Naruto: These iconic characters became the series’ major plot holes

Naruto’s wide range of characters allows more versatility to the story. With each character’s backstory and powers, the series explores something new. However, almost all the iconic characters of Naruto become the series’ major plot holes. 

As a Shonen classic, Naruto’s charm lies in its long-running plotline and the variety of characters it introduces to the viewers. The expansive world-building, the unique powers, and the themes of war form the story as a whole. 

However, despite that, the story has countless plot holes. Whether it is the heroes or the villains, Naruto leaves behind dozens of questions that fans never got the answers for.

Masashi Kishimoto created genius characters such as Madara, Hashirama, Tobirama, and many more – only for them to fail fans’ expectations with inconsistency in the narrative. Here’s how some of the most iconic characters in Naruto became the series’ central plot holes.

Hashirama’s death remains the biggest mystery in the series

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The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was a Shinobi without equal. Even decades after his death, no one has been able to surpass him until Naruto and Sasuke receive powers from the Sage of the Six Paths.

However, for reasons unknown, Hashirama died during the war, which led to Tobirama becoming the Second Hokage. Many fan theories suggest that Hashirama died of an illness, while others believe that an enemy killed him.

Hashirama’s monstrous strength – that even Madara could never catch up to – made it almost impossible for him to be subdued by an enemy or even an army of enemies. Furthermore, his skills in Medical Ninjutsu were so excellent that Madara insulted Tusnade’s talent and claimed that she was nowhere near Hashirama’s level.

As fans know, Tsunade is the best Medical Ninja of her era, popular for her skills across all nations. Therefore, if an enemy had injured Hashirama, he had more than enough skills to heal himself. Throughout the series, the topic of his death has never been touched. 

Therefore, it can only be assumed that Kishimoto created such a powerful character that he could never explain why he died in the first place. This makes Hashirama one of the most iconic characters in Naruto, who ended up creating such a major plot hole.

Madara’s Reanimation Jutsu is one of the biggest plot holes in Naruto

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The biggest hurdle that the Shinobi from the allied nations had to face was the Reanimated soldiers who were being controlled. As the series’ primary antagonist, Madara Uchiha arrives at the war zone with his reanimated body. 

However, something about it seemed terribly odd. Looking back at all of the characters that died and were subsequently reanimated using a forbidden Jutsu, it is evident that their reanimated selves are the same age as they were when they died.

Therefore, it made no sense for Madara to be reanimated and later revived in a young body. As fans know, he died when he was over 100 years old, but he is revived in the body of a man that looks barely in his 30s.

The fact that the series never clearly explains it makes it another plot hole that ruined one of the most iconic characters in the series. The only reasonable explanation is that Kishimoto gave Madara a younger body to make the villain seem more intimidating. 

It stands to reason that if Madara had been resurrected in the body of an elderly man, he would not have been able to inflict as much devastation. 

Tobirama’s death adds to the list of plot holes in Naruto

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As the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju was extremely powerful. He created dozens of Jutsu and excelled at all five basic nature transformations and Yin and Yang Release. Furthermore, he is the direct descendant of the strongest clan in history.

Tobirama is one of the legendary characters in the series who looked over Konoha during the war. Before his death, he assigned Hiruzen as the Hokage. However, Tobirama’s death created a lot of questions for fans.

He used himself as bait to let his team of Shinobi escape. They had fallen into a trap, and there was no way for all of them to survive. Therefore, Tobirama died a heroic death, leaving his subordinate Hiruzen in charge.

However, the enemies were only a handful, and the series never revealed their identities – meaning they didn’t have exceptional abilities or heritage. Another odd thing is that Minato, a talented Hokage but certainly weaker than Tobirama, defeated more than 1,000 Shinobi from Iwagakure.

Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for Tobirama to lose to a bunch of ordinary Shinobi. What’s surprising is that Tobirama’s team comprised elite Shinobi, including Hiruzen and Danzo, who were incredibly powerful. This creates yet another plot hole in Naruto, ruining an iconic character of the series.

Naruto’s surname overlooks an important fact 

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Despite being portrayed as a “good” character, Hiruzen’s decisions have always showcased his inability to lead the clan. He was the Hokage for the longest period of time. Despite that, he has failed the village in many ways – as proven by his actions during the Uchiha clan massacre.

When Obito used the Nine-Tailed Beast to attack Konoha, several people died, including the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and his wife, Kushina Uzumaki. Before dying, Kushina requested Hiruzen to look after her son Naruto – which he terribly failed in.

Hiruzen gave Naruto a surname different from his father’s in order to protect him. For reasons unknown, he let a little child live alone and even let the village ostracize him. The Third Hokage claimed to do all that for Naruto’s safety.

However, Hiruzen failed to realize that giving him Kushina’s surname would put the child in even more danger. Minato belonged to an unknown clan, and he could only rise up the ranks due to his talents. Kushina, on the other hand, belonged to the legendary Uzumaki clan, who were close relatives of the Senju clan.

The Uzumakis were popular for having several times more Chakra than the others. They also excelled at several powerful Jutsu. Their enemies feared their strength and used cheap tricks to diminish their numbers significantly.

The clan survivors went into hiding, and some even changed their names. Therefore, Hiruzen giving Naruto his mother’s surname on the pretext of protecting him from potential enemies is yet one of the many plot holes fans overlook.

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