Ranking Every Naruto Arc from Worst to Best
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
4:51 - Number 12
6:45 - Number 11
8:25 - Number 10
11:07 - Number 9
12:41 - Number 8
15:05 - Number 7
16:07 - Number 6
20:30 - Number 5
23:21 - Number 4
27:00 - Number 3
30:31 - Number 2
33:42 - Number 1
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no
Good ad but no
Start a *NO* chain
@@SpammytheHedgehog *NO*
Get ur bag bro 🙏
I'd also add that Pain's abilities really do feel like "this is the ultimate peak a person using chakra can reach" vs everything that comes before him. He deserves the name of Pain, he deserves to be the 'leader' of akatsuki, he just slots right into place. His powers are 'in range' of other ninja abilities we've seen but also feel overwhelming. Choji is not believably going to lay a finger on madara or obito, but it feels like he can maybe do SOMETHING to pain, even if there's no chance he can win. The gulf isn't unreasonable.
And Choji did indeed lay a finger on one of the pain's.
Which why for me pain is the best written character in naruto
Yeah
I really like that Pain's power is just some really tricky op stuff and not kaiju-sized punchghost or smth like that
I agree completely.
I feel that Pain was a good power ceiling for Naruto. Everything after that arc becomes more and more ridiculous.
Facts. Pain, Sage Mode, and Mangekyo Sharingan should have been the pillars of endgame power. After that shit just got stupid (I do like the first KCM though)
Everything from Sasuke killing Orochimaru to Naruto defeating Pain was incredible and peak Shippuden. It was back-to-back, nonstop incredible battles, emotional punches, character development, lore and world building, and plot progression at an astonishing pace. When I think back to Naruto, I think of this period of the manga/anime more than anything else.
Completely agree. Easily the best arc run in shippuden and arguably the whole series and I only say arguably bc part 1 back to back arcs are all solid.
after pain arc, they Ruined Sasuke
@@IIIISai nah, revolution sasuke was one of my favorites
@@IIIISai Sasuke wasn’t bad until he stated trying to kill Karin and Sakura. Before that, I agreed with him
@@afrofree4950 ur not suppose to agree with him tho
I think what adds to Pain's character is the unnerving design. Everything about the Rain Village seems dangerous, hostile and alien. When Jiraiya is traversing the village, it's actually really tense and scary and yeah, on top of that, we meet the leader of the coolest organization in anime lol
Hidden rain was the best set piece in Naruto. So atmospheric. I just wish the other villages could've gotten the same treatment.
he’s literally just emo wdym
yeah. that part is the closest we’ve gotten to horror in naruto. it almost give’s the same vibe of when donkey and shrek first go to farquads tower in shrek, as weird as that sounds.
traversing into an unknown commune where even the people themselves could be spies or what not. the payoff and everything was amazing.
@@chefkefatien7049 How the hell would someone that's already dead is emotional? 🤔
@@ImNeoFrdid you forget about Orochimaru in the forest of death??? That was straight up horror
The Sasuke Retrieval arc deserves a place among the top arcs in the series. Before it Naruto was already selling really well but it was this arc that cemented it as one of Jump's big 3 along side similar rescue missions in Bleach and One Piece. the three series working in tandem to bring non-stop hype weekly to Jump's readers is what allowed them to forge their legendary status as the true Big 3 of shounen manga
Facts
hxh solos though
It’s also so well written everything that is setup in og Naruto is brought back
@@jeffjeff9484 top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
except that the 4 fights weren't actually good
The Pain Arc will forever be goated. It's storyline, themes, and fight scenes are simply top notch no other arc comes close to it in quality.
Pain's theme is the icing on the cake as well. Such a badass menacing theme.
I remember I got my Lincoln town car white car which was a 2010 model whic im now making $15,750 per week tax free and I use $123,800,000 in fake currency to Proect my income from all expmwnse etc but pain arc Aiden arc and MF arc went around the same time
That was the end of Naruto for me. War arc just dragged on.
The Sasuke retrieval arc also left a void in my heart when I first watched it. But Pain is peak Naruto
And the end where they talked out their differences and resolved it in an emotional way. And Kakashi carrying Naruto to the village. Perfect story.
What was it exactly that convinced pain to flop though?
I love hebi sasuke. My guy put the fear of God into sai with one look, threaten jugo and suigetsu without breaking a sweat. To me he was just dripping in badass energy
Like Ms Sasuke in the bee fight since he did care about taka one of my most not liked decisions is dissolving taka in like a few chapters
@@gameuniverse5973 it look like u said miss sasuke 👩🏫 😭
hebi Sasuke waa peak, taka is horrible
Hebi Sasuke was my favorite because of his versatility in fights, once he got Mangekyo Sharingan, he would just spam Amaterasu and Susanoo
@@quentinjones6877 straight facts
The worse fight in Sasuke retrieval is Kiba s but even that one was good cuz at the time we really thought he was dead . The fact that it was being set up as it was a suicide mission actually really made these fights amazing
Kiba was metal stabbing himself like that..but when bro busted out the 3 headed wolf I kinda laughed because I don’t even really see it as an improvement
Kankuro vs Ukon was lit
@@afrofree4950 top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
Honestly such a well written arc too everything that is set up on OG Naruto is brought back
It's probably the only moment where his relationship with Akamaru is explored. Poor thing, that relationship could've done him one of the best characters of the show, or at least one of the most loved.
Swag is really the kind of guy that I want to sit down and discuss anime with, he makes his points so well and isn't afraid to admit when he has a personal bias or likes something even when it's considered bad.
