Kabuto Didn't Deserve To Be A War Arc Villain In Naruto

Kabuto was one of the main villains in the Naruto War Arc. He did not deserve that. Kabuto being in the same tier of strength as Obito and Madara felt wrong. Sure, Kabuto had the Edo Tensei, he learned snake sage mode, had the Itachi and Sasuke vs Kabuto fight, but it should have been Orochimaru.
Kabuto was always Orochimaru's henchman, he's never been the most interesting character. Even when he got the Tsunade vs Kabuto fight, that was only a set up so that Naruto's first Rasengan would be even more epic. But Kabuto wasn't intimidating enough as a villain to play such a huge role in the final arc of Naruto Shippuden.
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[@DygoKnight]

What is the best part of the War Arc?

[@VVICKED_EDITZ]

Any scene with Madara in it

[@zelz3011]

Kabuto.

[@Xeno574]

Everything until Madara revived himself

[@kingsilverwing1854]

Juubidara

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

Itachi coming back. And Nagato coming back.

[@dragowolfraven3806]

I find it hilarious that even with all the upgrades Kabuto made to himself he still needs glasses.😂

[@Sennodev]

That poor eyesight is for life 🗣️

[@lXUS]

Why? He looks hot with his glasses and he knows.

[@zynergx6973]

His glasses actually belonged to a woman who raised him at an orphanage. Probably kept as sentimental value.

[@Shadowsmoke11]

His glasses at that point is symbolic and holds sentimental value to him 👓

[@collinleivas9605]

I'm not sure about in base, but Sage Mode he can sense things woth Nature Energy (he literally turns off his eyes to prevent Sharingan Genjutsu). I think it's more a sentimental thing

[@JakeSmith-mq5dc]

I like the idea that Orochimaru the Immortal, the man who fears death enough to mess with Forbidden Jutsu and Taboo practices, comes back as a changed man after he legitimately died. You no longer fear death after it's taken you once, so his core motive was gone. Now all that's left is his scientific curiosity. It was also very interesting to see him team up with Hiruzen and Tsunade after Jiraiya's death. I just wished it was better used.

[@Frikiman_H]

Huh, that's an interesting perspective, never thought of it that way.

[@cj5476]

Ya it would of been very cliche for orochimaru as a character to just simple take the evil route and would of made orochimaru another cliche shounen villain. I also like that they switched it up and took his character arc in a direction we’re most people didn’t see coming. Most people probably didn’t think orochimaru would be on the good side by the end of the series which also makes the twist even better

[@liberationpocket7950]

More screen time at least. Although it's something that he's in a few episodes of Boruto. I just wish there was more to his changed character

[@MaestroAlvis]

I dunno if that makes sense but it's fine.

[@nosfonader8792]

Voldemort done right

[@spirttomb]

I enjoyed Kabuto in the war arc. Whenever he called out "Madara" by showing his Madara edo tensei was great

[@preservinglight]

Orochimaru deserved better

[@gatla4695]

What do you mean he deserved better? He got the BEST treatment and conclusion of any antagonist in the franchise.

[@JRD876]

@Quincy Real Talk

[@Dee-jp7ek]

He literally got what he wanted and now lives without any real repercussions for anything he did. He's my hero for being the freaking goat. If he got any better off he would have his own spinoff series.. y'know what? You're right, we need that spinoff.

[@AntonConstanti]

@@gatla4695 he got defeated without any real fight

[@user-mx4is4fx3c]

On the one hand yeah, it did feel somewhat random. On the other hand, having Orochimaru witness the results of his chosen path and realize it was a faulty one was a really neat decision.

[@maestrus2121]

Near decision that neutered one of shonens most interesting villains. He is the mad scientist trope done in an interesting and deeply philosophical way.

[@carljohnson7168]

@@maestrus2121 yup, sad to see what happened to him in boruto

[@The__Deadman]

@@carljohnson7168 Nah why is it sad? Wasn't it obvious in War Arc that he was gonna be pretty chill compared to before? I mean 2 gods were gonna supervise him and also he got an immortal Zetsu body with Hashi cells, so he doesn't need to steal bodys to be immortal. He literally made a human with INSANE potential, showed his op regen and disintegrated a chick lol. And he hasn't even appeared in the manga yet. He's as interesting as ever. I'm just waiting.

[@user-mx4is4fx3c]

@@maestrus2121 Well that would have happened anyway. Naruto wouldn't let him just walk around and do mad science if he was his old self. The alternative was, he's thrown in jail to rot. At least now he can be utilised in the story.

[@ZeroX7649]

​@@maestrus2121 Nah, Orochimaru has been the made villain of the entire series up to his death, and ultimately Kabuto was different enough from Orochimaru anyway. I also don't see Obito working with Orochimaru solely because he knows how dangerous he is. Kabuto however, is enough of a rogue agent in this story.

[@AntonConstanti]

Kabuto is supposed to be non-threatening because he is smart. He wants to catch others off guard and to trick them. I think he's a cool character.

[@mattparke4370]

Naruto shot Kabuto’s helicopter in GTA4

[@yeager1957]

People shit on Kabuto and Orochimaru’s heel face turn but their entire character is about adding things to themselves to find their true identity. Orochimaru seeing where his ideology ends, in a person he inspired that surpassed him in every way no less, was a wake up call that made change

[@jankostrhun8725]

I dunno I think Kabuto was kinda intimidating in that silent and pleasant serial killer. But the war arc transformed Kabuto looked like Orochimaru ordered from Wish. If we leaned into that and yeah actually saw more of his accumulation of power power (and got more of his backstory) he could have been intresting. Kinda like reverse Orochimaru, a rational and pleasant if rather plain young man. But who is utterly unhinged. You can have visually not so threatening character who can still exude menace in other ways. But as is often a case, you have to actually give them room to do so.

[@Jamseth_Ingramious]

Like many other characters, that room is simply not given. The series has some great concepts, but also some really poor execution.

