Naruto and Naruto Shippuden filler list: The episodes you can miss

There’s a wealth of content you can skip – but is also pretty great viewing.

By Christopher Megrath

Published: Monday, 30 October 2023 at 13:10 PM

While Naruto is one of the most iconic anime franchises of all time, spanning over 700 episodes between Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, there are still a large number of filler episodes that you can probably skip when watching Naruto in order.

Naruto is a monolithic franchise spanning across manga, anime, video games, clothing lines, novels, live action, and so much more. It’s one of the best-selling manga in history with an astounding 250 million copies in circulation worldwide across 50 different countries – when you ask someone to name an anime, it’s likely that Naruto will be one of the 5 most popular answers you’ll get back.

Throughout his training and battles, Naruto faced countless foes, from the Otsutsuki to the Madara Uchiha, but it was during his down days that viewers fell in love with him. Naruto’s immature and carefree moments are what make the iconic character which is why the anime has often showcased more sides to him than necessary.

Spanning a combined 720 episodes, between Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden (which doesn’t even include the ongoing Boruto series), it’s to be expected that not every episode is important to the Naruto canon. This is common among anime franchises, with Dragon Ball and My Hero Academia filler lists also useful for fans wanting only the major story beats.

Here’s a look at every Naruto filler episode to skip in both the original series and Naruto: Shippuden.

What are the Naturo filler episodes?

Naruto

If you want to dive directly into the world of the Ninja without worrying about what is canon, the following are all the Naruto filler episodes:

While these episodes, including a whopping 77-episode run, are all filler, it doesn’t mean they aren’t worth watching.

Episodes 102 to 106 take place immediately after the Konoha Five returns, having failed to bring Sasuke with them. It wraps up the Sasuke Retrieval arc nicely while paving the way for the narrative to make new leaps into the unknown. While it’s classed as non-canon, it still makes for good viewing to instil some sense of conclusion on the events leading up to this moment.

Part of the Konoha Crush saga, episodes 169 to 173 touches on the aftermath and death of the ninjas. In order to boost their ranks, Naruto, Ino, and Shino team up with Anko as their mission leader to take on some of the more high-level missions. It’s a struggle between characters which builds bonds and lets viewers see them work together in a way we’ve never seen before.

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What are the Naruto Shippuden filler episodes?

Naruto
Naruto
Crunchyroll

Naruto Shippuden picks things up two years after the original story with new events to catch up on and twice as much filler to pad them out. The sequel adds an impressive 500 episodes to the list, with nearly 200 of those acting as filler.

If you want to sidestep the strenuous training and dive directly into fleshing out the world, these are the Naruto: Shippuden filler episodes:

You can skip the filler in favour of canon material but you’d be missing the Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops arc (347 – 361), which helps fully understand the impact of Kakashi – one of the strongest Naruto characters – and the Hyūga sisters getting their time to shine. It’s branded as unmissable by fans despite adding nothing to the overall narrative but that’s due to its gritty action and touching moments between characters.

Episodes 464 to 468 touch on the Shinobi history, which still makes for good viewing to truly understand the world Naruto comes from. They’re more of a school lesson that offers viewers a look at Shinobi lore but interesting nonetheless.

How to watch Naruto in the UK

In the UK, Naruto is available to watch on American streaming service Crunchyroll. Naruto Shippuden is also available to buy on Amazon.

If you’re in the US, loads of anime shows, including Naruto, are now streaming for free on YouTube. However, it’s only for fans in the US and it’s only the subtitled versions – so fans who prefer to watch the show dubbed should look at other options.