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Naruto: Omnibus #3

Naruto (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 3

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The world’s most popular ninja comic just got bigger with this collection of Naruto volumes!

Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audiences T
Containing volumes 7, 8 and 9 of Naruto! Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura passed the written portion of the Chûnin Exam, but that was only the beginning! Now in the thick of the exam's second phase, held in the aptly named Forest of Death, instructor Mitarashi Anko has promised to cut the number of advancing teams by half. And a mysterious predator in their midst is after Sasuke!

600 pages, Paperback

First published September 6, 2011

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459 people want to read

About the author

Masashi Kishimoto

1,202 books3,966 followers
Masashi Kishimoto (岸本斉史 Kishimoto Masashi) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series Naruto. His younger twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto, is also a manga artist and creator of the manga series O-Parts Hunter (666 Satan) and Blazer Drive. Two of his former assistants, Osamu Kajisa (Tattoo Hearts) and Yuuichi Itakura (Hand's), have also gone on to moderate success following their work on Naruto.

Kishimoto's first work as a manga artist was Karakuri (カラクリ?), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. This earned him the Weekly Shōnen Jump's monthly "Hop Step Award" in 1996, granted to promising new manga artists. This was followed in 1997 by a pilot version of Naruto (NARUTO-ナルト-), published in Akamaru Jump Summer. In 1998, Kishimoto premiered as a Weekly Shōnen Jump artist with a serialized version of Karakuri in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it proved unpopular and was canceled soon after. In 1999, a serialized version of Naruto began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump and quickly became a hit.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
Profile Image for Ola G.
518 reviews50 followers
August 9, 2021
6/10 stars

I'm reserving my judgement till I read more of Naruto.

For now, I see a rather stereotypical story very heavily indebted to Dragon Ball, with some promise but also a lot of baggage. The treatment of girls especially is ludicrous. They can be ninjas, theoretically, but mostly they're in the story to enact unending cat fights for the privilege of being the one more in love with an emo prince of darkness who basically doesn't seem to care about anything but revenge.

Naruto himself is a nice enough character, seemingly modeled at least partly after Goku, and there are also a few side characters that show a lot of potential. Paradoxically, the most interesting characters in the three volumes were the members of the older generation: Kakashi and Might Guy. To be fair, though, my opinion might change easily - every manga has weaker volumes, and these three may just be it. We'll see soon enough! :D.
Profile Image for Robert Kirwan.
345 reviews50 followers
March 31, 2025
The writing in this manga is phenomenal!! The characters are all so unique and the main thing I love about this volume is the 3rd stage fights!!
You get to see so many of the other ninjas and their special techniques!! Part of the appeal is that you've never seen them fight before and suddenly they're all using these inventive and surprising techniques!!
The other aspect to this is that you have how our main characters react to these abilities!!!
Exciting, compelling, nail biting and fantastic are but a few adjectives I would use to describe this iteration of Naruto!! A must read 100%
Profile Image for Joel .
472 reviews66 followers
July 19, 2020
2.5*
Más discursos infinitos de los que uno debería soportar


Historia: 2.5
Arte: 2.5

El resto de la segunda prueba ya no es tan interesante como en el tomo anterior. La "ventaja" es que termina rápido y da paso a la tercera prueba de los exámenes Chunin.

Pues bien, la tercera prueba era bastante prometedora pero resultó en ser demasiado anticlimática. Los tomos se concentran en peleas muy cortas, con unas ilustraciones un pobres y globos, globos, globos y más globos de explicaciones innecesarias.

Kishimoto, una imagen vale más que mil palabras: si ya estoy viendo una Ilustración bastante decente sobre una situación, no es necesario que uses 15 globos de pensamiento para explicar dicha situación. Te prometo que nadie es tan tonto como tú lo crees de tus lectores.
Incluso dibuja algunos diagramas que pretenden explicar la explicación que ya se hizo sobre una viñeta... Una burla.

Lo Mejor: Tenemos un poquito de desarrollo para algunos personajes.

Lo Peor: Seguimos con los discursos infinitos que no aportan nada a la trama.