[@Commonwealth-ex7ev]

Oddly enough, if Orochimaru was the villian then I think Izanami would've made much more sense in the context of the story. Because on top of being obsessed with jutsu, Orochimaru was also obsessed with immortality much like how a snake continues to shed it's skin infinitely. The izanami would've ultimately shown Orochimaru the futility of such a never ending and cyclical life, allowing Orochimaru to in a sense mature and accept death as an inevitability. It would've been a fitting conclusion to his character arc and possibly even justified his turn to the light as wanting to make amends for his past mistakes. It would also explain why he decided to have a son in the form of Mitsuki, essentially passing on the torch to the next generation.

[@AlexisTheDragon]

I mean, but it's not an inevitability but lol, especially not for him.

[@thelostcause1562]

But why would Orochimaru get into that position in the first place? He doesn't do anything that doesn't benefit him directly and I just don't see what Orochimaru would've gained from a world war event, that he couldn't accuire better outside of such an event.

[@spit-fire]

@@thelostcause1562 kabuto could have just turned himself into Orochimaru’s actual host body. It’s even foreshadowed in part 1 when kabuto offers his body, but orochimaru turns him down lol.

[@thelostcause1562]

@@spit-fire and how exactly would that convince him to take part in the war?

[@spit-fire]

@@thelostcause1562 it wouldn’t, kabuto would be kabuto up until the itachi fight, where kabuto would turn himself into orochimaru. Orochimaru would be after sasuke’s body still.

[@twelfthknight]

I think my problem with Kubuto is his introduction could've been much more interesting had the premise of him being an unassuming spy been followed through for any appreciable length. As in, we in the audience learn about his deceit pretty quickly and have next to no feelings one way or another about the character by the time. Had Kishimoto made Kabuto more charismatic, had him ingratiatie himself to the main characters, had given him some time to cook, and then threw out his betrayal where it would be most emotionally impactful it would've given us in the audience a villain with some actual staying power. Otherwise what is he, really? A background character turned glorified jobber who ascended to plot device for the final arc.

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

Yeah like what SHOULD'VE happened, is Kabuto should've kept the Anbu mask on. We shouldn't have found out he was a spy until the Sannin showdown, AT LEAST

[@clorkmagnus]

Kabuto job was to check Sasuke. And his job was also done when Orochimaru planned to destroy the leaf village. The problem here is Orochimaru failed. And Orochimaru needed an assistant to work for him when he was disabled.

[@EmperorFreezaSama]

Kabuto is a failed Aizen

[@Mustache99]

I think kabuto doesn't have an inferiority complex but a lack of his own personality, all his life he was in a blank state since he lost his memory he played many roles and ended up losing a grasp of what he is He got attached to people who were charismatic or strong and wanted to be like them, so this is why he grafted Orochimaru cells on himself For me he's a good villain he shows us that if you are not strong in a shinobi world you are useless and to become powerful you can either train or take others' powers this makes him the opposite of madara and obito both born geniuses

[@prequeteu]

Obito is not a genius

[@donovan4222]

Kabuto low key had one of the best back stories in Naruto

[@Mustache99]

@@prequeteu genious in genetic Sense, they are both uchiha

[@prequeteu]

@@Mustache99 Not all Uchiha are geniuses, Obito didn't have talent. He envied Kakashi in childhood He's like naruto

[@R3V0F3V]

@@prequeteuhe said genetic sense. Uchiha are inherently at an advantage genetically

[@cj5476]

I agree but at the same time I didn’t mind him being the 3rd antagonist to the war. I don’t think it was out of anywhere either. Kabuto appeared a couple times in shippuden very mysteriously and I feel like you could always tell they were building him up to have a more important role in the story

[@beekai6273]

I think that’s the point most of the time Kabuto was forgettable, yeah when he did pop up it was interesting at that time. But then he would disappear again and as the plot progressed more interesting villains came about Kabuto sort of became uninteresting by the time he joined the War and brought Edo Tensei.. to me he wasn’t that great of a written villain at all

[@cj5476]

@@beekai6273 I get that. I still liked him tho

[@raivisosplovskis3564]

Plot armor for protagonists can be lame, but the same goes for villains. Orochimaru got smacked around by Hiruzen, Tsunade, Itachi, Kjuubi, Sasuke but refused to die and it got kinda old for me.

[@TheKnightPatriot]

To me it would have been fitting if Orochimaru took over Kabuto’s body, and his other student, Anko, becomes the one to surpass him and put him down for good. It would be a neat story arc and give Anko a reason to exist in the story. Sasuke and Itachi already beat Orochimaru, so their showdown against Kabuto wasn’t interesting at all.

[@Anarixia]

It would also allow Orochimaru to parallel Madara who also screwed over any potential successors [Sasuke and Obito] that he could have had if he wasn't so egotistical.

[@MaestroAlvis]

It would have been cool if sasuke went to grab Anko after the fight only to discover he just confused a weird rock formation for her body. He's confused because it's insane that his eyes would make this mistake but then realizes that nobody is perfect and forgives himself... in memory of itachi.

[@lapplandkun9273]

Anko only existed to hype up the forest of death and that's it. She never been relevant despite being orochimaru's student. We don't even get to see her reaction to how Sasuke killed Orochimaru and if she felt jealous or furious that Sasuke took her only chance away. Man. Female characters really do suck in the series. All the potential and plot points never even developed at all

[@justinarzola4584]

I think the reason Kabuto wasn't completely consumed by orochimaru is because he didn't have the curse mark, it would have more sense if he had one, orochimaru knew Kabuto was loyal so he didn't brand him like most of the other sound ninja he kidnapped.

[@LoneSilverW0lf]

Having a Anko vs Kabuto fight, disciple vs. disciple, would’ve been better for both their characters.

[@lupusdei9022]

Orochimaru is one of my favorite characters, I would have loved to see orochimaru accomplish the things he was after (of all his projects, he only learned some jutsus, developed the curse mark and created yamato). He was supposed to be a genius obsessed with the secrets of the world, but he was stopped from becoming what he should have been: a worldwide menace capable of anything for knowledge (and actually almost achieving his end goal). Just switching Kabuto for Orochimaru would have been crazy awesome. The sanin were really nerfed when compared to other characters, it's only when Jiraiya fights Pain that we see their power fitting their name

[@justinarzola4584]

Kabuto should have had his own abilities rather than copying off orochimaru but I guess kishimoto was trying to sell the idea orochimaru was the only person he had left.

