Author's Note

The aim of this work will be to serve two primary purposes: first, to bring forth the multitude of mythical and religious references that have been incorporated into this manga to light, and second, to illustrate with a side-by-side commentary how significantly they shape the characters, arcs and overall narrative. Ultimately this cannot be taken as an authoritative text however, since I own no copyright or bear any involvement into the development of Naruto itself, so no matter the number of sources or cross-references I have delineated for the following sections, please take them with at least a single grain of salt.