Naruto Uzumaki

"Dattyebayo! or Believe It!"

- Naruto's Catchphrase Naruto Uzumaki (うずまきナルト|Uzumaki Naruto) is the title character and main protagonist of the Naruto anime/manga series.

He is voiced by Maile Flanagan in the English version and by Junko Takeuchi in the Japanese version.

Background
Naruto is the son of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze and the second Nine-Tailed Fox Jinchuuriki, Kushina Uzumaki, making Naruto one of the last members of the famous Uzumaki Clan. Naruto was born on the night of October 10th in secret under the guard of the Anbu. Just as Minato was sealing Kushina after the birth, a mysterious masked man named Tobi killed Kushina's midwife and the Third Hokage's wife Biwako and took Naruto hostage and threatened Minato to had over Kushina or the infant dies. Minato tried to reasoned with Tobi but Tobi just threw the infant back to Minato that contains explosive tags on the blanket which allowed Minato to safely protect Naruto from the explosion as Tobi made his escape with Kushina in toll. Minato took Naruto back to their home while he goes and rescues Kushina. After Minato returns with Kushina who was greatly weaken by the Beast extraction from Tobi to allow him to control the beast and destroy the village, Minato had Kushina watch over and protect Naruto as he goes and defend the village. Moments later, Minato summoned Kushina and Naruto on the battle grounds. Minato told Kushina that he was going to seal half of the Nine Tails inside Naruto with the Reaper Death Seal so that when Naruto is old enough to master that power, he will stop Tobi once and for all and protect the village by keeping the beast in check. Kushina at first disagreed with this idea because of the pain and suffering that Naruto will endure. But after Minato reasoned with Kushina and told her that this was the best option, Kushina sadly agreed with it. Just as the Minato was preparing the sealing ceremony, the Nine tails attempted to kill Naruto, but his parents intervened in the beast's way and took the hit. In their last breaths, Minato had the Key of Sealing sent to Jiraiya as Minato and Kushina said their heartfelt goodbyes to Naruto before they sealed him and died in the process.

After Naruto's parent's death, the Third Hokage took Naruto in and raised him until he was old enough to live on his own. He gave Naruto Kushina's last name "Uzumaki" so that Naruto would not be known by Minato's enemies. This after effect caused Naruto to be scorned and casted out by the adults of the village and because of that, Naruto had hardly any friends his age and he lived a lonely life as an orphan. However, there were some adults like Iruka Umino who witnessed the attack and also lost his parents, and he became a father figure to Naruto. Naruto entered the Academy at 6 years old, but he was not the brightess student. He may have ADHD, because he flunked alot of exams and has had a difficult time paying attention in class and he was known as the dead last. He even made a rivalry with his classmate Sasuke Uchiha who was the genius prodigy of the class and Naruto even fell in love with Sakura Haruno. Naruto even enjoyed playing pranks on people to gain attention and to be acknowledged, much to the villager's annoyance.

Introduction and Land of Waves Arc
Naruto was 12 years old and was a Ninja in training. At first, he failed the Shadow Clone test and was tricked by Mizuki to steal the Scroll of Shadow Clones and was even revealed by Mizuki that he was the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox whose name is Kurama. However, Naruto defeated Mizuki with the pure made shadow clones and Iruka, who witnessed this was so proud of Naruto that he gave Naruto his head band and Naruto graduated. Naruto was teamed up with Sasuke Uchiha (to his dismay) and Sakura Haruno (to his happiness). The three didn't get along really well at first, but started to understand the meaning of teamwork as they were lead by their leader, Kakashi Hatake and pasted the Bell Test. The team was then assign to protect the Bridge Builder named Tazuna as they traveled to Wave Country and were attacked by Mist ninjas, with Sasuke and Sakura did all the work, and Naruto who felt weak was taunted by Sasuke for being a coward. Naruto who was injured by the poison in his hand, shocked everyone by taking the poison out of his hand with a kunai and made a pledge that he will never back down and lose to Sasuke.

As the group made it over to Wave Country, they were ambushed by Zabuza Momochi who had a brief battle with them, Naruto managed to gather up his courage and even come up with a plan which involves him working together with Sasuke and with Kakashi having the upperhand against Zabuza. However, Haku intervened and took Zabuza away. The team made to Tazuna's house where they recovered from their wounds and they realized that Zabuza was still alive. For the next whole week, the team trained in using chakra control by climbing trees with their feet. Sasuke and Naruto where still having a hard time getting along, but they soon started to get use to each other and even work together to improved their climbing. Naruto even meet a young woman who is actually Haku. The woman asked Naruto waht he was doing, and Naruto told her that he was training. Then Haku asked why he was training and Naruto told her that he was training so that he can be really strong and that he wanted to be acknowleged by others. Haku asked him if there was someone who is very precious to him and she told him that truth strength comes from the burning desire to protect those who are precious to them and before she left, she told Naruto that she was really a boy which caused Naruto to be shocked. Inari who had a hard time getting over his stepfather's death tearfully told the team that there is no such thing as heroes which caused Naruto to angrily scold at Inari by calling him a coward and a baby. Later, Kakashi told Inari that Naruto did not mean to be so hard on him and that Naruto has been through alot of hard times than Irari has, much to Inari's surprise. The next day, Naruto was recovering and the rest of them head out to have a final battle with Haku and Zabuza. When Naruto was awakend he found the team when on without him, Naruto hurrily head out. On his way he came across a boar that has been attacked by a sword and Naruto followed the trail that lead back toward the house. Once he arrived, he quickly defeated Gato's men who took Inari and his mother hostage. Naruto told Inari that he was very strong and brave and told him to look after his mother. As Naruto arrived he and Sasuke where forced to battle Haku and his Ice Mirrors Jutsu. However Naruto and Sasuke were quickly getting defeated and exhausted. Sasuke risked his live to protect Naruto by shielding him against Haku's attack and Naruto asked Sasuke why he protected him, and Sasuke said that he doesn't know and that his body just moved on it's own (in truth, Sasuke actually cared about and bonded with Naruto, but didn't want to admit it). After Sasuke seemingly died, Naruto's Nine tailed fox power started to surfaced from his deep rage over his friend's "death" and quickly defeated Haku. Haku was amazed by Naruto's powers and told him that he was just a broken tool with no purpose of being any use to Zabuza, and told naruto to kill him. However, Haku decided to cancel this and protected Zabuza against Kakashi's Lightning Blade and died in the process. Moments later, Gato appeared and taunted and kick Haku's corpse for breaking his arm earlier. Naruto told Zabuza to do something, but Zabuza didn't listen and told Naruto that Haku was just a tool and that the was nothing to him. Naruto tearfully told Zabuza how much Haku loves him and that it was very wrong to see someone as a tool and not a human being. This in turn caused Zabuza to be deeply touched by the child's words, and Zabuza was redeemed and killed Gato and died from his injuries. Sasuke even awakened and Sakura told Naruto that Sasuke was alright which made Naruto cried tears of joy. Naruto and Kakashi then used their shadow clones to defeat Gato's men. The next day the team had a burial memorial for Zabuza and Haku. Tazuna and the villagers where very grateful and waved goodbye as the team head home. Tazuna and the villagers of Wave Country decided to call the bridge, The Great Naruto Bridge in honor of Naruto and his team.

