Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto Uzumaki (うずまきナルト) is the title character and main protagonist of the series: Naruto. He is a genin from Konohagakure, a member of Team Kakashi, and the third and current jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

Background
Naruto was born as the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the Nine-Tails' second jinchūriki, Kushina Uzumaki. Naruto's parents named him after the main character of Jiraiya's first book, thus making the Sannin his godfather.

Prior to Naruto's birth, his parents and the Third Hokage knew that the seal that kept the Nine-Tails within Kushina would be in danger of breaking during childbirth. To prevent that threat Kushina was taken a short distance outside of the village to give birth in a secure, secret location with Biwako Sarutobi and Taji as her midwives, a few ANBU as security, and Minato to keep the seal in place. However, immediately after Kushina gave birth, Tobi appeared and took Naruto hostage, demanding that Minato step away from Kushina or he would kill the newborn child. He then used a clever diversion that forced Minato to transport the baby to a safer location, allowing him to escape with Kushina. By the time Minato could intervene, Tobi had already succeeded in releasing the Nine-Tails.

Fortunately, Kushina (who survived the extraction thanks to her strong vitality) was saved by Minato and brought to Naruto, leaving the weakened mother to care for the sleeping Naruto while Minato went to combat Tobi. To save the village, Minato sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails within Naruto, believing that his son would someday have need of the beast's power to defeat Tobi. Suddenly orphaned, Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing of his parents, receiving only his mother's last name because the Third Hokage thought that it was best that nobody knew that he was related to the Fourth Hokage.

Before Minato died, he asked that the villagers of Konoha view Naruto as a hero who had helped defeat the Nine-Tails. However, only a few of the villagers honoured his request, while most instead resented him for containing the monster that had destroyed their home. In light of this, the Third Hokage decreed that nobody should ever speak of the truth about Naruto, hoping that by doing this, their children would not resent him as they did. The children, however, followed their parents' lead, despite not knowing why. Apart from the Third Hokage, Iruka Umino was the only one who acted as a surrogate family to the young Naruto along with the owner of Ramen Ichiraku: Teuchi and his daughter Ayame to some extent.

{C When Naruto first met Sasuke Uchiha in the Ninja Academy, they were matched to spar against each other. Naruto was excited at the opportunity to defeat Sasuke and become so popular like him, however he was easily beaten. By looking at Sasuke's eyes, Naruto realised that they were filled with hatred. When Iruka told them to make the reconciliation seal, they both refused. Then, Naruto became determined to beat Sasuke, making him his rival. When Naruto found out that Sasuke was also an orphan, he was secretly happy for not being the only one alone and wanted to talk to him, but couldn't because of his jealousy. Still, Naruto wished that, someday, Sasuke would acknowledge him as an equal. {C

Personality
{C Due to the prejudice and loneliness he suffered in his childhood, Naruto developed a craving for acknowledgement. In order to achieve this, Naruto would pull pranks all around the village and even going far as strive for the title of Hokage. Even after graduating from the academy, Naruto was still determined to be recognised, but as he made more and more connections with others, his reasons for wanting to become Hokage underwent a change, having less to do with the desire for recognition, and more to do with wanting the strength to protect his home and the people close to him. As noted by Tobi, Naruto is a fervent believer in the Will of Fire, likening him to Hashirama Senju in this respect. Naruto's unstoppable determination and drive strongly impacts the lives around him, even his enemies had been affected by his empathy. Both Kakashi and Temari had referred to Naruto's amazing charisma as a "unique power" that allows him to change the worldly views of others.

Naruto is most prominently characterised by his hyperactivity, being exuberant, impatient, impulsive, and inattentive. According to Kakashi, Naruto learns through his body. He is relatively naive and simple, being slow to understand a principle or situation, and often requiring an oversimplified analogy in order to grasp what is being explained to him. Overall, Naruto responds best to competition and possesses a great degree of confidence in himself, loudly proclaiming that he will master whatever technique he is learning in a fraction of the usual time, though he will not hesitate to ask for help if he needs it.

Naruto has a number of other distinct traits as well. He inherited his catch-phrase "Dattebayo!" (だってばよ!) from his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, who would say when excited or frustrated. He also has a childish quirk of keeping his money in a chubby, green-frog wallet he affectionately calls "Gama-chan". He is also very brash and rarely pays heed to formality or social standings. He almost exclusively eats ramen, and is a frequent customer at the Ramen Ichiraku. He is also something of a pervert, something he tends to be reprimanded for by Sakura as well as Iruka, and has only become more so after meeting Jiraiya. He smiles near-constantly which during his childhood, was to mask the sadness of his lonely life. Those who are closest to him are able to recognise when his smile isn't genuine.

However, when the situation calls for it or when someone dear to him is in trouble, Naruto can be very serious, and will instantly try to come to their aid. This is most commonly seen in the series through his interactions with his team-mates, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. With Sasuke, Naruto views him as a brother, and throughout Part II strives to bring him back to Konoha, despite his willing defection from the village. With Sakura, Naruto has a long-standing crush on her, and Naruto would do all in his power to make her happy, even if it is at the expense of his own happiness. Sai has indicated that this dedication has progressed to the point of love, and though Sakura has been shown to care for Naruto, she doesn't reciprocate these feelings for him. In the anime, Naruto tells Shizuka that though he fell for Sakura, Naruto knows that his affections are one-sided on his part and says that even though she may never reciprocate the affections he held for her, he was happy so long as Sakura was happy. However, despite this claim, Sai notes that the strain of making Sakura happy, and bringing Sasuke home are the source of Naruto's internal pain. Like Guy and Rock Lee, when Naruto makes a promise he assumes the "nice guy pose".

After the loss of his mentor Jiraiya, talking with his own father, and to Jiraiya's killer and former pupil, Nagato, Naruto came to understand the downside of revenge, and desired to save Sasuke from it even more. Naruto also tried to stop the Kumo-nin from exacting their revenge against Sasuke, since this would only create a cycle of hatred. It appeared that Naruto was becoming increasingly desperate in his quest to save Sasuke, as he was willing to take physical abuse from the Kumo-nin over selling Sasuke out as well as getting down on his knees before the Raikage and beg for Sasuke to be forgiven for his crimes. Furthermore, after learning from Madara the reason of Sasuke's hatred, Naruto decided and proclaimed to Sakura, who was trying to get him to leave his quest, that he truly understood Sasuke now. He wanted to save Sasuke, not just because of the promise he made to Sakura, but also for himself. However, after learning from Sai that the rest of his comrades were aiming to kill Sasuke, and that nobody in the village would ever accept him again, Naruto suffered from hyperventilation due to the extreme conflict that he has been presented with.

Upon finally reuniting with Sasuke, Naruto sympathised with the criminal for his actions, and refused to back down or kill him, instead finding a third solution. Naruto came to the conclusion that the two of them were indeed destined to fight, as Tobi predicted, and that when that happens, since both he and Sasuke were top-ranked ninja, they would most likely die. Naruto is fully prepared to shoulder Sasuke's hatred as a friend, and is, in a way, the sole person to not have given up hope on him. However, like the rest of Konoha, Naruto has finally given up in bringing Sasuke back as a citizen of the village, believing that words would no longer have any effect to allowing them to understand each other, and has resigned himself to fighting (and potentially killing) Sasuke to protect Konoha. To prevent himself from dying when he fights Sasuke, Naruto started training to master the Nine-Tails, saying he was through running from being a jinchūriki and prepared to complete "that technique".

Naruto also has shown to deeply love both his parents. When he met his father, and despite being angry at Minato for sealing the Nine-Tails inside of him, Naruto quickly got over his anger and was overjoyed and proud to be the Fourth Hokage's son. He also tearfully embraced his mother Kushina when he met her. After learning how his parents met and what happened during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, Naruto told his mother that he could finally understand how a parent's love felt like and that he didn't blame her or Minato, instead he felt glad to be their son. When the Fourth Raikage criticised on how Minato was supposedly the "Child of the Prophecy" and claiming that he failed when he died against the Nine-Tails, Naruto, remembering what his mother had told him about Minato's love and faith in his son, angrily reproached the Raikage for insulting his father because he didn't know him, and that the Fourth Hokage hadn't failed at all. Naruto also explained to the Fourth Raikage that despite his parents dying shortly after he was born, they both made him strong.

Since the start of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and by extension, the invasion of Pain, Naruto had frequently thought that it was his 'duty' and 'burden' to stop the pain and hatred, and that he must shoulder it alone. However, Itachi pointed out to Naruto that this line of thought, coupled with his increasing power, would only make him arrogant. He even went as far as to suggest that Naruto could one day become like Madara should he forget about his friends.

Dark Naruto
After Killer B refused to train Naruto, Motoi guided Naruto and Yamato to the Falls of Truth, the place where B trained to control the Eight-Tails. He instructed Naruto to sit on a platform and close his eyes. Soon after,, the manifestation of hatred that existed within Naruto's heart, appeared, berating Naruto for how quickly the people from Konoha changed their ideals about him. Dark Naruto exclaimed that the Nine-Tails liked him better and he was the real Naruto while Naruto was an imposter. They started to fight, but after a while, Naruto realised that they both had the same techniques, skills, and tactics. As a result, their fight was a draw and Naruto mentioned that if they continued like this, it would take a very long time to settle it.

He appeared once again after Naruto returned to the Falls of Truth. Instead of fighting, Naruto projected an image from his mind of his autograph signature that he was unable to give to the Konoha shinobi. This angered Dark Naruto, pointing out to Naruto that those people were part of the same villagers who made him suffer as an outcast, telling him that he shouldn't trust them. However, Naruto stated that he trusted the villagers because they were important to him, but what was also important was that he needed to have faith in himself, so he would have the strength to live up to the villagers' trust in him. Naruto's statement started to weaken Dark Naruto, then forcing him to ask what was the reason for his existence. Naruto stated that Dark Naruto was really him and thanked Dark Naruto for pushing him to be the person he was now. He hugged Dark Naruto when the latter tried to attack him, telling Dark Naruto that it was all going to be alright. Letting go of his own anger at their past, Dark Naruto's eyes lightened as he gave into Naruto's words, and disappeared.

Later, when Naruto entered his subconscious, the Nine-Tails expressed surprise as it could no longer sense any hatred within Naruto, and questioned Naruto about where the "real him" was, to which Naruto replied that the real him was right in front of it.

