Naruto: Shippuden

Naruto: Shippuden is the second anime series in the Naruto story, and it is much longer than the first. It aired in Japan from February 2007 to March 2017 and has 500 episodes. Studio Pierrot made it again, with Hayato Date as director. The show covers Part II of Masashi Kishimoto's manga, when the main characters are teenagers instead of kids. The music was written by Yasuharu Takanashi. Many viewers say this series feels darker and more serious than the first one, and critics praised its better animation.

The story begins after a break of two and a half years. During that time, Naruto Uzumaki left the Hidden Leaf Village to train with Jiraiya, a famous ninja and one of the three legendary Sannin. Now Naruto comes home taller, stronger, and still full of energy. He finds that his friends have grown too. Sakura Haruno has trained under Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, and has become a skilled medical ninja who can also hit very hard. Their teacher Kakashi Hatake is still around to lead them on missions.

One person is missing, though. Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto's old teammate and rival, left the village years ago to gain power from Orochimaru, a snake-like rogue ninja who does cruel experiments. Sasuke cares about only one thing: getting revenge on his older brother, Itachi. Naruto made a promise to Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back home. Keeping that promise is one of the main goals that drives him through this series.

A new danger also rises. A secret group of strong criminal ninja called the Akatsuki wears black cloaks with red clouds. Their plan is to hunt the jinchuriki, which are people who carry a giant tailed beast sealed inside them. Naruto is one of these people, because the Nine-Tailed Fox lives inside him. This means the Akatsuki want him too. The very first story arc shows the group attacking Gaara, Naruto's former enemy who is now the leader of the Sand Village and who also carries a tailed beast. Naruto and his team rush out to help him.

Over many arcs, the show grows much bigger in scale. We meet more villages, more history about the ninja world, and many new friends and villains. The series spends time on questions like why wars happen, why people hate each other, and whether the cycle of hate can ever be broken. Naruto learns more about his own past and about the fox inside him. At the same time, many side characters from the first series get their own chances to shine.

Like the first show, Shippuden has a number of filler episodes that are not in the manga, so some fans skip them. Even so, it became one of the most watched anime in the world. It has huge battles, emotional moments, and famous opening songs. For many fans, Shippuden is the part of the story where Naruto truly grows up and shows what kind of hero he wants to be.