[@quentinjones6877]

All Kabuto had was medical ninjutsu which of course was powerful but the only thing he had

[@theRomanianDanian]

What abilities did he use against Itachi and Sasuke that was “copied off Orochimaru”?

[@liquid1514]

"It should have been me not him, it's not fair"

[@armorbearer9702]

I think the main problem is that there was no hints to how Kabuto got so powerful. Sage mode takes years to master normally. It was only recently that the toads figured out how to speed up the process. It would have been better if Kabuto had infused himself with Orochimaru and Hashirama cells. Because he had magical Hashirama cells, Kabuto was able to quickly obtain Sage mode and other powers beyond his master.

[@boianko]

I watched the series a pretty long while ago, but as far as I remember Kabuto learned Sage Mode from the king of serpents which had been hidden away even from Orochimaru. It's possible that the snakes had an accelerated way of teaching Sage Mode, and the only one of them who knew how to teach it was their king in hiding.

[@Riverfall_]

The idea of Kabuto being one of the final villains isn't bad. It's just that Kishimoto simply thought of it far too late. If it was always meant to go that way and Kishimoto were to slowly build up Kabuto all the way starting with chunin exam, it would be whole different story. In reality Kabuto just ends up being a plot device in order to bring more plot devices (edo tensei) into the war arc. That's how I felt like at least.

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

Bruh that's so TRUE. Even weaker villains FELT more intimidating. And that's the thing. Villains can't just feel intimidating. They can't just talk intimidating. They need to BE intimidating. And I was never like "Oh shit, Kabuto just pulled up, what's about to happen here?" When Orochimaru pulled up on team 7 and later on Kakashi as he tended to the curse mark, a LOOK from Orochimaru paralyzed Sakura and terrified Sasuke. It even put fear in KAKASHI. Kabuto never had that x factor that made him scary

[@no.1spidey-fan182]

Thats the POINT. Kabuto is supposed to feel like a Wannabe

[@jacobschilling1448]

Orochimaru gave me nightmares when I was a middle school kid, there was nothing more terrifying then seeing him pull the girls face off to reveal his true form during the chunin exams

[@brandonontama2415]

@@no.1spidey-fan182 That doesn't make up for the fact that his not interesting.

[@AquarianAngel]

Kabuto felt intimidating.

[@conansglasses2645]

Thats also the reason why Kaguya didn't work as a villain

[@LucasCosta-io8vr]

I actually like this battle. Even though i understand the feeling that Orochimaru would've do better, i still see the beuty of Kabuto playing a important role in the War Arc and and growing as a character. There is actually a very good passage in their fight that i read from time to time. Just as soon as the fight starts, Kabuto starts planting doubt in Itachi and Sasuke's minds, undermining their confidence. He tells Itachi that Sasuke plans to destroy Konoha while trying to convince Sasuke to join him as a fellow disciple of Orochimaru. And then there's this amazing panel when Itachi and Sasuke are side-eyes squinting at each other suspiciously and you realize that Kabuto's mind game is paying off. This is perfect because it's subtle. And that treacherous and cunning subtlety has never been a trait of Orochimaru. Kabuto was the spy. Orochimaru liked the big show. So I'm going to disagree with the video and say that Kabuto played a great role as a villain.

[@thepieofyourlife4799]

There's a difference between being a good opponent and being a good villain. Kabuto was a good opponent, he can make a great fight. But as a villain, not really, he just lacked enough screen time to develop himself into something.... deeper.

[@augusto9168]

I had the impression Kabuto was a genius for being a spy for multiple people at once, chakra control and wits, his planning on druging and fighting Tsunade and Jiraya where amazing to see, I was not surprised when he mastered perfect sage mode with the snakes

[@arnaldocosta-uh4um]

I like the idea of kabuto. He's a normal guy, not genetically gifted in any way, total fodder from birth. But he didn't like that. He studied, he trained, adapted, focused on his connections and research with Orochimaru, just to try and surpass those who 've always been fed with a silver spoon. He's like the antithesis of Lee in a way, with both using Yang chakra (lee with the eight gates and kabuto with his medic jutsu), and their mutual refusal to give up, but as Lee did all he could by himself and still ended up being left behind, kabuto stole from others what he could not have, and became as strong as people like sasuke and naruto who are LITERAL DEMIGODS. Showing a rather bitter truth that purely working hard achieves nothing, but knowing how to play your cards, no matter how bad they may be or how questionable the means, is what makes great men. TLDR: i think naruto would be better with lee as protagonist and kabuto as antagonist lol

[@guernica5413]

Soooo interested to see how this will affect your rewriting 👀

[@darkpaw1522]

I actually like Kabuto in the war arc. I do agree he should’ve had more direct development before it though; maybe a fight during the Kage Summit or Pain arc or something showing off his growing strength. But I agree with others, Orochimaru wouldn’t have been a good fit, especially for the theme of the show. Orochimaru had his shine in both early Naruto and Shippuden. And it’d cheapened both their character development. I think Kishimoto did very right here using Kabuto, I think we’d just liked it if he used Kabuto a bit more.

[@gerard7417]

Said perfectly great

[@theking8347]

There were also some hints early on that Kabuto might be planning to betray Orochimaru, but those never went anywhere.

[@A1-Act]

He talks about killing sasuke

[@salihalraziqi4963]

We should've gotten an ark after the kazakage rescue arc about orochimaru trying to get the uzumaki mask to heal his arms and the main villian would be kabuto with team hebi and team kurinai would stop him with shino taking the highlight, this will give team kurinai some screen time, and establish orochimaru as a threat, i mean he didn't do anything in shipuden he just waited to take sasuke's body then got killed by sasuke.

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

My problem with Kabuto (especially in the war) is that he just comes off as he's always come off, an arrogant prick who needed to have his ass whooped a very very long time ago to teach him some humility. Furthermore, his backstory literally came from nowhere and only served to humanize who was otherwise a selfish and honestly unlikable character. The story didn't NEED to be told, it was just told because Kishimoto wanted to redeem Kabuto for future uses and the backstory helped do that. Also, thick of how cool it would be for ltachi AND Sasuke to box with Orochimaru in sage form. At least that would be epic, and the whole "chaos" thing fits his character, Kabuto seemingly had little to no real motives right up until they point aside from following Orochimaru-sama, and it makes his character super annoying, even pre-war.

