The Naruto fan base changed the results of an official poll in favor of Sakura Haruno.
As detailed on Anime Senpai, the Naruto franchise conducted a global poll to determine what fans consider to be the best fight scenes in both Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. This poll comes right before a special polling event called NARUTOP99, in which fans vote for their all-time favorite character. The winning character will receive a special one-shot manga from Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and a collection of figurines. At first, it seemed that fans ranked Sakura and Lady Chiyo’s battle against Sasori as the #1 best battle of the series. However, a Twitter user by the name of LANZ (or @Zenin_woo) has revealed that Sakura fans collaborated to illegally manipulate the results to get Sakura on top.
LANZ revealed the results of the fraud on their page, explaining how some fans used VPNs and mass voting software, allowing them to vote as many times as they wanted without being detected. LANZ also discovered a chat group called “Sakura Daily Vote” that provides followers with instructions for using the bulk voting software. They even captured a screenshot of a chat group owner’s message instructing a follower how to use the macro recorder. This particular group includes over 50,000 members, and it’s not the only one, as LANZ discovered similar groups on Twitter, each encouraging fans to vote.
Sakura is currently third in the poll
The Naruto franchise will announce the final results of NARUTOP99 in April. Although the voting period ended in January, some Sakura fans are now encouraging their other members to manipulate the results of this poll. According to the official midterm report of the competition, Naruto’s father, Minato, is currently holding the 1st place. Second and third places go to Itachi and Sakura respectively.
Kishimoto’s Naruto manga is now over, but the franchise’s legacy continues in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Although the series mainly revolves around Boruto and Sasuke, Sakura also makes an appearance, although her role in the story is much more limited than Naruto’s. Despite some controversy surrounding certain Boruto episodes, the series has retained a high viewership, allowing it to go head-to-head with the shounen giant, One Piece. Season I of the Boruto anime ended on March 26. However, Pierrot has given the green light to season II for production, although the studio has yet to set a release date.
Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations are available to stream on Hulu.
Source: Twitter, via Anime Senpai