This article is about the manga series. For the anime, see Naruto (TV series).

For
the title character, see Naruto Uzumaki. For other uses, see Naruto (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Naruhito, the emperor of Japan.

Naruto

First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Naruto Uzumaki

ナ ル ト
NARUTO

Adventure[1]
Genre
Fantasy comedy[1]
Martial arts[1]

Manga

Written by Masashi Kishimoto

Published by Shueisha

English AUS: Madman Entertainment

publisher NA/UK: Viz Media

Imprint Jump Comics

 Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump

English NA:
magazine Weekly Shonen Jump
Shonen Jump

Demographic Shōnen

Original run September 21, 1999 – November

10, 2014

Volumes 72 (List of volumes)

Anime television series

 Naruto (2002–07)
 Naruto: Shippuden (2007–17)

Media franchise

 List of Naruto media

 List of Naruto films
 List of Naruto video games
 Boruto

Anime and manga portal

Naruto[a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It

tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers
and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two
parts: the first is set in Naruto's pre-teen years (volumes 1–27), and the second in his
teens (volumes 28–72). The series is based on two one-shot manga by
Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention
in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997).

Naruto was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen

Jump from September 1999 to November 2014, with its chapters collected in
72 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for North American production and
serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Part I of the manga
was adapted into an anime television series by Pierrot and Aniplex, which ran for 220
episodes from October 2002 to February 2007 on TV Tokyo. A second series, which
adapts material from Part II of the manga, is titled Naruto: Shippuden and ran on TV
Tokyo for 500 episodes from February 2007 to March 2017. Pierrot also developed 11
animated films and 12 original video animations (OVAs). The franchise includes light
novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies. The story
of Naruto continues in Boruto, where Naruto's son Boruto Uzumaki creates his own
ninja way instead of following his father's.
Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having 250 million copies in
circulation worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone
and remaining 97 million copies elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media's best-
selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA
Today and The New York Times bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume
won a Quill Award in 2006. Reviewers praised the manga's character development,
storylines, and action sequences, though some felt the latter slowed the story down.
Critics noted that the manga, which has a coming-of-age theme, makes use of cultural
references from Japanese mythology and Confucianism.

Plot
Part I
See also: List of Naruto chapters (Part I)
A powerful fox known as the Nine-Tails attacks Konoha, the hidden leaf village in the
Land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries in the Ninja World. In response,
the leader of Konoha and the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, at the cost of his life,
seals the fox inside the body of his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki, making him a host of
the beast.[i] The Third Hokage returns from retirement to become the leader of Konoha
again. Naruto is often scorned by Konoha's villagers for being the host of the Nine-Tails.
Due to a decree by the Third Hokage forbidding any mention of these events, Naruto
learns nothing about the Nine-Tails until 12 years later, when Mizuki, a renegade ninja,
reveals the truth to him. Naruto defeats Mizuki in combat, earning the respect of his
teacher, Iruka Umino.[ii]

Shortly afterward, Naruto becomes a ninja and joins with Sasuke Uchiha, against whom
he often competes, and Sakura Haruno, on whom he has a crush, to form Team 7,
under an experienced sensei, the elite ninja Kakashi Hatake. Like all the ninja teams
from every village, Team 7 completes missions requested by the villagers, ranging from
doing chores and being bodyguards to performing assassinations.

After several missions, including a major one in the Land of Waves, Kakashi allows
Team 7 to take a ninja exam, enabling them to advance to a higher rank and take on
more difficult missions, known as Chunin Exams. During the exams, Orochimaru, a
wanted criminal, invades Konoha and kills the Third Hokage for revenge. Jiraiya, one of
the three legendary ninjas, declines the title of Fifth Hokage and searches with Naruto
for Tsunade whom he chooses to become Fifth Hokage instead.

During the search, it is revealed that Orochimaru wishes to train Sasuke because of his
powerful genetic heritage, the Sharingan.[iii] After Sasuke attempts and fails to kill his
older brother Itachi,[iv] who had showed up in Konoha to kidnap Naruto, he joins
Orochimaru, hoping to gain from him the strength needed to kill Itachi. The story takes a
turn when Sasuke leaves the village: Tsunade sends a group of ninja, including Naruto,
to retrieve Sasuke, but Naruto is unable to persuade or force him to come back. Naruto
and Sakura do not give up on Sasuke; Naruto leaves Konoha to receive training from
Jiraiya to prepare himself for the next time he encounters Sasuke, while Sakura
becomes Tsunade's apprentice.

Part II
See also: List of Naruto chapters (Part II, volumes 28–48) and List of Naruto chapters
(Part II, volumes 49–72)
Two and a half years later, Naruto returns from his training with Jiraiya.
The Akatsuki starts kidnapping the hosts of the powerful Tailed Beasts. Team 7 and
other Leaf ninja fight against them and search for their teammate Sasuke. The Akatsuki
succeeds in capturing and extracting seven of the Tailed Beasts, killing all the hosts
except Gaara, who is now the Kazekage. Meanwhile, Sasuke betrays Orochimaru and
faces Itachi to take revenge. After Itachi dies in battle, Sasuke learns from the Akatsuki
founder Tobi that Itachi had been ordered by Konoha's superiors to destroy his clan to
prevent a coup; he accepted, on the condition that Sasuke would be spared.
Devastated by this revelation, Sasuke joins the Akatsuki to destroy Konoha in revenge.
As Konoha ninjas defeat several Akatsuki members, the Akatsuki figurehead
leader, Nagato, kills Jiraiya and devastates Konoha, but Naruto defeats and redeems
him, earning the village's respect and admiration.

With Nagato's death, Tobi, disguised as Madara Uchiha (one of Konoha's founding
fathers), announces that he wants to capture all nine Tailed Beasts to cast an illusion
powerful enough to control all humanity and achieve world peace. The leaders of the
five ninja villages refuse to help him and instead join forces to confront his faction and
allies. That decision results in a Fourth Shinobi World War between the combined
armies of the Five Great Countries (known as the Allied Shinobi Forces) and Akatsuki's
forces of zombie-like ninjas. The Five Kage try to keep Naruto, unaware of the war, in a
secret island turtle near Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village), but Naruto finds out and
escapes from the island with Killer Bee, the host of the Eight-Tails. At that time, Naruto
—along with the help of Killer Bee—gains control of his Tailed Beast and the two of
them head for the battlefield.

During the conflict, it is revealed that Tobi is Obito Uchiha, a former teammate of
Kakashi's who was thought to be dead. The real Madara saved Obito's life, and they
have since collaborated. As Sasuke learns the history of Konoha, including the
circumstances that led to his clan's downfall, he decides to protect the village and
rejoins Naruto and Sakura to thwart Madara and Obito's plans. However, Madara's body
ends up possessed by Kaguya Otsutsuki, an ancient princess who intends to subdue all
humanity. A reformed Obito sacrifices himself to help Team 7 stop her. Once Kaguya is
sealed, Madara dies as well. Sasuke takes advantage of the situation and takes control
of all the Tailed Beasts, as he reveals his goal of ending the current village system.
Naruto confronts Sasuke to dissuade him from his plan, and after they almost kill each
other in a final battle, Sasuke admits defeat and reforms. After the war, Kakashi
becomes the Sixth Hokage and pardons Sasuke for his crimes. Years later, Kakashi
steps down while Naruto marries Hinata Hyuga and becomes the Seventh Hokage,
raising the next generation.
Production
Development
In 1995, Shueisha released Karakuri, a one-shot manga by Masashi Kishimoto that
earned an honorable mention in the Hop Step Award in 1996. Kishimoto was unsatisfied
with his subsequent drafts for a follow-up, and decided to work on another project. [2] The
new project was originally going to feature Naruto as a chef, but this version never
made it to print. Kishimoto originally wanted to make Naruto a child who could transform
into a fox, so he created a one-shot of Naruto for the summer 1997 issue of Akamaru
Jump based on the idea.[3][4] Despite the positive feedback it received in a readers' poll,
Kishimoto was unhappy with the art and the story, so he rewrote it as a story about
ninjas.[5]

The first eight chapters of Naruto were planned before it appeared in Weekly Shōnen
Jump, and these chapters originally devoted many panels of intricate art to illustrating
the Konoha village. By the time Naruto debuted, the background art was sparse, instead
emphasizing the characters.[5] Though Kishimoto had concerns that chakra (the energy
source used by the ninjas in Naruto) made the series too Japanese, he still believed it is
an enjoyable read.[6] Kishimoto is a fan of Godzilla, and the tailed beasts mythology was
introduced because Kishimoto wanted an excuse to draw monsters.[7] He has said that
the central theme in Part I of Naruto is how people accept each other, citing Naruto's
development across the series as an example.[8]