Chunnin Exams Arc
Weeks after returning from Wave Country, the team continued with their minor missions with Sasuke and Naruto being annoyed by each other's presence (to Sakura's dismay). Kakashi even gave the team applications to participate in the Chunnin Exams so that why they can move forward to higher ranks and improve their skills and even gave them time to think about it. During that time, the team met Gaara and his older Sand Village siblings : Temari and Kankuro who told them that they too are participating in the exams where Naruto was hoping to go up against Kankuro and Sasuke going up against Gaara. After making their minds up, Team 7 signed the applications and went to take their first test. On their way, they met up with Rock Lee who wishes to fight Sasuke because of his membership of the legendary Uchiha Clan. However, Naruto wanted to go up against Lee to prove that he is a better fighter, but Lee turn him down and insisted on fighting Sasuke. In anger, Naruto charged at Lee, but Lee quickly took down Naruto with his Konaha Hurricane technique. Sasuke decided to battle Lee, but but during the fight, Sasuke was overwhelmed by Lee's great speed and was about to use his trump card technique on Sasuke but was stop by Guy who punched, scolded, and dramatically hugged Lee (much to the team's shock and disgust). Guy told the team that Lee is even partipating in the exams and even recognized the team as Kakashi's team. After Lee and Guy left, Naruto and the Team head out to participate in the Exams and they came across Kakashi, and Kakashi told them that they came a long way and that he was proud of them. With new determination, Naruto led the team into the room and was astounished by the number the people who are taking the test and Naruto was even reunited with the Rookie 9 who graduated with Naruto. Afterward, they even met a strange young man named Kabuto Yakushi who was participating and even explain to the team about the teams of the different villages with the use of chakra cards. Naruto, with pride, announced to the whole room his name and that he was going to defeat all of them (much to the Rookie 9's annoyance). In the first phase of the Chunin Exams, each of the participants must first do a paper test while working together with their teams to obtain answers without getting caught. When the tenth question came, the question was to choose to trying in answering the tenth question or give up in becoming a ninja. If the participants try to answer the question and they get wrong, they will automatically fail the test. Naruto, with new determination, stated that he will never quit, that he will become Hokage, and that he does not care what kind of abuse they throw at them, he will endure it and not be afraid. Impressed by the boy's strong courage, the Exam Proctor decided that the entire candidates left in the room passed the test (much to everyone's shock) and explain that the true purpose of the test was spying and using their spying techniques in gathering information without getting caught and test their courage. Moments later, Anko Mitsubashi arrived and lead the team to the second phase of the exams. The candidates are to travel through the Forest of Death for five days and try to get both a Heaven and an Earth Scroll. They eventually came face to face with a Grass Ninja (Orochimaru in disguise) with Naruto briefly using the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox. However Orochimaru was able to stop Naruto and used an odd numbered Reverse Sealing Jutsu which caused Naruto to loose consciousness. After Naruto regained consciousness, Naruto and his team continued on their quest.

Search for Tsunade Arc
After the failed invasion resulted in the death of the Third Hokage, Jiraiya was tasked with finding a Fifth Hokage. He convinced Naruto to come with him by promising to teach him a new technique that would be stronger than Sasuke's Chidori. Along the way, they were met by Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha, two members of Akatsuki, who sought to capture Naruto for the Nine-Tails sealed within him. Jiraiya was able to draw them off, but Naruto was introduced to the organisation that would become more of a problem for him in Part II. To prepare him for their future encounters, Jiraiya taught him how to use the Rasengan, a technique created by Minato. While Naruto was able to complete the first two steps of the learning process with little difficulty, he struggled to complete the third and thus master the technique.Naruto and Jiraiya eventually found Tsunade, the ideal candidate for the position of Fifth Hokage. When she turned down the offer, and insulted all those who had previously held the title, an angry Naruto challenged her to a fight and attacked her with an incomplete Rasengan. Although his effort failed to hit her, she was surprised by his progress and made a bet with him: if he could master the technique in a week, she would give him her necklace, but if he couldn't, she would take his money and his frog wallet, Gama-chan. Naruto agreed, and started practising, but in a week's time, he still had yet to finish the training. Disappointed, Tsunade met with Orochimaru, the murderer of the Third Hokage, and Naruto, Jiraiya, and Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, tried to stop her from helping him.Tsunade turned out to have no intention of helping Orochimaru, and fought him and his assistant, Kabuto Yakushi. When Kabuto left her unable to fight, Naruto came to her aid. Although he was getting beaten by Kabuto and Tsunade told him to run, Naruto refused and by using shadow clones to help him form it, Naruto was able to hit Kabuto with a perfected Rasengan, defeating Kabuto and winning the bet. Amazed by his determination to keep to his word and to survive against a superior opponent, Tsunade gave him her necklace, drove off Orochimaru and Kabuto, and accepted the position of Fifth Hokage. They returned to Konoha, Tsunade confidently believing Naruto would someday become a great Hokage.

Sasuke Retrival Arc
After returning with Tsunade (in the anime, after returning from the mission in the Land of Tea), Sasuke began to fall into the corruption set in place for him by Orochimaru. He began lashing out at Sakura and Naruto, not as team-mates but as enemies. Naruto eventually fought with him, the battle ending with Naruto and Sasuke about to clash with the Rasengan and Chidori, with Sakura in the middle. Kakashi ends the feud, sending the two crashing into water towers, Naruto unknowingly doing more damage that Sasuke, much to Sasuke's annoyance. Despite his promises to Sakura, Sasuke eventually ends up defecting from Konoha in order to seek out Orochimaru for power. Under the escort of Orochimaru's Sound Four, Sasuke left to join Orochimaru, and Naruto joined a retrieval team that would bring him back; he also made a promise to Sakura that he will bring Sasuke back at all cost. While the other members of the team dealt with the Sound Four, Naruto finally engaged in a fight with the Sound Four's fifth member, Kimimaro. However, he was not able to beat him even with Nine Tails-enhanced shadow clones. When Naruto was about to be killed, he was saved by Rock Lee, who told him to continue the pursuit of Sasuke while he fought Kimimaro. Naruto finally caught up with Sasuke in a place called Valley of the End, very near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound, and fought Sasuke. With Sasuke determined that he would kill Naruto in his quest for power, Naruto decided he would have to take the battle seriously if he was to bring Sasuke back. When Sasuke's drive to kill proved greater than Naruto's resolve of friendship in a 'fair' fight, Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra to level the playing field, allowing him to batter around Sasuke. Sasuke, pushed to his limits, managed to develop the mature Sharingan, greatly overpowering Naruto. When Naruto, even with the Nine-Tails' chakra, was defeated, he tapped into the chakra even more, and a red aura of the Nine-Tails' chakra, in the shape of a fox, surrounded him. Sasuke then drew on the power of the second stage of his cursed seal to properly compete with Naruto.The two had one final clash, Naruto with his Rasengan (enhanced by the Nine-Tails' chakra) and Sasuke with his Chidori (empowered by the cursed seal). Upon contact, a giant, black energy dome formed and surrounded them. In the dome, Sasuke struck Naruto in the stomach, while Naruto scratched Sasuke's headband, proving the latter's earlier taunt of the subject wrong. Sasuke won the fight, but after staring at the unconscious Naruto, he couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, so he simply continued on his way to Orochimaru.

Pre-Shippūden Filler Arcs
In the anime, several filler arcs take place before Naruto left for his three year training with Jiraiya. Naruto is sent on various missions with the other members of the Konoha 11, but while there is little character development for himself, the filler arcs tend to develop the supporting characters, as well as Gaara. The final filler arc was right before Naruto's departure with Jiraiya, though in the manga, this was right after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc.

Kazekage Rescue Arc


When Naruto returned to Konoha, the remaining members of Team 7 were reorganised into Team Kakashi. As their first order of business, Kakashi gave them another bell test, this time the only goal being to take a bell, and that he would use his Sharingan against them. Although their abilities had improved, Naruto and Sakura were still unable to beat Kakashi, and it was only by threatening to spoil the end of the latest Icha Icha novel that they distracted Kakashi long enough to take the bells. Naruto reconnected with his old friends, who had all advanced to chūnin-rank or higher, and then heard that Gaara, the new Kazekage, had been kidnapped by Akatsuki. Naruto and Team Kakashi set out for Sunagakure to save him.

Upon arrival in Sunagakure, Chiyo was added to Team Kakashi as an adviser, and they followed Akatsuki's trail. Along the way, they encountered a body-double of Itachi Uchiha, which engaged them in battle. Kakashi and Naruto teamed up in order to defeat the lookalike, before continuing onto the Akatsuki lair. There, they found Gaara's body in the possession of Deidara and Sasori. When Deidara flew off with Gaara, Naruto and Kakashi pursued him, leaving Sasori to Chiyo and Sakura. While initially unable to catch Deidara, Kakashi was able to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to distract Deidara, giving Naruto an opportunity to attack him and retrieve Gaara. Deidara escaped, and Naruto and Kakashi reunited with Sakura and Chiyo.

Although Sakura tried to heal Gaara, he had already died, a casualty of Akatsuki's tailed beast extraction-process. Angered that Gaara had died because he was a jinchūriki, something he had never asked for and had suffered because of his whole life, Naruto lashed out at Chiyo, the one who had sealed Shukaku into Gaara in the first place. To make up for what she had done, Chiyo, with the help of Naruto, restored Gaara back to life, at the cost of her own. Gaara awakened surrounded by his rescue party and the ninja from Sunagakure. After Chiyo's funeral, Naruto and Gaara finally shake hands (Gaara insisting), as a sign to their close relationship. Afterwards, Team Kakashi and Team Guy returned to Konoha.

