Naruto Manga 621

 Naruto 621 came out today and it's a blast from the past! A lot of blasts to be more accurate.

It's facinating to find out that Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju were childhood friends! At least that's the First Hokage's view of things. The entire chapter was flashbacks and falshbacks withing flashbacks. We started with the final fight between Hashirama and Madara controlling the Kyuubi. As they argue back and forth about the battle they fight, Hashirama laments that he'd thought the two of them were friends! Think back to their first meeting, apparently as kids, looking the same age as Naruto and Sasuke from the begining of the Naruto saga.

Not much happened in the chapter other than this, but it does raise some questions. Exactly what was the world like back in those days that Madara and Hashirama could become friends and grow up together? I had thought the world was at war back then. Was there actually a time of peace prior to Hashirama and Madara growing into adults?

Also, it seems to me that there could possibly be a comparison getting drawn between the Hashirama/Madara relationship and the Naruto.Sasuke relationship. It seems to me that this was hinted at before because of the Uzumaki connection to the Senju and comments made by Obito I beleive, but now it seems Kishimoto really wants to solidify that idea.

I must say though I have mixed feelings about this. In the begining I respected the original message of Naruto that with hard work and determination you can beat the so called odds and become a great person. But with each new development I've seen it looks more and more like Naruto was always destined to be great. Born to the Uzumaki, son of the Fourth Hokage, endowed with the power of the Kyuubi, and now a comparison drawn between him and Hashirama...

Don't misunderstand I do love the heroism and the romanticism but it will be interesting to see I can appreciate the message Kishimoto sends with the way he justifies and explains everything in the end.
I do like the Naruto both the character and the story, but I would've been more compelled if Naruto was more like...well Hinata. Hinata's part of the story was fantastic. She was weak, pathetic, and fragile but she worked hard and achieved moments of awesome in this story all on her own! That is a story I really respect! She neve got any special advantages, training sessions, or power boosts...well not counting Naruto juicing her up with the Nine Tails, but hey I would argue that with all the work she did and the way she slapped Naruto back to his sense she earned the one power boost she got!

But hey maybe I can learn a new perspective and Naruto will be a big hero in my eyes by the time all is said and done!

If you have opinions on this feel free to comment!