Warning: SPOILERS for Naruto: The Whorl Within The Spiral
It's been almost a decade since Masashi Kishimoto finished Naruto and retired from drawing manga, but his new one-shot focused on Naruto's dad, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, titled "Naruto: The Whorl Within The Spiral", is a brilliant return of the mangaka's dynamic art style and emotionally layered storytelling. To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Naruto anime's debut, a worldwide popularity poll saw 4.6 million fans vote for their favorite character from the series, resulting in a decisive win for Minato. As a reward, Masashi Kishimoto has crafted an entirely new and original story revolving around Minato's creation of the Rasengan and his touching relationship with Naruto's mom, Kushina Uzumaki.
The new Naruto manga revolves around Minato and the creation of the series' most popular Jutsu, Rasengan. However, the new manga also heavily features Uzumaki Kushina as she struggles to control the Nine-Tailed fox spirit she harbors. Revelations regarding the Uzumaki clan and their constant struggle as Nine-Tails hosts are explored in the one-shot. At the same time, Minato and Kushina's bond strengthens after a horrific day when Kushina loses control of the Nine-tails charka inside her. Here, the true reason for the Rasengan's creation is revealed, successfully adding multiple layers of depth to a well-known story, further heightening the emotional connections in the Naruto series.
Kishimoto's Dynamic Art Style Remains Top Tier
While the sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, has continued with Mikio Ikemoto's art, the creator of the original Naruto series hasn't drawn manga since Naruto ended in 2014, but his skills have not diminished. The Minato one-shot features a stunning return to Kishimoto's clean ing, engaging framing, and dramatic use of white space and depth that helped make the Naruto manga a cut above other series. The 54-page manga includes more than a few jaw-dropping two-page spreads, such as Minato's and Kushina's epic team attack against the Nine-Tails or the one-shot's perfectly framed final . However, the talented mangaka's art was not the only element that fired on all cylinders in the new Naruto manga.
Fans of the series' epic and large-scale ninja battles may be a little disappointed in the lack of over-the-top action in "The Whorl Within The Spiral." Still, the Minato prequel story makes up for it with its emotionally resonating storyline. Minato reveals that he wanted to create a new specialized jutsu to help the woman he loves to control Biju energy and battle other fellow Jinchūriki. While Minato ultimately failed to complete the jutsu, Naruto succeeded by adding additional chakra elements to the attack, further establishing the series' central theme that anything can be made more powerful with help from others.
Minato & Kushina's Short Story Hits Many Of Naruto's Themes Effectively
Naruto: The Whorl Within The Spiral is a stylish and heartfelt new addition to the Naruto series that connects to and accentuates many of the themes of the beloved series. The added context of the Uzumaki clan's plight and Minato's true purpose for creating the Rasengan now add even more weight to Naruto's accomplishments throughout the series. Kishimoto has spoiled fans of the Naruto series with not only a beautiful new story about Minato and Kushina but by providing more context that makes rereading the Naruto series even more enjoyable than it was before, proving that the franchise still has a lot of stories to tell.
Naruto: The Whorl Within The Spiral is available to read on the Shonen Jump App and Viz Media.
