Masashi Kishimoto’s “Naruto” is undeniably one of the most iconic manga/anime series ever, largely thanks to the author’s incredible talent for character development. He crafted compelling plotlines with some of the most engaging story arcs, including a range of fascinating villains.
Among the many antagonists in the “Naruto” universe, Orochimaru stands out as one of the most intriguing. However, not all fans know the story behind his creation.
At Shonen Jump, manga creators (mangaka) often receive support from their editors, as well as from Jump’s own editorial team. While they can be helpful — assisting with complex scene layouts, backgrounds, and even pitching big ideas — editors can also pose challenges for mangaka. Sometimes, especially with newer creators, they may be pushed to draw storylines they’re not genuinely interested in. A similar situation happened to Kishimoto early on in Naruto.
After completing the Land of Waves arc, Kishimoto had a very different vision for the story than what ultimately unfolded — specifically, the Chunin Exams arc. Kishimoto never intended to create the Chunin Exams. Instead, he wanted Naruto and his team to travel around the ninja world and meet various shinobi teams, ideally including rivals for both Kakashi and Naruto.
Unfortunately, despite how compelling that idea was, the Jump editors didn’t approve. Kishimoto’s editor simply told him to draw a tournament arc instead. Kishimoto was fairly certain he couldn’t manage it because he already had plans for what came after, and creating a large-scale tournament arc on top of that would be overwhelming.
However, the editors were unmoved and pushed him to draw a tournament-style arc — and that’s how the Chunin Exams were born. Kishimoto has since reflected on this, publicly stating that although he enjoyed drawing the Chunin Exams arc, he would’ve followed his original story direction if he’d had the choice.
Since Orochimaru was first introduced during the Chunin Exams arc, that’s also where this dangerous villain came to life. Naturally, fans might assume Kishimoto was solely responsible for creating Orochimaru — but the truth is quite different.
As the Chunin Exams arc progressed, Kishimoto ended up enjoying the process of drawing the tournament, despite his initial reluctance. However, just as he was about to conclude the tournament and announce a winner, his editor proposed a major plot twist. According to the editor, this was the perfect moment to introduce a new villain like Orochimaru into the story.
Essentially, Kishimoto’s editor asked him to halt the Chunin Exams and bring in a villain named Orochimaru — and that’s exactly what happened. As fans know, this marked the beginning of the invasion of the Hidden Leaf Village. Orochimaru orchestrated a massive attack on Konoha, leading to widespread destruction. Even the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, lost his life in this arc, while characters like Uzumaki Naruto had a chance to shine in battle.
At this point, Orochimaru became established as a central antagonist in the story. Although his initial plan failed, he persisted and set his sights on Sasuke. From there, fans saw Orochimaru become a major force in the overarching plot of Naruto. In fact, much of Naruto Part 1 revolves around Orochimaru as the main villain — and it goes without saying that he was a captivating antagonist.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru was not treated as well in the later parts of Naruto, and his years of character development were left unfinished. Instead, the narrative shifted more heavily toward characters like Uchiha Madara and other members of the Akatsuki in the second half of the series.