“Naruto Shippuuden” aka “Naruto: The Hurricane Chronicles” is a new anime series which is the newest installment of the “Naruto” series. This series is still ongoing in Japan and is closely tied with the manga. As a result of the creation of Naruto Shippuuden, Naruto had all sorts of filler arcs to keep the anime from catching up with the manga. Like many anime titles, Naruto was adapted from a manga. There are over two-hundred episodes of Naruto with half of them haven’t been aired yet as a result.
With that said, Naruto Shippuuden probably will not be licensed and released to North America for another few years at least. There’s the time to get the license, the hiring of the voice actors, the dubbing, the editing, and the actual release to audiences across North America. Like the manga, this second installment continues the time jump from when Sasuke left to train under Orochimaru while Naruto left to train under Jiraiya.
Two and a half years have passed since that event. As Naruto put more focus on Orochimaru and his Sound Ninjas, Naruto Shippuuden does put sizeable focus on him. However, this series places more focus on the secret organization known as Akatsuki that is after Naruto because of the nine-tailed fox demon that is sealed within his being. Each member of Akatsuki is deemed to be S-Class criminals. One such member is Itachi Uchiha, the older brother of Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke trained under Orochimaru to get stronger in order to defeat Itachi. The series has done a good job detailing the transition from that event to two years in the future. A lot has changed as everybody around Naruto has become Chunnin. However, Naruto still remains a Genin which is a lower ranked ninja. Neji Hyuga had obtained the rank of Jonin.
Naruto has undergone physical and mental changes. He has grown taller as a result. While Naruto tends to act more mature, he’s starting to become perverted like Jiraiya. Sakura Haruno has gotten much stronger since then as she trained under Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.
The series is great to watch. If and when Naruto Shippuuden is released to North America, perhaps Maile Flanagan and Kate Higgins will respectively reprise their roles as Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno.