Kishimoto was to forced in his initial days.

SUMMARY

Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto initially had different plans for his magnum opus but had to change it due to his editor’s opinion.
Masashi Kishimoto first idea was to create a story based on an old ramen guy and a young boy, which he ultimately included in Naruto’s plot.
Kishimoto’s editor branded his idea to be slow paced and forced him to draw multiple characters and a tournament.

Naruto is one of the most popular anime of all time. Masashi Kishimoto began writing the manga in 1999, and in 2001, it was adapted into an anime. The anime ended in 2017 after Naruto Uzumaki fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming the Hokage. It is one of the Big Three of anime and had a massive role in turning anime mainstream.

Naruto ended seven years ago, but people still prefer it over new-generation anime. Even though the Naruto franchise is regarded as one of the greatest, initially, the creator had thought of a not-so-engaging plot for his magnum opus. Masashi Kishimoto was forced to change his story and create a new one. It proved to be a generation story and his greatest work to date.

Masashi Kishimoto Had Different Plans For Naruto

Naruto Uzumaki (Credit: Crunchyroll)
Masashi Kishimoto’s magnum opus is loved by all the anime lovers. But it is pretty surprising to know that he initially had different plans. He wrote a simple plot about an old ramen guy and a young boy with an uninteresting plot. More things got involved with the story and tried to make it spectacular. But it was rejected. After many failed attempts, Kishimoto came up with the name Naruto.

The story was supposed to focus on Naruto Uzumaki, and not on his friends. It would depict the story of the main protagonist going on different missions. The mission would include meeting 4-man cells from several villages. The sensei of this 4-man cell is Kakashi’s rivals. Unfortunately, it was branded as slow-paced, and the editor said they did not have that much time for the story’s development.
4-member team in Naruto (Credit: Crunchyroll)
The editor told him to create all the characters at once, including the ones in the village and outside of it. He was asked to make a tournament saga, and that is how the Chunin Exams came about. In a way, he was forced to do it. It was difficult for him to do it all alone, so he took help from his editor and thus started one of the greatest anime ever.

Masashi Kishimoto Did Not Forget About His Initial Stories

Masashi Kishimoto had planned a lot of stories initially before coming up with Naruto. But he did not forget about them. He included most of those things in his magnum opus. The story of an old ramen guy and a young boy is depicted by the Ichiraku Ramen guy and Naruto Uzumaki. On the other hand, he used the 4-man cell idea to create 4-man teams. Even though the anime did have several missions, it also had proper stories of Naruto’s friends.
Old Ramen Guy – Ichiraku (Credit: Crunchyroll)
Masashi Kishimoto was heavily inspired by Akira Toriyama since he was a massive fan. It helped him walk the right path in his career. The fans will be pleased to know that Kishimoto’s editor was there to correct him and prevent him from writing the slow-paced story. It would have completely changed the history of anime. Thankfully, it did not happen.