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TheNarutofranchise gets a bad reputation for the excessive number of filler episodes, and understandably so. However, some of these fillers materialize interesting possibilities that never made it to the canon storyline. One such filler was the Land of the Sea arc during the original series. It introduced an interesting team-up including Ino, Naruto, Shino, and Anko as their Jounin supervisor. Such team-ups were quite rare in the main storyline, but interesting nonetheless.
As the main characters of the series, Masashi Kishimoto’s primary focus was the members of Team 7. But, the Land of the Sea is the perfect example of why he should have focused more on different characters and team combinations. He has pulled off a similar feat with some canon developments but the rare team-up also deserved more screen time.
A FillerNarutoEpisode Introduced an Interesting Team
During theLand of the Seamission, the only genin available were Naruto, Ino, and Shino. Tsunade made the decision to send this trio on a mission with Anko to face the Sea Demon. Besides Naruto, none of these characters got much attention fromMasashi Kishimoto. The internal dynamics between them highlighted their contrasting experiences. While Naruto was more empathetic towards the girl, Ino was strictly against her.
Shino was simultaneously coming up with strategies to test and bridge the gap between his team members’ perspectives. It was an interesting insight into how these characters operated during missions. Anko also had her dark memories and the cursed seal that she struggled to keep up with during the mission.
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This filler was an interesting addition to the main story as it explored the side characters who were never fleshed out properly. Such fillers explain why Kishimoto needed to focus more on other team combinations instead of dedicating his whole attention to Team 7, and Sasuke specifically.
The Wasted Potential of Side Characters inNaruto
There are some instances in the story where Kishimoto tried to work with different teams. After Sasuke was taken away, a new team led by Shikamaru was formed to retrieve him. This team included Neji, Lee, Kiba, Choji, Naruto, and Shikamaru. It can be said with confidence that Kishimoto wrote some of the most rewarding moments with this team of young genin.
If he had more such missions where different teams collaborated, the side characters could have gotten their much-deserved character development. The best instance when this happened was Asuma’s death arc. Kishimoto forged a special connection between Asuma and Naruto. With that arc, his primary focus was Shikamaru but Naruto was also incorporated through his training arc.
It was a natural connection between two different teams and the individual character arcs of their members. Instead of continuing this approach, Kishimoto hyper-fixated on Team 7 and their internal dynamics. While doing that, he ended up sidelining interesting characters like Lee and Neji. The beginning of the originalNarutoshows the true potential of the side characters.
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Most of the characters in the Chunin Exam showcased immense potential that was sadly never utilized by Kishimoto. The filler episodes and rare intersections between different teams show us what the cast ofNarutocould’ve been if Team 7 wasn’t the sole focus. Who knew that the generally annoying fillers could enrich the canon storyline so well? Given that they don’t interrupt a crucial event right before a key moment!
Narutois available to stream on Netflix.
Laveena Joshi
Anime Writer
Articles Published :926
Laveena is an anime content writer at FandomWire. Having written more than 800 articles, she’s an expert in mainstream shonen series, ranging from the bizarre world of JoJo’s to the expansive worldbuilding of One Piece.With her formal education in Journalism and Mass Communication, she explores entertainment journalism through the lens of anime and manga, from mainstream and classic titles to niche and obscure ones.
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Masashi KishimotoNarutoNaruto Uzumaki
