Naruto facts for kids
| Naruto | |
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Naruto Uzumaki
|
|
Quick facts for kids |
|
|---|---|
| Genre |
|
| Manga | |
| Written by | Masashi Kishimoto |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher | |
| Imprint | Jump Comics |
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Jump |
| English magazine | |
| Original run | September 21, 1999 – November 10, 2014 |
| Volumes | 72 |
| Anime television series | |
|
|
| Media franchise | |
|
|
Naruto is a popular Japanese manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the exciting story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who feels a bit lonely. He really wants to be recognized by everyone and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the strongest leader of his village.
The story is split into two main parts. The first part follows Naruto when he is a pre-teen, learning and growing. The second part shows his adventures as a teenager. Naruto started as a manga in a magazine called Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1999 and finished in 2014. All its chapters were collected into 72 special books called tankōbon volumes.
The manga was so popular that it was turned into two anime television series by Pierrot and Aniplex. These shows aired from 2002 to 2017. There are also 11 animated movies and many special video episodes. The Naruto world also includes light novels, video games, and trading cards. The story continues with Boruto, which follows Naruto's son, Boruto Uzumaki, as he finds his own ninja path.
Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series ever, with over 250 million copies sold worldwide. It has been praised for its interesting characters, exciting stories, and cool action scenes. Many people also enjoy how the manga explores themes of growing up and includes references to Japanese mythology.
Contents
Discovering Naruto's World
Naruto's Exciting Story
Part I: Young Ninja Adventures
The story begins with a powerful fox, the Nine-Tails, attacking Konoha, a hidden village. To protect everyone, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, bravely seals the fox inside his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki. This act costs him his life. Because of this, Naruto is often treated poorly by the villagers, who don't know the full story. He only learns the truth 12 years later from a rogue ninja. Naruto defeats this ninja, earning the respect of his teacher, Iruka Umino.
Soon after, Naruto becomes a ninja and joins Team 7. His teammates are Sasuke Uchiha, who is often his rival, and Sakura Haruno, whom he admires. Their experienced teacher is the elite ninja Kakashi Hatake. Team 7, like other ninja teams, takes on various missions for the village, from helping with chores to protecting important people.
After completing several missions, Team 7 takes a special ninja exam called the Chunin Exams to become higher-ranked ninjas. During these exams, a dangerous criminal named Orochimaru attacks Konoha. Jiraiya, a legendary ninja, helps Naruto search for Tsunade, who eventually becomes the Fifth Hokage.
It is revealed that Orochimaru wants to train Sasuke because of his special eye ability, the Sharingan. Sasuke, wanting to become stronger to face his older brother Itachi, leaves the village to join Orochimaru. Naruto and Sakura try to bring Sasuke back, but he refuses. Naruto then leaves Konoha to train with Jiraiya, while Sakura becomes Tsunade's student.
Part II: Teenage Ninja Challenges
Two and a half years later, Naruto returns, much stronger. At this time, a group called the Akatsuki begins to capture people who host powerful Tailed Beasts. Team 7 and other ninjas fight the Akatsuki and continue to search for Sasuke. The Akatsuki manages to capture most of the Tailed Beasts. Meanwhile, Sasuke turns against Orochimaru and confronts Itachi for revenge. After Itachi's death, Sasuke learns from Tobi that Itachi had been ordered by Konoha's leaders to stop a major conflict by destroying his own family. Sasuke, heartbroken, decides to join the Akatsuki to get revenge on Konoha.
As Konoha ninjas defeat several Akatsuki members, the Akatsuki leader, Nagato, attacks Konoha. Naruto defeats Nagato and helps him understand his mistakes, earning the village's respect.
After Nagato's death, Tobi, pretending to be Madara Uchiha, announces his plan to capture all nine Tailed Beasts. He wants to create a powerful illusion to control all humanity and bring about "world peace." The leaders of the five ninja villages refuse to help him and unite their forces. This leads to the Fourth Shinobi World War, where the Allied Shinobi Forces fight against Akatsuki's army of ninjas brought back to life. Naruto, with the help of Killer Bee, learns to control his Tailed Beast and joins the battlefield.
During the war, it is revealed that Tobi is actually Obito Uchiha, a former teammate of Kakashi's who was thought to be gone. The real Madara had saved Obito's life, and they worked together. Sasuke learns about Konoha's history and the reasons behind his family's downfall. He decides to protect the village and rejoins Naruto and Sakura to stop Madara and Obito. However, Madara's body is taken over by Kaguya Otsutsuki, an ancient princess who wants to control all humans. Obito sacrifices himself to help Team 7 seal Kaguya.
After Kaguya is sealed, Madara also passes away. Sasuke then tries to take control of all the Tailed Beasts, wanting to change the current village system. Naruto confronts Sasuke in a very intense final battle. After they both almost lose their lives, Sasuke admits defeat and changes his ways. After the war, Kakashi becomes the Sixth Hokage and forgives Sasuke. Years later, Naruto marries Hinata Hyuga and becomes the Seventh Hokage, leading the next generation of ninjas.
Creating the World of Naruto
How Naruto Was Developed
In 1995, Masashi Kishimoto created a one-shot manga called Karakuri. He then started working on a new project. An early idea for Naruto was a chef, but this version was never published. Kishimoto later created a one-shot story about a boy who could turn into a fox. Even though readers liked it, he changed the idea to a ninja-themed story because he wasn't happy with the art and story.