Aclaración: Leí los volúmenes por separado, en la edición digital publicada por Panini Manga México.
Estoy reseñando ésta versión 3-en-1 por una cuestión de formato y practicidad.
Profile Image for Leeann.
549 reviews18 followers
December 7, 2024
This wasn't to bad of a manga. I love seeing them fight other ninja's and their own friends. I also can't wait to see where this gouse with Sasuke and his cruse mark. Plus we learned more about different types of ninjutsu and more about charka too. My all time fave match was Ino vs Sakura because we see so match of there growth. Overall I was so happy to read this manga.
Profile Image for Erin Bookishness.
462 reviews13 followers
May 16, 2024
Chunin exam continued, end of the forest of death and the preliminary third exam ending just before the fight between rock lee and gaara.
Profile Image for Vince McCollum.
327 reviews12 followers
June 19, 2020
So much faster than watching the show. And way more fulfilling.
Profile Image for Yannick.
153 reviews2 followers
May 22, 2024
Great once again.

Funny, cool, crazy, and sometimes hard to follow haha (then it seems like I am missing a page, but I guess that is just the (chaotic) style).
Profile Image for Michael Sorbello.
Author 1 book316 followers
September 15, 2020
This is a review of the entire series.

Once upon a time, the spirit of an evil Nine Tailed Fox wreaked havoc on Konohagakure; the Village Hidden in the Leaves, killing hundreds of honorable ninja in the skirmish and leaving many children without homes or parents. The Fourth Hokage (leader of the village) unleashes a forbidden jutsu (magic spell/ninja ability) to seal the spirit of the evil fox into the body of a newborn baby named Naruto at the cost of his own life. He did this in the hopes that the boy could one day learn to master the power of the demonic spirit and use it to protect the village and become a great hero of the people.

Unknown to the citizens of the Leaf, the Nine Tailed Fox was being controlled by an even more powerful adversary, a legendary rogue ninja that plans to wage war against the entire world from the shadows. The identity of the mysterious ninja that attacked the Leaf Village using the Nine Tails died with the Fourth Hokage, and he used what remained of his life to gift Naruto with the power of one day being able to stop this evil ninja and a clan of outlawed S-rank criminals called the Akatsuki from committing mass genocide against the many hidden villages and clans of the world.

Because of the evil spirit sealed inside him, Naruto grew up hated by the other children of the village because they believe him and the Nine Tails to be one and the same. They believe he’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go off, waiting for the perfect moment to kill them all just like the Nine Tails killed their parents and families. Shunned, dehumanized and treated like dirt, Naruto vows to become the greatest hokage the world has ever seen so that he can receive the love and acknowledgement he never got as a child.

On top of the Nine Tails power and the will to never quit, Naruto also possesses the uncanny ability to turn everyone he meets into a potential comrade. He brings out the best in his peers and tries his hardest to make his enemies see the errors of their ways. He disobeys the rules and ignores cultural traditions to try and make changes to the world and break the eternal cycle of war and hatred through his own methods. His determination is infectious to friend and foe alike. He earns himself the respect he deserves by overcoming one impossible obstacle at a time.

Naruto encounters many fascinating and terrifying ninja over the course of his journey to become hokage. Among them are Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto’s best friend and rival who is driven by the vengeful lust to murder his elder brother after he wiped out their own clan in cold blood. Sasuke warms up to Naruto, but his hatred and trauma are dangerous forces that threaten to break his moral code as a ninja and destroy his reputation among his peers.

Kakashi Hatake is a notorious copycat ninja that survived one of the most brutal and devastating wars in history as well as the Nine Tails attack on the Leaf Village. He becomes Naruto and Sasuke’s mentor and teaches them a great number of valuable lessons about surviving in the dangerous world of rogue ninja, bloodthirsty assassins and clans ruled by corruption.

Jiraiya is a perverted yet wise sage who taught the Fourth Hokage everything he knew and he’s regarded as a god among shinobi that’s famous for his heroic actions in the second great ninja war. He takes an interest in Naruto and raises him as a father figure to carry on the legacy of the Fourth Hokage to prepare him for the many dangerous people that want to use his power for their own nefarious purposes.

