With precisely 500 episodes, the animation series Naruto: Shippuden is mainly based on Part II of Masashi Kishimoto’s classic manga. It follows the ninja kid Naruto Uzumaki and his allies in the Naruto universe and is set two years after the original series. Hayato Date is the show’s director, and Pierrot also TV Tokyo is in charge of production. It aired on TV Tokyo on February 15, 2007, and ended on March 23, 2017. Naruto: Shippuden tracks Sakura and Naruto’s adventure more than two years after the original of the first Naruto series came to a close.
The primary focus of Shippuden is Team 7’s search for Sasuke and attempt to return him to the Dark Leaf Village. When we last saw him, Sasuke and Naruto were engaged in a fierce battle at the Valley of the End, after which Sasuke fled to join Orochimaru and continue his training to master the usage of his curse mark. Because although Naruto: Shippuden receives far higher accolades than the first season of the anime, it occasionally has some incredibly subpar episodes.
1. Naruto Vs. Mecha Naruto (Season 17 – Episode 16)
Mecha-Naruto overwhelms Shikamaru, who continues to pursue the gang while launching missiles. Chi tries to divert Mecha-Naruto with his Human Bullet Tank but ultimately fails. Kiba and Akamaru change into two-headed wolves and use the Fang Crossing Fang to attack, but the mecha can quickly stop them. Due to no one holding the palanquin, it tips over while carrying Naruto. The next participant is Neji, who uses his Eight Trigrams Fingers Revolving Heaven. Without success, Mecha-Naruto tries to laser-blast the revolving shield. Mecha-Naruto finally breaks through after outpacing Neji’s technique with great speed, eliminating him and Yamato. Kakashi makes an unsuccessful attempt to take down the mecha with his Sharingan. Gaara makes it there in time to help Naruto, just as his mechanized copy has him trapped. Deidara shows in and teases the young guy as he is ready to break Mecha-arm; Naruto’s making the Kazekage go after him.
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2. The Forgotten Island (Season 11 – Episode 5)
As they travel to the Land of Lightning, a vast bird soars down and kidnaps Guy. As they follow the bird, the gang ends up on a volcanic island. As Yamato and Naruto look for Guy, Aoba notices a strange girl watching them from a distance and resolves to pursue her. Naruto and Yamato see a variety of enormous creatures while searching, such as the bird that snatched Guy. They ultimately find the bird’s nest, where Guy—who was abducted to watch the bird’s chicks—is waiting for them. As Aoba chases the girl, he learns that the island’s animals were raised for shinobi to utilize as a summons and for study towards creating the Ultimate Summoning Beast. He follows her as she leads him deeper into the volcano, where they discover a massive creature dozing off in a defunct research facility. He learns the monster was too strong to be confined and had devoured several of the island’s summons in addition to the researchers before falling asleep and using the Psycho Mind Transmission technique.
3. The Directive To Take The Nine Tails (Season 17 – Episode 15)
Lightning strikes inside an underground bunker, igniting Orochimaru’s experiment. Orochimaru’s strategy backfires, though, when the investigation hits him and starts to demolish the structure, forcing him with Kabuto to flee. The following day, Itachi & Kisame return to their leader, Pain, with the broken experiment they discovered in the wrecked building. Pain makes repairs and new additions to it in an underground Akatsuki lair using the King of Hell. The Akatsuki chief then gives Itachi the order to catch the Nine-Tails while bringing along the recently repaired experiment, which is now covered by a cloak.
As soon as he gets close to Konohagakure, Itachi commands the city to catch Naruto. It starts looking for Naruto, attacks several villagers, and eventually overpowers Team Guy. To put a stop to it and return to his training, Naruto himself appears. With his army of clones, Naruto assaults the research, but it comfortably fends off the attack. Its cloak is torn apart by a hit from Naruto, who is then shown to be Mecha-Naruto, a mechanical copy of himself. Naruto begins having his Nine-Tails chakra drained by Mecha-Naruto, which weakens him. When Kakashi & Yamato arrive, Kakashi uses his.
4. The Battleship Island (Season 11 – Episode 4)
Pirates who intended to wreck their ship and steal the treasure from the debris assaulted Naruto Uzumaki and his companions as they sailed into the Land of Lightning. However, the boat is rescued thanks to some quick thinking on the part of Yamato and the early warning from one of the sensor-type shinobi, and they dock in a cavern below ground. There they discover a graveyard and a journal detailing the mistreatment of the native islanders by the evil Gataro and his supporters. Hearing this, Naruto swears vengeance for the dead and devises a cunning plan to free them from the enormous geyser they were trapped in. Konoha shinobi and their crew could leave the island by using Naruto’s dream, defeating Gataro and his troops.