Appearance
As stated by Jiraiya, Naruto bears a striking resemblance to his father, having Minato's blue eyes and blond, spiky hair. From his mother, Naruto inherited the shape of both his eyes and face. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Dan Katō initially mistakes him for Nawaki due to their stark resemblance as well. Naruto's most prominent physical characteristics however, are the whisker marks on his face that he gained from the Nine-Tails influence on him while he was in Kushina's womb. Probably Naruto's most regularly mentioned trait before the second half of the series (which easily provoked him) was his short stature for his age. After the time skip, he had a noticeably significant growth spurt which made him taller than his team-mate, Sakura.

In Part I, Naruto's outfit consisted of an orange tracksuit with blue on the upper shoulders area as well as around the waist, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red swirl on the back, a large white collar, orange pants, blue sandals, and a blue forehead protector that was given to him by Iruka after he graduated from the Ninja Academy.

In Part II, Naruto's outfit undergoes modification after being worn to shreds during his training with Jiraiya. The outfit retains the orange colour as well as the white (without the tassel) and red swirls, but the jacket is much more form fitting with the blue parts changed to black and the colour extending from around the neck and shoulders to down the front and the sleeves. The forehead protector has also changed with Naruto moving the metal portion to a new longer black bandanna and he wears black sandals instead of blue. During his battle with Pain, Naruto briefly sported a short-sleeved red coat with a back flame pattern on the hemline. He also carried a large summoning scroll on his back.

Abilities
At the start of the series, one of the only techniques Naruto could do without fail was the Transformation Technique, and his own original variant of the technique called the Sexy Technique; a creative but almost completely useless diversionary technique, used simply to shock his instructors. Throughout Part I he learns a number of short-range techniques, which are expanded upon during his two-and-a-half years of training with Jiraiya. Naruto also improves his knowledge of other ninja skills while under Jiraiya's tutelage, using more taijutsu and ninja tools than he did in Part I. He also learned how to dispel genjutsu and despite his limited skill with it he was able to resist being put to sleep by Itachi Uchiha. During Part II, he starts to master longer-range techniques, such as the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, Mini-Rasenshuriken, and chakra arms.

In Part I, Naruto is regularly noted to have a great deal of potential, primarily because of the Nine-Tails sealed within him. When Orochimaru saw him defeat Kabuto, he tried to kill Naruto for fear of what he would become. This potential manifests itself during Part II when he regularly proves himself a match for the S-rank members of Akatsuki. His victory over the Six Paths of Pain has earned him great accolade in the ninja world: Konoha villagers now even believe he is Hokage-material after they hear about it, and Zetsu, after seeing the battle, suggests Naruto has become stronger than Sasuke. With further training and subjugation of the Nine-Tails he is even able to fight on a comparable level against Kage of both the previous and current generation on the battlefield. One of his clones even received praise from the likes of Madara Uchiha after stopping one of his attacks.

Being a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, Naruto inherited incredible stamina and vitality, which is further augmented by the Nine-Tails. According to Kakashi, Naruto's normal chakra level is at least four times of his own. He apparently has some knowledge on fūinjutsu, as he knew how to use the seal's key after receiving Gerotora, and resealed the Nine-Tails after he separated it from its chakra. Jiraiya had left Naruto with the key to help him complete an as of yet unknown technique which he, Naruto, and Minato have been working on, but never finished. Naruto stated that he was ready to complete it.

Jinchūriki Transformations


As the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Naruto is gifted with its enormous supply of chakra and stamina, to which Kakashi estimated it to be a hundred times greater than his own when its influence is not suppressed. It also gives Naruto accelerated healing (recovering from minor injuries within a few seconds to major injuries within a day) and depending on the amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra he's using, Naruto is also given an increase in strength, speed, and his healing factor to such levels that he recovered from a Chidori strike through his chest in mere seconds. At times, he is also granted a nearly impenetrable, fox-shaped chakra shroud.

The seal had allowed a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra to always mix with Naruto's own. In Part I, Jiraiya once commented on the fact that Naruto's body was much too small a vessel to properly contain the Nine-Tails' chakra, and his body would instinctively reject the bulk of it due to the damage it could cause. Ebisu also implied that Naruto's poor chakra control stemmed from this, as a portion of his chakra was used in attempt to suppress the Nine-Tails' own overwhelming chakra.

The Nine-Tails' chakra first came to Naruto during life-threatening situations, given to him by the Nine-Tails itself to ensure its survival, but after training with Jiraiya, Naruto learned how to contact the Nine-Tails and demand some of its chakra. Alternatively, Naruto could give into his anger or frustration, allowing the Nine-Tails to force its influence upon him. Depending on how much he gained, the Nine-Tails' influence within its chakra could make Naruto lose control of his senses, devolving into an animal that attacks anything within reach, as well as damaging his own body, slowly shortening his lifespan. Although a number of methods had been devised to break its influence over Naruto (Jiraiya's seal tag, and Yamato's Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands, which was facilitated by Hashirama Senju's necklace Naruto wore before its destruction), Naruto simply limited his use of the Nine-Tails' chakra, and tried not to allow his anger get the best of him, but he eventually attempted to exercise more control over it.

The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode is a form that Naruto gained after he separated and sealed the Nine-Tails from its chakra. He can access its chakra directly whenever he needs it without interacting with the beast at all. In doing so, he gains a chakra shroud that resembles the Sage of the Six Paths' silhouette. This form's chakra shroud also gives Naruto a great deal of protection, but he noted that it would have been dangerous, and the fight would have been over, if A had gotten a clean hit on him. Like his predecessor, Mito Uzumaki, Naruto also gains the Nine-Tails' ability to sense negative emotions as well as chakra signatures from very long distances, even while he was inside a chakra isolation chamber within the Falls of Truth; something that not even the best sensor-type ninja can do. The power of his techniques become so great that unless they already have some inherent durability, like the Third Raikage, resurrected shinobi have a hard time regenerating. He has shown to stay in this form for an entire night and most of the morning during the Fourth Shinobi World War, much longer than that of Sage Mode.

Taijutsu
Naruto had always been at least passable in taijutsu, ever since the Academy where he received a B in that class. Throughout Part I, his taijutsu slowly improved, where it was first showcased in his battle with Kiba Inuzuka in the Chūnin Exams preliminaries where he was able to hold his own and avoid multiple slash attacks from Kiba and Akamaru's Four Legs Technique without the aid of his shadow clones. A testament to his skill with taijutsu was shown when Naruto was fighting against Neji Hyūga's Gentle Fist techniques in the Chūnin Exam finals, where he got into striking distance using only hand-to-hand combat. After the time skip, Naruto's taijutsu improved greatly under the tutelage of Jiraiya where he could hold his own in hand-to-hand against several shinobi skilled in taijutsu. Throughout the series, Naruto's taijutsu continually improved, eventually learning the Frog Kata style from Fukasaku. He was also able to react quickly enough to block Karui's sword with his elbow while she was slashing, then catch her blade when she tried a spinning slash, and even break it. In Sage Mode, he was able to beat the Deva Path twice in taijutsu, the first time sending it flying back with a roundhouse kick leaving it vulnerable to a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, and the second time disarming it of its Chakra Disruption Blade and sending it crashing into a boulder with a single kick. After thinking he found a weakness in the Third Raikage's ultimate shield, Naruto used the Frog Kata style to avoid his Hell Stab when it was just one finger by sensing the chakra, before slamming a Rasengan right into the Raikage's elbow to send his Nukite slamming right into his chest. While in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, he was also able to block several of A's immensely strong punches despite being intercepted several times.

On top of his taijutsu skills, Naruto has shown a high level of physical strength. During the Chūnin Exams, he stopped a charge from one of Orochimaru's giant snakes albeit while using the Nine-Tails' chakra. During his senjutsu training in Part II, he was able to budge one of the huge statues without using the special oil. After the training, he could shatter stone with his raw strength, as seen when he escaped from the petrified Preta Path after it absorbed too much of his senjutsu chakra. His strength is increased to such a point in Sage Mode where he can toss not only the Animal Path's Giant Rhino after stopping its charge, but the Nine-Tails itself. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto becomes strong enough to push a fully formed Tailed Beast Ball through a multiple layered barrier.

Naruto has also displayed impressive speed over the time skip as well. When confronting Sasuke after the Five Kage Summit, he saved Sakura from her own poisoned kunai which Sasuke wielded to stab her and received only a shallow cut in exchange. Naruto was then able to restrain Kakashi while charging up a Rasengan, meeting Sasuke's Chidori charge and equaling it. While in Sage Mode, Naruto's speed increases greatly to the point where he could intercept the Asura Path, which was using its chakra boots before Nagato could complete his sentence or attack Tsunade. He was even able to avoid the Third Raikage's Nukite at near point blank range and retaliate with a Rasengan after meeting his charge. Naruto's speed is at its greatest however, while in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, where Killer B even had trouble determining if he used the Body Flicker Technique when attacking Kisame Hoshigaki, who was hidden in Samehada. His speed in this form surpasses even that of A's while clad in his Lightning Release Armour as seen when he was able to dodge A's attack while he was clad in a full-powered lightning armour and using what he referred to as his fastest attack, something that only the Fourth Hokage had done in the past, with his Flying Thunder God Technique.

Shadow Clone Technique
Although Naruto had trouble with the Clone Technique at the start of the series, he quickly learned how to use jōnin-level techniques, like the Shadow Clone Technique and its large-scale version. The technique would become his first signature technique, one of the two foundations of his ninjutsu, and later, the base of his training skills. The Shadow Clone Technique takes advantage of the massive chakra reserve Naruto possesses due to him being the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails. Naruto is able to create upwards to two thousand clones, and able to have a decent amount of chakra in each of them. Because of this, Naruto can use his shadow clones for virtually anything, from straight combat to speed training.

In the beginning, Naruto would create a multitude of clones to overwhelm his opponents. Other times, however, he would employ the use of the Transformation Technique to change the appearance of these clones to catch his target off guard. By Part II, Naruto learned that whatever his shadow clones learn, he, the main mind, would also learn. By using this, he is able to learn techniques that would usually take months or years in days, which sped up his training greatly. Naruto takes advantage of this often, using shadow clones to determine his opponents' abilities, to determine how many clones he will really need to defeat them instead of simply wasting chakra on thousands of clones.

