Naruto and Sasuke part ways before their big battle, and a bunch of other things happen.Confronting Sasuke was too much for Naruto's heart to take... oh, it's just Sakura screwing up again. Never mind.Summary:Sasuke agrees to Naruto's challenge and vows to kill Naruto first. On the sidelines, Sakura realizes that she's completely useless. Kakashi attempt to attack Madara, but Madara tells Kakashi not to bother and teleports away with Sasuke. After returning to Madara's hiding place, Sasuke asks Madara to transplant Itachi's eyes into him because he wants to crush Naruto with his full power. Meanwhile back under the bridge, Naruto faints after the standoff with Sasuke and Kakashi realizes Naruto has been poisoned by Sakura's kunai. Sakura quickly revives Naruto, and together with Kakashi and Karin they head back towards Konoha.Elsewhere, Raikage, Killer Bee and entourage have returned to their village and Killer Bee brings back Sameheda as the souvenir. Back at the forest where Killer Bee fought Kisame, White Zetsu meets up with Black Zetsu, and it reveals that Black Zetsu actually doubled in for Kisame in the last moment. The real Kisame is hidden with Sameheda in a mission to infiltrate Kumogakure.In a tunnel somewhere, three ninjas are strangled to death by Kabuto.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Interesting chapter I suppose, although the Naruto/Sasuke drama from last chapter still left a bad taste. At least the two are taking an intermission for now before their final date. Initially I thought Naruto fainted after talking to Sasuke because of his fainting spell, but it turns out Sakura was responsible. Way to make Sakura even more useless, Kishi. Well, at least Sakura realized she was useless earlier in this chapter and self-awareness counts for something. With the Naruto/Sasuke meeting over, the bad guys are on the move again. As expected, Sasuke is getting Itachi's eyes so he can give Naruto the most love possible. I guess Madara will implant that Rinnegan he has into himself or someone else too. Kisame is also back again, having sneaked into Kumogakure through Sameheda. I would have preferred that Kisame stay dead since he is just not that interesting, but I suppose someone has to capture Killer Bee for Madara. Finally, Kabuto has shown himself again. Looks like we can never truly get rid of Orochimaru's influence from this manga, even if Orochimaru himself is sealed away forever. Kabuto would make up a third faction in the upcoming ninja war since he neither supports the villages nor Madara, so let's see if he'll do anything notable.
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Akainu continues to go after Luffy while Sengoku battles Blackbeard.Blackbeard still got some work to do before it actually becomes "his age".Summary:After collapsing Marine HQ, Blackbeard plans to sink the island of Marineford but he and his crew are confronted by Sengoku in his giant form. Meanwhile, Akainu has defeated Ivankov and Inazuma and continues to chase after Jimbei and Luffy. Jimbei tries to dive into the ocean, but he finds the sea frozen by Aokiji. Akainu catches up and injures both Jimbei and Luffy with an attack. It looks like Akainu has Jimbei and Luffy right where he wants them, but suddenly Crocodile appears and sends Jimbei and Luffy away with a whirlwind. Jimbei and Luffy are then caught by Buggy (whose upper body is floating in the sky) who instinctively starts running. Akainu gives chase but he is confronted by the remaining Whitebeard Pirates. As the battle rages on the island, Buggy looks for a way out, and suddenly he spots a submarine surfacing nearby. Out of the submarine emerges Trafalgar Law and his crew and he tells Buggy to hand Luffy over so he can be treated.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One of the pirates from Shabondy finally showed up! We all know Luffy is going to survive, but this chapter gave answer to how Luffy is going to escape. Looks like Law's submarine might be Luffy's ticket out of the fight. I guess the other “Supernovas” will show up soon as well since they departed Shabondy together with Law.Even though it seems like the Marineford arc is near the end, there are still a lot of things going on. The remaining Whitebeard Pirates are faced with Akainu who is relentless in his pursuit of Luffy. The Whitebeard Pirates can't really afford to be caught up in a long battle, but they might sacrifice themselves to cover Luffy's escape. There is also Blackbeard vs. Sengoku and the other Marines. We'll see if Blackbeard can back up his words and take out Marineford. Garp might get involved (he doesn't seem to be doing anything else at the moment) and so could the other two admirals. There is still a lot fights left yet.
