As an epic story defined by its complex world and compelling characters, Naruto There are many different sections, each dedicated to telling its own story. While the arcs vary in reception, there are quite a few that are universally appreciated, including the Chuunin Exams, which pits a bunch of young shinobi against each other, and is proven is the basis to put Naruto in the final position. road to success. However, if it were the author, this iconic arc would never have happened.
Masashi Kishimoto, the genius behind Naruto, could never have foreseen the success of the Chuunin Exams, as revealed in an interview summarized here. That’s because, although this arc plays an important role in establishing the foundation of the series, it is, in fact, a story that he himself never intended to tell but just made so because he gave in to the persuasion of the editors. In fact, Kishimoto hated tournament rounds in the manga and initially refused to follow his editor’s suggestion to include one in Naruto.
Kishimoto never wanted to do a tournament in Naruto
The Chuunin Exam arc, one of the first major arcs of Naruto after the prologue, introduced many characters who became quite relevant to the story. However, according to Kishimoto himself, instead of introducing all of these characters at once, his plan was to continue focusing on Naruto and Team 7, having them encounter ninjas from different villages as they Complete your own tasks. However, his editors at Shueisha believed this style of storytelling was too slow and asked him to do a tournament arc. Kishimoto’s answer was that doing it would “kill” him, and his editors replied: “Do it even if it kills you.” Furthermore, just as he was starting to enjoy working on the arc, he was asked to pause it to introduce Orochimaru as a major villain and stop the tournament.
Although Kishimoto never intended to write one, he admitted that the series became popular thanks to its tournament arc and there was a very good reason for that. Tournament arcs, now a staple in every major shōnen action anime, provide a great opportunity to introduce or re-establish the identities and power levels of various characters, as well as relationships between them – especially the adversarial relationship. When people fight each other, their strengths and weaknesses are exposed for all to see, and so are their ambitions. The Chuunin Exams determined several facts about the young ninja, including who was the more skilled fighter but also who was more capable against whom. Finally, certain rivalries were introduced or reinforced, including between Sakura and Ino, as well as tensions within Hinata and Neji’s families.
Tournament rounds are a great way to build character
Of course, it also helped that Kishimoto, despite his apprehensions, managed to create not only a regular arc but one of the best tournament arcs ever. It’s hard to judge how the series would play out if he chose a different way to introduce each ninja team. While he can certainly do anything, with his talent and dedication, perhaps his editorial team was really right in making this choice. Anyway, Naruto fans know for a fact that the Chuunin Exams still include some of the most iconic moments of the series, brilliantly establishing many of the characters who would soon become fan favorites.
Source: Kobayashi Interview with Kishimoto: Extended Summary
