>>280801317
> Could the other characters have carried the story well enough if they were given the chance?
I think so anon. Naruto shippuden decided to mostly focus on just Naruto and sauske while side characters where virtually non existent. Everyone said that the story suffered as a result. One of the reasons why people said that the sauske retrieval ark was so good was because it gave smaller characters a major role and it’s no surprise that the moment they dropped this that the series never reached these highs again.