Also same number 1 Arc yay!
Your point about the personal bias thing is one of the reason I like him as a CZcamsr, he’s very transparent which I like
i dont think he makes his points well. Often he will say "i like this more" and "this is really cool", which ends up with me filling in with my memory of what i think he means. Could quanitify things much better with more detail and time
He only talks about one show tho😂
@@bigt100 that isnt an issue
@@frengulon that means u can only talk about naruto💀
The final clash between Sasuke and Naruto that settled everything between them and solidified their friendship will always top it for me. The Chunin exams and Forest of death section really highlights how dangerously deadly Shinobi training is even at early ages and just how dark the world of Naruto unsurprisingly is.
I honestly liked the valley of the end fight even more than the last one
@@nicholasaugello2534 Same. In hindsight Naruto and Sasuke were developing throughout the fight. Shinobi are supposed to be emotionless, but theirs kept pushing them further. The back and forth advantage between them was so much fun to watch, and in the end they were practically even. The only downside is how plot convenient a battle worm Sasuke was able to walk away from a top conditioned expert tracker Kakashi.
The first fight that naruto and sasuke had was better tbh
Part one final fight of Sasuke vs Naruto was way better in my option
That fight was just a dumb DBZ battle
I’ve watched and re-watched the anime many times and currently going through the manga for the first time, and I have to say my favorite is the Pain arc (beginning from Pain’s assault) not just because of the fight between him and Naruto and the weight of the fight but everything about it.
The village that was home for the main cast was obliterated in seconds, Naruto’s arrival was probably the best in the series, Hinata having the guts to fight Pain for Naruto’s sake, Kakashi’s temporary death and Naruto having to just as quickly acknowledging it as having to put it aside to focus on his enemy, Naruto getting pinned and Pain postulating a question Naruto had no answer to, Naruto going berserk with the Nine-Tails and Minato showing up to calm him down and stop him from making a devastating mistake, Naruto convincing Nagato that Nagato’s way is wrong (oversimplifying a lot here), and Naruto finally getting acknowledged by the village which was his original reason for wanting to be Hokage. Hard to beat all of that and I’m sure I’m still missing some things.
If Naruto ended at the pain arc it would be the best written anime of all time.
Yeah, I like it too, but none of it would have happened if not for Black Zetsu and Tobi trying to make things go their way. That's why I marked the Obito reveal arc as number 1.
The problem with Naruto is that its first arc is objectively straight up trash. Land of waves is boring, its irrelevant, and doesnt move the plot forward. Once you get past it, the series is peak. But land of waves is just as garbage as Boruto.
@@shrubsangry "objectively" wow, finally someone who can objectively judge art
@@timothymoore2966 I don’t like that argument because there would be so much unsolved things in the plot left.
Finally someone realized the search for Tsunade is one of the best ! This arc is concise, straight to the point and doesn't waste your time with many subplots. Tsunade's character arc is also very satisfying to watch
Naruto first rasengan too
Yo me that’s the weakest arc in og Naruto, that’s just me
The training part felt very drawn out in the anime compared to the manga, and it's the main reason I don't think it's THAT good
I only disagree about the subplots point or at least say it's unfair because the arc has a few characters to begin with.
I was also great the Sannin fight was between the three best ninjas in the village neither of them were fighting at their best nor at peak of their powers which was why kishimoto nerfed all of them by drugging jiraiya handicap orochimaru and fear of blood and rusty tsunade
I think people sometimes forget that from Sasuke’s perspective, when he woke up in the hospital the last thing he remembered was Itachi beating the living hell out of him and basically saying that Naruto is a much bigger concern for him while saying he has no interest in Sasuke. If I were Sasuke and trained my whole life to kill Itachi in revenge, I’d be pretty furious as well.
loved that version of sasuke
Still I find it funny that sasuke desided that instead of trying harder or training more, he would immediately go and fight naruto to show he has superiority over him. It’s kinda twisted to think that instead of asking for help he would immediately go to “I’m going to kill my friend because my big brother said he’s better than me” is kinda fucked up. Factor in that naruto had like no good training from anyone till he met jariya and it paints a picture of a prick that doesn’t like to watch anyone other than himself succeed
@@rensenkai5974 worst sasuke take lol
@@rensenkai5974 that is what hate and vengeance does to a person, and Sasuke was also developing Orochimaru like habits from the Curse Mark (Sasuke didn’t want to kill Naruto until he unleashed the Curse Mark full of Orochimaru’s essence)
What brought out Sasuke’s anger towards Naruto was Itachi treating Naruto as his main concern/priority right after Naruto beat the unbeatable Gaara (who Sasuke ultimately lost to) while initially trying to ignore Sasuke until beating Sasuke senseless. Sasuke wants Itachi to see him as a true archenemy but he feels Naruto is taking that away
@@MrKingYuji I agree but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s like really stupid to blame someone for what someone else said to you. That and the fact that Sakura and kakashi till shippuden never really showed support to naruto plus everyone handing him everything just kind makes him seem kinda selfish. Part one sasuke had and inferiority and superiority complex and was a flight risk since he left the academy
My favorite arc is the Tsuande arc!
It’s just character driven, and character story. No over the top shonen battles until the very end. I loved Naruto being pushed and being reminded that he was an orphan again.
