Both Naruto and Boruto have high filler percentages. While Naruto has way fewer fillers than Boruto, it still has some episodes that were never adapted from the manga. Masashi Kishimoto had to create fillers to prevent the anime from catching up to the manga.
This eventually led to the birth of several hilarious moments as well as unexpected character developments. One such episode was when Sakura received a love letter from a mysterious fellow in the middle of the Fourth Shinobi War.
The Unexpected Love Letter Scene in Naruto
Episode 278 of Naruto contained an unexpected love confession scene. Given that the Fourth Shinobi War was continuing in full-swing, it was an unlikely development, and thus many fans questioned why the confession scene was placed in between such a serious arc.
In the episode, Morio, a suspicious Iwa-nin was seen lurking outside the barracks. Later, he enters the tent where Sakura is and hands her a love letter. He did this because he had no idea if he would survive the war but he couldn’t stop thinking about her after she healed him.
Sakura thanked him for the letter but told him she already had someone she loved and Morio calmly accepted her response. He even admitted that the one she loves must be a lucky man. This small scene was enough for fans to fall for the man and his gentlemanly nature.
Masashi Kishimoto Explains the Origin of Sakura’s Love Letter Scene
In an interview, Masashi Kishimoto explained why he placed the Sakura Love Letter Scene with the Foruth Shinobi War in the background. The author explained that the reason he put such an unusual scene was because he had to give the anime team a lead for a filler story.
If they just kept doing the war arc at the pace they were going at then they would catch up with the manga.
Indeed, the Naruto anime team was too close to catching up to the manga and needed extra scenes to adapt. Both the anime and manga were being released on a monthly basis, but the anime adapted two to three chapters per episode and thus quickly caught upto the manga. Had it been left unchecked, the anime would have to go on a hiatus and Masashi Kishimoto wouldn’t have been able to take any breaks from his harrowing routine.
In the end, putting suitable fillers was the best way to pacify the situation. The author admitted that he had no idea what to write, he just had to put something in the episode to stretch it out. Kobayashi, jokingly asked if Kishimoto’s answer to an extra scene in a war was a love letter.
While the scene is generally considered as filler, it also provided a much needed relief from the war. The episodes in the arc were intense and filled with struggle and death, but the quaint little confession raised hope among fans that everything would be alright.
You can read Naruto on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
