Kishimoto is the epitome of a writer having written his story into a corner. Whether he was paid to do it or forced to do it doesn't really matter anymore. The moment NH and SS became the canon couples for the sake of this gaiden and new movie, Kishi basically ran out of wiggle room. Of course this is on top of his obvious infatuation with Sasuke and the Uchiha.
The Naruto franchise then became about how to explain the way these couples came to be or how they supposedly make sense. So the only drama left for Kishi to play with is the actual state of these canon relationships. Such as whether or not NH is happy together. Or is SS an actual true, loving marriage with a daughter who belongs to both parents?
Had he stayed true to the manga's original path. Kept the plot simple and either gave NH some panel time or made NS canon (the latter would've still been better) then he wouldn't have had to make a bad movie to explain a sudden relationship. Plus he might actually have been able to write a gaiden about the next generation that was actually centered around the next generation.
He can't even come up with original villain ideas any longer, because everything either falls back to Orochimaru, the Uchiha or Kaguya and her descendants. The decision to end the Naruto manga the way they did killed off all chances of any kind to see any new or original ideas for this franchise.
The supposed popularity of certain characters appears to be what forced this decision that ultimately killed this story. So if Kishi is trying to purposely ruin his story even further due to his dislike of the way it turned out, then I say good for him. But if he's actually putting effort into it thinking the story is good, then I have no words to describe how inept he truly is as a writer.