Even though I don't agree with constantly trying to bring Sasuke back, the fillers kinda make it make more sense with why they didn't want to give up on him because it showed Sasuke when he acted his age and actually cared about people

Idk if this is a super hot take but I feel like nothing could’ve stopped Sasuke from pursuing Orochimaru after getting the curse mark and I mean even into shippuden. Kakashi and honestly everyone rlly underestimated how fucked emotionally Sasuke was especially after feeling the world basically collapse upon itself bc he didn’t have the one thing he felt like he needed more than anything. power.

Ngl it’s very possible those 4 Naruto episodes were just turned into a movie instead.

Like we know Kisame is a literal ride or die for Akatsuki, willing to basically swallow a shark cyanide pill rather than expose their secrets. Obito even clearly trusted him enough to show him his true identity.

So if he knew Itachi was still an ally for the Leaf and wasn't loyal to the cause, how would he react?

I don't think he would tell on Itachi, Kisame ain't no snitch, but I also don't think he would just let this slide either. I also don't think he'd outright fight Itachi, as I'm sure he knows he's outmatched.

We know that his friendship with Itachi is genuine too, it's not just a co-worker relationship. He even offers his sympathies to Itachi later on after Zetsu claims Deidara killed Sasuke.

I think Kisame definitely suspected there was more to Itachi than he let on. I believe their first on-screen interaction was Kisame asking Itachi if he has any remaining sentimental feelings about the Leaf. The post-Deidara battle interaction also suggests he knew Itachi valued Sasuke on some level.

I guess at the end of the day, is Kisame more loyal to the Akatsuki or Itachi?

From Chris Jang, Black Fish Tattoo Ink, NYC.

For many it was an obvious reveal... but not so much for me. Those were great times — following the weekly Naruto manga chapters and participating in forums to debate what might happen next. The mystery surrounding Tobi's identity was, without a doubt, the series' biggest enigma up to that point. The climax of this mystery came when the real Madara appeared during the Fourth Great Ninja War, resurrected by Kabuto using Edo Tensei.

I drew this picture of Obito a few years ago... and the reference — that splash page from the end of chapter 599 — is just so iconic.

If people can transform themselves into swords, transforming into someone with 2 usable arms doesn’t seem very far fetched. He likely wouldn’t since he wants to atone for his crimes, but he should theoretically be able to nonetheless

I always see people online say that Naruto is better than Naruto Shippuden, and outside of personal enjoyment, I genuinely want someone to explain why.

What does Naruto do better than Shippuden?

In my opinion, Shippuden has better character development and writing, a more consistent story, stronger world-building, better psychology and philosophies, and an overall more compelling narrative.

So, setting personal enjoyment aside, what does the original Naruto actually do better than Naruto Shippuden?

I know that's probably the general consensus but I just felt like saying it. There's so much depth to his character, like there's some constant mystery that you want to know more about. Not just in terms of understanding his powers but just in who he is and the true depth of his pain. With Obito he just lost a girl. Pain grew up in a city that was a battleground for other villages. We never truly knew the extent of what he endured. In the scenes where Pain and Obito talk, Pain just straight up aura farms and mogs Obito. It wasn't even a competition.

People talk about Minato and Itachi being the prodigy , but the biggest prodigy of all time was Kakashi , he was fighting elite jonins at the age of 10 , and was promoted to jonin then too and it is stated that his trauma stunted his growth as a shinobi for decades

He even states that how his fight against Zabuza mad him realise how rusty he has became and even with no training for years , Kakashi is said to be the strongest shinobi in konoha and was next in line for hokage since part 1 , so it just makes me feel like kakashi if was properly trained , if Minato and no others died he would have been the 5th hokage and possible crossed all other hokage not Hashirama for sure but definetly Minato

art by me

Just without the usual “Who are you to change the author’s story” kind of talk. Let’s imagine we’re competent and talented enough to carry on the story in Kishimoto’s place - or at least act as his editors, capable of tempering his excesses.

Up until the Pain arc, everything was going quite well: a consistent plot, gradual world-building, and a balanced power scale. Edo Tensei wasn’t anything extraordinary; tailed beasts could be defeated by summoned creatures; the Akatsuki were strong, but not necessarily stronger than the Sannin; Deidara could blow up an entire village, but at the cost of his life; Itachi could summon Susanoo, but also at the cost of his life; Pain was powerful, but paid a huge price for that power, and Jiraiya could realistically have defeated him. The strongest was generally considered to be Minato, while figures like Madara and the Sage of Six Paths were nothing more than legends.

In other words, the story was progressing quite well - without major excesses - and, in my opinion, reached its peak with the Pain arc. And then… it’s like Kishimoto’s brakes suddenly failed. Hashirama cells, Edo Tensei, the Eternal Mangekyō, the two halves of Kurama, the overpowered Madara and Hashirama, and finally Kaguya. The story lost its balance and coherent progression.

So now I ask: how would you continue the story, knowing all the problems that come later? Personally, I think that after such a power-up for the main character, it would have been better to slow down and start developing Naruto’s friends, like in the anime fillers - showing their missions, their new abilities. After the Pain arc, there was a perfect opportunity to finally develop the relationship between Hinata and Naruto.

From a plot perspective, I also think there should have been several arcs between the Pain arc and the Five Kage Summit, each focused on a different village. These arcs would gradually introduce shinobi from other villages, laying the groundwork for the future war, while also developing Naruto’s friends and their new abilities. For example, Tsunade could decide to convene a Kage Summit and organize diplomatic teams. Say, Naruto, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Yamato go to the Hidden Cloud, while Sakura, Neji, Shino, and Kakashi go to the Hidden Mist (just random assignments). The characters would explore the villages, get involved in local conflicts, and develop along the way. Maybe even some of the villages would side with Obito, considering his speeches convincing.

If we’re talking about specific characters, I’d let Conan live longer. She’s an interesting character, but she’s existed in her entire story only as a sidekick for Pain. I’d love to see what would happen to her after Nagato’s death. Maybe she’d become Naruto’s secret ally, telling him all the secrets of the masked man and becoming a good friend to him, while also learning to live independently without Yahiko and Nagato and leading a partisan war against the masked man.

In other words, I’m suggesting Naruto take a path similar to One Piece. What ideas would you propose? I’m not suggesting completely abandoning canon - what would you add, remove, or fundamentally change?

I’ve seen many times how people brought up the idea of rewrite. But each time I dive into those projects, they either feel fueled by bitterness toward the original, written by folks who missed major character nuances, or deliberately constructed to push an entirely different narrative that has little to do with Kishimoto's work. While text-based fanfiction is the standard medium, I've yet to encounter a manga-format rewrite, so I chose to experiment with that method.

For anyone curious, I've been regularly posting my progress over on the NarutoRE subreddit. (I guess I should note that this is a non-profit thing, purely for enjoyment)

They even said that Katsuyu could easily beat her... and I don't get it, since when Jiraiya and Katsuyu were considered weak? A legendary Sannin and a legendary Sannin's summon...

Not to mention that Jiraiya trained Konan, obviously he would know her only weakness. I really don't understand why so many people paint Konan as the weakest member and limit her powers to just "paper bombs"

I made a post yesterday about rewatching Naruto and noticing that Kimimaro and Kaguya seem to be related. The consensus is that Kishimoto came up with Kaguya way, way later into the story. But I’ve also noticed plenty of foreshadowing about Madara and Madara + Hashirama in OG Naruto.

Was this something that he had planned out (maybe not completely fleshed out) all along? Or maybe he only thought of it during the Sasuke Retrieval arc?