Naruto Anime Analysis

Season 1: Episode 36

Source: Wikipedia
"Clone vs. Clone: Mine are Better than Yours!"

"The team realizes they are in another genjutsu. To draw out the assailants, Naruto Uzumaki disguises several of his shadow clones as his teammates and fights the enemy clones all night. When the Rain Genin believes that Team 7 is exhausted from combat, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kabuto corner them. After a brief struggle, Naruto knocks out the enemies and takes their scroll, at which point they head to the tower and meet with Kabuto's team. Unknown to Team 7, Kabuto submits all of the data he gathered on them to Orochimaru."

Analysis

Naruto plays a major part in this episode in the sense that we see an improvement in his strategic skills when he fights the enemy. For instance, Naruto disguised several of his shadow clones as his teammates and fought the enemy clones all night. This was smart because it would force the enemy to reveal themselves, thinking they had won the fight. Eventually, Naruto's plan worked because the Rain Genin revealed themselves. As a result, they were all cornered by Sakura, Sasuke, and Kabuto.

Despite Sasuke telling Naruto that he will fight against the Rain Genin, Naruto knocks out the enemies and takes their scroll, not giving Sasuke a chance to shine. At that moment, Naruto's strength as a shinobi had improved. Although he used so much chakra when he used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, he still had some chakra left. Therefore, when it comes to the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, Naruto is the best ninja. Moreover, Naruto not letting Sasuke defeat the enemy is his way of convincing Sasuke and the rest to acknowledge him. Thus, the element of change is evident on the part of Naruto since he is becoming stronger every day. He has a clear determination to succeed in becoming Hokage one day. Therefore, Naruto is a dynamic character who grows to master his ninja skills. 

There is also an element of deception where Kabuto isn't who he claims to be. He is Orochimaru's spy, which explains why he saved Team 7 from failing the Chunin Exam. Orochimaru wants to see Sasuke's true power when he taps into the curse mark. Moreover, he probably wanted to know more about Team 7's abilities, hence why Kabuto gathered data concerning them.  In other words, this is a situational irony where what happens is the opposite of what was expected. To support this, Kabuto taking part in the exam makes perfect sense because, all this time, he and Orochimaru were targeting Sasuke from the start! Lastly, Kabuto still taking part in the exam shows that Orochimaru is planning something bad. This just further proves that Orochimaru is the antagonist of the Naruto anime series. 

Moreover, there is also a dramatic irony where we, as the audience, are aware that Kabuto is the spy while the other characters haven't yet figured it out.  The episode just proved to be intriguing in the sense that we are aware that Orochimaru is up to something. We are left in suspense, waiting to anticipate his next move. The way I see it, Orochimaru is one of the characters who makes the anime Naruto not only interesting but also entertaining.

The lesson from this episode is that when you work hard towards something you're passionate about, you will get results, just like Naruto did when he defeated the Rain Genin.