Despite the risks of Naruto's chakra being drained faster by the Nine-Tails whenever he uses the Shadow Clone Technique while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto did use the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to scatter throughout the battlefield, although he didn't create as many as he normally does.

Summoning Technique
Naruto was first taught how to use the Summoning Technique by Jiraiya. After allowing Naruto to sign the summoning contract with the toads of Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya took Naruto through the execution of the technique in order to provide Naruto with allies in future battles. Additionally, Jiraiya's other motivation to teaching Naruto how to summon was to help Naruto to realise and take advantage of the Nine-Tails' chakra.

The type of toads that Naruto can summon at any time is proportional to his chakra and skill, as when he first started out he could only summon tadpoles. At first, Naruto had a hard time getting any specific toad, as he summoned either Gamakichi or Gamatatsu. But when he used the Nine-Tails' chakra, or when he was truly motivated, Naruto was able to summon the toad boss, Gamabunta. Naruto is also capable of summoning Gamahiro to use Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique.

Rasengan
Created by the Fourth Hokage and taught to him by Jiraiya, the Rasengan is Naruto's second and strongest signature technique. While the Rasengan is a one-handed technique, Naruto required the use of two to form it due to his poor chakra control, thus using a clone to form the "shell" of the sphere. Despite this, Naruto has used the Rasengan effectively in almost every one of his fights after mastering it. The Rasengan holds an advantage over its counterpart, the Chidori, in only requiring chakra control to form, while the Chidori uses so much chakra that it can only be used a few times a day. Naruto has mastered the Rasengan to a degree that he can do it almost instantaneously. He is now able to create larger Rasengan without the use of natural energy or the Nine-Tails' chakra.

The Rasengan, like the Shadow Clone Technique, would be the base of several original techniques created by Naruto, such as the Big Ball Rasengan, a larger and more powerful version of the Rasengan. He has also created the Wind Release: Rasengan and Wind Release: Rasenshuriken after his wind training, and after his senjutsu training, the Sage Art: Big Ball Rasengan, Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres and Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. He has also demonstrated the combined use of his shadow clones and the Rasengan, resulting in the Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres, in which Naruto and his shadow clones can each use a Rasengan many times their own size against a single target. Because of the risk of using the Shadow Clone Technique while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto instead uses the shroud's chakra arms to help him create new Rasengan variants, such as the Spiralling Strife Spheres, the Spiralling Absorption Sphere and the Planetary Rasengan for example. He has yet to complete the technique related to the Tailed Beast Ball: the Tailed Beast Rasengan.

Due to the unique nature of the Rasengan in Naruto movies, Naruto creates a new type of Rasengan, often facilitated by a character in the movie, or a unique property present in the movie.

Nature Transformation
After failing to bring Sasuke back to Konoha for the second time, Naruto went through elemental training where he discovered that he had an affinity to wind. By incorporating his wind affinity with the Rasengan, which was originally intended to be combined with a nature element, he would greatly increase the technique's power and range. The wind nature compliments a fighter like Naruto, as the wind nature is a great match for short-range fighters. By focusing his wind chakra, Naruto can go as far as cutting objects with just his chakra. During his training to use his Wind Release, Asuma Sarutobi taught him how to channel it through his weapons.

Naruto had learned nature transformation to upgrade his Rasengan, which he achieved with the Wind Release: Rasengan and the Rasenshuriken, combining both shape and nature manipulation originally deemed impossible without natural talent or instinct. The Rasenshuriken was capable of slicing into the victim and cutting them at a cellular level faster than a Sharingan can see it. However, it caused similar damage to his own arm, as it is still a hand-held technique, despite its name. After his senjutsu training, he completed the Rasenshuriken. He could increase its power and attack radius, to the point where when one exploded it took up half the area of a mountain-range, or reduce Human Path to just the top of its head. The speed of the Rasenshuriken is so great it could cross an entire mountain-range in a single second. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto can create a miniature Rasenshuriken, using two small chakra arms on his forefinger.

Collaboration Techniques
Collaboration Jutsu entail techniques that are comprised of at least two or more techniques that, when initiated with the right timing, one will feed into each other to become a technique of greater power than the sum of its parts. Naruto was introduced to the subject by Jiraiya in the anime, in order for him to synchronise with a toad, and develop a collaboration technique. Naruto eventually managed to synchronise with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu developing the Wind Release: Toad Gun, and the stronger Wind Release: Toad Oil Flame Bullet. The stronger version had enough power to temporarily knock out the Three-Tails. Naruto has also done collaboration techniques with both Gamabunta and Yamato.

Senjutsu
After Jiraiya's death at the hands of Pain, Naruto began training with Fukasaku in Mount Myōboku to learn senjutsu and how to enter Sage Mode. In order to achieve this, Naruto had to learn to sense and control the natural energy around him. Once mastered, Naruto was able to perfect the Rasenshuriken, so that he could throw it, and learn Frog Kata, a taijutsu style that uses the natural energy around the user to enhance the range and the potency of their attacks. In Sage Mode, Naruto's overall physical abilities are dramatically enhanced to the point where he could throw entities much larger than himself with little to no effort, including the Animal Path's Giant Rhino and the Nine-Tails. His durability increased to the point where he could fall on a bed of spikes and not even be damaged, as well as surviving the Giant Rhino's charge despite it tearing up the land behind him with its impact. His speed increases to a point where he was able to intercept a charging Asura Path, which had been using its chakra boots to attack Tsunade, create a Rasengan and slam it down before it could even react, showing him covering considerable distance in a short amount of time. Also while in Sage Mode, Naruto gains a sensory ability to detect and identify other people's chakra from very long distances. His sensing abilities have also enabled him to predict the movements of his enemies for easy retaliation.

However, Naruto had two flaws in his senjutsu training: To mould natural energy, the user must remain absolutely still, something one cannot do while in combat; and because of the Nine-Tails, Shima and Fukasaku were unable to fuse with Naruto to mould it for him. To counter this, Naruto had to leave two shadow clones in a safe place to mould the natural energy for him. Once he depleted his current amount of senjutsu chakra, he would dispel one of the clones and use the natural energy it had gathered to re-enter Sage Mode. However, this method limits the maximum number of shadow clones that Naruto can create to five. Any more would interfere with the focus of the clones' gathering natural energy. However, this limit in shadow clones ceases should Naruto decide to go all out during a fight and forget having any clones store natural energy for him. Also, Naruto had been training to extend the time he could remain in Sage Mode. His skill with Sage Mode has increased greatly where he only needs a couple moments to enter it. During his battle with the Nine-Tails within his subconscious, Naruto and his large group of shadow clones entered Sage Mode (though it appeared that his "physical self" was able to enter Sage Mode in his meditative state, then his "mental self" reflected the act as well as all of his shadow clones). This is possibly a reverse on how Naruto got past his original five minute limit by having a clone transfer the already balanced senjutsu chakra to him.

Deception and Strategy
Although Naruto's intelligence is greatly downplayed for most of the series, his skills in deception and strategy are actually extremely high, which according to Kakashi, was thanks to his cunning and imagination as a former prankster, allowing him to fool perceptive and dangerous jōnin-level shinobi like Zabuza Momochi in Part I and even defeat S-rank ninja such as Kakuzu and Pain in Part II. He also possesses the ability to formulate complex plans in the midst of battle. Naruto's strategies typically involve shadow clones; either directing his opponent's attentions towards one of his clones to disguise his own movements, transforming them into various shapes (such as shuriken) to allow for surprise attacks, or making himself seem predictable by creating a pattern, just to surprise them by breaking it (examples being when Naruto fooled Neji and Kakuzu into thinking the shadow clone furthest away from danger was the real him, or variations using the Shadow Shuriken Technique).

His deceptive skills were first best displayed in Team 7's first battle against Zabuza; he came up with the strategy to disguise himself as the Fūma Shuriken in order to free Kakashi from Zabuza's Water Prison Technique. During the preliminaries of the Chūnin Exams, Naruto was even able to get around Kiba's sensitive nose by fooling him visually. His skills in deception were shown to have grown exponentially during his battle with Pain, allowing him to prevail through an elaborate and highly unpredictable array of back-up plans, such as transforming his clones to mimic the environment. He also used the Shadow Shuriken Technique and the Transformation Technique to turn himself into a Rasenshuriken to temporarily neutralise the Preta Path while his real Rasenshuriken went to attack the Deva Path, while a clone attacked the Naraka Path from above with a Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres. When Naruto caught his second wind against the Nine-Tails to bypass its hatred completely, he systematically used the Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and his mother's chakra chains to push the Nine-Tails' chakra out of its body from a safe distance to absorb it into his own body. During his fight with the Third Raikage, knowing the speed of the Raikage is great, he tricks the Raikage into dodging the first Rasenshuriken, his true intentions being to use the Nine-Tails' chakra arm to redirect it and throw it at him from behind. Even after the second attempt fails, Naruto still has the where-with-all to attack the Kage with a third at point blank range before he can even get decent footing to dodge. After speaking with the Eight-Tails about his battle with the Third Raikage he deduced that the latter injured himself with his own Nukite and used this to his advantage by slamming a Rasengan to the side of his arm forcing the Raikage to impale himself with his own technique. When he learned where he Chakra Receiver were on Tobi's Six Paths of Pain, he immediately formed a plan to eliminate them. Testing it out on Rōshi, he nearly destroyed the chakra receiver if not for Han's interference.

Naruto can also be quite innovative, using his clones to master advanced techniques. Examples of this include a two-man Rasengan, three-man Rasenshuriken, using clones to perform senjutsu and using chakra arms to perform the Tailed Beast Rasengan.

Introduction Arc
Naruto, labelled as his classes 'Dead-Last', once again failing to graduate from the Ninja Academy. Disappointed that his plans of becoming Hokage have hit another hurdle, Naruto was approached by one of his instructors, Mizuki. Mizuki told Naruto that, if he could steal the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Residence and learn one of the techniques written in it, then he would be allowed to graduate. Naruto did so, and began struggling to learn the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, unaware that the village was now looking for him.

