I wonder if the push to wrap Naruto's story around Obito's backstory and redemption was a desperate attempt to recapture the spark and cohesiveness of the story at the end of the Pain arc.
There are lots of parallels. Part of the Pain arc involved revealing a big anti-hero that fans gravitated to, with Yahiko and Nagato. There was a big awesome battle, and it came at the culmination all the Akatsuki build-up. Then there was Pain's backstory, or rather the story of the three, with the redemption of Nagato and him using his powers for a good purpose in the end.
All of this is the same as Obito. Even the multiple names/personas of Pain/Yahiko/Nagat is repeated with Obito/Tobi/Madara.
The difference is the whole Pain arc peaked and was resolved naturally. It wasn't forced. There was nothing contradictory in the story before, and the unveiling of the final twist (their identity) didn't involve any retconning. (Yes, the reset button with Nagato wasn't great, but people accepted it as a blind gift. Nothing they needed to pay an homage to.)
The difference is in Naruto and the reactions around them. Naruto was angry at Pain and said so. He never really let go of that, just accepted that people change, and accepted Nagato's token of redmeption which was to return life to everyone he could.
However with Obito, Naruto and even Kakashi go overboard to make Obito's life be the reason they have done everything, and that his years as a vicious, merciless, self-serving criminal were just a hiccup in his "cool guy" lifestyle. With Pain, there was some avenging purpose in the original formation of Akatuski. With Obito, it was only about revenge, never once reaching out for the truth that was right in front of him all along, instead making everyone else pay for his mistaken beliefs with their lives.
Kakashi's move to become Hokage (something he would never do) and the chopping off of Naruto's wild hair (something that was so much a part of his look, like Harry Potter's glasses) are both an homage to Obito. Kishimoto's still trying to justify Obito's role in the story by tying him to the two future leaders.
But Obito is awful. Just awful. His story was just Kishimoto's weak attempt to recapture some of the creative weight of the beginning of the story. And it's going too far to make him be the most impacting person at the end, instead of alllll the other people who truly made a difference in Naruto's life, who really did care and who were protecting the Leaf and who didn't have a hand in most of the murders of the last 15 years.
If anything, Naruto should have had Minato's hair. Or Jiraiya's. Or even Tsunade's!! lol! But never Obito's.