Tsuande’s human backstory was so beautiful and amazing!! 💙💚💙
Agreed I guess but how’s it got no over the top battles when there’s a three way kaiju fight
@@iamkonner4813 I said not until the very end! 🌚
Tsunade definitely had some of the best character writing in the series during that arc, definitely a good pick
It’s a super underrated arc, Naruto blocking Kabuto’s kunai with his hand and doing Rasengan for the first time is the best Naruto moment from part 1 imo.
The weakest part 1 arc for me. Still good tho
Sasuke Retrieval arc was so fucking good. I loved the tension and the high stakes during it. Felt like anything could happen.
Especially when gaara pulled up to jump kimimaru with Lee lol
The Pain Arc is peak Naruto. Every Box is ticked. Especially in terms of power creep, it was perfect. Still had that Naruto/Shinobi vibe. After that it gets a tad bit too Dragonball Z.
You're right. Pain arc is by a huge margin the best. I respect Swag's opinion, by I think he should've at least divided the first place between the two arcs
nah war arc is the best
@@lavrentii-kolotushkin nah retrieval arc the best
Pain arc was well into Dragonball Z territory lmao, Pain had god powers like resurrecting an entire village of dead people (really?), a nuke that instantly obliterated a whole village, invincible summons, pulling souls out of bodies, absorbing any attack. Or Susano'o which is your eyeball somehow giving a near invincible giant mecha... How are those things shinobi powers and not god powers.
@@DJFracusthat was in part one like brining people back to life was there did you forget and everything happens even in the war arc was established in part one except for kagua which exists because shonan
Cold take, but the Chunin Exams is peak Naruto. They way Kishimoto introduces multiple characters and expands on the shinobi world through the relationships between the leaf and sand is so cool imo. The characters also turn out to be some of the best in the series, so when you sprinkle in the great fights it really isn't a debate for me.
true but the finale isn't as good as land of waves or retrieval
Chunking Exams is the best thing they’ve ever done. It’s the arc where the most actual ninja behaviour is present. The Forest of Death mini arc is incredible, tactical behaviour instead of chakra mechs. And this was the last time we had truly terrifying antagonists like Orochimaru and Gaara.
@@Th1sIsMyLegacythis arc has a giant animals fight so Naruto was never about real ninja and don't forget the first chapter
Terrifying antagonist doesn't mean the show well be good pain and madara are way better and ninja doesn't summon a giant animals@@Th1sIsMyLegacy
@@Th1sIsMyLegacy Exactly. And at the time we still didn't know what the hell Gaara's deal was
I feel like the War Arc had really good individual elements. Throughout the arc, there was great character development, lots of fantastic fights, really cool plot elements, and more. The first problem is that these awesome moments are just too few and far between. There's just too much blubber and bad writing in this arc that sits between all these great moments and features. The second problem is that the arc didn't seem to have a clear ending planned out before its publication, and it seemed like towards the end, Kishimoto was kinda just winging it. I feel like this arc had so much potential like Swag mentioned, but these factors cause it to be so much less than the sum of its parts and prevent it from reaching its narrative potential.
Don't care what people say Kabuto vs itachi and Sasuke was one of the best battles
@@gameuniverse5973 it was, until izanami. That kinda ruined The fight imo
@@mihaimercenarul7467 izanami was one of the best parts about that fight.
higher peaks but lower lows.
Most of the themes could have easily been handled in Pre fourth war. Choji's power up and development was well deserved but it didn't make any sense during that time. Most of the character development could have been handled pre fourth war but was hamfisted into the arc that it feels so bloated and didn't make any sense
Swag's reasoning made my question my own list. I forgot how good some of these arcs were and he was pretty convincing (and Sasuke winning did blow my mind when I was a kid). Also, if you separate the last Naruto vs Sasuke from Kaguya, that arc clears.
Nah i will keep saying part one final Sasuke vs Naruto>Shippuden final Naruto vs Sasuke fight
@@gameuniverse5973 valid they're my #1 and #2 fights in the series. I just think the writing on their rematch was a bit better, especially in the aftermath. Also, I the fight itself in the anime is my favorite fight ever.
@@gameuniverse5973 As you should. I’m in the same boat
The only part i was sus about was tenshi bridge arc above all of the other ones, that arc kinda sleep😴
@@orbboom6119 hardest agree, boring as hell till the end. I like Sai tho
The Retrieval Arc made me tear up over CHOJI in a very short amount of time and that requires pristine writing ability. Has elements of the Lee fight without rehashing it lazily. Definitely a favorite from me.
The 5 Kage summit has always been my favorite arc. The idea of the taka infiltrating some giant meeting between world leaders and Sasuke taking on all of them is amazing. The danzo fight was great and the war declaration was amazing
Then probs prophecy and vengeance / chunin exams would follow
I agree. Sasuke has almost beaten by kages but somehow manage to survive. It is usually a plot for protagonist, but sasuke did it
It's pretty good but holy hell the amount of plot armour Sasuke had in that arc.
same! i think it's probably bc sasuke is my favorite character and he's basically the main character in this arc with some of the coolest moments for him lol
I perfectly understand why you have the Tsunade retrieval arc so far. It's genuinely really solid, with a surprise depth and drama for the characters involved into it.
Bro…. This is the most emotion I have even seen someone put into a sponsor before 😂 good on you swag 👍
The writing for the Pain arc is just too good. Some of the best writing I’ve seen for any media, sasuke retrieval arc just doesn’t compare from a writing standpoint
Yeah. The lore is great without being over explained(like the war arc). It adds depth without over explaining it breaking any established ideas. Not to mention the unbelievable Naruto and pain fight(although I really don’t like that everyone got brought back). Just a great fucking arc.
