Both Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden have a high filler percentage of about 41%. Fillers aren’t always bad, although some of them are really are. If you’re more interested in the main story line, you can skip them with missing out on anything.
Everybody’s favorite has a long-running storyline with loads of filler episodes. Naruto manga was still ongoing when the anime began. As a result, there wasn’t enough content for the anime creators to put in the anime, and hence, filler episodes were born!
If, however, you tend to fear missing out on extra stuff, follow the summaries of the filler arcs and watch what intrigues you!
Naruto
I. Season 1 (57 Episodes)
- Special Report: Live from the Forest of Death: 26
Two kids interview Naruto and the gang about their adventures. Sasuke and Naruto have different narratives, making them argue while Sakura clams them down.
II. Season 2 (43 Episodes)
- Kidnapped! Naruto’s Hot Spring Adventure: 97
Naruto gets kidnapped while trying to save Tsunade while the team rests at a hot spring. The whole thing gets resolved after clearing a misunderstanding.
III. Season 3 (41 Episodes)
- Land of Tea Escort Mission: 101-106
Team 7 is in the Land of Tea, where they help Idate Morino to win a race.
- Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission: 136-140
Naruto and Sakura try to save Sasuke from Orochimaru and encounter the Fuma clan.
IV. Season 4 (42 Episodes)
Episodes: 143-219
- Mizuki Tracking Mission: 142 to 147
Mizuki, a wanted criminal, has escaped. Naruto helps to recapture him.
- Bikōchū Search Mission: 148 to 151
In order to find Sasuke, Naruto and the team look for a special bug, called the bikōchū beetle.
- Kurosuki Family Removal Mission: 152-157
Naruto gets thrown into a misadventure revolving around the Kurosuki and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
- Follow My Lead! The Great Survival Challenge: 158
With no current missions, each Konoha Genjin is assigned a squad of three academy students. Their group exercise becomes a misadventure when they discover that they’re lost.
- Gosunkugi Capture Mission: 159-160
Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba help Sazanami to prove his innocence and clear his name.
- The Appearance of Strange Visitors: 161
Naruto asks Might Guy and Lee to train him in taijutsu before Jiraiya returns.
- Cursed Warrior Extermination Mission: 162-167
Naruto, Neji, and Tenten visit the Land of Birds to investigate and make a deal with a ghost.
- Mix It, Stretch It, Boil It Up! Burn, Copper Pot, Burn: 168
An episode revolving around ramen where a chef’s daughter gets rescued by Naruto and friends, diets on healthy noodles, and Naruto leans a new recipe.
- Kaima Capture Mission: 169-173
Anko Mitarashi, along with Naruto, Ino, and Shino, travels to the Land of the Sea in order to find information on Orochimaru.
- Impossible! Celebrity Ninja Art – Money Style Jutsu: 174
Naruto babysits Tsunade’s rich friend, Kunijiro’s son.
- Buried Gold Excavation Mission: 175-176
Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata team up to find a hidden treasure so as to fix their low success rates in various ninja missions.
- Please, Mr. Postman: 177
While resting in a hot spring, Naruto encounters a postman who has the job of delivering packages through the roughest of terrains.
- Star Guard Mission: 178-183
Naruto, along with Team Guy, goes to Hoshigakure and helps the villagers to guard their sacred star.
V. Season 5 (37 Episodes)
- Kiba’s Long Day: 184
Naruto watches over Inuzuka nin’s dog after it starts acting strange because of a bacterial infection.
- A Legend from the Hidden Leaf: The Onbaa: 185
Onbaa, a legendary animal, gets attached to Naruto after falling off from an Eagle’s clutches.
- Laughing Shino: 186
Naruto and Shino visit Motoyoshi village to help Futa Kagetsu to claim his father’s inheritance.
- Peddlers Escort Mission: 187-191
Naruto, Hinata, and Chōji are in the Land of Vegetables. They save some peddlers from the Janin.
- Ino Screams! Chubby Paradise: 192
Princess Fuku hires Ino to meet her fiancé in her stead. Inu looks exactly like the princess but slimmer. The
- Viva Dojo Challenge! Youth Is All About Passion: 193
Naruto finds a poster about a Dojo which turns out to be a run-down abode owned by Lee. Initially Lee assumes that Naruto wanted to challenge him, but soon realizes that he was wrong.
He then tells Naruto about how he wanted to dojo to be used by disciplined and trained individuals.
- The Mysterious Curse of the Haunted Castle: 194
Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata travel to the Land of Honey. Their mission is to search for the Daimyo’s wife. They find an eerie castle, and enter it for investigation.
