Black Wolf
Jōnin Strategist 🧠
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2013
- Messages
- 1,060
- Reaction score
- 104
I. Disclaimer
First thing I'm going to ask is to please put all bias aside; this isn't a character discussion, but a "Naruto Universe" discussion, or rather, the state that the Naruto Universe is in at the end of the series. So please, do not devolve this thread into "my favorite character" flame wars.
Note that everything below is my opinion. Feel free to disagree and post reasons why. This is a discussion, not a debate; I'm not trying to force my opinion on you. That being said . . .
II. Why Isolated Power Inflation 'Sucks'
In my opinion, power inflation was not done well in this manga. Why? Because it was isolated power inflation, or in other words, it only applied to Naruto and Sasuke. These two, at the end of the manga, are individually stronger than the rest of the world combined (not counting each other).
Why is this a bad thing? Because, as the war arc proved, it trivializes all the supporting cast. When you've got two planet busters, what is a 'mere ninja' supposed to do to compare? And I'm not just talking about Jonin fighters here. Actual Kage level fighters - people like Ei, Onoki, Gaara, and at the end, even Hashirama, look like ants compared to them.
The above fact, in my opinion, hurts the manga's "world state." Why? Because the idea of achieving peace at the end is cheapened. The other villages don't really have a choice whether or not to be peaceful; they can either be peaceful, or get nuked by one of Naruto's shadow clones while he is taking his family out for dinner. Oh, and guess what? The other strongest guy (Sasuke), is loyal to Konoha too.
III. Power Inflation Cheapens Naruto's Dream
Yes, being a Kage doesn't mean you're the strongest in the village. Tsunade wasn't the strongest in her village. Raikage wasn't the strongest in his village. You get the idea . . . but this is a Shonen, and the position of 'Kage' is usually attributed with strength. In fact, in the very first chapter, Naruto attributed becoming a Hokage with becoming the strongest. The two were one and the same.
Why does this hurt Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage? Because, in my opinion, the moment Naruto becomes Hokage should have been the moment he surpassed those before him; it should have felt like a goal finally met. But when Naruto became Hokage, I didn't really care. Why? Because he already long surpassed the strongest Hokage half a dozen power ups ago. Becoming Hokage became a worthless title when people like Sharingan-less Kakashi, Tsunade, and Hiruzen held the seat before him - people, who compared to his strength, are not even ants but microscopic bacteria.
IV. What Could Have Been Done?
Obviously too late to change it now, but what do I think could have been done?
For one, I don't think power levels should have ever reached Nagato level. Casually nuking villages was what started this whole fiasco. There should never have been a person able to take multiple Kage on without breaking a sweat (like Madara did). Fights should have been kept on a grounded level, with new strategies helping characters prevail rather than a brand new SSJ form appearing out of thin air every time they had a problem.
I also think Naruto and Sasuke's progression in the War Arc was ridiculously fast. To put it into DBZ terms . . . imagine in a single fight, Goku went from only knowing Kaioken to learning SSJ4. Because that's what happened here; in the span of two days, Naruto went from only knowing Sage Mode to KCM, then BM, then BSM, then Rikudo BSM, and then finally Ashura mode. Same thing with Sasuke, but with Mangekyo / Susano'o / Rinnegan related stuff instead. The pace should have been made more believable.
Naruto and Sasuke could still be the strongest people at the end . . . but not to the extent they are now. Not to the extent that one of their misdirected burps could kill someone. It should have been more controlled progression, in my opinion.
V. Discuss
Obviously, everything I said above is my opinion. I just wanted to see everyone's thoughts on power progression. Please put aside character infatuations here and just address the topic at hand. I
First thing I'm going to ask is to please put all bias aside; this isn't a character discussion, but a "Naruto Universe" discussion, or rather, the state that the Naruto Universe is in at the end of the series. So please, do not devolve this thread into "my favorite character" flame wars.
Note that everything below is my opinion. Feel free to disagree and post reasons why. This is a discussion, not a debate; I'm not trying to force my opinion on you. That being said . . .
II. Why Isolated Power Inflation 'Sucks'
In my opinion, power inflation was not done well in this manga. Why? Because it was isolated power inflation, or in other words, it only applied to Naruto and Sasuke. These two, at the end of the manga, are individually stronger than the rest of the world combined (not counting each other).
Why is this a bad thing? Because, as the war arc proved, it trivializes all the supporting cast. When you've got two planet busters, what is a 'mere ninja' supposed to do to compare? And I'm not just talking about Jonin fighters here. Actual Kage level fighters - people like Ei, Onoki, Gaara, and at the end, even Hashirama, look like ants compared to them.
The above fact, in my opinion, hurts the manga's "world state." Why? Because the idea of achieving peace at the end is cheapened. The other villages don't really have a choice whether or not to be peaceful; they can either be peaceful, or get nuked by one of Naruto's shadow clones while he is taking his family out for dinner. Oh, and guess what? The other strongest guy (Sasuke), is loyal to Konoha too.
III. Power Inflation Cheapens Naruto's Dream
Yes, being a Kage doesn't mean you're the strongest in the village. Tsunade wasn't the strongest in her village. Raikage wasn't the strongest in his village. You get the idea . . . but this is a Shonen, and the position of 'Kage' is usually attributed with strength. In fact, in the very first chapter, Naruto attributed becoming a Hokage with becoming the strongest. The two were one and the same.
Why does this hurt Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage? Because, in my opinion, the moment Naruto becomes Hokage should have been the moment he surpassed those before him; it should have felt like a goal finally met. But when Naruto became Hokage, I didn't really care. Why? Because he already long surpassed the strongest Hokage half a dozen power ups ago. Becoming Hokage became a worthless title when people like Sharingan-less Kakashi, Tsunade, and Hiruzen held the seat before him - people, who compared to his strength, are not even ants but microscopic bacteria.
IV. What Could Have Been Done?
Obviously too late to change it now, but what do I think could have been done?
For one, I don't think power levels should have ever reached Nagato level. Casually nuking villages was what started this whole fiasco. There should never have been a person able to take multiple Kage on without breaking a sweat (like Madara did). Fights should have been kept on a grounded level, with new strategies helping characters prevail rather than a brand new SSJ form appearing out of thin air every time they had a problem.
I also think Naruto and Sasuke's progression in the War Arc was ridiculously fast. To put it into DBZ terms . . . imagine in a single fight, Goku went from only knowing Kaioken to learning SSJ4. Because that's what happened here; in the span of two days, Naruto went from only knowing Sage Mode to KCM, then BM, then BSM, then Rikudo BSM, and then finally Ashura mode. Same thing with Sasuke, but with Mangekyo / Susano'o / Rinnegan related stuff instead. The pace should have been made more believable.
Naruto and Sasuke could still be the strongest people at the end . . . but not to the extent they are now. Not to the extent that one of their misdirected burps could kill someone. It should have been more controlled progression, in my opinion.
V. Discuss
Obviously, everything I said above is my opinion. I just wanted to see everyone's thoughts on power progression. Please put aside character infatuations here and just address the topic at hand. I
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