By Wong Li Yee
When one think of ninjas, one would most likely think of either Ninja Turtles or Naruto.
Naruto was a series which had covered many themes, from questioning the concept of identity, friendship, sacrifice, unrequited love and even world peace, and the manga ended in Nov 2014. While
In the final arc of Naruto, our readers get more than we asked for, yet we are only here for...
Seeking closure
Readers of Naruto would be both glad and sad that the author of the series had finally shown us how Naruto had grown up and have children of his own, even more so from the Naruto Shippuden arc when it showed us his teenaged self.
For a manga that ran for so long, the character Naruto had rose from each challenges he faced, from the depressing childhood to becoming the fire country's leader.
Redemption
The most anticipated fight in the last arc was the fight between Naruto and Sasuke. Ever since the fight in the Valleys of the End, fans have been waiting for the moment they settled their differences with each other.
Long ninja fight later, Sasuke has a ninja therapy session where Naruto says he'll never give up on his friends, and Sasuke finally realise that he didn't need to be the avenger anymore, and decided to atone for all his sins by travelling the world on his own.
Being a Leader
As it was limited to a single chapter, it was difficult to grasp Naruto's character post Fourth Shinobi World War. Naruto managed to lead Konoha, their hidden village, into an age of rapid development with the end of the war.
Skyscrapers were built in the back and yet the rustic feel of Konoha remained, the heart of the city unchanged, surrounded by forests from the made by the forefather's tree summoning technique.
Fatherhood
The series had reinforced the stereotype that wives are there to take care of children while husbands do their business.
Not only that, the father that Naruto was portrayed in the chapter went against what Naruto had stood for. He had promised that he would be close and take care of those dear to him, yet all can see that he fell into the pitfall which many leaders had fallen into- Naruto had neglected his child so much that his son had to resort to vandalism to get attention from his father in the last chapter, and it wasn't the first time he had done so.
In the meantime, Sasuke's daughter lives in Konoha with Sakura. Sasuke's travel, seemingly to repent for his prior actions, could be him not being brave enough to face his friends who had fought for his sakes and the deaths he caused.
Disappointing end
Not all readers of the series had been glad that it was ending, despite having the closure.
"I'm not satisfied as in the end I didn't see Kakashi's face" said Brandon Lee Wai Kit, 23, who had graduated from Taylor's International Business early this year.
The teacher of Naruto, Hatake Kakashi even wears his trademark mask in the statue faces which watches over the village.
The author and artist of the series, Masashi Kishimoto could've handled the ending better by not introducing a bunch of new characters and focused on the original cast and not making Naruto look like an incompetent father. The artist had said it himself that he didn't want to end the series.
Thankfully, Weekly Shonen Jump, the official magazine of Naruto announced through the magazine that a short sequel to the series by the same artist will be released in the first quarter of 2015.