The long saga of Naruto has been filled with some tragic character deaths that have heavily impacted fans.
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Of course, Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden have just as many resurrections as deaths, so when a major character does die – and stays dead – it has been worth noting!
In an interview that Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto did with Kobayashi years back, we got some great breakdowns of the three characters in the Naruto saga that Masashi never intended to bring back using Impure World Reincarnation (aka as Edo Tensei) in Naruto: Shippuden:
Jiraiya
Naruto’sย godfather and teacher Jiraiyaย was the light-hearted comedic pervert that fans loved for his flamboyant personality and awesome shenobiย skills.ย
When Jiraiyaย was killed by the 6 Paths of Pain (and what an epic death scene it was), a lot ofย Narutoย fans were crushed. So why didn’t Kishimotoย bring back such a pivotal figure?ย
In the interview, Kishimotoย reveals that he didn’t want to bring Jiraiyaย back as the death wasย soย significant for both the characters and fans ofย Naruto – and especially impactful in bringing Narutoย closer to Sasuke.ย Kishimotoย couldn’t see a way to bring backย the pervert hermit without lessening one of the series’ biggest milestone moments.ย
Hidan
Hidanย is immortal, so he wasn’t technically killed; he was blown to bits by Shikamaruย and buried while still alive (though disassembled), and even vowed to eventually pull it together (pun) and get revenge on Shikamaru.ย
With an immortal buried in waiting for an opportunity to get loose,ย Narutoย fans would’ve beenย fair to assume that Hidanย was coming back.
However, as Kishimotoย explains it, he left Hidanย buried as he didn’t want to have to draw yet another character in the Fourth Great Ninja War!
Konan
The only kunoichi in Yahiko’sย Akatsuki, and part of the freelance trio alongsideย Nagatoย andย Yahiko, Konanย was pivotal in the events that led to Yahiko’sย self-sacrifice, and Nagatoย taking on the mantle of Pain to avenge him.ย
Later, when Obito/Madaraย is revealed to be Tobi, Konanย tried toย turn against his manipulativeย plans and desecrationย of Nagato’sย corpse by detonatingย no less than 600 billion paper bombs exploding for ten minutes, to kill him. The attack failed, and Tobiย kills her.ย
According toย Kishimoto, Konan’sย death was a significant statement on the loss of the dream for peace that Nagato, Yahiko, and Konanย shared, and a signification of Naruto’sย rise as a bringer of light and hope. Bringing her back would have been pointless.ย
[Embed id=58060]Naruto: Shippuden (TVShow: naruto-shippuden-)[/Embed]
