Naruto, failing where he always succeeded, diverges from his previous self. He can’t use the nine tails as he did against Neji. He can’t be the one to save the people around him. He can’t persuade Sasuke to listen like he once had before. He doesn’t even attempt to look at his opponents anymore. He only looks through them. Quite similar to his rival, yes. A new avenue by which to further understand him. But if he continued down this road, even Sasuke would eventually be just another obstacle. And when two combatants view each other as mere obstacles, that is how the cycle of conflict perpetuates.
Naruto parallels his adversaries in this section of the story. Kakuzu does not see the individual, only their transactional worth. Hidan does not see a person, but instead a sacrifice to his god. Naruto does not see a lost man in a tragic world when he looks at Kakuzu, only a blockade that needs to be surmounted. The concept of victory blinds all three. Where Naruto once looked beyond it, he can’t even see beyond himself anymore. These recent failures, the crippling gap between him and his goal, and his looming darkness only exploit these shortcomings. His path takes a turn for the worse, if you can even call it a path. Naruto is more lost than he ever was before.
Even when kabuto tries to secure common ground with his previous foe, Naruto doesn’t even attempt to listen. He once so naturally exploited the contradictions in his opposition but is now still riding on the failures ignited by his hypocrisy in the final valley. Kabutos contradiction is blatant, so blatant in fact that if Naruto even glanced in his direction, it couldn’t be missed. A man who talks of finding his own identity by absorbing the essence of others. There’s nothing more backward than that. He accomplishes nothing by looking past Kabuto, learns nothing by looking past Itachi, and fails once again in retrieving Sasuke after looking past Tobi. Even previously with Kakuzu, when it seemed like he did accomplish something, that too was later revealed to be more harmful than beneficial.
Yet Naruto's comrade in the very same battlefield flourishes. Shikamaru, just like the others, just like every shinobi, looks through his foes. But he succeeds where Naruto does not. Shikamaru's journey is not about his ability to understand, but rather, his ability to grasp the torch that was passed onto him, maintaining that flame until another can inherit it. After enduring an outcome that leads to his worst despair, Shikamaru does not think of revenge. He contemplates a cooperative plan where he and his comrades can accomplish what his predecessor could not. To inherit and to surpass, thus leaving room for each generation to bloom more than the last. This idea is Shikamaru's ninja way. This is why Kakashi lectures Sasuke, but cooperates with Shikamaru, despite both targeting members of the Akatsuki. Revenge is a blunt tool used to carve out hatred from oneself. But Shikamaru’s weapon is different and very sharp when pointed at the enemies at hand. For those who only look at themselves as extensions of themselves, they perish by the plan of a man who sees himself as an extension of the will of fire.
Hidan and kakuzu’s paths are centered around accumulating more for themselves. Kakuzu is obsessed with monetary gain. Hidan is obsessed with his god's graces showering upon him. Yet Shikamaru, as inherently stationary as he may be, becomes obsessed with moving forward, not for his benefit, but for the flourishment of the ones succeeding him. And this vision locked in the future is what cements the future demise of his opposition. For all they can see is their present desires. Shikamaru's conflict ends in complete success, where Naruto's succeeds only partially. One stays true to his ninja way, the other lost sight of his long ago. Hidan and Kakuzu do not receive redemption because Naruto has yet to redeem himself.
Shikamaru redeems himself by the conclusion of this conflict. This is why it makes perfect sense that it is not only Iruka but Shikamaru that spur Naruto forward once again. Shikamaru takes the lesson that he carried along with him through that battle and uses it again here. He can’t help the world’s broader problem, but his ideology can help lift the man who will. Iruka's words softened the blow, but Shikamaru's words put Iruka's into perspective. Naruto failed many times in his recent conflicts, but that’s been the narrative for the vast majority of his life. He found his hottest success streak when he stuck to his novel way of facing opposition. To achieve victory, he would have to find that path once more. But this time, Naruto would have to do more than just that. For his next enemy would require a level of maturity beyond empathy.
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