Naruto: Shippuden Filler List - Which Episodes To Skip (2024)

Naruto: Shippuden is roughly 40% filler, naturally leading potential fans to look for a list of every filler episode. Though Naruto’s best filler episodes can develop the series’ world and characters, the same can’t be said for every episode. As great as some of the filler is, it’s easy to see why many fans skip the filler content altogether. Unfortunately, that task might be easier said than done.

For most anime adapting a long-running manga series, the line between filler and not filler can be clear as day. Filler episodes are any episodes that aren’t adapting a manga chapter. The problem with Naruto Shippuden is that the lines between filler and not filler are blurred, as many episodes of the beloved series mix filler content into manga-canon content, making everything just that much more frustrating for those who want to avoid filler. Still, though some episodes mix filler content with canon content, Naruto: Shippuden still has its fair share of pure filler for fans to look out for.

Every Filler Episode of Naruto: Shippuden

And Which Are Worth Skipping

Episode #	Episode or Arc Title	Watchability?	Description
28	Beasts! Alive Again!
57 – 71	Twelve Guardian Ninja	Worth Watching	Before the Akatsuki Suppression Mission, Naruto grapples with his wind release training and learns clever applications for Shadow Clones for information gathering, with special focus on Asuma’s faction, the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
89 – 112	Three-Tails’ Appearance	Essential	Focuses on the Akatsuki’s efforts to capture Isobu, the Three-Tailed Beast sealed within Yagura Karatachi of the VIllage Hidden in the Mist.
144 – 151	Six-Tails Unleashed	Essential	Akatsuki mission to capture Saiken, the Six-Tailed Beast. Additional glimpse of Pain in combat along with a crucial plotline that otherwise goes understated in the main plot.
170 – 171	Big Adventure! The Quest for the Fourth Hokage’s Legacy	Skippable	Flashback to the Chunin Exams Arc while Naruto learns his Summoning Jutsu, with a massive red herring in the form of the Fourth Hokage’s legacy.
176 – 196	Past Arc: The Locus of Konoha	Skippable	Collection of flashbacks following the Pain’s Assault Arc, with interesting glimpses at events just before Naruto Part 1. However, none of the events have bearing on the plot.
223 – 242	Paradise Life on a Boat	Skippable	Transit period to move Naruto during the buildup to the Fourth Shinobi World War, to the Land of Lightning.
257 – 260	Naruto & Sasuke flashback mini arc	Skippable	Recap of events between Sasuke’s first meeting, their growing rift after Naruto’s immense developments at the Chunin Exams, and climactic Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Skippable entirely if one has already watched Naruto Part 1.
271	Road to Sakura	Worth Watching	Sakura develops amnesia and encounters hijinks as Konoha helps her regain her memory. Ties into Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie and is a Sakura-focused episode, which is not common enough.
279 – 281	Fourth Shinobi World War side stories	Skippable	One-shot stories depicting battles involving Team 8, Kurotsuchi, and Deidara during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
284 – 295	Fourth Shinobi World War side stories	Skippable	One-shot stories during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
303 – 320	Fourth Shinobi World War side stories	Skippable	One-shot stories during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
347 – 361	Kakashi: Shadow of the ANBU Black Ops	Essential	Explores Kakashi’s past as part of the Anbu, an underappreciated and underdeveloped black ops force among Konoha’s shinobi, with additional focus on Yamato and Itachi and their functions within the force.
376	The Directive to Take the Nine Tails	Skippable	Infamously skippable filler mini-arc featuring Mecha Naruto, an automaton version of Naruto made by Orochimaru to interfere with the Akatsuki’s plans to capture the Nine-Tailed Beast.
377	Naruto Vs. Mecha Naruto	Skippable	Same as episode #376, entirely missable arc.
388	My First Friend	Worth Watching	A touching episode that explores Gaara’s friendship with Naruto while giving way for the Tailed Beasts to join the battle.
389	The Adored Elder Sister	Worth Watching	While not essential, it gives an intriguing glimpse into Hinata’s position within the Hyuga clan as a contested prospective heiress.
390	Hanabi’s Decision	Worth Watching	A follow-up to episode #389, explores Pain’s Assault through the Hyuga clan and Hanabi’s perspective as she sees Hinata’s grit defending Naruto.
394 – 413	In Naruto’s Footsteps: The Friends’ Paths	Skippable	Follows the events of the second Chunin Exams after Sasuke leaves Konoha at the end of Part 1. Fun to follow the adventures of the Konoha Eleven but not necessary for the plot.
416	The Formation of Team Minato	Worth Watching	Offers context on Kakashi and Obito’s past together under Minato’s leadership.
417	You’ll Be My Backup	Worth Watching	Offers context on Kakashi and Obito’s past together under Minato’s leadership.
422 – 423	Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki side stories	Skippable	Explores Naruto teaching Konohamaru the Rasengan, connects to events of Pain’s Assault, and how Konohamaru saved Naruto’s old jacket, later seen in Boruto.
429 – 430	Killer B Rappūden	Worth Watching	One of the chilling and fascinating instances of the Infinite Tsukuyomi conveying excellent filler for those wishing to see more of the Jinchuriki.
431	To See That Smile, Just One More Time	Worth Watching	A rare, focused glimpse at Karin with the Infinite Tsukuyomi as a backdrop.
432 – 450	Jiraiya Shinobi Handbook: The Tale of Naruto the Hero	Skippable	Focusing on Tsunade’s Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, seeing Jiraiya’s new novel.
464 – 468	Ashura and Indra Arc	Essential	Exploration of Naruto and Sasuke’s relationship with Ashura and Indra Otsutsuki, and by extension, Hagoromo, Sage of Six Paths as they fight Kaguya, his mother.
480 – 483	Childhood	Worth Watching	A nostalgic palate cleanser exploring characters paired up, sometimes with unexpected combinations, including Naruto & Hinata, Sasuke & Sakura, but also Gaara & Shikamaru, and Jiraiya & Kakashi.

