Naruto Shippuden Box Set 13
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 276 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese DD 2.0
Release Date: 24/6/2013
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes

After Jiraiya has gone in search of the real Pain, Tobi has set things in motion for an invasion of Konoha, one their people are likely never to forget. Before dying, Jiraiya sent a message only Naruto himself could possibly decipher, and through this maybe get to find out more of Pain's history, and weaknesses. He has to be deep in training with the other toad sages on Mount Miboku, and surpass his master if he is to truly fight Pain and save the village, but little known to him, the village is already under siege.

Naruto will need great reserves of strength and cunning if he is to fight Pain and his men, and as there are six of them with different skills, he will have to become the warrior he always boasted of wanting to be years ago.

Lady Tsunade proves her true strength when she is confronted by one of the six Pains. Each of them has gone in search of Naruto, torturing some of the main villagers who might know of his whereabouts. Tsunade has only a small amount of intel on the Pains and the Akatsuki, so she has to be careful with how she interacts with them. Standing up to her enemies and protecting the village is what she has to do as a Hokage, but Naruto has his own idea of what he wants to do when he returns from the toad sage world.

Just as Naruto can summon toads, each Pain can summon their own creatures to fight for them or with them, but they aren't exactly good looking; a strange crow, insect, rhino, winged dog are unusual enough but when you consider what the other two look like, it gets stranger still. Fighting these as well as the Pains will be doubly difficult as they seem to predict Narutos movements even before he makes them. There is something else he has to consider though, as the Pains have already killed his master, Lord Jiraiya, then of course killing them will be almost impossible without him having completed his training and gaining complete control over his toad sage powers.  The Pains are wielders of tremendous power, using universal push/pull at intervals during the fight. As Naruto has grown in power over the past few seasons, he amazes the Pains he faces as they didn't know he was so powerful, and maybe he can protect the village and its people just as he said he would. It is now where Lady Tsunade knows he means business and isn't about to let her down.

Naruto might be facing off against some fierce and powerful enemies, but Pain has to be one of the worst as he intends to destroy the world in order to end all wars and restore what he calls peace to the lands. This two disc box set has all the action, destruction, fight scenes and comedy that makes Naruto Shippuden one of the best series around. while Sakura is aware that the fallen Kakashi and Lady Shizune might be dead, Naruto is in a difficult position of having to fight against enemies who could actually beat him. Lady Hinata sees what Naruto is going through and wants to help him, and though we get to see her past story about when she got to know him as a child of the Ryuga family, she can see why he was so feared even though she has loved him ever since.

As many will have come to know Naruto as a series doesn't just feature Naruto as a character, there are plenty of other characters who make up this box set as a whole, and it's a fun watch for any anime fan.

Bonus Material: Art Galleries and Trailers for other anime series.

Verdict: This box set is the reason Naruto Shippuden is still one of the best animes around.