An official version of the Naruto story concluded differently from the manga or anime, and this alternate ending was a much better creative choice. As one of the undisputed best anime of all time, Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto has been unsurprisingly adapted in a variety of ways. We’ve had the anime, a handful of movies, and there’s a live-action franchise on the way as well. Perhaps the most unique of these inspired creations is the Live Spectacle Naruto, a multi-installment stage play that truly delivers on the promised “spectacle.”
Live Spectacle Naruto began with the initial chapters of Kishimoto’s Naruto in 2015 and has since expanded into each of the story’s major arcs. Created by Akiko Kodama and supervised by Kishimoto himself, this stage performance introduces the major players of Naruto’s story in live action and uses a variety of jaw-dropping practical and special stage effects to bring the intense battles and shinobi transformations to life.
The overarching story of Naruto was split into five chapters for Live Spectacle Naruto, the last of which wrapped things up under the title Live Spectacle Naruto: The Shinobi Way Of Life. Similar to the manga, the stage play brings Naruto’s story to a satisfying close as he is revealed to have achieved his goal of becoming Hokage of the Hidden Leaf. Interestingly, however, the final battle that led to this ultimately happy ending wasn’t with the supremely powerful Kaguya. Instead, a much better final boss dominated the conclusion of 2023’s Live Spectacle Naruto: The Shinobi Way of Life.
Live Spectacle Naruto: The Shinobi Way Of Life Changed The Ending
The first four chapters of Live Spectacle Naruto left out some of the less critical moments from the original series, but they effectively included each of Kishimoto’s major villains. The final chapter of this stage play, however, left out the alien goddess Kaguya. Instead, Naruto’s final battle of Live Spectacle Naruto: The Shinobi Way of Life was the epic match that saw Naruto and Sasuke face off with Madara and Obito Uchiha.
Live Spectacle Naruto The Shinobi Way Of Life posterVia Crunchyroll
Of course, this match isn’t an invention of the Naruto stage production. The battle with Madara was a massive arc in the original story, paying off years of buildup surrounding this ancient villain and the revival of the Ten Tails. However, despite this being a high point of the series, things continued for several chapters after Madara’s rather anticlimactic original defeat. Naruto: The Shinobi Way of Life cut those following conflicts out of the story, instead making the Madara battle into the grand finale.
Live Spectacle Naruto The Shinobi Way Of Life Sasuke vs Naruto posterVia Crunchyroll
This alternate Naruto ending was a logical and natural way to conclude things. In fact, this is how many Naruto fans wished the original ending had played out. While there was value to the final battle with Kakuya, this villain was a bit of a letdown, especially since her arrival meant a swift end to Madara. She would have been fine as a piece of the larger picture, but as the final boss of a decades-long anime series, Kaguya simply fell flat.
Why Kaguya Didn’t Work As Naruto’s Final Villain
Kaguya Otsutsuki in Naruto
There’s no denying that Kaguya is a valuable part of the story. Her background provides powerful context for Naruto’s destiny, as well as explanations of Chakra and its use among shinobi. With Naruto and Sasuke finally united, there was a great deal of poetry to their victory over this supreme goddess. Unfortunately, these details didn’t strike fans in the way they should have. Instead, Kaguya is regarded as a massive disappointment. She just wasn’t what we wanted to see as the final boss of Naruto.
The primary issue with Kaguya was timing. She didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but there was far from enough buildup to make audiences really feel threatened by this villain. The fact that she was this supreme and powerful being meant that her motivations in Naruto didn’t have to be profound, but it would have been good to feel as if we had a sense of her character. She was bland and only mildly frightening. Even Kaguya’s power didn’t overwhelm. After all that buildup from hundreds upon hundreds of episodes and chapters, Naruto’s last villain felt like a waste.
Madara Should Have Been Naruto’s True Final Boss
Naruto-Shippuden-Madara-Ten-Tails-Jinchuriki
Said and done, it makes perfect sense that Live Spectacle Naruto ended things with Madara rather than Kaguya. This was the villain that had been teased from the very beginning of the series. It was frustrating to see Madara’s long-awaited story essentially hijacked by a far more unfamiliar enemy, and this remains a sore spot for audiences even years later.
Of course, though official, Live Spectacle Naruto is still relatively niche. Clips are available on YouTube and a small variety of other means, but this production isn’t necessarily something that every Naruto fan will have seen. Still, it’s comforting to know that this alternate ending exists. It’s a validating sign that we aren’t the only ones who think that Madara should have been the final baddie of this beloved anime.