[@justinarzola4584]

I don't think Kabuto was ever meant to be likable and one of the characters your supposed to hate,it was pretty clear kishimoto made him a jerk and orochimaru worshipper on purpose until his story was revealed why he was obsessed with him but it was too late in the story when it didn't even matter anymore because we wanted to know who Tobi was and Kabuto served his purpose to the plot as a side villain.

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

@Justin Arzola exactly! If this story were told earlier I'd be like "Okay that's cool I guess" but it's told WAY after he was an important character

[@lupusdei9022]

Totally agree

[@kleatise52]

I feel his back story was always meant to be interesting, back when he quit in the chunin exams I remember anko and the 3rd talking about how they found that kid in kikyo castle.

[@fbritannia]

Kabuto has a backstory? I can't remember it at all.

[@vlShiRo]

The problem with Orochimaru would be that we all know he would get his ass whooped pretty hard. And tbh i really like Kabuto.

[@The__Deadman]

Not if he got Sage Mode. Sage Mode oro would be above SM Kabuto. I mean he can use it now with his Zetsu body made of Hashi cells.

[@vlShiRo]

@@The__Deadman If he could master it im 100% on your side. But thats the question if he could do this at the time. Haven't seen any of Boruto so i can't tell what he is capable of now.

[@The__Deadman]

@@vlShiRo Why wouldn't he? He has senjutsu chakra, the only problem was the body. With Zetsu body he can enter it.

[@The__Deadman]

@@vlShiRo He just didn't need to use it.

[@JakeSmith-mq5dc]

Honestly, Kabuto could've been a good stepping stone for an amazing Orochimaru buff. Kabuto essentially became a vessel for all of Orochimaru's human experiments, but further improved. So after Orochimaru switched to the haxx Zetsu body (which allows for Wood Style and would likely outlast a normal human vessel by a large margin), the Kabuto's body he absorbed into himself would've allowed Orochimaru to fully display the culmination of all of his research. Arguably would've been a threat in the 8 Gates Guy or 10 Madara tier.

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

Kabuto, while unlikable and having an earned inferiority and UNEARNED God complex, was an awesome side character. So I wouldn't take him out of the series, but come on, the dude needed to have buffs to be scary. Gaara was scary BEFORE we knew he was a jinchuriki. Orochimaru is up there with Naraku in terms of how intimidating and sadistic he is. Itachi is Itachi. Pain is Pain. Kabuto without his buffs wouldn't last 3 minutes against Sasuke, so making him a PERFECT sage feels even more unearned. Like have him just be a side character!!!!! He doesn't NEED to have this really important role in the story

[@flamelover1746]

To be fair, a lot of criticisms are directed at how irrelevant Naruto side characters become. With the power escalation, all characters need buffs to stay in the story. While the God complex was annoying, I thought he was a rather great representation of what was so fucked with the Shinobi world and it made sense why Itachi would sympathize. That plotline definitely could've used more development, though.

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

@FlameLover uhhhhh... yeah I agree on the side characters point!! The main issue with the shinobi world is that ninja are used as tools by their masters. If that was the element, I'd be okay with it, but Kabuto represents something different, no? Either way you're right, it could've had a LOT more development than it got

[@sinbadddx]

I think kabuto was the perfect villain for the war arc. He wasn’t on obito or Madaras level, so there was a clear line of progression in the hero’s strength. We’ve seen every single student surpass their sensei, Naruto, sasuke, Sakura, shikamaru, etc. It makes perfect sense that kabuto would do too. He spent years with orochimaru and the jutsu he learnt was perfectly with what the audience would expect. His backstory was that he never had his own identity. Makes sense he resembles orochimaru.

[@chikipichi5280]

I liked the person with no identity finding who he is arc

[@DTheCritical]

Ironically Orochimaru coming back makes more sense as Kabuto had his remains taking over him

[@d0m0b40]

I disagree, although orochimarus "would be" death was anti-climactic, the way he was revived was pretty contrived. Kabuto's an ass hat but hes cool imo. Not to mention orochimaru was the main villain for like all of part 1 and still was up to his usual shenanigans early shippuden. I love him as a character, and I dont neccesarily mind him coming back regardless of my previous statement, but him biting the dust to sasuke should've been how he died.

[@mcdowlaz7050]

I assume because orochimaru was killed twice essentially before this that Kishimoto felt bringing him back a third time would be kind of cheap as an antagonistic role. If you wanted to have him be the villain of the war arc, you'd want to remove Sasuke killing him first and foremost and have something else there instead.

[@west6409]

Saw this right after the poll and it made it even better

[@no.1spidey-fan182]

Orochimaru was on a literal DEATH BED for MOST of the series. FORCING him out of that state just to be the villain of the War Arc and REHASH the Attack Against Konoha arc from part 1 would have been so BAD😭 Orochimaru was SICK and NERFED for like the entire series. He couldnt learn Sage Mode. Orochimaru's character progress was him being humbled to face his reality and Kabuto's was him growing to a Godlike persona to face his reality Kabuto's character was him being lost and looking for purpose so him literaly becoming his master is compelling since he never really had a role model to have a proper upbringing. He was SUPPOSED to feel like a Wannabe hence the entire fight vs Itachi forcing him to come to terms with the truth about himself. So he is NOT supposed to have Orochimaru's presence💀🤦‍♂️ *That he had no identity of his own* Kabuto is actually one of the better arcs in the entire series tbh. I remember watching a really well made breakdown of his character by another Naruto youtuber called "Laraze" like a year ago Naruto has a lot of BAD writing but Villain wise I genuinely cannot think of a badly written villain

[@granddefectus4602]

Itachi and Obito are terrible villains. Itachi for doing genocide instead of doing a coup with his clan. Just because Danzo said World War was going to happen doesn't mean it is true. Obito for being a little bitch.

