Summary
- Kabuto was not a primary antagonist, making his role as an endgame villain weak.
- Lack of originality in Kabuto’s techniques weakened his character as a final antagonist.
- Kabuto lacked a compelling backstory and goals, diminishing his presence as a villain.
The Naruto series has an impressive villain gallery, with several recurring villains taking center stage throughout the series. However, one villain in particular seems out of place, especially considering he goes on to become one of the Naruto series’ endgame antagonists. Kabuto Yakushi, a former disciple of Orochimaru, is an endgame antagonist, one who wreaks havoc throughout the Fourth Great Ninja War with his army of reanimated shinobi.
However, it’s often debated whether Kabuto actually deserved to be a final antagonist in the series, especially considering his role throughout the series was that of a supporting character to Orochimaru. Moreover, Kabuto’s goals and backstory paled in comparison to the rest of Naruto’s villains, making him seem like an even weaker choice to be the series’ final antagonist. With a plethora of problems riddling Kabuto’s character, his role as an endgame villain is rather controversial in the Naruto series.
Related
Naruto: How Tobirama’s Techniques Are Designed to Counter the Uchiha
Tobirama’s techniques and abilities are all centered around countering the Uchiha, reflecting his skepticism for the clan.
Kabuto Was Initially a Background Villain
Kabuto Never Took Center Stage as an Antagonist
One of the primary issues with Kabuto’s role as a villain is that he was never a primary antagonist throughout most of Naruto. Throughout his appearances, he has remained by Orochimaru’s side, serving as his aide and pupil, whether through his experiments to revive Orochimaru’s arms or through his efforts to enhance his master’s techniques. Moreover, Kabuto becomes an even weaker contender as an antagonist when considering he was used as a spy twice before becoming a somewhat relevant villain.
It was revealed in Naruto Shippuden that Kabuto was actually a sleeper agent for Sasori of the Akatsuki, and he was also used as a spy by Orochimaru to gather intel on Naruto and Sasuke during the Chunin exams. With such a background role throughout the series, Kabuto earning the rank of an endgame antagonist in the latter half makes little to no sense. Moreover, his rise to power is also a bit questionable, considering he merely acquired his power by injecting himself with Orochimaru’s genetic material after his demise. In a way, Kabuto seems more akin to a rebranded Orochimaru than being his own character.
A Weak Backstory And Shallow Goals
Kabuto’s Goals Lack Profundity
While Kabuto initially never received his spotlight as a villain in the series, he was suddenly thrown into the limelight as a major villain after Orochimaru’s demise. However, Kabuto lacked both a compelling backstory and nuanced goals that would aid his role as a villain. Instead, Kabuto adopted most of Orochimaru’s goals and persona as he lacked his own ambition. It’s clear that Kabuto was a character who had an inferiority complex and a lack of identity issues, though these became even more exacerbated with Orochimaru out of the picture. With his master gone, Kabuto became aimless and had to look for a new pursuit.
You should know what it’s like, Naruto, the pain of not having a true identity.
Instead of finding his own goal and identity, Kabuto simply took on Orochimaru’s already well-crafted persona. However, he became even more arrogant than his master, with the goal of increasing his knowledge of every single jutsu to exist, along with uncovering the secrets of the Sage of Six Paths. He even went on to perfect the techniques that Orochimaru worked on, such as improving the Edo Tensei to the point where he could summon thousands of reanimated shinobi at any given moment.
His backstory also seemed rather shallow, as it wasn’t compelling enough to compare him to the likes of Obito and Madara as endgame villains. Being used as a spy and a sleeper agent by the Hidden Leaf and losing his own identity, Kabuto’s story might be emotionally-charged, though it paled in comparison to his counterparts, leading to no one rooting for his character.
Kabuto Was Used as a Plot Device
Kabuto’s Was Merely Used to Move the Plot Forward
Another issue pertaining to Kabuto’s role as an endgame villain in Naruto is his seemingly forced addition to the narrative during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Before the events of the war, Kabuto was nowhere to be seen, though he was suddenly thrown into the mix after Obito declared a war against the Five Great Nations. Moreover, it seemed that Kabuto was used to drive the plot forward and give Obito a better chance in the war.
Related
Naruto: How Sakura Surpassed Tsunade, Explained
Sakura is a powerful kunoichi in Naruto. She has surpassed Tsunade in every way.
Even though Kabuto initially had no stake in the war, he was forced to join it to increase the chances for Obito and delay the war efforts. His army of reanimated soldiers played a huge role in cutting down the Allied Shinobi Forces’ numbers and even delaying their efforts. Moreover, he also played an important role in reanimating Madara and shifting the tide of war in Obito’s favor. Even though he played such significant events in the series, he did not have a compelling enough role, which made all of these events rather forced and shallow.
A Lack Of Original Techniques
Kabuto Has No Unique Jutsu Of His Own
While Kabuto may have been a formidable opponent for the Allied Shinobi Forces with his immense power, he lacked versatility in his arsenal and had no unique technique of his own to offer. Kabuto’s primary weapon of choice during the Fourth Great Ninja War was the Edo Tensei, yet even that technique did not originally belong to him. The actual inventor of the technique is Tobirama Senju, and the technique later became synonymous with Orochimaru after he improved it.
Go on! Tremble before my power! The power of a Sage!
Kabuto simply evolved the technique and used it in the war, yet he had nothing of his own to offer during the entire war arc. Kabuto only had Snake Sage Mode to offer, and viewers got to witness it in action during his fight against Itachi and Sasuke. However, even his Sage Mode felt underwhelming and weak, as he didn’t have much to offer in terms of abilities. Moreover, all of his abilities that he used during his fight did not belong to him originally, as he merely copied Orochimaru’s arsenal and used it as his own. The lack of originality, coupled with just a few techniques in his arsenal, make his character even weaker as an endgame villain.
A Lackluster Character
Kabuto Was Never a Compelling Enough Character
For a villain to be truly compelling, they must have a menacing presence, one that puts the protagonists at unease. The other endgame antagonists, such as Obito, Madara, and even Kaguya, were extremely powerful characters. Even without their powers, these characters struck fear into the Allied Shinobi Forces. Kabuto, on the other hand, lacked this aspect of being an antagonist.
Since he used reanimated shinobi through the Edo Tensei to do his bidding for him, the allied forces were never directly in contact with Kabuto in the first place. This further diminished his presence as a villain, making him another supporting character in the entire ordeal. Moreover, Kabuto himself was rather weak, as he had to rely on cunning maneuvers and clever tricks. In terms of raw fighting prowess, Kabuto lacked behind his counterpart severely. Compared to the likes of Madara and Obito, Kabuto did not have much to offer in terms of being a compelling villain, which deems Kishimoto’s decision to put Kabuto as an endgame villain for the Naruto series quite questionable.
Naruto is available to stream on Prime Video.