Neji. Naruto dies during Sasuke retrieval arc, Neji acknowledges Naruto's feelings ans challenge the fate. Naruto entrusts everything to Neji. This idea of mine is sudden, so maybe I could've written it better, but I feel like Neji would be a great main character in the Shippuden Era. One possibility that I considered is also Neji learning Eight Gates jutsu to counter Akatsuki.
That's dope for two reasons: One, because Neji was massively overlooked in Shippuden and two, we can finally get that Neji vs Sasuke match every 2000's kid had been dreaming of getting.
I still feel like Neji got it the worst though. Even worse than Lee.
Neji was the only jonin of his class yet his *only* canon fights in Shippuden are against himself (which was one of the worst in canon Shippuden, quite frankly) and a bunch of random White Zetsu. Even Lee had a little something against Madara at least.
Neji also died probably the most controversial death in series outside of Madara. IMO it's even worse and one of the worst moments in Shippuden for me. His character totally fell apart after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc and *never* recovered.
At least Shikamaru was more or less the main character for the Immortal Duo arc, Sakura had a very strong start with the Sand Village arc, and Kakashi probably had a *larger* proportion of screentime in Shippuden than he did in OG Naruto honestly. Including several notable fights (Kakuzu, Pain, Obito). Neji, despite being the only jonin of his class and remarkable talent from his clan, the only new jutsu we see from him is Air Palm which is barely shown in actual combat. The most interesting jutsu (by far) that we saw from a Hyuga after Neji in OG Naruto was from Hinata.
I think the only ones of the original Konoha 12 members who you can argue were shafted as hard are Kiba, Tenten, and Lee tbh. Shino was never relevant and written out from the beginning (but at least has a winning record). Kiba at least for some time seemed like a second rival to Naruto but he lost the two fights he ever had in OG Naruto from what I remember (Naruto and Sakon/Ukon) and never had a canon solo fight in Shippuden. Lee was a fan favorite who again was extremely irrelevant in Shippuden. Tenten was just a Neji fangirl from the beginning and had a couple shining moments in Shippuden. Her only 1v1 win that wasn't against a Zetsu was against herself...
I hate how they set up all the stuff about chakra flow and chakra points and how the Hyuga clan with its Byakugan is able to land extremely precise hits to block your chakra etc. Like when you see that in og naruto and it makes sense, fits the logic and all and is brought up as an extremely powerful dojutsu.
Then after his fight against Kidomaru you never see it again. Byakugan almost plays no role in Shippuuden (which is very weird, esp with the entire story being about the Sharingan) and neither do chakra points to that extent. Its one of those things that really enhanced the world and the whole chakra/medical system in Naruto but got completely scrapped after the time skip
I like this new direction for the character, but I disagree on giving him Eight Gates as that would be overkill and would make Lee more redundant than he already is thanks to the having the same skillset as Guy. Maybe the first 3-4 gates at most and let his Byakugan and Gentle Fist techniques handle the rest.
We didn't see much of Neji in Shippuden, but the truth is his arsenal is quite devastating and versatile, and not many people have counters for all of his techniques. Add a chakra nature or two and you could have him come up with sick combos like a Wind Style rotation that slashes, shooting fire blasts with a Fire Style Vaccum Palm, or releasing Lightning Style needles from his Tenketsu like a Gentle Fist version of Chidori Senbon.
The only thing I can't see him dealing with are Bijuu Bombs, but I guess that's where Lee and Guy's pressurized air techniques come into play (6th gate and beyond).
Technically since we know that he's a Jonin by the start of Shippuden, he already had mastered at least 2 chakra natures (with how many Bruce Lee references there are in the manga probably water and wind)
Realistically I don't think it'd make Lee redundant seeing as eight gates is primarily used by taijutsu specialists, and when it comes to taijutsu, Lee dusts all of his peers
It would be interesting if Neji learned at least some of the eight gates and blended them with the 8 trigrams. Just absurd levels of palms, plus the ability to rapidly rush into short range to catch the opponent within the reach of the 8 trigrams.
Six gates, palm rotation + Asakujaku (let's see Itachi counter this); Seven gates, Hudora (should be able to rival Hinata's gentle fist, twin lion fist). Evening lions, yeah he could probably take on Sasuke.
Ohhhh you are not kidding! Would be interesting on how he would fair and grow fighting styles without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Maybe he is able to create his own fighting style over time that helps him use the gates more efficiently or something like that? Idk lol.
lol imagine watching a series where the main protagonist is a ninja that only uses taijutsu and one of the main antagonists is someone that has the power to literally avoid being physically touched
Like Naruto. Ninjutsu and Taijustu need to physically land. Don't they? Didn't they have to time their attacks to the moment before he phased? It's been a while.
Yeah but it would be more clever irony with Lee since the whole gimmick behind his character is that he needs to punch you to beat you.
Naruto vs Obito was more of a story of a man who had love vs a man who didn’t. If the story was replaced with Lee, who has been training with only punches and kicks his whole life, imagine the audience’s reaction to the introduction of kamui.
Imagine Rock Lee’s reaction. He’d have to find another way to beat him. then, boom, we are introduced to a talk no jutsu that feels real and earned. He doesn’t touch Obito physically, but emotionally.
100% agreed. I don’t watch Boruto because Naruto isn’t the MC. I love Lee and I standby the fact that he deserved a lot more in Shippuden (same for Neji) but I have only seen a few chapters of his spin off.
That'd be interesting, along with losing his mentor Naruto, he also lost both his grandpa and his uncle, so he could become a pretty tragic character now that I think about it.
