Summary
Quick Links
Masashi Kishimoto’s Magnum opus,Narutois a phenomenal story that has already been immortalized, and for a good reason. The quality of this story is absolutely phenomenal and fans know that Kishimoto put the utmost care in developing the story right until the very end.
Naturally, along the way, Kishimoto faced some difficulties, and one of the biggest ones came after the conclusion of the Pain Arc. It is here that Naruto Uzumaki matured a lot and finally realized many truths of the world. As Naruto matured, Kishimoto had to make many changes to the plot, and he revealed them all in an interview that he did a while back.
How the Pain Arc Changed Naruto Uzumaki
The Pain Arc is widely regarded as one of the very best in theNarutoseries. This arc is considered to be absolutely brilliant not just by Naruto fans, but by anime fans in general. This arc challenged Naruto Uzumaki greatly and forced him to grow after the loss of his mentor, Jiraiya.
What about my pain? My family? My friends? All of which were killed in a war caused by Konoha. — Pain to Naruto
At the same time,Kishimoto tackled the themes of war, peace, revenge, and hatredin this arc and handled all of them absolutely brilliantly. All these things resulted in Naruto Uzumaki turning from a young boy with a dream into a man with the motivation to help those in need and find true peace. According to Kishimoto, Naruto changed for the good here, and matured tremendously, finally understanding the truths of the world.
Naruto promised to Pain that he would take over the goal to find true peace, just like Nagato once had. He would be the protagonist of Jiraiya’s novel and prove that Shinobi can very well truly rely on each other, and that real peace does exist. This task, which neither Jiraiya nor the Fourth Hokage had the answer to, was absolutely mammoth for Naruto, yet he took it on with both hands and eventually achieved it in the end.
Why Kishimoto Struggled After The Pain Arc
Kishimoto Felt Too Much Talk Killed The Mood
The Pain Arc was mesmerizing, but at the same time,this arc challenged Kishimoto as well. While he pulled off what can be considered a phenomenal arc, what came after was now a big challenge for Kishimoto. He stated himself in an interview that he was constantly challenged by what came after the Pain arc, largely because Naruto now had to defeat his enemy without the intent to kill. Instead, Naruto preferred to settle things verbally, and even when he fought, he fought not to kill.
It’s still not too late. Stop running and come back and join us, Obito. — Naruto Uzumaki
To Kishimoto, this was to show the shonen nature of things in the story, so he definitely felt he had to go down this path. However, at the same time, Naruto is a battle manga where exciting fights will, eventually, make or break the story. To Kishimoto, Naruto always talking things out killed the mood, which is why he introduced the likes of Zetsu and Edo Tensei. With enemies such as these,Naruto Uzumaki could destroy them all, and even inflict deadly damage without having to worry about perpetuating the cycle of hatred.
At the end of the day, the decision to have Naruto go down the road of achieving true peace was a good one, and although it would’ve been fun to see him engage in battle with more decisiveness at times, Kishimoto introducing exciting Edo Tensei, and evil incarnatelike the Otsutsuki later down the linehelped alleviate the problems caused.
Naruto is available to read on theMangaPlusand the Shonen Jump app. Fans can read the official release and support the author by doing so.
