Naruto: 10 Ways The Manga Completely Changed After Part 1 | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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Naruto may be well-known amongst the anime fandom, but many may not have dived into the manga. As Naruto grew from a child to a teenager, the series became less about certain things such as comedy and became more serious about others. This was also the case with the Akatsuki, as well as characters becoming less or more important.

From character personality changes to scenes having fewer flashbacks, here are 10 ways the Naruto manga changed after part one and moved on to the sequel series, Naruto Shippuden.

10 Less Taijutsu

One of the best parts of Naruto was watching the ninja, well, fight like a ninja. Since the characters were all children and didn't fully have a grasp on ninja techniques or jutsu, taijutsu was the only basic thing they had to learn how to use.

This was especially true for characters such as Rock Lee who wasn't born with any chakra and only had to rely on his fists, which resulted in him being one of the strongest characters during the Chunin Exam Arc as he battled against Gaara toe-to-toe. As the series continued, fewer characters used taijutsu and instead relied upon their respective jutsu.

9 Less Comedy

Naruto dealt with the ninja of Konoha being children, despite them training to be ninja and killing other characters. Most fans forget ninja kill others, as they are assassins, but this was a bit hard to take all too seriously because of how the world was shown.

After Naruto Shippuden, there was no mistake in what they had trained so hard for as things such as genocide and war came into the picture. With Madara's appearance, Itachi's past, Sasuke's betrayal, and Gaara's death early on in the series—although he was revived later—there was nothing to laugh about.

8 More Flashbacks

If fans thought Naruto had a lot of flashbacks, then they were wrong. There wasn't much to flashback to in the anime or manga, for the only thing fans could be reminded about was Naruto's childhood or Kurama destroying Konoha.

In Naruto Shippuden on the other hand, there were many that occurred during the past years. Because of this, there would be many flashbacks in the anime and references in the manga.

7 More Jutsu Usage

Naruto began the series unable to make a single proper Shadow Clone, so the fact that he can create many Rasengan at once is a feat to be proud of in retrospect. However, compared to the beginning where ninja used to fight strictly with taijutsu, Naruto Shippuden slowly began to show the influence Dragon Ball had on the series by the characters using power over hand-to-hand combat.

Naruto continued to use Rasengan, but he also began to make it even better than it originally was slowly and surely. From Rasenshuriken to mixing it with a Tailed Beast Bomb and Sasuke using Chidori and Amaterasu more and more, Naruto Shippuden dabbles more with jutsu than the original Naruto.

6 Somber Storylines

This isn't to say Naruto didn't have sad backstories or storylines, such as Naruto's childhood and Sasuke's entire clan being massacred. However, as Naruto Shippuden dealt with the ninja being teenagers instead of children, a lot more storylines became darker.

This is especially true when it was revealed Itachi wasn't truly an antagonist to be hated or the reason behind why Madara became as twisted as he was thought to be dead since the beginning of the series.

5 Character Attitudes

This is true for certain characters who were not as important or who didn't get much screentime. Characters such as Hinata Hyuga and Neji began the series as two very different people than who they were in Naruto. In Hinata's case, she became more forthcoming and stronger.

For Neji, he was able to come to terms with his so-called "destiny" and held newfound respect for Naruto as a person. Some changes to other characters may have appeared slight, such as Ino and Sakura, but they also were good contenders for their change in attitude.

4 No More Food Pills

Early Naruto fans remember food pills, which acted as rations of food for whenever a ninja was out on a mission. Choji especially would carry them around, because it wouldn't be all that good to carry around a bag of potato chips when out on a mission.

Some food pills were even for boosting stamina or power, although it wasn't used all that much in Naruto Shippuden. Although food pills weren't shown much, they did make their last canon appearance in the Naruto Shippuden anime when Sakura and Ino were trying to decide on a wedding gift for Naruto and Hinata.

3 Less Usage Of Ninja Tools

As with taijutsu, ninja tools were no longer as necessary as they were before when everyone can wield powerful abilities. This is disappointing for Tenten, especially since she has horrible chakra control and her main boon was ninja tools—even more so now that she runs a ninja tool shop during a time of peace.

Although ninja always ensure to carry a pack with at least kunai—and in Sasuke's case, strings and shuriken—this is less likely to be used in place of jutsu.

2 Character Deaths Were More Likely

Naruto had two characters die early—Zabuza and Haku. This sent a signal that the world is cruel, and not every mission the children are going to go on is going to be easy, as well as how easy it is to die.

However, Naruto Shippuden took this a step further by killing off important and well-known characters, such as Jiraiya and Itachi. In comparison to Naruto, way more characters died.

1 The Akatsuki Were More Prominent

The Akatsuki was a group that was mentioned here and there in Naruto, but they weren't especially important. Sure, they were a threat to older ninja, but not the children in Konoha.

However, when Naruto Shippuden came around, the Akatsuki were the main threat at the beginning of the series, as their goal was to capture the Jinchuriki and pull out the Tailed Beast.

NEXT: Naruto: 5 Times Naruto's Kindness Cost Him (& 5 Times It Paid Off)

Next Naruto: 5 Ninja Who Could've Been A Great Kage (& 5 Who Couldn't Handle It)

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About The Author

Brianna Albert (317 Articles Published)

Brianna Albert is an author, writer, reader, and seasonal anime watcher. She has been watching anime since before Naruto became Hokage and trying to figure out how to bend air since she was in kindergarten. She now works for Valnet, Inc, writing anime lists on Comic Book Resources, writing about television on Screenrant, as well as editing as a Junior Editor. In her spare time, she writes romance novels, works as a freelance Japanese translator, catches hearts in otome games, and binge watches K-Dramas. You can follow her and her witty tweets at @bagariellebook.