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Mikogami scares off Uzume and declares his intentions to Minato.I don't think Mutsu would dare call Miya a witch to her face.Summary:Mikogami, Mutsu, and Akitsu face off against Uzume. As Uzume is distracted by the new arrivals, Homura frees Minato and Uzume decides to retreat. Before Uzume disappears, Miktogami tells Uzume to tell her handler to stop cheating and ruining the game. After Uzume is gone, Mikogami states to Minato that he doesn't plan to fight him here as someone else would benefit. As Mikogami's group turn around to leave, Homura recognizes Mutsu as a member of the original Disciplinary Squad. Mutsu recognizes Homura as well and gives Homura some encouragement for living with the "crazy witches" at Izumo Inn. At this moment, Mikogami turns back to Minato and states that he is not going to let Uzume off so easily next time. Mikogami also adds that he still hates Minato for winging Kusano and taking out Yomi, but he is going to obey the rules unlike a certain cheater. Mikogami then declares that he will be the winner and leaves with Mutsu and Akitsu.After Mikogami's group leaves, Minato calls back to the inn to Matsu. Minato and Matsu had already suspected Uzume was the Veiled Sekirei, and Minato has just planted a tracking device on Uzume (when he hugged her). Minato is confident that Uzume is being forced to act against her will, and he wants to teach a lesson to whoever is manipulating Uzume.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ha, looks like the real Minato vs. Higa fight is finally in sight. Thanks to Mikogami's not-so-subtle hinting and the tracking device, Minato will probably soon confirm that Higa is responsible for Uzume's behavior. I'm really looking forward to Higa getting his ass kicked and Minato saving his sister. Ideally Minato would save Uzume and Shiina as well, but with the way the Sekirei Plan works Uzume and Shiina will have to go down eventually if Minato is to win. Hopefully it won't take too long until we see this showdown.Back to this chapter, Mikogami showed himself to be a rule-abiding player for some reason, although I think there is more to him than meets the eye. Having Minato go after Higa is of strategic benefit to Mikogami, so Mikogami may have planned this move. Mikogami might be questionable, but Mutsu seems like a cool guy. I loved how Mutsu referred to his days in the Disciplinary Squad as "the Dark Ages" and his encouragement to Homura for living with the "witches". He also accurately described Matsu and Kazehana as "Hentai" and "Drunk", but I'm not too sure about describing Miya as "Prajñā" (Wisdom in Buddhism). I think Miya should be called "Demon". It's interesting that Mikogami doesn't know about Mutsu's history but Akitsu does. This is more evidence that Akitsu was Sekirei #7.
