The Defining Moments of Naruto?

[SeraphMazrakiel]

A new thread. I'm interested to see what captures your attention with the Naruto series.

List your five most memorable moments of the Naruto series. What plot twists/chapters/pages kept you glued to your source of Naruto, practically begging for the next chapter to come out? What moments will you remember long after the series has ended? They can be from either the manga or the anime.

N.B. I'm sure you have other memories of Naruto as well... perhaps in one of the video games (maybe an epic battle with a mate), or in real-life (awesome cosplay) or something. Feel free to mention these... AFTER the story five though.

[Rasengan]

5#naruto shizune jiraiya and tsunade vs orochimaru and kabuto fight

4# naruto vs gaara, coolest part was gamabunta vs shukaku


3# when shippuden first came out in the manga


2# When the sand 3 came to help them kill the sound 5

#1. the whole chunin exam forest of death and preleminaries arc best part of the naruto series imo. some of the best fights there, gaara vs lee being the best

[Sorien]

Rasengan has done well. I certainly agree with his number 5, 3 and 1. I LOVED the Gaara v Lee fight. Perhaps my best (besides maybe Shikamaru v Temari, that's a close second favourite).

By the way, with recent stuff, be careful to not spoil stuff for people. Spoiler boxes were made for a reason ^_^.

[SeraphMazrakiel]

I'd have to agree with/elaborate on some of those.

In no particular order... for me... (though to be honest I can't remember some of the series 'cos it's been a long time since I've watched/read it)

N.B. The below contains so much spoilage it's practically pollution. We've all mostly read what's happened in Part II and are up-to-date anyway... not to mention, within ten posts time this will be kicked off the most recent post lists so the only way you'll have things spoiled for you is if you stumble into this thread voluntarily. Based on this, I haven't put any spoiler tags in. If one of the other admins decides against it, they can put the spoiler tags in, but I don't intend to do so myself.

* I'd agree with the Sannin battle being one of my top 5.
* More an elaboration on Rasengan's number 4... the Naruto/Gaara fight was okay. One of the best moments of that fight, I'd say, was Gamabunta's transformation - asking Naruto to think of "a creature that has claws", only for moments later him to morph into a giant Kyuubi. The epic view of Kyuubi ripping into Shukaku... yep, that's pretty momentous!
* The death of Jiraiya. The fight between him and Pain was okay at best... but the death of Jiraiya - and the revelations/flashbacks in the final moments of his life - gave a fitting tribute to him. Overall, the most well-handled death in the whole series.
* Sasuke's first appearance in Part II.
* I'd have to agree/expand that the entirety of the Chuunin Exam/Invasion of Konoha arc is probably the most engaging part of the story. A clearer overwhelming antagonist finally takes the stage in Orochimaru, there proved to be loads of character development through the numerous battles (Sakura/Ino, etc), and the story was very well crafted as a result of everything that was going on. The story seemed to not only be busy, but have just the right amount of focus on what you wanted to know so as to keep you interested.

Other moments in the series (not quite so powerful, but interesting nevertheless!)
* Sasuke's revisit of his final moments with Itachi. As much as I hate Itachi being a good guy, I have some sympathy for him as he gives his brother one last 'JAB IN THE FACE'. His last words of "Sorry Sasuke... this is the last time" have a bit of that n'awww factor to them. From Sasuke's tears (in realisation that his brother loved him) to his new resolve to crush Konoha in vengeance... the stage has been set for what will hopefully be the series' return to glory.
* A tie between Naruto's first use of Sexy-no-Jutsu and the Naruto/Sasuke MAN-KISS. You know, those parts were funny and really well timed in the manga. Not quite so in the anime... but definitely in the manga.
* The manga shot of Akatsuki in the closing chapters of Part I. The ominous panel of the nine shadowy figures left much to the imagination. After all, that was back when we all thought the Fourth was the leader of the organisation...