Incredible chapter.
The sheer amount of bulk high quality fight action was impressive and a joy to read. I enjoyed the way that Hisana ran into troubles and adapted from them, fighting tooth and nail to get the upper hand; It really highlights her determination in a way that clinical 'she did x for y amount of time' does not. I really enjoy it when authors weave details like this into the story like mini easter eggs of character discovery, as it really seamlessly fits into the narrattive.
It was cool to see Hinata's combat style shine alongside her new gains - The implementation of it was both stylish and surgical, exactly what I was hoping for, and executed more effectively than I expected. I am envisioning far more practicality in it that I could even when voting for it. As for Karin, she continues to impress me with her tactical acumen. Presumably her SI mindset combined with those Uzumaki genes is working her tons of favours. Honestly I need to give her more credit than i had in the past, both as a character and a fighter. Whilst before I was impressed by her sheer power, that's jsut a biological expression of her current body. Intimidating, yes, but not too out there compare to Hisana. But considering how she has consistently acted; Her bravery, her smarts, her endurance and her mental strength, she has turned out to be a joy to read about and someone I cheer on (And damn did I do that when she activated the first gate and used her chains to evolve the technique that Lee used, practically perfecting it) as much as I do for Hisana.
Speaking of Hisana, I like the way that this chapter displayed her strength and floors. Her usage of the clone trick was perfectly done, and led to one of my favourite scenes so far, and consequently upped my opinion of her danger level a great deal. The way that she analysed him, predicted every option and then countered all of them was classic Naruto show ballsyness, adding her own flair to it that fits her personality to a T. And her final technique was amazing, something that cements her status as the protagonist in this work, no longer overshadowed by Naruto's or Sasuke's exploits in the original work. The visual that it put in my minds eye was incredibly beautiful and serene, with a style I haven't seen done before (or at least as well), and would be glad to see incorporated more into her overall image as a character. Something about the red, black and rainbow combined makes it feel lethal and serene, like some sort of killer butterfly that drains blood, or a death kaleidoscope. Pls ignore my awful Metaphors lol.
On the other side of the spectrum, the fact that she was tripped up and countered so often was very humanising once agian, which continues a trend that has been a breath of fresh air recently. We have seen her sweat, put in effort and graft before. We have even seen her fear, and dread, and lose to a stronger opponent. But never have we seen her flounder like we have here, break bones, find herself in a bind she can't escape from, or come so close to utter defeat. We have never seen her panic inside not of failure to help, but of the very real possibility of death. We've never seen her out of options until now, or outmatched whilst in the firing line.
But it's exactly this fact that makes her subsequent power up and defeat of the enemy so rewarding. We saw her face the end, devise a solution, and then execute it admirably, in a way i never would've considered. It's this ability to take pain, fear and uncertainty on the chin and keep fighting, and then succeed, that makes Hisana such a likable protagonist and someone to look up to. She is cool but down to earth, stylish but earnest, supportive but vulnerable and capable but flawed. In my opinion, Seeing Red is the biggest fuck you to kishimoto's treatment of the female cast possible, but without being rude or unfair about it; Without coming off as non-genuine, Hisana comes off as confident, Cool, professional, capable and caring (like most of the male cast of the OG work), yet it works naturally and endearingly, with bucket loads of charisma and without smearing the values of the original show in the process - It doesn't flandarise nor strawman, it simply accepts and sets its own example, which is something I greatly admire.
Overall, this chapter is shaping up to be one of my favourite so far, which is very heartening to see so early. The quality of your writing seems to have not only remained, but improved drastically over the hiatus, which is something i can't overstate the impressiveness of since it was such a high bar to begin with. Thank you enormously for writing, this chapter is the bright spot of the month, if not year.
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As for voting:
Whilst i'm pulled towards the clone option by the siren call of a bigger version of her clone trick - My god did that technique look cool and seem brutally effective - I'm also drawn towards correcting her speed disparity that was shown off in this chapter, for Hisana is the Lady of speed. Maybe if the other option was not such a tempting speed upgrade, I would have picked it, but rn I think Hisana is so defined by and connected to speed that I am enslaved to it for every vote lol.
But seriously, this vote every single option is extremely tempting; the 'cut better' and 'clone confusion jutsu' ones seem equally as viable combat-wise as speed, andI love them both so much in terms of flavour. IS this what it feels like to be an addict feeling hatred for, yet chained to his drug of choice? I cannot tell, because sonic the hedgehog's theme is playing on loop inside of my mind.
[x] Wind Release: Chakra Shroud. This A-ranked ninjutsu allows the user to cover themselves in wind natured chakra to massively reduce wind resistance when moving at high speeds. This is merely the first use of such types of jutsu - others may be developed.
Gotta go fast!
