Naruto Anime Analysis

Season 4: Episode 146

Source: Wikipedia

"Orochimaru's Shadow"

"Naruto, Iruka, and Pakkun meet up with Mizuki's fiancée, Tsubaki, and she has come to offer help to the three, feeling responsible for not having stopped him earlier. Meanwhile, Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji are having trouble holding the two brothers off, and they know that they can't defeat them, so they are stalling for time. Meanwhile, Tsunade discovers a startling secret about Mizuki and Orochimaru and leaves to intervene. Naruto, Iruka, Pakkun, and Tsubaki finally reach Mizuki, but it is too late; he has already completed the formula he was making. Now that he has drunk it, he turns into a new monstrous form. And Naruto has recognized Mizuki's transformation as nearly identical to that of Orochimaru's cursed seal."

Analysis

The following analysis will look at:

· The significance of Tsubaki in this episode

· The role of Lady Tsunade

· Mizuki's encounter with Orochimaru

The significance of Tsubaki in this episode

Naruto, Iruka, and Pakkun meet up with Mizuki's fiancée, Tsubaki, and she has come to offer help to the three, feeling responsible for not having stopped him earlier. Despite the explosion, Iruka turns out to be alive, even though he has minor injuries. Luckily, when Tsubaki arrived, she attended to his wounds. Afterwards, Iruka introduces Tsubaki to Naruto and Pakkun, saying that she is Mizuki's fiancée. She tells them what happened when Mizuki arrived at her home and how she failed to stop him. At first, Iruka refuses to allow her to come with them; however, he eventually agrees after Tsubaki says she can lead them to where Mizuki is heading. Her significance in this episode is shown by the dialogue. She tells them about Mizuki's objective:

Tsubaki: He only talks about one thing now; he wishes to seek out Orochimaru and get his hands on the sannin's power.

Naruto: Are you kidding me?

They land in a forest covered with bamboo trees.

There is an unfolding of events as we learn more about Mizuki's objective. Tense music plays in the background as Tsubaki explains why Mizuki stole the scroll of sealing.

Tsubaki: The whole reason he wanted to steal the scroll of sealing back then was to give it to Orochimaru as an offering.

Iruka: Tsubaki, you knew of this?

Tsubaki: I never told the village that just removing the scroll of sealing was a serious crime, and I was terrified of what would happen if his real objective came to light. I was sure he would abandon the idea and mend his ways.

Pakkun: Then you are not free from blame.

Tsubaki: I'm prepared to be judged.

Iruka: There's something I still don't understand. If you knew where Mizuki was going, you could have gone after him on your own, but instead, you...

Tsubaki: I don't want to go alone. I might not be able to stop him. His sins—his sins—are far too many now; I can't allow them to go on any longer.

As is evident in the dialogue, Tsubaki played a role in revealing more details about Mizuki's offence and his objective. Mizuki stole the scroll of sealing as an offering to Orochimaru. He wishes to seek out Orochimaru and get his hands on the sannin's power. However, how did he meet Orochimaru? This will be revealed when I talk about Mizuki's encounter with Orochimaru.