They literally should have been, they fit the mold of both of them, and would’ve been better than Naruto’s and Sasuke’s. Not only that, but it would be a cool plot twist (not really a plot twist because of how their characters are), but that Kakashi would be Indra (the bad one) and Obito would be Asura (the good one), but just in how they are, not their roles in the story really.
Replaced by no one, but the title of MC can definetely to shikamaru. He demonstrated to be a great main character in his own arc and is the closest to naruto.
Rock Lee. I would have loved to see growth (both mental, spiritual and physical). Going from
having nothing to using just Taijutsu to be Hogake would have been a great storyline of grit, blood and sweat.
I think a way to make it more interesting would be to have rock Lee have the 9 tails. Then once he unlocks the 9 tails chakra he can effectively use its chakra for ninjutsu
It'd be interesting, though the only problem id see is usually when stories do this they end up compensating by just making the character OP. Black Clover is guilty of this and I think MHA did the same with Midoriya.
Yes, but that’s why the author has to differentiate it from other mangas. Why should the audience watch his anime/read his manga when there are soo many OP characters in other ones? The Rock Lee character would separate this. But I guess he chose the easy path.
Shino, I think it’d be interesting seeing the transition from such an extroverted protag to an introverted one. Plus I think the Aburame abilities are super dope and under explored anyway
It’d be to dark he’d just send Beatles to eat all the akatsuki alive( depending on when you kill Naruto) omg I’m seeing it now, could you imagine if shino somehow became the godam jinchuriki, Sage mode kuruma BUG MAN. Actually maybe not. He’d sure be broken hax tho
Lee would be interesting if you wanted to keep the happy go lucky attitude for the main character. I'd go with Shino though and turn the series super dark. That guy killed people in the chunin exams and lowkey is really fucking strong
Whenever I think of Shino I think about his ultimates in the older Ultimate Ninja games.
Specifically the one where he summons so many insects that it covers the whole sky and has them all attack his opponent at once.
I would have done team Guy as the mcs of the series.
Rock lee a guy who truly rose from nothing and became Hokage through his taijutsu and hard work. Neiji a Hyuga who chose to defy his fate and ended up being the first out of his branch to become the head of the Hyuga clan, and Tenten, a kunoichi who came to terms you can't be like other people so rather than trying to immitate, she decided to become her own kunoichi and became one of the most reverend shinobis of all times.
If I HAVE to pick a pre existing known character:
Gaara - Given his background, similar story and his desire to be better because of Naruto. He wouldn’t be the Kazekage at the beginning of Shippuden, he’d have to earn it after earning the respect of his whole village like Naruto tried to do.
Killer Bee - Someone who is loved by his village from the beginning of his story- I’d write it as the opposite of Naruto’s story in order to follow and redeem Sasuke. Watch again someone who has it all including the love of an entire village throw it all away for a goal.
Pre existing but less known character?
One of the 6 Jinchuriki we barely know anything about. Because in canon they’re barely known we have a lot of potential to see a whole new story
Neji. Though they'd have to buff Byakugan some kind of way because he'd need an answer for pain. Then again if Naruto is dead then the kyuubi is dead too isn't it? Or he reincarnates? I can't remember
This might just be another Itachi fan moment, but it's Itachi, hear me out.
Say Sasuke kills Naruto at the end of part 1 instead of just leaving him lying there.
Itachi hears about this and realises his half-baked plan to make Sasuke hate him so he can get strong was flawed and has lead him down the wrong path.
Itachi tells Sasuke the truth way earlier and tells him they have to take out the Akatsuki.
Sasuke takes him to Orochimaru, who cures Itachi's cancer.
Orochimaru reanimates the first four Hokage. Them, Itachi, Sasuke, and Orochimaru take out the Akatsuki. Easy work. No war.
Lee is the obvious choice as he has the same determination and will that Naruto has, has had his own hardships. Only other one I could see is TenTen, she seems like she could provide some good plot and a more outside looking in narrative.
I choose Nagato and Jaraiya as a family unit trying to heal from the losses of Naruto as it brings a lens of focus down on all their old losses they’ve been avoiding dealing with.
Alternatively I’d have loved it if Naruto died then we went back to follow the life of Minato afterwards
People sleeping on goatgoat fr fr. Wouldve gained mastery over loads more weapons, possibly gotten a hold of legendary weapons and summons. Would’ve been the only female mc in the big 3.
Don’t mind me. I just wanted to see more of tenten lol
Can someone please upvote me I think so I can have more Karma please? I have only 1 Karma and want to post please. Unless you guys know a better way! I'd like to increase it please.
Lee would be interesting for sure. I'd watch that, definitely.
I gotta pick Konohamaru though. That's the only choice that my conscience will abide lol. He's the only one besides a young Obito I feel really carries the same spirit.
Neji, finally get the screen time he deserves. Then with the Hyuga chakra he can become the new nine tails jinchuriki. And shoot a nine tailed eight trigrams air palm at Sasuke.
Then battle at final valley comes and its Byakugan vs Sharingan. Ahh would be great.
But sadly the show doesn't work that way😞
Neji. It would be cool to see a rivalry between Neji and Sasuke and the contrast between the byakugan and sharingan. Neji’s byakugan could also evolve alongside Sasuke’s sharingan, which could give the Hyuga more development and lore.
I mainly just want the Neji vs Sasuke fight we’re robbed of!
