This actually has potential. Unfortunately, they squander it. This could have been an opportunity to introduce the life and culture of a different village. But while there is an attempt to do so, it fails to hit the mark. We are not told much about the Hidden Waterfall Village aside from the fact that it has something called the “Hero’s Water,” then the story proceeds to focus on the village leader, Shibuki, who is paper-thin in terms of characterization. He is beloved by the villagers and they hail him as some kind of hero, yet we are never shown why this is so. For thisstory to work, we have to empathize with Shibuki, but we never really understand or get to know him enough to become properly invested. As a result, the emotional payoff is minimal, and the final showndown just feels mechanical. It doesn’t help that the opponents are painfully generic, and the fight scenes aren’t all that impressive either. Sakura pretty much plays no part here, and Sasuke and Naruto feel like they’re just going through the motions.

The usual tropes and the usual platitudes but without the emotional resonance the main series has.