A Perfect Ending
"It's finally over, flowers for the finale!!"
"A masterpiece!"
After finishing the final chapter of Naruto, the fans of the Porter left heartfelt comments.
No one could deny that the ending was incredibly satisfying and well-executed.
Jiraiya was resurrected, and he ended up with Tsunade.
Naruto married Hinata.
Though some fans didn't like Obito, they couldn't deny that he redeemed himself in the end by doing something good. His ending, reuniting with Rin in the afterlife, was fitting.
Naruto and Sasuke reconciled, with Sasuke accepting the Konoha headband Naruto handed him, symbolizing his return to the village.
It was, without a doubt, one of the rare perfect endings in the Porter's works.
Most of his other stories had tragic or darker conclusions.
"Ahhh, finally, the Pervy Sage and Tsunade are together!"
"Curse you, Hinata! How dare you steal Sasuke's husband! 0v0"
"But to be fair, Hinata looked stunning in her wedding dress. No wonder she's my waifu."
"You're dreaming, aren't you? Isn't your wife Chiyo?"
"You wish. Time to wake up!"
"It's just a shame, though. There were so many other characters I wanted to see revived, like Naruto's parents…"
"Keep dreaming! If everyone were revived, it'd lose its meaning. Reviving Jiraiya was already a big deal since he was one of the few who genuinely cared for Naruto from the start."
"I remember crying when I watched Jiraiya's death episode back then…"
"Thank you, Porter, for giving us such an amazing ending!!!"
"Honestly, I didn't expect the Porter to do something decent for once and actually bring Jiraiya back."
"It's not the first time. Remember Your Name? He gave the protagonists a happy ending there, too."
"Yeah, and that's about it. Most of his other works either have no closure or end in tragedy. Madoka Magica was the worst—it was heartbreaking when no one even remembered Madoka…"
Online discussions about Naruto's conclusion were in full swing.
Many readers expressed their feelings.
At first, some fans were reluctant to read Naruto because it was a ninja-themed story from Japan. But as the plot progressed, more and more people fell in love with it.
They became attached to its vibrant, well-crafted characters.
Compared to the original Naruto series from another world, Naruto in this world became even more beloved.
After all, in the original series, as the story progressed, things felt increasingly rushed or half-hearted.
For example, the battles early on focused on life-or-death struggles, emphasizing the mastery of basic ninja techniques. But toward the end, the battles lacked strategy or conviction.
Though Ren's version of Naruto had its fair share of power-scaling issues in the later chapters, it was still much better handled compared to the original series.
And then there was the Ninja World War.
Maybe it was because large-scale battles weren't easy to depict, but the original Naruto tried to piece together epic battles by mixing individual fights with broader strategies. This resulted in a heavy reliance on Edo Tensei, where characters faced off with their resurrected foes. The focus shifted to flashbacks, like Kakashi vs. Zabuza, Mifune vs. Hanzo, and Team 10 vs. Asuma. The fights became more about emotion and nostalgia than strategy.
But Ren, with his artistic talent enhanced by the system, made sure each fight—whether involving Naruto, Sasuke, the Ninja Alliance, or the Five Kage—felt dynamic and alive. Every character had their moment to shine, contributing to the ever-shifting battle.
And let's not forget the themes of forgiveness and death.
In the original Naruto, many deaths seemed sudden and unnecessary. Neji's death, in particular, felt like a deliberate move to toy with the audience's emotions.
The worst part was Naruto's reaction to Obito. Obito had been responsible for killing Naruto's parents, among many other atrocities, but Naruto ultimately forgave him.
However, Ren's version took a different approach. Other than Kakashi, most people did not forgive Obito. They saw him as a tragic figure who had been manipulated, but there was no sympathy for his crimes.
In summary, Ren stood on the shoulders of giants and made significant improvements to what he felt were weak points in the original story.
Because of this, there were fewer moments that made fans roll their eyes in frustration.
Curiosity drives interest, and with word of mouth spreading, Naruto's sales saw a slight increase in the following days.
Additionally, Naruto's rating on Douzhen—a popular online platform—was finally revealed: 8.9 out of 10!
For a long-running series, that was an impressive score.
The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
"This is one of the best quality shonen series I've read in years!"
"Tightly plotted, super engaging, and the resurrection of Jiraiya at the end had me in tears."
"What? Jiraiya got revived?"
"You didn't see the video the Porter uploaded? He made a special 40-minute video for the finale!"
"Wow, I didn't know! I'm gonna watch it now!"
"Seriously impressive. The Porter's panel work is better than most artists out there. And even though the power scaling was a bit off in the later parts, compared to other long-running series, this one held up really well."
"Five stars! The art, the story, the unexpected twists—it was all so good. Thank you, Porter, for giving us a perfect ending!"
As Naruto reached its finale, another of Ren's works, KonoSuba, continued to entertain readers with its hilarious plot.
For example, the protagonist, Kazuma, had earned the nickname "Kuzu-ma" (meaning "Trash-ma") after learning a stealing skill from Chris and using it to steal… her underwear.
Seeing Kazuma triumphantly waving the stolen item above his head had readers bursting into laughter.
Not only that, but the true nature of the female knight who joined their team at the end of the second chapter was finally revealed. She turned out to be a complete masochist! After witnessing Aqua and Megumin getting slimed by giant frogs, she eagerly begged to join Kazuma's team.
And when Kazuma disdainfully refused her, many readers were shocked.
"A masochistic knight begging to join you, and you turn her down? What kind of man are you?"
If it were them, they wouldn't hesitate to accept her, and then…
Heh heh heh.
Just imagine the possibilities!
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