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A double dose of DW for today.Makina dresses up for the occasion.Chapter 31 Summary:As the Forgeries dispatched Tamaki walk past Ganta, Ganta tries to convince the Forgeries into disobeying Tamaki's orders. Instead, the Forgeries tries to put a mask on to Ganta, but they are taken out by Shiro and Azami. Shiro and Azami get to work on freeing Ganta, but there are still more Forgeries in the room. Fortunately for Shiro and Azami, Makina arrives in the lab with her anti-worm (referring to the Nameless Worm) sword and cuts up the rest of the attacking Forgeries. After freeing Ganta, Makina reveals that all the Forgeries are controlled via their masks, and Ganta may be able to free them by destroying the central transmitter. Makina gives Ganta and friends the direction to the transmitter and she stays to hold off another wave of Forgeries.Ganta, Shiro, and Azami follow Makina's directions and arrive in a large room where they are confronted by three Forgeries named Ikazuchi Akatsuki, Hajime Mikawa, and Uzume Sumeragi. However, these three are the first unit "completed Forgeries", and thus they are much more powerful and have their own unique Branches of Sin. The three first unit members charge at Ganta and the girls, but they are blocked off by Senji, Minatsuki, Masaru, and Hitara. Ganta is overwhelmed by emotions after seeing his fellow Deadmen, and Shiro comments that Ganta is surrounded by idiots (who care for him).Chapter 32 Summary:The benefit of being the main character is that you can skip the not-as-important battles and them off to the side characters.The three Forgeries respond to the Deadmen's arrival by destroying a platform to show off their power. Senji and the others tell Ganta's group to go on while they hold off the Forgeries. Ganta and the Deadmen raise their fists in solidarity and Ganta leaves with Shiro and Azami. The Forgeries try to give chase, but Senji kicks Akatsuki into a hallway, Hitara shoves Hajime down a hatch, and Masaru and Minatsuki trap Sumeragi with their Branches of Sin. Minatsuki and Masaru try to follow up with more attacks, but Sumeragi escapes the trap by flying out with her Branch of Sin. Sumeragi taunts the two Deadmen by repeating the awful messages about their past, and she then forms a large flower with her blood releasing many butterflies.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Looks like we are on to the combat portion of this little adventure. The Deadmen showed up in a rather predictable manner to take on the first unit Forgeries, but I guess Ganta have bigger and better things to tackle. It's good to see the Deadmen working with Ganta again even if Ganta almost killed them. These first unit Forgeries are supposed to be so Senji and the gang might be in trouble, but maybe Makina's special unit will back them up. As for Ganta, Shiro, and Azami, I'm sure the crazy doctor or Tamaki have something saved up for them.It's now a full-on revolt at Deadmen Wonderland. I wonder if this is the beginning of the end for this series. What happens if Tamaki stops this revolt? I can't imagine, so I have feeling this may be the start of the final battle. A lot of stuff can still happen along the way though. I'm sure Sakigami Toto will get involved somewhere down the line, and of course there is still Shiro's big secret.
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Ed and company continue to battle Pride and Gluttony out in the forest.LOL Poor Gluttony.Summary:Back in the forest, Lan Fan and Lin continues to deal damage to Gluttony, who can't tell where the attacks are coming from. Ed and Darius are "watching" the fight, and suddenly the two notice that Lan Fan's grandfather Fu is standing next to them. Fu reveals that he and the others from Xing can sense people's "ki", and he has sensed Gluttony, Greed/Lin, Selim/Pride, and even Hohenhim back in the village. After watching Lan Fan toss a bomb at Gluttony, Ed gets an idea and asks Fu to lead him to Pride.It's a nice mask, but Ed and Darius can't really see.In a bar somewhere in Central, Mustang is talking with one of his contacts, Madame Christmas. Madame Christmas has confirmed that Selim is indeed not a human. Outside of the bar, two government agents who are trailing Mustang are waiting for him to come out. Another agent comes along and tells the two agents that Madame Christmas is actually Mustang's foster mother. The three agents immediately bust into the bar only to be blown up along with the building. Underneath the sewers underneath the bar, Mustang part ways with his