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"Naruto" was an ongoing Japanese anime series that stopped after 220 episodes before going into the storyline behind "Naruto Shippuden." The series aired from 2002 to 2007. In the United States, the series is still airing as it takes a lot of time to dub into English. The series is adapted from the manga which was written by Masashi Kishimoto. Naruto the manga is still one of the series that appears in the Weekly Shonen Jump.

The plot of Naruto is centered on the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. The Land of Fire is one of the five great nations in the world of Naruto. The main character is a young ninja named Naruto Uzumaki. His quest is to become the Hokage of the village. The title of Hokage is bestowed to the strongest and most skilled ninjas of the Hidden Leaf village.

Despite being a good ninja, Naruto is hyperactive and loud-mouthed. Naruto hopes that the village will acknowledge him if he becomes the Hokage. Naruto's childhood was a troubled one as he had no friends and was treated as an outcast. He did not know why he was treated in that fashion in the beginning.

But, it is revealed that his father, the fourth Hokage fought off the most powerful of the tailed beats known as the Kyuubi or the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. It was no easy task to defeat the Demon Fox. Many people were killed the wake of its attack on the village where the Hidden Leaf Ninjas resided. The Fourth Hokage sacrificed his own life to seal the demon inside Naruto, who was only a newborn.

He wanted his son to be respected as a hero for containing the Demon Fox. But, it was not the case as the people treated him as scapegoat. The third Hokage took leadership again. However, he made a decree that nobody is allowed to talk about the attack and what happened. The ninjas that are Naruto's age and younger, are clueless to what has happened during that period of time.

The back-story is the set up for the trials and tribulations of Naruto.

During Naruto's quest, he goes on many adventures. During those adventures, he forges friendships, makes new friendships, along with making new rivalries and enemies. The series' main antagonist is a former Hidden Leaf ninja known as Orochimaru. His goal is to learn all the jutsus out there to be known.

The story focuses on Naruto's growth as a ninja and a person. Everything that happens plays a big role in Naruto's growth. Naruto focuses strongly on character development as the major characters are still 12 to 13 years of age. The aspect of friendship and trust also plays an important role to the story and the development of characters.

Naruto builds up the characters to establish the relationships setting them up for Naruto Shippuuden.

The series has quite the interesting cast of characters. Even though Naruto is the main character, other characters get their fair share of the spotlight.

Throughout the years, Naruto has become a solid and strong-standing series. Like many of the manga featured in Shonen Jump, Naruto has plenty of story arcs. While there are the main plots behind Naruto, there are numerous story arcs taking the characters through all sorts of interesting adventures.

The series is very much enveloped in the fantasy, myth, and romanticism in regards to ninjas. If you're into ninjas and ninja-themed anime, Naruto is definitely one series to watch.

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