Naruto, Volume 44 by Masashi Kishimoto

Jiraiya's toad, the one he sent back to Konohakagure, has finally arrived, with the cipher on its back, and Naruto and the others are kept busy trying to figure out what it means. But Naruto doesn't believe that Jiraiya "The Pervy Sage" is actually dead, and the death of his mentor knocks him for a loop. It takes a meeting with Yamato for Naruto to find his way out of his funk.

Meanwhile, Sasuke has joined the Akatsuki for his revenge on the Shinobi of the Fire Nation, but while Madara and the other Akatsuki think they have made Sasuke into the perfect pawn, Sasuke is only using them to get his revenge on Konoha, even if that means taking on the eight-tails while the rest of the Akatsuki go after Naruto.

Back in Konoha, the Shinobi are scrambling to decode Jiraiya's last message. Obviously, he thought they would be able to unscramble it, but neither Tsunade or Kakashi, both friends of and students of or with Jiraiya, have any idea what the code could be. It falls on Naruto to figure out what it means, but he notes that the first symbol in the code is not a 9, but a Kanji symbol- Ta. And since Jiraiya was a writer, could he be referring to one of his own works?

Kakashi brings up "Make Out Tactics", Jiraiya's latest work, and they take the first symbol from each page listed in the code, which eventually reads, "The real one's not among them", a clue to the fact that the child of Prophecy isn't in the members of the Akatsuki.

The frog sage Lord Fukasaku, offers to teach Naruto Frog Sage Jutsu, something he also taught Jiraiya, and Naruto agrees, even though the teaching will be long and hard. Can he resist turning into a frog from taking in the power of Nature? or will he simply rack up the bruises when Lord Fukasaku beats the power out of him with a stick before he can completely become a frog? And can Sasuke and his team take out their target, a rap-rhyming Shinobi who also has the power of the Eight-tails?

Naruto is back to training again after suffering a crisis of confidence. He may once have been hated by the villagers in Konohakagure, but you wouldn't know it any more. He has friends now among the other Shinobi, and it seems that his deeds on behalf of the village have replaced memories of his previous mischeviousness and arrogance. And Naruto himself has changed. I'd like to think he's a little less arrogant, and a little quieter, which would go far towards mitigating the attitude towards him by the other Shinobi and the villagers.

But you can tell that there is going to some smackdown between Sasuke and Naruto in the future, and while Naruto may have done some happy "Sasuke will be back and we'll all be friends like before" thinking, at least he's thought about what will come after (wrong though it may be). I don't think Sasuke has done any thinking about the aftermath of what he's set on doing at all. Which fits, because they are the anti-versions of each other.

This volume is more set-up, but it's like a coming storm and these are the first cool breezes preceeding it. You know it's coming- you can feel it, but you're still being watchful instead of battening down the hatches for the blow just yet. It's there, and it's not going away. Recommended, even if action is sorely lacking in this one.