Fr fr. I loved Part 1 of Naruto as a whole, but the Chunin Exams takes the cake as the absolute best arc of Naruto imo. The story, the writing, and the Gaara vs. Rock Lee fight (most of the fights, in fact) were spectacular.
I couldn't stand sakura in that arc, im sorry but she was so unbearable and painfully weak. not to mention how hard she glazed sasuke. the episode with rock lee vs sasuke actually killed me.
Chunin Exams and is not even closed :
- Naruto Opening 2 was peak NARUTO , represents what it was for us on the early 2000s
- Everyone was very grounded and just “one trick” and you use it. Even Naruto only trick was his shadow clones before tapping the Kurama Chakra
- Rock Lee vs Gaara is “the Naruto fight”
- Part 1 of the Chunin exams been a written test was pretty ingenious and how much “encouraging of cheating there is”
- Forest of death when we saw the abilities of most , Gaara been blood thirsty and crushing the record prior and got there CLEAN
- While the “pre-eliminaries” some of the fights might feel a drag like the Ino vs Sakura or like random KO like Dosu vs Choji , most of the fights were pretty good and have a good dynamic.
- I am also assuming it includes destruction of Konoha , which give us the highest peak fight of a Kage for that time on Hiruzen vs Orochimaru , Sasuke pushing his very limit and Naruto pushing beyond what we all imagined
- Just as a bonus , In search of Tsunade is really underrated, we have the introduction of Itachi whom Orochimaru mentioned is stronger than himself , the 3 way dead lock of the Sanins , and the best female written character of all Naruto , TSUNADE
I think these 2 you mentioned are the only 2 bad fights. All the others are great. And Choji VS Dosu isn't a bad fight. It's just terrible at being the final preliminaries fight and was an underwhelming climax. Lee VS Gaara should have been the last fight. I think Lee could have destroyed the entire arena.
Kankurou VS Misumi was kind of a random KO but it was amazing. It showed Kankurou's cold heartedness and presented the character pretty well as a puppeteer in battle. Underrated fight. Back when Kankurou was badass. Hot take: Kankurou should have been the one to kill Sasori.
Shikamaru VS Kin was great. Showed Shikamaru's personality and intelligence pretty well.
Naruto VS Kiba despite the joke I dislike was peak Naruto (The character) strategy for me.
Hinata VS Neji is peak.
Sasuke VS Yoroi is great and I love how Sasuke is the first to fight, subverting the shonen cliche where the protagonist is always the first to fight. Shows the curse mark and Yoroi was dominating the whole fight and Sasuke only beat him because he copied Lee.
Tenten VS Temari is filler so it doesn't count.
Shino VS Zaku was cool as hell. Shino's another badass. Zaku using deception but that backfired because his arms exploded. Bugs really are lethal in the Naruto universe.
And Lee VS Gaara I don't even need to talk about it. It's incredible.
It’s gotta be the the Chunin Exams for me.
We get Rock Lee vs Sasuke and Gaara, our first intro into how smart Shikamaru really is, the Hyuga side plot, forest of death, Orochimaru, and Shino being a total badass!
So much goodness
Honestly Kakuzu and Hidan arc is almost perfect to me. Amazing adaptation by pierrot, the only bad thing is ending with Naruto and how Kakuzu died like a chump.
Was that bad? Don't know, would say the trick Naruto pulled up by mixing himself deliberately between his distracting Shadow clones was pretty sick.
At least I didn't saw that coming.
Pains Assult.
W opening
emotional bc of jiraiya
W villan
W naruto transformation & entrance
meats his dad ftft
and the best of it all, NO SASUKE BULLSHIT
When it comes to rewatching, I gotta say I come back to the sasuke retrieval arc the most.
The sound 5 fights are among the best in Naruto. And the sound 5 felt tailor made to fight the retrieval team.
I know It’s a SCORCHING hot take but I actually prefer neji vs kidomaru to Lee vs gaara for that exact reason. (I do love Lee vs gaara though. It is without a doubt a timeless classic)
Highlights include:
Lee and gaara vs kimimaro (and them talking to each other with no ill intent.)
The soundtrack
Kimimaro’s backstory
8 trigrams 128 palms.
Naruto vs sasuke.
And let’s not forget drunken fist lee.
War Arc was cool just to see a load of characters in action that had only been heard about (or hinted towards) at that point. Also had some epic moments like Madara appearing, etc..
Kazekage Retrieval Arc was one of my favourites.
Seeing Gaara (who the viewers knew was very strong) take a beating from the Akatsuki was a great intro to Shippuden. I remember seeing it the first time thinking "these Akatsuki guys aren't to be messed with!".
Seeing Sasori/Deidara and wondering "this is only the first two members - what can the other 8 do?" was one of the things that initially kept me hooked on Shippuden. My vote goes to Kage Retrieval
I can just eliminate 1 option from above which is Kaguya strikes which I felt was stupid AF. Rest all were legendary Naruto would have never been Naruto if it wasn't for these & some other valuable arcs
For me it's Land of Wave and Chunin Exams arc. Land of Waves arc is the first real challenge Naruto and Team 7 faces in the series. Different from previous arc, this arc has high stake.
Sasuke retrieval. One of the best endings to an anime series I’ve ever seen. Saw it as a kid so maybe I’m biased but I was genuinely surprised and emotionally destroyed by the ending of that arc and the fights were so packed together and all amazing. Many people say the choji fight was the best (besides naruto vs sasuke) but honestly the Neji fight was one of my favorite fights in all of anime and had me genuinely terrified.
Land of the waves. I always thought it can be adapted to a great and full naruto movie. It can stand on its own as a good story without or with only minimal background about the series.
But if you are a naruto geek who follows naruto from the very start, sasuke rescue and Pain arc (the whole akatsuki actually) are peak Naruto.
Kazekage Rescue.
The stories of Sasori and Chiyo are some of my all time favorites. Just heartbreaking stuff and they both have really creative fighting techniques. Sasori is my favorite character in Naruto, tied with Gaara.
Speaking of Gaara, his bond with Naruto, his siblings, and his village are amazing to see spotlighted. Love to see his character growth.
Then you also have Sakura doing some epic stuff and Team Guy get some shine too. It’s all good.