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5. Animal District (Season 9 – Episode 10)
An ostrich called Condor tells three baby ostriches about how he once had a competitor called Naruto who constantly attempted to hinder his freedom as Konoha started to rebuild after Pain’s attack.
Condor managed to escape when Team 7 had him captured and learned ninjutsu to defend himself. Tsunade sent a group, including Naruto, Shino, Lee, and team leader Kotetsu, to get him from the Zeroth Training Ground. When they noticed him, Shino tried to capture Condor, but all of his bugs were devoured by plant-eating insects. The group chose to flee when Kotetsu & Naruto could not beat Condor, and a boxing kangaroo defeated Lee. However, Condor and his group, the Four Ninja Animal Warriors, discovered them and attacked the shinobi after finding them.
While Lee fought the boxing kangaroo and its joey, Shino dealt with the anteater that had been eating his insects. Condor defeated Kotetsu while shadow clones made by Condor battled Naruto and his clones. Kotetsu could only think of his partner, Izumo, and their shared dream of becoming jinin during what he believed to be his final events. Conch Shell Mace and the Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field were used by Izumo and Kotetsu to defeat Condor and return him to Konoha at that precise moment. Izumo had been angry that Tsunade did not send him along with Kotetsu.
6. The Ninja Of Benisu (Season 11 – Episode 2)
Naruto, Yamato, Guy, & Aoba have an island stopover at sea to recover from severe motion sickness. They unintentionally run with Sakura, Ino, and Chi there, who are on a mission to gather medicinal herbs for the impending battle under the direction of Tsunade. The ninja of Benisu Island are indeed gathering medicinal plants, and they have already collected practically all of the plants on the island. They plan to sell these plants to raise money for their tribe. The Benisu ninja decides to donate to Konoha half of something like the herbs they gathered as a gesture of thanks after meeting Naruto in a cave on the island and saving them for free.
7. Jiraiya Ninja Scrolls: The Tale Of Naruto The Hero – The Sealed Power (Season 20 – Episode 6)
The Infinite Tsukuyomi captures Tsunade. She has a dream in which Jiraiya’s most recent piece is delivered to her, and she remembers while he was still creating it. She starts to read it. In the book, Team Kakashi member Naruto resides in Konohagakure. As during Nine-Tailed Demon Fox’s Attack, half of the Nine-Tails were sealed within his mother and a half into him; his parents did not perish. Although they don’t like Naruto, they respect him because he is the Fourth Hokage’s son. Due to this, Naruto frequently receives accusations of favouritism, which infuriates him.
The Uchiha Clan’s demise was also prevented since Minato and Hiruzen were successful in their discussions; as a result, neither Itachi nor Sasuke left the town. Nagato, who survived his attack on Konoha and subsequently joined Naruto, starts to understand when to use the chakra of the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails didn’t want to leave Naruto but instead guided him in learning how to handle it by informing him when it was too early for him to use it or when he was too enraged to do so during the struggle with the Six Paths of Pain.
The genin teams returned to the village after getting their team leaders, and Minato chose not to penalize them for rebelling because their actions made the mission successful. Sasuke begins training with Kakashi to master the Chidori after receiving a reprimand from his father and discussing the relationship between the Uchiha and the village with his brother. To improve the Rasengan, Naruto trains alongside Jiraiya and Minato. Sasuke begins to treat his team members with contempt as he grows more envious of Naruto’s might and, after being restrained by Minato during a fight with Naruto, requests his father to have him reassigned from Team 7 to the Konoha Military Police Force.
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8. Eat Or Die! Mushrooms From Hell (Season 11 – Episode 7)
Naruto and the others make a pit stop at a nearby port on their way to the Land of Lightning to resupply and get ready to cross the Sea Route of Silence, a two-week voyage through an area devoid of wind and fish. A mushroom Naruto bought from a vegetable vendor starts to grow in the hold and absorb Yamato’s chakra while consuming all the water and food on the ship. After struggling for a while without food, Naruto & Guy finally give in and eat the mushrooms, but they are poisoned and become self-conscious, which leads to a match between the two. Naruto summons Gamatatsu and instructs him to beg Shima for some of her insect cookeries as they disgorge the mushrooms. Assuming that everyone has been killed, the merchant & his gang board the ship. They are overpowered by the Konoha shinobi, who then ship them back through the Sea Route of Silence with only the mouldering mushroom for nourishment. Guy gets seasick as they leave the route, but Yamato can overcome his brief illness.
