Board Thread:Episode Discussions/@comment-1018594-20141225131138/@comment-8284722-20141228045001

In defense of the filler, it's actually supposed to relate to what's going on in real-time just like the recent Gaara filler, and also will be pretty impactful since it describes how Naruto has impacted the lives of Konoha's residents, and what his possible death (which doesn't happen, of course) means to them. Plus: I've always been wondering how Sakura, Choji, and Ino get through it without their respective missing teammates.