5 Naruto Characters Who Would’ve Made A Better Final Villain Than Kaguya Otsutsuki

Every shonen anime needs a hard-hitting endgame villain to challenge the heroes one last time. Such villains need to be physically powerful, of course, and they should also have thematic or personal relevance to the heroes. Anime like Bleach and Demon Slayer succeeded with the likes of Yhwach and Muzan Kibutsuji, but Naruto fans aren’t so sure about the endgame villain they got. In the end, it was Kaguya Otsutsuki who rose as the final boss, and viewers had more than a few objections.

Kaguya did wield massive power and had some relevance as the mother of chakra, but otherwise, her arrival was unwelcome. It doesn’t help how Kaguya showed up at the last second and had no personal ties or relevance to Naruto‘s heroes, even counting the fact she was Hagoromo’s mother. So, Naruto fans dearly wish they ended up with a different endgame supervillain, and the short list of candidates includes someone who tried to be that final villain, only for Kaguya to get in the way.

Madara Uchiha Was Cheated Out of His Villainous Endgame

He Was On Track to Rival Blackbeard and Aizen

Image via Pierrot.

Madara Uchiha is the one who was going to be the Naruto anime’s endgame villain, only for Kaguya Otsutsuki to butt in. That is likely the main reason the Naruto fandom dislikes Kaguya so much, since her arrival was not only abrupt, but also at Madara’s expense. The story spent so much time hyping up Madara as the endgame threat to the entire shinobi world, and it almost paid off. Madara did confront the Kage with the power of his dojutsu and the Ten-Tails, so he somewhat delivered on the promises. But he didn’t stick the landing.

Just when Madara reached the peak of his powers, Black Zetsu betrayed him for Kaguya’s sake, and that’s where things went south. Even if it would have felt predictable for Madara to rise as Naruto‘s ultimate villain and stay that way to the end, it’s better than a bait-and-switch like Kaguya’s. Shonen fans don’t mind if the central villain remains in plain sight for so long, since there’s room for the story to surprise the audience with plot twists that don’t involve sudden, last-minute villain arrivals.

The Six Paths of Pain Served as Naruto’s Thematic Counterpart

Naruto Shippuden Might Have Ended With the Pain Arc

Even now, the Naruto fandom respects the Pain Arc as one of Naruto‘s best, if not the very best, even if the rest of Naruto Shippuden tried to outdo it. Pound for pound, there is simply no surpassing the Pain Arc in Naruto Shippuden, mainly because of the quality of the central villain. The big bad is the famed Six Paths of Pain, who delivered on every front. He had an incredibly cool and effective fighting style as six bodies in one, all held together with the Rinnegan.

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Above all, Pain is a top-tier Naruto villain because he is Naruto Uzumaki’s thematic counterpart as a fellow disciple of Jiraiya’s. Pain and Naruto are examples of how the same dream or ideal can lead down diverging paths, because there are countless ways to approach a single goal. Given how Pain had a genuine point about the cycle of revenge, it’s not easy to see which approach to Jiraiya’s dream makes the most sense. That moral fuzziness made the Pain Arc far more than a matter of beating up yet another scary super-ninja to save the world. All that is why some Naruto fans argue that the entire series should have ended there, long before Kaguya could muck things up.

Orochimaru Represented the Unlimited Potential of Jutsu

If It Weren’t For Sasuke, Orochimaru Could Have Threatened the World

Orochimaru puts his hands together as he stands on a rooftop.

The original Naruto anime firmly established Orochimaru the rogue Sannin as the apex villain, with him being the most powerful and innovative antagonist in that phase of this anime adventure. Orochimaru was the one who granted Sasuke the Cursed Mark while also fighting Hiruzen Sarutobi and assaulting the Hidden Leaf Village. Over time, in Naruto Shippuden, the story managed to make Orochimaru obsolete as Sasuke and other characters powered up, but it didn’t have to be that way.

Orochimaru faced an early end simply because the story was making room for other villains, such as Sasuke himself, but Orochimaru’s arc could have been written another way. It would have been just as easy to make Orochimaru escape yet again and resort to never-before-seen jutsu, science, and plans to become an endgame threat after all. At the risk of making Orochimaru overstay his welcome, Naruto had the potential to make Orochimaru as powerful as he dreamed, maximizing the potential of Orochimaru’s resourceful fighting style. Orochimaru wanted to learn all jutsu in the world, and someone who succeeds at such a mission is easily on par with the likes of Madara and Kaguya. Besides that, Naruto would get a chance to fight and defeat the villain who tore Team 7 apart to begin with.

Danzo Shimura Could Have Been a Villainous Hokage to Wrap Up the Story

Naruto’s Future as Hokage Hinges on Taking Down Danzo

Danzo Shimura holds up his Sharingan arm.

Nearly all of the Kage seen in Naruto were heroes, or at least antiheroes who defaulted to the good guys’ side when threats like the Akatsuki rose to power. Some Kage were much less likable than others, but none of them became bona fide villains, unless fans count Rasa the Kazekage for his mistreatment of Gaara. As for true supervillain Kage, there’s the matter of Danzo Shimura, who almost became the Sixth Hokage until Kakashi Hatake officially claimed that mantle years later.

Image of Sasuke glaring at another character in Naruto

6 Naruto Characters Who Really Don’t Deserve The Hate

There are characters in Naruto that receive universal hate due to their poor actions, but there are also many that don’t deserve the harsh criticism.

If Danzo’s appointment to Hokage stuck, and if Tsunade couldn’t deal with him, then Danzo would make a decent endgame villain in Naruto Shippuden. In the actual story, Sasuke killed Danzo with a vicious attack that nearly killed Karin in the process, but different writing would change Danzo into an even tougher foe who would only lose to the combined power of Team 7. That would be more satisfying than Kaguya’s unwelcome intrusion, and above all, it would make Danzo a dark counterpart of what Naruto aspired to be as Hokage. Naruto would take it personally and fiercely fight Danzo to prove that a Hokage can be much more than a Sharingan-stealing mastermind.

Sasuke Uchiha Was the Villain of Naruto’s Personal Arc at Times

Some Endgame Bosses Might Be Redeemed

Sasuke raises a fist with his Sharingan activated.

A number of Uchiha clan members could have been the endgame villain in Naruto Shippuden, which says much about the nature of this ninja family. Fans wanted Madara to be the endgame threat, and that role might have gone to Obito or even Itachi if the story were written just right. To make things even more personal, another powerhouse Uchiha could have been Naruto’s final foe: his former teammate Sasuke.

As of the climax of Naruto Shippuden, Sasuke Uchiha was indeed strong enough to rival Naruto himself, what with Indra’s Arrow, his full-body Susanoo, and much more. It’s true that the actual story had Naruto and Sasuke battle it out right at the end, but that was just everyone going through the motions. Making Sasuke the true endgame threat would challenge Naruto one last time to redeem his friend after failing to do so a few times earlier on. What is more, fans might have liked the novelty of an endgame villain who could be welcomed back as a trusted friend, setting Sasuke apart from other endgame foes like Sosuke Aizen, Muzan Kibutsuji, and All For One.