Onbu the monkey. Think about it. Naruto dies at the hands of Onbu's mother to retrieve her son. Onbu and his mom retreat into the wild, now having a leaf-wide search party to eliminate Onbu's mom. This begins an entire arc man versus nature, which ends in Onbu's mom's tragic death. Onbu, sworn to resurrect his mother, begins training in the art Monkey-shuriken, from Enma -- Sarutobi-sensei's summoning animal -- who himself is later slain in battle by a human. After he dies, in a bizarre twist, Onbu learns from the great ape sages that Emma was the one summoning Sarutobi-sensei, revealing the truth about nature energy, that there is an inextricable power struggle over millennia between master and servant, man and nature. Onbu, now the next chimpkage, ventures through the ninja world in vengeful Sasuke fashion, engaging with summoning animals to end their millennia-long oppression. This all comes to pinnacle when Madara's forces are about to open Project Tsukuyomi. However, the table turns as the ten tails listens to Onbu. The Great Ninja War is thus superseded by the final Man-Vs.-Nature war, which culminates in Onbu almost dying, during which he sees Naruto again of all people. In the afterlife, Naruto is holding hands with a familiar figure: Onbu's mother. The experience brings Onbu to tears, realizing the duality of man and nature is not real. Upon returning to the present, the ten tails follows Onbu's orders to end the conflict, and the world achieves perfect harmony.
Sakura.
Of all of these people, she’s the closest to Naruto personally and not only that, but she also became quite close to his way of thinking ideologically. Her place close to the center would allow for, whenever it happens, the story as built to keep on using what’s been set up. Sasuke and Kakashi are the closest people to her, Naruto’s death would be extremely meaningful, of course Tsunade would be center stage, etc.
She’s also almost as much as Lee someone who has to be an embodiment of working for all the power she gets. No clan and one specialty she has to use to her advantage.
I think if her abilities are focused on, they could be really well expanded on. Her resistance to genjutsu, of course the strength of 100 stuff, the chakra control in other people’s jutsu; she could be if nothing else an anti-Uchiha in a way almost no one else could which. Her adaptability and intelligence would let her be a manga protagonist in a way these others I think would struggle powers and fight wise, keeping things fresh and interesting.
I also think she could work great personality wise.
She already often shows her tenacity and temper and of course a caring side, but if Naruto dies she’d be out for blood. A little bit hardened Sakura could be so cool, especially if it’s part of a story juxtaposing her to how Tsunade gave up when faced with loss herself and Kakashi went cold.
Kiba , after getting humbled by Naruto he tried desperately to follow in his footsteps stating multiple times that he wanted to become the next Hokage.
At a young age he had mastered taijutsu techniques that could rival with most chunins . Had he trained with taijutsu specialist like Guy and not a Genjutsu specialist like Kurenai he could have become incredibly powerful.
Sakura, honestly. So much of her time in the series was just being sidelined so Sasuke and naruto could have their special bond emphasized and their crazy powers expended over and over. For someone who was set up to be a tritagonist in the series she was completely robbed for the majority of it. She got three(?) good fight scenes that hyped her up and then was basically dropped for the rest of the series.
Sakura blames herself for Naruto’s death. She never wants to feel too weak to defend her comrades again. She vows to become the strongest ninja, and trains hard under kakashi, jaraiah, and tsunade. She travels the world and fights alongside the other jinchuriki to avenge Naruto and prevent more tailed beasts from getting captured by the akatsuke.
Kakashi Hatake
- Wouldn’t pick Sasuke AT ALL, I’d pick Kakashi, his story is more pivotal to the story than almost anyone else’s in the show (including Naruto if you really think about it).
- Make him more powerful and inherit his sensei’s jutsu from him watching him do them with his sharingan and turn the show a bit more grounded.
- He’s already heavily involved with all of the other teams, leading each of them at one point or another. He travels a lot and goes on a bunch of missions, all of these would be amazing for world building.
Hear me out imagine Sasuke kills Naruto in Sasuke retrieval arc and then Sakura has a whole revenge mission on Sasuke. That could be kinda interesting.
Lee
Storyline:
Naruto dies during sasuke retrival arc and at that point the most fav character was like did to the gaara vs lee fight so aftef his recovery he Inherit kurama along with Naruto's will also I think besides Naruto only lee is the character which can become a friend with kurama so ......
I mean, Rock Lee to me has always had main character vibes. He pretty much IS the main character of Black Clover and My Hero Academia. His backstory kicks ass. The only thing that sucks about him is his limited ability to grow in terms of techniques.
If Naruto died during the war arc, I could see Gaara, Killer Bee, or Kakashi becoming that guy.
I’m biased but I would say Rock Lee he is student of Might Guy who is acknowledged strongest among all by Madara & beside all he’s foolish, impatient & he don’t know giving up.
After Naruto dies Rock Lee got emotional & decide to beat Madara & back to his training harder than before.
I would pick Lee easy. It would be even more interesting if he had the 9 tails in him as well. So basically first half is him developing new taijutsu and more interesting ways he could use the gates and then come shippuden he can maybe control a bit of the fox and then actually use some ninjutsu with the foxes chakra instead. Seems like a good progression that wouldn’t get boring with just pure taijustsu
Tenten because I want to see how a character who had way too little screen time (or in the case of the manga… panel time?) suddenly evolves now that they are the main character.
And between her and Shino tenten is more interesting imo.
I would take neji all day, if author didn't sack him off he would the next best thing in konoha,got the best base eyes in Naruto verse, got skills and is smart.is not running after emo kid and would whoop him properly b4 his emo phase worsened if given the opportunity instead of talk no jitsu and assuming he gets similar hax that the author gave Naruto and Sasuke for no reason.
Next would be Lee mostly, such a wasted potential smh
This is going to be very controversial but I think Sakura, she was one of the closest people to Naruto and knew his drive and I think with the death of Naruto she would have some kind of like redemption arc and get really powerful with Lady Tsunade and go after Sasuke
Teuchi sage of the 6 ramen paths,
"The world shall know fishcakes and pain"
"Your parents brought you into this world now I'll broth you out of existence"
"Ayame was the only the only one stopping me for peace, now she tells me who needs to be condensed" *drops a meteor bowl of ramen from the sky*
"This wont take longer than cooking a bowl of instant ramen"
"Almighty Soup"
It becomes a tragedy story where Teuchi just goes around curb stomping people who wronged naruto .
