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Despite being one of the most loved and influential manga in the history of the media, there are more than a few Naruto story arcs that have no real purpose for advancing the story and just take up time. Generally, these arcs have Naruto operating with various peripheral shinobi on missions of little consequence. While some are nevertheless worthy of diehard fans' attention, others are, for lack of a better word, bad.
In the anime-only story arc, Peddlers Escort Mission, Naruto is assigned to help Hinata and Choji escort a group of peddlers across the countryside to get to the Land of Vegetables. On the way, the group is attacked by unknown ninjas. Afterward, Naruto, Hinata, and Choji decide to split the group and take alternate routes in order to increase the chances of everyone making it to the destination. The plan goes sideways as the ninja attack both groups. During the attacks, Naruto discovers that the group is not completely made up of peddlers, but rather includes the daughter of the recently removed leader of the Land of Vegetables who is trying to make it back home to retake control under her family's banner. The ninja attacking the caravan are members of the group who deposed her father.
This storyline achieves the title of "worst filler arc" primarily for its wasted potential. Despite making some interesting additions to Naruto's story, those additions are subsequently ignored. The arc promises great potential to the viewer but ends up going nowhere. By not integrating its gap-filling potential into the larger overall saga it just becomes another one-shot Naruto tale that teases viewers before ultimately leaving them frustrated at a lost opportunity.
Naruto and Hinata's Relationship Truly Began In the Land of Vegetables
As one of the earliest situations where Naruto and Hinata go on a mission together, one would assume that it is a memory that the two would recall fondly. However, there is mention of it ever again, despite the fact that Naruto and Hinata eventually end up getting married and having children. The arc could have made an awesome backstory as to those first feelings developed between the two. Additionally, despite Naruto canon tending to depict Hinata as somewhat timid and weak, in this arc, she's the linchpin to the mission's success. She was charged with protecting the weaker group of peddlers on her own, she was being a partner in the mission's decision-making and ultimately ended up rescuing Naruto after his defeat to Jiga.
Although the story arc has almost no value to the development of the overall Naruto saga, it should, or at least could have been a nice addition to the story. Unfortunately though, these teases are exactly what make it the worst filler arc. A bad story is one thing, but a story with unfulfilled potential is so much more disappointing. Naruto fans should just ignore it completely or risk a lifetime of wondering, "what if?"
Boruto is now available from Viz Media.