Top 10 WTF Naruto Moments
For this list, we'll be looking at the times across the Naruto franchise where things fell off the rails. We're talking the crappiest of filler, the most ludicrous of plot points, and anything else that managed to take one of the most celebrated in shonen and turn it into meme material.
#10: Ninja Ostrich
One of the most recognizable characters to ever crawl out of the primordial soup that is Naruto’s endless supply of filler, Condor may not be the first talking animal to make an appearance, but he is by far the most useless. The fact they introduced this thing with no build up, to then have him beat the crap out of Naruto and pals in a flashback, just comes across as desperate and ludicrous. And yet they still brought him back for a second cameo, because…that’s what the fans were crying out for?
#9: Hit Me!
Naruto’s relationship with Sasuke was the subject of a lot of…contention later down the line. Trying to save a fallen friend from himself is certainly a noble cause, but it got to the point where it felt like Naruto was just starting to make excuses for his rival’s misdeed and heinous actions like an abused spouse! Like the time he asked Karui to keep on punching him as a means for her to vent her frustrations over the fact Sasuke had apparently killed her teacher. That’s just depressing.
#8: Attack of the Clones
Tell you what Guy, you’re lucky you got those epic confrontations with Kisame and Madara, because it would be a sad state of affairs if this was your legacy as a fighter. While in pursuit of Sasori - Guy, Lee, Neji and TenTen find themselves triggering a trap that leads them to battle sentient clones of themselves. Their solution to besting their mirror matches? Just get stronger on the fly. Don’t worry though, you won’t have time to focus on that nonsense since the animation is so damn horrendous!
#7: Kaguya Is Weak to Reverse Harem Jutsu
We’re not denying the rabbit goddess had the potential to become a phenomenal villain, but there’s only so much you can do when you’re introduced at the last minute. While that’s bad enough, Kaguya’s status as the apparent true antagonist of the series was completely undercut when Naruto managed to overcome her OP abilities for one moment…by transforming into a reverse harem of young men. The fact this worked, that this legendary entity actually got distracted by a bunch of naked pretty boys, it’s just unbecoming of a final boss.
#6: That Pain Face…
Let’s clear something up. The animation found in the fight between Pain and Six Tailed Naruto is actually pretty awesome, at least if you’re looking at it from the angle of pace. The problem is that the characters themselves were drawn way to fluidly, and as a result we got the now immortal moment where Pain’s face stretches into something out of your worst nightmares. It’s like they took all of his menace and swapped it out for rubber cement. A shame too, since what could have been a battle highlight turned into the Akatsuki leader’s biggest source of shame. Seriously, that’s one ugly mug.
#5: Madara Gets Cheesed
Oh Madara, they did you dirty. So, so dirty. Built up as the greatest villain the series had ever see, the lore behind the ancestral Uchiha was fascinating from the getgo. From his complex rivalry with the First Hokage all the way to his descent into a warmonger, Madara became a figure of dread that no ninja could possibly hope to defeat. Then he got resurrected and actually managed to live up to the legend, what with how he crushed an entire army single-handedly, even becoming the new Sage of the Six Paths. Unfortunately the plot demanded he be replaced for Kaguya, and instead of getting the eventual defeat he deserved – Black Zetsu backstabbed him like a filler villain! Foul play!
#4: Mothers vs. Sumo
We’re pretty sure that by this point, the guys coming up with the filler episodes for Shippuden got their ideas by drawing names out of a hat. I mean…what even is this?! The random mothers of shinobi fighting off evil sumos with frying pans? And during the Fourth Great Ninja war of all things! Naruto hasn’t shied away from showing some weird shit in the past, especially when it comes to the non-canon content, but even by those standards this is painfully stupid. They couldn’t get any of the main cast for this crap and had to pull in Konohamaru!
#3: Tiger Mizuki
The original series was mired in filler, especially towards its conclusion, as such it was always finding new ways to plunge to the bottom of the barrel. Nowhere was this more apparent than when they brought back the minor villain from the very first episode, and then turned him into a tiger hybrid…for some reason. A Naruto vs. Mizuki rematch isn’t the worst idea in the world, but in this instance they managed to mess it up every step of the way. Let’s hope he stays gone this time!
#2: Orochimaru’s Naked Interruption
For the longest time, this snake was the MVP of shinobi villains. He was cunning, deadly and even managed to orchestrate Sasuke’s infamous betrayal. That being said, we don’t appreciate him jumping back from the dead in order to interrupt the awesome fight between the two Uchiha brothers. Coming back from the grave in such a fashion is already a little sketchy, plus the fact Itachi owns him immediately after sort of renders the whole thing moot. This would unfortunately become a trend since Orochimaru tends to treat death like a revolving door.
#1: Naruto & Guy Get High
It had some stiff competition, but we can all agree that the most inconsequential, aggravating, unnecessary, biggest load of fox dung of a filler arc in the Naruto-verse undoubtedly goes to the Paradise Life on a Boat arc. Specifically, that one time when Naruto and Guy got high off some demon mushrooms and ended up mutating into purple freaks. Aside from giving us some insight into how this episode likely came about, this fiasco is the franchise’s lowest point, and unless Boruto comes out with an scene involving him and his pals popping chakara infused joints, it’s likely to stay that way.
