Naruto has one of the best villain casts in shonen history. While canon gives fans plenty of interesting information, the characters are so fascinating that it can be hard to stop thinking about them once you’re done reading or watching them at work.
For this list, we’ll be looking at theories and headcanons thought up by Naruto fans from Reddit, Quora, Tumblr, and more. From a theory about the future of Jashinism to speculation about the extent of Orochimaru’s powers, there’s a lot to think about.
9. Itachi Has Microscopic Polyangiitis
Exactly what health problem Itachi Uchiha is suffering from has never been confirmed. Some think it was only the effects of overusing his Mangekyo Sharingan, while others believed that he has a seperate health issue that has nothing to do with his doujutsu. 0mega19x names a possible condition that explains his symptoms, Microscopic Polyangiitis or MPA.
“Back in August, I started seriously asking myself the question – what disease does Itachi have? When the internet couldn’t give me anything better than ‘advance-the-plot-itis,’ I decided to take matters into my own hands.
After months of intense research, I think it’s finally time to give Itachi Uchiha a REAL diagnosis… microscopic polyangiitis.
In short, MPA is a rare form of systemic vasculitis. It is an auto-immune disorder, characterized by antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies attacking the small vessels, causing them to bleed as they become damaged and inflamed. It can have far-reaching consequences throughout different organ systems that, when compared to Itachi’s mysterious sickness, is nothing short of startling.
The most visible symptom of Itachi’s illness is hemoptysis.
The hemoptysis is, more likely than not, a result of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage. This is a classic symptom of MPA when it presents with pulmonary manifestations. There is also shortness of breath, and coughing.
Unlike many other forms of vasculitis, such as Wegener’s granulomatosis for example, the upper respiratory tract is usually spared. All the damage is deeper in the lungs. Itachi’s case is consistent with this.
Other symptoms along the same vein can be seen during his final battle with Sasuke when Itachi grabs his shirt, reacting to what appears to be a heart attack.
Chest pain, myocardial infarction and other signs of cardiac failure are not uncommon effects of this disease, especially considering how it presented.
It is also no secret that by the time of his death, Itachi was nearly blind. This, we know, to be a direct result of the mangyeko sharingan. When the mangyeko is used, it clearly puts a tremendous amount of strain on the eye, and the nerves and blood vessels that surround it. Needless to say, it’s inflammatory in and of itself. But it is hasty to assume that Itachi’s eye problems are caused by the mangyeko alone.
Ocular involvement in MPA is uncommon, but can exist – usually in the form of retinal hemorrhage and scleritis. The bloodshot eyes Itachi sports in his final battle with Sasuke show these symptoms clearly.
And given this, it’s no stretch to assume that MPA played a large role in accelerating the damage the mangyeko did to his eyes, hastening his vision loss.
Those are the only clues to Itachi’s symptoms given outright in canon. But we can extrapolate others from the way he conducts himself.
His low stamina as reported by the databook suggest constitutional symptoms of malaise and fatigue. The peculiar way he rests one hand in his cloak could be an attempt to alleviate painful sensations attributed to peripheral nervous system involvement manifesting as mononeuritis multiplex or myalgia, or simply to support a weakened limb. One could probably even argue his thin stature is evidence of weight loss.
There are, of course, come classic manifestations of MPA that cannot be observed in Itachi. This, however, dos not mean that they can’t be rectified.
One of the most common ways MPA manifests itself is with renal involvement. We have no evidence that Itachi’s kidneys have been damaged by disease. However, it is possible the damage is there, and simply did not produce outward, observable symptoms. At least half the cases of MPA also report skin involvement. This can range from small blisters to necrosis and gangrene. There are reports, however, of MPA only causing splinter hemorrhages, or small areas of bleeding under the nails. As the Akatsuki always wear nail polish, this would be completely unobservable.
Long story short, the symptoms fit. In fact, they’re pretty much textbook.
Next, we consider what we know about how the disease was managed. Madara describes Itachi’s disease to Sasuke in one panel.
There, he reveals that Itachi took a variety of different medicines to keep himself alive. He could easily be describing the treatment of MPA, which requires a combination of different steroids and immunosuppressive agents. Because treating the disease requires suppressing his immune system, Itachi likely needed other drugs as well, including specific types of antibiotics and vitamins. Considering the high mortality rate of untreated microscopic polyanglitis, (a five-year survival rate of under 25%) this really did have the purpose of prolonging his life. Madara did not lie.
Lastly, we consider the prognosis.
The average age of onset is usually in the fifth decade of life, but cases around Itachi’s age have been reported in medical literature. The cause of the disease is currently unknown. It is seen as an auto-immune disorder, but because it doesn’t have a tendency to run in families, it’s not viewed as genetic. (Sasuke, after all, is still healthy.) However, it is theorized that there needs to be a trigger event, such as a disease or a major bout of inflammation that sets the production of antibodies into overdrive. This trigger could easily be the initial, or repeated, activation of the mangyeko sharingan, which as stated before, is clearly inflammatory in and of itself.
