The Big Picture
In 1999, a serialized manga by the name of Naruto would begin its run in weekly Shonen Jump, where it quickly gained a sizable fanbase and a top spot in weekly sales, earning it a place in what would later be dubbed the “Big 3” major manga and anime titles. Unsurprisingly, the manga got an anime adaptation, with the manga being split into two shows: Naruto, and Naruto: Shippuden. Upon completion, series author Masashi Kishimoto oversaw its sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Given the series’ long-running nature, spanning across nearly a thousand episodes and several movies, it begs the question: how old is Naruto Uzumaki? Below, we’ve compiled a list of each measure of Naruto’s age across the three series.
From the original Naruto series, we know that he was born on October 10th. Shortly after, as an infant, he fuses with the nine-tail fox. At the age of six, he joins the Leaf Village Academy, a school that trains young children to become ninjas. Much of the early series follows a young Naruto, aged 12, shortly after he graduates from the Academy. At the age of 13, he enters the chunin exams, a process by which young, inexperienced genin ninja can advance in rank and undertake actual ninja assignments. Throughout the remainder of Naruto, the character remains 13 years old.
Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous adolescent ninja, struggles as he searches for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the village’s leader and strongest ninja.
Release Date October 3, 2002
Cast Junko Takeuchi, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Hidekatsu Shibata, Yoichi Masukawa, Masashi Ebara, Ryôka Yuzuki
Genres Animation, Action, Adventure
Seasons 8
Naruto: Shippuden begins after a time skip that also occurs in the manga. At the onset of the series, we join Naruto at age 15. Despite his familiar goofy demeanor and youthful attitude, he has used this time to train extensively, and has overcome several powerful foes. A major arc of the series frames the ninja Pain as its primary antagonist, and it’s during this arc that Naruto is noted as being 16 years old. One of the most narratively substantial plot arcs in the series, the fourth great ninja war or fourth shinobi world war ends on October 10th, meaning that the character is 17 upon its completion.
In 2014 The Last: Naruto the Movie was released. Written by Masashi Kishimoto himself, it is considered to be canonical within the larger series. The film is set two years after the fourth great ninja war, making Naruto 19. The film’s credits play over Naruto’s wedding to Hinata, and the post credits scene shows them with their two children: Boruto and Himawari.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations centers on a new group of young ninjas, including Boruto, as he strives to make a name for himself and escape the shadow of his father’s legacy. The series takes place 15 years after the events of the fourth great ninja war. Given that Naruto celebrated his 17 birthday during that time, it’s presumed that he is around 32 years old at the beginning of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. In a devastating flash forward sequence, we see an older, more mature Boruto, sporting a scar over his right eye. Boruto is noted to be 16 in the flash forward, which would make his father Naruto roughly 36.
Naruto is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
Watch on Hulu
