The war in Naruto and One Piece are worlds apart. Masashi Kishimoto was on the right track with the setup and the emotional match-ups, however, the final twist in the war ruined everything that came before it. Kaguya’s introduction changed things for the worse and prevented the Fourth Great Ninja War from being something on par with the Marineford Arc in One Piece. Might Guy was the key to significantly improving the war arc.
There was a clear option to raise the stakes with Guy’s death, that Kishimoto completely ignored. He created one of the best match-ups only to backtrack his steps with Naruto’s arrival. With Guy threatening his life against Madara, an emotional storm was brewing that was left unresolved. By not following this plotline to its full potential, Kishimoto killed the true potential of the war arc in Naruto.
A Similar Formula as Marineford Arc Would Have Worked Wonders for Naruto
What made Marineford so great in One Piece was its colossal magnitude. For one person, all hell broke loose with some of the strongest characters assembling on the same battlefield. Ace’s relationship dynamics with the other characters pushed them all to fight for him with their lives at stake. Eiichiro Oda gave us the death of two significant characters in the same arc, which is a big deal for One Piece.
The deaths communicated the severity of the war to fans. On the other hand, Masashi Kishimoto teased the death of one of the best characters, only for him to be saved by Naruto. Might Guy gave his all during his fight against Madara. The forbidden Eight Gates technique that was introduced with a clear warning that it’s final stage means death was used by Guy. He was able to inflict damage on Madara by driving himself to the verge of death.
Fans were on the edge, ready to bid goodbye to their favorite character, but he was saved by Naruto. Both Madara and Guy were alive and the overall impact of their brawl was somewhat back to square one. If Guy had died, both Kakashi and Lee would’ve been devastated. They had both lost their closest friends, namely Neji and Obito.
If something had happened to Guy, their rage would have given us one of the most emotionally powerful and damaging fights in the entire series. However, Kishimoto chose to keep him alive, losing the opportunity to create Naruto’s very own Marineford Arc.
Kishimoto Ruined Guy’s Perfect Conclusion
What’s more saddening is how Guy’s character arc progresses after that moment. The severe injuries he incurred made him unable to ever return back to his active lifestyle as a shinobi. If he had died in the war against Madara, his death would’ve created a similar impact as Jiraiya. Kishimoto could further improve the scene by giving Guy a proper send-off that could reflect the life he had led so far.
His death would’ve been the perfect way to bring Lee back under the spotlight, after sidelining for the majority of Naruto Shippuden. Seeing Kakashi enraged after losing Guy would’ve been an impactful scene as well. One Reddit thread delves into how Guy’s death could’ve improved the war arc.
Moreover, Kishimoto has never hesitated to kill his characters, so it makes one wonder if Guy was just someone he really wanted to keep around. No matter what his reasons were, Kishimoto wasted a great opportunity to create an impactful scene in the final parts of Naruto, before the Kaguya debacle ensued.
Naruto: Shippuden is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
