The Pain Arc made Masashi Kishimoto's life difficult as he had to figure out how to get Naruto to forgive Sasuke.
Naruto – Opening 1 | R★O★C★K★S
Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto is different from all other Shonen series. Why? Because the franchise doesn't just focus on power-ups, transformations and cool battle tactics, it also involves forgiveness and moving on from the carnage.
But this change was not sudden in Naruto, it took him a long time to realize that bloodlust was not the end of all conflicts. Masashi Kishimoto admitted that it was precisely this change that was difficult to achieve.
In an interview with Anime News Network, Masashi Kishimoto was asked if it was difficult to finish Naruto because he had dedicated 15 years of his life to the manga. It's a long period of time to be involved in a project and the author could definitely relate to it.
