Naruto Anime Analysis

Season 2: Episode 78

Source: Wikipedia,
"Naruto's Ninja Handbook."

"Naruto has been afraid of Gaara ever since he met him. But now, Naruto's determination is truly awakened, along with the will of fire. Rejuvenated, Naruto uses techniques from his Ninja Handbook scroll. Naruto unleashes the new and improved Naruto Uzumaki Barrage, consisting of 2,000 shadow clones (Naruto Uzumaki 2K Barrage). Eight shadow clones kicked Gaara into the air, and all 2,000 shadow clones punched Gaara on every inch of his body before two shadow clones delivered the final blow to the barrage. Naruto attempts a second attack, twice as powerful, with kicks. To fend off the attack, Gaara completes his transformation into a replica of the One-Tailed Shukaku. Gaara tries to crush Naruto with sand. Thinking of Sakura and his friends, Naruto uses his chakra to summon Gamabunta. Gaara forces himself to sleep and allows Shukaku to take over. Needing to get close to Shukaku to wake Gaara up, Naruto and Gamabunta transform into a replica of the Nine-Tails to fight."

Analysis

Naruto has been afraid of Gaara ever since he met him. But now, Naruto's determination is truly awakened, along with the will of fire. Naruto is shown to have guts in this episode. Moreover, the word "will of fire" was once used by the third Hokage. It means the desire to protect something precious to you, which in this case is Naruto's friends, Sakura and Sasuke. It is also similar to Haku's actions in protecting Zabuza. Haku considered Zabuza to be someone precious to him, and he was willing to die to protect Zabuza. 

Rejuvenated, Naruto uses techniques from his Ninja Handbook scroll. Naruto unleashes the new and improved Naruto Uzumaki Barrage, consisting of 2,000 shadow clones (Naruto Uzumaki 2K Barrage) Eight shadow clones kick Gaara into the air, and all 2,000 shadow clones punch Gaara on every inch of his body before two shadow clones deliver the final blow to the barrage. Naruto attempts a second attack, twice as powerful, with kicks. The way I see it, Naruto's training has paid off. To have 2000 Shadow Clones is Jonin level, proving that Naruto has been training every day to master having 2000 Shadow Clones. This is why there is victory music playing in the background to symbolize Naruto's courage to defeat Gaara. The barrage originally came from Lee, then was copied by Sasuke, who calls it the Lion Barrage. Moreover, Naruto also copied Sasuke, which is why his technique is called "Naruto Uzumaki Barrage." Therefore, without Lee's technique, Sasuke wouldn't have copied it, and Naruto wouldn't have the technique of Naruto Uzumaki Barrage. This means that Lee played an important part in the anime Naruto.

To fend off the attack, Gaara completes his transformation into a replica of the One-Tailed Shukaku. Gaara tries to crush Naruto with sand. Thinking of Sakura and his friends, Naruto uses his chakra to summon Gamabunta. Gaara forces himself to sleep and allows Shukaku to take over. Gaara reveals his true identity. He truly is the host of the one-tailed Shukaku. There is also visual imagery in the episode since we know what Shukaku looks like. The fact that Naruto's attack forced Gaara to change into Shukaku means that he has realized Naruto's strength as a ninja. Therefore, this compelled Naruto to summon Gamabunta, the one Naruto first summoned during his training with Jiraiya. Gamabunta plays an important part in this episode because he makes the battle between Gaara and Naruto even. Moreover, the fact that Gaara forced himself to sleep and allowed Shukaku to take over means that Shukaku is free to do what he wants. This is why, in the episode, Shukaku was celebrating his freedom. Therefore, this fight is now between Shukaku and Gamabunta, who is assisted by Naruto.

Needing to get close to Shukaku to wake Gaara up, Naruto and Gamabunta transform into replicas of the Nine-Tails to fight. The reason why they transformed into the replica of the Nine-Tails is that they needed to hold Shukaku still with the fox's claws so that Naruto could wake Gaara up. If they do that, it means the automatic defeat of Shukaku. Therefore, Naruto and Gamabunta are both strategists, which shows Naruto's growth as a ninja. Naruto came a long way with mastering the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu and even managed to summon Gamabunta, hence showing that Naruto is a dynamic character who continues to grow with his ninja techniques. 

The next episode will show the outcome of the match between Gaara and Naruto.

The lesson from this episode is that we shouldn't underestimate others because Gaara underestimated Naruto, which led to Naruto being a worthy opponent.