Whenever I rewatch Naruto Shippuden, there’s one character that never leaves my mind, and I believe many other fans feel the same way.
Sasori of the Red Sand.
I know a lot of people only remember him for the fight against Sakura and Chiyo, or for being one of the first major Akatsuki enemies, but to me he was always much more than that. And that’s exactly why I get that sense of emptiness every time I think about how he was “discarded” too soon in the story. I really wish Sasori had survived, or at least had been written as a less “evil villain” and more of a tragic, human one. Because he already had all the elements for that.
The first time I learned his story, I was struck. A child who loses his parents, who tries to recreate their presence through puppets, who grows up practically alone… it’s impossible not to feel pity. He never had real affection, only substitutes, dolls, mechanisms. And in a way, that’s what shaped his obsession with puppet art and the idea of making things eternal.
When I look at Sasori, I don’t just see a cruel criminal. I see someone who got lost in his own pain. He believed that turning people into puppets was a way to make them eternal, but deep down that was just a reflection of his inner emptiness.
Here’s where my critique comes in:
I think Kishimoto didn’t know how to make the most of Sasori.
He had everything to be a complex villain, full of dilemmas, but he ended up being portrayed in a rather rushed way. He shows up, demonstrates insane power after all, defeating the Third Kazekage and turning him into a puppet is no small feat and then is quickly defeated, almost as if he was just a stepping stone for Sakura’s growth.
Don’t get me wrong, that fight is fantastic.
It’s one of my favorites from the beginning of Shippuden. But what bothers me is that he chooses to die, he literally lets death take him, as if he were tired. It’s poetic, but it also cuts off any chance of future development at the root. I always thought man, what if he had survived? What if, instead of accepting death, he had surrendered, fled, or even switched sides later on?
When I checked some discussions on Reddit and other forums, I realized I wasn’t alone.
Many people believe Sasori was underutilized.
He could have appeared in later arcs, especially in the Great Ninja War, where his intelligence and puppeteering skills would have made a difference. I also saw fans commenting that his fight against Sakura and Chiyo was incredible precisely because it showed emotion. The guy, who seemed to be pure coldness, in the end showed that he still carried memories and feelings for his parents. That makes it clear that there was room for a redemption arc.
And honestly?
I would have much rather seen Sasori alive, torn between his loyalty to Akatsuki and his secret desire to find some kind of peace, than to see him simply “dying by choice.”
How I wish it had been
If I could rewrite it, I would have kept Sasori alive. Maybe gravely wounded after the fight, but not dead. He could have distanced himself from Akatsuki, become an occasional enemy, someone who wasn’t on the side of good, but who also wasn’t a pure villain. An antagonist full of gray areas, with motivations that actually made sense within his pain.
Imagine him meeting Naruto at some point, and the two of them discussing what “eternity” is and what it really means to leave something behind in the world. Naruto, with his belief that people’s memories live on in hearts, would be the perfect opposite to Sasori, who believed in trapping lives in wood and iron. That philosophical clash would have been far more powerful than just seeing Sasori fade into obscurity.
Another thing that could have been explored is the fact that Sasori still loved his grandmother, even if in a distorted way. The final fight itself shows this, and I would have loved to see more moments of inner conflict between them, or even a scene of forgiveness.
I understand that Naruto Shippuden already had too many villains and needed to move forward, but I really think Sasori was handled too hastily. He had the material to be much more than just “the guy with poisonous puppets.”
For me, Sasori should have been an antagonist who lasted longer, maybe even becoming a sort of reluctant ally against a bigger enemy. He didn’t need to be good, but he also didn’t need to be just another disposable villain.
Sasori had pain, had a past, had motivation.
And if he had been written with more patience, he could have been one of the most memorable characters in Naruto.