Naruto, Volume 31 »

Author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. After spending time in art college, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his manga Karakuri ("Mechanism"). Kishimoto decided to base his next story on traditional Japanese culture. His first version of Naruto, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in Japan.

Naruto, Sakura, Granny Chiyo and Kakashi engage in deadly conflict with Sasori and Deidara. Ultimately, someone is not going to survive, and if any of them makes the wrong decision, it could be one of Naruto's closest friends who fights their final battle.