- Third Great Beast Arc: 195-196
Guy comes face to face with a vengeful Yagura.
- Konoha Plans Recapture Mission: 197-201
Konoha is protected by the Konoha 11 from Gennō, the Trap Master.
- The Top 5 Ninja Battles: 202
A special recap episode featuring the top 5 battles so far.
- Yakumo Kurama Rescue Mission: 203-207
Yakumo Kurama takes Kurenai to handle some old business making him take a break from Team 8.
- The Weight of the Prized Artifact: 208
Naruto and Kiba escort a pompous man named Shin’emon who possesses a rare artefact called Kachō Fūgetsu to Habotangai.
- Gantetsu Escort Mission: 209-212
Naruto, Sakura, and Lee escort a Shinobazu member to prison.
- Menma Memory Search Mission: 213-215
Naruto helps Menma to regain his memories back.
- Sunagakure Support Mission: 216-220
The Konoha 11 travel to Sunagakure and help rescue Matsuri from the Four Celestial Symbols Men.
Naruto Shippuden
I. Season 1 (32 Episodes)
- Beasts! Alive Again: 28
The battle between Team Guy and their clones continues.
II. Season 3 (18 Episodes)
- Twelve Ninja Guardians Arc: 57-71
Team Kakashi encounters a boy who seeming possess the Kyuubi chakra during a mission.
III. Season 5 (24 Episodes)
- The Three-Tailed Demon Turtle Arc: 91-111
Orochimaru orders his henchmen to capture the three-tailed beast.
IV. Season 8 (24 Episodes)
- Six-Tails Unleashed: 144-151
Team Kakashi comes face to face with the Six Tails’ jinchuriki. The arc explores the bonding between students and their masters, developing a certain character that receives a great future canon arc.
- The Quest for the Fourth Hokage’s Legacy: 170-171
Naruto tries to master the Summoning technique so that he could use it in the final of Chuunin exams, but fails miserably by summoning a wee tadpole.
He gets exhausted and passes out. However, before completely losing it, he manages to hear Jiraiya, who hoped that Naruto would clear the final using the fourth Hokage’s legacy.
V. Season 9 (21 Episodes)
- Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha: 176-196
The past arc shows flashbacks from the perspectives of different characters. It shows how Naruto had grown and changed from different points of view.
There is also a part where Ikura gets a flashback about his own past. He remembers how he met Naruto and Kakashi for the first time and the time he was selected as the leader of Team 7.
VI. Season 11 (21 Episodes)
- Paradise on the Ship Arc: 223-224
Naruto and his team are on a journey to the Land of the Lighting sea, where they would keep him from Akatsuki. This takes place during the fourth Shinobi war.
VII. Season 12 (33 Episodes)
- Flashback Arc: 257-260
Recycling of events from part 1 of Naruto.
- Road to Sakura: 271
Ino finds Sakura falling off from a height and upon her waking discovers that she lost her memories.
VIII. Season 13 (20 Episodes)
Episodes: 279-281
- White Zetsu’s Trap: 279
Team Kurenai gets trapped in a cave with the White Zetsus.
- Aesthetics of an Artist: 280
The Allied Shinobi army deals with the White Zetsu clone infiltration situation. The news reaches the fifth division of development, which takes action.
- The Allied Mom Force!!: 281
Ebisu gathers the remaining forces in Konohagakure to prepare for an attack. The Allied Mom Force is ever ready and fully prepared. Konohamaru protects the village by receiving intel from kids about the situation of the village.
Episodes: 284-295
- The Helmet Splitter: Jinin Akebino: 284
Kakashi asks the third division to get rest while they can. With no sign of the enemy, Sai learns to seal away the Shinobi.
- User of the Scorch Style: Pakura of the Sand: 285
Part of the Fourth Shinobi world war. It’s a battle with Shinobi made out of sand.
- Tsunade and Raikage: 286-287
Tsunade and Raikage gamble on an arm-wrestling match, and things start to get out of hand.
- Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist: 288-289
Kakashi, Guy, and Omoi fight three of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
- Power: 290-295
Power was set after the Five Kage Summit. The characters are amidst the threat of a Fourth Shinobi War. Team Kakashi is given a mission to investigate the massacre of Tonika Village.
IX. Season 14 (25 Episodes)
- The Sound 4: 303-305
Tayuya’s curse mark power gets more powerful after she got reanimated. Kiba, Neji, Shikamaru, and Chōji fight face the reanimated Sound 4 and defeat them.
- The Heart’s Eye: 306
Hyuga cousins, Neji, and Hinata team-up fight alongside each other. Hinata protects Neji. While fighting, Hinata reminisces the time when Neji had protected her in childhood.