foster mother and then meets up with Hawkeye, Fuery, and Breda. With the Fuhrer and Selim currently missing, it's now or never for Mustang's crew to take action, and Mustang's subordinates decide to follow their leader.Thankfully there was no major damage, and the earthquake alert make only lasted for 5 minutes this time.That's a pretty nice flare.Somewhere else in the forest, Heinkel is attacking Pride, but of course Pride can't be eradicated that easily. Heinkel realizes the power will come back on soon so he has to hurry and finish the homunculus. A group of villagers suddenly appear with a lantern, and this allows Pride to use his shadows to injure the chimera. The villagers drop the lantern and run away, thus giving Pride a steady source of light. Pride tries to finish off Heinkel, but Ed appears and blocks the attack. Pride wonders why his shadows can't pierce Ed's automail arm, and it turns out that Ed has alchemized the carbon in his winter automail into a form analogous to Greed's shield. Pride decides to bring Al back into the battle, but that's exactly what Ed wants. As Al walks on to the battlefield, Fu sets off a couple of flash-bangs which severs Pride's connection to Al's body, and Ed and Darius take the opportunity to pull Al away from the homunculus. Pride realizes that he and Gluttony have both been killed numerous times, and neither of them can fight against the Xingese warriors in the dark. Therefore, Pride decides to ingest Gluttony in order to acquire his partner's acute sense of smell in order to even up the odds. After eating Gluttony, Pride notices that Hohenheim is nearby tending to Al.Ironic that Gluttony ended up being eaten by someone else.At the Central Headquarters, Father is asking all the generals to think about what Mustang is going to do. Olivier answers that if she were Mustang, she would probably kidnap the Fuhrer's wife. Father thinks this action would be pointless, but Olivier's prediction turns out to be true.Where is our tip?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pride is one creepy bastard. As usual, Bones did an excellent job animating Pride's tendrils (and Ed blocking them with his automail arm), and they made the scene where Pride ate Gluttony a bit nastier than in the manga. I gotta say, I feel sorry for Gluttony in this episode. I'm all for Ran Fan and Ling beating up bad guys, but Gluttony had it tough this episode, getting owned in the dark and then ingested by a fellow homunculus. That's the end of Gluttony now since his Philosopher's Stone was taken by Pride.This was a good action episode for the most part. Ed and company managed to rescue Al from Pride and Gluttony is gone, but Pride now has a steady source of light, Heinkel is hurt bad, and Lan Fan is having a whee bit of trouble with her automail arm. However, Ed and company does have Hohenheim on their side, and next episode we might get a glimpse of what Ed and Al's father is really capable of.Other than the fight out at Kanama, Mustang makes his move by kidnapping Mrs. Bradley, but as noted by Father it's probably a useless action. Olivier is still biding her time because Father is still around, but she is going to make a move soon now that Mustang has started his operation. With Wrath missing though, it's unclear what the East Army will do now, but Grumman is probably waiting for Mustang to make the first move as well. The big showdown is just in the early phases, so there is plenty more action and strategic maneuvering to come.On a somewhat unrelated note, an earthquake alert came up in the middle of the episode, but it only lasted a few minutes unlike the tsunami alert two weeks ago. From new reports, there doesn't seem to be any major damage which is good news to hear.
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The final battle continues.Let's turn up the force, shall we?Summary:After absorbing God and the 50 million souls of Amestris into his body, Father disables Amestrian alchemy in the surrounding the area and launches a destructive ball of energy from above to crush Ed and company. Hohenheim steps in and blocks the blast using energy from his Philosopher's Stone, but Father turns up the power and at the same time start shaking the floor. It looks Hohenheim can't hold on, but May stabilizes the floor with her Xingese alchemy. While Hohenheim and May are busy fending off the attacks from above and below, Father decides to form a miniature sun in one hand to blow all his enemies away, but suddenly he starts losing power. Hohenheim explains that the souls of the Amestrian people are still