Naruto Uzumaki (Finished)

As the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails, both Naruto's mind and body are occasionally influenced by it. Physically, Naruto has some of the fox's characteristics, such as whisker-like marks on his cheeks and larger than normal canines, which become enhanced further during his transformations. He also has increased stamina and healing abilities, which allows him to recover from major injuries usually within a day, and minor injuries within a few seconds. Mentally, Naruto remains largely unaffected, save for a few animalistic traits that slip through, such as his occasional tendency to leap between trees on all fours. Since the Nine-Tails was sealed inside Naruto at birth, it is unclear just what parts of his personality it has had an effect on; however, it could explain Naruto's impish side for pulling pranks to gain attention, as well as his stubbornness to never back down from a challenge.

Naruto's normal chakra level is considered extremely high, partially because of the Nine-Tails. Even without directly drawing upon it, a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra is always mixed with his own. Jiraiya once commented upon the fact that Naruto's body is much too small a vessel to properly contain the chakra of the Nine-Tails, and his body will instinctively reject the bulk of it due to the damage it would cause. Ebisu implied that Naruto's poor chakra control stems from this, as a portion of his chakra is used to reject the Nine-Tails' overwhelming chakra. What chakra that does not get suppressed by Naruto's body is assimilated by his chakra, making Naruto's usual chakra capacity unusually high. According to Kakashi, Naruto's regular chakra level is about four times of Kakashi's own. As such, he is naturally suited to jutsu that use a large amount of chakra, such as his signature jutsu, Shadow Clone Technique. While most ninja are only capable of creating a few clones safely, due to the jutsu's hazard of equally dividing the user's chakra among the clones, Naruto is able to create hundreds while maintaining a decent supply of chakra in each one.
The Nine-Tails' chakra usually comes to Naruto during life-threatening or other stressful situations, given to him by the Nine-Tails itself to ensure its survival. Naruto eventually learns to contact the Nine-Tails and demand some of its chakra, which it seems to comply to out of amusement. The reason Naruto is able to access its chakra is because of the unique way in which it was sealed. Though the Nine-Tails remains trapped within Naruto, its chakra can leak out through the seal and mix with Naruto's. The Nine-Tails' near-limitless supply of chakra becomes an invaluable weapon for Naruto, often turning the tide of a difficult battle in his favor. Though useful, expanding the magnitude of his other abilities, Naruto cannot handle too much of the Nine-Tails' influence. As he draws upon additional amounts of the Nine-Tails' chakra, "tails" are produced, and from the fourth tail onwards he is reduced to animal instincts, no longer being able to differentiate between friend and foe. Although he usually stops himself from getting too far, once the fourth tail is attained he needs outside assistance to force the Nine-Tails' influence to recede.
Part I





Team picture for Team 7.




See also: Plot of Naruto The series begins with 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 jutsu written on 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, realizing 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 realized 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 and became his on-off teacher, showing him how to perform a variety of both perverted and useful jutsu 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 realized that there was more to this mission than a simple escort. Tazuna revealed that his country was under the control of Gato, 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 Gato, prompting Gato 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 Gato'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's first use of the Nine-Tails' chakra.




Naruto went to help Sasuke in his battle with Haku, but they were both trapped by Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors (because Naruto was an idiot and thought it'd be a good idea to "sneak in to help"). 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 realized 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 Gato 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, so Team 7 (with a recovered Sasuke) returned home.
Chunin Exam arc



After returning home and completing a few other simple missions, Team 7 was entered into the Chunin 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 realized this, Naruto did not, and struggled to answer the questions, which were far beyond his comprehension. Hinata Hyuga, 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 immobilized 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, Team 7 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.




Naruto vs. Kiba and Akamaru.




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 blew off, immobilizing Kiba and his heightened sense of smell, and making him an easy target for the Uzumaki Naruto Combo. Naruto won the match.

While watching the remaining matches, Naruto witnessed Neji Hyuga's ruthless treatment of his cousin, Hinata. Angered by Neji's actions, and his claims that Hinata was a failure who couldn't escape that 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. Although having little success at first, Naruto was eventually able to summon the likes of Gamabunta in time for the final round.




