It was only a week ago when Narutop99 Worldwide Character Popularity Poll was announced on December 17, 2022, during the Naruto/Boruto Super Stage at Jump Festa 2023. While the announcement itself was initially disappointing for several fans, the character popularity poll has received widespread reach, given how much fans want their favorite character to win the poll.
A recent update on the popularity poll revealed how the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze was currently winning the poll after 1 million votes. Moreover, the poll results showed the rankings of the top 10 characters, and fans weren't thrilled to see some of the characters present on the list. With this, a new popularity poll battle began as Sakura and Hinata fans started competing against one another.
Narutop99 enters second week with Sakura and Hinata fans battling over the popularity poll rankings
The winner of Narutop99 is set to have its own short manga released by Masashi Kishimoto. This means that fans will receive a short side story based on the winner. However, if the poll is won by a character that already has a lot of content based on them, it wouldn't really make sense.
Thus, fans were left annoyed that the rankings were graced by characters such as Naruto, Sasuke, Madara, etc., who already had a lot of focus on them. In the meantime, suppose the poll was to be won by characters like Sakura, Hinata, or Minato, who have been vital characters in the series, but have not had a lot of focus from the mangaka, that would pose a different case.
Sakura fans are elated that she has managed to get into the top 10 rankings of the character popularity poll. While many fans of the franchise believe that she has had just the right amount of coverage, it seems like the majority of fans do not mind if Sakura wins. This could be due to the character's recent surge in popularity due to the Sasuke Retsuden manga.
Sakura has already managed to trend on Twitter as fans urged others to vote for her daily to increase her chances of winning. The same is also evident from Naruto's official website, where the Narutop99 voting is currently taking place. The tweets that are being displayed there show a lot of tweets about Sakura and Hinata, making the competition between the two characters intense.
Similar to Sakura, Hinata has also managed to trend on Twitter as fans urge others to vote for the Byakugan Princess daily. Unfortunately, Hinata is yet to appear in the top 10 rankings of Narutop99, as fans hope for the best in the coming weeks.
Fans also predict several possibilities that the short manga could follow Hinata's side story if she is to win the Narutop99. Firstly, there is a lot about the Hyuga and Otsutsuki clan that the manga could follow, as Hinata has recently had stories based on both of them. However, neither of them was well explored, and the short manga could be an opportunity for fans to witness it.
Secondly, fans have also seen Hinata in action a lot of time. However, they have never seen her perspective when she is on a mission, especially one which would explore her character and viewpoint. Thus, a new short manga on Hinata could be great for fans who want to learn more about the Byakugan Princess.