Naruto Anime Analysis (Season 5)

Season 5: Episode 214

Source: Wikipedia

"Bringing Back Reality"

"Naruto and Menma are sent on a mission with Neji and Tenten. Tsunade begins suspecting that Menma is a sound ninja due to his abilities, and Neji begins suspecting the same thing when Menma moves even faster than he does. The group enters a town that was largely destroyed by bandits, and Menma convinces Naruto's group to help build it to defend against another attack."

Analysis

The episode served as a resolution where all the mysteries of the plot were unravelled by a new set of characters, Nan and Ran. One of the characters revealed what happened to Fuki's father, the one who was killed by the bandits. Moreover, the relevance of the title of the episode, "Bringing Back Reality," refers to how Menma is starting to have his memories back. Therefore, this is a falling action when the events begin to resolve themselves and tension is released. Other details will be mentioned in the analysis.

At the beginning of the episode, Menma and Naruto go to the Hokage Headquarters's office. During the day, Naruto told Tsunade and Shizune what happened when they encountered the enemy. Naruto went on to say that the melody from the ocarina Menma was playing was ninjutsu because his body was filled with chakra. It is an unusual jutsu, yet Tsunade said she had heard of a power similar to his. She goes on to say that the land of rice patties dabbles in music-based jutsu. Moreover, Shizune said the mountain stream where Naruto found Menma was in that region. It is crucial to note that the land of rice patties was the area where the sound village was located. This was also when Orochimaru was manipulating the Fuma clan. He used them to further his evil agenda to obtain power and to use the people as their vessels. Therefore, if Menma is somehow linked to the Sound Village, it raises the question: If he remembers who he was, will he betray Naruto? Only time will tell, which keeps the viewer intrigued enough to watch the rest of the storyline.

So, after Naruto and Menma heard that he could be linked to the Sound Village, they planned to go there to retrieve the memories. Tsunade also sent Tenten and Neji to accompany them in case they needed backup.

Naruto and Menma are sent on a mission with Neji and Tenten. Before they left, they informed Teuchi and his daughter Ayame outside the Ichiraku Ramen shop that they were leaving for a mission. In response, Teuchi said his pickled bamboo shoots would be ready when he came back, so Naruto couldn't wait to try them with his ramen. As they left, they headed to the woods.

Tsunade plays a role in solving some of the mysteries about Menma's past.

Tsunade begins suspecting that Menma is a sound ninja due to his abilities. When the group heads to the woods, Naruto has a flashback when Tsunade reveals more details about Menma. When Menma left her office, Tsunade said to Naruto that if he calls himself a shinobi, he should suspect that there is a possibility that Menma is a spy. She then mentioned something about the land of rice patties—that he and Menma were supposed to go on a mission. She said, "This is the Land of Rice Patties, the home to the hidden sound village; have you forgotten about Orochimaru?" Afterwards, Naruto remembers when he, Jiraiya, Sakura, and Sasame went to Orochimaru's hideout to save Arashi. For more details, you can read Season 3: Episode 139 in my other book, "Naruto Anime Analysis. Moreover, Tsunade said to Naruto, "Menma's jutsu is strikingly familiar to the opponent Shikamaru fought when Sasuke was taken. We can't afford to ignore the possibility that he's affiliated with the hidden sound. If he were to remember something, then the village was in danger because of it." She was comparing Menma to Shikamaru's opponent, Tayuya, who is part of the Sound Four. With her abilities, the Demonic Flute could cast genjutsu, and she could control her summoned three monsters by playing specific melodies. These monsters would then launch an attack on the victim, who in this case was Shikamaru.