Episode 17 — Kisame’s Controlled Death

Naruto detects Kisame — not Samehada

In chapter 505, Naruto, with his new Kyūbi abilities, detects Kisame within Samehada. At first glance, it seems like a crisis, but it is exactly what Samehada wants.

Naruto detects Kisame, but not Samehada herself. So Samehada passes the new sensor test, by letting Naruto trust a sensor that cannot detect her. From Naruto’s perspective, Kisame is an enemy, and Samehada herself is just a sword.

So Kisame emerges, and tries to escape. Naruto attacks him (and Samehada) with his new Kyūbi super speed. How should Samehada defend herself?

What is the best move Samehada should play?

Chapter 505.

The crisis becomes comedy

Samehada plays the best move: she “fails” to react, and lets Naruto, with his new speed, smash Kisame into a wall.

With this move, the crisis — an Akatsuki spy was hidden inside Bee’s sword! — is displaced by excitement over Naruto’s new power. Additionally, Samehada is letting Naruto think she cannot be a threat to him: although she can drain chakra, he is too fast for her to even react.

Naruto, overwhelmed by his own speed, likely with some “help” by Samehada, then gets his own leg stuck into the wall, further shifting attention away from Samehada. The scene started as a crisis, and is turning into comedy. Yamato stays behind to heal Naruto while Bee follows Kisame alone.

At the end of the chapter, the comic relief continues. Kisame emerges from the waterfall just as Gai was about to attack his “true self”. Gai accidentally strikes Kisame, and wonders why his true self looks so weird, while everyone deadpans at the scene.

Of course, this wasn’t an accident. Samehada is a great sensor; she had to know Gai was preparing to attack on the other side of the waterfall. She got hit on purpose in order to keep shifting the scene from an alert (there's an enemy on this island!) to comedy (how dumb can Gai be?).

By the end of the chapter, the exposed spy has become funny instead of terrifying.

Samehada plays the best move: pretending Naruto is too fast for her. (Chapter 505.)

Samehada plays the best move again: turning Kisame into comedy.

Samehada ‘chooses’ Bee again

In chapter 506, Samehada plays the best move again: she leaves Kisame and embraces Bee while Kisame curses her.

From Bee’s perspective, the meaning is simple:

Kisame is the enemy and was forcing her;

Samehada wants to be with me.

But look at Samehada’s exact position. She is tall, and her hug “accidentally” blocks Bee’s line of sight, allowing Kisame to slip underwater.

Kisame then grabs Samehada and uses her to drain Bee’s chakra. Can you see the purpose of this move?

Samehada’s hug blocking Bee’s line of sight, chapter 506.

Kisame pretending to be surprised, chapter 506.

The wrong lesson: Samehada can be forced

First, with Bee’s chakra, Kisame is able to escape this island. (Not for long; we’ll see why.)

But more importantly, this move teaches Bee exactly the wrong lesson. From his perspective, Samehada wanted to hug him, but Kisame forced her to hurt him instead.

Bee learns that Samehada can be controlled against her will. This, again, paints Samehada as a non-threat: even if she tried to betray Bee one day, he could control her regardless, like Kisame did.

As we know, Samehada can possess her wielder until she turns them into “Kisame”. That’s what she intends to do with Bee. Bee learns the opposite: Samehada can be controlled by her wielder.

So Kisame does escape, and Samehada acts as if she were sorry. Bee quickly forgives her: Samehada has managed to pin all the blame onto Kisame, and is back in Bee's care.

Samehada acting sorry, chapter 506.

Samehada pretending she was forced by Kisame, chapter 506.

Kisame’s defeat must look credible

So Kisame does escape, but Gai goes after him, defeats him, and brings him back to the island. So you may be wondering, what was the point of having Kisame escape in the first place?

Well, Kisame is an Akatsuki member. If he had been captured too easily, without putting up any fight, the Konoha ninjas might have found it suspicious.

Instead, Gai has to pursue him, open the Seventh Gate, and use Hirudora. The explosion dwarfs the island, and Kisame’s defeat now feels earned.

Once Kisame is captured, Aoba enters his mind in order to extract information. This leads us to the flashback which starts in chapter 507.

Please read that flashback again. What do we learn here?

Hirudora’s explosion, chapter 507.

