Ok, here's another Naruto crackpot theory for all those who care.

What was the purpose of the Uchiha massacre? That scroll underneath the floorboard Sasuke took out near the start of the series explained it all, and we didn't get to know what it all contained.

The Uchihas have been known as the wielders of the sharingan; but more accurately, they are the "containers" of the sharingan. Now, the sharinganhowever cool a kekkai genkai it is, is not an easy ability toobtain even from within the Uchiha clan (that much we DO know). Moreover, the trait gets weaker and weaker with each generation that passes that doesn't use it to its full potential. In the relative peacetime that the Narutoverse enjoys at the start of the manga, the decline of the powerful bloodline ability accelerates.

Now, Uchiha Madara (the first Uchiha to have been able to wield the sharingan to its fullest potential)wrote a scroll that advises the clan what to do to reinvigorate the kekkai genkai before it fully disappears from existance through unuse. One word: culling. Eliminate the "shallow" containers and only retain thefew handful of containers with the most promising "depth" to develop the overwhelming power of the ability from within. Not everyone in the clan may agree to the sacrifice an entire generation to invigorate the genes, and many may resist, but all are aware that if the most powerful members of the clan decide to implement the culling, the shallow containers can do nothing to stop them.

Tobi who seemed to be the only one who mastered the mangekyou sharingan during the earlier part of the manga, revealed his plan on culling the shalow containers of the kekkai genkai. He instructed Itachi that if he wants to survive the culling, he should master the m. sharingan, and to do that he must kill his best friend. Tobi also gives Shisui the same order.The two battle it out to the death, with the victor winning the m. sharingan. Since Itachi has less experience wielding the m. sharingan than Tobi, he could manage far fewer uses than the former.So technically, Itachi considers himslef to be inferior to the more experienced Tobi. Nonetheless, even with his comparatively limited ability with the m. sharingan, Itachi knows that he could at least save his brother from the culling, even if he will never be able to manage to save the rest of his immediate family. That is why Itachi has been acting all weird the last few days before the massacre. He has resigned himself to accept with great burden his weaker clan members' inability to save themselves. He feels pressured to try to put a stop to the machinations of Tobi all alone.

During that fateful night Sasuke was at school, away from the culling by Tobi, Itachi has been keeping guard over him. After Tobi's deed has been done, Itachi tells him to spare his brother. Tobi asks why should he protect such an unworthy container. and Itachi answers that he will make him worthy. How? By taking the balme for the massacre and creating such hatred within Sasuke that he'd be able to drive his brother to even surpass him as a worthier container for the kekkai genkai. That's why Itachi refuses to kill his brother in spite many opportunities. That is why he always stresses the importance of Sasuke getting the m. sharingan the way Itachi did. Ultimately, Itachi knows that he may never be able to survive the final battle with Tobi to determine whose genes will be the basis for the rebirth of the clan. Thus, he schemes in such a way so that Sasuke would eventually get strong enough (by any means necessary) to surpass him and defeat him -unlocking the ultimate form of the sharingan- and becoming more of a match for Tobi more than Itachi could hope himself to be. Thus, the famous words: "I am the barrier you must overcome so that both of us would continue to survive" and "Foolish little brother -if you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me, and live in an unsightly way... Run, run and cling to life. And when you have the same eyes like I do, come before me."

Sasuke knows all of this, except for the part that Tobi was the one who's responsible for the culling. Thus, he keeps blabbering, "Iam... an avenger!" referring to his misplaced hatred for his brother, and "...rebirth of my clan." Referring to killing the only bloodline wielder of the clan he knows of (Itachi) and providing his genes as the basis for the rebirth of a new generation of Uchihas with a re-invigorated kekkai genkai.

Kishimoto eventually structures the story in such a way that while all this was going about genes and the demonstration that great ninjas seem to be born than made, he would put Naruto in the middle of all the conflicts that in the end, he'd gain enough experience and power through hard work and sacrifice that he'd even surpass the ultimate form of the sharingan, much to the surprise of everybody, proving ultimately that one can surpass even the limits one's own genes dictate.

Yeah. I got myself a PS3 last Christmas eve.

With the whole gamut of my PS1 and PS2 titles plus Resistance: Fall of Man, it's a nice thing to have.

I like the fact that I won't have to worry about game save management with memory cards thanks to the HDD inside (until I fill it up). I like the fact that it also has free online play, I can use my bluetooth headset as well.

Make no mistake, I still like the Xbox 360 (Gears of War still rocks for me), and the Wii (which I'll probably get some time in the future). So before I illicit some unwanted fanboy flame, I'd like to clarify that I'm a non-partisan gamer.

Now, I'd just have to get a 1080p capable HDTV to connect all the serious next gen home entertainment system I have here at home. I know, I know... it's puzzling I didn't buy it first.

Ah, my passions for the mundane actually stretches to the boundaries of a fascination for the inspiration that a sliver of depression brings about. Thus this blog entry.

