This is exactly right. We know Madara is a manipulator, and he is willing to do anything to accomplish his goals. Whose to say he didnt stretch if not outright lie about how the Uchiha's were treated.

On an neutral battlefield with no outside influence with both rested, it would be a truely epic battle of the Sharigan users. Kakashi's experience and skill against Sasuke's raw power.

As it stands Sasuke has to be nearly empty on chakra and Kakashi is rested. Kakashi while not having the chakra levels of Sasuke is still one of the most dangerous ninja's alive. With more tricks up his sleeve than just about anyone except Madara. Without outside influence I would say Kakashi kicks the living shit out of Sasuke. However this is not going to happen. I see Madara interfering and saving Sasuke or hindering Kakashi long enough for Sasuke to get in a good shot and Naruto arriving to save Kakashi. If Sasuke is truely arrogant enough to believe he can barely get by Danzo, require Madara's help against Kakashi and still battle a Naruto he deserves what he gets.

 

Was I the only person who noticed Madara take Danzou's body and leave? It seems to me that he's busy learning what he can from The Dragon's Dragon, and besides, ever since he recruited Sasuke, I've had the vibe that Madara has been using Sasuke. Sure, the little shitling can provide something of a buffer against everyone and his EPIC RAGE will get him through some tight spots, but in the end, he's going to die, probably serving as The Dragon in the process.

As far as I see it going right now, Madara is The Big Bad. Yes, Naruto and Sasuke need to have their Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, but in reality, unless the manga ends with a 50 chapter fight between Madara and Naruto, I simply will not believe it.

As for the Kakashi vs. Sasuke fight, Kakashi is gonna stomp a mudhole in Sasuke. There is no way for Sasuke to beat Kakashi at this point in time. He just got done fighting several Kage-level ninja, and while he did get a breather between Danzou and E, he's obviously on his last legs right now if his Sharingan cut out on its own.

Pretty much what's going to happen is this: Kakashi won't give the fight his all (first Orochimaru vs. Sandaime fight, anyone?), and Sasuke will escape. Naruto will arrive, help Kakashi in some way shape or form, and then we'll go through 50 or so chapters of politics before the final fight, in which Kakashi or Sakura will die against a fresh Sasuke, Naruto will enter Rage Mode, kill Sasuke, then the survivor and Naruto will team up and kill Madara. The end.

 

Except that Sasuke and Naruto are supposed to have the last fight in this series. Cold quiet genius vs. the emotional loud mouth. That is essentially what was planned since the start. Sasuke was always supposed to be the exact opposite of Naruto, and it was said in a review their fight would most likely be the one that concludes the series.

 

How? At this point, it's completely impossible. Madara is likely the only current enemy who can stand up to Naruto in a fight at this point in time. The only way Sasuke would get up there right now is if Madara took him aside and taught him a few tricks with the Sharingan, but I'm thinking that's not gonna happen.

Besides, I'm hoping that Kishi is going to go the Aizen route and say that this was all one massive illusion. I'd roll.

 

I'd say that Naruto'll end up saving Kakashi. How Kakashi's going to get into a state where he needs to be saved, I don't know - I definitely don't see Sasuke beating him. Maybe Juugo and Suigetsu join in? It'll only be another random event among all the other randomness.

But I think Kakashi dying will be akin to Naruto failing just as Jiraiya ended up unable to save the Sandaime. And that I think, won't happen. This whole manga has been about Naruto surpassing those that came before him like Kakashi, Jiraiya and Minato in every way. Also, Naruto is after all, out to save everyone and bring peace to the world. So people dying on his watch should be a big no (Madara might just be the exception to this).

 

Itachi's body, along with his eye's are still in Madara's possession yeh? Seeing as how only brothers with the MS can get the eternal MS how long will it be until Sasuke gets his new power up?

Im going to have to side with the Sasuke gets dominated by Kakashi and retreats only to reappear with the EMS and seek out Konoha's destruction as he plans to do even now.

 

Ah but I think Itachi maybe realised that, hence giving Naruto this mysterious power earlier on, hopefully to either cancel the EMS or something else that will probably only activate when Sasuke gets Itachis eyes.

 

If Sasuke can do anything more than wiggle his toes at Kakashi, after all the fighting he's done... well, I'll be disappointed. Kakashi should whoop his ass. I should be able to. How does he still have any fucking energy?