9. The Cursed Ghost Ship (Season 11 – Episode 3)
Naruto, Aoba, Guy, & Yamato continue on their journey toward the Land of Lightning while sailing in a dense fog. Yamato entertains Aoba and Naruto by telling them some ghost stories, much more to Naruto’s chagrin. One of which talks of a ship, the crew of which is made up of ghosts, which appears in thick fogs, such as the one they were passing through at the moment, and which is recognized by the squadrons of crows that accompany it. Yamato assures Naruto that there are no ghost ships after telling the story. Still, a short while later, a nearly deserted boat with identical features and circumstances appears next to their craft. When Yamato, Aoba, and Naruto onboard the ship to conduct their investigation, Naruto encounters a little kid who claims to be Hishaku.
He seems to have lived alone and cared for the boat, albeit he had once been a crew member before a monster Hishaku nicknamed the “Giant Corpse Crab” wiped them off. After that, the beast strikes the boat and captures Yamato. Naruto then instructs Aoba to alert Guy and the remainder of the crew. After Naruto and Hishaku destroy the Skeleton Crab, Hishaku confesses that he is a ghost. When the crab attacked for the first moment, the captain advised Hishaku to save himself because he was young. Since then, Hishaku’s soul has been unable to relax because it feels terrible for allowing its crew members to perish. Hishaku’s spirit, along with the souls of the other crew members who were unable to sleep, abandoned the ship—which was a “ghost ship”—when the crab was killed.
10. The Closed Route (Season 11 – Episode 9)
Shikamaru starts to feel the strain of having to protect his friends’ lives in the impending Fourth Shinobi World War. Shikaku takes his son and Tenten on a trip to Mokuzu Island to refill supplies to relieve his stress. Shikamaru catches up with Naruto’s gang on the island. Soon after they sail, the surrounding fog grows more profound as they repeatedly run into reef systems, a giant boulder, and whirlpools. Shikamaru determines that their ship is circling the bay and orders Naruto and his companions to sail directly for it and get sucked up. When the criminal notices the ship is in trouble, he sends his crew to the location to rob the debris. They defeat the criminals after stowing the ship inside Tenten’s scroll.
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11. Sasuke’s Paw Encyclopedia (Season 9 – Episode 14)
A cat visits Nekobaa, and when it sees a picture of Team 7, it comments on Sasuke. Previously, Team 7 (without Kakashi) had been hired by Nekobaa to obtain a pawprint from Nekomata, the head of the ninja cat underworld. Sasuke chose to accomplish the task because Itachi had initially given it to him to test his strength, and he wanted to show that he could outperform Itachi’s expectations. Sasuke became enraged when Itachi’s name was mentioned when they were at Nekobaa. Nekobaa informed Naruto and Sakura that Itachi had previously given Sasuke the responsibility of gathering feline paw prints, which she then organized into a Paw Encyclopaedia. The three genin were given cat ears so they could fool other cats into believing they were cats not only too, but also so they could comprehend cat communication. They were tasked with breaking into Nekomata’s citadel to obtain his pawprint. Sasuke and Sakura snuck in covertly and split to cover more ground as Naruto regained his cat ears.
All of Nekomata’s bodyguards were quickly dispatched by Sasuke before he could confront the ninja cat, who encased him in a genjutsu. Sasuke could escape the genjutsu and avoid most of Nekomata’s blows by using his Sharingan. Sasuke was about to be crushed by Nekomata when Naruto and Sakura showed up and saved him.
12. Fight! Rock Lee (Season 11 – Episode 6)
In his dream, Lee uses his Drunken Fist to defeat Tobi. When he wakes up, he criticizes himself for falling asleep while practising for the upcoming battle. When Lee sees a small boat, he wonders if he may finally put the lessons Guy had attempted to teach him so long ago to use. Guy, who is experiencing seasickness elsewhere, chooses to share a tale with Naruto about him, Lee, & seasickness. Guy brought Lee out to dinner after he had mastered the Reverse Lotus. While there, Lee inadvertently drank some beer and used his Drunken Fist to wreck the establishment. The guy could only recall pleading with the restaurant owner on his knees the previous night. He took Lee out now to perfect “image training” to make Lee forget the shameful conduct forever because he didn’t want Lee to remember it.
Guy used the excuse that it was Seasickness Fist as Lee started recalling the Drunken Fist. Lee told Guy that he was pleased by his sensei’s words and deeds the night before, and Guy and Lee could remember all of their recollections from that prior evening. Guy told Lee to use the seasickness in place of alcohol to master the Drunken Fist because he was a natural at it. Lee was able to do this.
