Alright Hotsuma, here's my response to what you've been saying in both this and the raw thread. You say all this powering up and usage of alternate power sources is very dbz-like, and you don't like it. You also you say you'd rather see inventive and cleaver fighting as has been the staple of the series from the get go. Well, let me ask you this: how clever and inventive can you possibly get by staying at the same power level? Ingeniuty can only take you so far if you don't become stronger. Naruto would never have beaten gaara if it wasn't for the summoning technique he learned, regardless of his cleverness. Same thing if he's put up against someone like a jounin, ingeniuty won't be enough for Naruto to succeed at this level. So "powering up" is a necessity. The extra power when coupled with ingeniuty (how many times have I said this word already?) will make for far more interesting fights then we've gotten to see so far.

You might argue that this rate of power acquisition is ridiculous, but then I'd have to say that it's also necessary. It might be ok for everyone else to just gain skill and power at the rate that you're used to through seeing the training sessions and what not, but it's not enough for Sasuke and Naruto. They're special. As you've seen them up until now, they were superior ninjas for their levels, but still comparable to other ninjas like neiji and gaara. As should be obvious by now, these two have destinies that far more encompassing, and potentials that far exceed those of the other ninjas. It's only natural in a series like this, that at some point, that this passes from speculation to fact. This is that point. I don't believe the series is going to remain like this, in the sense of continual power ups. But right now, it has to happen for the sake of moving these guys along they destined paths. If you don't believe that they have destinies in the story (taking Naruto's position instead of Neiji's), you can at least believe that kishimoto has plans for them, and those plans involve Naruto and Sasuke being head and shoulder above the rest.