Kishimoto planned the first eight chapters before the series began in Weekly Shōnen Jump. He initially drew very detailed pictures of Konoha village. However, for the final version, he focused more on the characters. Kishimoto was inspired by Godzilla to create the powerful Tailed Beasts. The main message of the first part of Naruto is about accepting others, which is shown through Naruto's journey.
Designing the Characters
Kishimoto looked at other popular manga for ideas when creating his characters. He wanted each character to be unique and fit into Japanese culture. Characters were put into teams to show off their special skills and how they could help each other. Writing about romance was a bit tricky, but it became more important in the second part of the story. Villains were created to show different ideas and create conflicts.
The World and Its Setting
Kishimoto included the Chinese zodiac tradition, which is important in Japan. The hand signs ninjas use in the series come from this tradition. The design of Konoha village was inspired by Kishimoto's hometown in Okayama. The story's time period is not specific, allowing for some modern things like convenience stores, but without modern weapons or vehicles.
The Story's Ending
Kishimoto's experiences and his grandfather's stories about war influenced how he showed conflict in Naruto. He wanted to show that war comes from long-standing problems. He also wanted the Fourth Great Ninja War to offer a message of hope. The story arc with Nagato helped set up the ending, especially with Naruto's ability to forgive, which later helped him make peace with Sasuke.
Kishimoto always planned for Naruto and Sasuke to have a final battle. He chose Hinata Hyuga to be Naruto's romantic partner early in the series because she always admired and respected him. More details about their relationship were shown in the 2014 film The Last: Naruto the Movie. Naruto's relationship with his son, Boruto, was further explored in the 2015 film Boruto: Naruto the Movie, showing Naruto as an adult and a father.
Naruto in Different Media
Manga Series
Written and drawn by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto was published for 15 years in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, from September 21, 1999, to November 10, 2014. Shueisha collected its chapters into 72 tankōbon volumes. The first 238 chapters make up Part I of the story. Chapters 239 to 244 are a side-story about Kakashi Hatake. The remaining chapters (245 to 700) are Part II, which continues the story after a two-and-a-half-year jump in time.
Viz Media licensed the manga for North America and began publishing Naruto in their Shonen Jump magazine in January 2003. The series was also released in many other countries and languages around the world.
Spin-off Stories
A funny spin-off manga by Kenji Taira, called Naruto SD: Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden, , focuses on Rock Lee. He is a ninja who wants to be strong but cannot use special jutsu abilities. This spin-off also became an anime series.
A monthly sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, began in 2016. It is illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto and written by Ukyō Kodachi, with Kishimoto supervising. This series continues the story with Naruto's son, Boruto. Another one-shot chapter by Kishimoto, 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~), about Naruto's father, Minato Namikaze, was published on July 18, 2023.
A crossover comic with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, titled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles × Naruto, ran for four issues from November 13, 2024, to June 4, 2025. The trade paperback edition was published on October 7, 2025.
Anime Series
The first Naruto anime TV series, directed by Hayato Date, started in Japan on October 3, 2002, and ended on February 8, 2007, with 220 episodes. The first 135 episodes followed the manga's story, while the rest were original stories.
The second anime series, Naruto: Shippuden, , continued the story from Part II of the manga. It began on February 15, 2007, and finished on March 23, 2017.
A series of four new episodes, celebrating the original anime's 20th anniversary, were originally planned for September 3, 2023. However, they were postponed to a later date.
Naruto Films
The series has also been adapted into 11 movies and 12 special video animations (OVAs). In July 2015, Lionsgate announced plans for a live-action film. Masashi Kishimoto was asked to help develop it. On November 27, 2023, it was announced that Tasha Huo worked on the script. On February 23, 2024, Destin Daniel Cretton was hired to direct and co-write the film, receiving blessings from Kishimoto.
Naruto Novels
Twenty-six Naruto light novels have been published in Japan. Some of these have been released in English. There are also 16 chapter books written by Tracey West, aimed at younger children aged seven to ten.
Thirteen original novels have appeared in Japan. One, Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (2009), is presented as a story written by Naruto's master, Jiraiya. Another, Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled (2012), takes place after Sasuke's fight with Itachi. The Hiden series of six light novels, published in 2015, explores the stories of various characters after the manga ended.
Naruto Merchandise
Video Games
Many Naruto video games have been released for various gaming consoles. Most of these are fighting games where players control a Naruto character. Players use basic attacks and special techniques from the anime and manga to defeat opponents. The first Naruto video game, Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō, was released in Japan on March 27, 2003. By 2024, Naruto video games had sold over 35.47 million copies worldwide.
Art and Guidebooks
Three official artbooks based on the Naruto series have been released, showing artwork from the manga. There are also four guidebooks that provide character profiles, details about ninja techniques, and early drawings by Kishimoto. For the anime, a series of guidebooks called Naruto Anime Profiles shares information about how the episodes were made and character designs.
Collectible Card Game
Bandai produced the Naruto Collectible Card Game, which was released in Japan in 2003 and in North America in 2006. Two players use a deck of fifty cards to play. The goal is to earn ten "battle rewards" or make the other player run out of cards. The cards were released in different sets, including starter decks and booster packs.
See also
In Spanish: Naruto para niños
