Naruto Has Some Particularly Annoying Plotholes

Earlier this year, Naruto Shippuden came to an end after more than a decade on air. The massive anime outlived its equally popular manga, but Masashi Kishimoto’s series will continue to live on for decades to come. In fact, the franchise has become big enough that even heroes such as Son Goku would be jealous of Naruto‘s success.

Naruto may carry on through sequels for now, but its original anime series still highlight Kishimoto’s best work. The artist spent close to twenty years writing Naruto and bringing its ninjas to life, but that doesn’t mean everything the creator penned was gold.

With hundreds of episodes and chapters to its name, Naruto does have some fairly infuriating plotholes which fans still want answered. ComicBook has complied a list of some of the anime’s most offensive overlooks below. If you agree with our questions, then you can join us in petitioning Kishimoto to give fans a much-wanted FAQ guide in the near future:

Sakura’s Gentjutsu

Naruto fans are known for having very strong feelings about Sakura Haruno, but the series doesn’t shy away from her strengths. The pink-haired ninja undergoes a wide characterization arc that has her power up to Sannin-level strength after Sakura trains under Tsunade. However, even before the girl became a medical ninja, Sakura’s gift with genjutsu was always doted upon. Kakashi makes a specific note of Sakura’s innate genjutsu talents during their second Bell Test, but Naruto never explores her gifts further. The note may have been a simple nod to her connection with Sasuke given his family’s genjutsu-centric bloodline, but still; Fans need answers!

Shinigami Release Mask

There are dozens of truly horrifying jutsu in the Naruto franchise, but the Dead Demon Consuming Seal is particularly terrifying. The forbidden jutsu relies on sealing abilities to to ensnare the souls of its user and victims into the stomach of the Grim Reaper. Both Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi used the tragic jutsu as a final battle strategy; The former used the seal to entrap Kurama within Naruto after the Nine-Tailed Beast was freed. As for the Third Hokage, the man used the seal to do away with Orochimaru’s arms when the Sannin proclaimed war on Konoha during Naruto’s first Chunnin exam. However, later on in the series, Orochimaru remarks there is a mask hidden outside of Konoha that has the power to free the souls trapped within the Grim Reaper. Theoretically, the weapon could be used to return the Third and Fourth Hokage to life, so fans are unsure why the object was never mentioned again.

Akatsuki Rings

Throughout Naruto, there are few baddies who can top the Akatsuki. The organization of rogue ninjas is one which nobody should want to encounter. Draped in red-clouded cloaks, the powerful members of Akatsuki would kill you no sooner than you could blink, but they all had a strange attachment to their organization rings. Each member of the Akatsuki was almost fixated on the piece of jewelry they received. Orochimaru took his ring when he left the group; Deidara went to retrieve his knick-knack after his arm was blown off. Each ring has a specific position inked onto it, but there was never any real explanation for why the rings held such value. It was – and still is – odd to know a group of merciless ninja could all be put up in arms over something so small as a ring.

Hashirama’s Death

The death of Konoha’s first Hokage is one that continues to plague fans. The hidden village has had its share of leaders over the year, but fans just don’t understand how Hashirama keeled over so easily. The Hokage is widely considered to be the strongest to ever oversee Konoha. Hashirama grew up when war was a constant, and his god-level powers were enough to cut down even Madara Uchiha. The guy withstood a direct attack from Kurama and walked away from Madara’s Susanno like it was nothing. However, according to data books, Hashirama died during the First Shinobi War. There are no details to explain how the leader died or if Hashirama simply passed away due to an illness. And, at this rate, Naruto fans will never know. 

More Naruto News

You can check out Viz Media’s synopsis of Naruto here: Naruto is a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He’s got a wild sense of humor, but Naruto is completely serious about his mission to be the world’s greatest ninja!”

Author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Like many kids, he was first inspired to become a manga artist in elementary school when he read Dragon Ball. After spending time in art college, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his story Karakuri. After considering various genres for his next project, Kishimoto decided on a story steeped in traditional Japanese culture.

MORE: Naruto Creator Reveals His Favorite Female Character / The Naruto Pilot Is Almost Unrecognizable

His first version of Naruto, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in the world. The series would also spawn multiple anime series, movies, novels, video games and more.