Kishimoto rejected the idea and proposed artist Mikio Ikemoto to draw it instead .
Proposed artist Mikio Ikemoto had been working as an assistant for Kishimoto ever since Naruto 's early chapters .
Kishimoto rejected the idea and proposed artist Mikio Ikemoto , who had been working as an assistant for Kishimoto ever since Naruto 's early chapters , to draw it instead .