Naruto vs. Neji.




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, revitalized, 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 One-Tailed Shukaku sealed within him, 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 jutsu to reseal the Shukaku, and they exchanged final blows, Naruto emerging the final blow. Both of them, being very exausted, falls on the floor, Naruto crawling his way towards Gaara. Gaara is shocked to see why Naruto was so strong. Naruto explains that he has also suffered a relentless lonely life, but was later saved by having friends. Gaara understands, and retreats with Kankuro and Temari, while Naruto is returned back to Konohagakure with Sakura and Sasuke.
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 jutsu. Along the way, they were met by Kisame and Itachi, 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 organization 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 jutsu 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 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. He agreed, and started practicing, but in a week's time still had yet to finish the training. Disappointed, Tsunade met with Orochimaru, the murderer of the Third Hokage, and Naruto and Jiraiya tried to stop her from helping him.

Tsunade turned out to have no intention of helping Orochimaru, and fought him and his assistant, Kabuto. When Kabuto left her unable to fight, Naruto came to her aid. By using shadow clones to help him form it, Naruto was able to hit Kabuto with a perfected Rasengan, 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.
Sasuke Retrieval arc



After returning with Tsunade, Sasuke began to fall into the corruption set in place for him by Orochimaru. He began lashing out at Sakura and Naruto, not as teammates 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. 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. When he 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 in his one-tailed form, forming the Demon Fox Rasengan.




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 to 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. 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 and Sasuke with his Chidori. Sasuke struck Naruto, and effectively defeated him. After staring at Naruto's unconscious body, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, and he simply continued on his way.
Although he failed to retrieve Sasuke, Naruto vowed to Sakura that he would someday bring Sasuke home.
Filler arcs



See also: Anime Exclusive Arcs

After the anime of Naruto 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.
Part II



See also: Plot of Naruto: Shippūden
Rescue Gaara arc





Naruto in Part II.




When Naruto returned to Konoha, the remaining members of Team 7 were reorganized 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 Chunin-rank, 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 Mangekyo 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 Shukaku into Gaara in the first place. To make up for what she had done, Chiyo, with the help of Naruto, restored Gaara to life, at the cost of her own. Gaara awakened surrounded by friends, and, after Chiyo's funeral, Naruto and Gaara finally shake hands (Gaara insisting), as a sign to their close relationship. Afterwards, Naruto and the gang went back to Konoha.
Sai and Sasuke arc





The reborn Team Kakashi.




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 hospitalized from overuse of the Mangekyo 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 a three-tailed transformation, and attacked him.




Naruto in his four-tailed transformation.




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 the 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 organize 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, in his inability to compete with Sasuke's growth, struggled to reject the Nine-Tails. Within his subconscious, he told it that he never wanted its assistance again, but it was not until Sasuke entered Naruto's subconscious that the Nine-Tails gave up on spreading its influence. In the real world, Sasuke tried to finish off his former, defeated teammates. He was stopped by Orochimaru, however, and they retreated, leaving Team Yamato to return home.
Fire Temple 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 Fuka, 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 jutsu. 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 Fuka. 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 realized that Fuka 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 Fuka'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 jutsu. In the anime, this training began before, and continued throughout, the Fire Temple 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.




Naruto preparing to fight Kakuzu with his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.




While he struggled to create his new Rasengan, the rest of Konoha mobilized 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 jutsu, 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 retuning to Konoha, Naruto was forbidden by Tsunade to use the Rasenshuriken again. While it was devastating to his opponents, it was equally devastating to the arms he used it with, endangering him and his hopes of remaining a ninja. Naruto said that he realized this, but claimed he understood his own body better than anyone else.
Three-Tails Arrival 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 jutsu. 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 neighboring town to teach Naruto how to use collaboration jutsu with toads. Gamariki was initially summoned to help in this endeavor, 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 synchronized jutsu with Gamakichi and Gamatatsu. Jiraiya was soon called away, so they returned to Konoha, where Naruto taught Gamatatsu how to perform water-based jutsu. 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-Tailed Giant Turtle, 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 jutsu turned out to be a perfect counter to Guren's crystal jutsu. 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 realized 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.
Hunt for Itachi 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 before he could be captured.




