Volume Seventeen Manga Summary

[Hiro Onoyuga]

Chapter 145: "Memory of Dispair" – The Akatsuki pair attempt to abduct Naruto. Sasuke races to the scene, with the memories of Itachi surfacing again. Sasuke’s blood boils as he remembers leaving the house normally one day for the academy, only to return and find his entire clan dead. Upon seeing the corpses of his parents lying dead and Itachi standing over them, Itachi uses Tsukuyomi to project a torturous image into Sasuke’s head and shatters his mind. As Kisame begins to get trigger-happy and threatens to slice Naruto’s limbs off to make things easier, Itachi hesitates. Behind him stands his younger brother, Sharingan activated and with a blank face, uttering a cold greeting... “I’m going to kill you!”



Uchiha Sasuke

Chapter 146: "Hatred...!!" – The brothers lock eyes. Filled with regret and anger, Sasuke begins to produce a Chidori so powerful the skin begins to flake off his hand. The thrust is made… and parried effortlessly by Itachi, who breaks Sasuke’s wrist. Naruto prepares a technique but Kisame shreds up the Kyuubi’s Chakra, disabling Naruto’s ability to summon or go berserk. Displeased at the fact he tried to interfere, Kisame aims a slice at Naruto, but a toad in gauntlets blocks it. From nowhere, Jiraiya appears with the woman he was with earlier, slumped over his shoulder, declaring Akatsuki’s deception using her failed!



Chapter 147: "My Fight!!" – Jiraiya places the woman, who was under an illusion, aside and confirms Akatsuki want Naruto, or more literally, the Kyuubi. Before he can deal with them, Sasuke demands his revenge against Itachi. However, Itachi totally outclasses him and forces Sasuke into another Tsukuyomi illusion, making him witness Itachi killing their parents over and over again in a loop that lasts 24 hours to Sasuke. As his sanity unravels, Jiraiya transforms the entire hallway into a slimy mass of pink flesh and tells the Akatsuki pair they are already inside his stomach...



Chapter 148: "Itachi's Ability!!" – As Sasuke is carried to safety, Itachi whispers a final taunt to him. Jiraiya reveals he summoned the esophagus of a giant toad around them and they will die as food to him. As they approach the dead end and the muscular walls close in, Jiraiya sees the flesh was burned through by an unusual black fire that he seals up inside a scroll. However, Gai arrives and mistakenly attacks him, thinking him to be one of Naruto’s assailants. The unconscious Sasuke is to be taken back with Gai, while Naruto and Jiraiya continue their search, even though Naruto wants to find and take revenge on Akatsuki.



Chapter 149: "Legendary...!!" – Introduces Tsunade. Gai offers Naruto a jumpsuit like his and Lee’s, which Jiraiya doesn’t approve of. Naruto accepts the fact that Akatsuki will always be breathing down his neck and begins to get curious about Tsunade, the person Jiraiya is after. Jiraiya tells him she is of the same elite sages as he and Orochimaru, but has a reputation for gambling and earned a nickname that everyone addresses her by- “The legendary sucker”. Despite being Jiraiya’s age, she can force her body to physically regress to any age, from teens to 30s. However, the trip is the secondary objective, with the main point being to toughen Naruto up against Akatsuki... as long as Naruto doesn’t train in Gai’s jumpsuit.



Chapter 150: "Start of the Training...!?" – Naruto and Jiraiya arrive at a lively city to look for Tsunade. Naruto plans to go shopping, but Jiraiya warns him about 3 Shinobi vices – women, alcohol and money. Confiscating his wallet and giving him a limited amount to spend, the two split up. Naruto stumbles upon Jiraiya, who is drinking with female company and with his empty wallet nearby... the resulting argument annoys a Hidden Stone missing-nin, who threatens them. Jiraiya then tells Naruto to watch closely as he creates a swirling ball of Chakra that sends the criminal spiralling! As he and Naruto leave, Jiraiya buys a load of water balloons to help Naruto learn the move he just used...


Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura


Chapter 151: "Chance...!!" – Naruto has difficulty learning the move, which involves using Chakra to spin the water inside the balloon and burst it. Jiraiya mentions that it is among the hardest to learn, taking even the 4th Hokage, who invented it, 3 years to fully perfect it. Naruto is unable to figure out the secret behind it and Jiraiya refuses to tell him, insisting that figuring it out himself is the only way to use it right. Naruto then sees a cat toying with a balloon and after watching it, gains inspiration. Jiraiya is woken up by water in his face and Naruto standing over him with the remains of a burst balloon in his hand.




Uzumaki Naruto

Chapter 152: "Second Stage" – Naruto realizes that his Chakra needed to go in all directions, not just one. Jiraiya is impressed at the variation Naruto uses, employing two hands to start the swirling. However, the training advances to a harder level, breaking a rubber ball without the guidelines of water to feel the Chakra’s direction. The technique is to improve Chakra control by slowly adding power bit by bit. Naruto’s best efforts only cause the ball to make a small hole and deflate slowly as too much power is added too fast. As Jiraiya returns, he decides to give a small hint and paints a miniature spiral in the palm of Naruto’s hand...



Young Sannin

Chapter 153: "Explorers!!" – Jiraiya tells Naruto that the reason he is having difficulty is a lack of focus. Showing Naruto the spiral he also has on his hand for learning it, he says that the Chakra needs a focal point and the spiral will help him to improve the technique. Back at Konoha, Sakura stays by Sasuke’s side, beside herself in grief. However, Sasuke is not the only one in pain as Orochimaru finds himself crippled and in agony. Kabuto reports that the woman that may provide a cure is in the same region as Naruto and Jiraiya. Jiraiya also learns Tsunade is close and both parties slowly get nearer and nearer to her...

[Ace Akau]

THIS IS OWNAGE.