[@-Mintyy]

Completely agree. This is all facts

[@jacinto1477]

Yeah agreed this video is kinda stupid

[@randomahnameisthename3147]

This guy makes like half shit half good content. Roll of the dice each time you click on a video

[@fan4every1lol89]

Well put

[@RYUZAKILL117]

I have a great idea, considering the following: - Orochimaru was a better option - He couldn’t be used because of the Totsuka Blade sealing - Kabuto injected himself with Orochimaur’s cells. We could make so the Orochimaru cells take over Kabuto, essentially resurrecting Orochimaru in his body. After that Orochimaru gets to do everything Kabuto achieved in the original story. Then, during the fight against Sasuke and Itachi they realize Kabuto is still in there (we could make up an explanation that since most of Orochimaru was sealed, the resurrection wasn’t perfect), so they develop a strategy in order to take the Orochimaru cells out of Kabuto’s body, since it would be easier for them to control him via Genjutsu rather than Orochimaru. In the end, they destroy Orochimaru once and for all and free Kabuto, who would now be resented towards his old master or something like that, so he willingly agrees to undo the Edo Tensei (which could be explained by them sharing their chakra while Kabuto was possessed), and proceeds to take Orochimaru’s place as Sasuke’s new ally. And also, all the Izanami BS could be replaced by him having his flashbacks while possessed by Orochimaru, which would be the point when he reconsiders all his life choices and becomes a better person.

[@CanineLupus0114]

Completely disagree, he was a surprise villain tbh Orochimaru is good but he was dead for almost 3 seasons and should've stayed dead since his story had ended "He was grooming Sasuke to be a snake and he ends up getting eaten", Kabuto made sense to follow Orochimaru's path and he was a surprising twists in the "this guy will never be cool" he was there since the beginning of Naruto and makes sense a side character has to evolve into something what's good is when we see characters like he is we always see right away "he's the sidekick, he must be the second boss" which did happen except the Final Boss was Obito or beyond that Madara (Kabuto's own reanimation) and no one saw it coming In addition, what are you going to do with Kabuto then? give him the Anko/Kurenai treatment? the guy who was there since the beginning?

[@fondue4kill]

Part of the problem as well is that he’s beaten with Izanami which is only used for that one battle. Izanagi was shown off multiple times so it felt normal. So you got a mediocre character who is unbeatable losing to a one time power. Then he shows up and heals Sasuke and disappears from relevance

[@andyquinn3996]

Kabuto didn't only infuse orochimaru's cells into himself, he infused himself with the cells from all kind of people, karin, suigetsu, jugo, the 4 from the sound, kimimaru, they explained that he had those powers because of all of those people cells he infused into himself, heck, for all we know, he could have also infused hashirama's cells into his self, being that orochimaru had access to hashirama's cells, yamato's wood stile is thanks to orochimaru experimenting on him, so yeah, they do explain where he got all of those abilities from. Also, your explanation about him not deserving Sage mode just because orochimaru couldn't achieve it doesn't make any sense, just because one wasnt able to achieve something doesn't mean that the other person won't be able to, or are we going to forget that jiraiya also trained and got Sage mode but was not that very proficient with it, but Naruto was more proficient with it and was able to master it in what looks to be a couple of weeks???? Also, the him shouldn't have orochimaru's powers doesn't make sense either, we all know that orochimaru had a record about his investigations and discoveries, kabuto could have learn from those documents, see what's wrong with orochimaru's point of view and find a way of fixing it or even improving it, just say that you don't like the character and that's it.

[@Kabuto-s2s0s0s7]

Yah exactly bro 🫠❤️‍🩹

[@QuasarKen009]

I love how you used the pillar men soundtrack 💪🏼

[@TheFlashinPulsar]

Dygo is hating on upward mobility. Kabuto put in the work. He grinded for his position. Kabuto started on the bottom and ended as a main character. Dygo just doesn't believe in promoting from within.

[@-Mintyy]

Yea sometimes he says the dumbest shit and really shows his ignorance.

[@junior523]

True

[@conansglasses2645]

The problem with Kabuto is the same problem as Kaguya, they're simply not INTIMIDATING , a villain can't just be strong and look scary to be intimidating, they need to have an intimidating aura about them in order to feel threatening which Kabuto and Kaguya simply didn't have

[@reptilian_geneticist]

Wtf are you talking about 😂 Kabuto has had that mysterious intimidating aura since the very beginning... go back and watch some Naruto... he was literally stated to be on par with Kakashi amd Naruto had to protect Tsunade from him

[@vradeus3438]

@@reptilian_geneticist watch the video

[@reptilian_geneticist]

@@vradeus3438 Go watch Naruto 🤡

[@christiancinnabars1402]

@@reptilian_geneticist Mysterious, I can give you that. But intimidating? Not after Naruto blasted him with the Rasengan and sent him out of the battle. _No one_ saw the build up to the Itachi and Sasuke vs Kabuto fight and thought, “Oh no, Sasuke and Itachi might lose!” In fact, people still believe damn near the complete opposite; that Edo Itachi could have _solo’d_ Kabuto. _I’m_ half convinced he could if the plot even slightly called for it. And that is _not_ the belief you want to instill for what was supposed to be a major antagonist for at least the first half of an arc.

[@reptilian_geneticist]

@@christiancinnabars1402 definitely intimidating from the very beginning, Like i said Kabuto was on par with KAKASHI (that's intimidating as fuck) and Naruto had to take him on... and Kabuto healed himself and fucked up Naruto, did you even watch those episodes or did you just watch KZbin clips???? 😂 So yeah You can disagree all you want but you're still wrong and you're just lying to yourself... 🤷‍♂️ and you're delusional if you think edo itachi stood a chance against Kabuto 😂... you're obviously a delusional itachi sauske stan 💯😂

[@VersacePokemon]

Kabuto being that strong always made me so mad lol.

[@corenko]

Snake Sage Kabuto vs Itachi & Sasuke is one of my favorite fights in Naruto period

[@gioqaliashvili6874]

You don't realise how talanted and smart kabuto was both in og naruto and in shippuden.He was not only orochimaru's henchman but also his spy,scientist who helped him achieve his goals,master assassin and personal medic,without his medical knowledge orochimaru couldn't have achieved his goals.In his experiments he surpassed orochimaru and it wasn't because he implanted his genes,orochimaru couldn't deduct the jugo clan secret,he couldn't implant sound 4 abilities.Surely he started it all,but kabuto was his rightful successor .I agree he doesn't feel as intimidating as orochimaru,but being intimidating isn't villain's only good quality.

