Naruto: 15 Unforgivable Plot Holes We Can’t Unsee

Naruto started out as a comic that was printed in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The success of the Naruto manga is what prompted the anime and video game adaptations of the series. It was up to Masashi Kishimoto to produce twenty pages of new Naruto material every week, which he did for fifteen years.

The schedule of a mangaka who works on a weekly series is incredibly difficult, to the point where many of them suffer from severe health issues. Masashi Kishimoto has said that the experience of working on Naruto was so hard on his body that he would never be able to create another weekly series.

It’s due to this fatiguing schedule that errors can creep into a series. The story of Naruto had several plot holes that can be attributed to the fact that Masashi Kishimoto was writing by the seat of his pants every week.

We are here today to look at the most obnoxious plot holes in the story of Naruto– from Sasuke’s nonsensical escape from Deidara to Kabuto’s terrible bindings from Team 7.

Here are the 15 Unforgivable Plot Holes We Can’t Unsee In Naruto!

15 Sasuke’s Cheat Mode Escape From Deidara

Sasuke once battled against Deidara. When it became obvious that he was going to lose, Deidara decided to use his most powerful attack in order to destroy them both. This resulted in the Tower of the Sun, which was an explosion so big that it could be seen for miles around.

It was revealed that Sasuke was able to escape the effects of the explosion by summoning Manda, using a genjutsu to control his mind, entering Manda’s body, and the two of them escaping into another dimension.

It had been established in the previous chapter that Sasuke had almost run out of chakra, yet he was somehow able to perform two costly jutsus in the space of the few seconds it took to avoid an explosion?

14 Obito’s Amazing Eyesight

The Mangekyo Sharingan is one of the most powerful dojutsu in all of Naruto. In order to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, a member of the Uchiha clan must experience severe trauma, which usually manifests in the death of a loved one.

Once the Mangekyo Sharingan has awakened, the user gains access to some of the most powerful jutsu in the world, yet this comes with a cost, as repeated use of the Mangekyo Sharingan erodes the user’s eyesight until they go blind. The only way to avoid this is by stealing the eyes of a close relative.

Why has Obito retained his eyesight when we see him using his Kamui ability constantly? It didn’t take long for Sasuke’s eyesight to diminish after only a few uses of his Mangekyo Sharingan, yet Obito uses his one all of the time with any deleterious effects.

13 Yagura’s Insurance Policy (Didn’t Save Him)

One of the few individuals who was said to have gained full control of his Tailed Beast was Yagura Karatcuhi. He was the Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails and he rose in rank to become the Mizukage. Yagura was incredibly powerful, to the point where he slew a member of Akatsuki single-handedly.

It is revealed that Obito was manipulating Yagura with genjutsu, in order to gain control of the Hidden Mist village. This conspiracy was finally unveiled by Ao, who used his stolen Byakugan to see the truth of Yagura’s mind control.

We know that one of the benefits of being a Jinchuriki who controls their Tailed Beast is immunity to genjutsu. Killer B proves this during his fight with Sasuke. So how was Obito able to control Yagura with genjutsu? The Three-Tails should have been able to break his control.

12 The Messed Up Timeline Of Kakashi’s Chunin Exam

It is common for main characters in anime/manga to be incredibly young. We often see high school students saving the world using levels of intelligence and physical strength that are atypical for people of their age.

Kakashi from Naruto really takes the cake in regards to his childhood achievements. When the names were being put forward for Naruto’s Chunin Exam, Iruka questions whether Team 7 are ready or not. Kakashi tells Iruka that he took (and passed) the Chunin Exam at age six.

However, Kakashi taking the Chunin Exam makes no sense in relation to later pieces of information we are told. It is established that Might Guy enters the Academy at age seven and we see Kakashi there during flashbacks.

Anko is also shown to be taking part in Kakashi’s Chunin Exam, even though she is two-years younger than him. Did Anko take the Chunin Exam when she was four?

11 Naruto’s Dangerous Surname

Naruto was given his mother’s surname as a child, which signified that he belonged to the Uzumaki Clan. He was not given his father’s surname (Namikaze) in order to protect his identity, though this had more to do with keeping the reveal a surprise to the audience.

