Naruto is an extremely popular martial arts fantasy manga series. It is written and drawn by the Japanese artist Masashi Kishimoto. Manga are Japanese comics. “Naruto” was published in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2014. The series tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous young ninja with the power of a fox spirit sealed inside him. Fox spirits are trickster figures in Japanese mythology . Naruto dreams of earning the title of hokage, the leader of his village. “Naruto” is known for its dramatic storyline, balanced with humor, and its detailed action scenes. The series has been collected into 72 volumes.
Naruto is an orphan who lives in the fictional village of Konohagakure. To save the village from a destructive nine-tailed fox, a powerful ninja seals the fox’s spirit inside the infant Naruto. The villagers then shun Naruto. The great ninja Kakashi trains Naruto to become a disciplined warrior. Naruto befriends many young ninjas, including the flirtatious Sakura Haruno. He also finds a friend and rival in the moody Sasuke Uchiha. The series follows Naruto as he matures and earns the trust of Konohagakure’s people. He also masters several mystical powers called techniques. For example, the shadow clone technique enables Naruto to create dozens of doubles of himself. And the Rasengan technique produces a powerful ball of hand-held energy that can be slammed into an enemy.
Kishimoto originally created the single-episode manga “Naruto,” published in the magazine Akamaru Jump in 1997. He reworked its setting and characters to create the “Naruto” series. Kishimoto also wrote the series “Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring” (2015). It is a sequel (continuation) of the original “Naruto” series. Another sequel series, “Boruto: Naruto Next Generations,” began publication in 2016. It follows the adventures of Naruto’s son, Boruto. In addition, “Naruto” has led to two comical spin-off series, “Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals” (2010-2014) and “Naruto: Chibi Sasuke’s Sharingan Legend” (2014-2017).
Several famous series of anime (Japanese cartoons) are based on the “Naruto” manga. The anime series “Naruto” (2002-2007) tells the story of Naruto as a young boy. Its sequel, “Naruto Shippuden” (2007-2017), follows him as a young adult. An anime version of “Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” began in 2017. “Naruto” has also inspired several motion pictures and video games.