- Hayate and Yūgao: 307-308
A reanimated Hayate fights Yugao.
- The A-Rank Mission: Food Fight: 309-310
Team Asuma manages to capture Shu while elsewhere, Naruto disguises himself as Shu. He fulfills Shu’s duties but barely manages to maintain his disguise and soon blows off his cover.
- Prologue to Road to Ninja: 311
The episode serves as a prologue to the movie, Road to Ninja.
- The Old Master and the Dragon’s Eye: 312
Guy and Lee battle against a reanimated Taijutsu master.
- Yota: 313-315
Kohana 11 encounters an enemy they met before. The enemy is a boy who goes by the name Yota.
- Torune: 316-317
Kabuto employs Torune to summon his weakest reanimated Shinobi to fool the Allied Shinobi Forces. Torune gets reanimated after suffering a defeat from the allied forces. He then faces Shino.
- A Hole in the Heart: The Other Jinchūriki: 318
Hachibi jinchuriki fights off a bunch of killer bees.
- The Soul Living Inside the Puppet: 319
The fifth division, headed by Mifune, meets a reanimated Kimimaro and Chiyo. Chiyo fights by entering in a puppet and controlling it through chakra strings.
- Run, Omoi: 320
Omoi abandons his post on the battle to save the supply using that purely consisted of children.
X. Season 15 (28 Episodes)
- Akatsuki: 347-348
An arc that shows Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato before they turned into bad guys.
XI. Season 16 (13 Episodes)
- Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops: 349-361
Kakashi’s ANBU background is depicted along with the backgrounds of Itachi and Yamato.
XII. Season 18 (21 Episodes)
- Mecha Naruto: 376-377
Orochimaru designs a Mecha Naruto to capture Kuruma and foil the plans of Akatsuki. The arc is hilarious and definitely one with the lighter tones.
Episodes: 389-390
- Obito Uchiha: 385-386
This arc is less of fighting and more of Naruto giving inspirational talks to Obito.
- Hinata and Hanabi: 389-390
The childhood of Hinata and Hanabi are fleshed out in this arc.
XIII. Season 19 (20 Episodes)
- The New Chūnin Exams: 394-413
The Konohana 11 gives the Chuunin Exams. Meanwhile, Naruto practices and trains with Jiraiya.
XIV. Season 20 (66 Episodes)
- The Formation of Team Minato: 416
Team Minato gathers for the first time. The traitors plan to attack Kakashi and Rin.
- Konohamaru: 422-423
Konohamaru trains with Naruto to learn the Rasengan.
- The Infinite Tsukuyomi: 427-450
Tenten, Killer Bee, and Tsunade perform the infinite Tsukuyomi dreams genjutsu.
- Shinobi History: 464-469
The history of Shinobi is showed with Indra and Ashura.
XV. Season 20 (21 Episodes)
- Childhood Days: 480-483
Childhood days of Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, Jiraiya Kakashi, and Gaara.
3. Conclusion
The watch order of Naruto and Shippuden is straightforward. They’re already set in the chronological events.
4. What fillers can you not skip?
While some fillers are extremely boring and unnecessary, the following are the must-watch fillers of both the shows.
I. Naruto
- Kakashi’s Face: Gotta See, Gotta Know (Episode 101)
- Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission Arc (Episodes 136–141)
- Kurosuki Family Removal Mission Arc (Episodes 152–157
- A Legend from the Hidden Leaf: The Onbaa (Episode 185)
- Laughing Shino (Episode 186)
- Ino Screams: Chubby Paradise (Episode 192)
- Sunagakure Support Mission Arc (Episodes 216–220)
II. Naruto Shippuden
- Three-Tails Appearance Arc (Episodes 90–112)
- Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (Episodes 127–128)
- Six-Tails Unleashed (Episodes 144–151)
- Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha Episodes 180, 183, 186)
- Road to Sakura (Episode 271)
- Power (Episodes 290–295)
- Ghosts from the Past (Episodes 303–305)
- Kakashi’s Anbu Arc (Episodes 349–361)
- Mecha Naruto Arc (Episodes 376–377)
- Itachi’s Story (Episodes 451–458)
5. About Naruto
Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. Its publication began on September 21, 1999, and continued till November 10, 2014, in Shueisha’s Weekly Shounen Jump. The manga has collected 72 volumes in tankōbon format.
Naruto Shippuden is Part II of the anime series, which follows an older Naruto as he attempts to save his friend Sasuke while at the same time – addressing the looming threat of the criminal organization – Akatsuki – who are targeting him for their grander scheme.
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