Iruka tracked him down, and discovered Mizuki's involvement in the theft, realising that Naruto had been duped by Mizuki, in an effort to steal the scroll. Mizuki attacked them, and told Naruto about the Nine-Tails sealed within him, claiming that Iruka hated him because of it. When Iruka risked his life to protect Naruto, however, Naruto realised that Mizuki's earlier words were a lie, and created hundreds of shadow clones to beat Mizuki to a pulp. For mastering such a difficult technique, Iruka allowed Naruto to graduate.

In the days to come, Naruto befriended Konohamaru Sarutobi and became his on-off teacher, showing him how to perform a variety of both perverted and useful techniques throughout the rest of the series. He was also assigned to Team 7, where he was partnered with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, under the leadership of Kakashi Hatake.

As the team's first order of business, Kakashi gave them a test to see if they were ready to become genin. He had the three of them try to take the two bells he kept on his person, the goal of the test being to place teamwork above the fact that they couldn't all have a bell. Although they initially failed miserably, all trying independently to take a bell, they eventually decided to work together, allowing them to pass.

Land of Waves Arc
After completing a number of simple, uneventful missions, Team 7, at Naruto's insistence, was assigned the somewhat more difficult C-rank task of escorting Tazuna to the Land of Waves. When they were attacked by the Demon Brothers along the way, who tried to kill Tazuna, they realised that there was more to this mission than a simple escort. Tazuna revealed that his country was under the control of Gatō, who had left the people poor and unable to afford the more accurate A-rank mission payment. By building a bridge that would connect the Land of Waves to the mainland, Tazuna hoped to free the country from Gatō, prompting Gatō to try and kill him. Team 7 decided to help Tazuna, and act as his bodyguards until the bridge was completed.

They were soon attacked by Zabuza Momochi, another of Gatō's assassins, who engaged Kakashi in battle. When Zabuza captured Kakashi, he encouraged his team to escape with Tazuna. Having been of little use during the battle with the Demon Brothers, Naruto resolved to help Kakashi. With Sasuke's assistance, they were able to free Kakashi, who in turn almost defeated Zabuza. However, Haku, disguised as a hunter-nin, intervened, and appeared to kill Zabuza first, in actuality only putting him in a death-like state in order to get him to safety. Kakashi suspected that Zabuza was still alive, and gave Team 7 a Tree Climbing Practice to improve their chakra control. Naruto and Sasuke developed a competition over the exercise, each determined to complete the training first, and subsequently motivating each other to do better.

While Naruto was resting from training one day, he encountered Haku, unaware that it was the same boy he had encountered earlier. The two had a conversation about those who were precious to them, and the lengths they would go to protect them. After Haku left, Naruto finished the training, but was left so tired that the rest of Team 7 allowed him to rest the next day as they went to escort Tazuna. When he woke up, he went to assist them, only to find that they were in the midst of battle with Zabuza and Haku.

Naruto went to help Sasuke in his battle with Haku, but they were both trapped by Haku's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals. When Haku tried to use a volley of needles to kill Naruto, Sasuke stepped in to protect him, appearing to die instead. Enraged by the apparent death of Sasuke, Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra, allowing him to destroy the ice mirrors, and subsequently defeat Haku. Before he could kill Haku, however, the mask he was wearing broke away, revealing the face of the boy Naruto had met earlier. Naruto stopped himself, but Haku asked that he should finish the job, since he could no longer be of use to Zabuza. Although Naruto tried to comply, Haku stopped him at the last minute, and went to help Zabuza. When Naruto realised what had happened - that Haku had given his life to save an ungrateful Zabuza - an outraged Naruto reprimanded Zabuza for not appreciating Haku's actions. Touched by his words, Zabuza killed Gatō to repent in an effort to do Haku justice, but died of his wounds. The bridge (now named the Great Naruto Bridge) was completed, and the Land of Waves was saved. With a recovered Sasuke, Team 7 returned to the Konoha. On their way home, Naruto remarked to Kakashi that, even though Haku and Zabuza were their enemies, he still liked them.

Chūnin Exam Arc
After returning home and completing a few other simple missions, Team 7 was entered into the Chūnin Exams. In the first phase, a written test, the participating genin were tasked with completing the test by cheating, all the while being sure not to get caught. Though the rest of the examinees realised this, Naruto did not, and struggled to answer the questions, which were far beyond his comprehension. Hinata Hyūga, who was sitting next to him, offered to allow him to copy off her paper, but he refused, in fear that she would get caught. Naruto was forced to rely on getting the tenth question correct to pass. When faced with the prospect of correctly answering the question to proceed, failing and never being allowed to take the test again, or giving up to try it again during the next exams, Naruto insisted on answering the question, stating that, even if he got it wrong, he would still become Hokage. The willingness to face the unknown being the answer to the tenth question, Naruto and the rest of Team 7 were allowed to proceed to the second phase.

For the second phase, Team 7 was sent into the Forest of Death with one scroll, tasked to obtain a second scroll from another team and arrive at the forest's centre before the phase ended. Soon after entering the forest, they were attacked by Orochimaru, who immobilised Sasuke and Sakura with his murderous intent. Before Sasuke could forfeit their scroll in exchange for their lives, Naruto intervened, fighting Orochimaru by tapping into the Nine-Tails' chakra. Orochimaru rendered Naruto unconscious by restricting access to the Nine-Tails' chakra, but Naruto's courage inspired Sasuke to fight in his place. After Orochimaru was driven off and Naruto awakened, he tried to open their scroll what was forbidden, but he was stopped by Kabuto Yakushi, who disguised himself as Konoha ninja. Team 7 and Kabuto encountered Team Oboro. After wasting a day trapped in the rival team's genjutsu, Team 7 was able to defeat them, take their scroll, and pass the round.

Because too many genin teams had passed the second phase, a round of preliminary matches, where genin faced each other in combat, were held to thin the field. After watching the first few rounds, Naruto was matched against Kiba Inuzuka, and his dog, Akamaru. Remembering Naruto to be talentless from their days in the academy, Kiba believed it would be an easy match. He and Akamaru double-teamed Naruto, who initially had difficulty with the match. After combining the Transformation Technique with his shadow clones to turn Kiba and Akamaru against each other, Naruto was able to remove Akamaru from the competition. When Kiba was about to defeat him, Naruto farted, immobilising Kiba and his heightened sense of smell, and making him an easy target for the Uzumaki Naruto Combo which he invented watching Sasuke's Lion Combo. Naruto won the match.

While watching the remaining matches, Naruto witnessed Neji Hyūga's ruthless treatment of his cousin, Hinata. Angered by Neji's actions and claims that Hinata was a failure who couldn't escape her fate, Naruto vowed to defeat Neji during the first round of the finals a month later. In the meantime, Naruto started training with Ebisu to improve his chakra control. When Ebisu was knocked out by Jiraiya, Naruto forced Jiraiya to train him in his place. Jiraiya, noticing that Naruto was the container of the Nine-Tails, and the restrictive seal Orochimaru had placed on him earlier, Jiraiya removed the seal to ease his chakra control. He then taught him how to take advantage of the Nine-Tails' chakra by showing him how to use the Summoning Technique to summon toads. Because Naruto had troubles with it, Jiraiya pushed him from the cliff, hoping to provoke Naruto to use Nine-Tails' chakra. When falling, Naruto met with the Nine-Tails in his subconscious and convinced it to lend him its chakra. Thanks to that, he was able to summon Gamabunta, landing on the toad's back. After a short argue with the giant toad, he had to be hospitalised due to the chakra loss. In the hospital he met Shikamaru Nara and the two encountered Gaara who was going to kill Rock Lee. Gaara told them about the One-Tailed Shukaku sealed within him and tried to kill both of them, but they were saved by the coming of Might Guy.

When his match against Neji began, Naruto appeared to be at a disadvantage. Although he was able to overwhelm Neji with shadow clones, none of the clones could manage to land a hit. Convinced that Naruto was a failure that could not defeat a genius like himself, Neji used his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms to cut off Naruto's chakra supply. Determined to prove Neji wrong, Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' reserves and, revitalised, clashed with Neji. When the smoke cleared, Neji emerged, Naruto appearing to have been defeated. This, however, was only a shadow clone, and the real Naruto burst from the ground beneath Neji, to deliver an uppercut and defeat him. Neji was taken away, contemplating the fact that fate was not predetermined, since a failure could beat a genius, while Naruto watched the remaining matches. When Sasuke fought Gaara, he was envious of Sasuke's improvements, but the fight was interrupted by the beginning of the invasion of Konoha.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
Naruto was put to sleep when the invasion began, but was awakened by Sakura so that they could go after Sasuke, who was pursuing Gaara in order to continue their fight. They caught up in time to stop Gaara from killing Sasuke. Intrigued by Naruto's abilities, Gaara forced him into battle by threatening to kill Sakura. With the power of the Shukaku, Gaara tried to prove his existence by killing Naruto by playing with him. Although Naruto could relate to Gaara's life as a jinchūriki, he was not willing to allow anything to happen to Sakura and Sasuke. With the Nine-Tails' chakra, he summoned Gamabunta, and fought Gaara, who by now had progressed to his full Shukaku form.

Naruto was able to awaken Gaara from his technique and reseal Shukaku, and they exchanged final blows, with Naruto emerging the final blow. Both of them, being very exhausted, fell to the ground and Naruto crawled his way towards Gaara, who was shocked to see why Naruto was so strong. Naruto explained that he had also suffered a relentless lonely life, but was later saved by having friends. Gaara understood, and retreated with Kankurō and Temari, while Naruto was returned back to Konohagakure with Sakura and Sasuke.

Days passed, and Naruto and the rest of the shinobi came to a ceremony to respect the death of the Third Hokage and his sacrifice for the village.

Search for Tsunade Arc
After the failed invasion resulted in the death of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya was tasked with finding a Fifth Hokage. He convinced Naruto to come with him by promising to teach him a new technique that would be stronger than Sasuke's Chidori. Along the way, they were met by Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha, two members of Akatsuki, who sought to capture Naruto for the Nine-Tails sealed within him. Jiraiya was able to draw them off, but Naruto was introduced to the organisation that would become more of a problem for him in Part II. To prepare him for their future encounters, Jiraiya taught him how to use the Rasengan, a technique created by Minato. While Naruto was able to complete the first two steps of the learning process with little difficulty, he struggled to complete the third and thus master the technique.

