A painful world without easy answers, or a painless world without reality. Deep within the awakening body of the Ten Tails beast, the would-be ninja saviors of mankind, Naruto and Obito, clash within the Ten-tails' rapidly-flowering body while their fellows wage war outside. Enemies old and new join forces on one side or other, for all have a stake in the world to come when the battle is done.

Waning Resolve

Saddened by the state of the world and the loss of his beloved Rin, Obito abandoned all his hope in reality, instead setting his sights upon the world of illusions that was the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Yet Naruto hasn't given up on the world just yet, and would rather take the pain and the pleasure and all the other things in between than accept an artificial paradise. Calling upon his allies, Naruto faces Obito, determined to reclaim the Chakra he stole from the Tailed Beasts that now powers the Ten Tails. Yet while Obito claims that he has abandoned all his hopes in the current world, Naruto is not so sure.

Dream When The Day Is Through

The most gripping part of the chapter comes when Naruto's Chakra meshes with Obito's, and their minds meet each other directly. Even though we already know most of the details of Obito's fall, this part reflects a climactic summary, and puts him in direct contrast with Naruto.

Naruto himself also isn't buying the "I am nobody" line either—Obito may want to shut himself off from his past his grief, but the dreams that he'd also tried to cast off aren't as dead as he'd like to believe. He too had once dreamed of becoming Hokage and protecting the Hidden Leaf Village alongside the woman he loved and the friends he cherished. Even though these dreams are no longer possible, they linger on, leaving Obito trapped between them and the desire to simply live in his own little world forever.

Naruto gets an awesome speech about how meaningless Obito’s philosophical pretensions about the Infinite Tsukuyomi really are. It all comes down to a contest between a man fighting to live in a happy, solitary dream world and Naruto, who won't give up on his dreams of making his own dreams come true in the real world, even if that means accepting loss and risking failure.

The Common Enemy

Another part of the fun is seeing so many of the various characters just working together for once! Almost nobody wants to trade the real world to live in a happy fever dream forever—heck, even Orochimaru (of all people!) is fighting the good fight! Then there are the Kages on the frontlines, and a whole swath of people remembering just how much Naruto's done for them. And to top it off, Naruto and Sasuke are on the same side and everything! It's the culmination of a LOT of character arcs, and it's nothing short of awesome!

Yet while the action is epic, this is only one of the various "in-between" volumes within a very, very long climactic battle. If this is where you jump in, you'll have to do a lot of guesswork about what came before; naturally, this volume also ends on a pretty huge cliffhanger. Still, a lot happens between the covers. We're getting down to the wire with this fight, so keep reading!

And remember: Obito's not the only problem. Madara and Black Zetsu are still waiting in the wings, ready with plans and agendas all their own. How this will affect the heroes, villains and the gray ninja in between? Looks like there's still plenty of questions to be answered in future volumes! 

Naruto Volume 68 is available at Viz.com! 

by Chris Turner