The natural course of the disease fits cleanly into the time line of canon events as well. It is conceivable that, in the period of time following the chunin exam arc, he fell victim to the disease in full force. His whereabouts are unknown during the time-skip, where he likely managed to control it through medication, go into remission and then relapse again. That relapse would be the deciding factor in seeking out his final battle with Sasuke. The time between induced remission and relapse is usually around 2 years if it occurs, again fitting nicely with the chronology of the canon universe. And his death at Sasuke’s feet is thus, easily explained.”
8. Orochimaru Knows Rasengan
Orochimaru wants to learn every jutsu ever created, and he’s pretty damn good at picking things up. u/Zelos98 explains why Rasengan was likely one of the abilities he’s learned.
“I say this because this is Orochimaru. His goal was to learn EVERY Jutsu, so I’m fairly certain he is capable of making it, just not to the point of using it in battle. For example, he’s probably on Kakashi’s level with it. Unnecessary in nearly all situations. Another reason I believe so is that surely Orochimaru would knock out any Jutsu “near him” he is aware of, and the Rasengan is just one of many in his pursuit to his goal. He’s much too smart to not understand how it’s created, and with him, knowledge is all he needs to make something.”
7. Kisame Is In Sage Mode
Many fans have speculated about where Kisame Hoshigaki’s fishlike appearance comes from. While the meta explanation is that Kishimoto wanted to give many of the villains monsterlike traits for aesthetic reasons, fans want more than that. u/CRUCO918 had this to say:
“I’d like to think that he’s in some permanent imperfect Sage mode.”
6. Zabuza Was Still Loyal To Kirigakure
When most missing-nin abandon their home village, they carve a slash through the symbol on their forehead protectors. Zabuza Momochi, who left Kirigakure after attempting to assassinate Yagura Karatachi, never did this. While it’s likely that the reason is that Zabuza appeared early in the series, before that tradition was solidified, it’s more interesting if there’s a canon reason for it. u/fscottnaruto has one in mind.
“Zabuza was a supporter of Mei Terumi, but after he failed to kill Yagura and left the village with Haku, he never returned. He just couldnt face going back to being a shinobi and he didnt want the new regime to misuse his protege. Hence, he never slashed his Kiri symbol.”
5. Black Zetsu Took Down The Uzumaki Clan
Exactly what happened to the Uzumaki clan is one of the biggest mysteries in the world of Naruto. Yes, their village was wiped out, but who was responsible, and how did the event go down? Jeremy Landry has an intriguing theory that answers these questions.
“SPOILER ALERT: I KNOW THIS IS HEADCANON BUT I’LL BE DISCUSSING SOME THINGS THAT ARE CANON AND OCCUR LATE IN THE SERIES. IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED THE FOURTH GREAT NINJA WAR, READ THIS AFTER YOU FINISH IT.
Alright, back to the common practice of immediately proving the SPOILER ALERT (last chance). So Black Zetsu is a bit of a d**k. He’s the essence-offspring of Osutsuki Kaguya and we learn that everything that has happened has been by his design with one notable exception, Naruto is alive. But why is this a surprise? Why is it so important that Naruto is alive? Well to answer that, you need to understand Naruto’s heritage.
Naruto is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, a clan well-renowned for their fuinjutsu (Sealing Jutsu). From the anime and manga, we know the Uzumaki clan was destroyed along with Uzushiogakure (Village Hidden in the Whirlpools) sometime after Kushina Uzumaki was brought to Konohagakure to become Kurama’s Jinchuuriki. But why? The official canon answer, available on Narutopedia, is as follows:
“At some point after Kushina Uzumaki immigrated to Konoha, some of the world’s nations banded together to destroy Uzushiogakure, believing the village was too powerful to be allowed to continue.”
So, in other words, a few nations got together to destroy a nation that was renowned for its fuinjutsu because they were considered “too powerful to be allowed to continue.” How? We see in Karin’s backstory that the Uzumaki were an incredibly valuable commodity to all the nations. The best defense of this standpoint is that those nations wanted to damage Konohagakure and attacked Uzushiogakure due to their close relationship but even this doesn’t make that much sense. The far more sensible thing to do would be to attack Uzushiogakure and enslave members of the different clans. This then takes the power away from Konohagakure and transfers it to the enemy clans.
All of this to say that the destruction of Uzushiogakure makes no damn sense….unless.
Black Zetsu ordered the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan to avoid any conflicts with his plan to bring Kaguya back.
This one shouldn’t need as much defense as my theory that the Sharingan was meant to protect the Biju but dammit if I won’t provide that much defense anyway.
