History DethroningMoment / Naruto

* [=MeetTheNewBoss=]: Naruto Gaiden chapter 7. Naruto and Sasuke talking to [[BigBad Orochimaru]] like some old friendly acquaintance despite all the things Orochimaru did to them and others, and seeming to have received no punishment at all, and in fact seems to be still taking bodies of other people. It's so ridiculous that I can only compare to DracoInLeatherPants fanfiction, of the kind that Orochimaru already received in the past. This is so uniquely bad that I will drop it for the same reason as I drop this kind of fanfics: because the author failed to understand and follow the source material. Yes, Kishimoto managed to fail in following his own work.
* Typos: During the Hidan and Kakuzu Arc, Team 7 convenes at Kakashi's bedside to talk about next steps for reaching Sasuke. Sakura reveals the research she's been doing and asks what they can do. Kakashi reveals training for Naruto that both he and Yamato will be helping him on... leaving absolutely no consideration or training at all for Sakura. Really? Both instructors need to work with Naruto, and neither can be spared for Sakura?! That was bad enough, but then it got worse: when Team 10 went to avenge Asuma, Team 7 went after them as backup. OK, cool, with the exception of Shikamaru, it looks like we're gonna have some teamwork, right...? Uh, nope! Naruto gives his "hazardous bridge" talk to Kakashi, which translates to saying "I need to defeat this enemy alone so as to show off my new jutsu, even though he's technically Team 10's quarry!" and Kakashi eye-crinkles and says yes! As in, they pissed all over their "teamwork" theme that Kakashi preaches and Team 10 usually embodies! That was when I realized that Kishimoto really and truly didn't give a damn about teamwork and favored out-of-nowhere power-ups over character development, and that's when the manga went down the dumper for me. Sadly, I was proven right as the rest of the manga progressed.
* savagegenius: In one scene of the anime, after coming out of a tough battle, Naruto starts getting his wounds treated by Sakura, but she accidentally kept tickling him in the process. Despite him repeatedly telling her to stop, she has the audacity to get mad at him for complaining and punches him (again), to the point where she complains about having to worry about him at all despite Naruto not even doing anything to warrant all of that. Oh sure, real nice of you to act like that towards your friend, you dickhead. Between this and the moment where she punches Naruto after clinging onto him all because he looked at her with hearts in his eyes, its no surprise why people hate both her and this trope in general.

* FireShadow: Sakura's behavior in the [[Anime/NarutoTheMovieRoadToNinja Road To Ninja]] movie. Now granted, in the movies we often get [[{{Flanderization}} over exaggerated versions of how the characters usually act]] in the original series [[PlayedForLaughs for the sake of humor]]; however, this movie just takes it to a [[TookALevelInJerkass whole]] [[JerkassBall new]] [[UpToEleven level.]] She acts incredibly [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish and self-centered]] in the movie; however, its one scene in particular that really pissed me off. It happens right before [[spoiler:Naruto and Sakura are transported into the genjutsu world by Tobi/Obito]]; basically she was bitching and complaining to Naruto about how her parents were embarrassing her in front of her friends after a mission; Naruto, who may I remind you [[ParentalAbandonment doesn't have any parents]], basically tells her to shut up, [[DramaQueen stop overreacting so much and respect her parents.]] Sakura's response, no joke, word-for-word, was, "Sasuke would understand me". [[OutOfCharacterMoment Are.]] [[CharacterDerailment You.]] [[CanonDefilement Serious]]. The very same Sasuke who in the first few episodes of Part 1 of Naruto [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech stated, quite correctly and appropriately, how he couldn't tolerate her bratty, annoying and insensitive behavior]], [[HypocrisyNod spent many years trying to kill the ONLY family he had left]] and tried to [[AxCrazy kill her]] [[UnstoppableRage twice]] and Sakura now suddenly thinks, [[IgnoredEpiphany despite all that happening]], he would be able to sympathize with her [[LoveMakesYouDumb just because she still loves him?]] Her overall character has taken [[CharacterDerailment so many steps back]] since the time skip but that particular [[OutOfCharacterMoment unreal, insensitive and out of left field response]] was where she officially became TheScrappy in my opinion.
** Shadow200: Blame whoever wrote the script for that, probably the same person who did the goddamn two year long filler as well as the third movie. Sakura always get the short end of the stick when it comes to the anime. Though in her case, her CharacterDerailment in the manga is just as bad. News flash, Kishimoto, boosting characters' negative traits and making characters into [[UpToEleven obnoxious]] idiots is not funny; it's stupid and takes away from the product. Then again he probably wouldn't know with all the CharacterDerailment he's done as he's forgotten what the hell the series was about in the first place in favor of his preferred characters. And while I'm here I might as well give my dethroning moment. It was when Iruka coldly and rudely shoots Naruto down when he asks if he can put in a good word for him with Tsunade like the others' parents are doing to see if he will be made Jonin. Claiming he won't get special treatment (which he didn't even ask for) just cause he saved Konoha numerous times. Not even offering him a chance to become Chunin, Iruka; you're one of the nicest guys around and Naruto thinks of you like a brother and for you to act like a Jerkass to the kid who has saved your life time and time again makes me want to see a screwdriver driven into your socket.

* [=MeetTheNewBoss=]: Naruto Gaiden chapter 7. Naruto and Sasuke talking to [[BigBad Orochimaru]] like some old friendly acquaintance despite all the things Orochimaru did to them and others, and seeming to have received no punishment at all, and in fact seems to be still taking bodies of other people. The MoralDissonance is so ridiculous that I can only compare to DracoInLeatherPants fanfiction, of the kind that Orochimaru already received in the past. This is so uniquely bad that I will drop it for the same reason as I drop this kind of fanfics: because the author failed to understand and follow the source material. Yes, Kishimoto managed to fail in following his own work.

** Tropers/{{I Like Robots}}: Withdrawing my earlier entry to second this. Young Obito is one of my favorite characters in the series, but older Obito is awful. The biggest issue here is that Obito's survival and him turning into a villain ruins what made me love Obito in the first place. He was one of the few Uchiha aside from Shisui we'd gotten to see who wasn't a cold, emotionally stunted and brooding mysterious figure, or a self-absorbed, pretentious jerk. He was bright, cheerful, and a good person, which throughout Part II, where the manga had increasingly seen the Uchiha and the Sharingan as a SpotlightStealingSquad in more and more frustrating and uninteresting ways, was refreshing. He was the underdog, not a prodigy despite his clan name, who you rooted for anyway because of his zeal and refusal to abandon his teammate because of the rules. ''Kakashi Gaiden'' is one of the best parts of the series in my opinion, and largely because of Obito. I knew Obito for a few pages, and I was attached to him. His "death" was a huge emotional gut punch, and served to explain why Kakashi was the way he was during the main series, honoring his friend's memory, almost as a way to make up for his past mistakes and behavior, and what he didn't realize he had until it was too late. Not to mention, it served as a realistic reminder of the horrors of war and the shinobi system, forcing children to throw themselves into life-threatening situations, trying to get them to detach themselves from their emotions and feelings. Not everyone makes it during a war, and such a young, bright and kind child sacrificing himself to save his friends stuck with me. All in all, a tragic story at its finest. And then he survived, suddenly rendering that previous story and attachment moot. He returned to the series as a bitter, jaded and cruel person, which, sure, I know not everyone can hold onto idealism or optimism in the face of adversity, but the narrative ended up making him look as petty and spiteful as possible, with his attempting to end all free will in the world boiling down to "You let Rin die." I know his purpose was, like far too many of the series' villains, to serve as the cynic extremist that Naruto and company converts in the end, but even ''that'' wasn't done in a satisfying way, as with the "coolest guy" EasilyForgiven and DeathEqualsRedemption fiasco, [[KarmaHoudini all of the heinous things Obito's done at this point are pretty much ignored.]] Way to tarnish one of the best-written characters in your own manga, Kishimoto. The big lesson here, and one that Kishimoto refused to learn time after time, was that just because you ''can'' do a ShockingSwerve doesn't mean you ''should.''

** Tropers/{{ILikeRobots}}: Withdrawing my earlier entry to second this. Young Obito is one of my favorite characters in the series, but older Obito is awful. The biggest issue here is that Obito's survival and him turning into a villain ruins what made me love Obito in the first place. He was one of the few Uchiha aside from Shisui we'd gotten to see who wasn't a cold, emotionally stunted and brooding mysterious figure, or a self-absorbed, pretentious jerk. He was bright, cheerful, and a good person, which throughout Part II, where the manga had increasingly seen the Uchiha and the Sharingan as a SpotlightStealingSquad in more and more frustrating and uninteresting ways, was refreshing. He was the underdog, not a prodigy despite his clan name, who you rooted for anyway because of his zeal and refusal to abandon his teammate because of the rules. ''Kakashi Gaiden'' is one of the best parts of the series in my opinion, and largely because of Obito. I knew Obito for a few pages, and I was attached to him. His "death" was a huge emotional gut punch, and served to explain why Kakashi was the way he was during the main series, honoring his friend's memory, almost as a way to make up for his past mistakes and behavior, and what he didn't realize he had until it was too late. Not to mention, it served as a realistic reminder of the horrors of war and the shinobi system, forcing children to throw themselves into life-threatening situations, trying to get them to detach themselves from their emotions and feelings. Not everyone makes it during a war, and such a young, bright and kind child sacrificing himself to save his friends stuck with me. All in all, a tragic story at its finest. And then he survived, suddenly rendering that previous story and attachment moot. He returned to the series as a bitter, jaded and cruel person, which, sure, I know not everyone can hold onto idealism or optimism in the face of adversity, but the narrative ended up making him look as petty and spiteful as possible, with his attempting to end all free will in the world boiling down to "You let Rin die." I know his purpose was, like far too many of the series' villains, to serve as the cynic extremist that Naruto and company converts in the end, but even ''that'' wasn't done in a satisfying way, as with the "coolest guy" EasilyForgiven and DeathEqualsRedemption fiasco, [[KarmaHoudini all of the heinous things Obito's done at this point are pretty much ignored.]] Way to tarnish one of the best-written characters in your own manga, Kishimoto. The big lesson here, and one that Kishimoto refused to learn time after time, was that just because you ''can'' do a ShockingSwerve doesn't mean you ''should.''

* Typos: During the Hidan and Kakuzu Arc, Team 7 convenes at Kakashi's bedside to talk about next steps for reaching Sasuke. Sakura reveals the research she's been doing and asks what they can do. Kakashi reveals training for Naruto that both he and Yamato will be helping him on... leaving absolutely no consideration or training at all for Sakura. Really? Both instructors need to work with Naruto, and neither can be spared for Sakura?! That was bad enough, but then it got worse: when Team 10 went to avenge Asuma, Team 7 went after them as backup. OK, cool, with the exception of Shikamaru, it looks like we're gonna have some teamwork, right...? Uh, nope! Naruto gives his "hazardous bridge" talk to Kakashi, which translates to saying "I need to defeat this enemy alone so as to show off my new jutsu, even though he's technically Team 10's quarry!" and Kakashi eye-crinkles and says yes! As in, they pissed all over their "teamwork" theme that Kakashi preaches and Team 10 usually embodies! That was when I realized that Kishimoto really and truly didn't give a damn about teamwork and favored out-of-nowhere power-ups over character development, and that's when the manga went down the dumper for me. Sadly, I was proven right as the rest of the manga progressed.

** {{Tropers/I Like Robots}}: I used to genuinely love this series. Early in its life ''Naruto'' caught my eye and felt like a breath of fresh air in comparison to other Shonen series at the time. The series felt small, intimate and personal -- the stakes were relatively low in comparison to the planet-destroying conflicts of something like ''Manga/DragonBallZ'', the battles much more strategic than forceful, and the world more alive than other series I had read or seen. \\
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Naruto himself was a unique protagonist in that he was the ''epitome'' of ScrewDestiny, triumphing over genius and specially-powered person alike through sheer determination and will. The setup was great: Naruto was meant to be the hardworking everykid, unskilled and unrefined, without a special name or bloodline to fall back on, trying to make a name for himself in a world that either despised or looked down on him. Sasuke, as his {{foil}} and [[TheRival rival]] was meant to be the naturally talented one, the one with the prestigious bloodline and special powers.\\
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Granted, TheReveal that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage started the trend of destroying the "Naruto is a normal kid" thing, and while the Nine-Tails gave him something of a leg up on others in the first place[[note]]balanced and lessened by the fact that he could not consciously control it at first[[/note]], it wasn't until the reveal that he is the reincarnation of Ashura and ''is'', in fact, part of a world- and ages-spanning prophecy that [[BrokenAesop the most important, central aesop of the series was torpedoed into oblivion]], and it all went downhill from there. Naruto and Sasuke kept getting special power up after special power up, the majority of other characters ceased being relevant due to being unable to come ''close'' to the marks set by Naruto and Sasuke, people started throwing mountain-sized attacks, flying, and the like, and it stopped even resembling the manga it had once been. \\
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In my opinion, Kishimoto had a promising and interesting setup, but slowly drained ''Naruto'' of all of its good writing and entertainment value, not to mention its moral lessons. If Kishimoto wanted to avoid breaking his own aesop of "hard work trumps natural talent" and "ordinary people can be just as, if not more, powerful than those with special abilities," then [[BadassNormal Rock Lee]] should have been the protagonist of the series. [[ButtMonkey And we all know how the series treats him.]]