Naruto and Jiraiya eventually found Tsunade, the ideal candidate for the position of Fifth Hokage. When she turned down the offer, and insulted all those who had previously held the title, an angry Naruto challenged her to a fight and attacked her with an incomplete Rasengan. Although his effort failed to hit her, she was surprised by his progress and made a bet with him: if he could master the technique in a week, she would give him her necklace, but if he couldn't, she would take his money and his frog wallet, Gama-chan. Naruto agreed, and started practising, but in a week's time, he still had yet to finish the training. Disappointed, Tsunade met with Orochimaru, the murderer of the Third Hokage, and Naruto, Jiraiya, and Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, tried to stop her from helping him.

Tsunade turned out to have no intention of helping Orochimaru, and fought him and his assistant, Kabuto Yakushi. When Kabuto left her unable to fight, Naruto came to her aid. Although he was getting beaten by Kabuto and Tsunade told him to run, Naruto refused and by using shadow clones to help him form it, Naruto was able to hit Kabuto with a perfected Rasengan, defeating Kabuto and winning the bet. Amazed by his determination to keep to his word and to survive against a superior opponent, Tsunade gave him her necklace, drove off Orochimaru and Kabuto, and accepted the position of Fifth Hokage. They returned to Konoha, Tsunade confidently believing Naruto would someday become a great Hokage.

Land of Tea Arc
In the anime, after Sasuke was healed by Tsunade, Team 7 was assigned a mission to escort someone in the Land of Tea without Kakashi. Early in the mission, they encountered their client, Idate Morino. Though Idate did not insist in having aid during the race, Naruto and the rest still agreed, as that was what they were told to do. Near the end of the race, a shinobi known as Aoi Rokushō interfered, and attacked them suddenly. After Sasuke began to lose, Naruto came to his aid with the Rasengan, destroying Aoi's sword and defeating him (albeit Sasuke's Chidori made a crack in Aoi's sword). Naruto wanted to help Sakura and Sasuke up. She called Naruto an idiot and let Idate finish the race, Idate gave Naruto a knife holder, Naruto cut the rope. Then, carrying Idate, Naruto ran up the wall exclaiming that he was almost out of chakra. While Sakura helped Sasuke up, Naruto guided Idate at the final peek of the finish line. Naruto let Idate finish the race on his own, which Idate successfully did. After that, Ibiki Morino, the brother of Idate, sent in the ship for Team 7's departure. Naruto and the rest said their goodbyes to Idate and returned to Konoha.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
After returning with Tsunade (in the anime, after returning from the mission in the Land of Tea), Sasuke began to fall into the corruption set in place for him by Orochimaru. He began lashing out at Sakura and Naruto, not as team-mates but as enemies, eventually defecting from Konoha in order to seek out Orochimaru for power. Under the escort of Orochimaru's Sound Four, Sasuke left to join Orochimaru, and Naruto joined a retrieval team that would bring him back; he also made a promise to Sakura that he will bring Sasuke back at all cost. While the other members of the team dealt with the Sound Four, Naruto finally engaged in a fight with the Sound Four's fifth member, Kimimaro. However, he was not able to beat him even with Nine Tails-enhanced shadow clones. When Naruto was about to be killed, he was saved by Rock Lee, who told him to continue the pursuit of Sasuke while he fought Kimimaro.

Naruto finally caught up with Sasuke in a place called Valley of the End, very near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound, and fought Sasuke. With Sasuke determined that he would kill Naruto in his quest for power, Naruto decided he would have to take the battle seriously if he was to bring Sasuke back. When Sasuke's drive to kill proved greater than Naruto's resolve of friendship in a 'fair' fight, Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra to level the playing field, allowing him to batter around Sasuke. Sasuke, pushed to his limits, managed to develop the mature Sharingan, greatly overpowering Naruto. When Naruto, even with the Nine-Tails' chakra, was defeated, he tapped into the chakra even more, and a red aura of the Nine-Tails' chakra, in the shape of a fox, surrounded him. Sasuke then drew on the power of the second stage of his cursed seal to properly compete with Naruto.

The two had one final clash, Naruto with his Rasengan (enhanced by the Nine-Tails' chakra) and Sasuke with his Chidori (empowered by the cursed seal). Upon contact, a giant, black energy dome formed and surrounded them. In the dome, Sasuke struck Naruto in the stomach, while Naruto scratched Sasuke's headband, proving the latter's earlier taunt of the subject wrong. Sasuke won the fight, but after staring at the unconscious Naruto, he couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, so he simply continued on his way to Orochimaru.

Kakashi and Pakkun didn't come in time to get Sasuke, and left with Naruto. In the hospital, Naruto vowed to Sakura that he would someday bring Sasuke home. Soon after, Jiraiya arrived suddenly, telling Naruto to train with him for three years prior. He also told him to give up on Sasuke, as he is no different from Orochimaru. Naruto accepts training with Jiraiya, but rejects to giving up Sasuke. In the manga, right after this, Naruto departs, but in the anime, he stays for awhile, doing numerous filler arc missions.

Pre-Shippūden Filler Arcs
After the original Naruto anime had concluded the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, to make sure the anime did not over take Part II of the manga, the makers instead animated several filler arcs to take place before Naruto left for his three year training with Jiraiya. Naruto is sent on various missions with the other members of the Konoha 11, but while there is little character development for himself, the filler arcs tend to develop the supporting characters, as well as Gaara. The final filler arc was right before Naruto's departure with Jiraiya, though in the manga, this was right after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

Kazekage Rescue Arc
When Naruto returned to Konoha, the remaining members of Team 7 were reorganised into Team Kakashi. As their first order of business, Kakashi gave them another bell test, this time the only goal being to take a bell, and that he would use his Sharingan against them. Although their abilities had improved, Naruto and Sakura were still unable to beat Kakashi, and it was only by threatening to spoil the end of the latest Icha Icha novel that they distracted Kakashi long enough to take the bells. Naruto reconnected with his old friends, who had all advanced to chūnin-rank or higher, and then heard that Gaara, the new Kazekage, had been kidnapped by Akatsuki. Naruto and Team Kakashi set out for Sunagakure to save him.

Upon arrival in Sunagakure, Chiyo was added to Team Kakashi as an adviser, and they followed Akatsuki's trail. Along the way, they encountered a body-double of Itachi Uchiha, which engaged them in battle. Kakashi and Naruto teamed up in order to defeat the lookalike, before continuing onto the Akatsuki lair. There, they found Gaara's body in the possession of Deidara and Sasori. When Deidara flew off with Gaara, Naruto and Kakashi pursued him, leaving Sasori to Chiyo and Sakura. While initially unable to catch Deidara, Kakashi was able to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to distract Deidara, giving Naruto an opportunity to attack him and retrieve Gaara. Deidara escaped, and Naruto and Kakashi reunited with Sakura and Chiyo.

Although Sakura tried to heal Gaara, he had already died, a casualty of Akatsuki's tailed beast extraction-process. Angered that Gaara had died because he was a jinchūriki, something he had never asked for and had suffered because of his whole life, Naruto lashed out at Chiyo, the one who had sealed the One-Tailed Shukaku into Gaara in the first place. To make up for what she had done, Chiyo, with the help of Naruto, restored Gaara back to life, at the cost of her own. Gaara awakened surrounded by his rescue party and the ninja from Sunagakure. After Chiyo's funeral, Naruto and Gaara finally shake hands (Gaara insisting), as a sign to their close relationship. Afterward, Team Kakashi and Team Guy returned to Konoha.

Sai and Sasuke Arc
During Sakura's battle with Sasori, she learned of a spy in Orochimaru's inner circle, an opportunity for them to find Sasuke after his years of absence. Kakashi was left hospitalised from overuse of the Mangekyō Sharingan, so Yamato was assigned to lead Team Kakashi in his place. Sai was also added to the team as Sasuke's replacement, but neither Naruto nor Sakura were able to accept him as such.

En route to the meeting place with the spy, Yamato tried to get the team to work together, although Sai's personality and disdain for his predecessor caused only conflict amongst the team. When they arrived at the meeting spot, they found that the spy was Kabuto. Yamato, disguised as Sasori, spoke with him, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Orochimaru. Kabuto, in turn, turned against Yamato, who was forced to call Naruto and the others for back-up. Surprised to see Naruto, Orochimaru wondered aloud if Naruto had become as strong as "his Sasuke". Enraged that Orochimaru had spoken as if Sasuke belonged to him, Naruto entered his three-tailed form, and attacked him.

While a fair match, Orochimaru was able to evade Naruto's attacks. Further provoked by his inability to land a debilitating blow, Naruto advanced to his four-tailed form, losing his sense of self in his anger. Now a danger to Orochimaru, Naruto was forced back so that he could switch targets, his first being Sakura. Yamato restrained him before he could do any real harm, and forced the Nine-Tails' influence to recede. When he woke up, they found that Sai had joined up with Orochimaru. They followed him in the hopes that he would lead them to Sasuke, and to see what he was up to. During a break, Yamato took Naruto aside, and told him of how he had attacked Sakura, encouraging him not to rely on the Nine-Tails if he really wanted to protect those close to him.

When they arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, they infiltrated the lair, and captured Sai. Exposed, Sai revealed that his superiors had sent him to help organise another invasion of Konoha. He was restrained for his treachery, while the others went looking for Sasuke. Sai, having earlier met Sasuke, asked why Naruto was so determined to bring him back. Naruto explained that the two had a bond that couldn't be broken, and that he would risk his life to protect this bond. Intrigued, Sai switched sides, helping them to capture Kabuto and then scouring the base in order to reunite Sasuke with Naruto. He succeeded, but was attacked by Sasuke, the magnitude of which drew the rest of Team Yamato to their location.