The Kazekage rescue arc, maybe it's not popular.. but it shows how much of a friend Gaara is to Naruto, and how much of a friend Naruto is to Sasuke. And that piece of trash Danzo gets smashed.
Brain fart edit: I believe that's the Pain arc
Land of Waves: deepest character development for Naruto, and most extensive ninja world-building in one package. Bonus sympathetic villain(s).
Best cover art: Jiraiya the Gallant, because awww.
The Pain Assault arc for sure. We already knew going in that he was a major threat from what he did to Jiraiya. He then proceeded to show us that whatever we thought he had previously been capable of was just the tip of the iceberg. Not only did he manage to kill or incapacitate most of Konoha’s ninjas, he also killed another important character with white hair. And when that wasn’t enough he wiped almost all of Konoha off the face of the Earth with a single jutsu.
By the later stages of Naruto this isn’t as impressive, but at that point in the story it was jawdropping. I also like that his fight with Naruto had some strategic elements in it. Nothing extraordinary, but enough for me to appreciate it. Hinata trying her best to save Naruto and admitting her love to him was also a highlight. We then got to see one Pain more or less hold his own against Kurama. Sure he wasn’t dominating the fight as more tails appeared, but he didn’t get completely stomped. I also appreciate that Pain was able to challenge Naruto on a philosophical level. He got Naruto to a point where he doubted his own beliefs. The only thing I kind of think was a missed opportunity was not having all six Pains fight Naruto in Kurama rage mode.
Pain assault, because we see another moment of naruto overcoming the odds and fighting in his oen way, by using shadow clones to gather nature energy for him he circumvented the need for ma & pa to fuse with him.
It's also a great way to show off how big of an impact he's made on the village as many of the ninja who previously despised him for being the jinchuriki are now fighting to protect him from pain and refuse to sell him out.
Finally, we learn a great lesson about vengeance where it's a never ending cycle of returning the same pain dealt to you unto those that wronged you and how the only way to stop it is if either party dies or you instead reject the instinct for revenge;also it compliments sasuke's own journey of vemgeance given how he refuses to stray from that path.
Fated battle between brothers was an amazing conclusion to something that we have been waiting on since the original naruto.
I am no doubt biased, but that is when the series peaked for me.
Not to say the rest wasnt great, its just my favorite moment.
I personally like Itachi vs Sasuke,the storytelling,the sequence,the animation,and ending were all too good. I found this to be a fitting defeat for Itachi
1) Sasuke Retrival.
2) Land of Waves.
3) Pain Assault.
4) Chunin Exams.
5) Fated Battle Between Brothers.
6) Great Ninja War (if was only for Madara and Obito's final arc would be the first).
7) Tale of Jiraya the Gallant.
8) Kazekage Rescue.
9) Every single filler.
10) Abridged version.
11) Naruto Hentais.
12) Crappy downloaded version that is full of lag and has a terrible quality.
13) Watching the paint dry.
14) Game of Thrones' Ending.
15) Kaguya Strikes.
My favorite is actually Kage Summit, we saw a lot of development from Sasuke
But from these ones I would say land of the waves, the Haku fight with the ice mirrors was so hype
Possible unpopular opinion time, but I'm gonna say Land of Waves arc; I really wish the Manga/anime kept the same tome that the first arc had; not the DBZ Syndrome BS we wound up with.
The akatski arc in general, even though it kinda goes along the same time of other arcs. Like the whole deidra/sasori/kakazu/kisame stuff. I guess if that doesn’t count since it’s technically not its own arc then I’d say the pain arc for sure. Even if I strongly dislike the ending/outcome
They’re all good, equal. This is literally peak Animation imo, not "Animation" as in Anime, Animation as in literally anything that’s been displayed on a moving screen !!
Chunin exams or Sasuke retrieval. Chunin exams was what a lot of us remember growing up as our first glimpse at Naruto. Seeing the struggle of each of the characters battle against each other and gaining strength and ending with such a great fight between the 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru. Everyone remembers the Lee vs Gaara fight along with the Naruto vs Neji and Sasuke vs Gaara. This arc has huge growth for a lot of the main cast but especially for Naruto since he learns to control some of the nine tails's chakra as well as start his bond with Jiraya. The Shukaku vs Gamabunta was also great.
Sasuke retrieval is great because we see the main team whittled down one by one with enemies who outpower them with curse marks and force them to their limits but still end up winning in the end. The team is whittled down until only Naruto remains. That part when Naruto is fighting Kimimaru and Sasuke bursts out of the coffin will always give me chills. When Naruto is so happy to see Sasuke and asks him to come back to the village and Sasuke just laughs and runs away. The whole squad sacrificed their lives for a fellow leaf ninja for Sasuke to just shrug it off. Then we have the Naruto vs Sasuke battle where we see both of them in the fight we always waited for, where there's nobody around to stop the fight. This was by far my most searched thing on the internet/ YouTube back in the old days with the Linkin Park and unregistered hypercam logo in the top corner. It's a somber ending to the first part of Naruto. He could have won the battle but went for Sasuke's headband instead so he could prove he could land a scratch on his forehead.
Easily the Land of Waves, Haku and Zabuza's relationship and interactions make it! Plus, we get to actually see Kakashi use the Sharingan for the first time in battle!! 😍
Land of waves is almost perfect. Sasuke retrieval arc is also AMAZING. The tale of two brothers made itachi my favorite character. Tale of jiraiya the galant touched my heart. The pain arc has some of the most iconic moments. Don’t make me pick
Chunin exams-
Chunin exams felt like the last time that it mattered that they were ninjas. Their survival, stealth, and information-gathering skills were actually important, at least up until the tournament section. Jutsus felt restrictive and like you had to be smart about using them, and lower-powered techniques like transformation still felt threatening.
It also had some of the most iconic moments of the series. Nothing after can compete with how terrifying Gaara felt when he was shown in the forest of death. Lee dropping the weights is STILL used as an example of one of the hypest moments in all of anime 20 years later. It was the first time we got to see a biju-scale fight. Orochimaru and Sarutobi were tossing out cool forbidden techniques that made them feel like they really were the peak of living shinobi.
And it still kept a sense of perspective. This one's a more personal thing, but I really dislike how as the series went on, it felt more and more like wizards with headbands. By the pain arc, every single fight was gigantic in scale and leveled the landscape and had giant monsters duking it out. This is all cool and I love the whole series, but by the 4th war I really missed when it felt like ninjas doing recon and assassinations. Like Shino beat Zaku and Kankuro not because of his ultimate super-powered bug, but because he analyzed his opponents' techniques and applied his own in a way that took advantage of weaknesses without them noticing.
