Naruto: 10 Things That Show Kishimoto Rushed The Ending

Masashi Kishimoto is a name that most people know of simply because he’s the brainchild behind what is easily one of the greatest shonen series of all time — Naruto. This epic spanning an orphan who wishes to become the head of his village had a premise that was quite common in most shows, but it was the manner in which Naruto managed to spin all these tropes throughout its incredible story that is considered by many to be absolute genius.

So, it was somewhat disappointing to see such an amazing show slowly lose its way over time, especially with the onset of the Fourth Great Ninja War. This is where the winning formula of Naruto was discarded in order to shove a rather forced conflict down the throats of viewers, culminating in some moments that might be epic but completely go against everything Naruto had been developing over the course of its admittedly amazing story. To put this statement into context, here are 10 things about the show that showed just how badly Kishimoto rushed the ending of Naruto.

10 The Final Arc Comprised Almost The Entire Second Half Of Shippuden

There are some anime arcs that end too quickly, and there are others that overstay their welcome. And then, at the complete edge of the spectrum, there are arcs like the Fourth Great Ninja War that last for what feels like forever.

In a show with 500 episodes, the Fourth Great Ninja War arc spans for a total of 217 episodes, which is an absolutely ridiculous runtime. Having almost half of your anime dedicated to a faltering arc is not the way for a legendary series like Naruto to approach the end of its run.

9 Obito’s Motivations Are Quite Weak

It doesn’t help the fact that the antagonist for the majority of Naruto and a good chunk of the Fourth Great Ninja War… is a forgotten relic of the past whose entire motivations stem from the fact that he misread a situation and shaped his worldview based on a teenage heartbreak.

While one can certainly make a case for Obito being a great antagonist, the mere fact that Naruto was able to change his mindset with a few words doesn’t really bode well for his character.

8 Sakura Randomly Powers Up To Fight Alongside Naruto And Sasuke

There are a number of problems with the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and the random powerups that most ninja get throughout this arc is definitely one of the most egregious offenders.

One of the worst examples in this regard is Sakura, who remains virtually useless for the majority of the war… until she randomly chooses to use the Strength of a Hundred seal and match up in power with Naruto and Sasuke, who had left her behind in terms of power a long time ago.

7 Kakashi Gets A Susanoo Out Of Nowhere

Of course, Sakura isn’t the only character who gets a godlike ability out of nowhere — sadly enough, Kakashi also can’t escape this mistreatment of character, and one might argue his powerup was even worse in terms of logic.

The mere fact that Obito somehow managed to give Kakashi both his eyes was ridiculous enough as is, and the cherry on top of this cake of disappointment was the Susanoo that he randomly unleashed after attaining this ability.

6 All The Side Characters Become Completely Irrelevant

Of course, unexplained powerups can’t be provided to every character in the series. If that was the case, then the entire show would’ve drowned in a mire of sheer ridiculousness.

Instead, some characters are completely forgotten in the grand scheme of things and become absolutely irrelevant over the course of the series, which is perhaps even worse than just getting a powerup and standing toe-to-toe with the other ninja.

5 The Final Villain Was Completely Shoehorned Into The Arc

Obito’s inclusion as a villain was already reviled by many, and Madara seemed to be the perfect solution to the problems that Obito’s character had brought up. However, Kishimoto looked at this good thing… and completely ruined it in the most emphatic manner possible.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki is easily one the worst villain in Naruto and one of the worst antagonists in anime history, simply because she comes into the picture with little to no context whatsoever and ends up being nothing more than an excuse for Team 7 to reunite and accomplish one final mission.

4 Naruto And Sasuke Being The Reincarnations Of Indra And Ashura Is A Bad Twist

During the course of the show, Naruto and Sasuke also receive a slew of — once again, completely random — powerups that serve as nothing more than a narrative excuse for these two fighters to partake in some truly epic moments.

The idea of Naruto and Sasuke being the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura might’ve been somewhat compelling if executed properly. However, this isn’t even remotely the case… especially since this plot point contradicts something Naruto has been building up all this time.

3 The Entire Story About Fighting Against One’s Destiny Is Completely Forgotten

The fight with Naruto and Neji in the Chūnin exams is one of the highlights of the series, allowing the underdog to finally get his way by staying true to his superior beliefs of not letting anyone or anything dictate his path in life.

This idea of fighting against one’s destiny is completely thrown out of the window with Naruto and Sasuke being the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura, and basically says that one’s path to greatness is dictated by a higher power instead of their own hard work.

2 Neji’s Death Was Completely Avoidable

Speaking of Neji, it must be said that his character was probably handled the worst during this entire arc. While his sacrifice to save Hinata and Naruto might seem noble at first glance, a closer look will reveal just how useless this sacrifice really was.

With two members of the Hyūga Clan present near Naruto, there’s no reason why Hinata or Neji couldn’t have used their Air Palm or Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven techniques to repel the projectile coming towards them. But the story called for an emotional sacrifice, and that is exactly what it delivered with this forced moment.

1 The Excuse For Naruto And Sasuke’s Fight Felt Horribly Contrived

Unfortunately enough, there was another pivotal moment near the end of Naruto that felt completely forced as well, and this was the reasoning behind Naruto and Sasuke engaging in another battle.

After helping the Allied Shinobi Forces take down Kaguya and any other threat from the opposing side once and for all, Sasuke randomly reveals his completely dysfunctional plan to start a new world, with logic so laughably bad that Naruto’s Talk-No-Jutsu would’ve been enough to end this conflict. However, that wasn’t the case, and we got a horrible excuse for what is arguably the best fight in Naruto by a country mile.