To start, let’s get the simple and obvious out of the way:
Black Zetsu straight up tells Naruto and Sasuke that the entire history of shinobi was his own design.
He needed the Uchiha so he couldn’t kill them off instead, he changed the stone tablet to guide specific Uchiha to revive Kaguya.
He needed all the biju so he had to make sure that they couldn’t be removed from the equation. This would mean eliminating or incapacitating anyone capable of performing a fuinjutsu powerful enough to seal a Biju.
He guided Obito to attack Kushina and Minato at the exact moment the seal on Kurama would be weakest. He then guided Obito to control Kurama and attack Konohagakure to show that no one could stop them anymore.At that point, the Uzumaki clan had already been wiped out with its three survivers in the following states:
Nagato was Pain who was already under the control of Obito/Tobi and nurturing Madara’s Rinnegan.
Karin was in the hands of Orochimaru who had no desire to go against the Akatsuki.
Kushina was now believed to be dead after having Kurama extracted from her.
This is the first point where Black Zetsu’s (BZ) plan is thwarted. Kushina survives long enough for her and Minato to perform a sealing jutsu and seal away Kurama in their son Naruto with a seal so powerful that it cannot be released without killing them both. This delays BZ’s plan dramatically and so they go back into hiding, waiting for the seal to weaken or be destroyed so they can collect Kurama again.
So why do I say that BZ ordered the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan? Well, read the third point again: he needed to make sure the Biju couldn’t be sealed away. What better way than to commit genocide on the clan with the greatest fuinjutsu? Without BZ’s influence, the utter destruction of Uzushiogakure makes no sense.
So there you go. Black Zetsu is responsible for the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan and, had he been successful, Kaguya’s return could not have been thwarted.”
4. Orochimaru Had A Master Plan
According to u/EmpRupus, Orochimaru’s master plan goes a lot deeper than anyone realized it did.
“Orochimaru actually figured out the source of Ninjutsu.
He was trained by Snakes the same way toads trained Jiraya. Orochimaru’s jutsus like Impure Resurrection, body transformations as well as cursed seals all come from “Senjutsu” derived abilities.
The reason he wanted Sasuke was not simply because he thought Sharingan was powerful, but rather figured out that combining the Sharingan with Senjutsu powers, could unlock the Rinnegan – the source of all Ninjutsu.
In the same way, his other associates – Kimimaro, Jugo and Karin, all are related to Sage of Six Paths in some ways and have special powers, he somehow knew that they were all special and had the key to unlock RInnegan as well.
His eventual goal was to bring all dead people back, as well as make all living people immortal after acquiring Rinnegan, so as to end all suffering.”
3. Kaguya Otsutsuki Had Little Fighting Experience
Though incredibly powerful shinobi in their own right, Naruto and Sasuke’s ability to defeat Kaguya Otsutsuki, a literal god, may seem a little far-fetched to some viewers. But according to u/FailOverLoad, this might be due in part to Kaguya’s lack of combat skills.
“Kaguya might be the most powerful character in the series but she has no fighting experience or barely has any. Remember that she predates chakra and ninjutsu, there is no way she ever fought someone (except for the sage and his brother) even a fraction as strong as she is. That’s why Black Zetsu was calling the shots in that fight: he’s been around forever and has seen incredible amounts of ninja fights.”
2. Kimimaro Had Some Serious Potential
When asked about Kimimaro’s ultimate potential if he hadn’t passed away from an unidentified illness, this Redditor had this to say:
“By end of Shippuden? Probably right under Naruto/Sasuke but that gap is huge, realistically around Tsunade, Kakashi or any strong Akatsuki member.
His bones could probably tank anything besides Susanoo stuff, enhanced Rasenshurikens, Night Guy and Kamui/Jinton(obviously). If somehow he could obtain all-killing ashbone then that would put him up top so easily. This is entirely headcanon but I imagine Kimimaro could replicate stuff like Deep Forest Emergence using his bones given enough chakra.
Now, since we are assuming Kimimaro is healthy can we assume Orochimaru would successfully take him in that case? I would rank Kimimaro very high with just his taijutsu and tankiness, so imagine Orochimaru inhabiting his body. All the knowledge and body modifications Orochi has in addition to the cursed mark and kekkei genkai, he’d absolutely destroy.”
1. Obito Can Use Kamui Without Consequence For A Reason
No matter how strong a Mangekyo Sharingan user might be, overusing their eyes is supposed to result in blindness and physical deterioration. The only way around that is supposed to be obtaining an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, but Obito Uchiha somehow manages to use Kamui without limits. u/MilesColtrane59 has some thoughts about why.
“Obito’s body having Hashirama’s cells is a key factor to him being able to spam Kamui with little recuperations for over a decade.”