When it comes to describing a peak narrative in Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto, most of the fans will talk about the Pain arc. Although Naruto was already well-known and widely regarded as one of the greatest anime and manga series of all time, the release of the Pain arc elevated it to legendary status.
However, many Naruto fans often point out that the Pain arc is also the point from where the series started seeing its downfall. A large faction of Naruto fans believed that things started to degrade after the Pain arc as the narrative backed Kishimoto into a corner. The most likely explanation for this is that Kishimoto didn’t plan the story after Pain’s assault.
The Pain arc had a lot of significance in the series as it not only offered a new perspective to Naruto, but it also gave Konoha a chance to build everything from scratch and be ready for what was coming next. But Kishimoto dropped the bag with it as he started repeating plotlines and attacks, which disappointed Naruto fans.
Pain Arc Was The Best Naruto Arc Ever
One of the primary reasons why the Pain’s Assault arc is regarded as legendary is the character development of the arc’s main antagonist. Pain, or Nagato, was the supposed leader of the Akatsuki, and he was awaited by fans for a long time. Although a significant amount of his abilities were shown beforehand, it didn’t hurt the anticipation that fans had for him.
Fans were shocked to find out that Pain was Jiraiya’s former student, and this created a big buildup for Naruto’s face-off with the villain. Thus, when it finally happened, it blew Konoha to pieces. The arc certainly lived up to the satisfaction of fans, as it kept the biggest question in front of Naruto about his ninja way.
It fits perfectly with the storylines of the previous arcs, and Pain’s unprecedented power certainly lived up to his build-up. It had the right amount of darkness, the perfect blend of battles, a good narrative question, and a satisfying ending.
The Downfall of Naruto After Pain Arc
Although the Pain’s assault arc lived up to the expectations of Naruto, it also ruined the next storylines for them. This was because Masashi Kishimoto had to act upon the question that Nagato asked Naruto about experiencing war, which led to him prolonging the conclusion even further.
But as Kishimoto was forced to steer toward the Fourth Shinobi World War, he did not have much to work on. Thus, he had to repeat some major aspects from former Naruto arcs and storylines.
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While they helped him give an ending to Naruto, it certainly failed in comparison to the Pain Assault arc.
Many fans believed Naruto’s demise as a series was caused by a variety of factors, one of which was the excitement surrounding the Pain Assault arc. Fans’ expectations skyrocketed following Pain’s invasion of Konoha, and they began to compare every Naruto plot to it, leaving them disappointed. Thus, in hindsight, the greatest Naruto arc also caused the downfall of the series.
Naruto is available to watch on Hulu.
