Yoshihiro Togashi
When Kishimoto was originally creating the "Naruto" series, he looked to other "shōnen" manga for influences while attempting to make his characters as unique as possible. Kishimoto cites Akira Toriyama's "Dragon Ball" series as one of his influences, noting that Goku, the protagonist, was a key factor when creating Naruto Uzumaki due to his energetic and mischievous personality. When redesigning three characters for the series, Kishimoto cites "The Matrix"(one of his favorite movies) as an inspiration for their outfits. He has also cited Yoshihiro Togashi as one of his favorite manga authors, while the manga "Sasuke" by Sanpei Shirato inspired Kishimoto in the developing Sasuke Uchiha.