Together again, Naruto and Sakura tried to convince Sasuke to come home. Still determined to gain power, he refused, prompting the team to use force. Their efforts were unsuccessful, and Naruto, who was exhausted from his fight with Orochimaru in his four-tailed form, wasn't able to compete with Sasuke's growth. Within his subconscious, the Nine-Tails began to offer Naruto its chakra, but he firmly rejected its assistance. The Nine-Tails became contemptuous at Naruto, mocking him that if it wasn't for its power, he would be nothing. It then tried to tempt Naruto to break the seal so it can "grant" him all of its power, but he still refused. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, Sasuke, with his Sharingan activated, suddenly appeared within Naruto's subconscious, which surprised both Naruto and the Nine-Tails. As the Nine-Tails criticised Sasuke for being similar to Madara Uchiha, Sasuke coldly reacted by using his Sharingan to suppress the Nine-Tails back into its cage, to which it never thought that he was quite capable of that feat. The Nine-Tails concluded that this was probably its last meeting with Sasuke, so it warned him not to kill Naruto, for he would only end up regretting it. Back in the real world, Sasuke tried to finish off his former, defeated team-mates, but he was stopped by Orochimaru and they retreated, leaving Team Yamato to return home.

Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc
In the anime, Team Yamato was sent on a mission to the Fire Temple. There they met Sora, a young monk who openly disliked Naruto. Despite this, Sora was added to their team to help investigate the grave-robbing of a number of former Twelve Guardian Ninja. Soon after the investigation began, Naruto noticed that the other monks treated Sora much as the villagers of Konoha used to treat him: as an outcast sentenced to loneliness. Naruto asked him about this, but Sora only replied that he didn't blame them.

Upon finding the grave robbers, Naruto was forced into battle with Fūka, a woman that kept trying to kiss Naruto. Through the use of shadow clones, he was able to escape her advances, only to find out that she was a master of all five types of elemental technique. Soon afterwards, she managed to kiss him, an act that sucked all the chakra from his body. Once his normal chakra was gone, however, she began sucking out the Nine-Tails' chakra, a force she couldn't handle, and was promptly overwhelmed by. She retreated with her team, and Team Yamato returned to Konoha, with Sora as a temporary substitute for Sai.

Naruto continued to try and befriend Sora, only for his and the efforts of others in Konoha being turned away. When later following Sora, Naruto found him to be trying to kill Asuma and Tsunade. After stopping him, Naruto asked why Sora was being so hostile. He discovered that Asuma had killed Sora's father. Asuma soon arrived to try and explain, but Sora ran off. Naruto once again followed him, but was stopped by Fūka. Forced into battle with her again, Naruto attacked, only to find that she was apparently regenerating from her injuries. Upon noticing that she had stopped using certain elements, Naruto realised that Fūka somehow had multiple bodies, and that each had its own affinity which she could switch between. Coming to the conclusion that her soul resided in her hair, Naruto destroyed all of Fūka's bodies before destroying her hair too, allowing him to follow Sora uninhibited.

When he arrived back in Konoha, Naruto discovered that not only was Sora's father still alive, but that he was behind the various grave-robbings. The more pressing matter, however, was that he had, years earlier, sealed some of the excess chakra, left behind during the Nine-Tails' attack, into Sora, and sought to use its power to destroy Konoha. As Sora lost control of the Nine-Tails' chakra within him, Naruto also struggled to control the Nine-Tails' attempt to create a four-tailed form. He was able to maintain his senses, however, and forced the Nine-Tails' influence to recede, and was able to get through to Sora to help him return to normal as well. The Nine-Tails' chakra was expelled from Sora's body and, finally free, he said goodbye to Naruto before setting out to explore the world.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Kakashi, hoping to make Naruto better prepared for his next encounter with Sasuke, trained him to create a new wind-based technique. In the anime, this training began before, and continued throughout, the Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc, with Naruto seeking assistance from Asuma and Sora, two other wind chakra users. Kakashi had Naruto train with shadow clones to master wind manipulation in only a fraction of the time. When he did this, Kakashi left him with the task of combining what he had learned with the Rasengan. He explained that infusing one's chakra nature with the Rasengan was what Minato had intended to do when he created the Rasengan, but had not been able to do so before he died. Kakashi believed Naruto would prove successful where his father could not, inspiring Naruto to do his best.

While he struggled to create his new Rasengan, the rest of Konoha mobilised to deal with the Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu. When the two managed to kill Asuma, Kakashi left Yamato in charge of overseeing Naruto's training so that he could help Team 10 avenge Asuma. Once he achieved a usable technique, Naruto and Team Yamato went to provide assistance, arriving in time to save Kakashi and Team 10 from Kakuzu. Naruto engaged Kakuzu by himself with his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, created with the help of shadow clones. Once striking Kakuzu with the attack, two of his hearts were destroyed, and his final heart was left on the brink of failure. Tired out by the ordeal, Naruto's injuries were healed while Kakashi finished off Kakuzu.

Upon returning to Konoha, Naruto was forbidden by Tsunade to use the Rasenshuriken again. While it was devastating to his opponents, it caused minor injuries to Naruto's arm as well. Even though they weren't as bad as his opponent’s injuries, it was harmful enough to cause the arm to be beyond medical repair if performed again with contact of his hand and the opponent, endangering him and his hopes of remaining a ninja. Naruto said that he realised this, but claimed he understood his own body better than anyone else.

Three-Tails Arc
In the anime, while still recovering from over-using his Rasenshuriken, Jiraiya appeared to congratulate his student's latest successes: defeating one of the Akatsuki members and completing Minato's technique. Jiraiya offered to take Naruto on another journey to train, which Naruto quickly agreed to. In truth, Jiraiya's main reason for taking Naruto from Konoha again was so he would not join Kakashi and Team 8 on their mission to find Orochimaru's latest hideout. For their training, they went to a neighbouring town to teach Naruto how to use collaboration jutsu with toads. Gamariki was initially summoned to help in this endeavour, but when Naruto proved unable to work with him, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were summoned instead.

Later, while resting at a hot springs, Naruto met a young boy named Yūkimaru. They talked for a short time about bonds, which made Yūkimaru happy. When Yūkimaru left, Naruto resumed his training, and started having success performing synchronised techniques with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. Jiraiya was soon called away, so they returned to Konoha, where Naruto taught Gamatatsu how to perform water-based techniques. Soon afterwards, he met up with Sai, who let slip that the rest of the team was about to provide back-up for Kakashi in his search for Orochimaru. Determined to help, since he might meet Sasuke, Naruto convinced Tsunade to let him go too.

While searching for Team 8, Naruto ran into Yūkimaru again, and offered him a chance to join him back at Konoha, in response to which Yūkimaru quickly disappeared. As Naruto and his team found themselves halted by Guren's crystal barrier, Naruto summoned Gamakichi and Gamatatsu for help. They then used the Wind Release: Toad Gun to break through, and on the opposite side found Team 8. When they noticed that Hinata had been captured, they helped rescue her, before retreating. The combined teams followed Guren to a lake, where Naruto was sent ahead to scout the area. He found Guren and her forces (amongst them being Yūkimaru) with the Three-Tails, who created a tidal wave that drove them all back to shore.

While the team decided what to do with the Three-Tails, Naruto went off to confront Yūkimaru. He found Guren instead, and they argued over what would really make Yūkimaru happy. Yūkimaru soon appeared as well, but after saying that he appreciated Naruto's efforts but would rather stay with Guren, left with her. Before he could go after them, he was called back to help with the tailed beast, his goal being to prevent Guren and her forces from interfering with its sealing. To his delight, Kakashi also tasked him with safely retrieving Yūkimaru.

Despite their best efforts, Guren was able to stop the sealing. Yūkimaru used this as an opportunity to try and control the beast, prompting both Naruto and Guren to come to his aid. In the process, they were both eaten by the Three-Tails, giving them an opportunity to talk and find out they both had Yūkimaru's best interests in mind. Setting their differences aside, they teamed up to escape. Outside, they found Rinji trying to drug Yūkimaru. After Naruto and Guren managed to stop Rinji, they discovered that it was really Kabuto in disguise. Kabuto revealed that Rinji had become part of his corpse collection long ago, and was reanimated through his medical ninjutsu.

While Naruto faced off against Kabuto, Rinji was resummoned and sent up against Guren, whose bat-oriented techniques turned out to be a perfect counter to Guren's crystal technique. After Guren sacrificed herself to defeat Rinji, Yūkimaru went into such an emotional outburst that it gave the Three-Tails the power to break free from the sealing barrier. Afterwards, with the Three-Tails escaping and Kabuto disappearing, Naruto went to aid the weakened Yūkimaru. Later, Shizune was able to heal Yūkimaru, but explained his chakra network was too damaged to ever control the Three-Tails again.

The following morning, after Tsunade had ordered the team to return to Konoha, Naruto discovered that Yūkimaru had vanished. After discovering that Yūkimaru had left his crystal from Guren behind, he realised that Guren was still alive, and with Yūkimaru. Knowing that the two would be fine, he decided not to pursue them. While failing to seal the Three-Tails, the successful saving of Yūkimaru inspired Naruto more than ever to bring Sasuke back to his true home, with his friends in Konoha.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
After news of Orochimaru's defeat at the hands of Sasuke, Team Kakashi decided to make another attempt to find him. Knowing that Sasuke was going after his older brother, Itachi, they teamed up with the members of Team 8 to find either of the Uchiha brothers. They scoured the landscape, and eventually encountered Kabuto, who had absorbed some of Orochimaru's remains into his body. As thanks to Naruto, his efforts to overcome the Nine-Tails being similar to his efforts to overcome Orochimaru, Kabuto gave him a book containing some information on Akatsuki escaping from capture.

After regrouping and Kiba picked up on Sasuke's trail, Naruto used a number of shadow clones to search the area faster. When one of his clones neared what he thought was Sasuke's location, he found Itachi there instead. Itachi repelled all of Naruto's attempts to attack him, insisting that he only wanted to talk. He trapped Naruto in a genjutsu and, as was later revealed, questioned Naruto on his dedication to Sasuke and to Konoha. When Naruto insisted that he would protect both at any cost, Itachi gave Naruto some of his power sealed inside a crow in case he ever needed it. Itachi left, and Naruto continued his search, eventually finding Sasuke.

When the real Naruto and the rest of the team moved to intercept him, they were stopped by Tobi. Despite their efforts to quickly dispose of Tobi, none of their attacks worked, and it was only after word reached them that Sasuke had killed Itachi that they were allowed to continue. Tobi, however, reached Sasuke first, and having lost the trail, the Konoha-nin were forced to give up on the search.

