Sorry, I wanna go back for a bit because something occurred to me today: When Konan and Nagato invaded Konoha, they noticed there's a barrier around it. If that was in place, then it sure as hell didn't detect the Sound Four picking Sasuke up.

This panel was unimportant for the flashback; Kishimoto just added it to give us a good punch to the gut.

Oh yeah, this fucker! I wonder if the Third is still fighting Orochimaru's arms in his stomach.

I put this alongside the Dynamic Entry as one of the funniest moments of the series. The set up was brilliant and Guy's face was hilarious. When I first read it years ago, I had to lie down for a bit because I was laughing so hard.

And then you sober up when you realize Guy is younger than we are in this moment, and his inner self knows he's no longer youthful...

Yeah, seriously! He's my favorite fucking summon and he never shows up!

I know this moment is supposed to show Kisame's resolve in his final moments, but I just wonder if he actually did die against A and B. If you know what type of person you truly are at that moment, then I guess it would signify deep down he is very appreciative of a double lariat.

Instead of being upset about this tender moment of Konan's death, all I'm thinking is, "How fucking coincidental the only one that didn't get turned around is hers because of the attack, and then her red paper just happens to fall on top of it." It's like when Zack fell into the church in Crisis Core. Instead of evoking deep emotions, I'm just incredulous.

If there's something I've learned from history, when you throw together the armies of separate nations on such a short notice, especially ones that were at odds shortly before, it is a fucking mess. Even if you weren't contending with mutual distrust between the soldiers and the competitive egos of the generals (which you always do), there's still not enough time to sync everyone smoothly. Putting it into the Naruto universe's perspective, Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru spent years learning each others' moves and forming solid teamwork. Now you have a bunch of strangers who know jack shit about each other in the same squad. It won't have the same fighting capabilities. Like, no one is aware of Sai's repertoire with his ink animals. Or the extent of Kiba's team attacks with Akamaru.

During the fight itself, it's implied the Third is the one who stopped the Fourth from showing up. He thinks to himself, "Coffins...? I need to stop the next one!" and does this seal. Then Orochimaru thinks to himself, "It didn't show up...? Oh well, it's not necessary. This is enough." R-r-r-r-retcon!