The Akatsuki is one such group of wicked ninja. Among them are Sasuke’s brother Itachi who murdered his clan and possesses many dangerous techniques involving illusions, psychological torture and elemental manipulation. Sasori who controls poisonous puppets with magical threads, Orochimaru who mastered the forbidden arts of reanimation and quasi-immortality, Deidara who fights from afar using detonating clay and many other deadly foes.

The entire series chronicles Naruto and his fellow ninja comrades growing through countless trials and tragedies. There are hundreds of unique jutsus, clans, and techniques which lead to some very intense, creative and strategic battles between skilled ninja with diverse abilities that don’t always match up evenly. There are clan based abilities such as the Aburame clan’s ability to control insects, the Yamanaka clan’s ability to jump into other people’s minds and control their bodies and the Inuzuka clan’s ability to bond with wolves that learn to mimic their master’s battle skills. Then there’s ocular genetic abilities such as the sharingan which allows the user to create psychological illusions, copy their enemy’s abilities and manipulate elemental energy. The byakugan allows the user to read their enemies vital points and detect their spiritual energy from faraway. The rinnegan grants control over space and gravity and so on.

On top of having countless unique abilities, nearly every character has a tragic backstory that makes them sympathetic and relatable, even the nastiest of the villains have well-explored reasons for following the paths they do and becoming the way they are. One of my favorite aspects of the series is how well it explores the physical, emotional and psychological effects war can have on society and culture as well as the survivors and future generations that are forced to live in them. How it breeds racism and cultural disputes, how it inspires hatred in orphaned children and war veterans robbed of their homes toward foreign nations, as well as how this eventually leads to further death, war, poverty and destruction. Learning to forgive the ones you hate to prevent further conflict and damaging the world for future generations even further is a major theme throughout the story.

Being a massive 700 chapter series, it’s not too surprising that there’s some plot holes and consistency issues. A rule might be stated regarding the requirements and usage of a certain jutsu or ability only for that rule to be repeatedly broken 400 chapters later. Sometimes the characters and rules contradict themselves, sometimes the chronology of certain events and historical facts don’t match up perfectly, the lore and general backstory go through several retcons that change the philosophy and power scaling of the characters and the scope of world-building; the final arc especially drags on and breaks a lot of the logic and rules that the story spent the whole series setting up, etc...

Naruto’s far from perfect, but I remember it very fondly for being one of the first series that introduced me to things like manga and Japanese entertainment in general. It was one of those childhood classics like Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho and Rurouni Kenshin. The series grew up with me and I can’t help but feel grateful to it for introducing me to hundreds of other franchises that I’m still a huge fan of to this day and I continue to find many new ones on the regular. Naruto's journey from a clownish, disrespected outcast into a talented, well-loved and admired hero is a memorable one.
Profile Image for M.D. Williams.
447 reviews5 followers
May 28, 2021
Alright, so I just finished the colossal 700 chapters of Naruto and here is how this is going to go. I will be breaking down my review for each, and yes, each arc of Naruto throughout it's run. I will be ignoring what volumes and I will be speaking with spoilers. So If you're at all interested in this story that ended six years ago. Please keep aware of this and only read the arcs you have finished.

That being said, this is a reread for me. I actually decided to reread them as the 3-in-1 volumes as they're much cheaper. I probably had 10 volumes already of the story so I didn't repurchase so my collection is a little incomplete. However, this reread was a lot of fun and I enjoyed a lot. I'll be doing this in a certain bullet point style because there's so much story to cover I really just want to point out my like's and Dislikes for each Arc. As well as Individual ratings.