@@mitchellima7548 pain, jiraiya and sage mode naruto CARRIED the arc
It doesn't compare because Sasuke Retrieval doesn't really have any plot at all
Great arc but best writing in media? I won't even say it's the best written arc in a shonen series.
@@Marian_Polnocnysure but it doesn’t need to have any crazy plot to make the arc goated. It built of of the other arcs extremely well and each fight like he said had so much stakes and impact. Each character on the journeys development was insane. Now I’m not saying that it’s better then the pain arc but don’t act like both arcs aren’t 10/10
Don’t worry Swag. I love Tsunade as a character a lot more than most people too. Search for Tsunade was such a good arc. She really had a great character arc throughout that story. You really believe that she’s eventually grown to become a good Hokage.
best girl
The main issue I have with Tsunade is that she wasn't used more.
Could've been Jiraiya or Orochimaru levels of good qual, but no.
She's a girl, so Kishi writes her poorly. Lol.
@@friendlyanomaly6109 she's written good, although yes she coulda jutsu versatility
@@IIIISai
I miss wrote what I was trying to get at.
I mean, she's written well, but underused imo, so she's not written into the story well despite being a well written character.
After the Retrieve Tsunade Arc, she's mainly benched as a character imo and I didn't like to see that to my fav character as a kid. Lol.
@@friendlyanomaly6109 ahh i get what u mean and you're right, she got the rock lee treatment, it's why i always like part 1 naruto, it did all it's characters well, and for the characters who were mediocre like sakura, it didn't effect the plot much anyway, but for part 2 naruto it was the sasuke naruto show, i only liked Naruto/sasuke writing up till pain arc anyway, but yea tsunade is lost potential
The Prophecy & Vengeance Arc was like watching the stars align in terms of writing, set-ups, and massive payoffs:
1. Sasuke kills Orochimaru, so there goes the worry of Orochimaru stealing Sasuke's body.
2. I loved Sasuke's side story of forming his team "Hebi".
3. Sasuke vs. Deidara; all the while the Sasuke Retrieval Team is hot on his heels.
4. Pain's reputation before meeting Jiraiya is well-established with his control over the Rain Village, and the nonchalant mention that he's responsible for killing Hanzo the Salamander, *the same ninja who gave the Leaf Sannin their titles.*
5. Pain killing Jiraiya, with the latter walking into certain death knowing it'll give the Leaf vital intel on killing the leader of the Akatsuki.
6. The years-long anticipated rematch between Sasuke and Itachi; complete with Genjutsu, more info on Madara Uchiha, Amaterasu, Kirin, and Susanoo.
7. Madara becoming a more apparent threat in the series (even if it was just Obito pretending to be Madara).
8. The 180 plot-twist that Itachi wasn't the monster we assumed him to be.
9. Sasuke declaring vengeance on the Hidden Leaf.
10. Naruto training to master Sage Mode while Pain is attacking the Hidden Leaf.
11. And finally: Naruto killing Pain, succeeding his master, meeting the 4th Hokage in his mind, and earning the respect of the village at long last.
yep it is just full to the brim with hype fights, good animation, plot twists and sentimental moments all of which contribute more to the plot device than any other arc. everything you would want from the series at the onset of the arc is there, it delivers expected payoffs and then more.
having two of the best opening songs probably helps as well.
Literally just all the best fights .looking back ,it's insane how many of the best fights are just in one place haha the hell
Yeah I was making my own ranking list of all the arcs while watching the video and I just had to put the "Prophecy and Vengence" (or Itachi/Pain arcs) arc ahead of everything else. It's a solid and satisfying conclusion to many plotlines and character goals (old goals that also seamlessly shift into new goals, like Naruto becoming a hero of the Leaf who know nows he has the burden of defeating "Madara" and being the ninja of Jiraiya's prophecy or Sasuke's whole ordeal before/after fighting Itachi with turning team Hebi into team Taka). Some the best moments, biggest shocks and favorite fights were all in this portion as well which I rate highly among the writing and pacing.
real
And that’s why it’s my fav arc not only in Naruto but in any battle shonen anime I’ve watched. Only ones that come close to this for me are: Yorknew arc, Enies Lobby and Soul Society Rescue.
The land of waves arc imo is more around top 4(4th for me to be exact) because it truly has the most "ninja" like feeling to the characters throughout the entire series imo and nostalgia also carries it a bit but going back now the Inari stuff does kinda drag it down because it's kinda pointless since he literally never returns after if I remember correctly so I'd understand why other people would have it toward 5 or 6
it's peak to me, especially as a standalone arc, just perfect
I will never forget how i felt reading the land of waves arc. how it set up the world around the characters and the shinobi code then showing the first major villian crying when his comrade died,and setting up sasukes true feelings toward naruto. really powerful stuff, that's when i knew i was in love with the series
peak
Swag always talks in his naruto videos with such passion , attention to details , you can tell he loves this series so much. Is always enjoyable to watch his videos.
Pain's arc for me was shippuuden peak.....tragidy, hatred, new powers, minato's appearance and iconic drip; it had everything
top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
man it’s a great day when swag uploads
Lovely seeing this pop up on my recommended tab. You've always been the to-go Naruto guy for me on CZcams so it's fun to finally learn the specifics of your thoughts and feelings on each major story arc.
BRO. KNOWS. BALL.
for me number one is chunin exam. the addition of new world building/new powerlevels introduction/new characters/new jutsus was insane!