13. Inari’s Courage Put To The Test (Season 9 – Episode 5)
The people of Konoha start to rebuild, and Yamato greatly hastens the process with his Wood Release: Serial Pillar Houses Technique. While quietly musing that she is the person who needs comforting, Sakura comforts Naruto when he inquires about Tsunade’s well-being. Old friends Inari & Tazuna, who have travelled from the Land of Waves to assist in rebuilding Konoha, suddenly interrupt the two while deep in concentration. Inari and Naruto reminisce about their last encounter, and Inari says that Sakura has become more attractive. Naruto discovered that he had misplaced his voucher for a free bowl of ramen at Ichiraku’s after they finished their assignment and assumed he had left it at Tazuna’s residence after they departed the Land of Waves.
Kakashi instructed Sasuke to fetch him back as he and Sakura headed back to Konoha. As he hurried back to the village. Tazuna discovered the coupon and gave it to Inari, who identified it as belonging to Naruto. After defeating Gat, Inari left to return the coupon to Naruto but was ambushed by Akane, Yamabuki, and their friend. They teased Inari for being haughty because Team 7 was no longer there to defend him.
Sri and Waraji overheard them, two of Gat’s former supporters, who then abducted the boys after waiting for Team 7 to leave so they could go on their operations. Inari risked his own life at their hideout to assist his friends’ escape so they could get back to the community. Naruto had encountered Tazuna in the meanwhile, who had informed him that Inari had proceeded to retrieve the coupon. Sasuke noted that there was obvious evidence of a scuffle and that Naruto had discovered his voucher on the ground close to the wood. The two thugs that Naruto earlier fought left their mark on the trees in the form of slash marks.
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14. The Young Man And The Sea (Season 11 – Episode 1)
To keep Naruto concealed and away from the Akatsuki, Tsunade sends him to the Land of Lightning under the pretence of an S-rank mission. With Aoba, Yamato, Guy, & three unknown shinobi, Naruto departs from Konoha. They are, however, delayed at the port because people are terrified to set sail after hearing reports of a monster attacking ships. When Guy & Aoba set out to try and address the issue, they come upon a hostile gigantic marlin and a fisherman named Yusuke. Yusuke informs them that the marlin has been living in their waters for 15 years and that he wants to exact revenge on them for the loss of his father. Yamato utilizes his Wood Release to create a boat and a fishing pole using Guy providing the power.
In contrast, Guy utilizes his Eight Gates to stay current with the marlin to aid Yamato in his mission. Yusuke believes his wrath is done after exhausting the marlin and defeating it. The jinn is perplexed as to why the marlin, which they assume to be a summon from the Third Shinobi World War, has not yet vanished. When Naruto sees a Fuma Shuriken implanted close to the creature’s head, he pulls it out. The marlin returns home after being relieved of its torment. The port’s crew and fisherman may set sail once more, and Naruto waves Ysuke off as he travels to the Land of Lightning.
15. Gutsy Master And Student: The Training (Season 9 – Episode 12)
Jiraiya visits Naruto when he is in the hospital, healing from his wounds from the battle with Sasuke, and informs him that they will be leaving Konoha for three years to practice as soon as he is released. Jiraiya suggests that Naruto focus all his training on fending off the Akatsuki and that pursuing Sasuke would be foolish; yet, Naruto proudly admits that he is a fool. The two embark on their quest as Naruto becomes better. Jiraiya tries to instruct Naruto on how to free himself from a genjutsu illusion in another scene because Sasuke is probably using his Sharingan to learn genjutsu.
Jiraiya reflects on how he informed Naruto that the Fourth Hokage looked a lot like him while he trains all night, and he remembers Naruto’s parents, Minato and Kushina. The following day, Jiraiya sends Gamariki to Naruto to administer his Genjutsu Kiss while encouraging him to spin his chakra inside to disrupt his chakra flow and escape the genjutsu. Instead, Naruto strikes Gamariki by rotating his chakra externally. Jiraiya and Naruto travel to the Genjutsu Tree Village, in which the trees emit a magnetic field that stimulates genjutsu to hone Naruto’s abilities.
However, they find that Kandachi, who killed Sukune, the village’s previous leader, has taken control of the entire community and is holding the women and kids captive. To overcome Kandachi, Naruto assumes the form of Tanishi. This youngster had alerted them to the village’s emergency and tied up Jiraiya while claiming to have captured Jiraiya as his prisoner. The two are then led to the lake, Kandachi’s home, and the prison, where the inmates are kept.
