an onslaught that would leave most ninja's gasping for straws was impressive. These abilities alone would make him quite the headache for nearly anyone in the manga, and yet, neither of those improvements compare much to his new trump card....
DRAGON SAGE MODE
With the help of Juugo's DNA and training at Ryuchidou Kabuto has now become a Sage, and good God is that scary. Remember when Kakashi, a very fast ninja with the Sharigan failed to dodge Sasuke's Sussano arrow and had to use Kamui? Kabuto has no such problem thanks to the perceptual ability of his new Sage Mode. Now, if his Sage Mode is like Naruto's we can assume his body just received a massive upgrade in the strength, speed, and durability department as well (it will also be interesting to see if there are differences between the two, such as one being better at doing something than the other). O, and let's not forget adding natural energy to his techniques is going to boost their power as well. Yea, Itachi and Sasuke are in for quite a ride. And whatever Sage Technique: Hakugeki Jutsu is, I'm sure it'll be cool and quite deadly.
Overall the action in this chapter surmounts to two exchanges, Kabuto attacking Sasuke and Itachi with his snakes and them countering said attack, and Kabuto dodging Sasuke's Sussano arrow. Not all that exciting, but the reveal of Dragon Sage Mode will surely give us an action packed chapter next week. I'd give the action this week a 3/5.
Impressions:
While the reveal of Dragon Sage Mode was a surprise this week, I can't help but think that Kishi is simply running out of ideas. It disappoints me as a fan that he would follow up using Edo Tensei with having Kabuto have a power-up that many thought was unique to only Jiraiya and Naruto. It seems like a cop out if you ask me. Saying that, I am excited to see this fight as it might give us a preview of what to expect if Sasuke and Naruto ever throw down. Also it's great to see Itachi and Sasuke fighting together and I like that Sasuke is taking the lead since he knows more about Kabuto than Itachi.
