English Dub Review: Naruto Shippuden “The Next Challenge! Naruto vs. Nine Tails!”

Spoilers Below

When I say 465 episodes, I mean that this show has been on the air since 2005, and we’re finally getting to see Naruto control that fox demon. Whenever we’ve seen it thus far, the demon’s chakra just takes over, and it goes on a rampage. That doesn’t really work in the long run, does it?

Anyway, the episode opens up with Bee thanking Naruto for trying to save Motoi. Bee even reconsiders training Naruto. I have to second Yamato’s of Naruto picking up Bee’s rapping. Please, for the love of god, do not let Naruto rap much longer. Bee then tells Naruto to go back to the Waterfall of Truth, and he will pass that test with flying colors. Naruto returns and starts his test again.

Dark Naruto comes back, but Naruto has a different plan of attack. He shows Dark Naruto what his autograph is, then we get the same flashback to Ichiraku with the autograph guys. Dark Naruto is still trying to get Naruto to turn hateful and angry, but Naruto isn’t really having any of it. Naruto just talks to his darker side, and Dark Naruto breaks down. Naruto is inspired by Bee and is lack of self doubt. Dark Naruto rushes in to a hug from Naruto, which releases all of the hate and anger Naruto has been hanging onto. With this moment, Naruto passes the first test. Lil John, I mean Bee, tells Naruto he will train him to control the Nine Tails. Yamato, Naruto, and Bee walk behind the waterfall, and ruins is hiding there. Bee then tells Naruto that he will fight the Nine Tails in these ruins.

Yamato is very cautious about the next bit of training, because it requires Naruto actually fight the beast. Bee tells Yamato that Naruto needs to go all out if he wants to control the beast. They come to a special door, that opens when a person with no darkness opens it. This is a form of a purification ritual, where if Naruto has any darkness, he will die when he opens it. Naruto puts his head inside the mechanism, much to Yamato’s dismay. Naruto screams, and Yamato pulls out a headless Naruto. Well, until Naruto pulls his head out of his jacket. The door opens, and all three walk in. Another tidbit, is that Naruto needs to undo the seal sealing the Nine Tails.

Training begins, and they go inside Naruto’s mind. Naruto floats up to the seal, and unlocks it. Of course, this means the beast breaks out. Bee tells Naruto to pull the Nine Tails’s chakra with his own. Bee busts in with the Eight Tails to demonstrate. Bee, however, can’t help for very long. Nine Tails sees the team up, and gets pissed. He starts to power up a powerful attack, but was blocked by Bee. Unfortunately, that block left him powerless. Naruto was sitting still, and he starts to collect nature chakra for his senjutsu. He kicks out a giant Rasengan, and begins his counterattack.

This episode rocked. We cut the exposition crap, and make the story progress a bit. Bee shows he is a really great mentor, and shows that he knows how to get the best out of people. It’s surprising, because of his rapping. It’s so bad, but not as bad as Naruto trying to rap. This will lead into a major battle for control between Nine Tails and Naruto, and if the manga is any gauge, this is going to be intense over the next few episodes. Naruto definitely takes the phrase, “Kill them with kindness” to new heights when he kills all of the hate in himself with a hug.

I can’t wait to see how next week turns out, because I love any interaction between the Nine Tails and Naruto. Naruto always manages to get out of it with the help of some outside entity, but this time, it looks like he’s stuck by himself.

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