I'm going to say it: this manga is bad. Shots fired. I'm undoubtedly a minority, seeing as how most people enjoy Naruto a lot, but I stand firmly by my opinion. Let's start from the beginning.

Surprisingly enough, the manga starts out very good. It has an interesting set of characters (with the exception of Sasuke), mixes comedy and drama well, and has an enticing storyline. This manga truly had a lot of potential. This all applies for the first part of the manga. Afterwards, it falls flat on it's a$$. Naruto, perfectly demonstrates the problem with manga that overstay their welcome. It starts resorting to clichéd villains, simplified characters, weak motivation and over-the-top action. What happened? I think the answer is simple: it got crushed under it's own weight. It became too big to handle. Naruto tried to expand it's world but the sheer size of it all became it's own cause for mediocrity. But what really suffered the most was the characters:

SPOILER.

Naruto, who was originally a likable kid, misunderstood by society becomes an obnoxious, preachy brat who grows into a sort of messiah. Gaara, who was one of the most complex and interesting characters in the manga became a bland clone of Sasuke (who in turn became even more bland and pathetic). Kakashi, who was an interesting teacher and badass became a mopey idiot guilt-tripped by Obito. Madara and Obito are the worst, following some half-a$$ed idea that the world sucks just because some person they were close too died. It's not like death happens or anything. But I think the worst part of the manga is the preaching they do while they fight, especially between Naruto/Kakashi and Obito/Madara. It's basically "This world sucks and I hate everything" - "No, it doesn't" - "Yes it does, you'll think like me in the future" - "No, because I have FRIENDS