The Fourth Hokage had made many enemies in his lifetime, so the decision was made to keep Naruto’s parentage a secret.

The Uzumaki Clan were considered to be so dangerous that several other ninja villages banded together to wipe them out. The only other surviving members of the clan that we know of had to hide their identity.

If Naruto’s parentage was being kept hidden in order to keep him safe, then why was he allowed to keep the name of a clan that was hunted to near extinction instead of a fake one?

10 Jiraiya’s Evidence Cleanup

When Kabuto was preparing his huge army of zombie ninjas, it was revealed that he and Orochimaru had been keeping samples of the DNA of the most important shinobi who ever lived. This was so that their blood could be used in experiments.

Kabuto pointed out that there were two specific ninjas missing from his army; Shisui Uchiha and Jiraiya. According to Kabuto, he was unable to locate Shisui’s body and Jiraiya’s corpse had sunk to the depths of the ocean where he couldn’t follow.

The problem with Kabuto’s explanation is that he had plenty of opportunities to acquire Jiraiya’s DNA. The two of them fought during the first part of Naruto. Jiraiya also bled heavily during his fight with Pain, which means that there must be a ton of ways to use Jiraiya’s DNA for Edo Tensei.

9 The Konan Paper Factory

Konan had worked out the weakness of Obito’s Kamui jutsu during her time among Akatsuki. She knew that he could only maintain an intangible form for five minutes, before being forced to return to a solid state.

However, she found a way to utilize this weakness by creating a chain of explosions that would last longer than the recovery period that Kamui needed. Obito was only able to survive by using Izanagi and sacrificing one of his eyes.

Konan used a technique called the Paper Person of God, which disguised the Lake of Amegakure as water when it was actually composed of over six billion exploding tags.

The mathematics behind such a technique open up all kinds of questions. Where did she find enough paper for six billion pieces in a pre-industrial society? An explosion that big would decimate a country, so how could she contain it within such a small location? If Akatsuki had access to such a powerful weapon, then why did they need the Tailed-Beasts?

8 Naruto’s Survival

One of the enduring questions about Naruto is why the title character was allowed to grow up as an orphan without any loved ones. It’s lucky that Naruto was able to friendship with the likes of Iruka and the members of Team 7, as he could have ended up crazy like Gaara.

There is another question about Naruto’s upbringing that was never addressed, though: who actually raised him before he turned eleven? We see almost nothing of Naruto’s childhood before he took the entrance exam for the Academy, yet he lives by himself. Who took care of him when he was a baby? Who taught Naruto how to speak his first words? Who taught Naruto how to maintain his house?

It’s possible that he was raised in an orphanage, but this was never confirmed within the text. It seems as if Naruto was left alone throughout his childhood, yet he somehow survived.

7 Itachi’s Secret Weapon (That He Never Used)

Shisui was one of the most feared members of the Uchiha Clan. The genjutsu that could be inflicted with his Sharingan was said to be so powerful and subversive that it basically acted as mind control.

The higher-ups at Konoha feared Shisui’s power, which led to Danzo taking matters into his own hands and stealing one of his eyes. Shisui gave his remaining eye to Itachi and took his own life.

Itachi now had access to Shisui’s eye and the power of his Sharingan… and he didn’t use it to stop the Uchiha coup. Itachi could implant Shisui’s eye into one of his crows and use it to compel someone to protect Konoha.

He could have used this to change his father’s mind about the coup or used it on one of the higher-ups at Konoha in order to prevent the Uchiha massacre from being sanctioned.

6 Obito’s Awful Plan

The final major story arc of Naruto took place during a huge war that involved all of the major players in the story. The reason why this conflict became so huge was due to Obito revealing his plan to the five Kages and declaring open war on them.

This was an incredibly idiotic thing to do and his reasons for doing it don’t add up: Obito later states that he started the war in order to draw out Killer B and Naruto, as they were both being guarded by their villages. He needed their Tailed-Beasts in order for his plans to go forward.

