Top 10 Things They Want You to Forget About Naruto
Top 10 Things They Want You to Forget About Naruto
Top 10 Worst Things Naruto Has Ever Done
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Things They Want You to Forget About Naruto. For this list, we’ll be looking at the moments they don’t want you to remember about this iconic shonen protagonist. Heads up, we’ll be discussing spoilers for the whole franchise here, including “Boruto.” What do you think, did we miss anything about this simple-minded ninja? Have you forgotten any of these? Let us know in the comments below!
#10: Hinata’s Obvious Affection
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We get he was busy saving the world and all, but even without Byakugan, this was clear as day. No one’s ever called this Hokage-to-be the sharpest shuriken in the village, but missing out on all of the not-so-subtle hints, as well as Hinata’s literal confession during the Pain fight, is simply too dimwitted even for Naruto. It took until she was kidnapped and nearly married off that he finally realized what most of us had already known for years. In fact, he remained oblivious so long their official first kiss didn’t even happen in the manga; we had to wait for the sequel film for them to get their happily ever after.
#9: Ninja Tools - Yay or Nay?
Parenting is tough, but it’s hard to show a unified front when you’re this flippant with the rules. While the matured Naruto rightfully disqualifies his son for using Scientific Ninja Tools in the Chunin Exams, when the new Team 7 takes the test a second time, the Uzumaki patriarch has had an inexplicable change of heart. Despite initially thinking them against the spirit of shinobi, he doesn’t say a thing even when Denki’s whole strategy relies on the scientific artifacts. Even if he does hold Boruto to a higher standard, it’s still an unfair and baffling one-eighty.
#8: Graduation
While he’d eventually grow into a respectable shinobi, Naruto certainly didn’t start out that way. Case in point - he failed the academy final exam three separate times. However, this leads to some question marks, since it’s clear throughout flashbacks he’s been alongside the same class of students all his life. If the test was offered earlier, surely prodigies like Sasuke would have been a grade ahead. Given how much of a troublemaker the Nine-Tails jinchuriki was as a child, it’s also unlikely he was given special treatment due to good behavior. Maybe someone was pulling strings as an apology for everything Naruto endured - although the extra attempts didn’t end up doing him much good, anyways.
#7: No One Guessed His Parentage
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The Third Hokage may have had good intentions in hiding Naruto’s true identity to ward off Mintato’s enemies, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. After all, it doesn’t take an Anbu to realize he’s the spitting image of his parents, or that he has his mother’s last name. And yet, none of these world-class ninja question that Naruto coincidentally appeared in the village the same night Minato and the pregnant Kushina were killed by the Nine-Tails. We can cut the village some slack, though - it’s not like Minato’s face is carved into a nearby mountain or anything.
#6: Goodbye, Goggles
Before officially becoming a shinobi, the energetic preteen caused a ruckus across the village sporting a signature pair of eyewear. While it was naturally replaced with his Genin headband upon graduating from the academy, there’s a much more practical reason behind it’s prompt disappearance. Mangaka Masashi Kishimoto found the goggles difficult to draw, and quickly used a substitution jutsu to replace them with the Leaf’s headwear. Since they never appeared again after the first few episodes even when he isn’t in his ninja garb, it’s a weird experience to go back and see him in anything but his classic shinobi headband.
#5: An Inaugural Absence
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While it seemed that after over 700 episodes Naruto was finally going to achieve his lifelong goal, the series wasn’t quite done making him a punching bag. After years working towards becoming Hokage, he missed the official ceremony thanks to his daughter’s newly-awakened Byagkuan causing a household scuffle. Thankfully, Konohamaru stepped in to save face, but it’s still a rockier start to the Seventh’s tenure than most would have hoped for. His dream did technically still come true, but for a character that’s been through so much, we would have liked to see him bask in the glory a bit more.
#4: Addicted to Mushrooms
We’d wager there’s plenty of moments from his youth that the modern-day Naruto would cringe looking back on, but none indulged in as un-Hokage-like behavior as this. Starving on a boat, he and Might Guy resort to eating dubious mushrooms, but quickly become hooked and consume the entire stash. Sure, he was just a teenager at the time, and they didn’t have many other options, but this overindulgence would still certainly be frowned upon. We personally think the hilarious hallucinatory brawl with Guy makes it all worth it, but the villagers may think differently.
#3: Naruto’s Catfishing Adventure
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Despite Kakashi’s best efforts, this trio of Genin were far from a well-oiled machine in their early days, mainly due to childish crushes and the reckless behavior of a certain blonde-haired ninja. He’s made a lot of bone-headed choices in his life, but disguising himself as Sasuke to steal a kiss from the unknowing Sakura might be one of the worst. We’d be thankful his plan was interrupted, but the spontaneous case of diarrhea is an almost worse image. Yeah, none of this is pretty, and if anything, it makes you appreciate that Team 7 was ever able to recover from this gross and bizarre introduction.
#2: Even Hokages Break Promises
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You’d think the dying wish of a new mother would hold a little more weight than this. On her deathbed, Kushina made the Third Hokage promise to watch over their newborn son, but it’s repeatedly hammered home that Naruto’s upbringing was anything but easy. Ostracized and bullied because of the actions of the beast inside him, it makes you wonder why the village leader never stepped in to prevent this innocent child from becoming a pariah. Naruto’s troubled youth is a defining part of his character, but the ridicule he suffered could have been entirely avoided had Hiruzen heeded Kushina’s final words.
#1: Perennial Genin
You’d think becoming Hokage would have some tougher prerequisites. Despite saving the world, becoming the village leader, and watching all his friends ascend the ranks, Naruto is still a lowly Genin to this day. For someone who's never been good at tests, he did admirably against Neji in the finals of the Chunin Exams, and would probably have been promoted if not for Orochimaru’s assault. Kakashi seems to think so, since he offers Naruto a rankup to Jonin should he finish his studies - which he never does. Instead, the village is embarrassingly left with a Hokage that’s been the same ninja rank since he was twelve years old.
