“Sasuke Retsuden” Manga Issue 10 – Review

Sasuke Retsuden manga issue 10 concluded Sasuke and Sakura’s mission to save Naruto’s life while making it clear that the manga adaptation was indeed superior to the anime version. No question about it!

With Jiji captured by Sakura’s seal and deciding to release his Reanimation Jutsu due to feeling guilty about his actions in the previous chapter, issue 10 of the Sasuke Retsuden manga opened in the aftermath of Meno’s body disintegrating after saying goodbye to the heroic Uchiha. Even though Meno was very helpful to Sasuke during the current events, it was time for the velociraptor to go to sleep. You will be missed, Meno.

The goodbye was short because a T-Rex decided to take a last bite of human flesh before its body completely turned to dust. I don’t know why it ran past Sakura and Sasuke to go after Jiji in such a manner, though. Maybe because it considered Jiji less of a threat? But yeah, a sealed Jiji got bit. And while he was okay with dying in such a manner, there was no way Sakura was going to let him end his life like that.

I liked how Jiji felt he wasn’t worthy of meeting Margo after all he had done. Jiji agreed to Zanzul’s plan because he thought Margo had died. And that’s why he wanted Zanzul (via the evil Prime Minister) to hand him Margo’s body so he could resurrect her. Jiji’s actions caused a bunch of deaths at the Tatar Observatory, and he was also okay with his dinosaur army killing even more people as long as he got Margo back. So it made sense that the weight of his recent choices made Jiji think he was not worthy of Margo anymore.

As he tried to succumb to his injuries, Jiji wondered what would have happened if he had been as strong as Sakura and Sasuke. They were two ninjas who shared a deep bond of love even though they spent long spans of time far apart due to their duties to Konoha. And not only that, as Sakura shared in the previous chapter, even if there were an option to bring back a dead loved one, Sakura and Sasuke’s friends would stop them from taking such a drastic measure.

Sasuke Retsuden manga issue 10 ended on a happy note for everyone after giving us a short timeskip. Sakura had indeed been able to save Jiji’s life (I mean, duh! She’s healed people in worse conditions than him). Prince Nanara was now a young King Nanara, and apparently, he had been working with Jiji and Margo to get the Land of Redaku back on track, including rebuilding the Tatar Observatory.

Back in Konoha, Sakura and Ino meet each other for a chat over some sweets. The manga made it a point to ensure readers learned the name of the shop was ‘Tami’s Vintage Sweets’. For those who might now know, Tami was the name of the little girl Sakura saved during the Pain arc decades ago in Naruto. Not only that, but in the Naruto Retsuden novel, her shop also had a secret backroom that Sakura, Kakashi, and Shikamaru used to discuss Naruto’s chakra-related illness. So, yes to that little girl growing up and helping Konoha in her own way.

With Sakura and Ino having a chat about managing hair (making for a fun little moment), Shikamaru soon walked up to hand Sakura a preliminary report about the Polar Particles. Naruto’s still not well. So, I have my fingers crossed that we will get a manga adaptation of the Naruto Retsuden novel soon! And yes, I would like a proper manga adaptation of the Kakashi Retsuen novel, too, especially after how much of the Prince Nanara storyline was part of the current manga series and the anime. I really want the fandom to see Kakashi take on a small army of ninjas all by himself while also protecting a ton of villagers in the process.

As for Ino and Sakura’s conversation, it soon turned to Ino noticing Sakura wearing the ring Sasuke created for her. Sakura still blushing whenever Sasuke’s around made me smile as a SasuSaku shipper. I love them together! Also, points to Sakura making it clear to Ino (and the readers) that when she’s out on missions with Sasuke, of course, her “ninja” switch flips on and she’s able to keep her emotions in check.

Sasuke Retsuden manga issue 10 also explained how Sasuke was able to find Sakura under all the rubble when the Tatar Observatory fell. Due to Sasuke creating the ring with his chakra, he was able to detect his own chakra signature and, thus, found his wife. Sakura appreciated the ring. It saved her life. But, as a medical ninja, she couldn’t keep wearing it as it got in the way of her work. The way she thought about always wearing it after she retired… my heart!

The chapter closed with Sasuke and Sakura sitting down to eat the dinner that Salad cooked for them (Iruka had given Salad cooking lessons while she stayed with him). The way Sakura had to kick Sasuke under the chair to make him compliment Salad’s cooking… ha!

The best SasuSaku moment, in my opinion, happened at the very end as Sakura joined Sasuke on the balcony to look at the moon and sip some tea. After informing Sasuke about Margo and Jiji working as guides near the observatory grounds (as told to her by Kakashi), I loved how Sakura brought up how she learned that in the Land of Redaku, wearing a ring on the fourth finger of your left hand meant you were married. She straight up asked Sasuke if he gave her the chakra ring to keep other men away and Sasuke immediately blushed. My man Sasuke is shy as heck when Sakura interacts with him like that. Again… my heart!

Kudos to Shingo Kimura and the rest of the creative team for allowing the manga to take the time to adapt Sasuke Retsuden and even add extra scenes. The novel remains supreme (as it dives into Sasuke and Sakura’s internal thoughts), but at least the manga was far better than the rushed anime version.

What did you think of Sasuke Retsuden manga issue 10?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary