History Naruto / TropesLToZ

** Naruto's Rasen Shuriken is not fully perfected when he unveils it during the battle against Hidan and Kakuzu. Nor does he have any actual experience using it in battle prior to this. Sure enough, his first attempt to use it fails, and it takes a second land a hit.

** The jutsu Amatarasu gets this. Initially introduced as black flames that burn to ashes anything they make contact with (even fire is consumed by them) and can't be dodged unless you can move/react faster than the user's eye can focus on you (since in its base usage the flames are not shot out but actually directly appear on the body of the target), the vast majority of the time it is used simply to showcase how the target ''can't'' be beaten by it (typically by them being able to absorb the chakra powering the flames). Over the course of the series Sasuke often uses it for defense or as an actual projectile to more practical means than the instant-win use it was originally introduced for.

* WorldOfBadass: Almost everyone relevant to the plot displays their badassery in one way or another. (Even Sakura, eventually.)

--->Sasuke: But first... I'm going to execute the Five Kages who are still inside the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

*** Similarly, [[spoiler:After he was revived, Madara managed to become fully human, while this gave him full autonomy over his Rinnegan and made him a deity in power, a stab to the back from Zetsu injures him once more, allowing the GreaterScopeVillain to reincarnate from his body.]]

* RealityEnsues: In an intense social setting like this, there's bound to be:

** Naruto's obsession with redeeming a traitor and would-be mass murderer just because they happen to have an abrasive WorthyOpponent dynamic (which the audience is repeatedly told is friendship) is treated, at worst, as idealistic to a fault. When ''bad guys'' are loyal to villains who showed them kindness, it's tragic and destructive (Haku, Zaku, [[OneOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Kimimaro]]). To be fair, there ''are'' exceptions where it is portrayed as a redeeming characteristic for a villain, such as with Kisame.

* ShooOutTheClowns: The first few episodes are punctuated by several silly {{Running Gag}}s, including [[GenderBender Gender Bending]]-induced {{Nose Bleed}}s and [[ToiletHumour gastrointenstinal malfunction]]. These stop getting used very quickly, and are used maybe once or twice at total since the beginning of Part II, and even then strictly in CallBack capacity. (It's worth noting that the anime takes those one-off gags from nearly a decade ago and is ''still running with them'' whenever some {{Padding}} is called for, making for a rather weird intra-franchise example of NeverLiveItDown.)

''Here be spoilers. Anything that has not been aired on the free version[[note]]one week after the paid version[[/note]] of [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Naruto_Shippuden Crunchyroll]] should be spoiler-tagged.''

** Whenever an Uchiha uses the Mangekyo Sharingan, they run a risk of going blind when they use it too much. To avoid this, they replace their original with a Mangekyo that belongs to a close biological relative, like a sibling in Madara's and [[spoiler:Sasuke's]] cases.
** In order to enter and maintain Sage Mode, the user must stand still in order to gather enough Natural Energy. That said, three users have been able to bypass this:

** With Naruto, he creates shadow clones and has them gather Natural Energy for him. Whenever he needs to recharge, he dispells one of the clones. [[spoiler:After becoming friends with Kurama, he can gather Natural Energy for Naruto]].

** Madara, of all people, is on the receiving end of this. [[spoiler:After he became the Ten Tails jinchūriki and activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Black Zetsu stabbed him in the back saying that [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech he was a fool for believing he's the only one who can manipulate people]]. All he can do now is become [[BiggerBad Kaguya]]'s new vessel.]]

** The Sage of Six Paths. Originally just the man who was the first user of chakra and supposed progenitor of the Uchiha and Senju clans, and later the one who brought the tailed beasts into being by defeating a worse creature and splitting it up, it eventually turns out that [[spoiler:Naruto and Sasuke, and Hashirama and Madara before them, are direct reincarnations of his sons, his mother is actually the BiggerBad, and her "third son" [[TheDragon Black Zetsu]] has been manipulating the world since the Sage's time try and bring her back.]]

** During the dénouement of the World War Arc, which features endless powerups, backstabbings, ultimate villain introductions, and inexplicable dramatic turnarounds, [[spoiler:Sakura sees the Sage of Six Paths - a mythological figure that was supposed to have been dead for eons - floating and congratulating her for saving the world.]] She doesn't even bother trying to find out how the hell this is possible, and just says that at this point [[SeenItAll nothing would surprise her, and she's frankly tired of it all]].
* LastConfessionWins: {{Subverted|Trope}} with Sakura's [[NeverLiveItDown infamous]] [[FalseConfession fake love confession]] to Naruto in Chapter 469, which came after Hinata's sincere AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in Chapter 437. Not only does Sakura's fake confession spectacularly ''fail'' to win, it explicitly ''loses''--it is rejected outright, rightfully accused of not being emotionally honest because it was genuinely ''not'' an honest confession, and in retrospect, serves as the '''definitive''' ShipSinking for [=NaruSaku=].

** [[AllThereInTheManual Son Goku's Jinchuuriki, Roshi, as well as himself, are able to use lava]].
** The 5th Mizukage pulls [[http://kaiafa.deviantart.com/art/Mei-Terumi-Yoton-Gif-203312081?q=favby%3Abrandonhanns%2F45210890&qo=21 this]] outta her sleeve.

** Orochimaru tried to plant the First Hokage's GreenThumb skill in 60 kids. It only worked on Yamato--the other 59 ''all'' died horrible deaths. Danzō used Orochimaru's research to do the same thing to himself.

** Overuse of chakra can have visible effects on one's body in addition to fatigue. Using a large amount of chakra at once (or having it drained) results in loss of muscle mass, loss of power and, if it's not stopped, death. Notable examples are Nagato, Kisame, Choji and Shikamaru. Conversely, receiving a huge amount of chakra in an instant restores a person's strength, muscle mass and heals them. Notable examples are Kisame, Reanimated Nagato, Choji, Shikamaru and [[spoiler:Guy after he opened the eighth gate.]]

** The Jinchuuriki's.

* LivingWeapon: The Jinchuuriki. Yes, even Naruto. In fact, ''especially'' Naruto. He is the only one who had a specific target - the masked man who attacked the village in the first place (though that story turns out to have been more complicated than anyone anticipated).

*** Naruto's emotional dependency on Hinata first became apparent during the Invasion of Pain arc. Along with still reeling from his master Jiraiya's death, Naruto has just seen his village completely demolished, confirmed that his sensei Kakashi is dead, and just saw his frog-sensei get killed in front of him, and yet he still maintains control of his emotions. But as soon as he is ForcedToWatch Pain almost fatally stab Hinata with one of his chakra rods, right after [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove she sincerely confessed her love to him]]--which was the first time he ''ever'' heard ''anybody'' say that to him genuinely--Naruto crosses the DespairEventHorizon, [[DarkestHour completely loses his will to live]], and [[FromBadToWorse nearly releases the Nine-Tails]].

*** In the {{canon}} movie ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie'', after Hinata [[spoiler:"rejects" Naruto (so that she could save Hanabi)]], Naruto falls into a [[HeroicBSOD deep depression]] for four days--three of which he spends in an AngstComa--and comes very close to ''giving up on everything''. A pep-talk from [[ShipperOnDeck Sakura]] regarding the depths and unwavering nature of [[spoiler:Hinata's love for him]] snaps him out of it and gives him a HeroicSecondWind. After the FinalBattle, Naruto and Hinata [[spoiler:finally become a couple, get married, and have two children together]].

** The [[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan Jinchuuriki]] tend to suffer from this from their earliest childhoods.

** Also Kushina Uzumaki, [[JustifiedTrope who explains]] that a female Jinchuuriki's pregnancy is 10 months instead of the usual 9.

** [[HoYay Naruto's platonic love for Sasuke]] has torn him apart ever since he defected. [[LovingAShadow His one-sided shallow crush on Sakura]] didn't give him anything nicer either, and it led to their definitive ShipSinking in the Five Kage Summit arc, where he outright rejects her infamous [[FalseConfession fake love confession]] in Chapter 469 and renews his promise to bring Sasuke back ''not'' for her anymore, but for [[TrueCompanions his own reasons]] in Chapter 470. The poor guy can't even be relaxed in a mutual romance when he confesses [[OneTrueLove his love]] to [[spoiler:Hinata]] in the {{canon}} movie ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''--he gets coldly "[[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim rejected]]" and finds out she's getting married to [[BigBad Toneri]], which leads him to get a HeroicBSOD for four days--three of which he spends in an AngstComa--until his friends snap him out of it. Fortunately he gets to [[EarnYourHappyEnding Earn His Happy Ending]] with all of the listed above.

* TheManBehindTheMan: Naruto exaggerates this trope to absurd extremes, it's first revealed that [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Akatsuki]] is lead by a mysterious figure known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pain]]. Some chapters and an important character death later, we find out that "Pain" is actually a [[PeoplePuppets collection of dead bodies controlled]] by a man named Nagato, who [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil once studied under the same sensei]] as Naruto. Then Nagato is actually being manipulated by a masked man known by the alias "Tobi" who claims to actually be the [[TheDreaded legendary shinobi known as Madara Uchiha]]. Later on, Tobi [[DeadPersonImpersonation isn't the real Madara Uchiha, but is actually a former leaf shinobi named Obito who used to be a student of Naruto's father and later turned evil.]] Then, it turns out Obito's [[AssimilationPlot "Moon's Eye Plan"]] was actually the real Madara's plan, and Obito was also supposed to bring Madara back to life to he become the jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails. [[GambitPileup But later we learn that Obito never had any intention of reviving Madara and himself using him in order to become the jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails]]. But then, turn out they both was being manipulated the entire time by Black Zetsu, a mysterious member of Akatsuki and a being that Madara thought he himself had created to carry out his will. And Black Zetsu? He's actually carrying out the will of Princess Kaguya, an ancient [[PhysicalGod Physical Goddess]] whom the current shinobi clans are descended from and who created Black Zetsu centuries ago right before she was [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] to ensure that she would be revived. And ''then''… [[OverlyLongGag okay, just kidding.]]

** Kakashi means scarecrow. This doesn't immediately sound very flattering- until you realize a scarecrow's purpose is literally to protect things that cannot protect themselves. Suddenly Kakashi's role as team 7's protector at the start of the manga and his role as the Sixth Hokage start to make sense. Also in one episode, the team follow Kakashi to find out what's under his mask. Sakura watches Kakashi standing at the stone memorial for a while until she figures out something is wrong. Sure enough, Kakashi used the substitution technique with a scarecrow that looked just like him from a distance.

** Naruto and the Nine Tails communicate in a share mindscape that looks like a prison cell with a very shallow pool of water. Initially, Kurama was locked up behind the seal but after they become friends, the prison bars vanish. Every Jinchuuriki and their Tailed Beast communicate in a similar area.

** Naruto. Let's count his Messiah credentials... He is TheChosenOne by prophecy. He has [[TrueCompanions a number of devoted followers.]] He's persecuted for most of his early life for being a [[PersonOfMassDestruction Jinchuuriki]]. He's technically dead with Kurama extracted from him and is about to be revived to save the world and most especially he is the reincarnation of the youngest son of the Sage of Six Paths, AKA the God of Shinobi, who was chosen as the Sage's successor.

** Sage of Six Paths aka Hagoromo Otsutsuki was this during his time, when he created the Ninshu/Ninja Creed. [[AdaptationExpansion Shippuden episode 464]] is ''almost'' a retelling of the life of UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}: just replace Hagoromo for Jesus and Futami for St. Peter. Hagoromo wants to atone for the role Kaguya played in nearly destroying the world, just like Jesus died in the Scriptures for everyone's sins. The sage then [[WalkingTheEarth travels around the world]], restoring the land and assisting the people, [[TrueCompanions gathering disciples along the way]] after [[AllLovingHero inspiring them with his goodness]] (many of whom turn out to be [[TheAtoner former thieves]], just like the apostles). He even works as a carpenter fixing bridges- Jesus's father was a carpenter! Just to get the point across further, Hagoromo [[SecondComing returns during the Ten Tails's comeback]] to grant Naruto and Sasuke the Yin and Yang releases.

* MiseryBuildsCharacter: Played straight and subverted. Several people, the main character included, are better people specifically because they can empathize with the pain others are feeling. However, the main character makes it very clear that endless suffering is like drowning, and you can only last so long without someone pulling you up for air. The jinchuuriki who have someone supporting them turn out well, like Bee and Naruto, but the ones like Gaara who have nobody....don't turn out well. And there are cases like Haku and several members of the Sound, who suffered so much that a single act of kindness or even neutrality made them devote themselves to people just to feel needed, even when they knew they were just being used as tools.

* TheNeedsOfTheMany: Suspicions that someone bearing the sharingan was involved in the Nine Tails incident, combined with the Uchiha clan's isolation (caused by the Second Hokage's reformations), the [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Fourth Hokage]]'s death, the Third Hokage's reluctance to take measures and Danzo's manipulations to further his ambitions, stretched the -already strained- relations between the Leaf and the Uchiha clan to a breaking point. To ensure their interests were safeguarded, the Uchiha planned a coup d'état that would lead to a civil war and, probably, an invasion of the Land of Fire by its neighbours that would result in the deaths of thousands. With no diplomatic solution available, since those on either side who would mediate between the two factions had been "removed" from the game, the Leaf's elders ordered Itachi to kill every member of the Uchiha clan to prevent this from happening.

** Tsunade has light shades of this, since one easily forgotten reason of why she got picked up to be 5th Hokage is that she's respectively the grand-daughter and grand-niece of the 1st and 2nd Hokages. It's by '''no way''' THE one reason, but it's there, somewhere at the bottom.

* NoHarmRequirement: The [[StandardEvilOrganizationSquad Akatsuki]] were tasked with catching the Jinchuuriki to extract their Tailed Beasts. However, the ritual to extract the beast only works if the host is still alive. Kisame remarked how ''not'' killing them was the hardest part of the job.
* NoHuggingNoKissing: There is effectively ''no'' on-page romance in the series at all. Kurenai ended up pregnant with [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy the late Asuma's child]] without them having even ''appeared on the same page'' for several hundred chapters beforehand and in chapter 700 we just get to see all the characters paired up along with their children (including some characters [[PairTheSpares who never even MET during the story]]) with no signs of their relationships (most didn't even interact with their own spouses). This was due to Masashi Kishimoto's [[http://www.saiyanisland.com/2014/11/kishimoto-sensei-speaks-after-narutos-finale/ self-confessed inability to write romance]], which he attributed to chronic embarrassment. Only [[spoiler:Naruto and Hinata]] subverts it with ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie'' [[spoiler:where they get a detailed RomanceArc which ends with TheBigDamnKiss that signifies the start of their relationship]]. Kishimoto thought he wouldn't be able watch the said scene but "surprisingly" he could and felt like his children grew up and flew away from home.

* NotEvenHuman: How most people in the manga view jinchuuriki. This way of thinking is a personal berserk button for Naruto.

** {{Inverted|Trope}} with Obito - when he is finally introduced properly as a villain, the ''first'' thing we learn is how similar his beginnings were to Naruto's; it is only later revealed how radically different their choices and conclusions had been.

** Naruto's own parents recognize each other as this as well. His mother Kushina was bullied as a child for being an outsider and for her long flowing red hair in particular, which caused her to resent it. She also initially didn't think much of his father Minato, believing him to be "flaky", [[GenerationXerox similar to how Naruto initially thought of Hinata as "weird"]]. One day, though, Kushina was kidnapped by Kumo ninja for being the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. She made a TrailOfBreadCrumbs using strands of her hair, and just when it seemed no one had caught on, [[RescueRomance Minato appeared and rescued her]]. He was the only one to catch on to what she was doing, and even admitted that the first thing he noticed about her when they first met was [[HeroesWantRedheads her beautiful long red hair]]. That was the moment that Kushina realized that the hair she hated so much had become her RedStringOfFate that led her to her soulmate.

* OneSteveLimit: There exists 2 characters in the show proper named Fu, Fu, the Jinchuriki and Fu Yamanaka, the Root member.

** All the Akatsuki have a OneWingedAngel form in one way or another. Kakuzu's [[CombatTentacles tentacle mass thing]], Hidan's Grim Reaper form, Kisame's Samehada-Fusion form, Itachi and Sasuke's [[PowerArmor Susano'o]], Sasori's real body, Konan and her paper angel form, Pain already consists of ''six remotely controlled zombies''; his final revealed form was a creepy wasted body impaled by many chakra antennae. Deidara did the thing mentioned in the trope description of becoming a living bomb... [[BigBad Tobi]] the only who do not have this (Well, that is, before he became Jinchuuriki Ten-Tails).
** All the Jinchuuriki have this. They have their human forms, then the Version 1 (as Killer Bee called it) chakra shroud, which is still human, but has the chakra of his/her Tailed Beast creating a BattleAura with the appearance of the beast. Then there is the Version 2, which makes the Beast's chakra burn their skin and making the tails solid, and has the risk of reducing the Jinchuuriki lifespan if he doesn't have the beast under control. Then there is the change into the beast itself...
* OnlyAFleshWound: ''"Oh, my god! That was my arm! They ripped off my arm! AARGH!"'' - A quote not uttered by anyone at any point in the series, though logic dictates it ''should be'' on at least five separate occasions. On ''two'' separate occasions, a villain has this done to them, and instead of the battle being over right there and then, they just kept fighting to eventually ''win''. This is especially odd given how much Orochimaru was both furious and terrified at the loss of his arms (sealed, rather than cut off) - however, his reaction's based around being no longer able to use ninjutsu, rather than the loss of his arms' functionality ''period''.

** Minato - Shortly after Naruto is born, Tobi shows up and threatens his newborn son. Minato pulls no punches in ensuring his child survives, even ultimately sacrificing his own life to make sure the threat is dealt with.

** Neji, whose death--according to Kishimoto--serves the purpose of pulling Naruto and Hinata closer together after the WarArc.

** Post-Pain Arc, Naruto has been running himself ragged with him unable to talk to his adopted "grandmother" Tsunade due to her coma in the ensuing invasion. He learns Sasuke has become a criminal and attacked a fellow Jinchuriki ''for'' Akatsuki. He learns that his friends, even Sakura, whom Naruto ''knows'' is [[SingleTargetSexuality still in love with Sasuke]], have given up on bringing Sasuke back to Konoha. Then when he's told there will be ''War'' on top of everything... he can't take it anymore and passes out. A realistic depiction of a {{Determinator}} when pushed to the limit, especially when he seems less likely than ever to accomplish the goal he'd been working towards for three years.

** Karui and Samui of Kumogakure are a female Red Oni[=/=]Blue Oni pair. Karui is a hot-tempered DarkSkinnedRedhead, while pale blonde Samui is level-headed and calm--hell, her [[MeaningfulName name even means "cold."]] She also serves as the BlueOni to her Red Oni brother, Atsui (though they look similar in appearance and hinted they are twins). Unsurprisingly, his [[MeaningfulName name means "hot."]]

** Despite their hair colors mismatching the trope (at first), near the end of Pein's fight with Naruto. Pein becomes the Red Oni by losing his emotionless attitude and slowly turns drastically infuriated when fighting the enraged Jinchuuriki. Pein's Blue Oni exterior finally faded [[RageBreakingPoint showing what many years of torture can do to you]]. Konan proved to be the Blue Oni after warning [[spoiler:Nagato]] not to over-exhaust his power, and attacks her foes when it is truly personal or she is ordered to. This is a clever example of how both Onis can switch at any time of a story.

** In the latter stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War, [[spoiler:[[EvilCounterpart Obito]]]] [[BigBadDuumvirate and]] [[PredecessorVillain Madara]] form an interesting version of the trope. When Madara is first [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead reanimated]]]], he appears to be a [[TheStoic stoic]] villain who kills his enemies with a perfectly straight face. However, when [[spoiler:[[TheRival Hashirama]] [[BackFromTheDead is reanimated]]]], he starts wearing a SlasherSmile and generally going off the deep end while [[spoiler:Obito]] remains perfectly [[TheStoic stoic]], only being briefly fazed when he first [[spoiler:[[SealedEvilInACan becomes the Ten-Tails']] [[SealedInAPersonShapedCan jinchuuriki]]]].

** The 5th female Kage's, [[NeverMessWithGranny Tsunade Senju]] and [[LadyofWar Mei Terumi]] can count too. Tsunade being the Red Oni has an awful habit of losing her temper and starting bad habits very easily, her strength is astonishing easily making her one the most powerful female characters of the series. Mei being the Blue Oni not only wears blue but acts with much elegance and kindness even towards her enemies, although she also has a BerserkButton like the latter, however she'd rather warn them than outright knock them out.

** The previously CardCarryingVillain Orochimaru outgrows his fetish for fanning the flames of war and becoming a perfect immortal being, and now wants to trust his knowledge to the next generation and see what happens. His slithering snakes and creepy rituals, once used to terrorize the innocent and shake the foundations of nations, are now used to bolster faltering heroic forces and give confused teenagers history lessons. Orochimaru's former friend Tsunade--whose life he goes out of his way to save--uncomfortably accepts him as an ally again, but makes a point of asking "but why, Orochimaru? Why have you always been such an asshole? Why are you suddenly now not being an asshole? Are you aware of the fact that our friend Jiraiya may have still been alive if you had decided to stop being an asshole earlier?", to which Orochimaru basically replies with "don't nag me with your silly hypotheticals."

* RefugeInAudacity: So you attack under a flag of truce in order to break into a compound of one of the most powerful clans in an enemy village and kidnap the 3-year old daughter of the clan head in order to steal her eyes, but her father thwarts the attempt by killing the kidnapper CAUGHT IN THE ACT. What do you do? Pretend the kidnapping attempt never happened and accuse her father of murder, and demand that he be put to death and have his body delivered to you (which would also give you access to the eyes you wanted), and if they don't comply, you'll resume the war. International politics, Cloud village-style.

** In terms of being stored in a kettle, apparently that did happen. However, it was removed to be placed inside a shinobi. As for the priest bit, it turns out he was just the previous Jinchuriki.
** Going further back, in the first chapter (not just the pilot, which is in a different continuity and has this as its premise, but also the first chapter of the actual series), it's treated as if Naruto ''is'' the Nine-Tailed Fox in human form, rather than simply having it sealed inside him. The Hokage worries that he might regain his old form, and Naruto gets a brief HeroicBSOD on being told that he's literally the Nine-Tailed Fox. In current continuity, where Jinchuuriki are a major cultural institution, it's impossible to imagine anyone making that mistake. Note, though, that it's ''Mizuki'' telling him he is literally said beast, and anything that guy ever says should be taken with a grain of salt.
*** Furthermore, Chapter 438 demonstrates that their fear was pretty close to being right. Though the Jinchuuriki is not the beast itself, the Jinchuuriki can be swallowed by the beast's will and release the beast, which is effectively the same thing as what they were afraid of.
** In the 3rd Hokage flashback, he seems to be a kid when he's appointed Hokage, and the First is still alive. Many chapters later, Danzo's flashback gives a completely different version of Sarutobi's nomination, be it his age or the circumstances.

* RightMakesMight: Nearly always {{Averted}}, and even {{Inverted}} often, which is surprising given the manga's position on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism. When a character with admirable spirits and ideals is pitted against some overpowered sociopathic bastard, the former stands a good chance of getting exactly what they figured was coming to them. (e.g., Naruto & Sasuke vs. Orochimaru; Sakura vs. Sound Trio; Konan vs. Tobi; Asuma vs. Hidan; every fight ever with Hinata or Rock Lee in it). Naruto himself merely averts this for the most part - he relies on [[{{Determinator}} determination]], being MadeOfIron, and the element of surprise to come through, and only resorts to self-affirmation as a response to [[BreakThemByTalking psychological warfare]].

** Rock Lee falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Sakura in what is initially an obvious bit of comic relief. Almost immediately, he is proclaiming his love to her and going to extreme lengths to catch her attention--including but not limited to throwing cartoonish heart-shaped kisses in her direction. Instead of running with this (like Naruto's similar antics), the series opts to ShooOutTheClowns and build on Lee's affection as a serious thing, culminating in a scene where Lee risks his life for Sakura's sake while knowing full well his chances with her won't get any better for it. After that incident, the gag-gone-plot-point is just dropped, and doesn't get picked up again, apart from Lee's unpleasantly surprised reaction to Sakura's [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim fake love confession]] to Naruto, signifying he's not happy about being third at best to Naruto and Sasuke. As a point of contrast, the spin-off ''Manga/RockLeesSpringtimeOfYouth'' shows that [[DoggedNiceGuy Lee's still trying and failing to win her over.]]

** SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan: The Tailed Beasts are sealed inside people known as Jinchuuriki.

* SeriesContinuityError: The most powerful techniques used by an Uchiha depend on the state of their eyes - when Sasuke was going blind due to over-using his Mangyeko techniques, those techniques deteriorated and vanished as a result. However, in the end of the series, [[BigBad Madara]] continues to use these same techniques despite having no eyeballs whatsoever, frustrating fans who were hoping that this character would get some comeuppance.

** Back when Tsunade (the 5th Hokage) was sick after her attempts to protect Konoha's people from Pain (Akatsuki's leader)'s invasion, Danzo, one of the elders of Konoha, becomes the acting Hokage for the meeting between 5 Kages in the Land of Iron. After the meeting's over, he got ambushed by Sasuke and then died in battle. Tsunade also gets well again around that time to take the position back.
** After the "saving Gaara" arc where Kakashi (leader of Team 7) gets injured, Tsunade appoints one of Kakashi's friends, Yamato, as a temporary leader for Naruto and Sakura. Together, they try to go after their rogue friend Sasuke, but the mission ends in failure; Kakashi gets well soon afterward to take the position back. Not long after, Yamato also becomes the temporary leader of Team 8 (Kiba, Shino and Hinata) as their leader Kurenai is on a maternity leave.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Most teams have a single token female member if they have any at all. Also applies to the Akatsuki, though Konan isn't really a member. Inverted with a three-man team of Cloud ninja that has two female ninja and one male ninja. Averted for the 5 Kages: there are two female ones, Tsunade and the 5th Mizukage.

* SwordfishSabre: The Giant Marlin has a ''litteral'' double-edged sword as his rostrum, and is quite apt at using it.

** Kakashi describing Sakura as a kind person and defending her persistent feelings for Sasuke--saying that, unlike hate, love doesn't need to be justified--could be interpreted as Kishimoto's own defense of Sakura against common fan criticisms alleging she is a shallow bitch whose love for Sasuke is a bad thing. If translations are correct, the author himself apparently expressed concern with Sakura's reception among audiences.

** Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage in sealing the fox; turns out he wanted to give his son Naruto a weapon against [[BigBad Tobi]]. That, and stopping a giant fox from killing them all. On top of that making the seal so he would appear when his son was stupid, distraught or desperate enough to consider releasing it.

** The real Madara Uchiha attempted to pull one off. He left Tobi in charge of carrying out his plans and intended for Nagato to revive him later. This didn't go as planned due to Nagato making a HeelFaceTurn and sacrificing his life to revive the villagers he killed and Tobi who going to become the jinchuuriki of the Ten Tails himself and never had any intention of reviving him. Nonetheless, he gets revived as a zombie later on by Kabuto and subsequently hijacks the jutsu so he can't be controlled.

** [[spoiler:Madara’s resurrection in the 4th Ninja War was also a case of this. Obito never intended to resurrect him as he aimed to take control of the Moon’s Eye Plan. He would have succeeded if not for Kabuto resurrecting Madara with the Edo Tensei. It's ultimately revealed that Black Zetsu was the one who led Kabuto to the location of Madara’s corpse as part of his plan to bring back Kaguya Ootsutsuki.]]

** After his HeelFaceTurn, Kurama is added to the list. He's not fond of Naruto; he just wants to be entertained by watching him fight some more. In addition, during the battle against [[spoiler:Jinchuuriki!Obito]], Kurama admits that the only reason he wouldn't let Naruto harness sage chakra at Mt. Myoboku is [[ThisIsMyHuman because he was annoyed that Naruto would use Sage chakra over his.]] [[CannotSpitItOut The boy calls him out on this.]]

* VillainRevealsTheSecret: StarterVillain Mizuki reveals to Naruto that he is the container of the Nine-tailed Fox and that the villages hated him because of it.

** Sasuke's sudden change of heart that, at the time, seems to be a very sudden HeelFaceTurn, and his subsequent declaration that he will compete with Naruto for the Hokage title--meaning that he suddenly aspires to lead and protect the very same village he just spent years plotting to burn to the ground. This is so absurd at the time that the author duly [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it by showing characters in-universe having literally the exact same "WHHHAAAAAT?" reaction to it as the audience probably has. This sharp turn in the story is evened out later, when we learn that Sasuke's change of heart is not as benevolent as we might have hoped, and that by "become Hokage" he means [[spoiler:something entirely different, and [[ZeroApprovalGambit much darker]] than what everyone has come to associate with that ambition.]]
** Remember how it took nine Akatsuki three days to extract one Bijuu from one Jinchuriki? Madara single-handedly extracts nine Bijuu from eight Jinchuriki in seconds. Bee is presumed dead [[spoiler:(his tentacle clone saved his life)]], Naruto needs a crash team, and Madara takes the opportunity to stab Sasuke in the heart. Oh, and suddenly [[spoiler:Karin]] learns how to use chakra chains.

* WhamShot: The reveal of Kabuto's trump card--Madara Uchiha reanimated using Edo Tensei--at a moment when we think Madara is someone else entirely.

** Hinata's little sister Hanabi played a significant role in the former's backstory; Hanabi was considered stronger and more promising than her sister ''despite'' the age gap, and this (among other things) led their father to hold Hinata in great contempt and eventually disown her, while choosing Hanabi to eventually inherit the clan. Following this plot hook, Hanabi disappears off the face of the Earth, and for most of the manga she is not even mentioned in passing (which, understand, is a really sad place to be; in this manga, even the most minor of recurring characters get mentioned in passing now and then). [[spoiler:Hanabi finally resurfaces--after a fashion--during the ongoing climax of the Fourth Great Ninja War arc, where she appears briefly in Hinata's LotusEaterMachine dream world. And then she finally returns at the end of the series in ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie'']].

* WorldHalfFull: The ninja world is a horrible place to live. Ninja are supposed to be emotionless tools to be used and discarded as the village they live in sees fit, especially Jinchuuriki, who have [[SealedEvilInACan demons]] [[SealedInAPersonShapedCan put inside them]] largely without their consent, and are treated even worse than other ninjas. In less than 100 years, 4 massive wars have been waged, 3 of which were borne of grudges and massive distrust between nations, and fostered these in turn. ChildSoldiers are the norm, and are taught that if they want to live in this world they have to kill. The current ninja system of blood and hatred is responsible for the birth of people like Pain and Sasuke, who are driven mad by the death that occured around them. Luckily, though, this series has [[MessianicArchetype Naruto]], who, when he first began to comprehend the horror of everyday ninja life, basically says, "Suck it!" and decides to do it his way, and fix this shitty way of life. Considering where this series falls on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, he'll probably succeed.

* WowingCthulhu: Naruto is able to gain the nine-tailed fox demon [[EldritchAbomination Kurama's]] trust during his fight with Obito by freeing the Four Tails.

** Madara, of all people, is on the receiving end of this. [[spoiler:After he became the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki and activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Black Zetsu stabbed him in the back saying that [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech he was a fool for believing he's the only one who can manipulate people]]. All he can do now is become [[BiggerBad Kaguya]]'s new vessel.]]