connected to their bodies and he has spread souls within his Philosopher's Stone around the country for this very moment. In one fast and spectacular reaction, the souls of the Amestrian people are sucked from Father's father and deposited back into the bodies of the people, and the people around the country start to wake up.Bad-ass until the very end.Without the 50 millions souls, Father is having trouble containing God within his body and he calls off the attacks on Hohenheim and company. However, Father is not about to surrender and he fires an energy blast which starts to overwhelm Hohenheim. Ed and Al try to support their father from behind, but they know Hohenheim can't hold out for long and they need Scar to do his part. A few levels above, Scar and Wrath are engaged in a ferocious fight with the two combatants trading blows. As the solar eclipse is about the end, Wrath is momentarily blinded by sunlight, and this allows Scar to rip off both of Wrath's arms. However, before falling down, Wrath is able to inflict a deep cut in Scar's torso by grabbing a sword with his mouth. Lying down on the ground and near the end of his life, Wrath spots Ran Fan approaching. Ran Fan asks if Wrath has any last words, and Wrath answers no. Ran Fan asks about Mrs. Bradley, and Wrath states that nothing needs to be said because he had chosen her and she was the King's wife. Wrath then comments that humans have given a bit of meaning to his life before dying. After Wrath dies, Ran Fan retrieves the bottle of Philosopher's Stone from Wrath's body. Ran Fan helps Scar over to the human transmutation circle, and Scar uses his arms to activate the reverse transmutation circle around the city (which the Ishvalans have set up).Back down in Father's chamber, Ed and company can use their alchemy once again, and Ed, Al, and Izumi combine their attacks to destroy Father's throne. Ed then declares that they are going to kick Father's ass.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Somewhat predictable chapter, but it was still epic. As many of us have suspected, the good guys manages to save the souls from Father and revive the Amestrian people. This makes sense since it wouldn't be right if the Armstrong siblings or Dr. Marcoh didn't take part in the final battle, and we can't have Winry lying dead either. I'm not sure how exactly Hohenheim managed to pull it off, but it had something to do with him spreading the souls in his stone around the country. I guess this explains why he was wandering the country through most of the series.The Scar vs. Wrath fight finally concludes. Wrath is finally defeated, but he was still extremely bad-ass, inflicting a serious wound on Scar by holding the sword in his mouth. He is probably the most bad-ass character in this series, and I think this was an appropriate end for him, although letting Ling/Greed get the kill would be even more appropriate. So Scar gets credit for the kill, with assists from Ling/Greed, Fu, and Buccaneer.After Father's big move in the last chapter, things are looking better for the good guys now that Father has lost the souls and can't hold on to his ban on Amestrian alchemy. However, Father still has the power of God within him, and this probably where the real battle will begin. I have a feeling that Hohenheim is going to sacrifice himself, but not sure about the others. There will probably be one more trip through the Gates of Truth as well. Hopefully the Armstrongs and Dr. Marcoh will join the battle as well. Even with alchemy, Ed and company still need all the help they can get.
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Telestina turns evil.No Kiyama-san, you are pretty, but you need to get more sleep and put on some makeup. Summary:At the Judgment office, Mikoto and friends are gathered to talk about what happened with the Child Error and Kiyama. Kuroko and Saten thinks the case is closed, but both Mikoto and Uiharu are concerned about something. Saten convinces Uiharu to go to the MAR HQ to visit Haruue, but instead Uiharu visits Kiyama first. Seeing Kiyama's sad state, Uiharu convinces Kiyama to come along to MAR with her to visit the kids and to hand over data that might be helpful to waking the kids. Uiharu and Kiyama arrive at MAR HQ, but Telestina refuses to let them see Haruue or the other Child Errors. Telestina also stomps on the data Kiyama provided, punches Kiyama in the guts, and has security escort Uiharu and Kiyama out of the building.At the Anti-Skill office, Yomikawa receives word from MAR to stop investigating the poltergeist events, and both she and