In 1997, a Japanese artist named Masashi Kishimoto published a small time project. Back then, manga was not well known and was only a niche interest. When a second version was created in 1999, it blew up into its own universe and became one of the best selling franchises in manga history. In an exclusive interview, Kishimoto tells of his success in Naruto.

By now, the Naruto brand has amassed a pop culture that includes an anime series, novels, video and digital games, movies, costumes, books, and many more. 

It has now been 16 years since it became popular, what does the creator think of Naruto's success, now?

Kishimoto didn't want to take all of the credit and feels that the release of his manga series was just perfect timing when manga exploded and became global. "Originally, manga was just this niche industry, only appreciated by fans even in Japan. Now most laypeople are aware", Kishimoto says.

His biggest succes, he can say, was not the globalization and franchising of the Naruto brand. Kishimoto feels that his biggest success was how he was able to conclude the whole story series. He is very proud that he was able to bring an ending that completes the story. He has never imagined that Naruto would become a global success.

His greatest challenge was building on the character, Pain. It was important for Kishimoto to convey in his story that forgiveness can be given even to Naruto's enemies.

Now, after the success of the manga brand, he looks forward to seeing other manga creators' works. He thinks that there's a better class of artists out there and will expand the manga industry even further both creatively and digitally.

Since the completion of Naruto, Kishimoto is planning to go to Hawaii, spend some quality time with his kids and work on his next project. No, he's not telling us what the project is, unfortunately, as posted in an exclusive interview with EW.