Ep 209: The Enemy are Shinobazu

Four men emerge from a pond and enter a house. They kill a sleeping man and woman. One of the men makes a cat’s cradle with string and somehow uses it to break into a secure room. The big guy called Gantetsu is sent to kill a young boy. The leader orders his men to burn the mansion to hide any evidence.

Tsunade watch kids playing outside. Shizune comes in with another mission request to escort a captured criminal and says there may be a problem since all the jounin are out on S-rank missions and most of the genin and chuunin have also been assigned missions.

Naruto trains with Lee, using shadow clones against his taijutsu. Sakura comes running up right as they punch each other in the face and knock each other out. Sakura berates Naruto as she places a bandage on his face. Lee explains it’s friendship training. Sakura says they’re just beating each other up. Naruto says it’s how men bond.

Tsunade explains to the three that the Shinobazu are shinobi who deserted their village and grouped into gangs, committing crimes like theft. One of the members was captured in the Forest Country’s Ougi Mountain pass. He is being transferred to the Forest Country capital and the gang may try to get him back.

At the harbor they see Gantetsu in a cage. The only way to get to Forest Country is via river. Commander Suzumi from the prison greets them. He introduces them to Captain Todoroki who is not happy at their presence. He thinks the guards are enough for escort. He swears by his sword, which has a fish keyfob on it.

A crane loads the prisoner onto the ship and they set off down the river. Later in the day as the sun sets, the three ninja sit around doing nothing but complaining about being bored and eating cup ramen. Naruto decides to go and guard Gantetsu. The captain is there too.

Captain flashback: Fire, the captain about 13, screams “Akio” and rushes home calling for his parents. He sees Gantetsu with Akio his brother. The ceiling collapses. Back to present, the captain takes out his sword to kill Gantetsu but Naruto stops him.

A ninja with a robotic claw arm attachment announces ninpou chishi kuenai: ninja arts, cunning topography. The claw spins and shoots out, creating a tunnel in the mountain. River flows into the tunnel to divert the ship.

Naruto confronts the captain but he denies trying to kill him, then admits Gantetsu killed his family.

Cats cradle ninja guy does some elaborate string formations and announces ninpou, ayame tori: murderous grasp. A laser beam of sorts cuts the ship in half horizontally. The top comes off and goes in one direction with Lee and Sakura while the bottom half with the prisoner and Naruto are diverted. The leader of the Shinobazu appears, carrying an umbrella to take Gantetsu.

Review: This looks to be very predictable. People have been dying in fires a lot lately.

Notes:
ninpou chishi kuenai:ninja arts = cunning topography (should be cutting?)
Captain Todoroki
Commander Tsuzumi (from leafninja, Suzumi from dattebayo)
Shinobazu = ex-shinobi gang
Akio = boy killed in fire
Monju = cats cradle guy
Gantetsu = big guy
Shura Sanjuro = leader of shinobazu
Forest Country Ougi Mountain pass
Forest Country accessible via river

Thoughts:
Commander Tsuzumi from the prison looks like Hitler.