How to Watch the Naruto Anime Without Filler Arcs

The Naruto anime involves a labyrinth of canon and filler episodes that can be hard to navigate when streaming it. During the show’s initial run from 2002-2017,animators routinely caught up to the weekly Shonen Jump manga of the same title. Studio Pierrot, the studio behind the anime adaptation, filled it with stories that spanned months to keep a distance from the manga. The studio even combined filler and canon into one episode to compensate for this. As such, many episodes of the long running anime require you to watch filler in some capacity. The guide below will show you how to watch as much Naruto with as little unnecessary filler as possible.

Naruto canon episodes to watch

Which parts of the Naruto filler episodes 141 and 220 should I watch?

Episode 141, “Sakura’s Determination,” is an episode that should only be watched in part. From 20:10-21:11, Sakura makes a decision that involves her character development in Naruto Shippuden.

Episode 220, “Departure,” is similar to episode 141. Both episodes are a part of filler arcs that you should partially watch. 12:19-21:17 marks a canon moment in which Naruto leaves the Hidden Leaf Village to train with Jiraiya.

Naruto Shippuden canon episodes to watch

Naruto Shippuden filler episodes to skip

Naruto Shippuden is a bit murky when it comes to filler and canon episodes. Compared to Naruto, more filler arcs contain canon episodes. In NarutoShippuden, here is a list of filler episodes to skip that are a part of canon.

Where do I watch the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden anime?

While Naruto is accessible to watch on YouTube, Tubi and other free streaming sites, Crunchyroll has all 720 episodes to watch. You can subscribe to the Crunchyroll Premium tier to gain access to more than just Naruto. If you want to read Naruto, Viz Media distributes the manga outside Japan.