I was a little surprised to see that everyone hated this ep. I thought it was good. The fight was a little taste of how the fights used to be, not just raw power (we got to see Neji in action, yay). I didn't find Naruto annoying at all, he was just eager to get the villain (which obviously isn't Koumei). It was cool that the ghost-ninja "bit the cyanid" so they wouldn't find out who it was. The water ninjas lokked alittle like the "lucky/unlucky" ninjas from the chuunin exam.

It's so obvious now that Mousei (the humble fat guy) is the villain that I'm thinking that it can't be him. Maybe it is though, Naruto isn't really the home of the most creative plot-twists.