Naruto caught in Itachi's genjutsu.




After regrouping and picking 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 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. Having lost the trail, the Konoha ninja were forced to give up the search.
Senjutsu Training 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, and departed. 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, Naruto helped to decipher Jiraiya's dying message with Shikamaru. 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 harmonize 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 harmonizing 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, and used 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 mobilized for battle.
Invasion of Pain arc





Naruto preparing to fight Pain.




Naruto (in Sage Mode), Fukasaku, Gamaken, Gamahiro, Gamabunta, and Gamakichi were summoned to the center of Konoha. Naruto did not immediately recognize the crater he had been summoned to, but then saw the Hokage Monument in the distance. Realizing that Pain had destroyed the village, an infuriated Naruto destroyed Pain's Asura path before it could attack Tsunade. Naruto sent Tsunade away, instructing her 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, 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 Rasenrengan 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 Myōbokuzan. 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. Revitalized, Naruto attacked with another Rasenshuriken, only for the Preta path to appear and absorb the attack. Realizing 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 Rasenrengan on the Naraka path.
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, turned into stone, allowing Naruto to free himself. The Deva path captured Naruto again, and killed Fukasaku when he tried to come to help. While immobilizing Naruto, the Deva path told Naruto of his plans for world peace. When Naruto disagreed with his views, Jiraiya's death being a byproduct of that peace, the Deva path asked Naruto for a better solution.




Naruto in his six-tailed transformation.

Before he could answer, Hinata came to Naruto's aid. She confessed her love for Naruto (greatly shocking him) and engaged Pain in battle in a futile effort to save him. When she was apparently killed, an enraged Naruto exploded into his six-tailed transformation. His necklace reacted in an effort to quell the transformation, but the Nine-Tails 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. Naruto was drawn into it and restrained and Naruto, in a desperate attempt to gain the power needed to stop Pain, allowed the Nine-Tails to produce an eight-tailed transformation. Before he could completely release the Nine-Tails, however, 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 realized 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, the Nine-Tails' influence gone and Sage Mode having returned. He clashed one final time with the Deva path, finally defeating it by taking advantage of the five-second gap in time its between attacks. The battle won, 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, he tells 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 Nagato had killed in Konoha, at the cost of Nagato's own life. With this, Naruto helped Konan retrieve Nagato and Yahiko's bodies for burial in Amegakure. After confirming that she had quit Akatsuki, she left Naruto a bouquet of paper flowers for him, symbolizing their new alliance. In volume 48 of the manga, Naruto leaves these flowers and a copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by a rock, a memorial for Jiraiya.
Five Kage Summit arc





Konoha greeting Naruto after his return



While Naruto is returning to the village, Kakashi finds him and carries him back. There, he was greeted by all of the Konohagakure villagers. Naruto thinks back to his original reason to become Hokage: to be acknowledged by everyone in the village. He smiles as the village celebrates his success, some of the villagers even voicing the opinion that he should be Hokage.

When the village begins to rebuild after Pain's attack, Naruto runs into Tazuna and an older Inari, who have come to help with the reconstruction effort. They catch up, but Naruto avoids telling them that about what happened to Sasuke, instead sating that they had "had a fight" that made Sasuke leave, but that he would be back soon. Soon afterwards, Naruto learns that Danzo has been appointed as Hokage to replace the comatose Tsunade. In addition, he has ordered Sasuke been eliminated as a missing-nin. Naruto and Sakura contemplate how to get Danzo to change his mind, but Kakashi advises them against it.

Naruto and Sakura ask Sai about Danzo, but they are unable to learn anything useful. They are then approached by Kumogakure ninja, Karui and Omoi, who tell them of Sasuke's recent involvement with Akatsuki. They demand information on Sasuke and the Akatsuki. Seeing Sakura's tears, Naruto volunteers to tell them about Akatsuki in private so that Sakura won't need to, but when Karui and Omoi question him about Sasuke, Naruto is unable to bring himself to sell out Sasuke, and offers Karuni the opportunity to beat on him up so as to release herself of her grief and her desire for revenge. She gladly accepts, and only stops at Sai's insistence.

