Naruto Shippuden Filler List of Episodes to Skip

There are a significant number of Naruto Shippuden filler episodes. The beloved series, which continues the story of Naruto Uzumaki in his quest to safeguard his village and ultimately become ruler, is Part II in Naruto’s saga.

While it has lots of interesting arcs and storylines, Naruto Shippuden also has a lot of fillers, as approximately 41% of its 500 episodes are fillers. Some people may not have the time for this and would prefer to skip the fillers entirely. If you are one of them, then we have got you covered with a list of filler episodes. As a bonus, we have also included a breakdown of some of the Naruto Shippuden fillers that are worth watching.

How Many Filler Episodes are in Naruto Shippuden?

There are 203 filler episodes in Naruto Shippuden out of the entire 500 episodes. This means that 41% of Naruto Shippuden is filler. While these fillers are not entirely useless, it adds to the time that one would need to spend to watch the whole series, comprising 21 seasons and 500 episodes.

This is simply precious hours that many people don’t have, and it may turn them off from watching the series entirely. For instance, in 2022, a YouTuber and anime fan named Oceaniz tried getting his girlfriend to watch Naruto, but she was discouraged by the sheer amount of time that would be required to watch all the episodes.

He got to work shaving off the fillers and was able to edit 115 hours out of it. People were amazed by this and wondered how they could get to watch his finished product, dubbed The Ocean Cut.

Seasons and Episodes of Naruto
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Naruto Shippuden Filler List Guide

  • 54-71 Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc
  • 89-112 Three-Tails Appearance Arc
  • 144-151 Six-Tails Unleashed
  • 170-171 Big Adventure!
  • 176-196 Past Arc: Locus of Konoha
  • 223-242 Paradise Life on a Boat
  • 257-260 Sasuke/Naruto Flashbacks
  • 271 Road to Sakura
  • 279-281 Fourth Shinobi World War Confrontation
  • 284-295 Power
  • 303-320 Fourth Shinobi World War Confrontation
  • 349-361 Kakashi’s Anbu Arc
  • 376-377 The filler that shall not be named
  • 388-390 Hanabi
  • 394-413 In Naruto’s Footsteps/2nd Chunin Exams
  • 416-417 The Formation Of Team Minato
  • 422-423 Naruto’s Return to Leaf Village after Training
  • 427-450 Jiraiya Shinobi Handbook
  • 464-468 Kaguya Otsutsuki Strikes
  • 480-483 – Childhood

Naruto Shippuden Filler Episodes Worth Watching

Filler episodes are exactly what they are, fillers. These are episodes that are not originally in the manga but only written and produced for anime in the interim, as more authentic stories are awaited from the manga.

They often do not add much substance to the overall story, but some of them can be useful in providing interesting backstories or some fun fight moments. Naruto Shippuden has several of these, and we have compiled some of its filler episodes that are worth watching.

The Naruto Shippuden filler episodes that are worth watching include the Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc and Kakashi’s Anbu Arc. Here is a synopsis of them and others.

Twelve Guardian Ninja (Episodes 54 – 71)

The Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc is, without a doubt, one of the Naruto Shippuden filler episodes that are worth watching. It covers episodes 54 to 71 and focuses on the twelve guardian ninja group, which serves as bodyguards to the leader of the land of fire, whose title is Daimyo. There is also Naruto’s wind training, and his strength is tested when he goes into a fierce battle with a young boy named Sora.

Three-Tails Appearance Arc (Episodes 89–112)

The three-tails appearance arc is another Naruto Shippuden filler that you cannot afford to skip. It covers the activities of Team Goren, Konoha, and Akatsuki as they try to take down the three-tailed beast, also known as Isobu. The duo of Tobi and Deidara, from Akatsuki, both work together and cunningly manage to capture the beast. They lead it back to the Akatsuki’s lair and then seal it in a statue, all the while bickering over who brought the beast down.

Six-Tails Unleashed (Episodes 144–151)

This particular Naruto Shippuden filler episode is revered not because of any mind-blowing fight scenes but because of the deep emotions that it manages to serve up. It explores the relationship between a master named Utakata and his understudy Hotaru.

Utakata finally acknowledges Hotaru as his pupil on the verge of death and uses his last remaining strength to blow a last bubble for her. The episode has been hailed as an incredibly bittersweet one, and the writing has been praised as phenomenal.

Road to Sakura (Episode 271)

Naruto Shippuden features some heavy stuff, but once in a while, the makers throw in some episodes for a good laugh, and Road to Sakura is one of them. One of Konoha’s well-known ninjas, Sakura, becomes unconscious after falling through the sky. When she comes to, she loses some part of her memory which leads to very humorous circumstances. From Sakura commenting on the sizes of people’s breasts to her friends acting to juggle her memory, we see it all and so much more.

Power Arc (Episodes 290–295)

This is also another Naruto Shippuden filler episode that one would enjoy. The people in the village of Tonika have just been massacred, and the leader of Konoha, Tsunande, sends out a team comprising the likes of Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Yamato, and Kakashi to investigate. In the course of the investigation, they naturally come up against feared enemies such as Kabuto, and some fun and entertaining fights ensue.

Mecha Naruto Arc (Episodes 376–377)

Mecha Naruto is a mechanized version of Naruto created by the evil scientist Orochimaru for the purpose of capturing Naruto and getting the nine-tailed beast within him. Mecha Naruto moves out to Konoha to confront Naruto and complete his task, and a fierce battle ensues.

In the end, Mecha Naruto turns on his master and ultimately joins hands with Naruto to thwart Orochimaru’s evil plan. This episode may only be a filler, but it is surely an interesting one.

Kakashi’s Anbu Arc: The Shinobi That Lives In Darkness (Episodes 349-361)

Most of those who watch Naruto know Kakashi as the kind-hearted and motivating ninja teacher of Naruto and his pals. However, his background story is never fully scratched, which leaves even many people itching to know about him.

That itch is finally satisfied in this arc. It tells the story of how the third great ninja war changed Kakashi forever and offers an important background to some other Naruto storylines. For some, this arc is so good that it deserves to be canon rather than filler.

Itachi’s Story (Episodes 451–458)

This is also another filler episode that provides an important background story on an equally important character named Itachi. He discovered the dangerous effects of war as a young child and, at some point, attempted to take his life. He retraces his footsteps and ends up joining ninja training, where he excels. This Naruto filler episode has been praised for its story, animation, and cinematography.

Naruto Filler Characters

Here is a list of characters who only appear in Naruto anime but not the manga.

  • Yakumo Kurama
  • Arashi
  • Hoki
  • Mizuki
  • Mecha-Naruto
  • Kazuma
  • Ranmaru
  • Akahoshi
  • Guren
  • Kosuke Maruboshi
  • Shira
  • Hanare
  • Hotaru
  • Natsuhi
  • Raiga Kurosaki
  • Sesame
  • Menma Uzumaki
  • Minna
  • Sora
  • Isaribi
  • Condor
  • Mui
  • Yota
  • Kazami
  • Yukimaru

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