Masashi Kishimoto
In September 1999, the serialized version of "Naruto" premiered in "Weekly Shōnen Jump 1999 No. 43" and quickly became a hit. "Naruto" ended on November 10, 2014 after more than 15 years of serialization, with a total of 700 chapters collected in 72 volumes. Sales have exceeded 113 million copies in Japan and over 95 million copies in the US, followed by over 93 million copies worldwide (outside Japan and United States) as of volume 36. Making total sales for the series approximately 301 million copies. Kishimoto was also the winner of "Rookie of the Year" for the series in the Agency for Cultural Affairs. It was adapted into two successful anime series, "Naruto" and "Naruto Shippuden". Kishimoto requested that Tetsuya Nishio oversee the character designs of "Naruto" when the manga was adapted into an anime series. The "Naruto" manga series became one of Viz Media's top properties, accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in the US in 2006. The seventh volume of Viz's release became the first manga to ever win a Quill Award when it claimed the award for "Best Graphic Novel" in 2006. Responding to "Naruto"'s success, Kishimoto said in "Naruto Collector Winter 2007/2008" that he was "very glad that the American audience has accepted and understood ninja. It shows that the American audience has good taste... because it means they can accept something previously unfamiliar to them." While writing the manga, Kishimoto met Eiichiro Oda, author of "One Piece" who he considered his rival. When "Naruto" ended, Oda left a message in the series' final volume acknowledging him as a rival. According to Kishimoto "That felt so gratifying." Additionally, before the anime adaptation's premiere of "My Hero Academia", he praised Kōhei Horikoshi's work, believing it would be a success overseas. Additionally, Kishimoto referred to Yoshihiro Togashi as one of his favorite artists.
List of Naruto characters
is one of the co-founders of the Hidden Leaf Village along with Hashirama Senju, the two later revealed to be reincarnations of their clans' founding ancestors Indra and Asura prior to Sasuke and Naruto. Madara is a cynical and vengeful man who holds grudges against the Senju Clan for slaughtering his brothers in the War. He is very arrogant about his immense battle prowess. Though he was a childhood friend of Hashirama amidst the conflicts of their respective clan, their friendship ends as a result of the war. As the leader of the Uchiha clan, Madara's overuse of Mangekyo Sharingan blinds him, forcing him to take the eyes of his late younger brother Izuna. This allows Madara to use his newly awakened Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to continue the ongoing war between the Uchiha and the Senju. In later years, Hashirama comes forth with a peace offering between the two clans. Though he agrees to have peace with his former rival, Madara feels he would never be accepted by the Senju and loses hope in Hashirama. While working towards this goal, Madara captures Kurama the Nine-Tails and uses him in a scheme to destroy Konoha. Madara is believed to have been killed by Hashirama's hand, but he survives and goes into hiding while taking a blood sample of Hashirama with him to awake his Rinnegan. During this time, Madara takes Obito Uchiha as his agent and transplants his Rinnegan into Nagato to be preserved for his eventual revival years later.