How to Watch Naruto in Order – A Beginner’s Guide to Watching ‘Naruto’

Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto is a tale about an orphaned young ninja named Naruto Uzumaki. He is an outcast but dreams of one day becoming Hokage, the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

the village from its attack — he is quite underestimated. The manga and anime follow his journey to Hokage, overcoming discrimination, and making friends… oh, and totally fighting bad guys along the way.

So, how do you make sure you watch ‘Naruto’ in the right order?
The manga was first serialized in 1999. The time skip, Naruto: Shippuden, was broadcast in 2007. In 2016 Masashi gave us a new arc, Boruto. In other words, if you’re just starting out on your Naruto journey, you have a lot to catch up on.

Bare Bones Watch Order For Naruto
The most basic watch order that you need to follow is:

Naruto > Naruto: Shippuden > Naruto: The Last > Boruto

You can even skip Naruto: The Last, but it just bridges the gap into Boruto. Yet, if you have watched the entire series, then you don’t necessarily need it.

Movies and OVAs
The good news about Naruto is that the movies and OVAs of the series are not immediately connected to the overall plot of Naruto. They are just fine bonuses. However, what you do want to keep in mind is that you want to watch a certain amount of episodes into the series before watching the movies or OVAs so you aren’t spoiled by events or new Jutsu developments. These episode minimums include:

Naruto
Episode 12 – Find the Four-Leaf Crimson Clover

Episode 62 – Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village

Episode 97 – Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

Episode 97 – Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival

Episode 145 – Legend of the Stone of Gelel

Episode 165 – Finally a Clash! Jonin VS Genin! Indiscriminatory Championships Battle Royal!

Episode 195 – Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom

Naruto Shippuden
Episode 2 – Naruto Shippuden the Movie

Episode 45 – Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds

Episode 120 – Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Inheritors of the Will of Fire

Episode 140 – Naruto: The Cross Roads

Episodes 171 – Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower

Episode 171 – Naruto, the Genie, and the Three Wishes, Believe It

Episode 192 – Naruto x UT

Episode 222 – Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison

Episode 222 – Chunin Exam on Fire! Naruto v. Konohamaru!

Episode 251 – Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations: Hashirama Senju VS Madara Uchiha

Episode 271 – Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja

End of Series – Naruto the Last

End of Series – Boruto: Naruto the Movie

How to Skip the Filler in Naruto
If you are looking to skip the filler episodes for Naruto, here are the pure filler episodes that you can skip.

Naruto:

026, 097, 101-106, 137-140, 143-219

Naruto Shippuden:

057-070, 091-112, 144-151, 170-171, 176-196, 223-242, 257-260, 271, 279-281, 284-295, 303-320, 327, 349-361, 376-377, 388-390, 394-395

Boruto:

16-17, 33-34, 40-41, 48-50, 67-70, 96-97, 104-105, 113-119, 138-140, 152-155

The OVAs are non-canon (meaning the original storyline does not recognize them). I do suggest watching the movies as they were released.

Find the Four-Leaf Red Clover: Watch this OVA after Episode 5.
Naruto: The Crossroads: This one you can watch after Episode 20.
Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village: Save this one for a little later in the series, around Episode 100 or 101.
Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow (movie): Go straight from the OVA to the first movie.
The Legend Stone of Gelel (movie): After Episode 160.
Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom (movie): Almost at the end of the series, around Episode 196.
Finish the first anime installment of Naruto!
Move onto Naruto’s teen years with ‘Shippuden’.
Our personal favorite in the Naruto-verse, Shippuden, is mostly supplemented by movies. Watch these movies as they were released.

Naruto Shippuden The Movie: After the first 32 episodes.
Bonds: After episode 71.
The Will of Fire: Awesome movie. Love it. Watch it after Episode 126.
The Last Tower: Also a good one. Watch after Episode 143.

‘Boruto’ is available to you, but kind of disappointing.

You can now binge-watch Boruto, but production is being held up due to COVID-19. However, you have plenty to do before you get here.

Ultimately, watch Naruto how you want to watch it. It may be difficult to watch the episodes out of order, but the OVAs and movies can be watched as a stand-alone thing — though I personally wouldn’t recommend it.

As with all good fictional worlds, your appreciation of characters and plot deepens when you follow them in a certain chronology.