Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-1512913-20170609150729/@comment-734582-20170622173745

Starscream1998 wrote: Um no, Naruto beat Haku and near the end of Part 1 Sasuke got green with envy over Naruto's development. And how did he beat Haku? With the single strongest demon in existence. It's how naruto got his power. It also nicely shows that pre-existing power + effort beats effort alone, since Naruto did have immense power, he just sucked at using it.

Kishimoto doesn't really seem to like Aesops since every time we get one he quickly deconstructs it. The villains put in some of the most effort in the series (Nagato worked hard for decades for his village and dream, obito worked for years to implement the plan, Madara worked for decades to achieve his power), yet they lost.

People with effort (most of Konoha, but also most of K11) lost to people with effort and genes (Sasuke, Neji for instance) and got eclipsed by people with effort, genes and smarts (Minato, Itachi, Madara, you name it).

The closest thing to Aesops that we get are:

-While power is great to achieve your dreams, unless you share your dream your empire will crumble (Kaguya, Madara, Obito).

-Just genes, effort or smarts isn't enough. Ideally one has a bit of everything. But the more power one has, the less dependent one becomes, and the more power one has the more they'll depend on just that power. Or "when all you've got is a hammer"

-the most powerful thing in the world is a dream, to share and make true. Power without dreams is meaningless (Obito), Dreams without sharing them is short lived (Madara). Sharing one's dream can make your legacy last far longer than your lifetime.

-True power isn't raw power but the ability to understand others, to use their wisdom and power to add to your own, to correct yourself and carry on the lessons learned.

and finally -If you expect the worst in people, you will see the worst in people. But in the end, if you just try to see the light, you'll always find a glimmer of hope, and every step to a better future is still a step, no matter how small.