[@aweiz6265]

Boruto anime kind of explains that Kabuto had to do some crazy training with the Snake Sage lady to get his Sage powers, not really unearned just off-screened

[@lisboah]

10:44- To be fair, Kabuto not only absorbed Orochimaru's cells. He also had Suigetsu's, Karin's, Jugo's, the Sound Four's, Kimimaro's and other's cells. If you combine the abilities of all those people plus Orochimaru's, Kabuto being stronger than Orochimaru can make sense.

[@Cloke100]

Disagree with you on that, Kabuto would've been another wasted character if he didn't rise to what he became leading up to the War arc.

[@auditor7613]

I totally disagree with you about this one. First, yes, Kabuto never before was a big villain in the story and you may think that his growth is a bit exaggerated. However, you were saying that he achieved his power simply by consuming or better say assimilating Orochimaru's cells, which is totally wrong. He added more than 9 kekei genkais to his body to become that strong. He used the results of his own experiments he accumulated during all those years he served Orochimaru. And while I agree that Kabuto obviously couldn't kill Sasuke and harm Itachi, his presence was at least interesting, he was a good enough villain for me. Second, did you really want to see Orochimaru failing again against Itachi? For the third time? He already failed more than enough times against important characters, so there is no need to make him lose again. And what Orochimaru would be? Just a big, bad, power-hungry guy amongst the other two with an interesting goal? Sasuke didn't really need that type of enemy narratively.

[@stefanrosu248]

Naruto perfecting sage mode in a week (Flirting) vs Kabuto perfecting sage mode in a year (Harrasment)

[@sirmigl6994]

Keep uploading your videos are great

[@isaacragland4935]

Dude naruto himself is a parody of the story, Kabuto is a no name orphan who rises above the rest.

[@DarthDude380]

Kabuto should have used Anko to revive Orochimaru like Sasuke did. I love your idea of a buffed up Orochimaru facing Itachi and Sasuke together. Imagine if Orochimaru managed to summon the entire Uchiha clan with the Edo Tensei, making Itachi relive the massacre in a sense and have Sasuke participate this time. It would be amazing.

[@Jade_Hanson]

Kabuto was never gonna have screen presence. He has always been behind the scenes. He himself says he doesn't like being the center of attention. I think he's a decent character.

[@uDropper]

About Orochimaru cells: you forget that Orochimaru always craved for immortallity, that with the experiments would make sense that his cells have incredible will to live.

[@ebgzay]

Bro I love your videos so much❤

[@parthavvari2384]

bro when edo itachi and sasuke were fighting kabuto I kinda felt like it was like "Itachi Explained" by the series

[@alexeiharp7676]

I can get the parallel between Naruto and Kabuto and even between Sasuke and Kabuto (narratively it made sense that he would compilate inspirations and powers cause he wanted to become like his former master and all, you couldn't tell the same story with Oro who accepted himself already) but Orochimaru deserved that fight against the two brothers with sage mode. Still his implication in the fourth great war was interesting

[@napdragon94]

I liked Kabuto as a major villain maybe because I predicted that would happen eventually early on in the series, same with Bakura from Yugioh they’re both low key sinister and have grey hair idk just got that feeling from them 🤷🏼‍♂️ they’re both powerful in they’re own way. Kabuto was at least near enough Part 1 Kakashi’s strength and skill to give him some trouble and he consistently fodderizes ANBU (yeah I know lol but worth mentioning I guess)

[@LAGator-qu7tc]

See... My problem is WHAT MAKES SOMEONE a great ninja...? It seems like in OG Naruto a great ninja or powerful Shinobi would have mastery the arts of being a ninja. Sure genetics played a part but it's about what you did with your power. To outsmart is to be a great ninja, to have great combat skills it to be a great ninja, to overall run tactics in a team operation is to be a great ninja. Part 1 was great at that but when you look further down the line it became who has more abundance of CHAKRA. Characters like Minato is definitely the middle ground for the power statement and scaling of a ninja. Also any kage are suppose to be top dawg of their villages. 1st- Hokage has great leadership and is has a VERY POWERFUL chakra nature. He's more of a powerhouse than a great ninja. 2nd - Arguably the coldest hokage who understands the mission and that lives has to be sacrificed. Hindsight thinking a great attribute for a ninja. Not a powerhouse 3rd - The Weakest strongest kage but his knowledge on ninjustu and chakra nature supposedly is what makes him a great ninja. He has a master control of all elements, definitely a great example of ninja. 4th - Nuff said an equal balance 5- Tsunade is a sannin but we never see her do any SPECIFIC that shows her real skills. Shes more ninja than a powerhouse but I do think her overall strength is comparable to a powerhouse who has a hangover on a Sunday morning. 6 - Kakashi great example of a ninja who learned to become a powerhouse. He's legit perfect as a character for the Worldbuilding 7th - STRAIGHT POWERHOUSE, not even a great ninja AT all. Great person, terrible ninja. Knew no skills but a powerhouse. This guy is the complete opposite of the fourth but took the reverse Kakashi route and used his powerhouse status to become a great ninja. I said that to say this.... Kabuto escaping Kakashi in Part 1 Is the only feat we have to say he's on his level pre-snake fusion is ridiculous. Power scaling in Naruto makes 0 sense because if you look at the order of who can beat who it's chaotic If is Kabuto=Kakashi, Kabuto beats Tsunade (who is sannin), Naruto beats Kabuto, Jiraiya and Tsunade beats Orochimaru, Jiraiya (who is a sannin) beats Itachi and Kisame, Kakashi is rivaled to Might Gai who is stronger than Kisame but he can't defeat itachi who is scared of Jiraiya, yet him and Kabuto are on the same strength level which I have to add again, took out Tsunade who is a legendary sannin.... MF's just be writing anything hoping somethings sticks and other are forgetten

[@mr.trex02]

Bakura is more similar with Orochimaru than Kabuto

[@MJ-bq6hh]

I would have made the plot twist that Orochimaru took over the defeated Madara’s body at the end. And from there, continued the story or make him the last villain instead of Kaguya.

[@son_1118]

That would’ve been perfect. His theme playing while he takes over Madara’s body.