Part One
Prologue - Land of Waves Arc - Chapter 1-33: Rating: 7/10
-So I love the land of waves arc. Anyone who says they weren't instantly hooked once they reached this point has got to be full of themselves. This arc does so much to set up the world, the themes, everything that Naruto would become.
-Unfortunately, what prequels this is absolute hot garbage.
-Now, I didn't think this when I began the reread because it has been over a decade since I've explored this section of the story. But let me tell you, these first 5 chapters are probably some of the worst in any shonen I've ever seen. To be fair, most first chapters in shonen usually aren't stand out. I've often expressed how they're really edited and refined to express the exact image that the magazine wants them to be. Once they actually get a chance to strut their stuff (if they sell well) then that's when we see most shonens come into their own.
-However, you would have to be younger than 5 to enjoy and find the slapstick comedy in the first five chapters to be digestible whatsoever. It's so cringeworthy I can't believe I ever was okay with it. Konohamaru is the worst character in creation. Most of the Naruto characters are pervs. Sasuke and Sakura's introductions are laughable at best. Well, they're not laughable. I WISH they had been, but nope.
-I love Naruto's power system. I may even go so far as to express I think it's actually my favorite power system pre-final arc. I love how thought out and detersive it is.
-Zabuza is a great antagonist. Gato is very easily hateable and Haku is great too.
-I really just am blown away how fast the pacing is. The tactics are clever and fun.
-Overall, the prologue really pulled this arc down for me. If you'd separate them. The prologue chapters would be a 4/10 and the Land of waves would be 10/10
Chunin Exams Arc - Chapter 34-114: Rating: 10/10
-10/10 arc. Nothing for me to say. Except that I personally would have liked to have seen the finale of the tournament. We didn't even get past the first round before everything kinda went haywire.
Konoha Invasion Arc - Chapter 115-138: Rating: 9/10
-I don't have a lot of bad to say outside of the sense that a lot of ninja's didn't really show their stuff. Primarily Kakashi, Jiraiya, etc. Because of this, the invasion really never felt like it would succeed. Sure, the Hokage's death was very expected and a tragedy. However, no one else we knew was wounded. The plan itself just really fell flat.
Search for Tsunade arc - Chapter 139-171: Rating: 7/10
-Yeah, this one surprised me.
-I remember this one being the most painful arc in part one. Not only is long, but it's also mostly a glorified training arc.
-With new eyes and a better appreciation for story and characters I have come away enjoying this arc much more.
-Tsunade is a phenomenal character and probably one of the only female characters in Naruto I can say that about.
-Naruto's journey to learning the Rasengan was also a lot more comprehensive now that I'm an adult. (and not reading scans)
-Also, Itachi was introduced in this arc and HOT DAMN THIS GUY WAS COOL
Sasuke Retrieval Arc - Chapter 172-238: Rating: 10/10
What can I say? 10/10 once again. Perhaps the Neji fight was a bit too long, but it never felt that way.
-The fights were all great. The themes were spot on and holy lawrd the emotion. *Chef's kiss.
Kakashi Gaiden - Chapter 239-244: Rating: 6/10
-Meh, I don't like this arc that much. I don't have a great reason. It's a flashback arc. But it came at such a weird point in the story. Like, no one was asking for it in this particular moment.
Part Two
Kazekage Rescue Arc - Chapter 245-281: Rating: 8/10
-This was another arc, like the Tsunade arc that I didn't enjoy. At this point, I was a weekly reader and It is a nearly 40 chapter arc. Maybe as a kid I felt like there was just too much talking and too much establishing what they were doing. Another key factor was that Naruto's growth, despite it only being roughly two and a half years was still rather unimpressive. I mean, he could do a big rasengan.
-What I neglected to understand was that this was mostly a reference point to show us just how much the kids have grown in less than 3 years time. The kids actually went from not being able to land a single attack on base Kakashi with no Sharingan, to with one less member, defeating Kakashi and completing the bell exam. That's tremendous progress. Another thing I neglected was just how much focus was put on Naruto mastering the nine-tails power. It was a pretty small feat as i read this as a teenager, but having reread the material back to back I noticed that far more emphasis was put on Naruto's lack of control. His ability to bring out some of Kurama's chakra was only enough to give him a short boost that put him above Neji. When facing Sasuke and he got a one tailed cloak, he actually succumbed to the 9 tails and lost himself. Now he's able to call upon three tails all by himself.
-The sasori fight is legendary. I love Chiyo as a character which before I just kinda was indifferent to her. This would also feature Team Guy and that was exciting as we hadn't seen those characters in some time. Though, really they didn't have much to do besides fight themselves in this.