For Part II of the manga, Kishimoto tried to keep the panel layouts and the plot easy for
the reader to follow, and avoid "overdo[ing] the typical manga-style".[9] He considers that
his drawing style has changed from "the classic manga look to something a bit more
realistic."[9] Because of wishing to end the arc involving Sasuke Uchiha's search for his
brother, Itachi, in a single volume, Kishimoto decided that volume 43 should include
more chapters than regular volumes. As a result, Kishimoto apologized to readers for
this since volume 43 was more expensive than regular volumes.[10]

Characters
Main article: List of Naruto characters
When he created Naruto, Kishimoto looked to other shōnen manga as influences for his
work and tried to make his characters unique, while basing the story on Japanese
culture.[11] The separation of the characters into different teams was intended to give
each group a particular flavor. Kishimoto wanted each member to have a high level of
aptitude in one skill and be talentless in another.[12] He found it difficult to write about
romance, but emphasized it more in Part II of the manga, beginning with volume 28.
[8]
He introduced villains into the story to have them act as a counterpoint to his
characters' moral values and clearly illustrate their differences.[13] As a result of how the
younger characters were significantly weaker than the villains, Kishimoto made
the ellipsis in order to have them age and become stronger during this time.[14]

Setting
Kishimoto made use of the Chinese zodiac tradition, which had a long-standing
presence in Japan; the zodiac hand signs originate from this.[6] When Kishimoto was
creating the primary setting of the Naruto manga, he concentrated initially on the
designs for the village of Konoha. The idea of the setting came to him "pretty
spontaneously without much thought", but admits that the scenery became based on his
home in the Japanese prefecture of Okayama. Since the storyline does not specify
when it is set, he was able to include modern elements in the series such as
convenience stores.[15] He considered including automobiles, planes and simple
computers, but excluded projectile weapons and vehicles from the plot.[15][16]

Conclusion
Masashi Kishimoto's home was close to Hiroshima where his grandfather lived. He
would often tell his grandson stories of war and how it was related to grudges. In
retrospect, Kishimoto commented he could not criticize anyone as a result of the war
based on it was built.[clarification needed] Upon further researching, Kishimoto decided to create
world war story arc for the manga's finale. However, unlike the stories he heard from his
grandfather, Kishimoto wanted to give the war covered in Naruto a more hopeful feeling.
[17]
Nagato's arc paved the way for the ending of Naruto to occur. Nagato stood out as a
villain due to suffering war and killing Naruto's mentor Jiraiya. Understanding the fears
of war, Naruto's characterization was made more complex for him to experience the
Fourth Great Shinobi War. These events end with Naruto forgiving Sasuke as he had
forgiven Nagato in the final battle.[14]

Due to unknown issues, the series' finale was delayed. Once volume 66 was released,
Kishimoto commented he reached a moment from the narrative involving something he
always wanted to draw.[18] When serialization began, Kishimoto decided the ending
would feature a fight between two characters: Naruto and Sasuke. However, the writer
felt the two were not equals as the former was not a victim of war like the latter whose
family was killed to stop a possible civil war.[19]

Kishimoto chose Hinata Hyuga as Naruto's romantic partner from the early stages of the
manga, since Hinata had always respected and admired Naruto even before the series'
beginning, and Kishimoto felt this meant the two of them could build a relationship.
[20]
When Hinata first appeared, Kishimoto thought of expanding romantic plotlines.[21]
[22]
but decided to leave Naruto's maturation through romance as an idea for the film
2014 The Last: Naruto the Movie where he worked alongside screenwriter Maruo
Kyozuka, a writer more skilled at the theme of romance.[23] Similarly, the title character's
relationship with his first son, Boruto, was explored furthermore in the 2015 film Boruto:
Naruto the Movie to end Naruto's growth as the character had become an adult, but it
was briefly shown in the manga's finale.[24]

Media
Further information: List of Naruto media
Manga
Main article: List of Naruto volumes
Written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto was serialized for a 15-year run
in Shueisha's magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 21, 1999,[25][26] to
November 10, 2014.[27][28] Shueisha collected its chapters in 72 tankōbon volumes—27
for Part I, and the rest for Part II; they were released between March 3, 2000, [29] and
February 4, 2015.[30] The first 238 chapters are Part I and constitute the first section of
the Naruto storyline. Chapters 239 to 244 include a gaiden (side-story) focusing on
Kakashi Hatake's background. The remaining chapters (245 to 700) belong to Part II,
which continues the story after a 2+1⁄2-year gap in the internal timeline. Shueisha have
also released several ani-manga tankōbon, each based on one of the Naruto movies,
[31]
and has released the series in Japanese for cell-phone download on their
website Shueisha Manga Capsule.[32] A miniseries titled Naruto: The Seventh Hokage
and the Scarlet Spring,[b] centered on the main characters' children, began serialization
in the Japanese and English editions of Weekly Shōnen Jump on April 27, 2015, and
ended after ten chapters on July 6 of the same year.[33][34]
Naruto was scanlated (translated by fans) and available online before a licensed version
was released in North America;[35] the rights were acquired by Viz Media, who began
serializing Naruto in their anthology comic magazine Shonen Jump, starting with the
January 2003 issue.[36] The schedule was accelerated at the end of 2007 to catch up
with the Japanese version,[37] and again in early 2009, with 11 volumes (from 34 to 44)
appearing in three months, after which it returned to a quarterly schedule.[38] All 27
volumes of Part I were released in a boxed set on November 13, 2007.[39] On May 3,
2011, Viz started selling the manga in an omnibus format with each book containing
three volumes.[40]

