Kishimoto Reveals The Reason Behind The Shippuden Timeskip 

The Naruto series is, by far, one of the most popular manga to have ever been written. Masashi Kishimoto wrote a masterpiece that had stood the test of time, and at the same time, continued to only be appreciated more by the fans. Naruto follows the story of a young boy named Naruto Uzumaki to becomes and earning the acknowledgement of the people around him. Given that Naruto was ostracized and was always the underdog, fans found it quite easy to root for him. Naruto’s journey was full of incredible action as well as true grit and determination. This is one of the many reasons why this journey was as loved by the fans as it was.

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Naruto’s journey saw him go from being a 12-year-old boy to an adult. As such, there were quite a few timeskips in the story all the way up until now in Boruto, but the most significant one of them all was between Part 1 and Part 2 of the Naruto series. This timeskip saw Naruto return as a changed man, and Kishimoto has already revealed the reason behind this timeskip.

The Naruto Timeskip Was Significant For Many Reasons

• Naruto Timeskip Happened Shortly After The Sasuke Retrieval Arc
• Naruto And The Others Grew Stronger

The Naruto series underwent its first timeskip after the battle between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. As fans know, by this point, Sasuke was dead set on leaving the village, while Naruto was attempting to save his best friend from falling into the hands of Orochimaru. The two fought out an incredible battle at the Valley of the End, and it was certainly a phenomenal clash for all to enjoy. At the end of this clash, fans know that it was Sasuke Uchiha who emerged as victor and Naruto tasted defeat. More than that, he lost a friend. That said, Naruto was always a determined person, and vowed to get Sasuke back, no matter what. To do that, Naruto set out on a journey with Jiraiya, where he would grow further for over 2 years, and return as someone capable of impressing even the likes of Kakashi. During the time skip of Naruto, fans saw the yellow-haired ninja learn all sorts of tricks, and at the same time, improve in terms of maturity as a ninja.

Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha continued to train and learned the ways of the Curse Mark. At the same time, Sasuke was also drugged during this time, which boosted his growth exponentially. For him, the goal was to grow strong enough to take down Itachi Uchiha, and he certainly did accomplish that to quite an extent. At the same time, Sakura continued training under Tsunade, and she gained quite a lot of incredible powers as well.

Every other ninja in Konoha and those outside it as well trained to the absolute fullest, learning new abilities, and becoming stronger than ever. Once the Naruto timeskip concluded, fans saw a new version of their favorite characters, and the story then entered its most important phase which introduced the biggest of villains, and at the same time, focused on the events such as the 4th Great Ninja War.

Kishimoto Reveals Two Key Reasons For The Timeskip

The Strength Of The Ninjas Was Not The Only Factor

It goes without saying that the timeskip was necessary for the Naruto series. Fans absolutely loved watching Naruto Uzumaki go from a young boy to a more mature individual who turned into an adult by the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War. His growth was absolutely staggering, and there is good reason for why he had to undergo it. Kishimoto has previously spoken about why he did a timeskip of over 2 years in the Naruto series in the first place, and the answer is quite intriguing. While a part of the answer is expected, there are some bits there that are quite intriguing that no fan would have expected. Essentially, Kishimoto goes on to state that there are two main reasons why he did the Naruto timeskip. The first reason is quite expected and it is simply that the ninjas needed to grow stronger.

Naruto Uzumaki, and all those around him, were far too weak at this point and were not ready for the challenges posed by the world of ninja. In order to see them reach the next level, Kishimoto absolutely had to do a time skip.

The Akatsuki had already become important at this point in the story and all of them were Jonin-level individuals, if not stronger. It is because of that the Kishimoto needed to make the young ninjas stronger as well, and make sure that they were able to compete against the mightiest of enemies. As such, in order to increase their level of strength, they all went on their own training arcs, and eventually, got stronger once they returned following the time skip. For instance, Naruto learned to fight more maturely, gained more control over the Rasengan, and at the same time, could manifest more tails than ever before. Even the less prominent ninjas, such as Neji, had become a Jonin, while Gaara was a Kage. Clearly, all these ninjas had ascended to the next level following the Naruto timeskip and that is precisely why it was as important as it was.

Kishimoto Needed To Make The Character Designs Less Complicated

There is also another reason why the Naruto series went on a timeskip. It is simply to change the outfits of the vast majority of the characters. When Kishimoto drew the first few outfits, he was still getting a hang of drawing weekly manga. During the timeskip, he desperately wanted to change their outfits for many reasons. The first reason is simply because he wanted to give them a fresh look and he felt that a timeskip would be perfect for that. But, more importantly, there were some character designs that obstructed his way of drawing in one way or another. For instance, Naruto Uzumaki had a spiral on his shoulder that Kishimoto did not like. In order to remove that spiral, Kishimoto decided to change his outfit and in order to do that, a time skip was necessary.

Similarly, Naruto’s collar was way too thick in the first part of the series. According to Kishimoto, this collar ended up obstructing his face in certain panels where Naruto’s face needed more focus and his expressions were the highlight. As such, Kishimoto needed a new outfit for Naruto where the collar wasn’t as prominent and his face wouldn’t get obstructed. Once again, all these small reasons combined helped Kishimoto decide on a timeskip for the Naruto series where he updated many outfits, and at the same time, made them stronger than ever before.

Naruto is available to read on the MangaPlus and the Shonen Jump app. Fans can read the official release and support the author by doing so.

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Naruto

Release Date

October 3, 2002

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Number of Episodes

220

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix
, Crunchyroll
, Amazon Prime Video
, Peacock
, The Roku Channel
, Amazon Freevee
, Hulu
, Hoopla
, Pluto TV
, Tubi