Naruto is undoubtedly one of the best manga series of all time. In fact, it might be a bit more prudent to remove the categories of “manga” and “anime” from it, and simply state that Naruto is one of the best series of all time. Even though some people often criticise the people who’ve only followed the mainstream popular series, like Naruto, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, etc., I believe it just goes to show how popular these series really are. Even though I follow many mainstream, and many more non-mainstream series, Naruto continues to hold a place in my heart that no other ever could. This piece is an attempt to mention some important lessons from Naruto I was lucky enough to grasp.
Naruto began with the story of a young boy, a little annoying, avoided and ignored by his whole village. This ignorance made him desperately seek the acknowledgement of everyone around him. For this, he picked a most difficult dream – of becoming Hokage. Naruto’s journey from that annoying young boy, to the people’s Hokage is an entertaining tale, full of significant lessons.
Since the first chapter itself, it was apparent that the pupil-teacher relationships in Naruto would be sentimental and touching one. Although Iruka Sensei was the first person to acknowledge Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Sensei came as a real teacher, a guide, a mentor whom Naruto could look up to for guidance. There could be an argument that Jiraiya was also a guide, a teacher for Naruto. But, I like to believe that even though Naruto’s relationship with almost everyone was personal, his relationship with Jiraiya transcended the boundary of a teacher and a student. Jiraiya was family for Naruto. Jiraiya was able to give Naruto the familial love he’d been looking for all his life. However, it remains a fact that he was also a teacher for Naruto. Therefore, Naruto’s teacher-pupil relationships are one of the best aspects of the series. These lessons from Naruto give us hope that there can be teacher-pupil relationships which are different from the mainstream ones; that a teacher doesn’t necessarily have to be merely a disciplinarian who teaches you a fixed curriculum.
From the teachers, we come down to the students. In the list of lessons from Naruto, camaraderie cannot lag behind. All the shinobis were taught the immense value of teamwork. From that teamwork, they learnt the value of comrades, of camaraderie. Though, initially limited to their own teams, gradually, this sense of camaraderie spread to other villagers, and then, even to other friendly villages (e.g., Sunagakure). It would be unfair to not give Naruto credit for this spread of camaraderie. In his quest to be the best, and protect everyone, he made many enemies. However, ironically enough, most of those enemies ended up becoming Naruto Uzumaki’s friends. The first instance that comes to mind, would be Gaara. But, other than Gaara, there is also Neji, the proud Hyuga prodigy who believed destiny/fate was everything. Naruto Uzumaki set him free from those beliefs and earned Neji’s respect for that. Who can even begin to forget how he convinced an all-powerful Pain (Nagato), that he will bring about a revolution, a change in the shinobi world without using violence. We had been sure that we had lost so many in that war. However, Nagato, impressed by Naruto, gave back the lives that had been lost, at the cost of his own life. And even though Akatsuki didn’t exactly get friendly to Naruto after this, the fact remains that Naruto was able to save many lives by making one man believe in him.
This brings me to my next lesson-from-Naruto. I believe this to be the most important lesson Naruto Uzumaki has taught me – revenge only begets more revenge. I grew up, of course, listening to the saying, “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. However, watching it being implemented in Naruto was much more impactful than hearing that quote repeated multiple times. Naruto teaching how revenge only causes an endless cycle of hatred was a most enlightening experience. It made me look at the concept of forgiveness differently. It made me try to understand people’s stories before judging them for the one terrible thing they may have done.
Forgiveness is often linked to love. Though not always, but generally, we tend to forgive more easily, when we love the person. And love remains to be an elusive element in most of the best series. Voldemort in Harry Potter did not understand love, and so, he lost to the boy who was so deeply loved. And love isn’t necessarily of the romantic type either. One can love and be loved in many ways, by many different people. In Naruto, there were many forms of love. Love lessons from Naruto might not be what you expect them to be, but they are enlightening in their own way. Naruto Uzumaki’s capacity to love, and his ability of being loved, is everything that could (and did, his own) save the world.
These lessons from Naruto, and innumerable other reasons will always ensure that Naruto Uzumaki remains for me, what he most definitely is in his world – significant, remarkable, cherished and loved. 