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Well it started off with Big 3 that you mentioned. Any other potential competition finished too soon or went on crazy hiatuses.I mean, what else was there to latch onto?
Even without the 4Kids dub, One Piece didn't exactly exude cool from the outset with its bright environments, cartoony designs, goofy powers, and the happy-go-lucky demeanor of its protagonist.
Bleach looked cool, but it never recovered storywise after the Rukia arc.
So of course teens would gravitate towards the ninja world with ninja school where you could hone your ninja powers along with its mildly angsty protagonist.
There really wasn't anything else
Bleach fell off. One Piece is long form greatness that didn't capture minds in the same way. Naruto simply had the edge of being a smaller story in comparison to OP and finished
IMO though, everything after the time skip, most of Shippuden is trash. I wouldn't call it any better than Fairy Tale/Rave Master, Shaman King, Bleach, or Inuyasha.
I'd put underrated manga like Ao no Exorcist, Soul Eater, Witch Hunter, and D. Gray-Man over Naruto easily. Among many others.