Sai and Sasuke Arc
During Sakura's battle with Sasori, she learned of a spy in Orochimaru's inner circle, an opportunity for them to find Sasuke after his years of absence. Kakashi was left hospitalised from overuse of the Mangekyō Sharingan, so Yamato was assigned to lead Team Kakashi in his place. Sai was also added to the team as Sasuke's replacement, but neither Naruto nor Sakura were able to accept him as such.In route to the meeting place with the spy, Yamato tried to get the team to work together, although Sai's personality and disdain for his predecessor caused only conflict amongst the team. When they arrived at the meeting spot, they found that the spy was Kabuto. Yamato, disguised as Sasori, spoke with him, but they were interrupted by the arrival of Orochimaru. Kabuto, in turn, turned against Yamato, who was forced to call Naruto and the others for back-up. Surprised to see Naruto, Orochimaru wondered aloud if Naruto had become as strong as "his Sasuke". Enraged that Orochimaru had spoken as if Sasuke belonged to him, Naruto entered his three-tailed form, and attacked him.While a fair match, Orochimaru was able to evade Naruto's attacks. Further provoked by his inability to land a debilitating blow, Naruto advanced to his four-tailed form, losing his sense of self in his anger. Now a danger to Orochimaru, Naruto was forced back so that he could switch targets, his first being Sakura. Yamato restrained him before he could do any real harm, and forced the Nine-Tails' influence to recede. When he woke up, they found that Sai had joined up with Orochimaru. They followed him in the hopes that he would lead them to Sasuke, and to see what he was up to. During a break, Yamato took Naruto aside, and told him of how he had attacked Sakura, encouraging him not to rely on the Nine-Tails if he really wanted to protect those close to him.

When they arrived at Orochimaru's hideout, they infiltrated the lair, and captured Sai. Exposed, Sai revealed that his superiors had sent him to help organise another invasion of Konoha. He was restrained for his treachery, while the others went looking for Sasuke. Sai, having earlier met Sasuke, asked why Naruto was so determined to bring him back. Naruto explained that the two had a bond that couldn't be broken, and that he would risk his life to protect this bond. Intrigued, Sai switched sides, helping them to capture Kabuto and then scouring the base in order to reunite Sasuke with Naruto. He succeeded, but was attacked by Sasuke, the magnitude of which drew the rest of Team Yamato to their location.

Together again, Naruto and Sakura tried to convince Sasuke to come home. Still determined to gain power, he refused, prompting the team to use force. Their efforts were unsuccessful, and Naruto, who was exhausted from his fight with Orochimaru in his four-tailed form, wasn't able to compete with Sasuke's growth. Within his subconscious, the Nine-Tails began to offer Naruto its chakra, but he firmly rejected its assistance. The Nine-Tails became contemptuous at Naruto, mocking him that if it wasn't for its power, he would be nothing. It then tempted Naruto to break the seal so it can "grant" him all of its power, but he still refused. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, Sasuke with his Sharingan activated, suddenly appeared within Naruto's subconscious, which surprised both Naruto and the Nine-Tails. As the Nine-Tails stated that Sasuke had similar chakra to Madara Uchiha, Sasuke used his Sharingan to suppress the beast's residual chakra. The Nine-Tails concluded that this was probably its last meeting with Sasuke, so it warned him not to kill Naruto, for he would only end up regretting it. Back in the real world, Sasuke tried to finish off his former team-mates, but he was stopped by Orochimaru and they retreated, leaving Team Yamato to return home.

Hidan and Kakuzu Arc
Kakashi, hoping to make Naruto better prepared for his next encounter with Sasuke, trained him to create a new wind-based technique. In the anime, this training began before, and continued throughout, the Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc, with Naruto seeking assistance from Asuma and Sora, two other wind chakra users. Kakashi had Naruto train with shadow clones to master wind manipulation in only a fraction of the time. When he did this, Kakashi left him with the task of combining what he had learned with the Rasengan. He explained that infusing one's chakra nature with the Rasengan was what Minato had intended to do when he created the Rasengan, but had not been able to do so before he died. Kakashi believed Naruto would prove successful where his father could not, inspiring Naruto to do his best.

While he struggled to create his new Rasengan, the rest of Konoha mobilised to deal with the Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu. When the two managed to kill Asuma, Kakashi left Yamato in charge of overseeing Naruto's training so that he could help Team 10 avenge Asuma. Once he achieved a usable technique, Naruto and Team Yamato went to provide assistance, arriving in time to save Kakashi and Team 10 from Kakuzu. Naruto engaged Kakuzu by himself with his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, created with the help of shadow clones. Once striking Kakuzu with the attack, two of his hearts were destroyed, and his final heart was left on the brink of failure. Tired out by the ordeal, Naruto's injuries were healed while Kakashi finished off Kakuzu.

Upon returning to Konoha, Naruto was forbidden by Tsunade to use the Rasenshuriken again. While it was devastating to his opponents, it caused minor injuries to Naruto's arm as well. Even though they weren't as bad as his opponent's injuries, it was harmful enough to cause the arm to be beyond medical repair if performed again with contact of his hand and the opponent, endangering him and his hopes of remaining a ninja. Naruto said that he realised this, but claimed he understood his own body better than anyone else.

Itachi Pursuit Arc
After news of Orochimaru's defeat at the hands of Sasuke, Team Kakashi decided to make another attempt to find him. Knowing that Sasuke was going after his older brother, Itachi, they teamed up with the members of Team 8 to find either of the Uchiha brothers. They scoured the landscape, and eventually encountered Kabuto, who had absorbed some of Orochimaru's remains into his body. As his thanks to Naruto for "inspiring" him to overcome Orochimaru, Kabuto gave him a book containing some information on Akatsuki, while making an escape to avoid capture.

After regrouping and Kiba picked up on Sasuke's trail, Naruto used a number of shadow clones to search the area faster. When one of his clones neared what he thought was Sasuke's location, he found Itachi there instead. Itachi repelled all of Naruto's attempts to attack him, insisting that he only wanted to talk. He trapped Naruto in a genjutsu and, as was later revealed, questioned Naruto on his dedication to Sasuke and to Konoha. When Naruto insisted that he would protect both at any cost, Itachi gave Naruto some of his power sealed inside a crow in case he ever needed it. Itachi left, and Naruto continued his search, eventually finding Sasuke.When the real Naruto and the rest of the team moved to intercept him, they were stopped by Tobi. Despite their efforts to quickly dispose of Tobi, none of their attacks worked, and it was only after word reached them that Sasuke had killed Itachi that they were allowed to continue. Tobi, however, reached Sasuke first, and having lost the trail, the Konoha-nin were forced to give up on the search.

Invasion of Pain Arc
When he returned to Konoha, Naruto learned that Jiraiya had died in his battle with the leader of Akatsuki, Pain. Grief stricken, Naruto spent the rest of the day mourning the loss of his teacher, musing over the fact he had wanted Jiraiya to be there when he became Hokage. After being comforted by Iruka and Shikamaru, Naruto helped to decipher Jiraiya's dying message. When the code was broken, Naruto decided to go to train with the toads to learn senjutsu, knowing that Pain was coming for him and deciding to make the most of the time Jiraiya had bought for him. To learn senjutsu, Naruto trained to harmonise with nature, a process he sped up by using a limited amount of shadow clones. He rapidly progressed through the introductory stages and attained a perfect Sage Mode, something Jiraiya had never been able to do. When news of Pain's attack on Konoha reached them, they began to mobilise for battle.

As Naruto (in Sage Mode), Fukasaku, Gamaken, Gamahiro, Gamabunta, and Gamakichi were summoned to the centre of Konoha, Naruto did not immediately recognise the crater he had been summoned to, but then saw the Hokage Monument in the distance. Realising that Pain had destroyed the village, an infuriated Naruto destroyed Pain's Asura Path with a Rasengan before it could attack Tsunade. Naruto told the Hokage to make sure that none of the other villagers would intervene in the battle. Pain's Animal Path summoned a number of animals to attack Naruto, who used the Sage Mode's immense strength to bat them aside to his toad allies. While they dealt with the summons, Naruto disposed of the Preta Path with Frog Kata before preparing the fruits of his senjutsu training: a perfected Rasenshuriken. He hurled the attack at Pain's remaining bodies, and it expanded when it neared them, disintegrating the Human Path. Running low on chakra because of the attack, Naruto had Gamabunta trap the Animal Path in his mouth, where Naruto defeated it with his Sage Technique: Spiralling Serial Spheres without interference from the other bodies.

