KARIN AND SASUKE ON THE BATTLEFIELD: HEAVEN AND EARTH IN COMBAT
I’ve been over the whole “heaven & earth” thing as it applies to SK before - it is an editor’s note, yes, but I use that bit of info merely as a starting point for something I’ve seen built up in the manga over time (VISUALLY and CHRONOLOGICALLY), made even more obvious in recent chapters with the way NS/SK are being directly paralleled (twice now - literally right next to each other) even as Sasuke and Naruto’s bond is highlighted
and SOMETHING I THINK IS REALLY INTERESTING FROM A PURELY INTERPRETIVE PERSPECTIVE (i.e. I have no way of knowing if it’s something Kishi thought about at all when he wrote about Sasuke and Karin) is how Karin and Sasuke are literal opposites when it comes to the power of the body vs. the power of the mind (ninjutsu, as explained by Iruka during the original “heaven and earth” explanation) - Sasuke’s body can’t go through as much as Karin’s can because Karin can heal herself and on the other hand, Karin has yet to learn many jutsu (mostly because she didn’t grow up in a shinobi village), whereas Sasuke is a prodigy in that area. And Karin cares for his body in a way he cannot.
also, something SOMEONE POINTED OUT ON NF really struck me because it’s totally true but I’d never thought of it before:
I think they have two different attitudes during the fight: Sasuke is clever and a good strategist but when the situation got critical he tends to lose focus, we saw it many times: firstly in his fight against Orochimaru in the FoD during the chuunin exam, then during his fight against Itachi, when his brother managed to shield himself from Kirin and Sasuke was out of chakra he started to panic and attack him with his sword and kunais (which obviously didn’t work), also in recent events we saw that: he rushed towards Madara without thinking, he was startled when he was stabbed and began to panic…279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRB6OI91pJ5
Karin on the other hand “looks through everything calmly” (this is a quote from the Databook, which is borne out by Karin’s behavior in the manga, with recent chapters being an example) and never loses focus, even when she’s on the verge of death and when she’s stabbed by spiral zetsu she doesn’t blink an eye…
I’m also reminded of her behavior in every other battle she’s ever been in - her emotions have never caused her to falter, and in the case of her recent efforts, only strengthened her when she chose to display them.
She drags all three of her teammates to safety during the Hachibi fight and even though she’s terrified Sasuke might die, she doesn’t allow her fear to compromise her.
279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XfkZIVFVo
If all she cared about was Sasuke, she could’ve just left her other teammates behind. But she dragged all of them along, quite a feat for her, given her physical weakness and lack of shinobi training.
Doing so exhausts her, and she collapses and is almost crushed by the Hachibi’s tentacle. Luckily, Sasuke pulls chakra out of nowhere and uses Chidori to cut the tentacle in two before it can fall on her.
279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXf0pjEPF2L
She might’ve avoided this by just saving Sasuke, but no, she saved the others as well. Karin is a very logical person, and it would’ve made much more sense to leave the others behind and just focus on the one she loved, but she risked her life for all of them, despite how deeply Sasuke’s endangerment affected her - you can see below in her thought bubble how glad she is that he’s safe, but she focuses on getting him on his feet.
279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYh6VkPbSpH
Then, there is the fight with Danzo. Again, she risks life and limb for Sasuke when he is unable to move because of Danzo’s binding curse, doing so to the point of being illogical, as she stood no chance whatsoever against Danzo, and she knows it. So does he, as you can see in the panels below. He kicks her away instead of attacking her physically because he is trying to conserve his chakra, as Tobi observes.
279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAZTRZGXKBi
Despite the desperation of their situation, with her being unable to attack and Sasuke paralyzed, she still manages to keep her cool and figure out Danzo’s strategy!
279Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7oITZHB8nd
In short - Karin has, is, and always will be more than capable of anchoring Sasuke when his impulsive and passionate nature gets the better of him in combat.
#SASUKARIN#I DID NOT THINK I'D WRITE META FOR A WHILE BUT SUDDENLY THIS CAME TO ME#THEORIES
ns 15.158.61.8da2
