As an epic saga defined by its complex world and intriguing characters, Naruto has a lot of different arcs, each dedicated to telling its own story. While the arcs vary in of reception, there are quite a few that are universally well-regarded, including the Chuunin Exams, which features a tournament pitting a host of young shinobi against each other, and proved to be fundamental for putting Naruto on the road to success. However, if it were for the author, this iconic arc would have never happened.
Masashi Kishimoto, the genius behind Naruto, could have never anticipated the success of the Chuunin Exams arc, as revealed in an interview summarized here. That is because, even though this arc played a vital role in establishing the foundations of the series, it was in fact a story that he himself never intended to tell, only doing so because he gave in to the persuasions of his editors. Kishimoto, in fact, hated tournament arcs in manga, and initially refused to follow his editors' suggestion to put one in Naruto.
Kishimoto Never Wanted To Make A Tournament Arc In Naruto
The Chuunin Exams arc, one of Naruto's first major arcs after its prologue, introduced many characters that became pretty relevant for the story. However, according to Kishimoto himself, instead of introducing all these characters at once, his plan was to continue to focus on Naruto and Team 7 instead, having them encounter ninjas from different villages as they complete their own missions. His editors at Shueisha however believed that this type of storytelling was too slow, so asked him to do a tournament arc. Kishimoto's response was that doing that would "kill" him, to which his editors replied: "Do it even if it kills you". What's more, just as he was starting to enjoy working on the arc, he was told to interrupt it in order to introduce Orochimaru as a big villain and stop the tournament.
Although Kishimoto never intended to write one, even he itted that the series picked up popularity thanks to its tournament arc, and there's a very good reason for that. Tournament arcs, which by now are a staple in every major shōnen action anime, make for a great opportunity to introduce or re-establish the identities and power levels of different characters, as well as the relationships between them - especially those of rivalry. When everyone is fighting one another, their strengths and weaknesses are put on display for all to see, and so are their ambitions. the Chuunin Exams established a number of facts about the young ninjas, including who was a more skilled fighter, but also whose abilities countered whose. Finally, certain rivalries were either introduced or reinforced, including those of Sakura and Ino, as well as Hinata and Neji's family tensions.
Tournament Arcs Are A Great Way To Establish Characters
Of course, it also helps that Kishimoto, in spite of his apprehension, managed to create not just an ordinary arc, but one of the best tournament arcs ever. It is difficult to assess what the series would have turned out like, had he chosen a different way to introduce each ninja team. While he would surely be able to make anything work, given his talent and dedication, perhaps his editorial team was indeed right to make this choice. Either way, Naruto fans know for a fact that the Chuunin Exams still includes some of the most iconic moments of the series, excellently setting up many characters that would soon become fan favorites.
Source: Kobayashi Interview with Kishimoto: Extensive Summary
