What is Naruto?

Background

Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja with a troubled past. The story is broken in two parts, the first set in Naruto's pre-teen years, and the second in his teens.

The first part (Naruto), aired from 2002 to 2007. It consisted of 220 episodes.

The second part (Naruto: Shippuden), aired from 2007 to 2017. It consisted of 500 episodes.

Naruto: Part 1

An extremely power fox known as the Nine-Tails attacks Konoha, the hidden leaf village in the land of Fire, one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. The leader of Konoha, the Fourth Hokage, seals the fox inside the body of his newborn son, Naruto. Doing so costs him his life.

This brings the Third Hokage out of retirement to become the leader of Konoha again.

Because of the destruction that was caused by the Nine-Tails, Naruto is looked down upon by the village because of his unfortunate involvement with the incident.

Naruto never knew why everyone distanced themselves from him, due to a decree made by the Third Hokage to never mention the events that took place.

The story follows Naruto growing up in the village. He goes on countless adventures and missions. He discovers a lot about himself and even makes some friends along the way.

Naruto Shippuden

Naruto Shippuden starts two and a half years later in Naruto's life. Naruto returns to the village after training with his sensei Jiraiya.

The Akatsuki, an outlaw clan of rogue ninjas are going around the world capturing hosts of the Tailed Beasts much like Naruto.

One of Naruto's dearest friends also happens to be one of these hosts, and has been captured. His first mission is to get him back.

Naruto Shippuden

Naruto Shippuden follows even more adventures and missions of Naruto. We learn much more about Naruto, his goals, his past, and how the rest of the world works. Many characters start to develop, and everyone starts to love Naruto and want to follow his dream.