In the Saturday evening edition of Asahi Shimbun paper, Naruto manga creator, Masashi Kishimoto, stated at the end of an interview that Naruto is “rising towards its climax.” The end is already set in his mind, and the story is “racing headlong in that direction.”
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-06-24/kishimoto/naruto-manga-is-rising-towards-its-climax