While Naruto is recovering, he asks Kakashi and Yamato to escort him to the Land of Iron so that he can ask the current Raikage to forgive Sasuke. When they arrive there and meet with the Raikage, Naruto pleas for the Raikage to pardon Sasuke, trying to explain why Sasuke has done what he has done. The Raikage refuses and berates Naruto's belief that he can change Sasuke. Having failed, Naruto goes to a nearby inn to reflect upon Sasuke's actions, noting that he no longer understands Sasuke's motives.

Naruto is interrupted by the arrival of Madara Uchiha, who asks for an opportunity to speak with him. Kakashi and Yamato, having expected him, appear and try to catch him. Madara voices his surprise that Naruto could have such an effect on Nagato, but Naruto ignores this and asks what he is going to do with Sasuke. Madara tells him of Sasuke's descent into darkness, caused by Konoha's leadership's role in the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Naruto is unwilling to believe this and says he can still get through to Sasuke. Madara laughs at the suggestion and states that Naruto and Sasuke are fated to fight again at some point before leaving.
Naruto decides that he must confront Sasuke face-to-face. He practices with Sage Mode, hoping to extend the reach of his sensory skills, but is interrupted by the arrival of Sakura. Sakura tells him that she loves him and that she no longer has any feelings for Sasuke. He does not believe her and suggests she is lying, stating that he knows her better than that. Angered by this, Sakura insists it is true and that he therefore does not need to fulfill his earlier promise of bringing Sasuke home. Naruto says his actions have nothing to do with the promise and that he just wants to save Sasuke, choosing not to reveal what Madara has said about the Uchiha clan. Suspecting that Sakura is keeping something from him, Naruto presses her on her real reasons for following him to the Land of Iron, but she leaves rather than answer