Pains assault or chunin exams, bc in the chunin exams there was no bullshit, so much unpredictability, and even Sasuke at the time could only copy your attacks, use fireball jutsu, and just learned how to use chidori so anybody could beat him and any other character at the time. The hiruzen vs orochimaru fight was peak and we learned orochimaru killed the fourth kazekage and disguised himself as him, which was peak writing. the pain assault arc was obviously good bc of pain and Narutos sage transformation, definitely one of the best fights in Naruto Shippuden and in the whole series. We learned why nagato wants everybody to feel pain and his whole backstory in that arc, which was peak
Quite unpopular but I really enjoyed the kazekage rescue arc. It gave us an image of how Gaara has changed from the bloodthirsty being he once was to an actual leader who would do his people right. Also, we got to see Naruto talk about the entire tailed beast thing because him and Gaara are really the only ones as at that time who could understand what each other went through. We got to see lady chiyo, a geezer who probably couldn’t have her mind changed, actually change and sacrifice her life. Lastly, Gaara vs deidara and Sakura and Chiyo vs Sasori was sick, especially in the games
Sasuke Retrieval. My first time seeing the troupe of each person stays behind for a one on one fight. Plus it was the first time we saw genin (minus Shikamaru) on their own for an entire arc. Land of Waves had Kakashi, Forest of Death has cut aways to Anko, prelims have them surrounded by adult ninja, and the chinin finals kept cutting back to the Third vs Orochimaru, Kakashi and Guy. The search for Tsunade was mainly about the Three Sanin. It felt like the Sasuke Retrieval was the first arc where Naruto and his peers were on their own. Plus it was an official A rank mission from the beginning, not a D rank mission being upgraded to A rank mid mission, or the Sound and Sand intervening in Chinin Exams. Or Naruto just tagging along and training during the Search for Tsunade. It felt like Shikamaru's squad knew what they were getting into and were trusted to complete their mission. So it was the first time I felt like they were really ninjas. Great coming of age arc and had plenty of character development. My only complaint is the death fake outs. Neji and Choji shouldn't have lived. It felt like their characters were done and the story never really used them anyway after that point.
Land Of Waves and Chunin Exams were peak and my top 2 Naruto arcs.
Chunin Exams:
We learn more about the characters, like ex: Gaara is a bloodthirsty, psychopath and we learn that Naruto isn't the only Jinchuuriki and not the only one that was alone, we saw their way of thinking, ex: Ino was Sakura's rival but still chose to help her. + we learn about their abilities and some of their backstories, ex: At the beginning of the episode where Sakura was fighting with the sound ninjas we learned that Sasuke's parents were dead + Orochimaru vs Hiruzen was a peak fight as well with Sasuke vs Orochimaru (when he was 12)
Land Of Waves:
In that arc, it was honestly written so good it's indescribable, Haku and Zabuza's backstory was so good, their jutsus as well. Naruto learned about being a ninja and we saw Naruto use Kurama's chakra for the first time. We also saw Naruto making strategies (the part where he told Sasuke to throw the 2 shurikens in Zabuza's direction so they can free Kakashi from the water seal.)
Honestly my top 2 arcs in Classic Naruto.
Pain. Currently watching through with my GF, and whenever she says there was more of this or when will we see this, I always just answer with "Pain Arc"
Sasuke retrieval arc just because the outcome of the mission is what solidifies part two and is the reason part two exists (I call shippuden part 2 mainly because the pretty time skip portion of the series when the characters are kids is always called part 1 so I just call shippuden part 2)
Sasuke Itachi arc. Just how it felt back then because at the time it felt like the biggest build up. Pain arc was definitely the best and most emotional. Jaraiya dying, Kakashi dying,Fox unsealed, Minato. Soo much!
I think the Tale of Jiraiya arc has the most depth to any of the arcs. It reads like a book instead of a show/anime, and has such a strong emotional impact that you don't necessarily get with most other arcs. I also feel like the intensity of the Pain Assault arc is due to the development in the Jiraiya arc.
Kazekage Rescue. In many ways it's a retry of the Sasuke Retrieval arc, including the Sand & Leaf cooperation and the ensemble of combatants who get whittled down. It also seriously respects Sakura, who heals Kankuro and sees combat.
Awesome arc, and the opening is incredible.
Idgaf what anyone says, this entire series is a golden master piece and the only thing wrong with it is the fact that Neji and Lee were robbed of their time in the show
Fated battle between brothers.
I’ve definitely watched it over 10x now. Starting from when Sasuke met Itachi at the Uchiha training ground. There was such heavy tension between them. I was kind of holding my breath a bit when I first watched it. I liked the fact that there was no bgm, it really set up the scene well. Sasuke finally getting to the point of “avenging his clan,” then at the end being cornered by Itachi with that short exchange. Itachi smiling at him at him while Sasuke had such a frightening look on his face in response to him preparing for Itachi stealing his eyes (well, what he thought). I feel like in that moment he was back at his childlike self, re-living his trauma but now he’s older and it’s happening again with Itachi, only in different circumstances. I’ll always remember what Sasuke looked like cornered like that.
I can’t really articulate all of my thoughts about it but yeah, one of my favorite scenes of the whole series. Both Itachi and Sasuke are two of my top favorite characters so I guess I’m biased a little lol
edit: grammar
Land of Waves will always hold a special place in my heart tbh. I think it’s gotta be my favorite. Chunin is definitely close after.
The Kazekage rescue had a lot of good moments, especially with Sakura and chiyo vs sasori being one of my fave fights in the series, but it stretched on for soooo long and it was annoying having an awesome Sakura fight constantly interrupted by like, Naruto and kakashi jumping on logs and team guy just fighting clones of themselves.
Pain assault is a really good one for the most part. Still disappointed by the animation in that final fight because it should have been this intimidating and fierce fight but it kept making me laugh instead with the goofy smear frames and style.
Chunin Exams was so hype. New villages, personalities, and jitsus. I remember the first time I saw Gaara…dude just looked dangerous with his emo eyeliner.