Only thing I don't like is how wildly inconsistent Naruto strength is there went from needed a Kyuubi cloak to beat neji to beating a half shukaku Gaara in base which cm1 Sasuke was struggling with
Yessir
@@gameuniverse5973 he needed a kybuai cloak to beat neji because neji was literally using gentle fist and had literally blocked Naruto’s chakra points, you sound silly
The thing is that kishimoto didn't want to do the chunin exam the original plan was to have more arc like visiting each other village introduce each other team so kishimoto didn't want the chunin exam to happen this early but the editor forced him to cut down
this gotta be one of my fav vids from you, going through all the arcs, explaining each highlights of the series just takes me back and makes me feel good knowing why each arc has so many good moments in their own ways.
I think had pain been the last arc of naruto, it would have been number one, it so perfectly pays off literally everything in the story up to that point, including naruto's main goal and motivation, becoming hokage was never the real goal, it was being loved and accepted by his village, which he believed becoming hokage would do. After Pain it is the most satisfying culmination of naruto overcoming the concept of revenge, right off the heels of sasuke learning his whole quest for revenge is wrong after killing itachi, naruto becomes loved and accepted by the village, and becomes stronger than his teacher who failed before him by besting the opponent his teacher couldn't. All of that is all powerful pay off that is all end of series level satisfying. Unfortunately, loading all of that up in an arc that leaves plot threads and isn't the end retroactively hurts it later when you aren't able to get similar payoff later, even though necessary storytelling still has to come after, its my only downside with the pain/revenge arc
top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
I feel like the Pain arc can finish of naruto’s character arc while simultaneously not being the end of the series, his quest for Sasuke to me is enough to justify a follow up. Of course the war arc still needs significant reworks
Exactly I would have been satisfied with that ending. Sasuke learning the truth his brother loved him and becoming good. Naruto earning the villagers respect and living to fight for them as hokage
Eh I disagree. The war arc would of been a much better ending then the pain arc if executed better. Maybe Naruto should have changed his path but if it ended in the pain arc the show wouldn’t have felt complete. Instead of ending the show in the pain arc, the war arc should have been treated with more care could have been honestly a better arc
@@Stinkfly300the war arc would have been better if shonan was not rushing kishimoto during this arc they told him to end at chapter 700
I don’t think any other anime made a hole in my heart like when Naruto lost to Sasuke. I’ve rewatched it countless times and it hits me in the feels every time. Kishimoto really subverted expectations with that one and really deserves his flowers, as we were so used to protagonists simply winning. Doing this with a true never give up character like Naruto hit so different. Felt like I was losing my brother just like him.
this may be my favorite video from you yet, you did an amazing job putting into words how each arc individually captured me and kept me engaged throughout the experience..really riveting stuff that damn near makes me wanna watch it all over again, great job
I still hate the direction naruro went, plot armor, talk no jutsu, lazy writing, and yet more plot armor made it hard for me to finish the show and manga.
And what about it was lazy? Naruto had 2 goals from the start, and 1 was changing sauskes mind. That's gonna require talking. There really isn't plot armor except Kakashi. Half of them are already dead.
In my opinion the best arc was the chunin exam arc. The interest and the sheer suspense that I got from it while watching it was insane. Every single moment from waiting with other contestants in the room to the orochimaru and the transfer to saving sasuke arc was just crazy. Better than any shippuden arc to me
Right! I really loved ino vs Sakura. Had me jumping out of my seat at every single punch. So crazy!
@@Chris-yn9fi I love how you have to clutch at straws to find anything to deny the op. The arc speaks for itself.
Retrieval always been my favorite but the chunin exams did the leg work for it
Best showcase of each character, sadly most of the characters besides orochimaru, Kabuto, Gaara and shikamaru become completely irrelevant afterwards once Shippuden happens.
Especially what they did to Shino and kankuro my two favorite characters from part 1
Love ya Swag keep up the fire vids 🔥❤️
I can definitely relate to first watching the Sasuke Retrieval arc as a kid and being caught by surprised at the fact that Naruto didn't win. I didn't expect it at the slightest. I just remember being stressed watching that entire arc weekly on Toonami while each member of the team was going through near death experiences. Completely gut wrenching.
Been a while since I watched you, but your content is still top tier. Great video man!
I hope we don’t wait forever for more uploads since your videos are dope
My favorite arcs are the Land of Waves Arc, Sasuke Retrieval Arc and the Pain Arc. I would have liked to see more Land of Waves Arcs in Naruto. Anko is wasted potential. I wished Anko would have mentored Naruto and see her become a adopted mother figure for Naruto!
U think the land of waves is better than the chunin exams
@@Frazier16 it's just his opinion
@@Riskofrain527 i was just asking
My favorite arc in part one is the Sasuke retrieval and my favorite arcs in Shippuden is the itachi and pain arcs, jiraya vs pain, itachi vs Sasuke and pain vs Naruto are so good and they are the parts I revisit the most on rewatch or reread.
I’m so happy to see you posting again!!
really good video. i mayt have to rewatch some fights and stuff just remembering this.
My favorite was probably the Pain and Itachi arc but man the Kage summit arc is a close second, when I rewatch Naruto I find myself looking forward to it the most, seeing Sasuke at his absolute lowest point is so interesting and fun to watch, he feels almost out of place with everyone else and doesn't hesitate to kill, like how he almost killed Sakura TWICE and actually almost killed Karin and would have if Sakura didn't help her. From one Sasuke fan to another it's great you put it so high on your list too.
