Quote Originally Posted by Sidnne
I was hoping for a more detailed one on one battle between Naruto and Kakuzu, which would have really demonstrated Naruto's development.
Instead, we got a simple distract-and-hit-with-the-I-win-jutsu fight which, in my opinion, cheapened the villainy of the Akatsuki.

Even when Naruto succeeds, he disappoints.
I guess there's something worth pointing out here. Until now, every major battle involving Naruto has been a huge battle with multiple exchanges. Every one of those fights lasted forever. This is the first fight where Naruto actually does something ideally: he wasted nothing. This fight was economical. The guy needed to be "killed three more times" ? Use a massive jutsu that'll kill him a hundred times, just to make sure (as contradictory as this may sound, its economical). Also, Naruto saw that the guy couldn't stop 4 of the clones, so why did he need to change his tactics? Naruto did however realize that the opponent realized that he needed to attack to real clone, so naruto used bunshin jutsu on his kage bunshins for an added layer of diversion. Its a simple plan, but it was enough. This was Naruto's most "professional" fight thus far. So I don't think this cheapens the villainy of the akatsuki guy, so much as it increases Naruto's status as a Ninja.

I will agree however, that it would be nice to see some new tricks. But I don't necessarily think that they need to be new techniques. For instance, I bet that Sasukes end all technique is a fire one. Naruto'll need water to counter it. It would be nice if he used a summon frog for that. Also, I really do think that Naruto's improved in a lot of the basics, so that his fighting is more streamlined and structured. But its hard to see in manga form. When the anime reaches this point, I doubt it'll be as boring as a lot of you are making it out to be.