Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust got off to a very good start. Masashi Kishimoto, Jun Esaka, and Shingo Kimura set up a strong mystery while giving Sasuke a major mission of saving his best friend, Naruto, from a deadly illness. Having the story set in a prison added to the tension as now Sasuke has to deal more than just finding a cure for Naruto. How all of this ties back into the history of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, should be interesting to see develop. Let’s find out with Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust Chapter 2.
CREATIVE TEAM
Original Story: Masashi Kishimoto and Jun Esaka
Manga Story: Shingo Kimura
SYNOPSIS
After watching the Meno dragon feasting on prisoners who tried to escape Sasuke goes to work digging with the other prisoners.
Sasuke’s cellmate (Gigi) comments how all the guards are scared of Sasuke. Gigi injures himself while barely working but is glad because it means he gets to see the new doctor he says is beautiful and single since she isn’t wearing a wedding ring, a Land of Redaku custom Sasuke is not aware of.
Later that night Sasuke decides to gamble with his cellmates by wagering a gem he created with his Earth Style: Stone Luster ninjutsu. When Sasuke wins he says what he wants in return is for his cellmates to cover for him with the guards while he sneaks out of their cell.
While investigating the prison Sasuke suspects that Meno is a summon controlled by Zansuru (the Director of the prison).
Meno suddenly appears and immediately attacks Sasuke. Unable to outrun the summon Sasuke fights and severely injures Meno by cutting of some of its claws.
The next day while working at the dig site Sasuke is stunned when he notices Meno walking around without any sign of an injury.
Zansuru calls Sasuke out for his attack on Meno the previous night. Sasuke tries to put Zansuru under a genjutsu to make him forget but it does not work. Zansuru reveals he has a glass eye, which is why Sasuke’s genjutsu didn’t work. While complimenting Sasuke’s skill Zansuru says that Sasuke will not be able to take Meno from him. End of chapter.
REVIEW
There isn’t a lot of overall plot progression in the second chapter of Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust. This chapter is very much about getting Sasuke more involved in the mystery around the prison he finds himself locked up in. But even that we are still only teased about what is going on than get any real details about the prison or its director, Zansuru.
The standout aspect of Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust thus far is how Sasuke is present. Sasuke is very much about getting the job done. Masashi Kishimoto, Jun Esaka, and Shingo Kimura write Sasuke as someone who only says the minimum to get what he wants. Even when other characters are trying to have conversations he just does not care. Sasuke is just about his mission and finding out what is going on in the prison. Everything else is just there for him and tries not to pay attention to.
At the same time, there are good touches of how Sasuke is not familiar with the Land of Redaku and its custom that are throwing him off. Small things like wedding rings being a thing in the Land of Redaku was a nice touch to show this. It does set up for other things about what is going on in the prison surprising Sasuke being because he didn’t put in the effort to learn about the Land of Redaku. Which speaks to how he is someone just about the missions he goes on and does improvise as he learns more.
Given that the wedding ring is brought up when talking about a new beautiful doctor in the prison I wouldn’t be surprised if this person turns out to be Sakura undercover. The way the mystery doctor is drawn does sort of indicate that Sakura will be involved in the story. Whether this means Naruto spoke to Sakura about Sasuke’s mission or this was something Sasuke arranged and they both missed this little detail will be interesting to see.
The rest of this chapter doesn’t really move the story forward as much as it tries to act as it does. We are still in a similar spot as where we began with Director Zansuru acting in the same shady manner. Even the threat he makes to Sasuke about his connection to Meno doesn’t hit the same way it was intended. A lot of that falls in that there is nothing learned about the mystery behind the prison.
Little things like showing other shady figures working in the prison would’ve gone a long way. But there is not even a hint of the actual mystery. Not doing any of that type of development Sasuke comes across but doesn’t find more details on hurts the interest in the main story we should be intrigued by. Especially since we know that the prison has some sort of ties to the Sage of Six Paths but even that is something you forget about because not even Sasuke brings up why he put himself in the prison in the first place.
The only small detail we have is one Sasuke’s cellmates mysteriously painting his toe nails with specific symbols. Given how dedicated Sasuke’s cellmate was about doing this there is a question as to why that is. But that is treated as so minor that you really don’t care about it yet.
The big positive for Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust Chapter 2 is Kimura’s artwork during the fight between Sasuke and Meno. There is a lot of great sense of momentum that Kimura gives to the fight to put over the speed of both Sasuke and Meno. Meno being too fast for Sasuke to completely escape from was a nice touch to explain why Sasuke would have to fight it or else he would waste his entire night.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The second chapter of Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust lacks a lot of the impact the first chapter had. This chapter was more about giving more character to the prison setting Sasuke is investigating. But the lack of development in the big stories established in the first chapter hurt how Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust Chapter 2 turned out.
Story Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5.5 Night Girls out of10