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16. Naruto’s School Of Revenge (Season 9 – Episode 6)
Sakura is reminded of when Naruto was just an obnoxious kid whose pranks were troublesome but amusing as Tazuna starts to commend Naruto for his deeds and hail him as a hero. Condor, an ostrich, was to be cared after by Team 7. Sasuke had complained about the assignment, saying he had completed similar tasks in the past while taking care of a puppy and a cat. They saw a vengeance happening in the centre of the road among Tsukado and Katazu as they moved closer to a settlement. Naruto chose to train Tsukada because he had failed to kill Katazu. Naruto realized Katazu was not retaliating when a gang leader called Kanabun rearranged the fight.
Once Naruto stopped the conflict, the truth was revealed. Tsukasa was ordered to kill Katazu by his family as retaliation for killing his family friend; however, Katazu disclosed that the relative with his twin brother was engaged in a conflict, claiming that the relative’s death was an accident. He had decided to pose as his brother and be slain on his behalf because he had a wife and a new baby.
While Team 7 assisted them in taking down the enraged Kanabun and his crew, the two decided to stop fighting. Sasuke refuted Naruto’s notion that retribution and vendettas are useless on the trip back to Konoha, saying that Naruto would never truly comprehend the significance of a rivalry. Kakashi approaches the group when he has finished his reverie and thanks Tazuna and Inari for coming to assist. When Tazuna inquires as to Sasuke’s whereabouts, Sakura breaks down, and Kakashi struggles to come up with a response. To protect the two, Naruto decides to say that he and Sasuke fought and that, as a result, Sasuke left the village; however, he vows to find Sasuke soon so that he can be with Tazuna and Inari again; Sakura intellectually thanks Naruto for handling the matter, and Tazuna wonders whether the three of them should be together again.
17. The Worst Three Legged Race (Season 9 – Episode 19)
Sakura and Naruto witness Kiba and Akamaru distributing goods to villagers. When they were younger, Naruto & Sasuke were inseparable. After Sakura remarked on this, Naruto suddenly remembered those early days when they embarked on a quest to recover a golden statue that had been taken from a daimyo’s sister by a gang of thieves. Sakura is kidnapped as Naruto and Sasuke go to get the figure. Sasuke initially pushed for the mission to proceed, but Naruto reminded him that Kakashi claimed people who desert their teammates are more dangerous than scum. It was initially challenging because their hands were glued together when they eventually located Sakura and the bandits. However, after learning how to fight together, the two easily defeated the bandits and their leader, Jako.
The statue was severely damaged even though their mission had succeeded, but Kakashi recommended melting it down and casting it again. To the two’s disappointment, Sakura predicted that Naruto’s hand would break and fall apart after two or three days when he complained that it was glued to Sasuke’s. Naruto had to use the restroom twice. To Sakura’s dismay, Naruto said it was okay because they had already urinated together, much to Sasuke’s horror at the suggestion. Kakashi was happy that the two were living examples of the shinobi maxim, “Never leave a friend behind.”
18. Road To Sakura (Season 13 – Episode 11)
Ino sees a bright light & hears a scream as she strolls through the village’s surrounding woodland while deliberating what she should do with her day off. She notices her pal Sakura falling from the skies when she looks up. She discovers Sakura unresponsive on a tree branch and rushes to save her. Sakura is then brought back to Konoha by Ino, who asks Tsunade to check on her. After noticing that Sakura had amnesia, they get into a funny argument wherein Sakura unequivocally calls Tsunade’s breasts enormous (and expresses the suspicion that Tsunade had artificially enlarged them) and Shizune’s underdeveloped. This leads to Ino having to stop people from hitting Sakura in the head further and reminding people of her condition.
Sakura observes that the other Konoha 11 members appear faintly familiar but not precisely as she recalls them as they pass through the hamlet. Everyone tries to portray themselves the way Sakura remembers them, which is quite different from their current personas, but this effort eventually fails to awaken her recollection. Later, when Sakura discovers that the chain of a cherry blossom she was wearing around her neck is missing, she and Ino start frantically looking for it. Sakura is eventually found by her parents, Kizashi and Mebuki, and her father gives her the pendant that she had left at their doorway.
As she recalls pieces of her past, Sakura tears up and rushes to her parent’s arms. Her parents are greatly perplexed by this, yet they nonetheless tell her to return home later before leaving. After assuring Ino that it was likely she wasn’t the Sakura she knew, Sakura suddenly vanishes in a flash of light, leaving Ino utterly bewildered and wondering which Sakura she knew had gone.
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