When he ran out of natural energy and was no longer in Sage Mode, Naruto had Fukasaku summon one of his shadow clones from Mount Myōboku that gathered it for him. Revitalised, Naruto attacked with another Rasenshuriken, only for the Preta Path to appear and absorb the attack. Realising that the Naraka Path had restored it, Naruto focused his efforts on getting rid of it by distracting the Deva Path with a smokescreen, and landing a great blow on the Naraka Path. Though he had defeated four of Pain's six bodies, Naruto was captured through a combination of efforts from both the Deva and Preta Paths. The Preta Path absorbed his chakra to make sure he was no longer a threat, but being unable to handle natural energy, the Preta Path turned into a frog statue, allowing Naruto to free himself. However, the Deva Path quickly captured Naruto again, and killed Fukasaku when he tried to come to help. While immobilising Naruto, the Deva Path told Naruto about his plans for world peace. When Naruto disagreed with his views, the Deva Path questioned Naruto for a better solution. Before he could answer, Hinata came to intervene. Worried about her own safety, Naruto demanded Hinata to stay away from the fight, but she refused to leave despite knowing that she didn't have the power to defeat the Deva Path. After she confessed her love to Naruto (greatly shocking him), Hinata fought bravely against the Deva Path, but was immediately taken down by its Shinra Tensei and stabbed her with one of his chakra blades despite Naruto begging him not to. When it looked as if the Deva Path had killed Hinata right before his very eyes, Naruto became so furious to the point where he entered his six-tailed form.

Even though his necklace reacted to quell the transformation, the Nine-Tails quickly destroyed it and attacked Pain. Unable to deal with this new threat, the Deva Path retreated to a location where it could use Chibaku Tensei, drawing in and containing Naruto. Within his subconscious, Naruto thought of Pain's plans for peace, and pleaded for someone to help him with a response. Through his suffering, the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto to entrust his heart to it so that it could destroy everything that was causing Naruto pain, thus distorting the seal to the point where the eight-tailed form was released, breaking free of the Chibaku Tensei. Before he could completely release the Nine-Tails, his father, Minato, appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him. Minato revealed that he designed the seal to allow an imprint of himself to appear in an event that the seal was about to break, a fail safe meant to protect his son. Picking up on this, Naruto was overjoyed to finally know who one of his parents was. His time being short, Minato revealed that he had sealed the Nine-Tails into his own son because he thought Naruto would someday find use for it in finally stopping the masked man of Akatsuki. They also discussed the concept of peace, and Minato revealed that hatred gave rise to Pain, and that ninja must find a way to end the hatred. While Naruto doubted that he could do it, Minato replied that he believed Naruto would be able to find the answer, and restored the Nine-Tails' seal before disappearing.

Outside, Naruto emerged from the Chibaku Tensei, with the Nine-Tails' influence gone and Sage Mode having returned. After he expressed tears of relief when he found that Hinata was still alive, he clashed one final time with the Deva Path. Taking advantage of the five-second gap between its attacks, Naruto was finally able to defeat the Deva Path with his Rasengan and win the battle. Using the Deva Path's chakra receivers, Naruto sought out Nagato, Pain's base mind, to finally answer his earlier question about peace. Naruto admitted that he hated Nagato, but restrained himself long enough to ask how Nagato, a fellow student of Jiraiya, turned out this way. After hearing Nagato's past and his reasons for desiring war, Naruto agreed on some points, but rejected the overall conclusion on the grounds that it differed from Jiraiya's ideals. To break the cycle of hatred, Naruto told Nagato and Konan that, despite hating them, he would not kill them. Amazed by Naruto's determination to his answer, Nagato said that he would believe in Naruto, and revived all the people he had killed in Konoha, at the cost of his own life. With this, Naruto helped Konan retrieve Nagato and Yahiko's bodies for burial in Amegakure. After confirming that she had quit Akatsuki, Konan left Naruto a bouquet of paper flowers for him, symbolising their new alliance.

He then created a memorial for Jiraiya and left the flowers and a copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by a rock with the kanji for teacher (師, shi).

Five Kage Summit Arc
While the exhausted Naruto was returning to the village, Kakashi found him and carried him back. He was greeted by the entire village and celebrated as a hero. Soon afterwards, he learned that Tsunade had been left in a coma as a result of protecting the villagers from Pain. Sakura tried to cheer him up, but her efforts were interrupted by the news that Danzō Shimura has replaced Tsunade as Hokage and has ordered that Sasuke be executed as a traitor to the village. Naruto and Sakura questioned Sai about Danzō, hoping to learn how they can change his mind, but Sai was unable to help them. Their questions gained the attention of two Kumo-nin, Karui and Omoi, who told Naruto and Sakura about Sasuke's work with Akatsuki and demanded any information that might be useful in killing him. To spare Sakura from having to help them, Naruto volunteered, but ultimately could not bring himself to sell out Sasuke. He offered to allow the Kumo-nin to take their anger out on him by beating him up, to which they gladly accepted before being stopped by Sai.

While Naruto recovered from his injuries, he asked Yamato and Kakashi to take him to the Land of Iron so that he could ask A, the Fourth Raikage, to forgive Sasuke. Yamato and Kakashi agreed, but when they arrived and spoke with A, the Raikage refused his request and berated Naruto for standing up for a criminal. Naruto went to a local inn to consider what to do next, where he was soon confronted by Tobi, who asked Naruto on how he got Nagato to change his mind. Naruto ignored the question and demanded to know about his plans with Sasuke. Tobi told him about the Sage of the Six Paths, the Uchiha clan, and the truth about the Uchiha clan massacre, all of which now drove Sasuke along a path of vengeance. Naruto insisted that that he could still get through to Sasuke, but Tobi laughed and left, saying that Naruto and Sasuke are fated to fight again.

While Naruto was practising on extending his Sage Mode's sensory skills in hopes of finding Sasuke, Sakura interrupted him, having come to the Land of Iron to speak with him. She told him that she loved him and she no longer had any feelings for Sasuke. Naruto, knowing that Sakura still had feelings for Sasuke, didn't believe her and said she was lying to herself, as well as he hated people who lied to themselves. Angered by this, Sakura insisted that she was telling the truth and he therefore doesn't need to fulfil his earlier promise of bringing Sasuke home. Naruto firmly replied that his actions had nothing to do with the promise and that he just wanted to save Sasuke, choosing not to reveal what Tobi had said to him before. Sakura then left with the others, saying she was going home. Soon, one of Sai's ink clones approached Naruto, telling him, Kakashi, and Yamato about Sakura and the rest of the Konoha 11's decision to kill Sasuke to prevent him from involving Konoha in another war, and also mentioned that he thinks Sakura is still in love with Sasuke, later proven to be true, and wanted to be the one to stop him from sinking any lower. Gaara also appeared and told them about the Fourth Shinobi World War, and the decision to protect Naruto from Akatsuki. Gaara pleaded with Naruto to think about all of the people who will be fighting the likes of Sasuke on his behalf and, as Sasuke's friend, to do what was best given his actions. When Gaara left, Naruto considered what everyone had told him and started hyperventilating. He passed out and when he woke up, he discovered from Yamato that Kakashi had gone to stop Sakura and deal with Sasuke.

Using a shadow clone as a decoy, Naruto escaped from Yamato and pursued Kakashi using his Sage Mode to follow the latter's chakra. He arrived just in time to save Sakura from being killed by Sasuke. Naruto made a last attempt to reason with his former friend, commiserating with his pain and acknowledging Itachi's sacrifice. However, Sasuke was unmoved and made his resolve to destroy Konoha clear. Shocked by the depths of his hatred, Kakashi resolved to kill Sasuke, but was stopped by Naruto, who instead fought Sasuke head-on; matching his Rasengan with the latter's Chidori. As the two clashed, their feelings became clear to each other. While Naruto admitted that he could have easily went down Sasuke's path after all the anger he felt towards the village shunning, he came to like Sasuke, knowing that someone could relate to him being alone despite his jealousy of Sasuke. While believing Naruto's words, Sasuke insisted that nothing will change his mind, that Naruto must either kill Sasuke or be killed himself by Sasuke. Both survived the clash, with Tobi and Zetsu coming to Sasuke's aid. Before Sasuke left, Naruto noted that they had both become top-class ninja, and if they ever fought again, they would both die. He nevertheless accepted such an outcome, since it would at least enable him to shoulder Sasuke's hatred alone. In answer, Sasuke declared that he had no intention to die, and promised to kill Naruto first. He left with Tobi, and Naruto returned to Konoha with his team-mates, bearing Karin as a captive. In the anime, Naruto, Karin, and the rest of Sakura's team rest while Kakashi sent his ninken to the other Hidden Villages.