* Typos: During the Hidan and Kakuzu Arc, Team 7 convenes at Kakashi's bedside to talk about next steps for reaching Sasuke. Sakura reveals the research she's been doing and asks what they can do. Kakashi reveals training for Naruto that both he and Yamato will be helping him on... leaving absolutely no consideration or training at all for Sakura. Really? Both instructors need to work with Naruto, and neither can be spared for Sakura?! That was bad enough, but then it got worse: when Team 10 went to avenge Asuma, Team 7 went after them as backup. OK, cool, with the exception of Shikamaru, it looks like we're gonna have some teamwork, right...? Uh, nope! Naruto gives his "hazardous bridge" talk to Kakashi, which translates to saying "I need to defeat this enemy alone so as to show off my new jutsu, even though he's technically Team 10's quarry!" and Kakashi eye-crinkles and says yes! As in, they pissed all over their "teamwork" theme that Kakashi preaches and Team 10 usually embodies! That was when I realized that Kishimoto really and truly didn't give a damn about teamwork and favored out-of-nowhere power-ups over character development, and that's when the manga went down the dumper for me. Sadly, I was proven right as the rest of the manga progressed.
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* Tropers/{{Woodguy}}: Madara Uchiha vs 5 Kage. Before this fight, Naruto was beginning to show some drop in quality, but at least there was a chance to end the series with a well made finale to make up for previous bad decisions in regards to storyline. We were about to see 5 Kages united & going all out while Madara till that point was [[EvilIsCool well received]] for adding some suspense for finale. But instead of a well made fight, we saw Kages being treated as a bunch of rookies who can't do any significant damage to Madara even after teaming up & going all out while Madara pulls one new trick after another out of his ass to the level that was not hinted for any human to reach, resulting in an anti climatic, offscreen finish. Not only this was the first step at turning Madara into a boring villain who can't be defeated by anything the heroes bring or get, it completely destroyed the reputation of kages & the plot following this used too much [[ShockingSwerve shocking swerve]], derailed almost every important character & took the story to the point that many long time fans now don't even care about story & rather mock it since it's easier to enjoy Naruto this way than seriously as before.

** {{Tropers/I Like Robots}}: I used to genuinely love this series. Early in its life ''Naruto'' caught my eye and felt like a breath of fresh air in comparison to other shonen series at the time. The series felt small, intimate and personal -- the stakes were relatively low in comparison to the planet-destroying conflicts of something like ''Manga/DragonBallZ'', the battles much more strategic than forceful, and the world more alive than other series I had read or seen. Naruto himself was a unique protagonist, in that he was the absolute ''epitome'' of ScrewDestiny, triumphing over genius and specially-powered person alike through sheer determination and will. The setup was great: Naruto was meant to be the hardworking everykid, unskilled and unrefined, without a special name or bloodline to fall back on, trying to make a name for himself in a world that either despised or looked down on him. Sasuke, as his {{foil}} and [[TheRival rival]] was meant to be the naturally talented one, the one with the prestigious bloodline and special powers. Granted, TheReveal that Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage started the trend of destroying the whole "Naruto is a normal kid" thing, and while the Nine-Tails gave him something of a leg up on others in the first place[[note]]Though it was lessened with the fact that he could not consciously control it at first[[/note]], it wasn't until the reveal that he is the reincarnation of Ashura and ''is'' in fact, part of a world- and ages-spanning prophecy that [[BrokenAesop the most important, central aesop of the series was torpedoed into oblivion]], and it all went downhill from there. Naruto and Sasuke kept getting special power up after special power up, the majority of other characters ceased being relevant due to being unable to come ''close'' to the marks set by Naruto and Sasuke, people started throwing mountain-sized attacks, flying, and the like, and it stopped even resembling the manga it had once been. Honestly, in my opinion, Kishimoto had a promising and interesting setup, but slowly drained ''Naruto'' of all of its good writing and entertainment value, not to mention its moral lessons. If Kishimoto wanted to avoid breaking his own aesop of "hard work trumps natural talent" and "ordinary people can be just as, if not more, powerful than those with special abilities," then [[BadassNormal Rock Lee]] should have been the protagonist of the series. [[ButtMonkey And we all know how the series treats him.]]