The franchise has been licensed in 90 countries, and the manga serialized in 35
countries.[41][42] Madman Entertainment began publishing Naruto volumes in Australia and
New Zealand in March 2008 after reaching a distribution deal with Viz Media. [43] Carlsen
Comics has licensed the series, through its regional divisions, and released the series in
German and Danish.[44] The series is also licensed for regional language releases in
French and Dutch by Kana,[45] in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica,[46] in Russian
by Comix-ART,[47] in Finnish by Sangatsu Manga,[48] in Swedish by Bonnier Carlsen,
[49]
and Italian by Panini Comics.[50]

Spin-offs
A spin-off comedy manga by Kenji Taira, titled Naruto SD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-
Power Ninden,[c] focuses on the character Rock Lee, a character who aspires to be
strong as a ninja but has no magical jutsu abilities. It ran in Shueisha's Saikyō
Jump magazine from December 3, 2010, to July 4, 2014,[51][52] and was made into
an anime series, produced by Studio Pierrot, and premiering on TV Tokyo on April 3,
2012.[53] Crunchyroll simulcasted the series' premiere on their website and streamed the
following episodes.[54] Taira also wrote Uchiha Sasuke no Sharingan Den,[d] which
released on October 3, 2014, which runs in the same magazine and features Sasuke.[55]

A monthly sequel series titled Boruto: Naruto Next Generations began in the Japanese
and English editions of Weekly Shōnen Jump in early 2016, illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto
and written by Ukyō Kodachi, with supervision by Kishimoto. Ikemoto was Kishimoto's
chief assistant during the run of the original Naruto series, and Kodachi was his writing
partner for the Boruto: Naruto the Movie film screenplay. The monthly series was
preceded by a one-shot, titled Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon (NARUTO-ナルト-
外伝 ～満ちた月が照らす道～, Naruto Gaiden ~Michita Tsuki ga Terasu Michi~), written
and illustrated by Kishimoto, and published on April 25 of that same year.[56][57][58] The staff
from Shueisha asked Kishimoto if he would write a sequel to Naruto. However,
Kishimoto refused the offer and offered his former assistant Mikio Ikemoto and writer
Ukyō Kodachi write Boruto: Naruto Next Generations as the sequel to Naruto.[59]

Another one-shot chapter by Kishimoto, titled Naruto: The Whorl Within the
Spiral (NARUTO-ナルト-外伝 ～渦の中のつむじ風～, Naruto Gaiden ~Uzu no Naka no
Tsumujikaze~), centered on Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, was published
in Weekly Shōnen Jump on July 18, 2023.[60][61]

Anime
Main article: Naruto (TV series)
The first Naruto anime television series, directed by Hayato Date and produced by
Pierrot and Aniplex, premiered on TV Tokyo in Japan on October 3, 2002, and
concluded on February 8, 2007, after 220 episodes.[62][63] The first 135 episodes were
adapted from Part I of the manga; the remaining 85 episodes are original and use plot
elements that are not in the manga.[64] Tetsuya Nishio was the character designer
for Naruto when the manga was adapted into an anime; Kishimoto had requested that
Nishio be given this role.[65][66]

The second anime television series, titled Naruto: Shippuden[e], was also produced by
Pierrot and directed by Hayato Date, and serves as a direct sequel to the
first Naruto anime series; it corresponds to Part II of the manga.[67] It debuted on
Japanese TV on February 15, 2007, on TV Tokyo, and concluded on March 23, 2017. [68]
[69]

A series of four "brand-new" episodes, to commemorate the original anime's 20th

anniversary, were originally scheduled to premiere on September 3, 2023;[70] however, in
August of that same year, it was announced that the episodes would be postponed to a
later date.[71]