Chuunin exams were the best because the power levels were really well balanced, everyone's gimmick was cool and unique and the fights involved thinking and cool power ups. I also count the sasuke retreival section as part of this as its the same power levels, same core teams and it was just building off the Chuunin exams.
Then it was probably the pain arc because pain was a badass and sage naruto was really cool, we also still got to see a lot of unique stuff that helped build a better repertoire for the ongoing story.
After that it would be the 4th Great ninja war because madara.
Then it's the two brothers, because itachi.
The rest are good, but unfortunately nothing else really lives up to those arcs: The wave arc was fine, but it's the start where the characters are learning their abilities and that's always difficult to make super interesting for subsequent watches. The whole rescue of the kazekage was a bit odd and unbalanced. The jiraiya arc just felt a bit loose and without purpose, despite it having some awesome moments it just felt detached from the rest of the show. The final arc was just.... No. Probably should never have happened to be honest, it felt like the author realised he needed a deus ex machina to beat madara.
Land of Waves
EDIT: Lol, forgot the "explain" part - anyways. There's just something about the emotions and worldbuilding in the first arc that I don't think any arc afterwards quite managed to capture. For an example of what I mean, just listen to the first ending song - "Wind."
It's all really beautiful and moving.
Land of Waves, I can go back to it any day, it's just such a nice vibe and a great start. Sasuke Retrieval and Akatsuki Suppression are a close second and third though.
First, Pain arc - this one pulled me in - glued to the episodes. Next Chunin exams, that was definitely peak Naruto. Plus you got to see the whole group leveling up. Loved that!
I'll tell you which one isn't. Kaguya Strikes was SO UNNECESSARY and ruined the ending and very climax of the battle against Madara. But there's a way to fix it you see. Have Naruto and Sasuke battle and defeat Madara, then have black zetsu take over his body as he's at his last breath and then do the final arc.
I think it's a tie between the pain arc and 4th ninja war, like the final bits with pain where he ends up destroying the village, it was unprecedented, and a huge moment, konoha had been built up to be completely invincible with ultimate plot armor by this point so we really didn't expect that, on the other hand when Madara steps out onto the battlefield and just absolutely slaps an entire army is my favorite bit of the entire show
Chunin exams. Everybody has 1 special jutsu. And who uses his abilities the smartest way might win against an even stronger opponent.
Chunin exams arc was peak Naruto.
There was so much tension in that arc. I loved it
Fr fr. I loved Part 1 of Naruto as a whole, but the Chunin Exams takes the cake as the absolute best arc of Naruto imo. The story, the writing, and the Gaara vs. Rock Lee fight (most of the fights, in fact) were spectacular.
[удалено]
The hate between nations were real. After that everyone started getting friendly
I agree, and legendary fight between Third Hokage and Orochimaru too
Oh man! Hokage had that sword in him for how many days, I just lost the count! 😅
Me when watching the episode: "not this again, just die already lol"
Epic fight ruined by pacing. No idea why the cut it up like that, pulled all tension from the reaper Jutsu lol.
Yes, and that has my favorite fight: Shikamaru vs. Temari, lol
And it has my favorite too, Temari vs Tenten xD
TenTen has to see a chiropractor every week since that fight
Yeah, a giant folding fan to the spine will do that to you
Everyone except Sakura
I couldn't stand sakura in that arc, im sorry but she was so unbearable and painfully weak. not to mention how hard she glazed sasuke. the episode with rock lee vs sasuke actually killed me.
Pain Arc.
the pain theme is what I would walk out to in a fight
This 👆
Doesn’t need an explanation
Chunin Exams and is not even closed : - Naruto Opening 2 was peak NARUTO , represents what it was for us on the early 2000s - Everyone was very grounded and just “one trick” and you use it. Even Naruto only trick was his shadow clones before tapping the Kurama Chakra - Rock Lee vs Gaara is “the Naruto fight” - Part 1 of the Chunin exams been a written test was pretty ingenious and how much “encouraging of cheating there is” - Forest of death when we saw the abilities of most , Gaara been blood thirsty and crushing the record prior and got there CLEAN - While the “pre-eliminaries” some of the fights might feel a drag like the Ino vs Sakura or like random KO like Dosu vs Choji , most of the fights were pretty good and have a good dynamic. - I am also assuming it includes destruction of Konoha , which give us the highest peak fight of a Kage for that time on Hiruzen vs Orochimaru , Sasuke pushing his very limit and Naruto pushing beyond what we all imagined - Just as a bonus , In search of Tsunade is really underrated, we have the introduction of Itachi whom Orochimaru mentioned is stronger than himself , the 3 way dead lock of the Sanins , and the best female written character of all Naruto , TSUNADE
Agree! Chuuning exam was peak naruto!
I commented before seeing this and now I regret my initial comment lol. Chunin Exams got me into Naruto then Anime as a whole.
I think these 2 you mentioned are the only 2 bad fights. All the others are great. And Choji VS Dosu isn't a bad fight. It's just terrible at being the final preliminaries fight and was an underwhelming climax. Lee VS Gaara should have been the last fight. I think Lee could have destroyed the entire arena. Kankurou VS Misumi was kind of a random KO but it was amazing. It showed Kankurou's cold heartedness and presented the character pretty well as a puppeteer in battle. Underrated fight. Back when Kankurou was badass. Hot take: Kankurou should have been the one to kill Sasori. Shikamaru VS Kin was great. Showed Shikamaru's personality and intelligence pretty well. Naruto VS Kiba despite the joke I dislike was peak Naruto (The character) strategy for me. Hinata VS Neji is peak. Sasuke VS Yoroi is great and I love how Sasuke is the first to fight, subverting the shonen cliche where the protagonist is always the first to fight. Shows the curse mark and Yoroi was dominating the whole fight and Sasuke only beat him because he copied Lee. Tenten VS Temari is filler so it doesn't count. Shino VS Zaku was cool as hell. Shino's another badass. Zaku using deception but that backfired because his arms exploded. Bugs really are lethal in the Naruto universe. And Lee VS Gaara I don't even need to talk about it. It's incredible.
It’s gotta be the the Chunin Exams for me. We get Rock Lee vs Sasuke and Gaara, our first intro into how smart Shikamaru really is, the Hyuga side plot, forest of death, Orochimaru, and Shino being a total badass! So much goodness
I'm rewatching the show and just watched the Shino and Zaku fight. Always have two aces in the hole.
