Naruto Vol. 31
- ISBN
- 9781421519432
- Publisher
- Viz Media
- English release
- Pages
- 192
- Chapters
- 272–280
- Anime
- Season 1: 風影奪還の章 (Kazekage Rescue) ep. 1–32
The rescue that began three books ago ends inside these chapters, which makes this the first clean stopping place in Part II. Chapters 272 to 280 finish the fight with Sasori and finish the mission that started at chapter 251: both halves of the split party get an ending, and the cost is charged in this book rather than deferred to the next. That is a stop, with one qualification. Shippuden's first season runs to chapter 281, which is the opening chapter of the next volume, so the anime's version of this ending sits one chapter past the last page here. A reader who wants the same closing beat a viewer got has to buy one more book for one more chapter. Viz lists 192 pages at $11.99, and this is the fourth of the twenty-one volumes Viz states as the contents of Box Set 2.
Spoilers — why this volume matters. Tap to reveal.
Three things end here and one of them is reversed. Chiyo pierces Sasori through the heart after Sakura takes the strike meant for her, and Sasori's dying payment is information: a spy inside Orochimaru's organization and a meeting already arranged, which is the thread the next two volumes pull. Deidara escapes by faking his own death, which the series will want back later. Gaara is dead when they reach him, because the extraction finished, and Chiyo transfers her life into him and does not survive the transfer. The terms of that trade are stated rather than left to sentiment: one life, given deliberately, by the person who chose to give it and who has a specific reason to give it to this boy. Chapter 278 is titled 'The Death of Gaara' and chapter 279 'Power & Miracles...!!', back to back. The volume closes on Tobi, who picks up Sasori's ring and asks to join the Akatsuki, and that is all of him for now.
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