Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto stands apart from all other Shonen series. Why? Because the franchise doesn’t only focus on power-ups, transformations, and cool battle tactics, it also involves forgiveness and moving on from the bloodbath.
But this change was not sudden in Naruto, it took him a long time to realize that bloodthirst wasn’t the end-all of conflicts. Masashi Kishimoto admitted that it was this exact change that was hard to bring about.
Masashi Kishimoto’s Dilemma With Naruto’s Ending
In an interview with Anime News Network, Masashi Kishimoto was asked if it was difficult to end Naruto since he had dedicated 15 years of his life to the manga. It is a long time period to be involved with a project and the author could definitely be attached to it.
However, Kishimoto admitted that the problem wasn’t ending Naruto. The main dilemma was to create a smoother ending so readers wouldn’t feel a sudden change in the tone. The author did admit that he knew the series would conclude sooner or later.
It was kind of decided—not necessarily early on, but I knew that it was going to be concluded soon. So it’s not like that decision was unexpected.
The author claimed that it was tricky to end Naruto because he wanted one of the concluding themes to be forgiveness. He wanted Naruto to forgive Sasuke for all the harmful and rage-induced things he had done, but the story had to lead to the scene realistically.
If one minute they’re fighting and then ‘Oh, I forgive you!’ would be weird. So definitely there were little bumps on the way to getting there.
Kishimoto had to focus on the ending being more plausible but since the reconciliation between Naruto and Sasuke was difficult, he had to introduce a new arc.
Why Naruto‘s Pain Arc was a Pain in the A**
Masashi Kishimoto clarified why the Pain Arc proved to be a major bump in Naruto.
It was difficult, because it was the very first time Naruto truly forgives his enemy. I didn’t want the conclusion of their confrontation to be in battle, but through talking, so to bring that all about was quite difficult.
The Pain Arc was when Naruto’s Talk no Jutsu had fully developed. After tracking down Nagato, Naruto asked him why he hated Konoha. It turns out that Nagato’s past was filled with traumatic experiences and loss. He had seen too much human conflict and thus wanted to create a new world free from chaos.
After hearing his story, Naruto acknowledged his pain and promised that he would become a Hokage and bring peace to Amegakure. Nagato then claimed that Naruto reminded him of his younger self, and thus released all the captured would. He entrusted his will to Naruto and passed away.
This was an important moment in Naruto’s life because he finally realized what forgiveness and a little diplomatic discussion could bring. Later on, it led to the reconciliation between Naruto and Sasuke as well.
You can read Naruto on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
