A bit off-topic, but as I was checking out your link I came across this scene. This moment, this image, is the moment that solidified Kakashi as one of my top-three favorite Naruto characters, and is my best moment of him throughout the entire series. The sheer awesomeness of that page is mind blowing.
I agree with the rest of your post as well. Though the series has been downhill since then, it was never at this level of classical ninja stuff. Which seems weird since many scenes we've seen of Jiraiya fighting supposedly strong opponents were nothing more than kunai exchanges. Classical Ninja stuff. As this occurs during most flashbacks, I'd say that even in Naruto's world, Ninjas are supposed to fight like that, and we get the message that they usually do, with the occasional jutsu here and there.
Unlike all the Kage and Jounin level Ninja we have been around lately tossing around mass destruction techniques like they were shuriken, the main Ninja force comprises of Chuunin with the elite Jounin as commanders, and they don't have the chakra to toss around techniques like that.

 

Its not that Kakashi hasnt improved, its just that it isnt quite as apparent as Naruto or Sasuke's growth. They went from weak pieces of shit in part 1 to powerful ninja who had been trained by some of the best ninjas in the world in part 2.

Kakashi started part 1 as one of the most powerful and skilled ninja that the hidden leaf had. We dont see Kakashi's skill very often, the only time we have really seen what Kakashi could do was against Kakuzu before Naruto arrived. Kakashi is not Naruto or Sasuke, and healthy they would probably beat Kakaski. But Kakashi would make them pay to do it.

Edit.

I agree completely with the above. That scene was one of the greatest Kakashi moments ever.

 

Power level is quite problematic in a series like Naruto. For instance, we had Pein who basically beat entire Konoha on his own, only to be defeated by Uzumaki. So logically Naruto is more powerful than all of other ninjas in his village together. And then we have Sasuke who fought with more than one Kage at the same time and was not killed in a few seconds. All that before both of them got another level up. And who knows what can Madara do with his brand new eye?

Let's hope the entire series will end before the most powerful individuals will get from a city's destroyers level (as showed by Pein) to a planet's destroyers (who am I kidding? it will probably end with Naruto destroying Moon with Ultimate Rasengan or something to stop Madara's plan).

 

I c wut u did thar. Naruto technically won the fight, but it was only after Hinata's interference and subsequent pwnage that he managed to escape capture. Let's face it, if he didn't see a friend die, as he thought Hinata did, there's no way he'd unleash the Fox's chakra on his own. At least, not enough to win.
Naruto was good, but not good enough. Pain was hax. Almost as hax as Minato, and that says something.

 

Not even close to being as hax as Minato.

In DBZ terms, Pain's power level was OVER 9000! but, Minato had gone supersaiyan.

 

What does that make Naruto?

 

Obviously SSJ2 like with Gohan. If Minato ever come back from death, he will have much longer hairs and be even more powerful as SSJ3 (probably will have also an aureola above his head).

 

Since Naruto has basically become post-Frieza DBZ, I feel that using Dragon Ball Z terms is not entirely unwarranted.

And, in my metaphor, Naruto doesn't even qualify for one of those things. Minato was as close to a Physical God as I've seen in a manga in a while. Pain created a mini-moon. Naruto...got a weird as fuck aura.

 

Which is a manifested cloak of all the power of the Bijuu Lord. :facepalm

 

Naruto knew he was on that island/turtle to learn to control kyuubi's power, right?
Why doesn't he do just that ?
Instead we see him running into walls, breaking his ankle and counting fucking animals ?

The way it seems to me, he believes, that counting animals in a foreign country is his priority and his new "skill" is an irrelevant fact, a stroke of luck, so to say.

If that's the case, it would be a whole new level of stupidity, even for him.



Ps. If you actually want to enjoy Naruto, you have to read the old part again till the timeskip and forget Shipuuden.

 

Actually, that a pretty good question. If their excuse was research, how did they excuse the training? Or was he told about training first, extra-ultra-super-ultimate-secret S-rank mission later?

 

*sigh*

The training is not official. The hiding part is. The ecology was just an excuse, so it prolly didn't matter squat to Yamato and Aoba as long as Naruto was secluded on the Island. And studying foriegn ecology/resource-study would actually be a good mission, just not S-Rank. A moving Island with an incredibly strong barrier jutsu? Yeah, its worth a study. Naruto was the one with the agenda to train. I don't think even Tsunade knows about the Elder Toad sage's prediction.

Ummm...I dunno where you've been, but that's what he's been doing the whole last arc. You should also notice that he made it his first priority to nag Kirabi and learn to control the Kyuubi, in which he suceeded.

Also, What you mentioned was exactly why I believed this was one of those moments where Naruto pulled something. Atleast I hope so. Kishimoto would win major points if he did something like that now.

 

I was thinking Naruto was there to "study" and after seeing Killer Bee decided to go ahead and learn to control the kyuubi.

 

Eh? No, I dun think so. >_>
I thought the sequence of events was like this :
1) Naruto summoned by the toad sage for the prediction. Learns about the Octopus.
2) The five kage's decide to hide both Kiraabi and Naruto on the Island. Kiraabi sees it as a vacation. Link
3)Naruto is told he's to study the ecology so that he won't object. He agrees because the Island sorta matches the description given by the toad sage. Link1 and Link2 (Notice that Yamato says Naruto still hasn't figured it out)
4)The scene where Naruto sees Kiraabi as the octopus and asks to train him control the kyuubi.

ummm...Did I get something wrong? >_>

Edit : Added links

 

My point remains.

The first time he used his new power, he kicked a wall (+Kisame) and broke his ankle.
Instead of counting animals, he could at least train his new form and become somewhat badass.


another question
is he finally able to counter gen-jutsu with his chakra ?

 

My bad I forgot about the Sage telling him about the island. I was thinking the sage just mentioned Bee.

 

I think I just found out a troll from Kishi. You know how the fandom always used to whine about why don't ninjas use explosive notes more? They couldn't because Konnan used them all. :awesome

 

Is there no update this week or what?

 

Apparently Kishimoto is doing research, whatever that means in his case. New chapter will be the next week.

 

Finding a way to get out of all the suck he created.