-Overall, the arc loses points for me because of how centered around the Sasori fight it seemed. Yet, half the other events of the arc felt secondary when I compared them. Gaara's emotional climax and revelation was great. Naruto's growth was great. Learning about the sand was great. But this arc had to establish a lot and I just remember those chapters of them running through the forest and just text filling the pages from panel to panel. Not saying action was vital, just that we spent too much time talking about Jinchurki. It was clear that Kishimoto was now ready to establish these terms he set up. But I felt he could have presented it in a more organic fashion then just an info dump.
Sasuke and Sai Arc - Chapter 282-310: Rating: 6/10
-This arc is really conflicting. On one hand, it has probably one of the most hype conflicts in the entire series to this point. Naruto 4 tails vs Orochimaru was absolutley insane and it still holds up. The emotional tension of Naruto losing himself and not caring because it's orochimaru and he's spent so long hating this guy was fantastic.
-On the other hand...this arc also heavily features Sai. And et's just cut to the chase. Sai is probably my least favorite character in all of Naruto. I think he's just a really poorly written character. I understand his purpose. I understand what he was meant to imply and communicate with the reader, but I just really thought it was done in the most generic and boring way. I am not a fan of Sai. He really, really dragged this arc down for me.
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc - Chapter 311-342: Rating: 7.5/10
-Yet again another arc I thought I'd hate. Mainly because when I read them when they came out, I realized just how awful the scans were. Hidan and Kakuzu probably cussed more than any two characters in the scanlations. Not that it was awful, I just thought it didn't properly convey the information.
-I do think this is kind of the arc that kind of made me realize why I didn't love part 2 my first time around. Well, not as much as part 1 I should say. The expansion of the world and the lore take a heavy backseat in the last arc and this arc. We barely learn about the world in which these ninjas fight in. We don't even learn anything about the villages of our antagonists. Which I felt was a huge misstep.
-This was a training arc I really enjoyed as well. I felt like maybe I just didn't enjoy training arcs when I was younger because DBZ used them so heavily but this was done very well. Shikamaru's character growth in this was also fantastic.
-This arc loses points for not making Hidan and Kakuzu even remotely interesting characters as well as not expanding on the world. It DID expand on the power system which was great but still. This Arc had 3 beats. Battle where Asuma dies. Naruto's training. Battle where they beat the akatsuki. No other nuisance.
Itachi Pursuit Arc - Chapter 343-402: Rating: 9/10
-What can I say? fans were waiting for this conflict forever. And it did not disappoint.
-The reveal at the end was also fantastic.
-Where this arc loses points is everything to do with Naruto. Naruto's role, his mission with the other team to track Sasuke was...really not needed here. It felt extra. I would have rather had naruto be exempt or perhaps do something else. This was just a lot of wasted pages. I understand Itachi had to interact with Naruto to give him the crow, but this could have been done earlier in one of the previous arcs. Perhaps Kazekage when they actually fought his clone.
Pain Invasion Arc - Chapter 403-449: Rating: 10/10
-I gave this a 10/10 but I am still salty about the reviving everyone who died jutsu. I get it. I just personally would have preferred if the story didn't make that decision. It felt like Konoha just didn't really try hard to fight Pain. The anime made this feel coherent which is why I gave the arc in the manga a pass.
Five Kage Summit - Chapter 450-488: Rating: 5/10
-Well, that's a weird deal ain't it? This is probably my least favorite arc. Danzo is a poor villain. The Gokage are silly and at the end of the day this is just one big set up for the next arc. I felt like we should have met all the kage beforehand. I felt that the country of random not mentioned Samurai was weird. Why are Suigetsu and Jugo still around? It just really fell flat. the end was kinda cool, and it has probably my fabvorite moment where Sasuke goes coocoo banana's and stabs Karin, but still. It also teased another Naruto/Sasuke fight and didn't deliver. So boo.
Fourth Shinobi World War Arc - Chapter 489-700: Rating: 7/10
-Okay! Okay Okay! This arc has so many highs and so many lows.
-The ending is perfect imo. Everything after the seal Kaguya and have their final battle, the conclusion. all of it brought tears to my eyes. Loved it. Love love loved it.
-The first half of the war felt like a series of battles where no one died and no consequences were met outside of 40k random shinobi we never knew. This could have been done better.
-Naruto's training arc with Bee was painful. Taming the 9 tails was cool. I understand why it had to happen. But It just drags. I wish it would have been condensed.
-Naruto vs Obito is great.
-Madara arriving and fighting the Kage was great.
-God the Kabuto fight is too long. This fight is nearly two volumes long and Kabuto is just trash.
-So many things didn't make sense in this arc. Madara uses Susano'o with no eyes? Obito never dies? Kakashi's ghost double Mangekyo w/ perfect Susano'o????
-7/10 is probably really high for how many bad things. But so many good things happened I just gave it the general average. It could have been a lot better.