* Tropers/{{ajr1218}}: Guy's fight against Madara, for two reasons: 1) The animation, and 2) the end result. Aside from the Night Guy, which turned out pretty [[AnimationBump kickass]] despite the Anime Time pace, Guy's prior 7th and 8th gate assaults were very poorly animated, made even more inexcusable by the months worth of filler beforehand. If Studio Pierrot were a respectable animation studio, they would have used the filler time to allow quality animators to do these very plot-critical scenes months in advance, rather that just [[CashCowFranchise milking the show]] and using their top animators for their shitty filler episodes. Secondly, the fact that Kishimoto made Guy's final kick connect [[ATeamFiring a few inches too far to the left]], completely sparing his heart and allowing his HealingFactor to kick in full gear, bringing him back to working order in a matter of seconds. Made even more insulting with Naruto coming in and overpowering Madara even faster than Guy, leading to the Tree ([[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Kaguya's]] will) having Madara absorb it. Yes, even though there was a backup available for Madara, Guy's fight was copped out so that Naruto can steal the spotlight. Also, the way Naruto "healed" Guy is no better than [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith the Sith's life-force stabilization]]. Guy was essentially [[AndIMustScream forced to live for 2 or so years of debilitating full-body 4th-degree burns that somehow managed to heal on their own]] (perhaps his time in the Infinite Tsukoyumi helped). Made even more insulting by the fact that Naruto has Kurama in him, known for its insane HealingFactor rivaling Madara's. Had Naruto used Kurama's power on Guy as well, he would have ended up in better shape... though at least 2 decades older due to the mass-scale cellular reconstruction.

* Bartzv: Like several of the previous entries, [[spoiler: Kaguya Otsutsuki]] being shoehorned into the big bad role after only being introduced 30 chapters or so beforehand with zero buildup or foreshadowing; and the reveal that [[spoiler: Black Zetsu was directly or indirectly behind virtually all the major events of the series for the purpose of reviving Kaguya]], also with zero buildup or foreshadowing. I could look past Kishimoto being terrible at writing women, I could look past the obvious retcons to part 1 material, I could look past much of the supporting cast getting thrown by the wayside, I could look past some of the major themes being contradicted by later events/revelations, I could look past Naruto's almost masochistic insistence on saving his "friend" Sasuke even though we never saw them in anything resembling a friendship, I could look past most of the plot revolving around Sasuke and the Uchiha as opposed to the title character, I could look past Pain resurrecting everyone he killed in Konoha, I could look past Danzo's rise to power not amounting to anything after he was built up as a major threat, I could look past Tobi being Obito even though everything that was intriguing about Tobi went out the window after that, I could just barely look past characters that should hate Sasuke's guts easily forgiving and rejoining him without even calling him out on any of the things he did to them (Karin in particular), I could just barely look past this war arc still continuing even though it feels like there has been multiple climaxes at this point, I could just barely look past every new fight scene bringing the story to a crawl, and I could just barely look past there being virtually no tension in this war arc because of the lack of significant character deaths. I've put up with a lot of flaws in this series, but Kishimoto finally lost me with these recent developments. Kishimoto, just because you wrote yourself into a corner by making your [[BigBad big bad]] too powerful doesn't mean you can ditch that character after building them up as the big bad for 300 chapters, replace them with [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere a new big bad from out of nowhere]], retcon virtually the entire series in order to justify this new villain's appearance, [[spoiler: and then have her get defeated just 10 chapters later]]. That's the epitome of sloppy writing. When I look back at where the series has been, I'm hit with extreme disappointment that this is what we've been building to all this time: An out of nowhere villain is the true cause of all this conflict and the true final villain; and I realize that Kishimoto isn't nearly as good a writer as I previously thought (that, or he started out as a good writer and deteriorated over time). I was faithfully collecting the manga and had the entire series up to vol.65, but after these latest plot twists, I sold the entire collection on eBay.

