Ep 152: The Funeral March for Those Who Live

A guy in a dark cloak is wailing over the death of a friend whose coffin is being lowered into the ground. He mentions something about how his friend always showed "it" to him and how it was his father’s keepsake, "a pipe worthy of acclaim." They place the pipe on top of his grave as a marker.

Meanwhile three guys plan to escape from the village. A young child’s voice informs the guy in the dark cloak that three have run away. There’s a rainstorm while the three scale a mountain. Naruto rescues them and takes them back to Konoha, passing by Lee who is training with weights on his legs and arms.

Anko reports to Tsunade that her mission to escort the Swamp Country’s Feudal Lord is complete, then grabs and eats Tsunade’s last stick of dango without asking. Gai rushes in later announcing that he defeated those bandits with his "fists of love." Gai has a S rank mission after this so Tsunade assigns his team and Naruto to the mission requested by Katabame Kinzan. It was a prominent small river village, but six months ago strangers called the Kurosuki Family took over. People in the village are being killed without reasons. Their mission is to escort the three back to the village and get rid of the Kurosuki family.

Naruto complains about the easy mission. Tsunade gets mad, grabs him and threatens to send him back to the academy. She makes Neji the team leader and says "watching over that idiot will be good training for you." Neji responds, "I’d rather not, but understood." Naruto leaves in a huff, Lee follows, Neji bows before leaving, and then Tenten apologizes for their lack of respect then hurries to catch up. Tsuande gets so mad she throws a chair through the window. A scream can be heard from below.

Gai mentions a rumor about Raiga, the head of the Kurosuki family.

Meanwhile Naruto sees Sakura healing an injured bird. Lee runs up to them and drags Naruto off. Kotetsu and Izumo carry the chair back up, but Izumo has a big bump on his head.

At Ichiraku Lee tells Naruto that the Kurosuki boss is one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsman. He explains that Hisame and Zabuza were also in that group. Since Itachi was with Hisame, there’s a chance they’ll get a clue about Sasuke through Raiga. Naruto doesn’t quite believe it since it’s coming from Gai.

The team is ready to go. Lee mentions he has a friend near Kinzan. Naruto arrives late. When they break for lunch, Naruto trains by balancing on rocks while Lee pounds rocks with his fists. Rokusuke is impatient to continue their journey and says if they hurry they can save Kanpachi from his grave. Lee starts to get sleep and recalls running a marathon on this road for three days while sleep walking, a "springtime of youth miracle" with Gai sensei. Soon they arrive at the "Curry Shop of Life." Lee runs over to an old lady.

At dinner Lee recalls how the curry saved his life. At the time he was a genin Gai was teaching him offensive and defensive moves. They run back and forth by the curry shop even while sleeping. Her son is inspired by Lee’s determination. On the third day Lee (where’s Gai?) collapses in front of the curry shop. The old woman feeds Lee curry but he still won’t wake up so she adds more spices but it still doesn’t work. Karashi adds more ingredients including a live turtle! Finally the curry is hot enough to wake up Lee.

The same curry is now served to everyone. It’s black! Lee takes a bite and his face turns red but he says it’s good so everyone else takes a bite. They all turn red, some faint! Lee asks about Karashi and the old lady tells him he left the village to enter the Kurosuki clan. Lee asks Neji to add the retrieval of Karashi to the mission. Neji agrees after drinking all his water. Neji plans to observe the town before making a move but at night Rokusuke leaves by himself so they all go after him.

Review:

Promising start if Raiga is one of the seven Mist swordsmen.

Notes:

Characters:

Chichiatsu – Swamp Country’s Feudal Lord (not seen)

Hachidai - villager

Kanpachi - guy being buried (not seen)

Karashi –curry shop kid

Katabame Kinzan – Gold Mine village

Kurosuki – clan controlling Katabame Kinzan

Raiga – head of the Kurosaki family

Rokusuke – villager

Sangorou - villager

Sanshou – curry shop owner

Thoughts:

The sub says Katabame Kinzan is a prominent small river village, possibly meaning it’s in River Country.

Shouldn’t the shell be removed from the turtle before it’s cooked?