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 341
Main
MenuCHAPTER 342 - The King 
 back to the others.Choji holds Naruto upright while Ino applies medical ninjutsu to his back. Ino comments that she never expected Naruto to use his real body as a decoy and Choji compares Naruto’s tactics to something Shikamaru would have came up with. Yamato says he is impressed Naruto was able to use the Spiral Shuriken three times in the battle; during training, he could barely use it twice. Kakashi looks over at Naruto and reflects on how the young ninja has progressed. Even after failing in his first attempt, Naruto was able to come up with a new strategy without hesitation; it proves he is truly confident in himself. Furthermore, Naruto was able to take the Rasengan to a level even the Fourth Hokage couldn’t accomplish.  Kakashi wonders
if Naruto has already surpassed him and whether it’s already
time for the new generation to take over. Naruto is getting
steadily stronger with each day, Kakashi wonders if Sasuke realizes
this as well.
Yamato calls Kakashi to get ready to
depart. He tells Naruto, Ino and Choji to head out first
because Kakashi still has one more thing to clean up. Kakashi
jumps down into the crater and lands next to Kakuzu. The
Akatsuki member is paralyzed but is still clinging to life.
Kakuzu comments begrudgingly about being beaten by a bunch of
kids. Kakashi replies that to someone as old as Kakuzu, they
must look like kids, but from their point of view, Kakuzu is nothing
more than a crazy old man. He tells Kakuzu that every new
generation will continue to surpass the previous, and it is now time
for him to die. Kakashi activates his Raikiri and finishes
off the enemy. Days later, everybody has
returned to Konoha
safely and gathered in Tsunade’s office. Tsunade
congratulates everyone on their accomplishments, but tells them not to
let their guards down yet because the rest of Akatsuki is still a
threat. But for the moment, she grants everyone a break from
duty.At Asuma’s grave, Kurenai stands over her lover’s tombstone in mourning. Shikamaru arrives and asks if she should be walking around like this. Kurenai asks him if he is lonely now that his Shogi partner isn’t  around
anymore. Shikamaru answers that he would be
lying if he said he wasn’t. But he belongs to a
generation that needs to grow up now more than ever, so he
can’t just lie around crying forever. To Shikamaru,
Asuma was at times a bit hard to grasp, but he was also the coolest  adult
he knew. He looks over to Kurenai, who is holding one
hand over her womb, and tells her he will protect Asuma’s
child when it’s born. Shikamaru then smiles and
says that he needs to become a cool adult too in the mean time.Later at home, Shikamaru engages his father, Shikaku Nara, to a friendly game of Shogi. His father is surprised when Shikamaru makes a sacrificial move. Shikamaru comments that sometimes it’s necessary to make such a  move
in order to
protect the king. Shikaku notes that, because of the
placement of Shikamaru’s knight, no matter what move he makes
next his bishop will be taken out. Shikamaru relates to his
father what Asuma had said about the pieces being the shinobi of Konoha
and himself being the knight piece. When Shikaku asks who
the king represents, Shikamaru answers that it represents the children
who will grow up and bear Konoha  upon their own shoulders.
Shikaku
is proud his son has realized this, but checkmates him in the next
turn and tells Shikamaru he isn’t strong enough to protect
the king just yet.At a distant battlefield, Sasuke plants his Kusanagi sword into the ground. All around him are the sprawled bodies of countless injured shinobi who had fought him. Sasuke, on the other hand, did not receive a single scratch. Orochimaru tells Sasuke he is still too soft because he didn’t kill any of them. Sasuke responds that they are not the one he wants to kill.
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Naruto Hurricane - Naruto manga volume 38 chapter 342 |
