I haven't read the manga, but unless the post time skip Naruto drops the idea of looking for Sasuke, I don't see how they could really sever the connections in practice.

Other than that... How many connections do you need to events over three years old? Whole lot could have happened in three years, and it would be strange if all references always were to ancient events, so in that sense cutting references in general might be prudent.

Unless you mean dropping the old characters and taking a new main cast in. That would indeed be bad. But since it's still Naruto, I don't see that happening.