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Description
Ok, I'm about to geek out right here. So, if you have a high opinion of me or whatever, you should avert your eyes.

I am a Naruto fan. Like, huge. Well, used to be. I am still a big fan of Naruto... But before the time-skip, I would claim it as the greatest comic of ALL time. Near perfection. An epic that could even shatter Lord of the Rings.

Lately in Shippuden (the new arc of Naruto, with the characters older n stuff), Naruto has been undergoing his MASTER training. They call it "Sage Mode". I freaking HATE IT.

Ok, up til this point, Naruto has pretty much relied on his own inner grit, and the demon fox that resides in his belly. BAD ASS. I love my Naruto being a pure passion ninja, and having a freaking DEMON BEAST in his body that he taps power from.

NOT this SAGE MODE crap.

Basically, in Sage Mode, Naruto starts turning into a goddamn FROG? He looks like a freaking clown. He has unexplainable, unlimited energy in this mode (something about collecting "sage energy" from the world or something. Generic shonen comic crap). It is not nearly as creative as his DEMON FOX chakra, and to me, it's an "EASY OUT" for Naruto to just be super powerful. Added to that, he seriously just looks LAME to me in this mode (overall, post-timeskip Naruto is way lamer looking than original Naruto, I'll talk more about that later).

So, there's a debate about it going on Gingerbox (my art forum [link] ), and I brought up all these points. Of course, most people disagree with me, or are just pleased with how Naruto is going right now.

While I still hold out faith that Naruto (the comic AND the character) will eventually gain my love and trust again. I am just NOT happy with Naruto's current stupid powers, or how he looks in the comic.

So, I went and drew MY version of how I envisioned Naruto might look at this point in the comic.

Here's a breakdown of REY-VISION NARUTO.

1) THE HAIR: Ok, so one thing that "SAGE MODE" Naruto is trying to display, is Naruto's path to follow his mentor Jiraiya. I can respect that, but the way they're making him look in the comic, it's like they chose all the LAME aspects of Jiraiya to incorparate into Naruto. To me, Naruto and Jiraiya are VERY separate characters, despite their correlation & legacy. If you wanna make Naruto seem like Jiraiya, give him the LONG HAIR! Not only is it becoming on Naruto (who to me, should be more BEAST LIKE), but that also means Naruto gets to learn all of Jiraiya's crazy hair techniques! Those were some of my favorite Jiraiya moves. Also, his hair being longer makes him look more like his father, the Fourth Hokage. So to me, this is a no brainer.

2) THE VEST: So, Naruto was never officially declared a Chuunin. But damn, he's saved the villiage so many times, is so well-respected throughout Konoha, that I think they could bestow upon him this minor acknowledgment. Further, to me, that VEST is like the primary jewel of any aspiring Konoha ninja (right behind the headband). I always expected EVENTUALLY Naruto would get one, and it would be rad. Why the eff doesn't he have one yet? MINE DOES.

3) HIS SLEEVES: YES. Very crucial. I mentioned before that I'm not really in love with Shippuden Naruto's new outfit IN GENERAL. And I figured out one of the MAIN subliminal reasons is because Naruto's SLEEVES are NO LONGER ROLLED UP! C'mon people, the Naruto I knew, his very ESSENCE was that he was a sleeve-rolled, down and dirty ninja, willing to dig his hands into any situation. The conservative Naruto of Shippuden, with his sleeves all nice and trim, just does not reflect to me the spirit that makes Naruto the #1 Surprise Ninja.

4) THE CAPE: This is another hand-me-down from the Fourth Hokage, for any aspiring Hokage, really. Which is something they incorporated with SAGE MODE Naruto, too. BUT, Sage Mode Naruto has it all wrong, too. Again, it's way too clean cut. Am I just the only person that imagined Naruto as being a ninja who doesn't care about the state of his clothes, as long as he is the most powerful ninja out there (at least by his standards)? So, my Naruto's cape is rightly tattered, having seen months of battles and years of training.

5) THE NECKLACE: Tsunade's Hokage necklace, passed down from her grandfather, the FIRST HOKAGE, earned by Naruto by being the destined warrior he is. Wouldn't he rock this PROUDLY? Especially if he's on the verge of possibly actually becoming Hokage himself.

So, beyond those major things. I went out of my way to still try to capture the Naruto style (maybe not so much with the BG). Retain some key essences of Naruto, like his orange, his oval-shaped headband (more Jiraiya assimilation), his shuriken pouch, sandals, scroll, etc, etc.

I dunno, I take Naruto very seriously, really. And his current state I am just NOT impressed with. So, instead of moaning about it, I decided to show I truly envisioned my beloved character should look.

As for the rest of Naruto (the comic)? Sasuke is still way bad ass :] Naturally. No complaints there (except maybe he joined Akatsuki way too fast). I'm pleased with Sasuke's state in the book, and his character design. But maybe I'll give him a shot, too, sometime. Maybe. I got my OWN epics to build.