"Sasuke Recovery Mission" Arc is my absolute favorite. This is when BOYS became MEN
Let's go mah boi! Get that raid schmoney! (great vid btw)
THE LEGEND IS BACK!!!!
Swagkage out here making mini-documentaries; what an absolute goat
Mad respect for ranking a series that's pretty consistently good most of the time. Great video
top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
Fantastic list. These videos never disappoint :)
Love this take Swag, it’s nice to hear how you express ur love for Naruto. Loved the way you did the video 🔥instant classic
Is crazy how good early naruto is and how downhill it goes at the end of shippuden
Should of given the man a month break to story board and iron out the war
You're wrong saying that. The finale, Sasuke vs Naruto is brilliant
I don't understand why people separate the Chunin Exams from the Leaf Invasion part. The Invasion IS the climax of the whole arc.
Yeah.. The fights of the Chunin exam get interrupted officially, though one may consider them to go on outside of the arena.
Naruto won with Neji, and should thus see a next fight. Sasuke doesn't manage to defeat Gaara inside the woods. Naruto would eventually fight Gaara...
Also Kankuro's fight with Shino happens outside of the arena.
I like to think of it as a proceeding tournament..
So awesome to see your list, I think you do a great job at explaining your points of view 👍
Prophecy and Vengeance + Pains Assault were peak Naruto for me and it’s not close. The “killing” of Orochimaru created a creepy atmosphere around Sasuke. The hunt for Itachi on both parts was really suspenseful filled about who will get to Itachi first having us see Itachi make plans through this process all while we see Jiraiya doing top notch infiltration and his amazing fight with Pain who is the long awaited Akatsuki leader. Then the series defining Sasuke vs. Itachi and the huge plot twist with Itachi that changes our perspective on the big baddie of the series to that point. Pain soloing the entire Leaf and leveling it to go into the Naruto vs. Pain and Minatos entrance into the story and creating the atmosphere around Tobi basically saying “yeah Pain is strong and all but the one with the mask, he’s a bigger problem”. Watching Killer Bee absolutely humble Sasuke was probably my favorite fight in the series too.
top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
My top:
1)Fourth Great Ninja War
2)Pain Assault
3)Shunin Exam
4)Pursuit of Itachi
5)Sasuke's Retrieval
6)Land of Waves
7)Hidan and Kakuzu
8)Search for Tsunade
9)Rescue the Kazekage
10)Summit of the 5 kages
11)Kakashi Gaiden
12)Tenshi Bridge
I like the zetsu twist. It's the perfect way to end Madara character and it was a highly effective twist. He have pretty subtles foreshadowing too. After their respectives fights Sasuke and Hashirama remark both something weird who was zetsu observing them (chapter 233/234 and chapter 626/681). Kishimoto is really underrated in term of foreshadowing
I also like Zetsu twist. Madara was already beaten by first hokage, and him being beaten again at the end wouldn't be right conclusion for his character. If he didn't changed after first defeat, why would he be after second? Seeing consequences of infinite tsukujomi(idk how to spell it on eng) and true nature of chakra (kaguya) made bigger impact on his character.
Swag post a video i press watch as soon as i see it !! You the GOAT bro !!!
I always watch your shorts this is my first actual video and I love it! ❤
My list:
1. Prophecy & Vengeance / Pain
2. Sasuke Retrieval
3. Chūnin Exams / Konoha Crush
4. Immortal Duo
5. Ten Tails
6. Land of Waves
7. Search for Tsunade
8. Five Kage Summit
9. Kazegake Rescue
10. Final Arc
11. Fourth Great Ninja War
12. Reunion / Tenchi Bridge
The Hidan/Kakazu arc is my favorite. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but everything just clicked for me.
Also side note, the opening “Closer” for this arc in the anime is also my favorite.
You’re very well spoken, and got your points across while stressing it’s your opinion to not ruffle any feathers, very narrator friendly voice really enjoyed this video, having never seen your channel before you got a sub from me
Great video great channel sir 💯👍
as much as I understand your reasoning I personally place Land of Waves first. The reality of the ninja world setting in on the characters is amazing development and the fights are some of the most clever and 'mismatched' power wise in the series, it gives a great underdog feeling. Also Zabuza is an amazing character especially with Haku.
One of my favorite parts of the "Prophecy and vengeance" portion of the arc is that Sauske gets full episodes to himself. From him killing Orochimaru to him fighting Itachi, Naruto is set either not in the episode at all or as the B plot. I genuinely love the idea of giving the spotlight to a second main protagonist and maybe I haven't seen a lot of other shows, but I dont think I've seen this done in this way.
loved it as well
always good to see a new vid of you swag, another banger btw love ya keen to see you in the next vid !!!
Lol that transition to the ad reminded me of Rob Gavagan's, hilarious. Great vid swag, keep up the good work man, have a nice sunday.
I think if the death’s stayed permanent in the Pain Arc it would easily take it to number 1. (Kakashi for example, although I am glad he stayed around because he is goated, it’s just it would of made what Naruto did much more impactful)
The Naruto, Jiraya & Pain / Sasuke, Orochimaru & Itachi arc is the absolute peak of Naruto for me. Up to this point, the series is focused and stays true to its rules and established storylines. This where both Sasuke and Naruto reach their most desperate desires.
Sasuke completes his lifelong pledge to take vengeance on his renegade brother. In this process, he discovers the truth about his family and origins. He is thereby transformed.
