Naruto Vol. 28
- ISBN
- 9781421518640
- Publisher
- Viz Media
- English release
- Pages
- 200
- Chapters
- 245–253
- Anime
- Season 1: Kazekage Rescue 「風影奪還の章」 ep. 1–32
Part II starts here, two and a half years after the previous book ended, and it is the cleanest place to begin the series after the first volume. Chapters 245 to 253 bring Naruto home to Konoha, rename what is left of his team, and set the Akatsuki collecting the hosts of the tailed beasts, starting with Gaara of Sunagakure. The register changes with the number. Part I was an exam and a tournament; Part II is an organization working down a list while everyone else responds. Shippuden begins at chapter 245 as well, so the anime seam and the book seam agree: episodes 1 to 32 cover chapters 245 to 281, which is this volume and most of the four after it. Box Set 1 stops at the previous book and Box Set 2 begins at this one, with Viz stating its contents outright as volumes 28 to 48. Viz lists 200 pages against the usual 192.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
Part II opens by refusing to reintroduce itself. Naruto is back, the team is renamed Team Kakashi, and within a few chapters the story has moved to Sunagakure, where Sasori and Deidara take Gaara and leave with him. That sequence is the design of the whole second half in miniature: the antagonists do not attack the heroes, they work through the jinchuriki, and the heroes spend most of the remaining forty-four volumes reacting to a schedule set by someone else. It also means the new status quo is established while a rescue is already running, so no volume is spent resetting the board. The practical note is the seam, which is the best one the series has. The first episode of Shippuden adapts chapter 245, Box Set 2 starts at this volume, and Viz prints that range rather than leaving it to inference, which it does not do for Box Set 1. A reader coming from Part I, a viewer coming from the anime and a buyer opening a box set all begin at the same page, and that does not happen again.
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