Masashi Kishimoto, the proud creator of Naruto, is a master of crafting characters and their background stories. It has been proved by complex characters like Madara, Itachi, and Sasuke. But even geniuses are in need of inspiration and so did Kishimoto.
In an interview with the legendary author of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, Kishimoto laid his heart out about all the things that inspired him to create Naruto.
Masashi Kishimoto Discusses the Inspiration Behind Sasuke
In 2009, an interview with Masashi Kishimoto was held with Yoshihiro Togashi, the author of Yu Yu Hakusho, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Naruto. In this interview, Kishimoto was seen severely fanboying over Togashi’s works. In the same discussion, the Naruto author spilled the beans on how Yu Yu Hakusho inspired him to make his own characters.
Kishimoto admitted that he was a huge fan of Yu Yu Hakusho and especially the character Hiei. Not only did he love Hiei as a reader, but he also took him as a source of inspiration when he began crafting Naruto.
At first I wasn’t able to create a “cool” character, I didn’t know where to begin so I studied one my favorite characters: Hiei, and I succeeded in creating Sasuke, the Sharingan as well as some of his other techniques were inspired by him.
Hiei is a detached character who often likes to preserve his personal space, which makes him seem elusive and aloof. He also has a cynical and misanthropic view of the world, which is somewhat similar to Sasuke. He also belittles the significance of friendship. After Sasuke lost his family and clan, he too began looking down on teamwork and broke free of Team 7.
Hiei also squabbles with Kuwabara, his teammate, due to their different personalities. In Naruto, Sasuke also has a difference in opinion with Naruto which temporarily makes him move away from the protagonist.
Additionally, Hiei’s Evil Eye served as the inspiration for Sasuke’s Sharingan. Hiei’s third eye gives him abilities like telepathy, telekinesis, and others while Sasuke’s Sharingan lets him read the moves of his foes in advance.
How Yoshihiro Togashi’s Works Left an Impression on Naruto
Masashi Kishimoto always admired Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter x Hunter, and used them to learn how to create better manga. He loved the different expressions of characters in scenes when they witness the true power of their enemies. Kishimoto studied the delicate expressions of characters when they are surprised or find themselves in a dangerous situation. In fact, even a popular Naruto jutsu was inspired by Yu Yu Hakusho.
The Kagebushin no Jutsu of Naruto is strongly inspired by Suzaku’s technique in Yu Yu Hakusho. The idea of having after-images be real was very innovative, I was excited and thought “how will they beat this guy?”
Suzaku, an antagonist from Yu Yu Hakusho, boasts the Prism of Seven ability which lets him multiply himself by two at a time while charging at his enemy. This inspired the clone technique in Naruto, one of the first jutsus that were encountered in the series.
You can read Naruto on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