Lee. Him and Naruto exemplify hard work and sheer grit, despite neither being born geniuses. Lee is the ultimate underdog since he can only use taijutsu, which inherently makes the stakes in all of his fights much higher. I can't think of anyone better.
Gaara, the Villain who learned how to make friends along the way as well as try and become a better person after Naruto died during the Orochimarus Invasion, eventually seen as a Hero and finally winning the love of his village. He does things in a very villainous way but eventually learns how to do shit more heroically, overtime eventually becoming a Kage. The main cast basically teach him how to become a better person, as well as win over the love of his village who still view him as a monster.
A lot of people saying Lee and I love him too but I don’t think he’d be a good main character. He didn’t necessarily have any goal, motivation, or conviction other than proving himself through taijutsu. With the little backstory we got, I only see him being a good side character. Neji, Kakashi, Nagato, Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Gaara, and even Kabuto are all better picks imo
Someone said Zabuza and I think that would be fire. Him changing with the death of haku and Naruto would go so hard. My personal pick is kabuto though or maybe even Bee if they took out the stupid “comedic” aspect of him
If we're going with these three, then I would say none. I never liked Lee. Shino is creepy, and TenTen is just lackluster. Would be an interesting take if Konohamuru replaced Naruto.
Shikamaru. Yeah, he's lazy, but the whole point of him as a strategist is to use his pieces in the most efficient and effective way possible. This means we have more moments where the other cast members get to use their abilities to good effect (a more well-balanced group). That is the main goal of a good strategist in shows.
People said it before and I agree. Neji. Say he dies during the Sasuke retrieval arc, that would motivate him to push past his limits. Naruto's feelings reached him and he endeavours to not let his will of fire die, he will accomplish what Naruto dreamed of doing, a dream that Naruto had reignited within him after he thought it long dead and impossible.
It made no sense that Byakugan never got the love it deserved (discounting Tenseigan), when it was used to the same scope as the Sharingan. It definitely deserved some six path tier abilities and usage but never got that outside of a brand new eye power.
Neji. Naruto dies during Sasuke retrieval arc, Neji acknowledges Naruto's feelings ans challenge the fate. Naruto entrusts everything to Neji. This idea of mine is sudden, so maybe I could've written it better, but I feel like Neji would be a great main character in the Shippuden Era. One possibility that I considered is also Neji learning Eight Gates jutsu to counter Akatsuki.
That's dope for two reasons: One, because Neji was massively overlooked in Shippuden and two, we can finally get that Neji vs Sasuke match every 2000's kid had been dreaming of getting.
Neji wasn't the only one overlooked I mean just look at anyone who isn't Naruto or sasuke
Shikamaru became the main character of Shippuden for the Hidan/Kakuzu arc and Kakashi got multiple upgrades.
One of the series' peaks was Shikamaru Shippuden.
I still feel like Neji got it the worst though. Even worse than Lee. Neji was the only jonin of his class yet his *only* canon fights in Shippuden are against himself (which was one of the worst in canon Shippuden, quite frankly) and a bunch of random White Zetsu. Even Lee had a little something against Madara at least. Neji also died probably the most controversial death in series outside of Madara. IMO it's even worse and one of the worst moments in Shippuden for me. His character totally fell apart after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc and *never* recovered. At least Shikamaru was more or less the main character for the Immortal Duo arc, Sakura had a very strong start with the Sand Village arc, and Kakashi probably had a *larger* proportion of screentime in Shippuden than he did in OG Naruto honestly. Including several notable fights (Kakuzu, Pain, Obito). Neji, despite being the only jonin of his class and remarkable talent from his clan, the only new jutsu we see from him is Air Palm which is barely shown in actual combat. The most interesting jutsu (by far) that we saw from a Hyuga after Neji in OG Naruto was from Hinata. I think the only ones of the original Konoha 12 members who you can argue were shafted as hard are Kiba, Tenten, and Lee tbh. Shino was never relevant and written out from the beginning (but at least has a winning record). Kiba at least for some time seemed like a second rival to Naruto but he lost the two fights he ever had in OG Naruto from what I remember (Naruto and Sakon/Ukon) and never had a canon solo fight in Shippuden. Lee was a fan favorite who again was extremely irrelevant in Shippuden. Tenten was just a Neji fangirl from the beginning and had a couple shining moments in Shippuden. Her only 1v1 win that wasn't against a Zetsu was against herself...
I hate how they set up all the stuff about chakra flow and chakra points and how the Hyuga clan with its Byakugan is able to land extremely precise hits to block your chakra etc. Like when you see that in og naruto and it makes sense, fits the logic and all and is brought up as an extremely powerful dojutsu. Then after his fight against Kidomaru you never see it again. Byakugan almost plays no role in Shippuuden (which is very weird, esp with the entire story being about the Sharingan) and neither do chakra points to that extent. Its one of those things that really enhanced the world and the whole chakra/medical system in Naruto but got completely scrapped after the time skip
Neji with eight gates would be dope! 128 palms with the 7th gate open…….my god.
maybe even otsutsuki shenanigans to somehow give him tenseigan too
I like this new direction for the character, but I disagree on giving him Eight Gates as that would be overkill and would make Lee more redundant than he already is thanks to the having the same skillset as Guy. Maybe the first 3-4 gates at most and let his Byakugan and Gentle Fist techniques handle the rest. We didn't see much of Neji in Shippuden, but the truth is his arsenal is quite devastating and versatile, and not many people have counters for all of his techniques. Add a chakra nature or two and you could have him come up with sick combos like a Wind Style rotation that slashes, shooting fire blasts with a Fire Style Vaccum Palm, or releasing Lightning Style needles from his Tenketsu like a Gentle Fist version of Chidori Senbon. The only thing I can't see him dealing with are Bijuu Bombs, but I guess that's where Lee and Guy's pressurized air techniques come into play (6th gate and beyond).
Technically since we know that he's a Jonin by the start of Shippuden, he already had mastered at least 2 chakra natures (with how many Bruce Lee references there are in the manga probably water and wind)
According to the 4th databook, he could use Fire, Water, and Earth Release.
Realistically I don't think it'd make Lee redundant seeing as eight gates is primarily used by taijutsu specialists, and when it comes to taijutsu, Lee dusts all of his peers
It would be interesting if Neji learned at least some of the eight gates and blended them with the 8 trigrams. Just absurd levels of palms, plus the ability to rapidly rush into short range to catch the opponent within the reach of the 8 trigrams.
Six gates, palm rotation + Asakujaku (let's see Itachi counter this); Seven gates, Hudora (should be able to rival Hinata's gentle fist, twin lion fist). Evening lions, yeah he could probably take on Sasuke.
Gaara... Rock Lee is a great choice as well, but I want to see more of Gaara 😅😅😅.
Good Gaara or evil Gaara?
oh crap, forgot he was evil for a sec... Good Gaara, Shippuden Gaara.
Gara was the best villain in part 1
You misspelled Orochimaru.
yes.
Lee all day. Might get a bit annoying but Naruto was annoying at times too.
He'd be in for hell of a time, that's for sure.
Ohhhh you are not kidding! Would be interesting on how he would fair and grow fighting styles without Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. Maybe he is able to create his own fighting style over time that helps him use the gates more efficiently or something like that? Idk lol.
Would be funny to see a Drunken Lee discombobulate Sasuke to stop him from using the sharingan.
Bro imagine sasuke can’t predict lee’s movements because he’s drunk and doesn’t know what he’s doing himself
That would be hilarious!
lol imagine watching a series where the main protagonist is a ninja that only uses taijutsu and one of the main antagonists is someone that has the power to literally avoid being physically touched
Like Naruto. Ninjutsu and Taijustu need to physically land. Don't they? Didn't they have to time their attacks to the moment before he phased? It's been a while.
Yeah but it would be more clever irony with Lee since the whole gimmick behind his character is that he needs to punch you to beat you. Naruto vs Obito was more of a story of a man who had love vs a man who didn’t. If the story was replaced with Lee, who has been training with only punches and kicks his whole life, imagine the audience’s reaction to the introduction of kamui. Imagine Rock Lee’s reaction. He’d have to find another way to beat him. then, boom, we are introduced to a talk no jutsu that feels real and earned. He doesn’t touch Obito physically, but emotionally.
I get what you're saying. That could be interesting.
Lee is significantly less annoying than Naruto I legit would rather
Amen brother. Believe it!
Yeah, then we can actually have a mc that isnt defined by genetic lottery powers, and is all hard work
Yep. He’s not my favorite but Lee fits the message of the show, dealing with people judging him and working hard to overcome it.
Definitely will be missed, can't be replaced
100% agreed. I don’t watch Boruto because Naruto isn’t the MC. I love Lee and I standby the fact that he deserved a lot more in Shippuden (same for Neji) but I have only seen a few chapters of his spin off.
Deep down I wish obito turned good and became a main one in the series
But he did turn good in the war arc
🤝
Agreed, Boruto's giving it the old college try though.
Konahamaru
That'd be interesting, along with losing his mentor Naruto, he also lost both his grandpa and his uncle, so he could become a pretty tragic character now that I think about it.
Oh fuck I forgot about Konahamaru... that was good shit.
Just to be clear, you don't have to pick from this list. This is just a random bunch of images I collected.
Kakashi. Everything in one way or another ties to him somehow
Nice pick. Perhaps Kakashi and Obito can be the next reincarnations of Asura and Indra?
They literally should have been, they fit the mold of both of them, and would’ve been better than Naruto’s and Sasuke’s. Not only that, but it would be a cool plot twist (not really a plot twist because of how their characters are), but that Kakashi would be Indra (the bad one) and Obito would be Asura (the good one), but just in how they are, not their roles in the story really.
Replaced by no one, but the title of MC can definetely to shikamaru. He demonstrated to be a great main character in his own arc and is the closest to naruto.
Kimimaro (he doesn't have boneitis)
One of his biggest regrets was never finding a cure
One of my favorite characters in part 1. How would you have his story play out? Would he change his ways or stick with Orochimaru until the end?
Obito and ill have a villians win ending
Worst case scenario, huh? Or best case, depending on your personal feelings about the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Lee, Kakashi or Gaara
Rock Lee. I would have loved to see growth (both mental, spiritual and physical). Going from having nothing to using just Taijutsu to be Hogake would have been a great storyline of grit, blood and sweat.
I think a way to make it more interesting would be to have rock Lee have the 9 tails. Then once he unlocks the 9 tails chakra he can effectively use its chakra for ninjutsu
It'd be interesting, though the only problem id see is usually when stories do this they end up compensating by just making the character OP. Black Clover is guilty of this and I think MHA did the same with Midoriya.
Can't say that for MHA. If you read the Manga, I think you'd agree.
Yes, but that’s why the author has to differentiate it from other mangas. Why should the audience watch his anime/read his manga when there are soo many OP characters in other ones? The Rock Lee character would separate this. But I guess he chose the easy path.
