

When Naruto meets Nagato after repelling Pain's attack on the Konoha Village,
he is forced to admit to Nagato that he doesn't have an answer to how one can
break the 'cycle of hatred' that plagues the shinobi world. Naruto is only
able to promise Nagato that he will find a way to break the cycle, and he
manages to change Nagato's perspective through his conviction.

But, does Naruto ever find an answer to how he can break the 'cycle of
hatred'?

  * He does bring around many others towards his perspective as the series progresses, notably Kurama and Sasuke. He may even have [stopped the 'cycle of reincarnation'](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/33650/has-the-reincarnation-of-indra-and-ashura-ended) of Hagoromo's sons, Indra and Ashura, through his final battle with Sasuke. But, how does this answer the question of how the 'cycle of hatred' can be broken, if at all?
  * While it is true that Black Zetsu has guided/manipulated the shinobi world for ages in order to serve his selfish needs, is the sealing of Black Zetsu (along with Kaguya) enough for the 'cycle of hatred' to have stopped? If so, how?

The 'cycle of hatred' is an essentially human problem, just raised through a
fantastical story involving ninjas, chakra and mythical creatures. One doesn't
really expect the author [Masashi
Kishimoto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masashi_Kishimoto) to "solve" such a
problem in his manga. But any truly satisfactory answer found within the story
should ideally also be an answer to the underlying human problem.

Notice that this is true for all the "partial/incomplete" answers found by
Nagato, Hashirama, Madara, Sasuke, and Hagoromo. Regardless of whether one
agrees or disagrees with any of their answers, it still makes them
_compelling_. So, is there a "final" answer that is found by Naruto in the
same vein?


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Does Naruto ultimately find an answer to Nagato's question about how he will break the 'cycle of hatred'?


Towards the end of Naruto, all the shinobi found a common enemy (Madara) and
allied together. The series had a message about understanding each other, and
how understanding each other can stop wars.

So the closest thing to an answer you could say was understanding and
connecting everyone together through communication and other means (which
happened in the end thanks to Madara being a common enemy and everyone having
to work together). The thematic message of Naruto regarding this was if
everyone understands that the other person also had their own
reasons/tragedy/bears the same fate as them, the cycle can be broken.

Sasuke disagreed with Naruto, saying that the world always needs someone to
shoulder its burden (like Itachi did) and draw hatred and everything towards
themselves, preventing other conflicts. Naruto was of the idea that instead of
that, everyone can shoulder the burden together, and that he can connect the
world together, and that there is no need to do it alone.

Pretty much the only one in Sasuke's way was Naruto (they were like the two
strongest ninja alive by the end of the series, if Naruto dies, there aren't
many that can touch Sasuke), and also his only connection left. Sasuke tried
to fight and kill Naruto, but failed and ultimately managed to see how much
Naruto really cared for him and how it's not wrong to have connections with
people, and so was convinced.

Also this was also conveyed by how Naruo talked to his enemies a lot of times,
and managed to have them understand him, instead of an end by sheer force, and
how Naruto went from an isolated kid to someone people in the village and
later on in the war recognized. How he shared his chakra to protect everyone.
How Gaara used his sand to connect people in the war-gathering scene.

Naruto as a series overall has a strong thematic emphasis on "understanding
each other".

I guess in our world, internet and mass communication evolution has managed to
achieve a bit of an similar effect, though perhaps not completely, but this is
a close parallel to compare to.


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