Why is Naruto called a child of prophecy?

Naruto is one of the most popular shonen anime manga and anime series. As the name suggests, the show revolves around the young shinobi named Naruto, who was once avoided by most members of the village and later went on to become the Hokage.

During the earlier parts of the series, the protagonist was considered to be the child of the prophecy. What was the prophecy, and who foretold it? Let’s dive right into it.

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Naruto: The child of prophecy

The children of prophecy was a term attached to those kids who had the potential to bring about massive changes to the world. This was given to both Sasuke and Naruto since they were the two reincarnations of Indra and Asura, respectively. Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Indra and Asura’s father, gave both Naruto and Sasuke massive powers as well as the keys to seal Kaguya Otsutsuki. The duo was able to undo the Infinite Tsukuyomi and seal Kaguya Otsutsuki successfully.

However, there is another interpretation of this prophecy that was foretold by the famous Great Toad Sage. While he was referring to the aforementioned prophecy, he also stated that the child in question would end up being a student of Jiraiya’s. The Great Toad Sage said that one of Jiraiya’s students would be responsible for a massive change that would take place in the world of shinobis.

Jiraiya was burdened with a lot of pressure since the Great Toad Sage mentioned that his actions would influence the child and, in turn, affect the change. That student would either give the world salvation or would be responsible for large-scale destruction.

Jiraiya first suspected Nagato to be the child of prophecy since he possessed the Rinnegan. He trained the young shinobi and encouraged him to find peace for the rest of the world.

During the Nine Tail Fox attack, Minato realized that Tobi would be bringing large-scale destruction and that Minato’s son would save the world from Tobi’s wrath. Minato expected that his son would go on to become the child of the prophecy. That is one of the biggest reasons for Minato sealing the Nine Tailed Beast inside his son.

Upon investigating the Akatsuki, Jiraiya confirmed his suspicion and knew that he had to kill Nagato before he became responsible for large-scale destruction. When Nagato destroyed Konohagakure and later revived the members, The Great Toad Sage realized that he was mistaken all this while. That is because the prophecy referred to both Nagato and Naruto since they wanted to save the world from destruction.

Kurama remembered the Sage of Six Paths’ words. Kurama was told that one individual would reunite all the Tailed Beasts. When Naruto released them from Tobi’s control, they realized that the Sage of Six Paths was referring to the protagonist of the series. This is why he was considered the child of the prophecy.