This was a really good time. I never looked at Naruto as a poorly written series like I did with Bleach so this was a blast from the past. Also, revisiting some of the older arcs I didn't enjoy as much and finding new enjoyment in them was really endearing.
Profile Image for Ada.
2,146 reviews36 followers
June 24, 2021
***read via MANGA Plus by SHUEISHA (app on tablet)***
Oh gods Orichumaru. A very good villain for sure but the he's Dramatic™

Volume 7: The Path You Should Tread, Chapters list:
055. "No Holds Barred!!" (全面戦争!!, "Zenmen sensō!!")
056. "The Strength That is Given...!!" (与えられし力...!! "Ataerareshi chikara...!!")
057. "Ten Hours Earlier..." (10時間前 "Jū jikan mae")
058. "Witnesses...!!" (目撃者...!! "Mokugekisha...!!")
059. "The Tragedy of the Sand!!" (砂の惨劇!! "Suna no sangeki!!")
060. "The Last Chance...!!" (ラストチャンス...!! "Rasuto Chansu...!!")
061. "The Path You Should Tread...!!" (進むべき道...!! "Susumubeki michi...!!")
062. "Trapped Like Rats!!" (袋のネズミ...!! "Fukuro no nezumi...!!")
063. "One More Face" (もう一つの顔 "Mō hitotsu no kao")

Volume 8: Life-and-Death Battles, Chapters list:
064. "Lord Hokage's Message...!!" (火影の伝令...!!, "Hokage no denrei...!!")
065. "Life-and-Death Battles!!" (命懸けの戦い!! "Inochigake no tatakai!!")
066. "Sakura's Advice" (サクラの勧告 "Sakura no kankoku")
067. "Unholy Gifts!" (異端なる能力!! "Itan naru nōryoku!!")
068. "Blood of the Uchiha" (うちはの血!! "Uchiha no chi!!")
069. "The Deadly Visitor!!" (恐怖の訪問者!! "Kyōfu no hōmonsha!!")
070. "The One Who Dies!!" (死ぬのは...!? "Shinu no wa...!?")
071. "The Insurmountable Wall...!!" (高すぎる壁...!! "Takasugiru kabe...!!")
072. "Rivals...!!" (拮抗...!! "Kikkō...!!")

Volume 9: Neji vs. Hinata, Chapters list:
073. "A Declaration of Defeat...?!" (敗北宣言...!?, "Haiboku sengen...!?")
074. "The Sixth Round Match, and Then...!!" (第六回戦...そして!! "Dairoku kaisen... soshite!!")
075. "Naruto's Coming-of-Age...!!" (ナルトの成長...!! "Naruto no seichō...!!")
076. "Kiba Turns the Tables... and So Does Naruto?!" (キバの逆転!! ナルトの逆転 !!? "Kiba no gyukuten!! Naruto no gyukuten!!?")
077. "Naruto's Clever Scheme!!" (ナルトの奇策!! "Naruto no kisaku!!")
078. "Neji and Hinata" (ネジとヒナタ "Neji to Hinata")
079. "The Hyuga Clan" (日向一族 "Hyūga ichizoku")
080. "The Outer Limits" (限界を超えて... "Genkai o koete...")
081. "Gaara Versus..." (我愛羅vs...)


