#it should have been a war between the new revolutionaries (naruto etc) and the old vanguard (proponents of the village system who can’t

[loveoaths]

something really fascinating about konoha is that, canonically, the Will of Fire is more like a religion than a philosophic mantra.

the manga explicitly states that in konoha they worship the hokage and their predecessors rather than gods.

i think that makes perfect sense for the specific type of nationalism and exceptionalism konoha runs on.

it also changes how we must view hashirama’s set up of hokage-ship and how he styled his throne of fire —

— as well as shikamaru’s final words to hidan.

not only is he saying he now owns hidan’s entire ass, he is performing an act of worship. his revenge is enacted in the name of konoha’s version of ancestor worship for asuma.

additionally, it contextualizes konoha’s generational commitment not to question the previous generation and therefore to repeat the past. even to the “non-religious,” this is a belief that has bled into konoha’s culture and social mores — which explains why even naruto, someone with every reason to want to restructure konoha, winds up buying into, supporting, and firming up the same rhetoric he rebelled against as a child.

although there is no doubt that kishimoto did not mean for this to be a point of criticism, there is something really powerful buried in all of this if you look at the entire series : idealizing the past threatens the present and stymies the future. your ancestors and elders are not always right. some beliefs and traditions SHOULD be questioned, interrogated, and changed in light of new knowledge; the refusal to do so poisons the entire system, and a system, once corrupted, is nearly impossible to save.

#naruto meta #konoha #kishimoto’s biggest failing in naruto was his backing away from change. he basically positioned naruto as a revolutionary and then realized #naruto needed to buy back in or else the ninja system would have to end. it’s why IMO naruto as a series is not and will never be satisfying #between the softening of naruto’s ideals and the random inclusion of Uber Uchiha Storylines and Aliens (which removed us from the characters #we spent like 10 years growing with and pegged randoms as ‘causing all the problems’ when in reality #the ending of naruto should have been a reckoning — a civil war that paralleled the many wars etc In naruto’s history #it should have been a war between the new revolutionaries (naruto etc) and the old vanguard (proponents of the village system who can’t #envision change bc they’ve lived this life so long; like KAKASHI) with sasuke’s side as a third party #this would have brought the themes of naruto to a head AND given us complex conflict between people we loved. naruto vs sakura vs sasuke #all of them believing they are in the right and that they’re fighting for the greater good #it would have forced characters into emotional places and made them change or double down #imagine neji fighting with konoha before sasuke says something about konoha’s injustices and neji switches sides maybe. and other villages #having to find their place in all of this (if they’re still involved which tbh they wouldn’t need to be until sasuke says he wants to kill #all the kage lol). anyway I just think it’s insane that kishi; a Japanese history lover; shied away from the major themes from Japanese #history that his world was based in because he didn’t want anyone to do anything complex #instead we have a clan that was ‘born evil’ and nefarious aliens forcing people to be bad #rather than saying ‘what if the people we loved made harmful choices we now have to live with?’ #I wish mangaka worked with professional writers ehdhdhdbdbs like HIRE ME DUDE #ok to rb #❛ HEADCANONS.