As I ran through the wet forest, only to be covered by the fog and the dark light of the night, I knew there was a 50% chance of my survival as I was being hunted. “There we go men we almost got him” A man behind me said. I didn’t get a good look at him but he was wearing something I would suspect Shrek to wear. I was panicking a bit when I realized he was in spitting distance of me so all I cared about was making it out of there. “Come on guys, almost there, just a couple of feet more” Another man said behind as if he was right in my—oh my lord that was a women—I got that disturbing image out of my head and kept forward making good timing at every turn that came up. The sky was dark and the forest was darker but that didn’t stop me from running away from the people trying to kill me. Run run little Draco….you can’t run from fate when it’s stabbing you in the back….. “What was that” I looked around even behind when I saw the people where still chasing me. Who was talking to me? How did they know my name? And How come the angry mob didn’t stop when they heard it? So many questions fluttered through my head as I ran. I was cocky and careless when I realized I was on the ground, I couldn’t move nor speak and soon everything went dark….cold….and black…. Dream: “What’s going on”….where am I….. “my head hurts”…-- “run, run, run, as fast as you can you can’t catch me I’m the scary man”--…. “Whose there”—“Don’t you remember me Draco I have been with you always”--… “Who are you” I said with fear and disbelief, I couldn’t believe this was happening…--“Don’t you remember me I am yo--”… “I DON’T KNOW YOU SHOW YOURSELF”I interrupted the voice…--“Don’t interrupt me you little brat” the voice said with an angry tone “I see I will have to teach you a lesson now won’t I” I couldn’t really understand what the voice sounded like but it sounded as if it was a grown ladies voice mixed with a grown mans voice, so then I got to thinking it was probably a perverted transvestite after me. “What do you want with me” I said trying to end the conversation but all I heard was 2 snaps of the finger and all of a sudden the world around got brighter and I was on a scary rocky terrain with sculls of people and animals scattered all over the place. There was a lot of sand and huge plateaus, and I think I saw 7 mountains each a different color. I couldn’t make out the color of the first 4 but that last 3 were Blue, Red, and Green. “What is this about why did you send me here” I got no answer instead what I got was a giant earthquake and something emerging from the ground. “What the f*** is that” when I looked at the monster that emerged from the ground it looked like a giant 3 headed snake with bull skulls for heads. The heads had only one eye and they each were a different color like the ones on the mountains I saw the colors of but they were a bit different they were colors that none of the mountains had. But anyways the snakes looked very vicious, even though they head human heads their teeth were sharper than ever and they had snake like fangs that looked like they could chew a mega tank like a piece of gum. The design of the snake was mainly purple with black and red streaks going all around. “It is time for your judgment” the voice said to me “What judgment” I said frightened “The judgment of the curse” “The Curse” “Which ever one of those snakes strike at you don’t move they will give you a curse of power meaning that you will ether be the jet black flame wielder, the pure slicing sound wielder or something casually like the aurora water wielder and also not that this isn’t all fake you did get hit by the mob and as we speak they are going to wake you up with cold water any minute now” “Then have them hurry it is ether get strike at me or I get tortured to death for stealing a loaf of bread” The snakes all looked at me as if the were thinking of something I waited and waited then one lifted its head up high and it struck me. “There you go” the voice said “Wait you took some of my memory away” I couldn’t remember anything from the chase and now I don’t even know my name “Don’t worry about it boy, your name is Alexander Veroro” “That’s my name, I still have so many questions to ask” “Too bad my work here is done” SPLASH!!! “Alright wake up you little runt” everything was all a blur I couldn’t see to centimeters in front of me. “Wake up now” the Shrek wannabe slapped me around a couple of times “Looks like I drugged you a little too much” “Wha…..” I tried to force words but I was still a little num. When my vision was back I could see I was in a dark room chained to a wall and I was dripping with water. “Where am I?” “Did I say you could speak!” the guy this time socked me in the stomach “What the hell are you doing?” “Some people never learn” he socked me again “I know what you are and I want answers now” “Answers? I have no idea what you are talking about” “Don’t lie to me” the guy was getting ready to finish me off when I heard a soft “Wait” the guy stopped and a little wearing a silver white robe and white hair lighter than the moon came to me. Her eyes were just plain black and her face was emotionless. “I will get the answers we need” when she said that she put her hands on either side of my face and all of a sudden I could feel all of my memories duplicating and going into her. “What are you doing!” I said trying to break free but I couldn’t. I screamed, and grinded my teeth as it started to hurt me. “Stop!” I yelled in agony. The girl stopped and I panted hard and heavy. “What do you want with me?” “Its not what we want with you it mainly what we want from you” the Shrek look-a-like said. My mind couldn’t keep up with his words. It was like he was speaking another language. “Dispose of him we don’t need him any more” Another man said “Where shall I put him?” the girl replied “Throw him in the river” the girl didn’t hesitate as she did what she was told and dragged my defenseless body to this bright river light that glowed silver. – The light was so bright her eyes where closed the entire time she dragged me there. “Burn in hell!” I said to her as she looked down at me. “You first” she said with a rude arrogant tone The voice said I had a curse right I guess I better put it to good use….. “Here I go” closing my eyes I blocked out all distractions out of my head only listening to the faded crude tone of the voices mysterious questioning voice. All of a sudden I started to hear screams a pain and agony as the girl was being burnt to a crisp in the jet black flames I seemed to have made. “No way” I said as I watched her burn… but she started laughing? “You think you’re the only one with a special gift around here” the girl laughed harder “You are definitely a sorry excuse for a child” All of a sudden I was pushed back with tremendous force. “No not you to” I said as I struggled to get up “Yes the power of the silver wind is quite astonishing” the girl looked at me her dead black as and pale white skin where enough to scare a grown man half to death, but to know that she is part spirit will scare a man so badly he will pee himself. “My name is Autumn” the girl said after 3 long moments of agony. I stood up to me feet took a deep breathe and got in a fighters stance. “I Alexander Veroro is the name of the guy who killed you” I then blew a massive amount of jet black flames out of my mouth waiting to hear her scream again, but she did what I did and intercepted my attack with her massive amount of silver wind. “Are you trying to make a point” Autumn said getting ready to deal another blow “Maybe I am maybe I’m not” I looked at her keeping a straight face as if I meant to laugh. “Well actually you should be honored to be killed by me I am the wind that blows at night, there should be no reason why you wouldn’t want to be killed by me” she looked at me with a crooked smile “Maybe its because I still have a long life to go, I will not be killed by the likes of you”