Lukecetion
Member
It is not about whether or not he chose to though. There is merit to having those restrictions about "The power of friendship prevails" and the like. This is not the case for feats. Suddenly being able to be incredibly fast at one point and forgetting that he has the ability to go fast the next moment is simply poorly constructed writing rather than a calculated decision.
It is achievable to TNJ the antagonists without nerfing any abilities, protagonists and antagonists alike. I would conclude that this poorly written developments were due to time constraints. A weekly release with majority of the week based on working on the manga, less time to correct the draft and edit it until it is polished before being put into print is what gave way to many of the poor elements implemented in the story. Effective but sloppy.
This was simply the case of quanity over quality. I do not blame Kishimoto and the studio as the demand for the next release is paramount and even postponing it for a week due to a holiday caused some unrest in the fanbase. Imagine if he were to properly take a break to let the story mature and perfected through careful analysis from the editors.
Ikemoto may have a chance to redeem the series with his longer timeframe of one month per release meaning that instead of having a day(s) to complete a section (draft > edit > polish > print) he would have a week. While the arc is slowly coming together, it has far better content that the ones released by Kishimoto.
This is why, as of this moment, the content has been consistent so far compared to the rate where consistency diminishes in Kishimoto's works.
As I posted above (earlier in this thread), Kishimoto has a bad habit of introducing something new and show it off on a massive scale at first, then tone it down further as we go. This was done with almost all new abilities in the series such as the Rasengan, Shadow Clones, Flying Thunder God and the list goes on. Oddly enough this list doesn't really include the Eight Gate or Heavenly Hand Power as they remained rather consistent. The reason they feel "weaker" at times was because they were never truly explained any way.
So while I agree with you that Kishimoto has a tendency to over-hype new abilities and then let them fall short of those expectations. I do not agree with your assumption that this is entirely the result of time and quantity over quality. Its far more about how someone writes rather and Kishimoto is known for drawing mistakes on a large scale, hence he was likely more stressed with the drawing than the writing aspects. This inconsistency even occurs in things such as "The Last" which was co-written by him and several other people on a larger budget and more time.
Which is why as I stated, I don't think it was a time issue. Its a rather common trope of writing to either not explain something or to change it depending on what the plot demands. As long as you don't directly contradict it you can always explain it later if you need to in order to tell the story. Kishimoto wanted to tell a story about will, but he has admitted that he is a major fan of other popular Shonen like Dragon Ball or even One Piece. Artists are easily influenced by what they read and see when they make their own stories and work.
Back when Kishimoto's brother was accused of copying his work in the Manga 666 Satan, they both replied that it wasn't the case and that they two brothers had just experienced similar things and were like minded. 666 Satan also suffered from these inconsistencies in a major way by also over-hyping the abilities despite the fact that the it had a slower run time and a shorter story. So if you take their word on it, then its less of a "we didn't have time" and more of a trope of how the two write their stories, what they choose to focus on.
Take Tolkien's stories such as Lord of the Rings. Several elements are either left entirely void of explanation or they are barely explained because the plot doesn't demand it to be explained much more. If you search around enough you will find such odd inconsistencies in his work as well, especially surrounding the Maiar such as Gandalf. Kishimoto does the same when its irrelevant to the story or when being accurate to the established lore becomes a problem for the story he wants to write. As I wrote above, technically speaking, no mortal being should be able to get close to Sasuke without instantly dying, being entirely unable to block or avoid his attack.
Yet the power is never used that way and we have no explanation as to why, and with the knowledge we do have, it should be possible. So why is that? Because explaining it serves no purpose to the story, and having it being used that way would take away from the story's meaning. Why did Sasuke choose to jump away and charge a Chidori when he could just kill Naruto right there and then with it instead? Because the point of the fight wasn't for one to overpower the other, but to show just how far they are willing to go for their ideals and in the end Sasuke loses because he isn't following his ideal, he is avoiding it by hiding it behind a layer of hatred and darkness.
Not to mention that we are already starting to see these inconsistencies with Samurai 8 which is also written by Kishimoto. Not drawn by him, but written. Hence he is less strained for time with said series, yet the "issue" remains there. Also, small note in regards to Boruto. Its drawn by Ikemoto, written by Kodachi. So you are right in saying that it will likely be less time constraints because of that along with the monthly releases.