Tessou wonder what's going on.Seriously, this was long overdue.Back at the Judgment office, Saten decide to call Uiharu but only hears sobbing on the other line. After bringing Uiharu back, Mikoto and friends run a background check on Telestina and learns that she is Gensei Kihara's grand-daughter. What's more, Telestina was Kihara's first subject for the abilities crystal and she willingly assisted her grandfather on the project. While Konori is doing the computer work, Uiharu is still sobbing uncontrollably, but Kuroko gets Uiharu to stop by slapping her. Uiharu then gets to work on the computer, but everyone suddenly realizes that Mikoto is gone.Look at me! I'm a Maniac, Maniac!!!!At least this suit is better looking than that horrible pink one you wore a few episodes ago.Mikoto arrives at the gates of MAR HQ just as several trucks drive out of the compound. Mikoto is met by Telestina in a purple mech suit who tells Mikoto that the kids are in the trucks that left. Mikoto accuses Telestina of various things, and Telestina belittles Mikoto while making maniacal expressions. Mikoto goes after Telestina, but Telestina turns on the Capacity Down system (she is the one who provided it to Big Spider) at the compound to stop Mikoto from using her powers. Telestina then starts shooting at Mikoto with a grenade launcher, and Mikoto is forces to scramble for her life. Telestina eventually corners Mikoto and chokes her into unconsciousness, leaving Mikoto to be picked up by her subordinates. Fortunately for Mikoto, Mitsuko is still at the compound and witnessed what happened, and she manages to rescue Mikoto before Mikoto is taken away.Round 1 goes to Telestina.The one time Mitsuko actually does something cool and we don't get to see it!? What a letdown.Mikoto wakes up in a hospital room watched over by her three friends while Mitsuko and Heaven Canceler are outside the room. Mikoto initially intends to go off on her own again, but Saten convinces her friends that they need to work as a team. The crew along with Mitsuko start their operation at the Judgment office where Uiharu phones Yomikawa for help. With satellite photos provided by Anti-Skill, Uiharu tracks down the MAR trucks carrying the kids, and the trucks are heading to District 17 where Kihara has a private lab. In the photo, Uiharu also spots Kiyama's Lamborghini following the trucks. With their plan set, Mikoto and her friends prepare themselves for combat.Who? Me? What did I do?I'm going to be the next big Major League slugger. Just watch me.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~That was easily the most entertaining Railgun episode in a long time. So Telestina was the villain as expected. It was rather abrupt how Telestina suddenly turned from a friendly, concerned adult into an evil maniacal bitch, but this was at least more exciting than any of the other episodes in the second half of this series combined. Thanks to Sayaka Ohara's voice acting and the crazy expressions on Telestina, it was if Beatrice from Umineko invaded the show. I'm not sure if we should be praising Telestina for her acting skill or make fun of J.C. Staff for the writing.Of course, none of this makes any sense whatsoever. Given how the dirt on Telestina was available for people (at least Judgment) to find, how the heck did she become the head of a rescue organization without flags being set off? Telestina's family is probably rich and in cahoots with some of the city's upper administration, but somebody should have taken note of her. Telestina being Gensei Kihara's grand-daughter does explain about why she wants the Child Errors, and that's all it takes to keep the story moving. Other details be damned.Other stuff on the episode: Saten did pretty well this episode getting her friends to work together at the end, although I question what she can do with the baseball bat. I also like the part where Kuroko slapped Uiharu, because Uiharu really needed it. In fact, it might have been better if Kuroko slapped Uiharu some more.So Telestina took off with Haruue and the coma kids probably to complete her grandpa's crazy experiments. Given how Telestina probably has a Capacity Down with her (would be dumb if she didn't), Mikoto and Kuroko would have rely on something other than brute force to rescue the Child Errors. Maybe Saten can destroy the Capacity Down with her baseball bat, or perhaps that Anti-Skill will show up to help? I'm not going to be picky about the story anymore. As long as a lot of stuff blow up in the next episode and Mikoto and friends get to kick some butts, I'll be happy.
