The Show:
A prison break, flying leeches, a samurai ghost and really
spicy curry;
Naruto Season Three Set Two has
it all!
After the chase for Sasuke that
encompassed the previous collection, this set of shows consists of
shorter
stories that are over in a couple of episodes.
Lighter in tone than the long story arcs, these installments are
a lot
of fun to watch.
After the failed mission to get Sasuke back from the evil Orochimaru,
Naurto and his companions spend some time recovering in the hospital.
There's still three years before Orochimaru
can take over Sasuke's body, and Naruto's master, Jiraiya, wants him to
spend
the time training, but Naruto is eager to go out and search for his
friend.
Jiraiya convinces the Hokage to send himself, Naruto and Sakura
on a mission to scout out the
Hidden Sound
Village,
Orochimaru's old base of operations.
Jiraiya feels that it'll be a good way to focus Naruto's energy
while
also keeping him out of danger.
Of
course things are never that simple, and the group finds themselves
battling a
trio of Orochimaru's henchmen, powerful ninja that aren't to be taken
lightly.
The group returns to their village just in time for Jiraiya
to be sent off on another solo mission.
While he's gone there's a prison break at the Hidden Leaf jail,
one
orchestrated by Mizuki, the ninja who tricking Naruto into stealing the
scroll
of forbidden jujitsu way back in the first episode.
Mizuki wants to become more powerful, and Orochimaru
has given him the recipe for a potion that will do just that.
All he needs to do is gather the ingredients
and brew it.
With the aide of two
incredibly large and incredibly stupid brothers he befriended in
prison, he
gets the material he needs and manages to lure the pursuing Leaf Ninja
into a
trap.
Naruto wiped the floor with
Mizuki once, but will he be able to prevail over a superpowered Mizuki?
Other stories in the collection include Naruto on a mission
to find a rare bug, one that should have the power to track down
Susake, taking
on a clan that has conquered a gold mining village, and dealing with a
pair of
intruders who disguise themselves as Guy and Rock Lee, in the most
unconvincing
manner.
Well, unconvincing to everyone
but Naruto.
Finally the set wraps up
with the beginning of a story where Naruto Neji, and Tenten travel to
the Land
of the Birds to find out just who, or what, is haunting the new Feudal
Lord.
This was a fun collection.
The last one became a bit repetitive and it was nice to see them
breaking up the bigger story with these smaller adventures.
These stories often had more humor
incorporated,
the resolution of the bug hunt tale is a good example, yet there's
still a
sense of adventure.
The battle with the
dim-witted
Legendary Stupid Brothers had some good action scenes yet it did so
with tongue
planted firmly in cheek.
It was also
nice to have the show circle back to the beginning and explore just
what Mizuke
was planning when he tricked Naruto in the first episode.
It fleshes out the series nicely.
The DVD:
This set includes the next 28 episodes (136-163) on 6
DVDs.
They come in a single double-width
keepcase with each disc on its own side of a page.
They are not overlapping.