Not really. Kaguya had the byakugan yes, but she only become godlike after she ate the fruit and presumably got the sharingan. Byakugan looks like her natural eyes, while the sharingan on her forehead looks out of place and even the Sage calls it "gruesome", implying perhaps that the eye does not belong there.

In a way, this is actually further depowering Byakugan if you think about it. Kaguya, who had the Byakugan, desperately sought out the fruit so she would get the sharingan which would give her power. She was useless while she had just the Byakugan, but once she got the sharingan, people started to fear and worship her.

 

First chapter I've actually enjoyed in over a year. I still think the series is ultimately irredeemable from what it could have been, but it might turn into something other than a train wreck.

 

Gai is still going strong against Madara. I wonder if his new move will just be another random punch or whatever since obviously Kishimoto doesnt give a shit about making original jutsu anymore.

 

Heh, totally called it.

I think 'useless' is overstating things a little. There probably is a lot more to the Byakugan than the ultra-conservative, oppressive, and rigid Hyuuga clan knows about. And even if there's not, Kaguya must have been more powerful than anyone else if she was the first person in the world to eat the fruit. Just getting to it past the Juubi would have been a serious challenge.

Edit: Also, Hagoromo is giving Naruto and Sasuke the chakra of Ashura and Indra respectively, as far as I can tell. Does that mean Mokuton for Naruto? Or is this just supposed to be a big spiritual thumbs-up from the Sage?

 

You know, the one I personally want the most to know about is the guy who knocked up the Sage's mother.


I mean, can you imagine a person more worthy of a high-five and a cigar?

 

The main point of the fruit was bestowing her with chakra. The Sharingan would have just been a bonus.

I don't think we've seen anything yet that ties the Mokuton to Ashura since we still haven't heard of anyone other than Hashirama having it naturally.

 

Well, Mokuton is clearly derived from the God Tree, and Kaguya ate the fruit of the God Tree, before passing on its power to her descendants. Of those, some became the Hyuuga with the Byakugan. Indra's descendants became the Uchiha and inherited the Sharingan. Ashura's descendants became the Senju, and the only known Mokuton user was Senju Hashirama, who also happened to be a 'vessel' of Ashura's spirit. Now, Hagoromo mentioned in the previous chapter that Ashura was originally a deadbeat, but he trained so hard that his power eventually bloomed and he became an equal to his brother. I'm guessing Mokuton was that power. Also, I think Hashirama probably discovered Mokuton at some point through intense training. Basically, when he fully tapped into Ashura's chakra. Just a theory, though.

 

I'd agree but I found it strange that when we were shown a glimpse of Ashura and Indra fighting, we saw a chakra titan similar to Kyuubi Bijuu Mode rather than anything Mokuton-related. Since Naruto whipped out a similar power than was notably different from any other bijuu or even his earlier uses of the Kyuubi's chakra, it seemed to me that whatever that thing is is what Hagoromo meant when he said Ashura's chakra bloomed.

I suppose we'll see soon enough. I would like to know how Hashirama's Mokuton fits into this.

 

Heh, I just realised that this chapter added yet more esoteric symbolism into the mix. When Hagoromo has Naruto and Sasuke raise their dominant hands to him, Naruto gives his right and Sasuke his left. It's possible Kishi didn't intend anything by it, but in Hinduism/Buddhism there's an orthodox and an unorthodox approach to spirituality, which are known as the Right and Left Hand Paths [to Attainment], or Dakshinachara and Vamachara. There are a host of spiritual practices associated with both paths, and in both cases the associations apply pretty well to Naruto and Sasuke, or Ashura and Indra, Hashirama and Madara, etc.

 

Hagoromo isn't giving Naruto and Sasuke the chakra of the brothers. They had that from birth. That's the whole point of reincarnation.
He's giving them his power. But unlike with Hashirama and any of the other previous migrations, Naruto is only getting the Yang portion of the power.

This chapter was spectacular. It cleared up a plothole that was bothering me concerning the transmigration. Specifically, how is Madara now alive and still "Madara" (chakra-wise) if the power of the brothers keeps reincarnating in pairs? And it was pretty obvious that the current pair was Naruto and Sasuke.
But Madara ISN'T Madara anymore he became something more akin to the Rabbit Goddess when he awakened the Rinnegan.

Kishimoto actually DID have a plan! Sasuke was born before Naruto. Indra's chakra was hanging around in Madara long after Hashirama died, but when Madara unlocked the Rinnegan it hightailed it outta there and chose a host and shortly after that Obito's actions created a suitable host for Ashura's chakra. Sweeeeet!

 

Or perhaps she's just the first one who was crazy enough to steal from a god despite explicitly being told not to. Anyway I wouldn't say it depowers the Byakugan but it doesn't exactly empower it either. If the Byakugan was natural and the Sharingan/Rinnegan come from the Juubi then it does explain why they're so much more powerful.

lol. I'm kind of glad that a forum I used to hang around got shut down because I'd often tell people that Kakashi was just repeating rumors and that the Byakugan had nothing to do with the Sharingan. Hate to have to live that down.

 

As someone who hasn't read a single chapter in over a year due to frustration, all this bullshit y'all are talking about sounds epically retarded.

Carry on.

 

Sucks to be Ninja from other villages at this point. No major powerful ancestors there.

 

Does anyone have a name for the beings behind Naruto and Sasuke on the first color page?

 

I assume those are Asura and Indra from Hinduism or whatever.

 

Well at least we know which fillers and movies definitely aren't canon now. Anything that ever had Naruto and Sasuke combine chakras to create a superattack is straight out. Apparently that would have just caused one of them to start blowing holes through walls with their eyes.

Also, I love how the chapter ends with "meanwhile, back in the real world, Gai, though technically dying, is nonetheless beating the everloving fuck out of Sauron."

Can we all agree that if Naruto had just been trained by Gai, this story would have ended three hundred chapters ago?

 

Didn't they already do that? Twice? That windmill arrow on the Juubi and the flaming shuriken on Juubito.

 

The god behind Naruto is apparently Agni.

 

Who is a Fire god. Hmm. Interesting.