I hope Karin will become an interesting character now that she's free from Sasuke. Maybe Sakura will become a lesbian.

 

I almost feel sorry for SasuSaku fans.

Almost.

 

Just finished watching the latest episode of the anime.

Spoiler

It looks like Pain is going to be involved in the current filler arc. Like anything involving Pain, this has a lot of potential for awesomeness.

On another note, I have to agree with Anlun that Kabuto is a bit of a hanging plot thread. Last we heard he's after Sasuke, and Anko is chasing Kabuto so she can kill the last remaining bit of Orochimaru. On the balance, I'd rather see Anko get the kill; Sasuke's getting more than enough page time as it is, while Anko vs. Kabuto would be different and interesting.

Also, the last few chapters prove that Kishimoto enjoys jerking the SasuSaku fans around; then again, ever since Hinata's confession in 437 he's been toying with pretty much all of the shippers.

 

Sasuke represents Naruto's biggest obstacle for true peace. Remember all that talk about if the cycle of hate isn't broken the world will just pop out another Pain? That's what Sasuke is shaping up to be. Naruto's overall goal, as he stated to Pain, would require him to redeem Sasuke, thus breaking the cycle.

 

Then again, with Sasuke acting as he is now, who would mourn him enough to actually start another cycle? Assuming he is killed by someone from Konoha, I mean.

Hmm, maybe those prisoners he 'freed' from Orochimaru... but I doubt it.

 

Not sure. But that's the way I saw it.

Edit: I just wasted my 600th post on a Naruto thread....that sucks.

 

Well, Naruto having Sasuke's blood on his hands, even accidentally, would be enough to make him lose all faith in his own dream. Since I'm assuming that by the end of the series, he will actually achieve his goal, that means that Sasuke has to live and Naruto can not have anyone's blood on his hands so he can at least claim he's breaking the cycle.

 

Not really. Sasuke may die, but only when it will be heroic death in which he will redempt himself. Which is something I'd like to see, because my first choice with evil Sasuke being killed by Naruto is against everything this manga is about.

If there is one thing I don't like to see, it's redempt Sasuke who without much problem go back to Konoha and end with Sakura. Why? Because then this manga would be about being asshole and still ending with a girl who good main character was pining after from the beginning. In real life it's probably norm, that's why it shouldn't be at least in this kind of fiction.

 

Sasuke being easily forgiven would be very annoying, but I don't think that's too likely after Kishimoto has spent the entire current arc making Sasuke cross one moral line after another. After his attack on the Kage Summit and various other crimes it would be impossible and ridiculous for him be allowed back into Konoha as if nothing had happened, and it seems like everyone except (possibly) Naruto has acknowledged that.

As for shipping concerns, I'm pretty sure that there's no chance Sasuke and Sakura will end up together now; they did just try to kill each other. I doubt there's any way Kishimoto could write the pairing from this point on without it seeming like a complete Ass Pull. As it is a good 95% of the fanfiction that pairs them up involves turning Sasuke into a character that only has a passing resemblance to his canon self, and that was before he turned into a complete monster.

 

God, I hope we don't get a Sasuke redemption. We already got that with the real monster of this manga, and while in many ways that was disappointing, I think that in the end it worked. No need to see that rehashed.

On top of that, Sasuke is a more "villainous" character than Nagato was at this point. At least Nagato operated according to a logical - if misguided - rationale and was actually reachable. Sasuke is just a crazy nut. And while Nagato may have killed one hell of a lot more people than Sasuke has, he would never do something as shitty as selling out his comrades or trying to murder his best friend.

While I'm not sure that Naruto will kill Sasuke with his own hands, I do believe that Sasuke will die. Whether that's by pushing himself too far in a fight or due to Madara's machinations, I don't know.

 

If Sasuke is going to be redeemed(hopefullly not), then it will be probably be like Itachi. Publicly known as a criminal, but a handful will know the truth. He can never really return to Konoha, but he could handle stuff from afar such as take over Jiraiya's role of intelligence gathering.

 

Is it really stated somewhere in the manga that Jiraiya gathered intelligence for Konoha? Not to doubt Jiraiya's intelligence gathering skills, but I thought his wandering about was a result of the prophecy (or the belief Jiraiya had in it). I've seen this a lot in fanfiction too...Jiraiya's spy network. But I can't remember any such reference in the manga.