Featuring the Hidden Sand and Hidden Sound’s invasion of the Hidden Leaf, the Konoha Crush is a critical turning point for the early series.
Highlights
- Konoha Crush marks epic narrative peak in Part I of Naruto, setting up major events and character dynamics for the series.
- Orochimaru’s invasion tested Hiruzen and Team 7, while Naruto defeated Gaara, sparking key character developments.
- Third Hokage’s sacrifice against Orochimaru, Naruto’s empathy for Gaara, and Sasuke’s descent into darkness were major outcomes.
Kicking things into high gear after the Chunin Exams Arc, the Konoha Crush is the first narrative peak in Part I of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, bringing many earlier plot points to an epic conclusion. This segment featured Orochimaru finally making his move against the Hidden Leaf Village after forcing the Hidden Sand into an alliance with the Hidden Sound.
A large-scale invasion of Konohagakure by Sunagakure and Otogakure shinobi interrupted the Chunin Exams Finals, as battles raged between Orochimaru and Hiruzen, as well as Team 7 and Gaara. The Konoha Crush was the first real instance where the village fell under attack in Naruto, and its aftermath was extremely significant in setting up major events and character dynamics for the remainder of Part I, and the second half of the series.
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An Invasion At The Chunin Exams Finals
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During the long-awaited match between Sasuke and Gaara, the young Uchiha managed to successfully pierce his opponent’s Shield of Sand and injure him. This event sent Gaara into a meltdown, to the point where he could not participate in the Hidden Sand’s invasion. By the time this took place, Kabuto Yakushi had cast the Temple of Nirvana Technique, a powerful genjutsu that put all the spectators at the event to sleep, signaling the start of the invasion.
Orochimaru then discarded his disguise as the Fourth Kazekage, whom he had assassinated prior to the event. He then threatened Hiruzen, as enemy shinobi poured into Konoha while massive snakes assaulted its protective perimeter wall. Simultaneously, Gaara was taken away by his siblings, as his breakdown had rendered him unable to contribute to the battle, after being overwhelmed by the One-Tail, Shukaku. Noticing this, Sasuke pursued him as he wanted to finish his match, and was soon followed by Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura.
Orochimaru Plays His Hand
Although the Hidden Leaf had been anticipating an invasion, it took them a while to respond. Simultaneously, Orochimaru’s underlings, the Sound Four, set up the Four Violet Flames Formation to prevent anyone from interfering with his fight against the Third Hokage. Taunting his former mentor, Orochimaru shielded himself from a barrage of shuriken directed towards him by Hiruzen, by summoning three coffins.
Grasping what his former pupil was about to do, Hiruzen tried to prevent all the coffins from opening, but it was too late as Orochimaru successfully managed to open two of them, allowing the First and Second Hokage to step out. Seeing his mentors brought back to life by the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation caused Hiruzen some distress, and he initially struggled to fend off Hashirama and Tobirama’s attacks. Outnumbered, Hiruzen summoned Enma to aid him. While the pair were able to land a few attacks on the reincarnations, they had little effect due to the regenerative abilities of Orochimaru’s jutsu. Unsure of what to do, Hiruzen prepared to seal Orochimaru and his reincarnations with a deadly technique.
Naruto And Gaara Face Off
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In tandem, Sasuke’s pursuit of Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari, led him to a forest beyond the venue for the Finals. During this chase, Shikamaru helped to fend off a team of Sunagakure ninja to allow Naruto and Sakura to go ahead, whereas Shino Aburame stepped in to distract Kankuro. Once Sasuke caught up to Gaara, he used Chidori twice to slice away his opponent’s jinchuriki form, but this made him vulnerable to the debilitating effects of Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal once his chakra ran out, leaving him at Gaara’s mercy.
Just as Gaara was about to finish Sasuke off, Naruto arrived to stop him, and began to study the partially transformed jinchuriki, to ascertain who he was. Upon realizing who it was, Naruto urged everyone to flee, and made a failed attempt to summon Gamabunta, only succeeding in summoning his much smaller son, Gamakichi. With the battle heating up, Gaara threatened to kill Sakura, which forced Naruto to tap into the Nine-Tails’ chakra and create 2000 shadow clones. Launching a taijutsu assault, Naruto managed to push Gaara on to the back foot.
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Unfortunately, this forced Gaara to complete his transformation into Shukaku. Now with his life in danger due to Gaara’s Sand Binding Coffin, Naruto tried the Summoning Technique again with the Nine-Tails chakra, and successfully brought Gamabunta to the battlefield. While initially reluctant to obey Naruto’s commands, Gamabunta heeded his words upon learning that Gaara had attacked Gamakichi. At this juncture, Gaara plunged himself to sleep, allowing Shukaku to take full control.
With no countermeasures against Shukaku’s abilities, Naruto and Gamabunta attempted their own transformation, taking on the form of a fox akin to the Nine-Tails. As Gamabunta engaged Shukaku in this new state, Naruto jumped towards Gaara and punched him in the face to wake him up. With Gaara now alert and forced to defend himself, Naruto launched one final attack with the Nine-Tails chakra, headbutting his opponent into submission. As the dust cleared, Naruto moved towards an immobilized Gaara, who cowered in fear at the prospect of facing death. To his surprise, Naruto empathized with Gaara’s plight as a fellow jinchuriki, and encouraged him to find something to protect, just like he had with his friends in Konoha.
Hiruzen’s Desperate Last Resort
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Meanwhile, Hiruzen’s battle with Orochimaru had reached a standstill, as the Third Hokage used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to trap his opponent along with the First and Second Hokage, in exchange for his own life. Sadly, Hiruzen could not muster enough chakra to seal Orochimaru entirely, after being stabbed in the back just before completing the technique.
Despite enduring his former student’s taunts for a while, Hiruzen finally decided to seal only Orochimaru’s arms, robbing him of the ability to perform ninjutsu. With this final act, the Third Hokage resigned himself to his fate and collapsed, as his soul was sealed within the stomach of the demon. Weakened by the loss of his arms, Orochimaru chose to flee the scene, as Konoha’s reinforcements dealt the invaders, and decisively repelled the invasion.
Why Is The Konoha Crush Important
For starters, the Konoha Crush was the moment where the threat posed by Orochimaru became apparent, after he was built up as a major antagonist at the start of Part I. Subsequently, it also marked a major step forward for Naruto, as he defeated and redeemed Gaara. The Third Hokage’s death also forced Naruto and Jiraiya to leave the village and seek out Tsunade, triggering the events of the next story arc. Finally, it sparked Gaara’s redemption arc and commenced Sasuke’s descent into darkness, as his jealousy towards Naruto began to fester and intensify their rivalry.
Naruto is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Naruto
AnimationActionAdventure
A popular shonen anime based on Masashi Kishimoto’s manga, Naruto follows its eponymous shinobi’s journey as he goes from his town’s outsider to its hero.
Release Date
October 2, 2002
Studio
Pierrot
Creator
Masashi Kishimoto
Number of Episodes
220
Streaming Service(s)
Crunchyroll
, Hulu
, Netflix
Watch on Amazon
More
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Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