Films
Main article: List of Naruto films
The series was adapted into 11 theatrical films and 12 original video
animations (OVAs). The first three films correspond to the first series, and the remaining
eight correspond to the second. In July 2015, Lionsgate announced the development of
a live-action film with Avi Arad through his production company Arad Productions.[72] The
film will be directed by Michael Gracey. On December 17, 2016, Kishimoto announced
that he has been asked to co-develop.[73] On November 27, 2023, it was announced that
Tasha Huo will work on the script for the film.[74]
On February 23, 2024, Gracey had exited the project, and Destin Daniel Cretton had
been hired to direct and co-write the film. Cretton received his blessings from Kishimoto,
after a visit in Tokyo, with Kishimoto stating that when he heard that Cretton would be
directing, he thought that he was the perfect choice.[75]

Novels
Twenty-six Naruto light novels, the first nine written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, have been
published in Japan.[76] Of these, the first two have been released in English in North
America. The first adapted novel, Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood (2002), retells
a Team 7 mission in which they encounter the assassins Zabuza and Haku;[77][78] the
second, Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village! (2003) was based on the second
OVA of the anime.[79][80] Viz has also published 16 chapter books written by Tracey West
with illustrations from the manga. Unlike the series, these books were aimed at children
ages seven to ten.[81] Thirteen original novels have appeared in Japan;[76] eleven of these
are part of a series, and the other two are independent novels unconnected to the
series. The first independent novel, titled Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (2009), is
presented as an in-universe novel written by Naruto's master Jiraiya. It follows the
adventures of a fictional shinobi named Naruto Musasabi, who served as Naruto's
namesake.[82] The other independent novel, Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf
Howled (2012), is set shortly after Sasuke's fight with Itachi.[83]

Itachi Shinden, which consists of two novels, and Sasuke Shinden, a single novel, both
appeared in 2015, and both were adapted into anime arcs in Naruto: Shippuden in
2016, titled Naruto Shippūden: Itachi Shinden-hen: Hikari to Yami and Book of
Sunrise respectively.[84][85] Hiden is a series of six light novels published in 2015 that
explores the stories of various characters after the ending of the manga.[86]

Merchandise
Video games
Main article: List of Naruto video games
Naruto video games have been released on various consoles by Nintendo, Sony,
and Microsoft. The majority of them are fighting games in which the player directly
controls one of the characters from Naruto. The player pits their character against
another character controlled by the game's AI or by another player; the objective is to
reduce the opponent's health to zero using basic attacks as well as special techniques
unique to each character derived from techniques they use in the Naruto anime or
manga.[87] The first Naruto video game was Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō, which was
released in Japan on March 27, 2003, for the WonderSwan Color.[88] Most Naruto video
games have been released only in Japan. The first games released outside of Japan
were the Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen series and the Naruto: Saikyou Ninja
Daikesshu series, released in North America under the titles of Naruto: Clash of
Ninja and Naruto: Ninja Council.[89][90] In 2023, Namco Bandai announced that
the Naruto video games had sold 32.52 million units worldwide.[91]

Art and guidebooks

Main article: List of Naruto supplemental material
Three official artbooks based on the Naruto series have been released. The first two,
titled Art Collection: Uzumaki, and Illustration Collection: Naruto, were released in Japan
in 2004 and 2009, with North American editions following in 2007 and 2010
respectively.[92][93][94][95] The third artbook Illustration Collection: Naruto Uzumaki, was
published in 2015 in Japan and later the same year in North America;[96][97] it contains
artwork originally on Shonen Jump comic covers. It has no text except a brief
commentary by Kishimoto about his favorite artworks.[98] An interactive coloring book
called Paint Jump: Art of Naruto was released in 2008.[99] An unreleased artbook
titled Naruto Exhibition Official Guest Book by Masashi Kishimoto was given to those
who attended the Naruto art exhibition at the Mori Art Museum on April 25, 2015.[100]

Four guidebooks titled First Official Data Book through Fourth Official Data Book have
been released; the first two cover Part I of the manga, and were released in 2002 and
2005; the third and fourth volumes appeared in 2008 and 2014.[101][102][103] These books
contain character profiles, Jutsu guides, and drafts by Kishimoto.[104] For the anime, a
series of guidebooks called Naruto Anime Profiles was released. These books contain
information about the production of the anime episodes and explanations of the
characters' designs.[105] A manga fan book titled Secret: Writings from the Warriors
Official Fanbook appeared in 2002,[106] and another fan book was released to
commemorate the series' 10th anniversary, including illustrations of Naruto Uzumaki by
other manga artists, a novel, Kishimoto's one-shot titled Karakuri, and an interview
between Kishimoto and Yoshihiro Togashi.[107]

