Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-24373005-20140831023026/@comment-25349026-20140831030911

Around the time of the Hidan/Kakuzu arc. It was around that time that the characters and combat became less 'ninja' oriented and it started to turn into Naruball Z. I think the Hidan fight was much better orchestrated than the Kakuzu one as it was more about tactics, planning, and subterfuge than Kakuzu which was all about brute strength and introduced the rock paper scissors of element release. After this Kishimoto just started introducing too many minor characters with too much background and lost focus on the actual progression of the story. Still its not as bad as Rumiko-san and Inuyasha...that series went on years too long!