Obito should have been the final villain in Naruto

Naruto has some of the best villains in anime as a whole. For a Shonen series, Naruto’s villains are written with so much depth and complexity that the likes of Dragon Ball, Demon Slayer, and Bleach fail to reach. These villains are part of what makes Naruto deliver on its themes, as they are either for it or against it.

If one takes a look at the first villain in Naruto – Zabuza – they would see how he passes the series' anti-war rhetoric. Zabuza is most likely suffering from PTSD, and like most soldiers after they serve time, he is unable to settle down. This leads such soldiers to return to hazardous roles, and Zabuza does just that; he becomes a mercenary.

Zabuza, the vagabond ninja, shows the dark side of the shinobi system and serves as an excellent introduction for viewers to understand Naruto’s world. This was a fantastic approach from mangaka Masashi Kishimoto to start the series; however, the ending was not so fortunate. The last real villain in Naruto was Kaguya, an existential threat whose goal was simple: take over the world.

While this move was to prepare viewers for the Boruto saga, which is about the Otsutsuki, Naruto’s last villain needed to be a ninja, and it should have been Obito. Obito represents the human condition and how it is geared to constantly seek war in the guise of peace.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author’s views and may contain spoilers.

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Why Naruto needed Obito as the final villain

Obito adopting Madara's persona was a perfect move (Image via Studio Pierrot)

To understand why Obito was the best final villain Naruto could get, one needs to know why Kaguya was not such a good choice. The first reason for Kaguya being a bad villain was her sudden introduction.

There was no sort of proper buildup to Kaguya's character prior to the War arc. The only member of the Otsutsuki that viewers had seen and heard about was Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths. So, when Kaguya made an appearance, it was quite jarring to look at.

Kaguya’s motivations were also an issue. She wanted a return to the status quo, one where she enslaved the entire world and played god over it. This was not good enough, though; in fact, she was not one of the complex villains that Masashi Kishimoto had presented to viewers since the series began. Kaguya’s presence felt like an irritant, one that needed to be swatted away.

Love is the reason Obito becomes a villain (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Obito, on the other hand, made a beautiful villain. With the Uchiha, there was no air of godlike invincibility. Viewers could tell that he was a common human like the rest of the characters, and this was reinforced through flashbacks where Minato could be seen outmatching him.

Obito’s motivations were also very grounded throughout Naruto. He is a war victim who hates the shinobi cycle, which is essentially a cycle that perpetuates conflict. He knows that ninjutsu has only two purposes: to protect and to destroy, and that anyone could be on the protected or destroyed end. Furthermore, Obito acts out of love – an emotion viewers can relate to – as he wants to bring Rin back to life.

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Final thoughts

Some fans argue that the final villain was not Kaguya, but Sasuke; however, this position is not true. At the end of the series, Sasuke was already on the side of good, and his last battle was about philosophy. He wanted the ninja system to be abolished, and he wished to take on a similar role to his brother, Itachi.

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