Here are the main grievances that the audience has against the series.
While Naruto both was and — with its latest sequel Boruto — continues to be an incredibly popular franchise, it too does have its share of dissatisfied fans who, for a variety of reasons, grew to detest their once beloved series. We went through a lengthy Reddit discussion to collect the most popular grievances that the members of the audience hold against the show.
First of all, there's the length.
The first season of Naruto is comprised of a whopping 220 episodes which might not be that scary for the regular shonen audience, but for those who came from other titles — where a typical season usually consists of a dozen or so episodes — that may seem like a lot time to sink in a story.
Then there's the absurd amount of filler content which Naruto is a bit notorious for.
Nobody, of course, is forcing a viewer to watch filler episodes but the sheer fact that you have to consult a guide regarding which episodes are supposed to watch and which to skip — does imply inconsistent quality which naturally turns off quite a bit of people.
Another issue has to do with the fact that, despite lasting for many years, the show refuses to grow up with its audience, remaining a series primarily aimed at kids and thus losing touch with some of its viewers. Here some of the redditors point at the example of One Piece with its latest Wano arc that, while still remaining tonally consistent with the rest of the series, does attempt to raise bigger and more mature issues, albeit perhaps with mixed results.
Finally, the last major issue that the fans have with Naruto are the battles and, more precisely, the fact that they last for so absurdly long that they kind of tend to lose their tension.
Season here is the worst offender as, despite regularly pitting its characters against each other in epic showdowns that are supposed to be incredibly dangerous — almost nobody does lose their life throughout the seasons.
Yes, characters die but that happens incredibly rarely and that — coupled with each battle dragging on for eternity — kind of nullifies the stakes.
Naturally, considering Naruto's insane popularity, for every angry ex-fan it has a thousand loyal ones who are still in love with the franchise, so everything said here should probably be taken with a grain of salt.