Collectible card game

Produced by Bandai, the Naruto Collectible Card Game was released in Japan in 2003,
[108]
and in North America in 2006.[109] The game is played between two players using a
customized deck of fifty cards from the set, and a game mat. To win, a player must
either earn ten "battle rewards" through their actions in the game or cause the other
player to exhaust their deck.[110] The cards were released in named sets called "series",
in the form of four 50-card pre-constructed box sets.[108][109] Each set includes a starter
deck, the game mat, a turn-counter, and one stainless steel "Ninja Blade Coin". Extra
cards are available in 10-card booster packs, and deck sets. Four box sets sold in
retailers are available for each series. Cards for each set are available in collectible tins,
containing several booster packs and exclusive promotional cards in a metal box.[111] By
October 2006, seventeen series had been released in Japan with 417 unique cards.
[108]
As of August 2008, ten of these series had been released in North America.[112]

Reception
Sales
The manga has 250 million copies in circulation worldwide, making it one of the best-
selling manga series in history. More than half of the total circulation were in Japan, with
the remaining circulation from 46 countries and regions.[113][42] It has become one of North
American publisher Viz Media's best-selling manga series;[114] their translation of the
series appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller lists several times.
It was included in the fiction section of Teacher Librarian's recommended list for 2008,
[115]
and School Library Journal described it as an essential manga for school libraries.
[116]
Volume 28 of the manga reached seventeenth place in the USA Today Booklist in its
first week of release in March 2008, only two places short of the record for a manga,
held by Fruits Basket.[117] The volume had one of the biggest debut weeks of any manga
in years, becoming the top-selling manga volume of 2008 and the second best-selling
book in North America.[118][119] In 2010, Viz, the publisher, commented on the loyalty of
readers, who reliably continued to buy the manga as the volume count went over 40. [120]

Critical response
Several reviewers commented on the balance between fight scenes and plot
development; A. E. Sparrow of IGN and Casey Brienza of Anime News Network felt that
the result was a strong storyline,[121][122] but Carl Kimlinger, also writing for the same
website, suggested that there were too many fights, which slowed down the plot.
[123]
Kimlinger liked the character designs, and approved of the fight scenes
themselves[123] which also drew positive comments from Rik Spanjers, who felt that the
excitement of the scenes depends on Kishimoto's skill in depicting action.[123] Javier
Lugo, writing for Manga Life, agreed, describing the artwork as "dramatic, exciting, and
just right for the story he's telling".[124] Briana Lawrence from Mania
Entertainment describes the growth of the characters gave Part II an adult feel.
[125]
Writing for IGN, Ramsey Isler called Jutsu one of the most entertaining concepts
in Naruto, stating as well that their diversity, complex signs required for techniques, the
unique physical features, and the sheer destructive power of Ninjutsu are the elements
that have made the series widely popular.[126]

In a review of volume 28 Brienza also praised Part II's storyline and characterization,
though she commented that not every volume reached a high level of quality.[121] The
fights across the Part II received praise, most notably Naruto's and Sasuke's, resulting
in major changes into their character arcs.[127][128][129] Meanwhile, the final battle between
the two characters in the finale earned major praise for the choreography and art
provided as well as how in depth the two's personalities were shown in the aftermath.
Some writers criticized Kaguya being the least entertaining villain, making the
showdown between Naruto and Sasuke more appealing as a result. The finale earned
nearly perfect scores from both Anime News Network and Comic Book Bin, with the
latter acclaiming the popularity of the title character.[130][131][132]

Responding to Naruto's success, Kishimoto said in Naruto Collector Winter

2007/2008 that he was "very glad that the American audience has accepted and
understood ninja. It shows that the American audience has good taste [...] because it
means they can accept something previously unfamiliar to them."[133] Gō Itō, a professor
in the manga department of Tokyo Polytechnic University, compared the series'
development to the manga of Dragon Ball, saying that both manga present good
illustrations of three-dimensional body movements that capture the characters' martial
arts very well. Gō felt readers could empathize with the characters in Naruto via their
inner monologue during battles.[134] The series also influenced the movie Scott Pilgrim
vs. The World with director Edgar Wright saying he was inspired by how whenever there
is a "killer move" in the manga, there is an impact in the background following any
technique's usage.[135]