I actually missed some of these chapters on the app... But all in all this was one of my favourite volumes

4 reviews
January 13, 2024
-- VOL 7 -- The Path You Should Tread

The fight between the Leaf Ninja (excluding Kurenai's Cell) vs. Sound Ninja concludes with Sasuke succumbing to Orochimaru's Curse and unleashing an awesome power on poor Zaku. We get our first look at Gaara who shows us how powerful some of the other competitors actually are. Cell Team 7 again finds themselves in trouble again but with the help of Kabuto and Naruto's quick thinking they're able to reach the Tower and the centre of The Forest of Death

-- VOL 8 -- Life and Death Battles

Undoubtedly my favourite volume so far. Kabuto's true intentions are revealed as our characters arrive at an unexpected part of The Chunin Exams, a preliminary tournament. The actions starts with a weakened Sasuke (W) vs. Yoroi and continues with Shino (W) vs. Zaku. Shino is a fairly unique character and am looking forward to seeing more of him. Next is Misumi vs. Kankuro (W) which kanuro reveals himself as a puppet master, which is another fairly unique character. Finally we have the start of Sakura vs. Ino which gives us more of Sakura's backstreet and an insight into the pairs past.

-- VOL 9 -- Neji vs. Hinata

Sakura vs. Ino comes to an end with an even finish, but I would rather this fight went to Sakura as this would of been a good chance to keep her even with Sasuke and Naruto. Shikamarua (W) vs. Kin was a good fight and shows how smart Shikamaru can be. Naruto (W) vs. Kiba was an interesting fight and showed how much naruto has improved. Lastly, there was the title fight; Neji (W) vs. Hinata. This was a good fight and gave us a lot of new techniques that we hadn't seen before and gave us more insight into the history of Konohoa.

Oh and Temari (W) vs. Tenten happened. We didn't see it. Boooooooo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Don.
135 reviews5 followers
June 13, 2020
I have wanted to read a manga series in full to learn more about the art form and how it works, but with so many choices, which one do you pick?

I have been studying Japanese for nearly 550 days straight on Duolingo. In addition, I am using Makoto, a wonderful monthly ezine published by the Japan Page dot com. The couple who run the business, Clay and Yumi, also have a lot of other materials to support Japanese learners. They just happened to have some used copies of Naruto available, and on sale, so my choice was made! I got a couple copies in Japanese to test out my skills, and although I could make out a few things, I have a long way to go before I can read it all in Nihongo!

Then I discovered the three in one book series, and decided to take the plunge. I am definitely hooked! Naroto, Sakura, and all the other characters are interesting, fun, engaging... the author and artist weaves the text and the images nicely to tell the story... needless to mention, but I am enjoying the series, and I do recommend it to anyone curious about manga, and who wants to try a series.

Profile Image for Andy.
803 reviews4 followers
June 18, 2018
Nooooooo, that ending. I have to buy the next one NOW. Kishimoto knows what he is doing, this series is so addictive and fun. It has only gotten better as characters have received more development and time to shine. I like the direction Sasuke is going. The Neji and Hinata fight was so badass, did not expect Hinata to be so strong , she was a highlight in this book. Kiba was also another cool new development to the rooster of character. I hope Shino gets more time to be on since he looks unique and mysterious. Orochimaru is building up to be quite a villain. Lastly, the sand ninja are such great characters, especially Garra which is why the cliff hanger hurt so much. Need the next book now!
Profile Image for Evania.
299 reviews2 followers
July 28, 2024
Logging this specifically to count for my # of books read bc I have currently as of today reread Vol 1 - 16 of Naruto and I've put enough time into this that I want it to count. I'm specifically adding this one to my read list even if my last finished vol was 16 bc I love the chuunin exam arc. If I ever reread or rewatch it's specifically so I can see the Gaara vs Rock Lee fight and just the fights in the Chuunin Exams in general like Neji vs Naruto or Sakura vs Ino. A lot of characters get introduced and our main characters grow and develop. It's definitely a fave part of the manga series for me.
Profile Image for Ashe Catlin.
907 reviews7 followers
March 25, 2020
This could have been amazing, instead we got everything over explained. Sometimes it's nice not know, you don't need to know have every little thing works.