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Chief Makina starts making her move, while Ganta is getting tortured down in the lab.I suppose quitting your old job and getting a new one is a form of graduation.Summary:After being visited by several of the Deadmen, Chief Makina gathers up her guards for a meeting outside. Makina announces her intent to oppose Tamaki and so that she will dismiss all the guards at midnight to save them from being implicated. However to Makina's surprise, her assistant Kasuga and the rest of the prison guards elect to stay to help out.Elsewhere in the prison, Shiro and Azami are making their way towards Ganta's location.Now with extra vitamin D and calcium in addition to the painkilling.Deep inside the prison, Ganta is being subjected to painful nerve stimulation by the crazy doctor. After the doctor moves away, a strange guy approaches Ganta and offers Ganta a drink. Having not much a choice, Ganta takes a sip and his pain has suddenly disappeared. Ganta learns that the guy's name is Shishito Madoka and he is actually a Forgery who saw Ganta's plight and decided to help a little. Ganta thanks Madoka for the drink and Madoka quickly leaves the scene to avoid being found out. Ganta is glad to have met Madoka, but he quickly becomes angry when he thinks about what Tamaki had done to people like Madoka and Azami.In the control room of DW, Tamaki learns that several people have intruded into his area. In response, Tamaki orders a squad of Forgeries be sent out to take care of the intruders.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A build-up chapter without much happening. It took me a few read-throughs to figure out that it was the Deadmen (specifically Senji) who was visiting Chief Makina in the beginning. I had to look at page 4 more carefully to realize that it was Senji. I guess I just don't pay much attention to details lol. So Makina is about to make her move against Tamaki, and looks like Senji and the other Deadmen are going to join her group. That makes sense since the Deadmen don't know how to get to Tamaki's labs, although it might be more fun if the Deadmen and Makina went as two separate groups.As for Ganta, he is getting tortured but as expected Tamaki and the crazy doctor has elected to keep him one piece. He'll probably be lying in the lab until someone comes to liberate him. Shiro and Azami are on their way, but I wonder if the new character Madoka is going to do anything. Also, it's curious that Madoka doesn't have a mask. Maybe he has a special status in the lab.
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Yamamoto falls for Aizen's trap.If you can't tell from the picture, Aizen tricked Yamamoto with a wicked exploding cigar.Summary:Yamamoto's double fist attack blasts Wonderweiss into pieces. Yamamoto thinks the fight is over and turns his attention to Aizen, but Aizen reminds Yamamoto that Wonderweiss was built to contain all the flames from Yamamoto's sword, including the flames that were already released. Yamamoto turns around and notices Wonderweiss' head expanding, ready to explode. The old captain reaches for the head, but it's too late and a big explosion engulfs the surrounding area. After the smoke has cleared, Aizen casually steps into the blast crater, in the centre of which lies a heavily injured Yamamoto. Yamamoto managed to contain the explosion as best he could, but he could not avoid injuring himself. Aizen steps in to finish Yamamoto off, but Yamamoto grabs Aizen's leg and sets off a big explosion with hado spell #96. Aizen manages to escape but he is not unscathed from the explosion, and as Aizen tries to jump out of the smoke he is met by Ichigo wearing his hollow mask.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Decent chapter. As expected, Wonderweiss was no match for Yamamoto's raw power, but Aizen managed to outsmart Yamamoto and bring him down to the ground. Give credit to the old man though, he doesn't die that easily. Aizen should have called Gin in to finish the job with his extensible sword. As Aizen found out the hard way, getting close to Yamamoto while he's still breathing isn't a very good idea. Now that I think of it, this might be the first time in Bleach that Aizen actually got hit by a attack. All the earlier ones by Shinji were probably just illusions. This wasn't a direct hit, but it does look like Aizen got burned a bit by Yamamoto's hado spell. I wouldn't be super-surprised if this turned out to be an illusion as well, but that would just be stupid.I'm not sure if old man Yama is dead or not, but he's in no condition to fight anymore. I thought Ichigo would tag in after all of the shinigami are down (we want to see Unohana fight damnit), but looks like our hero has finally decided to join in. I don't think Ichigo can do much with just the hollow mask, so let's see where this goes.I mentioned Gin in this post, and we are all still wondering what he is doing? I've been hearing people guessing that Gin is the real mastermind, and they do have a point. Most evil leaders let their subordinates fight first before joining the battle, so could that be what Gin is doing?