Naruto surpasses his mentors and becomes loved by the village in which he had always been shunned. In this process, he discovers the truth about his family and origins. He is threby transformed.
Both our main characters find out what they truly stand for and how wrong the world is in their battles. This is where they come to truly reflect their forbears in their attitudes towards the Shinobi world.
Both Itachi and Pain are spectacular villains and the perfect challengers for Sasuke and Naruto. They are completely cold-headed, ruthless and terrifying; this contrasts well to their opponents, who are both emotional, idealistic and comparatively inexperienced. We understand the values and motivations of these villains, and we can relate to their anguish as soon as we come to know of it. But while we do understand these villains, there is an undeniable air of complete mystery around both of them. They are powerful beyond belief and as or even more determined than our main characters to achieve their goals. There is real, tangible depth to the stories of these villains and how they come to clash with Sasuke and Naruto.
This is in many ways the perfect ending, but the problem is that it cannot end here. There are still many things left unsolved. However, tying up all these loose ends never gets even close to being as coherent as this arc. There are tons of cool moments later, but they often come at the expense of what was before. Obito loses his air of mystery and becomes jarringly emotional towards the end. Madara is hella cool, but his return and later exit do not feel natural at all to the flow of the story. Kabuto is not really interesting, and I don't buy him suddenly being more powerful than his former master.
What I find most interesting about the rest of the series after Pain is all the after-the-fact elaboration on how things came to be as they are, e.g. how the Akatsuki was formed and Obito's involvement. However, the story does not have time to properly set up any of the final villains and they simply aren't as effective as villains as they perhaps could have been.
There's cool fights and visuals and ideas all around, but there's a lot of substance lacking. The depth that is there with Pain and Itachi isn't there with later villains. Also, these later villains repeatedly ignore or subvert the setting's established rules, only to eventually amount to nothing as it is revealed that Zetsu (who no one has ever cared about and who is not actually a person and thereby impossible to understand or relate to) is behind literally everything, which is a reveal that cheapens the whole plot up to that point.
Of course, the final battle between Sasuke and Naruto is brilliant. I'm not too interested in the mega mechasuit Sasuke vs supersaiyan fox Naruto section, but the brutal hand-to-hand culmination of the fight is an amazing ending to their rivalry. Naruto and Sasuke's final confrontation is the one thing that had to happen after Pain and Itachi's downfalls, and it is also the one thing that really rings true when it comes to the drawn-out ending to the series.
Still, I'm not saying that the rest of the series after Pain is terrible. It definitely has its moments, but it doesn't really know where it's going the way the series had up to that point. If there is one thing I could change about the second half of Naruto, I would really start killing off some more of the good guys as the big war ramps up.
*claps* Read this whole comment. Killing off more good guys is something I wanted to see too. Aside from the entire Sensory Unit getting blown up, the one good guy who got killed off was the wrong choice. Here are some who also should’ve
Anko (her storyline from the Chunin Exams went really cold and she was in enemy hands)
Might Guy (maybe his last attack kills Madara who then has Kaguya burst out of his corpse? That at least eliminates the awful Black Zetsu twist while giving Guy a proper sendoff)
Shino (they did NOTHING with his character potential after the Chunin Exams. His final words to Naruto could be a wholesome “Looks like I really got to help out with the mission this time.”)
@@ironrevenger9386 Good points.
Having thought about it, the Great War deaths that we do get also aren't very heavy.
The Sensory Unit gets nuked from miles away. They give a touching speech but at this point it doesn't really feel like a big loss for the war effort. All the coordinated parts are already done and narratively they're sort of dead weight. Boom. You feel for their kids but you're not really emotionally attached to the members of the Sensory team.
Then there's Neji, whose death feels like it's just there because someone had to die and we already have a prominent character from the same clan. I wish he would at least had a cool fight when he went down, but the most shocking part about his death ends up being how lame it is. I get the sentiment but it wasn't earned.
The Great War doesn't feel all that great when its mostly just grunts dying when the bad guys are showing off their skills. If you want to sell a villian, have him do some damage the viewer cares about.
Pain killed Jiraya and Kakashi with relative ease, demonstrating his obscene superiority to all shinobi we had seen thus far in the show.
I don't remember Madara killing anyone except a ton of noname goons in the desert. Why couldn't he just go ahead and kill a kage or two?
To be honest I think it would have been pretty dope if they had all just died trying to take the big man down.
@@H25Invicta The main problem I have with Neji’s death is that it reinforces the cycle that his uncle Hiashi just broke. The Branch Family were finally equals to the Main Family. Neji was the most talented of all, became a Jonin, and even had the most underrated ship with Tenten. He was BUILT to be Naruto’s Elite Guard alongside Shikamaru during Five Kage Summits in the future. Why do all that to have him die like his father? *bangs head agains brick wall*
I was hoping Onoki died after saving everyone from the meteors. The dude faced even greater odds than Sarutobi, is even older, has back issues even if only as a running joke, and didn’t receive any medical attention for goodness sake. Onoki and Mei Terumi definitely should’ve died. Unfortunately the only characters he did kill were Naruto and Sasuke, who we knew couldn’t stay dead
I've always liked your videos the most and this just laid out why. I agree 100% with this list
Ngl that was the hypest raid ad I've ever seen LOL
Madara's introduction was insanely badass but to me #1 Vilain introduction is still Orochimaru during the chuunin exam, especially the fact that it's progressive and he's showing little by little with that horror tone
Honesty I really like the way you've split up naruto yourself, I always thought of it the same way and would get confused when looking at the other ways it's split up between the manga and the anime. Your way seems to flow a whole lot better and I think it's just a better fit myself.
