This article is about the media franchise.

For the title character, see Naruto U

zumaki. For other uses, see Naruto (disambiguation).
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Naruto
NarutoCoverTankobon1.jpg
Cover of the first Japanese Naruto manga volume.
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Genre Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Manga
Naruto (pilot chapter)
Written by
Masashi Kishimoto
Published by
Shueisha
English publisher
NA
Viz Media
Demographic
Shonen
Magazine
Akamaru Jump
English magazine
NA
Shonen Jump
Published
1997
Manga
Written by
Masashi Kishimoto
Published by
Shueisha
English publisher
AUS
Madman Entertainment
NA
Viz Media
UK
Viz Media
Demographic
Shonen
Magazine
Weekly Shonen Jump
English magazine
NA
Weekly Shonen Jump
Shonen Jump (formerly)
November 10, 2014
Original run
September 21, 1999
Volumes
72 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by
Hayato Date
Written by
Katsuyuki Sumisawa (Episodes #1-132)
Junki Takegami (Episodes #133-220)
Music by
Musashi Project
Toshio Masuda
Studio Studio Pierrot
Licensed by
AUS
Madman Entertainment
NA
Viz Media
UK
Manga Entertainment
Network
TXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
AUS
Cartoon Network (Toonami)
AU
Network Ten (Season 1 only)
BI

Jetix
CA
YTV, Tltoon, Neon Alley
US
Cartoon Network, Adult Swim (Toonami), Neon Alley
Original run
October 3, 2002
February 8, 2007
Episodes
220 (List of episodes)
Anime television series
Naruto: Shippuden
Directed by
Hayato Date
Written by
Junki Takegami (Episodes #1-289, #296-)
Satoru Nishizono (Episodes #1-53)
Yasuyuki Suzuki (Episodes #54-71)
Music by
Yasuharu Takanashi
Studio Studio Pierrot
Licensed by
NA
Viz Media
Network
TXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
AUS
Cartoon Network
CA
Neon Alley
US
Disney XD, Neon Alley, Adult Swim (Toonami)
Original run
February 15, 2007 ongoing
Episodes
387 (List of episodes)
Films
Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
Legend of the Stone of Gelel
Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
Naruto Shippuden the Movie
Bonds
The Will of Fire
The Lost Tower
Blood Prison
Road to Ninja
The Last
Portal icon Anime and Manga portal
Naruto (????) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kish
imoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly
searches for recognition and dreams to become the Hokage, the ninja in his villa
ge who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is bas
ed on a one-shot manga by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue
of Akamaru Jump.
Naruto was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from the 43rd issue of 1999
to the 50th issue of 2014, with the chapters collected into seventy-two tankobo
n volumes by Shueisha. The manga was later adapted into a television anime, whic
h was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the t
errestrial TV Tokyo and other TX Network stations on October 3, 2002. The first
series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original se
ries, has been airing since February 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series,
Studio Pierrot has developed ten movies and several original video animations. O
ther types of merchandise include light novels, video games, and trading cards d
eveloped by several companies.

Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz se
rialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, as well as publish
ing the individual volumes. The anime series began airing in the United States a
nd Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 200
7, respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been
released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. Naruto: Shippuden w
as first released by Viz in North America in September 2009, started broadcast o
n Disney XD in October of the same year and on Adult Swim's Toonami block in Jan
uary 2014. Viz Media began streaming both series on their streaming service Neon
Alley in December 2012.
As of September 2014, the manga has over 200 million copies in print, with over
130 million copies in Japan and the remaining 70 million being overseas, making
it the third best-selling manga series in history. The manga is also available i
n 70 countries outside Japan.[1] It has also become one of North American publis
her Viz Media's best-selling manga series. Their English adaptation of the serie
s has appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 7 won the Quil
l Award in 2006. Reviewers of the series have praised the balance between fighti
ng and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities, but have critici
zed it for using standard shonen manga plot elements.
Contents
1 Plot
2 Production
3 Media
3.1 Manga
3.2 Anime
3.2.1 Naruto
3.2.2 Naruto: Shippuden
3.2.3 Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals
3.2.4 Original video animations
3.3 Films
3.4 Music
3.5 Video games
3.6 Novels
3.7 Trading card game
3.8 Art and guidebooks
4 Reception
4.1 Manga
4.2 Anime
5 References
6 External links
Plot
See also: List of Naruto characters and Ninja World
A giant, powerful fox known as the Nine-Tails attacks the ninja village Konoha,
killing many people. In response, the leader of Konoha
the Fourth Hokage
seals t
he fox inside his newborn son Naruto Uzumaki at the cost of his life. The Konoha
community thinks that Naruto is the Nine-Tails itself and often ridicules him t
hroughout most of his childhood. A decree made by the current Kage, the Third Ho
kage, forbids anyone mentioning the attack of the Nine-Tails to anyone else. Twe
lve years later, renegade ninja Mizuki tells Naruto of the attack before being d
efeated by Naruto with the Shadow Clone Jutsu, earning the respect of teacher Ir
uka Umino. Shortly after, Naruto becomes a ninja and is assigned alongside Sasuk
e Uchiha, whom he often competes against, and Sakura Haruno, whom he has a crush
on, to form a three-person team named Team 7 under an experienced and severe se
nsei, the elite ninja Kakashi Hatake. Like all the ninja teams from every villag

e, Team 7 is charged with completing missions requested by villagers, such as do

ing chores or being bodyguards. After several missions, most notably their missi
on to Wave Country as Tazuna the bridge builder's guards, Kakashi allows Team 7
to participate in a ninja exam in which they can advance to a higher rank, and t
hus, take part in more difficult missions. During the exams, Orochimaru, a crimi
nal at the top of Konoha's most wanted list, attacks Konoha and kills the Third
Hokage in an act of revenge. This forces one of the three legendary ninja, Jirai
ya, to search with Naruto for his former teammate Tsunade, who has been nominate
d to become the Fifth Hokage. During the search, it is revealed that Orochimaru
desires to acquire Sasuke due to his powerful genetic heritage, the Sharingan. B
elieving Orochimaru will be able to give him the strength needed to kill his bro
ther Itachi, who destroyed his clan, Sasuke eventually joins him after a humilia
ting defeat at his brother's hands. Tsunade sends a group of ninja including Nar
uto to make Sasuke return to Konoha, but Naruto is unable to defeat him and brin
g him back to the village. Naruto and Sakura do not give up on Sasuke, however,
and the former leaves Konoha to train under Jiraiya's tutelage in order to prepa
re himself for the next time he encounters Sasuke, while the latter becomes Tsun
ade's apprentice.
Two and a half years later, Naruto returns from his training with Jiraiya, and t
he criminal organization called Akatsuki, from which Itachi is a member, starts
kidnapping the hosts of the nine powerful "tailed beasts", including the Nine-Ta
ils sealed inside of Naruto, to extract them from their bodies. Several ninjas f
rom Konoha, including Team 7, fight against the Akatsuki members and search for
their teammate Sasuke. Akatsuki is successful in capturing seven of those creatu
res whose hosts are killed in the process, except for Gaara, the host of the One
-Tail whose life is saved in time by Naruto and his companions. In the meantime,
Sasuke betrays Orochimaru and faces Itachi to take revenge. After Itachi dies i
n battle, Sasuke learns from the Akatsuki founder and leader Tobi that Itachi wa
s ordered by Konoha's leadership to destroy his clan to prevent a coup d'tat to w
hich he accepted with the condition of allowing Sasuke to be spared. Saddened wi
th this revelation, Sasuke joins forces with Akatsuki to kill Konoha's superiors
who orchestrated the Uchihas' elimination and destroy Konoha to exact revenge.
Meanwhile, as several Akatsuki members are defeated by the Konoha ninjas, their
figurehead leader, Nagato, kills Jiraiya and launches an attack on Konoha. Howev
er, Naruto defeats and redeems him, thus gaining the village's respect and admir
ation.
With Nagato's eventual death, Tobi, while disguised as one of Konoha's founding
fathers Madara Uchiha, announces that he wants to obtain all nine of the "tailed
beasts