Board Thread:Theories and Speculation/@comment-26037879-20180329203223

I don't know if it's true or not, but I heard/read that Kishimoto wanted a Naruto reboot rather than a sequel starring Boruto. I honestly can say that, so far, the Boruto manga isn't that bad; I have more mixed to positive feelings about it, but the anime is not leaving me as much of an impact as its predecessors. I don't think it's terrible, it's just not as memorable; but I digress. I think a Naruto reboot could be a good idea. In fact I personally have some thoughts about how I would make the manga/show if I were to reboot it. Here's what I'd do:

1. I would get rid of the transmigration subplot. The story should be about Naruto’s development in becoming into becoming the greatest ninja of his time into the Hokage.

2. Less melodrama and flashbacks in the manga. NO fillers in the anime. All episodes in the anime would all tie-in to the manga. Even if we do have fillers the limit would be 2; no more than. And the fillers would have to be linked to the canon episodes. Plus, I would replace a majority of the *fillers* from the anime, to make way for the hiden/shinden books and make them animes/episodes.

3. Change the motivations of many of the villains in the series. It was really amazing when the manga showed how much trauma and loneliness Gaara had gone through, and how that ended up producing a psychopathic killer. Such a nuanced look at a villain was really refreshing, as opposed to the traditional Good vs Evil narrative of most heroic tales. But it ended up getting stale after Kishi used the same trick on Sasori, Nagato, Obito, Kabuto, etc.

4. Make Neji and the Hyuuga Great Again. I, and I’m sure like most, wanted to see Neji and Sasuke fight each other somewhere in the story. What I REALLY wanted to see was a battle between a Byakugan-user AND a Sharingan-user. So if I were to reboot Naruto, I would have a match between the two shinobi using their respective eye techniques throughout the battle. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to see some backstory on any interaction between the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans in general, respectively.

5. Change Tobi into Izuna or some other contemporary Uchiha of Madara instead of Obito aka Discount Darth Vader. Make clan politics, personal ambition, betrayal and the quest for power as Tobi's main motivations. And instead, have Obito actually be killed in during the mission.

6. Get rid of Kaguya, and perhaps the whole transmigrant thing. The original premise of the manga was supposed to be about a relatively untalented dumbass surpassing the usual geniuses with sheer guts and superhuman effort. Naruto being a transmigrant of Ashura negates that premise in some ways.

7. Get rid of DMS Kakashi. Instead, do full justice to the awesomeness of the character by giving him proper power development. In fact, I'd make Kakashi's story a parallel to that of Naruto. While Naruto is a dumbass who overcomes his lack of natural talent through superhuman effort and determination, Kakashi is a natural genius who uses his natural talents to overcome his crippling lack of stamina. By the end of the series, he'd sort of eventually end up becoming the second Tobirama in his quest to overcome his lack of stamina. And oh yes, I'd give him a much wider jutsu variety so that fans wouldn’t have to roll their eyes when they hear the phrase "Copy Ninja Kakashi: The Shinobi Who Copied a Thousand Jutsus".

8. Much, much more character development for the Konoha 11.

9. A fight between Naruto and Sasuke; with Sasuke in his curse mark level 2 form vs Naruto in his 4-6 tails form; Sasuke realizing the power of the nine-tails and it’s too immense even for him, which scares him.

10. Maybe getting rid of Kaguya was a bit harsh. If we’re going to keep the whole backstory of ninjutsu as well as the whole transmigration, including Kaguya, then DON’T. SHOW. ANY. FILLER. EPISODES. Keep the whole backstory of the ninjutsu the way it was before --- a legend. Remember when Tobi/Obito told Sasuke the story of Indra and Ashura and their feud? And it was presented to us, visually, like it was a painting/drawing…JUST. LIKE. STORIES. OF. LEGENDS. THAT’S how we should keep it. AND the whole story of Kaguya “eating” the fruit that gave her the powers of chakra? THAT should also remain just a legend…and that chakra is pretty much using the naturally physical and spiritual energies of living organisms and as NOT a form of magic.