Arc breakdown was really good!
Fire edit 🔥
I love the Sasuke retrieval arc but for me nothing comes close to the pain arc. The defining characteristic of Naruto being orphaned and outcasted from birth as introduced from the very beginning. What Jiraiya did for Naruto in not just being his sensei but also the father figure he needed. Then for that to be taken away from him too and the raw emotion especially with the dynamic Pain offers as a villain to Naruto. Then for him to overcome all of that and finally be embraced by the villiage who treated like an outcast is enough to make anyone tear up. It’s the arc I always think of when I think of Naruto.
The land of Waves arc will always be my favorite because it establishes everything that makes me love Naruto so much. The characters, their motivations and their relationships are all defined in the prologue and even more as the arc progresses. Naruto’s motivation to become Hokage is confronted with the reality of Ninja being tools, which motivates him to have his own Nindo. His rivalry and eventual friendship with Sasuke is established with an amazing training subarc. Kakashi is shown to be an absolute badass and the Sharingan is introduced along with everything else we need to know about this world. The dark atmosphere with Zabuza and Haku, the fog and Sasuke’s "death" really grips you. And finally you have amazing moments like Sasuke and Naruto’s plan to make Zabuza free Kakashi and Zabuza’s death which made me think "holy sh*t this is good" while the tears were flowing from my eyes.
In short, I love this arc because without it all the other arcs would not have the same impact and I probably wouldn’t even have been hooked enough to watch them.
beautiful message, and I agree, perfect arc, super memorable, great antagonists, and location, that location was super memorable, and the mist in the sky, it's unforgettable, the chunin exams forest was memorable but imo the final rounds location wasn't all too special, the retrieval arc had slow moments, but everything to do with sasuke and lee was too tier, i love the land of waves arc and its perfect but because the other arcs come after it they have more substance
@@IIIISai top 5 strongest characters
5 obito
4 madara
3 kakashi
2 sage of six path
1 naruto
This video is perfect and aligns almost completely with my own rankings
your labeling of the arcs was good and easy to understand
The absolute hype behind this raid sponsor haha
sasuke retreival over pain arc is wild
Facts, I respectfully disagree with him.
Bros mad the most overrated arc ain’t #1☠️
@@ClipThatBro underrated
Great video
Always a good day when swag uploads
In my opinion, from Akatsuki Suppression till the end of the Pain Arc, Naruto was at its absolute best. No anime has matched the sheer excitement that those arcs (in succession) evoked in me.
No 🧢 that’s exactly how I feel, best section in all of anime hands down
@@jeffjeff9484 Not to mention the 5KS, Minato vs Obito, Kisame vs Gai, etc… Kishimoto was in his bag. Even parts of the 4GNW were spectacular.
Bro thank you! I always felt that the five kage summit arc was severely underrated. Glad I'm not the only one
You really do make the PERFECT "well actually"-meme voice :)
Pain and Naruto conversation is simply perfect, that's some life-changing shit right there. I will openly admit I would not be the person who I am today if not inspired by pain's point of view and Naruto's response to him.
I'd say it's a pretty good list and I get your reasonings, but pain, ESPECIALLY if you include sasuke's stuff in addition to that, is peak. It was the marineford for naruto, and it might be the dub carrying it but I don't care, when pain said "What about my family? my friends? my village?" it put into perspective how deep this world was when I was younger. I had that "Oh shit" moment, cause I was so used to just bad guys being bad guys. That hit me like a car crash, "Wait, WHAT ABOUT HIS FAMILY!?" I remember that feeling of just raw emotion of knowing that naruto just can't kill him, despite what he did to pervy sage. It was spectacular. Also shoutout for land of waves being one of the best beginning arcs in all of anime.
Awesome video Swag, so glad to have you back
Unrelated, but is the Yugioh meta part 2 video coming?
This was actually very well done. I really liked how respectful Swagkage was to other peoples opinions on the show.
while the kakashi susanoo is silly kinda, i think both eyes being seperately trained to an extremely high degree for years, finally being paired to instantly make a perfect susanoo is kind of beautiful for obitos char coming to a finale
Great video as usual, loved the reasoning as I found myself being annoyed at placements but once you explained them I ended up finding agreement in those choices but idk chunin exams and Konoha Crush are seemingly different arcs and shouldn't be held in the same arcs considering with chapter 115 being called: The Chunin Exam, Concluded!!! and 116 being called: Operation Destroy Konoha!! and 138 being called: Operation Destroy Konoha, Terminated!! its the one time I can recall the manga titles pointing out the end and beginning of an arc other than that amazing video as always
Swag coming up for his monthly video again
We love you swagkage
Pain all the way. Not just the invasion, but the battle with Naruto and Pain is legendary. Also after the battle they had a long talk and reconciled their differences and views. So much more engaging than Naruto chasing Sasuke. The fact that Nagato was a student of Jiraya too made him a better rival.
I was a such an idiot when I first watched Naruto I didn't know it had filler.
I kept thinking damn when is jiraiya showing up to train Naruto? The icing on the cake was the filler arc where he summoned gamabunta to save Ino. Just for Ino in the very next episode to treat him like a weakling.
I had only watched HxH and One Punch Man prior to Naruto so I hadn't experienced the filler hell yet.
Just wanna put a shoutout to that RAID ad. Normally I skip those ads but Swag's was genuinely funny and entertaining, kudos to that.