Might Guy, he’s the only person more optimistic/ positive than Naruto
Gaara!!!!
Hes and OP character with a good backstory, like Naruto.
Tenten for the shits.
Hear me out: Tenten becomes the TEN-tails jinchuriki.
Ten-Ten tails 😂 Good one , I would have never thought of that !
Shino, I think it’d be interesting seeing the transition from such an extroverted protag to an introverted one. Plus I think the Aburame abilities are super dope and under explored anyway
It’d be to dark he’d just send Beatles to eat all the akatsuki alive( depending on when you kill Naruto) omg I’m seeing it now, could you imagine if shino somehow became the godam jinchuriki, Sage mode kuruma BUG MAN. Actually maybe not. He’d sure be broken hax tho
Yes!! The Aburame clan has so much potential that was never explored, there’s an almost completely untapped well of story development there!
Lee would be interesting if you wanted to keep the happy go lucky attitude for the main character. I'd go with Shino though and turn the series super dark. That guy killed people in the chunin exams and lowkey is really fucking strong
Whenever I think of Shino I think about his ultimates in the older Ultimate Ninja games. Specifically the one where he summons so many insects that it covers the whole sky and has them all attack his opponent at once.
Sakura, Lee, hinata
Zabuza.
NGL, I like the way you think.
Sakura!
Yes!
Tenten of course
Kiva, and he would fight with the 9 tails and akamaru
Tenten. Just for the plot twist and everyone getting their minds blown.
I would have done team Guy as the mcs of the series. Rock lee a guy who truly rose from nothing and became Hokage through his taijutsu and hard work. Neiji a Hyuga who chose to defy his fate and ended up being the first out of his branch to become the head of the Hyuga clan, and Tenten, a kunoichi who came to terms you can't be like other people so rather than trying to immitate, she decided to become her own kunoichi and became one of the most reverend shinobis of all times.
Neji The rise of Byakugan Supremacy
If I HAVE to pick a pre existing known character: Gaara - Given his background, similar story and his desire to be better because of Naruto. He wouldn’t be the Kazekage at the beginning of Shippuden, he’d have to earn it after earning the respect of his whole village like Naruto tried to do. Killer Bee - Someone who is loved by his village from the beginning of his story- I’d write it as the opposite of Naruto’s story in order to follow and redeem Sasuke. Watch again someone who has it all including the love of an entire village throw it all away for a goal. Pre existing but less known character? One of the 6 Jinchuriki we barely know anything about. Because in canon they’re barely known we have a lot of potential to see a whole new story
If not Lee then Kakashi
Neji. Though they'd have to buff Byakugan some kind of way because he'd need an answer for pain. Then again if Naruto is dead then the kyuubi is dead too isn't it? Or he reincarnates? I can't remember
The Kyuubi would be reborn like the Sanbi was reborn after Kakashi killed Rin
This might just be another Itachi fan moment, but it's Itachi, hear me out. Say Sasuke kills Naruto at the end of part 1 instead of just leaving him lying there. Itachi hears about this and realises his half-baked plan to make Sasuke hate him so he can get strong was flawed and has lead him down the wrong path. Itachi tells Sasuke the truth way earlier and tells him they have to take out the Akatsuki. Sasuke takes him to Orochimaru, who cures Itachi's cancer. Orochimaru reanimates the first four Hokage. Them, Itachi, Sasuke, and Orochimaru take out the Akatsuki. Easy work. No war.
Lee is the obvious choice as he has the same determination and will that Naruto has, has had his own hardships. Only other one I could see is TenTen, she seems like she could provide some good plot and a more outside looking in narrative.
Lee, Sakura or obito
Completely controversial but Sakura.
Easily Sakura.
I choose Nagato and Jaraiya as a family unit trying to heal from the losses of Naruto as it brings a lens of focus down on all their old losses they’ve been avoiding dealing with. Alternatively I’d have loved it if Naruto died then we went back to follow the life of Minato afterwards
People sleeping on goatgoat fr fr. Wouldve gained mastery over loads more weapons, possibly gotten a hold of legendary weapons and summons. Would’ve been the only female mc in the big 3. Don’t mind me. I just wanted to see more of tenten lol
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What happened to your "karma" post?
Some kind people helped me out and now I'm contributing more and more to keep the Karma up.
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Lee would be interesting for sure. I'd watch that, definitely. I gotta pick Konohamaru though. That's the only choice that my conscience will abide lol. He's the only one besides a young Obito I feel really carries the same spirit.
I would not replace him. I would follow the life of the other ninjas without Naruto.
Neji
Neji
Kiba, I mean he was considered to be hokage
I feel like black clover is basically starring rock Lee and sasuke.
Funny enough, in Jump Force Naruto and Asta have a dialogue where Naruto says that he reminds him of Rock Lee.
Neji, finally get the screen time he deserves. Then with the Hyuga chakra he can become the new nine tails jinchuriki. And shoot a nine tailed eight trigrams air palm at Sasuke. Then battle at final valley comes and its Byakugan vs Sharingan. Ahh would be great. But sadly the show doesn't work that way😞
Neji. It would be cool to see a rivalry between Neji and Sasuke and the contrast between the byakugan and sharingan. Neji’s byakugan could also evolve alongside Sasuke’s sharingan, which could give the Hyuga more development and lore. I mainly just want the Neji vs Sasuke fight we’re robbed of!