Tsuchigumo Kinjutsu Arc
In the anime, after failing to reach Sasuke in time, their return trip to Konoha was interrupted by Katsuyu with orders from Tsunade; Team Yamato was to sent to aid the Tsuchigumo clan to protect the clan's kinjutsu, Fury. Upon arriving at the Tsuchigumo clan stronghold, they discovered that the kinjutsu was taken by the former clan leader, En no Gyōja's granddaughter Hotaru. When Team Yamato caught up to her, Naruto attacked the man with her, the Six-Tails' jinchūriki, Utakata, believing him to be the enemy. Upon seeing the Konoha-nin's strength, Utakata left Hotaru in their care and left.

Due to her desire to be taught by Utakata, Hotaru dismissed Team Yamato's help, but Yamato had a plan to use Sai's technique to drop ink leeches on their path, forcing the scared Hotaru to reluctantly allow Naruto to protect her as they travelled to the Tsuchigumo village. When they arrived, they left Hotaru in the villagers' care, but Naruto, noting the way the villagers looked at her, went back to make sure she was alright. However, when Naruto returned, he realised that Hotaru was captured by bandits and the villagers didn't even care to look for her, so Naruto and his team left to find her. As Naruto found a group of Kirigakure ANBU hunter-nin holding Hotaru hostage and trying to capture Utakata, Naruto attacked one of the Kiri-nin, freeing Utakata, and tried to bring Hotaru back.

However, before the fight could escalate any further, Yamato and the Kiri ANBU leader, Tsurugi, decided that for the duration of Team Yamato's mission, Utakata will remain with Hotaru, and Konoha would not interfere with their capture of Utakata afterwards, in order to avoid starting an unnecessary war between Konoha and Kiri. Before departing, Tsurugi told Naruto that Utakata was wanted for the murder of his master, a revelation that shocked Hotaru. Despite this, Naruto insisted that Utakata was a good man and she should not lose faith in him, explaining that as he could relate with her because he never had parents to look up to either, but came to respect and cherished his master Jiraiya, despite many oddities. As they travelled, Hotaru collapsed from the wound she received from one of the Kiri-nin. While Utakata tended Hotaru, he instructed Naruto to find the herbs needed to heal her. When he returned with the herbs, he discovered that Hotaru was made the literal container of the kinjutsu, not unlike how he was made the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

Initially, Naruto was furious to see Hotaru made into a living weapon, but she told him it was her decision to help revive her clan. When they arrived at the Tsuchigumo clan stronghold, where Hotaru's caretaker Tonbee was being tended to by Sakura, Tonbee told her that the Tsuchigumo clan is far too weak to ever be restored and believed it best to destroy the kinjutsu, using a special technique to avoid harming Hotaru, developed by her grandfather in case the kinjutsu had to be destroyed. However Hotaru still wished to revive her clan, and asked Naruto to find Shiranami, who as a student of En no Gyōja who could use the kinjutsu. Sympathising with Hotaru's desire to follow the dreams of her master, Naruto asked for two days to find Shiranami. After several failed attempts, Naruto was told by an old man he met where Shiranami lived. Once he entered his home however, Naruto was ambushed by the by the Magaki Group, and then discovered that Shiranami himself is the leader of the bandits. Trapped inside a chakra draining barrier, Naruto was rescued by Utakata, who used the Six-Tails' chakra to send the bandits into retreat. They tracked Hotaru, who was captured by Shiranami to the Tsuchigumo village, where the villagers were being controlled by a technique. While Yamato, Sakura, and Sai held the villagers back, Naruto and Utakata went to rescue Hotaru.

When they arrived, Shiranami was using Hotaru to gather raw chakra needed to use Fury, and bound the two jinchūriki with his Character Bind Technique. Both however, used their tailed beasts' chakra to break their bonds and went in for the attack, only for Shiranami, who has control of the kinjutsu, to use Fury. However, Fury's full power failed to activate which caused Shiranami to flee. Naruto tracked Shiranami down and defeated him with the Rasengan. After the Magaki's defeat, the Tsuchigumo clan thanked Team Yamato and the group returned to Konoha.

Invasion of Pain Arc
When he returned to Konoha, Naruto learned that Jiraiya had died in his battle with the leader of Akatsuki, Pain. Grief stricken, Naruto blamed Tsunade for his death. He spent the rest of the day mourning the loss of his teacher, musing over the fact he had wanted Jiraiya to be there when he became Hokage. After being comforted by Iruka and Shikamaru, Naruto helped to decipher Jiraiya's dying message. When the code was broken, Naruto decided to go to train with the toads to learn senjutsu, knowing that Pain was coming for him and deciding to make the most of the time Jiraiya had bought for him.

To learn senjutsu, Naruto trained to harmonise with nature, a process he sped up by using a limited amount of shadow clones. He rapidly progressed through the introductory stages and attained a perfect Sage Mode, something Jiraiya had never been able to do. Because harmonising with nature cannot be done in the midst of battle, Fukasaku tried to fuse with Naruto so that he could gather natural energy for Naruto's use. When the Nine-Tails rejected all of Fukasaku's attempts at fusion, Naruto was forced to find an alternative: using shadow clones in a desperate attempt to learn how to gather natural energy while moving. News of Pain's attack on Konoha soon reached them, and they mobilised for battle.

Naruto (in Sage Mode), Fukasaku, Gamaken, Gamahiro, Gamabunta, and Gamakichi were summoned to the centre of Konoha. Naruto did not immediately recognise the crater he had been summoned to, but then saw the Hokage Monument in the distance. Realising that Pain had destroyed the village, an infuriated Naruto destroyed Pain's Asura Path with a Rasengan before it could attack Tsunade. Naruto said that he could sense everyone's chakra, except Kakashi Hatake's and asks if he was away on a mission. He received no response and understood that his sensei had been killed. Naruto told Tsunade to make sure none of the other villagers intervened in the battle.

Pain's Animal Path summoned a number of animals to attack Naruto, who used the increased strength granted to him by Sage Mode to bat them aside to his toad allies. While they dealt with the summons, Naruto disposed of the Preta Path with Frog Kata before preparing the fruits of his senjutsu training: a perfected Rasenshuriken. He hurled the attack at Pain's remaining bodies, and it expanded when it neared them, disintegrating the Human Path. Running low on chakra because of the attack, Naruto had Gamabunta trap the Animal Path in his mouth, where Naruto was able to defeat it with his Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres without interference from the other bodies.

Having run out of natural energy and thus having exited Sage Mode, Naruto had Fukasaku summon one of his shadow clones from Mount Myōboku. As a workaround for his inability to have a constant supply of natural energy, he had had some of his shadow clones gather it for him. Revitalised, Naruto attacked with another Rasenshuriken, only for the Preta Path to appear and absorb the attack. Realising that the Naraka Path must have restored it, Naruto focused his efforts on getting rid of it. He distracted the Deva Path with a smokescreen, and landed another Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres on the Naraka Path, defeating it.

Though he had defeated four of Pain's six bodies, Naruto was captured through a combination of efforts from the Deva and Preta Paths. The Preta Path absorbed his chakra to make sure he was no longer a threat but, being unable to handle natural energy, the Preta Path turned into a frog statue, allowing Naruto to free himself. The Deva Path captured Naruto again, and killed Fukasaku when he tried to come to help. While immobilising Naruto, the Deva Path told Naruto of his plans for world peace. When Naruto disagreed with his views, Jiraiya's death being a by-product of that peace, the Deva Path asked Naruto for a better solution. Before he could answer, Hinata came to intervene. Naruto demanded her to stay away from the fight, but Hinata remained where she stood and confessed her love to Naruto (greatly shocking him), and fought against the Deva Path in a futile effort to save him. When she was apparently killed, an enraged Naruto exploded into his six-tailed form.

His necklace reacted in an effort to quell the transformation, but the Nine-Tails quickly destroyed it and attacked Pain. Unable to deal with this new threat, the Deva Path retreated to a location where it could use Chibaku Tensei, drawing in and containing Naruto. Within his subconscious, Naruto thought of Pain's plans for peace, and pleaded for someone to help him with a response. Through his suffering, the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto to entrust his heart to it so that it could destroy everything that was causing Naruto pain, thus distorting the seal to the point where the eight-tailed form was released, breaking free of the Chibaku Tensei. Before he could completely release the Nine-Tails, however, his father, Minato, appeared in Naruto's subconscious to stop him.

Minato revealed that he had designed the seal of the Nine-Tails to allow an imprint of himself to appear if ever the seal was about to break, a failsafe meant to protect his son. Picking up on this, Naruto realised that the Fourth Hokage was his father, and was overjoyed to finally know who one of his parents was. His time being short, Minato revealed that he had sealed the Nine-Tails into his own son because he thought Naruto would someday find use for it in finally stopping Madara Uchiha. They also discussed the concept of peace, and Minato revealed that hatred gave rise to Pain, and that ninja must find a way to end the hatred. While Naruto doubted that he could do it, Minato replied that he believed Naruto would be able to find the answer, and restored the Nine-Tails' seal before disappearing.

Outside, Naruto emerged from the Chibaku Tensei, with the Nine-Tails' influence gone and Sage Mode having returned. He clashed one final time with the Deva Path, and by taking advantage of the five-second gap between its attacks, Naruto was finally able to defeat it with his Rasengan and win the battle. Using the Deva Path's chakra receivers, Naruto sought out Nagato, Pain's base mind, to finally answer his earlier question about peace. Naruto admitted that he hated Nagato, but restrained himself long enough to ask how Nagato, a fellow student of Jiraiya, turned out this way. After hearing Nagato's past and his reasons for desiring war, Naruto agreed on some points, but rejected the overall conclusion on the grounds that it differed from Jiraiya's ideals. To break the cycle of hatred, Naruto told Nagato and Konan that, despite hating them, he would not kill them.

Amazed by Naruto's determination to his answer, Nagato said that he would believe in Naruto, and revived all the people he had killed in Konoha, at the cost of his own life. With this, Naruto helped Konan retrieve Nagato and Yahiko's bodies for burial in Amegakure. After confirming that she had quit Akatsuki, Konan left Naruto a bouquet of paper flowers for him, symbolising their new alliance.

He then created a memorial for Jiraiya and left the flowers and a copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by a rock with the kanji for.

Konoha History Arc
Team Kakashi is sent out on a mission to return Condor to his habitat. When they reach a village, they see a vendetta take place. After Naruto manages to cancel the vendetta, a group of outraged villagers attack them. The Joint forces of team 7, Tsukado, Katazu and Condor managed to gain victory.

