Masashi Kishimoto wante dto create four member cells who helmed from other villages, not Konoha.
Naruto would have gone on adventures and encountered them, but his idea was rejected.
Instead, Kishimoto had to make the Chunin Exams and introduce Guy and Rock Lee.
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Masashi Kishimoto loves character development more than anything and the theme is prevalent even in his villains. The backstories of characters like Itachi and Obito were what made Naruto iconic.
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The author loves to draw out characters bit by bit, but unfortunately, his ideas did not receive enough appreciation from his editors, causing him to cut his ideas short. Regardless, he still came up with some memorable characters.
Masashi Kishimoto’s Original Idea for Naruto‘s Classmates
Chunin Exams Prelims | Naruto Fandom
According to an interview, Masashi Kishimoto had never intended to create the 4 people teams out of Naruto’s classmates. The original plan was to focus on various missions that Naruto would venture out on. Thus, Naruto and his team would meet teams from other villages, who would serve as rivals.
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However, this idea was not approved by Kishimoto’s editor. :
He was told there wouldn’t be time for such a slow-paced development, so he needed to come bring all these characters and villages out at once.
Kishimoto said he can’t do it and if he did it’d kill him [not literally], but he was told to do it even if it kills him.
Team 7 and Team Guy | Naruto Fandom
Thus emerged the idea of the Chunin Exams Arc. Kishimoto was forced to include the arc in Naruto to introduce the characters as fast as possible, with little to no space for his opinions. Yet, the author never got over his idea of going through with his original idea of focusing on missions.
In fact, the character introductions had to be wrapped up so quickly that Naruto’s mangaka had a hard time coming up with character designs in such a short time frame. When asked for help, his editor made some drawings based on some keychains, which is how Guy and Lee’s designs were created.
Rock Lee and Might Guy Almost Belonged to a Different Village
If Masashi Kishimoto had the freedom to act according to his plan, the four people cells in Naruto would have helmed from other villages and not Konoha. Thus, some of the most influential Naruto characters, namely Might Guy and Rock Lee, would have also migrated.
Team Guy _ Naruto Fandom
Rock Lee and Might Guy have some of the biggest fan followings, and rightfully so. Their presence in the series is undeniable, and they have some iconic scenes under their names. Who can forget Rock Lee dropping tons of weights and suddenly becoming the fastest guy on Earth?
According to Kishimoto, the creative team, including him, collectively decided that it was best if Team Guy belonged from Konoha. The decision was derived from the thought that it was best for Kakashi to have a rival inside Konoha.
The plus side of Kishimoto going against his will was that the Tournament was popular and it made fans engage more. People flocked to know who would win. Eventually, even Kishimoto began enjoying it.
You can read Naruto on Viz Media and watch the anime on Crunchyroll.
Aaheli is an anime content writer at FandomeWire. With four years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cat.