[@kuelimika]

Come on, Dygo, leave Kabuto alone… best edo tensei user ever. His sage mode is on par with Hashirama 😄

[@Fictionist10101]

I always thought that since orochimaru was killed early in shippuden that kishimoto actually planned for a big return for his character he deserved to be one of the big baddies in the war not freakin kabuto he's just a carbon copy of him now and so forgettable I mean when you think about it orochimaru have all the reasons to come back and assist obito since he has the largest effects in the story and he's tied to naruto and sasuke and the rest of the ninja world

[@abhijitmandhare6567]

Rh

[@abhijitmandhare6567]

R0r0=😊=0pr77

[@Avarn388]

@NotAGarystu I honestly wished that Kabuto had taken over the sound village and was their leader and had the edo Tensei. Thus it could have given him more to do. For me what made me dislike him was how he was bested by Itachi. BS deus ex Machina Izanami. It showed Kishimoto just introducing new powers for the sake of it rather than utilizing existing powers and abilities.

[@orochimarupr]

We still haven't seen him at full power

[@justinarzola4584]

After the tenchi bridge arc it seemed kishimoto stopped caring about orochimaru since he is not important again after,maybe with four tails ending up killing him and he gets revived later or something.

[@LordOrochimaru_]

They did Orochimaru really bad. I mean Orochimaru was the one, who trained and studied jutsus for his whole life, he did research about all in the world, and then Kabuto came and just take Orochimarus DNA and gets stronger and gets sage mode. Like he really didnt deserve it, Orochimaru was the one who built the whole basis for that, what Kabuto achieved. Orochimaru should have been the one who gets a perfect snake sage. And the saddest thing is we still haven't seen Orochimaru go full out in a fight.

[@The__Deadman]

Orochimaru couldn't use it cause of his immortality jutsu. His host bodies were too weak to handle it. In War Arc Oro got a zetsu body made of Hashi cells so he can easily use Sage Mode.

[@orochimarupr]

They brought orochimaru back for a reason, what would be the best way to send him off? 1. Make orochimaru the final villain and bring back his theme song 2. Have orochimaru go all out in a death battle and dying protecting Mitsuki 3. Orochimaru koji and tsunade going all out and dying remembering jiraya 4. Orochimaru Sasuke kabuto Kakashi and koji against the 10tail army

[@mrbushido56]

A video on kakashi? Any topic but would like one on his ptsd or his father

[@porcus123]

Nah, my dude, you are just plain wrong, and I haven't even watched the video. Kabuto was the perfect guy, a lost guy with a hatred for the world that needed to find himself to see to come to terms with his existence. He was doing what he thought was needed to fulfill orichimaru vision and surpass him. Even orichimaru must have been like, "Chill, dude." I can't see orichimaru on the same spot being as good

[@guilhermedias7123]

If Orochimaru was the villain, who would use Edo Tensei to bring the Hokages back?

[@DygoKnight]

Orochimaru lmao

[@jerrypierre7825]

that’s a good point. maybe kabuto himself could do it after learning about it from orochimaru.

[@josephcourtright8071]

It would be Danzo. Danzo "died" using a self sacrificing technique that didn't leave a body while stalling for time so he could use the ultimate genjutsu. That's an easy fake-out death. Danzo worked with Orochimaru and would definitely be studying/have people studying the reanimation technique. Danzo would also unquestionably attempt to help the Leaf in the war.

[@2FINE4YOUBABYGIRL]

Itachi and Sasuke vs kabuto was one of my favorite fights! Kabuto being him was a pleasant surprise. Sasuke and itachi already fought orochimaru enough times.

[@tenseitan8081]

Kabuto deserves to be a powerful villain.

[@ericLpereira1989]

I think that Kabuto deserved enough to be a war arc villain. He was always presented as very inteligent, with good jutsos including those that already had something to do with using undeads, and by having a great chakra controle, since he is a great medic ninja. And he had what seems to be at least one year to prepare for the war arc, having all of Orochimaru's data at his reach. But indeed it might have been better if it was Orochimaru. It would depend on how well it would be developed.

[@WatchesSkarmsguides]

Holy shit I thought I think I thought this subconsciously whilst watching but never actively thought or put it to words. This video literally explains exactly how most people feel about Kabuto in the most perfect way

[@GraveEnd]

Atleast kabutos safe mode looks cool lol

[@robertlee9602]

I never really minded it being Kabuto myself.

[@ZeroX7649]

I'm sorry, but I can't agree. Kabuto was the better choice. Orochimaru has been the villain for the entire series up to his death. It's very fitting that his underling who played such a constant active role in the story is the one who ultimately becomes a major threat by the finale. Also, Orochimaru watching Kabuto and being like "This guy sucks. Yeah let's not do this" is absolutely hilarious and is a reasonable and genuine character change thats actually interesting. Plus, Kabuto's arc actually makes quite a bit of sense. He follows in everyone's footsteps and lives in the shadow of better people, so much so he literally uses them as his zombie slaves. He's completely different from Orochimaru in every way other than the snake motif.

[@DougiePlaysSoccer]

I really liked the pupil dynamic. And his jutsus as a sage were entertaining. As to his involvement with the akatsuki, it did feel a little shoe horned.

[@nifynitm]

part of my love for naruto are these constant examples of life not being fair and everything sharing/wanting/stealing other powers, and some can’t handle it and others abuse it and there’s so many extra things about just how chaotic and “unfair” life is and depending on how you see it yes you can call this a excuse for poor writing but we just have to accept it because it’s not our story to tell accepting kishimoto is human (even if unintentionally breaking the fouth wall) is another lesson i learned from naruto and it’s helped me mature in real life, and it’s part of the reason why even if there are moments of the story i don’t like, i love naruto ❤ :)

[@backlashD]

Pillarmen theme in the background stole my attention

[@KINGMANI6]

Hey Dygo, this is completely unrelated but I noticed that the hand signs for the fireball Justu varies pretty widely between episodes. Any idea why that is? Or am I misunderstanding?

[@deadringer-cultofdeathratt8813]

If all of the minor characters to turn into a main character, he was not the one.

[@AndileJohn-mr6pr]

Kabuto Also added the Sound Fives DNA and mastered their powers

[@JLUU19500]

When does the next rewrite come out just curious? I loved the series and I've pretty much binge-watched the entire series. When we don't get the amount of like in 24 hours, how long until the next rewrite. Btw keep going with your videos, they are really great!!