* Absoltheharbinger: Tobi's fight with Konan. Okay, so Konan set up an epic-scale trap with her paper powers. Tobi's Kamui grants him 5 minutes of continuous invulnerability, so Konan rigs the trap to go off continuously for ten minutes. Afterwards, Tobi is nowhere to be seen and Konan is visibly on the brink of death from exertion. So Tobi just pops up out of nowhere and stabs her with an iron rod. Wait, what? Barring the unfortunate implications of the only female Akatsuki member, as well as one of the only good ones, dying in her first real fight - Konan took a month to set up this trap, and almost killed herself managing and controlling the thing. So Tobi just pulls an over-powered RealityWarper jutsu out of his ass (and one that only Danzo and his eleven Sharigan had previously used) to literally cheat his way out of danger. It's kind of upsetting when one of the most powerful female characters in an approximately four-fifths-male cast is killed in a case of cosmic cheating. She isn't even StuffedInAFridge, as nobody but Tobi really knew that she had died, let alone used it for CharacterDevelopment.

** Mhj0808: I second this greatly. Also, let's please stress the fact that [[spoiler: Sasuke had a child with Sakura a bit more, shall we? Now out of all the ways their relationship arc could have ended, Kishi picked the absolute most downright ridiculous ending possible, as well as the worst way to build to that conclusion. Sakura's attitude towards Sasuke reeked of UnfortunateImplications; not even joking here, she quite literally almost satisfies the criteria for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traumatic_bonding being a victim of traumatic bonding]], as she pines away after a man who caused her severe emotional trauma, sent mixed signals with kindness one moment and coldness the next, and of course, tried to kill her several times since preadolescence. Also, speaking of Sasuke, he pretty much showed no signs of truly feeling any sort of romantic love for Sakura all the way up to chapter six-hundred and ninety-nine. Even their last meeting as teenagers in that chapter very much so felt like him firmly placing her in friendzone once again as he was, as usual, more concerned with himself. And let's not even talk about how his years as an established CelibateHero was essentially deleted to make room for the pairing (as of this writing, he's even the trope image for Celibate Hero). The pairing felt like a last ditch throw to appease the fans after a dismal final war arc, and seemed like something you would read out of a fanfic. All in all though, the real issue lies with Sasuke's forced HeelFaceTurn (which, as we know, was a [[AssPull whole another problem. "Love too much"]], anybody?); Kishi seems to believe that making Sasuke good again for the last 3 chapters qualifies as enough character development to justify him finally being able to fall in love. The problem is... it just wasn't enough to be convincing.]]

* Dynass999: For me it is Sakura's character development towards the end of the series and her continually pining away for Sasuke. It felt disturbingly like reading about a battered wife clinging onto her abusive husband and trying to justify his actions with the belief that "he's a good person, just going through a lot of problems right now". Sure, by the ending, [[spoiler:Sasuke is "good" again and Sakura has a daughter with him]], but it cames off like a terrible FamilyUnfriendlyAesop as though to say [[spoiler:look girls, stick with your abusive husband/boyfriend/whatever, he'll eventually come around and treat you right!... by leaving you with your child to wander the earth on their own like a deadbeat dad.]]

* Alexandri098: chapter 688 is where I lost my suspension of disbelief. It feels like a Gainax Ending, except this is not the ending. [[spoiler: Obito revives for a few seconds, gives Kakashi the sharingan without any contact and then goes back to death]]. Wat. Not only there is no way to explain this, but it could've been done way easier without any plot holes by [[spoiler: Obito kamuing both attacks, and with his last chakra giving his eyes to Kakashi and dying]]. But for some reason that didn't happen even if it would make much more sense.

