The Day Masashi Kishimoto Almost Burned His Manga Dream

The smell of ink-stained paper clung to the Tokyo office air as the publisher slid yet another rejection letter across the table. At 23, Masashi Kishimoto sat frozen, clutching his crumpled manuscript for Wanted!—a superhero one-shot that would never see print. His eyes lingered on the trash can beside the desk, half-expecting the editor to toss his work in right then. Instead, the man sighed: “Your art’s chaotic. Your characters have no depth. Try again.”

Kishimoto left the building that day carrying more than a rejection. He carried the weight of years spent chasing a dream that now felt like a cruel joke. Born in 1974 in Okayama, Japan, he’d grown up scribbling Shonen Jump panels on napkins, idolizing Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball like a holy text. But the boy who once drew Goku fighting Naruto (a name he’d later recycle) in his school notebooks now wondered if his childhood obsession had been nothing more than delusion.

Here’s the twist: That failed manuscript became his lifeline.

Back in his tiny apartment, Kishimoto stared at the rejection. Then, he did what every struggling artist does in dark moments—he channeled it. He spent the next year refining his style, working as an assistant to manga legends like Shinobu Kaitani (Suizan Police Gang) and Masaya Tokuhiro (Tantei Gakuen Q), learning how to breathe life into backgrounds, how to make a fight scene hurt. By 1997, he submitted Karakuri—a steampunk samurai tale that also got rejected. But this time, an editor saw potential. “You’re close,” they said.

Close enough to try one more time.

That “one more” became Naruto.

The idea for Naruto Uzumaki, the orange jumpsuit-clad ninja with the Nine-Tails sealed inside him, came from Kishimoto’s own isolation. Bullied as a child for his messy hair and glasses, he’d felt like a monster too—someone society didn’t quite trust. He gave his protagonist that same ache: a boy who screamed “Notice me!” at a village that refused to see him. The series debuted in 1999, and the world noticed.

But here’s the lesser-known chapter: The artist who created a global phenomenon almost quit during its run. By 2004, after a decade of deadlines and burnout, Kishimoto was exhausted. He took a three-month break, during which he drew something he’d never shown anyone—a sketch of a tired boy leaning against a tree, the words “I can’t breathe” hovering above him. Years later, he’d describe that doodle as “the real Naruto, the one who survived my own frustration.”

His brother, Harutoshi Kishimoto—a novelist—joked that Masashi’s life became “a series of chase scenes” post-Naruto. Fans chased him for cameos. Movie studios chased the rights. But when the manga ended in 2007, Kishimoto didn’t vanish. He wrote Naruto: The Lost Tower, illustrated Blam!, and quietly shaped the Boruto novels with Harutoshi, weaving a legacy he’d once doubted he’d leave.

Chatting with Kishimoto today, he’ll laugh about the irony: The boy who once begged publishers to see him now hears millions whisper “Thank you” with every dattebayo. But ask him about the real win, and he’ll say, “Naruto didn’t just change readers’ lives. He dragged me out of the hole I thought I’d die in.”

Learn about & chat with Masashi Kishimoto — from his darkest drafts to the legacy that almost wasn’t.