That's a problem in a lot of shonen anime/manga but in a super long series like naruto that trope goes completely wild simply because the creator is forced to continually one-up themselves until they finally decide to end it.

Wow, you know…I'll be honest. I believe Naruto went downhill….like way downhill…..I mean like waaaaayy down a trench and into the fiery pits of hell kinda downhill. You can blame part 2 for this as well as it's last, longest, and worst "war" arc (that took up 25% of it's overall story).

So many characters omitted or outright forgotten. Characterizations in their death spirals. A stupid "final battle" that only got worse and worse as it went on and on, after powerup after powerup was dropped onto it and ending with the most slap in the face outright laughable "Real mastermind/ final boss" scenarios ever.

To be honest…..I'm glad it's ending. It'll open up more space for new titles to get into the spotlight.