%%* SeanRenad: Each new reveal of Naruto's heritage and fate. A lot of time is spend in Part 1 getting Naruto and to a lesser extent Rock Lee over as proof that hard work trumps good luck. Then we find out Naruto is the heir to not one but two powerful clans. One of them the Senju being equal to or superior to the Uchiha. The First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Hokage are all blood relation to give this some sort of scope. Jiraiya didn't take him under his wing because he saw something special in him, he did it because he's Naruto's Godfather. He believes he's the child of prophecy an old toad told him about. He's also the reincarnation of one of the sons of The Sage of Six Paths, the man who is credited with the creation of ninjutsu (who shows up and gives him more powers because of this fact). All the downsides of having a SuperPoweredEvilSide are eliminated and all pretense of this being an EnemyMine scenario are dropped over the course of a single battle. If the series had been about showing how even if you have good luck that you still need hard work it would be one thing. But instead by the end it's clear that yes, some people are just born better and you'll never compete on their level.%%

%%* Tropers/{{Lurkingal}}: I actually don't have a problem with most of the twists right now. I like Obito and Madara. My main problem is [[spoiler:how they are done. These characters' back-stories line up perfectly with their archetypes, roles, but the execution is SO thoroughly lacking. I mean seriously, Madara was once a lonely, hurt boy who wished for peace yet got so twisted by the world he turned into a generic villain sue? WTF Kishimoto! Back-stories are supposed to flesh out a character's present actions, to make them seem more justified. Instead they give me a glimpse of a What Had Been character that's more interesting, sympathetic, and believable than this shit-talking trash I've been reading week after week. I can get behind that Madara and Obito are, underneath it all: two traumatized boys that just want to fuck over this fucked up world and create a dream-world that's all lovey-dovey happiness because, hell, as sad as it is, that is a very real human feeling. I can get behind the fact they pretend to be cackling maniacs to conceal the pain and instability they feel inside as their world crumbles around them. I can relate to this being a genetic disorder that runs in the family. I really could. However, take a page from Tom Hiddleton. Subtext! They seem to enjoy or revel in their evil actions too much and there no subtext of "god, what have I done" until they've been [=TnJ=]'d by Naruto. It makes what should have been rich and tragic character development seem cheap and pointless. They aren't Old Yeller that's turned into a rabid dog that needs to be put down to preserve the memory of your old friend. It's like they were rabid dogs all along, and Hashirama and Kakashi are TooDumbToLive idiots who were idiots (Yes, I've used that word twice but the situation is so incredibly stupid it calls for non-ironic emphasis) for pretending otherwise. And the Sage, dear god the Sage, the fucking Sage. By stating that Indra and Asura were reincarnating themselves in Mada and Hashi then Naruto and Sasuke, and that they've been repeating the same cycle of destiny over and over. But wait! Madara is too crazy for Indra and actually breaks the cycle. What was the theme of Part 1 again? Screw destiny! Yet we're supposed to think the "screwing destiny" thing is crap now that Naruto and Sasuke are fulfilling the Sage's dreams/destiny? As many fans have noted, long before this troper did, Madara is the hero the story deserved]].%%
* Tropers/{{Woodguy}}: Madara Uchiha vs 5 Kage. Before this fight, Naruto was beginning to show some drop in quality, but at least there was a chance to end the series with a well made finale to make up for previous bad decisions in regards to storyline. We were about to see 5 kages united & going all out while Madara till that point was [[EvilIsCool well received]] for adding some suspense for finale. But instead of a well made fight, we saw kages being treated as a bunch of rookies who can't do any significant damage to Madara even after teaming up & going all out while Madara pulls one new trick after another out of his ass to the level that was not hinted for any human to reach, resulting in an anti climatic, offscreen finish. Not only this was the first step at turning Madara into a boring villain who can't be defeated by anything the heroes bring or get, it completely destroyed the reputation of kages & the plot following this used too much [[ShockingSwerve shocking swerve]], derailed almost every important characters & took the story to the point that many long time fans now don't even care about story & rather mock it since it's easier to enjoy Naruto this way than seriously as before.

* Tropers/{{JusticEqualsVengeance}}: I think I saw enough twists to see that this manga have no sense of direction and that the author have no idea what's writing or how he's going to end this. He just keeps making more and more twists just for shock value. The last one basically transformed [[spoiler:Black Zetsu]] in a instantaneous plot tumor and I hardly can believe this was somehow planned. I just quit. This just... sucked.

* VoidHerald: withdrawing my earlier entry, the entire deal with Black Zetsu and Kaguya. Beside the fact we only got hint a few chapters before it happens, the following revelations basically retcon the entire Naruto universe, make things even more confusing, and basically involves turning Zetsu into an omniscient individual. The sheer number of plot holes and inconsistencies is incredible.