All in all, filler accounts for 206 episodes out of the Naruto: Shippuden’s 500 episodes. Though not quite half, that still accounts for 41% of the entire series. Looking at the list completely, it’s easy to see where the team behind the anime ran into speed bumps when adapting the manga with the series mostly avoiding filler until around the hundred-episode mark, where things get a bit more dire. Both Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden are infamous for their filler content, with the original series also having around 40% of its episodes be filler.

How Naruto: Shippuden’s Filler Hurts The Series Overall

Though it’s relatively easy to skip many of Naruto: Shippuden’s filler episodes, they still ultimately hurt the series overall. Knowledge about filler episodes and arcs meant to build time between manga-canon stories may be common among most fans, but that’s certainly not universal. To any fan who’s relatively unaware of what goes on in the manga, it would be easy to assume that every or most episodes of the series are all part of the same canon. Additionally, the need to look up guides on what episodes to skip is significantly less straightforward than just rewatching the entire series.

Naruto: Shippuden Filler List - Which Episodes To Skip (1)

“It would be a lie”: Naruto’s Creator Has a Genius Storytelling Method That Proves What Sets The Series Apart

Naruto creator Kishimoto gives insight to the creative process that helps him develop strong characters and use them to propel the story.

What’s truly harmful to Naruto: Shippuden though is less the filler episodes or arcs and more the filler scenes inserted into canon episodes. Much like the rest of the filler, these scenes can vary in quality, but unlike the filler episodes, are much more difficult to skip. The result is that, while Naruto: Shippuden’s best episodes are absolutely stunning in their quality, the series’ pacing and plotting aren’t quite as strong as Masashi Kishimoto’s original.

In addition to the pacing issue, Shippuden’s filler can also give fans the wrong impression about the world and characters that are the series’ backbone. Sakura, in particular, is the frequent target of mischaracterization in filler episodes. At its best, Shippuden’s filler conveys information that the main story just wouldn’t have time for, but at its worst, the filler can mess with fan perceptions of certain characters, ultimately doing slightly more harm than good.

Why Naruto: Shippuden Has So Much Filler Compared to Other Anime Series

Naruto: Shippuden Filler List - Which Episodes To Skip (2)

With 41% of its episodes composed of filler, Naruto: Shippuden has a high percentage of non-canon episodes compared to other big Shonen anime airing at the time. One Piece, which has been running since 1999, only has around 9% of its 1105 episodes marked as pure filler, while Dragon Ball Z sits at around 13% filler.

The difference might well come down to differences in how each anime’s studios handle production. It’s notable that series relatively light on filler like One Piece and Dragon Ball Z were both made by Toei animation, while series heavy on filler such as Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden, and Bleach were made by Studio Pierrot.

Though
Naruto
,
Naruto
:
Shippuden
, and
Boruto
all have a higher percentage of filler at around 41%,

Bleach
has even more filler
with 45% of its episodes being non-canon.

15 Best Naruto Openings, Ranked

Naruto has captured fans with its esteemed openings. From visuals, tone, and meanings all the openings are amazing, but some go beyond amazement.

Current trends have moved big shonen series away from the weekly release model. My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, and Jujutsu Kaisen are seasonal series, and that has given each a level of consistency that means they don’t have to rely on filler. The last remnant of the weekly release model, Naruto: Shippuden’s sequel series Boruto, seems to be moving toward seasonal as well based on comments by Studio Pierrot’s president.

Regardless of how fans may feel about the abundance of filler in Naruto: Shippuden, it is forever baked into the franchise’s history. Though quite a lot of it didn’t live up to the high standards set out by the canon material, more than a few of the filler episodes are more than worth watching for any fan of Naruto: Shippuden.

Naruto: Shippuden Filler List - Which Episodes To Skip (4)

Set two and a half years after the events of Masashi Kishimoto’s original anime, Naruto Shippuden continues the titular hero’s attempts to become the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and bring his former friend Sasuke Uchiha back to the light. The 500-episode series features the return of allies such as Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki’s mentor Jiraiya, as well as the villainous organization Akatsuki.

Cast: Junko Takeuchi , Kazuhiko Inoue , Noriaki Sugiyama , Chie Nakamura , Shoutarou Morikubo , Hideo Ishikawa , Nana Mizuki , Houchuu Ootsuka
Release Date: February 15, 2007
Seasons: 22
Network: Adult Swim
Writers: Junki Takegami , Satoru Nishizono , Yasuyuki Suzuki , Yasuaki Kurotsu , Masanao Akahoshi
Directors: Hayato Date , Masaaki Kumagai , Yasuaki Kurotsu , Osamu Kobayashi , Chiaki Kon