Upon returning to the village, Naruto explained the situation to his friends. When he insisted to handle Sasuke alone, Neji and Shikamaru said it was foolish not to finish Sasuke when he was already weakened from his fight against the other Kage and Danzō, but Naruto explained that at his current level, he wouldn't be able to kill Sasuke. As Shikamaru berated Naruto for taking all this on his own, Naruto dismissed this and headed off to Ramen Ichiraku. Sakura realised Naruto was hiding something however, remembering what he said to Sasuke directly.

Confining the Jinchuriki Arc
As Naruto was about to eat at Ichiraku, he was suddenly summoned back to Mount Myōboku by Fukasaku where he learns from the Great Toad Sage's fortune that he will meet an "octopus" and would battle a "young man with powerful eyes". When Gerotora is summoned to give Naruto the "key" to the Eight Trigrams Seal, Naruto knew he would need the Nine-Tails' power for the battles to come and accepted the key. From there, Naruto is sent back to Ichiraku where some of the villagers asked for his autograph. Naruto was unaware of that the five Kage are planning to keep him from the upcoming Fourth Shinobi World War for his safety on a remote island in the Land of Lightning with Yamato, Might Guy, Aoba Yamashiro, and several other Konoha-nin as security.

Once at the island, Naruto meets his fellow jinchūriki Killer B, requesting to be his student after being marvelled at B's mastery with his tailed beast. B refused the offer on the grounds that he is on vacation, with Naruto worsening it when he accidently insulted B while pulling off a capable rap and his Harem Technique having no effect. However, when word of him bumping fists with B reached Motoi, Naruto is taken to Falls of Truth, where B began his training to control the Eight-Tails. Motoi instructed Naruto to sit on the platform in front of the waterfall and close his eyes, and he would see his true self. While doing this, Naruto was greeted by another version of himself, who berated Naruto on how quickly the people from Konoha changed their opinions of him.

Both he and Dark Naruto began to fight and were evenly matched both physically and chakra level wise as both were able to produce the exact same number of shadow clones. It was revealed that the entire battle occurred within Naruto's mind, as Yamato observed Naruto still meditating near the waterfall. Somehow able to break out of the meditation, Naruto questioned Motoi about B's history in order to figure out how to conquer his inner darkness. After that, Naruto reminisced about how B and Gaara changed everyone's opinions about them, he begins to doubt if the villagers of Konoha truly trusted him. After witnessing B save Motoi from giant squid and resume their friendship, an inspired Naruto returns to the Falls of Truth and confronts Dark Naruto again. With Naruto now having faith in himself, it started to weaken Dark Naruto as he asks what his reason for existing is. Answering his question, Naruto accepts Dark Naruto as a part of him while thanking him for pushing him to become who is now. He then hugged a struggling Dark Naruto, who finally relents and fades.

After awaking and celebrating, Naruto and Yamato is led by B to a special room within the secret temple behind the Falls of Truth where Naruto is prepared to fight the Nine-Tails for its chakra. Within his subconscious, after unlocking the seal, Naruto (in Sage Mode) appeared to have the upper hand after he weakened the Nine-Tails with the Rasenshuriken and drained out its chakra, but the Nine-Tails instantly planted its own hatred within its chakra with the absorbed energy consuming Naruto as it begins to use his body to give Yamato and B trouble. Just before Naruto was completely succumbed, the spirit of his mother, Kushina Uzumaki, appeared. Naruto believed that Kushina was the Nine-Tails in disguise before she clobbered him on the head before she apologises and hopes he did not inherit her short-temper. Picking up on this and realising Kushina was his mother as he hugged her while crying, the love-filled reunion causes the Nine-Tails's hatred to be purged from the drained chakra, much to Yamato and B's surprise.

With Kushina holding the Nine-Tails at bay, Naruto quickly made a large number of shadow clones, entered Sage Mode, and bombarded the Nine-Tails with the combination of Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres and the Rasenshuriken, weakening the Nine-Tails further and completely separate it from its chakra. When its chakra merged into Naruto, an enraged and emaciated Nine-Tails attempted to fire a much larger Tailed Beast Ball, but its attack ultimately dissipated as Naruto used a new, stronger seal to imprison the weakened tailed beast once again. After that, when Naruto learned from Kushina about his heritage, the truth behind the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, and how his parents gave their lives to protect him. Naruto then told Kushina that he was glad to know that he was filled with their love before the Nine-Tails was sealed within him, and he was happy to be their son. Before she completely faded away, Kushina tearfully hugged Naruto, and thanked him for letting her and Minato be his parents.

Once out of his subconscious, Naruto shows off his new form to B and Yamato before sensing Kisame hidden inside his Samehada by detecting his negative emotions. When the surprised Kisame attempted to escape, Naruto used his blinding speed to quickly smash Kisame into the wall with a powerful punch. Naruto's foot got stuck in the wall, allowing Kisame to escape with B in pursuit as Yamato stays behind to help Naruto out of the wall. Naruto and Yamato then caught up with the others as they watched Guy and Kisame's fight from a distance. After the battle, the Konoha and Kumo-nin restrained Kisame and attempted to interrogate him before the Akatsuki member commits suicide before that could get any more information out of him. Shocked by this action, Naruto realised that even the shinobi in Akatsuki fought for their comrades before being trapped in one of Kisame's booby trap water prisons and occupied with summoned sharks as one of the sharks takes the information scroll on Kisame to Akatsuki's base.

Shinobi World War Arc
After Motoi sent his summoned owl to inform the Allied Shinobi Forces about the situation, Naruto and Killer B started evacuating the giant animals into the Island Turtle's shell for their safety in case an attack came. Naruto was trying to log the island's ecology as part of his "official" S-rank mission, but did not realise that it was a ploy to keep him away from the war. After he was done, B instructed Naruto back into the temple within the Falls of Truth and started to train on how to utilise his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode properly. However, during his training, Naruto suddenly sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra within the rampaging six-tailed Kinkaku far away from the temple. Wanting to investigate, Naruto was able to trick B into letting him out, but was stopped by Iruka Umino, Shibi Aburame, and a handful of Konoha-nin, which confirmed his earlier suspicions that something was wrong. Iruka tried to trick Naruto into believing that he had a second mission on the island, but Naruto used Sage Mode to barge through the guards, losing his forehead protector in the process.

With Naruto out the chakra isolation chamber and sensing the war going on around him, Iruka finally told Naruto the truth. Naruto refused Iruka's order to remain, vowing to end the war and endure whatever pain and anguish is there by himself. When Iruka returned Naruto his fallen forehead protector, he immediately trapped Naruto within a barrier, but Naruto easily broke free while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. On his way to battle, he found a note from Iruka in his forehead protector, in which Iruka told him that in the event he could not stop Naruto from leaving, he asked Naruto to come back alive. Naruto then proceeded to eat the note after reading it.

Naruto and B, who had been asked by Iruka to watch over Naruto and finally caught up with him, both broke through a barrier that surrounded the Island Turtle and continued their way to the battlefield. Shortly after that, the Nine-Tails pulled Naruto into his subconscious, berating him for squandering its chakra. Calling Naruto naive for thinking he could stop the war by himself, the Nine-Tails tried to tempt him again with power, but to no avail, earning Naruto some recognition. When the Nine-Tails claimed that his attempt to put an end to hatred was futile, using the boy's history with Sasuke as proof, Naruto pinned the fox down with a torii in retaliation and tells it that he will find a way to deal with both Sasuke and the war. Though Nine-Tails then condescendingly complimented him for standing up for him, Naruto unnerved the tailed beast with the promise to someday resolve the fox's own hatred.

Some time later, A and Tsunade showed up at Naruto and B's location to prevent them from going another step further. After Naruto failed to argue his way through with A, Naruto tried to bypass them with his speed, but the Raikage, in his Lightning Release Armour, matched his speed and punched him back. Naruto pleaded with Tsunade to allow him to pass, but Tsunade stated she had to follow through on her role as a leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Understanding Tsunade's position, Naruto made another attempt to bypass them, only to be intercepted by A once more. A then declared to Naruto that he will kill him if he refuses to comply; believing he would buy the Allied Shinobi Forces some time before the Nine-Tails could revive, which would delay Madara's plan. However, B blocked A's attack and defeated his brother in a Lariat clash while explaining that his and Naruto's strength come from both their tailed beasts and those who cared about them. To test Naruto's resolve, A fully powered up his Lightning Release Armour and attacked Naruto with his fastest punch, but when he was able to dodge it, A allowed Naruto and B to pass.