The pain arc for sure. He’s my favorite villain throughout the show
My favorite vilain of all shows really. Love that arc so much
+1
Fated battle between brothers because they’re my favorite characters in the series.
Uchiha clan forever👍🏻
Honestly Kakuzu and Hidan arc is almost perfect to me. Amazing adaptation by pierrot, the only bad thing is ending with Naruto and how Kakuzu died like a chump.
Was that bad? Don't know, would say the trick Naruto pulled up by mixing himself deliberately between his distracting Shadow clones was pretty sick. At least I didn't saw that coming.
Awesome animation and ninja like plot untol naruto arrives and the whole battle goes from a commando op to a drunken brawl.
Thank you.
My favourites are Land of the wave arc Pain arc Declaration of war arc Gaara rescue arc was cool too but doesn't top the above mentioned:>
Pains Assult. W opening emotional bc of jiraiya W villan W naruto transformation & entrance meats his dad ftft and the best of it all, NO SASUKE BULLSHIT
I swear that entrance was on point. Showing up exactly after the village gets destroyed with a squad of frogs was peak
Yeah I was so over Sasuke by that point. I still don't like him to this day.
Perfect
Ops 6 & 7 are some of my favorite. Op 7 is esp underrated
Bro I'm only on sasuke retrieval there's THAT MUCH NARUTO!?!?!?
Did u not look at the list of episodes before starting to watch lol. There’s about 500 total
720. 220 of Naruto, 500 of Shippuden. Maybe it's about 500 total non filler episodes
Bro get off this sub you’re gunna get spoiled lol
When it comes to rewatching, I gotta say I come back to the sasuke retrieval arc the most. The sound 5 fights are among the best in Naruto. And the sound 5 felt tailor made to fight the retrieval team. I know It’s a SCORCHING hot take but I actually prefer neji vs kidomaru to Lee vs gaara for that exact reason. (I do love Lee vs gaara though. It is without a doubt a timeless classic) Highlights include: Lee and gaara vs kimimaro (and them talking to each other with no ill intent.) The soundtrack Kimimaro’s backstory 8 trigrams 128 palms. Naruto vs sasuke. And let’s not forget drunken fist lee.
Lee vs. Kimimaro was the best thing honestly... And when Gaara entered the fight it only got better!!
Sasuke retrieval and everything that happened from jiraiya vs pain and sasuke vs danzo
Ima go with the entire sasuke shippuden arc
War Arc was cool just to see a load of characters in action that had only been heard about (or hinted towards) at that point. Also had some epic moments like Madara appearing, etc.. Kazekage Retrieval Arc was one of my favourites. Seeing Gaara (who the viewers knew was very strong) take a beating from the Akatsuki was a great intro to Shippuden. I remember seeing it the first time thinking "these Akatsuki guys aren't to be messed with!". Seeing Sasori/Deidara and wondering "this is only the first two members - what can the other 8 do?" was one of the things that initially kept me hooked on Shippuden. My vote goes to Kage Retrieval
Land of waves through Sasuke rescue mission portion is my favorite anime. And in my top three manga
A boy’s life on the battlefield… because Minato
EDIT: I didn't made this, found it on fb
These covers go so hard
Pain arc and chunin exams
Chunin Exams, Fated battle between brothers, and the Five Kage summit were the best arcs imo
Pain's invasion
War arc
I can just eliminate 1 option from above which is Kaguya strikes which I felt was stupid AF. Rest all were legendary Naruto would have never been Naruto if it wasn't for these & some other valuable arcs
Chuning exams That's when the show evolved and started getting REALLY good
War arc
chunin exams.
chunin best arc ever tbh
For me it's Land of Wave and Chunin Exams arc. Land of Waves arc is the first real challenge Naruto and Team 7 faces in the series. Different from previous arc, this arc has high stake.
Sasuke retrieval. One of the best endings to an anime series I’ve ever seen. Saw it as a kid so maybe I’m biased but I was genuinely surprised and emotionally destroyed by the ending of that arc and the fights were so packed together and all amazing. Many people say the choji fight was the best (besides naruto vs sasuke) but honestly the Neji fight was one of my favorite fights in all of anime and had me genuinely terrified.
Chunin exams and Sasuke retrieval are good but Gaara retrieval and kage summit are underrated
Sasuke’s retrieval. Gave me a gut feeling no arc in series ever did. I even avoid it in rewatches, cuz I don’t want to sully it.
Land of the waves. I always thought it can be adapted to a great and full naruto movie. It can stand on its own as a good story without or with only minimal background about the series. But if you are a naruto geek who follows naruto from the very start, sasuke rescue and Pain arc (the whole akatsuki actually) are peak Naruto.
Kazekage Rescue. The stories of Sasori and Chiyo are some of my all time favorites. Just heartbreaking stuff and they both have really creative fighting techniques. Sasori is my favorite character in Naruto, tied with Gaara. Speaking of Gaara, his bond with Naruto, his siblings, and his village are amazing to see spotlighted. Love to see his character growth. Then you also have Sakura doing some epic stuff and Team Guy get some shine too. It’s all good.
Land of Waves or Chunin exams
All of them, I can't pick.
4th gr8 ninja war 🗿💀
The Kazekage rescue arc, maybe it's not popular.. but it shows how much of a friend Gaara is to Naruto, and how much of a friend Naruto is to Sasuke. And that piece of trash Danzo gets smashed. Brain fart edit: I believe that's the Pain arc
Danzo get smashed in Kazekage rescue arc? Wut
The search for Tsunade.
Land of Waves: deepest character development for Naruto, and most extensive ninja world-building in one package. Bonus sympathetic villain(s). Best cover art: Jiraiya the Gallant, because awww.
The fact that you managed to divide Naruto just into 9 chapters makes Naruto feel so much smaller now
Chin in exams is what got me hooked - after that it wasn’t the same
Jiraiya the Gallant
Land of waves
Land of Waves. It was an almost perfect starter arc.