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Sasuke retreats with Madara and Zetsu, and Naruto gives a speech.When Crazy Sauce starts asking the same question as the rest of us, there's definitely something wrong.Summary:The Chidori and Rasengan meet in an explosive clash, and both Naruto('s clone) and Sasuke are propelled backwards by the explosion. Naruto is caught by Kakashi, while White Zetsu suddenly appears to cushion Sasuke's fall. White Zetsu has been monitoring Sasuke under Madara's orders, and realizing they are outmatched, Zetsu phones home to Madara for a pick-up. After Madara appears, White Zetsu thinks about capturing Naruto, but Madara orders Zetsu to leave that task to Sasuke. As Madara, Sasuke and Zetsu are about to leave, Naruto starts a speech on how he and Sasuke only understand each other by fighting. Naruto also concludes that if they keep fighting, both of them will die, and of course Sasuke disagrees. Sasuke doesn't get why Naruto is so obsessed with him, and Naruto responds by saying he is Sasuke's friend and therefore he'll be the one to fight Sasuke.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~That wasn't much of a fight between Naruto and Sasuke, but everyone saw the premature ending coming a few chapters ago. Both Naruto and Sasuke will have some time to prepare before their real fight at Konoha. From what I've understood from this chapter, it sounds like Naruto's “option C” (from the last chapter where Naruto had to choose to kill Sasuke or be killed) is for both him and Sasuke to die together. If we can't be together, we can at least die together? Lol that doesn't make much sense, but I guess we shouldn't be expecting much since it's Naruto's logic. Or maybe I'm just purposely misinterpreting things. Naruto's obsession of Sasuke still hasn't gone away, but one piece of good news is Naruto did declare that he is done ranting at Sasuke. I hope this really was Naruto last speech about Sasuke. If they want to talk some more, they should talk with their fists like Naruto suggested.One interesting note, Madara seems have gotten his hands on a Rinnegan. I wonder where he got it from.
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Blackbeard makes a big move.Everyone with the earthquake power just has to take a shot at Marine HQ.Summary:Thanks to the camera Buggy's group was operating, Whitebeard's death is aired on TV screens around the world. As everyone else on the battlefield is still trying to take in the fact that Whitebeard has died, the Blackbeard Pirates spring into action and they cover both Blackbeard and Whitebeard with a black sheet. Meanwhile, the remaining pirates are trying to escape but they discover that the nearby sea has been frozen again by Aokiji. Akainu also reemerges and demands that Jimbei hand over Luffy, but Jimbei is ready to defend Luffy with his life. Ivankov then appears from behind Jimbei and attacks Akainu with a Hell Wink.Back to the Blackbeard Pirates, Blackbeard and Whitebeard's body reemerge from underneath the black sheet. The Marines can't figure out what happened since Whitebeard looks the same as before, but Blackbeard quickly demonstrates his accomplishment by hammering the nearby Marines with his own Black Hole and Whitebeard's earthquake attacks. As the Marines and Whitebeard Pirates watch in shock, Marco explains to his comrades that Blackbeard is a freak and therefore can somehow obtain more than one Devil Fruit power. With Whitebeard's powers in hand, Blackbeard declares to the world that his age has come.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~With Whitebeard and Ace dead, I thought there was nothing Blackbeard to do drive up the story once again, but boy was I wrong. I totally didn't expect Blackbeard would steal Whitebeard's power AFTER Whitebeard has been killed. In stories where characters are distinguished by their powers, the character who takes other people's power is always a device that the author can insert to make the story more exciting, and Oda has chosen an excellent moment to make this insertion. Whitebeard's earthquake power is arguably the most destructive power in the series, and there is no doubt Blackbeard is more powerful now that he has the earthquakes. However, I'm not too sure if it's enough to take down the World Government and all the other pirates. It's true Blackbeard has gained the most powerful attack power, but his defense is still weak. Blackbeard has shown himself to be a durable guy (still standing after a slash and smash by Whitebeard), but the damage is going to add up. I guess it'll depend on how powerful the rest of Blackbeard's crew is. Also, I'm guessing that the magical “haki” will be the key to defeating Blackbeard if he becomes one of the predominant villains. Haki seems to be key to beating anybody lol.The focus is now on Blackbeard's next move. Is he going to try and take on all the Marines and destroy Marine HQ, or does he have something else in mind?
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