For those who actually were able to comprehend my first sentence here is the first song out of my head right now:

"Why Should I Cry for You" by Sting (credit also for the band Police)

"The Girl Who Stole the Stars" OST Chrono Cross

"Lena at The Beach" OST Chrono Cross

"Broken Vow" by Lara Fabian; better than Josh Groban's version. Perhaps because I am a guy and is partial to a woman's voice

"Home" by Michael Buble

"Again" by Janet Jackson

"What's Forever For" by Michael Murphy

"Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler

"And When She Danced" by David Foster and Marilyn Martin

"The Old Songs" by David Pomeranz; sometimes, I feel it to be too mushy though

"Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough" By Patty Smith

"Only Time" by Enya

"Whiter Shade of Pale" By Annie Lennox

"Walking Away Theme", OST Incredible Hulk

"Melodies Of Life" the piano version, OST FF IX

"You Don't Know Me" by Jann Arden

"Old Photographs" by Jim Capaldi

"Half Crazy" by Johnny Gill

"Beautiful in My Eyes" by Joshua Kadison

"Dust in the Wind" by Kansas

"If You're Gone" by Matchbox 20

"The Unforgiven" by Metallica

"Separate Lives" by Phil Collins

"Just When I needed You Most" by Randy Vanwarmer

"I'm almost Over You" by Sheena Easton

That's it for now. Probably will add more when I recover from chronic laziness.

I have posted another theory in the Naruto Boards under the title "Outlandish Theory". I actually thought of this theory, and although I think it is far unlikely to come true, I would like to repost it here in my Blog. I call it the...

------------------------

"Young Sasuke's Tsukiyomi-induced Fantasy World"

Remember that flashback in the Valley of the End fight between Naruto and Sasuke? Remember that during that time in the flashback when the younger Sasuke was on his way home from school and Itachi was standing on that high place in the village? What if we theorize that Itachi unleashed mangekyou sharingan to use tsukiyomi on Sasuke that single moment to send Sasuke into this fantasy world where his entire clan was murdered by a fictional Itachi so that Sasuke would seek to make himself stronger?

In this world, he would know what it means to be powerless, and to know loneliness and loss, to seek vengeance and gain power. But Sasuke's genuine kindness (remember how this genuine kindness and innocence manifested during that training session with Itachi a few days before that fateful night on the way home from school) persists in this alternate world and takes shape in the form of a separate person who is a complete antithesis to what Sasuke is becoming--- this person would seek strength to protect rather than to destroy, this person would find kindness in his sadness instead of vengeance, this person would seek companionship instead of loneliness, and this person would pursue acceptance than pure power. This extension of all Sasuke's personality in this tsukiyomi-induced world would be known as Naruto. The Sasuke in this Tsukiyomi-induced world will seek further depravity and hate while the Naruto will seek values and compassion.

What would be the real Itachi's motivation for plunging his little brother to this world full of strife? We all know that Sasuke always wanted to be at least as strong as Itachi. This concerns Itachi since mere ambition to be strong without guidance or values is dangerous. Therefore, Itachi is going to teach Sasuke a lesson on real strength. He is going to send the young brother to this fictional world (using tsukiyomi) so that Sasuke may be given a choice on what he would rather value: power or kindness? Will he be strong and use that strength to destroy or will he be strong and use that strength to protect?

Keep in mind that tsukiyomi is a technique wherein entire long periods of time that pass in the fantasy world actually takes place in mere blinks of an eye in the real world, therefore all the events from the start of the tsukiyomi to the end of the entire tsukiyomi (that period comprises all the events that happen in the manga after that fateful night) would translate to mere seconds in young Sasuke's real life.

THE BOTTOMLINE:

This means that everything that happens since that fateful night of Sasuke's young life is mere fantasy: Naruto does not exist except for inside Sasuke's personality; that the Uchiha clan was not wiped out by Itachi; THAT 98% OF WHAT WE READ IN THE MANGA IS MERELY SASUKE'S TSUKIYOMI-INDUCED DREAM! Everything in the manga actually revolves on the simple premise of a older, wiser brother teaching his younger, more impetuous sibling a lesson on what it means to be really strong.

I may be wrong with this (as I have faint memory of the earlier parts of the first mangas) but the fact that there is no direct mention or showing of any mass graves or memorial for all the slain Uchihas is consistent with this theory (and probably a hint to Sasuke that Itachi is using in his tsukiyomi to imply that the Uchiha clan may actually be just fine).

-------------------------------

Is that outlandish enough?

I know that if it turns out to be true, people will probably so outraged. Naruto fans might even be more upste than what Evangelion fans were by the time Hideaki Anno decided to show his first ending for the tv series (by that I mean not the "End of Evangelion" OAV). If you read it, let me know what you think might be inconsistencies to the theory.

Also, I recognize that other people might have already thought of a similar theory. I remember back then at the infancy of the Naruto Boards when I postulated in a long post that Naruto might be Yondaime and the Editor of the Boards told me that he saw a similar theory somewhere else in another internet Board. Although my sudden amazement at my brillance was abated, it brought me down to earth and realized that with so many people guessing the outcome of the series, chances are, before you think of a precept that explains most things in the story, another person might have already come up with a similar idea in another part of the real world.

I guess some topics really aren't that interesting to me lately. Perhaps I've just gone lazy and just want more intellectually stimulating debates or intriguing themes, but somehow, very few topics have been good lately.

Perhaps I should give TVRage a try sometime, but I still will stay in TV.com.

Oh well... just thinking out loud. Now, where's my videogame I can pass the time with?