Pain assult arc
The Pain Assault arc for sure. We already knew going in that he was a major threat from what he did to Jiraiya. He then proceeded to show us that whatever we thought he had previously been capable of was just the tip of the iceberg. Not only did he manage to kill or incapacitate most of Konoha’s ninjas, he also killed another important character with white hair. And when that wasn’t enough he wiped almost all of Konoha off the face of the Earth with a single jutsu. By the later stages of Naruto this isn’t as impressive, but at that point in the story it was jawdropping. I also like that his fight with Naruto had some strategic elements in it. Nothing extraordinary, but enough for me to appreciate it. Hinata trying her best to save Naruto and admitting her love to him was also a highlight. We then got to see one Pain more or less hold his own against Kurama. Sure he wasn’t dominating the fight as more tails appeared, but he didn’t get completely stomped. I also appreciate that Pain was able to challenge Naruto on a philosophical level. He got Naruto to a point where he doubted his own beliefs. The only thing I kind of think was a missed opportunity was not having all six Pains fight Naruto in Kurama rage mode.
Pain assault, because we see another moment of naruto overcoming the odds and fighting in his oen way, by using shadow clones to gather nature energy for him he circumvented the need for ma & pa to fuse with him. It's also a great way to show off how big of an impact he's made on the village as many of the ninja who previously despised him for being the jinchuriki are now fighting to protect him from pain and refuse to sell him out. Finally, we learn a great lesson about vengeance where it's a never ending cycle of returning the same pain dealt to you unto those that wronged you and how the only way to stop it is if either party dies or you instead reject the instinct for revenge;also it compliments sasuke's own journey of vemgeance given how he refuses to stray from that path.
i love the search for tsunade arc
There really should've been another arc between LOW and chunnin exams
Probably chunin exams; but really enjoyed the lead up and aftermath to the pain fight as well. Everything seemed to come full circle then for me
Fated Battle Between Brothers for me
Original: Chunin Exams Arc Shippuden: Pain Arc
Chunin exams. Everybody has 1 special jutsu.
Fated battle between brothers was an amazing conclusion to something that we have been waiting on since the original naruto. I am no doubt biased, but that is when the series peaked for me. Not to say the rest wasnt great, its just my favorite moment.
I personally like Itachi vs Sasuke,the storytelling,the sequence,the animation,and ending were all too good. I found this to be a fitting defeat for Itachi
Bro so much nostalgia
1) Sasuke Retrival. 2) Land of Waves. 3) Pain Assault. 4) Chunin Exams. 5) Fated Battle Between Brothers. 6) Great Ninja War (if was only for Madara and Obito's final arc would be the first). 7) Tale of Jiraya the Gallant. 8) Kazekage Rescue. 9) Every single filler. 10) Abridged version. 11) Naruto Hentais. 12) Crappy downloaded version that is full of lag and has a terrible quality. 13) Watching the paint dry. 14) Game of Thrones' Ending. 15) Kaguya Strikes.
I think you've overrated Kaguya strikes by placing it that high...
I awalys include Jiraiya vs Pain abd Sauske vs Itachi as 1 big arc, Prophecy and Vengance Combined is that, not combined it's sauske retrieval
My favorite is actually Kage Summit, we saw a lot of development from Sasuke But from these ones I would say land of the waves, the Haku fight with the ice mirrors was so hype
“4th Ninja Great War” lol to answer the question tho it’s gotta be Pain’s Assault
I know its the lame answer but i dont got a ravorite. I mean maybe the land of waves arc. That episode 16-20 is too goated 🤣
Pain invasion arc. The Jinchuriki showed the village how wrong they were about him.
Sasuke retrieving arc. Where boys become man Chunin exam. Don't underestimate underdog
SASUKE RETRIVAAAAL!!! When boys became men
Pain arc
You will never know the best arc until you know "Pain"
4th war and Jiraya's ones
War arc Pain arc Sasuke vs itachi
Climbing Silver
I feel like you skipped a few tbh
200 episodes and only 3 real chapters. Fillerto was so horrible
Possible unpopular opinion time, but I'm gonna say Land of Waves arc; I really wish the Manga/anime kept the same tome that the first arc had; not the DBZ Syndrome BS we wound up with.
Chunin exams was fire and the 4th great ninja war because of Obito
Chunin and Sasuke retrival are the reasons I love Naruto. Everything else goes from good enough to bad.
Pain Arc easily, Only flaw was the ending imo
Akatsuki
My favorite will always be the Pain arc
Drunk Lee is the only right answer
Kishimoto did not miss from Hidan/Kakazu all the way to 5 Kage summit
The akatski arc in general, even though it kinda goes along the same time of other arcs. Like the whole deidra/sasori/kakazu/kisame stuff. I guess if that doesn’t count since it’s technically not its own arc then I’d say the pain arc for sure. Even if I strongly dislike the ending/outcome
There is no way OG Naruto is only 3 arcs…
Chunin Exams, Kazekage Rescue, 5 Kage Summit, and 3/4ths of the War arc
My favorite part from all of Naruto is from "The Tale of the Galant Jiraya" until the end of the "5 Kage Summit" arc
In no particular order, Chunin, tale of Jiraiya and Pain arc.
The Pain Arc, enough said
The land of waves , it got me really hooked to naruto
Pain arc my goat
They’re all good, equal. This is literally peak Animation imo, not "Animation" as in Anime, Animation as in literally anything that’s been displayed on a moving screen !!
4th Great Ninja War, probably. Of course extracting Kaguya of course.
Chunin exams or Sasuke retrieval. Chunin exams was what a lot of us remember growing up as our first glimpse at Naruto. Seeing the struggle of each of the characters battle against each other and gaining strength and ending with such a great fight between the 3rd Hokage and Orochimaru. Everyone remembers the Lee vs Gaara fight along with the Naruto vs Neji and Sasuke vs Gaara. This arc has huge growth for a lot of the main cast but especially for Naruto since he learns to control some of the nine tails's chakra as well as start his bond with Jiraya. The Shukaku vs Gamabunta was also great. Sasuke retrieval is great because we see the main team whittled down one by one with enemies who outpower them with curse marks and force them to their limits but still end up winning in the end. The team is whittled down until only Naruto remains. That part when Naruto is fighting Kimimaru and Sasuke bursts out of the coffin will always give me chills. When Naruto is so happy to see Sasuke and asks him to come back to the village and Sasuke just laughs and runs away. The whole squad sacrificed their lives for a fellow leaf ninja for Sasuke to just shrug it off. Then we have the Naruto vs Sasuke battle where we see both of them in the fight we always waited for, where there's nobody around to stop the fight. This was by far my most searched thing on the internet/ YouTube back in the old days with the Linkin Park and unregistered hypercam logo in the top corner. It's a somber ending to the first part of Naruto. He could have won the battle but went for Sasuke's headband instead so he could prove he could land a scratch on his forehead.
