Sunday, October 1, 2006

Naruto Manga

Growing up in a village of ninjas, Uzumaki Naruto never knew the adults of the village shunned him because sealed within him was the spirit of the demon fox who had destroyed their village 12 years ago. When his corrupt teacher Mizuki tricked him into stealing a secret scroll of ninjutsu, Naruto learned the truth about who he was, but it didnt change his goal to win the respect of the village by becoming THE GREATEST NINJA EVER! First he must pass the test to enter the Ninja Academy; deal with his would-be rival, Konohamaru; and learn to get along with his new classmates, Sasuke and Sakura. Assigned to a three-person team, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura must survive a test against an upper-level ninja instructor: the deceptively powerful Hatake Kakashi. But only two people can pass... which one will fail?

Twelve years ago, a giant fox demon with seven tails attacked the ninja village of Konohagakure. Defeated by the Hokage, the village champion, the mighty demon's soul was sealed into the body of an innocent orphan child: Naruto Uzumaki. Now, Naruto is a 12-year-old ninja-in-training, struggling to be the best, together with his classmates Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura have passed the final test to become junior ninja, but now the real challenge begins. Tired of finding stray cats and doing day care, the young ninja ask for a tougher assignment, and find themselves - together with their teacher, Kakashi - bodyguarding a cranky bridgebuilder from the faraway Land of the Waves. But Tazuna the bridgebuilder is in more danger than anyone realizes - he's the target of elite ninja assassins, including Zabuza, "the demon," the most murderous of the Mist Ninjas. And to even have a chance of defeating Zabuza, Kakashi will have to use the secret power concealed in his always-hidden left eye...

Zabuza, the ninja assassin, was stopped from his first try at killing Tazuna the bridgebuilder - but Zabuza still lives! While the ninjas recover from their injuries, Kakashi puts Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura on a strict training regimen to protect Tazuna's family - including Tazuna's embittered grandson Inari - and prepare for Zabuza's next attack. But the next time won't be as easy, because joining Zabuza is his apprentice, Haku, a young master of water style ninjutsu. And as the bridge comes closer to completion, our heroes must be willing to die - or kill - to protect the defenseless and the ones they love...

There comes a time in every ninja's training when he must put aside his morals and face the truth: ninjas are tools for killing. For Naruto, seeing Sasuke dead, that time is now. Rage awakens the nine-tailed fox spirit within Naruto, giving him the strength to overcome Haku - but can he bring himself to finish the job? As the battle for the Land of the Waves comes to a tragic ending, our heroes return to the village of Konohagakure in time for the chunin (journeyman ninja) exams. But junior ninjas from around the world have gathered to take the exam, bringing their own strange ninjutsu and mysterious goals...

EXAM HELL In the course of their training, student ninja Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke have fought deadly assassins, learned incredible feats of magic and martial arts, and danced along the brink of death. Now they're facing the most terrifying challenge of all: exams! The three ninja-in-training have signed up for the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams, which they must pass if they ever want to advance to the rank of full-fledged shinobi. They learn too late how grueling the exams are, and how dangerous. If the tests of skill, stealth, and battle prowess don't kill them, their fellow junior ninja will. And, since the three pass or fail as a group, they're only as strong as their weakest link...Naruto!

Through Naruto's pluck and a healthy dose of luck, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura passed the written portion of their Journeyman Ninja Exam...but that was only the beginning. They're now in the thick of the exam's second portion, held in the aptly named Forest of Death, and instructor Mitarashi Anko has promised to cut the number of advancing teams by half! Each team is turned against the others, using stealth and cunning to purloin the scrolls that they need to pass the test, while trying to survive the many perils that lurk in the forest. And if that's not enough, there's a mysterious imposter among the students who has it in for Sasuke!

Deep within the Forest of Death - the site of the second stage of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams - Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are still reeling from Orochimaru's attack, and now they must battle this unrelenting monster's minions, the mysterious Sound Ninja. As the fight rages on, Sasuke struggles with the strange force growing inside of him - spreading like an infection from the curse-mark Orochimaru burned into his neck - that could leave him dead... or send him on a bloodthirsty quest for power. And time is running out for the student ninja to collect the scrolls they need to pass the test!

As the preliminaries to the third phase of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams begin, the student ninja face off against each other in no-holds-barred, one-on-one bouts. Deaf to Sakura's pleas to withdraw from the contest and despite the crippling effects of the curse placed on him by the nefarious Orochimaru, Sasuke enters the first match against one of the vicious Sound Ninja spies. But with his signature fighting techniques suddenly off-limits, how can Sasuke possibly prevail? And even if he manages to survive the violent brawl, Orochimaru's curse is threatening to change Sasuke forever!

Still in the thick of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams, the student ninja unleash their signature techniques as they spar in a series of one-on-one elimination matches. The heated battles bring out a new side in many of the opponents as they fight to advance to the third stage of the test and, in some cases, struggle to survive! Naruto looses an explosive new move on his foe...but will it be enough to win? And when Hyuga clan members Neji and Hinata are pitted against one another, will old family grudges make their duel even more vicious than the others?

With only a few matches left to be fought in the preliminaries to the third portion of the Journeyman Ninja Selection Exams, the highly anticipated bout between mysterious Sand ninja Gaara and intense, earnest Konoha ninja Rock Lee begins. Will Gaara's bloodlust and his strange powers of sand manipulation be too much for Lee to handle? Or could Lee prove that dedication and an amazing work ethic are enough to make him a splendid ninja?

Now preparing for the finals of the Chûnin Selection Exams, Naruto studies with naughty new mentor Jiraiya and struggles to harness the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox chakra locked within him. Meanwhile, other ninja villages are forming secret alliances against Konohagakure...

Comments (1)