Masashi Kishimoto has given his mind, body, and soul to make Naruto and all its following works a smashing success. From the protagonist’s journey in growing as a character to achieving an unimaginable amount of power, there has been patience and understanding that makes Naruto such a liked character. However, he wasn’t the only character to have arcs worth of development.
Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some make them stand out while others help them blend in the crowd. What makes a character better is their understanding of what makes them stronger or weaker. In Naruto’s case, however, it would seem that one weakness was out of his own abilities as well.
Naruto may be the seventh Hokage now but it took him a great amount of training. Had he been stronger in one skill set, perhaps Sasuke’s abilities could have found greater competition.
Naruto Uzumaki’s Biggest Limitation Wasn’t His Power Level
Naruto Uzumaki has always had a hard time trying to find his place in the world or even his own village. Being an outcast for reasons he could never control, the protagonist of Masashi Kishimoto’s story went through a bildungsroman unlike any other. One of the biggest disadvantages he faced was an inability to properly read and write.
Due to the lack of formal teaching when it comes to his literacy, Naruto lacked any skill that was in accordance with his reading. Despite that, he willed himself to do as much as he could. He taught himself how to read and write, although falling behind in his Kanji. Out of the three Japanese scripts, Kanji is the most difficult to learn and manage. His minimal understanding of language leads him to have trouble understanding Chakras because the books that were handed to him meant nothing more than scribbles.
Language is power. It navigates the flow of which power works. A spell is useless without the language it is used in. A technique is nothing but a stance without a meaning behind it. A strong grasp of language helps not only in communication with others but also with oneself. Something that Naruto could not understand that he lacked early on.
Naruto Had to Go Back to Basics
When Naruto encountered a time skip, almost every character got somewhat of an upgrade. They learned various techniques and skills that made them better ninjas and overall better people. There was only one exception to this, the titular character himself. There is a strong possibility that during this time skip, it was not power upgrades that he was focusing on but something else altogether.
Growing up, Naruto was his own teacher, so during the time skip in his time spent with Jiraiya, the key was to go back to basics. His skill appreciation happens only after the time skip and not during it.
In this time frame, Jiraiya perhaps had the perfect opportunity to teach him the raw art of reading, writing, and arithmetic. A better understanding of language could have in turn benefitted his understanding of the various Chakras as well.
While there was always room for Naruto to grow beyond Sasuke’s abilities, there were a series of limitations that kept him from ever surpassing him. One that he came to overcome with time.
