Unfortunately this is the future. It's going to get so much worse from here on.

My vote is the blonde (not blond) one.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mf-...

He was already functionally immortal. He wanted a perfect body, such as an Uchiha's, and failed at that. He also wanted Konoha destroyed, and the world forced into perpetual conflict. Failed both of those as well. Now he is stuck in his laboratory unless someone needs his skills.

Some people actively wish for that rotting leading up to it (I would know, several have threatened me therein with nary a single genuine detail assessed, just apocryphal hearsay). There is no line they would not cross.

Orochimaru does face consequences. He is on permanent house arrest and is liable to be tapped for his utility, such that it is the only reason he is even kept alive.

The series was popular via its syndication in Jump, which is a double-edged sword. Popular series rise to the top, but it makes it painfully competitive, such that many prospective series that do not immediately catch on are axed. This is the case even early on, which then results in adaptation.

I would say fandom is itself a result of its popularity, and that such a fandom shows how popular they were, including the ones that do not engage in fan-fiction (not to disparage them; I am one to some degree).

I really doubt the Big Three owe their popularity solely to their means as a canvas for fan-fiction.

That is not what happened. Madara was losing prior to Kaguya's revival, and she is not stupid, either way. Naruto and Sasuke has the same means to beat her as they did Madara.