One of the biggest shocking moments that the Naruto fandom has ever experienced in Masashi Kishimoto’s series was when Tobi (Obito) decided to declare war on the Ninja world. It marked the beginning of a new and unique narrative, one that was never seen before in Naruto. There are very few moments in anime history that could have reached the level of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
However, Kishimoto never actually planned for the Fourth Shinobi World War. He once revealed that the Pain arc in Naruto backed him into a corner and forced him to set the story for the War arc. This was Kishimoto’s method to bring Naruto’s character to a full circle. And it certainly worked in the favor of the mangaka and the series.
The Fourth Shinobi World War helped the Naruto series in a lot of ways. It brought all the characters together for one last brawl that lasted two days in the story and finally gave the best plot to wrap the story up and finish the legend of Naruto once and for all.
The Creation of the Fourth Shinobi World War in Naruto
Fuji TV released an interview between Kishimoto and Japanese comedian Kobayashi in 2015, and this interview was summarized by KirinNOTKarin98 for the Naruto fandom. During the interview, Kobayashi asked about the difficulties Kishimoto faced because of the war arc and how it came to fruition. The mangaka confessed that the war arc was indeed difficult.
The summary read:
On the War arc Moving on, Kobayashi comments that the war arc must have been very difficult. Kishimoto says it was, and that in the Pain fight, Pain comments about Naruto not having experienced war. This part set the story towards the war arc, so Naruto could come up with his final answer after having experienced war for himself. Kishimoto explains that this conversation in the Pain arc meant that he couldn’t back down from steering the story towards a war arc.
Pain’s conversation with Naruto during and after his attack on Konoha was an eye-opener for the protagonist. Naruto learned that the pain that he had suffered was different from Nagato’s suffering, and his understanding of peace came from force.
When Nagato asked Naruto how he would bring peace without experiencing a world that is so full of hatred, Naruto had no answer. Thus, to make Naruto experience that pain and suffering, Kishimoto decided to create a war arc that would reflect the real agony of the world.
The Fourth Shinobi World War Was The Perfect Ending To Naruto
The Fourth Shinobi World War brought with it many dreadful events that forever scared the characters of Naruto. However, it also had a silver lining to it. It not only helped Naruto understand what he needed to do to bring peace to the ninja world, but the storyline was perfect to announce the conclusion of Naruto as an anime and manga.
Every character, be it major or supporting, was a part of the war. Thus, every individual story that was going on in the series was given the means to reach its ending. Not only that, even the characters who had died with incomplete plots were given the perfect farewell, making it a wholesome narrative in the grand scheme of things.
Additionally, it helped Masashi Kishimoto set the plot of the sequel spin-off series Boruto, which revolved around the Otsutsuki clan and the other members of the alien race. Therefore, in hindsight, the Fourth Shinobi World War might have had some sad moments, but overall, it helped Naruto in many ways.
You can watch Naruto on Hulu.
