Itachi-san314 I'm not going to adress all your argument because I agree with everything James said and I'd only repeat what he told you -and probably less gracefully which is why I'll also ignore the Homer/Shasperian part.
But I'd go a little further in the specifics you've given since you complained that he focused on Hidan rather than the rest of your points (although I'll also adress him).
Hidan is a textbook cartoonish (and underdeveloped) vilain, there is nothing particulary mature or complex about him, he is an evil man who live to kill and kill to live. I don't see why you think him more mature than.... Well pretty much any and all other vilains in the story to be honest. He was violent -which as James already noted is vastly different than mature- but not much more violent than the others. In fact I find the violence represented by Gatou during the first arc (from the bullying of the small bridge village to the torture, crucifixion and decapitation of Kaiza) to be more violent and dramatic than anything Hidan did and Haku ultimately pointless sacrifice to save his doomed "father" figure was more mature in comparison to most of the story which is by and large Naruto multiplying the cakes to eat them all.
I also don't see how part 2 is deeper politically-wise, the high of the story -such as it was- in this category was the Chuunin exam which opened the Naruto-universe and explained why those child-soldiers had to fight in public in order to appeal to the highest bidders and maintain the status quo between the Great Villages. In comparison the political side of the story in part 2 can be summarized by Gaara healing the wounds of untold generations of warfare and uniting tens of thousands of bitter veterans thanks to a 2 minutes cheesy speech.
Note that I'm not saying the politic in part 1 was mature because it wasn't treated as such, so even
more mature than part 1? It's not even a stretch at this point.
You also listed more mystery, collusion, character complexity, large scale plans and complex strategy. None of those have anything to do with mature work in any ways and I'd argue that a couple of them are nonexistant (complex characters and strategies? When? Who?). As far as intrigue is concerned I think James already covered that and as I say I can't agree more.
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all i can say to this is that you sure talk a lot about something that in your own words is childish and simplistic... to me, any form of literature that raises this much discussion simply is not childish and simplistic
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So are you really telling me that the not inconsiderable debates I have had about which was stronger between a Chidori and a Rasengan or the little piece of Hell represented by the cumulated body of work of Pairing-threads are a testament of maturity based on their sheer, crushing lenght and longevity? Who would have thought.