Description
Ok, I'm about to geek out right here. So, if you have a high opinion of me or whatever, you should avert your eyes.

I am a Naruto fan. Like, huge. Well, used to be. I am still a big fan of Naruto... But before the time-skip, I would claim it as the greatest comic of ALL time. Near perfection. An epic that could even shatter Lord of the Rings.

Lately in Shippuden (the new arc of Naruto, with the characters older n stuff), Naruto has been undergoing his MASTER training. They call it "Sage Mode". I freaking HATE IT.

Ok, up til this point, Naruto has pretty much relied on his own inner grit, and the demon fox that resides in his belly. BAD ASS. I love my Naruto being a pure passion ninja, and having a freaking DEMON BEAST in his body that he taps power from.

NOT this SAGE MODE crap.

Basically, in Sage Mode, Naruto starts turning into a goddamn FROG? He looks like a freaking clown. He has unexplainable, unlimited energy in this mode (something about collecting "sage energy" from the world or something. Generic shonen comic crap). It is not nearly as creative as his DEMON FOX chakra, and to me, it's an "EASY OUT" for Naruto to just be super powerful. Added to that, he seriously just looks LAME to me in this mode (overall, post-timeskip Naruto is way lamer looking than original Naruto, I'll talk more about that later).

So, there's a debate about it going on Gingerbox (my art forum [link] ), and I brought up all these points. Of course, most people disagree with me, or are just pleased with how Naruto is going right now.

While I still hold out faith that Naruto (the comic AND the character) will eventually gain my love and trust again. I am just NOT happy with Naruto's current stupid powers, or how he looks in the comic.

So, I went and drew MY version of how I envisioned Naruto might look at this point in the comic.

Here's a breakdown of REY-VISION NARUTO.

1) THE HAIR: Ok, so one thing that "SAGE MODE" Naruto is trying to display, is Naruto's path to follow his mentor Jiraiya. I can respect that, but the way they're making him look in the comic, it's like they chose all the LAME aspects of Jiraiya to incorparate into Naruto. To me, Naruto and Jiraiya are VERY separate characters, despite their correlation & legacy. If you wanna make Naruto seem like Jiraiya, give him the LONG HAIR! Not only is it becoming on Naruto (who to me, should be more BEAST LIKE), but that also means Naruto gets to learn all of Jiraiya's crazy hair techniques! Those were some of my favorite Jiraiya moves. Also, his hair being longer makes him look more like his father, the Fourth Hokage. So to me, this is a no brainer.

2) THE VEST: So, Naruto was never officially declared a Chuunin. But damn, he's saved the villiage so many times, is so well-respected throughout Konoha, that I think they could bestow upon him this minor acknowledgment. Further, to me, that VEST is like the primary jewel of any aspiring Konoha ninja (right behind the headband). I always expected EVENTUALLY Naruto would get one, and it would be rad. Why the eff doesn't he have one yet? MINE DOES.

3) HIS SLEEVES: YES. Very crucial. I mentioned before that I'm not really in love with Shippuden Naruto's new outfit IN GENERAL. And I figured out one of the MAIN subliminal reasons is because Naruto's SLEEVES are NO LONGER ROLLED UP! C'mon people, the Naruto I knew, his very ESSENCE was that he was a sleeve-rolled, down and dirty ninja, willing to dig his hands into any situation. The conservative Naruto of Shippuden, with his sleeves all nice and trim, just does not reflect to me the spirit that makes Naruto the #1 Surprise Ninja.

4) THE CAPE: This is another hand-me-down from the Fourth Hokage, for any aspiring Hokage, really. Which is something they incorporated with SAGE MODE Naruto, too. BUT, Sage Mode Naruto has it all wrong, too. Again, it's way too clean cut. Am I just the only person that imagined Naruto as being a ninja who doesn't care about the state of his clothes, as long as he is the most powerful ninja out there (at least by his standards)? So, my Naruto's cape is rightly tattered, having seen months of battles and years of training.

5) THE NECKLACE: Tsunade's Hokage necklace, passed down from her grandfather, the FIRST HOKAGE, earned by Naruto by being the destined warrior he is. Wouldn't he rock this PROUDLY? Especially if he's on the verge of possibly actually becoming Hokage himself.

So, beyond those major things. I went out of my way to still try to capture the Naruto style (maybe not so much with the BG). Retain some key essences of Naruto, like his orange, his oval-shaped headband (more Jiraiya assimilation), his shuriken pouch, sandals, scroll, etc, etc.

I dunno, I take Naruto very seriously, really. And his current state I am just NOT impressed with. So, instead of moaning about it, I decided to show I truly envisioned my beloved character should look.

As for the rest of Naruto (the comic)? Sasuke is still way bad ass :] Naturally. No complaints there (except maybe he joined Akatsuki way too fast). I'm pleased with Sasuke's state in the book, and his character design. But maybe I'll give him a shot, too, sometime. Maybe. I got my OWN epics to build.