You know, this interview runs in line with a common theme of things from Kishimoto. Think about it. Is relying on youtube reviewers for ideas really surprising? When you think about it, he went with a lot of fan ideas that didn't really make sense with the narrative up until that point (i.e. Kyuubi suddenly becoming a good guy, Naruto getting Sage of Six Path powers and Naruto's love for Sakura being explained away as him never really having been in love with her). A lot of these ideas were staples I had long seen in Naruto fanfics.
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I think that after his first editor left, he panicked and really had no idea what to do with the manga. The pressure got to him and he probably spent his nights curdled up a fetal position. At the rate he was going (sometime around the Pein arc), fans were sure to find out the truth about Kishimoto-sensei. That him creating something as great as the Naruto series was dumb luck; that in reality, he had no zero talent for storytelling. That for the past 400+ chapters, he had been riding on his editor's coat tails.
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And thus, during one alcohol fueled evening, he poured himself a glass of tequila while scrolling past youtube. And that was when he stumbled across some of his more outspoken American fans. The lengths they went on to describe him, Kishimoto couldn't help but laugh. "Do people think I've actually got this kitten planned out?", he thought to himself, alcohol gliding down his throat. But as he watched more of these videos, a thought occurred to him. "Thank Buddha. My prayers have been answered." He opened the drawer to his desk, pulled out a pen and a pad and 02profusely began writing down just about every ridiculous unorginal kitten crazy fan theory he heard.
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He kept doing this throughout the remainder of the evening, eventually stumbling across the videos produced by Foreverworld and Sawyer7. "Wait a minute. Of course. It all makes sense now! Naruto should end up with Hinata, not Sakura! Hinata was his first true bond." Kishimoto stood up from his desk, threw his cup down and took a swig from the bottle.and smacked his lips "Yes, why didn't I see it before? Hinata is the most important character manga. She deserves Naruto!"
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And thus began a long and arduous process (250 chapters by my count) of the once great Naruto series' decline. Even worse, despite Mr. Kishimoto's efforts to keep fans from the discovering the truth about his talent as an author, the truth become ever more clear with every new chapter. 02But despite this, the failing author kept true to stealing ideas from his fans, at one point lifting a theory from NarutoRules85 from the Narutoforums website. A fan, who in passing sarcasm, suggested that it'd be great if Kishimoto revealed yet another villain as being the true mastermind of the events throughout the entire series.
I could have laughed at this but this kinda makes me think it's true
Remember, everything after that actually was what most fans wanted
Examples:
1. The GREAT (but useless & fruitless) Naruto vs. Sasuke
2. Byakugan being stronger than even Rinnegan cuz u know, it's underrated
3. Naruto NEVER EVER, I MEAN NEVER EVER had true feelings for Sakura ...he was a shallow dumbASS just like Sakura, Ino or any hoe of Naruto
4. Badass Hinata with a Super-Retcon kitten!
5. Naruto with some new power up that doesn't make sense at all
6. Neji, that idiot must DIE! DIE! DIE!!
7. Sakura & Naruto should PART already!!
To calm down Sakura fans, what he did according to me is, looked at the most popular pairing of Sakura besides NaruSaku & Bingo! it's SasuSaku
Let's show that they married & release a Stupid Gaiden for SS fan service & done!
kitten off Narusaku fans!