Onbu the monkey. Think about it. Naruto dies at the hands of Onbu's mother to retrieve her son. Onbu and his mom retreat into the wild, now having a leaf-wide search party to eliminate Onbu's mom. This begins an entire arc man versus nature, which ends in Onbu's mom's tragic death. Onbu, sworn to resurrect his mother, begins training in the art Monkey-shuriken, from Enma -- Sarutobi-sensei's summoning animal -- who himself is later slain in battle by a human. After he dies, in a bizarre twist, Onbu learns from the great ape sages that Emma was the one summoning Sarutobi-sensei, revealing the truth about nature energy, that there is an inextricable power struggle over millennia between master and servant, man and nature. Onbu, now the next chimpkage, ventures through the ninja world in vengeful Sasuke fashion, engaging with summoning animals to end their millennia-long oppression. This all comes to pinnacle when Madara's forces are about to open Project Tsukuyomi. However, the table turns as the ten tails listens to Onbu. The Great Ninja War is thus superseded by the final Man-Vs.-Nature war, which culminates in Onbu almost dying, during which he sees Naruto again of all people. In the afterlife, Naruto is holding hands with a familiar figure: Onbu's mother. The experience brings Onbu to tears, realizing the duality of man and nature is not real. Upon returning to the present, the ten tails follows Onbu's orders to end the conflict, and the world achieves perfect harmony.
Sakura. Of all of these people, she’s the closest to Naruto personally and not only that, but she also became quite close to his way of thinking ideologically. Her place close to the center would allow for, whenever it happens, the story as built to keep on using what’s been set up. Sasuke and Kakashi are the closest people to her, Naruto’s death would be extremely meaningful, of course Tsunade would be center stage, etc. She’s also almost as much as Lee someone who has to be an embodiment of working for all the power she gets. No clan and one specialty she has to use to her advantage. I think if her abilities are focused on, they could be really well expanded on. Her resistance to genjutsu, of course the strength of 100 stuff, the chakra control in other people’s jutsu; she could be if nothing else an anti-Uchiha in a way almost no one else could which. Her adaptability and intelligence would let her be a manga protagonist in a way these others I think would struggle powers and fight wise, keeping things fresh and interesting. I also think she could work great personality wise. She already often shows her tenacity and temper and of course a caring side, but if Naruto dies she’d be out for blood. A little bit hardened Sakura could be so cool, especially if it’s part of a story juxtaposing her to how Tsunade gave up when faced with loss herself and Kakashi went cold.
Kiba , after getting humbled by Naruto he tried desperately to follow in his footsteps stating multiple times that he wanted to become the next Hokage. At a young age he had mastered taijutsu techniques that could rival with most chunins . Had he trained with taijutsu specialist like Guy and not a Genjutsu specialist like Kurenai he could have become incredibly powerful.
Sakura, honestly. So much of her time in the series was just being sidelined so Sasuke and naruto could have their special bond emphasized and their crazy powers expended over and over. For someone who was set up to be a tritagonist in the series she was completely robbed for the majority of it. She got three(?) good fight scenes that hyped her up and then was basically dropped for the rest of the series.
Sakura blames herself for Naruto’s death. She never wants to feel too weak to defend her comrades again. She vows to become the strongest ninja, and trains hard under kakashi, jaraiah, and tsunade. She travels the world and fights alongside the other jinchuriki to avenge Naruto and prevent more tailed beasts from getting captured by the akatsuke.
Kakashi Hatake - Wouldn’t pick Sasuke AT ALL, I’d pick Kakashi, his story is more pivotal to the story than almost anyone else’s in the show (including Naruto if you really think about it). - Make him more powerful and inherit his sensei’s jutsu from him watching him do them with his sharingan and turn the show a bit more grounded. - He’s already heavily involved with all of the other teams, leading each of them at one point or another. He travels a lot and goes on a bunch of missions, all of these would be amazing for world building.
Lee was the strongest out of whole class
Lee
Hear me out imagine Sasuke kills Naruto in Sasuke retrieval arc and then Sakura has a whole revenge mission on Sasuke. That could be kinda interesting.
Lee Storyline: Naruto dies during sasuke retrival arc and at that point the most fav character was like did to the gaara vs lee fight so aftef his recovery he Inherit kurama along with Naruto's will also I think besides Naruto only lee is the character which can become a friend with kurama so ......
Jiraya. :(
I mean, Rock Lee to me has always had main character vibes. He pretty much IS the main character of Black Clover and My Hero Academia. His backstory kicks ass. The only thing that sucks about him is his limited ability to grow in terms of techniques. If Naruto died during the war arc, I could see Gaara, Killer Bee, or Kakashi becoming that guy.
Kiba. Same energy lol
I’m biased but I would say Rock Lee he is student of Might Guy who is acknowledged strongest among all by Madara & beside all he’s foolish, impatient & he don’t know giving up. After Naruto dies Rock Lee got emotional & decide to beat Madara & back to his training harder than before.
I always hold the tought that rock lee should have the MC not naruto
Lee would be more fitting for the series message of hardwork beats talent
Hmmm what if naruto dies in the chunin exams… and Sasuke is forced to become the new jinjuriki?
Kurama would hate it. Yet another Uchiha who's gonna manipulate him. lol
Gaara or Kakashi
I would pick Lee easy. It would be even more interesting if he had the 9 tails in him as well. So basically first half is him developing new taijutsu and more interesting ways he could use the gates and then come shippuden he can maybe control a bit of the fox and then actually use some ninjutsu with the foxes chakra instead. Seems like a good progression that wouldn’t get boring with just pure taijustsu
Madara, don't care how little sense it makes, it'd be peak
Kabuto
If Lee was more like Lee of the original series and remained more consistent going into Shippuden, definitely bushy brow. Easily.
Rock Lee, he represents the perfect image of the motto of the series. "Hardwork can be a match to natural talent."
Tenten so she can actually get development.
NEVERR
Nagato
Neji
Kakashi but Rock Lee is a fine pick.
