Naruto’s 1,000-Year Plot Hole: Where Was Jigen Hiding?

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Summary

  • Jigen’s existence dating back over a millennium creates a significant continuity issue for the Naruto franchise.
  • Jigen’s absence throughout major events like the Great Ninja Wars is a glaring plot hole in the series’ timeline.
  • Possible theories, such as Jigen remaining dormant in the Otsutsuki dimension, attempt to explain his lack of involvement in past events.

In many long-lasting shonen anime series, problems like plot inconsistencies and gaps are often present in the main storyline. The Naruto franchise isn’t an exception, as its nearly 700 episodes contained numerous retcons, plot holes, and overall inconsistencies. Unfortunately, these issues have been amplified with the continuation of the series through Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Already having a few minor plotholes, one significant inconsistency regarding Jigen traces back to the original Naruto storyline.

The “Boruto” series reveals that the character named Jigen has lived for more than a thousand years, with records of his presence dating back to when Kaguya Otsutsuki consumed the Chakra Fruit. However, this detail creates a substantial continuity problem within the entire “Naruto” universe, as characters like Jigen or Isshiki Otsutsuki being inactive during significant events such as all four Great Ninja Wars seems implausible. Although some theories attempt to explain why Jigen emerged only about ten years before Boruto’s timeline, it remains clear that the existence of Jigen poses a significant plot hole for the “Naruto” franchise.

What are Jigen’s Origins?

Jigen’s Existence Can be Traced Millenia Back

First Appearance Boruto, Episode 157 “Kara’s Footprints”
Debut Date July 19, 2020

To grasp why Jigen’s presence significantly impacts the storyline in the Naruto series, it’s crucial to delve into his background. The Boruto series has established that members of the Otsutsuki clan usually travel in pairs, and Kaguya Otsutsuki’s partner was Isshiki Otsutsuki. As a subordinate to Isshiki, Kaguya was intended to be sacrificed to the God Tree and find a suitable host for her Karma. However, she defied Isshiki and seized the power of the Chakra Fruit instead.

It was initially believed that Isshiki had perished, but it was uncovered later that he miraculously endured a close-call with death by occupying Jigen, a monk who was present at the time. Despite Isshiki’s attempts to utilize Jigen as a vessel for his spiritual energy, their mismatch left him confined to controlling Jigen’s mind much like a parasite. With Isshiki manipulating Jigen’s thoughts and actions, they managed to coexist for nearly a thousand years, emerging after the Fourth Ninja War to establish Kara and set their schemes in motion.

Under ordinary conditions, Jigen is just an ordinary human with a finite lifespan. But due to Isshiki Otsutsuki’s chakra infusion into Jigen’s body, he managed to survive for over a thousand years. However, Jigen’s physical form has its limitations and can’t handle too much stress for long periods. As a result, Jigen needed to find another body eventually. This necessity led him to establish Kara in order to find a suitable body for himself in the future.

Why Jigen’s Existence Is a Major Continuity Issue

Jigen’s Absence Throughout the Shinobi World’s History Is a Significant Plot Hole

The Boruto anime reveals that Jigen has been around for more than a thousand years, leaving fans questioning his whereabouts throughout the shinobi world’s history. Though it could be argued that minor events in the shinobi world were not significant enough for Jigen to participate in, it’s striking that he had no involvement in any of the major Shinobi wars, considering their impact on the ninja community. This raises a problem with the Naruto series’ chronology, as the storyline introduces a character who suddenly appears after the 4th Great Ninja War without any prior background.

In the Naruto series, his absence from significant shinobi world events raises continuity concerns, as his existence seems problematic given that he didn’t participate in key conflicts like the first three Great Ninja Wars, or even after Kaguya’s release from the moon. This is a puzzle that several theories attempt to explain, but remains an issue nonetheless.

Given that Kaguya nearly took his life, it seems logical that he would have sought vengeance against her, or perhaps tried to seize the power she was meant to gain from the God Tree for himself. Additionally, Black Zetsu, who is known as the embodiment of Kaguya’s will and has been around for centuries, played a significant role in planning her revival. It appears inconsistent that Jigen failed to uncover or comprehend the existence of such an entity within the Naruto universe, which introduces another significant plot flaw.

Possible Explanations for Jigen’s Absence

A Few Speculations Explain Jigen’s Missing Role

Since Jigen was created after the sequel to Naruto, it’s understandable that he didn’t appear in the original series because his character hadn’t been conceived yet. There are several possible reasons why Jigen might not have appeared earlier in the storyline.

Although some of these ideas are more believable than others, they all help maintain the internal logic of the Naruto storyline without altering its overall timeline. It would have been simpler for Ikemoto to provide a convincing explanation to silence any skepticism within the fanbase. Regrettably, the manga didn’t touch upon this significant plot hole, leaving room for various theories to circulate among fans.

Jigen Remained Dormant Inside the Otsutsuki Dimension

In the Naruto fandom, a popular theory revolves around Jigen’s connection to the Otsutsuki Clan’s dimension, where he kept the juvenile Ten-Tails. It’s possible that Jigen chose to stay in this dimension to rebuild his power and remain dormant. This hypothesis could account for why Jigen was mostly absent during key events in the Naruto Universe, as well as why he didn’t appear during Kaguya’s revival or confront Black Zatsu.

It’s supported by the information that the Otsutsuki’s method of moving between dimensions consumes a lot of chakra, as confirmed by Kaguya herself. Given that he didn’t have full control over the technique, it seems plausible that he traveled to the Otsutsuki Dimension and rested there until his strength returned. Additionally, he might have used his time to jump between dimensions in search of the juvenile Ten-Tails. However, this theory doesn’t provide a definitive answer, as it overlooks the fact that Jigen had nearly a thousand years to regain his strength, so spending such a long time in the Otsutsuki Dimension remains questionable.

Jigen Wasn’t Powerful Enough to Intervene

A popular theory circulating among the Boruto fanbase suggests that Jigen lacked the power to influence shinobi world events because Isshiki was severely injured by Kaguya and required significant time to recover, which could account for his long period of inactivity. However, this theory doesn’t fully explain why it took Isshiki over a thousand years to act after being injured.

Indeed, the theory has a degree of feasibility because Jigen didn’t exhibit much power until he gained some followers and created Kara. Amado is known for creating powerful cyborgs that presumably boosted Jigen’s abilities. However, this interpretation leaves room for improvement as it implies Jigen gained these strengths recently, which contradicts the timeline since Boruto’s story takes place centuries after that point.

Boruto is available to read via Viz Media.

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2025-04-25 16:44