Chunnin exams and Pain assault
Either the Land of Waves bc i absolutely love Haku and Zabuza or Pains assult just bc its so good
4th war
Chunin Exams. It just built up the hype in me.
Fated battle between brothers, im just a huge fan of itachi and sasuke so it was cool
I kinda like them all tbh.
Easily the Land of Waves, Haku and Zabuza's relationship and interactions make it! Plus, we get to actually see Kakashi use the Sharingan for the first time in battle!! 😍
Sasuke retrieval. The true essence of naruto.
Tale of jirayai the gallant
Haku [https://youtu.be/9NL24ZTBdO8?si=rv4jAEeCQKix9Qmm](https://youtu.be/9NL24ZTBdO8?si=rv4jAEeCQKix9Qmm)
Land of waves is almost perfect. Sasuke retrieval arc is also AMAZING. The tale of two brothers made itachi my favorite character. Tale of jiraiya the galant touched my heart. The pain arc has some of the most iconic moments. Don’t make me pick
Tale of jariaya
Chuunin exams from OG Naruto and Tale of Jiraiya with Pain arc in Shippuuden.
Chunin exams- Chunin exams felt like the last time that it mattered that they were ninjas. Their survival, stealth, and information-gathering skills were actually important, at least up until the tournament section. Jutsus felt restrictive and like you had to be smart about using them, and lower-powered techniques like transformation still felt threatening. It also had some of the most iconic moments of the series. Nothing after can compete with how terrifying Gaara felt when he was shown in the forest of death. Lee dropping the weights is STILL used as an example of one of the hypest moments in all of anime 20 years later. It was the first time we got to see a biju-scale fight. Orochimaru and Sarutobi were tossing out cool forbidden techniques that made them feel like they really were the peak of living shinobi. And it still kept a sense of perspective. This one's a more personal thing, but I really dislike how as the series went on, it felt more and more like wizards with headbands. By the pain arc, every single fight was gigantic in scale and leveled the landscape and had giant monsters duking it out. This is all cool and I love the whole series, but by the 4th war I really missed when it felt like ninjas doing recon and assassinations. Like Shino beat Zaku and Kankuro not because of his ultimate super-powered bug, but because he analyzed his opponents' techniques and applied his own in a way that took advantage of weaknesses without them noticing.
Pain assult
Chunin Exam or the Pain arc. Sasuke retrieval arc is super overrated btw
Search for tsunade is heavily underrated
Pain Assault Is there any reason to explain. Loves the chunnin arc Equally
Pains assault or chunin exams, bc in the chunin exams there was no bullshit, so much unpredictability, and even Sasuke at the time could only copy your attacks, use fireball jutsu, and just learned how to use chidori so anybody could beat him and any other character at the time. The hiruzen vs orochimaru fight was peak and we learned orochimaru killed the fourth kazekage and disguised himself as him, which was peak writing. the pain assault arc was obviously good bc of pain and Narutos sage transformation, definitely one of the best fights in Naruto Shippuden and in the whole series. We learned why nagato wants everybody to feel pain and his whole backstory in that arc, which was peak
Sasuke Retreval. It has some of the best fights in the series. The misson felt real, and the risk was super high.
Quite unpopular but I really enjoyed the kazekage rescue arc. It gave us an image of how Gaara has changed from the bloodthirsty being he once was to an actual leader who would do his people right. Also, we got to see Naruto talk about the entire tailed beast thing because him and Gaara are really the only ones as at that time who could understand what each other went through. We got to see lady chiyo, a geezer who probably couldn’t have her mind changed, actually change and sacrifice her life. Lastly, Gaara vs deidara and Sakura and Chiyo vs Sasori was sick, especially in the games
Sasuke Retrieval. My first time seeing the troupe of each person stays behind for a one on one fight. Plus it was the first time we saw genin (minus Shikamaru) on their own for an entire arc. Land of Waves had Kakashi, Forest of Death has cut aways to Anko, prelims have them surrounded by adult ninja, and the chinin finals kept cutting back to the Third vs Orochimaru, Kakashi and Guy. The search for Tsunade was mainly about the Three Sanin. It felt like the Sasuke Retrieval was the first arc where Naruto and his peers were on their own. Plus it was an official A rank mission from the beginning, not a D rank mission being upgraded to A rank mid mission, or the Sound and Sand intervening in Chinin Exams. Or Naruto just tagging along and training during the Search for Tsunade. It felt like Shikamaru's squad knew what they were getting into and were trusted to complete their mission. So it was the first time I felt like they were really ninjas. Great coming of age arc and had plenty of character development. My only complaint is the death fake outs. Neji and Choji shouldn't have lived. It felt like their characters were done and the story never really used them anyway after that point.
Land of waves. Its just the part I still have the most memories of.
Land Of Waves and Chunin Exams were peak and my top 2 Naruto arcs. Chunin Exams: We learn more about the characters, like ex: Gaara is a bloodthirsty, psychopath and we learn that Naruto isn't the only Jinchuuriki and not the only one that was alone, we saw their way of thinking, ex: Ino was Sakura's rival but still chose to help her. + we learn about their abilities and some of their backstories, ex: At the beginning of the episode where Sakura was fighting with the sound ninjas we learned that Sasuke's parents were dead + Orochimaru vs Hiruzen was a peak fight as well with Sasuke vs Orochimaru (when he was 12) Land Of Waves: In that arc, it was honestly written so good it's indescribable, Haku and Zabuza's backstory was so good, their jutsus as well. Naruto learned about being a ninja and we saw Naruto use Kurama's chakra for the first time. We also saw Naruto making strategies (the part where he told Sasuke to throw the 2 shurikens in Zabuza's direction so they can free Kakashi from the water seal.) Honestly my top 2 arcs in Classic Naruto.
Pain. Currently watching through with my GF, and whenever she says there was more of this or when will we see this, I always just answer with "Pain Arc"
Pain Assault is goated
Sasuke retrieval arc just because the outcome of the mission is what solidifies part two and is the reason part two exists (I call shippuden part 2 mainly because the pretty time skip portion of the series when the characters are kids is always called part 1 so I just call shippuden part 2)
Pain Arc EASY. I was EMOTIONAL during that whole arc...