[@jaredgreathouse3672]

Likely this weekend

[@JLUU19500]

@@jaredgreathouse3672 Cheers mate!!

[@berserk4447]

I disagree i feel like kabuto was set up as a long term rival for naruto. He was an interesting character, and set up as a great talent with a lot of effort put into it. It seemed inevitable he could reach the top tiers.

[@DygoKnight]

He didn't even interact with Naruto in the War Arc

[@-Mintyy]

@@DygoKnight uhm where did he say he did? That’s not what he said you idiot, pay attention.

[@jvjbfradio8349]

One of the things that a lot of people don't really key on in the idea of Sage Mode in Naruto is the concept of the Ouroboros; so many people missed it that Naruto's son was named Boruto and its not a coincidence. Ouroboros is a symbol, that being Infinity and the symbol is made by a snake eating its own tail, defining the concept of destruction and rebirth. When a character is learning Sage Mode and they fail, in Naruto lore, that character then becomes the animal they are learning Sage Mode from against their will and is trapped in that animal transformation forever. Orochimaru however has displayed the ability to transform different parts of his body into this animal modality, being the snake and before we saw Kabuto do something similar, we were led to believe this was an ability limited to just himself, but once Kabuto enters sage mode, he claims he has become a dragon. Furthermore, these 2 are using and abusing Edo Tensei, rebirthing other people and having them serve their will, but because they are doing that, we are led to believe that Kabuto and Orochimaru are in control of themselves, yet the 2 share a link, their redemption arcs happen around the same time, they both fall pray to the same techniques although Kabuto does eventually get through. The point is that we assume Orochimaru and Kabuto have free will, but in my opinion if you pay close enough attention, you'll begin to notice that the 2 are almost of a single consciousness, almost as if the same entity is controlling both of them in the same way that they controlled others, through gifts of power. I mean, to me there is a 3rd character between Kabuto and Orochimaru that is pulling the strings behind the scenes, it's lightly implied but we never actually see the strings, nor the puppet master, but the theme of tiered control is there. We assume Orochimaru has taught Kabuto everything, but the truth is that Kabuto and Orochimaru share a conscience, it's how Kabuto is able to out play Obito, the consciousness that was channeled through Orochimaru is the same being channeled through Kabuto.

[@ranpan6082]

I feel like you forgot this crucial aspect of Orochimaru when you say he should've been one of the main villains of the War Arc, is that while Orochimaru's evil, he HATES his former Akatsuki allies more than he does the Leaf Village. When he wasn't training Sasuke during the three years, he was doing what he could to hamper their efforts, and told Sasuke not to kill Team 7 because they can thin out the organization so he can kill Itachi. I think you forgot about Obito. Forming an alliance with Orochimaru is the last thing Obito wants to do. He knows about his fascination with the Sharingan. No way Obito could trust Orochimaru. But besides that, Obito and Madara's goals completely go against Orochimaru's. He's not going to be on board with a plan that'll end the world. If anything, he would ally with the alliance against them. Orochimaru being a villain in the War Arc would be out of character for him. Let's go into this hypothetical scenario: What if he allies with Obito to betray him and get the Ten Tails for himself? For that, he'd need the Rinnegan, and perhaps he could find the other eye Obito had hidden away. But here's the issue, Obito, another Uchina with Hashirama Cells could barely handle just one of the eyes. We saw how his body wasn't strong enough for Sage Mode, if he implanted the Rinnegan, what's to say it wouldn't overwhelm and kill him? Maybe there's a slim chance he got swoop in, sealed the Ten Tails into himself and became virtually unstoppable. What then? First, kill Obito and Madara, then obliterate the alliance. He'll be ruler of the world with nobody to oppose him. Unless Black Zetsu appears, stabs him in the back, and turns him into Kagyua. He'd probably take the other Rinnegan from Obito and gain the Rinne-Sharingan, but I don't see him casting the jutsu. He'd probably just rule the world as a dictator as there would be nobody to even come close to challenging him.

[@niewiem2419]

I hope you gonna make orochinaru in his place at the war arc instead of developing kabuto to this because honestly orochimaru mastering all these jutsus fighting with uchicha brothers after he was a Little bit disrespected in fight against sasuke would be awesome

[@jugeduplafond133]

That astec god of fitness rap lol

[@shauncollinson4393]

It's strange to think that kabuto was 19 or 20 when we first meet him.

[@reptilian_geneticist]

Nah it makes sense for it to be Kabuto the student of Orochimaru just like how Narutu is the student of Jiraija... it was foreshadowed in the very beginning of Naruto when Kabuto amd Naruto fought

[@fatbrownbuffalo6194]

Where are you pulling these colored manga pages from? The site I've seen only has up to Chapter 181 colored.

[@alexandre588]

Kabuto should be the one helping Sasuke and al, and Orochimaru a War Arc Villain. Early Kabuto was not a pure evil character. For instance, he tried to kill Sasuke to stop Orochimaru way earlier on, showing that he was ready to betray someone as powerful as Orochimaru for the greater good. Kid Naruto Orochimaru was such an intimidating force. Over the course of Shipudden he just gets clowned upon until Boruto were he plays the role of a parent. By the way, what the fuck happened to the sound village?

[@VGamingJunkieVT]

Probably the most interesting thing Infused Kabuto does is showing the sixth coffin to Obito, since it created a sense of mystery. He even refers to Obito as Madara, most people wouldn't assume the coffin contained Madara.

[@justaguylyingontheroad]

He was surely no longer need a glass after went into sage mode but he still keeps it cause its a gift from his 'mother'.

[@InAnimated]

Kabuto is like a slice of bread, you can put stuff on it and even make a sandwich, but its still a slice of bread

[@user-hd8ov2vl6q]

Are you still doing your rewrites? If so seeing how you change the war arc is going to be amazing!

[@DygoKnight]

Yes

[@ulrichwolfgang1824]

Yet, we must remember Kabuto put a lot more than just Orochimaru into himself.

[@rizkiramadhan9266]

Kaguya is the BEST evil character in the show, and her plot twists and Kabuto's are great BECAUSE they're unexpected.