The story follows Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village.

Naruto: Shippuden was lauded for its improved animation, more mature tone, well-crafted character interactions and balanced storytelling.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Years later, Kakashi steps down while Naruto marries Hinata Hyuga and becomes the Seventh Hokage, raising the next generation.

The first Naruto anime series, directed by Hayato Date and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo, premiered in Japan on October 3, 2002, and concluded on February 8, 2007, after 220 episodes.

[15] The episodes were also broadcast on YTV's Bionix (Canada),[16] Jetix (United Kingdom)[17] and SABC 2's (South Africa)[18] programming blocks, and were released on DVD on March 28, 2006.

[19] On August 25, 2017, Starz announced that they would be offering episodes of the series for their Video on Demand service starting September 1, 2017.

[21] Uncut editions were released in DVD box sets, each containing 12–15 episodes, with some variation based on story arcs.

[23] One of the censored scenes was the accidental kiss between Naruto and Sasuke, fitting in the long trend of removing content that alludes to homosexual relationships.

[24] The series was also licensed to Hulu, Joost, and Crunchyroll, which aired the episodes online with the original Japanese audio tracks and English subtitles.

[28] Anime Limited will release the series in a "Collector's Blu-ray" edition in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2024.

[36] In the United States, the English dub of Naruto: Shippuden premiered weekly on Disney XD from October 28, 2009, up until episode 98 on November 5, 2011.

[45] In the United Kingdom, the series was licensed by Manga Entertainment who released the first DVD collection on June 14, 2010.

[46] Anime Limited will release the series in a "Collector's Blu-ray" edition in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2024.

[87] Ten themes from the two anime series were collected in the DVD box Naruto Super Hits 2006–2008, which appeared in 2008.

[98][99] Naruto has also been the top-earning (gross profit) anime franchise for TV Tokyo (surpassed by Pokémon in 2011 and Yo-kai Watch in 2015) due to strong overseas and domestic sales.

[113] Hiroshi Matsuyama further reflected the anime's 133rd episode to be one of his favorites not only for the action sequences between Naruto and Sasuke but also the emotional value displayed.

[119][120] Although the pacing for the first episodes was criticised as slow, the delivery and development of the interactions between the characters received positive comments.

[123] In 2011, readers of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition voted Naruto as the 29th-top video game character of all time.

[125] In September 2005, Japanese television network TV Asahi broadcast a popularity poll based on a nationwide survey in which Naruto placed seventeenth.

[126] The first DVD compilation released by Viz received a nomination from the American Anime Awards for Best Package Design.

"[133] 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.