Hello everyone,
I hope you're all doing well and staying healthy.
While writing this chapter—and planning the upcoming ones—I once again found myself in a dilemma. Like always, I thought it would be better to discuss it with you all instead of deciding everything on my own. It not only helps improve the story, but your comments and interactions also make me feel like real people are genuinely reading and engaging with my work.
To be honest, sometimes I even wonder about that. When I check the stats, it shows around 150–200 active readers, but the daily views increase by 8,000–10,000. Logically, that doesn't quite add up, so it does feel a bit strange. But anyway, let's move on to the main topic.
So here's the dilemma.
This isn't about the next 20–30 chapters—I'm confident about those. It's about the future of the story beyond that point, especially after the current arc, the Land of Demons arc, and when the Uchiha eventually leave Konoha and establish their own nation.
Up until now, the story has been heavily centered around Itachi Uchiha. Even if he hasn't been the focus in every recent chapter, his presence as the protagonist is still very strong.
However, while planning the future arcs, I realized that after shifting to a new setting and expanding the world, Itachi's direct involvement might gradually decrease. Even if he continues to play a major role behind the scenes—building organizations, influencing events, and shaping the bigger picture—his on-screen presence may become less frequent.
You might have already noticed this trend in recent chapters, where sometimes Itachi doesn't appear for 2–3 chapters at a time.
The main reason for this is that Itachi is already extremely strong. I can't realistically keep making him fight major nations again and again just to extend the story, and showing continuous growth for him is also challenging at this stage. So, like many authors do when their main character reaches a certain level, I'm considering shifting some focus toward other characters to expand the story and add more depth.
Characters like Naruto, Sasuke, and Natsuki would start getting more attention in future arcs—their growth, missions, and possibly darker developments as the world around them evolves.
But this brings me to the real concern.
I've seen in many fanfictions that when the focus shifts away from the main character, it can be a hit or miss. Sometimes it makes the story richer and more immersive—but other times, it becomes frustrating, especially if readers originally came for that one character.
I've personally experienced this as a reader. I once followed a story where Minato was the main character, but after 150–200 chapters, the focus shifted almost entirely to Naruto's generation. Since I started reading it for Minato, that change felt disappointing to me.
So I'm worried it might feel the same for some of you.
Another factor is Itachi's position between generations. He doesn't fully belong to Kakashi's generation, and he doesn't quite fit into Naruto's either. Kakashi and others will mostly remain in Konoha, limiting interactions, while Naruto is still younger, making their dynamic different.
Because of all this, I'm thinking that in the future—after the Uchiha leave Konoha—Itachi might take on a role somewhat similar to Tsunade. He would still be very important, but more as a leader figure: stepping in during critical moments, protecting key characters like Naruto, Sasuke, and Natsuki, assigning missions, and handling high-level matters like strategy and diplomacy.
Meanwhile, the spotlight would gradually expand to include multiple characters and perspectives.
So I wanted to ask—what do you all think about this direction? Would you prefer the story to remain heavily focused on Itachi, or are you open to a broader narrative where other characters also take the spotlight?
I'd really appreciate your suggestions and honest opinions.