I suppose it is thematic. I just don't really like it.
With Bleach, Ogichi and Ichigo had the Yin-yang thing going on as far as appearance and Ogichi was actually sorta terrifying. Not because he was strong and crazy but because in many ways he was better than Ichigo. Maybe it's just me but there is a fear of our darker, more sinister half being the better one.
With One Piece, black is the pirate flag while the marine flag is white. Since pirates are for freedom, Kuma being changed to mostly white goes with his lack of freedom. The problem here is that not all of the marines are hardcore controlling jerks that want to get rid of freedom to preserve order. And Kuma's outfit already had a lot of white in it before.
But stuff I guess.
And? It would be like Naruto coming back from his timeskip and being better than Asuma because he had a better teacher.
You mean the guy Naruto couldn't touch until Kakashi tore off his arm, leaving him without anyway to attack Naruto? Naruto did land exactly one hit on him before he casually replaced himself with a clay clone, pwning Naruto like the newb he is.
And the Itachi clone? Man, sure was glad Naruto could fight evenly with him. Good thing it wasn't completely obvious that Itachi had utterly curbstomped him with one finger. And hey, he did manage to kill the clone. All he needed was Kakashi's kage bushin to hold him still.
Whereas Asuma has tagged Kisame with an actual hit on his own terms. He was injured earlier in the confrontation but that was due more towards Shark guys massive strength, not speed. In the area of speed, Asuma was winning. He also fought with Hidan, who is one of the best taijutsu guys in Akatsuki due to that being all he has, only receiving a cut. And while Shikamaru was helping him in part of that exchange, the help was nowhere as useful as the help Naruto received.
Naruto is more destructive but Asuma is fast enough to make that irrelevant.
Not in particular lol. I like his design but I find him kinda overrated really.
Also, how does Kinemon know about his son becoming a dragon? I can't really remember that being established. I know he was sad when he cut down that other dragon but it's all a blur.