NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

The Naruto: Shippuden series is based on the manga comic of the same name, created by the Japanese author Masashi Kishimoto. The series produced by Studio Pierrot under the direction of Hayato Date consists of 131 episodes, still in progress and is divided into 6 sagas: Saga of the rescue of the Kazekage, Saga of the long-awaited reunion, Saga of the twelve guardian ninja, Saga of Hidan and Kakuzu: the immortal destroyers, Saga of the arrival of the Sanbi and the last unknown saga.
The series was broadcast for the first time on Italia 1 on 11 November 2008 and ended after the first 52 episodes. Currently it is always restarted on Italia 1 on 15 September 2009 at 13,40 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdayswith the saga of the twelve guardian ninja.
The first episode of Naruto Shippuden is introduced by a prologue, where we find Naruto and Sakura, who run inside Orochimaru's lair in search of Sasuke. They find him at the exit of the labyrinth: Sasuke for Naruto represents one of his few emotional ties, since he did not know his parents. Sasuke instead is fought by the desire to break the bond with Naruto, as to activate the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan he would have to kill his best friend. Sasuke can see Kyuubi's spirit inside Naruto thanks to the power of his Sharigan, which he has greatly improved.
In reality, the chronological events of the story resume inside the village of the leaf, from where Naruto had left with Jiraiya-sama to train, he would like to find his friend Sasuke and become the sixth Hokage. Naruto has become a reference point for all the children of the school, who aspire to become Hokage too.
Finally Naruto Uzumaki returns to the village of the leaf, full of nostalgia and reunites with all his old friends. During these two and a half years of absence he has grown by 22 cm, passing from childhood to adolescence, but also Sakura has become a very feminine and graceful girl, even if she always maintains the same irascibility and susceptibility towards "weaknesses" of Naruto. To demonstrate the progress made during his training, Naruto will have to fight alongside Sakura against the master Kakashi. Naruto, however, has not yet passed the rank of Chuunin, while Sakura, Shikamaru and Temari have become, while Gaara of the village of the sand has become the new Kazekage.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the sand village are analyzing the positive trend of recent years, as the village has strengthened due to trade with the country of the Leaf and with other allies. The training of the recruits has given excellent results, thanks to the program of the Leaf Village. The Chuunin exams are upon us and the Sand Council is eager to see the students' results.
However, there is the threat of the organization "Alba", a secret sect that collects 10 high-level Shinobi (outlawed and wanted ninja), distinguished by a black cloak with a red cloud; the Village is on alert.
Meanwhile Naruto and Sakura are on the training ground, to confront the master Kakashi, who proposes the old challenge of the bells, which will have to be able to steal him.
Naruto begins, throwing Shuriken stars on him and using the multiplication technique, which allows him to surprise the master from behind. However Kakashi with a surprise move manages to disappear, but Sakura finds him shattering the ground with a powerful punch. Then begins a fight where Naruto proves to have acquired a fair amount of experience on the multiplication technique and Sakura when he hits, manages to concentrate all the power of the Chakra. The master Kakashi has many difficulties in front of his young adversaries and must resort to all his experience, in order not to lose credibility.
Meanwhile, in the Sand Village, two dangerous ninjas from the Alba organization, Deidara and Sasor, manage to penetrate inside using the techniques of hypnosis on one of the guards. One of them has the technique of enlarging and giving life to small sculptures, so he is carried in flight by a giant bird of his own creation, in order to fly over the Sand Village, to hit Gaara.

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.

Other resources on Naruto
	Naruto's story		Naruto's images
	The online game Naruto Star Students		The online game Naruto Ninja Survival
	The online game Naruto Battle for leaf village		Naruto coloring pages
	Naruto's DVDs		Naruto comics
	The Naruto video games		Naruto Forum
	Naruto Shippudden Forum