The story of Naruto is both intricate and awe-inspiring. Whether it is Pain’s philosophical expositions or Naruto’s epic entrance on top of the 3 frogs to stop Pain’s assault, the series had some pretty deep and memorable moments in all of manga.
Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto weaved the story in such a fine way that all the minor plot points seem to be connected in this magical fashion. But just like Toriyama with Dragon Ball, Kishimoto did not pre-plan everything from the start.
This includes one of the most important aspects of Naruto, which later became important at the end.
Kishimoto on introducing a strong enemy like Zabuza right at the beginning
During an interview with Kobayashi in 2015, Kishimoto talked about how he began to come up with the concept of Naruto as a story and working in Shueisha.
One of the questions asked was about the reasoning behind introducing a strong enemy like Zabuza right at the beginning of the series.
To which, Masashi Kishimoto says that he wanted to do this right off the bat to show off Kakashi’s strength as an example of what an experienced ninja can do in the Naruto verse.
This would set some cornerstones down in the manga straight away and make it easier for the audience to put things into perspective.
Kobayashi points out that there were many things introduced in this arc that played huge roles right until the end of the series, like the Sharingan and the Kekkei Genkai, but Kishimoto just said he was ‘bluffing’ with these things in the beginning.
What he meant was he just made them up without any thought on how to use them in the future.
That, unfortunately, cost Kishimoto, as the Sharingan was barely ever used to copy the Jutsu of other people. With the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan being introduced, the Sharingan simply served as a basis for gaining even greater powers in the series.
That’s probably because Kishimoto simply forgot about this ability of the Sharingan with time.
Kishimoto failed to expand on the key Dojutsu even in Naruto’s sequel
Similarly, the author forgot about the Kekkei Genkai but could have expanded on it by giving Boruto the Byakugan instead of the Jougan.
But alas, Kishimoto instead introduced another random Dojutsu called the Tenseigan.
The special Kekkei Genkai passed down in the Hyuga clan had great potential, but it was hardly explored in Naruto because Sharingan and Rinnegan took most of the credit and screen time.
Kekkei Genkai is when someone is born with a chakra style that comes from a fusion of two of the originals (Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning). The first Shinobi to appear in Naruto possessing a Kekkei Genkai was Haku, and it was Ice (Wind + Water).
It is a unique talent, sometimes inherited from one’s family, that cannot be reproduced or copied. Although it may be innate, not everyone would be born with it.
In the story of Naruto, Danzo tried to experiment on the Sharingan, but never worked because he’s not an Uchiha. Every time he used them, the eye would die and close forever.
Kakashi’s Sharingan didn’t work as well for him because he’s not an Uchiha. The use of his eye is very limited and pumps more chakra for him than an Uchiha would.
Kishimoto admitted that the planning was very hazy at this point. He just made up stuff along the way without any thought on how to use them in the future. Toriyama served as his biggest inspiration but the Dragon Ball creator too forgot many plot points as the story progressed.
Guess this is something Kishimoto should not have picked up, but fortunately Eiichiro Oda made sure not to repeat that mistake while creating One Piece.
Naruto, Naruto Shippuden and Boruto are available to watch on Crunchyroll.