11. Indra’s Mangekyou Sharingan. In the anime, when I watched the *filler* episodes about the beginnings of chakra and ninjutsu, when it got to the episode when Indra and Ashura’s feud began, Indra finally activated his Mangekyou Sharingan…I HATED THAT! Not because he had awakened the M.S., but it’s the PATTERN they gave him in the anime. They gave him SASUKE’s M.S. pattern! WTF!?! We saw in the manga AND by extension the anime, that Indra’s pattern was more of a swirl-pattern almost like a Rinnegan. The anime should’ve KEPT that pattern! NOT! CHANGE! IT! The same thing can be said about his Susanoo as well! It’s the same color as Sasuke’s…purple! It needs to be a different color. I think they were “trying” to establish that whole transmigration/reincarnation thing about Sasuke. Which to me…MAKES. NO. SENSE. Madara is considered a reincarnation of Indra, yet his M.S. and Susanoo are completely different. His M.S./E.M.S. pattern is different, AND his Susanoo is blue…NOT PURPLE! So for a reboot, I would change Indra’s M.S. pattern to the one from the manga/earlier in the anime, AND the color of his Susanoo.

12. Kakashi’s Susanoo. Just like Indra, I didn’t like the color of Kakashi’s Susanoo. It was a light blue color. We already got a blue-colored Susanoo --- Madara’s. Yeah I know it technically doesn’t count as it technically a different color, but it’s still just a brighter blue. For Kakashi’s Susanoo, I’d change its color to a silver/grayish color.

13. Another thing I would do differently in a reboot, CHANGE A MAJORITY OF THE STORY. As for the story, aforementioned earlier, the story should’ve been about a young shinobi named Naruto working hard to exceed himself and everyone’s expectations by becoming a prominent ninja despite having little talent. Instead of a majority of the story being about him and his fellow shinobi going after Sasuke to bring him back to the village, it should’ve focused more on Naruto’s achievements throughout his shinobi career up to him becoming Hokage. Different missions, meeting different people, having an impact on those people, etc. Also, MORE interaction with Hinata. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE NARUHINA. They’re one of (in my opinion) the best anime/manga couples. But, I still wish there was more interaction between the two. Naruto slowly but surely notices Hinata more --- more than he did in the original story --- and gradually falls in love with her. Hinata in turn while interacting with Naruto gains more and more confidence and ultimately overcomes her shyness around him, and by extension everyone else. She becomes more open, speaks her mind, and even proves to her clan that --- even though she lost her position as the head of the clan --- she proves to be a formidable combatant. Plus, an expansion of the Naruto universe. Let’s not just stick around the Leaf Village throughout the whole story, but also expand a little bit more on the OTHER lands and villages and their people and shinobi.

14. Naruto’s skills and abilities. If you’ve read some of the new Boruto manga (my opinion of said manga is mixed), you’ve probably noticed that Naruto had gained a new elemental ability: Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall. I, in my opinion, believe that after receiving his new arm, which came from the first Hokage’s DNA, he obtained some of his elemental skills, too. He might even have water-style jutsu up his sleeves. Thus, giving the impression that he could be able to use wood-style jutsus. If practiced right. That’s what I’d do. Give him some new techniques and skills. These include, but are not limited to: the Flying Thunder God Technique; Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique; completing and perfecting his Tailed Beast Rasengan jutsu; gaining complete chakra from ALL nine of the tailed beasts and being able to transform into a physical manifestation of Kurama (fur, eyes, skeleton, etc.) AND a physical rabbit-form manifestation of the Ten-Tails and have his Truth-Seeking Balls grow to a size that either manifestation could hold in their hands; and he learns how to use cosmic energy (energy from outer space), and use that like he would with natural energy; AND maybe…JUST maybe…he gains the Typhoon Release.

15. Finally, last but not least, the ending. At least for the anime though. I liked how the manga ended; I just wish the anime ended with a note as HIGH as the manga did. But, I still kind of liked it. However, what I would change is after the pre-wedding scene in the anime, which is where the show ended, we cut to the future, and the show ends similarly to the manga. Everyone’s grown-up, many of them have kids, Naruto’s Hokage with a family, etc. And the last episode wouldn’t be the typical 25-30 minute run as usual, I would extend it to a 45 minute to 1 hour episode. Also, and by extension the Boruto franchise, Sasuke would later get a new arm just like Naruto did. The one difference though would be: he wouldn’t gain wood-style jutsu like Naruto, because his chakra wouldn’t be compatible enough to do it.

I apologize for the long-ass list, but there's just so much to think about, despite being a Naruto fan. Still, while I do love the original story, it never hurts to see what could be different. What do you think? What would you change in Naruto? Would you want a reboot, or just keep it the way it is? Leave your thoughts. 