Naruto ( RPG )

Naruto[a] is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of , a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is told in two parts: the first is set in {{user}}'s pre-teen years (volumes 1–27), and the second in his teens (volumes 28–72). The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997).

Naruto was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from September 1999 to November 2014, with its chapters collected in 72 tankōbon volumes. Viz Media licensed the manga for North American production and serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Part I of the manga was adapted into an anime television series by Pierrot and Aniplex, which ran for 220 episodes from October 2002 to February 2007 on TV Tokyo. A second series, which adapts material from Part II of the manga, is titled Naruto: Shippuden and ran on TV Tokyo for 500 episodes from February 2007 to March 2017. Pierrot also developed 11 animated films and 12 original video animations (OVAs). The franchise includes light novels, video games, and trading cards developed by several companies.

Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, having 250 million copies in circulation worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone and remaining 97 million copies elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media's best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a Quill Award in 2006. Reviewers praised the manga's character development, storylines, and action sequences, though some felt the latter slowed the story down. Critics noted that the manga, which has a coming-of-age theme, makes use of cultural references from Japanese mythology and Confucianism.

The eponymous character of the first series is Naruto Uzumaki, an energetic ninja who wishes to become Hokage, the leader of Konohagakure and holds a monster called the Nine Tails in his body. During the early part of the series, Naruto is assigned to Team 7, in which he meets his rival Sasuke Uchiha, a taciturn and highly skilled "genius" of the Uchiha clan; Sakura Haruno, who is infatuated with Sasuke and has Naruto's attention and Kakashi Hatake, the quiet and mysterious leader of the team. Over the course of the series, seeking out Sasuke when he ran away from the village, Naruto interacts with and befriends several fellow ninja in Konohagakure and other villages. He also encounters the series' antagonists, including Orochimaru, a former ninja of Konohagakure scheming to destroy his former home, as well as the elite ninja of the criminal organization Akatsuki who seek out jinchuriki like Naruto for the tailed beasts.

Team 8 (第8班, Daihappan) is a group of Konohagakure ninja led by Kurenai Yuhi. The members of Team 8 primarily concentrate on tracking, with each of the members' unique abilities used in this role. During Part II, Team 8, excluding Kurenai due to her pregnancy, joins Naruto Uzumaki and Team 7 in their search for Itachi Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha.[ch. 354]

Team 10 (第10班, Daijippan) is a group of Konohagakure ninja led by Asuma Sarutobi. The fathers of the three team members Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka were also on a team together, and both generations refer to their team using the moniker "Ino-Shika-Cho".[ch. 137] During Part II, Asuma is slain in an encounter with members of Akatsuki, and Kakashi Hatake briefly assumes leadership of the team to hunt down those responsible for Asuma's death.[ch. 331] In the series epilogue, the three living members of Team Asuma are training their children to become the next "Ino-Shika-Cho" group.

Team Guy (ガイ班, Gai-Han) is a group of Konohagakure ninja led by Might Guy. The members of Team Guy primarily concentrate on physical attacks and weapons. They are a year older than the other members of Konohagakure's teams, as Guy wanted to wait a year before they could take the test to advance in ninja rank and become Chunin. In Part II, Team Guy joins Team 7 in an attempt to save Gaara from the criminal organization, Akatsuki.[ch. 253]

The Sand Siblings (砂の三姉弟, Suna no Sankyōdai) are ninjas from the village of Sunagakure and the children of the Fourth Kazekage, the former leader of the village.[ch. 59] They come to Konohagakure to participate in the biannual Chunin exams, and serve as antagonists in the subsequent invasion of Konohagakure. Because of their interactions with Naruto Uzumaki, and learning their father was murdered by their supposed ally Orochimaru, the Sand Siblings return as allies of Konohagakure, aiding Naruto's group in their attempts to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha from Orochimaru's forces. Kishimoto changed their costumes for their return due to the difficulty in drawing their original attire, as well as to symbolize their new friendship with Konohagakure.[51] In Part II, Gaara becomes Kazekage with his older siblings serving under him as his bodyguards during the Kage Summit at the Land of Iron.

The protagonists of the Naruto series are {{user}}, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kakashi Hatake, who form "Team 7" (第7班, Dainanahan) of Konohagakure. After Sasuke Uchiha's defection and Naruto's departure from Konohagakure at the end of Part I, the team disbands. During Part II, the team reforms as "Team Kakashi" (カカシ班, Kakashi-Han) with two new members: Sai, who occupies Sasuke's position, and Yamato, who becomes the acting Captain.[ch. 285] During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Team 7 reunites to fight Madara Uchiha and then Kaguya Ōtsutsuki when she possesses the former. Once the War is over, Naruto and Sasuke have their final battle that allow them to resolve their issues with their group fully reunited soon after.