Team 7 is on a joint mission with Gaara and two rookies: Korobi and Yaoki. While on their mission, Kakashi senses a group of ninja following them. These Suna ninja were sent to assassinate Gaara. When Gaara was about to be killed by the Suna Assassin Captain, Naruto shows up and saves him. Later that day, the two teams complete their original mission of eliminating some bandits.

After seeing Sakura come down with what she thinks is the chakra virus, Tsunade instructs all medical-nin to apprehend Naruto, thinking that he is the source. Naruto then spends his day trying to escape from countless medical-nin who are shooting at him with Injection Shots. In the end, it turned out that Naruto didn't cause the outbreak, and Sakura just had the flu. When Naruto demands an apology from Tsunade, she merely says that it was an emergency drill and thanked him for cooperating.

Naruto, Shino Aburame, Rock Lee, and team captain Kotetsu Hagane are set out on a mission to retrieve Condor from Training Ground Zero. At first, Naruto has a hard time fighting Condor, who can now use basic ninja fighting skills, and even advanced techniques like the Shadow Clone Technique. In the end, however, his own shadow clones prove to be enough to overpower Condor's clones.

Naruto, Sakura and Ino are sent in Jofuku Forest to deliver a message to Furofuki. On the way there, they were petrified because an old lady from the village's inn said that the place was haunted. Naruto managed to take a sample of Jofuku flower for Lee's special medicine, which he accidentally drank. They then fought a deity representing Gaara, but Naruto managed to defeat it. They arrived at Furofuki's house and completed their mission.

Naruto and Jiraiya have left Konoha to begin their three year journey. As they walk, they talk about Naruto's need to overcome Sasuke's Sharingan. During genjutsu practice, Naruto tries to disrupt his inner chakra flow, but instead, creates a wave of chakra around him thus hitting Gamariki in the physical world. To overcome this part of the training, Jiraiya takes Naruto to the Genjutsu Tree Village. After realising that the village was taken over by Kandachi, Naruto and Jiraiya decide to liberate the village. With the help of Jiraiya and Tanishi's Chilli Pepper Bomb, Naruto eventually defeated Kandachi, and his summon, the Conch King with his Big Ball Rasengan.

Naruto remembers a time when he found a tag with the name Kisuke written on it. When Naruto is sitting in his bed, he sees a man named Kisuke Maboroshi sitting on the other side, and after realising he is a "ghost", he starts screaming. Naruto asks him who he is, but the man does not remember. Naruto (disguised as Kisuke) breaks into a meeting involving Konoha's security system and accuses Sabiru of being a spy. When Sabiru says that the real Kisuke is dead, Naruto escapes with Kakashi and Sabiru in pursuit. At some point in the chase, Kakashi caught Naruto, and gave Naruto a chance to prove Sabiru guilty of the murders of Kisuke and his wife. When Sabiru confessed to Naruto that he did kill the two, Kakashi appeared, ready to arrest him, but was promptly taken out by a hidden Kabuto Yakushi.

Nekobaa hires Team 7 to obtain the paw print of Nekomata in order to complete the Paw Encyclopaedia. Unlike Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto has a hard time infiltrating the cat fortress. He does, however, reach the battle between Sasuke and Nekomata in time to save him. After defeating Nekomata, Sasuke collects the paw print and Team 7 completed their mission.

Naruto goes out on a C-rank mission to guard the Land of Fire's northern border from intruders. He is placed on a team with two jōnin. Also on their squad is a very old man named Kosuke Maruboshi. Later the Land of Fire has been infiltrated by a large group Iwagakure ninja. The two jōnin hold the enemies back while Kosuke and Naruto try to escape. Then the old man tells Naruto to report to the village about the news. Later, when Kosuke was injured, Naruto came and tried to stop the enemy. Kosuke then says he is still able to fight and then defeats the Iwa Kunoichi.

Naruto is seen along with Sasuke and Sakura spying on Kakashi and Hanare. When he causes a branch of a tree they are leaning on to break, the three fall onto Kakashi and Hanare, causing them to accidentally kiss. Later, after cornering him, the Jōmae Village head presumably committed suicide right in front of Team 7.

Naruto and the rest of Team Kakashi are given a mission to retrieve a stolen gold statue from a man named Jakō and his group of bandits. Shortly after ambushing the bandits and taking back the treasure, Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha get hit by Jakō's Chakra Liquid, leaving their hands bound together. After Sakura get captured, he and Sasuke debate whether or not to rescue her or continue the mission. After convincing Sasuke, they meet and defeat Suguro, one of the bandits that took Sakura. Then after locating the rest of the bandits, Naruto and Sasuke defeat them one by one, but unfortunately, they damage the statue in the process. The team now returns to the village with Naruto complaining about how much longer he has to be stuck to Sasuke.

Team Kakashi, along with Team Asuma, go off on a mission where they must save a headman's granddaughter from a gang boss named Baji. When Baji's fortress is infiltrated, he uses his shadow clones to fight off the bandits and overwhelm them. He is then seen celebrating the mission's success with the rest of the groups.

Tsunade assigns Naruto and Sakura to escort Naho to the Shizume village. Along the way, they encounter a criminal named Sadai. Naruto uses his shadow clones to defeat the group, but has trouble defeating Sadai. After being captured, Sasuke arrives and defeats Sadai, but continues to beat him mercilessly, much to Naho's horror, but was then reassured by Naruto that Sasuke was just going through a rough time, and that he will bring him to her as soon as he returns to his former self.

Five Kage Summit Arc
While the exhausted Naruto was returning to the village, Kakashi found him and carried him back. He was greeted by the entire village and celebrated as a hero. Soon afterwards, he learned that Tsunade had been left in a coma as a result of protecting the villagers from Pain. Sakura tried to cheer him up, but her efforts were interrupted by the news that Danzō Shimura has replaced Tsunade as Hokage and has ordered that Sasuke be executed as a traitor to the village. Naruto and Sakura questioned Sai about Danzō, hoping to learn how they can change his mind, but Sai was unable to help them. Their questions gained the attention of two Kumo-nin, Karui and Omoi. They told Naruto and Sakura about Sasuke's work with Akatsuki and demanded any information that might be useful in killing him. To spare Sakura from having to help them, Naruto volunteered, but ultimately could not bring himself to sell out Sasuke. He offered to allow the Kumo-nin to take their anger out on him by beating him up, and they gladly accepted before being stopped by Sai.

While Naruto recovered from his injuries, he asked Yamato and Kakashi to take him to the Land of Iron so that he could ask the Fourth Raikage to forgive Sasuke. Yamato and Kakashi agreed, but when they arrived and spoke with the Raikage, the Raikage refused his request and berated Naruto for standing up for a criminal. Naruto went to a local inn to consider what to do next, where he was soon confronted by Tobi, who asked how he could get Nagato to change his mind. Naruto ignored the question and asked Tobi about his plans with Sasuke. Tobi told him about the Sage of the Six Paths, the Uchiha clan, and the truth about the Uchiha clan massacre, all of which now drove Sasuke along a path of vengeance. Naruto insisted that that he could still get through to Sasuke, but Tobi laughed and left, saying that Naruto and Sasuke are fated to fight again.

Naruto began practising with Sage Mode, hoping to extend the reach of his sensory skills and thus find Sasuke. Sakura interrupted him, having come to the Land of Iron to speak with him. She told him that she loved him and she no longer had any feelings for Sasuke. Naruto, who was sure Sakura was still in love with Sasuke, didn't believe her and said she was lying to herself. Angered by this, Sakura insisted she was telling the truth and that he therefore doesn't need to fulfil his earlier promise of bringing Sasuke home. Naruto said his actions had nothing to do with the promise and that he just wanted to save Sasuke, choosing not to reveal what Madara had said about the Uchiha clan. Sakura then left with the others, saying she was going home.

One of Sai's ink clones later approached Naruto, telling him, Kakashi, and Yamato about Sakura and the rest of the Konoha 11's decision to kill Sasuke to prevent him from involving Konoha in another war, and also mentioned that he thinks Sakura is still in love with Sasuke and wanted to be the one to stop him from sinking any lower. Gaara also appeared, who told them about the Fourth Shinobi World War and the decision to protect Naruto from Akatsuki. Gaara pleaded with Naruto to think about all of the people who will be fighting the likes of Sasuke on his behalf and, as Sasuke's friend, to do what was best given his actions. When Gaara left, Naruto considered what everyone had told him and started hyperventilating. He passed out and when he woke up, he discovered from Yamato that Kakashi had gone to stop Sakura and deal with Sasuke.

Using a shadow clone as a decoy, Naruto escaped from Yamato and pursued Kakashi using his Sage Mode to follow the latter's chakra. He arrived just in time to save Sakura from being killed by Sasuke. Naruto made a last attempt to reason with his former friend, sympathising with his pain and acknowledging Itachi's sacrifice. However, Sasuke was unmoved and made his resolve to destroy Konoha clear. Shocked by the depths of his hatred, Kakashi resolved to kill Sasuke, but was stopped by Naruto, who instead fought Sasuke head-on, matching his Rasengan with the latter's Chidori. Both survived the clash, with Madara and Zetsu coming to Sasuke's aid. Before Sasuke left, Naruto noted that they had both become top-class ninja, and if they ever fought again, they would both die. He nevertheless accepted such an outcome, since it would at least enable him to shoulder Sasuke's hatred alone. In answer, Sasuke declared that he had no intention to die, and promised to kill Naruto first. He left with Tobi, and Naruto returned to Konoha with his team-mates, bearing Karin as a captive. in the anime Naruto, Karin and the rest of Sakura's team rest while Kakashi sends his ninken to the other Hidden Villages.

Upon returning to the village, Naruto explained the situation to his friends. When he insisted to handle Sasuke alone, Neji and Shikamaru said it was foolish not to finish Sasuke when he was already weakened from his fight against the other Kage and Danzō, but Naruto explained that at his current level, he wouldn't be able to kill Sasuke. As Shikamaru berated Naruto for taking all this on his own, Naruto dismissed this and headed off to Ramen Ichiraku. Sakura realised Naruto was hiding something however, remembering what he said to Sasuke directly.