While on their way, Naruto and B were contacted by Shikaku Nara (with the help of Inoichi Yamanaka's telepathy) that the former is the only one who can sense the White Zetsu Army. When their path was blocked by a group of White Zetsu disguising as shinobi, Naruto quickly takes them all out with his new techniques and he then deploys his shadow clones to the other battlefields. After that, Naruto and B find themselves facing reincarnated Itachi Uchiha and Nagato. While Naruto sparred with Itachi, Naruto revealed to him about Sasuke's plight, but reassured him that he still had a plan to do something about him.

After Nagato summoned his giant dog and bird, Itachi then activated his Mangekyō Sharingan in order to use Amaterasu on Naruto, but the crow Itachi placed inside Naruto before his death suddenly emerged from Naruto's mouth and locked eyes with Itachi, causing him to use Amaterasu on Nagato and his summons instead. Itachi explained that the crow used Kotoamatsukami, thus releasing him from Kabuto's control. Nagato, having his personality completely removed by Kabuto, used his Asura Path ability to restrain both Naruto and B respectively. Before Nagato could remove Naruto's soul, he and B were subsequently rescued by Itachi with his Susanoo. After Nagato used Chibaku Tensei as an attempt to trap them, Naruto used his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, along with Itachi's Yasaka Magatama and B's Tailed Beast Ball, to attack the centre of Nagato's technique, effectively destroying it. After Itachi sealed Nagato with his Sword of Totsuka, he told Naruto that he would help end Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation while Naruto would focus on fighting Tobi. Naruto insisted that Itachi should come and see Sasuke again, but he declined, saying that he should leave his brother to his friends. After Itachi left, Naruto and B continued heading towards an unknown destination.

One of Naruto's shadow clones arrived at the Fourth Division's location at the battlefield to fight against the reincarnation Mū and the Third Raikage. Although he was able to defeat Mū, none of Naruto's attacks had much effect against the Third Raikage, as Dodai explained that the Third's physical endurance could withstand almost any kind of technique, along with the relative invulnerability of Impure World Reincarnation. When Naruto's clone noticed a scar on the Third's chest, Dodai stated that the Third got it during his past fight with the Eight-Tails. Believing that only a tailed beast was capable of harming the Third, Naruto's clone attempted to form the Tailed Beast Ball, only for it to dissipate, and was then forced out of Nine-Tails Chakra Mode due to chakra overuse. After learning from the Eight-Tails that both it and the Third only collapsed after their prolonged battle with their techniques still in their hands, Naruto's clone entered Sage Mode and charged toward the Third with a Rasengan in hand. Using Sage Mode's sensory ability, he dodged the Third's Hell Stab at the last second and aimed the Rasengan at the Raikage's arm. The attack knocked the Third's arm into his chest, impaling him long enough for him to be sealed away. Naruto's clone then went towards where Gaara was fighting the Second Mizukage, arriving just in time to see the sealing take place.

In the anime, one of Naruto's clones senses an immense source of hatred. Then, realising that he couldn't sense Shikamaru, Neji, Chōji, and Kiba's presence any more, Naruto's clone quickly rushes to their aid. Along the way, eliminating more White Zetsu clones in disguise, Naruto's clone finds a member of the communications team, contacting HQ for help. He learns from Inoichi Yamanaka that his missing friends have been affected by a strange technique. By locking in on the reincarnated Sound Four's malice, Naruto was able to find and destroy the barrier, letting Inoichi dispel the technique and save Shikamaru and the others. Jumping in to face the Sound Four, with their souls no longer bound to the world, Naruto quickly destroyed them as well.

Meanwhile, another Naruto clone finds Karui and her division being attacked by former reincarnated samurai named Tatewaki. As the division is quickly overwhelmed by Tatewaki's swordsmanship, Naruto is shocked to meet the man again after three years. Remembering Naruto, he asks Naruto what became of the two children he was guardian. After Naruto assured him that the children were safely brought to their destination, the relieved samurai was able to let go of his past pains, breaking the summoning contract and returned to the afterlife.

Later, Naruto noticed three unusual weather patterns near each other, one of strong rain, one of snow, and one of lightning. While searching for the source, he found to his shock a reincarnated Yota, who began attacking him with powerful wind blasts. While at first unable to remember the child, Naruto gradually began recalling the events that led to Yota's death. As Naruto continued evading the attacks, he received word from his allies that Yota was currently fighting in three other locations. It was then deduced that at least three of the Yota were White Zetsu disguised and using Yota's power from a distance. While the three fake Yota were quickly defeated, Naruto found himself unable to attack Yota. Suddenly, despite being controlled, Yota was able to contact Naruto and his friends telepathically, revealing that he in fact died long before meeting them. Coming from a wandering clan with the same powers as him, Yota was a test subject by Orochimaru to refine the Impure World Reincarnation technique and as such was soon reanimated after "dying" while with Naruto and the others. Happy to see how well his friends grew up, Yota was able to break the summoning contract and destroyed his body with a bolt of lightning.

When Omoi is reported to have left his post on the battlefield to find the Thundercloud Unit, the Allied Shinobi Forces' Headquarters asks Naruto to assist. He arrives and saves Omoi from a vast army of White Zetsu, stating he believes him. With his help, they manage to defeat a large number of them. Naruto's time at the battle comes to an end when Omoi accidentally slices through the shadow clone when striking a White Zetsu clone.

While Naruto's clones arrived at the other division's locations to help find and fight off the remaining White Zetsu within the areas, the one clone with Gaara and his unit was alerted to someone's presence by a sensor. They spotted Mū on a cliff above them and Ōnoki informed them that he must have split in half. They were even more shocked when Ōnoki told them that the person beside him was none other than Madara Uchiha. Gaara pointed out that Madara was reincarnated, and they all wondered who the masked man claiming to be Madara really was. As Madara began his assault, Naruto's clone made more clones to fight and stall him for time to enter Sage Mode. He and Gaara attack simultaneously, but their attack failed when Madara revealed his Rinnegan and used its power to summon a large meteorite to finish everyone within the area off. After the meteorite was stopped by Ōnoki and Gaara, a second one was sent crashing into it, which made a landfall and devastated the division. When Madara attempted to summon the Nine-Tails, Naruto could feel his stomach burning and the fox angrily recognised his chakra calling for it. As the Nine-Tails resolved to lend Naruto its chakra, he first thought that it was going to attempt to take over his body like it used to, but the fox said it would rather help Naruto than be manipulated by Madara again. Using its chakra, Naruto's clone was able to create more clones and countered Madara's Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees with a series of Big Ball Rasengan. After that assault, the clone was left severely weakened to the point where he felt like that he could disappear at any moment. As Madara and Mū moved to attack, Tsunade, A, and Mei Terumī suddenly appeared and were able to keep them at bay. Naruto's clone pleaded with Tsunade to heal him as he didn't want to disappear yet or have Tsunade to use her forehead seal. However, she refused and Ōnoki explained to him that the war was about protecting everyone, not just him. Tsunade also told Naruto's clone that the Kage would handle the real Madara, while he should focus on defeating the imposter. Elsewhere in a dense forest area, the real Naruto received the dispersed clone's information and vowed to win. Naruto noticed Tobi approaching and immediately head-butted him, causing both of them to recoil from the impact.

When Naruto questioned him about his true identity, Tobi simply replied that he was a nobody and that only completing the Eye of the Moon Plan and fixing the worthless world mattered to him. Though Tobi claimed he and B understand misery as jinchūriki, Naruto argued that having tailed beasts sealed inside them is not that bad while stating he is not going to fall for his lies. Tobi then had his jinchūriki paths enter the early stages of their tailed beast transformations to attack the gravely disadvantaged Naruto and B. After narrowly escaping from the jinchūriki, Naruto, B, and the Eight-Tails began to formulate a counter measure against them. After being informed by B that he had seen a black rod embedded into Yugito's chest, Naruto battles Rōshi to destroy the receiver in his chest with a Rasengan before being sent flying by Han's kick. Clutching onto B as he transformed into the Eight-Tails and devastated a large area of the forest, Naruto watched on as B used his ink clones to try and seal the jinchūriki, but the technique was cancelled when they all entered into their Version 2 forms at the last second. As Naruto was fending off the jinchūriki, he eventually became overwhelmed and was weighed down, thus allowing Tobi the opportunity to try and capture Naruto. However, Naruto was saved by the timely arrival of Kakashi and Guy. After Guy destroyed the coral that was restricting his movement, Naruto began assisting them in battling Tobi's Six Paths of Pain. Suddenly, Tobi had both Utakata and Rōshi fully transform into the Six-Tails and the Four-Tails respectively, throwing him off onto the Eight-Tails, and he fell out of the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. With Kakashi and Guy cut off from him, the Four-Tails tossed the Eight-Tails and Naruto quickly re-entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode when he was right between the giant ape's teeth.