When the manga ended, multiple authors from the magazine expressed congratulations
to Kishimoto's work.[136] The fight scenes in general earned acclaim for how well written
they are, something game developer CyberConnect2 took into account when
developing the Naruto games.[137][138][139][140] Christel Hoolans, managing director director
of Kana and Le Lombard, called Naruto the first long-running series after Dragon Ball to
become a classic in France.[141]

Awards and accolades

Naruto won the Quill Award for graphic novel in 2006.[142][143] In April 2007, volume 14
earned Viz the Manga Trade Paperback of the Year Gem Award from Diamond Comic
Distributors.[144] The manga was nominated for Favorite Manga Series in Nickelodeon
Magazine's 2009 Comics Awards.[145] It won the 16th Spanish Manga Barcelona award
for the shonen category in 2010.[146] In 2015, the manga was nominated for the
19th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.[147] Masashi Kishimoto was the winner of Rookie of
the Year for the series in the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs 2014
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Fine Arts
Recommendation Awards.[148] On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which
150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, Naruto ranked seventh.[149]

Themes
Amy Plumb argues that Kishimoto's use of references to Japanese
mythology in Naruto is intended to add further layers to the story. Kishimoto expects his
readers to decode the references, which allows him to avoid direct explanations. One
example is Itachi, who has three ninja techniques named after Shinto
deities: Tsukiyomi, Amaterasu, and Susano-o. Plumb also cites Sasuke's clan's heraldic
symbol, a fan known as an uchiwa. These fans are used in Japanese myths to exorcise
evil, by blowing it away; Sasuke discovers late in the series that he has the ability to
"blow away" the influence of the Nine-Tailed Fox on Naruto. Foxes (kitsune tsuki) are
tricksters in Japanese mythology, and in some stories, they take over human bodies;
Plumb comments on the obvious similarities to the Nine-Tail sealed in Naruto, and the
pranks Naruto plays.[150]

Christopher A. Born notes that the Naruto storyline contains

traditional Confucian values, and suggests that students who analyse manga such
as Naruto and Bleach will learn more about Confucianism than they would from
studying its abstract ideas.[151] Norman Melchor Robles Jr. evaluated the portrayal of
both positive and negative ideas in Naruto by counting words in the script which were
associated with either violence or positive values; he found that a small majority of
tagged words were violent, but commented that the portrayal of violence seemed
organized to show how positive strategies on the part of the protagonists could
overcome the violence.[152] Sheuo Hui Gan considers the series to have a set of
"traditional ethical values". She also compares the treatment of alienation in Naruto,
which Naruto overcomes by joining his society, to the portrayal of alienation
in Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion, where the main characters remain alienated.[153]

Naruto has been described by several critics as a coming-of-age story.[154][155]

[156]
Psychologist Lawrence C. Rubin suggests that the storylines would appeal to
readers of any age who have lost loved ones, or are having difficulty finding friends, or
who are in other situations shown in the series.[154] In Yukari Fujimoto's view, as the
characters mature, they show respect to the adults who have raised and taught them,
making it a conservative storyline in comparison to other manga of the same time period
such as One Piece and Air Gear.[155] Rik Spanjers sees the difference between Sasuke
(a loner) and Naruto (an optimist) as tragic, arguing that the contrast between the two
protagonists' approach to the world is fundamental to the plot: "Naruto's strength grows
as he gains more loved ones to protect, while Sasuke remains alone and is increasingly
absorbed by his quest for revenge".[156] Omote Tomoyuki points out that there are many
comic moments in the story despite the difficulties Naruto finds himself in, but the comic
elements diminish dramatically over time as Naruto grows into a teenager, particularly
once Part II begins. Shōnen Jump began to carry comedies such
as Gintama and Reborn! from 2003 onwards, and in Tomoyuki's view this is part of the
reason for the change in emphasis: Naruto "was not supposed to provide laughter
anymore".[157]

Fujimoto argues that the story has overly traditional gender roles, noting "[...] its
representations suggest that men are men and women are women and that they differ
naturally regarding aptitude and vocation". For example, the girls initially outperform the
boys in the Ninja Academy, but "once the boys get serious, the girls cannot keep pace".
Fujimoto points out that this does not upset Sakura, who is now surpassed by Naruto.
Character development based on female roles, when it does occur, again uses
stereotypical roles: Tsunade, for example, a middle-aged woman with large breasts, is a
clear mother figure, and when she teaches Sakura to be a medical ninja, which requires
special skills possessed only by women, the story reinforces the idea that women only
belong on the battlefield as healers. Tsunade herself, who is a figure of authority
in Naruto, is portrayed as ridiculous in a way that men in the same position are not.
Fujimoto suggests this presentation of women may explain why the female characters
are often the most disliked characters among readers of the manga.[158]