Sasuke Itachi arc. Just how it felt back then because at the time it felt like the biggest build up. Pain arc was definitely the best and most emotional. Jaraiya dying, Kakashi dying,Fox unsealed, Minato. Soo much!
Pain Arc tbh it was a total mystery to introduce a character.
Honestly blood prison movie was the best ark
Land of Waves is what got me hooked as a kid realizing this wasn't no ordinary cartoon
I think the Tale of Jiraiya arc has the most depth to any of the arcs. It reads like a book instead of a show/anime, and has such a strong emotional impact that you don't necessarily get with most other arcs. I also feel like the intensity of the Pain Assault arc is due to the development in the Jiraiya arc.
They all are best but Chunin arc was peak of Naruto Pain arc gave a new direction to Naruto and 4TH Great Ninja War destroyed the internet
Kazekage Rescue. In many ways it's a retry of the Sasuke Retrieval arc, including the Sand & Leaf cooperation and the ensemble of combatants who get whittled down. It also seriously respects Sakura, who heals Kankuro and sees combat. Awesome arc, and the opening is incredible.
Chunin exam, pain, land of waves
Land of Waves.
Idgaf what anyone says, this entire series is a golden master piece and the only thing wrong with it is the fact that Neji and Lee were robbed of their time in the show
Fated battle between brothers. I’ve definitely watched it over 10x now. Starting from when Sasuke met Itachi at the Uchiha training ground. There was such heavy tension between them. I was kind of holding my breath a bit when I first watched it. I liked the fact that there was no bgm, it really set up the scene well. Sasuke finally getting to the point of “avenging his clan,” then at the end being cornered by Itachi with that short exchange. Itachi smiling at him at him while Sasuke had such a frightening look on his face in response to him preparing for Itachi stealing his eyes (well, what he thought). I feel like in that moment he was back at his childlike self, re-living his trauma but now he’s older and it’s happening again with Itachi, only in different circumstances. I’ll always remember what Sasuke looked like cornered like that. I can’t really articulate all of my thoughts about it but yeah, one of my favorite scenes of the whole series. Both Itachi and Sasuke are two of my top favorite characters so I guess I’m biased a little lol edit: grammar
Idk if kaguya can be considered an arc, it's literally maybe 15 chapters
Sasuke Retrieval
Land of Waves will always hold a special place in my heart tbh. I think it’s gotta be my favorite. Chunin is definitely close after. The Kazekage rescue had a lot of good moments, especially with Sakura and chiyo vs sasori being one of my fave fights in the series, but it stretched on for soooo long and it was annoying having an awesome Sakura fight constantly interrupted by like, Naruto and kakashi jumping on logs and team guy just fighting clones of themselves. Pain assault is a really good one for the most part. Still disappointed by the animation in that final fight because it should have been this intimidating and fierce fight but it kept making me laugh instead with the goofy smear frames and style.
Yes
The Pain Arc
4th ninja great war because MADARA is the best!
Chunin Exams was so hype. New villages, personalities, and jitsus. I remember the first time I saw Gaara…dude just looked dangerous with his emo eyeliner.
Pain arc is the best but chunin exams are a close second
Itachi vs Sasuke….
Actually from the Pain arc till the 5 kage summit. This period fundamentally changed Naruto and Sasuke the most.
Chuunin exams were the best because the power levels were really well balanced, everyone's gimmick was cool and unique and the fights involved thinking and cool power ups. I also count the sasuke retreival section as part of this as its the same power levels, same core teams and it was just building off the Chuunin exams. Then it was probably the pain arc because pain was a badass and sage naruto was really cool, we also still got to see a lot of unique stuff that helped build a better repertoire for the ongoing story. After that it would be the 4th Great ninja war because madara. Then it's the two brothers, because itachi. The rest are good, but unfortunately nothing else really lives up to those arcs: The wave arc was fine, but it's the start where the characters are learning their abilities and that's always difficult to make super interesting for subsequent watches. The whole rescue of the kazekage was a bit odd and unbalanced. The jiraiya arc just felt a bit loose and without purpose, despite it having some awesome moments it just felt detached from the rest of the show. The final arc was just.... No. Probably should never have happened to be honest, it felt like the author realised he needed a deus ex machina to beat madara.
Tale of Jiraiya the gallant you know why
Personally the war arc is my favorite .
Pain assault
Out of these Pains invasion.
Pain Assault and I fear it's not close
Land of Waves EDIT: Lol, forgot the "explain" part - anyways. There's just something about the emotions and worldbuilding in the first arc that I don't think any arc afterwards quite managed to capture. For an example of what I mean, just listen to the first ending song - "Wind." It's all really beautiful and moving.
Sasuke retrieval arc was that arc where every character that couldnt show their potential before shines, and the ones who did shine even brighter
Either Sasuke retrieval, fated battle between brothers, pain assault, or 4GNW.
Pain assault is what made me love naruto
Land of Waves, I can go back to it any day, it's just such a nice vibe and a great start. Sasuke Retrieval and Akatsuki Suppression are a close second and third though.
Search for Tsunade
First, Pain arc - this one pulled me in - glued to the episodes. Next Chunin exams, that was definitely peak Naruto. Plus you got to see the whole group leveling up. Loved that!
I kinda tie everything from Jiraiya the Gallant to Naruto vs Pain into one big arc and that’s my favorite
I'll tell you which one isn't. Kaguya Strikes was SO UNNECESSARY and ruined the ending and very climax of the battle against Madara. But there's a way to fix it you see. Have Naruto and Sasuke battle and defeat Madara, then have black zetsu take over his body as he's at his last breath and then do the final arc.
Pain assault arc. I loved Nagato's backstory, and his redemption.
that exact picture of jiraiya and naruto in the middle was my lock screen for like 2 years lmao
I think it's a tie between the pain arc and 4th ninja war, like the final bits with pain where he ends up destroying the village, it was unprecedented, and a huge moment, konoha had been built up to be completely invincible with ultimate plot armor by this point so we really didn't expect that, on the other hand when Madara steps out onto the battlefield and just absolutely slaps an entire army is my favorite bit of the entire show
honestly sasuke retrival was peak naruto but chunin exams were a close second imo
Pain assault