By declaring war, Obito dragged the Hidden Mist & Rock villages into the conflict, as well as the samurai of the Land of Iron. He would have faced a lot less opposition by performing the mission stealthily… like a ninja would do.

5 The Wasted Kirin

Orochimaru hints that Sasuke has created a powerful new jutsu during the time skip. We finally get to see this technique in action during the final battle between Itachi and Sasuke. It involves creating clouds through the use of extreme heat.

Sasuke was able to call down a bolt of lightning that he shaped into the form of a Kirin. This attack was incredibly fast and almost impossible to dodge.

Sasuke only ever used Kirin a single time during the story of the Naruto manga. Why did he never use it again throughout the remainder of the story, save for non-canon examples during filler?

Kirin was an incredibly powerful technique, yet he preferred to use techniques that caused him physical harm, such as the ones that involved the Mangekyo Sharingan.

4 Hinata’s Lack Of Bodyguards

Neji’s father sacrificed his life in order save Konoha. This is because the Hidden Cloud village demanded the secrets of the Byakugan. They were so determined to steal a member of the Hyuga Clan that they used a diplomatic envoy as a front for a kidnapping mission, which resulted in Hinata briefly being kidnapped.

Hinata didn’t become an accomplished ninja until after the time skip. During the beginning of Naruto, she was mild-mannered and easily spooked. Why did the Hyuga Clan allow their heir and one of the bearers of the Byakugan to become a ninja when she wasn’t suited to the role?

It was fine for Neji due to his prodigious skill and the fact that they could seal his Byakugan at any time, but Hinata was a huge target outside of the village. Letting her take part in missions was a huge and unnecessary risk.

3 Itachi’s Coma-Inducing Plan

One of the biggest questions fans have about Naruto is whether Itachi was always planned to be a good guy or if the popularity of the character convinced Masashi Kishimoto to change his mind and retcon things so that Itachi was secretly good all along. There is a lot of proof for the latter, as Itachi’s actions in part one don’t correspond with his later characterization.

The biggest example of Itachi having meant to be a villain all along involves his use of the Mangekyo Sharingan on Sasuke. He inflicts such horrific mental damage that only the most powerful medical ninja of the era could awaken him from it.

Tsunade was currently wandering the land and had no reason to return to Konoha, so how did Itachi know there would be someone around to save Sasuke? Was he fine with leaving his brother in a nightmare-induced coma for the rest of his days?

2 Konan Could Have Saved The World

Obtio was furthering the goals of Madara by trying to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan. This would place the entire world within a genjutsu.

In order for this plan to go forward, Obito needed to possess the Rinnegan. This is why Madara gave the Rinnegan to Nagato, as he wanted to make sure it remained in the world after his death.

In order to continue his plan, Obito saught the grave of Nagato, which led to his battle with Konan. Before the fight begins, Konan tells Obito that she knew he was coming and why he was there…

Konan could have saved the world a lot of bother by destroying Nagato’s Rinnegan. This would have totally screwed up Obito’s plan, yet she left them alone. Why did she save Nagato’s eyes if she knew how important they were to her enemy?

1 They Didn’t Even Tie His Hands!

One of the biggest complaints about Naruto as the series progressed was that the intelligent battles of the early story arcs were replaced by Dragon Ball Z style power-ups and explosions.

The characters of Naruto weren’t always the most efficient ninjas in the world. The biggest example of this happened during the Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission story arc when Team 7 went looking for Sasuke in Orochimaru’s base.

At one point during the story, Sai forgoes his secret mission and betrays Kabuto. The team then bind Kabuto’s arms… and they just leave him there. Kabuto is one of the most valuable prisoners they could have taken, and they leave him (a highly trained ninja) outside of his base, while barely being bound and still conscious.

He was able to escape about five minutes later when he rejoined Orochimaru. This was one of the most idiotic moments in Naruto, to the point where the anime changed things to make Kabuto’s escape more of a surprise. Why were Team 7 so careless with a high-priority prisoner?

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Can you think of any other plot holes in Naruto that are extremely obvious? Sound off in the comments!

About The Author

Scott Baird
(2507 Articles Published)

Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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