Naruto run
The Naruto run

The Naruto run, or ninja run, is a running style based on the way the characters run
leaning forward with their arms outstretched behind their backs. It became popular in
2017 when groups worldwide organized events to run like Naruto characters, especially
on anniversaries of the series.[159][160][161] On June 27, 2019, Matty Roberts posted a
satirical event called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" on Facebook where he
wrote "We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate
our entry. If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let's see them
aliens."[162] This quickly became an Internet meme, resulting in nationwide alerts and
warnings issued by Nevada law enforcement and the U.S. Air Force to not go to Area
51.[163]

Notes
Clarification
1. ^ The host is known as a jinchuriki in the story. The secret that the fourth Hokage who
sealed the beast in Naruto is his father is revealed in Part II. It is a human being in the
Ninja World who has a Tailed Beast inside of them. A Tailed Beast is a giant creature
that contains a large amount of chakra (energy) inside of their bodies.
2. ^ In Naruto, a jutsu is a skill or a technique involving supernatural abilities.
3. ^ The Sharingan (写輪眼, lit. "Copy Wheel Eye", English manga: "Mirror Wheel Eye") is
a special ability of the eye that the Uchiha clan holds. The Sharingan can copy any type
of jutsu, can see rapid movements, and can cast an illusion on its victim, and Sasuke
being the last member of his clan as he holds the Sharingan.
4. ^ He destroyed their clan and joined a criminal organization called Akatsuki.

Translations
ナルト
1. ^ Japanese: NARUTO
ナ ル ト
2. ^ NARUTO外伝・七代目火影と緋色の花つ月, Naruto Gaiden: Nanadaime Hokage to
Akairo no Hanatsuzuki
ナ ル ト
3. ^ NARUTO SD ロック・リーの青春フルパワー忍伝, Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His
Ninja Pals
4. ^ うちはサスケの写輪眼伝, Sasuke Uchiha's Sharingan Legend
ナ ル ト
5. ^ NARUTO 疾風伝, Naruto Shippūden, lit. "Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles"

References
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c "The Official Website for Naruto". Viz Media. Archived from the
original on September 20, 2023.
2. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 16. Viz Media. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-
4215-1090-3.
3. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2013). NARUTO－ナルト－名言集 絆－KIZUNA－ 天ノ
巻 [Naruto Kizuna: The Words That Bind—Scroll of Heaven] (in Japanese). Shueisha.
pp. 188–195. ISBN 978-4-08-720681-4.
4. ^ Loo, Egan (May 11, 2007). "SJ Runs Yu-Gi-Oh's End, Slam Dunk's Debut, Naruto's
Origin". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 25, 2016.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Gan, Sheuo Hui (2013). "Auteur and Anime as Seen in the Naruto TV
Series". In Berndt, Jacqueline; Kümmerling-Meibauer, Bettina (eds.). Manga's Cultural
Crossroads. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-134-10283-9.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b "Naruto: Page 68". Shonen Jump Special Collector Edition (Free
Collector's Edition). Viz Media. 2005. p. 68. ISSN 1545-7818.
 7. ^ "Farewell, Naruto: The Curtain Closes on the World's Best-Loved Ninja". Nippon
Communications Foundation. December 26, 2014. Archived from the original on
January 13, 2015.
8. ^ Jump up to:a b Kishimoto, Masashi (2005). NARUTO―ナルト―［秘伝・闘の
書］ [Naruto: The Second Official Character Data Book] (in Japanese). Shueisha.
pp. 310–311. ISBN 978-4-08-873734-8.
9. ^ Jump up to:a b "Naruto: Volume 7". Shonen Jump. Vol. 7, no. 11 #83. Viz Media.
November 2009. pp. 16–17. ISSN 1545-7818.
10. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2008). Naruto, Volume 43. Viz Media. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4215-
2929-5.
11. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media.
p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4215-1407-9.
12. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media.
p. 141. ISBN 978-1-4215-1407-9.
13. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media.
p. 142. ISBN 978-1-4215-1407-9.
14. ^ Jump up to:a b 漫道コバヤシ第 13 号「NARUTO 完結！岸本斉史 SP」 [Kobayashi No.
13 'Completion of Naruto! Masashi Kishimoto SP'] (in Japanese). Fuji Television.
December 13, 2014.
15. ^ Jump up to:a b Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. p. 1
Asdafvrdbrb

adsadasd