Source: Wikipedia
“The Race is on! Trouble on the High Seas!”
“Team 7 follows Idate to another port, which makes for a better starting point for the boating part of the race due to the winds and the current. En route, they are attacked by the Rain Ninja from the Chunin exam, who have been hired by the other clan. Team 7 defends Idate and tells him to swim for the shore, while they follow later. He does so, but is confronted by Aoi, an Amegakure ninja.”
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Analysis
The scene continues from the previous episode, where Idate seems to be running in the wrong direction. Team 7 follows Idate, wondering why Idate changed directions. Meanwhile, three mysterious ninjas are assigned the task of following Idate. It makes the audience ask questions about the mysterious ninjas; hence, there is a development of the storyline, which makes the audience curious to continue watching the rest of the episode.
The first phase of the race was boat racing, and when Idate ran in the wrong direction, the members of the Wasabi clan were not surprised that Idate ran in the wrong direction. They immediately thought it was a mistake to let Idate participate in the race. They seem to have a negative view of Idate. What’s the reason? This will be revealed when one continues to watch the rest of the episode.
Moreover, Jirocho, Idate’s boss, believes that Idate has a plan. Therefore, there is a close relationship between Idate and his master, Jirocho. His faith in Idate shows that he is the type of person who is always optimistic, no matter what others think; therefore, he is a round character who seems like a real person. While Jirocho was optimistic, the villagers were worried because if Idate lost the match, they would still suffer at the hands of the Wagarashi clan. At the same time, if Idate loses the match, there will be dire consequences for Jirocho, which are that “his family will be scattered to the wind.“ The way it seems, this could mean that his family will continue to suffer at the hands of the Wagarashi clan, or worse, they will die. Idate is therefore the only hope for the Wasabi clan to be free from the Wagarashi clan. This is Idate’s role in the anime from the first time he was introduced in the previous episode.
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The relationship between Jirocho and Idate
When Idate ran in the wrong direction, he had a flashback. This flashback technique will help one understand more about the relationship between him and his boss, Jirocho. It’s the first time they’ve met. In the flashback, Idate seems to be the thief because he attempted to steal money from Jirocho. Idate attempted to steal because he was hungry. He tried by all means to rob Jirocho by using a kunai to stab him. However, it does not work. What makes it interesting is that Jirocho decides to give him food. From the onset, one knows about his personality, which is loving and caring. He immediately sees that Idate is living in the streets; hence, he understands that Idate will do anything to stay alive in the streets. Jirocho has compassion for Idate since he introduces himself as Jirocho, the head of the Wasabi family. For instance, he offers Idate a place to stay and gives him a gift that seems like a knife. He then proceeds to tell Idate that he should stop his thieving tactics. Therefore, that is when Idate decided to become Jirocho’s disciple. Jirocho acted like a good Samaritan since he was willing to help Idate despite being a thief.
This flashback compelled Idate not to give up in the race. He said something in his mind, which is, “You had faith in me, the boss; I promise I will win this for you,” which shows that Idate appreciates his master, hence reinforcing the idea that they have a close relationship.
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Back to Analysis
Sasuke also believes that Idate had a plan from the very beginning, so the episode just had an interesting twist. The ninjas who followed Idate at the beginning of the episode are the same ninjas who participated in the Chunin exam. It is revealed that they are the Rain Ninja, the ones Team 7 and Kabuto defeated in the forest. Therefore, things have just gotten interesting because they have noticed Team 7, and now they want revenge. Therefore, that is why there is creepy music playing in the background as they put a genjutsu on Idate and Team 7. Idate believes he has released the genjutsu, but it is just an illusion as he ends up falling from the cliff. Luckily, Team 7 saved him. As stated by Sasuke, the ninjas had set up a genjutsu on top of another genjutsu, which is not easy to bypass; hence, the Rain Ninjas have improved their skills after the Chunin Exam. They are skilled, and they should not be taken for granted as being weak.
Team 7 follows Idate to another port, which makes for a better starting point for the boating part of the race due to the winds and the current. Idate only changed directions because the other way was a shortcut. Moreover, there are strong seasonal winds in the sea, which would have delayed the race. Idate noticed the clouds at the beginning of the race (the boat race); hence, he decided it was safer to use another direction. Therefore, Idate, in this case, is shown to be strategic and smart because he has found an easier way to win the race. Therefore, he is escorted by Team 7 to use another boat for the race.
En route, they are attacked by the Rain Ninja from the Chunin exam, who have been hired by the other clan. The Rain Ninjas were hired by the other clan, probably the Wagarashi clan, to attack Idate. Before there was an attack by the Rain Ninja, Sakura mentioned something intriguing. Sakura believes that Idate has special training, which explains why Idate has massive speed when he runs. She also believes that it is possible that he spent some time in the hidden villages. Her theory proves to be accurate. Idate’s full name is Idate Morino; he is related to Ibiki Morino, the proctor and supervisor who supervised the first phase of the Chunin exams, the written exam. Idate and Ibiki are brothers. Therefore, Sakura played an important part in this episode because her theory gave us more information about Idate. Meanwhile, there is dramatic music to show that there is an ambush from the Rain Ninja.
A lot of action is happening in this episode. However, there is one interesting part of this ambush. The rain ninja has lit a massive fire on the boat; hence, there is an intense atmosphere. This eventually causes Idate to have a flashback about his brother saying, “Get out of here; you will only get in my way.” At the same time, Sasuke used those exact words when Idate refused to jump out of the boat. Perhaps that is why Idate does not trust ninjas. Maybe he doesn’t like to feel useless whenever someone tries to save him, or it’s something else. His reason for not trusting ninjas will probably be revealed in various episodes.
Team 7 defends Idate and tells him to swim for the shore, while they follow later. He does so but is confronted by Aoi, an Amegakure ninja. We are introduced to another new character called Aoi. He also seems to have appeared at the beginning of the storyline concerning Idate and the Wasabi Clan. Who is he? This will probably be revealed in the next episode.
The lesson from this episode is that one should not judge others too quickly, just like the villagers did to Idate. Idate had another plan for making things easier for him to participate in the race.
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