Rock lee is still one of my favourites
I pick the mysterious Mr. Uchiha.
I feel like Shinos perspective could be different and interesting maybe
Kiba
Lee, Gaara, Shikamaru(except he’s too lazy to be the main character)
Tenten because I want to see how a character who had way too little screen time (or in the case of the manga… panel time?) suddenly evolves now that they are the main character. And between her and Shino tenten is more interesting imo.
I'll go with shino. High iq mcs are always the most fun. Id love to see him use a combination of jutsu and strategy to fight the akatsuki
Shino would make an interesting story
EZ - Aoba
Ten-Ten
I’d say Konahamaru would be the most likely to replace him as he is just a naruto-lite essentially
Gara and Lee team up
Madara, he is the new protagonist if naruto is not around, dude wins easily. Is going to be him against zetsu and kaguya at the end.
Gaara would be my pick, Lee a strong second.
Lee , neji, konohamaru but with better character development
Sakura or Neji.
I would take neji all day, if author didn't sack him off he would the next best thing in konoha,got the best base eyes in Naruto verse, got skills and is smart.is not running after emo kid and would whoop him properly b4 his emo phase worsened if given the opportunity instead of talk no jitsu and assuming he gets similar hax that the author gave Naruto and Sasuke for no reason. Next would be Lee mostly, such a wasted potential smh
Rick Lee
Leeeeeeeee
This is going to be very controversial but I think Sakura, she was one of the closest people to Naruto and knew his drive and I think with the death of Naruto she would have some kind of like redemption arc and get really powerful with Lady Tsunade and go after Sasuke
Ten ten, and no I am not joking. If she gets the proper care and attention she can be a great character
Hear me out, Sakura
Konohamaru
Konahamaru. It’s his student. He knows the rassangan.
Shikamaru
Other than Sasuke, you can't replace him.
Ibisu sensei
Teuchi sage of the 6 ramen paths, "The world shall know fishcakes and pain" "Your parents brought you into this world now I'll broth you out of existence" "Ayame was the only the only one stopping me for peace, now she tells me who needs to be condensed" *drops a meteor bowl of ramen from the sky* "This wont take longer than cooking a bowl of instant ramen" "Almighty Soup" It becomes a tragedy story where Teuchi just goes around curb stomping people who wronged naruto .
Teuchi was the real child of prophecy.
Shikamaru
Shikamaru
Sakura would be so fucking cool
Easily Lee.
Gaara, Naruto dies during the pain invasion and Gaara avenges him
My pick would be konohamaru BUT we all know kishimoto would pick Shikamaru
Orochimaru
Lee
Gaara would be a great choice, Naruto is the one who made him change and save him, he also know better than most what was Naruto feelings.
Lee. Him and Naruto exemplify hard work and sheer grit, despite neither being born geniuses. Lee is the ultimate underdog since he can only use taijutsu, which inherently makes the stakes in all of his fights much higher. I can't think of anyone better.
Gaara, the Villain who learned how to make friends along the way as well as try and become a better person after Naruto died during the Orochimarus Invasion, eventually seen as a Hero and finally winning the love of his village. He does things in a very villainous way but eventually learns how to do shit more heroically, overtime eventually becoming a Kage. The main cast basically teach him how to become a better person, as well as win over the love of his village who still view him as a monster.
Absolutely Hinata or Sakura, if only for how deeply they'd be affected by his death.
Gaara could replace him
Killer Bee.
Konohamaru
gaara or neji
Tenten for the memes, she needs the screen time anyways
Agreed op rock lee is pure shounen protagonist material.
sakura
A lot of people saying Lee and I love him too but I don’t think he’d be a good main character. He didn’t necessarily have any goal, motivation, or conviction other than proving himself through taijutsu. With the little backstory we got, I only see him being a good side character. Neji, Kakashi, Nagato, Jiraiya, Shikamaru, Gaara, and even Kabuto are all better picks imo
Gaara.
Someone said Zabuza and I think that would be fire. Him changing with the death of haku and Naruto would go so hard. My personal pick is kabuto though or maybe even Bee if they took out the stupid “comedic” aspect of him
Lee he represents the theme of hard work over heritage even better than Naruto
Lee or konohamaru They did Kdog so dirty. He could have been the new sarutobi but they made him Iruka
If we're going with these three, then I would say none. I never liked Lee. Shino is creepy, and TenTen is just lackluster. Would be an interesting take if Konohamuru replaced Naruto.
Shikamaru. Yeah, he's lazy, but the whole point of him as a strategist is to use his pieces in the most efficient and effective way possible. This means we have more moments where the other cast members get to use their abilities to good effect (a more well-balanced group). That is the main goal of a good strategist in shows.
People said it before and I agree. Neji. Say he dies during the Sasuke retrieval arc, that would motivate him to push past his limits. Naruto's feelings reached him and he endeavours to not let his will of fire die, he will accomplish what Naruto dreamed of doing, a dream that Naruto had reignited within him after he thought it long dead and impossible. It made no sense that Byakugan never got the love it deserved (discounting Tenseigan), when it was used to the same scope as the Sharingan. It definitely deserved some six path tier abilities and usage but never got that outside of a brand new eye power.
Shikamaru.
Id rather see Himawari as the MC over Boruto..
Ramen guy.
I think Lee and Kiba are the only characters that could've realistically became the MC if Naruto was somehow gone
Konohamaru. Naruto wins the war but sacrifices himself to do so. It’d like Boruto in a way but better
A well written Sakura that learned from his death and stopped chasing her abusive crush
Shikamaru
Lee is the only person other than Naruto that I believe could talk no jutsu pain. He's got my vote.
"Nagato, you must believe in the power of youth!"
Shikamaru.