Naruto begins his training with a lot of standing and talking, but it concludes with our still rather dense student (nothing changes, eh?) discovering that his natural element is ‘wind’. In his own words, ‘Damn, I am so awesome!’
This was a really bright episode and honestly felt like how Naruto used to do things, what with Kakashi’s world-weary sense of humour and Naruto’s clumsy eagerness to learn everything as fast as possible. The animation was of a much higher standard than usual, too. As this was all happening in a large, wind-swept field, with lush green grass and falling tree leaves, the deep, natural vibrancy of the surrounding landscape was gorgeous. One particular scene, with Yamato using his talents to rip up the ground below and create an impromptu waterfall, replete with bushy trees, was a wonderful visual spectacle, and a creative use of his ninjitsu, too!