Aoba’s mind-reading: controlled testimony

The flashback teaches Aoba, and Konoha in general, everything Samehada wants them to believe:

Samehada is just a sword; she used to belong to someone else.

Kisame was once a young Kirigakure ninja.

Kisame is honourable, driven by loyalty and by his ideals. He dislikes the state of the world, which he sees as full of lies, and would like to make it a better place.

“Madara” seems to be behind lots of events, as he was active in Kirigakure decades ago.

Kisame is completely loyal to Madara.

This flashback contradicts what we know about Samehada. Kisame is Samehada’s human form; he never took her from another swordsman.

So the flashback is fake. Samehada built those memories for Aoba to extract, in order to shift the alliance’s focus away from her, onto the masked “Madara”.

Chapter 507: a normal ninja, a normal sword, in a normal village, shown in a normal flashback.

Kisame appearing as somewhat idealistic.

The wrong mystery: Madara’s face

Please pay attention to the very end of the flashback.

At Kisame’s request, “Madara” is about to take his mask off and show Kisame his face. So Aoba is seconds away from seeing who the masked man truly is.

But Kisame forces himself awake and pushes Aoba out. He then summons a few sharks, and has them devour him, before Aoba can try to re-enter his mind. This teaches the alliance two things:

Madara’s face is an important secret, which Kisame is trying to protect at all costs.

Kisame is completely loyal to Madara, and dies for him without hesitation.

This draws the alliance’s attention away from Kisame — just an underling — and onto the mystery of the masked man’s identity. They see it as a valuable secret, since Kisame died to protect it.

The question becomes:

Who is Madara?

What does his face look like?

This question is a fool's errand. The fake Madara’s identity is mostly irrelevant, and the other Jūbi competitors are more dangerous than Obito anyway. But with their focus drawn to Obito, nobody asks the more crucial question:

What is Samehada?

A fake near-reveal in a fake flashback, chapter 507.

Kisame’s suicide and Samehada’s tears

To Naruto’s shock, Kisame has his sharks devour him in chapter 508. This move is important.

Aside from reinforcing the Obito red herring, this makes Kisame look like an honourable, devoted ninja: he gave his life to protect his information and his comrades.

The emotional impact is powerful:

Gai vows never to forget Kisame;

Naruto is moved, and seems on the verge of crying before Gai comforts him.

That honour reflects onto Samehada: if Kisame was such an honourable man, then Bee should take good care of his sentient sword.

Samehada plays the best move again: she cries. Look at that perfect acting by Samehada. Bee tries to comfort her. As planned, he trusts and cares about her.

So Kisame dies as the respectable enemy. Samehada remains as the grieving companion Bee wants to protect.

Samehada’s perfect acting, chapter 508.

Naruto and Gai are moved by Kisame’s apparent death. (Chapter 508.)

Conclusion

As opposed to Naruto’s group, we know that Kisame isn’t truly dead. Kisame is merely Samehada’s human form; she will create him anew by possessing her new host, Bee.

Let’s sum up the position Samehada has reached after her sequence of moves. She got everything she needed:

She is back in Bee’s care, trusted by Naruto’s group.

Kisame did manage to send his scroll to Obito, who will now start the war, as he knows Naruto can detect and wipe out the White Zetsu army for him.

When the alliance starts suffering casualties, Naruto will sense the ongoing war, and join the battlefield. Bee will follow him, still carrying Samehada, meaning Samehada will be perfectly positioned in Naruto’s group, with the last two Jinchūriki.

Konoha is chasing the mystery of Obito’s face.

Since Kisame is “dead”, Samehada can start possessing Bee, and control his actions more directly. But in this early stage, he’ll keep his Bee appearance, allowing Samehada to remain in Naruto’s group.

Now, the last piece Samehada needs on the board is Kabuto’s Edo Madara. But we will see that in the next episode.

Episode conclusion

Kisame’s exposure is not a failure. It is a controlled reveal.

Naruto detects Kisame, not Samehada.

The crisis becomes comedy.

Samehada teaches Bee to blame Kisame.

The flashback gives Konoha the wrong mystery.

Kisame dies with honour.

Samehada cries, and Bee comforts her.

By the end, the human interface has been discarded, the intelligence report has reached Obito, and the sword has been emotionally purified in Bee’s eyes.