As he struggled to free himself, Naruto was eventually swallowed by the Four-Tails and, to his surprise, ended up inside of Rōshi's subconscious and found the Four-Tails in chains. After denying that he had come to steal the beast's power, Naruto was chastised by the ape as it demands to be called by its proper name: Son Gokū. Learning the Nine-Tails' true name is Kurama, talking from experience, Naruto expressed his wish to be friends with it in the same manner that B was with the Eight-Tails. Hearing the resolve in Naruto's words, Son Gokū decided to help Naruto defeat it but explained to the boy not to expect it as his ally until he wins the tailed beast's trust. Using his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to force the transformed Rōshi to vomit him out while leaving one clone in Sage Mode behind, Naruto staged a two-fold attack on the chakra receiver that was located on the side of the neck. Though Naruto succeeded in removing it, he learns that he only severed Tobi's control over Rōshi while Son Gokū's being is still held by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Regardless, Naruto earned the Four-Tails' trust as he gave the boy some of its chakra before being sealed back into the statue. Drained of chakra, finding out about his actions also earned the Nine-Tails' trust while thanking it for aiding his clone against Madara, Naruto accepts Kurama's offer to meld their chakra. Noting that Kurama was no longer the monster fox that attacked Konoha, but the village's ally and his team-mate, Naruto unlocked the seal's gate as he and a released Kurama prepared to face the five remaining, fully-transformed jinchūriki in their new form.

Wasting no time, Naruto intervened to save Guy and Kakashi from the jinchūriki's Tailed Beast Balls, with the latter mistaking him for his own former teacher. As the beasts rallied again and prepared to attack the shinobi, Naruto transformed into Kurama — seemingly "absorbing" Guy and Kakashi into the beast's chakra for safe-keeping. After creating a Sage Mode clone to help locate the other chakra receivers, Kurama warned Naruto that they only had five minutes to maintain the form because it was his first transformation. With this, he grabbed the Seven-Tails in mid-flight, intending to pile-drive the beast into the Three-Tails, but the giant turtle rolled out of the way. Right after that, the Six-Tails quickly swallowed Kurama's hand, rendering it immobile and allowing the Three-Tails to attack, but was stopped by the Eight-Tails. The Two-Tails attempted to pounce on Naruto and Kurama from behind, but they fiercely swung the Six-Tails right into the monster cat, throwing the two away from a distance while B dealt with the Five-Tails. As the other tailed beasts gathered and performed a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, Naruto and Kurama preformed one of their own, intending to counter the attack by aiming slightly below his opponents', which sent them both flying upwards in a massive explosion.

Then, as the massive dust cloud was clearing, Naruto used Kurama's tails, transforming them into chakra hands, to grab his opponents by their throats. He then used Nine-Tails Chakra Mode clones to pull out the receivers, while silently promising to free all the tailed beasts. Suddenly, Naruto found that his subconscious had been pulled into a space so that the remaining beasts and their jinchūriki could converse with him. Yagura and the other jinchūriki explained that Son Gokū insisted that they wait for Naruto and try to help him. After both the jinchūriki and tailed beasts introduced themselves and offered Naruto some of their power, Naruto, back in the real world, successfully managed to pull the chakra receivers from the beasts, just before his time in the new form ran out. Forcing to seal all of the tailed beasts back into the Demonic Statue, Tobi was left incredulous about these turn of events, but remained convinced that this still changed nothing. Naruto, though, disagreed, stating that he just learned a bunch of difficult names all at once, and teased Tobi for not knowing any of them. Later, when Naruto saw the end to Kabuto's Impure World Reincarnation as the corpses of the jinchūriki began to deconstruct, he silently thanked Itachi and continued battling Tobi and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Ten Tails Arc
As Naruto taunted his opponent on taking off his mask, Tobi summoned both the Benihisago and the Kohaku no Jōhei that contained the reincarnated Gold and Silver Brothers, who possessed a portion of Kurama's chakra, and tossed them into the Demonic Statue's mouth. That, along with the chakra from one of Gyūki's tentacles that was cut from B's last fight with Sasuke, the Demonic Statue began its transformation into the Ten-Tails. When Tobi exclaimed that world no longer needed the concept of heroes, hopes, or future, Naruto argued that his own heroes were the reason why he was able to keep moving forward without faltering and would make his dream to become Hokage a reality. With that, Naruto resolved to first crush Tobi's mask, to which the masked man responded that he would not allow them to touch the Demonic Statue. Formulating their strategy as Naruto produces a shadow clone, the shinobi agree that the use of feint attacks would be crucial in this battle because of Tobi's abilities. Moving directly towards Tobi, Naruto uses the Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball to attack Tobi. However, becoming intangible, Naruto passes through him. Guy then leaps in with his Sōshūga to join battle. Using his nunchaku to counter Tobi's gunbai, Guy is able to sent the masked man throttling towards Naruto and his Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball. As Naruto's attack is about to make contact, Tobi teleports which Naruto had the idea to sense him out to anticipate Tobi emerging from the ground in a surprise attack. Dodging the attack, Naruto now has a harder time blocking Tobi's gunbai. Kakashi then appears to join in the fight with his Lightning Release infused kunai. As Kakashi launches the kunai, Tobi became intangible once again and kicks the kunai towards Naruto. Telling Naruto to ignore it, Kakashi uses Kamui to warp away the kunai. As Naruto makes his last attempt to land a blow on Tobi, he becomes intangible. Regrouping as the last attack seemingly fails to land, the shinobi wonder how they were going to defeat Tobi. Just then a tiny crack appears on Tobi's mask. Noticing the crack Guy believes Naruto's attack caused the damage but Kakashi disagreed noting that the crack was not consistent with a punch. Naruto agrees to confirm Kakashi's hypothesis and climbed aboard Gyūki's hand and is then launched across the battlefield towards Tobi. He allows Guy to initiate the first attack breaking the rocks before him and force Tobi to phase through them but Guy continues his assault even as the masked man is still intangible forcing him to absorb his nunchaku. This allows Naruto to attack Tobi with a Rasengan during this vulnerable period and injure his left arm. Naruto later listened in surprise as Kakashi explained the mechanisms behind Tobi's technique. Confused as to why the kunai made a mark but his punch didn't, Kakashi explained causing Naruto to realise that this was what his Rasengan did as well. However, instead of holding his hand, Obito tried to strangle Naruto, saying he had no regrets for his actions. Naruto immediately broke free and punched him, stating if Obito truly thought that then he should stop picturing himself as a Hokage. Obito then began to see Naruto as his younger self completely, insisting that Rin would hate what Obito had become and never watch over him. As Obito continued to tell himself he preferred to be alone, Naruto grabbed Obito and forcibly dragged him over, telling Obito it was time to rejoin his friends and not underestimate them. Finally, the Shinobi Alliance managed to separate all the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito, reverting him to his original state. Naruto and Sasuke then broke their chakra unison.

As Naruto is acknowledged and thanked by the freed tailed beasts, Sasuke quickly moved in to kill the collapsed Obito. Kakashi suddenly teleported in front of Sasuke, pinning down Obito; the same desire to finish his fallen friend. He was stopped at the last second by Minato, who notes that Naruto's persistent scolding has reached Obito. Minato told Naruto to go aid the First Hokage against Madara, to which Naruto quickly rushed to the scene. Once finding the legendary rivals, Naruto prepares his Big Ball Rasenshuriken. Ultimately, Madara was subdued by Hashirama, allowing Sai to come and seal Madara. Before the seal was complete, Madara succeeded in truly reviving himself through manipulating Obito, allowing the dangerous Uchiha to use the full might of his enhanced body and repel both Sai's seal and Hashirama's restraints.

Shadow Clones Jutsu
Naruto fancies the Shadow Clone Jutsu the most of any other Jutsu. This technique allows him to create many copies of himself that disappear in a cloud of smoke upon being struck. The copies are able to strike enemies, and work together with fighting combos.

Summoning Technique
In order to encourage improved control over Kurama's chakra, Jiraiya teaches Naruto to perform the Summoning Technique. By offering a certain amount of chakra, Naruto can summon the toads of Mount Myōboku as allies that fight beside him. He is initially restricted to tadpoles due to his poor chakra control, but as his control improves he can summon small toads such as then-young Gamakichi or Gamatatsu. During Part I he must rely on Kurama's chakra to summon toads of Gamabunta's size, but by Part II, Kurama's help is merely optional.

Rasengan
Once Naruto gets the hang summoning, Jiraiya teaches him the Rasengan. His reasons for teaching it to Naruto are various: the training involved in learning the Rasengan improves his chakra control; it is in many ways the counterpart to Sasuke's Chidori; it was invented by Naruto's father. Because of the very intricate chakra control the Rasnegan requires, Naruto struggles to master it, and is not helped by the time limit he imposes on himself during his training. Although the Rasengan is intended as a one-handed technique, Naruto learns to use it with more than one hand, specifically a shadow clone's: he provides the chakra that will make the Rasengan while the clone forms it into shape.

Nature Transformation
As a possible alternative to Kurama's chakra, Kakashi teaches Naruto how to take advantage of his natural elemental affinity: wind. The wind nature compliments Naruto, as the wind nature is a great match for short-range fighters. Because the Rasengan was originally intended to be combined with a user's nature transformation, Naruto sets out to combine his wind affinity with the Rasengan. He struggles with it, finding it as near-impossible as his father did before him, but once again finds a solution with shadow clones: while he provides the chakra and a clone provides the shape, as is done with normal Rasengan, a second clone infuses it with their nature. This results in the creation of the Rasenshuriken.On contact with a target, the Rasenshuriken explodes into a torrent of wind that cuts them at a cellular level. At first, Naruto uses it like a blunt object that he forces into opponents, causing him to receive the same level of damage as they do. After learning Sage Mode he becomes able to throw it, preventing harm to himself and at the same time increasing its speed and cutting power. In Nine-Tails Chakra Mode he can further augment its size, making a miniature version, a gigantic version, or even Twin Rasenshuriken, all without the help of shadow clones.

Senjutsu
After Jiraiya is killed by Pain, Naruto is taught senjutsu by Fukasaku, a former teacher of Jiraiya, to prepare him for the day when Pain comes after him. During his training he proves to have a greater aptitude for senjutsu than Jiraiya, helped in no small part by his necessarily high chakra levels. He progresses through the learning steps rapidly, becoming able to sense and then gather the natural energy around him and perfectly balance it with his own chakra. However, doing this requires absolute calm, which can't be achieved or maintained in the middle of combat. For this reason, Fukasaku and his wife would theoretically fuse with him, gathering the natural energy for him to use. During all attempts at fusion, Kurama rejected Fukasaku, a threat to its power, leaving Naruto with no way to enter Sage Mode.Naruto found a away to use shadow clones as a workaround. While he fights, the clones gather natural energy for him and then, when he is in need, he has them disperse, transferring their natural energy to him. Although this lets him enter a perfect Sage Mode that Jiraiya was never able to, this method limits the maximum number of shadow clones that he can create to five for as long as the clones are gathering natural energy, as anything more would interfere with their focus. To make sure he has enough shadow clones for use in battle, Naruto has only two shadow clones gather senjutsu chakra, allowing him to enter Sage Mode a total of three times.Fox toad mode Once in Sage Mode, Naruto's speed, strength, durability, and proficiency with the Rasengan and its variants increases. He can utilise the Frog Kata - a form of taijutsu that uses the natural energy around the user to enhance the range and the potency of their attacks - and sensory abilities effective even at long ranges. His sensing abilities also let him predict the movements of his enemies for easy retaliation.Following his befriending of Kurama, he can even combine Sage Mode with Tailed Beast Mode, which has the added bonus of letting him gather natural energy faster.

Kitsune Demon
Kurama who lives inside Naruto is dedicated to keeping Naruto alive, as Naruto's demise would mean his as well. Naruto receives great healing powers from the demon, with cuts and scratches disappearing very quickly. When Naruto becomes very angry, the fox demon partially takes over his mind, and releases the power of the Red Chakra.

Nine-Tails Chakra Mode
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode is a heightened transformation unique to those with Kurama's chakra sealed into them. Naruto Uzumaki, as Kurama's jinchūriki, is able to enter the form using the beast's Yang chakra. Minato Namikaze, having sealed the fox's Yin chakra into his body immediately before his death, has been able to access the form once reincarnated. While this mode is active, Naruto gains a chakra shroud with six magatama around his neck and two distinctive pieces of hair-like horns resembling the Sage of the Six Paths' silhouette along with a swirl design that resembles the Uzumaki clan's symbol. Naruto's chakra shroud is also covered by various other black lines and spiral patterns, which expand further along his body in certain situations.At times, Naruto's shroud gains the additional seals that appear on his hands while in Tailed Beast Mode.The colour of his eyes changes from blue to orange when he is in this form and while the demon fox shroud is red and releases chakra as acidic bubbles, this form's shroud is yellow and releases chakra as flickering flames. While in this form Naruto's chakra signature and smell are different as noted by Neji and Kiba.When used by Minato, this mode holds resemblance to something in between both of Naruto's two shrouds; while predominately looking like Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Minato's shroud has additional seals on his hands and feet as well an additional magatama design that appears on his collar, causing it to resemble Naruto's shroud in Tailed Beast Mode. When Minato first entered this mode, the bangs at the sides of his face went upwards as well. As with all jinchūriki transformations, the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode gives the user increased strength, speed, and defences. The Nine-Tails Chakra Mode's increases are noticeably superior: Naruto becomes strong enough to push a fully formed Tailed Beast Ball through a multiple layered barrier with just one arm,neutralise White Zetsu with a single kick despite their durability,and, in collaboration with B in his full Eight-Tails form, he could also knock down Tobi's Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with an uppercut.Naruto's speed is so great in this form that Killer B even had trouble determining if he had used the Body Flicker Technique when attacking Kisame,he could even surpass the speed of a fully charged A,as well as blitz the extremely fast Third Raikage before the shinobi had any chance to react.Naruto's durability is also very high in this form, so high in fact, that he was able to endure extreme heat with only minor burns.He could even withstand the Tenpenchii technique in this form and while the shroud was completely destroyed after this, he only suffered minor physical wounds.Naruto is able to use chakra arms while in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Like other jinchūriki he can use the arms to improve his dexterity and manoeuvrability, granting him increased means of interacting with his environment and his opponents. More unique to Naruto, he uses the arms as substitutes for shadow clones in his creation of various Rasengan-variants. Instead of needing a shadow clone to help him with shape transformation, he can do both with just one hand, either his own or the hands of his chakra arms.He still needs more than one hand for the nature transformation of the Rasenshuriken, but this also is accomplished without shadow clones. Once the Rasengan-variants are formed, Naruto can then use the chakra arms to deliver them across long distances or, in the case of Rasenshuriken, guide them to their target.Initially, Naruto tried to create a technique related to the Tailed Beast Ball: the Tailed Beast Rasengan.However, he later develops a more effective version of this technique: the Super Mini-Tailed Beast Ball, which is basically a miniature Tailed Beast Ball that he's able to control with the help of a shadow clone. Like his predecessor, Mito Uzumaki, Naruto gains Kurama's ability to sense negative emotions, something that not even the best sensor-type ninja can do.In addition, he is capable of sensing Kurama's chakra signature, even while he was inside a chakra isolation chamber within the Falls of Truth;as well as the ability to sense other chakra signatures from great distances.Due to having Kurama's Yang chakra in this form, Wood Release techniques will react to the chakra's life-giving properties and mature into full-grown trees within a matter of seconds, either by contact or close range.

Tailed Beast Mode
All jinchūriki can enter Tailed Beast Mode, which grants them all the strength and abilities of their corresponding tailed beast. However, where other jinchūriki become full-scale replicas of their tailed beast, Naruto and Minato enter a form very visually similar to the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.

For Naruto, the shroud parts down the middle and opens up into a full-length cloak (haori), revealing a black undergarment with three magatama on each side of his high collar. His seal's numerous swirl-patterns, which were located all over his body, open out into complete, dark circles. His eyes become red and slitted and his whisker-markings become much thicker, as they do in his early transformations.