Naruto

Naruto is a cartoon based on the manga comic created by Masashi Kishimoto in 1999, which in Japan has achieved enormous success, so much so that it is compared to that of Dragon Ball. The anime definitely belongs to the Shonen genre (aimed at boys) and consists of 120 episodes lasting 25 minutes each and was made by Studio Pierrot in collaboration with TV Tokyo under the direction of Hayato Date (the same as Saiyuki).

Naruto (voiced by Leonardo Graziano) is a boy of about 12, who cultivates the ambitious dream of becoming the strongest Ninja Hokage warrior, behind the teaching of his teacher Iruka. In reality Naruto is marginalized from the rest of the village, as in addition to being a bit clumsy, he is looked at with suspicion because at the time of his birth he was possessed by the evil spirit of the nine-tailed fox, which in the past caused the death of many people inside the village.

Naruto certainly doesn't go out of his way to make himself nice, and instead of being friendly, he combines all kinds of jokes to draw attention to himself. Naruto learns his sad secret from master Mizuki, who asks him to steal the forbidden scroll where powerful secret fighting techniques are kept. Naruto carries out the theft and in exchange receives the teaching of some techniques, first of all that of the multiplication of the body. His master Iruka warns Naruto against Mizuki, who wants to take possession of the scroll. Naruto returns the forbidden scroll, at the suggestion of Iruka and after seeing him at work in the technique of multiplying the body, he promotes him as a Ninja Genin warrior. Naruto is thus inserted into the group of aspiring Ninjas and here he meets Sakura and Sasuke who will be trained by the master Kakashi. While Sakura is the girl he is madly in love with, Sasuke is a very unpleasant boy, with whom he will have heated arguments. As a first test they will have to try to steal the bell from the master's hands; they will have one hour and if they fail in the enterprise they will be sent back to the school. Kakashi has impressive speed and the three boys, while putting all their effort into it, are unable to pass the first test, therefore the master invites Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to retire, as their biggest mistake was to have acted individually rather than as a team.

However Kakkashi gives a further chance to the group and in this test Naruto will have to be in total fasting. Sakura and Sasuke, contravening the rules, give part of their food to Naruto, but luckily for them the master promotes them because he believes that it is also important not to blindly obey orders and show solidarity towards the companions. So Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura , will be sent on a mission to the village of the waves to get some practice. Master Hokage entrusts him with the difficult mission of bodyguarding the architect Tazuna who directs the construction of a bridge that connects the leaf village with the wave village. However, they are attacked by some ninjas hiding in the fog and while Sasuke manages to defeat them, Naruto has some difficulty. Even if they eventually pass the test, the boy feels his pride hurt for having proved himself inferior to his teammate. The next test will be even more difficult as they will have to defend Tazuna, even from the ninja of the neighboring villages as Gatoo, a powerful opponent of him, has enlisted many ninja to kill him. Kakashi, despite the mission being more complex than it should be, doesn't hold back. Master Kakashi recognizes the first ninja, it is Zabuza and immediately begins the fight with him, using the Sharingan technique, which repeats the opponent's movements. Zabuza responds with the veil of mist technique, which allows Kakashi's vision to be reduced.

Zabuza takes advantage of his opponent's disorientation to engage him in battle, but the two are equal, so Zabuza resorts to the water prison technique. Seeing his master in difficulty, Naruto uses a technique he knows well: that of multiplying the body, so he hides from Zabuza, confused by a thousand images of Naruto and goes behind him, freeing Kakkashi from the water prison with a Kunai. Kakashi with the Sharingan technique copies Zabuza's aquatic explosion. Before definitively defeating his opponent Zabuza is killed by awls that a mysterious ninja throws on his neck, before fleeing taking him with him. Kakashi suspects that it was actually the masked Zabuza himself who punched another person and ran away, as the awls missed vital points. Meanwhile, Tazuna's nephew Inari appears and tries to dissuade Kakashi and his students from fighting Gatoo's ninjas, as they are too powerful. Naruto freaks out, but then realizes the child's innocence. In view of the next fight with Zabuza, Kakashi organizes a tree training where he teaches to climb without hands thanks to the chaka technique. The best proves to be Sakura, while Naruto, as usual, has some difficulties. Inside Tazuna's house, Sakura notices a torn photo of Tazuna with his daughter and Inari. The torn photo is missing Kaiza, the hero of the wave village, who saved Inari from drowning while trying to save a dog. Kaiza later adopted Inari as an orphan. Later with the arrival in the village of the waves of the powerful Gatoo, Kaiza was publicly executed. In the morning while Naruto was sleeping, a strange very friendly boy appears. After a series of training Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura decide to face Zabuza, while leaving Naruto at home as they consider him very tired, but he joins them on the spot. Sasuke confronts Haku, the strange child Naruto met who is actually an ally of Zabuza, while Naruto prevents Inari's kidnapping. After a long struggle, Haku uses the disabling mirror technique, which puts Sasuke in trouble, despite Naruto's help. Meanwhile, Kakashi has to contend with Zabuza, but the two ninjas are equal.
Once they pass this exam they will have to take the one to pass to the level of chunin. The first written test is passed, but the second, much more difficult, consists in surviving for five days in a forest in order to reach a tower. The very difficult test is passed at the last moment by the three boys who arrive at the final test. This consists of a combat tournament between the best genin of the village. Who will win the challenge?

All characters and images of Naruto are copyright Studio Pierrot, TV Tokyo and the right holders. they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.

Naruto comics