Following an aftermath funeral, where one of the series' other characters gets to do some character-expanding flashbacking, a new plotline commences as a new set of villains called the Akatsuki show on the scene. The new crew of baddies is looking to capture Naruto for the Spirit of the Nine-Tailed Fox that resides within him, though our hero is off on a training mission with the disreputable voyeur ninja known as Pervy Sage. Mildly risqué hi-jinx are sure to follow in Volume 17 – in between all the serious fight scenes, of course.
Though it's still early in the character's career, you can see Kishimoto and his assistants aging their hero ever-so-slightly: at times he looks noticeably lankier than the big-headed kid of the earlier books. Purportedly, after the current spate of Narutos gets distributed, the series picks up with its first 2008 release, two-and-a-half years later in the storyline.
Is Naruto – or his American readership, for that matter – ready for maturity? Personally, I have my doubts, though, judging from the series' continued success in its native land, the extra years don't appear to have lessened his marquee appeal there. Interesting times for our mischievous would-be ninja . . .
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