This wrapped up the second test and sets up for the third, surprisingly the best part of this was the Hinata fight. The other fights where pretty good as well, it's just that one was awesome.

I look forward to when they do away with the over explaining, that way they can just get on with the story.
Profile Image for Myles Likes Tacos and Rice.
215 reviews1 follower
September 11, 2023
for a middle aged man, i got way too emotional on some chapters lol. Hinata and Sakura parts seem to hit better than in the anime (and if you also know where all of this is headed)

also love the Kishimoto Personal History bits between chapters (I don't think you will get these in the shonnen jump app)

anyways love that these 3 chapters allow everyone except Naruto to kinda take centre stage
Profile Image for Social_Sloth.
443 reviews7 followers
November 10, 2017
The second part of the Chunin exams continue, even with Orochimaru threatening the young ninjas lives. Yet that is hardly the most direct danger as the sound ninja start attacking Sakura as Naruto and Sasuke are unconscious. The third part starts, Sakura shows the strength hidden within her and Hinata becomes one of my favorite characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Paige.
170 reviews
March 11, 2021
I really enjoyed this instalment purely for the third stage fights and how you got to see the other young ninjas in action and also some of their personalities. That Sakura and Ino fight was just really sad and I feel it could have been a lot better. But I must say the way these omnibuses end just makes me so eager to pick up the next instalment.
Profile Image for Mark Dickson.
Author 1 book7 followers
August 29, 2022
These always take me a bit of time to get into because there are just SO many characters. I really enjoyed the wrap up to the second round of the journeyman trial, but the preliminary for the third round is where this series really shines. There are still SO many characters, but the individual duels really served to highlight who these people are and gave me some new favourites.
Profile Image for ANTHONY FLORES.
207 reviews3 followers
June 26, 2024
Como me gustaron estos tomos de Naruto.

Estos tres tomos nos cuentan la preselección para la tercera prueba de los examenes chunin.

Tenemos combates espectaculares como Neji vs Hinata y Kiba vs Naruto. Sakura e Ino no tuvieron la mejor lucha pero se ve el desarrollo de los personajes que se viene leyendo desde hace mucho tiempo.

Profile Image for omar ☆.
1,058 reviews16 followers
March 11, 2025
I've read up to volume;
#9; with an average rating of: ★★★★☆
4.5/5


LOVING that we get to see everyone's abilities
i'll never understand how orochimaru didn't even try to hide and everyone ws just like meh about it
Profile Image for Jeni.
1,110 reviews33 followers
April 23, 2020
The match-ups are interesting, even if they get a bit tedious after awhile.
Profile Image for Sedna Dragon.
701 reviews5 followers
June 10, 2024
This does a good job keeping our interest in Orochimaru and how he has an intimate knowledge of the Leaf Village and displays great fights and keeps us interested in each of them and building them up.
Profile Image for Davy.
196 reviews1 follower
February 3, 2025
Welp, I’m hooked. This was such an enjoyable 3-in-1! Its Dragon Ball roots are showing pretty clearly but to me, there are few places better to draw inspiration from. Can’t wait to continue this story!
Profile Image for Valerie Patrick.
858 reviews14 followers
July 27, 2025
"I never go back on my word. That's my shinobi way"

omg I forgot how long the chunin exams go on for....... it's still a really fun time though to revisit all of these scenes and watching everyone debut their fun little specialty
Profile Image for Elias Alexander.
651 reviews15 followers
May 18, 2017
It's just getting better and better. Omg. What will happen next.
Profile Image for Chloé.
433 reviews
May 21, 2017
The plot definitely thickens in this book, and honestly these are just really enjoyable.
Profile Image for Hew La France.
Author 6 books47 followers
August 20, 2017
Not that I didn't enjoy volumes 1-6, but 7-9 were AMAZING. Between Sakura's fight with Ino, Naruto's fight with Kiba, And Hinata vs Neji... so much good.
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